Just when Li Rubai was about to go crazy, Lu Xuan suddenly made a move, and it was a large-scale military operation.
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Chapter 161 It is our honor to be dogs of the Ming Dynasty!
The moment Lu Xuan's army moved, the entire Ming Dynasty trembled. Everyone was waiting for him to make his move, like a boot hanging over their heads. Li Rubai, in particular, felt as if the moment had finally arrived. But as he waited and waited, he discovered that Lu Xuan's target was not him at all.
It wasn't until Lu Xuan assembled an army of 20,000 and marched eastward that everyone realized his true target wasn't Liaodong, or even the Jurchens, but Korea.
As for why they were attacking Korea, it's quite simple. Four years prior, in the second battle against the Jurchens, a large number of Korean soldiers were among their troops. Furthermore, Lu Xuan possessed an imperial edict authorizing him to suppress any rebellious officials in the surrounding areas. This gave him a perfectly legitimate reason to wage war.
Many court officials could only turn their attention to Zhu Changluo. The basic message was simple: Was the imperial edict truly issued by you?
Zhu Changluo was also in a bind. He vaguely remembered that there had been some. Anyway, when Lu Xuan left, he asked him for a whole bunch of imperial edicts, demanding various rights of autonomy. At the time, he felt that this hunter was rootless and adrift, so he gave him some autonomy and readily granted it. The edicts definitely didn't say he could attack Korea, but upon closer reflection, many of the words in the edicts, when extended, seemed to indeed imply that.
The Korean side was naturally terrified. They had initially perceived the Ming Dynasty as weak and turned to the Qing Dynasty for favor. However, they hadn't expected the Qing to be so ineffective, losing two leaders in two consecutive wars. They themselves were trapped in that harsh, desolate land, unable to advance an inch. The Korean side was already somewhat timid. In the past two years, they had been paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty annually, hoping to salvage some of their image.
Just when they thought they had made enough preparations and were about to breathe a sigh of relief, Lu Xuan suddenly attacked. Before the Korean army could react, the border troops had no choice but to hastily engage in battle.
However, Lu Xuan had no intention of directly attacking the city. Two hundred brand-new Hongyi cannons bombarded the city walls and interior for an entire day, blasting one section of the wall to smithereens. The Korean defenders wanted to retaliate, but the cannons lacked the range; even from the city walls, they couldn't reach Lu Xuan's positions...
What frustrated the defenders most was that even though the city walls had collapsed, the Ming army still didn't attack. They simply camped outside the city and waited quietly.
This invisible pressure drove the soldiers in the city almost mad. The defending general, unwilling to wait for death, launched a counterattack, hoping to salvage some face. However, as soon as they stepped out of the city gates, they were met with a barrage of thousands of muskets. Under Lu Xuan's oppressive policies and the hefty reward, the firearms craftsmen put in their utmost effort and finally managed to produce muskets that barely satisfied Lu Xuan.
This was the first real-world combat exercise, and some researchers even accompanied these firearms battalions. They were constantly recording the various conditions of the muskets and collecting data for future improvements. The entire battle was essentially Lu Xuan's test of his new firearms, albeit on the walls of a Korean city.
In less than fifteen minutes, the attacking North Korean army collapsed completely, and the surviving soldiers scrambled back into the city. Even though the city walls no longer existed.
Lu Xuan still didn't attack, but simply sent troops to blockade the city. Then he waited quietly. The next day, at the crack of dawn, the remaining defenders came out in droves to surrender. They even carried the heads of those generals who had tried to defend the city. Last night, the city had been engulfed in battle; all the soldiers who wanted to continue resisting were killed by the surrender faction.
They collected all the weapons, piled them up, and everyone came out empty-handed to surrender. Seeing this, Lu Xuan finally spoke.
"Select the able-bodied men and assign them to help with logistics. Gather all the valuables in the city and leave them here for us to take with us when we return."
