Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The Governor-General's Residence in Seoul, Korea.

Xiang Junqing, the assistant commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who came to support North Korea, was drinking with someone.

His opponent was none other than Jin Zidian, who succeeded Hong Chengchou as the Grand Marshal.

This man was a hero in the Guihai Rebellion and was deeply trusted by the Joseon King Yi Jong.

During the Dingmao Rebellion, he was in charge of managing Ganghwa Island. After the rebellion ended, he served as the general of the imperial guard.

It is reasonable that such a close minister of the Korean king should not have made friends with the Ming envoys. The Jinyiwei Zhenfusi set up in Korea did not have any intention of targeting him.

However, things began to change after his cousin Jin Zizhong went to Ming Dynasty to promote Korea's annexation. Jin Zidian had a bigger ambition.

He wanted to be crowned as a monarch by the Ming Dynasty like the King of Korea, and pass on wealth and prosperity to his descendants.

Therefore, he began to secretly push for Korea's submission, and under the instructions of Xiang Junqing, he replaced Hong Chengchou as the commander-in-chief in the image of being loyal to the king.

It was he who issued the order to transfer the frontline Ming army out of Korea, in order to show the King of Korea that he absolutely supported him and had nothing to do with Ming.

At this time, the Ming army on the front line had already begun to retreat, but Jin Zidian said to the Jinyiwei officers of the Ming Dynasty with a worried look:
"The heavenly soldiers of the upper kingdom have withdrawn. How can Korea resist the Jianlu?"

"You asked me to go north, don't you want me to die?"

Xiang Junqing smiled and said:

"Of course I won't let Jin Shuai die."

"Don't worry, Ming will send the most elite sharpshooting brigade to pick you up."

"Even if everyone else died, Jin Shuai could still fight his way out under their protection."

When Jin Zidian heard that the Ming Dynasty had sent Choi Nanyi's sharpshooting team over, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Thinking of the title that Cui Nanyi was about to be conferred, he smiled and said:
"I really can't afford to let a count protect me."

"That Cui guy is really lucky, he actually shot and killed the crown prince of the Jin Kingdom!"

This is the most popular saying among the Korean people. They imitated the story of Yue Fei circulated in the Ming Dynasty and regarded the Later Jin Dynasty as the Jin Dynasty of the past. Hauge, the eldest son of Huang Taiji, the Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty, was naturally called the Grand Prince.

Just like during the Dingmao Rebellion, Amin was called the eldest prince and Jirgalang was called the sixth prince.

Some people even secretly called him the Crown Prince of Jin, and spread the legend that Choi Nam-yi shot the Crown Prince to death.

Xiang Junqing had heard of this and was extremely dissatisfied with the presumptuous title of the crown prince. Not to mention the rumor that the crown prince was shot dead was an offense to the royal family.

This made him feel the complexity of the Koreans' mentality. Some of them were extremely yearning for the Ming Dynasty and wished to become its citizens.

Others wanted to maintain Korea's independence and even had ambitions for Liaodong.

After the proposal of surrender by the Crown Prince of Joseon was reported back, the conflict between the two groups quickly intensified and they began to split into the surrender faction and the independence faction.

The Joseon King Yi Jong, whose attitude was neutral on the surface, actually indulged the independence faction.

After all, as the king of a country, how could he be willing to give up the power in his hands?

It was just that the Ming Dynasty was too powerful, and he was in the name of being pro-Ming and anti-Jin, so he couldn't oppose it openly and let the independent faction play its own role.

After Xiang Junqing arrived in Korea and learned about the situation, he originally wanted Zhou Yuji to lead troops to suppress the independence faction and force the King of Korea to submit.

However, the imperial court rejected his proposal and instead asked him to spread more radical ideas among the independent faction, so that those who opposed the surrender would come out.

It was under such circumstances that Kim Ji-jeon was supported by the Ming Dynasty and, as a loyal minister of the King of Korea, replaced Hong Chengchou as the commander-in-chief.

He was more radical than anyone else, and even proposed that the Ming army withdraw and Korea march north to attack the Jin Dynasty to show its strength. He raised the banner of the North Expedition faction among the independent faction and is the most radical faction in Korea today.

However, precisely because it is too radical, not many people support this fantastic statement.

