Fried Salted Fish

Chapter 382 Alchemist Alliance

“Your Highness, I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

From deep within the embassy, guarded by the Jinyi Wei, came the voice of the Joseon emissary.

A halo of light fluctuated on the transmitting talisman, and the voice of the Joseon king passed over from the other side. Facing this strange report from his subordinate, the Joseon king remained silent for several breaths before replying with a slightly joyful tone:

“The good news is… the Ming are withdrawing their troops?”

“That would be wonderful! Joseon has no spare resources to support such a large army. Letting them leave as soon as possible will allow our country to recover its strength! If the sovereign father of the Upper Kingdom has given such an order, then it is indeed excellent news.”

“Yes, but not quite?”

The Joseon emissary was momentarily speechless, stuttering and unable to reply. After receiving no affirmative answer, the Joseon king’s tone became more doubtful, but this doubt did not last long. He immediately offered a second guess:

“Wait! Perhaps, the Upper Kingdom will bestow graces upon us? To rebuild our nation?”

His tone became excited: “Have you been so overwhelmed by the good news that you are not yet fully awake?”

The Joseon emissary now wore a look of utter despair. He could not help but shatter his monarch's illusions, quickly trying to stop him.

“It’s not like that… Allow me to tell Your Highness the bad news first.”

“The good news… is that the war is over…”

The Joseon king was taken aback: “That is indeed good news, but… I already knew that?”

“Is there nothing else?”

The Joseon emissary suddenly began to weep, but quickly turned his head, afraid of being heard by the Jinyi Wei. He could only whisper to the Joseon king:

“What else could there be! Your Highness, please allow me to finish speaking!”

After he carefully explained Emperor Wanli’s demands to the Joseon king, all that could be heard from the transmitting talisman was a great cry of woe, followed by silence from the Joseon king. Only the frantic cries of his ministers remained!

After a long while, the Joseon king’s voice finally returned from the transmitting talisman, weary and somewhat incoherent. It was impossible to tell whether the news of the country's restoration made him too happy, or whether the Ming’s demands nearly caused his heart to explode on the spot.

Perhaps it was a combination of both, but the Joseon emissary dared not ask directly.

“Why must it be this way! Why must this thunderbolt from the blue fall upon Joseon!”

The Joseon king’s heart-wrenching voice came from the other side of the transmitting talisman. The Joseon emissary waited for a long while, until the Joseon king’s cries of woe gradually subsided and his various lamentations ceased. Only then did he carefully repeat Emperor Wanli’s demands to him.

But upon hearing of the crime of deceiving the emperor, and the various purges, the Joseon king flew into a rage: “What kind of crime is this! We were not clear on the situation at the front, so how can it be considered concealment and deception! Is killing a few military officers not enough to admit our mistakes? The Son of Heaven of the Upper Kingdom covets the land of my Lower Kingdom, yet uses the words of former Tang ministers to silence the mouths of the world!”

“What small, barren, and remote country? These are all excuses! Although my country is small and weak, we still possess a thousand *li* of mountains and rivers. The hundred streams and thousand rivers irrigate a hundred valleys, and the people number in the millions, not much different from the Wokou!”

“The Wokou have rampaged for seven years, slaughtering millions of our people. Though a million have died, Joseon still has eight or nine million remaining even without the ten million! How can these thousand *li* of mountains and rivers be handed over… handed over to the sovereign father of the Upper Kingdom!”

The Joseon king wanted to curse more, but the words changed on his tongue as he referred to the sovereign father, adding:

“How can the Upper Kingdom bear to seize the homeland of my millions of people, causing my people to have nothing to eat? And if they have nothing to eat, how can they support the Heavenly Soldiers of the Upper Kingdom?”

“You speak of wanting the rights to use the land, but the rights to own the land remain in our hands. This is, in effect, obtaining our land in disguise. Into how many parts must these thousand *li* of mountains and rivers be divided? If it were a prosperous dynasty, we would naturally agree to anything, but now we are in a state of disrepair. How can Joseon afford to support so many Heavenly Soldiers!”

As the Joseon king spoke, he nearly passed out again. Was he not being made to pay for the Ming's garrison? That way, the garrison not only had land to use, but also drew sustenance from Joseon's national strength. In the long run, it was akin to raising a bunch of freeloaders.

So, the war was over, but the Ming army was not leaving!

Just a few days ago, he had been mocking the Ming soldiers, hoping they would leave quickly and stop eating his country's grain!

The Joseon emissary said: “The Great Emperor mentioned that Joseon and the Wokou are both countries that should not be conquered, ranking first and second. Now the Wokou have rebelled, and although Joseon is a protectorate, due to repeated concealment of the war situation, the Ming has suffered significant losses. Thus, they suspect us of harboring rebellious intentions.”

