Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 869 0864 [Defectors]

None of the countries surrounding the Ming Dynasty were worried.

The news of Gaochang's surrender to Xiliao had not yet reached Luoyang, but the Goryeo coup came first.

Zheng Zhichang was urgently summoned to the palace for an audience. He was a Korean from a wealthy family in Pyongyang, and was now a member of Jizi County, Pyongyang Prefecture, Liaoning Province, Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, he served as the Yousi Cheng of Honglu Temple (from the sixth grade).

"Your Majesty, Zheng Zhichang, pays homage to Your Majesty!" Zheng Zhichang bowed straightly.

"Come and sit."

Ju Ming waved and said, "Who is the Anshan Jin family?"

Zheng Zhichang sat down cautiously and replied: "Decades ago, the Ansan Kim family was the largest family in Goryeo. Because they had controlled the government as a foreign relative for a long time, they were regarded as powerful traitors and were eliminated. Although the family has since declined, it has remained the same in Ansan. The roots are deep.”

"This is an urgent report from Pyongyang's commander-in-chief," Ju Ming handed the information to the eunuch. "Ren Yuanhou, the head of the Goryeo family, is fighting for power with the powerful minister Kim Pushi... By the way, where is this Jin Pushi?"

Zheng Zhichang continued: "As the head of the country, Ren Yuanhou should have been in charge. However, the power of Goryeo was controlled by Jin Fushi. How could Ren Yuanhou be willing to do so? It was only a matter of time before the two of them fought among themselves."

Ju Ming was very puzzled: "How come they are said to be the aristocrats of Beijing?"

Half a month later.

Zheng Zhichang nodded and said: "In the past generations of kings, the children of brother-sister marriages were always disabled or short-lived, and the successors were often young grandsons of wealthy officials. At this time, the head of state took the opportunity to assist the queen mother in regent, thus controlling the power and being arrogant. He also married the daughter of the family to the prince and ruled the country for two or three generations, before being eradicated by other powerful families. "

"It can be seen from the official positions in the official documents that the Ren family and the Cui family jointly control the center, but the Ansan Jin family controls the military power. Moreover, the Ansan Jin family also attracted the Renzhou Li family. This Renzhou Li family , the last powerful family that was eradicated."

The content is very simple. Wang Gou, the leader of Goryeo, announced reforms to strengthen the country.

Zheng Zhichang returned the information to the eunuch: "But Jin Fushi's power was too great for Ren Yuanhou to contend with. This time he used public opinion to win over middle- and low-level officials and poor people, and divided the Cui clan to join him. Anshan The Jin family was a wild card. Taking advantage of the fight between these big clans, they went straight to Kaijing and killed the brothers Jin Fushi and Jin Fuzhe. "

Zheng Zhichang explained: "The Kaijing faction and the Xijing faction are not both based in the two capitals. The Kaijing faction comes from the south of Goryeo, and they support Kaizhou as the capital. The Xijing faction comes from the north of Goryeo, and they support Pyongyang as the capital. In fact, the dispute between the two Beijings is It’s the struggle between the north and the south. In addition, although the Kaijing nobles are not based in Kaizhou, they have already separated their clans and taken root in Kaizhou.”

Ju Ming said: "It makes sense."

Although there are also imperial examinations, it is difficult for children from poor families to get ahead because of interference from the family.

Zheng Zhichang said: "There are many large and small clans in Goryeo, and the king cannot eliminate them at all. In order to win over the clans, each generation of kings accepts girls from various ethnic groups as concubines. The reason why the founding king of Goryeo allowed his children to intermarry and have children between brothers and sisters is because In fact, it is to prevent my relatives from getting bigger.”

Pyongyang Governor Li Chun and Pyongyang Commander-in-Chief Zhao Li also jointly sent a memorial.

Ju Ming asked: "Didn't the King of Goryeo be rescued?"

Zheng Zhichang took it and read it carefully, then smiled and said: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, Goryeo is in chaos."

Zheng Zhichang replied: "Kim Boushi came from the Gyeongju Kim family and has nothing to do with the Ansan Kim family."

"Is my cousin still getting bigger?" Zhu Ming said with a smile.

However, the children of wealthy families can easily become officials through kindness. Moreover, the wealthy families married each other and put their daughters into the palace to control the court as relatives.

"The four powerful men are in power together, and if they are provoked at the slightest provocation, there will be another coup."

Ju Ming finally understood that the current situation in Goryeo was a composite version of the Han, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties.

"You should read this urgent report first. I'm already dizzy anyway." Zhu Ming asked the eunuch to pass the information.

This has become the curse of Goryeo. A relative has been in power and has been in charge of the country for decades. After being eradicated, another relative is replaced.

Moreover, it completely imitates the Ming Dynasty system!
However, the soup did not change the medicine. The father-in-law Ren Yuanhou became the prime minister, and Cui Yunyi, Li Zhidi, Jin Xinjian and others served as deputy prime ministers.

Cabinet candidates are divided among several major families.

Reform the military with a total force system, eliminate the old and weak, and organize and train new troops. The king of the country, Wang Gou, personally controls a forbidden army, but many of the generals of the forbidden army are from the Anshan Jin family, or are in-laws of the Anshan Jin family.

In addition, the number of Jinshi scholars will be increased each year, and scholars from poor families who came from the imperial examinations will be vigorously promoted.

But the cabinet and the staff are controlled by powerful families, so how many Jinshi from poor families are useless? If you are not attached to the family, a scholar from a poor family will not be able to rise.

The key is that the tax system has not changed, but the tax system has been reduced to show the benevolence of the king. Most of the land was occupied by clans, and the light corvee and low taxes were essentially tax cuts for clans. In order to maintain the operation of the imperial court, taxes on poor families and common people must be increased in disguise.

