The Ming Dynasty: The Iron-Blooded Martial Emperor, Who Slaughtered the World

Chapter 144 Mobilizing the Army and Heading to Korea!

After staying in the capital for several days without making any progress, the Korean delegation led by Cheng Xiyan had no choice but to return to Korea.

This time, however, a team of imperial physicians from the Ming Dynasty accompanied them back to Korea.

Cheng Xiyan actually tried many ways to get rid of the group of Ming Dynasty imperial physicians who had returned to Korea with them, but none of them worked.

The only solution now is to prevent these imperial physicians from seeing Li, or rather, from seeing the real Li.

Cheng Xiyan has come up with two ideas. The first is to find a patient to impersonate Li, and the second is to simply go all the way and get rid of Li!

Surely these imperial physicians of the Ming Dynasty couldn't bring a dead person back to life?

With this in mind, Cheng Xiyan led everyone on their journey back to Korea.

Shortly after Cheng Xiyan and the others left the capital, two eunuchs from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs also left the capital.

One went to Datong Prefecture, and the other went to Dengzhou Guard.

Datong Prefecture.

Ling Luoshi stood on the command platform, watching the soldiers in front of him constantly practicing with their flintlock muskets.

"preparation!"

"put!"

"Bang bang bang!"

With a series of loud gunshots, the straw dummies in front of the soldiers were blasted to pieces.

Immediately afterwards, the soldiers quickly reloaded and launched another volley of fire.

Next comes the third round, then the fourth round —

Ling Luoshi nodded in satisfaction, quite pleased with the speed at which his soldiers had mastered the flintlock muskets.

This speed was much faster than he had originally expected.

With such a powerful weapon, the fighting strength of his army will increase exponentially!

A surge of pride welled up in Ling Luoshi's heart. With such an army, no country could stop their advance!

Just then, a fast horse rushed into the military camp of Datong Prefecture.

"Imperial edict! Imperial edict!"

The eunuch, holding aloft the bright yellow imperial edict, shouted in all directions, "His Majesty commands that General Ling Luoshi, the one who has been frightened, receive this decree!"

Another imperial edict?!

Ling Luoshi looked somewhat surprised. It had only been a month since they returned to Datong Prefecture after the full moon that night.

In such a short time, His Majesty has issued new orders.

It seems that after the incident on the night of the full moon and after Ling Xiaodao entered the palace, His Majesty has gradually begun to trust him, which is a great thing for him.

Ling Luoshi strode up to the eunuch who was delivering the imperial decree, clasped his hands, knelt down, and accepted the decree.

"Your humble servant, Ling Luoshi, obeys the decree!"

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict opened it and loudly proclaimed, "By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:..."

"Feng Lingluoshi was appointed General Who Conquers the West, leading 50,000 troops from Datong and 100,000 troops from the capital to conquer Korea."

"So be it!"

"Your humble servant, Ling Luoshi, receives the imperial decree!"

Ling Luoshi became excited. He stood up, took the imperial edict, and a cruel smile appeared on his face.

Just as he wished, Zhu Houzhao ordered him to lead his troops to Korea. He had just wanted to test the power of the new weapon when Zhu Houzhao ordered him to do so.

Ling Luoshi was eager to test the power of the new firearms on the front lines.

After Ling Luoshi received the imperial edict, the eunuch who delivered the edict took out a handwritten edict from Zhu Houzhao from his bosom and handed it to Ling Luoshi.

"General Ling, this is His Majesty's edict."

"it is good."

Ling Luoshi took Zhu Houzhao's edict and immediately opened it to read. Inside was Zhu Houzhao's explanation of the reasons for this operation and his general arrangements.

As for how to win the war once it actually starts, that's Ling Luoshi's responsibility.

Ling Luoshi accepted the imperial edict and written order, turned around and walked to the command platform, issuing the command: "Summon all soldiers immediately, I have something to say."

"Yes, General!"

Upon receiving the order, Xiao Jianseng immediately summoned all the garrison soldiers of Datong Prefecture and assembled them at the drill ground.

At this time, the garrison of Datong Prefecture numbered approximately 120,000. As the most important military stronghold among the nine border towns, Datong Prefecture consistently had the largest garrison of all the nine border towns.

With 120,000 people gathering at the same time, it should have taken a considerable amount of time.

However, the army under Ling Luoshi's command was disciplined and highly skilled in military matters. In just a quarter of an hour, the 120,000-strong army stood in the training ground, awaiting Ling Luoshi's orders.

"Soldiers of Datong Prefecture, a small vassal state of Korea has actually launched a coup without prior consultation with His Majesty the Emperor, and has placed the legitimately appointed King of Korea under house arrest by the Ming Dynasty."

"And that King of Korea was also His Majesty's father-in-law."

"Now the Korean envoys are deceiving His Majesty and attempting to trick him into bestowing the title of their new king."

"With such outrageous behavior, does North Korea still consider itself a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, do you condone such disrespectful behavior from Korea?!"

After Ling Luoshi finished speaking, the 120,000 Ming soldiers roared in unison like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down.

"No way!"

"Fellow soldiers, we are paid by the Ming Dynasty and we eat the Ming Dynasty's rations."

