Chapter 676 0671 [Goryeo Is Still the Most Stubborn]

Yan'an Prefecture.

Liu Guangguo rushed to the back house and said to Liu Yanqing who was about to go to bed: "Father, the Ming army in Hebei won!"

"Really won?" Liu Yanqing instantly lost all sleepiness.

Liu Guangguo said: "It's absolutely true! The messenger I left in Tokyo got the news and came back on horseback. The snow was too deep to ride on the horse, so he walked back day and night. The Ming army has recovered the entire territory of Hebei."

Liu Yanqing immediately scolded: "What Ming army? That's the king's division!"

"Yes, yes, it's the king's division." Liu Guangguo said hurriedly.

Liu Yanqing thought for a moment and said, "When the snow melts in spring, my father and I will go to Tokyo and leave you and your brother here to continue leading the troops. If the court transfers you and your brother away, our Liu family will have no choice but to accept it."

Liu Guangguo was shocked: "Father, are you going to..."

Liu Yanqing sighed and said, "Alas, the Miao Liu next door have already submitted to the court. The Zhe family has a daughter who married the prince, and they are probably going to submit as well. Our Liu family can't stand alone, so how can we not hand over the military power?"

Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan gave up being warlords more than half a year ago because of Wang Yuan's letter of advice.

They asked the court to send civil officials, and were willing to accept the court's dispatch.

As early as when Zhong Xiang was not destroyed, the court had sent officials to take over the territory. Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan were allowed to continue to command the troops, and only military judges and grain and grass officers were sent to supervise them, and they were ordered to reduce the army to 6,000 people.

This move frightened Liu Yanqing, Liu Guangguo, and Liu Guangshi, father and son, who were afraid of the court's attack, but were unwilling to give up their military power.

To be honest, the Liu family was almost unable to hold on.

The main reason was the lack of money and food!

Their territory was in Yan'an and Suide, which was originally a barren land, and was also plundered by the Western Xia.

In the past, the Song Dynasty court transferred money and food to support the army, but now the Ming Dynasty court let them fend for themselves. How could the Liu family support the army with local taxes?

Mizhi Village, Kaiguang Fort, Kerong Village, Linxia City and other places, even the population was abducted by the Western Xia.

With all the resources in Liu Yanqing's hands, he couldn't even migrate the people to farm. He could only send soldiers to guard the various forts, and all military rations had to be transported from Suide and Yan'an, and the garrisons could not get any local supplies.

The soldiers under his command fled one after another because of the lack of clothes and food.

In such a desperate situation, the imperial court defeated the Jin army. How could Liu Yanqing dare to continue to be a warlord?

On the winter solstice festival, Liu Yanqing petitioned the imperial court, requesting to take his son back to Tokyo to report on his work.

As long as the imperial court approved, they would leave immediately.

...

Linzhou.

This year, the Zhe family suffered heavy losses and was defeated by the more than 10,000 troops led by Yin Shuke.

Huoshan Army, Baode Army, Fengzhou and Fuzhou, two armies and two states, more than ten forts, all fell into the hands of the Jin people.

The Zhe family lost their old nest Fuzhou, and fled to Linzhou with the remaining soldiers and the whole family.

Even Liangu County and Zhenchuan Fort in Linzhou were successively broken by Yin Shuke, and the Zhe family could only lead troops to defend the state city.

Relying on the heavy snow, Yin Shuke was forced to withdraw his troops, which gave him a chance to breathe.

Most of the territory has been lost, and he is still a warlord!

There is no need to worry about the lack of military rations, because the Zhe family has only more than 4,000 remaining soldiers.

A group of people and horses came in knee-deep snow.

"Who are you?" The soldiers guarding the city were as if they were facing a great enemy.

The leader shouted: "I am Li Ruoshui, the prefect of Linfu appointed by the court. Zhe Keqiu, please go out of the city to welcome me!"

Zhe Keqiu felt relieved when he got the news.

He had been defeated and retreated this year, and kept asking the court for help, but the court ignored him. Moreover, the Ming army was strong, and he did not dare to surrender to the Jin as in history, so he could only defend the city and delay time.

Calling Zhe Kecun and other generals, Zhe Keqiu ran out of the city: "Meeting Li Taishou!"

"Let's go into the city, it's quite cold outside." Li Ruoshui said.

Zhe Keqiu hurriedly invited Li Ruoshui into the city and asked impatiently: "May I ask the governor, what arrangements does the court have?"

