Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 273 The Queen is pregnant with the legitimate son of the Ming Dynasty!
Li Chengliang's military tent.

Li Chengcai entered the tent and reported: "Brother, several scouts have discovered that the Goryeo army has not dug trenches, let alone prepared defenses. The 150,000 Goryeo army is rapidly approaching our army. Within a radius of 100 miles, there is smoke and dust raised by the Goryeo army."

Li Chengliang, who was observing the map, was stunned for a moment, and then he was overjoyed. The only problem in his plan to split the peninsula was that he did not expect Yu Dayou to arrive in Liaodong Town so quickly, block his retreat, and take away part of his victory without any effort.

If the Goryeo king's army dug strong trenches and used the terrain to defend stubbornly, he would find it difficult to use all the tricks he had. After all, on the battlefield, it is important to have the right time, place and people, and the home advantage is huge.

In addition, the enemy is numerous and we are few, so even if there are 150,000 pigs, it would be difficult to kill them quickly with only 30,000 to 40,000 people in our hands.

Once Yu Dayou arrived with a large army, he would be unable to advance or retreat, and would be doomed to death.

But sometimes, people are dumber than pigs.

King Lee Hye of Goryeo probably didn't know what it was like to suffer a crushing defeat. Once defeated, the greatest danger to everyone is often not the enemy, but their comrades who are in panic and are likely to bump into and trample on each other.

Li He was so stupid that he gave up his advantage and chose to fight in a plain with no obstacles. Li Chengliang couldn't help laughing and said, "How many porcelain caltrops do we have left?"

The porcelain caltrop gunpowder jar, also known as the porcelain caltrop fireball, is an explosive firearm. It was created in the early Song Dynasty and was widely used during the Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties, mainly for defending cities and field battles.

It gets its name from its appearance similar to Tribulus terrestris, a herb with thorns that can injure both humans and horses.

The porcelain caltrop gunpowder jar is filled with gunpowder and has iron blades added to it. When it is thrown out or detonated within the enemy's sphere of influence, it can explode, causing the iron blade fragments to fly everywhere, thereby achieving the purpose of killing the enemy.

The porcelain caltrop gunpowder jar has a unique structural design. Its surface is covered with sharp spikes, which are about one inch long. The diameter of the porcelain caltrop is about four inches. There is a small hole at the top for installing gunpowder and fuse.

In the middle of the porcelain caltrop is a centering chamber filled with small iron blocks, which increase its lethality when it explodes. The entire vessel is made of thick material and can weigh up to one and a half pounds.

After entering the Ming Dynasty, skilled craftsmen of the dynasty continued to make improvements to the porcelain caltrops by reducing its weight, increasing its volume, and increasing its damage, but due to lack of money, progress has been slow.

During the Jiajing period, the rising Jinyiwei was very interested in porcelain caltrops. Lu Bing, the commander of the Jinyiwei, even believed that this handheld and thrown firearm would become a powerful killing weapon on future battlefields, and invested a lot of manpower and material resources in it.

The results were remarkable, the goal of weight loss was not achieved, but essential progress was made in increasing volume and injury.

The reason is simple. The master craftsman has debugged a more powerful gunpowder formula, not just the porcelain caltrops, which is equivalent to a secondary upgrade of all firearms in the Ming Dynasty.

With more powerful gunpowder, master craftsmen simply removed the sharp spikes that could easily hurt themselves and added the same weight of new gunpowder.

Within the Great Craftsman's Workshop, this thing that has undergone an overall transformation is called a hand cannon, but in the military, it is still customary to call it a porcelain caltrop.

When a porcelain caltrop is dropped, anyone within a ten-foot radius around the point where it lands will be killed or injured, and broken pieces of porcelain can be found several feet away.

I heard that the Jinyiwei are still making changes to this new type of porcelain caltrops, and some master craftsmen want to change from porcelain to iron, which will be more convenient for storage and transportation.

But that's all later. Li Chengliang had already experimented with the new type of porcelain caltrop, a powerful weapon, on the Jurchens. One blow to the so-called Jurchen cavalry would instantly blow them to the ground.

Field battle!

It is the war that the Ming army fears the most today.

When Li Chengliang invaded Goryeo and captured dozens of cities, he did not use the new porcelain caltrops. Firstly, he had no need for them, and secondly, he was reluctant to use them. Now, he had hidden a surprise.

Li Chengcai thought for a moment and replied, "The retreat was cut off by Yu Dayou and they hid by the Yalu River. The remaining porcelain caltrops cannot be transported back. There are still about 100,000 in the army."

"One hundred thousand?"

Li Chengliang frowned slightly, nodded reluctantly, and said, "That's enough."

battlefield.

Defeat is never declared when all the soldiers of one side are killed.

If an army can suffer more than 20% casualties in a short period of time without being defeated, it is an elite army with strong will and fearlessness of death.

Such elite troops did not exist in Goryeo, and even in the Ming Dynasty, there were only 100,000 people who had participated in the Northern Expedition and fought in hundreds of battles of varying sizes.

