Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 616 Crossing the Yalu River

Koreans entering Ming territory needed to declare their arrival at customs before entering the city through the Tiger Mountain Pass. However, Ming soldiers could enter Korea without being bound by any specific routes.

Half an hour after roll call at the drill ground, two battalions of six thousand soldiers, fully equipped and ready to depart, crossed the Yalu River in a grand procession across six newly built pontoon bridges, from two landing points nearly twenty miles apart, under the watchful eyes of the Korean border watchtowers. Behind the soldiers were the remaining military households and civilian laborers and women who had been mobilized to transport supplies, provisions, and provisions.

"The heavenly army has crossed the river!" On the watchtower where the passage flag could be seen, the usually lazy North Korean soldiers unexpectedly perked up.

"How many people are there?" Another North Korean soldier asked, leaning against the battlement with a puzzled look on his face.

"There must be tens of thousands of them, right?" The Ming army's vanguard cavalry had already crossed the river, but the ranks still stretched endlessly into the distance.

Why have the heavenly soldiers come?

"how could I know?!"

"They're coming!" The moment the Ming army's vanguard cavalry charged toward the camp, the confusion on the faces of the two Korean soldiers instantly turned into fear and horror.

"How to do?"

"how could I know!?"

"Should we?" The first North Korean soldier turned his head to the side.

"Are you crazy!" Another North Korean soldier, thinking his comrade was looking at the two muskets leaning against the corner, immediately panicked. "How dare you fire at the Heavenly Army?"

"Shiba! What are you thinking, you little bastard!" the first North Korean soldier yelled. "I said lighting a cigarette, lighting a cigarette!"

“Let’s light a smoke signal!” another Korean soldier immediately denied. “If we raise this single plume of smoke, the higher-ups will probably accuse us of lying about military intelligence!” To this day, no border watchtower has lit a signal fire in response to the Ming army’s crossing of the river.

"At least let them know," the first North Korean soldier thought, feeling that it wouldn't be good for them to remain silent while the enemy army crossed the river.

"Send the men down there!" Another North Korean soldier, quick-witted as ever, immediately decided to divert the trouble. He turned and walked towards the direction of the watchtower, then, leaning against the crenellations, shouted, "Hey! The heavenly soldiers have crossed the river! Send someone to ask them!"

"What's the matter?" someone below immediately responded. "These heavenly soldiers must be reinforcements that the angels from the past few days invited to prepare for our return!"

"It might not be the Japanese; maybe the Japanese pirates are attacking from the south again." An elderly veteran, unusually calm, even raised his voice to ask the man upstairs, "Blind Park! Hurry up and check if it's a flag with the character 'Li' on it?"

"It's a flag with the character 'Zhang' on it!" The North Korean soldier, nicknamed Blind Park, wasn't blind at all; in fact, he knew quite a few Chinese characters. He used that name simply because the "lowly" people who were conscripted never had any good names.

"Shouldn't it be the 'Mao' flag?" The first North Korean soldier on the same platform as Park the Blind Man heard the voice below and his composure quickly returned.

"They probably came from somewhere else." When Blind Park returned to his companion, the fear in his eyes had faded.

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"Whoa!" The vanguard cavalrymen pulled on their reins and stopped their horses at the entrance of the camp, their posture elegant.

"Long live the Emperor! Mighty Heavenly Soldiers!" The captain of the guard was already waiting at the entrance with all his subordinates except those on the platform. They didn't know how to shout anything else, but they spoke this phrase in fluent Chinese.

"Who's in charge?" The Ming army vanguard leader could speak fluent Korean.

"Yes, yes, I am!" The team leader in charge of the village quickly got up and jogged over to greet him.

"What should I call you?" The Ming army vanguard leader looked the officer up and down, and thought he was so thin that he didn't look like an official at all.

“My humble name is not worth mentioning. My surname is Min,” the team leader of Guandun replied with a bow.

"Is that Captain Min?" The Ming army vanguard leader remained mounted on his horse, showing no intention of dismounting.

"Yes, yes!" The team leader in charge of the embankment nodded repeatedly.

"Commander Min." The leading Ming army vanguard bowed slightly while holding the reins.

"Yes, sir!" Captain Min immediately nodded and bowed in response.

"A few men will be coming to take over this city wall soon," the Ming army vanguard leader said in an unquestionable tone. "Then you will follow their orders!"

"This..." Captain Min was taken aback. "Why is that?"

The Ming vanguard leader hesitated for a moment, then uttered only a rhetorical question: "What do you think?"

"Is it Ambassador Wu who invited you gentlemen to come and assist our small state in defending its territory?" Captain Min asked with a smile.

"More or less." The Ming army vanguard leader smiled as well.

"Long live the Emperor! Mighty Heavenly Soldiers!" Captain Min was very sensible. Upon hearing that things had turned out as he had expected, he immediately kowtowed and praised the Emperor.

"Long live the Emperor! The Heavenly Army is mighty!" Captain Min shouted, and his subordinates behind him kowtowed once again.

