The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 530 Liu Hui
"During the peace talks, we must be neither humble nor arrogant, and we must never treat North Korea as a country of equal status with the Great Qi."

"Pay annual tribute, cede ports, contribute hostages, and sever ties with Japan. These four points are the bottom line I have set for you. As for the other terms, you can decide for yourself. We must let the barbarians know the power of the Great Qi, demonstrate the style of the Celestial Empire, and let the Korean people know who their savior is..."

Liu Zhaosun's demands of wanting... and... and also... were really excessive. For ordinary people, satisfying the above three requirements at the same time was almost an impossible task. However, Sun and Hou were not ordinary people after all. They smiled at each other and were already confident about the chances of success of this peace talk.

"The Sixth Fleet will patrol the waters near Incheon to intimidate the Lee Dynasty. As long as Lee Jong doesn't want to be turned into a terracotta warrior like Du Du, he will ensure your safety."

After the retired emperor had made the arrangements, he sent the two men down to prepare. On the 20th of the winter month, Sun Chuanting, the deputy prime minister of the Great Qi, and Hou Xun, the minister of rites, were escorted by the imperial guards and set out from Pyongyang Prefecture in Pyongan Province to the south, heading to Ganghwa Island in Gyeonggi Province, Korea, to discuss peace issues between the two countries with the King of Korea.

Sun and Hou have always been at odds, but when facing North Korea, they should unite and not hinder each other.

Putting aside the matter of Sun Chuanting and Hou Xun going south to negotiate peace, on that day, Emperor Wuding personally led a group of civil and military entourages into Pyongyang City. The enemy general Park Congming's residence, Anhe Palace, became the palace of the emperor, and Pei Dahu and Liu Xingzuo led people to guard it.

The war had just ended, and the Suoyi Guards and the pacification troops worked together to search for the remnants of Park Chung-ming in the city and to appease the people of Pyongyang.

Emperor Wu Ding walked through the blood-stains all over the ground, passed through the devastated city of Pyongyang, and entered the main hall of Anhe Palace.

Pu Congming's head was placed on the imperial table, and he stared at Emperor Wuding with angry eyes. Liu Zhaosun said sternly:
"How did he die?"

The scene of the Battle of Sarhu that year seemed to appear before his eyes again. This brave general who had fought side by side with him and started out as a general finally showed his true strength on the battlefield.

This is probably fate.

Liu Xingzuo pointed behind him, and a young straw raincoat guard hurried forward to salute.

"Your Majesty, it was all thanks to Li Zicheng, the captain of the first squadron of the Suoyi Guard. This time, he led his men to infiltrate Pyongyang, set fire to the interior, and disguised himself as a Korean soldier, killing many of the defenders of Qixingmen. Park obeyed orders and was executed, and it was also he who arranged for his men to do so."

"Oh? You are Li Zicheng?"

Emperor Wu Ding looked meaningfully at the handsome young man standing before him. His thoughts had already flown far away, and he murmured, "Isn't he still working as a postman in Shaanxi?"

Li Zicheng didn't hear clearly what the emperor was saying, nor did he dare to ask more questions. He just stood there waiting.

Dongfang Zhu coughed lightly beside him, and the emperor said, "Who did you follow into the Suoyi Guard? Captain Shen?
Li Zicheng clasped his hands together and said, "Your Majesty, it's Officer Wu."

Liu Zhaosun then remembered that Wu Xiao and Lin Yu were still robbing tombs in the capital, and he wondered how they were doing now. He stepped forward, patted Li Zicheng on the shoulder, and praised him:

"Deep into the enemy's lair, fighting one against a hundred. Good! Good! He is indeed a young hero! The Suoyi Guard has a successor."

Liu Xingzuo's expression changed slightly, and he looked at Li Zicheng with a strange look, which was clearly seen by Dongfang Zhu who was standing next to him.

"Where are the other groups of people now?"

Liu Xingzuo quickly replied, "Your Majesty, General Deng is now in Huangzhou, and General Wu has returned to the sea and is heading south towards Seoul."

