Li Zhu's ritual of three bows and nine kowtows was finally completed.
He stood up unsteadily, feeling dizzy. The most serious thing was that he was physically and mentally exhausted and devastated.
Zheng Minshou shouted loudly.
"Since the Lord of Korea has become a minister of His Majesty the Qing Emperor, please come to the altar and come forward to kowtow."
Li Zhu raised his head and looked at the towering surrender altar in front of him, feeling desperate.
However, this was already the case. How could he dare to disobey Huang Taiji's order?
He walked quickly to the surrender altar, tried to calm his heartbeat, and stepped up the steps.
However, this surrender altar is definitely well-designed, and the steps are very steep.
With Li Zhu's pampered life, lack of exercise and shock to his body, it was simply impossible for him to walk up safely.
Halfway through the journey, Li Zhu had to bend down and hold on to the steps with both hands, almost climbing up.
Seen from the side, he looks like a dog wagging its tail and approaching its owner.
The people in North Korea who were surrendered cried even louder.
Is such a person really their monarch?
Both sides of the steps were filled with civil and military officials from the Qing Dynasty. However, these people all looked coldly at each other and looked down upon Li Zhu, who was struggling to climb, with superior eyes.
There were more than forty steps. Li Zhu climbed for a while, rested for a while, climbed for a while, and rested for a while. Several times, he thought about simply closing his eyes, rolling down from the top, and falling to death on the spot.
However, the knees are already bent, so where is the will to die?
No matter how difficult it is at this moment, at least I survived.
He raised his head and could already see Huang Taiji's face clearly.
At this last bit of distance, Li Zhu mustered up all his strength, gritted his teeth and finally climbed up.
When he came to the surrender platform, he wanted to stand up hard and maintain his final dignity.
However, it is extremely cold at high places.
A gust of cold wind blew by, causing his body to sway and almost fall backward.
The threat of death flashed through his mind, leaving him no time to think about it, and he knelt down directly in front of Huang Taiji with a plop.
"The Lord of the lower country pays homage to His Majesty the Qing Emperor."
Many people around him chuckled, and everyone could clearly see that his kneeling was not a voluntary act, but God's will.
Huang Taiji also couldn't help laughing, and his tone was a little more relaxed.
"Please, the Lord of Korea, sit facing east."
When the words came to Zheng Minshou, their meaning changed.
"His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty granted me a seat, and the Lord of Korea expressed his gratitude."
Li Jie was helpless and kowtowed three times before being led to the east side of Huang Taiji.
There is a wooden table that is about the size of a foot, and it is extremely cramped. Li Zhu sits on it, huddled up, like a student in training.
"Since you surrender to me, you can enjoy my favor. Come and give me meat and wine to the Lord of Korea."
An attendant came up and placed wine and food on Li Zhu's table.
Li Zhu had no choice but to stand up again and thank Huang Taiji for his gift. Then he sat down, took a sip of wine and ate a piece of meat.
Completing this ceremony means that North Korea will huddle under the wings of the Qing Dynasty from now on, and all state institutions will obey the arrangements of the Qing Dynasty.
"I have a vast territory and a broad mind. I treat North Korea as my own people. As long as you are loyal to me, I can ensure that the throne of your Li family will be peaceful and prosperous for generations to come."
When Li Zhu came here, the most common thing he did was kowtow to express gratitude.
The surrender ceremony ends here.
Li Zhu was led down to the surrender altar.
But this time, it felt like a different world.
Having completed his mission of conquering North Korea, Huang Taiji was satisfied and stood up to leave.
Zheng Mingshoushan shouted: "His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty is driving back to the camp!"
Amidst the loud crashing noise, countless Eight Banners generals all bowed to the ground.
"Long live! Long live! Long live!!"
The roars of tens of thousands of people soared into the sky and echoed across the land of North Korea.
Li Zhu and all the officials of the DPRK were prostrate on the roadside, respectfully seeing off Huang Taiji's imperial driver as he returned north.
it's over.
it's all over.
Everyone in North Korea who had narrowly escaped death breathed a sigh of relief.
Cui Mingji quickly wiped away his tears and ran over.
"Your Highness, I have ordered someone to prepare the car. We can return to Hanyang."
Li Jie was very tired and his limbs were weak. But his heart was even more tired and he didn't want to say a word. He let the eunuchs support him and boarded the carriage for the return journey.
When there was no one else around and the carriage was tightly shielded, he completely collapsed.
People in their dozens of years huddled in the carriage, burying their faces in their sleeves, trying not to let the sounds of crying get out.
The Korean monarchs and ministers embarked on their way back to the city.
But this journey was not very smooth.
Countless Korean men, women, and children were all shackled by the Qing army and driven north.
These people are all prisoners of the Qing army and will become slaves of the Qing country from now on. What awaits them in the future will be an extremely miserable fate.
Li Zhu felt the carriage stop, opened the curtain and saw this scene, and was lost for a long time.
The Koreans who were being escorted away from their homeland also saw this monarch.
"My Lord, how can you bear to watch us die? The two groups of gentlemen in the court are fighting with each other and don't care about the fate of the country, which is why it has become like this! Those who neglect national affairs are still by your side and are safe and sound.
.Why do you let us innocent people suffer the pain of family destruction and death? Where is your compassion? Why don't you save us?"
The cries and howls of countless people made Li Zhu heartbroken.
But what can he do?
There is nothing I can do except hang my head and cry.
Seeing that the king was indifferent, all the Korean people who went north gritted their teeth, filled with hatred and nowhere to release it.
Staring at those tens of thousands of angry eyes, Li Jingru felt a flash of light on his back and fell into confusion again.
He didn't know when those poor people disappeared from his eyes, and the carriage moved again.
Finally, the city wall of Hanyang appeared in front of us.
The city is still the same city, but it is much deserted than before.
In the past, there was a constant flow of people at the city gate, but now there are only a few people at the gate.
Only the guarding envoy Li Shibai and a few soldiers were waiting here anxiously.
However, the first words of Li Shibai's report made Li Ju feel like he was struck by lightning.
"Your Highness, Your Majesty the Judge of Ceremonies, Your Excellency the Officials and Counselors, etc., took advantage of the negligence of the minor ministers and went away without authorization. I don't know what they wanted to do."
The monarchs and ministers of Korea were in chaos at that time.
Immediately, an official sent by the Lord jumped out and applied eye drops.
"Your Highness, Kim Sang-heon and others are obsessed with gaining fame and reputation, and have no regard for the safety of Your Highness. Now that the country is in chaos, if these people leave without permission, they will inevitably be punished by death."
"It would be understandable if only Kim Sang-heon left. However, Zheng Yun, Yin Huang and others are all his accomplices. I am afraid that these people are plotting evil and damaging the overall situation."
In the midst of all the commotion, Li Zhu completely exploded.
His face was extremely ferocious, and his roaring voice was full of hatred.
"Why doesn't he understand Gu's difficulties? Why does he have to force Gu to death?"
Seeing the situation getting serious, Cui Mingji broke into a cold sweat and quickly asked for instructions.
"Your Highness, no matter what, the Lord Lijing's loyalty to the emperor is evident from heaven and earth. I think this time he should be disheartened and have no nostalgia anymore. I sincerely ask your Highness for permission. I will work hard to convince him to return to the court to plead guilty."
However, Li Zhu had already fallen into madness under the repeated blows.
"Guardian envoy, please gather your troops and go with the officials. I want to see people alive, but I want to see corpses when dead!"
