Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen War and Peace

For Joseon King Lee Chan, the entire July of the Imjin year was very depressing. He first received two good news in a row.One is the Battle of Ichi that took place on July 8. A little-known officer, Quan Li, ambushed the Japanese Sixth Army Corps in Ichi, Jeolla-do, defeated Anguksa Huiqiong, and forced Kobayakawa Longjing back. Then came the naval battles of Hansando and Angupo that took place from July 8th to 10th, in which Yi sun-shin killed the Japanese naval forces. Counting it, Quan Li should still be Li Sunchen's great benefactor.Yi sun-shin was invincible at sea, but what he feared most was that the Japanese army would occupy Jeolla-do and attack Yeosu port from land.Kobayakawa Longjing has been deliberately planning to control Jeolla Province, but this strategic attempt failed under the desperate resistance of Gao Jingming, Quan Li and others.Thanks to the hard work of these people, Yi Sun-shin was able to fight in the water without worrying about supplies and rear safety.

The two pieces of good news made the imperial court optimistic. They kept urging the Ming army to attack, partly because they were encouraged by these victories. Soon Li Yan couldn't laugh anymore.Because he received two more bad news. The first bad news was that on July 17th, the Ming army led by Zu Chengxun encountered an ambush when they attacked Pyongyang City. Another piece of bad news comes from Ham Kyong Road. Almost at the same time as the Battle of Pyongyang, a decisive battle broke out in the distant Hamgyong Province.The attacking side of the decisive battle was Kato Kiyomasa's 2nd Corps, which charged all the way to the north, and the defending side was Han Kecheng, the Taoist envoy of Hamgyong, and his six-town cavalry.

When President Konishi was resting in Pyongyang, Kato Kiyomasa did not relax at all.He advanced by leaps and bounds all the way, fighting north along Hamgyong Road, defeated countless North Korean defenders along the way, and captured countless high-ranking officials.The Second Army fought all the way to the vicinity of Jizhou, and finally encountered the most elite Hamgyong cavalry in North Korea. These cavalry have been fighting the Jurchens in the Northland all year round. They are skilled in horse bows and horses, and their combat effectiveness is the strongest in the Korean army. On July 18, the two sides collided head-on near Haitingcang, Jizhou.As soon as the battle started, the Korean cavalry resorted to the Mongolian style of play, divided into countless small teams, and shot arrows while galloping.The open land near Haitingcang provides enough space for the cavalry to exercise and fully display the power of cavalry and archery.Kato Kiyomasa couldn't resist, so he had to withdraw into Haiting warehouse.

The Iron Artillery was the best at defending. Kato Kiyomasa took out all the food bags in Haiting warehouse, piled them up as a bunker, and defended them desperately.The Korean cavalry attacked for a while, causing heavy casualties, so they retreated temporarily.Regardless of fatigue, Kato Kiyomasa led the main force to attack at night, and Han Kecheng was defeated.His defeat didn't matter, the Japanese army took the opportunity to occupy Gyeongseong, opened the door to North Hamgyong Province, and then arrived in Hoeryong on July 23. Coincidentally, Ju Jingren, a big court traitor, came out of Huining City at this time, took the initiative to open the city gate, and gave Kato Kiyomasa two generous gifts: Lord Linhai and Lord Shunhe, two Joseon princes.

These two unlucky bastards originally carried out their father's proposal of "not putting eggs in one basket" to divide the dynasty, and each took a group of ministers to various places to support the king's teachers. fell out. No matter how downtrodden a prince is, he is still a prince.Their identities will be very useful for establishing a puppet regime in North Korea in the future.Kato Kiyomasa entertained the two princes and sent them to Seoul. He led the army to continue to fight north.But Huining is already the northernmost part of North Korea. Huining used to be the Tumen River, and after crossing the river, it is the nominal territory of Ming Dynasty.Kato Kiyomasa's idea was to invade Daming and make more achievements than Konishi Yukio.

A part of the Second Army, under the leadership of Kato Kiyomasa, crossed the Tumen River and encountered a part of the Jurchen Ula Department head-on, and a military conflict occurred.The opponent he encountered may be the Ula nobleman Bugutai who later became a brother and brother with Nurhachi and turned against each other. The victor of the conflict was Kato Kiyomasa—at least that’s what he claimed—he claimed to have killed more than 8,000 levels and also broke through the capital of the Ula tribe.No one can explain how he achieved such a brilliant record in the vast and sparsely populated Liaodong area in one day, and no one can explain why he did not advance but retreated and hurried back to Hamgyong from Liaodong after such a great victory Road, and retreated all the way south to Anbian.This is the southernmost end of Hamgyong Road, almost entering the defense zone of Maori Jicheng.

These two good news and two bad news made Li Yan restless and lost his calm judgment on the situation.In his panic, he suddenly thought of what Huang Yingyang said during his previous two visits: "If we want to fight Japanese pirates, we have to rely on our Zhejiang soldiers!" This sentence brought new courage to Li Yan. He sent the eloquent Hong Xiuyan to Jiulian City again, asking Yang Shaoxun to report to the Ming court and send southern gunners to support him. To this, Yang Shaoxun's answer was: "You don't have to worry. The follow-up soldiers and horses have arrived."

