Chapter 677 0672 [Party Struggle and Selling the Country]

South Hamgyong Province in later Korea was the territory of the Helandian Jurchens.

More than 20 years ago, the Wanyan Jurchens rose to power, and the Helandian Jurchens came to their side.

The King of Goryeo (Wang Gou's grandfather) was furious and sent troops to attack the Helandian Jurchens.

Well... Goryeo was defeated and relied on lobbying and bribery to exchange for a truce with the Jurchens.

When Wang Gou's father succeeded to the throne, he received support from the Liao Kingdom and sent troops to attack the Helandian Jurchens again.

In this battle, Goryeo won a great victory, seized the Helandian Jurchen land, and built nine cities including Xianzhou, Yingzhou, Xiongzhou, and Jizhou. (That is, the nine cities in the northeast.)

Immediately afterwards, Goryeo was in civil strife and was forced to withdraw its troops back to the country to quell the rebellion. Wanyan Uyasu then led his troops to recapture Helandian.

By the way, the Jurchens also picked up nine cities built by Goryeo for free...

This incident was regarded as a great shame by the Goryeo monarchs and ministers. They had clearly expanded their territory, but they turned victory into defeat due to internal strife, and were counterattacked by the Jurchen army.

There were still nine cities that they had built at great expense to the people!

Now, Wang Gou and the Xijing faction announced that they would march north, and immediately received support from the Xijing clans, border generals, local clans and middle and low-level officials.

"Public opinion is leaning towards the Northern Expedition, and it can no longer be suppressed." Li Zhidi sighed.

This person is the cousin of the eliminated powerful official Li Ziqian. One powerful official fell, two concubines were abolished, but the Li family still stood firm.

Jin Fuyi said sinisterly: "As long as the front-line troops are defeated, your majesty will be safe."

Father-in-law Ren Yuanhou was shocked and said: "This... this is not good."

The leader of the Kaijing faction, Jin Fushi, said: "The nobles of Xijing have joined forces with the warriors in the border areas. If we win this battle, not only will the nobles of Xijing be difficult to suppress, but those warriors will also be arrogant and domineering. At such a critical moment, we must use extraordinary means!"

What are extraordinary means?

Sell out the front-line troops.

Inside, delay the transportation of food and grass; outside, provide intelligence to the Jin Kingdom.

When Wang Gou's father defeated the Jurchens, expanded the territory and built nine cities in the northeast, the king's prestige overshadowed all the nobles.

The Goryeo nobles also played this trick, first provoking civil strife and requesting the front-line troops to withdraw and quell the rebellion. At the same time, they passed the news to the Jurchens, condoned the Jurchens to counterattack and enter the Goryeo territory, and then proposed to return the newly occupied land.

Even, they turned the tables and killed the generals who defeated the Jurchens on the grounds of provoking border provocations!

"You won't do anything to His Majesty?" As the father-in-law of the king, Ren Yuanhou didn't care about his son-in-law, but his identity as the father-in-law.

Jin Fushi said: "The eldest son of the king is almost one year old, and he should be made the crown prince!"

Ren Yuanhou no longer objected. It didn't matter whether the son-in-law died or not, as long as the grandson could be guaranteed to succeed to the throne.

Of course, it would be best if the son-in-law didn't die.

After all, the grandson was not even one year old yet, and it would be a big loss if he died young.

After thinking about it, Ren Yuanhou added: "Your Majesty is still too young. If the front line is defeated, it will be a lesson learned. At that time, let Your Majesty study more, and I will marry another daughter to Your Majesty."

This is a proposal to put the king under house arrest, and then have more children to ensure that the next king is still the grandson of the Ren family.

Jin Fushi nodded and said: "This is the words of an old man who governs the country."

The two sides reached a deal.

Li Zhidi came to interject: "The Ming Dynasty is powerful and cannot be ignored."

Jin Fushi's family is a descendant of the Silla royal family.

His father and Park In-ryong were envoys to the Song Dynasty, and their poems were published in Tokyo, earning Goryeo the reputation of "Little China".

Kim Bu-sik himself was also familiar with Confucian classics and was emotionally attached to China.

However, the letter of Goryeo's complete submission to the Jin Dynasty was written by Kim Bu-sik himself. He was able to remain at the top of the ministers in Goryeo, and there was also the factor of the support of the Jin Dynasty.

If the Jin Dynasty could support him, why couldn't the Ming Dynasty?

