Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 396 The Tragic King of Korea
"The King of Korea, Li Hui, pays respect to His Majesty the Emperor of the Celestial Empire. Long live His Majesty the Emperor."
"I, Kunimatsumaru, an orphan of the Toyotomi clan of Japan, pay my respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Long live His Majesty."
"Please stand up, both of you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
On January 10, 1619, Zhu Youdong met with King Yi Hui of Korea and Toyotomi Kunimatsumaru in Beijing at the same time.
This kind of scene was extremely embarrassing for both people being interviewed.
"I think you all know why I summoned you two here today. Yes, I have decided to send troops to the Tokugawa family in the near future. Korea must be liberated again. The Japanese mainland must not allow the Tokugawa family to run rampant again. So, you two should pack your bags now and set off for Liaodong. After all, my soldiers are recovering lost territory for you. As the king and the grandson of the Taiko, you should at least be closer to the frontline soldiers, even if you don't stand on the front line of the battle."
"Yes, I obey your order."
"Hmm...Hmm? Li Qing, do you have anything to say?"
“Your Majesty… ...”
Li Hui really had something to say: Where is the more than one million silver that Li Sancai ripped off of me? I have lived in Beijing for almost a year, and all the censors in the Ming Dynasty are bastards! I gave them money, silver, and women. These censors all agreed to impeach Li Sancai in person, and were filled with righteous indignation. As a result, I have spent more than 300,000 taels of silver, and I haven't even seen a bubble!
Well, it is also true that the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. You, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, took in the twins that I was reluctant to enjoy, and you took them without saying a word! No wonder those ministers followed suit!
Alas, how could the Ming Dynasty be so degenerate? This is completely different from the Ming Dynasty more than 20 years ago. There is no trace of the gentlemanly spirit at all! It is really heartbreaking !
However, although he was extremely dissatisfied, Li Hui did not dare to express it: Now the Ming emperor has torn Siam into pieces. Although Korea is the invaded country, it is different from Siam and Japan. But who knows whether this shameless and incompetent monarch will set his sights on Korea ?
Therefore, it is better to be patient at this time. In short, you just wait for me. The mountains are high and the rivers are long. One day, I, Korea, will make your Ming country experience the terror that Goguryeo brought to the Sui Dynasty!
"Wow, wow, wow, how dare I trouble Your Majesty with any more trivial matters. I just thought that the Ming Dynasty army will visit Korea for the third time, and I was so grateful that I couldn't speak."
"Oh." Without any words of comfort or encouragement, Zhu Youdong directly shifted his gaze away from Li Hui and turned to Toyotomi Kunimatsu.
"What about you? Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"I have two requests for your Majesty's approval."
"Tell me about it."
"Yes, the first thing is, thanks to the grace of the Celestial Empire, in the Osaka Summer Campaign that year, in addition to me being rescued by the Celestial Empire, there were also more than 2,000 soldiers loyal to the Toyotomi family who were rescued by the Celestial Empire. This time, the Celestial Empire is fighting against the Tokugawa traitors, and I would like to ask Your Majesty to show mercy and allow these soldiers of the Toyotomi family to lead the way for Your Majesty."
"When our Ming soldiers land in Japan, they will need a guide. It's rare that you bring this up on your own initiative. I agree to this."
"It is a blessing for us, the barbarians, to contribute to the Ming Dynasty. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."
"Hahaha, well said. So, what about the second thing?"
"The second thing is, I was unfortunate. Both my parents died when I was young. After I came to the Ming Dynasty, I was fortunate to have your Majesty's grace and let the famous scholars of the Ming Dynasty teach me. For three and a half years, I have always been grateful to your Majesty and admired him. Now, I am almost twelve years old, and I am about to follow the Celestial Empire's army to fight my first battle. Therefore, I dare to ask your Majesty to preside over the coming-of-age ceremony for me and give me a proper name!"
"Well, that's fine. I agree. Alas, it's better to do it today than to wait for a day. The King of Korea is here today, so let's hold your coming-of-age ceremony today. King of Korea, is it okay for you to be a guest of honor?"
"…Your Majesty, I will obey your Majesty's orders."
…
The rumbling sound of the wheels rolling on the road only made the North Korean King Li Hui, who was sitting in the car, even more irritated.
After the audience with the emperor and the so-called coming-of-age ceremony that day, he left the capital immediately: Of course, as the king of a vassal state, he could not leave without Zhu Youdong's order. But the problem was that Zhu Youdong wanted him to get out of here as soon as possible.
If you tell me to leave, I will leave. Who told you to be so powerful? But what do you mean by letting the Toyotomi family's troops leave with me?
Speaking of the Toyotomi family, Li Hui was furious again: at the coming-of-age ceremony that day, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty bestowed his own character "Dong" on the Toyotomi family, and had this character "Dong" placed on top of the common character "Xiu" of the Toyotomi family. Therefore, Toyotomi Kunimatsumaru suddenly became Toyotomi Dongxiu. This guy also shamelessly stated that the Toyotomi family would use Dong as the common character for generations to come, and would always remember the kindness of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
Damn, this Japanese pirate is so shameless!
Logically, this Korean king was not a waste: when Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea, he was a staunch advocate of war. After ascending the throne, he killed several brothers who were threats to his throne. In the historical plane, when he saw the rise of the Later Jin, he immediately made a decisive decision to establish good relations with the Later Jin. Such a king actually had the qualities of a heroic ruler.
Unfortunately, North Korea was too weak at that time. Let's look at the two teams heading towards Liaodong at this time.
There were more than 2,000 people on the Toyotomi side. In the cold weather of late January in Liaodong, except for a few teachers like Gao Panlong, the others either rode war horses like Toyotomi Tohide, Sanada Yukimura, and Akashi Zento, or walked on foot. And there was not a single woman in this team!
In addition to the leader who was riding a warhorse in the cold wind, this team had flags embroidered with various family crests, such as the Gosantong and Rokumonqian flags, as well as the thousand-layer gourds held high by the warriors walking in the front - in short, even in the white wind and snow, this team could still be recognized as a real army at first glance.
What about Li Hui's team? There were also more than 2,000 people. But the team was almost half male and half female, and there were hundreds of large vehicles in the team... As for flags, there were very few, and even if there were any, they were all crooked and not in a row.
Through the window, he looked through the telescope at Toyotomi Tohide, who was riding a short-shouldered Mongolian horse in the distance, with his entire face red from the cold. Li Hui also wanted to go out on horseback so that the servants in his team could see their king. But just as this thought came to his mind, when he opened the window of the carriage, a gust of cold wind blew in, quickly blowing this thought away without a trace.
However, there was another knock outside the window that he had just closed, so he had to open it again.
"Your Majesty, we have reached the Liao River. On the other side, huh~~" The attendant outside the window raised his voice to fight against the increasingly fierce cold wind: "On the other side, the Liaodong Governor of the Ming Dynasty is there to welcome Your Majesty."
Damn Li Sancai! Hearing this name, he was furious. But his expression remained calm: "I know . Go tell Li Xianggong that I will have a drink with him after I cross the river!"
