I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 378: The Korean monarch and his ministers who are ready to rise
The east coast of Ganghwa Island.

The morning sun rises slowly from the east between heaven and earth, and a red sun illuminates the 3,000 miles of land of Korea.

Lee Sun, who was in charge of Joseon affairs, knelt on the beach, facing the direction of the royal capital, Seoul, and cried bitterly. However, he had been acting like this day after day, and he had become numb. His tears had dried up, and he had also developed the skill of crying.

The howls became louder and louder, hoarse and choking, with Li Sun crying out to the heavens and the earth: "I am sorry to my ancestors, to the country and to the people!"

But everyone around could hear that the dry wailing and shouting was full of technique and without any emotion.

A quarter of an hour later, Lee Sun stood up, wiped the few tears from his face, patted the dirt on his clothes, and said to the eunuch with a relaxed look: "Let's go, I'm going back."

This was Lee Sun's daily routine. He had to go to the east coast of the island early in the morning and cry for a quarter of an hour toward the land and Seoul. If he didn't do this, the Korean officials on Ganghwa Island would surround him and cry even more miserably than he did.

They would accuse him of abandoning his ancestors' legacy and his people, and calling him a tyrant. These few remaining loyal ministers of Joseon would surely cry and advise him every day until he changed his mind.

Li Sun had no choice but to come to the shore to do his homework every day.

"Your Majesty, what's the point of doing this?" Zheng Zhongji, a eunuch beside him, put an outer robe on him and spoke softly.

During the previous escape, thanks to Zheng Zhongji's fearlessness in the face of danger, he commanded a group of eunuchs and guards and managed to escape from the chaos to Ganghwa Island.

After such a long period of sharing weal and woe, Zheng Zhongji has become Lee Sun's most trusted person.

In private, Lee Sun actually compared himself and Jung Joong-ki to Emperor Sukjong of the Tang Dynasty and Lee Bo-guk before the Celestial Empire.

"The greatest benefit is to coax those ministers to stop making noise!" Li Cheng replied with a wry smile.

Zheng Zhongji is less than 30 years old and has a handsome face.

"Your Majesty, to recapture the capital, we still have to rely on the Ming army. But why hasn't the Ming Dynasty given any explanation yet?"

Lee Sun shook his head and said, "The Ming envoy said that the northern barbarian Tumen Khan has invaded the northeast, and the western barbarians have disturbed the people in the south. The naval and land forces have been completely withdrawn, and we are unable to help Korea suppress the rebellion.

Alas, the northern barbarians and western barbarians are not easy to deal with. Only the Ming Dynasty can deal with these vicious and evil people to the end. It's a pity that God doesn't favor Korea. What a pity! "

Zheng Zhongji also sighed, "Yes, when Korea was being taken advantage of by the rebels, the northern barbarians and western barbarians came to cause trouble again. It's a pity that millions of Korean people are trapped in the rebellion and suffering, and they are looking forward to the royal army but can't get it.

My Lord, I heard that the bandit chiefs Yi Chan-do, Park In-yong and Choi Gwang-jung have completely fallen out. Yi Chan-do has taken over the capital, Park In-yong has retreated to Jeolla Province, and Choi Gwang-jung has retreated to Pyongyang. The three parties are fighting each other, and the subordinates are divided into more than a dozen groups of rebels, occupying prefectures and counties, each ruling their own territory and attacking each other. There is no place in the three thousand miles of land that is not a place of war and no place that is not smelly. "

The two of them walked for two miles on the rugged road. Li Cheng felt a little tired, so he lifted his clothes and sat down on a stone by the roadside.

Zheng Zhongji sat down cross-legged on the grass beside him, and the other eunuchs and guards dispersed and sat down on the mud ground.

Lee Sun gently pounded his legs and feet with his right hand, looked around, and found that everyone was quite far away. In order to avoid being overheard, he spoke softly to Jung Joong-ki.

"I heard from several gentlemen that the barbarians invading the borders of the Ming Dynasty in the north and causing trouble in the south are all because the crown prince is in power, holding the sword upside down, abusing power and causing chaos in the country, and not cultivating benevolence and virtue. This is why such a disaster has occurred."

Zheng Zhongji hurriedly stopped him: "My Lord, please don't say such things carelessly. Be careful of your ears and eyes."

Li Cheng quickly said: "I'm just telling you something."

"My Lord, do not believe the nonsense these people talk."

Li Sun was very puzzled. "These gentlemen are all great Confucian scholars, with morals and articles. Even the Ming people admire them. What they say is in line with the principles of heaven and proves the saints. It makes sense."

Zheng Zhongji also looked around and said softly: "My Lord, what is the root cause of the Mushin disaster? Haven't you seen it clearly yet?"

Li Sun snorted, his face showing displeasure, "They said that it was because my predecessor and I did not practice virtuous governance, and were close to villains and away from wise officials, that this big mistake was made.

In my opinion, this is the most absurd nonsense! "

“Your Majesty is wise, this is indeed bullshit.

The two classes of ministers, especially those from families of civil officials, controlled the government at the top and occupied the local areas, abusing their power and disrupting the government, exploiting the people. These people squeezed the blood out of the people and even took away the money and salaries of the border troops and local reserve troops. The accumulation of harsh policies eventually led to this disaster.

Now that so many people are suffering, they shamelessly put the blame on our ancestors and great kings. This is intolerable!"

Lee Sun's eyes sparkled, and he said happily: "This is really from the bottom of my heart, Jong-ki, you are really my confidant. Hateful! I also want to rise up, clear the haze and eliminate evil, but I am powerless."

Zheng Zhongji narrowed his eyes on Li Sun's face for a long time, and then quickly replied: "Your Majesty, there is a godsend opportunity right now."

