Dominate the Country

In the main hall of the Han Palace, Chen Han and his group of civil and military officials gathered.

Everyone looked at Jin Jizhong, who was kneeling and crying in the hall with pity. He was the second brother-in-law of the newly ascended Joseon King Li San, and the half-brother of the former Crown Princess and the current Queen Jin of Joseon. Li San promoted his official position from the fifth-rank Hanchengfu judge to the third-rank deputy Chengzhengyuan, and then sent him to China as the chief envoy, sending Chen Han. There was only one purpose - to ask for help.

Li San hastily ascended the throne in Jinzhou [South Korea's coastal location, almost next to Busan] in early March, and immediately sent Jin Jizhong to Busan Port to Jeju Island, and then took the Fu Han Army warship through the Yangtze River to the Han River, arrived in Xiangyang, and then changed horses and rushed all the way to Lushan.

Even now, Jin Jizhong also looked dusty.

Of course, what Jin Jizhong wants to do now is to "cry in the Qin court". The more miserable his image is, the more pitiful he can be in front of the emperor and ministers of Chen Han.

Chen Ming watched Jin Jizhong crying bitterly, denouncing the meanness and barbarity of the Qing Dynasty in very standard Chinese, and telling the deep suffering brought to Korea by the Qing Dynasty's sending troops to Korea. At the same time, he sighed again in his heart-plans are not as good as changes.

Chen Ming really didn't expect that Emperor Qianlong was going to swallow up Korea in one bite. When he received the news that the Qing army attacked Korea, he thought that Qianlong was going to blackmail Korea or force Korea to send troops. He didn't expect that he was going to swallow up Korea in one bite. After Li Cheng committed suicide and Li Cheng became the king of South Korea, they also launched a royal family of the Li Dynasty and ascended the throne in Pyongyang, North Korea.

At the same time, the Qing infantry, cavalry and navy also burned, killed and looted on the land of Korea, and continued to abduct people. You know, in previous years, the Qing Dynasty had a resolute attitude towards expelling Korean people who crossed the border. Now they want to develop the northeast, and it is not easy to plunder Han people, so they can only apply the methods used more than a hundred years ago to Korea.

"During the Wanli period of the former Ming Dynasty, Japanese soldiers invaded Korea. Within a month, Korea's 'three capitals were lost and eight provinces collapsed'. The King of Korea had to flee to Yizhou on the border between the two countries. The country was in a precarious situation and had to quickly send envoys to Zhu Ming for help. Unfortunately, in addition to submitting formal letters to Emperor Wanli, the envoys of Korea also went to the cabinet ministers, ministers, assistant ministers, censors, and eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, and even expressed their willingness to submit to the Ming Dynasty, trying to urge the Ming Dynasty to send troops to aid Korea as soon as possible."

"And now the King of Korea, although he has fallen to Jinzhou and other places, the Qing army has few soldiers entering Korea, and the army is stationed in the capital of Korea. Few of them have crossed Chungcheong Province and went south to Jeolla Province and Gyeongsang Province. He is not at the end of his rope." In other words, although Jin Jizhong's words are pitiful, many things are true, but there is still a big difference in them. At least, Li Sun did not ask for submission.

"The current situation in Korea is like the period between the two Song dynasties. Although the Jin army was powerful, it was limited by its small number of soldiers and could not swallow up China in one fell swoop. Now the Qing army is also limited by its small number of soldiers and cannot swallow up Korea in one bite."

"Although our army is in power in the south, it has no foundation. At this time, whether it is a large-scale northward march or a long sea crossing to Korea, it is not the first priority."

Chen Cong was the first to stand up and oppose the dispatch of troops to Korea, and he clearly stated his attitude. And from him, there were still many relatives and important officials in the Lushan court who did not agree to send troops to Korea. Including disagreeing with launching an attack on the north immediately to attract the attention of the Qing court.

For the atrocities committed by the Qing Dynasty on Korean soil, many people believed that it would be enough to publish them in newspapers and make them public to hit the reputation of the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, there were also people who supported Korea in the crowd. Because although Li Sun did not clamor for submission, he clearly stated that he would recognize Chen Han as his suzerain. Many of Chen Han's current senior officials have ordinary backgrounds. There are always a few who are blinded by vanity for such a face-enhancing "beautiful" thing.

