Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 505 Today, I am alone, wearing the crown of Chu.

The full name of Emperor Yuan Shundi's first empress was Hongjila Bayan Hudu. Hongjila is the surname, Bayan means wealth and good fortune, and Hudu means abundance, thickness, and fullness. So, her name, when translated into Chinese, should be something like "Fu Man Duo" (福满多) or "Qian Duo Duo" (钱多多).

Lu Jin hadn't expected this Tartar woman to be so fierce, but when he thought about the fate of court women after the fall of dynasties, perhaps suicide was a good thing.

"When a dynasty falls, someone always has to die for it. Tuojun abandoned her in times of crisis and instead took that Goryeo maid with him. Instead of upholding the last dignity of the Yuan court, it was this empress, who was not favored by the emperor, who was absurd. The Yuan Dynasty did not die unjustly. Let's find her a coffin and bury her."

"Yes."

After explaining how to deal with Fu Manduo, Lu Jin looked at Liu Zixian, the head of the North China intelligence station who was standing beside him, and immediately said, "Zixian has made great contributions and should be promoted and given important responsibilities. You have been lying low in Dadu for a long time and are most familiar with the situation here. How about you serve as the prefect here for a while?"

Liu Zixian quickly cupped his hands and said, "How dare I disobey your command?!"

"Well then, let's change Dadu to Fengtian Prefecture, which will be directly under the State Council. You will be the first Prefect of Fengtian, with the rank of Third Grade. This place will be temporarily designated as the secondary capital. The new dynasty will also move its capital here in the future. We will also need to relocate people to settle down and build the capital. Do a good job, and you will be given important responsibilities in the future." Lu Jin immediately made promises.

Liu Zixian was overjoyed upon hearing this. This was the position of prefect of the capital! An ordinary prefect was only a fourth-rank official, but Lu Jin had given him a third-rank official position, which showed how much importance Lu Jin valued this post. If this were during the Tang or Song dynasties, his position would be equivalent to the Prefect of the Capital. If he did a good job, his future would be limitless. So he quickly bowed and thanked the emperor, saying, "Thank you for your cultivation, Your Majesty. I will do my best to build up Fengtian and enable the court to move the capital as soon as possible."

"Good that you understand." Lu Jin nodded, then added, "I have a few things for you to do now."

"Please give your orders, Your Majesty." Everyone present immediately bowed and obeyed.

Lu Jin immediately said, "First, gather all the palace servants, maids, and former officials of the Yuan court in Dadu. Do not let any of them go, especially the officials of the Xuanzheng Yuan. I will personally question them later. This matter will be handled by Zixian."

Liu Zixian immediately replied, "Your subject obeys the decree."

"Second, gather all the monks in the city, especially the Tibetan monks. I will interrogate them personally later. This matter is entrusted to Yongzhong. You go and arrest all the monks."

"This subordinate obeys!" Liao Yongzhong immediately accepted the task.

"Third, collect the documents, books, and clerks from the various government offices and treasuries in the city to prepare for future history writing. After the palace treasures have been looted, they will be used to reward the soldiers of the Northern Expedition. Anything that cannot be moved or that will be needed for future construction should be stored in a warehouse in the city, registered, and guarded by the Prefect of Fengtian. This matter will be entrusted to Mr. Baishi."

"Your subject obeys the decree!" Li Shanchang also quickly accepted the task.

"Fourth, post notices to reassure the people, distinguishing between palace staff, officials, monks and commoners. Then investigate the situation of the common people. If any commoners are struggling to make ends meet, use our army's grain to provide relief."

“Gao Yao, you are the chief instructor of the army and in charge of the logistics of the entire army. You are responsible for this matter. Not only in Dadu, but also in all the surrounding counties, you must provide relief to the poor and make sure they can make it through the autumn harvest next year. As for the spring planting next year, you are responsible to the magistrates of the local areas.”

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will take care of it immediately." Gao Yao quickly agreed.

Lu Jin continued, "Fifth, Zhu Liangzu is in charge of commanding the various troops of the Southern Route Army, and will be stationed in the city. He will send generals such as Feng Sheng and Zheng Yong to pacify the remaining cities in North China and bring them under his control as soon as possible."

