There are definitely gentry in this world who love the country, love the nation and are willing to dedicate themselves to it.

There are also those in the ruling class who have lofty ideals and aspirations and are unswerving.

Rulers are not all cold-blooded and ruthless political creatures.

It can only be said that the vast majority are like this, not all, and cold-blooded and ruthless is the excellent quality of a political creature, and those who are not cold-blooded and ruthless are outliers.

Liu Chenglong belongs to this insignificant small handful.

He was a member of the gentry, the upper echelons of the ruling class, and he was undoubtedly noble in relation to the high-ranking figures of the other ruling class.

But his nobility is the cultivation of personal character and personal behavior, and has nothing to do with the entire class.

Since the founding of the country, the Joseon dynasty has been profoundly influenced by the scholars, and the founding king of the Joseon dynasty, Li Chenggui, overthrew Goryeo and established Korea, mostly relying on the help of the gentry, just like Liu Xiu created the Eastern Han Dynasty, his success is inseparable from the help of the gentry, so from the beginning of the Lee dynasty, the king of Joseon is not the one who is dictatorial, and the king's power is greatly limited.

This is different from the way the Ming gentry succeeded in ascending to the throne in a hundred years, and they were the masters of the country from the beginning.

The land, resources, and population were basically controlled by the scholars headed by the two classes of ministers, and the emphasis on literature over military force was even more terrifying than that of the Ming Dynasty, almost reaching the level of the Northern Song Dynasty.

North Korea is a typical powerful landlord state, and it can even be called a "constitutional monarchy" type of state in some people's imagination, that is, the monarch does not have much power, and the minister has a lot of power, and can even refute the monarch's decision-making.

Like the previous Ming Dynasty, the central government is the central government, the local is the locality, these gentry control the local land, population and resources, and the political changes from ancient times to the present day are dynastic changes, and the places do not move, and there are few major changes that change the heavens and the earth.

At first, it was a nobleman, then a wealthy family, and then a gentry in the imperial examination, and the place was always in their control.

They take it for granted that they are the pillars of the country, they are the foundation of the country, they are the whole of the country, and without them, the country will be doomed and will be in chaos.

So no matter how the rulers change, they are always the masters of the country, the masters behind the scenes, and the emperor on the surface is just a spokesman.

No matter who becomes the emperor, no matter who comes to the throne, they still have to rely on them to rule the country and the foolish people, without whom the country will govern the country for the emperor, the country will no longer exist.

As Lu Su said to Sun Quan before Cao Cao went south, Sun Quan could not surrender, and these ministers could surrender, because behind them were all local entrenched families, land resources and population were in their hands, and Cao Cao had to compromise with them if he wanted to rule peacefully, otherwise it would lead to subversive civil strife.

This is basically the pattern of dynastic changes since ancient times.

Even if it is in danger of losing the country, as long as the gentry have the local resources and population, and do not show their attitude to confrontation, the invading side will cooperate with them and compromise, and there is no need to exterminate the gentry, unless it is an invasion of barbarian tribes, then they have nothing to say, they only know how to kill, just like the current Jurchen invasion.

But as far as Quan Li is concerned, firstly, his family is not in any danger, and secondly, he believes that Daqin will soon send troops to clean up these barbarians, and once Daqin goes on the expedition, these barbarians will also retreat in the face of difficulties, so this battle does not need to be fought with much effort at all.

In any case, before and after the war, his status will not change much, his family is still standing on the land of Korea, he is still a member of the Shi clan, is the ruling class, Li Hao wants to punish him and weigh his own catties.

Most of the gentry thought like this, their power was too great, the ruler had to compromise, they had more options in the face of war, they could join the enemy camp to continue the existence of the family, continue to live their own good life, and it was the common people who died, and it had nothing to do with them.

Liu Chenglong is just a person, a person who makes Quan Li not very good to evaluate.

What kind of courage and responsibility is needed to take the initiative to take over this hot potato that no one else can shake off?

Is he really going to stupidly die for the country and for that cowardly and incompetent king?

He doesn't think about his family and his future?

Quan Li can't understand Liu Chenglong, but it doesn't matter, since he is in a hurry to die, Quan Li will not stop him, it is impossible for the army to give him all, he also needs the army to protect himself and his family, he will look at the situation, if the situation is not good, he will rescue his family.

Kwon Li did not hand over his position, but only left 3,000 troops for Yoo Sung-ryong, and he took the rest of the troops to leave Bihokwan and advance towards Gangwon Province.

It's easy to say if you want to explain it in the future.

Liu Chenglong came to join him, and he appointed Liu Chenglong as his deputy to lead the army to defend Seoul, and he himself led his troops into Gangwon Province to fight the Jurchen barbarians there.

Where are the barbarians in Gangwon Province......

Quan Li left quickly, not only left, but also took away more than half of the grain and grass, and Liu Chenglong did not stop him.

It is now the autumn harvest season, and there is a lot of grain that has not been harvested in time because of the barbarian invasion, and Liu Chenglong's first order after taking over the deputy task is to order his soldiers to harvest grain for military use.

As the saying goes, if you have food in your hands, you don't panic in your heart, as long as you have food in your hands, Liu Chenglong is not worried that the soldiers under his command will collapse.

As he expected, the news that he appeared in the army and took the helm of the army in place of Kwon Li did not cause unrest in the army, and most of the soldiers accepted this fact, had a full meal under Yoo Sung-ryong's arrangement, and then listened to his orders and went to Kaesong with him.

Zheng Weiguang, the defender of Seoul, was also taken to Kaesong by him, leaving only 500 troops symbolically for Seoul.

In the current Yoo Sung-ryong's view, if he dies in Kaesong, then Seoul will be in no danger to defend, and there is no need to pay attention to it at all, and there will be no other troops in the entire Gyeonggi Province to resist.

But the army in his hands was less than 5,000, and Liu Chenglong could only raise the banner of recruitment, and use his reputation as Liu Chenglong to recruit the people who went south and fled along the way to join the army.

He told these people, I have food, and you can eat food with me, and if you continue south, you may starve to death.

Many people join the army just to have a full meal, but now the situation is different, they went south to escape the attack of the Jurchen barbarians, and it is not easy for them to turn back, even if Liu Chenglong is famous, only more than a thousand people have joined his team.

By the time he arrived at Kaesong, it was October 15, and his army was just over 6,000 years old, and his equipment had been replenished in Kaesong, and he had obtained some weapons and even firearms, and a batch of food.

The people in Kaesong who were reluctant to leave saw Liu Chenglong with his troops coming, they were very moved, and said that they were willing to fight to the death to help him defend the city and help him resist the barbarians, and not let the barbarians destroy Kaesong.