Daming talker

Chapter 725: Seoul Raiders (Part )

Lin Tianshuai now has no direct ability to interfere in the right and wrong of the court three thousand miles away. He just plays with it out of habit, such as first helping the sixth prince to get a title, and then reporting the eldest prince's rebellion.

Although this fishing method is old-fashioned, it is still useful. As long as there are people in the court who can decide the position with their butts, there is a high probability of catching a few fish.

After sending Yin Zhuoran to Pyongyang to deal with the aftermath, Lin Tianshuai's main attention shifted from Jin Sunbin to the royal capital Seoul.

By the time Konishi Yukinaga was captured again and taken back to Kaesong by the 4th Corps, it was already March.

Marshal Lin Tian personally met with Konishi Yukinaga and encouraged him, "Settsu no Kami! Congratulations, you have passed my test. Now I can give you a more important task!"

Konishi Yukinaga was in a daze. Why are you talking like a superior? I am not your retainer.

Then Lin Tailai said, "I don't want too many casualties in Seoul, so I want to negotiate peace. I want to send you to Seoul to pass on the message!"

"How dare you disobey my order!" Konishi Yukinaga said in great joy. If he could facilitate peace talks, it would be a great achievement for him, and the shame of being captured could be wiped out.

After that, after Lin Tianshuai rewarded the newly arrived Fourth Corps of Li Shu, he issued a military order, and the Third Battalion of Jinglüe, most of Li Rusong's First Corps, Dong Yiyuan's Third Corps, and Li Shu's Fourth Corps, totaling 60,000 people, marched southward towards Seoul, which was more than a hundred miles away.

When passing by Pyeongchang, Lin Tianshuai wanted to stay for one more day to conduct a review of the last battle of Pyeongchang at the original site.

But General Li, with a gloomy face, firmly refused and urged the army to continue moving south.

It had been agreed beforehand that Li Rusong would be fully responsible for commanding this battle, so Marshal Lin Tian didn't say much.

In fact, when it comes to marching and deploying troops, Li Rusong is definitely more professional than Lin Tailai, so Lin Tailai deliberately gave up the command so that he would have less worries.

To be honest, Seoul at that time was not small. The city was located north of the Han River. The city wall was more than 30 miles long and was built on the surrounding mountains. It had four large gates and four small gates.

The city area is relatively large and the terrain is complex. It would be difficult to completely besiege Seoul with 60,000 troops, so the main force of the army camped in the west and north, with a small force in the east to provide support.

General Li was not in a hurry to attack the city, but according to the original plan, he let Konishi Yukinaga enter Seoul first.

The heavenly soldiers arrived at the city in large numbers. This time it was not a small-scale fight like Li Rusong did a few months ago. The Japanese pirates in Seoul immediately became extremely nervous.

When Konishi Yukinaga entered the city from the Dunyi Gate in the west, the high-ranking Japanese pirates were holding a military meeting at Pushinagaku.

The general Ukita Hideie was in the center, and on one side were the three military supervisors, Ishida Mitsunari, Ōtani Yoshitsugu, Masuda Nagamori, and Konishi Yukinaga. They all belonged to the Western Army in the future Battle of Sekigahara, and now they all wanted to retreat from Seoul.

On the other side are the corps commanders Kobayakawa Takakage, Kuroda Nagamasa, Fukushima Masanori and others. Most of them will be from the Eastern Army in the future Battle of Sekigahara, and now they all want to fight first.

When Konishi Yukinaga came in, Fukushima Masanori, the leader of the "Seven Spears of Jianyue", snorted coldly, "You are the one who lured the Ming invaders here?"

Konishi Yukinaga ignored Fukushima Masanori and said directly to his "old master" General Ukita Hideie: "The Ming army asked me to bring a message!

They said they were unwilling to suffer too many casualties in the siege. As long as they agreed to negotiate peace, they would allow our army to leave Seoul safely!"

Kobayakawa Takakage, who was also a pro-war faction, slammed the table and shouted, "You are daydreaming!"

The First Military Supervisor, Ishida Mitsunari, thought about the food stored in the city and asked with great interest, "How do we talk?"

Following Lin Tailai's instructions, Konishi Yukinaga replied, "The Ming army can send people into the city to negotiate."

Ishida Mitsunari shook his head. "It's not appropriate. If we let the Ming invaders enter the city, I'm afraid they will be able to spy on our army's strengths and weaknesses. So if we want to negotiate, our army should send people out of the city."

Then Ishida Mitsunari said to the general commander Ukita Hideie, "What do you think, Prime Minister?"

The useless official system of Japan was modeled after the Tang system. Those above the rank of Sanji could be called prime ministers, and Ukita Hideie's current official position was Sanji, so prime minister was used as a respectful title.

According to the Japanese army's custom at that time, others were responsible for talking and arranging specific matters, while the general was responsible for making the final decision.

Ukita Hideie decided, "Let's talk first."

Ishida Mitsunari said to Konishi Yukinaga, "Please ask Settsu no Kami to go to the Ming camp again. We can negotiate at Muhua Pavilion outside Dunyi Gate tomorrow, but Lin Jinglue must come in person."

