Zhong Nan and the three of them have been in the pro-military camp for almost a month, and they have basically adapted to their new identity. The pro-soldier battalion is different from the previous infantry battalion, their main task on the battlefield is to protect the commander-in-chief, and at the same time, they also have the responsibilities of conveying orders and maintaining discipline during the operation, but during the non-combat period, the pro-soldier is a bit similar to the commander's family, so as long as there is no battle, the pro-soldier battalion does not have much fixed work content every day, except for accompanying the commander to go out, the rest are free to move in the barracks.

Although he has a lot of free time every day, Zhong Nan still trains every day, and has added a lot of training items, such as archery, riding, and fighting. As long as he doesn't go out on business, he practices for about two hours in the morning and afternoon; Even on days when I'm out of the house, I try to get two hours of training. Shi Changting was very optimistic about this new soldier who was strict with himself and never slackened, and personally taught him some skills of killing the enemy on the battlefield, which for a time led to the upsurge of training in the entire pro-soldier camp.

In mid-February, a nationwide shocking news came from Beijing - Shoufu Lord Zhang Juzheng passed away more than ten days ago, and for a time the government and the opposition were in turmoil. From the first year of Wanli to the current 20 years of Wanli, in the whole 20 years, the Ming Dynasty can be said to be borne by Zhang Juzheng, and the rise and fall of the entire dynasty is all on him, which is ten years longer than the original history, fortunately, the same is that the first assistant has achieved "Wanli Zhongxing". It's just that now that this pillar has fallen violently, plus the Empress Dowager Li is already old, and the great eunuch Feng Bao no longer has the right, the "three mountains" pressing on Zhu Yijun's head can no longer stop him from being in charge of the facts, I don't know where this will make the Ming Dynasty go, and will it gradually decline like the original history?

When he first heard about this bad news, Zhong Nan couldn't believe it, and it wasn't until all the people in the market were discussing it that he confirmed that Lord Shousuke was really gone. Zhang Juzheng plus Qi Jiguang, who passed away four years ago, and Zhong Nan, who loves to read historical stories, are familiar with the big figures of the Wanli Dynasty, and there are not many people alive now. Combing through these historical events, which are either the same or have changed, Zhong Nan knows that the Ming Dynasty may not be stable for too long.

No one expected the change to come so quickly, and in early March, Toyotomi Hideyoshi of the Wa Kingdom officially issued an order to officially set out for Korea with a total of 150,000 troops in nine regiments and more than 700 large and small ships. In less than 20 days, the Japanese army captured Seoul, the capital of Korea. More than 40 days later, all 18 provinces of Samdu (Seoul, Kaesong, and Pyongyang) fell, the two princes were captured, and even King Yi Hao fled to Uiju. For a time, the whole of Korea was under the clutches of the Japanese army, and Li Hao, who was in despair, hurriedly sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty for help.

At this time, North Korea was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and the younger brother was beaten, so it stands to reason that the eldest brother should help out, but there are many twists and turns. From May to mid-July, the entire imperial court was discussing whether to send troops to Korea, although Li Hao repeatedly sent people to lobby the various ministers, squires and other big figures, but Wanli never made up his mind to send troops to aid Korea. In addition, Zhang Juzheng has just passed away, and the distribution and reshuffle of power among the various factions in the DPRK and China have not yet ended, and no one can make a decision like the former Shoufu Lord.

The Korean people, who were in dire straits, watched the time drag on until the end of July, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ambitions swelled, demanding that the Ryukyus and the Philippines submit tribute to the Wa Kingdom, and the news reached the Ming Dynasty, which angered the Wanli Emperor and the ministers, and the Ming Dynasty had really felt the ambition of this Oriental strongman. "On the side of the couch, how can you allow others to sleep soundly"? Emperor Wanli naturally could not tolerate it, and Song Yingchang, who was the squire of the military department at the time, also went to the top: "Guan Bai's picture of North Korea really means China." I saved North Korea, not only for the sake of a vassal country. North Korea is solid, then the east protects Liaodong, and the Beijing division is in Mount Tai". Not only the Ministry of War, but also several scholars in the cabinet also advocated aiding the DPRK, and the viewpoint that "our soldiers should save Korea and protect China in real terms" was quickly deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the court basically reached a consensus that "the enemy should be met outside the country and not allowed to enter the country."

At the beginning of August, the Wanli Emperor issued an order and agreed to Li Hao's request to send troops, and sent the Liaodong guerrilla general Shi Ru to lead 2,000 cavalry to the expedition, and the deputy general Zu Chengxun to lead 3,000 cavalry to follow. How do you know that it is not good to go out of the division, first Shi Ru entered the vicinity of Pyongyang, because the road was unfamiliar, he was ambushed by mistake, and the firearms could not play a role in the rain, the entire cavalry battalion was wiped out, and Shi Ru died in battle. Later, Zu Chengxun led 3,000 cavalry to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and invaded Pyongyang, and then fell into street fighting, and was ambushed by 700 Japanese arquebusiers.

