How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 125 My father didn't abandon me, so I will resist the invaders to the end! (Third update)

On the fifth day of the fifth month of the first year of the Chongzhen reign, at the mouth of the Han River.

Dozens of ships of various sizes broke through the muddy yellow river water, heading upstream. Leading the way was a large Fujian-style ship, tall and imposing with a towering sterncastle. The flag of the "Great Ming Dengzhou-Laizhou Naval Forces" fluttered in the river wind high above.

Several men stood at the bow of the ship. The one in the center, slightly plump, rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, his expression calm and unreadable. This was Yang Sichang, the Imperial Envoy for Pacification of Korea and Supervising Censor of the Army Aiding Korea. Beside him, standing with his hand on his sword, his gaze sweeping across both banks, was Xu Qinian, the Eunuch Commander of the Imperial Guard. Half a step behind was Huang Long, the Assistant Vice Admiral of the Dengzhou and Laizhou Naval Forces, and a short, white-haired old man, none other than Yang Hao, the newly released Vice Minister of War in charge of Korean affairs.

Yang Hao stepped forward and pointed to a river beach on the north bank: "Imperial Envoy, Eunuch Xu, please look over there—that is the land of Nanyang. Landing here is the easiest, the beach is flat, the current is steady, and it is easy for people, horses, and supplies to get ashore."

He spoke a few seconds faster, revealing his disdain for North Korea: "Those North Koreans are so slow! They're good at empty talk; they'll argue for three days over the smallest things. By the time they're done arguing, it's all too late!"

He had learned his lesson the hard way and knew the drawbacks all too well. "So this time we can't wait for them to come and go... In my opinion, the first rule for getting things done is 'speed'! Everything must be done swiftly and decisively, leaving no room for hesitation!"

He pointed northeast. “From here, it’s only about forty li to Seoul, and the road is flat. Once our troops disembark, we can simply raise the banner of ‘Great Ming Aid to Korea’ and charge towards Seoul… The Koreans won’t dare to stop us, and even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to appoint a general to command them for at least ten days or half a month.”

"And we..." Yang Hao emphasized, "In just one day, our army will be at the gates of Seoul! Given the lazy nature of the Korean government troops and their awe of our Great Ming Dynasty, they will have no choice but to open the gates and kneel in welcome when they see our elite troops!"

A look of satisfaction spread across his face: "Once we enter Seoul and seize control of the city gates and palace, from now on... the King of Joseon and those glib ministers will have no say in the matter. The Ming Dynasty will be in charge of Joseon!"

Yang Hao may not be good at fighting the Jurchens, but when it comes to dealing with Korea... he's a real professional!
During the Wanli era, he had a lot of dealings with the Korean monarch and his officials, and he knew all too well what kind of people they were!
Yang Sichang squinted and carefully examined the route Yang Hao pointed out, then glanced in the direction of Seoul.

Xu Qinian's shrill voice rang out: "Physician Yang, is your plan really reliable? Is it feasible to rush straight to Seoul? Don't let us and Governor Yang be blocked on the road by the Koreans and ruin His Majesty's important business!"

It wasn't that Xu Qinian was deliberately making things difficult for Yang Hao, but rather that Yang Hao's command of the Battle of Sarhu had indeed created a huge mess!
"You can rest assured, Eunuch Xu!" Yang Hao answered readily. "Listen to me, Hancheng will be ours tomorrow! I'll stake my life on it!"

Anyway, his head isn't worth much, so let's just go ahead and vouch for him!
Yang Sichang nodded emphatically without further hesitation and said to Huang Long in a deep voice, "Vice General Huang, give the order! All ships, dock in order and land! Target: Seoul!"

Huang Long clasped his hands in a fist salute and said in a booming voice, "Understood!"

He whirled around and shouted at the flag officer, "Raise the flag! Give the signal! All ships, prepare for beach landing!"

The sharp horn pierced the tranquility of the river, and colorful command flags waved rapidly. The Ming warships on the river changed course and surged towards the riverbank at the mouth of the Han River!
……

Seoul, North Korea, the sky was overcast.

Inside Gyeongbokgung Palace.

King Injo, thirty-five years old, sat listlessly on his throne, his eyes sunken, his weary gaze sweeping over the kneeling civil and military officials below. The atmosphere in the hall was heavy, broken only by his dry voice: "The barbarians have captured Pyongyang and are now at the gates of the capital. What do you all think we should do?"

