Poor Family - v2 Chapter 1045

  Chapter 1045 Northern Expedition to Korea (Part 1)

Li Yanqing summoned the ship lord Zheng Rongtai the next morning, and asked him to borrow a caravan to send troops. Zheng Rongtai immediately agreed generously, lending 400 large ships to the Song Army, plus the Song Army’s own 300 sea ships. , a total of 700 sea-going ships of more than 3,000 shi, with more than 10,000 boatmen and sailors alone.

At the same time, Gao Shen and Xiao Zhonggong held the second truce negotiation. Gao Shen proposed the truce conditions of the Song Dynasty, that is, to release all the captive Song people. Reach an agreement on a rough framework, and continue to discuss details.

   In the afternoon, under the auspices of Li Yanqing, the Zhizheng Hall held a military-state meeting to discuss the signing of the armistice agreement between Song and Jin. Not only five prime ministers, but also senior officials from the Privy Council and six ministries attended the meeting.

Gao Shen first described the results of the two negotiations with the special envoy of the Kingdom of Jin. He said to the crowd: “We proposed that the Kingdom of Jin release all the people of the Song Dynasty, whether they were captured or went north voluntarily, and they all asked to be sent back to the Song Dynasty. The other party agreed to this. , but they believe that the Han people in the Liao Kingdom do not belong to the Song people and should no longer be repatriated.”

There was a lot of discussion in the meeting hall, and Fan Zhixu asked: “There is a problem here, how can we check whether the other party has fully fulfilled the contract? Many Song slaves are hidden in the tribe, and we can’t verify at all. The effect of this repatriation is It’s debatable.”

Gao Shen smiled and said: “His Royal Highness also talked about this issue. First of all, this is not a long-term alliance treaty, but a one-year armistice agreement. The armistice agreement itself is not important, so we don’t have to take it too seriously. The key is It’s us using this time to be ready, that’s the point.”

Li Yanqing said slowly from the side: “I would like to add that there is actually another reason why Jin Guo agreed so happily. After Jin Guo captured the Central Plains, in order to build Hebei into a logistics base for Jin soldiers going south A large number of Song people who were plundered were released back, and they were allowed to concentrate on growing grain to increase the army’s food reserves. Of course, there were still Song slaves in the Jin Kingdom, but they were indeed not many. There were more Han people in the Liao Kingdom. Therefore, I think we Don’t get too entangled in this matter.”

  Li Gang asked again: “Then how does Your Highness view the conditions for liberalizing trade?”

Li Yanqing smiled slightly, “This condition can be agreed, but we need to carry out strict control. Strategic materials such as pig iron, grain, nitrate, kerosene, and raw materials for military armor are all strictly controlled, and they are never allowed to flow into the Kingdom of Jin. On the contrary, silk, Porcelain, colored silk, and rouge should be encouraged to be exported to the Kingdom of Jin, and as long as we manage them well, what’s the point of free trade?”

Everyone nodded. At this time, Zhang Shuye, the new minister of the Ministry of War, said: “But as far as I know, there are two sources of pig iron in the Kingdom of Jin. One is from Liaoyang Prefecture, and the other is from Koryo, especially Koryo, which directly sells pig iron to Jin. China, if these two sources are not stopped, it is meaningless for us to impose an embargo on pig iron.”

Wang Kuan, deputy envoy of the Privy Council, also said: “The Liaoyang area used to be the main battlefield of the Liaojin War. The mines in Liaoyang were severely damaged. Almost all the blast furnaces and mine ports were destroyed. Many miners and smelters also died in the war. The production of pig iron in Liaoyang has dropped sharply, and it has recovered for almost ten years, and the current production is only 20% of the peak.”

   “Why is recovery so slow?” Fan Zhixu asked.

“The main reason is that the Kingdom of Jin can obtain a large amount of pig iron from Koryo at a very low price, which meets their needs for war preparations. However, restoring the production of pig iron in Liaoyang not only requires a huge investment, but also the cost of mining and smelting is very high, which is not cost-effective. Therefore, Jin China is not enthusiastic about resuming pig iron production in Liaoyang.”

   There was a lot of discussion in the lobby again, Li Yanqing waved his hand, “Everyone, please be quiet!”

Everyone quieted down, Li Yanqing said: “Next, I want to talk to you about the issue of Goryeo. At present, there is a civil strife in Goryeo, and the powerful ministers are in power. The King of Goryeo hopes that the Song Dynasty will send troops to help Goryeo get back to normal. I think this is a good opportunity. If we control Koryo, we will not only cut off the important sources of soldiers and supplies of the Jin State, but also open the eastern channel for attacking the Jin State in the future.”

