Daming talker

Chapter 724 Fishing Techniques

However, Zhao Zhigao's "inhuman" answer annoyed Zhang Wei, who had a stronger personality.

To Zhang Wei, Zhao Zhigao meant "It has nothing to do with you, so don't meddle in other people's business."

We are all the same age. Zhao Zhigao, you have always been a good person. When did you become like this? Don't you think that your tone just now is very similar to that of a person named Lin?
Besides, as a cabinet minister, he also has the title of "participating in the affairs of the cabinet". Is there anything he shouldn't know?
Regardless of whether the cabinet has a large or small decision-making power, the Grand Secretary should have the right to know, right? Is there any military or political matter in the world that he cannot be informed of?
In addition, your behavior, Zhao Zhigao, is encouraging "unhealthy trends"!
After all the farces and fierce conflicts over the years, the cabinet's authority has been declining at a visible rate.

Many people are increasingly disregarding the cabinet, and Lin Tailai is the most typical representative!
According to the practice of the past seventy or eighty years, before a minister or governor-general had important matters to report, he would often first communicate with the cabinet in private and listen to the cabinet's opinions before formally submitting the report.

But Lin Tailai never consulted the cabinet privately, nor did he listen to the cabinet's opinions! Whenever relevant documents were sent directly to the cabinet, it was like a result notification!

As the Prime Minister, Zhao Zhigao, instead of thinking about restoring and reshaping the authority of the cabinet, you condone Lin Tailai's arbitrary behavior. Does this count as betrayal?
When he first joined the cabinet, Zhang Wei always thought that the fourth assistant Li Chun would be the "traitor" who would undermine the authority of the cabinet.

After all, over the years, the political stance of the Qingliu forces has always been against the cabinet and autocracy, and Li Chun has the support of the Qingliu forces behind him. This character is obviously waving the red flag to oppose the red flag.

But as time went on, people gradually discovered that Prime Minister Zhao Zhigao was the one who actually poached members of the cabinet, and time and again he handed over the power that should have belonged to the cabinet to Lin!
Thinking of this, Zhang Wei couldn't help but speak again: "Since the beginning of December last year, Lin Tailai has been idle for nearly three months, consuming more than 200,000 silver taels. It can be said that all of this was wasted!

So Sun Piyang's criticism of Lin Tailai in his memorial is not unreasonable, right? How can you say that Sun Piyang is slandering and framing him? "

After Zhang Wei said these words, the other elders were a little surprised. You are not neutral today? You actually spoke for the Qingliu forces and Sun Piyang of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Alliance?

Li Chun was pleasantly surprised. He did not expect to have help today. What is this called? A righteous man has many supporters, while an unrighteous man has few?

At this moment, suddenly another memorial from three thousand miles away was delivered to the cabinet. It was a relatively important one, and all the cabinet ministers gathered on the spot to watch.

"In my opinion, the Joseon Dynasty has been restricting the northwest for 200 years and has lost the support of the people in the north.

The people in the north often preferred to be compliant with the Japanese invaders rather than submit to the Joseon Dynasty. When the heavenly troops arrived, although they knew they were wrong, they still did not want to be subjects of the Joseon Dynasty.

There were even hundreds of local elders who signed a petition, begging me to serve as a county for the Ming Dynasty, which put me in a very difficult position.

If we agree to it, then our Great Ming will be committing injustice by encroaching upon the territories of its vassal states; if we do not agree to it, then the sentiments of its people will be truly pitiful.

Today, the northern part of Korea is the rear base of our troops, and the transportation of food and fodder depends on the strength of the people in the north, so the north must be stable.

There is also the Sixth Son of the King of Korea, Kuan Ai, who is highly respected by the people and is particularly respectful to our Celestial Empire.

After careful consideration, I would like to appoint Sunhwa-kun, the sixth son of the Joseon king, as Duke of Lelang, and give him the three northern provinces of Joseon. This will surely appease the people in the north and stabilize our rear."

After reading this, the ministers couldn't help but wonder, what has Lin Tailai done again? Can't he just be quiet for a while?

We asked you to lead the army to aid Korea in fighting against the Japanese invaders, but instead you're here planning to split up the vassal state and establish a new monarch?
Who the hell is this Sun Hwa Jun, the sixth son of the Joseon king? Where did he come from? How did he catch the eye of you, Lin Tailai?

Although they had many doubts in their minds, the ministers quickly made clear their attitudes based on their positions. This is a political instinct.

"It's ridiculous, how can this be possible!" Li Chun, the fourth assistant and Minister of Rites, said angrily, "How can a general like him make such a rash decision to establish a new emperor for no reason?"

The enraged Sanfu Zhang Wei also said in a gloomy tone: "Sun Piyang impeached Lin Tailai for having improper intentions. Can this be considered confirmed?"

Prime Minister Zhao Zhigao blinked a few times and said, "Putting aside the position, I think it can be approved.

As for the reason, Lin Tailai has already written it very clearly in his memorial, so you should not turn a blind eye to it."

Zhu Geng, the deputy minister, asked hesitantly, "Why did he have to be the sixth son of the Joseon king? He is neither the eldest nor the legitimate son. From all aspects, it is against the etiquette and law, isn't it?"