At this time, Daming's second wave of reinforcements is already on the way.The specific deployment is: Liaodong guerrilla Zhang Qigong led 1,000 people to Yizhou, and 500 people stayed in Jiulian City. Matou Shanjiangyantai, Tangzhan, Fenghuangcheng, Kuandian and other important border towns between China and North Korea were also stationed in four Fifteen hundred people.In addition, the long-awaited Southern Army gunners by the Koreans, Daming sent 3,000 people, all of which were elite troops brought out by Qi Jiguang, led by Wu Weizhong and Luo Shangzhi, the old subordinates of Qi's army.The forward five hundred people have arrived at Tang Station.

In this wave of reinforcements, 6,000 people arrived earlier, and the total number reached 9,000, and the momentum was extremely loud for a while. For Joseon King Lee Chan, the entire July of the Imjin year was very depressing. He first received two good news in a row.One is the Battle of Ichi that took place on July 8. A little-known officer, Quan Li, ambushed the Japanese Sixth Army Corps in Ichi, Jeolla-do, defeated Anguksa Huiqiong, and forced Kobayakawa Longjing back. Then came the naval battles of Hansando and Angupo that took place from July 8th to 10th, in which Yi sun-shin killed the Japanese naval forces.

Counting it, Quan Li should still be Li Sunchen's great benefactor.Yi sun-shin was invincible at sea, but what he feared most was that the Japanese army would occupy Jeolla-do and attack Yeosu port from land.Kobayakawa Longjing has been deliberately planning to control Jeolla Province, but this strategic attempt failed under the desperate resistance of Gao Jingming, Quan Li and others.Thanks to the hard work of these people, Yi Sun-shin was able to fight in the water without worrying about supplies and rear safety. The two pieces of good news made the imperial court optimistic. They kept urging the Ming army to attack, partly because they were encouraged by these victories.

Soon Li Yan couldn't laugh anymore.Because he received two more bad news. The first bad news was that on July 17th, the Ming army led by Zu Chengxun encountered an ambush when they attacked Pyongyang City. Another piece of bad news comes from Ham Kyong Road. Almost at the same time as the Battle of Pyongyang, a decisive battle broke out in the distant Hamgyong Province.The attacking side of the decisive battle was Kato Kiyomasa's 2nd Corps, which charged all the way to the north, and the defending side was Han Kecheng, the Taoist envoy of Hamgyong, and his six-town cavalry. When President Konishi was resting in Pyongyang, Kato Kiyomasa did not relax at all.He advanced by leaps and bounds all the way, fighting north along Hamgyong Road, defeated countless North Korean defenders along the way, and captured countless high-ranking officials.The Second Army fought all the way to the vicinity of Jizhou, and finally encountered the most elite Hamgyong cavalry in North Korea. These cavalry have been fighting the Jurchens in the Northland all year round. They are skilled in horse bows and horses, and their combat effectiveness is the strongest in the Korean army. On July 18, the two sides collided head-on near Haitingcang, Jizhou.As soon as the battle started, the Korean cavalry resorted to the Mongolian style of play, divided into countless small teams, and shot arrows while galloping.The open land near Haitingcang provides enough space for the cavalry to exercise and fully display the power of cavalry and archery.Kato Kiyomasa couldn't resist, so he had to withdraw into Haiting warehouse. The Iron Artillery was the best at defending. Kato Kiyomasa took out all the food bags in Haiting warehouse, piled them up as a bunker, and defended them desperately.The Korean cavalry attacked for a while, causing heavy casualties, so they retreated temporarily.Regardless of fatigue, Kato Kiyomasa led the main force to attack at night, and Han Kecheng was defeated.His defeat didn't matter, the Japanese army took the opportunity to occupy Gyeongseong, opened the door to North Hamgyong Province, and then arrived in Hoeryong on July 23. Coincidentally, Ju Jingren, a big court traitor, came out of Huining City at this time, took the initiative to open the city gate, and gave Kato Kiyomasa two generous gifts: Lord Linhai and Lord Shunhe, two Joseon princes. These two unlucky bastards originally carried out their father's proposal of "not putting eggs in one basket" to divide the dynasty, and each took a group of ministers to various places to support the king's teachers. fell out. No matter how downtrodden a prince is, he is still a prince.Their identities will be very useful for establishing a puppet regime in North Korea in the future.Kato Kiyomasa entertained the two princes and sent them to Seoul. He led the army to continue to fight north.But Huining is already the northernmost part of North Korea. Huining used to be the Tumen River, and after crossing the river, it is the nominal territory of Ming Dynasty.Kato Kiyomasa's idea was to invade Daming and make more achievements than Konishi Yukio. A part of the Second Army, under the leadership of Kato Kiyomasa, crossed the Tumen River and encountered a part of the Jurchen