I'm really not doing business

Chapter 724 A Good Start

Zeng Xingwu was very sympathetic to the sufferings of the Koreans. This was emotional, but it was irrational to make decisions in the court because of sympathy. It was a very stupid act to carry someone else's coffin to your own home and cry. The Korean king was a carnivore and harmed his own people for his own benefit. This was not the Ming Dynasty's business.

The main reason he proposed to advance was that the Ming army needed a strong fulcrum for its strategic entry into Korea, and Yizhou was the key.

Most of the borders of countries with a long history are natural borders, that is, formed by geographical environments such as rivers, mountains, and passes. The same is true for the border between Ming Dynasty and Korea.

After the Tang Dynasty conquered Goguryeo, it took the northern part of the Korean Peninsula for itself, but soon gave it up because the northern part of the Korean Peninsula was too barren, with insufficient land and precipitation, many mountains, inconvenient roads, and other reasons. These were the reasons why the Tang Dynasty gave up the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

Since the Yalu River was established as the border during the Xuande period, the Ming Dynasty no longer took Korea as a strategic direction. Perhaps under the influence of the actuarial trend, the Beijing Xingdusi, Hetao, Jiaozhi Thirteen Si, Jiugang Xuanweisi, Luzon Governor's Office, Three Xuans and Six Wei were abandoned one after another, and the Ming Dynasty showed a trend of complete contraction.

The natural boundary means that if the Ming Dynasty wants to intervene in the situation on the Korean Peninsula, it will have to pay a huge cost in manpower and material resources, which is not cost-effective and may even affect the overall strategy of the Ming Dynasty. If more investment is made in the Korean Peninsula, the Ming Dynasty's opening of the sea, reopening of the Western Regions, and management of the Indochina Peninsula will be reduced accordingly. It will become a foregone conclusion that the Korean Peninsula will become a burden to the Ming Dynasty.

However, this battle must be fought and the Japanese pirates must not go ashore.

In this situation, the sooner we capture Yizhou, the sooner we build a port, and the sooner we gain a fulcrum for strategic offensive, the more valuable it becomes.

Zeng Xingwu was an extreme conservative, and all his decisions were based on the priority of the interests of the Ming Dynasty.

"So what do you think?" Zhu Yijun asked the ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

The six ministries explained their ideas, and finally the court decided to urge the vanguard battalion led by Ma Lin to quickly rush to Jiuliancheng. The moment the cavalry battalion arrived, the two thousand soldiers of Jiuliancheng immediately crossed the river and entered Yizhou.

The specific details of the campaign are entirely the responsibility of the military generals on the front line.

"General Qi, the Ming Cavalry Battalion has been on a long expedition from Liaodong to Yizhou, traveling through mountains and rivers, sleeping in the open air and crossing ridges. The soldiers are most tired at this moment. Is there anything wrong with attacking at this time?" Zhu Yijun had no doubts about the overall decision, but he felt sorry for the Ming Cavalry Battalion. The vanguard battalion led by Ma Lin had just arrived at the mouth of the Yalu River and had to prepare for battle without any rest.

"Your Majesty, the Korean side was defeated too quickly. In just 19 days, Seoul was lost. How long can Kaesong and Pyongyang last?" Qi Jiguang said helplessly: "I also want to let the cavalry camp rest, but time waits for no one. If Yizhou is also captured by the Japanese pirates, crossing the river will become more dangerous."

"Your Majesty, the Cavalry Battalion is the elite of the Beijing Camp. I have great confidence in the soldiers of the Beijing Camp."

"Then let's do as General Qi says." After much deliberation, Zhu Yijun finally accepted Qi Jiguang's opinion and added more burden to Ma Lin's vanguard camp with 3,000 soldiers. The change in the situation was beyond the expectations of the Ming Dynasty. The time had come to test the elite soldiers of the Beijing camp.

The performance of the Beijing Army did not disappoint the emperor. Just as the Beijing Army’s slogan said, they were always ready.

There was a very obvious information gap between the Ming court and the front line. This was because of the distance. When the Ming emperor issued an order to attack, the order was passed to Li Chengliang in Liaodong, and Li Chengliang then issued an order to Jiuliancheng. This journey was very long. The information gap caused by the distance made Zhu Yijun very worried that the court's orders would be delayed, so he wanted to give Li Chengliang the power to act at his convenience.

