But now, this civilization will undoubtedly face another severe test.
Speaking of which, the last test was during the Jing Kang period. At that time, the King of Goryeo had just come of age and gathered his strength in the palace, preparing to eradicate the powerful minister Li Ziqian. However, Li Ziqian knew in advance and sent his followers to surround the palace. In the end, the entire palace was burned down by Li Ziqian's relatives, leaving only three pavilions. The powerful minister then ran to the pavilions to find the young king who had just come of age and cried, saying that he was loyal but was suspected by the king.
The small king, who only had three pavilions left, could only remain "speechless in shame".
"Is the news confirmed?"
In the simple palace, the short-statured Goryeo king was only two years younger than the Zhao Song official. His original name was Wang Gou, but he later changed his name to Wang Kai. Upon hearing the news, he was in disbelief and walked down from his seat. He was even shorter than Jin Bu Shi who lowered his head. "Sixteen Wan Hu and one hundred and sixty Meng An, all gone at once?"
"I think it's credible." Jin Bu Shi raised his head and responded calmly. "Your Majesty, after the news of the fall of Taiyuan and Yuancheng came, I could probably guess that the Song army would win a great victory in this northern expedition, but I never thought that the Song army would win so thoroughly and so quickly."
Wang Kai took two steps back and stood on the steps, then nodded: "No wonder Jin Xianggong gathered the troops to Kaijing early at the beginning of the year, and then checked the military equipment and food reserves."
"So that the king knows, of course my actions were not just for today." Jin Bu Shi smiled bitterly at the bottom of the stairs. "Because Jin is a neighboring country after all, and Song is across the sea... So what I was more afraid of at that time was that the Song army won but could not settle the situation in one fell swoop. By then, Jin still had spare strength, and Xijing (Pyongyang) would inevitably take advantage of the Song army's victory to stir up trouble and try to attack Jin... These troops gathered in Kaesong to prepare, only 20% of the intention was for today, and 80% was to prepare to send troops to Xijing (Pyongyang) as soon as possible when necessary to eliminate the civil strife invisibly."
Wang Kai was more and more impressed: "My husband is really honest."
"It's not honesty. If my country is not too small and it's hard to survive in front of a big country, I don't want to be a vassal of the Jin Kingdom, and I don't want to go to the capital of the Song Dynasty to be humiliated by the Zhao Song officials and be insulted as a treacherous villain in the official newspaper." Jin Bu Shi was still earnest. "But there is no way, who made Goryeo next to China? Small countries can only survive by serving the big countries... Today, I came to see Your Majesty after hearing the news and persuaded Your Majesty to go to war with the Jin Kingdom. It's the same as when I heard about the Jingkang Incident in Mingzhou that day and came back directly to persuade Your Majesty to be a vassal of the Jin Kingdom."
Wang Kai was silent for a moment, and was obviously a little helpless, but after a moment, he pulled himself together and asked formally: "So, the only way out now is to start a war immediately?"
"That's right." Jin Bushi also became serious. "If we can't start the war quickly, firstly, after the war, the Song Dynasty may border Goryeo. At that time, the Zhao Song government will bring 300,000 elite soldiers to investigate, and no one can withstand the wrath of thunder; secondly, once the news spreads, even if Kaifeng is unwilling to go to war, Xijing (Pyongyang) will also be unable to hold back... who knows what chaos will happen."
Wang Kai nodded: "I am under pressure from both inside and outside, I...I understand."
"That's right." Jin Bu Shi also whispered. "In the next few years, we should be more careful. After all, we haven't declared ourselves emperor yet, so we shouldn't violate the rules."
Wang Kai nodded again, but lowered his voice and asked seriously, "Let's not talk about this matter. Even if we go to war, I'm afraid Xijing won't give up, right?"
This time it was Jin Bu Shi's turn to remain silent, but after only a few breaths, he looked up and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, I have three requests for this expedition."
"Please speak, sir." Wang Kai understood and immediately sat back on the throne.
"First, we should send troops quickly, but we should keep it secret." Jin Bushi explained seriously. "Because Jin is a big country after all. Even if the main force in the front is wiped out, the Liao territory and the people in the rear alone are not something we Goryeo can resist... So we have to take them by surprise and try to paralyze them. It would be best to let the Jin people transfer as many troops as possible to Yanjing."
"I...I understand!" Wang Kai thought it was appropriate and nodded continuously.
"Secondly, I ask the king to grant me the seal and scepter of the marshal, and let me lead this battle as the prime minister and marshal." Jin Bu Shi continued to speak seriously.
But this time Wang Kai remained silent.
"Third," Jin Bu Shi continued, as if he had not noticed his lord's doubts. "Your Majesty, please give me another clear decree to allow me to select people in Xijing to go on diplomatic missions to other countries."
Seeing that Wang Kai was still silent, Jin Bu Shi explained: "Your Majesty, the last two edicts are not my intention to seize power, but my strategy to protect myself and prevent Goryeo from causing chaos when the world changes again..."
"Why do you say that, sir?" Wang Kai finally spoke.
"It has come to this point, why does the king still pretend to be ignorant?" Jin Bushi shook his head. "Everyone in the country knows that the two groups in Kaijing and Xijing (Pyongyang) are in opposition, and Zheng Zhichang and I are also enemies... In the past, I advocated serving the greater good and therefore surrendered to Jin, forcing Zheng Xueshi, who advocated war against Jin, to claim illness in Xijing. Now the situation is changing. Based on Zheng Xueshi's personal relationship with the Zhao Song officials, I am afraid that he will rise to the top, and in turn, I will die a miserable death..."
"It won't be that serious." Wang Kai quickly comforted.
"Zheng Zhichang and I have reached the point where we are at a standstill." Jin Bushi sighed. "That's why I want this method... I will lead the army to attack Jin, and then go to Xijing to take Zheng Zhichang as an envoy to Song to meet Emperor Zhao. He is in urgent need of meeting Emperor Zhao, so he can only accept it... In this way, firstly, I am trying to show my kindness and seek a way of reconciliation; secondly, I will lead the army in Jin and he will be an envoy in Song, so we won't meet each other, and there will be less trouble."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