Ula Department head-on, and a military conflict occurred.He is likely to encounter the Ula noble Bugutai who will become a brother and brother with Nurhaci in the future and turn against each other. The victor of the conflict was Kato Kiyomasa—at least that’s what he claimed—he claimed to have killed more than 8,000 levels and also broke through the capital of the Ula tribe.No one can explain how he achieved such a brilliant record in the vast and sparsely populated Liaodong area in one day, and no one can explain why he did not advance but retreated and hurried back to Hamgyong from Liaodong after such a great victory Road, and retreated all the way south to Anbian.This is the southernmost end of Hamgyong Road, almost entering the defense zone of Maori Jicheng. These two good news and two bad news made Li Yan restless and lost his calm judgment on the situation.In his panic, he suddenly thought of what Huang Yingyang said during his previous two visits: "If we want to fight Japanese pirates, we have to rely on our Zhejiang soldiers!" This sentence brought new courage to Li Yan. He sent the eloquent Hong Xiuyan to Jiulian City again, asking Yang Shaoxun to report to the Ming court and send southern gunners to support him. To this, Yang Shaoxun's answer was: "You don't have to worry. The follow-up soldiers and horses have arrived." At this time, Daming's second wave of reinforcements is already on the way.The specific deployment is: Liaodong guerrilla Zhang Qigong led 1,000 people to Yizhou, and 500 people stayed in Jiulian City. Matou Shanjiangyantai, Tangzhan, Fenghuangcheng, Kuandian and other important border towns between China and North Korea were also stationed in four Fifteen hundred people.In addition, the long-awaited Southern Army gunners by the Koreans, Daming sent 3,000 people, all of which were elite troops brought out by Qi Jiguang, led by Wu Weizhong and Luo Shangzhi, the old subordinates of Qi's army.The forward five hundred people have arrived at Tang Station. In this wave of reinforcements, 6,000 people arrived earlier, and the total number reached 9,000, and the momentum was extremely loud for a while. The North Korean monarchs and ministers were already disappointed with the Liaodong soldiers, and only looked forward to the arrival of the southern soldiers' gunners.After Luo Shangzhi's Nanbing arrived at Tangzhan, Yin Doushou ran over to take a look, and when he came back, he happily called the king and other ministers over, and said mysteriously, "Brother Huang Yingyang is right! Nanbing is so awesome. I think With their drills, they are no worse than Japanese pirates!" When he said this, everyone was so excited that they rushed to come up with ideas.Some said no, let’s do it alone, and only send these 3,000 gunners here to cooperate with the North Korean army, and the Liaodong army will be spared; Celestial soldiers. The enthusiasm of these fans from the southern soldiers was instigated. Li Youcheng, who had the best relationship with Huang Yingyang at the beginning, couldn't hold back anymore, and ran over to take a look around.He came back and made a big fuss, saying that the Southern Army was amazing, all of them carried blunderbuss, their equipment was more advanced than that of Japan, and their mental outlook was better than that of Liaodong soldiers and Jizhou soldiers.He also specially told a story, saying that the Southern Army didn't need a boat to cross the river at all, but just swam across with weapons and luggage, and could swim armed. "It's amazing!" North Korean monarchs and ministers sighed in unison. Expectations are expectations, if people don't come to help, everything is nonsense.To the dismay of the Korean groupies, the second wave of troops, including the 3,000 Southern Army gunners, stopped moving when they reached the banks of the Yalu River. Hong Xiuyan came to urge the troops to be promoted, but Yang Shaoxun excused them by saying that your food and grass were not enough, and the army was starving in the past; Hong Xiuyan said that a small number of southern soldiers could be sent to the court first. Yang Shaoxun said that it is not easy to go in the rainy season, so we can wait until autumn; It is very narrow, and if there is a military situation, you can cross the river to help in one day. In short, say one thousand, say ten thousand, the Ming army just didn't move. The North Koreans were straight-headed, and wave after wave of envoys went to Yang Shaoxun, and if they couldn't find Yang Shaoxun, they went to Tong Yangzheng, which made the two of them very annoying.In the end, Yang Shaoxun was forced to panic and roared: We plan to send 100,000 troops, and we can start the war if the army gathers together! Now the North Korean envoy was frightened.There are 100,000 people, North Korea can't afford to support them no matter what, so they went back without saying anything. Yang Shaoxun was overjoyed, and thought that the North Koreans must have retreated now, and they could be at ease.Unexpectedly, after two days of silence, the North Koreans came over again and asked in a low voice, "Can you take turns entering the country to fight?" Yang Shaoxun yelled and fell to the ground. In