But for various reasons, before the war, this chaotic command system can only be like this temporarily. Once the war starts, the front-line generals will have more room, and this chaotic and lagging command will be greatly improved.

You will be outside, and your orders will not be accepted.

The cavalry battalion led by Ma Lin had 3,000 people. As they were the vanguard, they did not need to carry too much baggage. Each person had five horses, a set of armor, weapons and equipment. When he arrived at Jiuliancheng, the imperial edict of the Ming Emperor had not yet arrived in Jiuliancheng. After resting in the vanguard camp for five full days, when the cavalry battalion of the vanguard camp was so idle that they were preparing to hunt as a training task, the imperial edict of the Ming Emperor finally arrived.

The postman rode at full speed to Jiulian City, and when he learned that Ma Lin was at the parade ground, he hurried over again.

It was not that the postmen ran slowly, but that Ma Lin's cavalry battalion was too fast, and its mobility was fully utilized. Originally, each person in the cavalry battalion had only three war horses. When the vanguard battalion was marching, Li Chengliang provided an additional 6,000 war horses, which enabled them to achieve such a speed.

The military commander of Jiuliancheng was Zhao Ji, a fifth-rank captain, who was a fierce general under Wang Rulong.

Zhao Jixingqi was originally a vegetable farmer in Caihuying, the capital of Shuntian Prefecture. A family named Sun in the city owed money to Caihuying. Zhao Jixing filed a complaint, but it turned out that it was the common people who were wronged, not the master. The magistrate of Miyun County in Shuntian Prefecture at that time did not dare to protect Sun and asked him to pay back the money. Sun was so angry that he brought his servants to fight at the door.

After hearing the news, the magistrate of Miyun rushed over with the yamen runners, fearing that Zhao Laoqi would be beaten by the Sun family, which would make things more troublesome. As a result, Zhao Laoqi was able to kill a servant of the Sun family with a hammer and then killed a petitioner with another hammer. He was extremely brave and killed anyone who stood in his way.

Finally, Zhao Ji was exiled to Yingchang, which was almost equivalent to a death sentence. At that time, even Tuman Khan was still committing crimes on the grassland.

Before being exiled, Zhu Yijun met Zhao Laoqi once. Hearing that Zhao Laoqi was brave, Zhu Yijun was excited and wrestled with Zhao Laoqi. Although Zhu Yijun, the best young man in the Ming Dynasty who ate fine grains, won, his hands were shaking. At that time, Zhao Laoqi ate coarse grains. At the age of sixteen, he had only eaten meat a few times.

Zhao Ji's bravery made him feel at home in Yingchang Prefecture.

At this time, on the Jiuliancheng parade ground, Zhao Ji and Ma Lin were bare-chested, half-squatting, leaning forward, circling around and testing each other. They were wrestling.

The way the military solves problems is always somewhat simple. Of course, in the eyes of educated people, fighting with bare chests is really a bit indecent and a barbaric act.

But one is a general with elite troops under his command, and the other is a brave general who has been on the battlefield for a long time and guards the border. Even if the two of them are friendly when they meet, the elite troops of the Beijing camp and the soldiers guarding the border will not be convinced by each other.

In the eyes of the border guards, the elite soldiers of the Beijing Camp? A bunch of young masters who have never been on the battlefield. In the eyes of the elite soldiers of the Beijing Camp, the veterans who have fought hundreds of battles? They have no discipline and are careless. How can they be trusted on the battlefield?
It is normal to fight with each other, so Ma Lin and Zhao Ji started wrestling with their bare chests. Whoever wins is considered powerful and will be the leader.

As soon as they started, Ma Lin and Zhao Ji put away their contempt for each other. An expert could tell the outcome with just one move, and the idea was too tricky.

Ma Lin's skills are better, but Zhao Ji's strength is not what a human should have!
This was the first time that Ma Lin felt that he was inferior to his opponent in strength. Even Li Rusong's strength was only comparable to Ma Lin's.

Moreover, Zhao Ji was only sixteen years old when he was exiled to Yingchang, and he had grown a bit taller in the past few years. The soldiers called Zhao Ji General Xiong, nicknamed Xiong Bin.

