Chapter 25 Chapter Four

Shen Weijing first handed Song Yingchang's official document to the president, and put forward the conditions of the Chinese side: "If you can clean up your wrongdoing, return all your homeland to Korea, and return the two kings' heirs and accompanying ministers, etc., to report to Guan Baishang to apologize, and the headquarters will be the inscription. , Fenger Guanbai is the king of Japan." It means that Japan should withdraw from North Korea, put the prince back, and then issue an apology. The Ming Dynasty will forgive the crime of starting the war, make Hideyoshi the king of Japan, and allow tribute to be passed through Ningbo Port.

The Japanese side is not particularly enthusiastic about the "King of Japan".Zhu Yuanzhang once named Prince Huailiang of Japan the "King of Japan"; the founder of the Muromachi Shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, was also named "King of Japan" by Ming Chengzu.According to the understanding of the Japanese, this "King of Japan" is equivalent to an honorary title, just like the Taishi, Taifu, and Taibao in the official positions of the Ming Dynasty, and does not represent any practical meaning. According to their own understanding, Daming felt that it was a great grace to confer Hideyoshi as the king of Japan. They did not understand Japan's unique political system, and did not know that there was a nominal supreme ruler in Japan, the Emperor—this is the same as the Chinese "emperor". Come to my house next year" tradition is very different - had Hideyoshi accepted the title of king of Japan, the relationship with the emperor would have been awkward.

But the other condition is to pay tribute, but it has infinite temptation and infinite business opportunities. The so-called "Tonggong" is not a literal meaning of bringing tribute to the capital, but a trade channel.In the past, when the shogunate traded with the Ming Dynasty, the generals of the shogunate paid tribute to the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in name, but in fact, the merchants of the shogunate carried bulk commodities and sold them in Ningbo, Hangzhou and other places.This is a flexible trade method that bypasses Daming's sea ban policy, and it is very popular. This kind of trading ship must have a Kanhe document issued by Ming Dynasty as a business license, so it is called Kanhe trade, or tribute trade.

This route has been completely cut off with the Japanese pirate rebellion.If the Sino-Japanese trade line can be reopened now, I believe those wealthy Japanese businessmen will be ecstatic. Shen Weijing saw that the two representatives from the Japanese side had nothing to say, and thought that the jujube was over, let me give you another slap, cleared his throat, and said sharply: "Now the Celestial Dynasty has dispatched 400,000 troops to stop you all the way to Niaoling Go all the way to the Han River to intercept your grain road. Song Jinglue and Admiral Li brought another 300,000 people, and they will be there soon. Hurry up and hand them over and go back, and the tribute will be completed. Otherwise, it will be a disaster. Misfortune is imminent."

President Xiaoxi had seen that Shen Weijing's words were unreliable, and he didn't take his threats to heart, and refused to give in an inch, insisting that he would stay in Seoul until the end of the tribute, and then withdraw his troops. When Shen Weijing heard this, it won't work, his head shook like a rattle.He told President Xiaoxi that paying tribute is a major matter, and it cannot be settled by sending one or two envoys. For the sake of the dignity of the two countries, at least the two princes must be brought back before they can talk about it. At this time, Kato yelled next to him: "I caught him, and I won't let him go if I say so!"

At the beginning, the two North Korean princes were captured by Kato in Hamgyong-do, and they are still locked up in the camp of the Second Army.Kato Kiyomasa resolutely refused to let him go, and no one could do anything about it. Seeing that the atmosphere was about to change, President Xiaoxi tugged on Shen Weijing's sleeve and said secretly: "We never had the idea of ​​becoming an enemy of Daming. As long as we are allowed to pay tribute, we will retreat immediately." He pointed to Kato again: "I am with this Guys have always been stubborn. This time I came to North Korea, I brought more than 70,000 people, and I didn’t get any credit; I don’t want to fight at all, and I can go back to Japan one day sooner. As long as you let go a little bit and let me clear it up here, won’t it be done?”

Shen Weijing didn't know, although President Konishi and Kato Kiyomasa had always been uncooperative, how could the two of them have such a temper when it came to negotiating this important matter.The reason why they came out like this was nothing more than a red face and a bad face, in an attempt to put pressure on Shen Weijing. The ruse worked.Shen Weijing thought that he had seen through the differences between the Japanese side and had a plan in mind, and the subsequent negotiations went relatively smoothly.After several days of negotiations, Shen Weijing finally reached a preliminary agreement with President Konishi and Kato Kiyomasa - in today's words, it is called a memorandum of understanding.

