A dozen days later, Qian Qianyi arrived at Pi Island by speedboat.
As soon as he got off the ship, he saw that the dock was desolate, with only three or five people waiting for him.
It was very different from what he had imagined.
The news of his trip to Goryeo had already been sent to Pi Island by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Qian Qianyi frowned as he disembarked, grabbed one of the men, and asked, "I have come to your Dongjiang Town, why doesn't General Mao come to see me?"
The man smiled wryly and said, "Lord Qian, it's not that my general is being disrespectful to you, it's just that the military situation is urgent!"
"News came a few days ago that the Jurchens were unwilling to accept defeat after losing face in Kaesong, so they launched a large-scale southward attack to besiege Hanjing."
"As for Lord Yuan Chonghuan, he didn't know what was going on, but there were signs that he couldn't hold out."
"When our commander heard the news, he was so anxious and upset that he couldn't eat anything for several days."
"They've already led their troops ashore to harass the Jurchens' rear!"
"What?!" Qian Qianyi was immediately shocked. "Is this true?"
The man nodded quickly: "How could I dare to deceive you, sir?"
Qian Qianyi then let go in a daze, letting the man retreat to the side, his mind completely in turmoil.
"What exactly is going on? What happened back then?"
"Could it be that Zhang Xianzhong really inflicted a loss on the Jurchens, which triggered this siege?"
"But Yuan Chonghuan wasn't an expert in defending cities. Back in Ningyuan City, he caused Nurhaci a great loss, and soon after, he died in despair!"
"How come they can't even beat Nurhaci's grandson now?"
After hesitating for a moment, he decided not to pursue Mao Wenlong's rudeness, but instead set off again by boat south to check on the situation in Hanjing.
Upon hearing this, the garrison on Pi Island quickly stopped him.
"Lord Qian, if you are heading south, you can no longer travel by large ship."
"The Jurchens knew we would send troops to harass them, so they built many beacon towers on the shore. They would light them as soon as they saw a large ship, attracting cavalry to follow."
"Then you will definitely not be able to get ashore."
"How about this, you can transfer to our small boat."
Under normal circumstances, Qian Qianyi would definitely not have agreed.
Small boats are definitely not as stable as large boats; they could easily capsize.
And the seawater in Goryeo isn't much warmer.
He's afraid of cold water anyway.
But at this point, he was so eager to know what was going on in Hanjing that he couldn't care less about anything else.
"Okay, then I'll do as you say!"
After Qian Qianyi boarded a small boat in Dongjiang Town, he traveled south and saw the Han River a few days later.
Ganghwa Island, at the mouth of the Han River, was still in the hands of the Goryeo army at this time.
However, the Jurchens deployed more than a thousand cavalrymen on both sides of the Han River, which frightened them so much that they dared not move.
After arriving on the island, Qian Qianyi asked around, but couldn't get any answers.
They had no idea what the current situation was like in Hanjing.
"Then what do you know?" Qian Qianyi asked, jumping up and down.
At this point, the few Goryeo nobles finally spoke up.
"Reporting to the envoy of the Celestial Empire, we can confirm one thing: the capital of Han has definitely not fallen yet."
"Otherwise, the barbarians would have withdrawn their cavalry from the mouth of the Han River to other places long ago."
Qian Qianyi felt a sense of helplessness: "Isn't that obvious!"
He was too lazy to argue with these useless people, and instead asked the Imperial Guard beside him:
"How long do you think Hanjing can hold out?"
This question stumped the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Because the Jurchens launched a large-scale southward invasion, news could not get out of the Han capital, and even the Embroidered Uniform Guard lost contact for a time.
But after a moment's hesitation, the Imperial Guard still said:
"Lord Qian, the Han capital of Goryeo is exceptionally sturdy and should be able to hold out for a long time."
"During the Imjin War, tens of thousands of Goryeo soldiers were defeated near Yongin."
"It is clear that Hanjing is indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack."
After hearing this, Qian Qianyi gave the man a disgruntled look.
"The Jurchens weren't Koreans!"
Although this statement might be seen as belittling the fighting prowess of the Goryeo people, the Goryeo nobles standing nearby all nodded in agreement.
“You are right, sir.”
Qian Qianyi looked down on them even more and had some distrust of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
He went to the map himself and began to study it carefully.
However, he overestimated himself. With his abilities, he was quite adept at digging traps for others behind their backs or flattering Zhu Youjian.
But let him understand maps and how to conduct military operations...
That means he's overthinking it.
The map recognizes him, but he doesn't recognize the map.
Qian Qianyi studied it for a long time, until he was dizzy and confused, but he still couldn't figure it out.
Finally, he could only look helplessly into the distance and sigh, "Now we can only hope that Yuan Chonghuan can be relied upon!"
"Otherwise, if something were to happen to the capital of Han, I would have witnessed the whole thing but done nothing."
"Then when I return to the capital, how can the emperor possibly forgive me?"
At this moment, he wished that Gao Qingyun really had some kind of magic power, so that he could use his power out of thin air to kill all the Jurchens.
This would also prevent him from being implicated.
Meanwhile, the situation in the capital city of Han was also becoming unfavorable.
Yuan Chonghuan stood atop the city wall, his brow furrowed, looking at the Jurchen army outside. A sense of regret also arose in his heart.
"If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have given that order in the first place."
"This is terrible, I've really messed up!"
When the Jurchens first arrived outside the capital of Han, Yuan Chonghuan intended to lure them into a strong attack so that he could take the opportunity to kill Jirgalang and achieve great merit.
So they specially sent their weakest soldiers to guard the city.
His arrangement worked perfectly, which really excited the Jurchens.
However, he forgot that the soldiers under his command were not the regular Liaodong soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, but rather the canal workers who had been forcibly conscripted not long ago.
Although the Liaodong soldiers were not particularly skilled in combat, they had a deep-seated hatred for the Jurchens and knew that once the city fell, they would only face certain death.
So no matter how critical the situation, they can grit their teeth and keep fighting.
But these canal workers were not up to the task.
If they do well at the beginning, their morale can be maintained.
But because Yuan Chonghuan deliberately feigned weakness, they genuinely believed that the battle was unwinnable.
So in the last few days, while the Jurchens were still in the probing phase, they almost managed to breach the city walls.
It was only by Yuan Chonghuan personally going to the front lines that the enemy was barely driven away.
"This is really going to backfire!"
Yuan Chonghuan sighed deeply.
However, at that moment, a burst of laughter came from behind him.
"Lord Yuan, what are you sighing about here for?"
"Our situation is excellent right now!"
Yuan Chonghuan frowned, glaring at the person behind him.
"Zhang Xianzhong, even at a time like this, you're still spouting these sarcastic remarks to me?"
Now the two of them are practically in the same boat, so although he wasn't very polite in his words, he actually felt closer to him.
"In the past few days, the Jurchens have probably tested our strength and are likely to launch a major attack tomorrow."
"But the morale of those canal workers..."
"Oh dear, what bad luck!"
In the end, Yuan Chonghuan muttered something in the language of his hometown, which Zhang Xianzhong didn't understand but didn't care about.
He smiled and patted Yuan Chonghuan on the shoulder.
"Old Yuan, don't worry, I have a plan."
"Just by speaking it out, my great Han... cough cough, I mean, I can restore peace to this Han city from danger and bring light back from darkness!"
Yuan Chonghuan raised an eyebrow, realizing that Zhang Xianzhong was making a reference to Jiang Wei.
He was starting to panic, so he cooperated and asked, "Then what's the plan?"
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