Chapter 642 0637 [Everyone Is Preparing for War]

In the history books of the peninsula, Miaoqing has always been portrayed as a demon monk.

He is obviously a monk, but he claims to be proficient in Taiyi Yuzhang footwork, which is a kind of yin and yang feng shui prophecy.

And his brain seems to be a little abnormal, and he has been obsessed with "anti-Jin". When all the ministers of Goryeo disagreed, he directly launched a coup, forcing the king to establish a new era and become emperor and send troops to attack Jin.

This matter caused a huge uproar. Although Miaoqing was suppressed, Goryeo declined from then on, and the king was also sidelined by the nobles.

In the late ninth month of the lunar calendar.

Miaoqing was ordered to go on a diplomatic mission to the Ming Dynasty and crossed the sea to Dengzhou Port.

Before getting off the ship, he saw a large number of ships anchored at the port, and bags of grain were moved to the shore.

"It seems that there will be a big war between the Ming Dynasty and the Jin Kingdom!" Monk Miaoqing muttered.

Deputy envoy Zheng Zhichang said: "We should seize the opportunity to gain the support of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, so that we can force His Majesty to move the capital."

Miaoqing monk said: "I hope the Ming Dynasty can win. There are too many lackeys of the Jin Kingdom in the court!"

Zheng Zhichang was born as a champion, currently serving as a Hanlin scholar, and his poetry is the best in Goryeo. He hates red tape, advocates Laozi and Zhuangzi's thoughts, and is incompatible with mainstream Confucianism.

The two are both from the Xijing faction, wanting to move the capital to Pyongyang, representing the interests of the nobles in the Xijing area.

But the power of the Kaijing faction is stronger, which scared the king and made him dare not take action-in fact, the king also wanted to move the capital. He lived in Kaijing since he was a child and was psychologically traumatized by the nobles there. It happened that the Kaijing Palace was burned down by a powerful official.

This time, Monk Miaoqing and Zheng Zhichang went to the Ming Dynasty to gain the support of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

After leaving the ship and landing, an official soon came to contact them and took them to the state city to stay.

Before the two entered the city, they saw a large number of soldiers heading to the dock.

The armor of these soldiers had been moved onto the ship, and they only had various weapons in their hands. But even with only weapons, they were still very powerful when marching, and they were the elite among the elite.

Zheng Zhichang couldn't help asking: "Which general is leading this army?"

Although the accent was strange, the clerk could understand it and answered with a straight face: "Your Excellency should not ask about military affairs, otherwise you will be suspected of being a spy."

Zheng Zhichang could only shut up.

A general ran over with his personal soldiers, stationed on the shore and watched the soldiers board the ship, cursing: "You bastard, after resting for half a year, you can finally lead the army to fight again!"

This person was of course Li Bao, and his mission was very simple, to cross the sea to cut off the Liaoxi Corridor, blocking the most convenient grain route of the Jin Kingdom, so that the follow-up military grain from Liaodong could not be quickly transported to Youzhou.

Historically, the Jin Kingdom's Eastern Route Army sent troops to the Northern Song Dynasty twice, both of which set out from Liaodong in August and September of the lunar calendar.

Why did they choose this time?

One is that the new wheat was just harvested, and the other is to avoid the rainy season.

From April to July of the lunar calendar every year, the Liaoxi Corridor to the Liaohe River Basin will be soaked by rain and become muddy, making it difficult for the army and food to move.

Therefore, the Liaodong troops should avoid the summer, and if they cannot be avoided, they can only take a detour.

This time is similar. Wanyan Jiemu brought the army and the first batch of food and grass to Jinzhou in the late August of the lunar calendar. At this time, the Liaoxi Corridor is much easier to travel.

In order to prevent the Ming army from crossing the sea to attack the grain route, Wanyan Jiemu had to divide the troops to garrison.

There are 2,000 troops stationed in Jinzhou, 1,000 in Haibin, 1,000 in Zongzhou, 2,000 in Haiyang, and 300 to 500 in other small grain stations.

