The fifty-eighth episode: Liu Chenglong ran to rescue, and Li Sunsin joined the army in white

When Yi Sunsin was arrested, his subordinate officers stopped him one after another, and he was dismissed by Yi Sunsin, and Yi Sunsin was arrested and sent to the forbidden mansion, and everyone in the barracks could not cry. Yi Doo-su and Kim Ying-nam recommended Won Gyun to replace Yi Sun-sin as the commander of the Sandao Naval Army to the Korean king Yi Hao, because North Korea often compared Yi Sun-sin and Won Jun, Yi Hao couldn't make a decision for a while and asked Kim Ying-nam's opinion, and Kim Ying-nam said: "Yi Sun-sin is indeed a usable general, but Won Gyun is also innocent." A brave and outstanding person, and there are many meritorious deeds, the minister thinks that he can serve as the commander of the three water armies. ”

Yi Dosu recommended again: "Not only that, Yuan Jun is a person who is loyal to the king's order, Yuan Jun is different from Yi Sunsin, and he will be a loyal minister who will not hesitate to obey any order of His Royal Highness, regardless of the sword mountain and the sea of fire." "The Joseon king Yi Hao was persuaded by Ito Su and Kim Yingnan to appoint Wonjun as the new commander of the Sandao Water Army. After Yi Sun-sin was escorted to Hanyang, Won Gyun came to ridicule him, and after Won Gyun's ridicule, Yi Sun-sin only asked Won Gyun to treat the sailors well, and moving the fleet needed to be carefully considered. Yuan Jun agreed.

In Busanpo, Ukita Hideie, Kuroda Rusui, and Konishi Yukicho celebrated the resignation of Yi Sunsin, and Ukita Hideya smiled, "Until today, I finally felt that the sharp thorn that had been stuck in my throat was finally pulled out, and I was extremely happy!" Governor Konishi was also excited: "Captain, your description is still inaccurate, it's not a thorn, but the roadblock has been completely removed!" ”

Kuroda Rushui said: "Now that Yi Sunsin has been removed, we will be unimpeded by the sea, and the eight roads of Korea are at our fingertips, so we should immediately report to His Royal Highness Taige to issue a general attack order, and it is best to capture Korea before the arrival of the Ming army!" Ukita Hideya agreed.

Suddenly, Kiyomasa Kato came angrily: "Yukihiro Konishi! You little thief, you dare to hide from me and use me as bait! What kind of rhetoric have you used to deceive His Highness Taiko! I see that you wish you could see me annihilated by Yi Sunsin! ”

Although Governor Konishi was overjoyed in his heart, he immediately got up and comforted: "Kato, why are you impulsive, this is a strategy to get rid of Li Sunsin, I know very well that Li Sunsin will never attack, and now you are not injured, and Li Sunsin has also been eliminated, isn't it very good!" Kato, you've done a great job. ”

Kato Kiyomasa couldn't bear to work with Konishi Yukicho anymore: "What are you talking about, Konishi Yuki, I beg you, I can no longer live under the same sky as you, let's go outside and make a decision, no matter who lives or dies, there is only one person left!" ”

Governor Konishi said sharply: "His Royal Highness Taige has long known the purpose of using you as bait, if you don't believe it, you can ask His Highness Taige directly, if His Highness Taige doesn't know anything, I am willing to accept your invitation to duel." ”

Kuroda advised: "You two don't quarrel anymore. Kato, your prestige has also spread throughout Korea, and it is precisely because of this that Korea will be like a great enemy, and it will make the kings and ministers of Korea extremely angry after Yi Sunsin's disobedience. So you'd have been unscathed. In the future, His Royal Highness Taige is still waiting for your good news, and you have to go all out. Kato Kiyomasa saw Kuroda speak like water, so he didn't make any more mistakes.