General Bear, as his name suggests, looks like a bear and weighs more than ten kilograms more than Marlin.

"Ah!" Zhao Ji's eyes rolled, and he suddenly roared and pounced forward. In a very short time, he had figured out his advantages. If he was not as skilled as his opponent, he would defeat him with force!

He grabbed Marin and started the purest strength contest, pushing and shoving.

Marin secretly thought that he was in trouble. Zhao Ji, with a red face and trembling veins, pushed Marin with all his strength. At this time, Marin's skills were useless. If he relaxed any more, he would be pushed out of the boundary. He could only use all his strength to push Marin.

"Ah!" Zhao Ji roared again, bursting out with all his strength and began to push Marin. Marin was slightly weaker and was slowly but firmly pushed out of the boundary step by step.

"Good!" The Jiuliancheng border troops burst into huge cheers because their General Xiong won.

In the previous archery competition, Ma Lin won. Ma Lin was able to use the Tiger Power Bow and hit the target with three arrows. However, Zhao Ji was also able to use the Tiger Power Bow but only hit the target with two arrows out of three.

Now Zhao Ji has regained his position and won the game.

"I can't beat you." Zhao Ji pulled Ma Lin up breathlessly and said loudly. This was not to give face to the queen of military honor, but he really couldn't beat her. He also told his soldiers not to misunderstand.

There are rules in military wrestling, and many of the weaker moves and killing moves cannot be used. If it really ended on the battlefield, Zhao Ji would probably be killed by Ma Lin in a dozen rounds, because Zhao Ji's moves were all unconventional.

"After this battle, I will ask my father to recommend you to the Military Academy." Ma Lin stood up, stretched out his hand, bumped Zhao Ji with his shoulder, held Zhao Ji's hand and said, "Ten thousand men with one strength, the world is invincible!"

"With the combined strength of ten thousand men, we are invincible!" Zhao Ji showed an honest smile and shouted loudly to everyone.

"The imperial edict has arrived!" A cavalryman ran into the parade ground of Jiulian City, and the postman on horseback delivered the imperial edict with golden characters on it to Ma Lin's hands.

"Your Majesty has ordered that the vanguard camp will enter Yizhou immediately on the day it arrives." Ma Lin opened it and looked at it for a moment and said, "Captain Zhao, prepare to enter the DPRK to fight. I will support you."

After Zhao Ji confirmed the imperial edict, he immediately began to prepare to cross the river. In fact, he had already made preparations and was just waiting for the order.

While Marin looked at the imperial edict, he tasted another meaning. The Emperor of Ming Dynasty completely abandoned the Korean royal family and that group of meat-eaters. All the decisions of Ming Dynasty before had to consider one issue: what the Korean royal family was thinking. That was to regard the Korean meat-eaters as human beings. But now, Ming Dynasty no longer cared about the thoughts of the Korean royal family.

Marin was a military general. It was normal for a military general to keep some hawks and dogs. But some generals kept these beasts and they couldn't tell the difference between a king and a king. They even dared to bare their teeth at their masters. Not only that, they also bit people. These dogs who dared to bite people had only one end, and that was dog meat hotpot.

Marin didn't understand much about politics. He thought that the relationship between Ming Dynasty and Korea was that of a master and his lackeys. Before, Ming Dynasty still cared about the thoughts of the Korean royal family, so these lackeys began to show their teeth, start to act arrogantly, and start to bite people, even catching the officials in the court off guard.

When the Ming court no longer regarded the Korean royal family as human beings, it meant that the Ming Dynasty had truly made up its mind to completely solve the problem in the northeast, solve it once and for all, completely occupy and rule the northeast, and not let the northeast become a burden in its rise again.

Marin welcomes this change in attitude.

"There is a 172-mile stretch of the Yalu River that will not freeze. You will lead a thousand men to cross the river at the Ji'an Ferry in Jiuliancheng, and I will lead a thousand cavalry battalions to follow closely. If North Korea surrenders, we must build a bridge at the Ji'an Ferry within three days and try to connect Jiuliancheng and Yizhou." After putting on armor, Ma Lin came to the central military tent and began to make specific arrangements.

"If the bridge is not repaired within three days, prepare to retreat. If the bridge is not repaired within five days, retreat immediately." Marin made further deployment.

