Chapter 665: With the Imperial Edict in Hand
As expected, Cao Youwen asked the guards to prepare for departure.
Zhao Yulin was also free and easy. The two of them went out hand in hand and got in the car and left.
In the South China Sea, the expedition fleet led by Yi Shuigui has docked at Lisong Island. When Zheng Qillang sees the warships he knows that his days of being a dictator in Lisong are over.
Little did he expect that the ending would be worse than he imagined.
When Zheng Qilang saw the Imperial Army approaching, he respectfully welcomed Yi Shuigui into the Governor's Mansion, which was the small palace built by the pseudo-emperor Zhao Bing.
Yi Shuigui couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the tattered clothes and skinny soldiers of the former dynasty's navy along the way .
Is this the Song Dynasty navy that once dominated the sea?
He was hesitant and doubtful in his heart, but his hands were very nimble. After the army went to the island and controlled the situation, they immediately arrested Zheng Qilang and asked Shi Lang to take out the list of hardcore rebels and arrest all the key members of the Fuzhou Navy rebellion and put them in prison.
Not only that, Yi Shuigui also separated this group of officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty Navy and held a meeting to recall the past and think about the good times. He sorted out all the soldiers who were corrupt, abused their power, oppressed and enslaved their subordinates, and pulled out all the diehard supporters of Zhao Bing. He had upright soldiers participate in the verification, and those with conclusive evidence were immediately beheaded.
This was the secret order Zhao Feiyan gave to Yi Shuigui. The south of the South China Sea was too far away, and they would rather kill someone by mistake than make any mistakes. The primary mission of the expeditionary fleet heading south this time was to completely eradicate the loyal followers of the pseudo-emperor Zhao Bing and leave no future troubles.
So, these people are in trouble.
Yi Shuigui's law enforcement was far more vigorous than those traitors in Hebei Road who surrendered to the Mongolian army. As long as they did not commit any bloodshed, they could keep their heads.
Yi Shuigui saw the iron-blooded expression on Zhao Feiyan's face when she conveyed the Third Young Master's secret order to clear out the enemies, and heard her gritting teeth words, and felt that she wanted him to kill them all and avenge the Third Young Master.
It's a pity that these foolishly loyal members of the royal family followed Zhao Bing through untold hardships to come to Song Dynasty to open up new land. A few days ago, they were fighting desperately with the coalition forces of small countries in the South China Sea, but today they were dragged to the beach and their heads were cut off to feed sharks.
Yi Shuigui was not worried at all. First, he had the king's edict in his hand. Second, the troops he brought far outnumbered the remaining soldiers on the island. Not to mention the advanced weapons, he could defeat these hungry soldiers with his fists.
The third reason was that he did not have enough spare time to identify and educate them. Only by beheading them cleanly and efficiently and eliminating hidden dangers could he quickly reorganize the team and continue to move south.
Therefore, this guy used a cleansing-style suppression to cleanse the remaining Song army. Even Shi Lang, who hated Zheng Qilang, took his subordinates to Yi Shuigui to plead for mercy. Did he think it was a bit extreme?
Yi Shuigui took out the imperial edict of the state ruler Zhao Feiyan and said: According to the old law of the false emperor Zhao Bing, all rebels should be executed. But our new Song court did not do so. It only beheaded those who were extremely evil and had gone all the way to the end, which was a lenient punishment.
Those who stay and are willing to be loyal to the New Song Dynasty court will become one family. From now on, we will eat in the same town and reward people according to their merits. If I, Yi, do things unfairly, you can all impeach me and the court will punish me according to the law.
Thus, a thorough reorganization was launched on Song Island. The logistics department took out brand new uniforms and distributed them to soldiers and generals. Even officials wore the uniforms of the Shenwei Army to do their work. Because the clothes these people brought with them had long been worn out, they saw that the uniforms of the Shenwei Army were novel and looked handsome and majestic in them, so they all scrambled to wear them.