This is a reform that is destined to fail and may even exacerbate social conflicts.

However, people in Goryeo were very excited. They all felt that the country was about to prosper and sooner or later the Ming army in Pyongyang would be driven away.

……

Datong River, south bank.

The King of Goryeo announced that the corvee was light and the tax was low, and the people of Li were celebrating. Near the Datong River, people from the lower classes sneaked across the river, trying to cross the river and become Ming people.

Especially the untouchables.

Wang Jian, the founder of Goryeo, also tried to free slaves.

However, under the interference of the powerful family members, they changed to follow customs and traditions, and whether to release slaves was entirely voluntary.

The voluntary result was that large families who originally had few slaves had more and more slaves by purchasing war prisoners or annexing land.

Even the Goryeo court owned a large number of slaves.

Official slaves are called official slaves.

A private slave is called a private slave.

Shashu is a lowly official. His ancestors are from the Sha family of Baekje Kingdom, and they have been captives and slaves of officials for generations.

In the darkness, Sha Shu took his wife and two children and approached the Datong River little by little.

Due to the increasing number of refugees, Korea sent troops to patrol two years ago. They were very strict at first and would behead anyone caught. At one point, the Korean border residents were so frightened that they did not dare to escape.

Gradually, the people at the border discovered that the patrol soldiers became lax and slept on the riverside when they should be patrolling.

"Don't make any noise."

Shashu warned, put his young son in the wooden basin, and asked his wife and daughter to hold on to the wooden board.

Afraid of his son crying, he even gagged his son's mouth.

Swimming forward bit by bit, they were no longer nervous when they approached the center of the river, because the Korean army did not dare to pursue them again.

After crossing the river and reaching the shore, I was already paralyzed from exhaustion. The family lay on the shore panting.

They took out the only bag of dry food from the wooden basin, gorged themselves on the river water, and slept together waiting for dawn.

Early the next morning, while walking for a while, I met another family of refugees.

And they are real untouchables, they don’t even have surnames, they are only named after everyday things.

The male owner of this untouchable family, Lu Gu, has been weaving reeds for his master for generations. They had little knowledge and were very happy to meet Shashu: "You also escaped from the south?"

"Yes." Shashu was also very happy, after all, he met someone of the same kind.

Moreover, Shashu also found a sense of superiority because he wore linen clothes, while Lu Guang’s family wore reed clothes.

Lu Kung said: "Did the Ming government give you food after crossing the river?"

Shashu said: "As long as one is willing to farm, one person can be allocated five acres of land, and the government will also lend seeds and grain."

"That's good, that's good." Lu Kung kept saying to himself.

Shashu said with a smile: "I have already found out clearly that the people in the north are all good people, and the emperor is not allowed to raise lowly slaves. People like you who don't have a surname can still be given a surname when you settle down."

Lu Kang grinned happily: "The emperor is so kind."

At this moment, transactions were taking place on the Datong River.

A Goryeo officer led his soldiers in rowing several small boats and met Ming ships on the river.

"How much did you bring this time?" asked a Ming Dynasty merchant from the Koryo tribe.

The Goryeo officer said: "Seventeen, all women."

The merchant from the Ming Dynasty started to inspect the goods, and soon frowned and said: "Just an unmarried woman?"

The Goryeo officer said: "It doesn't matter. Married women are more likely to have children."

"That's okay." The merchant from Ming Dynasty nodded.

But the Korean officer said: "The investigation has been tight recently, and it is difficult to get women."

The merchant of the Ming Dynasty suddenly changed his face: "You still want to raise the price on the ground?"

The Goryeo officer apologized and said with a smile: "The investigation is really tight. There have been too many women abducted in the past two years, and the government and the rich are keeping a close eye on them."

After some haggling, the married woman paid for five pieces of linen and the unmarried woman for eight pieces of linen.

They are all made of good cloth, the kind worn by civilians in the Ming Dynasty.

After the transaction was completed, the Goryeo officers immediately returned to the south bank, but the Ming merchants sailed to Nanpo Port.

This Ming Dynasty merchant of the Goryeo ethnic group sold the woman to a Ming Dynasty merchant of the Han ethnic group. Next, it will be docked in Shandong, and then transported all the way to Youzhou, where it will be sold to bachelors on an installment plan.

The governments along the way turned a blind eye to this because merchants had "legal" procedures.

They registered the women as overseas servants before boarding the ship and leaving port. After arriving in Shandong, he went through the registration and re-employment procedures. It was not until he was shipped to Youzhou that the employment contract was terminated and he registered there.

No matter what, it did increase the population of Youzhou and allowed many singles to find wives.

But he said that the Korean officer returned to his barracks and saw his colleagues arguing about pay.

He smiled, not bothering to get involved.

"His Majesty said that the new army should be organized and prepared. How come we still have less food and pay when we become a new army?"

"That's right, the rations are getting smaller and smaller, and I'm hungry every day!"

"We want to eat!"

"..."

It was useless. The newly transferred general Quan Chengxiu was the son-in-law of the Anshan Jin family.

When a new official takes office, of course he must first make money. After all, building relationships also costs money.

"Whoever dares to make trouble again will be beaten with a military stick!"

Quan Chengxiu came with his own soldiers, all equipped with armor, waving their scabbards and started beating people.

The soldiers who were making trouble broke up and fled home.

Their wives and children were nearby, and the whole family had to farm land for the chief, serving as both soldiers and tenants.

Because their food and wages were withheld, more than a hundred soldiers took their families and their families across the river that night and fled to the Ming Dynasty.

Kwon Sung-soo was furious about this, but he didn't take it seriously.

The soldiers escaped and got extra free money!
(End of this chapter)