Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 276 Cheng Liang became king and established his own regime!
North of Seoul.

Black holes of fire were gushing out from the muzzles of the guns.

After all, Goryeo had the advantage of geographical location and people, and built many defensive fortifications. All the artillery was set up behind the stockade, continuously bombarding the advancing Li Chengliang army.

The artillery fire exploded in front of Li Chengliang's officers and soldiers, on their left and right sides, and some even exploded right beside them, creating balls of fire.

But it just can't kill that many people!
Li Chengliang saw this scene through the telescope and couldn't help shaking his head.

More than a hundred years had passed, and Goryeo's firearms had not made any progress at all.

During the Hongwu and Yongle periods, King Taejong of Goryeo, Lee Bang-won, visited Peking and had a good relationship with Emperor Chengzu Wen of Yan, Zhu Di.

After Emperor Seongjo ascended the throne, Lee Bang-won was the first to send people to Nanjing to pay tribute. Emperor Seongjo also repaid this "rebellion" teacher well by recognizing Lee Bang-won's title of King of Goryeo and formally establishing Goryeo's status as a vassal state.

Emperor Chengzu Wen had a deep affection for Goryeo. He was very close to Lee Bang-won and they exchanged letters frequently.

Emperor Chengzu Wen sent people to Goryeo three times to select concubines. After his death, he buried two Goryeo concubines with him. Although this act was cruel, it also reflected Emperor Chengzu Wen's closeness to Goryeo.

Therefore, during the reign of Emperor Chengzu Wen, the land on the south bank of the Yalu River was granted to Goryeo. This act was equivalent to giving up the land on the south bank of the Yalu River in legal terms, causing the Ming Dynasty to almost completely lose the most important bridgehead in the eastern part of the world - the Goryeo Peninsula.

There is no doubt that for the Ming Dynasty, which was in urgent need of expanding its strategy, this decision was the biggest strategic mistake in Emperor Chengzu Wen's life.

The friendship between Emperor Seongjo Mun and Lee Bang-won enabled the Goryeo Kingdom to develop rapidly during the Yongle period, covering all aspects including writing, military, medicine, inventions, literature...

Especially in the military field, Lee Bang-won launched the Ji Hai Eastern Expedition at the suggestion of Emperor Seongjo Mun.

The purpose of the Eastern Expedition was to eliminate the invasion of Japanese pirates in the Tsushima Strait. During that expedition, 700 Japanese pirates were killed in Goryeo, 110 were captured alive, and at least 140 Ming people who were captured by the Japanese pirates were released.

On the Goryeo side, only 180 people were killed.

On the northern border, Lee Bang-won ordered the construction of four counties and six towns to strengthen border defense.

Lee Bang-won also formulated many laws to consolidate the defense of the peninsula with reference to the Ming military system, and strived to invent and develop new weapons.

For this purpose, Emperor Chengzu Wen specially dispatched Wu Yao, a great craftsman of the Ming Dynasty, to provide guidance. Under Wu Yao's leadership, Goryeo manufactured many rockets and artillery, such as the Goryeo Shenji Arrows used today.

China and the Peninsula are both Li Chengliang's ancestral lands. The magical arrows that China helped Goryeo to make were used against the Ming Dynasty's army more than a hundred years later.

Li Chengliang didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but some Liaodong Army generals who were familiar with the history of Ming Dynasty and Goryeo could not accept it.

Until this moment, they were still bewitched by Li Chengliang, thinking that this attack on Goryeo was only to force Goryeo to hand over Nurhaci and other Jurchen remnants. However, Goryeo not only refused to hand over, but also dared to use Ming Dynasty's things to fight Ming people.

All the Liaodong Army soldiers had no intention of distinguishing right from wrong, they just wanted to kill these bastards as soon as possible.

Ten thousand vanguard cavalrymen, led by officers and soldiers, bravely rushed towards the Goryeo artillery positions under fierce artillery fire without fear of death.

On a firearms battlefield, the first thing to do is to destroy the enemy's artillery positions as quickly as possible. This extremely lethal weapon is the biggest variable in the battlefield situation.

The Liaodong front army quickly carried out this task. They surrounded the Goryeo artillery positions and threw tens of thousands of porcelain caltrops in an instant. The flames that shot up into the sky instantly enveloped the positions, and the sound of artillery stopped abruptly.

Goryeo also had telescopes. Standing on the high ground, King Lee Ho of Goryeo could not believe that the 200 cannons built with the whole country's strength were destroyed at the first moment of the battle between the two armies.

Li He, who boasted that his civil and military achievements were unrivaled in the world and that the Goryeo army was invincible, suddenly felt an indescribable fear in his heart.

The commander of that artillery position was Kim Kyung-seok, whom he praised as Goryeo's number one artillery general. He watched helplessly as his left and right arms were blown to pieces.