There are three items in the memorandum: First, Japan promised to withdraw its troops from Seoul on April 19, and Ming also promised to withdraw its troops back to Liaodong in batches. Second, Ming sent an official negotiating envoy to Japan for direct talks with Hideyoshi on tribute matters. Third, after the Japanese talks, the two princes were released back to the DPRK. Generally speaking, this memorandum is fairly fair. Although Shen Weijing did not want to return the two princes, he got the promise of the Japanese army to retreat from Seoul, which is considered a fulfilling mission.The Japanese couldn't survive for a few days in Seoul, but this time they went along with the flow and handed them over, and they didn't suffer much.As for the envoys of the Ming Dynasty to talk to Hideyoshi in Japan, that is the matter of Master Hideyoshi.

After the talks ended, all the generals in Seoul breathed a sigh of relief.The Ukita Hide family took Ishida Mitsunari, Masuda Nagamori, Otani Yoshitsugu, and Kobayakawa Takakage to Longshan in person to pay a visit to Shen Guerrilla. Show your sincerity and reward the Ming army.The host and guest were in harmony and happy. In the early morning of March 16th, Shen Weijing left Shen Sixian behind to escort the grain and grass, and he and Hu Ze returned to Mingying majestically in a wooden boat.He told the North Korean generals guarding along the way that it was agreed that the Japanese would retreat in April, so don't stop Jiang.The North Koreans were all taken aback. Didn't they say that once Shen Guerrilla made a move, the matter would definitely go wrong?Why are you still talking about it?They didn't dare to hide it, so they quickly told Liu Chenglong.

On the night of March 24, Shen Weijing arrived in Yizhou and rested in a small village near Jiashan.King Li Yan of North Korea hurried to see him.Shen Weijing came with sleepy eyes, wearing pajamas.Li Yan didn't care about these things, and personally tried to persuade Shen Weijing not to talk about peace, understanding it with reason and moving it with emotion.Shen Weijing listened to him spend a long time talking, just one sentence: I am just a worker, you go tell Shi Shangshu, Song Jinglue and the others. " The Koreans really went to find Song Yingchang, and wept as soon as they met, saying that the people of our country are all Chinese children, and that the Japanese pirates killed us like the children of China and North Korea.You said that if you are a parent, how can you not avenge your children?

