Chapter 2310
Who should be killed in Seoul at this moment? This question took Li Zhi some time to think about. Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun did not rush him, but quietly waited for his answer.
At this moment, Li Xie showed hesitation towards General Haihan's suggestion. But Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun were not sure whether his silence was because he wanted to decide the life and death of these people, or whether he was calculating how their life and death would promote changes in the situation.
Determining the life and death of others is not an easy task, not to mention the fact that it involves the governance of a country. Li Zhi may have mastered the basic ability to govern the country, but he is not mature enough to ignore the life and death of others, not to mention that many of them are people he has known for many years and even meets frequently.
In the past, such difficult choices were of course made by King Li Zhu, but now that Li Zhu's life and death are unknown, Li Xie, the crown prince, has to take on this responsibility.
"If you do this, many people will die!" Li Xie finally spoke, but did not give a specific goal, but first expressed a sigh of relief.
"Yes, many people will die." Wang Tom nodded and agreed with his view: "But this is to prevent more people from losing their lives in this rebellion."
"You can put it more simply." Qian Tiandun was obviously not satisfied with Wang Tom's enlightenment, so his statement was more direct and colder: "If the prince wants to secure the throne, he must first clear all the stumbling blocks. Clean. For us, there is no essential difference between the casualties incurred during the attack on Seoul and those dealt with after the city was broken."
Qian Tiandun believed that Li Xie's hesitation was just a fake, or that he probably only cared about the lives and deaths of those influential figures. As for how many ordinary people would die during the Haihan Army's attack on Seoul, Li Xie didn't care that much. He had just been urging Haihan to send troops as soon as possible.
Believing that ordinary people's lives are just a tool to achieve their goals is of course one of the common characteristics of rulers. Although Li Zhi has not officially taken that position, he has already formed such values. It's just that his cultivation level is still half a step behind, and he is still a little reluctant to use extraordinary means against those who are in the same class as himself.
Due to the particularity of Haihan's ruling class, there has never been bloody high-level infighting. All military means are basically used on the battlefield of external expansion. But this does not mean that the high-ranking officials of Haihan are good people, especially those generals who have been leading overseas wars all year round. They are not decisive and ruthless people.
A single military order may mean the loss of hundreds or thousands of lives. They have been fighting for many years and have long been accustomed to life and death. What's more, most of the people who died were opponents of the Haihan Army and did not deserve sympathy.
Haihan wanted to support Li Xie to ascend to power, so the people or forces that obstructed the achievement of this matter overtly or covertly were the ones who needed to be eradicated. The death of these people may cause a certain degree of chaos in the North Korean government and the public, but in the long run, it will be beneficial for Li Xie to take over power.
Li Zhen was silent for a while, or was weighing the pros and cons, and finally said: "In that case, please ask your army to do it more cleanly, so as not to leave any further trouble!"
Wang Tom saw that Li Zhi finally relented, but he still wanted to shirk responsibility. He grinned and said: "This is not our obligation. It is up to the prince to come forward and tell the world. Especially those who are about to die, the prince should let the world know , why did they die and who were killed? ”
Li Xie's expression changed slightly: "General Wang means... that I want to use this to kill people to establish my authority?"
Wang Tom said: "The prince may not encounter such a golden opportunity again in the future."
Although Wang Tom did not respond directly, it was equivalent to giving a positive answer to Li Xie's question.
No matter why the civil strife in Seoul started, what the current situation is, or how it will end, Wang Qian and Wang Qian, who stand in Haihan's position, only need to consider how to maximize their own interests.
Yes, Haihan's current goal is not to reduce or avoid losses in North Korea, but to strive to gain benefits from this civil strife. Just like when Haihan intervened in the North-South War in Annan Kingdom, he finally won a large amount of inestimable resources for Haihan, which played an important role in boosting Haihan's rapid development at that stage.
Li Zhi is the crown prince designated by King Li Zhu of North Korea. He is the legal heir to the throne and the training target selected by Haihan. Inviting him to study abroad in Haehan was in the hope that the future rulers of North Korea would get closer to Haehan and accept Haehan's values and governing philosophy. Of course, the most important thing is to accept and support the rules of the game set by Haihan and make North Korea a staunch ally and supporter of Haihan.