Chen Ming's opinion is that whether sending a large army to land in Korea or immediately marching north is nonsense. Sending a large number of naval forces, let alone whether it is feasible, just say that the repair of warships and ammunition supply will all rely on Chen Han to transport, and Korea cannot supply them at all, which is quite nonsense.

It is already April.

Soon the summer wind will blow, and merchant ships from Europe and Southeast Asia will arrive in the southeast coastal area. This year, there will definitely be more merchant ships arriving than in previous years. The naval forces of the Fu Han Army are responsible for "protecting" the sea borders and ports. Although their performance lags behind Western sailing ships and their combat effectiveness is very fragile [without fire dragon bombs], they are floating on the sea after all. Chen Han wants to use them to strengthen his face.

After entering May, Chen Ming planned to withdraw part of the Fu Han Army fleet active in Shandong, Bohai and southern Liaoning. However, the Koreans wanted to use the false name of "suzerain country" to lure Chen Han to attack the Qing Dynasty and relieve themselves. Chen Ming absolutely disagreed.

To a certain extent, Chen Cong's views represent Chen Ming's views.

Let's talk about Jin Jizhong who retreated. After returning to the State Guesthouse from the Han Palace, he was immediately surrounded by the Koreans who came with him.

"Deputy Chengzhi, what did the emperor say?" Deputy Envoy Ding Zaiyuan greeted Jin Jizhong and sat down in the room. Without waiting for Jin Jizhong to catch his breath, he hurriedly asked, his eyes full of hope and expectation.

Jin Jizhong shook his head in a low mood, and Ding Zaiyuan and others immediately felt half cold in their hearts. They have been in Lushan for four days. As the chief envoy, Jin Jizhong only saw the true face of Chen Han Prince Chen Ming and the true face of the King of Han today. The latter is not that uncommon. His appearance and majesty are far from comparable to the bearing and demeanor of the founding monarch of a superior country that one imagines in one's mind.

No wonder even Chen Han’s own soldiers and civilians believed that Chen Han’s current demeanor was entirely due to their Crown Prince; the King of Han was able to transform from a humble householder to the emperor because he gave birth to a good son.

The day after Jin Jizhong arrived in Lushan, he ran to the Crown Prince’s residence to ask for an audience, but Chen Ming did not see him.

And today when he was ‘crying in the Qin Court’, although he was really crying bitterly, when he looked up, he also caught the expressionless face of Chen Ming in the first row on his right. [Left Wen, Right Wu]

“The Crown Prince of the upper country was not moved by my words of pleading at all…” Jin Jizhong knew the current situation of the Joseon Kingdom very well. Without China’s support, there was really no hope of recovering the old land and expelling the Qing invaders.

Thinking of Li Sun’s current situation and the losses that Joseon had already suffered, Jin Jizhong was heartbroken and couldn’t help shedding tears again. His red eyelids had not yet subsided, and with this cry, a sad atmosphere instantly swept the entire room.

Ding Zaiyuan deflated like a punctured balloon. As early as nine years ago, he had become the governor of Jinju, a third-rank official. In the year when his fourth son Ding Ruoyong was born, the "Immo Incident", one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the Lee royal family of the Joseon Dynasty, occurred. According to legend, Yi Sun believed that his crown prince was incompetent, so he trapped his second son [the eldest son had died, and the second son was made a scholar, the father of Yi Sun] in a rice cabinet and killed him. Ding Zaiyuan was very angry about this incident, and he resigned from his official position in a rage and returned to his hometown to recuperate. As a result, this rest lasted until last year.

When the Qing army entered the Joseon Dynasty, Ding Zaiyuan raised a volunteer army in his hometown, Maxian, Gyeonggi Province, Korea. As a result, it was like driving rabbits to feed tigers, and the volunteer army could not withstand the attack of the Qing army. Ding Zaiyuan's soldiers could not fight and were inferior to others. After the Namhansanseong Fortress was broken, he fled to Chungcheong Province with the few remaining troops, and then returned to Jinju. Lee Sun succeeded to the throne in Jinju, and appointed Ding Zaiyuan as the deputy director of Hongwenguan and deputy of Jin Jizhong, and rushed to China.

The Korean delegation was covered with dark clouds, as if they had seen the end of the world. Without Chen Han's strong support, how could they recover their homeland? It was even difficult to keep Jeolla Province and Gyeongsang Province. Ding Zaiyuan burst into tears immediately, and the whole room was filled with the sound of Koreans crying.

