Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 689 Guardianship and Regency Meeting (Part 1)

On the 22nd day of the fifth month of the first year of the Taichang reign, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), just as dawn was breaking, a large crowd had already gathered in front of Dunhua Gate.

Park Seung-jong, the chief councilor, stood nervously by the door, his forehead beaded with sweat. Behind him, the officials of the six ministries and the border defense office were gathered in small groups, whispering amongst themselves, as was their custom.

"Counselor Lee, what do you think Chief Protector Yuan wants to discuss in this meeting?" Minister Jeong Kyung-se of the Ministry of Works moved closer to Lee Jung-gu and asked in a low voice under the watchful eye of Park Seung-jong.

"Why does Zheng Gongshu think I would know?" Li Tinggui asked in return.

"Didn't Counselor Li only part ways with Minister Yuan yesterday?" Zheng Jingshi chuckled softly. "You should know something about the situation, right?"

“I have already reported everything I know to the Uijeongbu government. If Jung Gong-seo wants to know, he may ask Minister Park Yeong-jong.” Lee Jung-gu looked at Park Seung-jong and they immediately locked eyes.

Zheng Jingshi choked on his words.

"Hmph!" Li Erzhan walked over and snorted. Then, in a voice that was neither loud nor soft, but clearly sarcastic, he said, "What's there to ask about! It's nothing more than checking accounts. I just wonder if some people's accounts can withstand scrutiny."

"A straight body casts a straight shadow!" Park Seung-jong said righteously, but his heart was pounding like a drum.

From the day they saw the guardianship proclamation, Park Seung-jong and his son Park Ja-heung had been frantically altering and even adding secret reports that opposed sending troops to aid the Ming Dynasty. In recent days, Park Seung-jong had deleted, revised, and added many memorials. But whether these deletions and additions could deceive the imperial envoy, or whether they would be exposed by someone like Li Erzhan, Park Seung-jong had absolutely no idea.

"Wow! Park Young-sang is absolutely right." Lee Er-chan raised his hand, walked over, and gently patted Park Seung-jong on the shoulder. "Do you think my shadow is straight?"

"Hmph. Straight, straight. Your body is truly upright!" Park Seung-jong retorted, not to be outdone. While pretending to sized up Li Erzhan, he sneered, "Perhaps from today onwards, you will become the Imperial Envoy's most favored person. If that's all there is to it."

Upon hearing this, a shadow fell over Li Erzhan's face. He had indeed consistently insisted that Joseon should fulfill its vassal duties, but he was undoubtedly the most vicious dog among the deposed King Yi Hun's henchmen. If the imperial envoy truly intended to further solidify his authority by purging the deposed king's supporters, then he would undoubtedly be an excellent target.
Just as Li Erzhan was racking his brains to prepare another retort to Park Seung-jong amidst his distress, Donhwamun Gate opened.

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"Your subject Yuan Keli pays respects to His Highness the Regent Prince's Residence."

"Your subject Shen Yourong pays respects to His Highness the Regent Prince's Residence."

"Your subject Luo Yangxing pays respects to His Highness the Regent Prince's Residence."

Half an hour later, the late Imperial Envoy Yuan Keli, accompanied by the Admiral Shen Yourong and the Embroidered Uniform Guard Luo Yangxing, entered the hall together and bowed to Li Chu, who was sitting on the high platform.

Under the tributary system, Ming Dynasty envoys were sent as representatives of the emperor, but when directly facing the monarchs of vassal states, they still had to perform the rites of a subject in their personal capacity to demonstrate that "an envoy of the Son of Heaven shall not disgrace the emperor's mandate." Although Yi Chu was only acting regent and did not yet possess the royal seal, he was still a vassal king awaiting investiture as officially appointed by imperial decree. Yuan and Shen did not want to give others grounds for criticism and impeachment by censors within the country, while Luo Yangxing did not want to appear too unconventional or superior to Yuan and Shen. Therefore, all three performed these outward acts very properly.

Seeing the three latecomers bow formally to him, Li Chu's anxious heart relaxed considerably. Before the formal meeting, he had genuinely worried that these high-ranking officials of the Celestial Empire would put on airs and embarrass him in public. What was worse, even if these officials did embarrass him, he would have no choice but to endure it.

Li Chu, supporting himself on the armrest, leaned forward and stood up from the chair beside the throne. He then took four steps down the eight-step platform, walked to Yuan Keli's side, and took his arm with a friendly expression. "Prime Minister Yuan, there's no need for such formalities. Please sit down."

"Thank you, Regent." Yuan Keli smiled faintly, bowed again, and sat down in the seat indicated by Li Chu.

After Yuan Keli sat down, Li Chu walked over to Shen Yourong's side and, as before, took his strong arm. "General Shen, please sit here."