At this moment, Li He's mind was blank. The battle had already begun. After eliminating the Goryeo artillery positions, the Liaodong front army, in accordance with the military orders issued by Li Chengliang, immediately turned to the front battlefield. Like a pack of wolves descending the mountain, they used their powerful inertia to throw porcelain caltrops into the Goryeo king's army.

blossom everywhere!
It can be said that in the instant of close combat, the vanguard of the Goryeo royal army was almost wiped out, and tens of thousands of Goryeo royal army soldiers were killed or wounded.

If there is one thing in this world that can make people most sober, then overwhelming force is definitely one of them.

This is not a battle, but a massacre!

When people are faced with irresistible extreme fear, there are only two reactions: one is to give up, and the other is to turn around and run.

On the battlefield, once a large number of soldiers escape, the trend of collapse will be immediate. In this situation, even a god of war would find it difficult to pull the situation back, let alone the Goryeo King Lee Ho who was in his twenties and had just faced the reality.

After throwing all the porcelain caltrops, the Liaodong front army ended the first military order, vacated the battlefield, and ordered the Liaodong central and rear armies to press forward to fight with the Goryeo king's army.

Of course, the word "fight" may not be quite accurate. The Goryeo royal army soldiers who had completely lost the will to resist had no choice but to flee.

They would rather charge into their own army than look back at the butcher knives in the hands of the Liaodong Army.

The Liaodong central army and the rear army followed in succession, continuously hunting down the Goryeo royal army soldiers who were running slowly and falling to the ground.

Those who escaped fast would be chased by the cavalrymen of the front army who had recovered their strength. How could a creature with two legs possibly outrun a creature with four legs?
He chased after him and stabbed his defenseless back with a knife. The Goryeo soldier fell to the ground immediately, and there was no movement after that.

kill!kill!kill!

After killing several people in a row, the knife often becomes blunt, with the blade curled and gaps like saw teeth. When you chop again, you can't even cut into a person's skull.

However, on the battlefield, the thing that was most in demand was weapons for killing. When the swords of the soldiers in the front, middle, and rear armies were no longer effective, they would pick up a Korean sword on the ground and use it.

Although the knives made in Goryeo were not so easy to use and the quality was not that good, they were still enough to kill one or two people. When the blade became bent, you could just replace it with another one.

The Goryeo king's army has been defeated.

Li He, who had witnessed everything, was nearly insane. The Goryeo king's army commander, who was covered in blood, Li He's other arm, General Nan Zhiqin, rushed over and protected Li He and left, "Your Majesty, please leave!"

As he said this, he hacked to death a Goryeo soldier who was approaching. But the blood on his body probably did not belong to the Liaodong soldier.

The battle lasted for a day and a night, and the casualties were countless.

"Where is the King of Goryeo?" Li Chengliang asked.

Li Chengcai replied: "I think he fled back to Seoul."

"With all the troops and generals dead, the city is just an empty one. Pass the order down and continue to march to Seoul!"

...Pyongyang.

Yu Dayou arrived with only a dozen riders and went straight to the gate of the camp.

He also directly informed the defenders in the city of his identity. Liaodong Army Lieutenant General Dayong was shocked and hurried out of the camp and the city to pay a visit. Yu Dayou entered the city calmly.

As soon as he entered the city, Yu Dayou was shocked by the scene before him. According to information from various sources, this was the "Liujing" where willow trees were planted everywhere. Now it was midsummer, and the whole city should be covered with swaying willow branches.

The devastated scene, broken walls and countless stumps of willow trees silently tell the story of an unprecedented fire that once took place here, burning all the willow trees in the city. From the burning willows, the fire fell into the homes of the people, and thus the disaster occurred.

Pyongyang, the most prosperous place in Goryeo and equivalent in status to the Jinling City of the Ming Dynasty, was destroyed in a fire.

The reason is very simple. In order to facilitate ruling and guard against sneak attacks by the people of Goryeo, all "obstacles" must be destroyed as much as possible.

There was not a single Korean in the huge city. When Yu Dayou looked over, Dayong understood what he meant and explained, "The general is not dead. He is in the south of the city."

Because of Li Chengliang's special military order, once a city was captured, all the money, treasures and women would belong to the soldiers and they could take them at will.

The soldiers' first target, of course, was money and treasures. They robbed the city treasury, then the wealthy families in the city, and finally the ordinary people's homes.

After layer upon layer of looting, the northern part of Pyongyang is no longer visible or habitable.

In order to achieve the goal of splitting the peninsula, Li Chengliang quickly led his troops south, leaving only Lieutenant General Da Yong and 5,000 Liaodong troops to garrison in the north.

After Li Chengliang went south, Dayong issued strict military orders, strictly prohibiting harassment of the people of Pyongyang. All burning, looting, killing and plundering were not tolerated by military law.

After beheading more than a dozen brutal sergeants and a captain who broke into civilian houses and committed violence in front of everyone, he finally pacified this pack of wolves.