"Yes." Zhu Liangzu and Feng Sheng quickly agreed.

"That's all for now. Didn't the letter say that Tuoguan Timur has been captured? When can he be brought to Dadu?" Lu Jin asked again after giving his instructions.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Liangzu hurriedly replied, "The vanguard scouts report that the Crown Prince and that Empress Qi are being held at Juyong Pass in Huailai, while the Emperor Yuan is being held at Gubeikou. They should be heading to Dadu now, and should be able to reach Dadu within three days at most."

"Okay, that's fine then. Go and do your jobs."

"Yes."

Everyone agreed in unison, and then immediately split up to take action. Soon, the capital city was in chaos. Some were arresting monks, some were arresting eunuchs and palace maids, and others were arresting officials and their families. Li Shanchang also led a group of soldiers to various government offices and yamen to collect documents, books and paintings, and then counted, packed them, and prepared to transport them back to Jiankang.

While everyone else was busy, Lu Jin led his guards on a tour of the Yuan Dynasty's capital, Dadu. Dadu's inner palace was a double-main-hall structure. The Meridian Gate was called Chongtian Gate, and after entering the Meridian Gate was another gate called Daming Gate. Inside Daming Gate was the main palace hall, called Daming Hall.

It has to be said, it's truly ironic that Hu Yuan built a palace called the Daming Palace, and now he has truly ushered in the Ming Dynasty.
To the left and right of the Daming Hall are the Wen'en Hall and the Zitan Hall, and behind them is the Xiangge Sleeping Hall. Behind the sleeping hall is the Baoyun Hall, which is the first courtyard. Behind it is a second courtyard. The gate of the hall is called Yanchun Gate, and the main hall is called Yanchun Pavilion. It is also the largest sleeping hall in the Yuan Dynasty capital, where the emperor and empress lived.

Further on is the third courtyard, which contains the Imperial Garden and Qingning Palace. The most outrageous thing is that, being Tartars, there is a large open space on the east side of the three main palace complexes along the central axis, with a row of yurts. There is also a large sheep pen in the northeast corner of the palace and a deer pen in the northwest corner, where many sika deer are kept.

Lu Jin directly ordered all the sheep and deer to be killed to reward the soldiers. While the people outside were resorting to cannibalism, it was absurd that Xiao Tieguo still had the leisure to raise sheep and deer in the palace.
After visiting the inner palace, the group moved to the west side of Taiye Pond, which later became the west bank of Zhongnanhai. There were three palaces there. In front of them were Longfu Palace and the Crown Prince's Palace. It is said that Longfu Palace was once the residence of the Crown Prince and later became the residence of the Empress Dowager. Further back was Xingsheng Palace, which was the proper residence of the Empress Dowager, but it has been vacant ever since.

Lu Jin couldn't help but complain to Li Dingbang, who was following beside him, "These barbarians are barbarians. They named the city gate 'Civilization Gate' and thought they had learned Chinese culture. They think they have become human, but they are only three parts human and seven parts barbarians. In the past, when building palaces, the crown prince lived in the East Palace and the West Palace was the residence of the Empress Dowager. This is to symbolize the rising of the sun in the east and the setting of the moon in the west, and the alternation of the sun and moon."

"But Hu Yuan insisted on building the Crown Prince's Palace on the west side of the main hall. Isn't that going against the natural order? No wonder Crown Prince Hu Yuan wanted to force the emperor to abdicate. He deserved it."

Upon hearing this, Li Dingbang immediately replied, "Didn't Your Majesty say before that the biggest mistake of the Hu Yuan dynasty was its wavering between Sinicization and anti-Sinicization? Perhaps this is why they were constantly fighting amongst themselves, which ultimately led to the downfall of the country."

Lu Jin nodded. "That's right. The demise of the Yuan Dynasty was indeed due to this reason. It was originally a tribal system, with constant power struggles and conflicts between tribes. They were used to using force to seize the throne. However, after entering the Central Plains, they were not adapted to the local conditions. The Central Plains is mainly a farming area, and what it needs most is stability and orderly succession of power."

"Although Kublai Khan later established the Yuan Dynasty and followed the Han system, the Tartars were still Tartars after all. The customs of tribal warfare were not so easy to change, which led to endless infighting among his descendants and ultimately the downfall of the country."

