Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 987 Puppet

Hauge in Seoul was very nervous.

When Hauge led his troops to attack the palace and massacred the Korean royal family, he felt very vented. But when he calmed down afterwards, he realized that he had made a big mistake.

Korea was not an ordinary tribe in Liaodong. It was even less likely that it would be as easy to defeat and annex the wild Jurchen tribes during the reigns of Nurhaci or Huang Taiji by simply relying on powerful military force to kill the opponent's leader and then forcibly annex the tribe.

Although Korea was close to Liaodong, and most of the rulers and ministers spoke Chinese and wrote Chinese characters, the problem was that Korea was not only a country, but also a nation with its own language and culture. The situation in Korea was completely different from that in Liaodong. In addition, Korea had been established for a long time. Not to mention that the Lee Dynasty had a history of more than 200 years in Korea, if we go back to the Silla, Baekje, and Goryeo dynasties, the history is even longer, about a thousand years.

It was no problem for Hauge to do this to deal with the wild Jurchen tribes in Liaodong, but it was not possible in Korea. After Hauge almost killed all the royal family of Korea and executed a large number of nobles, Hauge finally realized that he had caused a big disaster this time.

The great changes in Seoul triggered chaos throughout Korea. In addition, Ajige took the initiative to lead his troops to retreat to Liaodong when he saw that the situation was not right. Hauge in Seoul was in trouble all of a sudden.

At present, the troops in Hauge's hands can barely control Seoul, and it is impossible to quell the chaos in Korea. In fact, it is not only Hauge, even if Ajige does not run away, his troops are far from enough. Korea is a vast country with a large population. It is simply a dream to control this country with only Hauge and Ajige's troops, which only have tens of thousands of people.

After calming down, Hauge could not help but regret his impulsiveness, but it was too late to regret after the deed was done. In desperation, he could only find a way to make up for it. After discussing with his subordinates, he first sent a memorial to Shengjing, explaining the cause of the Seoul Incident, and in the memorial, he excused himself and pushed the responsibility to the Korean side.

Then, Hauge ordered martial law in Seoul and sent troops to control the inside and outside of Seoul. At the same time, he controlled the Korean troops in Seoul. Through threats and inducements, he turned these Korean troops into his vassal troops and made them responsible for public security under the leadership of the Eight Banners.

Afterwards, Hauge cleaned up the mess in the palace. Although a large number of Korean kings, crown princes, queens, princesses, and princes died, fortunately, there was still a Prince Chongseon Li Cheng who survived. Although Prince Chongseon Li Cheng was young and not a legitimate son, he was a legitimate Korean prince after all. With him, at least the Korean royal family still had descendants.

As for the captured nobles and ministers of the Yangban, Hauge also ordered to appease them and personally met with several of them. Under his threats and inducements, several cowards expressed their willingness to cooperate with Hauge in order to save their lives. Hauge then released these people and let them take over government affairs under his supervision. In addition, with the Korean Seoul army and government officials under his control, Seoul gradually stabilized.

However, stability in Seoul does not mean stability in the entire Korea. After the news of the great changes in Seoul spread, chaos broke out across Korea. Moreover, because of Hauge's actions, the people of Korea united against a common enemy and set off a storm of resistance against the Qing Dynasty.

At this time, Haoge received an imperial decree from Shengjing. When the uneasy Haoge thought that he was finished this time, he did not expect that the decree did not ask him to return to Shengjing, nor did it directly send someone to arrest him and escort him back.

On the contrary, this edict was to appoint himself as the Governor-General of Korea and the Imperial Commissioner of the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, there was another edict, which was to enthrone the new king of Korea, that is, Chongseon Prince Yi Cheng, as the new king of Korea.

After seeing these two edicts, Hauge felt relieved and wondered why Dorgon didn't take this opportunity to punish him. He and Dorgon had always been at odds with each other. If he were Dorgon, he would never miss this opportunity to discipline himself. He could have charged Hauge with the chaos in Korea, dismissed him as the regent prince, and escorted him back to Shengjing.

"Your Highness, the Queen Mother asked me to bring you a message. As long as you make up for your crime and make meritorious contributions, and can stabilize Korea and take control of its military and political power, the Queen Mother will naturally speak for you." Just when Haoge was puzzled by this, the eunuch who came to announce the decree whispered these words to Haoge. Haoge looked at him carefully and felt that the eunuch looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.

"You are……?"

"I'm Wu Zhong, the adopted son of the Grand Steward. In the early years, I accompanied the Grand Steward in serving the late emperor and met the prince twice." Wu Zhong replied with a smile.

Only then did Hauge remember that he had indeed met this Wu Zhong. The so-called chief steward mentioned by Wu Zhong was the chief eunuch Wu Liangfu. Wu Liangfu was the chief eunuch around Huang Taiji. Not long after Huang Taiji's death, Wu Liangfu went a step further and became the chief eunuch of the Qing Imperial Palace. He was a confidant of the Empress Dowager Zhezhe. It seemed that this Wu Zhong was sent by Zhezhe to remind him. Combined with the imperial edict just now, Hauge finally understood what happened. He knew that he was lucky enough to be fine this time because Zhezhe spoke for him and helped to save him. However, Zhezhe also warned himself through Wu Zhong's words that his most important task now was to stabilize the situation in North Korea and quell the rebellion in North Korea. As long as he controlled North Korea, he would be considered to have made meritorious contributions. If the chaos in North Korea continued and Hauge was unable to do this, then even Zhezhe would not be able to protect him.

