The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 513 Assembly Number

While several surrounding Korean generals watched the fire from the other side, hesitated to move forward, and silently witnessed the miracle happening to Park Congming, near the Qixing Gate of Pyongyang's outer city, Li Zicheng and his teammates were disguising themselves as Zheng Douyuan's guards and secretly sneaking into this important city in the two west regions.

"Mr. Zheng, you are Korean. The Empress Dowager Cisheng and the Duke of Jin are also Korean. You are always thinking about repaying kindness with enmity and murdering the Emperor, while the Empress Dowager and the Duke of Jin want to do good to the Great Qi and the people. Tell me, we are all Koreans, why is there such a big difference?"

"Captain Shen was killed by you ungrateful wolves. If it weren't for Brother Li stopping me today, I would have chopped you to pieces!"

Zhao Yuanzhi had no good feelings towards Zheng Douyuan - his immediate superior, Shen Lian, was the one who led the Zhang Chun rebellion and was killed by a small military household. It was said that the rebellion was also supported by Koreans.

Zhang Yuanzhi's ancestral home was Tieling, Liaodong. He fled back to Liaodong from the capital with Shen Lian. Pei Dahu saw that he had good martial arts skills, so he kept him in the Central Army Guard. After Shen Lian's death, Zhao Yuanzhi became addicted to alcohol and was usually very fierce. He didn't like anyone he wanted to kill. It was no longer suitable for him to stay in the Imperial Guard. Recently, Pei Dahu sent him to the Suoyi Guard to follow Zhang Mazi to kill people.

"Old Zhao, that's enough!"

Li Zicheng stepped forward to stop the aggressive Zhao Yuanzhi and smelled the smell of alcohol on him.

"Why are you drinking again?"

Zhao Yuanzhi said nonchalantly: "I'm not drunk."

The Qixing Gate was right in front of him. Li Zicheng looked up at the Korean soldiers patrolling back and forth on the city wall in the distance. The city was filled with Korean soldiers wearing red mandarin duck battle jackets and goat caps.

"Okay, let's go."

Li Zicheng snatched the wine jug from Zhao Yuanzhi's waist, shook it in his hand, and found that half of the wine was gone.

The Seven Star Gate was right in front of him, but he didn't have time to worry about it now. He just wanted to get into the city first.

"The two of you who can speak Korean will go to the front. The rest of you, stay silent. If anyone asks, just say you have typhoid fever and can't speak."

"He had some small change in his pocket, and when he asked questions too much, he would give him some money."

Li Zicheng took the trouble to instruct his men on the things they needed to pay attention to. Several of the straw raincoat guards were already familiar with this. Except for the new recruit, it was not the first time for the others to carry out this kind of undercover mission.

Li Zicheng breathed a sigh of relief and entered Pyongyang City. This mission truly began.

He turned and looked at Zheng Douyuan, speaking threateningly.

"Master Zheng, I advise you to give up this idea. North Korea is no match for our Great Qi. We spared you in Yongbyon City in the hope that you could persuade Park to surrender as soon as possible. Once you enter the city, if you dare to act cunningly, don't blame my brothers on my waist for being rude!"

The "brother on the waist" that Li Zicheng mentioned was a slightly worn goose-feather knife. This knife was previously used by Captain Shen to kill those who should be killed. People like Miyamoto Musashi and the demon monk Shiranui had died under this knife.

Before Zheng Douyuan could respond, a dagger was placed against his lower back.

Zhao Yuanzhi, dressed in Korean soldier's uniform, had red eyes:
"go!"

Zheng Douyuan snorted at the reckless man in front of him, straightened his official uniform, and marched onto the post road in a straight step.

The twelve members of the delegation emerged from the dense grass, as if falling from the sky, and appeared on the post road in front of the bare Qixing Gate.

The Korean soldiers patrolling the city walls soon discovered these uninvited guests.

The soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment. According to the order of Commander-in-Chief Park Do-yushi, Pyongyang had been under martial law since October 25th, three days ago. No one, whether military or civilian, was allowed to enter or leave at will, and violators would be killed without mercy.

What are the origins of this group of soldiers and civilian officials who appeared before us?

The other side chattered for a long time, and finally, a group of Korean soldiers stepped carefully onto the pontoon bridge, holding muskets and bows and arrows, and led by an officer who looked like a captain, walked towards Li Zicheng and others.

"Smida, who are you?"

Zhao Yuanzhi held Zheng Douyuan at knifepoint, and Li Zicheng whispered to the delegation, "Tell the truth, don't talk nonsense."

A young envoy stood up from behind Zheng Douyuan. He was pinned on the back by a short crossbow from a raincoat guard. He replied with a trembling tongue:

"Smecta! You bastards! This is Zheng Dujian, the official the king sent to Pyeongan Province to negotiate with Qi. He's acting on the king's behalf. You kimchi-eating bastards from Pyongyang, are you blind? Hurry and open the city gates to welcome Zheng Dujian into the city!"

"Damn it! I told you to speak properly, but you want to kill us."

Li Zicheng, who was always calm, was so angry that he stamped his feet and wished he could chop Zheng Douyuan's little brother to pieces with a knife.

He really enjoys watching the fun. If it were in Shenyang, if a civil official dared to speak to a military officer like this, he would be lucky to save his life, let alone enter the city.

However, to Li Zicheng's surprise, the general was scolded for no reason, but not only did he not pick up his sword to chop people, but instead showed a flattering smile on his face.

