Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

No matter how arrogant King Lee of Korea was, in the minds of Korean officials and people, they could not resist the Ming cavalry at all.

Their king openly challenged the Ming Dynasty, which was simply a case of hitting a rock with an egg. Now the Ming cavalry has successfully moved south and has come to the royal city, which is an ironclad proof.

Once the Ming cavalry enters the city, who can escape?

Seoul was in chaos, countless scholars and officials fled, and the people were also thinking of ways to leave, while some people took advantage of the chaos to rob property and even kill people.

Originally, there were soldiers in the royal city to maintain order, but the royal city under Lee's control had lost control.

The officials and generals in charge of the soldiers had fled, and these unrestrained soldiers turned into bandits, especially as more and more people in the royal city did not think they could defend the royal city.

"It's chaos, it's all chaos!"

"This is all the work of that tyrant!"

"Run away, this royal city will surely fall!"

...

Faced with the Ming cavalry stationed outside the north gate, no one in the city, from the prime minister to the peddlers, had the will to fight, and they all wanted to escape.

"The south gate is closed?"

"Lee is really cruel!"

"He doesn't intend to give us all a way out!"

...

After learning that the Joseon King Lee had ordered martial law in the city, many dignitaries who were about to escape but were blocked in the city hated Lee to the core.

The Ming cavalry only stationed troops in the north of the city, but completely ignored the other three gates. As a result, the Joseon King closed them all, which directly trapped everyone in the city.

The Korean Peninsula in February was now showing a depressing cloudy day.

Seoul, Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Lee was now completely letting himself go. Not only did he kill ministers in the court, but he was also extravagant and lustful in his life. Although there is no wine forest and meat pool, there are four beauties in the pool at this moment.

In terms of appearance, Korea is indeed a place rich in beauties. Not only are Korean women favored by Emperor Taizong of Ming, but the Ming Palace also accepts many Korean beauties as palace maids.

In order to maintain a good image, Li used to disguise himself constantly, but now he no longer cares about other things and likes to play with beauties in this warm water pool every day.

"King, which grape do you want?"

"What do you mean by grapes?"

"Hate it, then King, do you want big white steamed buns?"

...

The four beauties surrounded Li in the warm water room, but they all tried to please the monarch.

Due to the blockade of information, and because they were born to entertain people with their beauty, they did not care about changes in the outside world. Now they know that only by pleasing the monarch in front of them can they live a good life of eating and drinking.

Just as Li held a beauty in his arms, a burst of swords and guns suddenly came from outside.

"What happened?"

Li stopped teasing with the beauty in the water and immediately looked out the door angrily.

The sound of fighting outside ended, and the screen was kicked to the ground roughly.

Ah...

When had the beauties in the pool ever seen such a scene? Thinking that they only had a faintly visible bellyband on their bodies, they immediately screamed in shame.

Li looked at the general who kicked the screen down, with a shocked expression on his face: "Li Shangming, you... why are you here?"

Although he knew that Li Shi had a great influence in the court, and Li Shangming had a very high reputation in the army, he was a strong enemy that had to be eliminated. But he never expected that Li Shangming would come back so quickly and even break into his own palace.

At this moment, he knew that he had underestimated Li Shangming, or perhaps he seemed to have been abandoned by all the civil and military officials in the court without knowing it.

Behind Li Shangming, there were important officials of the Joseon Dynasty headed by the Prime Minister Li Kepei.

There were important officials in office, officials who had been dismissed by Li, and even avengers who had been confiscated and exterminated like Li Shangming.

"Of course, this general is here to take your head!" Li Shangming said without hiding his hatred when he saw the murderer of his father.

Li knew that the hatred between him and Li Shangming could not be reconciled at all, so he looked at Li Kepei and others and said, "I am the king of Joseon. Do you think clearly?"

"Of course we have thought clearly, otherwise we would not come here with Li Shangming!" Li Kepei responded firmly to Li's questioning.

Although they are at a natural disadvantage as civil officials, after all, they are learning to be loyal to the king. However, after Li came to power, he killed their officials and had already forged a blood feud.

Originally, their strength was above Li, and now that the civil and military officials united, they could naturally undermine Li, the king who had been betrayed by his ministers.

