The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 358: Yi Sun-sin's Audience

Wanli decided to equip the rebel army in his vassal state of Korea with weapons.

This was to deplete the strength of the Japanese pirates and at the same time slap Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the face.

However, he did not intend to give these weapons and equipment for free.

Nowadays, everything you do must be profitable. If there is no profit, it is a losing business. If you do too many losing businesses, you will lose everything.

Historically, the two wars in which the Ming Dynasty supported its vassal state, Korea, are clear evidence of this.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty ignored the rebellion of Haobai and the rebellion of Yang Yinglong in Bozhou, and tried its best to send troops to rescue its vassal state, Korea.

As a result, all the wealth that Zhang Juzheng had managed to leave behind through his reforms was used up, and the Ming Dynasty became destitute.

In history, the Ming Dynasty can be said to have died of poverty, because the Ming army was not fully paid, otherwise they would be invincible.

If we use this money to gather a large army to encircle and suppress the Jiannu, we can definitely wipe them out easily.

Unfortunately, there are no "ifs" in history. The Ming Dynasty not only failed to gain any benefits from supporting Korea in the two wars, but instead exhausted its wealth. Its demise was only a matter of time.

He can't make this mistake again at this time.

He must exchange these weapons and equipment for sufficient benefits.

So, what interests does North Korea, a vassal state, have now?
Land?
Don't even think about it. North Korea, a vassal state, doesn't have much land, and it's hard for that little land to feed their small population.

Population?
The Ming Dynasty was not short of population, but he had not yet ensured that all the people of the Ming Dynasty had enough food and clothing, and he did not have the energy to take care of the people of the vassal states.

Now the only benefit that the vassal state of North Korea can obtain is the more than 100,000 troops.

In other words, the command of all the troops in the vassal state of Korea.

This is what he wants in exchange.

This command authority is not only for the present, but also for the future.

From now on, all the troops in the vassal state of Korea must obey the Ming Dynasty!
This is a great benefit, because force can accomplish many things.

As for how to exchange this command power, it is naturally to find an obedient person to control all the troops of the vassal state of Korea.

Yi Sun-sin is a good candidate.

This person was actually villainized by a Korean in later generations.

He was originally a hero who sacrificed his life for his country, but some Koreans praised him without any bottom line for their own vanity, which made his reputation worse and worse.

This is not his fault. He never thought that his story would be dug up and hyped up hundreds of years after his death.

He himself was an extremely loyal general, loyal to both his vassal state, Korea, and the Ming Dynasty.

In history, the battle to intercept the Japanese pirates after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death was commanded by the generals of the Ming Dynasty. Like Deng Zilong, he knew that it was very dangerous to intercept the fleeing Japanese pirates, but he still obeyed orders and fought to the death to intercept the fleeing Japanese pirates.

This is loyalty interpreted with life, there is no doubt about it.

Li Shunchen never thought that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would summon him.

However, he knew very well that if they wanted to drive out the Japanese pirates and recover their motherland, they had to rely on the Ming Dynasty. They could not drive out the Japanese pirates on their own.

So, without hesitation, he dropped everything he had at hand, boarded the Ming Navy's express ship, and headed straight for the Ming capital.

He was so shocked by the whole journey that he was a little confused.

The Ming Dynasty's canal was actually dug hundreds of feet wide, and the number of ships traveling on the canal was as numerous as carp crossing the river.

There were also the towering city walls of the Ming Dynasty capital, the moat wide enough to accommodate ten large ships in parallel, the bustling streets, the imperial city containing several large lakes, the unimaginably majestic palaces, and so on. The prosperity of the Ming Dynasty was truly beyond his imagination.

He never expected that the Jinyiwei commander who came to pick him up would actually arrange for him to live in a huge palace complex in the imperial city.

The next morning at about noon, as the sun was rising, he was led to the magnificent palace.

He originally thought that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would sit on the high warm room to receive him.

Unexpectedly, Luo Sigong, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, led him to a palace full of maps.

There was also an extra-large table in the middle of the palace, which was also covered with maps.

A man in a dragon robe and a man in a python robe seem to be discussing something while looking at the map.

Dragon robe!

He finally regained consciousness, knelt on one knee before the young man in the dragon robe, and bowed, saying, "I, Yi Sun-sin, the governor of the Jeolla Left Province Navy of our vassal state of Korea, pay my respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

The vassal state of Korea did quite well in this regard. Officials had to take exams on the Four Books and Five Classics, regardless of whether they were civil or military officials.

Wanli actually walked forward, lifted his arm and said, "General Li, please excuse me, please excuse me, get up quickly."

