Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 288 Request for help from North Korea and Guangdong
"The Qinhuai scenery is truly priceless, with lights and music playing all night long.

Since ancient times, the Sanghai Sea has migrated, but this place has been prosperous ever since.

As the sun sets over the green Zhongshan Mountain, we carry wine and board the Wu boat together.

The red shed is clean on all sides, and the green waves are full of beautiful women..."

This poem is called "Song of Qinhuai Lantern Boats", which tells the story of the prosperity of lantern boats on the Qinhuai River during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The so-called lantern boats were mostly boats of prostitutes, which would be decorated with lanterns and colorful lights at night to attract customers, just like the flower boats at the mouth of the Pearl River.

However, Jinling was the land of prostitutes during the Six Dynasties, and the number of lantern boats on the Qinhuai River was far greater than that of flower boats at the mouth of the Pearl River. Moreover, on every good day or festival, many people who were not prostitutes would decorate a lantern boat to join in the fun.

Especially during the Dragon Boat Festival and Lantern Festival, the lantern boat performances on the Qinhuai River are particularly grand, with boats linked together like a candle dragon and a fire mirage, just as the saying goes, "a circle of lights descends from the sky, and thousands of corals come from the sea."

During these two days every year, all the men and women in the city would come out in droves to watch the lantern boats. The section from Wuding Bridge to Chaoku Street was particularly lively, because this was where the Shilihefang was located. On this day, the famous Qinhuai concubines would open the Xiang curtains and embroidered curtains and laugh loudly with their patrons or maids by the windows.

The people on the boat might not necessarily be able to see clearly those famous prostitutes, but everyone was keen on pointing to the shore and saying "such and such famous prostitute is in such and such riverside room".

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the first year of Chongzhen, the night of the Lantern Festival, the Qinhuai River was as chaotic as in previous years, but Lin Hai left the city of Jinling amid the sounds of oars and lights.

In the end, he still failed to accomplish his feat of overthrowing the madam, because he met Mao Yuanyi at Wang Wei's place yesterday, and was then dragged by this guy to drink for a whole night...

In the fourth year of the Tianqi reign, Mao Yuanyi was stripped of his official title and dismissed from his post for disobeying Wei Zhongxian, but his ambition to serve his country remained unchanged.

After hearing that the new emperor had ascended the throne, he wrote the lines "I heard that the new emperor is fond of literature, so I have arranged to write a poem waiting for requests" and "An old neighbor suddenly told me that the new ruler is a saint, so I have been watching his sword until three o'clock tonight." His desire to achieve great things was evident on the paper.

For this reason, he gave up his plan to travel to Guangdong and prepared to travel north instead. At this time, he received an imperial edict reinstating him, and the new emperor also ordered him to present the "Wubei Zhi".

Mao Yuanyi was overjoyed. After the first day of the New Year, he unrolled his books and poems, and took his concubine Binai and others to head north via Nanjing. However, he heard from Wang Wei that Lin Hai was coming.

In order to have a drink with Lin Hai, a stranger to him, Mao Yuanyi waited for several days in Jinling. The emperor had issued an edict and was eager to go to Beijing. What else could Lin Hai say except to risk his life to accompany the gentleman?

Who says he is the confidant of the imperial tutor Sun Chengzong? So he has to accompany her even if he doesn't want to...

What’s even more infuriating is that Lin Hai was always alone wherever he went on business trips, while Mao Yuanyi brought several concubines with him when he went to Beijing to meet the emperor, and each of them was extremely beautiful.

This guy proudly told Lin Hai that he was thirty-five this year and had married more than seventy concubines. Tsk, more than seventy, even if you count from the time he was in his mother's womb, he would have married more than two a year, is this human language?
Ugh! You are so shameless, I am really envious of you...

No wonder Wang Wei had to leave the Mao family, but she did not hold a grudge against Mao Yuanyi for his philandering, and later exchanged poems with him. In this evil old society, men did not have to bear any moral burden even if they held a grand feast at home.

This is fucking... It's still enviable...

Just like that, Lin Hai got drunk in envy, jealousy and hatred, and when he woke up it was already the Lantern Festival.