"Understood." Lu Wenzhao immediately arranged for a guard of five hundred men to watch over their belongings. The rest continued to advance with the main army.
On their journey, they encountered an order from the Korean royal family. The order commanded the border generals not to resist...
Lu Xuan generally wouldn't commit massacres. Wherever he went, he would only plunder wealth, rarely killing civilians. However, he did implement a system of collective punishment for resisting soldiers. Upon arriving in a city, he would first bombard it with artillery to demoralize the defenders. Then he would besiege the city and wait, entering the city the next day. If even one soldier dared to resist, one hundred men would be randomly selected from the army and killed. The resisting soldier would then be handed over to his comrades. The enraged soldiers would punish these people on Lu Xuan's behalf.
Seoul, formerly known as Hancheng, was originally called Nanjing. It was later renamed Hancheng, and then Seoul. Actually, there wasn't a Chinese translation for Seoul initially. So, at that time, China still called it Hancheng. But the South Korean government couldn't stand it (laughs) and personally provided the Chinese definition: Seoul.
However, Lu Xuan felt that Seoul was much more comfortable than Hanseong. So it was better to keep calling it Hanseong.
In fact, when they were twenty li (approximately 10 kilometers) from Seoul, King Injo (Yi Jong) was already waiting there personally with his civil and military officials. If Lu Xuan's army had marched in, killing and burning along the way, King Injo would have undoubtedly hidden in the city, too afraid to show his face. However, this Ming army only looted some property and barely harmed civilians. This gave King Injo some courage, and he felt that the matter could be negotiated. He guessed that the Great Celestial Empire disapproved of his wavering and wanted to give him a warning.
Not only did he prepare a large amount of gold, silver, jewels, cattle, and sheep for the civil and military officials, hoping to appease this general of the Celestial Empire.
However, Lu Xuan didn't even bother to show his face, directly ordering his army to deploy and unleash a barrage of bombardment on Hancheng. After five years of intensive preparation, Lu Xuan's biggest advantage was his ample supply of firearms. Moreover, this battle was essentially a test of the weapons' limits, while simultaneously depleting the older firearms that were intended for replacement. Therefore, it wouldn't matter who came; it would just be bombardment upon arrival...
Some passionate Korean generals, unable to bear this humiliation, rose in rebellion, determined to fight Lu Xuan to the death. However, a decisive battle required close combat. Their cavalry, riddled with bullets from the new Tiger Crouching Cannon, were reduced to man and horse pieces. Before they could even reach the Ming army, they were turned into a bloody pulp.
Their firearms had a much shorter range than the Ming army's. You couldn't hit them, but they could hit you. How could this battle be fought? Several soldiers, using heavy crossbows, finally managed to inflict some casualties on Lu Xuan's army. Lu Xuan didn't get angry; he simply ordered the artillery battalion to open fire again, firing three volleys at Hancheng.
Li Zong nearly went mad on the spot, immediately ordering all the resisting soldiers to be captured and handed over to Lu Xuan for punishment. Lu Xuan waved for Zhao Jingzhong to drag those men before the Korean civil and military officials and execute them in public.
Then he walked out of the military camp and stood in front of Li Zong.
This was Li Zong's first encounter with the legendary General of Liaoyang. His first notable achievement was beheading the Khan of the Later Jin. His second was capturing the Qing Emperor alive. For the next few years, though he had devoted himself to farming, Li Zong still felt a chill run down his spine as this man stood before him. This man was a true emperor-killer.
"Li Zong of the Lower Kingdom greets the envoy of the Celestial Empire." Li Zong didn't dare raise his head, immediately leading his courtiers to kneel down, regardless of how improper it was. He had a feeling that if he didn't do something properly, this general would immediately order the artillery to continue firing on the capital. That was his home base; if it were destroyed, what would become of him, the emperor! So, no matter what, kneeling first was always the right thing to do.
Lu Xuan squatted down, gently lifted his head, and then said.
