After learning of the complete fall of Hamgyong Province, coupled with the fact that the Great Ming Dynasty's cavalry had also been defeated by the Japanese, the Korean emperor and his ministers were indescribably terrified. Li Zhi even had three fright overnight, and his entire person was haggard. Helpless, he could only continue to send even higher ranked envoys to the Great Ming Dynasty to request for troops.
Of course, the Daming Dynasty would send troops. Otherwise, why would they send 3,000 cavalrymen to intimidate the Japanese?
Although President Konishi had won the war, he knew very well that his country's logistics capabilities had reached the limit. The iron cannons of his soldiers had become fire sticks. Without gunpowder and lead, they could not continue fighting. The reason why he was still in Pyongyang was because he did not want to show weakness. Moreover, he was actively seeking the possibility of resolving the war through negotiation.
Japan, an island country, had sent 200,000 young men to serve in this war. It had almost exhausted all the young men that Hideyoshi could control. A large amount of land was left uncultivated. The government could only order the remaining farmers who did not participate in the war to take care of more land. They could not let the land become barren, or else they would be punished. Such a decree was tantamount to a death sentence for the farmers.
It was almost August, and the savings that Japan had accumulated before the war had been exhausted. Hideyoshi began to squeeze the blood and sweat of the people.
Half of his world was won by war, and the other half was won by negotiation. Hideyoshi's actual situation was actually similar to Jiang Zhongzheng's after the Northeast changed its banner. A considerable number of people did not listen to his orders. Later, Japan's final winner, Tokugawa Ieyasu, was the biggest one.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi had never defeated Tokugawa Ieyasu in a head-on battle. He was only roped in after negotiations. How could these people be willing to contribute their forces?
Therefore, Hideyoshi was only using half of Japan to fight the war.
Under such circumstances, how good could the logistics of the Japanese troops at the frontline be?
Of course, the North Koreans were not much better. In order to prompt Zu Chengxun to attack, Yoo Sung-Ryong had collapsed on the bed with hemorrhoids. Now, if the Daming Dynasty's army were to move south, the North Koreans would definitely be responsible for the food supply.
Of course, there was good news as well. For example, Quan Su had defeated Kobayakawa Takakage on land, and Lee Sun-sin had defeated the Japanese Navy at sea. Japan's logistical capabilities had been greatly hindered, which directly affected the situation and morale of the Japanese troops at the frontline.
It could be said that without Quan Su and Lee Sun-sin, the battle in North Korea would be even more difficult.
This news encouraged the North Koreans, and they urged the Ming court to send troops to help them recover their land.
The North Koreans' increasingly urgent request to send troops and the courtiers' urgent request to suppress the news and confirm the Crown Prince candidate created a huge conflict, and this conflict took a turn for the better after the North Korean envoy cried all over the yamen in Beijing and won widespread sympathy.
The Minister of War, Shi Xing, loudly called for everyone to shift their focus from the struggle for the nation's foundation to the North Korean side. If they did not pay attention to the imminent danger and the North Koreans were completely annihilated, it would be no different from a disaster for the Great Ming Dynasty. Japan would be able to directly threaten the Great Ming Dynasty's territory, and it had always been the Great Ming Dynasty's principle to defend against enemies outside their borders. They absolutely could not allow their territory to be ravaged.
Whether the struggle for national security should continue was still debated, but Zhu Yijun's arrangements did not show the slightest sign of panic.
At the beginning of August, Liaodong's guerrilla commander, Zhang Qigong, led 1,000 men to Yizhou, 500 to guard Jiulian City, and 4,500 men were stationed at Matoushan, Jiangyantai, Tangzhan, Fenghuang, Kuanjang, and other important border towns between China and North Korea. In addition, the long-awaited cannoneers from the south arrived in advance with 3,000 men. They were all elite troops personally trained by Qi Jiguang, led by his old subordinates, Wu Weizhong and Luo Shangzhi. The vanguard of 500 men had already arrived at Tangzhan.
If one were to insist, the Ming Army's future conflict between the north and the south had already begun.
But in the middle of August, most of the generals of the Liaodong army suddenly received orders to stop assembling the troops and return to their original stations. The troops that had already been assembled were on standby and were not to move south into North Korea without orders.
