Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 177 The Emperor Yang Hao

"Boom boom boom!"

On February [-]th, when the Ming Dynasty suffered an earthquake and the southwest rebellion fell into a tug-of-war, Nurhachi was not idle.

He began to send Tangqi to tentatively attack various pass cities, but what he got was stone bullets.

In a month's time, the artillery has been transported by sea, entered the Liaohe River and the Yalu River, and arrived in Liaodong.

These artillery were called Yanshan General Cannons by craftsmen and soldiers of the Ming army, and when they were placed on the top of the city, the confidence of the defenders in all places in defending Liaodong increased greatly.

No, the sound of the cannon just now was Gushanbao's counterattack against the Tangqi who came to test it, and General Yanshan's ten-jin cannon with a range of two miles frightened the Jianlu Tangqi to flee in a panic.

The improvement of the Liaodong Ming army's ability to defend the city means that Dajin needs to pay a heavier price in order to win Liaodong.

Therefore, when the news was sent back to Hetuala, Nurhachi was rarely silent.

In more than half a year, an alkali field fort was taken down, and more than [-] people died as a result. This made Nurhachi realize that the internal reform of the Ming Dynasty was successful.

Although in reality, what Zhu Youjian did was not considered a successful reform, but he did enhance the national power of Ming Dynasty, and even used the means of Yuma Jian to centralize power to make Liaodong more and more stable.

"If this continues, the Ming army should invade Fushun and Tieling in an attempt to take away the city passes within the Great Wall."

In the hall, Huang Taiji frowned and spoke, and Dai Shan also said after hearing the words:

"Although fighting against the savages has been able to obtain population and fodder, our fodder is still not enough right now."

"In addition, there have been changes in North Korea. It is estimated that the grain trade with us will be interrupted."

"Well... Yang Gao was released. I didn't think of that." Nurhachi spoke after pondering, and then said:

"The Ming army dispatched many soldiers and horses from Liaozhen in the Guangning area of ​​western Liaoning, and went to Guyuan with Li Rubai and Li Ruzhen."

"I, Mrs. Tu Tieling, I think Li Rubai will come back once the opportunity arises."

"The most important things right now are the little emperor of the Ming court and the little king of Qi." Huang Taiji can often grasp the fundamentals, so he explained:

"They are gradually nibbling away the soldiers and horses of Liao Town and weakening the strength of the soldiers and horses of Liao Town. They probably want to abolish Liao Town."

"We can tell Zhu Wanliang the news, maybe it will play an unexpected role."

"Just what's the use of this? You still have to fight!" Suddenly, Mang Gurtai got up and said:
"Take down the entire Liaodong, block the Ming court in Shanhaiguan!"

"Now is not as good as before." Huang Taiji said earnestly:
"I discovered it when I fought the alkali field last time. The Liaodong Ming army's combat power is much higher than before. The current first battalion of guest soldiers is comparable to the second battalion of Liao soldiers three years ago."

"Hmph! I think you are spoiling your own prestige by making others angry." Mang Gurtai retorted contemptuously, but Daishan frowned and said:
"Mang Gurtai, what Huang Taiji said is correct, the strength of the Ming army has indeed improved a lot."

"That's also..." Mang Gurtai wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by Nurhachi:
"Okay, it is an indisputable fact that the strength of the Ming army has improved."

His words instantly silenced the entire big tent, but looking at the expressions of the Baylors in the tent, it was obvious that they were all dissatisfied.

Such a scene made Nurhachi frown.

He understands that there are quite a few conflicts within Daikin.

In the past, they fought and won victories, so they could naturally ease the contradictions, but now they hit a wall a few times, and the internal contradictions began to erupt slowly.

This contradiction is fatal to Daikin with a population of less than [-].

Nurhachi clearly understood that Dajin's ability to defeat the Ming army before was not due to the bravery of the Eight Banners, but the division within the Ming court.

If they didn't urge Yang Gao, but waited for the soldiers from Sichuan, Zhejiang, and Qin to continue to come to help, then they only need to wait half a year, and when summer comes, they can implement the plan of dividing troops to encircle and suppress.

At that time, even if he can repel Yang Gao, he will have to pay a lot of casualties, and it will not be as easy as the battle of Saarhu.

Now a centralized force is rising within the Ming court, but conflicts have begun to erupt on Dajin's side.

If this kind of contradiction is not contained or alleviated, it will become a fatal shortcoming when Mingjin is at war.

