Qin Liangyu shook her head slightly upon hearing this.
She thought to herself, "It must have been during the days when Li Ruolian led his troops to attack Guangning that he witnessed the fighting power of the Jurchens."
That's why I said that.
"But he forgot that times have changed."
"This battle is all about morale. Once our Ming army surrounds Shengjing, the morale of the Jurchens in the city will surely plummet."
"It's hard to say how much combat power they will be able to exert at that time."
However, although Qin Liangyu thought this in her heart, she did not say it out loud.
She knew very well that advising Li Ruolian at this time would likely backfire.
"Anyway, he'll figure it out once the siege begins."
Qin Liangyu smiled slightly, then asked, "By the way, where is Li Zicheng?"
"I heard that during this attack on Guangning, his cannons didn't really show their power."
"When we attack Shengjing, he'll surely have a chance to prove himself, won't he?"
Upon hearing this, Li Ruolian immediately nodded and said:
"That's true. During this siege, he deliberately used tricks to make the Jurchens think he had more than a dozen Italian cannons."
"Let's just hope the Jurchens really fall for it."
Seeing that Li Ruolian was still very worried in her words.
Qin Liangyu didn't want to say anything more to him.
She waved to Li Ruolian and then went to inspect the military camp.
At this moment, the Ming army camp was filled with cheers and laughter.
Both the Beijing garrison under Li Ruolian and the White-Spear Soldiers under Qin Liangyu were quite relaxed.
"If we capture Shengjing this time, it will be a great achievement in destroying a country!"
"Yes, the last time our Ming Dynasty conquered a country was when we fought against Jiaozhi, right?"
"We've really caught a good time."
After inspecting the area, Qin Liangyu was quite satisfied.
"It seems the morale of the troops is high."
"In that case, once Mao Wenlong's navy arrives, we should immediately prepare to cross the river!"
At this time, Mao Wenlong's troops did not move at all.
Instead, they all retreated back to Pi Island.
"This is great! Yuan Chonghuan of Goryeo has ordered us to lead troops to help."
"Qin Liangyu of the Liao River also invited us to cross by boat."
"This is really a dilemma!"
Although he said that, his face was full of smiles.
His commanders all laughed.
This is a happy problem.
Only one person frowned and said:
"Commander Mao, that depends on your opinion."
“If you go to western Liaoning, you will be doing Qin Liangyu a favor, and you will be connected with her and Li Ruolian in the future.”
“But if you go to Korea, that means you’re on Yuan Chonghuan’s side.”
Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Mao Wenlong's eyes.
"You're right!"
“I have never gotten along with Yuan Chonghuan. If I go to help him this time, it will probably be like throwing a flirtatious glance at a blind man.”
"But in Goryeo, there is the Khan of the Jurchens."
"If I lead my troops there, I might be able to capture that Hauge alive. Then, I'll be promoted to a high-ranking position, which won't be a problem."
"And leading troops to the Liao River..."
"I'm afraid the credit for attacking Shengjing won't go to us brothers!"
Upon hearing this, the others hurriedly asked, "So you mean to help Yuan Chonghuan?"
"Yes! We're going to Korea!"
After making the decision, Mao Wenlong did not hesitate at all.
He immediately mustered his troops, boarded a boat, headed east, and traveled southeast along the sea route.
They joined forces with Yuan Chonghuan's troops north of the Imjin River.
Yuan Chonghuan was overjoyed to see Mao Wenlong.
He seemed to have completely forgotten his past conflict with Mao Wenlong.
In one swift step, he rushed to Mao Wenlong's side.
"General Mao, I've been waiting for you to come!"
Mao Wenlong always felt uneasy.
He thought to himself, "When someone gives a gift, they must want something in return. Yuan Chonghuan is being so enthusiastic towards me, could he be trying to send me on a dangerous mission?"
He hesitated for a moment before speaking:
"Minister Yuan, there's no need for such formalities."
"I wonder where Hauge is now?"
Yuan Chonghuan was a seasoned veteran; he understood Mao Wenlong's meaning as soon as he heard his words.
He sneered inwardly, "The credit for capturing Hauge alive could be shared with you."
"But not yet!"
So Yuan Chonghuan shook his head and said, "Well, I don't know either."
"After the battle at Imjin River that day, Hauge seemed to feel that there was someone within their Jurchen ranks who wanted to harm him."
"So we kept changing our base."
Mao Wenlong neither confirmed nor denied the statement.
He then asked, "What does the King of Goryeo have to say?"
"Now that the Jurchens are seeing their fate sealed, surely he, as the legitimate king of Goryeo, can muster the ability to rally a rebel army?"
"Although these Koreans aren't very strong in combat, they're certainly capable of finding out Hauge's location!"
Upon hearing Mao Wenlong's suggestion, Yuan Chonghuan smiled wryly.
"Oh, Mao Wenlong, you don't know this."
"On that day, in order to inspire the canal workers, Zhang Xianzhong offered them official positions and promised them land in Goryeo."
"After this news spread, the original yangban nobles of Goryeo all turned against the King of Goryeo."
"Although they do not dare to rebel in the short term, no one is organizing troops to come to the emperor's aid."
Actually, this statement is only half true and half false.
It is true that the Goryeo nobles were very disgusted after the King of Goryeo issued his edict.
But they only dared to lash out at the King of Goryeo.
Once they encounter the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, they become quite obedient.
Moreover, the number of canal workers that Yuan Chonghuan brought to Goryeo was only around ten thousand.
Even if each person is given 100 acres of land, it would still only amount to one million acres.
Goryeo has tens of millions of acres of land.
Although the yangban nobles felt the pinch, it wasn't entirely unacceptable.
Yuan Chonghuan's words were merely a way to deliberately deceive Mao Wenlong.
He just didn't want Mao Wenlong to find an excuse to directly confront Hauge.
Mao Wenlong believed Yuan Chonghuan's account.
He said with a disdainful look, "I've been in Pi Island for many years now, and I have some understanding of the nature of the Koreans."
"They are indeed capable of doing such a thing."
“Especially those nobles of Goryeo, both civil and military, are a bunch of useless trash.”
“Minister Yuan, since the two Goryeo tribes are so disobedient, I think you should go even further.”
Yuan Chonghuan frowned slightly: "What's a game with bigger stakes?"
Mao Wenlong said calmly, "Then naturally we will bypass the King of Goryeo and recruit soldiers directly in Goryeo."
“Just say that no matter what their original background is, as long as they are willing to join the army, they will all be allocated land.”
"However, the land allocated to them cannot be too much... Let's set it at ten mu per person."
"In this way, it won't be long before you can muster an army of over 100,000 men, Minister."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Chonghuan immediately shook his head.
"How can this be?"
"This is unauthorized recruitment of soldiers. If the imperial court investigates afterward, it's a capital offense!"
Yuan Chonghuan and the King of Goryeo were, after all, different.
The King of Goryeo was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. He recruited soldiers and horses, and as long as he did not fight against the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty could not control him.
But you, Yuan Chonghuan, are the Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty. It's one thing for you to offer official positions and make promises in Goryeo.
But directly recruiting soldiers by raising a flag would be a serious taboo.
Yuan Chonghuan shook his head repeatedly.
However, at this moment, Zhang Xianzhong walked out laughing.
"I think this is a good idea!"
He glanced at Yuan Chonghuan, as if he had thought of something amusing.
"These newly recruited Korean soldiers, let's call them... Beiyang soldiers."
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