The two of them secretly tested each other and found that the other party's ideas were similar to their own, so they continued talking.

Li Sun's eyes lit up, "What good opportunity?"

"Your Majesty, there are rebellions in Korea, burning, killing and looting. Although the people are suffering, the foundations of the aristocratic families in the local area have also been wiped out. When the Ming army is suppressing the rebellion, Your Majesty can take charge of the affairs, such as asking the Ming to help train a personal army, re-arrange the officials and distribute the land after recovering the local area. This will be like rebirth in the fire for Korea, and Your Majesty can stand shoulder to shoulder with King Mu Yeol."

Lee Sun's eyes brightened.

Yes, now Korea has been beaten to pieces by the rebellious army, and the most powerful aristocratic families have suffered heavy casualties and are seriously damaged. All he needs to do is follow what Zheng Zhongji said, and he can completely establish his own power, surpassing the two classes, which is equivalent to creating a new Korea!
Thinking of this, Li Cheng's heart was pounding, but he soon realized that the key to everything still lay in the support of the Ming Dynasty.

"Jong-ki, how do you think we can get the Ming Dynasty to fully support me?"

My Lord, the Ming Dynasty proposed the conditions to restore the former Tang border, with the Taedong River, Baishan Mountain and Nihe River as the boundary, and cede the land to the north to the Ming Dynasty. The ministers firmly opposed the negotiations and broke down. Then they became distant and ignored us. "

Lee Sun also had some complaints: "Ming is the suzerain of Joseon, why do you value profit over loyalty?"

Zheng Zhongji advised: "Your Majesty, it is true that Ming is the suzerain of Korea, but the Boshin Incident was caused by those guys in our country. Why did Ming send troops and provide food and money to help Korea quell the rebellion but get nothing in return?

If it were us, would we be willing?

Those ministers kept saying the suzerainty and vassalage, and wanted to use the name of justice to get the Ming Dynasty to help Korea quell the rebellion, but in fact they just wanted to get the Ming Dynasty's troops and food for free. It's just that they are too smart and completely treat others as fools. "

That’s true, Li Cheng nodded.

Zheng Zhongji added quietly: "Your Majesty, although Joseon previously had 3,000 miles of territory, it was in the hands of the Yangban family; if you cede the area north of the Taedong River, you will lose some land, but the rest of the territory will be in the hands of your Majesty.

It is totally different, my Lord!"

Li Sun was silent for a long time, and finally nodded slowly: "Zheng Qing is right! I have made up my mind and agreed to the conditions of the Ming Dynasty. I ask the Ming Dynasty to send troops to quell the rebellion and help me train an army.

It's just that this matter needs to be discussed and negotiated with the Ming Dynasty in secret for the time being. Zheng Qing, who do you think is the right person to send?"

Zheng Zhongji thought about it and suggested a person: "Mr. Zheng Renhong, the military judge, has been on several diplomatic missions to the Ming Dynasty and is very familiar with the Ming Dynasty court. This person has always been excluded by those great Confucian scholars and is out of tune with them.

He was ordered to go to the capital of Ming Dynasty to celebrate the emperor's birthday, but he stayed there and preferred to stay in Ganghwa Island to share the joys and sorrows with the king.

Why don't you win over this man, make him your secret envoy, and use him as an excuse to ask for reinforcements to go to the Ming Dynasty again to discuss important matters!"

"Okay!" Li Cheng said happily.

After discussing everything, Lee Sun and Jung Joong-ki got up and continued on their way to their residence.

Walking into the "refugee camp" that developed from a market, it was filled with escaped Joseon yangban ministers and their families and servants.

As soon as Li Cheng and his companions entered the gate, they heard people arguing loudly.

"Cheng and Zhu said, 'Preserve the principles of heaven and eliminate human desires', which means that everyone should understand the principles of heaven and restrain their selfish desires and greed. As long as everyone understands the principles and knows the righteousness, they will naturally follow the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, and the world will be harmonious."

"Absurd! All things in the world depend on one qi. One qi gives birth to all things, one breath kills all things. The laws of nature and human desires are all in this one qi."

"You are heresy!"

"Bah! You are a rotten cliché!"

The two groups of people were drooling and spitting at each other!

Lee Sun and his companions said they were already used to it.

These ministers would gather together for nothing, claiming to summarize the experience of civil unrest, but in fact shirking responsibility and passing the buck to each other. Then, they would argue over their respective Confucianisms, and quarrel endlessly.

The little relief food distributed by the Ming Dynasty was barely enough to make ends meet, so the families and servants of these people would go to work at the port of Ganghwa Island, moving goods and helping the sailors wash clothes to earn some rice so that these great scholars and celebrities could eat more and have the strength to continue arguing.

It is strange to say that although there was chaos in Korea and wars broke out in various places, the business at the island's seaport was very good and cargo ships were constantly transporting goods.

After returning to his residence, Lee Sun asked Jung Joong-ki to secretly find Jung In-hong. The two of them met in a pub in the Ganghwa Port area. There were many people there, but it was the best cover because those great scholars and celebrities would never go there.

If they have some money, they will go to the restaurants in Jianghua City to have some fun. That is where these elegant people should go.

Lee Sun changed his clothes and, accompanied by Jung Joong-ki and several trusted guards in plain clothes, went to a private room in the pub to meet Jung In-hong.

After a few tentative words, the two of them hit it off and had a very pleasant conversation.

The king and his minister, who were talking happily, had never imagined that in the next room, an agent from the Intelligence Bureau had put a special earpiece against the wall and listened carefully to their private conversation, recording it all in a book.

(End of this chapter)