Chapter 1525: Return

What he wanted was for the military to declare its stance as quickly as possible, because without the army's approval, this matter might be seen as him privately redeploying troops, an accusation he wished to avoid bearing, both publicly and personally. However, he believed that given the Han military's consistent style, they would be quite fond of this idea.

Just as he expected, Battalion Commander Meng immediately agreed. "Ambassador, rest assured, today I shall have a literate soldier write a letter and send it at once to Duke of Ji and the Military Council, so that the homeland may reply as quickly as possible."

Compared to Shi Gaoyi's standing within the Foreign Service, Meng Zhigao's position in the army was far lower, but his post was unique, so the military had also granted him the authority to write reports directly to the Liaodong military commander and the homeland's Military Council.

Duke of Ji, Chen Sheng, was currently in Liaodong, controlling the entire Han army in the northeast region, and was also Battalion Commander Meng's direct superior. His merits and prestige were both very high; if he nodded, the matter would be much easier to handle.

The Military Council was an army institution specially created after the founding of Great Han, staffed by carefully selected officers from various units. It was responsible for keeping the army's military deployments, maps, and weapons manufacturing, both domestic and abroad. Additionally, it had a dedicated advisory body to formulate plans for large-scale strategic military operations, and the advisory officers of field combat units were also managed by this institution. Although the rank of its members was not high, it could be considered one of the central organs of the army.

Compared to the commanding generals in the field, the Military Council acted with far greater caution, but they naturally would not create obstacles on this issue either. After all, the Crown Prince personally coming to Goryeo to take charge was a matter of immense importance, and no one wanted chaos to erupt in Goryeo because of Yi Hon.

"Good! As long as we are united in purpose from top to bottom, there is nothing to fear!" Seeing Meng Zhigao state his position so decisively, Shi Gaoyi was quite delighted. "Everyone, during this period, you must finalize everything, placing yourselves in a state where you can act at any moment upon receiving the order. Then, as soon as the Crown Prince gives the word, everyone will move immediately!"

"The Crown Prince?" The others were all startled again.

Wasn't the reason for wanting to hasten the deposing of Yi Hon precisely because the Crown Prince was coming to Goryeo? Why wait for the Crown Prince to decide?

"The Crown Prince is the heir apparent, and this time he is coming to Goryeo in person. Although on the surface it is said he will be permanently stationed in Busan to direct the rear, how could we possibly not be subject to his command? If we were to carry out such a major affair before the Crown Prince's arrival, or without his knowledge, what would the Crown Prince think?"

With the ambassador's explanation, everyone suddenly saw the light.

"Therefore, once the Crown Prince's ship enters Goryeo's waters, I will go directly to welcome him and then preemptively report all related matters to him. As long as the homeland has already formed an opinion on how to handle this, the Crown Prince presumably will not object." Shi Gaoyi laid out the plan he had devised after careful deliberation. "With the Crown Prince's approval, we will be far more legitimate, and the Goryeo people will be even less likely to dare move against us."

It seemed the ambassador wanted to quickly secure permission from the homeland for the coup to oust Yi Hon, and then rush ahead to welcome the Crown Prince, making him endorse this action and eliminating any possibility of him being beguiled by Yi Hon and his supporters.

"We shall prepare the report to the homeland on this matter today. Do not delay and harm the affairs of state! Furthermore, do not wait for word from the homeland to begin preparations—you may start preparing from today! Vice Envoy Zhang, set aside all other matters for now and increase your contact with those Goryeo royal clansmen and ministers, ensuring they are also prepared. Battalion Commander Meng, have your soldiers make more preparations as well. Drill them well recently. I have already drawn up a map of Gyeongbokgung Palace; use this period to practice maneuvers based on that map."

He had even drawn a map of Gyeongbokgung Palace already? The ambassador truly was meticulous! Everyone in the room was inwardly awed by the ambassador's methods.

"For the sake of thoroughness, should we recall the troops previously dispatched elsewhere?" At this moment, Vice Envoy Zhang put forward his own suggestion. "After all, if we are truly going to act, the more soldiers the better."

"Those Goryeo soldiers are all utterly weak; back in the day, the Manchus had them gasping for breath. There's no need to worry so much about them! As for their palace guards, most are feeble and incompetent scholars—how could they possibly withstand the heavenly troops of our Great Han?" As the military leader, Meng Zhigao instead looked completely unconcerned. "Besides, the assault on Gyeongbokgung will rely on a single sudden strike. The palace is only so large; what difference does a few more or fewer men make? Hastily moving troops now would only alert the enemy and put those in the Goryeo court on guard..."

"Battalion Commander Meng speaks reason. Since it is to be a sudden strike, secrecy must be the priority. Gathering troops from various places would be counterproductive. It would be better to simply recall a few under some reasonable pretext." Shi Gaoyi also agreed with Meng Zhigao's point. "Battalion Commander Meng is a professional soldier, naturally far more expert than us. In any case, when the time comes, we will rely entirely on Battalion Commander Meng and the heavenly troops."

"Naturally." Meng Zhigao held his head high and puffed out his chest, clearly brimming with confidence. "That old wretch Yi Hon is so utterly ungrateful; when the time comes, we must teach him a proper lesson!"