Li Dingbang nodded, and was about to say something when Liu Zixian came running over.

"Your Majesty, when I went to inspect the captured former Yuan officials, I made some unexpected discoveries. The current King of Goryeo's uncle, who was originally left in Dadu as a hostage, has also been captured by us. In addition, there are more than two thousand soldiers, generals and officials sent by Goryeo, and Goryeo envoys are also in Dadu."

"During the previous siege, these Goryeo soldiers also participated in the defense of the city. Many of them were killed by us, and now there are still more than 1,400 captured. What should we do with these people?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin raised an eyebrow. The fact that the King of Goryeo's uncle had also been captured, along with so many soldiers, generals, and ministers, was indeed good news, and there was something they could work out with it.

So he immediately asked, "Do you have a list?"

"Yes, here it is." Liu Zixian quickly presented the list.

Lu Jin took the hostage and looked at it, then immediately frowned and said, "This hostage is the King of Goryeo's cousin? Deokheung-gun, Tas Temur? Aren't all members of the Goryeo royal family surnamed Wang? Why does this person have a Mongolian name?"

Liu Zixian quickly explained, "Your Majesty may not know this, but since Goryeo was controlled by the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, it has intermarried with the Mongol Yuan for generations. All the Goryeo kings were sons-in-law of the Mongol Yuan, and the deposition and establishment of the Goryeo royal family were all decided by the Mongol Yuan. The crown prince of Goryeo also had to go to Dadu as a hostage. Therefore, most of the Goryeo royal family members have a Mongolian name."

"For example, the current king of Goryeo, Wang Jeon, also had a Mongolian name, Bayan Temur."

Lu Jin curled her lip and complained, "What a cliché name."

Then he looked at the other people on the list, including Liu Zhuo, Lian Tichen, Quan Qian, Yuan Hao, Luo Yingjie, Yin An, Cui Ying, and so on. Lu Jin didn't recognize most of these people, but he vaguely remembered the names of two of them.

One of them was Yin An. In the original history, Yin An led more than 20,000 Goryeo soldiers to follow Tuotuo in attacking Zhang Shicheng in Gaoyou. Later, Yin An was sent by Tuotuo to attack Liuhe, east of Chuzhou. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang had not yet crossed the Yangtze River and was stationed in Chuzhou. The Liuhe rebels could not hold out and asked Zhu Yuanzhang for help. So Zhu Yuanzhang immediately led his troops to rush to their aid. In other words, in the original history, Zhu Yuanzhang had fought against this Yin An. Because there are relatively few people with the surname Yin, and his name is simple, Lu Jin still has some impression of him.

Another one is Choi Young. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, King Gongmin of Goryeo sent troops to invade the north. Taking advantage of the strategic window period when the Ming army had not yet landed in Liaodong and the Yuan army had been defeated, making Liaodong a "no man's land", he frantically expanded northward, pushing Goryeo's territory all the way to the Yalu River.

In this series of northward expansion campaigns, the leading commander on the Goryeo side was Choi Young. As for Yi Seong-gye, that came later. Yi Seong-gye and his son were originally chiliarchs of the Sangseong General Administration established by the Yuan Dynasty in northeastern Goryeo. Later, they surrendered to Goryeo and, with the help of internal forces, helped Goryeo break through the Sangseong General Administration and incorporate it into Goryeo's territory. Only then was Yi Seong-gye rewarded with the title of chiliarch by Wang Jeon.

He later distinguished himself in the battle against the Red Turban Army's central route and was promoted to general, gradually rising through the ranks in Goryeo. At this time, Yi Seong-gye was just a minor commander. No, the current commander was his father, Yi Ja-chun, and Yi Seong-gye had not yet inherited his father's position.
Lu Jin looked at the list and thought for a moment before saying, "There's no rush to deal with it now. We can wait until Empress Qi is brought back and then deal with her together."

"Now, go and interrogate these people for me. I need to know a few things. First, what are the pro-Yuan factions in Goryeo? Second, which families in Goryeo have intermarried with the Mongol Yuan for generations? Third, are there any pro-Yuan factions among these people?"