The New Song Dynasty thus recovered the Lisong Island. Yi Shuigui read out the appointment edict of the king Zhao Feiyan, and Shi Lang took office as the governor of the Lisong Protectorate officially appointed by the New Song Dynasty.
At this moment, Goryeo in the northeast entered a full-scale anti-Japanese mode.
After Fujiwara, the general of the island country of Wa, decided on the national policy of plundering Goryeo, he continuously sent soldiers disguised as Japanese pirates to harass Goryeo. Prince Wang Dian of the peninsula was forced to take up arms and fight.
The Goryeo Kingdom had a large number of guerrillas who had participated in the anti-Mongol war and had strong reconnaissance capabilities, so it had the means and ability to fight against the Japanese pirates.
However, the island nation of Japan had a serious lack of martial ethics. It ordered its soldiers to take off their uniforms and transform into pirates to attack Goryeo's coastal towns. These were not bandits that the scattered Goryeo army could easily deal with.
Goryeo mobilized all the ships in the country to go out to sea to block the pirates. The prince of the peninsula moved the small fishing villages to the big towns to concentrate the defense. Observation posts were set up far away along the coast. After all these measures, the small pirates could not do anything to Goryeo. After the Japanese pirates were wiped out one after another, Goryeo had coastal defense. The young emperor of Goryeo finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to urge the whole country to enter the stage of production and wealth creation.
However, the Shogun of the island of Japan opposite could no longer sit still.
Fujiwara was furious when he found out that the Japanese soldiers who had crossed the sea to rob were being killed in large numbers. Those pirates were veterans who had experienced hundreds of battles and were the treasures of the empire.
This fellow kept uttering "Baga Yalu" and sending out messengers to summon the princes from all over the place to discuss matters.
The lords of the small states on the island of Japan all knew that their warriors had been wiped out by the Kingdom of Goryeo, so they gathered at his house to discuss countermeasures and unanimously decided to make a big move.
Because, since the Ryukyu Kingdom became a ally of the New Song Dynasty, the New Song Dynasty's navy's East China Sea fleet has been conducting joint defense patrols far beyond the border, and fishing boats have armed protection. Merchants from the New Song Dynasty were warned by the court not to go to the islands of Japan to make a living by delivering goods.
These money wolves no longer have the means to make a living by killing and robbing. If they cannot rob cargo ships, they will have no money. If they rob their own cargo ships, they will have no one to trade with. Their life of luxury and debauchery cannot be separated from money and the good wine of the New Song Dynasty. This makes them miserable.
There was no other choice but for these ronin to go to Goryeo to rob.
Therefore, Fujiwara decided to change his past practice of disguised as pirates and rob people, and directly mobilized a large army to cross the sea to invade Goryeo.
The invasion of the Korean Peninsula by the island nation of Japan has an ancestral tradition. The rulers of all dynasties have always had the ambition to occupy Goryeo and march into the Middle-earth Empire. They have lurked many spies in Goryeo. The reason why Fujiwara dared to attack Goryeo was because these spies provided him with accurate intelligence.
First, the Goryeo Kingdom was severely beaten by the Mongolian army, and the Goryeo army became stray dogs hiding in the mountains and valleys, vulnerable to any attack.
Second, the New Song and Goryeo had a falling out, and the New Song occupied most of Goryeo's territory, and no longer had the huge support of the Middle-earth Empire.
Therefore, Fujiwara decided to take a gamble and swallow Goryeo in one bite.
This guy was very anxious, worried that after the New Song Empire completely annexed Goryeo, he would have no springboard to enter the New Song Kingdom. He had to strike first and occupy Goryeo and make it a neighbor of the New Song, so that he would have a chance to steal chickens from the neighbor's yard.
As a result, Goryeo had just rested for less than two months when it was attacked by the Japanese. A large number of Japanese warships sailed to the coast of Goryeo and landed in Goryeo in the form of pirates, looting everywhere.