fact, as long as the North Korean monarchs and ministers can be careful, they can learn the hidden taste from the arrival time of the Ming army. Zu Chengxun's defeat of Pyongyang was on July 17, and the Koreans formally asked for the Ming Southern Army on July 27.It was July 30th when Hong Xiuyan went to ask Yang Shaoxun for help. At this time, Yang Shaoxun had already given a clear plan for the deployment of reinforcements, and even the South Korean soldiers requested by the Koreans were ready. In three days, it is absolutely impossible to complete and implement such a major decision, and the troops involved belong to different defense zones in various places.In fact, these troops had already assembled in Jizhou as early as June 20th, that is, shortly after Zu Chengxun entered the court, they had already set off from the Jizhou defense area and headed towards the Yalu River. Could it be that Shi Xing is a living god who has no prophecy, who predicted in advance that his ancestors would fail in inheriting the training, so he has a second hand? Obviously not.A careful study of the arrival time of the two waves of reinforcements is quite rhythmic.Zu Chengxun crossed the river on June 15, entered Pyongyang and retreated in defeat; he had just returned to Liaodong, when the second wave of reinforcements from the Ming army, Zhang Qigong and Luo Shangzhi, arrived at the Yalu River on about July 30. This shows that the decision makers fully considered various situations when formulating the plan—after Zu Chengxun entered North Korea, according to the worst situation, it would take a month and a half at the earliest to return to Liaodong in defeat.Therefore, the departure date of the second wave of reinforcements is calculated based on this point in time, and the two are very closely connected-in this way, even if Zu Chengxun is defeated, the rear army can also be stationed on the bank of the Yalu River in time, and they can enter at any time. North Korea's situation, to protect the safety of the royal family. Such a careful plan is by no means a whim.The second wave of reinforcements came from Liaodong, Xuanda, and even distant Guangdong military regions. Only the Beijing Ministry of War was qualified to make such a deployment.But Shi Xing himself absolutely did not have such courage, nor did his boss Zhao Zhigao. The only person who could and dared to do this was Emperor Wanli himself.This shows that Wanli has long been deliberate to fight the war on North Korean soil. However, since they were determined to go to war, why did the Ming army stop at the bank of the Yalu River and refuse to advance? There are two reasons why Daming can't make a full shot for the time being. The first reason is the Ningxia Rebellion. Now is the critical moment to quell the chaos, and the siege of Ningxia City is in full swing.Almost all famous ministers and generals who were proficient in military strategy in the Wanli Dynasty gathered in the city: Ye Mengxiong, Mei Guozhen, and the famous "East Li Xima" Li Rusong, Ma Gui and so on.Behind them, there are tens of thousands of troops from half of China.Farther away, the entire Northwest was mobilized, hundreds of thousands of civilians marched like flowing water, and countless food and salaries gathered from all over the country to Ningxia. At that time, apart from the troubles in Ningxia, other places in Daming were not peaceful, and signs of an incident in Yang Yinglong, Bozhou, gradually appeared.Daming's financial situation is not good, and its human resources are not rich, so it is difficult to support two wars at the same time.Ningxia must be completely pacified before the hungry wolf from the east can be freed up. The second reason is the court officials. As for Ming's aid to North Korea, it has a righteous name, and no one objected; but whether it should formally send troops with great fanfare, this matter has always been debated in the court. The faction that advocates sending troops to aid North Korea believes that North Korea is China's strategic buffer zone, and it is better to fight Japanese pirates in North Korea than to fight Japanese pirates on its own soil.Among them, Peng Haogu, the censor of Shanxi Province, said the most clearly: "Today's plan to resist the Japanese is to welcome the enemy outside and not to enter the country. This is the best policy; to refuse to the coast and not to go deep is the middle policy; to Tianjin, Between Huaiyang and the latter, there is no solution.” This is the clearest and most comprehensive discussion of North Korea’s strategic position among all the courtiers. But the opposition has plenty of reasons to do so.Xu Honggang expressed his opposition to the dispatch of troops during the military affairs, and believed that Ming Dynasty should "guard in the four barbarians, but not for the barbarians." As long as the war is controlled near the national border, it is enough, and there is no need to care about North Korea's affairs. Interestingly, one of Peng Haogu and Xu Honggang is a censor, and the other is a censor. They are not high-level, and they are both big-mouthed and small-power speakers.On the other hand, the senior members of the imperial court remained