Nearly 10,000 troops were wasted on guarding the grain route.

Of course, they all used signed militia to garrison, not to defeat the attacking enemy, but to protect the grain transport stations.

It is acceptable for the grain transport troops along the way to be attacked, and the losses will not be too great. After all, the Ming army also has to take risks when crossing the sea.

The Jin Kingdom could also transport grain from the north, through the Lulong Pass to Youzhou, but that road was rugged and mountainous and the distance was long, and the transportation cost was too high.

Due to Zhang Jue's rebellion against the Jin Kingdom, after a series of wars, the Liaoxi Corridor was also in a semi-abandoned state.

Xu Kangzong went to the Jin Kingdom a few years ago and passed through the Liaoxi Corridor. His evaluation of this was: (the prefecture city east of Yuguan) is not as good as a small town in the Central Dynasty... After the war, it became even more desolate.

Let's put it this way, the location of Shanhaiguan in later generations was once the Qianzhou City of the Liao Kingdom. Now even the city has been razed to the ground, leaving only a migrant town. Including the staff of the post station, the permanent population is less than 1,000.

Wanyan Jiemu knew that she had to guard against the grain route, so how could Zhu Ming not come to harass?

After several months of repairs, the Song Dynasty warships that could still be used in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong went to Shandong one after another to assemble at Dengzhou Port.

The sea-going merchant ships of these three provinces also received the "entry order" from the court.

As long as they transport the grain to Dengzhou, they can get the corresponding amount of salt or tea permits.

Guangdong and Fujian are short of grain, but Zhejiang is not. This year, there is a bumper harvest of rice in Jiangnan. The grain in Lianghuai is also bought crazily by sea merchants, just to be transported to Shandong in exchange for salt permits.

One after another, civilian grain transport ships went to Dengzhou from the southern coast along the monsoon current. The grain in the port warehouse has piled up like a mountain.

These military grains can be used for cross-sea troops and for the battlefield in Hebei!

Li Bao will use Lushunkou as a base to harass the direction of Jinzhou first. It is best to mobilize the enemy's troops. Even if the Jin soldiers are not fooled, they can attack any place at will, just be careful to avoid the Bohai storm.

Nanxinzhai is Li Bao's first target. There is a Liao navy that surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, and it will definitely become a grain transfer station for the Jin Dynasty. It is located in the middle area between Shanhaiguan and Suizhong County.

The second target is the resettlement town, which is Shanhaiguan in later generations.

After all the soldiers boarded the ship, Li Bao stood on the deck and ordered with high spirits: "Let's go!"

A large number of civilian ships helped transport soldiers and food.

The court did not pay for transportation, but when they returned with goods, they could obtain corresponding tariff reductions in the south. And it would not delay time, anyway, they needed to wait for the winter monsoon in Shandong.

Li Bao led the fleet to Lushunkou, and after unloading the baggage, he immediately ordered the fleet to the waters of Dalian Bay.

Pu Jianu personally sat in Huacheng County (Jinzhou), and when he heard the alarm bell, he hurriedly climbed the tower to check. The densely packed ships on the sea frightened him and shouted loudly: "Send an order, let Liaoyang Prefecture and Posu Road send reinforcements, and give me another 5,000 soldiers no matter what. Also, let Hu Sha immediately transfer 1,000 Fuzhou soldiers!"

Posu Road is on the north bank of the Yalu River, and the garrison there is to guard against Goryeo.

Liaoyang Prefecture had just been conscripted, and if it wanted to conscript again, it would have to frantically capture able-bodied men, or even let the Liaoyang clan send slaves.

Southern Liaoning cannot be lost. Since Li Bao has "increased troops", Pu Jianu must also defend it heavily. Otherwise, Liaoyang may be in danger, as it is one of the two ruling cores of the Jin Dynasty.

…

More than a month before Li Bao sent troops, Zhu Ming had already gone north to Dezhou and Yongjing Army (Dongguan).

