Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 240: Before all the Koreans are wiped out, my Great Ming will not retreat even a single step!
"Even Pi Island, with its natural sea advantage, cannot be defended; how much more so Korea? Liaonan is already in grave danger; where does our Great Ming have the extra troops to defend other countries?!"
The Jurchens have only retreated temporarily. Once they have figured out the strength of our army, they will surely come back with a vengeance. At that time, our efforts will be in vain, and we will suffer heavy losses. What will we do then?
"It would be better to take this opportunity to implement a scorched-earth policy and relocate all the people to southern Liaodong; that would be the best long-term strategy!"

"Millions of people live in the three southern provinces of North Korea. You think you can just relocate them like that?! The million people in southern Liaoning can't even feed themselves. Are you trying to starve millions of people in those two regions?!"

"Are we just going to retreat without doing anything? This time, the Korean people and soldiers have revolted. If we ignore it, we will surely lose their support, and next time they will resolutely follow the Jurchens to fight us! If we don't seize this opportunity given by Heaven, we will suffer the consequences. We will regret missing such a good chance!"

Arguments broke out again in the court. Actually, arguing is quite good; it makes things seem more lively. In the original timeline, when Emperor Diaozong was about to hang himself, he rang a bell to summon his ministers to discuss strategies for defending against the enemy. Only a few dozen people showed up; the others had either fled or stayed at home, preparing to welcome the new emperor. It was a truly tragic and miserable scene!

Zhu Youjian originally wanted to discuss with everyone how to digest the three provinces of Korea that he had inexplicably acquired. The focus of the debate was whether the Ming Dynasty should seize the land of the filial son. Although it would be very satisfying to do so, it was somewhat immoral and did not conform to Confucian ethics. However, he did not expect that whether or not it could be defended would become the difficult point.

Zhu Youjian was also somewhat hesitant because of what they said. What they said made a lot of sense, after all, the Jurchens were still alive!

Zhu Youjian looked at Zhu Xieyuan, the Minister of War. The old man frowned, raised his tablet, and said, "Your Majesty, our army indeed does not have enough troops to transfer to Korea, and the Han River is not a sufficient defense!"

The Ministry of War's opinion is not to defend! Zhu Youjian's heart sank.

“Maohe, you are mistaken!” The newly appointed Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong stepped forward. “Your Majesty, when my army constructed the Guan Jinning defense line and established the Dongjiang garrison, the righteous men of the Thirteen Mountains of Liaodong made invaluable contributions. Now that the Koreans have defected, our Great Ming cannot ignore this! As for the lack of troops, it is not entirely insurmountable. We can implement the strategy of ‘Koreans defending Korea’!”

Everyone was startled. Was this a fight between the newly appointed Grand Secretary and the Second Grand Secretary?! Had they really brought trouble upon themselves by letting Sun Chengzong return? Many faces in the court turned grim, while others, seemingly enjoying the spectacle, remained neutral and observed from the sidelines. Zhu Xieyuan raised an eyebrow, looking at Sun Chengzong with some suspicion. What, already stirring up trouble as soon as he returned?!

"Is the Grand Secretary going to follow the strategy of 'the Liao people defending Liao territory'? That seems rather impractical, doesn't it?" Zhu Xieyuan said calmly.

If the Koreans were capable of defending their territory, how could they have fallen to this state? If their ally Korea hadn't been so unreliable, Pi Island wouldn't have fallen, and Mao Wenlong wouldn't have needed to evacuate! Under those circumstances, the Jurchens probably wouldn't have dared to invade! The Ming Dynasty has saved Korea time and time again, but this thing is just an incompetent ruler!

Many people now believe that the imperial court allowed the Jurchens to grow stronger because the war against Japanese pirates and aid to Korea had drained the nation's resources and drawn the court's attention away from balancing the Jianzhou Jurchens. Zhu Xieyuan didn't believe that Sun Chengzong, with his limited knowledge, wouldn't understand these things. He felt that this fellow was just looking for trouble. He had been suffering from the wind and sand on the border and was now coming to the court to vent his anger and show off his power!

He still considered Korea a vassal state and didn't realize that the emperor actually wanted to annex it entirely. Zhu Youjian hadn't had time to hold a prior meeting; although he had this intention, he couldn't say it in front of so many people. In fact, many of the previous opponents were influenced by this crucial difference, since the enthusiasm for helping others and working for oneself is different.

Sun Chengzong was somewhat baffled by Zhu Xieyuan's hostility. Wasn't this discussion supposed to be a free-flowing discussion of strategy? Could it be that he had only been away from the court for a few years, and it had already become a place where certain powerful ministers held absolute power? How miserable must the emperor be then! Why didn't His Majesty speak to him? This was his disciple, and more importantly, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty—not someone that could be bullied by just any Tom, Dick, or Harry!
In fact, their animosity had deeper roots; this court session was merely the trigger. The Jisi Incident had a profound impact on the Ming Dynasty: before the war, the Ming had won consecutive victories, and the situation seemed extremely favorable, but suddenly, news arrived from the court that the Jurchens had even reached the gates of Beijing!