The current situation is very bad. Yang Hao should arrive in North Korea within a few days. Under Yang Hao's supervision, there may be problems in the grain trade between Dajin and North Korea.

But if they send troops to North Korea, they may turn against Li Hui and make Li Hui completely fall to the Ming court.

Unless North Korea's national policy changes, Nurhachi still does not want to change this situation.

Therefore, Nurhachi must find a way out for Jurchen to become stronger, and he has also thought about this way out.

"Did that kid Hutudun not respond to our matter with Horqin?"

Nurhachi asked Daishan, and Daishan hugged his chest and said: "Tiger Tudun is very dissatisfied, but there is no movement. I guess he will bear it as before."

"Hmm...he shouldn't be so honest." Nurhachi was a little worried.

Since the Battle of Sarhu, the Ming Dynasty has formed an alliance with Lin Dan Khan, and Lin Dan Khan sent someone to embassy Hou Jin with the letter of credence.

Lin Dan Khan called himself "Batulu Genghis Khan, the lord of the [-] Mongolian Kingdom", and scorned Nurhachi as "the lord of the [-] Jurchens by the water", and warned Nurhachi not to invade Guangning.

Facing this letter of credence, Nurhachi ignored it at all, but took the "odd goods" Zaisai captured in the Battle of Tieling as a hostage, and threatened the barbaric five tribes of Neikha to form an alliance with him.

After forming an alliance with Neikalkha, Nurhachi officially responded to Lin Dan Khan in the first month of the forty-eighth year of Wanli. In his reply, he first criticized the plight of the Mongolian court after the Ming and Yuan Dynasties, and then encouraged Lin Dan Khan to form an alliance with himself to crusade against the Ming Dynasty.

It's a pity that the situation at that time was not obvious, and the Ming Dynasty increased the reward of the Chahar Department from [-] taels to [-] taels, so Lin Danhan, who could benefit from the Ming Dynasty, ignored Nurhachi at all, and detained Nurhachi's envoy Chen Shuose Ubash.

Half a year later, Nurhachi believed the rumors from Neikalka that Shuose Ubashi was killed by Lin Dan Khan, so he beheaded Lin Dan Khan's envoy Kangkaer Baihu. The relationship is broken.

Lin Danhan held back the humiliation of Nurhachi's beheading, because he didn't even have a unified Mongolia, let alone fight against Houjin.

Nevertheless, in order to obtain the "reward silver" of the Ming Dynasty, Lin Dan Khan had to take action.

But before he could move, Nurhachi launched the Battle of Shenliao, and because of Zhu Youjian's intrusion, Man Gui's move to level the Bayo tribe made Lin Danhan stop his movements, and instead became vigilant.

After seeing the failure of the Shen-Liao battle launched by Hou Jin, Lin Dan Khan began to maintain the relationship with Karaqin and the local barbarian Neikalkha.

It's just that this relationship has only lasted for a few months, and Nurhachi formed an alliance with the Horqin tribe, and once again slapped Lin Danhan in the face of the "Lord of Mongolia".

As a result, the relationship between the two parties deteriorated very much, and it was precisely because of this that Nurhachi felt that Lin Danhan would definitely take action.

"Let Amin continue to garrison Wuyewuwei with the thirty-two Niulu with Xianglan Banner. If Hutudun moves against Horqin, ask him to support him immediately."

"Yes!"

Nurhachi ordered, and Daishan complied. They all knew that if Horqin was attacked by Lin Danhan, they would really have no allies in Mobei.

"Continue to use troops against the savages, and replenish the males lost last time."

After thinking about it, Nurhachi still decided not to use troops against Liaodong for the time being. He had to wait for an opportunity.

The current situation in Liaodong is very delicate. He can take a gamble on whether the Ming court's reforms in Liaodong will cause turmoil.

Once the turmoil is caused, that is his chance to take action...

At the same time that Nurhachi gave the order, huge sea ships arrived at the outer sea of ​​Gyeonggi-do, North Korea, and then sailed directly into the Han River, and arrived at the Han River wharf next to the capital Seoul...

"Your Majesty, this time Minister Yang came back to inspect our country, it must be because of the Emperor's distrust in us, we must restore the Emperor's trust in our country."

On the pier, Zheng Renhong, the political leader with white hair and beard, dressed in the first-grade official uniform of North Korea, spoke to Li Hun, who was next to him, who was wearing the common clothes of the county king of the Ming Dynasty, and Li Hun was also the current king of North Korea.

