In early May, Incheon Port.

Due to the continuous civil war in Korea, the port of Incheon, which has always been relatively prosperous, has become deserted, and there is not a single merchant ship to be seen except for fishing boats cruising on the sea.

A group of ragged and skinny children were laughing and playing on the docks, and the only people who could be so interested at this time were the children who had nothing to do.

"Look, what's that?" Suddenly, an eight- or nine-year-old boy stretched out his hand and shouted at the sea in the distance.

When the children heard this, they all looked in the direction of the boy's finger, only to see some small black dots appear on the sea level in the distance, slowly approaching the direction of the pier.

"It's a seabird, isn't it?" An older child said, putting his palm on his forehead, glancing at the small black dots.

"It's not a seabird, a seabird flies with the wind!" Another child standing next to him spat out a mouthful of saliva that fell to the front right under the influence of the sea breeze blowing from the left.

"It's a ship, it's definitely a ship." Immediately, the older child's eyes showed a look of surprise, and he danced and shouted at those little black dots, "Daming's fleet, it must be Daming's fleet, Daming is here to send us food!" ”

Hearing this, the children at the scene suddenly became excited, waving their hands at the small black dots on the sea in the distance, jumping and jumping and looking very happy, they don't know how long they haven't eaten a full meal.

With the voices of these children, the people on the dock were gradually attracted over, and they stood on the pier and pointed to the small black dots in the distance, whispering, and all of them looked excited.

Because Daming had sent a batch of grain last year, the people in the port were deeply impressed, and the mission led by Cui Li set off from Incheon Port, so the people in the port knew that he went to Daming to ask for help.

This made the news that the Daming grain ship was about to arrive at the port spread like a whirlwind all over the town where the port was located, and the wharf was soon crowded.

The magistrates of the port did not dare to withhold the relief food from the people of the port, and usually distributed the food to them in full.

However, those magistrates would not distribute the grain all at once, but only for a few months to deal with it, and the remaining grain would be swallowed as soon as the Ming warships left.

Even so, the people of the port were very happy compared with the people in other places, after all, they could get a few months' rations, and if they saved food, they could carry half a year, which was much better than starving.

After the magistrate of the town learned the news that the Ming fleet was about to arrive, he hurriedly sent someone to ride a horse to report to Li Jin in Seoul, according to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, the messenger came to Li Jin, the lord of Shouyang, to come to greet him in person.

Fame on the trumpet.

Li Yuntian stood on the deck of the bow of the ship and looked at the densely gathered crowd on the harbor with a solemn expression, he already knew the severity of the famine in Korea from the report of the lecture hall, otherwise he would not have led the fleet to rush over so quickly.

Liu Zhen, Hongluan, Yun Na, the accompanying Ming army generals, Cui Li, Park Sanze and others stood quietly behind Li Yuntian, looking at the port that was getting closer and closer, and gradually heard cheers from the dock.

As was customary, the first to enter the harbor were transport ships full of accompanying soldiers, and a steady stream of Ming soldiers disembarked from the ships and began to take control of the port and the town where it was located.

When a military attache of the Ming army told the magistrate of the town to accept control of the town, the magistrate was stunned and did not react for a while.

The last time the Ming army was transported to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming army was only on guard at the port, and they didn't intervene in the town's affairs at all, but this time the Ming army was unusually going to take over the town, which made him feel confused.

However, when the magistrate learned that the dignified King Chung was actually in the fleet, he was so frightened that he shivered, and before he had time to think about it, he immediately turned around and ran, and personally rode a horse to report to Seoul.

Seoul, the residence of the Maharaja of Shouyang.

Shouyang Maharaja Li Yao was changing clothes under the service of his subordinates, and he had received news from Incheon Port that the grain of the Ming Dynasty had arrived, so he took a bath and prepared to dress up to greet the Ming envoy who sent the grain.

"Maharaja, the little one has sent permission to inform the brothels in the city, and they will send the best prostitutes." An emaciated middle-aged official in an official robe walked into the room briskly and said to Li Yao in a deep voice.

There is no doubt that these prostitutes were dedicated to those officials who came from the Ming Dynasty, and the Korean state was poor in materials, so they could only find ways to curry favor with the officials of the Ming Dynasty from the female sex.

"Yes!"

Li Yao bowed slightly when he heard this, these officials from the Ming Dynasty can't be offended, they have to serve well, so as not to cause any trouble, anyway, he doesn't mind raising a few drunken people, now is the critical moment to fight for the throne of the king of Joseon, as long as you don't make trouble for him.

Although as early as after the death of the king of Joseon, some officials persuaded Li Yao to live in Gyeongbokgung Palace to preside over the overall situation of the Joseon Kingdom, but Li Yao refused, thinking that this move was too reckless, although the king of Joseon died but the prince who was canonized by the Ming Emperor is still there, if he lives in Gyeongbokgung Palace, it will be unjustifiable, and he may cause some trouble.

