Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

In Korea, Hong Chengchou, Mao Wenlong and others also learned the news that a major war was about to break out in Liaodong.

Hong Chengchou felt somewhat excited and somewhat regretful about this matter.

What is encouraging is that the imperial court allowed the Liaodong army to attack and was no longer as overly cautious as before.

Unfortunately, the commander of the battle was Sun Chengzong, and he had no chance to command this battle:
"It would have been nice if we could have won the final match last year."

"Maybe we can get a chance to attack first instead of cooperating."

In last year's Korean War, his performance was generally good and met the court's requirements.

The only drawback was that not only did they fail to gain any military merit in the last battle, but they were almost defeated by the Jianlu.

This made his achievements seem somewhat inadequate, and even the title of Viscount he was awarded attracted many doubts.

So now, not only can Hong Chengchou not take the lead in the Battle of Liaodong, some people even suggest that Mao Wenlong should be the commander-in-chief of the Korean army that will cooperate in the Liaodong war.

In the end, the emperor divided the work between the two:
Mao Wenlong was in charge of the front line and Hong Chengchou was in charge of logistics.

If a conflict occurs between the two, Hong Chengchou will take the lead, with the priority being to complete the combat mission and contain the Jianlu.

Hong Chengchou was very grateful for the emperor's trust and was determined to avenge his previous humiliation and impress the world.

He even has greater ambitions and hopes to achieve more achievements.

Calling Liu Xingzuo, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and others, Hong Chengchou asked them:

"How is the training of North Korea's troops going?"

"Do you have the strength to fight now?"

Liu Xingzuo was the most senior general under his command. Upon hearing this, he immediately replied:

"North Korea's bureaucracy is corrupt, its generals are cowardly, and the soldiers they lead are also incapable of fighting."

"The righteous soldiers are more motivated to fight out of righteous indignation, but their equipment and training are still a little lacking."

"Moreover, most of the most courageous and skilled fighters among the volunteers were recruited by Lord Cijiang. They went deep into Liaodong and harassed the Jianlu just like the Dongjiang soldiers."

"If you want to train a brave army in Korea, you have to be the one with Jijiangbo!"

He praised Choi Nam-yi, the governor of Jagang, loudly, and considered him the hope of the Joseon army.

This sharpshooter turned sniper had adapted to the warfare methods of the firearms age, and had successfully imitated the silk medicine bags and arrow-shaped bullets using the silk produced in Cijiangling.

Nowadays, the Cijiangling uses imitation spring-wheel fire guns equipped with arrow-shaped bullets to fight. They killed and wounded many Jianlu in Liaodong, and even suffered a small loss when Dongjiangling and Cijiangling fought for border territories.

Hong Chengchou listened to these situations and thought of Mao Wenlong's current momentum, and ordered:

"Increase support for Jagang-ri and let Jagang-ri lead the Joseon firearms army."

"Tell him that I will support whatever his request is, as long as he brings back the head of the Jianlu."

This made Kong Youde a little indignant, and he said:

"General Hong, the Choi are Koreans, and they are from the Gwanghaegun faction."

"If we give him all the Korean musketeers, what will happen if he starts a rebellion?"

Hong Chengchou frowned, quite unhappy with Kong Youde's offense, and scolded:
"What North Koreans?"

"Jiangbo is a noble of Ming Dynasty and a feudal lord of Joseon."

"If I don't trust people like this, who else can I use?"

"Besides, Dongjiang Territory is just to the west of Cijiang Territory, and there is Andong Protectorate to the east."

"Even if Lord Cijiang wants to rebel, what are his chances of success?"

Kong Youde wanted to say more, but Geng Zhongming spoke first:
"Marshal Hong is absolutely right. The Cuis don't have the strength to rebel."

"And I think that man is a stubborn person and will not start a rebellion."

"The Korean musketeers can be handed over to him. This will make the Korean monarch and his subjects more obedient!"

Obviously, he, who was more intelligent, had already guessed Hong Chengchou's plan.

Use Choi Nam-yi, a meritorious official with great influence in Korea, to check and balance the Korean monarch and his ministers.

Let the Korean monarch and his ministers stop having any messy thoughts and doing tricks behind the scenes. Hong Chengchou nodded, feeling quite satisfied that Geng Zhongming could guess his thoughts.