"Fourth, who among them is most loyal to the current King Wang Jeon of Goryeo? If I were to send someone who can assist Wang Jeon back as an envoy, who would be qualified? Please help me investigate, but don't tell these people your purpose. Just probe them through their words."

"Fifth, ask them for me what the current structure of the Goryeo court is, how the people are living, how many troops there are, and whether they are elite."

“You come from an intelligence background, you should know what I want.”

Liu Zixian quickly cupped his hands in agreement, "Yes, Your Majesty, rest assured, I know how to extract information from you."

"Okay." Lu Jin nodded and then instructed, "Remember to separate them into different lockup rooms and interrogate them one by one to prevent them from colluding."

"Yes, then I will take care of it immediately."

"Wait a minute, what about those Goryeo soldiers?" Lu Jin called out to him, then thought for a moment before saying, "Here's what we'll do. Hand the soldiers over to Dingbang for interrogation. Dingbang, go find a few clever instructors in the Imperial Guard, and then have Prefect Liu arrange a few interpreters who can speak both Goryeo and Chinese for you. You go and interrogate those Goryeo officers, captains, and ordinary soldiers."

"I mainly ask two questions: first, their background—whether they were landlords or tenant farmers, and whether anyone in their family held an official position, and how they obtained those positions."

"For those soldiers from ordinary backgrounds, ask them about their home situation in Goryeo, how much land they own, whether they are self-cultivating farmers or tenant farmers, whether they usually have enough to eat, and how much they know about the customs and conditions of Goryeo, the more detailed the better."

"If we were to conquer Goryeo and promise to distribute land to the local people, would any Goryeo people be willing to follow us? Don't ask this question directly. Instead, analyze the situation based on what you find out about the local people, and then tell me."

“Yes,” Li Dingbang immediately agreed.

Liu Zixian asked with some surprise, "Your Majesty intends to conquer Goguryeo?"

Lu Jin did not answer directly, but said, "Whether or not to conquer is not certain, but at least we need to understand the sentiments of the people of Goryeo. If Goryeo does not obey in the future, the court will have ways to deal with them. We may not conquer Goryeo, but we must have the ability to conquer Goryeo. We must think ahead. A person without foresight will have immediate worries. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Okay, then go ahead. Be quick, I'll only give you one or two days."

"Yes." The two immediately accepted the order and left.

After the two left, Lu Jin continued to tour the palace with his guards. Soon they arrived at Qionghua Island in the middle of Zhongnanhai Lake. There was a Guanghan Palace on the island. Lu Jin stood on the platform in front of the palace, gazing at the scenery of Zhongnanhai, while thinking about how to take over Goryeo.

The current King Gongmin of Goryeo, well, he can't be called King Gongmin yet. Gongmin is the posthumous title given to him by Zhu Yuanzhang. He's still alive, and not only that, he's very young and promising.

Wang Jeon was born in 1330 and is now only 24 years old, two years younger than Lu Jin. However, this guy is extremely ambitious. After becoming the King of Goryeo, because it was the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasty, he especially wanted to take the opportunity to eliminate the pro-Yuan forces within Goryeo and break free from the Yuan Dynasty's control over Goryeo.

However, due to Empress Ki, the pro-Yuan faction in Goryeo was very powerful. In addition, the Yuan Dynasty in the original history did not fall until 1368. Therefore, Wang Jeon's campaign to eliminate the pro-Yuan faction did not go smoothly, and he even fought with the Yuan army several times. Although the Goryeo army won in the end, there were still many troubles.

In the original history, after the Ming army recaptured Dadu during its northern expedition, Wang Zhuan immediately launched a massacre against the pro-Yuan faction in the country, and then abolished the use of the Yuan dynasty's reign title, replacing it with the Hongwu reign title of the Ming dynasty.

However, Xu Da's later northern expedition to Karakorum was a major defeat at the hands of Wang Baobao, and the Ming army was almost completely wiped out. Coupled with the threat from the Northern Yuan, the pro-Yuan faction within Goryeo rose again. As a result, Goryeo wavered between the Northern Yuan and the Ming Dynasty, which ultimately brought disaster upon Wang Jeon himself. He was assassinated by the pro-Yuan faction within Goryeo in conjunction with eunuchs.