Considering that he had been drinking heavily for two days in a row and his physical condition was affecting his performance, Lin Hai gave up the plan to overthrow the madam and finally decided to set off overnight. After all, tomorrow is the 16th day of the first lunar month, and all departments of the company will start working normally.

There was a tailwind when returning to Jinhe from Jiangnan, but there was still 600 miles of water in the Yangtze River and it was impossible to travel fast. It was already the end of the first lunar month when Lin Hai arrived at the mouth of the Tamsui River.

Ou Zuoji and others still hadn't arrived, but Zhang Yong suddenly came back from North Korea.

In addition, there was an unexpected person who rushed over from Guangdong. He was Jiang, the military advisor under Li Zhongguo, who was the one who came to disrupt Lin Hai's wedding. He was also the son-in-law of Li Zhongguo, the leader of the Pearl River Estuary.

The two were waiting in Guandu City, so Lin Hai had to deal with the important matters first and then go to the White House in Wanhua to reunite with Zhu Niang.

He naturally met Zhang Yong first. After not seeing him for nearly two years, the boy still had that expressionless look. However, when he saw Lin Hai, he immediately shouted emotionally, "Big Brother!"

To say that he was moved was naturally because he screamed loudly, not that there was any trembling in his voice, because screaming was a very rare thing for Zhang Yong.

"Good, good! You've grown a little taller after two years." Lin Hai was also very excited. This kid had been gone for nearly two years, and had accomplished a great thing for him without saying a word. Moreover, he was doing underground work alone in a foreign country. It was impossible to say that he didn't worry about Zhang Yong's safety.

What's more, Zhang Yong was originally the disciple to whom he devoted the most efforts. In the fifth year of Tianqi, Lin Hai gave him a lot of special training and taught him a lot of common sense about intelligence work in later generations.

However, this guy's sudden return to Jinhe must be due to something unusual. Lin Hai also knew that now was not the time to get excited. After a few pleasantries, he asked, "Why did you suddenly come back from North Korea?"

"Brother, Prince Inseong Li Gong was captured by the King of Joseon, and I heard that he would be exiled to Jindo. Liu Xiaoli is now on Jeju Island asking Yuan Jin for help, wanting him to send troops to Jindo to kidnap Li Gong to Jeju. We can't make a decision on this matter, so I came back to ask you what you think..." "Slow down, let's explain the cause and effect first. Why was Li Gong captured? Was it because Liu Xiaoli and others' conspiracy to rebellion was leaked?" Lin Hai interrupted Zhang Yong quickly after hearing this.

Liu Xiaoli was the master of the Goryeo Korean Park Zhenghuan who came to see him on Pi Island. He was born into the cultural Liu family, a prominent yangban family, and was the nephew of Gwanghaegun's first wife Liu.

Inseonggun Yi Gong was the younger brother of the deposed King Gwanghaegun, the eighth son of Seonjo Yi Sun, the 14th king of the Joseon Dynasty, and the uncle of the current King of Joseon.

Liu Xiaoli and his brother Liu Douli wanted to support Yi Gong and welcome back Gwanghaegun Yi Hui as the King. Zhang Yong wrote all these things in a letter and gave it to Zheng Jingqiu. Lin Hai already knew about it.

"Yes, at the time of the incident, Liu Xiaoli was just about to go to Qingdao. Because the matter was rather secretive, no one knew about it. If he had left a day later, he might not have been able to leave the city. Park Zhenghuan and I were with him, so we were lucky to escape." Zhang Yong remained calm when talking about this, as if it was someone else who had walked through the gates of hell instead of him.

Lin Hai finally understood why he had never heard of Rencheng Jun, Liu Xiaoli, and Liu Douli before. It turned out that this group of rebels was wiped out before they started the rebellion. However, because of him, Lin, Liu Xiaoli was lucky enough to escape the net.

He pondered for a moment, then asked, "When did this happen?"

Zhang Yong said: "Just over ten days ago, I arrived at Jeju Island and rested for only one night before returning by boat immediately."

Lin Hai asked again: "Since Liu Xiaoli had fled, how did he know that Li Gong was going to be exiled to Zhendao?"