After Yi Sunsin was imprisoned, Liu Chenglong went to visit, but the officials did not dare to let him go, but fortunately, with the guarantee of the prince Guanghaijun, Liu Chenglong was able to meet Yi Sunsin. Yoo Sung-ryong tearfully apologized to Yi Sunsin, and Yi Sunsin said: "Your Excellency, you don't have to blame yourself, I also knew that this would be the case, and I also knew that His Royal Highness would put me to death, even if you came forward, it would be useless, and you know this very well, my lord." My lord, I would like to ask you one thing, not to make any arguments for me. ”

Liu Chenglong couldn't bear to see death and not save him, and Li Sunsin said that his life and death were not in the hands of the king but in the hands of Yuan Jun, Liu Chenglong said: "You mean that if Yuan Jun guards the sea, you will be executed." If Yuanjun is defeated by the Japanese at sea, His Royal Highness and the court can only rely on you for naval battles, and you will live. Is that what it means? ”

Yi Sunsin replied, "That's right, but if Won-kyun can hold the sea, even if I die, I can turn a blind eye." I beg you once again, sir, not to come forward for me under any circumstances, for if it affects you, my lord, then there is really no hope for this country. Before you rebuild the mountains and rivers, please be sure to take care of them, please be sure to keep them in mind. I am most worried about my frightened mother, and if I die, I will not be able to fulfill my filial piety, and I will have to worry about the adults to take care of me. Liu Chenglong agreed.

After Yi Sunsin was tortured, Kim Ying-nam, the left councilor, asked why he did not obey the order, and Yi Sun-sin replied: "The information sent by Governor Konishi is that Kato Kiyomasa will attack on the 11th day of the first month, but in fact Kato Kiyomasa arrived a day early, which is a trap, so he cannot send troops." ”

Jin Yingnan asked: "That's just the final result, what if it's a day or two?" Kato Kiyomasa's attack on Seishengura is a fact, the king's order requires the enemy to be blocked at sea, and your disobedience and arrogance are your great sin! ”

Yi Sunsin asked, "Has His Royal Highness and the Left Prime Minister seen the thieves?" The head of the thief must have seen it, but he has never seen the cunning and cruelty of the thief. The situation on the battlefield was very different from the reports heard at the imperial court, and if the generals were not careful, they would surely lose the lives of the entire army. Incompetent generals are far more terrible than the enemy, Lord Zuo, I am not disobedient, but I am worried that the soldiers will die in vain, if this is a crime, I am willing to die. ”

Jin Yingnan was furious: "Bastard, are you saying that His Royal Highness the Lord wants to cut off the whole army!" Sophists! Hopeless! Kim Ying-nam ordered the trial to continue. Liu Chenglong asked the prince Guanghaijun to ask the two Taiwan officials to come forward, and Liu Chenglong pleaded: "Your Majesty, the ministers of the imperial court are now standing together because of Yi Sunsin, and it will be of great help if the Taiwan officials can come forward at this time." Your Majesty, you also know that Yi Sunsin is not only a loyal minister, but also a hero who protects the country, and does not His Majesty also regard Yi Sunsin as a true loyal minister, and must not let Yi Sunsin die unjustly. ”

The prince replied, "What power can I have?" His Highness had already made up his mind that it was too late to overturn the case. Please also take the prime minister back, and don't be implicated in this matter. When Liu Chenglong heard this, he was willing to pay the price and asked again: "Your Majesty, the minister knows that you are dissatisfied with the minister's previous behavior, but if you can help, the minister will owe the palace a life, and no matter what private requests in the future, the minister will agree." Yi Sunsin is the life of North Korea, please be sure to rescue him. The prince still refused, and Liu Chenglong had to retire.

The next day, the prince discussed Liu Chenglong's intention with Liu Zu and Li Erzhan, and Liu Zu smiled and said: "The Prime Minister is a brazen person, and he ignored us when he was restored to power, and now Li Sunsin is in prison but comes to beg for help, which is really incredible." His majesty must not agree to Liu Chenglong's invitation. ”

Shizi said: "But I want to help, not because Yoo Sung-ryong, but because I also know that Yi Sun-sin, he is a loyal minister without selfishness, and he is a good general who can protect the country and defeat the Japanese invaders, and of course he should be preserved." Li Erzhan persuaded: "It is a hero for the people, but not for His Highness, this is the problem, even if he is a loyal minister and a good general, disobeying the order of the lord is no different from establishing himself as a king, it is a great taboo for the king, and His Royal Highness wants to execute Yi Sunsin for this reason." The prince asked Li Erzhan what would happen if he had to choose between the people and him one day. Li Erzhan said that he would still follow the prince, and Liu Zuzhan also advised the prince not to interfere in this matter again.