"Thank you, Regent." Shen Yourong followed Yuan Keli's example, bowed again, and sat down in the seat that Li Chu had indicated to him.

Li Chu took a deep breath, then moved to Luo Yangxing's side and said in a slightly trembling voice, "Young Marshal Luo, please sit here."

Li Chu already knew that the Jinyiwei guard in front of him, surnamed Luo, was the eldest son of Luo Sigong, the commander of the Jinyiwei.

These past few days, Luo Yangxing has been leading the Imperial Guards in all sorts of mischief within the Yijin Prefecture. Although Li Zhu believed himself to be innocent and had no connection with Jiang Hongli or Jin Jingrui, he still couldn't help but feel nervous whenever he faced this young marshal.

What Li Chu most wants to see right now is Luo Yangxing coming to extort money. In his view, spending money is no problem, the more the better. As long as he can feed and corrupt these Imperial Guards, then the throne will be a foregone conclusion.

"You're too kind." Luo Yangxing didn't even bow like Yuan and Shen did. He simply nodded and sat down on the last empty chair under the platform.

Compared to Yuan and Shen, Luo Yangxing was clearly much more rude, but Li Chu didn't care, or perhaps dared not care. Once Luo Yangxing was seated, he walked up the steps to the platform and bowed to the three of them. "Please begin."

"Yes, sir." Yuan Keli stood up and returned the salute. Under the watchful eyes of Yi Ye and the Korean officials, he quickly walked around to the huge map of Korea placed on the other side of the platform and picked up the baton made of locust wood.

And so, an unprecedented guardianship and regency council was convened in front of an empty throne in the history of Korea.

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"Thanks to His Majesty's divine wisdom and the utmost dedication of our Heavenly Dynasty's troops, the chaotic situation in Liaodong has finally stabilized somewhat. However!" Yuan Keli, holding his command baton, straightened his body and stretched out his arm, slamming it heavily on the far left of the map, in the northwest direction of Korea. "A great victory in repelling 100,000 enemy troops is not a great victory in annihilating 100,000! The barbarian traitors still occupy the Northeast, eyeing us covetously. They covet our fertile lands of Liaodong and also covet the mountains and rivers of Korea!"

Yuan Keli spoke entirely in Chinese, and although no interpreter translated, everyone present understood. In those days, writing and speaking Chinese was a fundamental skill for the North Korean high command. Without this skill, even if one entered the core decision-making level of the North Korean court through marriage, they would still be looked down upon. Back then, Park Seung-jong, by marrying Li Erzhan, squeezed into the North Korean faction's circle, but was ridiculed for quite some time because of his poor Chinese proficiency.

Yuan Keli paused for a moment, looked around, and then moved his baton south to Zhenjiang, which is separated from Yizhou by only a river: "As you all know, I came from Zhenjiang. During my stay in Zhenjiang, the local scouts sent me a message. That is..."

Yuan Keli noticed that the North Korean officials in front of the platform all had their heads down, like students daydreaming during a teacher's lecture, so he suddenly decided to change his approach.

"Right Chancellor Qi!" Yuan Keli suddenly called out, startling Right Councilor Qi Zixian.

"Here!" Qi Zixian responded in a ghostly voice, only to find that everyone's eyes were on him when he looked up.

"If I remember correctly, you should be the Chief Supervisor of the Border Defense Division?" Yuan Keli asked.

Qi Zixian glanced at Liu Xifen subconsciously. He saw that Liu Xifen was also looking at him. Their eyes met, and Liu Xifen shook his head in fear, his lips moving as he murmured, "Please agree, I beg you to agree."

When King Yi Hun exercised his royal powers for the last time, he appointed Liu Xifen as the head of the Border Defense Office and put him in charge of the entire Border Defense Office. However, after the king was deposed by the emperor and the crown prince was publicly questioned by the imperial envoy, this appointment became a chaotic and unauthorized decree that could not withstand scrutiny.

Qi Zixian understood this meaning, and then secretly glanced at Li Chu. Seeing that the Crown Prince also looked bewildered, he gently shook his head and then forced a reply: "Yes, sir."

When Qi Zixian agreed, Li Chu and Liu Xifen both breathed a sigh of relief. Otherwise, if Yuan Keli had really taken it too seriously, Li Chu would have had to kneel down and beg for forgiveness again in front of everyone.

This exchange of glances happened in an instant. Yuan Keli, unaware of the situation, didn't notice at all. After Qi Zixian responded, his baton moved to the blank canvas north of Zhenjiang. "Since Right Chancellor Qi is in charge of the Border Defense Command, he should know where this is."

Qi Zixian squinted at the map, his forehead quickly beaded with cold sweat. "Isn't this a blank page?"