In later generations, Dunui Gate was called West Gate, which means the main gate on the west side of the city wall.

Two or three miles outside Donyi Gate on the outskirts of the city, the Joseon Dynasty built a Muhua Pavilion. As the name suggests, it was a place specifically used to welcome envoys from the Celestial Empire and imperial edicts.

This distance is still suitable, but the risk for the Japanese envoys is a little greater, after all, there are Ming troops outside the city.

After receiving the report from Konishi Yukinaga, the commander-in-chief Li Rusong "ordered" Lin Tianshuai, "You will personally go to Muhua Pavilion to negotiate tomorrow and use your best expertise!"

Lin Tianshuai asked in confusion: "What is your greatest strength? Do you want our department to kill the other party's envoy on the spot?"

"In your words, it's just pretending to be awesome! You need to make the most of your greatest talent, pretending to be awesome!
Based on my research on the habits of the Japanese slaves, I know that the more you pretend, the more the Japanese slaves will believe you! "

Lin Tianshuai: “.”

It can be seen that General Li has really put in a lot of effort to study the Japanese.

On the next day, Marshal Lin Tian brought a thousand men from his personal guard battalion and arrived at the Muhua Pavilion outside the Dunyi Gate with great fanfare.

Outside the Muhua Hall, there is a two-pillar archway with a plaque inscribed with three large characters: "Ying'en Gate".

Every time envoys from the Joseon Dynasty arrived in Seoul with the imperial edict, the King of Joseon would personally hold a ceremony to welcome the edict and pay tribute to the edict placed in the Dragon Pavilion.

Moreover, this place is located in the suburbs outside the West Gate, so it also conforms to the etiquette of "suburban welcoming".

Lin Tailai stopped and looked up at the Ying'en Gate for a while, his mind full of thoughts.

In the original historical time and space, the Ying'en Gate was demolished after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, symbolizing the complete collapse of the Celestial Empire's power on the peninsula.

Later, Yeong'enmun was rebuilt. What's even funnier is that it was finally renamed Independencemun. It still stands in Seoul more than 400 years later.

Anyway, Lin Tailai didn’t know what kind of independence this independent gate had.

"Let's talk at Ying'en Gate." Lin Tailai told Shen Weijing and Konishi Yukinaga, "The house must have been destroyed long ago, so we might as well be comfortable outside."

The Japanese envoy appeared in the yard, still not as tall as Lin Tianshuai's chest, with his face covered with a white cloth.

Konishi Yukinaga was standing in the middle, and was about to introduce himself when he heard Lin Tianshuai say, "One of the three magistrates of the Japanese army, Otani Keibu Shosuke Yoshitsugu?"

Konishi Yukinaga was shocked again. Tianshuai's understanding of his opponent always exceeded his imagination! Just by covering his face with a piece of white cloth, he could guess who the opponent was?

Because Otani Yoshitsugu suffered from leprosy and had pus on his face, he was usually covered with cloth, and Tianshuai actually knew this!
Lin Tianshuai continued arrogantly, "Why didn't you see the general commander Ukita Hideie or the first magistrate Ishida Mitsunari? Only Otani Yoshitsugu came?"

The interpreter Shen Weijing who was standing next to him translated the story truthfully while complaining in his heart that Tianshuai could really make people angry to death when he spoke in an irritating way.

Otani Yoshitsugu was one of the three magistrates of the Japanese army, how much do you look down on him? And you even looked down on him directly in front of him.

Besides, negotiating outside the city would be extremely risky for the Japanese envoys. It would be great if they could send Yoshitsugu Otani out. Could they possibly send the general or the first magistrate out of the city?

Otani Yoshitsugu didn't know whether he was calm by nature or didn't dare to get angry. He bowed slightly to Lin Tianshuai and replied:
"Ishida Jibu wanted to come in person, but he is ill and cannot travel, so I am here to discuss this on his behalf."

Lin Tianshuai sneered, "Who are you kidding? I think the real reason is that if something unexpected happens, you can die in his place, right?
I know that you are very grateful to Ishida Mitsunari, and you are willing to die for him."

Yoshitsugu Otani's psychological defenses seemed to be torn apart, and he was stunned on the spot. Why did Tian Shuai know his heart so clearly?
Lin Tianshuai looked at the dazed Otani Yoshitsugu and sighed, "You are really uninteresting. Among all the Japanese generals, I am least interested in you.

Even if Fukushima Masanori comes, it would be good too. I heard that he is the leader of the seven guns.

Kato Kiyomasa, who ranked second among the seven guns, only withstood three of my punches. I wonder how many punches Fukushima Masanori can withstand?"

Interpreter Shen Weijing found that whenever he served as an interpreter for Lin Tianshuai, he would often feel particularly sympathetic towards him.

Just like today, before we could even talk about the business, Otani on the opposite side was repeatedly humiliated.

The most important thing is that facing a physique like Lin Tianshuai, most people would not dare to take action even if they were humiliated.

Konishi Yukinaga walked up to Otani Yoshitsugu and spoke a lot of anxious words in Japanese, probably providing on-the-spot psychological counseling.

