Chapter 703 0698 [It Is Easy to Invite a God but Difficult to Send Him Away]

Of course Monk Miaoqing is dead. He has been with the king all year round. When the Kaijing faction put the king under house arrest, they denounced Miaoqing as a monster monk and hacked him to death.

But Zheng Zhichang narrowly escaped because his friend Wen Gongren reported to him.

Wen Gongren came from a poor family. Because he was handsome and proficient in poetry and articles, he was recruited as his son-in-law by Cui Sisu, the former prime minister of Goryeo.

Cui Sisu is the grandson of Cui Chong, the "Haedong Confucius". This family has been the prime minister of Goryeo for six consecutive generations.

As the son-in-law of a wealthy family in Beijing, Wen Gongren had close contacts with Zheng Zhichang of the Xijing faction. Even Monk Miaoqing, a demon monk of the generation, was recommended to the King of Goryeo by Wen Gongren.

The envoy sent by Jin Fushi had just left the main hall. Zheng Zhichang walked out of the side hall, knelt on the ground and cried loudly: "Your Majesty, these nobles from the capital only know how to fight for power, and they do not hesitate to collude with the Jurchens to leak military intelligence. They are so disrespectful. The king is under house arrest. Now they are so bold that they have come to deceive the Holy Emperor of Ming Dynasty again. Please send troops to Korea to eradicate all these evil spirits!"

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "Due to the defeat of the Jin Kingdom last year, there is famine everywhere this year, and Pyongyang is a land of plenty. Now that the Jin soldiers have occupied Pyongyang, how many of the Xijing nobles of Goryeo are left?"

Zheng Zhichang couldn't answer for a while. It is estimated that the entire Pyongyang area was robbed by the Jin Kingdom.

The Kaijing faction would definitely take the opportunity to clean up the court, massacre and exile the Xijing faction officials. This is equivalent to the Kaijing faction and the Jin Kingdom joining forces to frantically cleanse the Xijing faction from the court to the local areas. Pyongyang's power has been in ruins in Korea since then.

As for Zheng Zhichang's family members, the male was exiled to a desert island and the female was an official slave.

The most talented scholar in Goryeo, who was born as a champion, was already alone and homeless.

Ju Ming suddenly walked over and asked, "Mr. Zheng, are you willing to be Chinese?"

Zheng Zhichang seemed to understand, and asked angrily: "Does the superior kingdom of the Huanghuang Celestial Empire take advantage of people's danger and annex the territory of the lower kingdom?"

Ju Ming asked: "Mr. Zheng is from Pyongyang?"

"Yes." Zheng Zhichang said.

Ju Ming asked again: "Mr. Zheng, does he know who named Pyongyang?"

Zheng Zhichang said: "Ji Zi."

In the past hundred years, Confucian culture has gradually flourished in Goryeo. Goryeo began to pay attention to historical traditions and constantly encountered various ancient celebrities and powerful forces.

Jizi Korea and Goguryeo are both the objects of Goguryeo's porcelain conflict.

Sixteen years ago, Goryeo built the Jizi Tomb and Jizi Temple in Pyongyang, and the worship of Jizi reached its peak for a while.

And these buildings related to Jizi were built by the nobles of the Xijing faction. They regarded Pyongyang as the cultural center of Goryeo and regarded themselves as descendants of Jizi to show that Pyongyang was the orthodox of Goryeo, and year after year they encouraged the king to move the capital to Pyongyang.

Jin Fushi, who colluded with the Jin Kingdom and put the king under house arrest, was compiling a history book in Chinese characters: "Historical Records of the Three Kingdoms".

Later generations of Korean scholars invented history, and many of their bizarre views originated from this book.

The fundamental purpose of Jin Fushi's compilation of "Historical Records of the Three Kingdoms" was to compete with the Jizi cult of the Xijing faction. They used a semi-fictional official history book to prove that the culture of Kaiju and the south was the orthodoxy of Goryeo, and competed with the Xijing faction in Pyongyang for orthodox status.

In the final analysis, the interests of the North and the South are conflicting.

Ju Ming asked: "Is Jizi from China?"