After the battle, they would have to retreat just because the bridge had not been repaired. This was Marin's conservative battle plan. Because of the weather, the lives of the Ming soldiers were more important than anything else. Without a bridge for supply, once the Yalu River began to flood, the consequences would be disastrous.

On the 23rd day of the first lunar month, it was already the beginning of spring. The ice upstream began to thaw, which would block the river and prevent ships from passing normally. An army without logistics would just wait for death, especially if it was fighting in Korea instead of fighting on its own territory. The Ming army had only 5,000 soldiers in Jiuliancheng, and the loss of 2,000 soldiers was an unbearable price to pay.

The defeat of the vanguard and the crushing defeat of the army could easily lead to a major rout. If the Japanese pirates were allowed to invade the Ming Dynasty, then Marin would be a historical sinner, and if the emperor didn't kill him, he would have to commit suicide to apologize.

Ma Lin said solemnly: "If the Yizhou garrison wants to defend the city, then break through the city and take them into custody. Be careful to take all the defeated soldiers into custody. If they disobey the discipline, kill them on the spot to prevent chaos."

The imperial court completely gave up the idea of ​​taking the Korean royal family into consideration, which brought many conveniences to the warfare. Without the pressure from top to bottom, the Ming army became more relaxed in advancing and retreating during the war.

Early the next morning, just after daybreak, hundreds of small boats at the Ji'an Ferry began to slide slowly towards the other side of the Yalu River. As soon as Zhao Ji got ashore, he took the lead and headed towards Yizhou. At the same moment Zhao Ji got ashore, Ma Lin put down the telescope in his hand, waved his arms, and the flag waved, and the boat under his feet began to slide.

In fact, Ma Lin was quite worried. The Ming army was making a lot of noise, and Jiuliancheng had frequent exchanges with Yizhou on the opposite side. Yizhou must be well aware of Jiuliancheng's movements. If the Yizhou army attacked halfway across the river, or set up an ambush at the ferry, the Ming army would probably have to pay some price.

But none of this happened.

After Ma Lin crossed the river, good news came that Zhao Ji took over the defense of Yizhou and everything went very smoothly.

The general guarding Yizhou was well aware of the news that the Ming Dynasty was going to cross the river today. When Zhao Ji arrived at the foot of Yizhou City, the gates of the adobe city wall were wide open, and the civil and military officials in the city had been waiting for a long time, waiting to surrender.

The Ming Dynasty thought that Yizhou would resist, while Yizhou was worried that the Ming army would not come. It was like trying to fight a wolf with a stick and being afraid of both ends. The Japanese pirates were extremely ferocious, and the civil and military officials of Yizhou were also worried that the Japanese pirates would come one day and the Ming army would not have arrived yet.

Now, the Ming Dynasty soldiers have finally arrived!

The Japanese pirates landed on the Korean Peninsula from Tsushima Island, and it took only 19 days for Seoul to fall. Under such circumstances, the civil and military officials of Yizhou no longer had any confidence in the King of Korea. When they were in a panic, they suddenly heard that the Ming army was coming. Regardless of whether they had the order of the King of Korea or not, and no matter what they came to do, the civil and military officials of Yizhou had found their backbone.

The Ming army quickly took over all defenses, and then sent out Duntai Yuanhou to collect various intelligence. Soon a huge problem was placed in front of the Ming army, that is, there were too many refugees fleeing to Yizhou City.

The front line was in disarray and the people were fleeing, but the King of Joseon, Yi Sun, transferred all the food and grass from Yiju to Pyongyang. Yi Sun shouted the slogan of living and dying with Pyongyang and decided to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese pirates in Pyongyang.

"Duntai Yuanhou heard that Lee Sun shouted such a slogan in Seoul, and withdrew his troops. All the food and grass entered Seoul. Before the Japanese pirates arrived at the city, Lee Sun abandoned everyone and fled to Kaesong with the royal family, civil and military officials. Seoul fell without a fight." Zhao Ji said solemnly.

Seoul is one of the only three cities in North Korea with brick and stone walls, along with Kaesong and Pyongyang.

The siege of Seoul was thirty miles long, but Yi Sun refused to flee. A gentleman dies for his country. Nineteen days? Even if the Japanese pirates were given a year, they still couldn't take it down.

