Chapter 525: Blood-Stained Royal Pond, the Universe in the Box

No matter how arrogant King Li of North Korea is, in the hearts of North Korean officials and people, it is impossible for North Korea to withstand the Ming Dynasty cavalry.

Their king openly challenged the Ming Dynasty, which was like hitting an egg against a stone. Now the Ming Dynasty cavalry has successfully moved south and has even arrived at the Royal City. This is an ironclad proof.

Once the Ming Dynasty's cavalry enters the city, who will be spared?

There was great chaos in Seoul. Countless members of the scholar-bureaucrat class fled one after another. The common people were also thinking of ways to leave. Some people took advantage of the chaos to rob property, and even killed people to steal goods.

Originally, there were soldiers in the royal city to maintain order, but under Li's leadership, the royal city was out of control.

The officials and generals responsible for managing the soldiers have fled, and these unruly soldiers have turned into bandits. Especially, more and more people in the royal city do not believe that they can defend the royal city.

"It's chaos, it's all chaos!"

"This is not a good thing that tyrant did!"

"Run away, this royal city will definitely fall!"

…

Facing the Ming Dynasty's cavalry stationed outside the north city gate, there were leaders in the city discussing politics and traffickers and pawns in the city, but no one had the fighting spirit and they all wanted to escape.

"Is the south city gate closed?"

"Li is so cruel!"

"He doesn't intend to give us all a way out in life!"

…

After learning that King Lee of North Korea had ordered martial law in the city, many dignitaries who were preparing to flee but were trapped in the city hated Lee deeply.

The Ming Dynasty cavalry only stationed troops in the north of the city, but completely ignored the other three gates. As a result, the Korean king actually closed them all, which directly trapped everyone in the city.

The Korean Peninsula in February is experiencing a depressing cloudy day.

Seoul, Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Li is now completely letting himself go, not only killing ministers in the court, but also becoming arrogant and lustful in life. Although there is no pool of wine and meat, there are still four beauties in the pool at this moment.

When it comes to beauty, North Korea is indeed a place rich in beauties. Not only did North Korean women win the favor of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty Palace also accepted many North Korean beauties as maids.

In order to maintain a good image, Li used to constantly disguise himself, but now he no longer cares about anything else and likes to play with beauties in this warm pool every day.

"Your Majesty, which grape do you want?"

"What grapes do you mean?"

"Hate it, does your Majesty want big white steamed buns?"

…

The four beauties surrounded Li in the hot water room, but they all tried to please the monarch.

Due to the blockade of information and the fact that they are born to entertain people with sex, they do not care about changes in the outside world. Now they know that only by pleasing the king in front of them can they live a good life.

Just when Li was holding a beauty in his arms, a burst of swords suddenly came from outside.

"What happened?"

Li stopped teasing with the beauty in the water and immediately looked out the door angrily.

The sound of fighting outside ended, and the screen was roughly kicked to the ground.

ah……

The beauties in the pool had never seen such a scene before, and when they thought that they only had a faintly visible bellyband, they all screamed in shame.

Li Wang looked at the general who kicked down the screen, with a shocked expression on his face: "Li Shangming, you...why are you here?"

Although he knew that Li Shi had great influence in the court, and Li Shangming had a high reputation in the army, he was a strong enemy who had to be eliminated. But he never expected that Li Shangming would come back so quickly and even break into his palace.

At this moment, he knew that he had underestimated Li Shangming, or perhaps he had been abandoned by the civil and military ministers of the dynasty without knowing it.

Behind Li Shangming stood North Korea's important ministers headed by Li Kepei, who was in charge of political affairs.

There are serving ministers here, there are also officials who have been dismissed by Li, and there are even avengers who like Li Shangming had their homes ransacked and their families exterminated.

"Of course I am here to take your head!" Li Shangming said without hiding his hatred when he saw the enemy who killed his father in front of him.

Li knew that the hatred between himself and Li Shangming could not be reconciled at all. He immediately looked at Li Kepei and others and said: "I am the king of North Korea. Do you have to think clearly?"

"Of course we have thought it through, otherwise we would not be here with Li Shangming!" Li Kepei responded firmly to Li's question.

Although their civil servants are at a natural disadvantage, after all, they are taught to be loyal to their emperor. It's just that after Li took power, he went on a killing spree against their officials, and he had already forged a bloody feud.