This was very different from their King. Their King was always high and mighty, and didn't even look at these generals.

Li Shunchen respectfully said "Thank you, Your Majesty", and then got up from the ground.

Wanli looked at him and said with a look of satisfaction: "I am very pleased that our vassal state of Korea has such a loyal and good man. General Li can stand up in times of crisis. It is a blessing for our vassal state of Korea."

Praise me so much!

Yi Sun-sin quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, fighting for our country is my duty. I feel guilty for not being able to drive out the Japanese pirates. I truly do not deserve such praise from Your Majesty."

Yes, he is indeed a rare loyal and good person.

Wanli nodded slightly, then raised his hand and said, "This is the Ming Dynasty's God of War, Duke Peng Qi Jiguang."

This is the invincible General Qi!

Li Sun-sin bowed repeatedly and said, "I pay my respects to the Duke."

Qi Jiguang bowed and said in return, "General Li, you are very polite."

Now that the pleasantries are over, it’s time to get down to business.

Wanli pointed directly at the map on the table and asked, "General Li, do you know how the three capitals and eight provinces of Korea, a vassal state, were lost?"

Of course I know this.

The question is, I can’t tell you about this.

Lee Sun-sin could only say with shame, "Your Majesty, it is all due to my incompetence that I have failed to protect my country."

You don't dare to say anything about those incompetent people above, right?

Let me say this.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "I heard that your army before the war was more than 200,000, and the Japanese pirates only had more than 100,000 troops in total.

If we compare your strength and geographical advantages, you should be stronger than the Japanese pirates. However, your army of more than 200,000 people was unable to resist the Japanese pirates and lost all three capitals and eight provinces in just one month!
More importantly, the Japanese pirates, with a force of more than 100,000, were almost unscathed, while you, with a force of more than 200,000, only had more than 20,000 fleeing soldiers left. This is simply ridiculous.

Your king and the officials in your court are completely absurd. More than 200,000 troops are not as good as a hundred thousand righteous troops. Can they be any more absurd? "

They are truly ridiculous.

The problem is, I can’t tell them.

Lee Sun-sin quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Lord Liu Chenglong is still fighting the Japanese with all his might. However, most of our troops were defeated when Lord Liu took the position of Prime Minister."

Isn't this useless?

Wanli shook his head slightly and sighed, "General Li, there's no need to defend them. I'm asking you, if we rely on them, can our vassal state of Korea be saved?"

This one is probably hopeless.

Lee Sun-sin could only beg, "Your Majesty, please save us because of our sincere service."

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "You are sincere and serve the country with great sincerity, but they are pretending to obey you but secretly disobeying you. The capital of Ryukyu Kingdom reported to the Japanese that the Japanese pirates wanted to use Korea, a vassal state, to attack the Ming Dynasty. When I asked them about it, they actually said that it was not true!

What's more, the vassal state of Korea, with over 200,000 troops, offered no resistance and allowed the Japanese pirates to reach Yizhou unscathed. Isn't this just borrowing the passage? "

How do I say?
Those guys are too ridiculous. They have more than 200,000 troops. Even though their military preparations are lax, they can't be so lax as if there are no people there, right?

Li Shunchen was filled with shame and speechless.

Wanli saw that the groundwork was almost complete, so he said solemnly: "You want me to provide weapons and equipment to Quan Li and the various rebel forces, right?"

Oh, you finally got to that point.

Lee Sun-sin nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, as long as you can provide us with weapons and equipment, we will inflict heavy damage on the Japanese pirates even if it means sacrificing our lives. Your Majesty will then only need to send a few troops to help us drive them out."

I don't want you all to risk your lives.

Wanli shook his head slowly and said, "General Li, all of you loyal and good people risked your lives, while those treacherous officials sat back and reaped the benefits, continuing to enjoy wealth and glory. Do you think it was worth it?"

This is not a question of whether it is worth it or not.

Li Shunchen suddenly burst into tears and said, "Your Majesty, please help us. We cannot watch our fellow countrymen being killed by the Japanese pirates. We cannot watch their wives and daughters being ravaged by the Japanese pirates.

The Japanese pirates are not human. Wherever they go, they kidnap all the women with a little bit of beauty and kill all those who dare to resist. Now they have kidnapped more than 100,000 women and raped them.

Worse still, Gyeongsang Province was ravaged by nine Japanese pirate armies, leaving corpses strewn across the land. As the weather grew hotter, and with no one to collect the bodies, the province was now plagued by an epidemic.

plague!

(End of this chapter)