The Japanese pirates came from afar and lacked firearms for siege, but Lee Sun fled with his clan members and ministers, and the people's hearts immediately dispersed. The most crucial thing was that the food and grass in southern Korea were concentrated in Seoul and left to the Japanese pirates.

"The same mistake was made twice!" Marin looked at the feng shui map with a frown.

Food and grass from northern Korea were also concentrated in Pyongyang. This time, Lee Sun vowed to live and die with Pyongyang, but no one believed him anymore as the number of refugees in Yizhou was increasing.

"What should we do? Should we save these refugees or not? If we don't save them, they will become disunited and there will be endless troubles in the future. If we save them, where will we get so much food?" Zhao Ji asked Ma Lin for his opinion.

This difficulty is like disaster relief. Work-for-relief is a universal solution, but before using work-for-relief, they must have something to eat so that they do not turn from refugees into bandits. Moreover, organizing production is a very tedious task, which is a huge challenge for the Ming army.

"Can we get some food and supplies from Pyongyang?" Zhao Ji proposed his own solution.

"We can't get it. We've asked for it many times." The faces of the officials who surrendered in Yizhou were as ugly as they could be. Direct surrender was a difficult choice. Who wanted to be a traitor?

But the princes and nobles in Pyongyang were really too much! Countless refugees poured into Yizhou, and the number was still increasing. Yizhou asked for food and fodder relief, or at least to open soup kitchens to keep people alive, but Yi Sun refused.

"Report!" A Duntai Yuanhou hurriedly ran into the main hall of the Yizhou government office and bowed his head and said, "Report! The first, second and third legions of the Japanese pirates, led by Konishi Yukinaga, Kato Kiyomasa, Kuroda Nagamasa and others, besieged Imjin and broke through in three days. The Imjin garrison died in a desperate battle. Kaesong is in danger!"

After the Chinese New Year, the Japanese pirates divided into three directions from Seoul and continued their attack. After being surrounded on three sides, Imjin was captured.

"Kaesong is the last line of defense. If Kaesong is captured, Pyongyang will not be able to hold on. Defeat is a foregone conclusion." Marin made a quick judgment. When the army is defeated, it will continue to be defeated. Only by winning a great victory can the scattered people's hearts be united.

Imjin was originally a good opportunity, but the Japanese pirates' attack was extremely swift.

"More refugees will pour into Yizhou. Should we save them or not?" Zhao Ji asked Ma Lin about his decision.

"Save them." Marin said immediately, "The Ming Dynasty cannot save them. They have to save themselves. Immediately impose military control on Yizhou. All the food and farmland in the city will be confiscated and rationed. Of course, we must save them, but all the refugees must work to reclaim wasteland, build bridges, roads, ports, and docks."

"Yizhou itself has a population of 70,000, and refugees are constantly pouring in, so the number of refugees may exceed 100,000. The summer harvest is in mid-June. In the past six months, at least 300,000 dan of grain will be needed. Does Yizhou have that much grain?"

Marin passed the cultural subjects under his father's whip. As for the question of how much so many people could eat, Marin soon got an answer. In order to prevent unexpected events, Marin made the most conservative estimate of 300,000 stones.

"I don't know." The officials from Yizhou looked at each other. They didn't know how much grain Yizhou could collect.

"Captain Zhao, come and get the food." Ma Lin made arrangements immediately. The North Koreans could not be relied on at all.

Any article needs logic, but when it comes to interest games, logic is often not considered.

As the king of Joseon, Lee Sun had already abandoned his people once in Seoul. Will Lee Sun abandon his people again in the battle of Pyongyang? Marin believes that Lee Sun will definitely do so. This guy is a repeat offender.

Ma Lin and Zhao Ji hoped to solve the problem of refugees from the Yizhou War. This was also based on considerations of interests. Once these refugees were truly appeased, they would be the greatest support for the Ming Dynasty's conquest of Korea, and even the greatest support for the Ming Dynasty's war against Japan.

In order to appease these refugees, Ma Lin chose to take action against the local landlords in Yizhou.

On the third day, the bridge was successfully built. It was a huge stone bridge, two miles long and thirty feet wide, with thirteen piers and twelve arches. The only problem with this bridge was that it would block the river. But the bridge was built only during war, and if it really needed shipping, it could be dismantled and rebuilt after the war.