At the same time, troops from all over the country received the transfer order.
The Zhejiang troops were all stationed on the banks of the Yalu River before assembling, and were not allowed to enter North Korea without orders. The Zhejiang Inspector-General, Chang Jujing, received the summons and urged the remaining Zhejiang cannoneers to speed up the march. The Ningxia Inspector-General, Zhu Zhengse, and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Li Zhi, who were stationed far away in Ningxia, suddenly received the summons and mobilized the entire Ningxia Firearms Battalion to Liaodong to await orders. The Shandong Inspector-General, Xiao Daheng, received the summons and mobilized 10,000 Shandong gunmen to prepare to enter Liaodong.
Then he dispatched people to arrange for the supply of rations and ammunition for the troops from all over the country to march to Liaodong.
Xiao Ruxun's memorial emphasized the problems with the muskets and gunpowder. He requested that the muskets must be able to be used. If they couldn't be used, then the production should be reduced to avoid wasting national funds. All gunpowder had to be filled in wooden barrels and sealed with oiled paper to ensure dryness. It was the rainy season in North Korea at the moment. Even if they didn't start the war now, they had to prevent the gunpowder from getting wet due to the rain.
Zhu Yijun also specially ordered the Imperial Bodyguard to transfer people to investigate the manufacturing problems of the muskets. This investigation really found a lot of problems, causing Zhu Yijun to sneer. It was fine during normal times, but during the war, he would have a reason to punish those bastards!
Taking advantage of this war, he would do all the things that he wanted to do but couldn't do before!
He unified the opinions of the officials, mobilized the elite troops from all over the country, and made sufficient preparations. The war was about to start!
Now that the chaos in Ningxia had been quelled by Daming, there was no longer the biggest hindrance, and the officials would soon be dealt with!
How would the North Korean envoy know who to look for and cry to? Where to go and cry to? That was all Zhu Yijun's idea! Those scholars often liked to talk about righteousness. So this time, he would use righteousness to crush those bastards!
During the court meeting on August 20th, the opinion of sending troops to North Korea was more or less unified!
On August 29th, the day before Xiao Ruxun was summoned to the Ministry of War, the Great Hoodwinker, Shen Weijing, arrived in Pyongyang and began his journey of hoodwinking.
Shen Weijing was originally from Pinghu, Zhejiang, and was a branch of the Shen family from Pinghu. According to his resume, he had served in the army when he was young, refined medicine, and even worked as an advisor under Hu Zongxian. He had once used a scheme to poison Japanese pirates and could be considered a half-Japanese and a hero who resisted the Japanese Aggression. However, he did not have a degree and was also involved with Hu Zongxian. Naturally, he was treated as a remnant of the Yan clique and a lackey, so he was cooked.
In the 20th year of the Wanli era, Shen Weijing was already in his 60s. He hung out with a bunch of necromancers and scoundrels in Beijing every day.
He was a professional swindler and had two essential characteristics of a swindler. First, he had excellent language skills and was eloquent. Second, he had a good appearance and a "long beard and strong" face. He had a very positive image and did not look like a swindler.
In fact, Shen Weijing had already visited North Korea once at the end of June. However, at that time, the North Korean emperor and his ministers were complacently planning to launch a counterattack on Pyongyang, so they naturally could not let the so-called peace negotiator spoil their plans. It was not until the counterattack failed that the North Korean emperor and his ministers relaxed and eagerly welcomed Shen Weijing. After Shen Weijing arrived in Pyongyang, it was said that he showed off his prowess and ruthlessly crushed the Japanese, earning them a 50-day truce.
These 50 days played a crucial role in Daming's decision to mobilize troops and unify their thinking. From this point of view, the Great Hoodwinker, Shen Weijing, had made a great contribution. That was because while he was engaged in a war of words with the Japanese, on August 30th, Xiao Ruxun, who had been making dolls in Beijing for almost three months and was not allowed to return to Ningxia, finally received a letter from the Ministry of War.
The Minister of War, Shi Xing, asked Xiao Ruxun to go to the Ministry of War for questioning.
PS: A diligent author who updates three times a day, looking for recommendations and favorites ~
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
