American: Native Empire

Chapter 153: The Fall of Ming.

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It was a night of ambition. 

Lee Yeok had a secret meeting with Yi Hwang.

“…Is this really true?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm.”

Lee Yeok stared at the letter that had flown from Kim Kiwoo, furrowing his brow.

After a long silence, he turned his gaze to Yi Hwang.

“Did you not know about this, Minister of Justice?”

“I had some suspicions from watching the movements of the Wakan Tanka Empire, but I did not expect them to act so quickly.”

“…You should have told me sooner if you felt any signs.”

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Lee Yeok was not pleased with Yi Hwang’s apology, even though he bowed his head.

‘I don’t like it.’

The reformists were loyal to him. 

He was the symbol of the bloodline of Jeongryeong, which was very important to them.

But Lee Yeok had his own loyalists among them.

The problem was that Yi Hwang was not one of them. 

Yi Hwang was the core of the reformists. 

There was no big problem now that they had the same goal, but it would be a tough fight if he started to rebel.

It was inevitable that Yi Hwang knew more about the situation of the Wakan Tanka Empire than him. 

But it was very unpleasant that he did not discuss such an important matter beforehand.

However, there was no good in antagonizing Yi Hwang, so Lee Yeok suppressed his anger.

“I hope you will tell me even the smallest things from now on.”

“I will do so.”

“That being said… What should we do now? Do we really have to sit still as the Empire wishes?”

“We have to. We have crossed a river that cannot be turned back. If we stop here, we will drown in the river. Or we have to move forward until we reach the other side of the land.”

“Sigh, but Ming…”

“Haven’t our relations with Ming changed a lot already? We just have to keep silent.”

Yi Hwang’s words were true.

There was no eternal secret. 

Ming soon found out that Joseon was trading with the Wakan Tanka Empire.

Ming’s reaction was obvious.

Ming knew that the Empire’s merchants were trading with their smugglers, and they were suffering from it. 

And now Joseon was openly trading with them. 

They could not tolerate it.

‘But we did not respond.’

Ming’s pressure on Joseon came after Lee Yeok accepted Kim Kiwoo’s proposal.

And in the end, Lee Yeok accepted it. That is, he naturally raised his flag against Ming’s will.

Ming thought of military sanctions and showed a strong will to retaliate. But it did not happen. 

The smugglers were too powerful, and they were constantly harassed by Mongol cavalry from above.

Thanks to that, Ming’s pressure was only verbal.

‘I expected it when I saw them deliberately nurturing Ming’s smugglers… But it ended up like this.’

The Empire’s merchants sold not only ordinary goods but also large quantities of weapons and ships to the smugglers. 

This could not be said to have no malicious intent.

But as long as they excluded Ming from their relations, this was not a harmful matter for Joseon.

‘It is better for us to split up Zhongyuan. If we share a border with such a huge empire, there could be trouble at any time.’

And hadn’t there been many cases like that in history? 

The interests of Joseon, Wakan Tanka Empire, and smugglers coincided.

Although they could be morally criticized for that.

“All this is for Joseon. It is suicidal to go against Wakan Tanka now. You must remember this. Joseon is currently on a leash by the Empire.”

Yi Hwang’s voice became heavier.

“The Empire is giving us a huge amount of money for free, and food and goods are also pouring in endlessly. If the Empire changes its mind, not only will our reforms go up in smoke, but our lives will also be in danger.”

“Hmm… I know that well enough, so you don’t have to mention it anymore.”

Even if it was true, it was not pleasant for him as the king of a country to bow down to a great power. 

Yi Hwang knew this too, so he quietly lowered his head.

“As you say, Minister of Justice, we have no choice but to do this for our survival. I understand, so tell the Empire’s Foreign Ministry that we will follow the Emperor’s will.”

“Your grace is immense, Your Majesty!”

And so Joseon decided to watch Ming’s downfall with their eyes wide open.

***

“What? Did Joseon dare to refuse?”

“Yes, yes. That is correct.”

“Damn it!”

Bang!

Eom Sung, who was in charge of Ming’s finance, slammed his fist on the desk after hearing the bad news. 

He was usually very good at controlling his emotions, but he was under a lot of pressure due to the recent situation, so he could not hold back his anger.

“What are you doing there? Get out!”

“Yes!”

Eom Sung dismissed his subordinates and had some time alone. 

Then his boiling anger subsided a little.

‘I can’t shake off this anxiety.’

Yín Xīng was very quick-witted. 

He would never have risen to his current position without being observant. 

He was born into a poor family in the countryside, but he managed to serve as the prime minister for a whopping ten years with his flattery and cunning. 

He was a remarkable person who had achieved such a feat.

‘Why did this happen now of all times…’

He resented the heavens. 

Why did these ominous signs keep appearing while he was in charge of the government?

He had killed countless enemies to consolidate his power. 

Taking advantage of the emperor’s negligence, he wielded absolute authority.