"Do you know why hunters like to bring hunting dogs? Because dogs... are generally loyal enough."
Li Zong was terrified and immediately shouted.
"Yes, yes, yes, it is an honor for Joseon to be a dog of the Ming Dynasty!!! Joseon is willing to be a dog of the Ming Dynasty for generations to come, and will never betray it."
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Chapter 162 I'm Waiting for Them to Grow Up (Please Subscribe)
Taking down Korea was effortless, which was actually within Lu Xuan's expectations. After all, Korea was still nominally a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Although it felt a bit stronger a couple of years ago thanks to the Later Jin, in recent years, the Qing Dynasty had softened, and Korea naturally followed suit.
After all, no matter how much the Ming Dynasty declined, it was still not something Korea could afford to offend. Moreover, a monstrous general had emerged on the border between Korea and the Ming Dynasty. His 20,000-strong army had rendered the entire Korean Empire powerless. This great empire is still the great empire; they must continue to be its dogs.
Lu Xuan left, without massacring the city or killing anyone. But he returned to his country in a grand procession, taking with him the wealth of Han City and all the cities he had passed through along the way, plus 20,000 able-bodied soldiers.
Of course, people can't be killed indiscriminately. Killing these ordinary people only breeds hatred and serves no purpose. Letting them live allows them to continue creating wealth, and we can exploit them again next time. Depleting resources is not a good habit. We need to cultivate a worldview and values of sustainable development. We must properly care for the North Korean people. Let them work hard at farming and earning money. This way, in the future, Lu Xuan will have an additional grain reserve and a market for his goods.
Eleven cities, plus the reserves in Kyoto, Korea, alone contained hundreds of thousands of livestock. Gold, silver, jewels, grain, and weaponry were countless. Although Lu Xuan's army didn't actually need these inferior weapons, melting them down and using them as steel reserves was still feasible. In addition, 20,000 soldiers were captured and brought back as able-bodied men. These were all excellent laborers, and their talents would not be wasted.
When countless supplies were transported back to Liaoyang, the entire city was in an uproar. The Ming Dynasty hadn't won a major victory against a foreign power for many years. Seeing the expeditionary force return laden with supplies, a strong sense of confidence surged throughout Liaoyang. Some were even discussing when they would finally fight the Qing Dynasty.
This incident caused a huge uproar in the court. The entire court was once again in a state of frenzy because of Lu Xuan. Some astute individuals vaguely sensed that Lu Xuan was perhaps training troops. However, this matter couldn't be spoken of openly, because if it were, the emperor might use it as an excuse to order Li Rubai to deal with it. How could this be resolved? The court repeatedly urged Li Rubai to restrain Lu Xuan, but Li Rubai didn't dare utter a single word.
Zhu Changluo was in a very complicated situation because Lu Xuan had sent him spoils of war: over a dozen cartloads of gold and silver jewelry, plus dozens of beautiful women from Korea as tribute. This satisfied Zhu Changluo's small sense of pride; at least he was still nominally the emperor.
The most conflicted party in this matter was actually the Qing Dynasty. Lu Xuan's campaign from the border to the Korean capital took a month, most of which was spent looting. According to Qing intelligence, when the city fell, a massive cannon barrage was unleashed. The Korean walls were breached in less than fifteen minutes. Under the volley of musket fire, thousands of soldiers were cut down like grass.
Neither the city walls nor the heavily armored cavalry offered any resistance against General Lu's firearms. That army had already changed the course of the war. The Qing officials couldn't think of a way to counter it. They could only try to build their own firearms battalions.
However, firearms cost money. Currently, the Qing Dynasty is suppressed by the Ming Dynasty, and apart from a very few Shanxi merchants who have pulled strings and managed to obtain some grain, they have no access to merchants in the Central Plains. More importantly, even if they did make contact, they lack the funds… A people who rose to power through plunder, having lost their primary occupation of plunder, are unable to independently produce additional economic goods for trade.