Zhang Yong said: "Although Liu Xiaoli and Liu Douli rebelled, the King of Joseon only arrested the two brothers. The influence of the Cultural Liu family in Joseon is still very large, otherwise we would not have been able to escape from Joseon."

Lin Hai nodded when he heard that. The arrogance of the two classes of nobles in Korea was beyond his imagination. The cultural Liu family first produced the deposed queen of Gwanghaegun, and then produced Liu Xiaoli and Liu Duli, two people who rebelled. Even so, they were not exterminated along with their entire clans?

How could he know that the Cultural Ryu family was also the top one among the Yangban nobles of Korea? The marriage relationships between these top Yangban families were intricate and could not be easily eradicated.

After all, even the current King of Joseon, Injo Yi Jong, is a close relative of the Cultural Ryu clan. The wife of his half-brother, Prince Yeongwon, is the biological daughter of Ryu Hyo-il. Of course, this girl was later implicated by her father and demoted to a concubine.

"Where is Jindo? How far is it from Jeju Island?" Lin Hai asked again.

"It's right here." Zhang Yong took out a map and pointed to the largest island in the southwest corner of the Korean Peninsula. "It's very close to Jeju Island, only 300 miles away by water, and can be reached in one day."

Jindo is one of the closest islands to Jeju Island in Korea. After looking at the map, Lin Hai was a little tempted. If the current Korean king is overthrown, then Inseong-gun Lee Gong is almost the strongest successor in the Lee Joseon royal family. If he can control this person, there will be a lot to do in the future.

After all, Korea was also one of the important participants in the Ming-Qing War. It was a big country with a population of tens of millions, and the Later Jin obtained a large amount of supplies from Korea.

Years ago, Liu Xiang sent Jinhe a batch of slaves captured from Korea, and also brought the latest news about Jeju Island. After the Later Jin withdrew its troops from Yizhou, Korea organized an army to recapture Jeju Island, but was defeated by Yuan Jin and others.

However, it is difficult to say how much strength North Korea has exerted. If Jeju had kidnapped Inseong Prince Lee Gong, that would be another matter. North Korea would definitely have to attack Yuan Jin and others with all its might.

It is impossible for Lin Hai to provide much support to Jeju Island at the moment. In the next two years, he will have a decisive battle with VOC, and it is hard to say whether Jeju Island can be defended.

"Since Lord Rencheng has been exiled, he will not die for a while. Let's talk about this later." Lin Hai said to Zhang Yong, "Go and rest first, and then follow me to Wanhua. It's a good opportunity for you to come back, and I have something to arrange for you to do."

After Zhang Yong left, Lin Hai immediately summoned Military Advisor Jiang. It turned out that this guy also came to ask for help.

After Li Kuiqi went to Guangdong, he immediately occupied the mouth of the Pearl River. Ma Xuansheng and Xu Guixiang, the two brothers of Shibi, betrayed Li Zhongguo and joined Li Kuiqi's army.

Li Zhongguo lost half of his men and ships, and is now struggling to survive in the waters around Chaozhou and Huizhou, so Jiang Junshi ran to Danshui to ask for help from Shibi. Of course, Shibi couldn't make the decision, so he could only wait for Lin Hai to come back and make the final decision.

"Got it. Let me think about this matter and I'll get back to you in two days." After listening to this, Lin Hai served the guest tea and sent him away. You damned thing came to disturb me twice at the critical moment. No matter what, I'll leave you alone for a few days.

Last time it was on our wedding night, this time it was when I was most thirsty...

Ever since he went to the Qinhuai River House, Lin Hai's mind was full of the night of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month: silken clothes spread out, the room was filled with the fragrance of clothes, the beautiful women chirped and whispered, and the women were so charming... It was a pity that he got drunk in the end!
Lin Hai rushed back to Wanhua overnight, but as soon as he met Zhu Niang, he was pulled into the room.

What's going on? Is this a happy ending?

Lin Hai was just wondering when Zhu Niang suddenly leaned over to his ear and said happily, "Husband, I seem to be pregnant again."

(End of this chapter)