On the other side, above the court, the courtiers were still arguing over Yi Sunsin, and the Joseon King Yi Hao was reclining on the throne with great impatience. Zheng Zhuo admonished: "Your Highness, if you continue to torture Li Sunsin, you will definitely die, although there are many generals in peacetime, but good generals are scarce in times of national disaster, and you must not execute Li Sunsin." In this regard, Li Hengfu and others also asked Li Hao for forgiveness, but Yi Doosu and others insisted that Yi Sunsin acted arbitrarily and unforgivable.

The king of Joseon, Yi Hao, said frankly: "Even if Yi Sunsin presents the head of Kato Kiyomasa to the widow now, the widow will never forgive him." Li Dexin and Li Yuanyi counted the merits and influence of Li Sunsin, and repeatedly begged Li Hao to be gracious.

Kim Ying-nam angrily rebuked: "Yi Sun-sin is just a general, if the generals can make their own decisions and ignore the king's orders based on their own merits and abilities, where is the outline of national law?" Planned peace talks? Just like being self-reliant, North Korea will eventually become a plate of scattered sand. Therefore, it must be severely punished! Zheng Zhuo again asked Li Hao to only punish him severely and not to death, so that he could make meritorious contributions to his crimes in the future. Li Hao no longer wanted to listen to Li Sunsin's controversy, so he drank and ordered the courtiers to retreat.

Yoo Sung-ryong ran around to save Yi Sunsin, visited Yi Doosu late at night and resigned from the imperial court to implore Yi Tosu to save Yi Sunsin's life. Yi Dosu politely refused: "Prime minister, I am not a person who can make political transactions, and the question about Yi Sunsin is not because of disagreement with the prime minister. It is because Yi Sunsin has crossed the bottom line of His Royal Highness and committed a big taboo. Yi Sunsin's merits are indeed great, but he has violated the royal power, and his fault is too great, and it is very difficult to achieve it if he wants His Highness to change his mind. After that, Yi Doushou didn't say anything more and sent Liu Chenglong out of the house.

Liu Chenglong was so anxious that he resigned in exchange for Li Sunsin's life. After Li Hao read it, he felt bored in his chest, so he came to Jin Guiren to relieve it. Jin Guiren arranged a meal to appease Li Hao, Li Hao looked up and saw that a new bird cage was added to the Jin Guiren's dormitory, and Jin Guiren placed it here because of loneliness.

Jin Guiren said: "The Japanese will invade, the people of the country are in turmoil, and the concubines are also very worried. Please don't blame your concubines too much. The birds in the birdcage are not only beautiful, but sometimes they also wake up the sleeping concubines, who sometimes really want to kill them. I also thought about not killing them, and I often did this repeatedly, and His Highness laughed. Li Hao smiled and said that it was better not to raise it.

Jin Guiren said: "Your Highness, aren't you the same? Since he wanted to kill him, why did he entrust Yi Sunsin with a heavy task in the first place. Like the birds in a cage, they make me happy and resentful, but the concubines cannot kill them, for they will regret it if they want to hear the melodious cry again. ”

Li Hao said coldly: "Are you using this as a metaphor between the widow and Li Sunsin?" Did Yoo Jack-ryong come to you and promise you some deal to help rescue Lee Sun-sin! Jin Guiren hurriedly explained, and Li Hao said angrily: "The advice of the nobles was a good medicine for the widow for a while, but this time the widow will never forgive Li Sunsin no matter what!" Li Hao said and walked away. Seeing this, Jin Guiren could only make Shang Gong report to the prince and failed to convince Li Hao.