Song Yingchang saw that if he didn't tell the truth, these solid-eyed North Korean monarchs and ministers would probably cry to death, so he had to tell them earnestly: We have no intention of peace talks at all, just to buy time.Of course, if they really want to surrender, we will keep a few Japanese generals in Seoul as hostages, and let our people go to Japan to accept the surrender. In order to show the truth of the talks, Song Yingchang also revealed some details to them: such as the feud between Xiaoxi and Kato.The Ming army has prepared two plans for this situation. If Chief Konishi retreats, the Ming army will continue to watch and not pursue; if Kato Kiyomasa resists orders, he will fight to the death. There were some other things that Song Yingchang didn’t want to say publicly, so he subtly relayed them to the North Korean ministers through several aides: Daming always had only one purpose, and that was to lure the Japanese out of the city and then destroy them.The reason for talking to them now is entirely because Liu Ting's soldiers have not yet arrived.We will start when Liu Zongbing crosses the Yalu River on the 28th. " With such repeated nagging, Song Yingchang finally appeased the dissatisfaction of the North Koreans. But he never expected that he comforted Li Yan on one side, and Li Rusong and Liu Chenglong on the other side fought fiercely again. It turned out that after Shen Weijing left Longshan, he didn't enter Pyongyang City at all, but went straight to Yizhou.This was a great disrespect to Admiral Li, which caused the Liaodong generals to scold them.Li Rusong knew that most of this was caused by Song Yingchang, and he was unwilling to share the credit for the peace talks with him. You can hide, don't I steal it! It just so happened that Song Yingchang issued an order at this time, requesting that during the peace talks, he should not confront the Japanese without authorization.Li Rusong immediately appointed a person named Zhou Hongmo to go to Seoul with this document and Li Rusong's flag. The flag board is also called the king's order flag board, which is a symbol given by the emperor to the governor, governor or imperial envoy, etc., indicating that the official is under the king's order and can exercise power on behalf of the emperor.Anyone who sees the flag board is equivalent to seeing the official himself. Zhou Hongmo carried the flag and went to Seoul, and as long as he had a word with the Japanese, Li Rusong would be credited with "assisting in the peace negotiation". Zhou Hongmo marched eastward all the way, and soon arrived at the frontline Paju.At this time, Liu Chenglong and Jin Mingyuan were discussing matters in the Quanli camp. Zhou Hongmo swaggered over, poked the flag on the ground, took out Song Yingchang's official documents, and asked them to pay homage. When Liu Chenglong saw that Zhou Hongmo was going to the Japanese camp to discuss peace, he immediately became angry; when he looked at the official document again, he found that it was a request not to kill Japanese soldiers without authorization, and he became even more angry.He told Zhou Hongmo very seriously, this is what you showed the Japanese, and we will not worship it.We don't accept that document either. Zhou Hongmo was also very angry.This banner and official documents represent the authority of Admiral Li and Song Jinglue. You dare not worship them, you really ate your ambition. Neither side would budge, and the situation was deadlocked.In the end, Liu Chenglong and Jin Mingyuan left in a huff. Zhou Hongmo was wronged, and turned around to report to Li Rusong.Li Rusong was furious: This flag represents the emperor's order. The Japanese are so stubborn that they have to worship them. How dare you not worship them?You wait! Li Dexin next to Admiral Li was terrified, and quickly asked Liu and Jin to come back and apologize.Liu and Jin dared to offend Zhou Hongmo, but they didn't dare to offend Li Rusong, so they hurried over to explain.When they arrived at the door, Li Rusong pretended not to see them in the room, so the two could only swallow their breath and wait outside. It was raining, and they dared not leave even their clothes were wet. After more than an hour, Li Rusong let them in to talk.As soon as he entered the room, Liu Chenglong quickly explained: It's not that we don't want to worship the flag board, but because the text on the board says that the Japanese are not allowed to be beaten, we can't figure it out.Li Rusong laughed loudly: This was done by Song Yingchang, not by me.But if you don't worship, I will be blamed if the lawsuit goes up.You should apologize to the officer. Liu and Jin apologized, and wrote an official document to explain the situation, and the matter was smoothed over. Unexpectedly, within a few days, something happened again. One day, when Liu Chenglong went out to inspect and walked to Tianshou Pavilion, he suddenly saw Zha Dashou's servant Li Qing galloping past.The two sides greeted each other, and then went their separate ways. When Liu Chenglong arrived at Zhaoxian, three Ming army riders suddenly rushed over from behind and asked Liu Chenglong who he was.Liu Chenglong reported his identity, thinking he could calm them down, but the three riders sneered and shouted: "You are the one to catch!" They surrounded Liu Chenglong, whipped his horse with an iron lock and long whip, and forced him to He goes with them. Liu Chenglong was puzzled and didn't dare to struggle, so he had to follow them to the direction of Kaesong.After passing the Qingjiao post and approaching the corner of the Tucheng, a rider suddenly walked out of the Tucheng and said a few words to the three people.Those three people turned their heads and said to Liu Chenglong: "Okay, you can go." Liu Chenglong and Zhang Erjingang couldn't figure it out, and he didn't know the reason until Li Dexin wrote him a letter the next day to explain. It turned out that Li Rusong heard from his own family members that the North Koreans did not plan to make peace, but tried to sabotage the peace