I

"Lin Qingye has become the marshal. I'm afraid the Korean rebels won't be able to hold on." Jin Junyan, the commander of the Datong Army, said worriedly.

Dang Chongjun smiled and said: "Others can win, but Lin Qingye certainly can't win... Mr. Yin, please come in."

Yin Shandao, a great scholar of North Korea and the teacher of the former leader of the country, strode to the center of the room and bowed to Dang Chongjun and Jin Junyan to greet them. He was not only a member of the Southern People's Party but also the first North Korean official to go to China as an envoy after the establishment of the new Datong Dynasty. He has always advocated learning from China's New Confucianism.

Now, he has been pushed out of the court and demoted to a local official.

Jin Junyan asked: "I have heard of Lin Qingye's name in China. Isn't he still unable to defeat the peasant army?"

Yin Shandao shook his head and sighed: "Lin Qingye was also born in the second class of nobles, and he also belonged to the Western People's Party. But twice, he was involved in party disputes within the Western People's Party, and later he became very close to our Southern People's Party. Now the Western People's Party How can it be possible for the party to achieve great achievements if he is in charge?"

"You scholars are quite good at scheming military commanders." Jin Junyan said sarcastically.

The Southerners who had been expelled from the court were already plotting a counterattack, and Lin Qingye was even tricked into leaving the country by them.

Once Lin Qingye commanded the troops, the Westerners' Party would inevitably be held back, leading to a major defeat for the North Korean official army. The Southern People's Party could take the opportunity to impeach, saying that the Western People's Party had colluded with the peasant army. Even if there was no collusion, it still harmed the North Korean army.

Dang Chongjun smiled and said: "Let's wait and see what happens."

Let us say that Lin Qingye won the great victory in Cheorwon and was appointed marshal by the king. He took only 5,000 elites and tens of thousands of civilians and chased the peasant army all the way. The remaining troops stayed in Cheolwon to protect the king.

The peasant army was intimidated by Lin Qingye's reputation and did not dare to fight with him. They abandoned the city and retreated to Ping'an Road. Along the way, they coerced people and plundered food and property, without giving officers and soldiers the opportunity to resupply on the spot.

Lin Qingye successfully won Huangzhou, but then he felt something was wrong.

"How come the food and grass haven't arrived yet?" Lin Qingye asked.

"We are urging them already," Li Yuanren, who is in charge of grain and grass, replied. "The officials of Bingcao said that Chunchuan was blocked by heavenly soldiers, and the grain from the south could not be transported north. The grain requisitioned in Gyeonggi Province must ensure the supply of Cheorwon, and they are trying their best to raise grain Ship it to Huangzhou."

Lin Qingye was furious: "That's nonsense. The food and grass in Tiewuan can last at least three months. In these three months, I would have wiped out the rebel army here! If we continue to push, don't wait until winter, otherwise How can we fight in the ice and snow?”

Song Junji, the Bingcao judge, also known as the Minister of the Ministry of War, was determined to cut off the food and grass on the front line. He colluded with Hu Cao's judge and kept emphasizing that there was not enough food, and transported food to the front line like squeezing toothpaste.

As a result, Lin Qingye could only reduce his meals, and the frontline soldiers could not even guarantee two meals a day.

Finally, Lin Qingye couldn't bear it anymore and personally led hundreds of cavalrymen and rushed back to Tieyuan to confront Song Junji. Song Junji looked innocent and cried poor in front of King Li Di. Li Di ordered the civil and military ministers to cut down on food and clothing to ensure the supply of military rations in Huangzhou.

Song Junji promised on the surface, but secretly made a stumbling block. The Western Party's authorities united to deduct the grain and grass shipped out at every level, and even deducted the rations of the people.

Anyway, Lin Qingye cannot be allowed to perform meritorious service, otherwise they, the civil servants in power, will be doomed.

Song Siyeol still had a bottom line. He led some civil servants to break away from the mountain party and continuously impeached Song Junji for his behavior of harming frontline soldiers. The Shan Party in the Western Party split into two factions, quarreling in front of Li Di all day long.