As for seizing Gyeongbokgung Palace, now from him, the Prime Minister, to the peddlers and hawkers, no one regards Li Long as the king, so this move is actually an easy thing.

"Someone! Someone! Someone! Come quickly! Protect the emperor!" Li shouted loudly, but there was no movement outside. Li Shangming and others looked at Li as if he was a pitiful creature, but they knew that it was impossible for anyone to come to save this tyrant, because this tyrant and his subjects had long been alienated. Although Li had won over a group of people and cultivated a few confidants, he was too complacent. The strength of the Ming Dynasty was obvious to all. The reason why everyone followed Li was that they hoped to live a life of luxury, not to follow Li to death. Now that the Ming Iron Cavalry was approaching the city, if the group of people who supported Li still followed Li all the way to the end, it would be really stupid.

Li had already recognized the reality and immediately asked: "Are you going to kill the king?"

"So what if you kill the king?" Li Shangming, who was wearing armor, stepped forward and immediately pulled out the sword from his waist: "Today's Japanese general is not just for revenge, but to use your head to calm the swords and ensure the stability of the Korean people!"

"Haha... Do you think the Ming Dynasty might have a truce? The Ming Dynasty is so ambitious that it has long wanted to annex North Korea. You idiots are still going after the Ming Dynasty!" Li laughed and pointed at the officials present angrily.

"The Ming Dynasty is hundreds of times stronger than us, but you idiot dares to be so provocative. If you are not willing to succumb to the Ming Dynasty, then the people of the whole country should not be buried with you! Today, I will bear the name of regicide. Today I'll lend you your head!" Li Shangming saw through Li's reluctance and immediately stepped forward with his knife.

This time it is not just about seizing the palace, nor is it just about killing the king, but it is about quelling the war with the Ming Dynasty.

Others may not know it clearly, but he knows the military gap between the two countries, which can even be described as a chasm. If North Korea goes to war with Ming Dynasty, there will be only death.

Especially now, the Ming Dynasty not only has elite soldiers and generals, but also strong ships and cannons, which can kill them directly from the Bohai Bay to Seoul.

Li thought that he could be arrogant because he was the orthodox member of the North Korean royal family. Little did he know that in front of the Zhu family of the Ming Dynasty, he was actually nothing. When he was held hostage in the capital, Ganqing still couldn't recognize the reality.

Li Kepei and other officials nodded one after another, but they knew that everything happened because of Li. Naturally, they and the North Korean people could not be buried with this idiot Li.

"You...you really dare to kill the king? You did it, you did it!" Li stood up from the pool, his face extremely shocked at this moment.

His biggest reliance has always been bloodline. He is the orthodox member of the Korean royal family and is their king. It was precisely because of this identity that all the ministers in the court succumbed to him.

Just seeing Li Shangming coming with a knife made him feel an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.

The status of the king who was always invincible in the past and the royal bloodline that people used to admire seemed to be ineffective at this moment and did not play any role.

"Where to go!" Li Shangming also entered the pool alone, his murderous intention rising at this moment.

Whether it is to avenge his dead father or for the millions of North Korean people, now he must cut off Li's head and use his head to quell the war.

When Li Kepei saw Li Shangming going into the pool to kill someone, he watched the scene silently.

If Li hadn't acted so recklessly, they wouldn't have wanted to reach this point. It's just that even though Li Dao and the others were killing them all, they turned out to be enemies of the Ming Dynasty. So don't blame them for not caring about the relationship between monarch and minister.

ah!

When the four beauties saw Li Kebei take the knife into the water, they no longer cared that their clothes were too revealing, but they all fled from the pool.

The soles of Li's feet slipped, and he fell into the pool again. He seemed to wake up in the water, and immediately changed his attitude and begged for mercy: "No! No! Please let me go, I will never dare to do it again!"

Anyone is cowardly in the face of life and death. Now that Li feels the murderous intention in Li Shangming, he will not care about his identity as king. Now he just wants to survive.

Having especially enjoyed the king's luxurious life, he naturally didn't want to die even more. Even if Li Shangming asked him to be a puppet king at this moment, he would not hesitate.

Li Kepei and others couldn't help but shake their heads when they saw Li who was greedy for life and afraid of death.