“Your Majesty, please calm down. I believe we should allow the Ming army to be stationed for a period. Our country should only focus on restoring its national strength, and ignore everything else, as if they do not exist. After some time, the Upper Kingdom will see that our Lower Kingdom has no rebellious intentions, and that the Wokou are wolves with wild ambitions and rebellious sons of the world, unlike Joseon, which is a filial son and virtuous grandson.”

The solution was to show weakness and pretend not to see. The more obedient the son, the more reassured the father.

After hearing this, the Joseon king engaged in a serious discussion with his other ministers on the other side of the transmitting talisman. The result of the discussion was that there was no result. They could only continue to be sons. The Ming had made a decision, and they could not interfere. Otherwise, the so-called crime of deceiving the emperor would be pursued. Everyone understood that it was just Emperor Wanli’s excuse.

The Joseon monarch could not help but complain to the other ministers.

The Heavenly Dynasty of the Upper Kingdom should be lenient to the sons of the Lower Kingdom. How could they suddenly start dwelling on these trivial matters, even to the point of fabricating crimes to scare the monarchs of these Lower Kingdoms?

In the end, it was all the fault of the Wokou. If Japan had not attacked, then he…

The Joseon king had such thoughts, and the other ministers also shared them. But to speak of developing the military was absolutely out of the question.

The rulers knew better than any foreign strategist where the country's weaknesses lay, but the interests involved were too great, concerning their positions and even their wealth. Military power was not something that could be easily handed over to military officers. On the contrary, it had to be continuously restrained! And the more strictly restrained, the better!

“That Yi Sun-sin seems to be appreciated by the Ming army this time…”

After finalizing the "national policy," the ministers began to discuss the aftermath. There was no way to manage the Ming army, but they could manage their own army!

Yi Sun-sin must be recalled, and all his military power must be immediately revoked!

“He rendered great service in this battle…”

“Nonsense! In the Battle of Noryang Point, although he had a plan, he was deluded by the enemy’s deception. Where did he earn any merits!”

One of the ministers revealed a sinister glint in his eyes, which the Joseon king noticed and understood.

This so-called deception was not that he truly disbelieved the battle situation at the front. The reason he was acting like an idiot in the transmitting talisman was to erase the merits of the battle.

The Ming generals would surely say that he was a foolish monarch, and he could not control them if they cursed him in private.

But Yi Sun-sin was his own general.

If he acknowledged his merits in this battle, it would be the same as elevating him to the pinnacle of military officers. How could that be allowed!

If the military officers had too much power, they would threaten the civil officials. If he had rebellious intentions and caused an internal rebellion, what would he do? He might even die without knowing why!

Therefore, erasing the merits of this battle was the same as suppressing his official rank, and it also provided a suitable reason to take back the military power in his hands, further suppressing his position.

Seeing a group of ministers and the monarch of Joseon gathered in the capital, not only failing to reward their own general, but even erasing his merits, suppressing his position, and taking back his military power, with some even beginning to condemn him!

The young Celestial Master, who was responsible for protecting them in the capital, could no longer bear to look at the faces of these people. He could not help but sigh:

“With such a country, such a king and his ministers, it is no wonder they were no match for the Wokou! As a ruler, instead of thinking about how to win over the loyalty of military officers, they are doing everything possible to harm the heroes and meritorious officials of their own country. Such a country, even if it does not perish, is destined not to rise.”

.......

“As you said, obtaining the rights to use the land can borrow the national fortune of the vassal state to strengthen the Great Ming?”

After the court session, Emperor Wanli returned to the Celestial Master's residence. Today, the Celestial Master resides in the Zhenwu Hall of the new Forbidden Celestial Palace.

“That is indeed the case. Someone told this to this poor Taoist.”

Celestial Master Zhang told the truth, and Emperor Wanli listened carefully.

“Oh, a *fangshi*? *Fangshi*… is it?”

“Those who want to kill Xu Fu.”

The *fangshi* who gave Ji Xiang the sleeping draught and treasures, of course, knew about the changes that had taken place in the Forbidden City. They contacted Celestial Master Zhang and informed him of some things.

In the past, the *fangshi* had given Ji Xiang two treasures. One of them, the sleeping draught, had shined brightly in the Joseon War. After drugging and killing Kobayakawa Hideaki, the Shadow Soldier was able to impersonate him and seize his divine position, thus beginning the "great defection era" of the Japanese generals.

Hideaki’s defection had a tremendous impact on the morale of the Japanese army, disrupting all their deployments. As a result, the false immortals desperately sought Ji Xiang in order to salvage the situation, but ultimately died in foreign lands. Even the great Buddhist cultivator, Yao-Bikuni, died with regrets.

As for the second treasure, the Cicada Slough Divine Pill, it was originally used to resist the technique of *xing jie xiao hua* (form disintegration and dissolution). However, Xu Fu did not have time to use the Yata no Kagami (Eight Span Mirror). This divine mirror for transforming form and spirit was not used, and Ji Xiang had already fled Japan. He originally had one chance to use it, which was before Honnoji Temple.