“The map is blank, but the area north of Zhenjiang, the upper reaches of the Yajiang River, is not some uninhabited wasteland,” Yuan Keli said.

"Is the guardian referring to Xianshan Fortress?" Qi Zixian guessed it was the northern fortress closest to Zhenjiang.
"I'm talking about Kuandian." Yuan Keli tapped the blank space several times with his baton. "What kind of map is this? Why does it stop at Zhenjiang!"

"Please forgive me, guardian! I will send someone to fetch a new map immediately!" Li Chu immediately stood up and declared. Qi Zixian also knelt down with a thud.

"No need for that. This map is sufficient." Yuan Keli was somewhat dissatisfied, but also felt guilty.

Yesterday afternoon, he sent someone to call Yi Ye, saying that he wanted to hold a council meeting and asked Yi Ye to send someone to bring a map including the North Korean border to the meeting.

In Yuan Keli's understanding, the Korean border should include Zhenjiang, Fenghuang, Kuandian, and even Hetu Ala, the stronghold of the Jurchen invaders. However, in the Koreans' understanding, the map that supposedly includes the Korean border is this largest and most complete map of Korea. So, if we must delve into this, it could be said that Yuan Keli didn't explain things clearly.

"Yes." Li Chu sat back down awkwardly, already covered in sweat.

“Please rise, Prime Minister Qi. After all, this is a blank slate, so calling it Xianshan Fortress isn’t entirely wrong,” Yuan Keli said, looking at Qi Zixian. After Qi Zixian apologized and stood up, Yuan Keli continued, “But Xianshan Fortress is too small to house 50,000 slave thieves.”

"Fifty thousand slave thieves?" Zhang Wan, the military advisor who had been reinstated, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise upon hearing this.

Following his exclamation, the other North Korean officials present began to whisper among themselves and look at each other in surprise.

Although the entire city of Hanyang had been focused on "raising troops to punish and supervise Korea" recently, everyone present still remembered the rumors and political turmoil that arose in the court and among the people after the Ming army's victory report reached Hanyang: "If the Jurchen rebels fail to conquer Liaoshen in the west, they will surely turn their attention south to Korea." To some extent, it was precisely because of this fear that the Jurchen rebels would turn their attention south to Korea that the deposed King Yi Hun repeatedly refused to execute Kang Hong-rip and Kim Gyeong-seo, who had been escorted back to Korea by Jurchen envoys.

"Silence! Silence!" Li Chu rose tremblingly, faced the crowd, and restored order.

Li Chu's shouts were loud, but far less effective than Yuan Keli's command stick. Yuan Keli simply tapped the wooden map stand twice with his locust wood stick, and the noisy Xuanzheng Hall fell silent. "Judging from your expressions, it seems you all already know what I'm about to say?"

This question left everyone looking at each other in bewilderment. But this time, no one uttered a sound; not only did they not respond, but they didn't even whisper to each other or mutter to themselves.

Yuan Keli's lips twitched. He wanted to ask Zai Qi, the Right Councilor of the General Staff Bureau, about this, but as his eyes darted around, he first met Zhang Wan's furtive glance. "Zhang Bingcao."

Zhang Wan stiffened and quickly replied, "Yes."

“You’re in charge of the military affairs, so you should know a lot about border matters. Tell me about it.” Yuan Keli tapped lightly on the previously ambiguous blank space, then put away his baton and looked at Zhang Wan.

His glance drew everyone's attention to Zhang Wan, just like when Qi Zixian was called out earlier.

Zhang Wan's thoughts were somewhat chaotic, and it took her a while to clear them up: "Actually, back in March of this year, shortly after General Xiong defeated the Jurchen rebels at the gates of Shenyang, Prince Li Gongyuan of Wanping Prefecture submitted a memorial to the court expressing his concerns about the Jurchen rebels' southward expansion. This matter caused quite a stir. So, there was such concern both in the imperial court and outside the martial arts world. I just didn't expect the Jurchen rebels to suddenly gather 50,000 troops in Kuandian. May I ask, Guardian, is this news true?"

"Whether it's the scouts scouting the border, the civilians fleeing back to Han territory, or even the captured Jurchen traitors, they all say the same thing," Yuan Keli began slowly, each word carrying immense weight. "Moreover, on the fifteenth of this month, I received a military report from Zhenjiang in Huangzhou. The report stated that the Jurchen traitors launched a massive attack simultaneously on Fenghuang, Tangzhan, Zhenjiang, and other places. The entire Liaodong region was engulfed in flames, with cannon fire never ceasing. Although the report did not list casualty figures, it was enough to confirm that the Jurchen traitors had indeed deployed a large force in the Kuandian and Zhenjiang areas."

“I see,” Zhang Wan said solemnly, bowing to Yuan Keli. “Thank you for your guidance, sir.”

(End of this chapter)