Li Zhi's ascension to the throne was one of the country's core interests in North Korea for Haihan. If there were no major accidents, Haihan would still try to ensure that he took over the throne even if there was civil strife like the current situation.
Although it will take some effort to clear obstacles for Li Xie in this process, compared with the long-term benefits in the future, these investments at this time are certainly worth it. Allowing Li Zhi to take this opportunity to establish his authority can reduce a lot of unnecessary troubles after he takes office. This is also one of the means to maximize Haihan's interests.
Of course, this move also has a hidden purpose that neither Wang Qian nor Wang Qian will take the initiative to mention - the more people Li Xie kills at this stage, the more he will have no way out in the future and can only always rely on Haihan. Otherwise, once he loses power, he will immediately become the target of revenge from many enemies.
Similar in nature to the conditions for establishing a secret service mentioned by Wang Tom earlier, this was actually another petition prepared for Li Xie. To gain Haihan's support, Li Zhi must be ruthless, not only ruthless to his opponents and competitors in Seoul, but also ruthless to himself.
No matter it is his opponent or himself, there should be no escape route. This is Haihan's request for Li Xie.
Li Xie already understood. No matter what the original intention of the person who started the civil strife was, the Haihan people hoped to take advantage of this opportunity and do it to the extreme, so that they could regain the kingship with thunderous force and shock the world. This is a good thing. After it is completed, it will at least ensure North Korea's peace for a few years and prevent similar coups from happening again. But at the same time, it will also cut off all his retreat routes. The ladder of power built with blood and human heads can only be climbed, not Down, there is no way to retreat.
This is completely different from the way Li Zhi envisioned ascending the throne in the past year. He hoped that after completing his studies abroad, he could return to China and continue to assist his father in governing, slowly build up his reputation, and hold a ceremony to pass the throne when the time is right in a few years. Dignitaries from all over the world were invited to North Korea to witness his ascension to the throne.
At that time, Korea may have become a regional power. It no longer feared powerful neighbors such as Japan and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and no longer needed to bow to the Ming Dynasty. It could even be on an equal footing with Haihan. And his ascension to the throne will also symbolize that North Korea has entered a new stage of development, sitting on the peninsula and competing for the world. Li Zhi becoming the first emperor of Korea seems to be an achievable goal.
But there is a huge gap between dreams and reality. After all, North Korea is not Haihan. It does not have so many geniuses with fantastic ideas, a nearly invincible army, and inexhaustible wealth. To become a powerful country, For North Korea and its rulers, it is an unattainable dream. Not to mention making the country stronger, even if he wanted to successfully take over the throne, Li Zhi now had to rely entirely on Haihan's support to do it. Haihan's support was not provided free of charge. He had put forward many conditions that made Li Xie feel itchy, both covertly and covertly.
Even if he can successfully conquer Seoul, suppress the rebels, take back the royal power, and ascend the throne as king, Li Zhi knows that he will not be able to escape the control of Haihan for a foreseeable period of time in the future. To put it more seriously, he may even become Haihan. Han's puppet.
The new yamen that supervises the interior of North Korea, the countless heads that are about to fall to the ground, the loans that will take several years to be repaid, and the Haihan garrison that can come to the city at any time, each and every one of them, are all invisible threads that control the puppet on the throne. .
Li Zhi knew that his father was not willing to become such a puppet. He heard his father say more than once that "North Korea is the world of the Li family, not the world of the Haihan people." However, with such impassioned words, Li Zhi could only Only when there are no outsiders in the deep palace will she confide in him. Rather than expressing a sense of resistance, it would be more accurate to say that it is a vomiting of bitterness.
But they will still choose to cooperate with Haihan, because in the hearts of people like them, there are certainly things more unacceptable than being a puppet.
That means you are not even qualified to be a puppet. How much effort did their lineage put in to get into that position? After tasting the feeling of having great power, how could they easily lose this most precious asset to them.