"Now there is a small vassal state that is challenging the authority of the Ming Dynasty and deceiving His Majesty. As subjects of the Ming Dynasty, what should we do?!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Accompanied by a chilling, murderous aura, this battle-hardened army, which had returned from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, unleashed a fierce fighting spirit.

"very good!"

Ling Luoshi smiled with satisfaction, but a chilling killing intent also flashed in his eyes.

"His Majesty has ordered me to lead 50,000 troops from Datong to conquer Korea!"

"This campaign against Korea is a long and arduous journey, with perilous conditions and the constant risk of death. Are you still willing to follow me into battle for Korea?!"

"willing!"

"willing!"

"willing!"

"good!"

Ling Luoshi immediately ordered: "Xiao Jianseng, you are in charge of selecting 50,000 Datong garrison troops to accompany me on the expedition."

Xiao Jianseng quickly accepted the order: "Yes, General!"

"Emperor Tang, after I leave for the campaign, you will remain in Datong to command the remaining troops and hold the city firmly!"

Emperor Taizong of Tang immediately clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Yes, General!"

For a time, the atmosphere in Datong Prefecture was thick with fighting spirit.

Ling Luoshi was no longer so worried about the safety of Datong Prefecture, because the three hundred rifled cannons on the city walls of Datong Prefecture would destroy any invading forces!

Ling Luoshi's mind was now completely occupied with how to win this war against Korea brilliantly.

Take North Korea over with minimal cost!

Dengzhou Guard.

Just as Ling Luoshi was mobilizing the Datong garrison in Datong Prefecture, Qi Jingtong, the Admiral of the Ming Navy, was training the new Ming Navy in Dengzhou Guard.

This is a true navy, a naval force capable of operating from small boats eighteen zhang long and large ships forty-four zhang long.

Since receiving Zhu Houzhao's order, Qi Jingtong has been working tirelessly to train these new-style Ming Dynasty naval forces.

-

To date, Qi Jingtong has trained more than 5,000 Ming Dynasty naval personnel.

At this moment, on the vast sea, Qi Jingtong and hundreds of Ming Dynasty naval personnel were aboard a large ship that was forty-four feet long.

Qi Jingtong stood at the bow of the ship, watching the modern naval personnel busily moving back and forth on the deck, constantly manipulating the dozens of breech-loading cannons on the deck.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A deafening cannon shot rang out, and the small fishing boats that were targeted in the distance were instantly shattered, blown to pieces by the powerful cannonballs.

Seeing this, Qi Jingtong smiled with satisfaction.

The purpose of their sea training was to improve the aiming ability of these Ming Dynasty naval gunners.

From this perspective, the results are encouraging.

In naval warfare, hitting a target the size of a fishing boat with a single salvo is already a very good aiming ability.

Just then, a warship eighteen zhang long was rapidly approaching their large ship.

The messenger on the warship climbed onto the gun pylon and kept waving flags to them, indicating that there was something important to report.

Qi Jingtong waved his hand and shouted, "Cease fire!"

The next moment, the continuous artillery fire indeed stopped, and the world returned to calm.

Qi Jingtong pointed to the warship approaching them: "Let them aboard."

"Yes, General!"

Under Qi Jingtong's command, the eighteen-zhang-long warship quickly arrived at the side of the ship and used a small boat and a basket to fetch the people from the ship.

A middle-aged man dressed as a eunuch began vomiting violently as soon as he stepped onto the deck.

Qi Jingtong looked at his attire and the bright yellow imperial edict behind him, and immediately understood. He quickly straightened his clothes and prepared to receive the edict.

Sure enough, after the eunuch who delivered the imperial decree vomited up everything in his stomach, he immediately wiped his face with his sleeve.

He raised the imperial edict behind him and said loudly, "Qi Jingtong, Admiral of the Ming Navy, hear the decree."

"Your humble servant obeys the decree."

The imperial eunuch unfolded the edict and announced loudly, "By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:..."

"Qi Jingtong is hereby appointed General Who Destroys the Barbarians, to lead the Ming Dynasty's navy on a naval expedition to attack Korea!"

Qi Jingtong's heart tightened, and he quickly accepted the imperial decree, saying, "Your humble servant accepts the decree, Your humble servant Qi Jingtong respectfully obeys Your Majesty's command!"

After Qi Jingtong got up, in addition to the imperial edict, the eunuch who delivered the edict also handed Qi Jingtong a handwritten edict from Zhu Houzhao.

Qi Jingtong immediately opened the edict and began to read it. Like Ling Luoshi's edict, this one also contained the reasons for the expedition and the general requirements for Qi Jingtong.

After receiving the imperial edict and the written order, Qi Jingtong felt far less excited than Ling Luoshi; instead, he felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

Because the day to test the Ming Dynasty's navy had finally arrived, and it was even sooner than he had imagined.

In this battle, the Ming navy he led could only win, not lose!

And it must be a glorious, magnificent victory!

Only in this way can he live up to Zhu Houzhao's strong support and not disappoint the high expectations Zhu Houzhao placed on him!

Qi Jingtong immediately ordered: "Lower the sails and return to port at full speed. Summon the entire Ming Navy; I have something to say!"

"Yes, General!"

Under Si Qijingtong's orders, the warships that had set sail quickly returned to the port of Dengzhouwei!