Chapter 524: Harsh Governance, Trampling the Peninsula

Seoul, West Market.

At dawn, Li Shi, a soldier in prisoner uniform, was escorted to the execution ground.

Although it was still early, people's curiosity and desire for blood drove them to come from all directions to witness this bloody scene with their own eyes.

Especially Li Shi was not an ordinary death row prisoner, but one of the most famous ministers in Korea. In the early years, it was rumored that his daughter had the opportunity to be taken as a concubine by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

But no one expected that the minister who could call the wind and rain in the court would become a prisoner and be pushed to the guillotine by the king.

Li Shi was tightly held by several strong men. His hands were tied tightly behind his back with thick hemp ropes. He could not move, but he was forcibly taken to the execution platform.

Facing the imminent death, his eyes were surprisingly calm, as if he had accepted the upcoming fate.

Everyone has to die, some heavier than Mount Tai, some lighter than a feather.

Li Shi is nearly fifty years old. He has never been a coward. Now facing the execution platform, he can remain calm and composed.

The executioner in charge of the execution was burly and had a stern face. He looked at Li Shi who was brought up with contempt. His eyes were no different from those of other death row prisoners.

"Execution!" The supervising officer did not wait until noon, but threw the order in his hand directly.

Like the execution process of the Ming Dynasty, the executioner walked behind Li Shi, stood still, took out the sign inserted behind him, took a deep breath, and then raised the sharp ghost-head knife.

The blade flashed cold light in the morning light, which made people shudder.

At this time, the entire execution ground was silent, and all the people held their breath, waiting for that thrilling moment.

As long as this knife falls, no matter how powerful Li Shi was during his lifetime, or how much he was appreciated by the Ming Emperor in the capital, everything will vanish into thin air.

At this moment, there was a commotion in the southeast corner, followed by the sound of swords clashing, and someone actually wanted to rob the execution ground.

"You're just in time! By the order of the king, kill these traitors on the spot without mercy!" The supervising officer seemed to have been prepared, and immediately bowed to the east with great joy.

On the attic in the east, King Li Zheng of Korea sat there looking at the execution platform from afar. When he saw the movement in the southeast corner, he laughed immediately: "Haha... they really took the bait!"

As he said this, his eyes were filled with a strong murderous intent: "Kill! Kill! Kill them all, I want to leave no one alive in Li Shi's family!"

Li Shi, the military officer, had originally gone to die calmly, but when he saw his son and a group of subordinates coming to rescue him, he felt both relieved and nervous.

He originally hoped to see the country prosper, and was also dedicated to assisting the king to create a prosperous Joseon era, but he actually encountered a tyrant that is rare in a century.

If it was really an emperor with arbitrary power like the Ming Dynasty, it would be fine, but this king only knew how to spend his time in debauchery and did not consider the lives of the people at all.

Li Shi saw a large number of Joseon officers and soldiers coming from all directions, and knew that he had become a bait, and immediately shouted loudly: "Shang Ming, run away quickly! Now that Li is dead, Joseon should not start a war, please put the people of Joseon first!"

"Dad, I won't leave!" Although Li was surrounded, he still struggled to respond.

Li Shi felt his son's filial piety, so he shouted loudly: "If you don't leave, how can you avenge your father? Go, my Li family does not owe the royal family, and... the royal family should be slaughtered!"

"Sir, there is an ambush here, let's go!" Because there were already heavy troops here, and the ambushers came from everywhere, a loyal subordinate urged anxiously.

Li Shangming gritted his teeth fiercely, then looked up to the sky and roared: "I, Li Shangming, swear here that if I don't kill all the members of the Li royal family, I will be a beast in the next life!"

"Shoot him to death, and never let this traitor escape!" King Li of Joseon has been paying attention to the movements here, and now he is also pointing in the direction of Li Shangming and said angrily.

Although a large number of people are deployed here, this is mainly ambush troops. This layout is ultimately defensive. There are loopholes, not to mention that not everyone will try their best.

If it comes to reviews, the current King of Joseon has dropped to the freezing point.

Since the previous King of Joseon, Li Jing, died of smallpox, the political landscape of Joseon has undergone major changes.

Because the then Crown Prince Li Yuan was held hostage in Beijing, and it was inevitable that he lacked the support of domestic forces during his stay in Beijing, there was a tendency for Li to be sidelined by his ministers after he succeeded to the throne.

However, people who are familiar with the history of Joseon know that Li is not a king who is willing to be sidelined, and he is very cruel by nature, even ranking first among the kings of all dynasties.