Zhao Zhigao kindly explained: "This was also accidental. All other princes of the Joseon Kingdom escaped, and only the eldest and sixth sons were captured by the Japanese pirates and then rescued by Lin Tailai.

Therefore, when Lin Tailai needed to appease the North of Korea, he thought of Wang Liuzi, which was understandable. It was an emergency measure."

Zhang Wei, who was bent on making things difficult for Prime Minister Zhao today, seemed to have grasped the key point. "Even if Lin Tailai wanted to appoint a new person, he insisted on appointing the sixth son of the king when the eldest son of the king is already here. What's the meaning of this? It's totally against etiquette!"

Zhao Zhigao had no explanation for this. He knew that Lin Tailai must have done it on purpose, but he didn't know the reason behind it.

"Let's ask the emperor in a secret letter first." This was all Zhao Zhigao could say in the end, and others agreed.

In the afternoon, Emperor Wanli sent a eunuch to the cabinet to say: "It is feasible to establish another feudal lord in the north of Korea. No need to say more."

Anyone with a little political sensitivity can sense that the emperor and Lin Tailai seem to be having some dirty dealings, otherwise how could they come up with such a weird Prince Lelang?

However, in the cabinet, Zhang Wei and Li Chun insisted that even if they followed the emperor's will to establish another feudal lord in the northern part of Korea, the eldest son of the king should be given priority from the perspective of etiquette and law.

Zhao Zhigao could not find any theoretical basis to refute it, and there was really no other way, so in the end the cabinet ministers had to submit their own memorials.

Emperor Wanli did not want to get entangled in the issue of establishing the eldest son as the heir, and directly issued an edict according to Lin Tailai's request, but he was stopped by the Censor of the Ministry of Rites.

When the censors heard about this, the Chief Censor Sun Pi Yang, who was stuck in a quagmire, once again submitted a memorial.

They criticized Lin Tailai for deliberately deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son, saying that he must have been too selfish and had ulterior motives. They also criticized Lin Tailai again for having his own troops, deliberately exaggerating the difficulties, and nurturing enemies to cause trouble.

A few days later, Minister of State Affairs Lin Tailai sent another memorial from the Kingdom of Korea.

It was said that Joseon's vassal Ryu Seong-ryong, Kwon Yul, Jeong In-hong and others colluded with Japanese pirates and attempted to occupy the country's western capital, Pyongyang, and support the king's eldest son, Imhae, as a rebellion, but were suppressed by heavenly soldiers a few days ago.

Three thousand miles away, Lin Tianshuai successfully attracted a lot of scolding again. Mr. Lin, will you die if you don’t dig a hole to fish?

You could obviously first say that the eldest prince of Joseon was plotting a rebellion (let's just say it was a real rebellion), and then request the enthronement of the sixth prince!
Instead of using the Sixth Prince to make everyone jump up and down, and then throwing out the First Prince to rebel!
Two days later, Cabinet Grand Secretaries Zhang Wei and Li Chun were reprimanded, and Left Censor-in-Chief Sun Pi Yang was dismissed from office.

This wave of political struggle that began at the end of last year and has continued until now has finally come to a temporary end.

At the Myeongrandang of Sungkyunkwan in Kaesong, Songgyeong, all the generals above the rank of deputy general in the front-line corps were summoned to a meeting today.

Lin Tailai sat in the main seat, cleared his throat, and said to everyone in a serious tone: "I have called you all together today to discuss the affairs of Seoul."

The generals, who were originally very relaxed, looked at the Duke Jinglüe, feeling a little surprised. Is the battle finally going to begin?

Li Rusong seemed incredulous and asked, "Are we really going to attack Seoul?"

Lin Tailai sighed, "The festival is over, the weather has warmed up, the rain has stopped, the food and military supplies are abundant, the soldiers have rested enough, the rear is stable, and new reinforcements are coming. I really have no reason not to fight."

General Li jokingly said, "Why? As long as you can find an excuse, the general will continue to keep his troops in place?"

Lin Tailai replied, "It's not impossible. As long as you can help this department come up with a new and reasonable excuse, then we can continue to do nothing. After all, it will be troublesome to recapture Seoul. The King of Korea will definitely cry and shout to return to Beijing."

Li Rusong: "."

So what are you doing here today by calling everyone to a meeting? Can you help me come up with a new excuse?

The commander of the Third Corps, Dong Yiyuan, tried to smooth things over by saying, "Although we can only talk about military operations today, it would be good to be able to discuss how to attack Seoul."

Lin Tailai, who had been working hard the previous night, yawned and said casually, "Then you guys can discuss it. It doesn't matter even if you can't come up with any good strategy to defeat the enemy."

Everyone was speechless. What is your attitude, Lord Jinglüe? Do you have any intention of starting a fight?
Lin Tailai explained: "Since our army entered Korea, we have often been anxious about food and fodder, and the Japanese soldiers coming across the sea are even worse than us.

The reason why the Japanese soldiers were dispersed in eight regions before was not only to suppress the local areas, but also to find food locally and reduce logistical pressure.