Kim Bu-sik smiled and said, "Prepare the ships and envoys. Once the front line is defeated, we will invite His Majesty back to Kaifeng. Then let the envoys cross the sea immediately, present the letter of state to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, and ask the Ming Dynasty to enthrone the king and send troops to rescue Goryeo!"

"Good plan!" Everyone applauded.

First, collude with the Jin people to cripple the king's army, then place the king under house arrest to establish the crown prince, and then overthrow the Xijing faction and the military group, and finally surrender to the Ming Dynasty to obtain the support of the Celestial Empire.

Once successful, Goryeo will be the world of the Kaifeng nobles!

These guys have learned all about the party struggles in the Song Dynasty, but they ignore the interests of the country.

The Goryeo king is still gathering troops and collecting grain. A Goryeo messenger has gone to the Jin Kingdom to inform the Jin people to quickly mobilize the army, and it would be best if they could set an ambush to annihilate the Goryeo army.

At the same time, Jin Fushi wrote a letter to the state and sent an envoy to wait at the port, waiting for the right time to surrender to the Ming Dynasty.

The Kaijing faction is a bunch of insects, how much better is the Xijing faction?

Monk Miaoqing and Zheng Zhichang deliberately exaggerated the results of the Ming army and lied that there were few elite Jurchens left, just to urge the king to send troops. Historically, the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed by the Jin Kingdom. They actually told the king that the Song army had won a great victory and planned to take advantage of the opportunity of the Jin Kingdom to destroy the Song Dynasty to launch a northern expedition.

In May of the third year of Hongwu, the Goryeo Kingdom raised 18,000 troops. Before the food and grass were fully prepared, they marched by land and sea to the Jin Kingdom's Helan Road.

Wang Gou was full of confidence and had the confidence to win.

More than ten years ago, his father led the army to defeat the Jurchens, expand the territory, and build nine cities in the northeast. Why can't his son do the same?

He didn't think about the fact that the people defeated by Goryeo were only the Helandian Jurchens who didn't have much leather armor. Even the Wanyan Jurchens didn't have enough armor at that time, so how could they compare to the powerful Jurchens now?

Wang Gou insisted on leading the troops to the front line himself. Monk Miaoqing was afraid of accidents and repeatedly advised him not to take risks.

So, Wang Gou stopped at Yuanshan, waiting for the news of the victory of the generals.

To be honest, if the Kaijing faction had not informed the Jin Kingdom, Goryeo might have won at the beginning of the Northern Expedition.

Because the Jurchen tribes in these places were relatively weak, and a large number of troops were withdrawn to the south last year, how could they defend themselves with empty troops?

Zhao Kuang, a warrior of the Xijing faction, was appointed by Wang Gou as the general commander, leading the land and sea army to take Xianzhou (Xamhung).

In Xianzhou City, Ximao Ali had been waiting for several days.

There were only 18,000 Goryeo soldiers. After receiving the news, Ximao Ali only brought back 200 brave cavalry and 800 light cavalry.

One thousand Jin cavalry were enough to win the battle!

By the way, the Jurchen tribes in Helan Road were mainly populated by the Bohai people, and the Jurchens were a minority.

A large number of Bohai people could not bear the brutal rule of the Liao Kingdom and fled here to survive. They gradually merged with the local Jurchens. In addition to farming and hunting, they were also good at fishing and pirates.

These people drove offshore fishing boats and often plundered the eastern coast of Goryeo, and even crossed the sea to plunder Japan.

Historically, the main force of the Jin soldiers who defeated the Song Dynasty navy in Liangshanpo was the Helan Road Jurchens (also the Bohai soldiers here). The Jin soldiers defeated by Han Shizhong in Huangtian Dang were also mainly Helan Road Jin soldiers.

They are the most familiar troops in the entire Jin Dynasty - after all, they are pirates.

Because the Denglai Ming army often crossed the sea to harass, the Jin Dynasty is now also building a navy. Ximao Ali was previously sent to the Yalu River estuary for training. He rushed back to Xianzhou from the Yalu River estuary.

There are mostly mountainous areas near Xianzhou, but 150 miles to the southwest, there are low and gentle plains and hills along the coast.

Most of these coastal plains belong to the territory of Goryeo and are often plundered by Jurchen pirates. The local gentry and people support the Goryeo king's northern expedition, and they are eager to serve as soldiers or transport grain.

The military spirit can be used!

Zhao Kuang sent 500 cavalrymen as the vanguard, and soon arrived outside Xianzhou City.

However, there was no defense here, not many soldiers guarding the city, and Jurchen people fled into the mountains along the way.

