Chapter 2318
The reason why Korea has become the current situation where powerful ministers control the government is ultimately due to the weak national power and the weakness of the monarch. Li Jian was unable to take strong measures to deal with internal and external troubles, which led to a decline in his prestige. step lower. And he also realized the danger of this situation, and could only control his subordinates to maintain his rule through political means.
However, these methods can only solve the temporary difficulties, but they cannot fundamentally change the current situation of a weak king and a strong minister. In the end, they still make their subordinates have undue ambitions in life. Li Zhu was originally worried that Haihan's influence in North Korea would threaten his rule, but when he realized that he was gradually losing control of the government, the only life-saving straw he could grasp was Haihan.
After becoming ill, Li Zhu sought medical treatment. He wanted to introduce Haihan officials to help him govern, hoping to use Haihan to suppress the powerful ministers in the court, thereby forming a new balance and ensuring the stability of his rule. As for the consequences arising from this, Li Zhu didn't care so much. But what Li Li never expected was that this risky move would accelerate the deterioration of the situation, allowing powerful officials to find a reason to overthrow him from the throne.
If it weren't for the disagreement between the two factions who took action, this farce probably wouldn't have dragged on for such a long time. Even the crown prince Li Xie rushed back from the Haihan Kingdom thousands of miles away, and the two factions are still there. There was intrigue in the city and no agreement was reached on a plan to change power.
The main reason why it took so long and caused the situation to spiral out of control was that Kim Sang-heon and Cui Ming-gil did not trust each other and had been secretly plotting against their opponents.
When the two old foxes were making the plan, they agreed that King Li Zhu would be "assassinated to death." As for the identity and motive of the assassin, they decided to place it on the Manchu and Qing dynasties. Anyway, there must be no real evidence in the end, and the Manchu and Qing dynasty must also There is no way to clear yourself up. In this way, we can give a reasonable explanation to the court, both at home and abroad.
When the two of them succeed in quelling the chaos, they will of course continue to take charge of the government for the next king, and then call on the whole country to turn grief and anger into strength and revenge against the Manchus as soon as possible. Even if the Haihan people noticed that there was something fishy about Li Zhu's matter, they couldn't produce any evidence and would probably just hold their noses and admit it.
This plan seems quite comprehensive and very feasible, but the problem is that both Kim Sang-hyun and Cui Ming-gil want to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to overthrow their old rivals.
However, the two of them had been fighting overtly and covertly in the officialdom for half their lives. How could they be put to death by the other so easily? Each of them was a little careful during their actions, and then they discovered the other's little moves as expected.
It was Kim Sang-hyun's people who were responsible for doing the work in the palace, but afterward, the people sent by Cui Mingji to the palace to conduct an autopsy found that there were some problems with the king's body, and they suspected that it had been tampered with. Cui Mingji didn't dare to speak out about this kind of thing, so he sent people to investigate secretly. At the same time, he postponed the original plan and delayed the issuance of the edict announcing the assassination of the king.
And Kim Sang-hyun was also waiting for Cui Ming-gil to issue an edict in the name of leading the government before he could launch his ultimate move to subdue the opponent. Cui Mingji didn't move, and he couldn't move either. He could only wait patiently.
So after going back and forth like this, a month passed by. Seeing that Haehan's army stopped moving when they arrived at Ganghwa Island and did not actively intervene as they feared, they gradually felt relieved and believed that Haehan had no intention of interfering in the chaos in Seoul, as long as he could give a reasonable explanation afterwards. You can handle it.
But what neither Cui Mingji nor Jin Sangxian expected was that Li Xie would come back so quickly. According to the news coming from outside the city today, the Haihan Army left Ganghwa Island and came to Seoul because Li Xie had returned. Obviously, Haihan decisively chose to support the crown prince without knowing the situation in Seoul. This was to protect him when he came back to seize power.
At this time, Cui Mingji really started to panic. The whereabouts of the king have not yet been identified, and it is likely that he is in the hands of Kim Sang-heon. After so many days, Kim Sang-hyun might have already created a lot of "irrefutable evidence" and used the king's testimony to blame everything on himself. When the time comes, he will definitely be unable to argue, and he will have no choice but to let Jin Sangxian pin the label of rebellious minister and traitor on his head.