Lin Qingye, who was far away in Huangzhou, finally obtained a batch of military rations and was preparing to continue heading north when he suddenly received urgent military information from the rear.

The grain transporters rebelled!

Lin Qingye had no choice but to lead his army back to quell the rebellion and suppress the rebellious civilians. When the peasant army learned the news, they immediately came back and besieged Huangzhou.

After quelling the chaos of the peasants, Lin Qingye returned with his troops, hoping to eliminate the peasant army outside Huangzhou City. At this time, an urgent military situation came from Cheorwon. The peasant army led by Han Qiyuan moved south along the east coast and approached the east of Cheorwon. King Li Di asked him to go back quickly to escort them.

Lin Qingye, a veteran, was so angry that he almost vomited blood. There are soldiers in Cheorwon, and he stayed here specifically to protect the king. As long as there is enough food, he can hold on for a year, so there is no need for him to go back to rescue?

Lin Qingye continued to lead troops to Huangzhou, and received three imperial edicts in succession on the way. The mountain party was already impeaching him for meritorious service, regardless of the life and death of the king and ministers.

King Li Di originally supported Lin Qingye, but when the peasant army appeared in the east, Li Di became afraid, so he followed the advice of the Shan Party and wanted to transfer Lin Qingye back to protect him.

In desperation, Lin Qingye led his troops back.

Huangzhou was garrisoned with 500 elite officers and soldiers and was surrounded by tens of thousands of peasant troops, but they could still hold on to the city. But within a few days, spies set fire to the city. In the chaos, Huangzhou City fell again, and all the 500 elite officers and soldiers were wiped out.

Immediately afterwards, the peasant army occupied Haizhou, and then coerced the people to move eastward, joining forces with the Datong army stationed in Kaicheng.

Lin Qingye led his troops back to Cheolwon. When Han Qiyuan heard that the veteran was coming, he was so frightened that he immediately retreated to the mountains of Gangwon Province. Later, Han Qiyuan retreated all the way to the seaside and captured Gangneung, the largest city on the east coast of central Korea.

It was already winter, and the mountains were blocked by heavy snow, making it impossible to fight.

The North Korean monarchs, ministers, and elite officers and soldiers were huddled in Cheorwon, unable to move, and there was really not enough food to eat. After spring begins, if Lin Qingye wants to quell the chaos, he must first solve the military ration problem himself.

Song Junji began to impeach again: "Your Majesty, Lin Qingye was a marshal in vain. He failed to quell the chaos for a long time, and betrayed the trust of your Majesty. Now, the food in the south is blocked by the heavenly soldiers. If the food channel cannot be opened in the spring, your Majesty and all the officials will They will all starve to death!"

Before Lin Qingye could refute, Song Shilie angrily shouted: "If you hadn't interfered, General Lin would have wiped out the West Road bandits!"

"How did I get in the way? Don't spit on others with blood!" Song Junji also roared angrily.

Party members from both sides joined in, making King Li Di so noisy that his head hurt.

Li Di now completely distrusted civilian officials and asked Lin Qingye: "Old general, how should we fight in the future?"

Lin Qingye replied: "Your Majesty, the troops and horses have not moved, and the food and grass go first. We must persuade the heavenly soldiers to let Chunchuan out, so that the food from the south can be transported north. As long as there is enough food and grass, I promise to eliminate the rebels within half a year!"

Li Di looked at the civil servant: "Who is going to convince the heavenly soldiers to give up the passage?"

Zheng Taihe replied: "Your Majesty, I have sent several groups of envoys, but the conditions of the angels are a bit harsh. First, the "Datong Collection" is not allowed to be banned. Several of the contents of this book were written by the emperor of the Celestial Dynasty himself, and the rest were also from the Celestial Dynasty. The hand of an important minister. Our country’s banning of "Datong Collection" is a great disrespect to the emperor..."

As soon as this statement came out, several factions that were fighting among themselves came out to oppose it.