Cui Li strongly agreed with Li Jue's decision, the Ming Dynasty is a ceremonial state, and the policy towards foreign states is strictly in accordance with legal principles, as long as the Ming Emperor does not issue an edict, then before Li Jue's death, he is the son of the Joseon State, and no one in Gyeongbokgung Palace is qualified to live except for the King of Joseon and the prince, otherwise it will become ironclad evidence of the rebellion if Li Jue catches the handle.

"Dajun, I didn't expect the Ming army's grain ship to come so soon, and I don't know how the errands of Lord Cui and Lord An are going?" While Li Yao was changing clothes, the emaciated official who came to report said worriedly, looking a little nervous.

If there is no accident, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty to Korea this time will bring the holy decree of the orthodox emperor appointing a new king of Korea, and it is not known who will win in the end, Li Yao or Li Jue.

"It's a blessing or a curse, it's a disaster that can't be avoided, let's gamble on luck." The corners of Li Jue's mouth showed a hint of a smile, as if he was very confident in his succession as the king of Joseon, no matter how he said that his relationship with Daming was closer than Li Jue, as the son of the world, Li Jue had to keep a distance from Daming, otherwise he would anger the king of Joseon.

Hearing this, the emaciated official couldn't help but smile bitterly, the holy decree of the orthodox emperor is not only related to the throne of the king of Joseon, but also will decide the life and death of Li Yao and Li Jue, and by the way, it will affect the many people who follow the two, he doesn't want to die like this now, let alone his family being implicated.

There is no doubt that no matter whether Li Jue or Li Jue inherits the throne, they will kill all the henchmen who follow the other party, even if he wants to join Li Jue at that time, he will not have this opportunity, how can Li Jue trust him? There is no way to give an account to those who died in the war.

"Big ...... Big...... Big...... Maharaja, Maharaja, ......Maharaja, Big...... Big...... Big things don't ...... Oh no......" At this moment, a subordinate hurriedly ran in and knelt in front of Li Yao in a panic, unable to speak clearly because he was too excited.

"Panic what! Li Jue's people are attacking? Li Jue's brows furrowed slightly, and he looked at the panicked subordinate with dissatisfaction and said, except for Li Jue's people coming to attack Seoul, he really couldn't think of anything that could make this subordinate so out of shape, but Li Jue's troops were still far away from Seoul, and how could Li Jue's army approach Seoul in the middle?

"Big ...... Dajun, just now the magistrate of the port of Incheon came to report, and His Royal Highness King Chung of the Ming Dynasty came with the fleet. After Li Yao's reprimand, the subordinate stabilized his mind and opened his mouth to report.

"What!" Li Yao was stunned when he heard this, and then suddenly turned to look at the subordinate, and asked with a shocked expression, "What you said is true?" ”

"That's what the governor of the port reported." The servant wiped the sweat oozing from his forehead and replied with a cramped expression.

"Quick, bring him up!" Li Yao didn't care about the maid who changed his clothes, and stepped forward and yelled at the subordinate, this news was too shocking to make him believe it, he knew Li Yuntian's status in the Ming court, so Li Yuntian should not come to Korea no matter what.

"See the Maharaja." A moment later, the magistrate, who had been waiting outside the courtyard, walked in briskly and bowed to Li Yao.

Because he was riding a horse all the way from Incheon Port, the magistrate was sweating profusely and looked a little embarrassed.

"Say, His Royal Highness the Loyal King of the Ming Dynasty has come down?" Where is Li Yao still in the mood to care about the appearance of this magistrate, staring at him and asking in a deep voice.

"That's what an official of the Ming army said, and for this reason they took over the town of Xiaguan." The magistrate nodded again and again, and answered honestly.

"His Royal Highness King Chung is here, what happened?" Li Yao was sure that he had heard correctly, and couldn't help muttering to himself, he really couldn't imagine anything in the Korean Kingdom that could alarm the prince of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also the teacher of the Ming Emperor, which was completely unexpected by him.

"Maharaja, will His Royal Highness King Chung pass by?" At this time, the emaciated official standing on the side said tentatively that he couldn't imagine anything in the Korean country that was worthy of Li Yuntian's visit, so there was only this possibility left.

"Passing by? Well! Li Yao couldn't help but nod when he heard this, maybe Li Yuntian's goal was the Japanese country, but he just came to the Korean country by the way.

"No matter what, we have to entertain His Royal Highness King Zhong, he can control our life and death in his hands." Subsequently, Li Yao said to the emaciated officials in a deep voice, "Tell me to go down, all the officials in the city will go to the port to greet His Royal Highness King Zhong, and the officials along the way must be ready to welcome them, the scene must be festive, and what you need will be called directly from my house!" ”

"Xiaguan will arrange it." The emaciated official didn't dare to slack off, bowed to Li Ji and hurriedly left.

"Wait." Before the emaciated official could take a few steps, Li Yao suddenly remembered something, and shouted at him, "Remove all those prostitutes!" ”

Li Yao was not confused, knowing that the beauty trick was useless to Li Yuntian and the effect would only backfire, so he hurriedly asked the emaciated official to stop this stupid behavior, so as not to cause any trouble.