Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

More than 3,000 Goryeo civilians were captured by the Ming army during the rout.

The rest of the civilians went into the mountains, and Ming Xiaoqi was too lazy to waste time catching them.

The Goryeo soldiers gained more by being captured, because the civilian husband was frightened and ran away immediately, but the soldiers were ordered by Zheng Zhongfu to form a formation.

Now, all the soldiers surrendered their armor and knelt on the ground.

The guide rushed to the civilian husband on horseback and said to the frightened civilian husband: "Put on your armor and pick up your weapons. You escort the captured soldiers, and those soldiers are responsible for transporting grain and grass. As long as they arrive in Kaicheng, everyone will be rewarded with two measures of rice!"

The civilians put on the armor tremblingly, but most of them didn't know how to put it on.

The guide selected dozens of captured soldiers to teach them step by step.

After struggling for a long time, the heavily armed Goryeo civilian husbands escorted the captured soldiers to transport food to Kaicheng.

One thousand Ming Xiaoqi were divided into two groups.

The five hundred knights headed straight for Kaicheng right after the battle. The remaining five hundred knights followed the prisoners and provisions.

On the way, they also encountered the ancestral home of the Han family in Kaizhou. Li Junyi led the Ming Dynasty Xiaoqi and captured dozens of Han family's children nearby.

There were also a few Han family members who ran fast and fled to Kaicheng on horseback.

"The Ming army is coming, the Ming army is coming!"

A Han family member was the first to arrive outside the city and shouted in terror at the defenders.

This guy was put into the city by the soldiers, and soon a group of civil and military personnel came after hearing the news.

Li Shaoying asked: "How many Ming troops came?"

The Han family said: "I don't know. I saw many cavalry coming. Their armor was different from that of the Goryeo soldiers. I was so frightened that I hurriedly rode to report the news."

Li Shaoying asked again: "Where are the general's troops?"

The Han family shook his head: "I don't know."

Li Yifang asked: "How far away is the Ming army?"

"It's probably coming soon," said the Han family.

Already arriving, billowing smoke suddenly rose from the mountains to the west of Kaicheng.

Kaesong is also called Songakseong.

The northern part of the city is a continuous mountain with many pine trees, so it is called Songak Mountain.

In fact, the city is surrounded by mountains on all sides. The mountains in the north, west and southeast are the most steep, and there are also some hilly areas in other directions.

Today's Kaizhou City Wall has been built one after another for decades.

After the city was destroyed by Liao soldiers, Goryeo recruited 340,000 civilians and only rebuilt the outer city and the palace. Later, it took another twenty years to build the inner city wall while strengthening the outer city.

Surrounded by mountains and inner and outer city walls, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack!

The five hundred Ming Dynasty knights, who were the vanguard, rushed to the outside of the city and dismounted to rest.

You can't win by force, you have to wait for the artillery to arrive.

Li Junyi held Zheng Zhongfu's head, rode across the moat, and shouted towards the tower: "Zheng Zhongfu's head is here, why don't you surrender quickly!"

Li Shaoying was furious: "You traitor, you actually collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country and murdered the general!"

Everyone looked at Li Yifang. Li Junyi who was shouting outside was Li Yifang's half-brother.

Li Yifang quickly said: "This matter has nothing to do with me. I am loyal to Dagoryeo."

Li Shaoying really didn't dare to take action directly. If Li Yifang was killed, his troops would most likely rebel.

Civil servants who came from a wealthy family did not dare to speak at this time. They couldn't figure out what the warriors were thinking, and were afraid that if they surrendered rashly, they would be hacked to death by the warriors.

A civil servant who came from a poor family had more ideas.

Zheng Zhongfu promoted these poor civil servants, and they were grateful to Zheng Zhongfu. They could not help but feel sad when they saw their heads. But their sadness was very limited. They were happy to see the Ming Dynasty annex Goryeo and no longer be suppressed by the aristocratic families. But although they hold real power, they have the least say at this moment.

Therefore, the Goryeo civil and military forces in the city were actually divided into four forces.

That is, civil servants from wealthy families, civil servants from poor families, Zheng Zhongfu is a military man, and Li Yifang is a military man!

Each has his own agenda and it is difficult to cooperate.