Since Li came to power, he has killed ministers and good generals in vain. Now he knows how to repent when he is about to die, but it is already too late. All I can say is: It’s your own fault and you won’t survive.

puff!

Li Shangming clenched the knife in his hand and slashed hard at Li. A stream of blood immediately splashed on Li's neck, and the head fell directly into the pool.

Under the action of buoyancy, the head floated on the water, but the eyes remained open.

As the corpses continued to gush out blood, the warm pool that had just blossomed was now dyed red with blood.

died?

When Li Kepei and other officials saw Li's head being beheaded and the body floating in the water, they felt very complicated, but they did not feel the slightest regret.

Not to mention that too many of them are victims, and now it is Li who is taking the lead in challenging the Ming Dynasty. Only by cutting off Li's head can it be possible to calm the anger of the Ming Dynasty.

When Li Kepei saw Li Shangming picking up the tyrant's head from the pool, he looked very serious and asked: "General, can you really persuade Ming Dynasty to withdraw its troops?"

"I can't!" Li Shangming took revenge now, but shook his head slightly.

"This..." Li Kepei originally placed his hope on Li Shangming, but he did not expect such a result.

"The general will handle the matter properly, just wait for the good news!" Li Kepei walked out of the pool and left straight away, looking very confident.

Seoul was in complete chaos. Although Li Shangming and Li Kepei teamed up to break into the palace and even cut off the head of King Li of Korea, it did not cause much trouble.

Since everyone is trapped in the city, what they hope most is that the Ming Dynasty cavalry can evacuate, or promise that entering the city will not harm them.

Outside the north gate of Seoul, the Ming army was stationed here.

"One two one, one two three four!"

The Ming Dynasty's army is becoming more and more organized. Even if it is wartime, it will conduct drills every day in order to maintain the best combat condition.

In a certain camp, there was even a strange beeping sound.

Yu Yuanzan already knew that the royal city was in chaos, but he was not in a hurry to attack. He was not only waiting for the chaos in the royal city to heat up, but also to give the troops in the rear some time.

Although he is now alone in the expedition, each of them carries military rations. They also bought food through bank notes along the way, and grain ships at sea are ready to support them, so there is no need to worry too much about the military rations.

Yu Yuanzan was wearing armor and looking at Seoul in front of him.

It is very easy to take over North Korea with the strength of the Ming Dynasty, but it is too remote. From Beijing to Seoul via the northeast, it is almost the same distance as Hangzhou.

However, the agriculture here is not too developed, and the south is occasionally intruded by Japanese pirates, so the Central Plains Dynasty prefers to allow North Korea to govern itself.

In fact, North Korea is a country with a strong servility. It has always been very deferential to the powerful Central Plains dynasty, and it can even be said that it tries to please them in every possible way. Even in this dynasty, there is a tribute girl system.

The Ming Dynasty saw such a submissive North Korea, and North Korea was not an ideal fertile land, so there was no need to include it in the territory, but North Korea had an alternative like Li.

Li was not only cruel to domestic ministers, but also openly challenged the Ming Dynasty. This prompted the Ming Dynasty to send cavalry south to conquer North Korea.

As long as the Ming Dynasty's heavy artillery is delivered, no matter how strong the city gate of Seoul is, it will not be able to withstand the power of a single shot from the heavy artillery.

At noon, the North Gate of Seoul opens wide.

Li Shangming, wearing heavy armor, rode out from the city gate, followed by a carriage.

"Haha... General Li, aren't you afraid that our soldiers will take the opportunity to attack the city?" Yu Yuanzan clapped his horse and asked with a half-smile.

Li Shangming saw that Yu Yuanzan did not do this, and knew that he had not misjudged the person: "General Yu, I believe that in your eyes, you are not all about military merit, but a good general who can truly share the worries of your Ming Emperor."

"Stop flattering me! If there is nothing that can impress my commander-in-chief, I will immediately lead his troops into Seoul!" Yu Yuanzan looked at the unclosed city gate and expressed his thoughts.

Li Shangming knew that the other party would keep his word, so he immediately presented the prepared things: "Please take a look at it, Commander-in-Chief Daming!"

"What is this?"

"The Commander-in-Chief will know it at a glance!"

Yu Yuanzan opened the sandalwood box and found that it turned out to be a calligraphy and painting. (End of chapter)