However, even Yín Xīng could not stop the external changes. Recently, a massive earthquake in Shanxi caused enormous damage, and the people’s sentiment was very grim.

On top of that, the smugglers were gathering the masses and arming themselves with new weapons, and Joseon refused to send troops.

‘What should I do…’

Yín Xīng’s worries only grew longer.

****

Yín Xīng did not know, but the new information organization of the Blue Earth, ‘Shadow’, played a big role in worsening the people’s mood.

The members of Shadow spread throughout China and argued that the heaven was angry and that this terrible earthquake happened because of the corruption and tyranny of the current government.

“The emperor of Ming, Zhu Houcong, has already lost the mandate of heaven! Therefore, we must immediately depose the emperor and have a new emperor who has received the mandate of heaven become the ruler of this land!”

As the man spoke from a makeshift platform, a large crowd had already gathered around him.

When the man finished his speech, the thugs who had been waiting in advance shouted loudly among the crowd.

“Right! This land needs a new ruler!”

“Waaaaah!”

Then, the people who had been harboring a lot of dissatisfaction responded first, and soon the atmosphere heated up by the crowd psychology.

And such things were happening all over the vast plains of China.

“Yeah! What has the emperor done for us! Those damn officials only pocket money and don’t care about our lives at all!”

“If we stay still like this, how long will it be like this? Look at what happened in Shanxi Province. The emperor has already lost his qualifications.”

This served as an opportunity to unite the anger of the people who had been holding it for a long time.

And at this time, taking advantage of this opportunity, the smugglers on the coast who had finished their preparations raised a rebellion.

“Follow us! We are the ones who will replace that incompetent and corrupt emperor who has lost the mandate of heaven and bring peace to this land!”

“Take these weapons and march into Beijing with us!”

“Waaaaah!”

The people were ecstatic as they looked at the army with purple headscarves. 

At that time, purple dye was very expensive, so it looked even more impressive.

In addition, the appearance of the trained army and the unfamiliar weapons they carried gave them more confidence.

‘Great Man was right.’

Wang Zhi, one of the leaders of the smugglers, nodded his head as he recalled Swift Rope.

Swift Rope ordered Wang Zhi and other smugglers to pay attention to their appearance. 

He also supplied them with headscarves dyed with expensive purple dye at a very low price.

In fact, this was possible because synthetic purple dye had appeared due to the development of chemistry.

‘I’ve never regretted listening to Swift Rope.’

In original history, Wang Zhi was a notorious pirate. 

Most of the late pirates who operated in China were Chinese. 

He decided that it was dangerous to operate in China and accumulated an enormous fortune by operating in Japan.

Of course, he was later arrested and executed by Jeolgang Sunmu Ho Jongheon using his family’s safety as bait.

However, Wang Zhi’s life changed a lot in current history. 

The pirates were wiped out by Wakan Tanka Empire, and imperial merchants conquered the seas of the world.

Thanks to that, Wang Zhi made huge profits by mediating trade with Wakan Tanka Empire on China’s coast and armed himself strongly based on that. 

He was powerful enough that Ming’s army could not dare to attack him.

That’s why Wang Zhi considered Swift Rope as his benefactor. 

He also became a person who had a great affection for Wakan Tanka Empire.

‘Soon I’ll be able to become a real king. Huhuhu…’

And he was inflated with a new dream.

****

Kim Kiwoo deliberately adjusted each smuggler’s power to be similar. He did this by trading more with relatively weak forces.

Thanks to that, Wang Zhi and other smugglers were divided into ten forces.

“Don’t forget your promise. If you cross our territory… The empire will not sit still.”

“Haha. Who would be foolish enough to go against the empire. Just don’t break it on your side.”

“Good. Then I wish you luck.”

The ten forces exchanged warnings and compliments with each other and scattered. 

They had already decided which part of Ming they would eat when they signed a secret treaty with Kim Kiwoo.

Of course, they all had more than one port. 

They knew how painful it was to lose a port, which was a trade channel with the empire, because they had been smuggling for their whole lives.

Thanks to that, they started to march from the port to the land assigned to them.josei

“Brother, let’s go.”

“Call me Your Majesty now. Huhuhu.”

“Oh my! I made a mistake, Your Majesty!”

“Uhahaha! Well, let’s go find our land!”

Wang Zhi burst into a hearty laugh and began his march at the words of his subordinate.

The strength of Wang Zhi and his fellow smugglers, who had already seized the royal title, was well-known by now, and their army looked different from the rest.

They also expressed the anger that had accumulated among the people, and as time passed, Wang Zhi’s army grew exponentially.

Wang Zhi gave them spears.

‘There’s no point in giving them guns. Untrained gunners are worse than none. And more importantly… these rabble are enough to deal with the Ming soldiers.’

They were all rabble anyway. 

So the important thing was to have a well-trained army to command them, and weapons that were superior to the enemy’s.

It seemed more profitable to strike quickly than to waste time training them.

And Wang Zhi’s idea proved to be exactly right.

His army advanced like a storm.