During the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, Goryeo was also plagued by internal problems, mainly caused by the pro-Yuan faction. In particular, several families that had intermarried with the Mongol Yuan dynasty relied on the Yuan dynasty as their backing to act recklessly in Goryeo, forcibly seizing farmland and enslaving the people, which led to serious land annexation within Goryeo and widespread resentment among the people.

Even during the Longfeng Northern Expedition, when Guan Duo's central army reached Goryeo, tens of thousands of Goryeo peasants who had been oppressed joined the Red Turban Army, which shows the extent of the land conflict in Goryeo.

In addition, Goryeo was plagued by Japanese pirates. It was too far for the Japanese pirates to plunder the Chinese coast, but it was much easier to reach Goryeo, as the two sides were separated only by the Tsushima Strait.

According to historical records, between 1350 and 1391, Goryeo experienced 303 Japanese pirate invasions of various scales, harassing 591 towns and involving 136 pirate groups. In 1350 alone, there were six large-scale Japanese pirate raids, looting cities, burning houses, and robbing grain transport ships.

Even in 1351, a group of 130 Japanese pirates made their way to Ganghwa Island, which was right next to Gaegyeong in Goryeo. Gaegyeong was so frightened that it issued martial law orders several times to guard against the Japanese pirates. This shows just how rampant the Japanese pirates were in Goryeo.

Even that wasn't enough to make things easier. In the original history, Goryeo was already facing such internal and external troubles. In 1358, just four years later, a severe drought occurred, leading to a famine that at one point reached the point of cannibalism.

Of course, the most serious damage to Goryeo came from the Red Turban Army in the central route led by Guan Duo, who actually captured the Goryeo capital, Gaegyeong.

However, unlike the original history, the situation in Lu Jin's timeline has changed. For Goryeo, the advantage is that the Red Turban Army's invasion of Goryeo will not happen again.

As for the downsides, Lu Jin's Northern Expedition strategy differed from Zhu Yuanzhang's. This time, he landed directly in Jinzhou, immediately deploying three army groups, nearly 200,000 men, in Liaodong. Now, Liu Futong's Provisional Eleventh Army Group has occupied Dongning Prefecture east of Shenyang and arrived at the Yalu River.

Lu Jin was temporarily too lazy to care what Wang Zhuan did within Goryeo, but if he wanted to expand northward as he had in history, it was probably impossible.

Once Lu Jin has a clear understanding of the situation in Goryeo, and after a few years, if a drought or famine occurs in Goryeo, he can take the opportunity to invade.

Moreover, Lu Jin possessed a navy, unlike the Mongol conquests of Goryeo, which always involved land-based attacks. With a navy, Lu Jin had many more options: a three-sided landing on the peninsula combined with a land offensive. Even if Wang Zhuan wanted to escape, he would have nowhere to run.
While Lu Jin was figuring out how to incorporate Goryeo into his territory, Pingding and Zhang Desheng were also heading towards Dadu with Xiao Tieguo, Ayushiridara, Empress Qi, Hama, and others.

Finally, on the first day of the tenth month, the prisoners were brought to Dadu.

The first thing Zhang Desheng did upon meeting Lu Jin was to pull out a piece of paper.

"Your Majesty, this is a poem written by Toghon Temur while he was imprisoned at Gubeikou. I had it copied down."

Lu Jin took it and read it. He saw that it read: "The golden tent is covered in dust and the blood and tears have dried. Suddenly, the sound of the Jie drum announces the end of the night. Once I drove ten thousand horsemen on proud barbarian horses. Now I am tied up alone and wear the Chu crown."

Snow-capped mountains and camel butter fill the abyss of desire; frosty streets and waxen railings adorn the streets; if Bianjing has a moon of reincarnation, let it not shine upon the cold prison cell of Yanyun.

After reading it, Lu Jin immediately sneered, "Oh ho, he actually knows what he did. Now he finally knows how to regret it. Where was he before?"

Lu Jin made a sarcastic remark, then asked, "Have Ayushiridara and Queen Qi arrived as well?"

Li Dingbang, who had already returned from the interrogation, immediately replied, "Your Majesty, we have arrived."

Lu Jin nodded, "Bring all those Yuan officials and those Tibetan monks into the palace. Today, I will unleash a bloodbath and cleanse the palace of its bad luck!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)