Just like that, Xiao Ruxun was brushed aside, like a stone thrown into an ancient well. After a few ripples, there was no more sound. At present, the civil officials were busy making preparations to suppress Ye Mengxiong, who might threaten the balance of the court. This person was the one who posed the greatest threat to their interests, so they had to be cautious and appropriately dealt with.
But very quickly, they didn't have much energy to spare to conspire against Ye Mengxiong.
Two days before Ye Mengxiong and Xiao Ruxun arrived in the capital, on the fifth day of the sixth month, the belated letter from the King of Korea finally arrived in the capital. It was sent to the Bureau of War through the Office of Transmission, and then to the cabinet elders.
Acting Grand Secretary Zhao Zhigao was the first to see this letter, as well as the panicked emissary from the King of Korea who had come with the letter, as well as Shen Dian, who had been stationed in the capital for a long time. The two of them began to cry.
"What? The Japanese sent an army to attack your country? Your country couldn't resist and was forced to retreat again and again. In a month, you even lost your capital? How is this possible? "
Zhao Zhigao was flabbergasted.
"This is not a lie! Cabinet Elder Zhao! This is not a lie! The Japanese army is valiant, and on the twelfth day of the fourth month, they suddenly landed on our country and launched a surprise attack. Our army was caught unprepared and lost a series of strategic locations! Even the capital of Hanjing has fallen, the Crown Prince has been captured, and His Majesty has taken refuge in Pyongyang. I ask that the Daming, for the sake of our annual tribute to the court, send troops to assist our country in repelling the Japanese pirates! Restore our territory! "
The emissary from the King of Korea, Zheng Yi, kneeled on the ground, his body trembling as he pleaded with Zhao Zhigao for help.
For a moment, Zhao Zhigao didn't react. When he did, he saw the equally flabbergasted Grand Secretary Zhang Wei, and with a bitter smile, he walked up to Zheng Yi and asked, "Your country has always been an expert of the east, so why did it suddenly fall to the Japanese pirates? Moreover, your country has a large population and at least one hundred thousand soldiers. Why was it defeated with a single blow and reduced to such a state? Even the capital has fallen? "
Zheng Yi once again prostrated himself on the ground and cried, "The Japanese pirates sent out their troops before declaring war. Most of our cities were unprepared and were raided by the Japanese pirates. Our army was stationed in the north to guard against the Jurchens, so we couldn't spare too many troops in the south to deal with the Japanese pirates. This allowed the Japanese pirates to take advantage of us and even capture our capital. Our country has lost all its face. I don't ask for anything else, I just hope that the Daming will send troops to help us on the account that our country has always been obedient!!!"
Zhao Zhigao was flustered by Zheng Yi's crying and looked at his only comrade, Zhang Wei. Zhang Wei smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Envoy Zheng, get up first. Don't cry. Sending troops to war is not something you can cry about. There are many implications. Even if we send troops now, it will take at least two months before we can enter your country to fight. Now that you are crying like this and can't even speak clearly, what should I do? "
Zheng Yi agreed, so he stopped crying and got up from the ground. He bowed his head and respectfully asked the Daming to send troops to help. He couldn't explain clearly, he didn't even know how many soldiers and horses the Japanese pirates had and how they were fighting. He only asked the Daming to send troops to help.
This made Zhao Zhigao and Zhang Wei very confused, so they invited the Minister of War, Shi Xing, and the staff of the Cabinet to listen to Zheng Yi's description.
Shi Xing had already called Shen Dian and Zheng Yi to the Ministry of War to question them. He felt that there were many suspicious points, but now they made a scene in the Cabinet. This made Shi Xing very unhappy and he didn't give them any face.
After listening to Zheng Yi's crying, a staff of the Cabinet pointed out the problem.
"Since your country asked for help, why didn't you mention when and how many days it would fall? What battle happened? How many soldiers and horses were lost? Who among the generals died in battle? Which official has the integrity to die? You didn't say anything and just asked for help. You didn't even know when the Japanese would send troops. What should the Daming do? Even if you want to send troops, you should at least know how many troops Japan will send before deciding the number. "
Hearing this, Zhao Zhigao frowned and his face became ugly.
"Envoy Zheng, your country has always been a strong country in the east and guarded the eastern border for the Daming. Japan is a small country with less than a million people and less than 100,000 soldiers. Even if they sent troops, how many could they send?
It's understandable that your country was not prepared at the beginning, but on April 12th, you sent troops, and on May 3rd, you lost the capital. From Busan to the capital, even if you sent a few troops to harass them along the way, you can't let the Japanese take the capital so easily, can you? "
When Zheng Yi saw that the Grand Secretary of the Great Ming Dynasty actually doubted his words, he was momentarily frightened and didn't know what to say. This kind of attitude only made the ministers in the cabinet even more suspicious of this matter. There were even people who suggested that Wei Nation and Korea were conspiring against the soldiers of the Great Ming Dynasty. He wanted to interrogate the man and find out if he was a spy from Nihon!
Zheng Yi and Shen Dian were scared out of their wits. They knelt on the ground and cried, saying that they were not lying and that North Korea had no intention of betraying the Daming. They asked the Prime Minister of the Daming and the Emperor to investigate clearly and send troops to help!
Zhao Zhigao saw that he was crying sincerely and didn't seem to be faking it. Mr. Muddleheaded was confused again and didn't know how to deal with it. He had to submit the letter and the Cabinet's opinion to Emperor Wanli and ask the Emperor to make a decision.
Zhu Yijun was thinking about what to do with Xiao Ruxun after he arrived in the capital. Suddenly, he heard that the North Korean envoy had come with a letter asking for help, and a cold smile appeared on his face.
According to the information sent by the Imperial Bodyguard and the information sent by the sea merchants and overseas Chinese in the coastal areas last year, Zhu Yijun was basically sure that the Japanese soldiers had entered North Korea, so he made all kinds of preparations. However, some people in the Cabinet pointed out that the envoy's words were contradictory.
He didn't mention where North Korea was defeated, where it fell, which generals died, which officials died, how many soldiers and horses were lost, and so on. He didn't mention any of these. He just kept asking the Daming's soldiers to enter the court to recover their country, which was really strange.
Some people in the Cabinet thought that this might be a conspiracy between North Korea and Japan. They conspired together to bring the Daming's soldiers into North Korea to attack and then attack the Daming's territory.
Zhu Yijun shook his head at this kind of ridiculous thinking.
He was very helpless and dissatisfied with these civil officials who were good at internal strife but not at external warfare. The information had reached this point. The information from the Imperial Bodyguard in Liaodong City completely matched, and the information brought back from Japan by local people. Wasn't this enough to explain the problem?
You buried your mind in the matter of the crown prince. That's enough!
The Central Plains Dynasty didn't care much about the war between Japan and North Korea. According to the national strategic principle pursued by the whole Central Plains Dynasty, the most important thing was to protect the Central Plains. No matter how North Korea and Japan fought, it didn't matter as long as it didn't involve China. However, once China was involved, it would threaten the Daming's territory. The painful memory of the Japanese rebellion decades ago would stimulate the Daming's heart.
Zhu Yijun wouldn't turn a blind eye to it. As soon as the information came, Zhu Yijun instantly analyzed the Japanese's ambition and purpose, so he constantly collected information to prepare. While arguing with the court officials about the crown prince, he also paid enough attention to the national security issues, such as ordering the local troops in Liaodong to "act according to the circumstances".
Of course, the specific information about the number of troops sent by Japan, the distribution of the troops, and the extent of the war, was currently unknown to Zhu Yijun.
Japan! Japan!
A few cold lights burst out of Zhu Yijun's eyes.
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