However, most wars were long and continuous wars of attrition. The initial hand-to-hand combat between the two sides was basically based on mutual testing. The two sides would destroy the other side's defense line and kill indiscriminately. During the entire Cold War period, perhaps there was only one person like Hou Huo Qubing, the champion of the Han Dynasty.

Now, times have changed.

The emergence of firearms has changed the traditional battlefield. As long as there is sufficient firepower, the enemy can be crushed and collapsed, and a massacre will follow.

Li Chengliang looked outside the tent, concentrated his mind and said: "Pass my order, the whole army will be divided into three armies, front, middle and rear, and will fight against the Goryeo king's army one after another.

The 10,000 cavalrymen in the front army are each equipped with ten porcelain caltrops. When they see the Goryeo soldiers, they will immediately throw the porcelain caltrops into the Goryeo army. There is no need to aim, just throw forward, and as long as you are fast, you must throw all the porcelain caltrops in the shortest time possible. As for the rest, the central army and the rear army, all of them will rush forward and kill them!

Tell the soldiers to annihilate the Goryeo king's army and charge into Seoul. I don't want anything, money, treasures, Silla maids, whatever you want, I have it all!"

Li Chengcai's blood immediately boiled over and he roared, "Yes."

The order was passed to the entire army.

Countless sounds like wolf howls were heard.

They reaped great rewards in Pyongyang, but that was only a secondary capital. How much more would they gain in a real capital?
Money and women made tens of thousands of soldiers completely crazy.

this moment.

People are no longer human, but more like beasts.

The vast plain carried the creepy sound far away.

Li Chengliang in the tent fixed his eyes on the map, on the city that Yu Dayou had taken from him, and on the city of Anshi that he had given up attacking.

After this battle, he will split the peninsula and call himself king, but he knows that by then, everything has just begun.

The Ming court would never let him off easily.

The numerous crimes committed in Liaodong, the collusion with the Jurchens, the abduction of tens of thousands of troops, the rebellion and claiming to be king... None of these crimes could be offset by the annihilation of all ten clans.

However, Li Chengliang's eyes gradually turned red just like those soldiers. He didn't want to die. He wanted to live, and he wanted to live well.

Even if the road ahead is full of difficulties and dangers, he will give it a try!
……

Ok Hee Palace.

The eunuch Lu Fang, who was in charge of the Imperial Household Department, entered the temple in a hurry, not even caring about disturbing the Emperor's meditation.

"Your Majesty, urgent military report from eight hundred miles away."

Sitting on the mat, Zhu Houcong opened his eyes, picked up the pestle beside him, and said, "Go ahead." "According to the double investigation of General Yu and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, King Li He of Goryeo did not obey the arrangement of our Ming Dynasty and hold on and wait for help. Instead, he chose to lead 150,000 Goryeo troops to start a decisive battle on the 100-mile peninsula plain tomorrow morning." Lu Fang reported.

Zhu Houcong's eyes flashed with a gleam of light, and he said, "Let Yu Dayou act according to the plan. The life and death of the Goryeo King and the Goryeo Army has nothing to do with our Ming Dynasty."

Since the peninsula was included in the strategic points of the Ming Dynasty, the King of Goryeo was not important to the Ming Dynasty, and the Goryeo Army was not important to the Ming Dynasty. However, it was very important to the Ming Dynasty without the King of Goryeo and the Goryeo Army.

The cabinet had previously been thinking about what reasons or excuses to use to disband the Goryeo army and officially station troops on the peninsula after killing Li Chengliang together with the Goryeo Kingdom.

A country of etiquette and an army of justice must always have the dignity.

And now, King Yi Ho of Goryeo was seeking death, and he was taking almost all of the Goryeo army with him. This saved the Ming Dynasty from having to make an undignified excuse.

It goes without saying which of the two statements is more decent: forcibly disbanding the vassal state's armed forces, or that the vassal state's king and army were destroyed by a rebel general, the suzerain state killed the rebel general, restored normal order to the people of the vassal state, and sent troops to garrison and help the vassal state defend its territory to avoid invasion thereafter.

Because of his corruption, he chose the rebellious Li Chengliang, while because of his arrogance, he chose Li He to lead the army in person. This pair of "Crouching Dragon and Phoenix" is not bad, really good.

Lu Fang bowed and accepted the order, and continued: "Your Majesty, there is more!"

"What else?"

"In reply to Your Majesty, the Empress has been losing her appetite these past few days, so you've called the imperial physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau into the palace for treatment. Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations, Your Majesty, the Empress is pregnant!" Lu Fang knelt down and congratulated.

Zhu Houcong stood up and asked excitedly, "Really?"

Almost half a year had passed since the wedding. He favored over a hundred concubines, and put a lot of effort into the empress and the two imperial concubines, but there was no news of good news from the harem.

There was often discussion in the court and among the people that the emperor was getting old and it might be difficult for him to conceive an heir.