Li Ruoshui said: "Fengzhou, Fuzhou, Linzhou, Lanzhou, Huoshan Army, Baode Army, Kelan Army, Jinning Army, these states and armies will be merged into Linfu Prefecture in the future, and I will be the first prefect of Linfu Prefecture. Do you have any objections?"

"I dare not!" Everyone in the Zhe family answered hurriedly.

Zhe Keqiu complained: "The Jin soldiers here are strong and have occupied two states and two armies. I wonder when the court will send reinforcements?"

Li Ruoshui said: "There will be reinforcements next year. But you have lost the city and the land, so don't lead the troops anymore. Hand over the troops to Zhe Kecun, and take your wife and children to Hunan as an inspector."

"Yes... I will obey your order!"

Zhe Keqiu was very unwilling, but he had to obey the situation. At least the court continued to let his brother lead the troops.

Li Ruoshui asked, "Do you know about the great victory of the royal army?"

Zhe Keqiu nodded and said, "I heard that Marquis Zhang defeated the Jin soldiers in Pingding."

Li Ruoshui smiled and said, "Not only did we win a great victory in Shanxi, but the prince also won a great victory in Hebei and has recovered the entire territory of Hebei. Your Zhe family member Zhe Yanzhi followed Han Shizhong to fight and led the new Shandong army to conquer more than ten cities of the pseudo-dynasty."

"Really?" Zhe Keqiu was stunned when he heard it. He was shocked by the great victory in Hebei and happy that Zhe Yanzhi had made great contributions.

In fact, he did not make any great contributions. Deng Chun, Han Shizhong, Li Cheng, Zhe Yanzhi and others all encountered puppet court and pseudo-troops. They often surrendered when they were at the gates of the city, or even surrendered at the sight of the enemy. They didn't know how to write the battle report.

Li Ruoshui said, "Zhe Yanzhi will take over Han Shizhong's troops next year and will be promoted from deputy general to regular general. As for Han Shizhong, he will be transferred to Linfu and serve as the deputy general of Shanxi, with full responsibility for the military affairs of Linfu."

Han Shizhong came not only to fight, but also to train. All the troops here had to be reorganized.

Hearing that Zhe Yanzhi had made meritorious service and was promoted, but he still stayed in Shandong, and sent Han Shizhong to lead the troops instead, how could Zhe Keqiu not understand the court's intention?

This was the Ming court taking back the military power of Linfu. The Zhe family's 200-year warlord status was over.

Fortunately, Zhe's daughter had become the prince's concubine, and there were also Zhe's sons who made meritorious service in the new dynasty, so they would continue to enjoy wealth and honor in the future.

Linzhou Prefecture Government Office was vacated by Zhe Keqiu, and Li Ruoshui was invited to live there in the afternoon of the same day.

…

It was the first month of the third year of Hongwu when the Xixia monarchs and ministers learned the news.

Last year, Richard led 8,000 elite troops to secretly spy on the eight pavilions of the Jin Kingdom.

But he found that Yin Shuke defeated the Zhe family army one after another, and more than 10,000 Jin soldiers were not far from the eight pavilions. Richard did not dare to act rashly and could only choose to withdraw his troops.

"Your Majesty, the Jin army was defeated, and lost tens of thousands of soldiers!" Li Renzhong rushed to the palace to report the news.

Li Qianshun was extremely shocked: "It really was defeated? The Ming army is invincible!"

The news obtained by Xixia has been passed on for several times, and it has been spread very outrageously.

Li Renzhong repeated the intelligence he sent people to find out: "Wanyan Zongwang is in Hebei, with 80,000 Jin soldiers and more than 100,000 pseudo-Song soldiers. Prince Zhu personally led 300,000 troops, killed more than 30,000 Jin soldiers, and defeated more than 100,000 pseudo-Song soldiers. He has recovered the two routes of Hebei in Song! There is also the Ming general Zhang Guangdao, who killed 20,000 Jin soldiers under Wanyan Zonghan and captured 80,000 pseudo-Song soldiers!"

Li Renli also followed and urged: "Your Majesty, you should quickly send an envoy to the Ming Dynasty to reaffirm the father-son relationship between the two countries. Then ask to marry the clan daughter to Prince Zhu, and your majesty can also ask to marry a Ming princess."

"That's right." Li Qianshun followed suit.

