Chapter 44 Digging a Pit and Setting a Trap

Since crossing the Yalu River, the imperial army swept through the northern part of Korea, and it took more than a month to destroy as many as 80,000 enemies. After such a long campaign, the officers and men of all departments were sleepy and lacking.

Taking advantage of Yi Sunsin's advance team to explore the vacancy arranged by the southern Japanese invaders, Shen Chongming ordered the army to repair the city of Nanpu for half a month, and at the same time ordered people to find Li Futong in many places who was raising military rations in various places. Since it is repaired, this must be a good reward for the soldiers, and Li Futong, as a landlord, is duty-bound for this kind of thing.

In his own territory, Li Futong's news is extremely well-informed. It didn't take long for the news of the great victory of the imperial court army to reach his ears, so before the people sent by Shen Chongming could find him, he took the initiative to send it to the door. Not only that, but the grain and grass promised in advance were also delivered.

As Shen Chongming said that day, North Korea is mountainous, and although it has been brutally looted by the Japanese invaders, how can the people have no food at all? Li Futong's place was delayed again and again, but he was afraid that Shen Chongming would repeat Li Chengliang's mistakes, in that case, he Li Futong would be a chicken and an egg.

But now, the imperial army has annihilated nearly 100,000 murderous Japanese pirates in less than two months without much effort. In Li Futong's view, such a record is something that the God of War may not be able to do. Therefore, he immediately doubled his confidence in Shen Chongming, thinking that it was only a matter of time before he expelled the Japanese from the Korean border.

With such an idea, Li Futong naturally gathered the grain and grass happily and sent it over for Shen Chongming.

However, when he saw the figure of Li Sunsin in the tent, Li Futong's body paused obviously, and his expression became unnatural. Although I have never seen Yi Sunsin, but in such a rotten situation, there can be a person dressed in a Korean official uniform sitting next to Shen Chongming in a grand manner, and there is no second person in the entire Korean country except Yi Sunsin.

Although he used to be the prime minister of a country who didn't know who the little man Yi Sunsin was, but now that Yi Sunsin's reputation is in full swing among the people of Korea, how can he pretend to be deaf and dumb and don't know?

Previously, Yi Sunsin repeatedly asked him to solve the matter of grain and grass for the Jeolla Provincial Army, but Li Futong refused without hesitation. Although he did this as if he was trying to secure the amount of military rations promised to Shen Congming, he was actually deliberately reducing Yi Sunsin's strength.

If Yi Sunsin's strength and influence were allowed to expand, even if he went to drive out the Japanese invaders, there would be no peace in Korea. The throne of the king did not dare to say much, and it would definitely be difficult to keep his position as prime minister, and there must be many people who elected Yi Sunsin to replace him as prime minister. At that time, he relied on the prestige accumulated in this war for the country, how could he, a traitorous minister who scavenged for food in the eyes of the people, be an opponent.

However, although Li Futong dared to embarrass Li Sunsin on the issue of grain and grass, he also had to find an excuse to cover up his true thoughts. Otherwise, if this news spreads, the people everywhere will not have to swallow themselves alive.

And he is also afraid of the current Yi Sunsin, after all, he has more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, which is the strongest Korean army at the moment. Therefore, when he was transporting military rations to curry favor with Shen Chongming this time, he ran into Li Sunsin, which immediately made him panic. Once the previous events aroused the jealousy of Yi Sunsin, how could he have a good life of his own.

Thinking of countermeasures in his heart, Li Futong's movements did not stop, and he bowed very respectfully to Shen Chongming, who was sitting in the first place, and said, "Xiaguan Li Futong, please meet Lord Shen." ”

"Hehe, Lord Li has been tired all the way, hurry up and take a seat." In front of Li Sunsin, Shen Chongming was also very polite. After all, the two are still a family now, and if they don't give Li Futong face, they are also beating Li Sunsin's face.

Li Futong straightened up with a smile on his face, as if he had just seen Li Sunsin, and greeted him very kindly: "Oh, Li Jiedu, I haven't seen you for many days, okay?" ”

The corners of Li Sunsin's mouth twitched, and he got up without smiling and said, "Prime Minister, the subordinate Li Sunsin is polite." Although he looked polite, he clearly meant to reject Li Futong thousands of miles away.

Li Futong was embarrassed for a while, although he was angry in his heart, he didn't dare to show it, so he could only sit down with a dry smile.

"Master Li, did you prepare the grain and grass you promised to this official last time?" Shen Chongming is not a good thing, and directly asked Li Futong's most taboo topic at present.

Fortunately, Li Futong is also an old fritter in the officialdom, so he had a countermeasure without thinking, and said with an embarrassed face: "Lord Shen, Xia Guan is fortunate not to be dishonored, and it took a lot of effort to raise this batch of grain and grass." However, in this case, Li Jiedu's military rations will be in a difficult situation, and I would like to ask Lord Shen to be accommodating, whether you can transfer a batch of military rations from this batch of grain and grass to be used as military rations for our Korean army, and then find a way to make up for you in the future. ”

How could such a good man Shen Chongming let him be, he immediately waved his hand and said with a smile: "This matter is not bothered by Lord Li, the military rations of the Lord are tempered, and the official has already solved it for him a few days ago, and as for the future, the official has also promised to give it to him free of charge." If you can't collect their salaries, the court will also solve it for the sake of the lords. ”

The beautiful words were like a big slap in the face of Li Futong, and his eyes glanced at the sarcastic expression on Yi Sunsin's face, and Li Futong couldn't wait to put his head into his crotch and hide it.