As the chief minister, Li Yuanyi, the chief councilor, was the first to speak. His mature voice was steady, yet it revealed a sense of exhaustion and helplessness: "Your Majesty, this old minister dares to speak frankly. The shame of last year's 'Dingmao Rebellion' is still fresh in our minds, and the ferocity of the enemy cavalry is truly beyond my ability to withstand."

The best course of action now is to uphold the "Jiangdu Agreement," immediately dispatch an envoy with generous gifts to the enemy camp to explain the advantages and disadvantages, and reaffirm our brotherly alliance... The reason the barbarians are invading this time is because we have not properly fulfilled our agreement...

"Your Majesty, the Treaty of Gangdu, though humiliating, may, if earnestly fulfilled, temporarily halt their advance and grant our three thousand miles of land and millions of people a chance to breathe. This is a last resort, a desperate measure to preserve the nation and its ancestral temples."

His words were full of the reluctance of the peacemakers.

"While the Prime Minister's words are indeed wise and strategic, I absolutely cannot agree!" Left State Councilor Kim Ryu immediately retorted loudly. As a core contributor to the "Injo Restoration," his attitude was extremely firm: "Those barbarians, Amin and Mangultai, are nothing but wolves, utterly devoid of integrity! The blood of last year's oath is barely dry, and this year they've launched another invasion! To negotiate peace with them? That would be like cutting flesh to feed tigers; sooner or later, we'd be devoured!"
Your Majesty, I humbly request that you immediately issue an edict to gather righteous troops from eight provinces to defend the capital! At the same time, prepare to move the capital to Ganghwa Island, relying on its natural defenses to rally the entire nation against the invaders!

Right State Councilor Yi Gui echoed his ally's sentiments: "The Left Minister is right! The barbarians are going too far; only a desperate fight can save us! Your Majesty, please make a swift decision and do not harbor any more illusions!" Grand Censor Kim Sang-heon, his emotions running high, kowtowed to the ground, his voice resounding: "Your Majesty! Your subject Kim Sang-heon pleads before you with tears in his eyes! To negotiate peace with the barbarians is not only humiliation, but also a path to national ruin! Our Joseon is a land of propriety, and for generations we have regarded the Ming Dynasty as our parent nation. To betray the Ming Dynasty and side with the barbarians is a breach of moral principles, and our nation will perish! Even if we fight to the last soldier, we will never kneel before the barbarians! I implore Your Majesty to uphold your loyalty and await the arrival of the heavenly army!"

The reason why these meritorious officials of the "Injo Restoration" opposed peace and advocated war was not because they loved the Ming Dynasty so much, but because their faction used the pretext that Gwanghaegun "betrayed the Ming emperor and father" and defected to the barbarians (Later Jin) to launch a coup, overthrow Gwanghaegun, and support Yi Jong, who later became "Injo".
However, last year, because he couldn't defeat the Later Jin, that "Emperor Renzu" signed the "Jiangdu Treaty," abandoning the Ming Dynasty as his father and instead becoming sworn brothers with the Later Jin.

Does this behavior count as "betraying the king and father"? If Yi Jong and Gwanghaegun are like this, can other descendants of the Joseon Dynasty "rebel"?
One of the peace faction members scoffed, "Heavenly soldiers? Jin Shangxian, you keep talking about heavenly soldiers! Where are they? The Ming Dynasty can barely take care of itself right now. There's a disaster inside the Great Wall, and Liaoshen outside the Great Wall has been lost. How can it possibly have the strength to help us? Have you received a reply to the petition for troops sent to Beijing? Without reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty, defending the capital is just a waste of lives for the soldiers and civilians!"

Another minister beat his chest and wept bitterly: "Your Majesty! Although Kim Sang-heon and Kim Ryu speak words of loyalty and righteousness, they are empty words that will lead the country astray! We, your subjects, advocate peace not because we are afraid of death, but because we are thinking of the survival of the nation and the safety of Your Majesty! We must endure this humiliation for the time being so that we can plan for the future! If we act rashly and cause the downfall of the ancestral temple, we will die ten thousand times to atone for our sins!"