This man is not as stubborn as Kong Youde. He is capable of fighting but not reckless.

However, he still trusted Kong Youde more because this person was easier to control.

Of course, he also attached great importance to Geng Zhongming. He said to this man:

"Youde's concerns are not without reason. We need to send someone over from Cui Nanyi's side."

"Zhongming, you go and assist Jigangbo and lead the Korean army with him."

"If you have virtue, you can command the elite Korean troops and help me lead the standard camp."

"Xingzuo, you go back to Jingcheng and command the troops directly under the Andong Protectorate."

"Then we will attack from three directions and harass the Jianlu together."

The three armies of Dongjiang, Cijiang and Andong were all armies that he could directly command as the governor of Andong and the minister of Korea.

However, his authority was not limited to this. He also had the right to command other places under the jurisdiction of the Andong Protectorate. Not to mention the distant Heilongjiang area, he also wanted to bring the nearby Ningyuan Earldom under his command.

So he asked Liu Xingzuo again:

"You are in Jingcheng, close to Ningyuan Earldom."

"How is the training going, Earl Ningyuan? Have you seen any results?"

Ningyuan Earl Li Zunzu was the first person sent by the emperor to explore Andong. He inherited the title of Ningyuan Earl passed down by his ancestors and established a fiefdom in the Golden Horn Peninsula.

However, he did not make any big moves after arriving in Andong. The troops of the Ningyuan Earldom remained unknown except for participating in the expedition to the Beihai Island.

As a result, the position of General of Andong went to Zhang Tongchang. The possibility that the Zhang family had ruled Andong for generations was greater than that of the Li family.

People thought that Li Zunzu had lost the abilities of his ancestors, but Liu Xingzuo did not think so. He said solemnly:
"This year, Jingcheng and Ningyuan Earldom drew a border. I have seen the Ningyuan Earldom's army before."

"Among them are Han Chinese and Jurchens, all of them are extremely brave and fierce, and they are somewhat like the servants of Li Chengliang."

"I dare say that the 5,000 men of Ningyuanbo are not inferior to any of the Koreans."

"The troops of Dongjiang and Cijiang may not be able to win against them."

Hong Chengchou was quite surprised, but when he thought about Li Zunzu's background, he felt it was natural.

After all, it has only been more than a decade since Li Chengliang passed away, and the Li family still has many veteran generals and soldiers. It is normal for them to help Li Zunzu train himself.

On the contrary, if he couldn't even perform the pose well, Hong Chengchou would despise Li Zunzu for his incompetence, and the emperor would not be so permissive towards him.

Thinking about the troops trained by Ningyuan Earldom, Hong Chengchou said:
"In this case, the army of Ningyuan Earldom has been trained."

"Send someone to contact him and tell him that I hope he can cooperate with the three armies of Korea to attack Jianlu together."

"If our four armies advance together and coordinate properly, can we contain two of the Jianlu flags, or even capture one?"

In the last sentence, he was asking Liu Xingzuo and others, but it also seemed like he was asking himself.

Because his goal this time was to kill at least 5,000 Jianlu people, so as to clear the doubts about him and even obtain the title of earl.

As the policy of establishing vassal states became more and more vigorous, Hong Chengchou hoped to obtain a high title as soon as possible and establish his own vassal state.

To avoid a situation like Anton's, where all the good places have been closed off -

Previously, he had thought of placing his viscountship in Anton or Korea, but after careful investigation, he found that there were no good places in these two places.

The best places in Andong are the Geumhorn Peninsula and Temple Street. After the northern and southern corners of Korea were divided, it was impossible to divide the remaining ones.

So he could only turn his attention to other places, hoping to choose a good fiefdom after obtaining a high title.

He even wanted to be treated like Zheng Zhilong, the Earl of Nan'an. On the surface, he was opening up an earldom, but in fact, he reserved land for the opening up of a duchy.

It was another painful thing for Zheng Zhilong that his hometown Nan'an became his title.

As a native of Nan'an, why wouldn't he want to use the name of his hometown as his title?
He even thought that if the battle last year had been fought well, the title of Earl of Nan'an would most likely have been his, instead of being taken by the pirate Zheng Zhilong.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou was eager to make achievements, and even fantasized about pacifying the Jianlu in his own hands, and becoming a duke and a meritorious official in the Purple Pavilion in the future. (End of this chapter)