After receiving the news from the vanguard, Zhao Kuang led his troops to speed up, intending to take Xianzhou City by surprise while the Jin Kingdom was not prepared.

The army was still seven miles away from the city, and suddenly 300 Jin Kingdom light cavalry came to kill.

Zhao Kuang first asked the cavalry to engage in the battle, and the Jin cavalry fought and fled, and the Goryeo cavalry chased bravely.

Just as you chased me, 200 brave cavalrymen and 500 light cavalrymen of the Jin Kingdom suddenly rushed out from the northwest mountainous area.

The Goryeo cavalry was cut through the waist and immediately collapsed and fled.

At this time, there were only more than 900 Jin cavalrymen left, chasing the fleeing Goryeo cavalry and killing directly at the Goryeo army.

In order to take Xianzhou in one fell swoop, Zhao Kuang ordered the entire army to march quickly, and a large number of soldiers were not wearing armor and were carried by livestock to march on the road.

Facing the Jin cavalry chasing after them, Zhao Kuang shouted in panic: "Hurry up and put on your armor!"

The agile Goryeo soldiers quickly found their armor and put it on, but more people were in a panic.

Moreover, Goryeo had a large number of militias who had no armor at all!

Four teams of Jin cavalry passed by diagonally, and the Goryeo front army, which had barely formed a formation, was frightened and began to mess up.

Three more teams of Jin cavalry, riding and shooting, pretended to charge, and the Goryeo front army's formation was in chaos.

Then six teams of Jin cavalry charged, and the Goryeo front army collapsed directly.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhao Kuang, the main general of Goryeo, immediately fled with his own soldiers. The Goryeo army collapsed and was chased by the Jin cavalry for hundreds of miles.

The war was like this, Zhao Kuang's negligence was not the main reason, nor was the ferocity of the Jin cavalry.

The real reason was that the nobles of Goryeo Kaijing sent military intelligence to the Jin Kingdom!

As long as Goryeo unexpectedly took Hamhung City, the rest would be all mountainous terrain, and no matter how powerful the Jin cavalry was, it would be difficult to display it.

There were 18,000 people when they went to war, and more than 20,000 civilians were recruited.

Including civilians, only two or three thousand people could escape back to Yuanshan alive.

Wang Gou looked at the remaining soldiers outside the city, and his face turned pale and trembled all over.

In order to shirk responsibility, the chief general Zhao Kuang who escaped back rushed to complain and said: "Your Majesty, thousands of Jin soldiers came to kill us, and our army could not resist at all. The intelligence was wrong, and the elite of the Jin Kingdom still existed and was not annihilated by the Ming Kingdom at all."

"Nonsense!"

Miaoqing monk was furious: "Even if the main force of the Jin soldiers still existed, how could they deploy thousands of cavalry in Xianzhou? You must have exaggerated the enemy situation!"

"Your Majesty, there are really thousands of cavalry!" Zhao Kuang knelt and cried.

Miaoqing monk sent people to ask the defeated soldiers, and the results were different. Some defeated soldiers said that the enemy numbered tens of thousands, some said that the enemy numbered several thousand, and some even said that they did not see clearly, and they fled after the troops in front of them collapsed.

Monk Miaoqing said to Wang Gou: "Your Majesty, there must be a traitor in the country who leaked the secrets, and it was an important official in the court. Otherwise, it would take at least a month for our army to march north and the Jurchens to rush to Xianzhou. How could they set up an ambush in Xianzhou?"

Wang Gou also thought it made sense, and was so angry at the group of insects in the court that he trembled all over.

But Zhao Kuang, who had suffered a defeat, was ordered to lead his troops to defend Yuanshan City to the death. Suddenly, someone came to look for him at night.

The visitor was tied up and brought to Zhao Kuang.

"Where did you come from, spy?" Zhao Kuang asked.

The man smiled and asked back: "General Zhao, are you willing to marry the Jin family?"

"Bang!"

Zhao Kuang slammed the table: "So it's the Jin family who colluded with the Jurchens!"

The man asked again: "General, are you willing to marry the Jin family?"

Zhao Kuang became silent for a long time, then slowly raised his head: "But is it the daughter of the main patriarch of the Jin family?"

The man sneered and said, "The Jin family is a descendant of the royal family of Silla. The fact that the general can marry the daughter of a minor branch of the Jin family is already a blessing from the ancestors. Why bother to ask for the daughter of the main branch of the Jin family?"

"What do you want me to do?" Zhao Kuang asked.

The man smiled even more proudly: "Purge the emperor's side and eliminate the evil around your majesty!"