"Very well, since everyone has reached a decision, there is no time to lose. Go and carry out your tasks." The ambassador waved his hand, indicating that this discussion was over.

Then, his expression suddenly turned extremely stern. "Furthermore, the matter of deposing and enthroning is one thing, but the tasks that must be done must also be done well. We all eat from the court's salary, hold the court's offices, and our very lives and fortunes rest in the court's hands. I must make this clear to everyone: the homeland and the Crown Prince heed our advice because we are useful and can accomplish things for the nation. If we cannot handle affairs well for the nation, then what use does the court have in keeping us? Once we carry out this deposition and enthronement, the court will certainly be waiting for us to prove with meritorious deeds that we did the right thing. Therefore, this military campaign must be handled well for the Crown Prince. Is that understood?"

"Ambassador, rest assured. When the time comes, even if we have to hold blades to the backs of the Goryeo ministers and force them to work, we will absolutely not allow them to procrastinate or equivocate!" Meng Zhigao immediately responded, then slammed the table heavily. "Everyone here, as subjects of Great Han, must handle affairs well for Great Han. On ordinary days, if you attend to your own matters, no one has any right to interfere. But if, at a critical moment, you still cannot distinguish what is important, then do not blame me, Old Meng, for being impolite!"

"Understood!"

Ambassador Shi Gaoyi was a scholar by origin, and ever since coming to Goryeo, he had been diligently studying Goryeo history. He naturally knew the history of the past; during the Great Yuan dynasty, Emperor Kublai Khan had once launched a war against Japan, when Japan was still under the rule of the Kamakura Shogunate.

Great Yuan was a vast empire stretching ten thousand li, with immeasurable population and wealth under its rule. Kublai initially sought to intimidate the Japanese into surrender with threats, but the ruling Hojo clan of the shogunate ignored him completely and flatly refused Great Yuan's demand for submission.

Kublai thus resolved to conquer Japan by force. The base he chose for this expedition was precisely Goryeo. At that time, Kublai ordered the Goryeo king to build nine hundred warships: three hundred large vessels capable of carrying one thousand or four thousand dan, to be constructed under the supervision of Kim Bang-gyeong; three hundred swift assault boats, and three hundred water-drawing light craft, to be built under the supervision of Hong Dagu, with work stipulated to begin on the fifteenth day of the first month and to be completed by the deadline. This project brought an enormous workload and heavy burden upon the Goryeo people, causing countless deaths and injuries, and wasting incalculable sums of money.

In the sixth month of the same year, after half a year of effort, the nine hundred warships were completed. Kublai immediately issued the order to campaign against Japan. Thus, a combined army of Mongol, Han, and Goryeo troops advanced upon Japan. The core of this combined army was the Mongol force, totaling twenty thousand Mongol and Han troops, five thousand six hundred Goryeo soldiers, plus six thousand seven hundred Goryeo sailors, making a total of thirty-two thousand three hundred men, commanded by Expeditionary Commander-in-Chief Xindu, Right Vice-Commander Hong Dagu, and Left Vice-Commander Liu Fuheng.

The Japanese forces counterattacked, but to no avail. In just one day, the combined army occupied Tsushima Island. On the evening of the fourteenth, the combined army invaded Iki Island. On the sixteenth, the combined army approached the coastal islands of Hizen and the northwestern coastal region.

On the nineteenth day of the tenth month, the combined fleet attacked Hakata Bay, scattering the coastal defenders and occupying the area around Imazu.

However, although the combined army advanced with extreme speed, a typhoon swept away the follow-up fleet, causing the Yuan forces to suffer heavy losses and forcing them to retreat.

Later, a few years afterward, Kublai, unwilling to accept defeat, launched another punitive expedition against Japan. The result, despite some progress, was again the destruction of the fleet by a typhoon, leading to another massive rout of the troops. A rare failure appeared in the Mongols' history of conquest, and the Japanese called it the "Divine Wind."

Typhoons are formidable indeed, but how could a fleet be completely swept away by a storm in a single event? The crude construction of the ships built by the Goryeo people was surely a primary cause. This time, absolutely no similar oversight could be allowed. The new dynasty's emperor was in no way inferior to Kublai in decisiveness; if problems arose again for similar reasons, who in the Great Han mission to Goryeo could escape blame?

This was a matter that could not but cause worry.

Though spring had arrived, the chill at sea had yet to dissipate. The still-cold sea breeze blew across the harbor, the terraces, and every building, mingling with the seawater that ceaselessly lapped against this entire island nation. After the waves receded, the yellow sand beach glistened, like specks of gold upon this boundless ocean. Shafts of morning sunlight pierced through the gaps in the clouds, shining from the sky onto the water, the sand, and the cliffs.

The cold wind could not halt the world's myriad bustle; today's Nagasaki port was as busy as ever. From early morning, the harbor was a forest of masts, with ships connected stem to stern, carrying cargo in and out of the port.

Zhou Pu stood on a merchant ship about to enter the harbor, and a sudden, inexplicable surge of emotion welled up in his heart.

Under the sunlight, the morning mist had already dispersed. He could see the faintly visible white houses in the city. From his vantage point on the deck, those small houses looked just like seagulls' nests, while the people walking on the broad white stone streets seemed like tiny black dots.