"Alright, let them each do their job and keep putting pressure on Li Zong. Don't think I'll be like Emperor Yang of Sui and Kublai Khan, fighting a couple of battles and then running away. Until the peace talks are concluded, all troops must remain on combat alert!"

~~~~~
The next day, the retired emperor issued an edict to bury the Korean Chief Censor Park Cong with royal rites outside the south gate of Pyongyang, and all officials saw him off to show his loyalty.

In the next few days, Sen Ti and the training officers of the battalions of the First Corps distributed porridge in front of various city gates and also performed a show of beheading prisoners. Pyongyang residents came from the streets and alleys to watch, and all the spectators applauded.

An old man with white hair and beard, a friendly face, who claimed to have participated in the Wanli Korean War, cried and snotted as he drank the hot rice porridge mixed with old rice. He tilted his neck back and gulped it down. He tightly grasped the plump and smooth little hand of the Dongguan boy and cried excitedly:

"The Smida are finally here! You are Pyongyang's saviors. Without the Smida, there would be no North Korea! We would be starved to death by Park Chung-ming's Smida!"

Sen Ti pulled his hand out of the old man's, wiped away his non-existent tears with deft movements, and said to the huge crowd in front of him:
"The food that the Emperor had prepared for the Korean people was snatched away by Li Jong in Kuandian and distributed to the wealthy, the gentry, and the ministers. To save food for everyone, the Emperor only ate one meal every two days. His Majesty just said that we are all going to fight and we can't let you go hungry. As long as you can eat your fill, it's worth it for him to go hungry for a few days."

After hearing this, the old man burst into tears, dropped the broken bowl, knelt down with a plop, and kowtowed towards the direction of Anhe Palace. After kowtowing three times, he stood up and said to the people behind him:
"The king has taken our food and would rather give it to the Japanese pirates, allowing them to attack Qi, than give it to us. He wants to starve us to death!"

"We can't just let it go like this!"

The area around the city gate suddenly became quiet and no one spoke. Many people recalled the bullying they had suffered during the siege of Pyongyang. They thought about how in the past two years, in order to support the officers and soldiers in "serving the king" (dispatching troops to Qi State), each family had been exploited and blackmailed by the government, their homes had been broken up, and it was destined to be a tragedy from the beginning for a small country to attack a big country.

Sen Ti saw that the time was right and nodded to the several battalion instructors around him. One of them suddenly shouted:
"Kill the yangban! Divide the land! Kill the yangban, divide the land!" ~~~~~~
"Kill the yangban and divide the land?"

Anhe Palace.

Among the exquisite pavilions and towers, Liu Zhaosun held Jin Yuji's hand and shook his head.

"If I kill them all, where will I get the money?"

Jin Yuji was too lazy to watch her husband shed crocodile tears. Her attention was on the rockery in the pond in front of her.

No one would have thought that in the barren and cold Pyongan Province and in the war-torn city of Pyongyang, there would be such a luxurious and exquisite mansion.

"Husband, these rockery look very familiar."

The Empress Dowager Cisi ignored the retired emperor's plan to kill and rob, and changed the subject.

On the Taihu stones on both sides of the corridor, there are three monkeys carved: the silent monkey, the speechless monkey, and the unhearing monkey.

Liu Zhaosun felt a little bored when he saw that no one was paying attention to him. At this time, the eunuch Dongfang who was following behind him whispered:
"Retired Emperor, Empress Dowager, please allow me to be so presumptuous. The stones piled here are probably from the Taihu Lake in the south of the Yangtze River, and were transported from the sea."

Emperor Wu Ding said calmly, "Dongfang Zhu, you know quite a lot."

Eunuch Dongfang was so frightened that his face turned pale. He quickly knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe.

Liu Zhaosun glanced at him and said coldly, "Get up."

Jin Yuji was a little surprised: "It's thousands of miles to the south of the Yangtze River. How much money will it cost?"

Dongfang Zhu was knowledgeable and experienced when he was in Linqing, so he certainly knew all the ins and outs. However, after being scolded by Emperor Wuding just now, he no longer had the courage to interrupt.

Liu Zhaosun said with displeasure, "Song Huizong lost his country because of this stone. He was captured by the Jin people and taken to the north. I didn't expect this stone to end up in Korea again. No wonder Li Jong was defeated."

No one dared to speak. Everyone knew that at the moment Emperor Wu Ding was speaking, the gates of Pyongyang were already flooded with blood, and at least three thousand prisoners had been beheaded.

After entering the main hall, Emperor Wu Ding dismissed his attendants, leaving only Empress Dowager Cisi alone.

Jin Yuji stared at the floor, lost in thought.

"Yu Ji, do you think I'm too cruel?"

She was already tired of this kind of talk and was too lazy to listen to it anymore.

"The chariot must move forward. I am the groom and the slave. I can only kill whoever it wants to kill."

"So, is it really necessary to kill so many people? Are you killing so many people to turn them into Jingguan like they did in Shandong?"

"Jingguan? That's a good idea."

Liu Zhaosun suppressed his anger. "It's not me who wants to kill people, it's Da Qi who wants to kill people. Now that things have come to this, I alone cannot reverse the situation. Da Qi doesn't belong to me alone. If these people don't die, how will others divide the land? If others can't get any land, they will complain. Even if you are a sage like Yao or Shun, the people will rebel. If the rebellion continues, Da Qi will be the one to perish in the end."

Jin Yuji stopped talking.

Emperor Wu Ding continued, "Yu Ji, aside from you and Qing'er, I trust no one now. Officials cannot be trusted, the people cannot be trusted, and certainly the law cannot be trusted. The only thing that can be trusted is profit and loss, that is, power."

Jin Yuji asked in surprise, "Why can't you trust Bai Xin?"

Liu Zhaosun was slightly taken aback, then said thoughtfully, "Officials seek to deceive the court and enrich themselves at the expense of the public interest. They will do so even at the risk of exterminating their entire clans, just like scum like Song Yingsheng, who took advantage of money and murdered people. The people don't remember the monarch's kindness. When he treats them well, they take it for granted. The slightest injustice will lead to slander and abuse. This is the saying, 'A little bit of rice brings gratitude, a peck of rice brings resentment,' and 'Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish.' This is exactly the truth. Yu Ji, let me tell you a story."

Jin Yuji frowned slightly: "What story?"

(End of this chapter)