On the fifth day, Zhao Ji finally confiscated all the granaries in Yizhou. On the second day after the Ming army occupied Yizhou, rationing began. By the fifth day, Zhao Ji had collected a total of 430,000 shi of grain from Yizhou, which was enough to rescue the refugees in Yizhou and also could supply the Ming cavalry camp for two months.

"A total of 430,000 dan of millet, wheat, buckwheat, beans, sesame, and sorghum have been stored, and another 150,000 bundles of fodder have been stored. There will be no problem in getting through to the summer harvest. These 150,000 bundles of fodder will be used to build huts near Yizhou, and each family will be given 12 jin of fodder for heating." Zhao Ji looked around and continued, "At present, 1,200 Liaodong soldiers have been divided into small groups to lead the people of Yizhou to reclaim wasteland. Because the porridge huts have been opened, they are very enthusiastic about working."

Thatched huts were built to house the people, because if they were not built, they would freeze to death, and straw was used for warmth, because straw was the only thing that the poor laborers could use to keep warm.

The most common work done by these 1,200 soldiers in Yingchang was not fighting, but reclaiming wasteland, digging ditches and wells, and building camps and forts. After all, not long after the Ming Dynasty captured Yingchang, Tuman Khan came to the capital of the Ming Dynasty and became a prince, while Altan Khan was beheaded in public by the Ming Dynasty in the ninth year of Wanli. The large-scale war ended, and all that was left was to suppress bandits.

After Wang Rulong arrived in Liaodong, Zhao Ji was assigned to Jiuliancheng because of his good fighting ability. The main responsibility of these 1,200 soldiers was not to fight, but to lead the people in production.

Korea had essentially perished, and it was impossible for the Ming Dynasty to transport unlimited food and fodder. The refugees who stranded in Yizhou could only save themselves. If the King of Korea did not save them, the Ming Dynasty could not save them either. They had to be self-reliant and have enough food and clothing. This was the meaning of reclaiming wasteland.

Like most people in the Ming Dynasty, the people of Korea were also very hardworking. After a brief five-day small-scale riot, things gradually stabilized, mainly because the Ming army was there and these people chose to believe in the Ming army.

"We received new news that Lee Sun left Pyongyang and headed towards Yizhou." Ma Lin told everyone the bad news with a serious expression. Lee Sun ran away again.

He fled in Seoul, fled in Kaesong, and now fled in Pyongyang, abandoning his people and soldiers, and coming to Uiju with his royal family and civil and military officials.

The corner of Zhao Ji's mouth twitched, and he said sternly, "This beast."

If Lee Sun could hold out in Pyongyang for three months, the Ming army would be able to reach Korea. By then, in order to unite as one to destroy Japan, the Ming emperor might have to hold his nose and allow this beast to enter the Ming as an offline prince. As a result, Lee Sun ran away again, and the fall of Pyongyang became a matter of time.

"Should we rush to help Pyongyang?" Zhao Ji frowned and said, "Without Pyongyang, there will be no city to defend if we go north. Pyongyang is a big city after all."

Ma Lin took a deep breath and said, "We must rush to help. Yesterday, the civil and military officials of Dingzhou and Anzhou surrendered. I led the vanguard battalion to Anzhou and was ready to support Pyongyang at any time. If I met Li Sun, I would arrest him. After you take over, lock him up in Jiuliancheng and don't let the Korean royal family stay in Korea."

"Yes." Zhao Ji agreed. He thought about it carefully and did not persuade Ma Lin not to go to Dingzhou. The vanguard camp would not be in any danger because the Japanese pirates had no cavalry. Each man had five horses. Even when the Golden Family was at its peak, they did not have such luxury.

Ma Lin's vanguard battalion must ensure that the war does not spread to Yizhou, a strategic fulcrum, before the cavalry battalion arrives in Yizhou.

Ma Lin wrote a battle report on the situation and sent it to the capital of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, he led a vanguard battalion of 3,000 to Dingzhou again.

"A good start. The Ming Dynasty's capital camp can move now." When Zhu Yijun received the battle report, he highly praised the contributions of Ma Lin and Zhao Ji.

(End of this chapter)