The anti-peace faction was immediately enraged, accusing the other side of being cowardly and afraid of death, and of having wasted their time studying the classics. The court was in chaos, with both sides citing scriptures and attacking each other, dragging the urgent matter of survival into endless factional strife.

Li Zong looked at the scene before him: the chief minister advocated forbearance; the meritorious officials advocated fighting to the death; the censors shouted about loyalty and morality; and the other officials were either crying or arguing, creating complete chaos.

He felt a deep sense of powerlessness and exhaustion, and the humiliation of being forced to sign a humiliating treaty last year surged up again, almost making him faint.

When will these ministers be able to put aside their differences and overcome the difficulties together?
He weakly raised his hand, his voice barely audible: "For today... let's leave it at that..."

However, before the words "Dismiss the court" could be uttered, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed outside the hall! An official from the Chengzheng Academy, disregarding etiquette, scrambled into the hall, knelt down with a thud, and his voice distorted with extreme excitement:
"Your Majesty! Urgent report from Nanyang! A massive fleet has suddenly appeared at the mouth of the Han River, and countless troops have landed, flying... flying the banners of the Ming Dynasty! They are rushing towards the capital!"

The news struck like a thunderbolt, and the once bustling court, as noisy as a marketplace, fell instantly to death.

Those who advocated for peace, such as Li Yuanyi, were dumbfounded, their faces filled with disbelief and shock at being caught off guard, and they were speechless for a moment.

The Ming army... they've arrived already?
Meanwhile, those opposed to peace, such as Kim Ryu and Kim Sang-heon, after a brief moment of stunned silence, suddenly erupted in ecstatic joy.

Jin Shangxian kowtowed to the ground, tears streaming down his face, his voice trembling yet resounding: "Heavenly soldiers! The Ming army of the Great Ming has arrived! Heaven has eyes! Our ancestors have protected us! The Great Ming has not abandoned us! Our nation can be preserved! Our ancestral temples can be saved!"

Li Zong suddenly stood up, his body swaying slightly from the news. His listlessness vanished, replaced by the wild joy of "Father didn't abandon me, I will fight to the end!"

He paused, calmed himself, and then roared in a hoarse voice, "Immediately issue an edict to gather righteous troops from eight provinces to defend the capital! I will fight the barbarians to the death, and I will avenge the humiliation of Dingmao!"

……

Almost simultaneously, hundreds of miles away from Seoul, on the official road from Pyongyang to Seoul, a fiery dragon composed of hundreds of torches tore through the dark night, surging forward. The heavy clatter of hooves and the rhythmic footsteps blended into a continuous rumble of thunder, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble and breaking the silence of the mountains and fields.

An army of about two thousand cavalry surged forward in silence like an iron torrent bursting its banks. A fierce and chilling aura, a mixture of sweat, leather, and steel, filled the night sky. At the very front of the column stood a fierce-looking Later Jin general, his face as menacing as a lion, clad in a dark blue brocade battle robe over iron armor. Beneath his sable-tailed helmet, his gaze was sharp and ruthless, like that of a hawk.

This person was none other than Mangultai, one of the four great Beile of the Later Jin Dynasty, the banner lord of the Plain Blue Banner, known for his bravery, bloodthirstiness, and cruelty.

His trip to North Korea with Amin was not because North Korea had failed to fulfill the "Gangdu Agreement," but because he wanted to turn North Korea into the granary and money bag of the Great Kim!

The mission was to plunder the Joseon treasury, seize all its wealth, and transport it all back to the north of the Yalu River. With this, the Jin dynasty could amass a large army to either sweep through western and southern Liaoning or breach the Great Wall at Jizhou…

Now that Pyongyang has fallen, the looted wealth is far from enough. Therefore, Mangultai personally led two thousand elite soldiers of the Plain Blue Banner as the vanguard, disregarding the exhaustion of his troops, marching day and night, straight towards the heart of Korea—Seoul. Only by capturing it and taking the king prisoner can they squeeze the last drop of wealth from this country.

"Hurry!" Mangultai turned around sharply and hissed in a low voice in Jurchen, "Pass on the order! Tell the bastards to hurry up! They must kick open the gates of Seoul before the Koreans burn down their granaries and hide their treasures! This time, not only must that brat Yi Jong kneel down and beg for surrender, but he must also take every grain of rice and every coin from his palace treasury!"

(End of this chapter)