  Everyone was in an uproar, Goryeo actually asked the Song Dynasty to send troops, Fan Zhixu asked urgently: “Your Highness, do you have any evidence for the request?”

  Li Yanqing took out the secret edict and circulated it to everyone, Fan Zhixu patted the table and said: “With this secret edict, we will be famous as teachers!”

  Gao Shen also asked: “Since His Highness has decided to send troops, when is it more appropriate to send troops?”

  Li Yanqing smiled faintly, “Deputy Envoy Wang has announced the answer just now. In order to cut off the source of pig iron for the Kingdom of Jin, I decided to send troops in early September.”

  Everyone was a little stunned. It is now late August, and the regent decided to send troops in early September. The slowest time is only half a month. Is it too late?

  Gao Shen hurriedly said: “Your Highness, I’m afraid there are not enough ships.”

Li Yanqing smiled and said: “I summoned the ship king Zheng Rongtai this morning, and he agreed to lend all the seagoing ships in Mingzhou Port and Quanzhou Port to the imperial court, a total of 420 ships, plus our own 300 ships.” There are more than 700 ships in total, I think it is enough!”

  It was only then that everyone realized that the Prince Regent had already prepared all the preparations for this war, and they were waiting for Zhizhengtang’s decision.

  The Zhizheng Hall immediately approved the proposal to send troops to Korea, and also passed the draft of an armistice agreement with the Kingdom of Jin. The arrow to attack Korea has been fired, and there is no turning back.

  . ． ． ． ． ． ．

  On the eighth day of September, Li Yanqing appointed the governor of the capital, Zhang Shun, as the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Expedition. Dozens of generals, including the Ruan brothers, led an army of 50,000 from Dengzhou to the not-too-distant Koryo.

  In fact, Li Yanqing has learned about the situation in Korea through various channels.

Goryeo originally had an army of more than 200,000, but 20 years ago, they sent 100,000 troops to assist the Liao army and fought fiercely with the Jurchens who had just risen. In turn, they sent troops to help the Jurchens attack the Liao Kingdom. Although their land continued to expand northward, they also paid a heavy price in casualties.

In particular, nearly 100,000 Koryo troops successively joined the Jin soldiers to invade the Song Dynasty, but after countless tragic defeats, all the 100,000 Koryo soldiers were killed in the Song Dynasty, and none of them returned. The Bohai Department has no soldiers to go out.

At this time, there were only 60,000 soldiers left in Goryeo’s army, which were in the hands of Li Ziqian and Tuo Junjing. Years of wars made Goryeo’s national strength extremely weak. At this time, Goryeo was at its weakest. Li Yanqing also considered sending troops to Goryeo. Open a channel to attack the Kingdom of Jin from the Eastern Front.

   At this time, the emperor of Koryo, Wang Kai, asked the Song Dynasty for help to eradicate the powerful officials, which gave Li Yanqing an excellent excuse to send troops.

Since Hu’er, the general of the Sui Dynasty, attacked Goguryeo by sea six hundred years ago, the Korean peninsula has never been attacked by sea. For more than a hundred years, the threats to the Goryeo Dynasty have come from the north, so the Goryeo army is also mainly stationed in the north. On the front line of the Yalu River, there are more than 20,000 people stationed in Kaijing, the capital of Koryo, while only some local militias are stationed in other places.

After a few days of voyage, the Dasong fleet arrived in Koryo. At dusk that day, more than 700 ships of the Dasong appeared on the sea at the mouth of the Chengjiang River and traveled upstream from the Chengjiang River. Fifty miles away is Kaijing, the capital city of Koryo, but the Song army fleet did not go directly to Kaijing, but waited patiently for nightfall.

   At this time, some fishermen on the sea have been controlled by the Song army, and the Song army fleet blocked the entrance of the Chengjiang River.

  As night fell, the Song army began to land on the east side of Chengjiang Estuary. Until the first watch, all 50,000 troops landed and began to line up to Kaijing.

  Kaijing is today’s Kaesong. After Wang Jian founded Koryo, he designated it as the capital. Kaijing has a circumference of more than 40 miles, a population of more than 200,000, and a garrison of 20,000 troops.

The Song Army arrived in Kaijing at the time of the second watch. Some people outside the city were so frightened that they closed their doors. They didn’t know where this army came from, but they all knew that a new coup was bound to happen. Last year Many people still remember the coup d’état. The fire in the city burned for three days, and the entire palace was burned to ashes. I don’t know how many people died that night.

  Will the tragedy repeat itself tonight?

  (end of this chapter)