Di Ming

Chapter 306 Warming the Bed for the Angel

Yi Yeon quickly said pitifully, "The grain has long been looted and burned by the Japanese pirates, and the country's grain reserves have been exhausted for many days. Gwanghaegun's 50,000-strong army in Pyongan Province is also unable to make any progress due to the lack of food."

"My lord's Yizhou temporary residence has over a hundred officials, over a hundred concubines and palace maids, and over five hundred accompanying soldiers. The provisions for these eight hundred people still need to be supplied by the Celestial Empire across the river..."

Zhu Yin knew that most of the grain in Korea was burned by the Koreans themselves, and only a small portion was taken by the Japanese army.

Not only did they destroy food supplies, they even burned their own warships to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.

This was because the North Korean army was defeated too quickly and did not have time to move the grain, so they had to burn it themselves.

This tactic proved very effective. It forced the invading Japanese pirate army in Korea to halt its fierce offensive due to lack of supplies and inability to seize Korean food, thus giving Korea a precious respite.

The main reason why Korea was able to hold North Pyongan Province, with Crown Prince Gwanghaegun leading his troops to defend it, was because the Japanese army's front lines were too long and they were short of food.

Zhu Yin also knew that Prince Gwanghaejun definitely did not have 50,000 troops; 30,000 would be the maximum. The claim of 50,000 included 20,000 laborers.

But the laborers need to eat too. By all accounts, there are at least 50,000 mouths to feed under Gwanghae-gun.

Zhu Yin sneered inwardly, and said aloud:

"I have heard that the governor of Liaodong sends two boats of grain, as well as meat, vegetables, and fruits, every few days. Your Highness only has eight hundred people here. Is that not enough to feed them?"

He had intelligence from Tiger Fang and already knew what was going on.

It turned out that after Yi Yeon fled to Uiju, he only had a few hundred soldiers left with him. The main force was in the hands of Crown Prince Gwanghae.

Some ministers questioned whether Gwanghaegun had "overstepped his authority to mobilize troops," and Ryu Seong-ryong even impeached Gwanghaegun for "doing military affairs arbitrarily," advising Yi Yeon-jun to "take King Hyeonjong as a warning."

Yi Yeon feared becoming a second Emperor Xuanzong, so he wanted to recruit soldiers again to strengthen the military forces at the temporary capital.

But all the available food had been given to those fighting against the Japanese pirates, including Gwanghaegun and Yi Sun-sin. What would he do when he had no food left?
So he set his sights on the grain aid from the Ming Dynasty, hoping that the Ming army in Jiangbei would provide more grain so that he could use it to recruit new soldiers.

Recruiting new soldiers was certainly the right thing to do. However, his main purpose in recruiting new soldiers was not to fight against the Japanese pirates, but to prevent his son from seizing power.

Your intentions are impure!

Li Yin was quite straightforward. Seeing Zhu Yin's doubts, he knew that this man could not hide the truth, so he simply stopped pretending and said directly:
“There was enough to eat originally, but there were many righteous people in the vicinity of the capital who were eager to serve the king and fight against the Japanese pirates, but they were suffering from a lack of food. They were all Korean people, the subjects of the young prince, so how could we bear to see them starve to death? We could only share our resources with them, and the capital was short of food.”

Before Zhu Yin could speak, the deputy envoy Zheng Guowang spoke up:
"Your Highness, this is hardly relief for the people of Yizhou. Isn't Your Highness recruiting new soldiers? Ping'an North Province is still under Your Highness's control, with hundreds of thousands of people. Why can't you collect enough grain? Why do you still need the Ming Dynasty to transport grain?"

"Your Highness, are you aware that Liaodong is already short of food and needs aid from within the Great Wall? A shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain transported from the Central Plains thousands of miles away to Liaodong and then to Korea will at most yield only 40% of its original weight! And that doesn't even include horse feed! How significant is this loss?"

"Given such a long distance, for the Ming Dynasty to supply Your Highness with one shi of grain, it actually costs three or four shi of grain! Has Your Highness considered this calculation?"

Zhu Yin nodded upon hearing this.

Zheng Guowang's estimate was not an exaggeration at all. Transporting grain over long distances meant that both the laborers and livestock needed to eat. The losses along the way were staggering.

Therefore, famous generals throughout history have emphasized obtaining supplies from the enemy and have avoided transporting supplies over long distances.

Transporting by sea is the most economical option. However, the Japanese army now controls the seas, and the oceans are filled with Japanese pirate warships. Sending supplies by sea would mostly be for Japan, which would not only fail to aid Korea but would also aid the enemy.

Ryu Seong-ryong quickly said, "The grain from Pyonganbuk-do has all been plundered and given to Prince Gwanghae. There isn't even enough grain for the troops at the front, so how can we support the imperial camp? Your Highness is willing to suffer yourself so that the soldiers fighting the Japanese can be put to rest. We thought the Celestial Empire was just north of the river, and that it would be delivered once we crossed the river."

Hearing Liu Chenglong's words, Zhu Yin couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

In truth, it was the Ming Dynasty that was so disappointing!
What a load of rubbish about guarding the nation's borders! Zhu Di's descendants are all useless. So much fertile black soil in Liaodong, and they just left it to the Jurchens!
For seven or eight generations, not a single decent and wise ruler has emerged.

Northeast China has never been grassland or desert; it has had fertile plains since ancient times. Otherwise, how could the Yan state during the pre-Qin period, the Murong Yan state during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the Bohai state, known as the prosperous state of the East China Sea, have become so powerful?
Two thousand years ago, the small state of Yan was able to expand its territory by thousands of miles in Liaodong, establishing two major prefectures and occupying what would later become Liaoning Province and the eastern part of Inner Mongolia.