There was no way, Korea was too weak, and the Korean soldiers were too weak.

Think about the performance of the Qing army in Korea, people were like tigers and horses like dragons. In terms of combat effectiveness, it was completely crushing and crushing, and the Korean soldiers were all blown up.

"The upper country has just established the tripod, and the foundation is not yet solid..." Ding Zaiyuan said something he didn't believe. After seeing the richness along the Yangtze River, how could they think that Chen Han was still a weakling? This is not in Seoul. The news of Chen Han and Fu Han Army reached Korea two years ago, but the whole court was silent.

In the eyes of the Korean monarchs and ministers, Chen Han occupied the South. In the eyes of the Koreans, the South of China was a land of boats, and there was not much room for cavalry to be used. However, the cavalry of the Qing army was the most powerful elite in the world in their eyes. Whether it was the two wars more than a hundred years ago or the ongoing war, the cavalry of the Qing army showed a crushing advantage over the Korean army.

In the eyes of the Korean monarchs and ministers, with the newly emerging strength of the Fu Han army, it was not easy to defeat the Qing Dynasty with strong cavalry in the vast and flat northern plains. The Qing Dynasty during Qianlong's time was different from the late Yuan Dynasty during Zhu Yuanzhang's time. So China will inevitably enter a period of confrontation between the North and the South! So North Korea should be honest and do its duty, and never show joy to provoke Beijing's anger.

Although the Korean monarchs and ministers were delighted with the changes in the Central Plains, they were only delighted. Before the Qing invaded Korea, the noble ministers who sneered at the Qing did not dare to advocate sending envoys to the South to pay homage.

That is based on the fear of the Korean monarchs and ministers of the Qing Dynasty: the Ming and Qing dynasties changed, the land of China sank, and the mountains and rivers had long since turned into a land of fishy smells. This is just the self-praise of the Koreans themselves, just like the ostrich with its head stuck in the sand. In fact, every Korean who has really walked through Beijing will know that the world is the Qing Dynasty, and the sun and moon are already the Qianlong Emperor. China's national strength is still far superior to that of Korea.

The rule of the Qing Dynasty in the Central Plains and the prosperity of the Central Plains under the rule of the Qing Dynasty are simply not comparable to the small country of Korea. In addition to enjoying themselves as "Little China", Koreans can only enjoy themselves.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, Korea sent envoys to Beijing almost every year, which was called "Yanxing" in Korea.

The vastness and prosperity of China are not comparable to the small Korea. The Korean envoys who passed through Shengjing were more than once impressed by Shengjing, which was Liaoyang in the Ming Dynasty and Shenyang in later generations. There were shops lined up on both sides of the road, and there was nothing that was not available, and the market reached five miles. This scene always reminds the Korean envoys of their homeland and the narrow streets of Seoul, the capital of Korea, where the business scene is very different from that of Shengjing.

When many members of the Korean delegation arrived in Tongzhou, they were stunned by the ten-mile-long commercial street, the mountains of various goods, the merchants from all over the world, and the endless supply of ships on the canal. The Korean envoys to Yanxing described this unique landscape as "the abundance of boats and ships", which was also called the three "spectacular" scenes in the minds of Koreans together with "the beauty of the imperial capital" and "the vastness of the wilderness".

These three "spectacular" scenes are like three mountains pressing on the hearts of every Korean "ambitious person", reminding them of the huge power gap between Korea and the Qing Dynasty all the time.

But this time, Jin Jizhong and Ding Zaiyuan and his party took a warship to enter the Yangtze River at Wusongkou, and traveled thousands of miles along the way, including Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhu, Anqing, Jiujiang, Wuchang, Hankou, and Xiangyang after entering the Han River...

The "vastness of the Liaoye, the beauty of the imperial capital, and the grand event of Tongzhou's boats" that had long been engraved in their memories, compared with the richness of fish, rice, silk, and tea in the south of the Yangtze River, the magnificence of rivers and mountains, and the huge number of boats on the rivers and seas, do not seem to be "remarkable"?

Just a quick visit, Jin Jizhong, Ding Zaiyuan and others determined that the momentum of the Fu Han Army to unify the country was unstoppable. The "meaning" of Seoul back then was a complete joke.