Winning all the time, then suddenly the capital is besieged—this doesn't make sense at all. The only plausible explanation seems to be that the court has been lying all along! It's very difficult for local officials to know the court's situation. During the defense of Beijing, the court was focused on fighting the enemy and put local affairs aside.

From the local perspective, the lack of a timely response proved that news from the capital was being blocked, and the emperor's fate was unknown! This caused enormous panic in the localities, with many even believing that the Ming Dynasty might be doomed, dying suddenly like the Jingkang Incident in the Northern Song Dynasty!

Sun Chengzong was naturally very worried in Shaanxi. He had already organized a large army and was preparing to personally lead it to the capital to defend the emperor, but Zhu Xieyuan refused!

"Shaanxi is so far away. By the time the Shaanxi infantry arrive in the capital, the battle will have been over long ago," was Zhu Xieyuan's thought at the time.

In his view, the situation in the capital region at that time seemed critical, but in reality it was a sure thing, with virtually no possibility of losing. The only challenge was how to win and how to win convincingly.

He was not entirely satisfied with the outcome of the defense of Beijing. The military strength of the Ming Dynasty was still too weak. If it had been during the Hongwu era, none of the 100,000-strong allied army of the Jurchens and the Southern Mongols would have escaped!
But Sun Chengzong was unaware of the situation in the capital. The military strength of the three border regions looked impressive on paper, but when he arrived in the region, he was truly disheartened! According to what he knew, the strength of the Guan Ning Army had also declined drastically after he left Liaodong! He was in great agony during that time, and he even suspected that Zhu Xieyuan had defected to the enemy and was deliberately refusing his request to lead troops back to reinforce the capital.

Although the enemy was eventually repelled, Sun Chengzong's prejudice against Zhu Xieyuan remained unresolved: as the Minister of War, Zhu should have borne the main responsibility for the Jisi Incident, and if he had any shame, he would have resigned long ago! When Zhu was defeated at Liuhe, he only lost a few hundred men, yet he was attacked by the masses and had no choice but to retire!

Zhu Xieyuan looked down on Sun Chengzong to some extent, thinking that Sun Chengzong was a hypocrite who only talked about military strategy on paper: He had not taken much money from the court in the southwest, yet he had quelled the She'an Rebellion. How come Sun Chengzong had wasted countless grains and mobilized the elite troops of various armies, yet he had accomplished such a disastrous result!

Zhu Youjian sensed tension. It seemed his two old men were about to fight. Was Sun Chengzong truly unfit for the court, and summoning him back a mistake? Zhu Youjian regretted calling his father back, wondering if he had made a terrible move. The factional strife in the Ming Dynasty had largely subsided; was it about to reignite because of Sun Chengzong?

At this critical moment, former Grand Secretary Bi Ziyan stepped forward to smooth things over, uttering a correct but ultimately meaningless statement: "There are advantages to defending and advantages to withdrawing. In fact, it is not difficult to transport supplies from the Ming Dynasty to Busan. In any case, Busan should be secured so that we can move forward or backward at will."

People tend to prefer compromises. Changing the task from defending the Jiangnan region of Korea to defending a small port completely changes the difficulty. Yuan Keli's campaign to recover Liaonan also demonstrates that a fleet can serve as a sea fortress for a port. Under the protection of naval guns, the pressure of defending a port is not too great. As a result, everyone echoed Bi Ziyan's words, calling them wise and prudent advice for governing the country.

Bi Ziyan's original intention was to mediate the dispute, but his status was inappropriate. As the former prime minister, was he expressing dissatisfaction with the new prime minister by saying such things? If Sun Chengzong humbled himself, would he no longer have to listen to him as the prime minister? The water in the court was getting muddier and muddier the more he stirred it up!

Zhu Youjian's head was buzzing. Could it be that the previous unity was only due to the immense external pressure that forced everyone to endure for the sake of the country? Now that the situation had improved and the Jurchens and bandits had been decimated, had their infighting nature resurfaced?

Trying to smooth things over won't solve the fundamental problem. Bi Ziyan said that Busan must be defended, but he didn't say whether or not to abandon the vast area south of the Han River. What Sun Chengzong and his people said also makes sense. The people of Joseon had finally mustered up the courage to resist the Jurchens and return to the Ming Dynasty. If we just ignore them, what will happen to them?
Control was definitely necessary. Zhu Youjian's answer was to defend; whether or not it could be successfully defended was another matter, but how to do so was another matter entirely. The emperor's statement ended the debate and also signified Zhu Xieyuan's defeat and Sun Chengzong's victory!
"Tsk tsk tsk, the Imperial Tutor is indeed worthy of being called the Imperial Tutor. The Emperor will definitely still favor him!" This was what everyone was thinking at the moment.