agreement. Now all ships on the Linjin River are not allowed to go to the Japanese pirate camp, otherwise they will be stopped.Li Rusong was furious, peace negotiation is the top priority now, these North Koreans defy orders, it is really lawless.He ordered Liu Chenglong, an old man, to be brought over and beat him hard for forty boards. So his three riders immediately set off to lock Liu Chenglong.At this moment, Li Qing, Zha Dashou's servant, came to deliver the letter, and Li Rusong asked him casually, is there any boat on the Linjin River?Li Qing said yes, unimpeded.Only then did Li Rusong realize that he had misunderstood, and quickly sent someone to chase the three riders back.Fortunately, Li Qing came back early, otherwise Liu Chenglong would have been punished for nothing. After these two incidents, the North Korean generals' impression of Li Rusong became even worse. The great man who conquered Pyongyang has become a selfish, cowardly and brutal image. So later Li Rusong sent Qi Jin and Qian Shizhen to explain to the Koreans, saying that the Japanese wanted to return the prince, withdraw from Seoul, and chase after them once they quit.Liu Chenglong insisted that the Japanese cannot be trusted!The subtext is that you, Li Rusong, cannot be trusted either.As a result, the two parties quarreled emotionally and broke up unhappy. The grievances of the North Koreans are understandable, after all, this is a war that took place on their own land.Now the capital of the country has not been restored, the prince has not returned, and half of the country has fallen to the enemy, but it is necessary to negotiate a peace—what's more, the Koreans themselves are not qualified to participate, and they can only watch the Chinese and Japanese envoys go back and forth. It is often necessary to inquire desperately to get a little clue. This is indeed an unfair thing, but who made Daming the parental state of North Korea?In that era when the father's command was like heaven, the son could only obey what the father said, and could not retaliate.The North Korean side has neither the right to speak, nor can it beat the Japanese, let alone openly tear up its face with the Ming army, so it can only endure this kind of unfair treatment, and let the "tributary negotiation" come alive under its nose. unfold On March 25, Song Yingchang met Shen Weijing who had returned from Seoul.After listening to Shen Weijing's report, Song Yingchang praised him a few words, and then said that you are fully responsible for this peace negotiation.Shen Weijing was overjoyed and overjoyed, knowing that his head was saved for the time being. Song Yingchang said that next time you go to Japan to bring back the surrender form, it will be regarded as a great achievement, and he was given two hundred taels of silver and seven flags to tell everyone not to act without authorization. Shen Weijing took the things and suddenly thought of a troublesome matter. It was the imperial envoy sent by the Ming court who requested to go to Japan for negotiations.But neither Li Rusong nor Song Yingchang had the right to assign imperial envoys.But if the document is sent to Beijing, and then Beijing sends an imperial envoy, I don't know when it will be. Song Yingchang smiled slightly, and said that you don't have to worry about it, I have arranged everything, and after he finished speaking, he called five people in. Two of them are Shen Sixian and Hu Ze, both old acquaintances. There are three other people, one is Wu Zongdao, a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, a martial artist who has stayed in North Korea for a long time and knows the local conditions; Xu Yiguan, also from Zhejiang, had followed Huang Yingyang and Xia Shi to investigate the battlefield the year before. Song Yingchang pointed to Xie Yongzi and Xu Yiguan, and said that Xie Yongzi is a general, and Xu you are a guerrilla. Anyway, the Japanese don’t understand. You two are imperial envoys, representing Ming Dynasty to Japan to negotiate.Shen Guerrilla and Wu, Hu, and Shen will cooperate with you in Busan. Xie and Xu's reaction was so intense that they cried out of fright... The vision of the people of the Ming Dynasty was not as broad as that of the later generations. In the eyes of most Ming people, Korea outside the Central Plains was considered a barren land, let alone Japan, which was farther away than Korea.Especially after the Japanese invasion, Japan was portrayed as a den of demons, full of ghosts who eat people without spitting out their bones. Now Song Jinglue actually asked them to go to Japan to negotiate without bringing a soldier. Isn't this sending them to a dead end? Xie and Xu cried and yelled, holding on to the door frame and refusing to leave. Song Yingchang ignored them at all and let them play tricks.Xie and Xu had no choice but to cry and set off on the road. In the early morning of March 26th, Shen Weijing and the other four followed the two Ming envoys whose eyes were like birthday peaches from crying, and left Uiju, embarking on a long journey to Japan. The North Koreans deliberately wanted to sabotage the peace talks. Seeing that the two envoys Xie and Xu were so worthless, they began to act smart again.During a meal with them, the North Koreans secretly threatened the two masters: "I heard that the Japanese are very cruel. You see, almost none of the ministers who went to Japan as envoys came back alive. Hideyoshi was so vicious that he killed his monarch. How could it be possible to treat you well. I will definitely kill you in order to avenge the Pyongyang War. You should hurry up and make it clear to Song Jinglue, don't be fooled by Shen Weijing." When Xie and Xu heard this, they immediately sighed and hugged each other and wept: "This time, it is a narrow escape. My brother and I are both thirty-seven this year, and our two mothers were also born in the same year. If this trip How sad they are when we both die." One side cried miserably, but the other side ate happily.Shen Weijing was used to the methods of the Japanese, so he