strangely silent.The position of Shi Xing of the Ministry of War is clear, but the attitudes of several other ministers: Yang Junmin of the Ministry of Housing, Sun Piyang of the Ministry of Punishment, Zeng Tongheng of the Ministry of Industry, Li Changchun of the Ministry of Rites, and Sun Yu of the Ministry of Officials are very ambiguous. As for the cabinet scholars Zhao Zhigao and Zhang Wei , is not a word. Because at the same time, they are busy doing another thing, which is more crucial than the North Korean crisis-struggling for the country. At that time, Emperor Wanli had two sons: the eldest Zhu Changluo and the second Zhu Changxun.According to the rules, the eldest son had an heir, but Wanli doted on Zhu Changxun's mother, Concubine Zheng, and had been deliberately trying to help Zhu Changxun to the top, so he had been refusing to give Zhu Changluo the title.The ministers resolutely opposed it and wrote to request the establishment of the crown prince as soon as possible, but Wanli refused to comply. So the officials and the emperor started a protracted struggle, which lasted from the 14th year of Wanli to the 20th year of Wanli.The problem is that in August of the 20th year of Wanli, this struggle just had a turning point.Under the leadership of the scholar Zhang Wei, all the officials launched a furious attack on the emperor, demanding Wanli to give an explanation. At this juncture, all the ministers do not want to give Wanli a chance to blur the topic.Regarding North Korea's sending troops, whether they object or agree, they must never open their mouths. Once they open their mouths, with Wanli's cleverness, they will definitely follow the topic: "The war is tight, let's discuss this first, the prince. Let's talk about it later." Therefore, Xu Honggang is a chess piece pushed to the fore by these bigwigs of the imperial court, hoping to use this to control the war to aid North Korea to a small extent, so as not to steal the limelight of "struggling for the foundation of the country". And behind Peng Haogu, there is no force behind it.Hiding behind him are local officials from all over the country, especially the coastal areas. Who is the crown prince? These big officials in the frontier are not as sensitive as the Beijing officials, but what happens to Japan is related to their vital interests.From the beginning of the Imjin War, officials from all over the coast kept writing letters to the court, either asking the cabinet to be more vigilant, or asking for funds to reorganize the armaments, for fear that Japanese pirates would attack again. If Japan gets into a deep war in Korea, then these coastal provinces will benefit the most, so they firmly support Ming to send troops to Korea. Thus, under the entanglement of all kinds of hidden thoughts under the water, a rare political spectacle of the Ming court was formed: the army had already prepared its troops and fought several battles, but the top still kept ambiguous silence. Emperor Wanli knew that if he wanted to start a full-scale war with Japan, he had to go through a court meeting to form a court resolution to smooth out the opinions of the courtiers—at least the main combat faction had to gain the upper hand, otherwise the battle would not be possible. Therefore, under the joint action of the two major factors of military and politics, there is only one word for Ming Dynasty's top priority: procrastination. It was dragged until Ningxia was pacified, and the army returned to the court; it was dragged until the opinions of all officials were unified!But this strategy requires the cooperation of the Japanese. The Japanese pirates are all cunning, so how should we deal with them? Under Wanli's instruction, Shi Xing had already secretly sent Song Yingchang, the right servant of the Ministry of War, to Liaodong Economic Strategy in August to make preliminary preparations for the army's assembly.But this was not enough to delay the time, so Shi Xing, who was suffering from headaches, had a very outrageous idea: peace talks. It is not a big deal for the peace talks to be placed in the Song Dynasty first and in the Qing Dynasty later.But when it comes to Daming, it is an extremely sensitive and completely unflattering matter.The Ming Dynasty can be said to be a complete alternative among the dynasties of China. From the beginning to the end, it has never used a woman to kiss, and has never had a real peace talk with anyone. It has an extremely stubborn personality. Run away, catch your breath and fight again.In short, in the dictionary of the Ming Dynasty, there is no peace negotiation, only non-negotiation. Therefore, this "peace talk" is just to buy time, it is a pure scam, so you must not send official envoys from the court, otherwise you will be scolded to death by the officials, and you will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history and hung up. On a sign: treacherous officials. Therefore, everything has to be done stealthily under the surface.Shi Xing thought for a while and came up with an idea.He decided to find a person who is proficient in the inside information of the Japanese pirates from the people, so that if there is any problem, he can