Just when the civil and military forces at the top of the city couldn't agree on what to do, dozens more Ming Xiaoqi came rushing over, escorting the Han clan members they had captured nearby.

"Go over and persuade us to surrender!"

A group of Han clan members, including men and women, old and young, were crying and howling and forced to leave the city.

Vice Prime Minister Han Lai's expression suddenly changed, his biological mother was there.

After letting the Han clan cry for a while, Li Junyi started to shout again: "The Ming Dynasty sent 100,000 troops this time to capture Huangzhou and Haizhou. Zheng Zhongfu's elite army was wiped out. These Ming cavalry were just the vanguard. The 100,000 Ming troops passed several The day is coming, can you still defeat the soldiers of tomorrow?"

One hundred thousand Ming troops came?

The civil and military forces of Goryeo were horrified. They could not defeat ten thousand people, let alone one hundred thousand.

Due to Zheng Zhongfu's rebellion, Goryeo's central and local governments were separated, and all local armies were controlled by wealthy families.

The Andong Protectorate's garrison in Gyeongju was destroyed by Zheng Zhongfu's army because he followed King Qin of the Jin family. The Annan Protectorate and the Anbian Protectorate were left. This time they did not obey Zheng Zhongfu's order and did not send troops to defend the enemy at all.

There are currently only 12,000 troops in the city, including the palace guards, which is less than 15,000, and more than half of them are farmers recruited temporarily.

How to fight this?

Li Shaoying and Li Yifang were afraid of each other, and neither dared to take the lead in making a statement to attract the other's attack.

Fortunately, it was almost dark, so we could postpone it until tomorrow.

As a result, a group of civil and military officials, each with their own evil intentions, clamored to defend the capital.

And they also assigned tasks in a similar manner. Some were responsible for arranging city defense, some were responsible for arranging logistics, and some were responsible for organizing the people.

At night.

The city suddenly caught fire, and several places were burning one after another.

The arsonist was also surprised, because there was more than one force setting the fire. There were internal responses arranged by the Great Ming, there were poor scholars with the spirit of the Great Ming, there were civil officials from wealthy families who set fires to create chaos, and there was Li Yifang who betrayed the country and wanted to surrender the city.

Why did the civil officials from wealthy families set fires?

They wanted to take the King of Goryeo to the south during the chaos!

There were not many Ming troops outside the city, and Kaizhou City was very large. It was a good time to break out with the king. If we continue to delay, when the subsequent Ming troops come to besiege the city, we will not be able to escape at that time.

"The Ming army is coming in, take your majesty away!"

A group of civil officials from wealthy families led their servants and rushed to Puxianyuan with swords and sticks after the fire started in the city.

The guards were all Zheng Zhongfu's confidants. They heard the news of Zheng Zhongfu's death in the evening, and they were already terrified and ready to run away at any time.

At this time, hearing that the Ming army had entered the city and discovering that the city was indeed on fire, the guards guarding the king immediately scattered.

"Your Majesty, hurry up, we are here to rescue you!"

The leader was the cabinet minister Li Zheng, who wanted to take the king to Jeonju.

To be precise, it should be the Supreme King, who had been forced to abdicate by the military.

Wang Gou, who was under house arrest for the third time by the powerful minister, saw a group of civil officials rushing in and cried with joy: "Have you eliminated Zheng Zhongfu? Why did I hear someone shouting Ming army just now?"

Li Zheng grabbed Wang Gou's wrist and dragged him out: "Your Majesty, it is the Ming army that has arrived in Kaifeng, and the Ming emperor wants to annex Goryeo!"

Wang Gou was so scared that he couldn't walk, and asked tremblingly: "What should I do?"

"Now the city is in chaos, and there are not many Ming troops outside the city. Your Majesty can just break through," Li Zheng said, "Please ask your majesty to hunt in Jeonju in the south, where there are also elite troops from the Annan Protectorate."

Wang Gou was already at a loss, and subconsciously followed the group of civil officials.

The city was getting more chaotic. The troops of Li Shaoying and Li Yifang were fighting each other on the city walls and streets.

There were also many officials and civilians organizing firefighting, and they scattered when they encountered the chaotic soldiers.