When the effect was achieved, Shen Chongming didn't want to humiliate Li Futong anymore, otherwise there would be traces, maybe Li Sunsin would see through his thoughts.

"Lord Li, in a few days, the imperial army will continue to advance towards the south of Korea. As the prime minister of Joseon, you are well aware of the situation here, and this official hopes that you will work tirelessly to enter the place controlled by the Japanese invaders one step ahead of the army, gather loyal and righteous people to cooperate with the actions of the imperial army, and drive away the Japanese invaders to welcome Prince Li back to China. ”

The high-sounding words, Li Futong had no room to shirk at all, so he could only pretend to be very happy to get up and say: "Lord Shen, don't worry, tomorrow morning, the official will leave to fight for the imperial army." ”

Seeing that he agreed, Shen Chongming nodded while setting his eyes on Wang Gao, who had rarely spoken these days.

"Commander Wang, since the grain and grass have arrived, then bother your brothers, count them and distribute them to the people and horses of all departments. A soldier has five buckets of rice, and the rest is kept in the account for the time being. ”

Wang Gao, who was suddenly named, was stunned, hurriedly got up and said with some trepidation: "Lord Shen, this is not appropriate." ”

Shen Chongming smiled, "It's all the people of the imperial court, what's wrong with this." Also, the same is true for the men and horses of your Jianzhou Sanwei, with a quota of five buckets of rice per soldier. ”

Hearing this, Wang Gao and Juechang were at ease for a while, could it be that they had the heart of a villain to spend the belly of a gentleman?

I couldn't figure this out for a while, and Wang Gao bowed down and took the order out of the big tent. It's a pity that everyone was pondering this matter, and no one saw a trace of pride in Shen Chongming's eyes.

Looking at the white rice and golden wheat in front of him, Wang Gao couldn't help but sigh, as for why he sighed, he couldn't tell.

"Brother, what kind of thoughts do you think this Lord Shen has, is he planning to buy us to be loyal to them forever?" Jue Changan asked with a frown. Thinking about this in his heart, the sky was already dark, and Chang'an came to Wang Gao to discuss the matter.

Wang Gao shook his head slightly, and said, "I don't know if I'm a brother, this Lord Shen is really hard to figure out." Now that I think about it, Li Chengliang is still easy to deal with. ”

Jue Chang'an scratched his head vigorously, and said a little melancholy: "How is this good, if we can't figure out what he means, it will be difficult to act in the future." ”

There was silence between the two for a while, and after a long time, Wang Gao let out a sigh of relief and said, "I don't want to worry about these troubles, let's be careful in everything." ”

Jue Changan nodded, and said a little helplessly: "This can only be the case now, after all, the Han people are good at scheming, and when it comes to means, we are really not their opponents." ”

"Okay, don't you think these grains are all good grains? All of them are big and full, and I have lived for my brother for so many years, and I haven't seen them a few times. Looking at the white rice and wheat in front of him, Wang Gao said with envy.

Jue Changan was also very emotional, nodded and said: "Yes, I didn't expect that North Korea is mountainous, but it is also rich in grain, if we have such a territory, the confidence is enough." ”

Hearing him say this, Wang Gao couldn't help but be moved, and whispered without thinking: "Brother Xian, you said that if we insist on staying in North Korea this time, will the court agree?" According to my brother, the Japanese invaders we are fighting against are nothing more than that, so the soldiers and horses of the Korean country are not even weaker, although we do not have many people, but it is more than enough to occupy a rich place. When we have food, won't the desire to revive the Golden Kingdom not be far off? ”

Wang Gao's words were like a bright light, which immediately illuminated the way forward that had been painted down in Juechang's peace of mind.

However, he acted cautiously, shook his head in contemplation for a while, and said, "I'm afraid it's a little embarrassing." After all, the imperial court sent troops this time to help the king of Joseon restore the country, so how could he agree to let us stay and occupy the territory of the king of Joseon? ”

Wang Gao nodded, but still gritted his teeth and said: "Such a good opportunity, we can't let it go easily, it's really unwilling not to try to be a brother." ”

Jue Chang'an stopped talking, Wang Gao was right, how could he give up such a good opportunity easily. Once the imperial court really ignores it, then all the current problems will be solved. Moreover, it is better to deal with the soldiers and horses of the Korean country than to deal with the border army of the imperial court. The combat power of the border army is so strong, and he has no confidence to win at all.

At the same time, Shen Chongming also hid in Brother Erdan's bedroom and discussed this matter with him in a whisper. Although I know that Brother Erdan's pig brain can't help at all, it's better than a self-talk.

"Erdan, you said that there is so much food in front of you, will Wang Gao and Jue Changan be tempted?" Shen Chongming asked with some concern. Whether his plan is successful or not depends on the allure of these grains to Jianzhou Sanwei.

"My lord, according to you, this grain is to the Jurchens what gold is to us. If it was a subordinate who had so much gold, he would have snatched it even if he had to fight for his life. Oh, at that time, I will be a rich man in peace, with thousands of acres of fertile land and thousands of mansions at home, and a group of beautiful wives and concubines, so I will live a life. Brother Erdan, who was lying on the bed, said with a yearning face.

Shen Chongming's head is full of cigarettes, how can this pig think about this matter in his head, such a waste material, how can he reuse him?

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