Even if he is a puppet, he is still a puppet who rules a country of three thousand miles; even if he is under the control of Haihan, he can decide the life and death of countless people in a moment; even if he is supported by the Haihan people, he will be remembered in history in the future.
As long as you have the power, everything can be planned. Maybe in ten or twenty years, there will be a new turning point that will change the situation of North Korea. Who knows what will happen in the future?
"Okay, I will act according to the wishes of the two generals." Perhaps because he had made up his mind, Li Zhi's tone became calmer at this time, and his eyes became more determined: "I will make a list. Write down the people who need to be dealt with by your army, and prepare an edict to instruct the rebels in Seoul to surrender immediately, otherwise they will be killed without mercy!"
"You still carry the Crown Prince's seal with you, right?" Wang Tom reminded him again after hearing this.
Li Zhen nodded and said: "Don't worry, General Wang. I will go to Seoul with the Haihan Army. As long as I show up outside the city, it will not be fake after all."
Li Xie understood why Wang Tom reminded him to put his seal. Such edicts often appeared in endlessly during coups. Individuals dared to issue edicts to tell the world, and there were no cases of using someone else's name or even impersonating someone. Not uncommon. If the edict he issued is sent to Seoul, it is very likely that it will be slandered as a fake edict, and people will not even admit that the seal on the edict is authentic, thereby denying the legitimacy of his regaining the king's power.
Since Li Zhi had made up his mind, he would not let this kind of thing happen, so he had to go to Seoul in person and light up the banner outside the city to undermine the confidence of the rebellious parties in the city.
Of course, it's probably not enough to rely on the Crown Prince's flag alone. The only thing that can really act as a deterrent is probably the two-color flag of the Haihan Army. But as long as people in the city realize that Haihan has chosen to side with him, many people's positions may be shaken.
"Very good." Wang Tom's evaluation this time was very brief, but it was exactly what Li Xie wanted to hear.
After Wang Tom finished his evaluation, he turned to look at Qian Tiandun and said, "Do it?"
Qian Tiandun nodded, expressing his approval of Wang Tom's proposal. They have cooperated for many years and have an excellent understanding. They can understand what each other wants to express without complicated expressions.
"Your Majesty, have a good rest today. We will leave from Ganghwa Island tomorrow." Wang Tom stood up and said to Li Xie, obviously preparing to say goodbye and leave.
Qian Tiandun said: "We are busy with military affairs, so there will be no banquet to welcome the crown prince today."
As soon as Li Xie heard that he would leave tomorrow, he was too happy to be happy, so he wouldn't care about a feast to welcome the wind. He quickly stood up and responded: "The two generals have worked hard. After we recapture Seoul, I will hold a banquet to celebrate your success!"
Wang Tom greeted Qian Tiandun and left here quickly. The troops will depart from Ganghwa Island tomorrow, and there are obviously many things that require their personal coordination and command.
The attitudes of the Haihan people changed so quickly that Li Xie was a little at a loss as to what to do. Based on the attitude shown by the Haihan people before, he almost thought that the other party was determined to delay the situation and wait for Seoul to take the initiative to make a decision before making a decision. But unexpectedly, after they agreed to the other party's conditions and requirements, the two Haihan generals immediately expressed their attitude of sending troops to Seoul and using force to solve the problem.
"If I had known this, why would I have spent so much time bargaining!" Li Zhi couldn't help but be secretly dissatisfied with his performance just now. But he immediately thought that if he had just agreed to them all regardless of the situation, it would have seemed like he had no limits, and the Haihan people might have more requests than just these.
Of course, he did not actually bargain with Haihan. At most, he showed some hesitation in the process of reaching certain conditions. In the eyes of Wang and Qian, these details may just be a sign that his attitude is not firm enough.
But no matter what, Li Zhi finally achieved his goal and got the Haihan people to agree to send troops to help quell the rebellion. With the Haihan people coming forward, there is no need to worry that there is no way to solve this matter.
As for the list that the Haihan people asked Li Zhi to list, it didn't matter to Li Zhi whether they planned to kill them all during the siege or wait until the chaos was over before discussing the crimes.
(End of chapter)