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, although the king of Korea was called a king, he was only a county king in the eyes of the Ming emperor. Therefore, most of the Korean king's clothing was the county king's clothing rewarded by the Ming emperor, which was not considered arrogance.

As for the so-called leading government, it was an official position in North Korea that imitated the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty.

Below the King of Korea, there is an auxiliary agency to discuss the government, and its leader is "Ling Yizheng", commonly known as "Lingxiang".

Under the leadership of the government, there are left and right discussions, commonly known as "Left Prime Minister" and "Right Prime Minister", which are of the same quality as the leadership.

Under the Yi government, there are six Caos, equivalent to the six ministries of the Ming Dynasty.

Its chief said that the verdict was equivalent to the six ministers of the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the system, the laws of North Korea also used the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", and even the military settlement system was completely applied.

Therefore, after the officials of the Ming Dynasty came to North Korea, they would not have a headache because of the complexity of the official position, because it was just a copy of the Ming Dynasty.

Because of the Korean War, North Korean officials and people had a great impression of the Ming Dynasty, and even wrote "reconstructing the vassal state" many times. As the main combatant during the Korean War at that time, although Yang Gao was not strong enough, he couldn't stand it. promotion of public opinion.

His status in North Korea is second only to Emperor Wanli, and even when he built a temple for Emperor Wanli, he had to put Yang Gao's portrait in the temple.

Therefore, the arrival of Yang Hao caused the whole Gyeonggi-do people to come to greet him. Tens of thousands of people looked at the big boat on both sides of the Han River, trying to see the "hero" in their hearts.

The common people and civil and military officials were all very happy, but there was only one person who was not happy, and that was King Lee Hun of North Korea.

Although he tried his best to put on a smile, anyone with a discerning eye knew that it was just a "mask".

No king would be willing to suddenly have a person on his head who can be equal to him. If this person has a higher reputation than him, it will be even more troublesome.

But Yang Gao was such a person, and such a person was sent to North Korea by the Ming Dynasty on the grounds of inspection, as if he wanted to stay permanently.

This means that in the future, Li Hui will always have a man who is equivalent to the Supreme King.

"Bang Bang Bang!!!"

The cannons fired in unison, causing the Korean monarchs and ministers on the shore, as well as countless people, to shrink their necks in fear.

As if warning and cheering, a fleet of [-] new-style armed cargo ships arrived at the pier of the Han River. The civilians who came and went took the initiative to grab the rope thrown by the Ming army without the command of officials, and happily moved The big ship is fixed on the pier.

The anchor was lowered, and only then did everyone see the size of the new armed merchant ship.

Especially as a three-thousand-material ship, this is a super ship that has not appeared in Northeast Asia for a long time.

The anchor was lowered, followed by the ladder.

Everyone stretched their necks to watch, waiting in agony for the man to appear.

The sound of horseshoes sounded, and the two teams of guards, wearing phoenix-winged helmets, cloth face armor, gauntlets on both arms, and horses under their crotches, rode down from the boat ladder and formed two groups to meet each other along the road.

Everyone was waiting, but Li Hui's face became increasingly ugly.

The greater Yang Gao's reputation, the smaller his reputation as the king of Joseon would be suppressed.

But is he capable of resisting?Have!He could get mad and imprison Yang Gao after the Deming fleet left, but what about the follow-up?
Some ministers hidden under Seoul, as well as officials of the Eighth Dao, as well as the more than [-] troops guarding the three cities of Kuandian in the Ming Dynasty, were able to put him in prison in a short time.

The so-called resistance means that the fish dies, but the net is hard to break.

"Yang Shilang! Yang Shilang!"

Suddenly, the surrounding voices became louder, and Li Hui returned to reality, and saw a vicissitudes old man with white hair and beard, dressed in the official uniform of the Ministry of Rites of Ming Dynasty.

His back was bent, and although he wanted to be straight, the years had bent it.

But even though his back is bent like this, he is still a remarkable existence in the hearts of millions of people in North Korea.

The sun was shining brightly, and the sun shone on Yang Gao's body, as if some great saint had descended.

Amidst the cheers of hundreds of thousands of North Korean people, Yang Gao stepped down the boat ladder step by step, and came in front of Li Hun and others.

"Xiao Wang and all the officials are here to see the emperor's court angel..."