Li Qianshun was by no means a weak and incompetent ruler. He was simply frightened by the firearms of the Ming Dynasty and wanted to buy a few years of peaceful development.

At least, the national strength of Xixia had to be restored, otherwise how could it face the Ming army in the future?

He called Richard and asked, "Can the King of Jin send troops to attack the Jin Kingdom next year and seize the land of Baguan?"

Richard shook his head and said, "The general of the Jin Kingdom, Yin Shuke, is in Fuzhou with more than 10,000 troops. If our army attacks Baguan, he can lead troops to kill us at any time. Your Majesty, don't be impatient. The Ming and Jin countries will definitely fight again. When the Jin soldiers are completely defeated, it won't be too late for Daxia to send troops to seize Baguan."

Li Renzhong also advised, "What the King of Jin said makes sense. Although the Jin Kingdom was defeated, its military strength is still strong. Don't provoke it easily."

Li Qianshun thought, "Keep an eye on the Jin Kingdom at all times. Once the Jin soldiers suffer heavy losses, send troops to seize its territory immediately!"

...

Xixia still wanted to wait and see, but Goryeo couldn't wait.

After congratulating Zhu Guoxiang on New Year's Day and Lantern Festival, the two envoys, Monk Miaoqing and Zheng Zhichang, immediately took a boat to Shandong when the river thawed, and then took a boat across the sea back to Goryeo.

In order to balance the power of the two factions, the king moved back and forth between Xijing and Kaijing, and moved after living for two or three months each time.

But it is obvious that he lived in Pyongyang, Xijing for a longer time!

"Your Majesty, China has won a great victory and the Jin soldiers have been defeated. It is a good time for our Great Goryeo to expand its territory!" Monk Miaoqing shouted excitedly.

Wang Gou asked, "How many Jin soldiers were killed and wounded?"

Monk Miaoqing added fuel to the fire and said, "The Jin soldiers lost nearly 100,000 soldiers in Hebei and Shanxi, and there are few elite soldiers left."

"Is it true?" Wang Gou also began to get excited.

The king was eager to get rid of the Kaijing nobles and was eager to do something to enhance his prestige. He had killed a grandfather and father-in-law, but now he was constrained by another father-in-law. Those Kaijing nobles always wanted to control the king.

Zheng Zhichang said: "Your Majesty, this is absolutely true. I heard that the second prince of the Jin Kingdom and the prince Zhu of the Ming Kingdom fought on the battlefield, and the prince Zhu personally injured the prince of the Jin Kingdom!"

Wang Gou became very interested in Zhu Ming and asked: "Have you ever seen the prince Zhu with your own eyes?"

Zheng Zhichang said: "Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I have heard many people talk about it. The prince Zhu is nine feet tall, can eat two pounds of meat in one meal, and can lift a five-stone tripod. Moreover, he is both civil and military, and he is familiar with the Six Classics at the age of twenty. The Ming Kingdom said that he is a saint incarnate. Since he raised his army, he has never suffered a defeat."

Monk Miaoqing followed and said: "The prince Zhu raised his army in Sichuan, China, and 800 people broke through a state, and 5,000 people broke through a prefecture . The Emperor of Song sent 200,000 soldiers, divided into six routes to encircle and suppress the Song Dynasty. Prince Zhu's 60,000 soldiers defeated the Song Dynasty. In just a few years, Prince Zhu already had 500,000 soldiers! "

"What a strange man in the world, I wish I could meet him in person," Wang Gou was fascinated. He eliminated the powerful prime minister when he was only a teenager, and he also wanted to make a career. "Emperor of Ming, are you willing to enthrone me as the King of Goryeo?"

Monk Miaoqing said: "The Emperor of Ming said that a minister should not serve two masters. Goryeo has already pledged loyalty to Jin. It must openly break with Jin before Ming will send envoys to enthrone it."

Wang Gou slapped his thigh: "Immediately collect grain and recruit soldiers. I want to personally conquer Jin and expand the territory of Goryeo!"

What if I lose?

Hurry up and recognize my father, and then ask the Ming father to send troops to help.

On the one hand, Wang Gou is eager to expand the territory. His real intention is to consolidate his position and use military merits to completely get rid of those Kaijing nobles.

Even if he lost the battle, as long as he could be enthroned by the Ming Dynasty, the nobles of Kaifeng would not dare to take advantage of him.

Xixia looked around and still waited and watched, not daring to send troops. The Goryeo Kingdom still had an indomitable momentum!