"It has only been three or four years since the country started the war, and it has swept thousands of miles of the southern country. It is inevitable that it will unify the world in the future. However, its foundation is not yet solid. It will not be accomplished overnight to convince the King of Han and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to agree to send troops to Korea."

"We should not be discouraged. We will go to the various government offices and the nobles' residences in the future, write letters and kowtow, and express our sincere concern."

"Kim Ki-jong does not have the talent of Li Wenyi in the past, but he has the sincerity and courage of Li Wenyi." Li Wenyi is Li Dexin, a minister of the Joseon Dynasty during the Wanli Korean War. This man, under the command of Hao Jie, the then governor of Liaodong, begged for reinforcements, cried in the court, and spoke generously. He did not retreat all day. Hao Jie was moved. Before he could make a report. It was convenient to dispatch 5,000 soldiers and horses from this town, led by the deputy general Zu Chengxun, to cross the river to rescue in July. As a result, due to the unclear enemy situation and underestimation of the enemy, he was defeated in Pyongyang. [Zu Chengxun is Zu Dashou's father]

Take a boat from Jeju Island directly to Wusongkou, and then to the wealthy Jiangnan. At this time, spring tea is also on the market. A large number of goods are continuously transported to Shanghai and Wusong Port along the Yangtze River.

Jin Jizhong and Ding Zaiyuan, who saw the hurried sails outside Wusong Port for the first time, were stunned by the countless large and small ships. These are not the canal boats that pass through the canal. There are many large sea ships of 200 to 300 tons. For North Korea, a large sea ship of 200 to 300 tons is already a great ship.

Then there is the wealth and vastness of both sides of the Yangtze River. It is hard to imagine that there was a war here last year with the passenger ships and cargo ships shuttling back and forth.

The traces of the war are fading rapidly. What is rolling in the Yangtze River is not the river water, but endless wealth.

With such a rich land and such a dense population, if they work at full capacity, the manpower, material resources, and financial resources generated will be fully invested in the war, and unification of the world will be unstoppable.

After enjoying the prosperity of both sides of the Yangtze River along the way, the Korean delegation was full of confidence in Chen Han's future.

Jin Jizhong even felt that the previous estimation of Chen Han's current strength within Korea was wrong. Such a Chen Han, is it possible to send troops to Korea immediately?

Compared with Korea, the Qing Dynasty, which lost the south, is still a behemoth, but their strength is not as close as Korea estimated, but very different from that of Chen Han.

…

Shandong, Fanjiaji, east of Tai'an Prefecture.

Yang Lei tightly grasped a white wax pole gun, and his heart was difficult to calm down. The Fu Han Army sent a message in March, asking them to move in Shandong, but Yang Lei did not expect that he would run into a team of Tartar cavalry as soon as he came down the mountain today.

This luck is really bad. No wonder I lost so much when playing dice these days.

These Tartar soldiers wearing cotton armor are not easy to deal with. They are also fierce enough.

"General, the Tartars are coming." Liu Tao, a former military candidate, saw the dust rising in front of him from afar and reminded him in a low voice. He is the deputy of Yang Lei's camp. Although his position is very good, he can't command anyone without Yang Lei's order.

Yang Lei looked far away, his face was calm. No matter how nervous he was, he couldn't show his fear on his face. This was what Wang Jinglong [Wang Lun's adopted son, one of the two main generals of Qingshui Sect] told him.

"Come if you want. Am I afraid of them? Brothers, get ready. Let's fight the Tartars to the death today!"

"Liu Tao!"

"You take a hundred people to monitor the formation!" Yang Lei pointed his hand and pointed to a team officer.

"No matter who it is, without orders, anyone who dares to take a step back will be killed without mercy!" Yang Lei ordered in a deep voice, and Liu Tao bowed his hands and obeyed. Immediately, he and the team officer led a hundred people to stand behind the formation, staring at the remaining soldiers. The remaining hundreds of soldiers under Yang Lei were all terrified.

"Brothers, the bravest will win! I, Yang Lei, cannot promise anything else, but I will definitely fight side by side with you and live and die together. I will never be a coward and abandon you for fear of death. If I abandon my brothers and flee from the battlefield, Liu Tao!"

"Yes."

"Your archery skills are famous throughout the army. Aim at my throat. Shoot him through with one arrow!"

"Even if I retreat, I will die. Let's fight the Tartars today..."