Dayong ordered the people of Pyongyang to move to the south of the city to live and survive, waiting for everything to be over.

When Dayong, who had been blinded by money, sex and tyranny, regained his senses, he and many officers of the Liaodong Army who stayed in Pyongyang gradually realized that something was wrong.

Now the Jurchens have been eliminated, with only Nurhaci and dozens of others left at large. So who was Li Chengliang defending against by leaving them facing north?

However, without any source of information, Dayong tentatively sent people to the north to investigate, but no one returned.

Dayong was about to send more people to continue the investigation when he heard of the arrival of General Yu Dayou.

At the same time, Dayong also knew that the reason why those people who had been sent out before did not come back was that they were robbed and killed by the personal guards left behind by Li Chengliang.

The Jinyiwei, who were responsible for the vanguard, dealt with this group of people.

What happened, the cause and effect, was also told to Dayong and the 5,000 Liaodong soldiers in Pyongyang through Yu Dayou's mouth.

Were they actually deceived by Li Chengliang and turned into a rebellious army?
this moment.

No one, including Dayong, could accept this sudden change.

After Dayong invited Yu Dayou to take the seat, he was silent for half an hour, and Yu Dayou also stared at him for half an hour.

Li Chengliang became a rebel, and they became a rebellious army. Under Li Chengliang's orders, everything they did was regarded as rebellion by the Ming Dynasty.

Those who burned and killed became crimes, and those who robbed and looted became evidence of crimes.

If he returns to the Ming Dynasty, he will probably be subject to military law.

There was riot among the 5,000 Liaodong troops. Some officers had a simple idea: things had come to this point and it was impossible to defend themselves in front of the emperor. Rather than returning to the country and being beheaded, it would be better for them to rebel!

Kill Yu Dayou and follow Li Chengliang till the end.

Dayong was no pushover and had considerable experience in commanding troops. During this period he had trained a large number of trusted officers in the city's army, who came in handy at this time. One by one, the officers who had been clamoring to "oppose the Ming Dynasty" were captured, and some were even killed on the spot.

The smell of blood blew in with the draft, but Dayong suppressed the bloodthirsty feeling in his heart, met Yu Dayou's gaze, and said clearly: "We are willing to lay down our weapons and return to our country to stand trial!"

The cities of Lianke, Gaimu, and Anshi were all in the hands of Yu Dayou. The gateway to the entire peninsula plain was open to the Ming Dynasty. However, Yu Dayou did not choose to wait for the arrival of the North Plain Construction Corps and take Pyongyang in one fell swoop. Instead, he chose to enter the city of Pyongyang alone, whose position was unclear.

Dayong understood that this was a benevolent act by Yu Dayou in order to reduce their fearless casualties.

Otherwise, in the emperor's wrath, these people will be beheaded and their descendants will be exterminated.

Yu Dayou breathed a sigh of relief, his eyebrows showing joy, and said, "I was not wrong about you. The emperor and the court will not let you down. What you did was not in line with justice, but the emperor is kind and wise, and is willing to eliminate this matter with grace. When you return to the country, no one will punish you, but your titles, official positions, and honors of the Jurchen tribe will be wiped out."

Dayun's family has a long history and prominent status. His ancestors are descendants of Genghis Khan and belong to the Golden Family on the grassland.

After surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, many members of Dayun's family became generals and officials and made many contributions to the Ming Dynasty.

Such a person should have been supported by the Ming Dynasty and entrusted with important tasks, but after being deceived by Li Chengliang, he can forget about it.

Turn disaster into safety?

When Dayong heard Yu Dayou's words, he didn't know whether he was excited or happy. He knelt on one knee and said, "Thank you, General."

Yu Dayou shook his head and said, "Don't thank me, thank His Majesty for his kindness."

Without the emperor's authorization, how could he dare to give such a guarantee to Dayong's troops who had no rebellious intentions but committed rebellious acts?

Dayong knelt down towards the southwest, which was the direction of the capital, and said prostrate himself, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

After discussing the details of the handover of Pyongyang, Yu Dayou said goodbye and returned. Five days later, Yu Dayou led his army to Pyongyang again. Dayong, who had received the news in advance, led his 5,000 men, tied their arms behind their backs, and apologized to Yu Dayou.

Yu Dayou ordered his soldiers to untie everyone, but did not give them weapons. The 50,000 soldiers of the Beiyuan Construction Corps had arrived at the Yalu River and would arrive here in a few days. With the absolute trust of the emperor and the court, they would take over everything here.

Dayong and his five thousand troops would be escorted back to their country, convicted, and then pardoned.

When Pyongyang was taken.

There was also news from Seoul that Li Chengliang had broken into the city, beheaded the Goryeo King Li Yan, and proclaimed himself king. He then sent envoys to negotiate with Yu Dayou, the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor, with Pyongyang as the limit, with the north returning to the Ming Dynasty and the south to Chengliang...

(End of this chapter)