With the addition of Liaodong, a major granary, the State of Yan was able to almost destroy Qi and briefly become a hegemon.

However, the descendants of Zhu Di, the mighty Ming Dynasty, established a Liaodong Regional Military Commission under the administration of Shandong a thousand or two years later, which consisted of only a military town. Not only were there no prefectures or counties, but the area under their actual control was also smaller than that of the Yan Kingdom.

Right under their noses, so many fertile plains have become the Jurchens' so-called "old lands." Isn't that both tragic and laughable?

If we had developed the Northeast, even just Liaoning in later generations, and restored it to the level of the Yan state, we wouldn't have needed supplies from within the Great Wall for military provisions. We could even have provided support to the region within the Great Wall.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yin replied perfunctorily:

"Your Highness, rest assured, General Hao has already said that the allocation of grain to Your Highness will be increased. In a few days, there will be even more grain. His Majesty has also issued an edict allocating 20,000 taels of silver to Your Highness as military pay." Zhu Yin's first statement was pure fabrication, but the latter was true.

Emperor Wanli did indeed intend to reward the King of Joseon with silver (historical records). Although Wanli was greedy, Yi Yeon was, after all, the King of Joseon, and if the emperor did not offer any token of appreciation, he would lose face as the Son of Heaven.

Moreover, the King of Joseon sent people to offer tribute of more than 20,000 taels.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Imperial Envoy, thank you, General Hao..." Li Yen did not expect it to be so simple. Not only did General Hao decide to increase the grain supply, but the emperor also wanted to reward him with 20,000 taels of silver.

Zheng Guowang couldn't help but glance at Zhu Yin, thinking to himself that Zhu Zhihu was truly a smooth talker, lying without batting an eye, both appeasing the King of Joseon and outsmarting Hao Jie.

I am clearly older than him, so why don't I have this kind of flexibility?
She chimed in, "The Imperial Envoy is right. General Hao also said today that he would double the amount of provisions to support Your Highness's camp. The grain ships should cross the river within three days."

With both the chief and deputy envoys saying this, the Korean king and his officials were immediately relieved and beamed with smiles, having no doubts whatsoever.

It wasn't a waste of time to cry.

Zhu Yin changed the subject and asked, "Your Highness, how many troops are still fighting against the Japanese pirates in Korea? How many new recruits have they trained?"

Yi Yeon replied, "The land and naval forces together number thirty to forty thousand. We are currently recruiting new soldiers and rebuilding the Imperial Guard. Due to food shortages, we have only recruited a little over ten thousand new soldiers."

Zhu Yin immediately understood. Li Yin's words were largely consistent with the intelligence from Huya, so he was probably not lying.

That's about all the military power North Korea has now.

North Korea is similar to a smaller version of the Ming Dynasty, but its system is more like that of the Ming Dynasty during the Hongwu era. Militarily, it emulated the Five Military Commissions and established the Five Guards General Headquarters, which commanded a central imperial guard of 20,000 men.

Secondly, there was the navy of over ten thousand men.

Unlike the Ming Dynasty, Korea had an independent, standing navy and attached great importance to it. The Korean navy was divided into three major naval battalions and was relatively well-equipped, actually stronger than the Ming navy, which was hastily assembled during wartime.

Then there was the military supervisory army of over ten thousand men, a new army trained according to Qi Jiguang's methods. It was a mobile force of Korea, equipped with cavalry and firearms.

These are North Korea's three main forces, totaling only about 40,000 to 50,000 troops, definitely not exceeding 50,000.

In addition to the Imperial Guard, the Navy, and the Supervisory Army, Joseon also had the Inner Guard, the Special Warriors, and the Assassin Corps.

The palace and royal family were guarded by eight hundred inner guards, equivalent to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and other imperial guards.

The samurai numbered approximately 500, equipped with firearms, crossbows, and poisoned arrows, essentially forming a special operations force.

Finally, there's the assassin team. The North Korean assassin team consists of three hundred people, very similar to Japanese ninjas. They are fluent in Japanese and Jurchen, and are responsible for infiltration, espionage, assassination, defection, and spreading rumors. Essentially, they are a special operations force.

Today, most of the tens of thousands of main forces of the Korean Empire have been wiped out by the Japanese army, with only Yi Sun-sin's navy still holding on.

On land, the main force fighting the Japanese pirates turned into a militia composed of local Korean soldiers. These 20,000 militia were under the command of Crown Prince Gwanghaegun.

However, the Japanese army's situation was also not good.

The main predicament for the Japanese army was the lack of food. The Japanese army advanced too quickly, reaching Hamgyong Province from Busan in just two months. The battle line was too long, and the food brought from Japan had been exhausted.

The Japanese army originally intended to seize the enemy's food supplies, but Korea burned all the grain and fodder in various places, and the people had no food stored in their hands.

The Japanese army then carried out massacres and plundered the food supplies of the Korean people. However, food remained scarce.

Therefore, the Japanese army had no choice but to suspend its full-scale offensive and wait for supplies to arrive from the rear.

Otherwise, Korea would have already been destroyed by now.

……

That night, Zhu Yin stayed at the Buddhist temple, while outside it was dark and stormy.

Everyone couldn't help but worry that the road ahead would be difficult.

As night deepened, a clear, soft voice suddenly came from outside:
“Angel, it’s late autumn and chilly. I, Li Shanxian, have come to warm your bed.”

P.S.: I'm not feeling well today, so that's all I can write for now. Goodnight.

(End of this chapter)