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

Chapter 988 Li Yu
As Jiang Chengxian reorganized the court, the next step was to enthrone the new king.

A few days later, the "grand" coronation ceremony of the new king was successfully held in the slightly renovated Korean royal palace.

Due to the previous war, the Joseon royal palace was nearly half destroyed. Although it had been cleaned up, the ruins could still be seen around it, and even the air was filled with a burnt smell. The new king, Chongshan Jun Li Cheng, was just a child. Although he was wearing gorgeous royal clothes when he was brought out, his complexion was not very good. His little face was pale, his expression was panic, and he was trembling. He did not have the joy of ascending the throne.

Jiang Chengxian's men came forward and supported the new king to sit on the throne. The newly appointed judge of the Ministry of Rites read out the imperial edict of the Qing Emperor to enthrone the King of Korea. After the imperial edict was read out, the ceremonial table of the King of Korea's enthronement was read out. Then all the ministers bowed down to the little king, sticking their butts out and shouting "Long live the king". The ceremony of the new king's enthronement ended hastily, and Chongshan Jun Li Cheng officially became the new King of Korea.

In name, Li Cheng was the king of Korea, but in reality, it was impossible for Li Cheng to rule Korea. Not to mention that he was just an ignorant child, even if he was an adult, he could not do it because he, the king, was just a puppet in Hauge's hands.

Except for the coronation ceremony, when Li Cheng sat on the throne and accepted the worship of the ministers, after the ceremony, Li Cheng was sent to the harem and guarded by Haoge and Jiang Chengxian's men. He had no worries about food and drink, but no freedom at all, not to mention meeting outsiders. There were spies watching him inside and outside, and he could not even leave the palace without permission.

As for the political affairs of Korea, they naturally fell into the hands of Hauge. Hauge served as regent as the governor-general of the Qing Dynasty in Korea, and also gave himself the title of the so-called Regent King of Korea. Speaking of this title, Hauge still imitated Dorgon's regent prince, but changed the regent to regent, and the nature of the word change was completely different, and the power was also very different. Perhaps the reason why Hauge gave himself such a title was that he wanted to compete with Dorgon, or deliberately wanted to suppress Dorgon.

Although the government affairs fell into the hands of Hauge, it was Kang Sung-hyun who actually did the work. Kang Sung-hyun had now become Hauge's lackey and most loyal henchman. In order to preserve his own wealth and glory, Kang Sung-hyun reported to Hauge after completing the new king's coronation ceremony, suggesting that the new king's name be used to announce to all parts of Korea that the previous Seoul Rebellion was a rebellion launched by Seopyeongbuwon Han Junqian and the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was dissatisfied with the actions of the previous king. After hearing the news that the king intended to abolish the Crown Prince's position and establish another Crown Prince, he joined forces with Seopyeongbuwon Han Junqian to launch a rebellion in an attempt to seize the throne.

During the rebellion, Han Junqian, the Prince of Xiping Prefecture, and the Crown Prince colluded with each other and forced the king to death. Upon learning the news, Prince Haoge of the Great Qing Dynasty led his troops to the palace to stop the chaos, but it was too late when he arrived. The king had already died at the hands of the Crown Prince. Haoge was furious when he heard the news and led his troops to quell the rebellion. In the end, Han Junqian, the Prince of Xiping Prefecture, died in the chaos. The Crown Prince was defeated by Haoge, and seeing that the situation was hopeless, he massacred people in the palace and set fire to the palace, so that most of the Korean royal family died at his hands. Finally, the Crown Prince was desperate and committed suicide. In view of the rebellion in the Korean court, Prince Su Haoge was ordered to restore order in the face of danger. He rescued Chongshan Prince Li Cheng from the chaos and stabilized the situation in Seoul.

This nonsense was very convincing, and the details were extremely realistic. Moreover, Jiang Chengxian was a member of the Jiang family, and he and the Crown Princess were cousins. With his personal testimony, it was even more difficult to tell the truth from the false.

This era was not the era of information explosion in later generations. Most of the news was spread by word of mouth or confirmed by official documents. Although the real cause of the Seoul Incident had been spread, and because of the death of the King of Korea, the Crown Prince and other princes, there were endless rebellions in various parts of Korea, but because there were not many nobles and other people who escaped, the situation in Seoul was also learned from their mouths. Most people heard nothing but rumors.

After the new king ascended the throne, Jiang Chengxian issued an edict in the name of the new king to various parts of Korea, explaining the "truth" of the Seoul Rebellion. Many people in Korea actually believed the so-called truth. Jiang Chengxian not only did this, but also sent his men to contact nobles and aristocratic families in various places, and promised them as the head of the Council of State of Korea that as long as they recognized the rule of the new king of Korea, cooperated with the court to suppress local rebellions and restore local order, their previous actions would be forgiven, and they would continue to do their jobs, make money, and enjoy wealth and splendor. Not only Jiang Chengxian could guarantee this, but also Prince Su Haoge of the Qing Dynasty could guarantee it.

Anyway, Jiang Chengxian took the approach of "believe it or not, I believe it anyway" and began to appease the locals, win over allies, and stabilize the situation in North Korea. Not to mention, his actions really had a lot of results. Not long after, several places expressed their willingness to help North Korea stabilize order and quell rebellion. Even many people in the North Korean army were won over by Jiang Chengxian.