Of course Cui Mingji couldn't just sit back and wait for death. Since there was no way out, he could only fight to the death. If he could find out the whereabouts of the king, send troops to silence him in time, and then kill Kim Sang-heon with his backhand, he would still have time to use the same script on his opponent. When the time comes, the dead will be unable to defend themselves, and the blame for the rebellion will naturally fall on the other party.
But the time left for him to deal with the crisis is now very limited. The Haihan Army outside the city only gave him one night's buffer time. If there is no reply after dawn tomorrow, the Haihan Army will attack the city.
This means that between him and Kim Sang-hyun, it is likely that only one party can survive tonight, and tomorrow the winner will hold the head of the other party to claim credit from the Haihan people.
"I didn't expect that in the end this competition would be a matter of life and death!" Cui Mingji sighed secretly.
He has now played all the cards in his hand. Regardless of whether he can find the king's whereabouts tonight, he must fight to the death with Kim Sang-hyun.
Now that things have happened, Cui Mingji actually regrets asking Kim Sang-heon to cooperate with him, otherwise there would be no such troubles. But without Kim Sang-heon's cooperation, it would have been impossible to bring everything inside and outside Seoul under control so smoothly.
This is probably the saying that good fortune and misfortune depend on it.
After nightfall, the tower outside the city observed that several fires broke out in the city, and there were even faint sounds of shouting for death, and they quickly reported to the headquarters in the stronghold.
After receiving the news, Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun put down what they were doing and rushed to the tower to personally check what was going on in the city.
"It's probably a fight!" Wang Tom observed for a moment and came to the conclusion: "It's been quiet for so many days, and now the fight suddenly started again. Someone should be trying to protect themselves."
"It may also be that the spoils are unevenly distributed. Don't forget that there are many civil and military officials involved in this matter. With so many people sharing the cake, it is difficult to divide it evenly." Qian Tiandun added.
Tom Wang has another opinion on this: "I would rather believe that they are trying to clear themselves, kill some people, and put the blame on the dead."
"Yes, dead people can't testify for themselves." Qian Tiandun immediately came to his senses and nodded in agreement: "As long as they hand over some dead people tomorrow, they can take away all the guilt."
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Although they know little about the current situation in the city, these two people have stayed in North Korea for so long and have a relatively good understanding of the country's various traditions. They have also studied the relevant historical materials about the palace coups in North Korea's history, and they have some expectations about the tricks the North Koreans may play.
"Who do you think will come forward to negotiate with us then?" Qian Tiandun asked.
Tom Wang thought for a moment before responding: "Kim Sang-hyun! If you can't even seize this opportunity, then I can only advise Li Zhi to give up on him as soon as possible."
Since Haehan sent troops to North Korea last year, Kim Sang-heon has maintained close contact with Hae-han's army. It is Kim Sang-heon who makes the decision on the negotiations for cooperative industries in Datong River, as well as the officials sent by North Korea to coordinate various affairs there. They are all his people. Even when Haehan later decided to invite North Korea to send overseas students represented by the crown prince, Kim Sang-heon was the first to express his approval. In their opinion, Kim Sang-hyun should be a smart man who knows how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. Regardless of whether he participated in the coup in the city, he should have a way to protect himself.
As for whether to keep this person at that time, it probably depends on his subsequent performance. In Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun's plan, everyone in the city except the king himself is a target that can be cleared. Li Zhi didn't dare to do anything that was inconvenient. They didn't have much scruples. They were just trying to arrange a charge with their words.
Of course, the person who caused this chaos in Seoul may also abscond overnight in fear of crime, but in that case his identity will be exposed and all his previous efforts will be wasted. Besides, even if you escape Seoul, where can you escape to? Therefore, Haihan did not even think about blocking Seoul, and chose to camp in the south of the city, guarding the area from Sungnye Gate to the bank of the Han River, ensuring that they could advance, retreat, and defend.
The chaos in the city did not end quickly, but the movement became louder and louder. The faint firelight coming from the city showed that there were more than one or two fire places, and there were occasional gunshots in the firelight. It was obvious that there was an armed conflict. .
According to Fu Li, the movement at this time seemed to be no less than the level of the night of the accident. The city had been quiet for so long, but chaos suddenly broke out tonight. It was most likely that the ultimatum issued in the evening had an effect.