Huangming is North Korea's respectful name for the Ming Dynasty, which is also restricted by the suzerain vassal. North Korea did not use "Huang" for the Qing Dynasty, but changed to "Daqing".

Since the history of the entire Korean peninsula, the Ming Dynasty was the first dynasty to be called "Huang" by the monarchs, ministers and people of the peninsula.

In fact, East Asian monster houses exist not only in later generations, but in every era, except that they are somewhat weak in modern times.

For example, in the current North Korea, even after the Korean War, the population of the country is still as high as seven to eight million, and the garrison strength is as high as [-].

This is still after the Korean War. If there is no Korean War, I am afraid that the population of North Korea can be maintained at about [-] million, and the military strength will continue to be maintained at [-].

The battle of North Korea damaged the national power of the three kingdoms of tomorrow, and Yang Hao looked at North Korea, which had restored people's livelihood, and nodded:
"Your Highness is doing well. The people of North Korea seem to be doing well, much better than when I came here."

The upper state does not submit to the lower state, so Yang Gao used me, which relieved the embarrassment.

But for Li Hui, he didn't care about the embarrassment, what he cared about was the purpose of Yang Gao's trip, whether he wanted to stay permanently.

"Accept the order!"

Yang Gao took out a first-grade jade scroll imperial decree from the tray carried by the official of the Ministry of Rites behind him, and the Korean ceremony Cao Judgment that had been prepared early was also hurriedly brought to the table, burning incense and waiting for the blessing of heaven.

When the kings, ministers and common people of North Korea knelt down one after another, Yang Gao opened the imperial decree and said:
"Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the imperial edict said: Although Erguo lives in the mountains and seas, it learns from our Chinese etiquette, and the feudal vassals have the longest history. In the year of Renchen, Japanese slaves entered the dynasty, but the king's city of Er was not guarded, the wilderness was brutal, and the temple society For the ruins."

"Emperor Shenzongxian sent troops to the court, and Er's country was preserved. If the front car is overturned, how can the rear car not be taken as a warning."

"I regard the king, although he is called a foreign vassal, but he has returned to the country and ruled the country for [-] years. In the Liaodong area, there are many food and fodder from your country. Although I don't believe in your country's private interests To build a prisoner, but the subjects need to be accounted for, Yang Gao, the servant of the Ministry of officials, was sent to the court to inspect, and I hope that the country will reflect on itself..."

The imperial decree is very long, and there are hundreds of words in the follow-up, all of which are "educated" by Zhu You proofreading Li Hui, just like a father teaching his son.

In this regard, Li Hun and many North Korean ministers sang long live, and then received the imperial edict.

However, the content of this imperial decree made the hearts of the common people and ministers feel cold.

North Korean food and fodder appeared among the Jianlu?This matter was serious, and for a while, people began to suspect the officials of Hamgyong Road who were close to Houjin, and the officials there were arranged by Zheng Renhong, the leader of the government.

Zheng Renhong belonged to the prince's faction, and in this way, the officials of Xianjingdao actually had to trace it back, and it could be traced back to Li Hun.

For a while, Li Hui's reputation fell like Waterloo just because of Zhu Youxiao's imperial decree and Yang Gao's doubts.

Li Hun gritted his teeth, and he was even more resentful towards Zhu Youxiao and Yang Hao in his heart, but on the surface he still had to hold high the imperial decree and sing long live.

After singing, in order to show that he had nothing to do with Jianlu and private business, he could only grit his teeth and say:

"I'm afraid this inspection will not be so easy. Please ask the angel to allow Xiao Wang to build a mansion for the angel, live temporarily in Seoul, and investigate carefully."

"That's why I'm bothering the king." Yang Gao bowed back, and although Li Hui was resentful in his heart, he still had to respond with a smile on his face.

Afterwards, he and Yang Gao boarded the chariot, and under the escort of the Xiao cavalry guards and the Korean officials, soldiers and horses, they went to the post house arranged for him in advance.

But if you look down from the sky, you can see that as Yang Gao moved, the people in Seoul, North Korea also moved.

Even Li Hun himself had never experienced such a grand momentum.

After finally arriving at the post house, after Yang Hao and Li Hui exchanged a few words, Li Hui left because he was busy with state affairs.

When they all left, only Yang Gao, a few trusted officials he brought, and the Jinyiwei and Xiaoqiwei who guarded the posthouse were left.