push it away completely, and he can completely say who this person is?Are you out of your mind?How could you do such a shameless thing?Then beheaded. After this search, he found a big fool who was unmatched throughout the 300-year history of Ming Dynasty. At that time, there was a social idler in Beijing named Shen Weijing.He was originally from Pinghu, Zhejiang, and was a branch of the Shen family in Pinghu.According to this person's personal biography, he served as a soldier when he was young, practiced medicine, worked as an aide under Hu Zongxian, and once poisoned Japanese pirates with tricks. He is half a Japanese expert and an anti-Japanese hero.In the 20th year of Wanli, Shen Weijing was already in his sixties, and he hung out with a group of alchemists and rascals in the capital every day. He is a professional liar, and he also possesses the two essential qualities of a liar: first, he has outstanding language skills and can speak eloquently; . Judging from his resume, Shen Weijing fully meets the criteria for a liar: rich experience in the world, courageous, not afraid of death, and the most important thing is to be able to fool.Chinese history tells us that anyone who is famous for being associated with alchemists and alchemists, don't think about it, he must be good at fooling around. There is an old man named Yuan among the people who practice alchemy and counterfeit medicine with him every day.Old man Yuan had a daughter who married Shi Xing as a concubine.Shi Xing wanted to find someone among the people. Knowing that his old father-in-law had been in the market all year round, he asked him who he could recommend.When old man Yuan got the news, he went back and hurriedly told a few acquaintances, including Shen Weijing. As a professional liar, Shen Weijing intuitively smelled speculation in it.Out of caution, he found a friend Shen Jiawang and asked him about the situation in Japan.Shen Jiawang was once captured by Japanese pirates and went to Japan, so he knew a little about the local situation. In order not to show weakness, he said some common sense, and then he started talking nonsense, saying that Guanbai in Japan just wanted to go to China to pay tribute, and North Korea would not let him pass. Only then did they send troops to crusade.If you want a truce, you can do it with a letter. Shen Weijing heard that this matter is so easy, and there is a meritorious service for all eternity, so he was very moved.He ran to old man Yuan and asked him to introduce himself to Shi Xing. Shi Xing conducted an interview with Shen Weijing and was very satisfied with the liar.Shen Weijing has a strong sense of character, he is not bad at three inches, and he is also a civil scoundrel, so he is very suitable for this "peace talk" job.In order to show his sincerity, Shi Xing personally wrote the text and promoted Shen Weijing to the guerrilla general of the Shenji Battalion, with his companion Shen Jiawang as the commander. Shen Weijing was overjoyed.I said in my heart that I really didn't make a wrong judgment on this matter, and I didn't do anything, so I changed from a white body to a guerrilla general. Although he is just a rankless, he is still an official! Shi Xing was quite kind at this meeting, and finally told Shen Weijing the real strategic purpose of the Ming court beforehand, and told him that this time you go to the peace talks, the result is not important, but the process is important.Talking about peace, talking, is the goal, it doesn't matter at all with discord, the important thing is that you have to keep talking, it is best to keep talking about the victory of the War of Resistance... So Shen Weijing and Shen Jiawang happily rushed to North Korea with a dozen or so entourages to carry out the great mission. They arrived in Yizhou for the first time on June 29th in the 20th year of Wanli.At this time, Zu Chengxun's troops hadn't set off yet.This shows that the battle between Shi Xing and Wanli had been arranged long ago, so they made a "peace talk" move early to delay the time, so that the Ming army in Ningxia could make a move. After Shen Weijing arrived in North Korea, the North Koreans were a little puzzled.This person is neither a soldier nor a messenger, he ran over with the title of a guerrilla from the Shenji Battalion, claiming to be investigating the enemy's situation, what exactly did he want to do? Despite the doubts in their hearts, the North Koreans sent a teacher, Wu Yiling, to receive Shi Xing.Wu Yiling asked Shen Weijing what he was doing here, the big liar opened his mouth, and started talking nonsense, saying that I planned to go to the meeting alone, go to Pyongyang City to condemn Governor Xiaonishi, and said that if you don't retreat, China will send troops from all over the country to crusade. Wu Yiling disapproved of this exaggerated rhetoric.The 3,000 soldiers of Zu Zongbing were only begged by North Korea for a long time. Now you just say that the Chinese army will come, why?Seeing that he was not convinced, Shen Weijing patted his chest: "Don't you believe it, does Ping Yizhi know? Ping Hideyoshi? Those are my acquaintances. They listen to everything I say." After the reception, Wu Yiling