The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 512 Li Zicheng Enters Pyongyang
Amid the cheers of "Long live the emperor" from a group of hungry people, Zheng Douyuan shook his head with disdain, led his delegation, and left Ningbian City cursing all the way.

The delegation walked five miles south to a three-way intersection. After confirming that there were no northern barbarians watching around, these Korean civil servants did not "immediately return to the capital to persuade the king to submit to the emperor" as they had promised, but instead took a shortcut to Pyongyang.

"Zheng Dujian, the northern barbarians will soon attack Pyongyang. A gentleman should stand under a dangerous wall, why would he rush to the battlefield?"

A North Korean envoy asked cautiously.

"Hahaha," Zheng Douyuan laughed and stroked his beard, complacently saying, "The northern barbarians are already at the end of their strength. They've fought all the way from the Yalu River to here and are already exhausted. They only know how to win people's hearts and minds through conspiracy and trickery. How can they be a match for Wang's army (the Korean army)?"

Zheng Douyuan's words did not comfort his young men. As they walked along, they saw that the Northern Tartars had neat troops, strict military discipline, and distributed food everywhere, which seemed to be quite popular among the people.

Another young envoy whispered, "But they are getting closer and closer to the capital. They don't look like they are at the end of their strength..."

Zheng Douyuan disagreed, saying, "You haven't read enough. The Northern Barbarians may be strong, but can they be stronger than the Sui Yang Emperor's army or Kublai Khan's Mongol army? The Sui and Tang armies were so brave, and the Mongol cavalry was invincible, but in the end, they were defeated. If this proves unsuccessful, Your Majesty can lead us to retreat to Ganghwa Island. The Northern Barbarians won't stay in Korea for long and will eventually withdraw."

"Although the Northern Barbarians have sufficient food and fodder, that's why they're giving out porridge everywhere, but they don't know how severe the Korean winter is."

Zheng Douyuan coughed lightly twice and wrapped his fur coat tightly around him, as if he had already felt the chill of late autumn.

"I observed the celestial phenomena tonight and found that Pyongyang will experience an extremely cold winter this year, a rare occurrence in a century, much harsher than what happened in Liaodong. As for winning over the hearts and minds of our people, for thousands of years, they have always feared power rather than virtue. To think that you can win over the hearts and minds of our country with a few meals is to underestimate us, Korea. As long as the king follows my strategy, advances step by step, and blocks the enemy at every level, dragging the northern barbarians into the heart of Korea, by the cold winter, their food and fodder will be cut off, and rebellions will break out. With the pursuing troops in front and the rebels behind, there is no way Liu Zhaosun can survive!"

"You must know that Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, and the Great Khan Kublai Khan all suffered such crushing defeats. How could Liu Zhaosun dare to send out all his troops? This time, his entire army will be destroyed as well."

Everyone listened to Zheng Douyuan's clear and logical words and felt that they made a lot of sense. It was indeed as Zheng Dujian said, in history, the Central Plains dynasties had fought several wars with Goguryeo, basically because of lack of food and grass, changes in the country, and eventually they were defeated.

Everyone was relieved at this point, and they all agreed that Zheng Dujian was wise and prudent in his state affairs, and that the king should let Zheng Lao take charge of state affairs earlier.

"In short, we must rush to Pyongyang as soon as possible and explain the situation to General Park, the governor-general, and persuade him to hold Pyongyang firmly and not surrender easily to the Northern Tartars. Once the king sends reinforcements north, we will attack from both sides, working together from the inside and outside to repel the Northern Tartars in one fell swoop..."

After Zheng Douyuan finished speaking, he was about to whip his horse when the voice of a young Han Chinese suddenly rang out from the distant wilderness.

"If you guys want to go to Pyongyang, why not give me a ride? I happen to be going to Pyongyang as well."

The Korean delegation was like a frightened bird, looking around one after another, but saw five or six cavalrymen standing on the road leading to Pyongyang, all wearing the same Korean combat uniform. The young man in the lead had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, holding a blood-stained sword, and was staring at Zheng Douyuan and the others with a fierce look.

“You are not North Korean soldiers!”

A young envoy pointed at the boy and shouted in stiff Chinese.