slapped his chest and said proudly: "When I arrive in Busan, if the Japanese dare to detain me, I will hang myself to death. Then the army of millions of Ming Dynasty will avenge me." Look, this is the gap between the psychological quality of a big liar and an ordinary person. This courage makes the North Koreans admire.When the King of Korea heard the story at the banquet, he lamented that Shen Weijing was a bad guy, but his guts were not low.It is also rare to enter the enemy's camp several times without fear. After Shen Wei toasted and had enough food, he dragged and dragged, and took Xie and Xu straight to Longtan and Tiger's Cave. The Koreans couldn't scare them when they saw it, so they had to ask Song Yingchang again.This time they learned their lesson and stopped talking about the peace talks, but politely asked when the second batch of reinforcements would arrive.Because Song Yingchang said that the peace negotiation was to delay time, and the attack would continue until the second batch of reinforcements entered the DPRK. Song Yingchang said something, and the North Korean envoy almost turned green with fright: "Reinforcements? Yes, Siamese soldiers are coming soon." Why...how come the Siamese are here again! Siam and North Korea are thousands of miles apart, and they were originally two countries that were out of reach.Ordinarily, North Koreans should not have any opinion of Siamese.But since the year of Renchen, Siam has become a lingering shadow in the hearts of Koreans. At the beginning of Renchen, Emperor Wanli once mentioned that Siam would send troops to aid. Envoy Luo ate at the same table, hoping to promote the joint forces of the two countries, but the matter was later messed up. Counting Song Yingchang this time, Siam has entered North Korea's field of vision for the third time. It's just that the North Koreans didn't expect that the Siamese really came this time... Strictly speaking, it was not the Siamese who came, but Liu Ting. Liu Ting was born in Hongdu, Nanchang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province. His original surname was Gong, and his father was Gong Xian, a famous general in the Jiajing Dynasty.Because Liu Min, the envoy of Wei, was kind to the Gong family, the father and son changed their surnames to Liu.Liu Ting is proficient in martial arts, and it is said that he is good at wielding a 120-jin iron broadsword, which is heavier than Guan Yu's Qinglong Sword.It is also said that he uses two big knives.No matter what, it is certain that he can use big swords very well anyway, so his nickname is Liu Dadao. Liu Ting has been stationed in the southwest all year round, fighting rebel chieftains, local tyrants, chiefs and various tribes of Myanmar, and has rich experience in mountain warfare.This time the war against Japan, the imperial court considered that North Korea's mountainous terrain was similar to the southwestern border, and specially recruited Liu Ting and 5,500 people from the Sichuan Army under his command to enter the DPRK as the second batch of reinforcements. From April 2nd to 3rd, Liu Ting's Sichuan army officially crossed the river and entered the court.The kings and ministers of North Korea were all overjoyed when they heard the news.They believed that Liu Ting was originally from Jiangxi and grew up in Sichuan. He was an out-and-out faction of the Southern Army, not the same as the hated Liaodong Army, and he could be trusted.Yin Genshou inquired about Liu Ting's deeds in governing the army, and he came to the conclusion: "Ting is the most elegant and humble person, and he will never commit any crimes." Let's not talk about whether Qiu Wu committed any crimes, but to say that Liu Dadao is "the most elegant" is a bit mysterious no matter how we look at it.However, the North Koreans insist on thinking this way, and we have nothing to do, we can only state the truth.Otherwise, if it spreads to North Korea, it's hard to say whether someone will come to us to defend and slander. It is said that Liu Zongbing did not live up to the expectations of the Korean people. As soon as he entered Uiju, he publicly declared to the North Korean entourage: "The Japanese situation is deceitful, and it is absolutely difficult to make peace." In order to express his determination to fight the war to the end.These words reached Li Yan's heart, he was overjoyed, the more he looked at this general soldier, the more pleasing he was. Because the military situation on the front line was not so urgent, Liu Ting did not rush to the road, but held a military parade to show the North Korean monarchs and ministers. During the military parade, these North Korean ministers were eye-opening.They found that the people under Liu Zongbing were all strange-looking, dark-skinned and deep-eyed, and they didn't look like Chinese.The weapons they hold in their hands are even more strange, including flat crossbows, dan crossbows, Zhuge crossbows, leather armor, Leixue knife, Guan knife, crescent arrows, Ya guns, rattan cards, live holding sticks, holding people, and 郞Stoves, punches, canopy guns, Yang family guns, and four-lens whips, some are the standard equipment of the Ming army, some are learned from the Qi family army, and some are the characteristic weapons of the southwest minorities. When did the Ming Dynasty have such a weird team... The Koreans asked again, only to find out that the Sichuan army brought by Liu Ting this time, although the name is called the Sichuan army, in fact, not all the troops are soldiers from Sichuan. The origins of the more than 5,000 soldiers under Liu Ting cover more than a dozen countries and regions including Siam, Duman, Xiaoxitianzhu, Liufan, Delanguo Miaozi, Xifan Sansai, Burma, Bozhou, and Tongbao—— These races are all defectors that Liu Ting has subdued in the southwestern border for many years. Its composition is more complex than the current UN peacekeeping force. It can be called the number one in Asia, and it is a truly multinational joint force. The so-called Siamese reinforcements turned out to be the case.