Even Zhu Houcong doubted whether his body was different from that of ordinary people and whether he was lifeless.

The good news that the queen was pregnant immediately shattered all doubts.

Emperor, OK!

"To answer your Majesty's question, it was Imperial Doctor Li who treated the patient, so I think it should be fine," Lu Fang replied.

There are so many people in the Imperial Medical Bureau, and many of them have the surname Li. But in the inner court, the title of Imperial Doctor Li only belongs to the genius doctor Li Shizhen.

There is no way that Li Shizhen’s diagnosis and treatment would be any different.

"quick!"

Zhu Houcong left the abode and ordered, "Go see her!"

Forbidden City.

Kunning Palace.

Before announcing the good news, Lü Fang had all the eunuchs and palace maids in the inner court get to work, cleaning the house, adding to the celebration and hanging decorations.

The palace has not been so lively for twenty years. Without the emperor, the palace is like a stagnant pool of water. Only when the emperor is around does the water come alive again.

The concubines in the three palaces and six courtyards all dressed up extra beautifully today, and then stood guard outside their own palace gates, even though they knew that the emperor could not come here and could not see them, but what if?
No chance!

The Kunning Palace, like the Qianqing Palace, Jinshen Hall, Huagai Hall and Fengtian Hall, was built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign. It is located on the central axis of the Forbidden City, while on both sides are the six east and west palaces where the concubines lived. The dragon carriage enters from the Xuanwu Gate, passes through the Guangyun Gate, and arrives at the Kunning Palace.

Like the Qianqing Palace and Yuxi Palace, the Kunning Palace was not only the empress's bedroom, but also used to receive court ladies and hold banquets and other activities.

The Queen held a very honorable status in Kunning Palace. She was the master of the harem, responsible for managing harem affairs and meeting with the princes, concubines, etc.

As Zhu Houcong entered the hall, eunuchs and palace maids knelt down like waves wherever he went. The female official Fengyi went to sleep, woke him up gently, and reported: "Empress, the emperor is here."

The current Queen, Lin Zhixi, always felt that she did not get enough sleep after she became pregnant. In addition, there were so many trivial matters in the harem that she was exhausted and a little sleepy. Therefore, when the emperor returned to the Forbidden City, Lu Fang alarmed tens of thousands of people, but did not alarm the Queen who was sleeping.

Lin Zhixi was stunned when she heard this, and then she became flustered, "Put on makeup!"

She was born an ordinary commoner and learned the palace rules and etiquette when she was a concubine. After she became the queen, she was respected by all the palace servants in the Forbidden City where the emperor never left. Others saluted her but she never saluted others. But she always kept in mind the rules and etiquette she had learned.

As the mother of a country, she has to dress neatly and pay homage to the emperor when she meets him.

After hearing this, Fengyi was a little embarrassed and said, "Empress, Doctor Li has instructed that you should not wear makeup when you are pregnant."

Lin Zhixi glared and said, "Go do it..."

"Go down." Zhu Houcong entered the bedroom and said to the female official Fengyi.

The female official Fengyi seemed to be pardoned. After paying her respects, she withdrew.

Lin Zhixi, who was not wearing any makeup but still had a beautiful face, blushed and was about to step forward to pay her respects, but was stopped by Zhu Houcong, "We are husband and wife, there is no need to do this."

Hearing this, Lin Zhixi was stunned for a moment, and her heart was touched. The word "husband and wife" sounded familiar yet unfamiliar.

The emperor and the empress are husband and wife, but they don’t look like husband and wife. At least between her and the emperor in front of her, they don’t act like ordinary couples.

She could only see her husband, the Emperor, when she was sleeping with him. The Emperor, who had regained his handsome appearance and the figure of a dragon and a phoenix, seemed like a banished immortal from the world, difficult to approach and understand.

At this moment, I suddenly felt a bit like a "human".

Lin Zhixi came back to her senses and subconsciously touched her belly, saying, "Your Majesty, I am extremely exhausted. Please forgive me for my rudeness."

Zhu Houcong shook his head and said, "I just wanted to come and see you. These etiquette and rules are for outsiders and cannot be imposed on you."

It was not easy for a commoner girl to become a queen and manage the Forbidden City in such an orderly manner.

There is no need to be harsh on other things, and Zhu Houcong would not be harsh on them.

Lin Zhixi nodded slightly, opened her red lips and said, "It is getting late, Your Majesty, please stay for dinner in the palace."

"it is good!"

……

The news of the queen's pregnancy spread quickly throughout the court and the country. The cabinet elders, ministers of the six ministries and nine departments, and all civil and military officials congratulated her.

The three previous empresses of His Majesty, Empress Xiaojiesu, Empress Zhang Fei, and Empress Xiaolie, all failed to give birth to a son. The current empress is pregnant, which has led countless officials and people to speculate that a legitimate son of the Ming Dynasty is about to be born...

(End of this chapter)