After Yang Gao sent Li Hui away in the courtyard, he leaned weakly on the chair, and a member of the etiquette department, Wailang, came over with a frown and said:

"Master, this Li Hun is not surprised that Jianlu has Korean property. I'm afraid he already knew about it."

"Hmm..." Yang Gao responded, and then he sighed and said:
"After being rescued this time, I thought I would be dismissed, but I didn't want to usher in another difficult matter..."

"Forget it, it's better than waiting to die in prison."

After all, Yang Gao asked the students to rest.

However, even after Li Hui left, the number of people around the post house still did not drop.

Such momentum surprised even the Jin Yiwei of Fusi in Beizhen, and Li Hun's face turned dark all day.

Under the momentum, the news quickly spread back to Daming from the accompanying Jin Yiwei.

When the news came back, Zhu Youjian had just set off from the capital and arrived at Yanshan Daying.

Looking at the information from Beizhen Fusi, Zhu Youjian said to Wang Chengen who came to welcome him:
"Once Yang Gao leaves, I'm afraid that Li Hui will be left indifferent by the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs for a long time."

"Your Highness, is North Korea really suspected of cooperating with captives?" Wang Chengen asked puzzledly, but Zhu Youjian said with a smile:
"Whether he has it or not, just check slowly. The purpose is not to check trade, but to allow Yang Gao to live in North Korea for a long time and supervise every move of North Korean monarchs and ministers."

Zhu Youjian knows in his heart that the current North Korean party struggle is serious, and internal conflicts are also very serious.

Therefore, the arrival of Yang Gao will give some people a chance, and if they launch a rebellion, then Daming can increase the garrison in North Korea to protect Yang Gao's safety.

There are still too few hundred cavalry guards. It is best to station a battalion or even a guard of soldiers and horses.

Ming Dynasty does not need to control the politics of the vassal state, it only needs to garrison troops and then carry out economic exchanges.

For a country with a large population, how to govern after conquest is the biggest problem.

The Korean peninsula has only two advantages: a strategic frontier and a large number of ports.

Fertile than the land?It is not as good as the Indochina Peninsula, the Northeast.

Compared with mineral resources, it is not as good as Nanyang.

Compared with the population market, it is not as good as the Mughals and Japan.

Therefore, it is enough to garrison troops here and gradually naturalize, there is no need to waste energy on it.

As for whether it will recover in the future, it depends on whether it is honest or not, and whether the time is ripe.

Right now, Ming's problem is to rectify its internal finances, and to rectify its finances requires a show of force, and continues to increase imperial power through war.

To regain Liaodong, Zhu Youjian must prepare for this battle, and there is still a gap of more than [-] in the armor of soldiers and horses.

At the speed of the armor factory, it will take at least eight months.

Secondly, to recover Liaodong, grain must be transported by sea into the Liaohe River, and then by water.

Based on the average water depth of the Liaohe River in the Ming Dynasty, a large ship of [-] cues could be carried in the section below the Sanjiangkou, but a ship of about [-] cues could be carried at most in the section above the Sanjiangkou.

To regain Liaodong, the gunpowder and stone bombs needed are astronomical, and we must be prepared to fight this battle.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian said to Wang Chengen:
"Thank you, write a letter to Tianjin Shipyard to build another [-] cargo ships with [-] materials."

"You transfer [-] taels of silver from the Yumajian to the Tianjin Shipyard. In addition, the dry clay molds in the artillery factory continue to cast cannons, and ask all the generals in Liaodong to prepare [-] five-jin stone bullets and [-] ten-jin stone bullets."

"Your servant takes orders." Wang Cheng'en didn't say much, but after agreeing, he followed Zhu Youjian to the yamen in the camp.

Zhu Youjian sat at the head of the main house and looked at the three large sand tables placed in the main house, representing Liaodong, Southwest, and the whole of Daming respectively.

He knew that in the next time, as long as Nurhachi no longer invaded Liaodong, then Ming Dynasty would fall into a long period of peace.

Perhaps the only thing that caught Zhu Youjian's mind was the aftermath of the Shandong earthquake and the spring planting of sweet potatoes, jade wheat, and potatoes.

Crops cannot be planted together, otherwise they will die in groups if they get sick.

This point especially requires Zhu Youjian to supervise carefully, so he needs to pay attention to it.

And just as he expected, for a long time after that, he kept running between the field and the barracks, and the pattern of East Asia fell into a strange calm.

　Four o'clock and one more

　　
　
(End of this chapter)