"So, Lord Zheng Dujian has come to Pyongyang. I'm blind and will report this to Li Shoubei..."

The young envoy had been threatened by Zhao Yuanzhi and his men all the way, and he must have been filled with anger. He took the opportunity to vent his anger, "What do you mean by Li Shoubei? Send your Park Yushi here! Zheng Dujian is on tour in the king's place, how can we send a Shoubei!"

The captain replied quickly across the moat, "Your Excellency is right. I will send someone to invite the censor right away."

Several straw raincoat guards looked at each other with incredible expressions on their faces, probably saying, is this okay?

It is no wonder that they feel surprised. In North Korea, the civil officials are valued more and the military officials are despised. This is even worse than the previous Ming Dynasty. It is simply outrageous.

While waiting for Censor Park, Li Zicheng was nervous and pretended to be calm on the surface, but sweat oozed out of his palms and the handle of the sword in his palm was wet with sweat.

He hadn't noticed anything strange about the North Koreans.

This was the first time Li Zicheng carried out a mission independently after joining the Suoyi Guard.

Unexpectedly, he was sent to Pyongyang on his first mission, sneaking into the enemy camp to do this business where there was no return and he would be beheaded.

~~
Two days ago, at the Xichuan Prefecture government office.

Li Zicheng had just finished a battle and was resting in the back court of the government office.

Zhang Mazi rushed in from outside and looked up at Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng looked at him again. "It's you. Do you dare to go to Pyongyang?"

Li Zicheng said expressionlessly, "What are you going to do? Tomb robbing?"

Li Zicheng's elder brother, the Imperial Guard officer Wu Xiao, is now leading Lin Yu and others to the ruins of the capital to rob tombs. Although this matter is strictly kept secret, the Suoyi Guard is well-informed and basically knows about it.

"What a mess! It's not about tomb raiding, it's about killing people!"

"it is good!"

"I'll give you five people. Leave today and go with the North Korean delegation."

Two groups of Suoyi Guards had been lurking in Pyongyang two months in advance.

“They’re disconnected.”

Broken thread is a new term that Zhang Mazi learned from the emperor.

"I haven't sent any letters in half a month."

Zhang Dong was worried that the secret agents planted in Pyongyang had been eliminated by Park, or that those people had already rebelled.

"So, you have to go. There's no one around now. We need to place people in Seoul and Incheon. I'm going to Seoul undercover myself tomorrow."

"Your mission is to find our people in Pyongyang, alive or dead. Then, stay inside the city and wait for a signal from outside. Then, you will all act together and assist the army in breaking through the city."

"Signal? What is it?"

Li Zicheng looked at Zhang Dong who was smoking.

"Assembly call."

Zhang Mazi put out the half-burned cigarette butt and his expression became solemn.

"Why do we, the Suoyi Guard, have a call to assemble? Are you recruiting again?"

“It would be great if we could recruit them.”

Zhang Dong sighed, "The Emperor's rallying cry for the general attack on Pyongyang! Cymbals and gongs, cymbals and gongs, have you ever heard that?"

Without waiting for Li Zicheng to reply, Zhang Mazi cupped his hands in front of him into the shape of a cymbal, and blew out a humming call with his mouth.

"That's it. I know the bugle caller of the First Corps. Let him blow it when the time comes."

"Can you also play the trumpet?"

Li Zicheng was stunned, and after a moment, he straightened his jaw.

"I want to ask you for someone."

"Who? I don't have anyone here right now."

Li Zicheng smiled apologetically and said, "The guard who was punished with confinement for drinking and causing trouble..."

Zhang Mazi waved his hand: "Those are Pei Dahu's men. The Suoyi Guards can't come."

Li Zicheng changed his serious attitude and said with a flattering smile: "What is your relationship with Lao Pei? I heard that you two have been together since Sarhu. Others can't get him, so why can't you? That man's boss is the deceased Shen Lian, who was killed by the Koreans. He has always wanted to avenge Captain Shen... Taking him to Pyongyang should be helpful. If he is put in solitary confinement a few more times, he will be useless..."

Zhang Dong shook his hands impatiently.

"Okay, here you go. Is there anything else you want?"

"Gone."

"Repeat the order."

Li Zicheng regained his composure, stood up, saluted, and said loudly:
"Sneak into Pyongyang and find two teammates. We must find them alive or dead. Hold on and wait for reinforcements. When the First Corps' assembly signal sounds, we will launch an attack in the city!"

"Yes, when the time comes, you must be an insider at all costs."

Zhang Dong waved his hand to signal Li Zicheng to sit down, took out a package from his arms and threw it over.

Li Zicheng caught it.

"what is this?"

"Take it apart and take a look."

Li Zicheng tore a small hole in the parchment, revealing thumb-sized yellow-white sugar granules under the parchment.

"Hey sweetie, where did you get that?"

Sugar is a controlled commodity and cannot be bought with money. Due to the shortage, the Chamber of Commerce has long stopped supplying it to the people.

"Old Xie, when Pyongyang is surrounded, there will definitely be nothing to eat. You're still growing, so eat more candy to keep you strong."

Li Zicheng put it in his arms, said thank you, and pushed the door open and left.

Zhang Dong had a complicated expression as he looked at the seventeen-year-old Li Zicheng, who was walking away, muttering:

"You have to live, live."

(End of this chapter)