Wang Kai felt a headache coming on; it was clear that Tuo Junjing was going to shirk his responsibilities at this crucial moment.
Unfortunately, at this crucial moment, Kim Boo-seok was caught red-handed by Tak Joon-kyung.
If he doesn't deal with Kim Boo-seok, Tak Joon-kyung will definitely make things worse.
If Kim Boo-seok is dealt with, not only will his ties with Kim be severed, but it will also embolden Tak Jun-kyung, inevitably leading to a military leader taking control of the country.
After careful consideration, Wang Kai ordered Kim Boo-seok to be imprisoned and began arresting ministers in the court who were colluding with the Kim state.
Wang Kai's arrests were just for show; those were his key ministers, why would he really arrest them?
If we arrest them, wouldn't we be cutting off our own arms?
However, what devastated Wang Kai was that in the past few days, scandals involving ministers having affairs with the Jurchens had been exposed one after another, and the ministers themselves had come forward to confess.
At this point, Wang Kai realized that the Song state's power in Kaijing was not to be underestimated.
The Song emperor's control over Kaijing has far exceeded his expectations.
Therefore, Wang Kai wrote several letters of confession to Zhao Huan, hoping that Zhao Huan would punish him.
He hoped to appease the emperor's anger by admitting his mistake, so that he could live in peace. He no longer expected the Song Dynasty to refrain from interfering in the affairs of his Goryeo court.
If things continue like this, one day I might be deposed by the emperor.
Zhao Huan, of course, turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the confession written by Wang Kai to him!
He had no personal grudge against Wang Kai; his aim to get rid of Wang Kai was purely a game of power between nations.
Between nations, it is all about interests.
Since you, Wang Kai, eliminated your maternal grandfather a few years ago and re-centralized royal power, you have hindered my Song Dynasty's control over you.
Meanwhile, after Tuo Junjing forced Wang Kai to arrest Jin Fushi, he bribed the prison guards to have Jin Fushi killed in prison.
As a result, the political situation in Kaijing underwent significant changes.
It can be said that the military general Tuo Junjing began to seize power, and Wang Kai's royal authority faced an unprecedented challenge.
Furthermore, Wang Kai cannot deal with Tuo Junjing the way he dealt with his maternal grandfather Li Ziqian seven years ago, because the main conflict in Goryeo is not between Wang Kai and Tuo Junjing, but the Myo-chung rebellion!
While supporting Miaoqing's rebellion, Zhao Huan also supported Tuo Junjing in sidelining Wang Kai, completely muddying the waters of Goryeo.
They were just waiting for a major battle between the two sides, after which the Goryeo rulers would be weakened to the extreme, so that they could completely conquer Goryeo.
He wants to erase the word "Goryeo" from this planet.
The situation progressed far beyond Zhao Huan's expectations. In late January, Miao Qing's army launched a large-scale siege of Gaegyeong and almost captured the city. The siege was extremely fierce, with heavy losses on both sides.
Overall, the two sides are now evenly matched, and neither can gain the upper hand.
This situation changed in early February.
Tak Jun-kyung was betrayed and killed by his own men. Kaesong fell, and Myo-chung's army marched into Kaesong, massacring the nobles and officials of the city.
In February, Kaijing turned blood red.
Miao Qing had Wang Kai killed on charges of treason.
Some have speculated that Miao Qing dared to do this because she had powerful backers backing her.
But he didn't expect that doing that would strain his back.
After Wang Kai was killed, His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty heard about the tragic situation in Goryeo and was filled with grief. He angrily denounced Miao Qing as worse than a beast.
In mid-February, Miaoqing was assassinated. The rebel army, which had just occupied Kaesong and committed heinous acts, was leaderless and instantly fell apart.
At this time, the capital city of Kaifeng finally issued a verdict against Miaoqing. The court issued a troop mobilization order, commanding the Song army stationed in Goryeo to enter Kaifeng, execute the treacherous officials, and rectify the corrupt officials.
All the rebel officers who participated in the rebellion were beheaded, and their heads were hung on the city wall of Kaesong.
The blood dripping from his neck stained the bluestone ground at the gate of Kaijing City.
The Goryeo royal family was almost entirely wiped out during the rebellion, leaving only Wang Kai's youngest son, Wang Hao.
Wang Hao was only a seven-year-old child. The Song Dynasty announced that in order to stabilize the political situation in Goryeo and ensure that the people could enjoy peace, the Song Dynasty would establish the Andong Protectorate in Goryeo to help the newly enthroned King of Goryeo handle state affairs.
As for when to return power to the government?
Whether Wang Hao could live past the age of sixteen is a question worth considering.
The Song Dynasty's series of rapid actions against Goryeo made the Jin Dynasty feel uneasy.
When the Song Dynasty intended to establish the Andong Protectorate in Goryeo, Wanyan Gao bluntly stated in court: "If the Song Dynasty wants to take the eastern front and our dynasty sits idly by, it will surely become a future problem in time."
In early March, 30,000 elite Jin troops were stationed on the border between Goryeo and Jin.
The Jin court in Shangjing declared the crimes of the Song army to the world and intended to march south to Goryeo to wipe out the foreign invaders and restore the foundation of the country.
At the beginning of the eighth year of the Jingkang era, the internal strife in Goryeo had just ended, but the Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty were confronting each other in northern Goryeo.
The commander of the Jin army was Wanyan Zongwang, and the commander of the Song army was Wang Bing, the former military commissioner of Hedong, who is now the governor of the Andong Protectorate.
The two sides clashed several times in early March, but these were all probing attacks and no large-scale battles took place.
While the fighting was taking place on the eastern front, the Song army in Yancheng, the northernmost city of Yanyun, began to conduct large-scale drills.
One Song army even ventured deep into Jin territory under the guise of hunting, which led to a siege by the Jin army.
Fortunately, this Song army was quick and returned to the territory before being surrounded and wiped out.
However, in the following period, the Song army became clearly restless, and a large number of Song troops gathered in Yancheng.
Furthermore, the State of Song detained all the Jurchens who came to do business in the State of Song.
In mid-March, Wanyan Wuzhu arrived at the border of the Jin Dynasty, where a large number of Jin troops gathered.
Both sides seem poised for a full-blown war.
But Wanyan Sheng did not believe that Zhao Huan would dare to fight now.
The Song state had just conquered the grasslands and had already deployed a large number of troops there. He did not believe that the Song state had enough resources to support a war against the Jin state.
Just as Wanyan Sheng also clearly realized that the Jin state did not have enough resources to truly annex the Song state.
The two superpowers will eventually continue to confront each other, just like the situation between the Song and Liao dynasties over the past hundred years.
He believed that the Song emperor was fond of bluffing, and that the actions in Yan and Yun were purely intended to put pressure on the eastern front, hoping that the Jin dynasty would withdraw its troops from the east.
Therefore, Wanyan Wuzhu remained inactive and firmly guarded the southern border of the Jin Dynasty.
But in late March, Wanyan Sheng felt he had been proven wrong.
With Zhan Du leading 10,000 elite Song troops, they crossed the Song-Jin border and launched their first attack on the Jin state, raiding the nearest village.
Meanwhile, the "Proclamation Against the Jin" from Tokyo arrived at the border.
Zhan Du acted very quickly, launching a surprise attack on the Jin army before immediately turning and fleeing.
However, this large-scale surprise attack resulted in the loss of 3,000 cavalrymen for the Jin army.
When the news reached the capital, Wanyan Sheng was furious.
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