Li Hao was looking up at the night sky alone in the palace and was bored, so he called Liu Chenglong and asked: "The widow asks you, if Li Sunsin is executed by the widow, you don't feel the need to stay with the widow anymore, is this the original intention of your resignation?" ”

Liu Chenglong replied: "How dare the minister shield the sinner Yi Sunsin, all this is because the minister is incompetent, and the minister thinks that the minister is no longer qualified to continue to serve His Highness." Li Hao said angrily: "The war is not over yet!" It was you who made the widow start to reform, but you had to leave irresponsibly, and the widow would not allow it, and you would have to take all the responsibility until the war was over! ”

Liu Chenglong asked Li Hao if he trusted him? The corners of Li Hao's mouth twitched slightly when he was suddenly asked, and he said that he trusted. Liu Chenglong said: "Then why don't you trust Yi Sunsin, if he causes a rebellion like Li Menghe, the minister will definitely cut off Yi Sunsin's head with a knife, and never let him destroy the country and harm His Highness." However, His Highness did not trust either the minister nor Yi Sunsin, and only chose to use and discard it as needed, and if Yi Sun-sin became a traitor one day, then the minister who recommended the traitor would also be regarded as a traitor, and the minister would have to leave. Liu Chenglong said that he turned around and left, leaving the king of Joseon alone, Li Hao, upset.

Zheng Zhuo and others went up to ask Li Sun-sin to be guilty of meritorious service overnight, and Li Hao thought hard about it, and finally went to the prison in the middle of the night to announce to Li Sun-sin that he could be spared from death, and that he needed to be sent to the white-clothed army under the command of Marshal Quan Li. However, Li Hao had other conditions, so that Yi Sunsin had to die on the battlefield. With tears in his eyes, Yi Sun-sin vowed to die with the Japanese army. The news of Yi Sunsin's release soon spread throughout the country, and the DPRK and China were full of relief or surprise at this.

After Yuan Jun was appointed as the commander of the Sandao Water Army, he only knew how to drink and have fun every day on Xianshan Island, and the soldiers in the barracks did not think about training and had nothing to do, and they only drank and gambled every day for recreation. Yi Sunsin's old generals dared to be angry but did not dare to speak out, and the Korean naval army gradually declined.

After the news of Yi Sunsin's deposition reached Nagoya in Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi smiled and said, "I really wonder if the head of this Joseon king is empty, why do you want to cut off one of your arms, not afraid of dying of excessive blood loss?" Maeda Toshiie said with a smile: "The king of Joseon seems to be a very suspicious person, and he will never tolerate people who are loved and stronger than him by the people, who are self-assertive, and who threaten his position. ”

Hideyoshi praised: "In this way, the king of Joseon is the most loyal person to me, and after the conquest of Korea, he must give the king of Joseon a great reward." Maeda Toshike smiled: "That's natural, but it may not be possible, I'm afraid that when Kato conquered Korea, he accidentally killed the king of Joseon by mistake, and His Royal Highness Taiko could only bury him with a monument." ”

Hideyoshi laughed out loud when he heard this, and at this time Ishida Mitsunari came to report that he had gathered 600 warships and could prepare the whole army to go into battle. Hideyoshi was worried about whether the naval generals who succeeded Yi Sun-sin had the same talents as Yi Sun-sin, and Ishida Mitsunari replied: "The new commander of the Korean naval army is named Won Gyun, please do not worry about this person, this person will surely be defeated in every battle against us alone in the Battle of Bunroku, this person is mediocre and incompetent, and his talents are far below that of Yi Sunsin." Hideyoshi was overjoyed and ordered to prepare for the expedition.

Hideyoshi turned to Maeda Toshiya and said, "Matashiro, I had a dream last night, and my mother, who was holding Tsurumatsu, held my hand and always said that she wanted to go with me to enjoy the cherry blossoms. Maeda Toshiya was suddenly frightened and stopped talking.

At the same time, the Ming Dynasty took Ma Gui as the chief military officer, commanded the northern and southern armies, took Yang Hao as the imperial history of the capital, and passed through the military affairs of Korea. The first batch of Ming troops to Korea was led by Ma Gui, Yang Yuan, Chen Yuzhen, Wu Weizhong, Mao Guoqi and other generals, with a total of 30,000 horses, and Li Hualong, the governor of Liaodong, was responsible for receiving military supplies. According to the imperial edict, Yang Hao rushed to Korea to preside over the defense of the defense by Yang Hao, and the army of Xingjie and Magui followed. And Xing Jie ordered Ma Gui to go first on the way to North Korea, and he deliberately changed his route to visit Ning Yuanbo and Li Chengliang.