That night, fighting broke out in many places in the city, and it did not calm down until early in the morning. However, the closed Sungnyemun gate was still not opened overnight, and no one escaped through it.
Li Zhi took the initiative to go to the headquarters early in the morning to meet with Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun. However, looking at the obvious dark circles on his face, it was obvious that he did not have a good rest last night.
"Two generals have worked hard. I heard that there was another chaos in the city last night. Is there any new news?" Li Zhi took the initiative to ask after meeting.
Wang Tom responded: "There is no news yet, Prince, don't worry. The chaos in the city means that the people inside have panicked. They are either preparing to rob property and then abandon the city to escape, or they are fighting each other and waiting for the fire to break out." After that, a winner will be chosen to explain it all to us.”
Li Zhi said: "General Wang is so confident, will he really not encounter resistance?"
Wang Tom said: "Of course there is a possibility, but if the people in the city really planned to resist with force, such a situation would not have happened last night. Now that the situation has been messed up, it will be difficult to unite the people. Crown Prince , whoever comes forward to contact us will be the winner of the chaos in the city last night.”
Although Li Zhi felt that what Wang Tom said was somewhat reasonable, he did not dare to be too optimistic. If Haihan really made the rebels in the city surrender without any effort, then what would be the purpose of the rebellion? What's the meaning?
Wang Tom raised his hand to look at the time and then ordered: "Send a letter to the city. If you don't open the door and surrender in another hour, we will take action!"
At that moment, a horseman ran out from the stronghold. When he got to the city, he drew his bow and shot an arrow at the top of the city. The arrow had no arrow and only a letter tied to the arrow shaft. After the defenders on the city received it, they would naturally send it to someone who could make the decision.
"Your Majesty, haven't you had breakfast yet? Sit down and have something together and wait while you eat." Qian Tiandun gestured to his orderly to bring breakfast.
Seeing that they were all relaxed, Li Xie finally relaxed a little. He smiled and sat down to have breakfast with them.
An hour is not a long time, but it is really difficult for Li Xie. He hopes that the rebels in the city will open their doors and surrender to prevent the war from spreading to Seoul. But at the same time, he didn't want to see those audacious rebels cowering in front of the Haihan people. The defenders of Seoul and the palace guards were the elite of the country's army. If they didn't resist, they would surrender. , that’s too weak.
Seeing that the time was approaching, but there was still no movement at Chonglimen, Qian Tiandun sent an order to reload the artillery that had been aimed at the city gate. The following infantry units entered combat mode and started immediately after receiving the order. Siege the city.
Li Zhi was waiting for some persuasion to see if he could give Qian Tiandun a little more time, when a soldier came to report that the Chongli Gate was open.
"Is it open now?" Wang Tom smiled and gave Li Yan a look, which meant that you think I was right.
Li Zhi forced out a smile, thinking, could he really just surrender like that?
However, after the city gate was opened, those who came out were not the surrendered civil and military officials, but one man and one horse, heading straight for the stronghold. It seemed that they were also here to deliver a message.
After inspection, the messenger was brought to Wang Tom and others and presented a letter.
There was not much content in the letter, so Wang Tom took it and read it quickly, then handed it to Qian Tiandun, who read it before handing it to Li Xie for reading.
Li Zhen has also been helping his father review memorials in the past two years, so at a glance, it is obvious that this familiar handwriting is the handwriting of Chief Secretary Jin Sangxian.
Kim Sang-heon's description is very simple. A month ago, the Council Leader Cui Mingji colluded with Manchu spies, summoned party members to launch a coup in Seoul, placed city officials and members of the royal family under house arrest, and tried to coerce the king to tear up various diplomatic agreements signed with Haihan Kingdom. Re-established an alliance with the Manchus.
Under his coercion, Kim Sang-hyun surrendered and slowly dealt with the rebels, waiting for an opportunity to rescue the king and others. However, because it took too long, the rebels lost their patience. In addition, the Haihan Army also arrived in Seoul, and they were ready to massacre the city and blame the court officials who did not cooperate with them.
As a result, the two sides started fighting last night, and it only subsided at dawn. However, there were still remnant activities of the rebels in the city, and arrests were currently being made. Therefore, Kim Sang-heon suggested that the Haihan Army enter the city one day later for safety.
(End of chapter)