This ancestor Chengxun is not an ordinary cat and a dog (the famous general Zu Dashou at the end of the Ming Dynasty is his son), the ancestral family is a family of Liaodong martial artists, he himself was Li Chengliang's family, he has followed this famous general in Liaodong for many years to fight with the Mongols, once defeated 100,000 barbarians with 30,000 cavalry, is a well-known brave general in the border court, has rich military experience, and his people are brave and good at fighting, it seems to be a very suitable candidate for the expedition.

Zu Chengxun didn't seem to look down on the Japanese army before he set off, although he already knew that Shi Ru's entire army was annihilated, and he only brought 3,000 cavalry, he took it for granted that he would take his elite cavalry to Pyongyang, and then he would be able to deal with the 150,000 Japanese army without waste.

Things went more smoothly than expected, after starting from Liaodong, Zu Chengxun did not encounter a few enemies at all along the way, so he was more confident, and he hurried to speed up his horse and whip day and night, seeing that Pyongyang City was close at hand. So the deputy general of Zu mistakenly thought that the Japanese army knew his prestige, and was frightened when he heard that he came to attack the city, not only was there no one on the city wall to guard, but even the city gate was greatly open to him, and he vaguely saw only a few scattered Japanese troops inside. Zu Seung-hun felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and immediately launched a charge, and 3,000 men and horses rushed into the city of Pyongyang.

In fact, on the day that Zu Chengxun led the army into Korea, the head of the Japanese army, Konishi Yuki, got the news. Konishi Yukicho is Toyotomi Hideyoshi's most effective general, although he is only the commander of the first of the nine legions, but he is the most powerful general.

When Kato Kiyomasa (the commander of another legion) and other generals said that they wanted to hold on to the castle on the one hand, and on the other hand, they needed to send people out to meet the enemy. In Governor Konishi's view, there was a better way for his side, and since the Ming army was so powerful, the principle that they should achieve the greatest victory at the lowest cost still needed to be adhered to—even if the Japanese army had an absolute advantage. Therefore, when Zu Chengxun's whole army entered the city, there was a cannon shot, and the originally unusually quiet streets suddenly became noisy, and the Japanese army appeared from various hidden places, and quickly occupied the favorable terrain, using arquebuses to shoot the Ming army.

After several rounds of volleys from the Japanese army, the Ming army suffered heavy losses, and Zu Chengxun was also beaten, he originally thought that the Japanese army were some uncivilized barbarians, who knew that these barbarians were not only familiar with the art of war, but also used the "empty city strategy" to beat them in an ambush. So the arrogant Zu deputy general soldier met the well-prepared Konishi Yuki, the result can be imagined, Zu Chengxun after a short period of resistance, without any suspense to throw away his armor, and finally fled back to the country with a few pro-soldiers in a panic.

When the news of the defeat came back to China, the court was shocked, Zhu Yijun was furious, and he wanted to kill Zu Chengxun, and everyone tried their best to let Zu pick up a small life. At this time, both the ministers of the main war and the main peace agreed to go on an expedition to aid Korea, but who to send was a big question. For three consecutive days, the court discussed the candidates, and after the various factions fought with each other, they only determined that Song Yingchang, the squire of the military department, was the envoy of the military department and the commander-in-chief of the anti-Japanese affairs.

At that time, Qi Jiguang and Yu Dachief, the famous anti-Japanese generals of the Wanli Dynasty, had passed away a few years ago, so there were not many generals who had experience in fighting against the Japanese. Originally, someone proposed Li Chengliang, but it has not been two years since the "King of Liaodong" was dismissed, and if he comes back at this time, won't he slap the emperor in the face; As for Xiong Tingbi, Sun Chengxian and others are still hairy boys, it is still too early for them to take charge alone; Not to mention Yuan Chonghuan, who was only born a short time ago, and no one knows his military talent.

Song Yingchang was a jinshi in the Jiajing period, when he was the right attendant of the military department, compared with the monk book Shixing, Song Yingchang was inconspicuous, he was not running around the barracks every day, or studying the map and military book in the office, and he couldn't say a few words a day. It is difficult for such a person to attract the attention of others, but Wanli refused the invitation of Shangshu Shixing of the Ministry of War twice in a row, and handed over the task of entering the dynasty to fight in Song Yingchang. Emperor Wanli is a person who understands, in the matter of fighting, whether he can blow and whether he can fight are two different things, and the development of events since then has also proved that this is an extremely wise choice.

Song Yingchang is a taciturn man, but he is well versed in strategy, familiar with the art of war, although he has never taken the initiative to ask for battle, but he is a firm main battle faction, and does not delay, after being ordered in danger, he did not stop for a moment, immediately began to formulate an offensive plan, and at the same time he also recommended the emperor to the front-line generals.

After a month, the court finally determined the front-line general of the war to aid Korea - Li Rusong, who was the general of Shaanxi at the time, which was also strongly recommended by Song Yingchang, and the ministers had no objection to this. Although Li Rusong is the son of Li Chengliang, but the Ningxia Battle more than three years ago was the one who played the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yijun also believed that Li Rusong would not let himself down in this war to aid Korea.