"Hahahaha." The Ming army's vanguard cavalrymen, seeing how sensible these Koreans were, also burst into laughter. The atmosphere inside and outside the camp was instantly filled with merriment.

Meanwhile, the scene inside Yizhou City was quite different.

Although none of the watchtowers along the Yalu River lit beacons or fired cannons when the Ming army crossed the river, the commotion of thousands of elite soldiers crossing the river with a large amount of supplies was so great that even if Zheng Zun, the prefect of Yizhou, wanted to, he couldn't help but notice it.

"What's going on?!" Zheng Zun was originally going to climb the city gate tower to find out what was going on, but as soon as he climbed the city wall, he was stunned by the situation in front of him.

"Heavenly soldiers! Heavenly soldiers are crossing the river!" Park Chang-won, the military commander of Yizhou who accompanied Zheng Zun to the city wall, began to tremble.

"Why should I tell you!" Zheng Zun glared at the other man, then turned to the group of subordinate officials. "Can anyone tell me what's going on here? How could the heavenly soldiers have arrived without any warning?"

No one responded for a moment; everyone was trying to understand the situation at hand.

"Could it be that Wu Qianzhi and his men invited the heavenly soldiers?" an elderly supervisor suggested.

“I’ve never heard of that!” On the other side of the Zuo Er official group, a Tong Yin who had once received Wu Yunqian’s delegation immediately spoke up upon hearing this clerk’s speculation, as if to defend himself.

Zheng Zun grew anxious and walked directly up to the officials who had previously received Wu Yunqian's delegation, roaring, "Have you heard of this?!"

"No," the officials answered sparsely, but without exception they all shook their heads.

"Should we close the city gates?!" Park Chang-won exclaimed in horror as he realized that the Ming army seemed to be preparing to attack the city. "They've brought out their cannons!"

"The gate must not be closed! It must not be closed!" Quan Huan, the head of the officials assisting the prefect in handling the affairs of the prefecture, immediately expressed his opposition.

"Yes, we can't close the gates!" The older supervisor immediately chimed in, "The heavenly soldiers might mistakenly think that Yizhou has been occupied by the slaves. If we close the gates now, they'll definitely open fire and attack the city!"

"Yes!"

"We can't close the door." The old eunuch's words immediately garnered much agreement. "What if they are the slaves and thieves themselves!" Park Chang-won exclaimed anxiously.

"This is impossible!" Kwon Hwan stared at Park Chang Won as if he were a fool. "How could the slave traitors have taken Guryeonseong so quietly?"

"It's possible that Uiju could be taken down quietly?!" Park Chang-won retorted excitedly.

"Heh." Kwon Hwan chuckled lightly, rolling his eyes at Park Chang Won without any hesitation.

"What do you mean!" Despite his words, how could Park Chang-won not understand the meaning behind that smile and eye roll?

"Heh." Quan Huan chuckled again, then simply ignored him.

"Are we just going to let them in like this?" Zheng Zun's heart was pounding like a drum, and he had no mind to mediate the conflict between his subordinates.

"What do you mean by 'let them in'?" The old eunuch's face began to flush. "The heavenly soldiers have entered the city; we should go out of the city to welcome them!"

"Welcome?" Zheng Zun's face turned pale. "We don't even know why they came."

“Why don’t we just ask around?” Chief Kwon Hwan immediately replied, “I’m willing to go!”

"I'm willing to go too!" The old supervisor was also very excited. Back when Admiral Li Rusong led his troops across the river, he was one of the members of the welcoming party. Although he didn't know why the heavenly army was crossing the river now, he figured it couldn't be anything bad.

After the two leaders, the head of the local gentry and the deputy head, expressed their opinions, most of the officials present also expressed their agreement.

Zheng Zun was put on hold, but he could still forcefully suppress this "public opinion" because Park Chang-won, who held military power, would certainly stand with him. However, Zheng Zun dared not do so. He knew very well that as soon as the Ming army's cannons fired, the Korean soldiers on the city walls would immediately surrender.

"Prepare the ceremonial guards and go out of the city to welcome them," Zheng Zun said with a long sigh.

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"I am Zhang Changyin, a guerrilla commander from the Liaonan reinforcement battalion! Who is Zheng Zun?" Zhang Changyin, accompanied by three centurions, Liu, Li, and Xu, and three squads of elite cavalry, arrived before Zheng Zun and his men like the wind.

"I, I am!" Zheng Zun felt as if a wall was pressed against the tip of his nose.

"Come with me, Guardian Yuan wants to see you. Now." Zhang Changyin was a fourth-rank military officer, while Zheng Zun was a second-rank civil official. However, Zhang Changyin's tone was not like that of a superior to a subordinate, but rather like that of a master to a servant.

Zheng Zun showed no anger, only confusion: "May I ask General Zhang, who is Supervisor Yuan?"

"You'll know when you get here!" Zhang Changyin urged. "Hurry up!" With that, Zhang Changyin pulled on the reins and turned around, not giving him a chance to ask another question.