Zheng Zhichang said: "Jizi is a nobleman of the Yin and Shang Dynasties."

Jizi led the Shang Dynasty immigrants to establish the country in Pyongyang, and was recognized by the Emperor of Zhou. This historical view not only agreed with the people of Korea, but was also repeatedly promoted by the Xijing faction to prove that Pyongyang was the origin of Korea and was the most important basis for them to persuade the king to move the capital.

Ju Ming asked again: "Does Mr. Zheng know the four counties of Han Dynasty?"

"I know." After Zheng Zhichang finished speaking, he couldn't help but sigh.

Pyongyang belonged to North Korea County, Lelang County of the Han Dynasty, and Kaizhou, the capital of Goryeo at this time, also fell under the jurisdiction of Lelang County.

Ju Ming said: "In the past, Goguryeo was just a state ruled by China. But the current Goguryeo Kingdom was built by stealing soil from a barbarian chieftain in Goguryeo. As a scholar from Pyongyang, why should you be loyal to a barbarian chieftain? Descendants? Maybe your ancestor is the descendant of Jizi, the descendant of the four counties of Han Dynasty. "

Zheng Zhichang's mood was extremely complicated.

On the one hand, he worshiped Jizi just like the scholars in Pyongyang, and regarded himself as a descendant of Jizi. He was proud of having Han blood and cultural inheritance, and even used this to despise the scholars in the south.

On the other hand, he has developed a local consciousness and believes that he belongs to the Korean ethnic group and is essentially different from the Ming Dynasty.

He did not agree with Ming Dynasty's annexation of Korea, but he could not refute his Chinese blood.

Once he refuted it, he lost the fundamental point.

Seeing Zheng Zhichang's silence, Ju Ming sneered and said: "Only barbarian chiefs would let their children intermarry with each other after the founding of the country. Brother marries sister, sister marries younger brother, nephew takes aunt, such a Goryeo royal family, your Excellency actually still Be loyal to it?"

Zheng Zhichang's face was filled with shame. This kind of shameful thing had been criticized in Goryeo, but now it was actually mentioned by the Ming Dynasty Crown Prince.

Zheng Zhichang argued: "Our Majesty also disagrees with this. Although His Majesty was forced to marry two aunts, he divorced them immediately after clearing out the traitors."

"He abolished his two aunts and concubines because his grandfather was in power," Zhu Ming asked. "If my grandfather had not assumed power, but instead assisted him loyally, even if the King of Goryeo was unwilling to marry his elders, in that case he would have abolished the two Aunt’s concubine?”

Zheng Zhichang wanted to deny it, but he couldn't say it at all, because as long as it would help consolidate the king's power, the King of Goryeo would definitely be willing to have children with his two aunts.

Zhu Ming said: "Mr. Zheng, you can imagine that Goryeo will become Chinese again, and the nobles and the common people will all be influenced by the king. They will wear Han clothes and read Han books. What a grand scene it will be? Scholars can not only come to Kaifeng to take the imperial examinations, but they may even become prime ministers of the Ming Dynasty."

Zheng Zhichang began to imagine that scene.

Zhu Ming suddenly said: "Mr. Zheng, do you want to be a prime minister in the Ming Dynasty?"

Zheng Zhichang's breathing became rapid after saying this.

Is an official from a small country like me qualified to be the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty?

Zhu Ming persuaded: "You are a descendant of Yan and Huang, and you are the top scholar in Goryeo. If you have made contributions to the Ming Dynasty, why can't you be a prime minister in the Ming Dynasty? Perhaps hundreds of years later, Pyongyang will not only have a Jizi Temple, but also a temple for you. You can be worshipped by the people of Pyongyang in the future, together with Jizi."

Zheng Zhichang wanted to scold Prince Zhu and say that he was not a traitor, but the words came to his throat and were swallowed back.

He even began to convince himself that he was a descendant of Jizi, a descendant of Yan and Huang, and that he learned Chinese culture by reading and writing. The King of Goryeo was only a descendant of a barbarian chieftain, and he married his close relatives and did not know etiquette. How could he steal the country?