Zhu Xieyuan remained silent with a furrowed brow. Korea was too far from the Ming Dynasty and too close to the Jurchens. The land connecting the two was still occupied by the Jurchens. The Jurchens only needed to use 10,000 troops to guard the transportation routes to prevent the Ming Dynasty from sending reinforcements by land, while they could deploy no less than 50,000 troops to Korea.

If relying entirely on sea transport, transporting 50,000 troops would be unrealistic! Moreover, sea transport is unsafe. This time, the fact that nothing serious happened, but it was just a false alarm, almost crushed the emperor's spirit. If the ship had been carrying 50,000 elite troops and they had been wiped out, based on his understanding of the emperor, the emperor would probably have already started the southward relocation!

No matter how you look at it, Zhu Xieyuan couldn't see any possibility of success!

In fact, it was not appropriate to decide on military actions based on the court's calculations. Zhu Youjian was somewhat annoyed by their arguments, and decided to listen to Yuan Keli's opinion on how to deal with the Korean and Jiangnan regions. Although Yuan Keli said that they should defend, there was a big difference between passive and active defense. So he announced the end of the court session, but had not yet given an answer on whether or not to send troops to Korea.

After the court session, Sun Chengzong did not return to Wenyuan Pavilion, but instead went to the Qianqing Gate to request an audience. The White-pole Guards guarding the gate were not familiar with him, but they promised to inform him and he received a reply. Zhu Xieyuan then came over, and the two old men exchanged a glance and snorted!
The soldiers were quite familiar with Zhu Xieyuan, but they didn't let him in directly. Instead, they offered to inform him and ask him to wait. The special treatment from the White Guards made Sun Chengzong's expression unpleasant. To provoke him, Zhu Xieyuan deliberately made a very irritating face.

The two were summoned into the hall at the same time, and then, as if they were sulking, neither of them spoke first. Zhu Youjian said helplessly, "Both of you are my trusted ministers. If there is any misunderstanding, just talk it out face to face. Why make things difficult for each other?!"

"I did not make things difficult for him. Since His Majesty appointed me to head the Ministry of War, I must be responsible for military affairs. It is either yes or no. I truly do not understand what the Grand Secretary intends!" Zhu Xieyuan said in a deep voice.

Sun Chengzong was angered and said angrily, "Minister Zhu, are you saying that I know nothing about military affairs?!"

"One cannot be considered an expert in military affairs simply by reading a few military books," Zhu Xieyuan said calmly.

"You!" Sun Chengzong was so angry he almost fainted.

"Alright, alright, have some mercy on your words!" Zhu Youjian said with a hint of helplessness. "You two didn't come to me just to argue in front of me, did you? Let's get down to business first!"

Sun Chengzong said with a dark face, "Your Majesty, what I mean is that we should use the Koreans to wear down the Jurchens' military strength. The Koreans are not entirely useless. The Korean musketeers are unable to resist the Jurchens simply because their firearms are outdated and cannot penetrate armor. As long as we provide them with military equipment, send generals to train them, and have a great general lead them, they will be a fighting force."

Furthermore, any losses suffered by our army must be compensated, and every captured head must be rewarded. The Korean soldiers, on the other hand, only need three bowls of food a day to be willing to risk their lives for our Great Ming!

"The Annals of Korea says that Korean musketeers would fight for credit against small enemies, but would flee in disarray against large ones." Zhu Xieyuan poured a basin of water on the ground.

"Even if we cannot hold out in the end, inflicting some losses on the Jurchens would still be a good strategy!"

"Teacher, do you mean that as long as the Koreans are not all dead, our Great Ming will never retreat a single step?" Zhu Youjian felt that he understood, and an evil smile appeared on his face.

Sun Chengzong was dumbfounded. He hadn't meant it that way at all. The Koreans were quite obedient, though not very helpful. But what did the Emperor mean by that expression that made him want all the Koreans to die?

"Minister Zhu, let me be frank with you. I have no intention of restoring Korea to its former glory. Instead, I intend to annex it!" Zhu Youjian said in a low voice.

Zhu Xieyuan's eyes changed, and his whole demeanor turned sharp. He said in a sinister tone, "If Your Majesty intends this way, Li Zong cannot be kept alive. He must be made to die without an heir!"

"Uh!" Zhu Youjian was embarrassed. He hesitated for a moment and said, "It can't be that bad. Li Zong is still very respectful... and he even gave his daughter to me!"

"Could she be pregnant with a dragon's child?" Zhu Xieyuan asked, frowning.

Zhu Youjian replied, "Never."

"In that case, he can be killed!"

……

(End of this chapter)