went back to report: "This man is ugly, but he can be said to be a big troll." Ordinarily, Shen Weijing looks not bad, but he was called ugly by the North Koreans, probably because the North Koreans hated him. Words and deeds, even this person is annoying. Shen Weijing's plan to go to Pyongyang City was aborted halfway.At that time, the Korean royal family was concentrating on preparing food and grass, urging Zu Chengxun to send troops to Pyongyang. At this critical moment of morale, Shen Weijing, who came to the peace talks, would not spoil the good thing, and would not cooperate in various tasks.As a result, Shen Weijing's first mission failed before leaving Yizhou, and he returned to Beijing in despair. From this trip, it can be seen that Shen Weijing is not the kind of liar who is good at capturing psychological activities, but a performer who relies on incomparable self-confidence and exaggerated remarks to confuse him. He has a very strong self-awareness.His typical style is to run the train with his mouth full, but this person is very courageous, full of gambling, and dares to talk nonsense.In the eyes of others, diplomacy is no small matter; in Shen Weijing's eyes, diplomacy is no big deal, as long as he says what he likes, even Hideyoshi's relatives dare to pretend to be. To put it mildly, this is frivolity; to put it more seriously, it is messing around with state affairs.All kinds of black comedies that happened later can be said to have originated from his somewhat crazy character.The problem is that what Shi Xing needs is such a liar, because only such a person can blind the Japanese devils who are relatively honest, and delay it for enough time. A few days after Shen Weijing's return, news of Pyongyang's defeat reached Beijing, so "peace talks" were put on Shi Xing's agenda again.Under Shi Xing's earnest urging, Shen Weijing came to Yizhou again on August 17th. This time the attitude of the North Koreans was different.The city of Pyongyang was not captured twice, and Hamgyong-do was also lost. Now anyone who comes from the Celestial Dynasty is their life-saving straw.King Li Yan personally greeted him out of the west gate of Yizhou, and accompanied him all the way to the hall of Longwan Pavilion, giving Shen Weijing enough face. Where did Shen Weijing receive such courtesy, his head was a little dizzy, he opened his mouth, and habitually started talking nonsense again: "The Holy Majesty is very concerned about your country, and has mobilized 700,000 troops, and they will arrive soon." His words caused silence in the hall. 700,000, what a cheat! Shi Xing was to blame for this.Shi Xing wanted to take advantage of Shen Weijing, so he only taught him the opportunity to negotiate face-to-face, and didn't say anything else.The information in Shen Weijing's hands, apart from Shen Jiawang's half-truths and half-false information, only sporadic battle reports. What is the attitude of the Ming court towards the war, and how is the domestic preparations for war? ——So I can only talk nonsense. As soon as he said "700,000", Li Yan and a group of ministers were full of slander, and they couldn't say it clearly, so they had to reply euphemistically: "Actually, six or seven thousand people are enough. If the time drags on, I'm afraid the army hasn't gathered yet. It was too late." Shen Weijing showed his eloquence at this time, and gave a lesson in the art of war to the North Korean monarchs and ministers. He said in a dazzled way, and at the end he wiped his mouth: "You guys, there is no need to send envoys to Beijing. Anyway, our 700,000 army of the Ming Dynasty is standing Wait until then, not only to restore your North Korea, but also to go directly to Japan's old nest!" Then he left Uiju swaggeringly and continued to rush towards Pyongyang. The North Korean monarchs and ministers looked at each other, and Li Yan choked out a sentence: "This man surnamed Shen is too unreliable. Let's send people to Beijing for activities." Liu Chenglong, Yin Doushou and other ministers nodded hurriedly: "It's too unreliable. It’s too unreliable.” The North Korean monarchs and ministers hadn’t made up their minds yet, but Shen Weijing patted their chests, and they became more guilty, and immediately sent an envoy named Zheng Kunshou, named Chen Zuo envoy to invite soldiers, and rushed to Beijing in the starry night. What happened to Zheng Kunshou will be described in detail later, and it is said that Shen Weijing left Yizhou and arrived in Shun'an on the 25th.He asked Shen Jiawang to carry a yellow bag and go to Pyongyang first.This Shen Jiawang was also stupid and bold, he just swaggered in through the ordinary gate where Zu Chengxun had retreated, and shouted at the Japanese soldiers in the city by pulling his neck. After shouting for a long time, the gate of the city opened, and it was not a Japanese pirate who came out, but a Chinese. This Chinese is Zhang Dashan, from Zhejiang, and like Xu Yi and the others, they are Chinese who were taken to Japan by Japanese pirates, but their behavior is completely opposite.He is now serving as a general officer in Japan's First Army Corps, a standard traitor translator. Shen Jiawang is from Wenzhou, and