"When will the water of the Taedong River end? The tears of parting add green waves every year," Zhu Ming recited Zheng Zhichang's work, "These two sentences are so well written. Only the descendants of Yan and Huang can write such beautiful poems."

Zheng Zhichang was uneasy, as if a flame was burning in his heart. He said in a hoarse voice: "My humble servant... I need to think about it again."

Zhu Ming said: "I will order Goryeo to send Mr. Zheng's family. As long as Mr. Zheng makes great contributions, I guarantee that he can be appointed as a prime minister in the Ming Dynasty within ten years!"

Zheng Zhichang is also one of the most talented people in the history of the entire peninsula.

As long as he comes forward to serve the Ming Dynasty, he will surely win over many Pyongyang clans and countless middle and low-level scholars. These guys have local influence, and coupled with the military strength of the Ming Dynasty, there is no need to mobilize troops to annex Goryeo.

The cabinet has seven members, and it can even be increased to nine.

Why not let Zheng Zhichang join the cabinet and become a paper cabinet elder? This way, he can fulfill his promise and win the hearts of the Goryeo scholars.

Zheng Zhichang was still hesitating, or he was still trying to figure it out.

Zhu Ming smiled and said, "I'll give you three days to think about it."

It didn't take three days. Zheng Zhichang went back to Sifang Pavilion and thought hard for a night. The next day, he came to see Prince Zhu.

If he agreed to Prince Zhu's request, he would have a bright future and save his family. He would not have to worry about his family and career.

That month, Zhu Guoxiang sent an envoy to Goryeo to confer the king.

Zheng Zhichang was appointed as the deputy envoy and got the official position of the Right Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple.

The Goryeo envoy was shocked, but the envoys were under close surveillance and could not send the news back privately.

When they arrived in Shandong, Zhao Li took the troops of Denglai Mansion and sailed directly to Pyongyang with the envoys, instead of rushing to Kaifeng as soon as possible. Li Cheng's troops stationed in Hebei also received orders to cross the sea by boat and immediately stationed in Baozhou City, Goryeo.

Seeing that the Ming envoys and troops had landed at Nampo Port at the mouth of the Taedong River, Goryeo envoy Cui Huan asked in surprise: "Aren't we going to Kaijing?"

Xu Kangzong, the chief envoy, smiled and replied: "Since Goryeo has surrendered, the Ming Dynasty will send troops to help. In order to prevent the Jin people from going south again, the Ming Dynasty plans to station troops in Baozhou and Pyongyang to ensure the future security of Goryeo."

Cui Huan was dumbfounded. He asked the Ming Dynasty to send troops to help, but it was just talk. The real purpose was only to ask the Ming Dynasty to confer the king.

It was just a polite remark, but the Ming Dynasty really took it seriously?

Xu Kangzong immediately said: "Of course, the Ming Dynasty court will pay for the military pay of the Ming Dynasty garrison. But the food and wages of the Ming Dynasty garrison must be provided by Goryeo, after all, military food cannot be transported all the way from Shandong."

Do you still have to provide food and grass for the Ming army?

Cui Huan felt that Emperor Zhu was crazy, and hurriedly asked: "How many troops does the Ming Dynasty plan to send?"

Xu Kangzong said: "Not many, only 20,000."

Cui Huan panicked: "There are only tens of thousands of soldiers in the whole country of Goryeo. How can the Ming Dynasty afford 20,000 troops?"

Xu Kangzong said: "So your majesty is kind and only asks Goryeo to provide military rations, and the money and salaries will not be troubled by the Goryeo monarch and ministers."

"Just giving food is not enough!" Cui Huan cried poorly.

Xu Kangzong frowned and asked: "Didn't you ask the Ming Dynasty to send troops? Now that the Ming Dynasty has really sent troops, why are you still making excuses? Are you secretly colluding with the Jin people and are you a spy hiding in Goryeo?"

Cui Huan looked at Nampo Port, and the sea breeze made him dazed.

(Recommended Daluo Luo's "Traveling Through Han Xiandi: Prime Minister, I Really Don't Know Magic", which will be on the shelves tomorrow. There seem to be many excellent novels on the Three Kingdoms theme in recent years, and this one is also quite good.)