After understanding the reason, Haoge felt much more relaxed, knowing that the most troublesome problem was finally over and he had finally escaped a disaster. At the same time, Haoge was secretly grateful to Zhezhe. If Zhezhe hadn't spoken up for him and protected him, he would have had a hard time getting through this level.

Thinking of this, Haoge felt a little ashamed. Although Zhezhe, the nominal mother, was about the same age as himself, he never took Zhezhe seriously, and looked down on this woman who had first been the empress of his father and now the empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty. Unexpectedly, when he was in big trouble, it was Zhezhe who helped him. Thinking of what he had done before and his contempt for Zhezhe, Haoge couldn't help but sigh with gratitude to Zhezhe.

He thanked Wu Zhong very politely for his reminder, and asked Wu Zhong to tell him a message, asking him to tell the Queen Mother when he returned that he would handle the affairs of Korea in accordance with the Queen Mother's instructions, and told Zhezhe not to worry, that he, Haoge, was not an ungrateful person, and since Zhezhe had helped him, he would naturally remember it in his heart. In the future, if there was anything, as long as Zhezhe asked him to do so, he, Haoge, would go through fire and water and would not refuse.

After sending the angel away, Hauge immediately called his subordinates together to discuss and informed them of the court's plan. Hauge's subordinates discussed the matter at once, with all sorts of ideas and suggestions, but they did not come up with a proper plan.

Looking at these subordinates, Hauge couldn't help feeling a headache. These subordinates of his had no problem in fighting, as they were all brave and good at fighting. However, it was a little difficult for them to handle government affairs. Just because a warrior was skilled in archery and horse riding did not mean he was proficient in government affairs. Compared with these people, Hauge had some experience in government affairs during the Huang Taiji period and was much better than them.

It was impossible to rely on these soldiers, so Hauge had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and set his sights on the noble ministers of the two classes of Korea who had surrendered to him. After selection, Hauge chose one of them, who was Kang Sung-hyun, the nephew of Kang Seok-gi, the former Right State Councillor of Korea. The Kang family was a descendant of Kang Gam-chan, a famous minister of the Goryeo Dynasty, but the Kang family was not well-known during the Lee Dynasty. Although there were several officials in the family, most of them did not hold high positions. Kang Seok-gi, as the Right State Councillor, was already the highest-ranking official of the Kang family in recent years.

Moreover, Jiang Shuoqi was able to become the Right State Councillor because his daughter married the Crown Prince and became the Crown Princess. But now the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess were killed in the attack on the palace, and even the Crown Prince's three sons were all dead.

It stands to reason that as a member of the Jiang family, Jiang Chengxian should hate Haoge, but the problem is that Jiang Chengxian is not only a coward, but also a complete villain. After Haoge broke into the palace and attacked the noble ministers who resisted, Jiang Chengxian was one of the first to surrender to Haoge for self-protection. Later, in order to please Haoge and save his life, he was extremely humble. Where is the dignity of the Jiang family? Later, when Haoge selected people from the captives and incorporated the Korean army and government officials in Seoul to stabilize the order of Seoul, Jiang Chengxian showed great concern and worked hard, which caught Haoge's eye.

It is true that Jiang Chengxian is a villain and he is also afraid of death, but he is capable and his family background is not bad. Although the Jiang family is not as good as those aristocratic families, it is also well-known in Korea. So after much selection, Hauge chose Jiang Chengxian and prepared to make him his helper in stabilizing the political situation in Korea.

So Haoge called Jiang Chengxian to talk. At first, Jiang Chengxian thought that he had done something wrong these days and Haoge wanted to punish him. He was so scared that his face turned pale, but after listening to Haoge's plan, Jiang Chengxian instantly became energetic and immediately realized that his chance had come.

Immediately, Jiang Chengxian knelt down on the ground without hesitation, kowtowed to Hauge repeatedly, expressed his loyalty, and stated that he would follow Hauge's orders and do whatever Hauge asked him to do. He must help Hauge to pacify Korea and suppress the rebellions in various places.

Seeing that he was so understanding, Haoge was very satisfied. In this way, Jiang Chengxian, who was originally just a fifth-rank judge, suddenly became the new Prime Minister and concurrently served as the Minister of Personnel, and was promoted to the first-rank Dakuang Fuguo Chonglu Doctor.

Joseon official positions are divided into nine grades and eighteen levels, which are more complicated than those of the Ming Dynasty. However, many official positions are still established with reference to the Ming Dynasty official positions. For example, the position held by Kang Sung-hyun is the head of the Council of State, which is equivalent to the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty. In other words, the so-called Chief Minister is the chief minister of the Joseon cabinet.

As for the Licao, it was one of the six ministries set up by Korea in accordance with the Six Ministries of the Ming Dynasty. The so-called Licao was the Ministry of Personnel, and the Panshu was equivalent to the Shangshu, so the Licao Panshu was the Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel.

In this way, Jiang Chengxian went from being an ordinary minor official to an important official of the Joseon Dynasty. His official position was the highest position that Jiang had never held in more than 200 years. This made Jiang Chengxian smile and he was as excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood. After taking office, Jiang Chengxian quickly recruited a group of like-minded guys. After reporting to Haoge, he placed these people in various important positions. In this way, not long after, a seemingly complete court structure was rebuilt. Regardless of the people used, at least the government that was originally unable to function was restored to a certain extent under this situation.

(End of this chapter)