Originally, their strength was superior to Li's, but now that the civil and military officials united, they could naturally take over Li, a king who had been betrayed by his ministers.

As for seizing Gyeongbokgung Palace, Li Long was not regarded as the king, not only by him as the leader, but also by the traffickers and lackeys. This was actually an easy matter.

"Someone! Someone! Come quickly! Escort!"

Li shouted loudly, but there was no movement outside.

Li Shangming and others looked at Li as if they were pitiful, but they knew that no one would come to rescue this tyrant. This tyrant and his subjects had already been alienated.

Although Li gathered a group of people and cultivated a few confidants, he was too complacent.

The power of the Ming Dynasty is obvious to all. The reason why everyone follows Li is because they hope to live a life of fine clothing and fine food, but they do not follow Li to die.

Now that the Ming Dynasty iron cavalry is approaching the city, it would be really stupid if the group of people who supported Li followed Li all the way to the dark side.

Li had already recognized the reality and immediately asked, "Are you going to kill the king?"

"So what if I kill the king?" Li Shangming, wearing armor, stepped forward and immediately drew the sword from his waist: "Today, this general is not just for revenge, but to use your head to quell the war and ensure the stability of the Korean people!"

"Haha... Do you think the Ming Dynasty will stop fighting? The Ming Dynasty has wolfish ambitions and has long wanted to annex Korea, but you idiots are still leaning towards the Ming Dynasty!" Li laughed and pointed at the officials present and said angrily.

"The Ming Dynasty is hundreds of times stronger than us. You idiot dares to provoke us like this. If you are unwilling to submit to the Ming Dynasty, you should not drag the people of the country to be buried with you! Today, I will bear the name of killing the king. Today, I will borrow your head for use!" Li Shangming saw through Li's unwillingness and immediately stepped forward with a sword.

This time is not just about seizing the palace, nor is it just about killing the king, but to quell the war with the Ming Dynasty.

Others may not know, but he knows the gap between the two countries in military, which can even be described as a chasm. If Korea goes to war with the Ming Dynasty, there is only one way to die.

Especially now that the Ming Dynasty not only has elite soldiers and strong generals, but also has strong ships and powerful guns, it can directly attack their Seoul from the Bohai Bay.

Li thought that he could look down on others because he was the orthodox royal family of Korea, but he didn't know that he was nothing in front of the Ming Dynasty Zhu family. When he was held hostage in the capital, he still couldn't recognize the reality.

Li Kepei and other officials nodded one after another, but they knew that everything was caused by Li, and they and the Korean people naturally couldn't be buried with Li, a fool.

"You... you really dare to kill the king? Rebellion, rebellion!" Li stood up from the pool, and said with great shock on his face at this moment.

All along, his greatest reliance has been his bloodline. He is the orthodox royal family of Korea and their monarch. It is precisely because of this identity that all the ministers in the court succumbed to him.

Just seeing Li Shangming coming with a knife gave him an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.

The king's status that was always successful in the past, and the royal bloodline that was admired in the past, but at this moment, all seemed to be invalid and did not play any role.

"Where are you going!" Li Shangming also entered the pool alone, and the killing intent at this moment suddenly rose.

Whether it was to avenge his dead father or for the millions of people in Korea, he had to cut off Li's head and use his head to quell the war.

Li Kepei saw Li Shangming go into the pool to kill people, and he also watched this scene silently.

If Li had not been so reckless, they would not want to go to this step. It's just that Li wanted to kill them all, but he was actually an enemy of the Ming Dynasty, so don't blame them for not thinking about the relationship between the monarch and the ministers.

Ah!

When the four beauties saw Li Kepei holding a knife and going into the water, they no longer cared about the fact that their clothes were too exposed, but they fled from the pool one after another.

Li's feet slipped and he fell into the pool again. He seemed to wake up in the water and immediately changed his attitude and begged for mercy: "No! No! Please let me go, I won't dare to do it again!"

Anyone is cowardly in the face of life and death. Now Li feels the murderous intent of Li Shangming. How can he care about his status as a king? Now he just wants to survive.

Especially enjoying the extravagant life of the king, he naturally doesn't want to die even more. Even if Li Shangming asks him to be a puppet king at this moment, he will not say anything.

