Li Fangyuan asked: "What about North Korea?" Li Chenggui's praise of Yunxi made him upset. He was eager to know what Yunxi wanted to do with North Korea.
Li Chenggui said: "Haha, North Korea is not a barbarian, so the emperor of the Ming Dynasty adopted another method. He gave the surname Zhu because he wanted to make our family the same as the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, but it's hard to say. You go up
Please give my little daughter, your little sister, to the emperor of the Ming Dynasty as his concubine."
"Zhu Yuanzhang, who has passed away, once had a Korean concubine, so it is not unexpected for you to appear on this list."
"If the emperor of the Ming Dynasty agreed, then he probably wanted to control North Korea through marriage and collapse Goryeo like the Mongols. If he didn't agree, then you will know what he wanted to do by seeing how he responded later."
"Also, please pay attention to whether the Ming Dynasty will win over the wealthy families in North Korea. North Korea is different from the Ming Dynasty. The wealthy families in North Korea are too powerful. If the emperor of the Ming Dynasty paid attention to North Korea, it is impossible not to notice that the wealthy families in North Korea are powerful.
.”
"You must remember that no matter what the emperor of the Ming Dynasty wants to win over the wealthy families, it will not be a good thing for our family, whether it is called the Li family or the Zhu family. Once the wealthy families are attracted by the Ming Dynasty, then the Ming Dynasty can do it at any time
Dethrone our throne."
"We must not allow wealthy families in North Korea to marry people from the Ming Dynasty. No matter what the Ming Dynasty demands, we must ensure the independence of North Korea. As long as the independence of North Korea can be guaranteed, there will be a future for the Li family."
When Li Chenggui said this, he suddenly stopped and coughed several times. Li Fangyuan immediately went up and beat his back, took out the medicine prepared for Li Chenggui and paid it to him, and loudly ordered the palace maid to call the imperial doctor.
It took a long time for Li Chenggui to recover. He then said: "Your son must marry a wealthy family. But don't choose the oldest ones. They can't win over them. Choose the inferior ones."
"Also, after completing the reorganization of the whole country, immediately send troops to attack the northeast and turn it into the Hamgyong Province of North Korea. No matter when, opening up territory and expanding territory is a good way to unite people's hearts."
"Now that the boundary of the Yalu River has been determined, it is difficult to encroach upon it; and then there is the Changbai Mountain. If we cross the Changbai Mountain, it is estimated that one out of ten people can reach Nurgan alive. We cannot take this road."
"So only the Tumen River area can be expanded."
"Originally, I wasn't worried or in a hurry. After all, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was too busy and couldn't keep an eye on the Northeast all day long. But now that the British King has implemented a seal, if we don't hurry up, once it is occupied by the British, then we will completely
The opportunity for expansion has been lost.”
"Most of Li Zhilan and his men are Jurchens. Let them go to Yongxing County and try to recruit the local Jurchens. They must move faster than the King of England."
"Since we enjoy the gift of the Ming Dynasty Prince and have the surname Zhu, we are the same as the Ying Fan Kingdom. The Ying Fan Kingdom can no longer occupy the territory we occupied in advance."
Having said this, Li Chenggui seemed to be unable to hold on any longer. His health was not good to begin with, otherwise he would not have been easily succeeded by Li Fangyuan's coup.
Li Chenggui finally said: "I have nothing to tell you now. Just be careful not to trust anyone too much. Everyone may lie to you. You must learn to distinguish what kind of people can give advice on what kind of issues."
Unbiased advice.”
After saying this, Li Chenggui stopped talking. Li Fangyuan immediately called the imperial doctor waiting outside the door and asked him to diagnose and treat Li Chenggui. Then he walked out of the palace, asked Shang Gong to take good care of Li Chenggui, and then left.
Just when Li Fangyuan hurriedly called the guards to call Mr. Jin Han, and Mr. Jin Han was still sleeping, Yang Ben said to Zhu Guan: "You came to Seoul four years ago, right?"
Zhu Guan said: "Yes, sir."
Yang Ben said: "Are you still familiar with the streets of Seoul?"
Zhu Guan said: "It's quite familiar. When I came here four years ago, I visited a lot of North Korean ministers."
Yang Ben said: "Then can you find the residence of Li Fangyuan's Lixing Min family in Seoul?"
Zhu Guan immediately said: "Yes, of course it can! The Lixing Min family is a prominent family in Korea and is close to the Li Dynasty. I have been to their mansion in Seoul."
Yang Ben was very happy when he heard that he recognized the Min family's mansion in Lixing. However, he did not show his happiness, but said: "Well, now I have something to entrust to you."
As he spoke, he took out an envelope, and then said to Zhu Guan: "You will visit the Lixing Min family's residence early tomorrow morning, and then hand the envelope to them. Remember, it must be one of the Lixing Min family,
It cannot be any outsider, nor a servant.”
Zhu Guan felt that this matter was a bit inexplicable. He had no idea what was going on. So he asked: "Mr. Yang, what is it that is so mysterious?"
Yang Ben said: "It's nothing, it's just that someone wrote a letter to the Lixing Min family and asked us to deliver it. It's not a big deal."
Zhu Guan still felt something was wrong, but seeing that Yang Ben had nothing else to say, he agreed: "It's your lord, I will definitely pass it on," and then withdrew.
Zhu Guan came out early the next morning. Not long after Yang Ben sent him away, a servant announced: "Sir, Mr. Jin Han from Korea is here."
Yang Ben asked Mr. Jin Han to come in, and then stood at the door of the house to greet him.
The two of them chatted in the room for a while, and then the guest and host took their seats.
Yang Benxian said: "Master Jin came here early in the morning. Is it true that Mr. Li, the powerful person in your country who knows the state affairs of North Korea, has accepted the surname?"
Although Mr. Jin Han was a little depressed when he heard Yang Ben's name for Li Fangyuan, he still said: "Our country has the power to know the state affairs of North Korea. Master Li wants to ask Mr. Yang whether he gave me the surname of the person who has the power to know the state affairs of North Korea, or is it Li?"
Yang Ben said: "They are all the Li clan members."
When Jin Hanlao learned about this, he wrote it down silently, and then said: "Your country must give us a surname, Mr. Li, who has the power to know the affairs of North Korea. Is it just a request without any other reward?"
Yang Ben said: "Of course there will be rewards." Then he said some things he planned to reward North Korea.
When Jin Hanlao heard this, he thought that this was just a reward given to North Korea by the Ming Dynasty in peacetime. There was nothing special about it at all.
Jin Hanlao said: "Master Yang, I mean, does Ming Dynasty have any other rewards for this matter?"
Yang Ben said: "Giving me the Ming Dynasty surname and giving me the Ming Dynasty surname to Mr. Li Quanzhi, the state affairs officer of Korea, is a reward. Also, officially canonizing Mr. Li, the state affairs minister of North Korea, the king of Korea, is also a reward. Do we need other rewards?"
Mr. Jin Han immediately spoke: "..."
Yang Ben said calmly: "..."
The two of them talked a lot, but Yang didn't say there were other rewards and kept making excuses. Jin Hanlao felt that he was not facing an official from the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty at all, but like an old man in the army.
, or a shrewd businessman.
Until noon, Jin Hanlao still failed to achieve his goal. In the end, he could only return to Gyeongbokgung Palace in despair.