It is recorded in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty: Yeonsan was strong and violent, and liked to observe. He was harsh in his administration, indulged in wine and sex, and neglected the rituals. He worshipped his mother, killed many ministers, hated to hear advice, and exiled officials. He beat his stepmother to death and exiled his brothers. He had sex with prostitutes every day, had no limit, and had sex with other people's wives and concubines without any scruples. He changed the mourning system, replaced the month with the day, swept away the moral principles, and committed heinous crimes. The gods and people were angry, and it reached this point. ... Although there have been many rulers in chaos since ancient times, none of them is as bad as Yeonsan.

Although there have been many rulers in chaos since ancient times, none of them is as bad as Yeonsan.

Just such criticism shows how bad Li's reputation is, and he was nailed to the pillar of shame.

However, the worse his reputation is, the more it shows that he has become the winner in this game between the monarch and the ministers, and he has raised the butcher knife against the important ministers in the court.

After enduring humiliation in the previous years, as he gradually gained control of the government and military power in the name of the King of Korea, he began to show his fangs.

It's just that this victor was a little arrogant. In the process of constantly killing important officials, he was accused of collaborating with the enemy country just because Li Shi opposed stopping the tribute of pig iron to the Ming Dynasty.

Collaborating with the enemy country, this enemy country naturally refers to the Ming Dynasty.

Although Li was once a hostage to the Ming Dynasty, and he seemed to be very yearning for the Ming culture during his hostage in Beijing, only he knew how much of the drama was.

Now that he has killed many important officials, he has completely mastered the court. Not only did he choose to turn against the Ming Dynasty, but he also took action against Li Shi, a representative of the pro-Ming Dynasty.

Everyone knows that Li Shi is a representative of the pro-Ming people in Korea.

Now that Li Shi dared to oppose his decision to stop paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty, he naturally wanted to use Li Shi's head to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, and even to kill Li Shi's family.

Damn it!

When Li saw Li Shangming successfully escape, he immediately smashed the teacup in his hand in anger.

Although he had successfully seized the military power, Li Shi had served as a military officer for many years, and Li Shangming was a famous general in North Korea. This time, he was undoubtedly letting the tiger go back to the mountain.

The supervising officer saw Li Shangming and others escape, and his face turned pale and said angrily: "Kill!"

The executioner raised the ghost-head knife high. Under the shining of a golden morning sun, the people watching the execution could clearly see the cold light on the blade and the looming knife shadow on Li Shi's neck.

"Puff--"

A muffled sound broke the silence of the execution platform. The executioner's knife fell, and Li Shi's head rolled to the ground. Blood gushed out like a stream, staining the stone slabs of the execution ground red.

Li Shi's body shook a few times, and finally fell down weakly.

"Dead?"

"Really dead!"

"Li Shangming and the royal family will never stop fighting!"

...

The crowd of onlookers saw Li Shi's head being chopped off, and there were bursts of exclamations and whispers.

The execution ground was filled with an indescribable and heavy atmosphere. The executioner silently put away his knife and turned away, leaving only Li Shi's headless body and the lonely head.

Everyone knew that the King of Korea wanted to kill a chicken to scare the monkey, so naturally no one dared to collect Li Shi's body.

In the next few days, more and more officials were pushed here for execution.

King Lee of Korea started the slaughter mode and continued to kill officials who opposed him or were pro-Ming. He directly accused many officials of colluding with the enemy country.

In fact, collusion with the enemy was just an excuse. If he wanted to take power completely, he needed such a big purge, and all the officials who disobeyed him would go to hell.

But he obviously underestimated the current strength of the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty's yearning for war. Just when he started killing, the Ming Dynasty's iron cavalry had crossed the Yalu River and headed south.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty had not yet received the practice of King Lee of Korea defining the Ming Dynasty as an enemy country, but Korea's refusal to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty with pig iron had already touched the bottom line of the Ming Dynasty.

Any country that does not pay iron to the Ming Dynasty should be destroyed!

This time, Liaodong Governor Zhang Jin personally led the Liaodong Iron Cavalry to the south first, and it was bound to teach Korea a profound lesson.

After the outbreak of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Ming Dynasty had already made its attitude clear.

Since Korea was unwilling to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty with pig iron and was unwilling to help the Ming Dynasty open a new era of transportation, then the Korean royal family would all go to hell!

"Ten thousand iron cavalry went south, looking for death!"

"Do you really think our Korean army is made of paper?"

"Eat up these ten thousand iron cavalry immediately and let the Ming Dynasty know that we Koreans are not easy to bully!"

...

Facing the sudden southward march of the Ming Dynasty Iron Cavalry, the Korean direction also showed great self-confidence.

In fact, the Korean side had more than 100,000 troops, but because the founding king of Korea was a military general who seized power, Korea learned from China's practice of emphasizing culture and suppressing military power.

The elite soldiers and generals of any country did not emerge out of thin air. Only with sufficient financial resources can the soldiers be well fed and the weapons in their hands be updated and iterated in time.