The civil servant took the king into the alley and took out a set of slave clothes for the king to change into quickly. They didn't dare to light torches, so they could only walk through the dark alleys. When they rushed to the south city and found that the fighting was fierce there, they turned around and ran towards the east city.

While running, Wang Gou suddenly came to his senses: "It's useless for me to leave. The prince has ascended the throne, and he is the king. Even if I go south to Jeonju, the Ming Dynasty will use the name of the prince to order the troops of various states and counties to surrender."

Li Zheng said: "The prince is a fake king, and the local nobles are not convinced. And time is tight, how can we have the spare energy to take the prince away?"

In the direction of the west city, the city gate opened, and the Ming Dynasty cavalry rushed in.

With the powerful fighting power of the Ming army, Li Yifang's troops completely gained the upper hand, and Li Shaoying's troops even surrendered on a large scale.

"Go to the palace!"

The Ming army divided more than a hundred cavalrymen, led by Li Junyi, and rushed to the Goryeo palace at the fastest speed.

A large number of Goryeo soldiers and civilians ran to the East City. The soldiers guarding the city there had all fled, and there was no one guarding the city gate at this time.

The civil servants of the nobles escorted Wang Gou and squeezed out in the crowd.

But Wang Gou suddenly broke free from Li Zheng and ran in the opposite direction.

He didn't want to escape to Jeonju, he was really fed up!

He was controlled by the powerful ministers as soon as he ascended the throne. He failed to eliminate the powerful ministers and was directly placed under house arrest. It was hard to use the power of the powerful ministers to eliminate two powerful ministers in a row, but another powerful minister emerged. He wanted to resist and was placed under house arrest again. He killed the powerful minister again, but another powerful minister appeared. The last one was even more awesome, forcing him to abdicate and then put him under house arrest.

The dignified King of Goryeo spent more time under house arrest.

Even if he escaped safely to Jeonju now, he would definitely be controlled by the Lee family, and Li Zheng would definitely be the next powerful minister.

Moreover, if Jeonju was conquered by the Ming army, he, a puppet, would have to take the blame.

He might as well surrender his country to the Ming Dynasty and move to Luoyang to be a free man.

Wang Gou had inquired about the experiences of the last emperors of the Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, and the Western Xia Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty had always treated the kings of the fallen countries well. He could live comfortably in Luoyang, and would no longer be controlled by powerful ministers, and would not be locked up in Puxianyuan and lose his freedom.

"Your Majesty, come back soon!"

A group of noble civil servants shouted and chased.

"Where is Your Majesty? Where is Your Majesty?" Jin Yungui and a group of poor scholars also fled to Dongcheng with their families at this time.

These guys tried to set fire to create chaos so that the Ming army could enter the city in the chaos.

As a result, the city really became chaotic, which scared them instead.

There were chaotic soldiers everywhere. Jin Yungui was afraid of being killed without knowing why, so he led his family and poor scholars out of the city to escape.

Jin Yungui grabbed the collar of a civil official and asked, "Where is your majesty?"

The civil official thought that the poor scholar was here to protect the emperor, and pointed to the front and said, "It's over there. Your majesty refuses to escape, go and help stop him."

"Follow me to catch your majesty!" Jin Yungui shouted.

The scene was too chaotic, and there were too many people who wanted to escape from the city.

Wang Gou, civil officials, and scholars walked against the flow of people, but they couldn't run fast at all, and sometimes they were even squeezed back.

Wang Gou was physically exhausted and was caught by Li Zheng's servants.

Wang Gou shouted hysterically: "I will not go to Quanzhou. If I go, I will be manipulated by the Li family. I want to surrender my country to the Ming Dynasty. I want to go to Luoyang and live a rich and idle life!"

Jin Yungui was overjoyed when he heard this and shouted to the poor scholars around him: "Follow me to protect the emperor, protect your majesty to surrender the country to the Ming Dynasty, and from now on, we will be Ming people together. Kill!"

"Kill!"

A group of poor scholars burst out with unlimited fighting power and fought with the noble civil servants and their servants.

As the fight went on, the sound of horse hooves became closer and closer, and the Ming Dynasty's cavalry was coming.

Li Zheng was afraid of being caught, so he could only roar: "Run!"

"Protect your majesty, protect your majesty!" Jin Yungui, who was covered in injuries, took the opportunity to rush to Wang Gou.