"Who are you? Why are you blocking the way of the delegation? Didn't your emperor say that he would release..."

Li Zicheng squeezed the horse's belly hard, and the Ferghana horse under his crotch raised its four hooves, rushed forward, and charged directly at the envoy on the opposite side.

"You! What do you want to do?" The Korean quickly loosened the reins and shouted to urge the horse to retreat, but the horse did not move at all. Instead, it looked at the Arabian horse rushing towards it with curiosity.

Li Zicheng quickly caught up with the Korean envoy who was speaking, and slashed the Korean's neck with his sword. With a wave of his hand and a drop of the sword, the Ferghana horse rushed forward for more than ten steps with the young man before stopping.

A human head flew high into the air, and after landing with a bang, it rolled like a ball into the dense weeds beside the post road.

Li Zicheng looked down upon the crowd and shouted to the Koreans from his horse, "The Emperor was merciful and ordered you to be spared in Ningbian, but he did not forbid the Minoyi Guards to kill you elsewhere."

"I am Li Zicheng, the captain of the Qin State's straw raincoat guards. My brothers and I are going to Pyongyang to do something. I would like to ask Lord Zheng to take us into the city. Commander Zhang said that those who have money can contribute money and those who have strength can contribute strength. As long as you are willing to contribute, we can save your lives and those of your families after we capture Pyongyang. However,"

Li Zicheng kicked the messenger lying on the ground. Seeing that he was not dead yet, he took two steps forward, raised the Embroidered Spring Knife in his left hand, pointed the tip of the knife at the messenger's heart, pressed the handle of the knife with his right hand, and with a "puff" sound, the sharp blade pierced into the heart...

"If you are unwilling to help me, I will have no choice but to send you on your way."

Zheng Douyuan and the surviving envoys were so scared when they saw that this man named Li Zicheng killed people like killing chickens, with no reason at all, that they collapsed on the ground. One Korean was even scared to the point of wetting his pants on the spot.

Zheng Douyuan changed his image of worrying about the country and the people, and immediately turned over and knelt on the ground. Together with the other envoys, he kowtowed to Li Zicheng on the horse:

"We are willing to send the Celestial Master to Pyongyang."

"Then I'll have to trouble you all, my Lords,"

As the sky grew darker, a low horn was heard from Pyongyang not far away, and the people who were still outside the city rushed into the city.

"As long as you escort us into the city, you will be safe." Li Zicheng bowed with a defiant look on his face.

He whistled, and a group of straw raincoat guards in Korean military uniforms immediately rode forward and surrounded the Korean envoys.