It's just that the current Korean army's combat effectiveness is worrying, otherwise it wouldn't have been so anxious about the Japanese pirates in the past few years.

Just when the Korean side was actively fighting, the Ming Dynasty's iron cavalry marched south like a steel torrent.

Yu Yuanzan was in his prime, exuding the aura of a general.

After so many years of tempering, he is no longer the martial arts champion with only a heart of blood, but a Ming Dynasty warrior who has fully grown up in the war.

During his stay in Luzon, he never forgot his mission for a moment. There were life-and-death moments fighting against storms, and there were bloody battles for the Ming Dynasty to govern Nanyang.

As the first martial arts champion of the Hongzhi Dynasty, it was not only his honor, but also the responsibility to set a good example for later generations.

Because Zhendong Bo was appointed as the Governor-General of Ryukyu, he was recruited back from Luzon by Korea to serve as the Liaodong General the year before last, and he cherished this opportunity very much.

Yu Yuanzan had always imagined that his enemy was the wild Jurchens, but he had never thought that Korea would dare to provoke the Ming Dynasty. At this moment, he led the cavalry and swept south like a black storm.

With their arrival, the entire Korean Peninsula seemed to tremble, and the sky and the earth changed color.

Yu Yuanzan rode on a black warhorse, with an upright posture and a bright look.

His armor gleamed in the sun, and with a long spear in his hand, he was like a god of war. His eyes were firm and sharp, as if they could penetrate all the fog and point directly to the heart of the enemy.

The Liaodong cavalry behind him were all elite soldiers.

Since the rise of the Jingwei martial arts in the Ming Dynasty, a large number of young military talents have been sent to the army every year, and these young soldiers are eager for military merit.

They are eager to fight and honor. Facing Korea, which dares to provoke the Ming Dynasty, they have absolute confidence in bloodbathing this country that is affiliated with the Ming Dynasty.

They are wearing iron armor, holding sharp blades, and their eyes are bright. The sound of horse hooves is uniform, like an exciting war song, echoing in the Korean Peninsula.

This is one of the most elite iron cavalry of the Ming Dynasty. Whether marching or fighting, it maintains a strict formation. Under the leadership of Yu Yuanzan, they are brave and fearless.

"Is this the Ming army?"

"How can we fight those old, weak, sick and disabled troops?"

"Our king is seeking death at all, how dare he challenge the Ming Dynasty openly?"

...

Their style and majesty shocked the towns and villages along the way. People stopped to watch and were impressed by this powerful iron cavalry.

Due to the rapid transmission of news, they all knew about the evil deeds of their king, who not only killed a large number of wise ministers, but also openly provoked the Ming Dynasty.

Now the Ming Dynasty's royal division is heading south, and the Ming Dynasty seems to have only sent the garrison in Liaodong. The iron cavalry in front of them is just the vanguard. This is a battlefield that cannot be won at all.

The first large-scale battle started soon. The Korean border army assembled a team of 30,000 people, led by Kim Zan-hwan, the confidant of the Korean King Lee, but tried to stop Yu Yuanzan from going south.

It was just that the two sides had just fought, and the eyes of the Korean soldiers revealed fear and helplessness. Their formation collapsed instantly under the charge of the iron cavalry, and Kim Zan-hwan, the confidant of the Korean King Lee, fled in panic.

The sound of the Ming Dynasty's horse hooves roared like thunder, and the flintlock rifles in their hands kept shooting. The Ming Dynasty's iron cavalry swept the entire battlefield like an unstoppable torrent.

In the sound of war drums, Yu Yuanzan waved his spear, and his figure quickly shuttled across the battlefield. Every charge was accompanied by the enemy's wailing. Blood stained his armor, but his eyes became more and more courageous, as if the god of war had descended to the world, unmatched.

Although the Korean soldiers were numerous, their resistance seemed so pale and powerless in front of the well-trained and well-equipped Ming cavalry.

For a time, the battlefield was full of swords and shadows, and the Korean army retreated step by step wherever the cavalry passed. The 30,000-man army was reduced to only 3,000 remnants in the blink of an eye.

After the battle, the battlefield was left in a mess. The Korean soldiers surrendered one after another, and their general Jin Zanhuan was escorted back with a pale face, obviously frightened by this sudden blow.

After defeating the Korean border army, Yu Yuanzan did not stop. He immediately ordered the entire army to move south and head straight for Seoul.

The Ming cavalry was like a giant dragon, winding forward on the vast land. Their goal was the city that symbolized the center of power in Korea.

As the army marched, towns and villages along the way surrendered one after another, and no one dared to stop this powerful cavalry.

When the army led by Yu Yuanzan arrived in Seoul, the entire royal city was already in a state of panic. (End of this chapter)