Unfortunately, when Ji Xiang entered Honnoji Temple, he shattered the mirrors in the hands of the two Nio guardian statues at the gate. For the first time, the divine light of the Yata no Kagami did not fall on Honnoji Temple, and it never fell again.

Therefore, this divine pill was of no use.

“These *fangshi* are a group of people who followed Dongfang Shuo during the Former Han Dynasty. Xu Fu is their mortal enemy, so during this Joseon War, the *fangxiandao* (immortal arts) of the Hidden Mountain River are standing behind our Great Ming.”

“As long as Xu Fu is not dead, the *fangxiandao* will support us!”

With the help of one of the four major forces of the Hidden Mountain River, the human world can remain stable for a long time, but it also has to face pressure from the other three sides.

“Xu Fu has been sending people to my Ming Dynasty to plunder treasures. The matter near Phoenix Mountain has been investigated, and the people of the Longyou Merchant Guild have been arrested by the county magistrate. However, there are some who have slipped through the net and fled overseas on Japanese ships to seek refuge.”

Celestial Master Zhang reported the matter of Phoenix Mountain in the south to Emperor Wanli. Although it had been a year ago, there was a lag in information. Moreover, the Longyou Merchant Guild had a vast influence in the mortal world, with intelligence and business dealings with the Japanese side, its sphere of influence spanning the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and even involved with the Southern Methods Sect, making it difficult to eradicate.

“Does the Southern Methods Sect have any connection with Xu Fu?”

“They probably do not, but the Southern Methods Sect seems to have closer ties with the underworld.”

Celestial Master Zhang said: “Not long ago, some major events occurred in the southern cultivation world…”

“It was even more serious than the sudden destruction of the Yinshan Sect last time.”

“Someone performed a ritual of the *guiyu* (ghost realm), resulting in a ‘corpse chaos’.”

Emperor Wanli was puzzled by the term: “Corpse chaos? Are they zombies, yakshas, or something similar? Can they not be defeated with firearms? The Bujiaro gun foundry has just been acquired. Let them cast cannons and transport them to the southern Methods Sect territory for bombing.”

Celestial Master Zhang said: “Firearms can certainly kill zombies, yakshas, and other ghosts, but this corpse chaos is, in essence, somewhat similar to what happened on Mount Wudang before.”

“Oh?”

The matter of Mount Wudang had already been reported to Shuntian, as it was an imperial Taoist temple. Emperor Wanli had originally planned to visit Mount Wudang, but he was unable to do so due to the Tatar rebellion. Therefore, he only sent Hu Long to make a trip. In addition, the Forbidden City was being rebuilt, so he had to stay here. However, it was right not to run around at this time.

As for the matter of the Heavenly King of Mount Wudang, it had already been explained when Ji Xiang escorted the two scholars to Shuntian.

“If it is related to Wudang, then it is related to Jingling Palace and Longevity Immortal Palace. Could it be some new ghosts and monsters, unheard of in the previous world?”

The underworld was creating all kinds of monsters that had never appeared in previous generations, a point that had already been made clear to many people. And these new monsters must be countered with new techniques.

“That is indeed the case. Of course, the corpse chaos this time can indeed be exterminated with firearms. However!”

“Living people have turned into corpse monsters, rather than turning into corpse monsters after death. In other words, the firearms are killing not only the corpse monsters, but also the people of the Great Ming.”

Celestial Master Zhang told Emperor Wanli that it was like a contagious disease. People would turn into zombies, but they would still retain their rationality, but this retention would not last long. People would still be affected and become bloodthirsty and hungry. And the Southern Methods Sect seemed to have made a fuss about this matter. From the looks of it, this “plague” was being actively spread by them.

Then, they would go and rescue these “corpse people” themselves.

“Are they trying to imitate the White Lotus Society? Poisoning the people and then rescuing them themselves, staging a self-directed and self-acted play to fool the ignorant masses.”

Emperor Wanli frowned. The Southern Methods Sect was now showing signs of disloyalty. Now that he had entered the cultivation world, he finally knew how rampant these cultivators were.

And there was one more thing that he seemed to understand.

Emperor Jiajing seemed to have killed many demons and cultivators back then. Although he later discovered that he seemed to be only conducting secret killings in order to find certain things for himself, Emperor Wanli was now thinking:

Why didn’t this old bastard’s butcher knife fall in more places?

“There is one more thing.”

Celestial Master Zhang opened his mouth, his tone still solemn:

“The [Dragon Lord Kubera King] seems to have appeared somewhere!”

“The great Buddhist cultivator who broke Bianliang with a single word during the Former Song Dynasty has descended from the Hidden Mountain River to the human world!”