Fortunately, the Japanese island country gave the Peninsula Prince Wang Dian a month to rest, allowing him to recover and be in good spirits to deal with the situation.
However, when the Goryeo army faced the invading army of the island country of Japan again, they felt overwhelmed. A large number of warships from the island country of Japan came and launched a group charge fearlessly. How could the Goryeo navy and small troops used to resist the pirates resist?
Even though they had made great progress in ships and tactics when fighting pirates before, that was just fighting against isolated pirates. How could it be compared with the organized military invasion of the island nation of Japan?
Within ten days, the Japanese army landed on the island, captured three coastal cities including Busan, and gained a foothold.
Fujiwara didn't expect that the Goryeo army still had combat effectiveness. He was very angry about the heavy casualties caused by Goryeo's desperate resistance, and shouted viciously, "Massacre the city!"
After the Japanese pirates slaughtered two cities in succession, the surrounding Goryeo officials were shocked to see people falling down like leeks being cut and blood flowing like a river. Only the Mongolian army could do such brutal killings. The island country of Japan also came to bully Goryeo.
The young emperor of Goryeo was extremely nervous and kept urging the army to advance to the southwest to resist the attack of the island country of Japan. The ministers around him were panicked. If such a large-scale withdrawal of border troops bordering the New Song Dynasty took the opportunity to attack, Goryeo would definitely collapse and be destroyed.
The little emperor was so anxious that he didn't know what to do.
This fellow thought of diplomatic negotiations again, and asked his son Wang Dian to negotiate with the New Song Dynasty, asking for soldiers and weapons. At the very least, he wanted to stabilize the New Song Dynasty and prevent it from plundering him at the same time.
Wang Dian disagreed, saying that the New Song Kingdom was trustworthy and would keep its word and would never take advantage of others' misfortune. As for us wanting to get support from the New Song Kingdom, it is definitely not possible. The New Song Kingdom believes in equality and mutual benefit. We just fought a war, so why should they help us?
A good ironsmith must rely on his own strength. If we are scared when the Japanese pirates come with thousands or tens of thousands of people, how can we establish a country? We should prepare our troops, take up swords and drive the Japanese pirates into the sea. The Li and Zheng families who led the army were also very dissatisfied. They all said in unison that they would gather troops to annihilate the enemy and kill all the Japanese pirates.
After the young emperor realized the situation, he immediately dispatched troops and continued to lead Wang Dian as the commander-in-chief to the southwest coast to meet the enemy.
In Chengdu, Zhao Yulin didn't know that Goryeo was already in a panic to deal with the invasion of Japan. He and Cao Youwen had just arrived at Gao Jia's hometown in Pujiang County. They saw Gao Gong rolled up his trousers and walked barefoot on the narrow ridges of the fields to guard the spring irrigation. Old Cao was stunned.
Immediately, Lao Cao laughed out loud, saying "Great kindness, great kindness". Our New Song has such an important minister who cares about and values agriculture. How can we still worry about the people having no food to eat? It's impossible.
Gao Jia praised Cao Gong for his praise, washed the dirt off his hands, invited the two men into his house, changed his clothes and came out to have tea with them. He said with a smile that he had been working like a commoner for the past two years, his appetite had doubled, and his body had become much stronger.
Old Cao nodded happily and asked him: Mr. Gao is in good health, are you planning to take in another concubine to expand the Gao family?
Gao Jia didn't expect that a leader of a country would joke with him about this topic, and he immediately looked embarrassed, while Zhao Yulin and Lao Cao burst into laughter.
They are both veterans of the battlefield, so these topics naturally become a constant in their conversation.
After taking two sips of tea, Zhao Yulin praised Mr. Gao for his well-arranged fields, with neat rows and each one square.
Lao Gao said he was exaggerating. The land in Pujiang was not as flat as that in Wenjiang, and it was not easy to carve out a few pieces of land.