As Jiang Chengxian's actions began to have effects, and Ajige's troops also returned to Korea, Hauge's military strength was strengthened, and the chaos in Korea began to gradually subside. This made Hauge very satisfied with Jiang Chengxian. He called him over and praised him highly, and asked him to keep up the efforts and completely resolve the chaos in other parts of Korea.

Just when Hauge and Jiang Chengxian thought that the chaos in North Korea would soon be gradually calmed down and eventually ended under these measures, something unexpected happened.

Prince Yeongwon Lee Yoo suddenly appeared in Pyeongan Province and denounced Kang Sung-hyun's nonsense as a member of the royal family, and revealed the truth about the Seoul Incident.

Prince Ayewon Lee Yu is the younger brother of the former Joseon King Yi Jong. He was later adopted by his uncle Yi Seong, the Prince of Yian. He is a member of the Joseon royal family and is very close to the king who died before. When the Joseon royal family was almost completely slaughtered, Prince Ayewon Lee Yu was not only the only remaining clan elder of the Joseon royal family, but also one of the theoretical heirs to the throne. Moreover, Lee Yu has always been close to the Ming Dynasty and has always hated the Qing Dynasty. He is extremely ashamed of his brother's previous disregard for the Ming Dynasty's kindness and his final surrender to the Qing Dynasty. However, his status in the royal family is very embarrassing, and he has no power in his hands. He can only watch helplessly as Joseon abandons the Ming Dynasty and turns to the Qing Dynasty under Lee Jong's actions.

Because of this reason, Li Yu once cursed bitterly at home, and was so discouraged that he stayed at home in Pyeongan Province and refused to go out. Li Jong invited Li Yu to work in Seoul several times, but Li Yu refused and stayed indoors on the grounds of illness.

After the Seoul Incident, Yi Yu cried when he heard the news in Pyeongan Province, and then contacted nobles and aristocratic families as Prince Ayawada and raised troops to resist the Qing army. Due to his different identity, he soon became the leader of the Pyeongan Province Righteous Army, and directly raised the slogan of respecting the king and expelling the barbarians, intending to drive the Qing army out of Korea and rebuild the country.

After Jiang Chengxian surrendered to Haoge, he supported the new king to succeed to the throne and issued edicts to all parts of Korea, confusing right and wrong in an attempt to deceive the world. How could the Great Prince Li Yu of Yeongwon bear it? He immediately stood up to refute Jiang Chengxian's nonsense, and at the same time, as the brother of the former king and a member of the royal family, explained the truth to the subjects of Korea, telling everyone not to believe Jiang Chengxian's words, let alone Haoge's so-called promises.

The Jiannu did not treat the Koreans as human beings at all. They not only exploited Korea, but also murdered the Korean monarch, the crown prince and the princes. How could Korea, after suffering such a hardship, accept the enemy as its father just for the sake of wealth and honor? If so, where is Korea's integrity?

As Prince Ayawara Yi Yu spoke out, the political situation in Korea, which had just stabilized slightly, began to become turbulent again. Especially those rebels who were not composed of Korean nobles and aristocratic families. Their original resistance was because the Qing Dynasty plundered Korea without any bottom line, and everyone could not survive, so they took up arms.

These people were different from the nobles and aristocratic families. They rose up to fight for their own survival and had nothing to do with the Joseon royal family. Therefore, they had different goals and positions in this matter. In addition, the words of Prince Yeo Won-do rebuking Kang Sung-hyun aroused their hatred for the Qing Dynasty. Instead of laying down their arms, they became more determined to fight against the Qing Dynasty.

In addition, Prince Ayawada Yi Yu also has a certain influence among the nobles and aristocratic families, especially some of the Yangban nobles who personally experienced the Seoul Incident and escaped, and they are firmly on his side. Knowing the truth, they are full of hatred, and naturally they will not surrender to Hauge like others, and they will definitely resist to the end.

In this way, with Prince Yeongwon Yi Yu as the core, nearly half of the various rebel forces in Korea surrendered to Yi Yu and supported him in resisting the tyranny of the Qing Dynasty. They did not recognize the current Korean pseudo-regime, and even the new king who had just ascended the throne did not recognize it.

The reason is very simple. The first Joseon king was enthroned by the Ming Dynasty according to the procedure. The new king was not legally recognized without the imperial edict and seal of the Ming Dynasty. The so-called enthronement by the Qing Dynasty was not recognized in Joseon. Even though Joseon had already submitted to the Qing Dynasty for the previous reasons, the real suzerain in Joseon still only recognized the Ming Dynasty instead of the Qing Dynasty.

As for the second, the Qing Dynasty's Prince Su Haoge called himself the regent of Korea, and he also held the post of the governor-general of Korea appointed by the Qing Dynasty. From this point of view, the Qing Dynasty already regarded Korea as its own. And everyone knows what kind of person the Prime Minister Kang Sung-hyun was before. He rose from a small official to an important official of Korea overnight. The reason why he sat in this position was nothing more than Haoge's support. In addition, the so-called new king is a child and has no say at all. He is no different from a puppet.

Under such circumstances, how could the North Korean people recognize the legitimacy of the new king, let alone the so-called court?

Prince Ayewon's move made Hauge furious. He originally thought that Kang Sung-hyun's move would ease the political situation in Korea and gradually calm down the rebellions in various places. But now, with Prince Ayewon's move, the situation in Korea has only slightly improved and then turned sharply downward. Moreover, because of Prince Ayewon's move, the various rebel forces that were originally scattered have shown signs of merging, which makes Hauge even more anxious.

(End of this chapter)