he and Zhang Dashan are fellow villagers.Seeing the fellow with tears in their eyes, the two met each other, sighed to each other, and then began to enter the formal topic.Shen Jiawang said that Daming had sent a negotiator and was in Shun'an at this time, hoping to have a talk with Mr. Xiao Nishi.In the end, the two finalized the schedule. On the 29th of this month, Shen Weijing will ride alone into the day camp to discuss business at Fushanwon in Pyongyang. President Xiaoxi welcomed the peace talks very much, and he had been looking forward to this day for a long time.He specially wrote a letter to Shen Weijing, saying that we Japanese suffered a loss during the Jiajing period.There was a Chinese named Jiang Dan who said he would negotiate peace with us through tribute, and finally set up a trap to catch all our envoys. Don't play this trick.Shen Weijing replied a letter: As long as you cease fighting, we will be one family. Many people felt that it was too dangerous for him to go to the meeting alone, and they all discouraged him.Shen Weijing is proficient in the business norms of the scammer industry, and knows that being a scammer inevitably has both risks and benefits, and wealth and wealth need to be found in danger.Besides, he is a gangster who is not afraid of death, he has long put life and death aside, and now he only takes three or four servants, and happily goes to Pyongyang. I have to say that his courage is really admirable.With this courage alone, he is worthy of the entrustment of Master Shi Xing of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty. On August 29, Shen Weijing arrived in Pyongyang.President Xiaoxi deliberately wanted to give him a bad start, so he deliberately formed a magnificent lineup, with bright armor and bright swords and halberds, to surround Shen Weijing.Shen Wei respectfully said that no matter how awesome you are, do you have the momentum of Beijing? He acted extremely calmly, but the Japanese startled the Koreans who were hiding in the distance on Daxing Mountain, thinking that the Japanese had arrested him. When they arrived at the negotiation site, Japan sent five representatives: Governor Konishi, Zong Yoshitomo, Zong Tiaoxin, and diplomatic monks Jingche Xuansu and Zong Yi, basically including the main members of Japan's previous diplomatic relations with North Korea. Shen Weijing is used to bluffing people with big words, he is not afraid of the opponent's situation at all, he opened his mouth as soon as he sat down and said: "Da Ming will soon have millions of heavenly soldiers coming, you are all about to die, do you know that?" He put his posture extremely high .Just as Jing Che and Xuansu were about to speak, Shen Weijing stared at him: "You say you! How can a monk who has become a monk invade the kingdom of the Ming Dynasty with a group of rebels!" Xuansu hurriedly kowtowed on the spot, explaining that he inherited the mantle of the Chinese Zen Master Siming , has always respected the Chinese state the most... Shen Weijing used the killing stick to kill the Japanese's prestige first, and then slowly began to negotiate. 和谈是小西行长一直以来的夙愿，他从登陆朝鲜以来，先后三次给朝鲜国王写信，还曾经在大同江上与朝鲜使者正式会谈过一次。现在既然朝鲜的宗主国派人来谈判，正中他的下怀，因此表现出了很大诚意。 小西行长提出了两条要求：一是要重开通贡之路；二是划大同江为界，西归朝鲜，东归日本。 这两个条件的提出，表明日本占领军已逐渐从秀吉不切实际的侵略计划中清醒过来，变得现实起来。各地义兵和李舜臣的活跃，让举步维艰的日军不再奢求能够打过鸭绿江，只求把目前占领的地区巩固下来。 对于这些，沈惟敬都没法做主，但他表示他把这两个请求带回给万历皇帝，同时打包票说你们这么有诚意，陛下肯定会答应的。 说来也怪，沈惟敬满口跑火车的风格，朝鲜人不喜欢，日本人却信服得紧。几天下来，小西行长把沈惟敬佩服得要死，说您在白刃包围之下仍旧面不改色，日本人里也没这么有派头的。沈惟敬微微一笑：“我这是学郭子仪单骑入回纥军营。”小西行长文化水平低，楞没听出来这是沈惟敬拐弯抹角骂他是夷狄。 最后双方约定，五十天以后，沈惟敬就会带回大明的正式答复。在这期间，平壤城附近划出一条宽约十里的军事分界线，在这条界限内准许自由割草，双方不得采取军事行动。 和谈第一阶段，就此结束。小西行长客客气气把沈惟敬送走，送了包括几条铁炮在内的日本土产，临走之前还反复叮嘱务必要在五十日内给出回复。沈嘉旺则留在了平壤，作为人质。可怜小西行长还满心欢喜，完全不知道沈嘉旺这条人命根本不值钱，就算死上一百次，大明眼睛都不会眨一下。 九月八日，沈惟敬得意洋洋地回到义州，把与日本谈判的结果一说，朝鲜君臣面色立刻就精彩起来。 没法不精彩。谈判这么大的事，事关朝鲜一半国土，居然朝鲜没有任何官员参与。而且沈惟敬敲定军事停战区一事，根本就是自作主张，他一个人就大大咧咧拍了板，直接为朝鲜作了主。 沈惟敬一看朝鲜人面色不善，立刻给了一个严厉警告，说我听说有人在军事区砍了一个倭寇的脑袋？你们别玩小动作，别在军事区动手惹怒了日本人，影响了整个和谈。朝鲜君臣赶紧解释，说您定界的时候，手底下的人还不知道，咱们下不为例。 沈惟敬知道自己的举动引起了误会，跟他们解释说我这不是和谈，是缓兵之计，一直拖到大明援军抵达，咱们就撕毁条约再打不迟。 在沈惟敬嘴里，基本是听不到实话的。别说对日本人了，就是在他给万历皇帝的述职报告里，也坚持了忽悠本色。不过这次，他难得地说了一段完完全全的实话，一点水分没有。 遗憾的没一个人相信他。李昖表面上嗯嗯答应着，还送了他匹好马回北京，背地里却恨恨骂道谁信你谁是小狗，暗中传令军中，该怎么打还怎么打。 沈惟敬在义州临走之前，小西行长又追了一封信过来。信中除了照例敦促以外，还不厌其烦地把自己和宗义智的正确姓名、官名写成一长串，生怕沈惟敬记错了。大概是他觉得沈惟敬回去，要把自己的名字报告给大明皇帝，是件相当光荣的事。 于是沈惟敬就这么回去了。无论朝鲜人怎么想，无论他的动机和手段是如何，总之石星交给他的任务，如今已经完美地完成了。小西行长已被暂时拖在了和谈的假象中，五十天之内肯定不会有大的军事动作。 对于沈惟敬的这一和谈举动，朝鲜人不屑一顾。尹根寿毫不客气地说这人根本就是在赌博，空手套白狼，拿身家性命去赌朝鲜救星的声望。 为何朝鲜君臣对沈惟敬态度如此恶劣？部分原因是因为他们根本反对和谈；另外一部分原因，则是因为朝廷又派了一个人过来，这个人叫薛藩。 薛藩是大明行人司行人，身携万历皇帝的谕令在九月三日抵达了义州。在谕令里，万历对李昖大加安抚，承诺说已经派了十万大军，克日可到朝鲜。这个承诺正如久旱的甘霖一般，十分对李昖的胃口，他与一干大臣抱着谕令，激动得一塌糊涂，涕泪满面。 薛藩人家那是正宗朝廷使臣，万历十七年的进士，带的又是用过皇帝大印的正牌文书，无论哪点，都比沈惟敬这个名不正、言不顺的小丑强多了。两下对比，越发显出沈骗子的不堪。 朝鲜人不知道的是。这位行人薛藩，不只是个信使，他来到义州的目的，大不简单。 薛藩自从抵达朝鲜以后，没有呆在驿馆里接受官员恭维，而是到处转悠，不动声色地观察一切，甚至不惮跟最底层的平民接触，并把一切默默记在心中。这是石星对他的嘱托，之前来朝鲜调查的使臣，大多是被朝鲜大臣带着转了几圈便完了，敷衍了事，带回去的报告几乎没法用。 现在朝廷要对朝鲜采取大动作了，亟需详细情报。薛藩接受的任务，正是评估大明出兵的前景，以及朝鲜战场的敌我情形，为北京的朝鲜出兵决策作参考。 因此，薛藩擦亮了眼睛，事无巨细，悉以查之，从来没有人象他如此细致地了解过这片土地上的一切。短短三天时间，薛藩已经了解到了他想要知道的东西，便动身回国。此时在薛藩的心里，已经有了一笔清晰的账。 薛藩和沈惟敬一前一后相继回到了北京。他们的返回，在京城投下了两枚炸弹，让围绕着出兵朝鲜吵成一团的大明朝廷，变得更加混沌。 且说李昖和朝鲜的一干大臣们送走了薛藩，高高兴兴地把万历皇帝谕令看了一遍又一遍，忽然发觉有哪里不对劲儿，再仔细一读，看到其中有一句话： “并宣喻琉球暹罗等国，集兵数十万，同征日本，直捣巢穴……” 我说万历皇帝，你到底有多喜欢暹罗啊！