The Da Qi spy, disguised as a North Korean guard, walked slowly towards Pyongyang City ten miles away in the afterglow of the setting sun.

~~~~~
Pyongyang has a history of thousands of years. According to legend, after King Wu defeated King Zhou and replaced the Shang Dynasty, the Shang noble Jizi fled eastward and entered the Korean Peninsula, and then made Pyongyang the capital. This is what people often call "Jizi Joseon".

Because Jizi holds an important position in the hearts of Koreans and is worshipped as their ancestor, the Koreans were very excited when Zhu Yuanzhang later conferred the title of Joseon on Goryeo.

During the Lee Dynasty, the Joseon Dynasty established "Pyongyang Prefecture" in Pyongyang.

People at that time praised Pyongyang's geographical location as "backed by mountains and blocked by water, controlling the northwest, overlooking the Yangtze River, and facing the wilderness in the distance."

Pyongyang is bordered by the Taedong River to the east and south, steep cliffs to the west, and the towering Moran Peak to the north, making it a very dangerous place.

Pyongyang city is divided into four parts: inner city, middle city, outer city and north city. The inner city has five gates: Suzaku Gate in the south, Daedong Gate (with a barbican) in the east, Chilsung Gate in the northeast, Changqing Gate in the southeast and Jinghai Gate in the west.

Outside the inner city is the central city, the south gate is Zhengyang Gate, the east gate is Hanqiu Gate, the north gate is Qingchang Gate, and the west gate is Ordinary Gate.

Long before Emperor Wu Ding's eastern expedition, his army had deployed barricades and ground cannons around Pyongyang City and added soldiers and able-bodied men to the city walls in preparation for a long-term defense.

The commander-in-chief of Pyongyang was a commander-in-chief named Park Chung-myeong, who was an old subordinate of the commander-in-chief Jiang Hong-ili.

Pu Congming is forty-five years old this year. Twelve years ago, he followed the commander-in-chief Jiang Hongli to march to Liaodong to assist Liu Jing's army in the east.

Like Emperor Wuding, Park Congming was just a small guard under Jiang Hongli twelve years ago, and was unknown. During the massacre of Korean generals by the Ming army that night, Park Congming survived because of his low rank, which was a perfect example of the meaning of "obedience".

After returning to the country with the army, he accidentally took refuge with Prince Yangyang, also known as King Li Jong, and was favored by him.

Later, in the coup to expel Gwanghaegun, this young guard performed particularly well. In the royal palace in Seoul, Prince Yeongyang and Gwanghaegun's subordinates drew their swords against each other and fell into a stalemate. Seeing that Gwanghaegun's reinforcements were about to arrive, at the critical moment, Park Congming shouted loudly, jumped out of the circle, and killed several people with his own hands, scaring Gwanghaegun's guards into turning around and fleeing.

In the first year of Taichang, Li Zong finally ascended the throne of Joseon with the support of the Kaiyuan army.

As the saying goes, when one person succeeds, his family members will also benefit. Pu Congming was also rewarded and promoted from a seventh-rank minor guard to a third-rank imperial censor.

In the first year of Wuding's reign, Pu Congming also participated in the expedition to Liaodong. He led the army westward, burning, killing and looting along the Yalu River. Because he massacred several cities in Liaodong and killed some people of Daqi, he was recognized as a brave general who could resist the northern barbarians.

When Zhao Lujiao, Qi Jin and others marched south, Park naturally became the commander of the front line. He led 30,000 Joseon troops to defend Pyongyang from spring to winter. He fought with Qi Jin several times, with half winning and half losing, until Emperor Wu Ding led the army south.

When Park Congming saw the Qi army advancing to Pyeongan Province and approaching the city of Pyongyang, he immediately made the following defensive deployments.

He first divided more than 1000 troops to garrison Mudan Peak, a dangerous place in the north of the city. The troops raised a blue-white flag and fired artillery from a high position. He then divided another 5000 troops to stand on the city wall from the north of the city to the Pugong Gate, holding shields and swords in their hands.

Park obeyed the order and asked his deputy general Zheng Dachang to lead hundreds of elite soldiers, raise his general's flag, blow gongs and drums, patrol the city, and stabilize the morale of the troops.

As soon as he received the news that Liu Zhaosun was leading the army in person, Park Nengsong sent envoys to ask for reinforcements from the commander-in-chief Jin Yansheng, the observer Park Ruding, and the garrison commander Li Gongzuo who were stationed in Longgang, Zhonghe, Fengshan, Huangzhou and other places.

In the letter asking for help, Censor Park said, not without exaggeration, that the Qi army had come out in full force, with a strength of no less than one million.

Censor Park's artistic manipulation of the Qi army's strength was intended to arouse sympathy from friendly forces, but he did not expect that the million-strong army would actually scare the chief officers of several nearby states and counties.

Since even North Korea's most elite troops are afraid, why would these second-rate troops bother to get involved in this mess? Besides, the North Korean army is best at escaping, or turning around, gaining opportunities in the process and exhausting the enemy to death.

They have been using this method for more than two thousand years.

However, Huangzhou Surveillance Commissioner Park Ruding still sent scouts north, and the scouts reported back that the Qi army had more than 500,000 troops (perhaps he counted auxiliary troops, civilians, and Korean people who came to eat porridge as combat soldiers), and the number was boundless and more numerous than leaves.

Although Park Ruding was an upright and patriotic scholar-official, he still had to save his life first at the critical moment. He judged that Park would be in great danger if he obeyed the order, so he gave up Huangzhou and fled to Wangjing without stopping.

Most of the remaining Korean troops around Pyongyang had fought against the Kaiyuan soldiers before. Seeing that Lord Park was the first to quit, they knew that they were no match for the Northern Tartars, so they had no choice but to defend the city, watch from the sidelines, and closely monitor the situation in Pyongyang.

(End of this chapter)