Li Kepei and others saw Li, who was afraid of death, but they couldn't help shaking their heads.

Since Li came to power, he has killed ministers and killed good generals unjustly. Now he knows to repent when he is about to die, but everything is too late. All I can say is: You can't live if you do evil.

Puff!

Li Shangming clenched the knife in his hand and slashed at Li. A stream of blood immediately splashed from Li's neck, and the head fell directly into the pool.

Under the action of buoyancy, the head floated on the water, but the eyes were open.

As the corpse continued to ooze blood, the warm water pool, which had just been filled with springtime, was now stained red with blood.

Dead?

Li Kepei and other officials saw Li's head being chopped off and the body floating on the water. They felt very complicated at this time, but they did not regret it at all.

Not to mention that too many of them were victims, and now it was Li who led the challenge to the Ming Dynasty. Only by chopping off Li's head could the anger of the Ming Dynasty be appeased.

Li Kepei saw Li Shangming pick up the tyrant's head from the pool, and asked very seriously: "General, can you really persuade the Ming Dynasty to withdraw its troops?"

"I can't!" Li Shangming had avenged his great hatred at this moment, but he shook his head gently.

"This..." Li Kepei originally placed his hope on Li Shangming, but he did not expect such a result.

"The general will handle the matter properly, you just wait for good news!" Li Kepei walked out of the pool and left directly, looking very confident.

Seoul was in complete chaos. Although Li Shangming and Li Kepei teamed up to break into the palace and cut off the head of the Joseon King Li, it did not cause much commotion.

Since everyone was trapped in the city, what they hoped most was that the Ming cavalry could withdraw, or promise not to harm them if they entered the city.

Outside the north gate of Seoul, the Ming army was stationed here.

"One, two, one, two, three, four!"

The Ming army is now more and more organized. Even though it is wartime now, they will conduct drills every day in order to maintain the best combat status.

In a certain tent, there was a strange beeping sound.

Yu Yuanzan already knew about the chaos in the royal city, but he was not in a hurry to attack. He was waiting for the chaos in the royal city to escalate, and he also wanted to give the troops in the rear some time.

Although he was alone now, each of them carried military rations, and they also bought food with silver notes along the way. The grain ships on the sea were always available for support, so there was no need to worry too much about the problem of military rations.

Yu Yuanzan was wearing armor and looking at Seoul in front of him.

It would be very easy to take over Korea with the strength of the Ming Dynasty, but it was too remote. From Beijing to Seoul via the northeast, it was almost as far as Hangzhou.

The agriculture here was not too developed, and the south was often invaded by Japanese pirates, so the Central Plains Dynasty was more willing to let Korea govern itself.

In fact, Korea was a country with a strong servility. It had always been very submissive to the powerful Central Plains Dynasty, and it could even be said that it tried to please them in every way. Even in this dynasty, there was a tribute system.

The Ming Dynasty saw such a submissive Korea, and Korea was not an ideal fertile land, so there was no need to include it in the territory, but Korea had an outlier like Li.

Li was not only cruel to domestic ministers, but also openly challenged the Ming Dynasty, which led to the Ming Dynasty sending cavalry south to conquer Korea.

As long as the Ming Dynasty's heavy artillery was delivered, even if the gate of Seoul was strong, it could not withstand the power of a heavy artillery shot.

At noon, the north gate of Seoul was wide open.

Li Shangming, wearing heavy armor, rode out of the city gate on horseback, followed by a carriage.

"Haha... General Li, aren't you afraid that this general will take the opportunity to rush into the city?" Yu Yuanzan rode forward and asked with a smile.

Li Shangming saw that Yu Yuanzan did not do so, and knew that he had not misjudged him: "General Yu, I believe that you are not only looking at military merits, but also a good general who can really help your Ming emperor."

"Stop flattering me! If there is nothing that can impress me, I will lead my troops to attack Seoul immediately!" Yu Yuanzan looked at the open city gate and said what he thought.

Li Shangming knew that the other party would do what he said, so he immediately presented the prepared things: "Please take a look at it, General!"

"What is this?"

"General, you will know it at a glance!"

Yu Yuanzan opened the sandalwood box and found that it was actually a painting. (End of this chapter)