"Well, alright then." Zheng Zun glanced around.

Kwon Hwan immediately followed, while Park Chang Won stood there hesitantly.

"Come on!" Zheng Zun took two steps through the dust kicked up by the horse's hooves, and when he realized that Park Chang-won hadn't moved, he immediately turned around and shouted.

Park Chang-won had no choice but to follow the two with a heavy heart.

Yuan Keli and the Imperial Guards were right behind Zhang Changyin and the others. Zheng Zun and his two companions ran into them after walking for only a short while.

Zheng Zun recognized Yuan Keli at a glance, or rather, he recognized the flying fish robe that resembled a dragon on his body. "Zheng Zun, Prefect of Uiju Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty Joseon Kingdom, pays respects to Supervisor Yuan." Zheng Zun's posture was extremely humble, almost kneeling down.

"Kwon Hwan, the chief of the Uiju Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty Joseon, pays his respects to Protector Yuan!" Kwon Hwan's posture was even lower; he knelt down directly.

"Park Jang-won, Military Commander of Uiju Prefecture, Joseon Dynasty." Park Jang-won hesitated for a moment, then knelt down as well. "Greetings, Supervisor Yuan!"

"Take this, copy it, and post it everywhere." Yuan Keli waved to the person behind him before even letting Quan Huan and Park Chang-won get up.

Lu Jianxing, dressed in military armor, rode out of the ranks, took a long scroll of paper tied with a rope from his saddlebag, and handed it to Zheng Zun: "Take this."

Zheng Zun took the scroll with trembling hands, looked up and asked, "May I take a look first?"

“See?” Yuan Keli’s calm voice came through clearly amidst the noise.

"Thank you for your kindness, sir!" Zheng Zun bowed as he held the scroll before untying the rope.

"A proclamation!?" Zheng Zun's scalp tingled after reading only the beginning: "Proclamation to the soldiers of the Eastern Expedition and the people of the Three Han Kingdoms, issued by Yuan Keli, Imperial Commissioner and Minister in Charge of Supervising Korea, Right Vice Minister of War and Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate."
Zheng Zun became increasingly alarmed as he read on. When he read the line, "King Yi Hun of Joseon forgot the oath sworn by the late king and betrayed the righteousness of the survival of the holy dynasty," he went limp.

Such actions defy the great principles of harmony between China and the barbarians, and destroy ancestral temples and altars!
Li Hui has been rebellious and disloyal; the Emperor has stripped him of his title!

hum!
Upon seeing this, Zheng Zun's vision went black, and he fell backward. Fortunately, Quan Huan reacted quickly, leaning forward to support Zheng Zun's back, preventing him from collapsing to the ground.

"Prefect Zheng! Prefect Zheng!" Quan Huan shouted in Zheng Zun's ear. "What's wrong with you? Quickly pull yourself together, don't be impolite!"

Zheng Zun felt dizzy and his ears were ringing; he couldn't hear a single word.

"Park Chae-jeong! Don't just stand there, come and help me!" Kwon Hwan was weak after all, and Jung Joon's fat body only leaned against him for a short while before Kwon Hwan couldn't support it anymore.

"Huh?" Park Chang-won was also stunned, but at least he could hear the voice clearly. "Oh!"

Park Chang-won quickly moved to their side. At this moment, whether Zheng Zun had regained some clarity or had completely lost his mind, he kept muttering, "Rebellious and disloyal. Stripped of the title of king. Rebellious and disloyal."

"What did you say?!" Quan Huan was sharp-eared and sharp-eyed, but the surrounding noise of people and horses made it impossible for him to hear a single word.

“Take a look at that proclamation too,” Yuan Keli’s voice seemed to come from the heavens.

"Yes," Quan Huan hesitated for a moment before daring to reach out and take the long roll of paper that was shrinking inwards because he had lost his grip on it.

Quan Huan unfolded the manifesto and was immediately stunned. However, he was in much better shape than Zheng Zun, at least he read the manifesto carefully. "What's going on?" Quan Huan muttered for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence.

"Your name is Quan Huan?" Yuan Keli's voice drifted over again.

"Yes. My name is Quan Huan. Please give your instructions, Supervisor Yuan." Quan Huan immediately bowed and adopted a respectful posture.

"I order you to post this proclamation as soon as possible," Yuan Keli commanded. "Within three days, this proclamation must be seen in every street and every city gate of every county in Yizhou!"

"This... I..." Quan Huan dared not agree at all.

"Are you going to defy the imperial decree?" Yuan Keli's calm urging voice and the cold gazes around him flew out at once, making Quan Huan tremble with fear.

“I dare not disobey the imperial decree!” Quan Huan stared wide-eyed at the ground, large beads of sweat sliding down his brow. “But I am merely a lowly official, unable to command the entire prefecture.”

“You can give orders now.” Yuan Keli beckoned to Liu Qianzong, who was standing next to Zhang Changyin. “If anyone doesn’t listen, Liu Qianzong will help you.”

(End of this chapter)