Even Song Shilie, who fully supported Lin Qingye's war, said strongly: "Your Majesty, you must not allow the "Datong Collection" to be spread. This book contains a lot of evil theories and weird stories. It is a reversal of ethics, and the Theory of Land Distribution is even more likely to bring disaster to the world!"

Li Di was a little curious and asked: "What is written in "The Collection of Datong"? Why do the ministers regard it as a scourge?"

Song Shilie said: "The Theory of Three Principles misinterprets the destiny of heaven and the interaction between heaven and man. It believes that the world comes first with the people, and a country should be based on the people. The king and his ministers are only the protectors of the people, not their rulers." Ge "The Theory of Position" confuses ethics and confuses superiority and inferiority. It believes that men and women are equal in personality, but their status is different. People who are not worthy of their position can be overthrown, and the same is true for the king of a country. "The Theory of Dividing Fields" is even more confusing. Zhi Daji believed that the big landowners exploited the small people and hollowed out the imperial court, so the land of the big landowners should be distributed to the people."

"The Emperor of China really allowed these remarks to be spread? Did he say some of them himself?" Li Di was shocked.

"Your Majesty, this book must be banned and must not be spread!" All the ministers said in unison.

Li Di also felt that it could not be spread, and frowned and said: "The Heavenly Soldiers came to kill this time. I'm afraid the rest are just excuses. The real reason is that our country has banned the "Datong Collection", which made the Emperor of the Heavenly Dynasty unhappy. But if he doesn't agree to lift the ban on this book, Book, how can we make the Celestial Empire withdraw its troops?"

Song Junji said: "I'm afraid I have to give more benefits."

Li Di asked: "Pay tribute?"

Song Junji shook his head: "There is no shortage of wealth in the heaven."

"Do we need to cut off the land and sacrifice it?" Li Di asked.

No one spoke, and no one dared to speak first, otherwise they would be easily impeached by political opponents later.

Zheng Taihe, as the chief counselor, was named again by Li Di: "Zheng Qing, let me tell you."

"It is better to cede the North Road," Zheng Taihe said bravely. "The North Road was occupied by our dynasty in the early years. It is a mountainous, remote and barren country. It can be dedicated to the Celestial Empire."

At this time, Hamgyong Province has not yet been divided into North Hamgyong Province and South Hamgyong Province, but the northeastern corner of Hamgyong Province, which is conventionally called North Road, is actually part of North Hamgyong Province. It is the poorest place in North Korea, and it is also the place where North Korea likes to recruit soldiers most.

Even if he was ceded, Li Di would not feel bad. He just felt that it was a loss to his majesty, so he wanted to throw the blame for losing his land to the ministers: "What do you think?"

Still no one answered, no one wanted to take the blame.

Li Di asked in a different way: "Who objects?"

The ministers remained silent, and apparently no one objected.

The power of the two groups of nobles is all in the central and southern parts. They will not feel bad if a piece of the north is taken away.

Lin Qingye suddenly said: "Your Majesty, not an inch of the country can be ceded!"

Li Di originally thought highly of Lin Qingye, but now he felt a little disgusted. What does it mean? It’s completely impossible for him to get off the stage!

Due to Lin Qingye's objection, this discussion can no longer proceed.

Food from the south has actually been transported to the north, through the mountainous areas of Gangwon Province. But it can only be carried by the peasants, and the losses during the journey are huge, and the peasants themselves have to eat most of it.

After winter, heavy snow closed the mountains, and the government also asked civilians to transport food. Countless people froze to death and became disabled.

More and more civilians are fleeing, but the monarchs, ministers and the army have to eat. The winter has not yet passed, and Cheorwon's food is already seriously insufficient.

The king and ministers must not go hungry. Not only must they not go hungry, they must also eat and drink well. Then we can only suffer the hardships of the soldiers. The soldiers suffer from hunger, and the elites are starved and become resentful soldiers. In the end, there will be a food disturbance before the Chinese New Year.

If this continues, the elite North Korean officers and soldiers will rebel without the peasant army coming to kill them.