Otani Yoshitsugu finally came to his senses, remembered his duties, and asked, "If we negotiate peace in this battle, what are your conditions?"

Lin Tianshuai directly put forward the conditions: "Lay down your weapons, leave the food and grass, and I will let tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers leave Seoul safely."

"This is absolutely unacceptable!" Otani Yoshitsugu said excitedly, "Our army also has generals who advocate defending the city. If you are not sincere in negotiating peace, we can only fight each other on the city wall."

Lin Tianshuai said casually, "Fight to the death? Your food and grass reserves are limited, right?
If I calculated correctly, the grain reserves in the city should be less than 20,000 shi, or about 15,000 shi?

If calculated based on an army of 50,000, these stored grains can only support two months at most.

We, the heavenly soldiers, have already waited for three months, so we don’t mind waiting for two more months.

It is impossible to attack the city. We can just send out a large number of cavalry to intercept your food and grass transportation outside the city.

By the way, your food storage is all in Longshan Warehouse, right? It’s not too far from the south city wall. If we think of a way, we might be able to set it on fire.”

Yoshitsugu Otani's mentality, which had just been calmed down by Yukinaga Konishi, collapsed again!
This is too shocking! How did the other party know such a secret as the amount of food stored by the other side?
Only a few people know this number, it's impossible for anyone to leak it, not even Konishi Yukinaga knows it!

Lin Tailai urged, "Why are you in a daze again? Can you agree to my condition?"

Yoshitsugu Otani had no intention of negotiating and just wanted to return to the city to report!
The enemy's general knows the amount of our grain reserves, which is in itself a very important information and must be reported back as soon as possible!
Otani Yoshitsugu said anxiously: "I already know your conditions, but I cannot make the decision. I need to go back and report and ask for instructions."

Lin Tianshuai said impatiently: "It's really troublesome that someone can't make the decision!
Let Konishi Yukinaga accompany you back to the city. If there is any result, let Konishi Yukinaga come back and let me know!"

Otani Yoshitsugu bowed and said nothing more, then hurried back to the city with Konishi Yukinaga.

Watching Otani leave, Lin Tianshuai reviewed today's negotiation process in his mind.

Overall, it was pretty decent and could be considered a normal performance. It should be considered that the mission of "startling the enemy" was accomplished, right?

He returned to the camp and told Li Rusong about the situation.

General Li said, "If your intelligence is correct, the Japanese pirates will definitely abandon the city and retreat after being frightened like this."

Then he asked with some concern: "Is the intelligence you mentioned really accurate? Do the Japanese pirates really only have two months' worth of food left? Do the Japanese pirates really intend to retreat?"

Lin Tianshuai said mysteriously: "If the other you doesn't deceive people, the information should be accurate."

General Li: “?”

What is "another me"? Do you want to talk about philosophy?
In the previous life, anyone who has watched the Wanli Imjin War would have an impression of the recapture of Seoul, but would be confused if they think about it carefully.

Historically, General Li's battle report was: In early March, the Japanese pirates' Longshan warehouse was burned, and hundreds of thousands of grains stored by the Japanese pirates were burned. Then the Japanese pirates fled from Seoul.

However, according to records, in General Li’s battle report, tens of thousands of Japanese pirates, whose food and supplies were completely destroyed in early March, did not retreat from Seoul until mid-to-late April.

By comparison, we can infer that General Li used his family's skills and bragged about it in the battle report.

The real situation is probably that in mid-to-late April, tens of thousands of Japanese pirates in Seoul were worried about food and fodder problems and took the initiative to withdraw from Seoul.

It just so happened that General Li had previously carried out some sabotage work on the Japanese pirates' Longshan Warehouse, and it was natural for him to take the credit for the Japanese pirates' retreat and the recapture of Seoul.

Based on this information, we can infer that now, which is the beginning of March, the actual grain reserves of the Japanese pirates in Seoul can only last for two months at most.

So in history, the Japanese pirates in Seoul retreated on their own initiative in mid-to-late April.

The reason why Lin Tianshuai delayed attacking Seoul until March, in addition to other reasons, was another important reason, which was to make it as consistent as possible with the original history so as to facilitate the inference of relevant data about the Japanese pirates.

Not long after, Konishi Yukinaga returned from Seoul and brought back the latest news.

"Ishida Jibe Mitsunari said that it would take some time to think about the conditions and convince the pro-war factions such as Kobayakawa Takakage and Fukushima Masanori.

After two days, we will negotiate again at the Muhua Pavilion. I hope that the governor will also relax the peace terms a little to facilitate the peace talks. "

Lin Tailai and Li Rusong looked at each other. This reply seemed very reasonable and flawless.

But if you believe in the character of the Japanese pirates, you should be able to imagine that it would take two days to prepare for escape?

Restarting the negotiations in two days is just a delaying tactic and a cover-up for hiding the truth?
Li Rusong said, "In any case, we will continue to trouble you to attend the negotiations to avoid the Japanese pirates from getting suspicious."

When the time comes, you can talk to the Japanese pirates slowly, and I, your brother, will go and kill the enemies and make merit!

(End of this chapter)