Now, in order to defend against our army, the Japanese army has concentrated tens of thousands of troops in Seoul, and food and grass must be in short supply.

Moreover, the Japanese army's base in Busan is thousands of miles away from Seoul, and the Korean volunteers are harassing them, so supply must be more difficult.

From last year to now, tens of thousands of Japanese troops have occupied Seoul for four months. The consumption is extremely huge. I estimate that the Japanese troops can no longer sustain the consumption.

At this time, the Japanese soldiers may have already thought about withdrawing from Seoul. Even if we do nothing, the Japanese soldiers will withdraw from Seoul within two months. "

The generals looked at each other in bewilderment. Could they recapture Seoul, the capital of Korea, just by sitting still?
This sounds too fantastic, but coming from Lin Jinglie's mouth, it seems somewhat credible.

Those who are familiar with him all know that the more bizarre Lin Jinglie's words are, the more credible they seem to be.

In this case, was it possible that not going into battle for the previous two or three months was also a strategy in order to consume the Japanese army's food supplies?

General Li couldn't help but ask, "So the military commander summoned us here today just to have a small talk?"

"Not entirely." Lin Tailai said, "If the Japanese soldiers retreated from Seoul on their own and we did nothing, how much merit would we have gained?

So today, I have nothing to do, so I called you all together to discuss how to pretend to attack Seoul."

All the generals: “.”

Does this count as being both civil and military, a military and political all-rounder? You, the muscular man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, who is keen on being the first to attack and kill the enemy, are actually thinking about falsely reporting your military exploits.

Lin Tailai looked at the few people who were still in a daze, and directly called on Li Rusong, encouraging him:

"Come on, say a few words first! After all, when it comes to fabricating military exploits, your Li family is well-versed in this field. Your father's experience is more than all of ours combined."

Li Rusong: "."

If it wasn’t for General Lin that you just mentioned my father, I would have broken off all ties with you on the spot!

Lin Tailai promised: "If you write it well, you can take the lead in the battle to capture Seoul!"

"Yes!" General Li agreed subconsciously, and then asked doubtfully, "Are you really going to take the lead?"

Although your credibility in politics, Lin Tailai, is known to all as being solid, your credibility in tactics is negative!

Among those you tricked into becoming your main attacker, which one of them did not eventually become a stepping stone for your great achievements?

Lin Tailai assured very seriously: "You are the one who will take the lead this time. A gentleman's word is as good as his bond."

Li Rusong thought for a while and decided that it would be possible if he was responsible for the deployment of the troops.

Then Li Rusong thought for a while and suggested: "If it is true as the general said, the Japanese pirates are extremely short of food and grass, we can use this to make a fuss, and there is no need to make up a battle.

First, they had to find a way to pretend to negotiate peace with the Japanese pirates, but when the military commander was negotiating with the pirates, he had to pretend that the talks had failed.

But the military commander should point it out at that time. We already know that they are short of food and grass. The worst that can happen is that we wait for them to run out of food and grass, which is called alerting the enemy."

Everyone was silent as Li Rusong continued, "If the Japanese knew that we had learned their details, they would definitely decide to retreat.

However, given the cunningness of the Japanese, they will pretend to continue negotiating peace as a cover for their retreat.

At this time, we can roughly grasp the time of the Japanese pirates' withdrawal from Seoul through the time of peace talks.

The general continued to negotiate peace with the Japanese and confuse them, while our army dispatched cavalry to quickly move south and chase the retreating Japanese soldiers from behind.

We should capture as much as we can, so as to avoid heavy casualties in the siege and save our military manpower and material resources."

Everyone nodded. If this "startling the enemy by striking the grass" plan could be successfully implemented, it would be really good. General Li is indeed quite capable.

After listening to this, Lin Tailai seemed a little dissatisfied and said, "So according to your plan, the mission of this department from beginning to end is only to pretend to negotiate peace? You are responsible for chasing and killing the retreating Japanese pirates?"

Li Rusong explained in a serious tone: "Because your image is deeply rooted in people's hearts and you are the commander-in-chief of the entire army, the Japanese pirates will definitely look for you if they want to negotiate.

No one else can replace you, nor can anyone impersonate you, so you have to come forward in person and pretend to negotiate.

This mission is very important and can only be done by a military officer, so it is considered that everyone is doing their best.”

Lin Tailai wanted to say something more, but Li Rusong said, "The commander just promised that I will be the leader this time."

"Okay! I'll entrust it to you!" Lin Tailai finally kept his promise and the fish seemed to have taken the bait.

General Li, who took the lead, became very motivated and started to work on the details bit by bit.

A campaign plan is not just about making a blueprint, it also requires filling in a lot of details.

"The first question is, how can we pretend to propose peace talks without letting the Japanese pirates in Seoul see that it is fake and become suspicious?"

Lin Tailai thought about it and said, "We can wait for Konishi Yukinaga to come back from Pyongyang and send him as the middleman. He will definitely be happy with it."

Previously, he said that there was no need for peace talks, but he didn't expect that now he would have to hold a fake peace talks, and Konishi Yukinaga could actually make use of waste again.

(End of this chapter)