There are also two elite troops there.

One was transferred to Shandong by Han Shizhong and personally reorganized and trained for a year. The soldiers came from various volunteer armies in Shandong, such as Song Jiang's old brothers, many of whom served as officers under Han Shizhong.

The other was Li Cheng's Shandong and Hebei volunteer armies, which had captured Jinan City and had strong combat effectiveness.

Li Cheng came to Dezhou by boat and greeted Zhu Ming with Han Shizhong: "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Just salute." Zhu Ming personally helped Li Cheng, because this old man knelt down and kowtowed.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Li Cheng was very excited.

This man is quite interesting. He treats his soldiers very well and truly loves his soldiers like his own sons. He has a bad attitude towards his superiors and sometimes disobeys orders.

But when he meets a real top person like Prince Zhu, he seems to become an ordinary person again.

Zhu Ming only helped him with his own hand, and Li Cheng was so excited that he trembled all over. He felt that he was valued and wanted to die for the prince.

Very strange psychological activities.

Zhu Ming patted Li Cheng's arm: "You are really a strong man. I heard that you can shoot a 300-jin strong bow?"

Li Cheng smiled honestly: "But I don't have that much strength. 200 jin is more than enough."

This guy is tall and strong, estimated to be 1.9 meters tall, and he gives people a sense of deterrence just standing there.

Zhu Ming casually warned: "In the future, when the food and wages are sufficient, you can no longer indulge your subordinates to extort rich families."

"I will strictly abide by military law!" Li Cheng promised with a bow.

After a few more words of encouragement, Zhu Ming turned to Han Shizhong and said, "Old Han, long time no see."

Hearing this address, Han Shizhong was no longer reserved and said with a playful smile, "I miss your highness very much. I wonder if your highness brought Shaodaozi with him."

Zhu Ming said, "I didn't bring Shaodaozi. You can drink it when you return to Beijing in triumph. Let's go into the city first. Deng Chun will lead the army to arrive in a few days."

Han Shizhong was refreshed: "Are we going to fight?"

Li Cheng also pricked up his ears.

Zhu Ming invited the two of them to get on the carriage and said on the way into the city, "The Shandong army is going to attack Hejian Prefecture this time. If you encounter the elite Jurchens, fight if you can. If you can't win, retreat and change the attack to containment."

"I will definitely win," Li Cheng said with a fist, "I will not only conquer Hejian Prefecture, but also lead the troops back to Xiongzhou!"

Li Cheng is from Xiongzhou and looks forward to returning to his hometown day and night.

Zhu Ming asked, "What is the situation in Hejian Prefecture?"

Han Shizhong said, "The Jin people are recruiting soldiers and collecting grain. Every day, Hejian people, unable to bear the exploitation of the Jin people, sneak across the Yellow River to join the Ming Dynasty."

Li Cheng said, "I heard from the people who escaped that the Jin people and the pseudo-dynasty don't care about their lives. No matter how many males there are in the family, they either hand in grain or let their children serve in the army. The rich families have to pay grain and send men. If they don't give grain, their homes will be confiscated."

"How long has this been going on?" Zhu Ming asked.

Han Shizhong said: "It's been almost a month, and the Jin people are preparing for war."

Li Cheng said: "The Yongjing Army where I am stationed, some righteous men escaped to Gonggao Town a few days ago. It was the Jin people who conscripted soldiers and grain, and forced the rich families in Beilin Town and Yongning Town to rebel. The gentry led the peasants to resist the tax and gathered more than 3,000 righteous soldiers. Unfortunately, they were suppressed by the Jin people and the pseudo-court officials and soldiers. Only a few hundred people died and escaped across the Yellow River."

"The people's will, this battle must save the people of Hebei from the water and fire." Zhu Ming sighed.

The Jin people are really crazy. Hejian Prefecture is under their puppet rule. In order to collect military grain, they actually forced the landlords to rebel.