Li Chengliang couldn't help but be surprised when he heard that Xing Jie's visit, and hurriedly welcomed him into the lobby and asked why? Xing Jie said: "Ning Yuan Bojiu Town Liaodong, outside the Wei Zhen Plug, the prosperity of the border general's martial arts is only Ning Yuanbo, the door of the tiger, Ning Yuanbo's sons are all for the Ming Dynasty to make meritorious contributions, the family is prominent, the pillar of the country, how can Liaodong not come to visit now." ”

Li Chengliang said with a smile: "The superintendent has won the award, I am still guilty of it, how dare I talk about the past merits, you don't want to make fun of it, the dogs in the family can be stationed at the border for the Ming Dynasty is also within their part, and the occasional meritorious service is also the emperor's blessing, and I also ask what the superintendent has to teach here?" ”

Xing Jie sat down and asked Li Chengliang: "Ning Yuanbo was impeached for his military exploits, I don't know if it's true or not, and I'm not here to talk about this matter today, it is an indisputable fact that you have contributed to the Ming Dynasty, you don't have to worry about it, sooner or later the emperor will favor the Li family again." I am here for the affairs of North Korea, now the Japanese invaded Korea again, I have long heard that the Japanese are cunning and vicious, your eldest son Li Rusong is also the chief military officer of the previous time and the Japanese have fought several bloody battles, I must have told you a lot after returning to Liaodong. Ning Yuanbo has been in battle for a long time, has a unique vision, and is eager to give advice on the matter of fighting against the Japanese invaders. ”

Li Chengliang took a sip of tea, moved to the door, thought for a moment and then replied: "I really heard him say that the Japanese are short in stature, weak in armor, and lack of cavalry. If you talk about the method of warfare, there is almost no chance of winning in close combat with our army, and if the terrain is open, you only need to make good use of the Liaodong Iron Cavalry to charge and kill it a few times. Therefore, in the field battle, the Japanese are good at surprise attacks and ambushes between the mountains and forests, and the sword technique is strange, which often has miraculous effects. The cavalry in the mountains and forests could not be deployed, but the mandarin duck formation practiced by Qi Jiguang in close combat was a Japanese tactic, and our army was brave and fierce, and it was not difficult to win. In order to make up for their own disadvantages, the Japanese army used dense firepower to deal with the battle situation, fortunately, the power of our artillery was beyond the Japanese army, and in the event of a major war, fire suppression was extremely important, and it was necessary to give priority to disrupting its firearms queue in order to defeat. If you talk about strategy, it all depends on the general's impromptu use. The most difficult part is that when the Japanese are defending the city, I heard the dog say that the Japanese are the best at defending the city, and there are very few people who can inflict heavy blows on the city with my Ming artillery. The battlefield is changing rapidly, and the overseer needs to make a decision before the battle. If it is difficult to win quickly, wait for the opportunity to cut off their grain routes, defeat their water army, besiege the city, and encroach on and pressure should be the best policy. ”

Xing Jue thought deeply about this, and even invited Li Chengliang to take a seat: "What Ning Yuanbo said is useful, and I also think so, during the previous Eastern Expedition and Ningxia Rebellion, the court and the central government recommended to the emperor to use Ning Yuanbo to take command again, although it was not approved, but in the emperor's heart, Ning Yuanbo is still very important, not to mention that the sons of the Li family are also good generals in the world. After this battle, I will also meet the emperor again to speak for Ning Yuanbo. ”

Li Chengliang got up and thanked him: "The superintendent has thanked me, the superintendent doesn't have to be like this, I am seventy years old, and I have no heart for fame and fortune. Most of the dogs have reached adulthood, and it is time for them to dedicate themselves to the country. In this crusade, the Li family will do their best to expel the Japanese and wish the superintendent a triumphant return. Xing Jie said goodbye the next day after the dinner in Li Chengliang's mansion that day.