It was not until Yangguli was shot that some autonomous factions began to support him, allowing the Northern Expedition faction to truly gain ground.

Fearing that Jin Zidian would get too absorbed in the role and start to think independently, Xiang Junqing warned him:
"The Ming Dynasty has never recognized the so-called Jin Dynasty. It only recognized the Jianzhou Jurchen rebellion."

"There is no way to talk about the crown prince and princes. Haoge is only the eldest son of the chieftain of the Lu family. He is not even the crown prince in the Jianlu family."

"Marshal Jin will become a minister of the Ming Dynasty in the future, so you must be careful about how you address him."

Jin Zidian nodded repeatedly and regretted his words.

It's okay for ordinary people to say such things, but those in officialdom shouldn't say them casually.

So he repented repeatedly and drank a glass of wine and slapped himself in the face.

After he expressed his opinion, Xiang Junqing continued:
"Mr. Cui's luck is not shared by everyone. I, Xiang, am extremely envious of him."

"But as long as you and I work hard and complete the matter of North Korea's annexation, it is possible to be granted titles of nobility and dukedom in the future." "As for your request to make Andong a fiefdom, the Ming Dynasty can also agree to it!"

This is Jin Zidian’s biggest request, he wants to use his hometown as his fiefdom.

The Andong Kim family was a famous and prominent family in Korea. After he designated his hometown as a fiefdom, he was able to become the main branch of the Andong Kim family.

The Ming Dynasty did not object to this, and even allowed Kim Ji-jeon to cooperate with Concubine Zhao's father, Zhao Qi, the governor of Gyeongsang Province, to divide Gyeongsang Province together.

However, what title Jin Zidian will be awarded in the future will depend on his achievements.

In order to strive for the title of Earl and establish his own vassal state, Jin Zidian asked Xiang Junqing:
"After Jin goes north, should he deliberately fail in battle and let the Jianlu go?"

"Let those who shout for independence know that without the protection of the Ming Dynasty, they can only allow the barbarians to cause chaos."

Xiang Junqing shook his head upon hearing this and said:

"Once you arrive in Pyongyang, you will actively train the troops and reorganize the military."

"Pretend to be a Northern Expeditionist and transfer all the radical members of the Autonomous Faction there."

"Then do your best to resist and be loyal to the King of Joseon."

"This way, it will be convenient for the Ming Dynasty to confer you the title of Earl and obtain the consent of the King of Korea."

This puzzled Jin Zidian, so he asked him:
"What if they stop the Jianlu and even launch a northern expedition?"

"What should Ming do then?"

Xiang Junqing laughed so hard that he spit out his wine, and said with a laugh:
"If that's the case, I'll toast them three times!"

"Jin Shuai can just transfer some players over and see how they perform."

After being surprised, Jin Zidian also burst into laughter.

But after he left the Governor's Mansion, he felt secretly resentful.

Because although he believed that Korea could not resist the Ming Dynasty, he thought that the current Korean army might be able to fight against the Jianlu.

Because North Korea has a secret weapon -

Divine Arrow!
Thinking about the divine arrows being manufactured at the Military Equipment Temple, Jin Zidian instructed his followers:

"Let's go to the Military Temple!"

When we arrived at the Military Equipment Temple, we saw the magical arrows made by Korean craftsmen.

This weapon originated from the rocket cart learned from the Ming Dynasty. It is a launch device that mounts rockets in series. There are up to 320 rounds in a row, and multiple carts are arranged in a row, which is called the "Shenhuo Wanquan Iron Encirclement Camp Style".

After North Korea learned it, it called it the Divine Arrow.

The weapon has a large reach, ranging from about 150 to 500 meters, depending on cartridge size and charge.

After the Ming army used arrow-shaped bullets to kill many Jianlu, and Choi Nam-yi and others proposed to imitate it, Korea noticed this new ammunition and began to imitate it.

It is not difficult to simply imitate the appearance of the arrow-shaped bullet. Koreans know how to cast and are very good at casting arrowheads. The arrow-shaped bullet only has an extra tail fin, so it is not difficult to imitate.

In addition, Korea had silk, which could also be used as medicine bags. There was also an abundance of various types of wood, which was used to make arrow shafts.

Therefore, the arrow-shaped bullets used by the Ming army were quickly imitated by them.

However, after the ammunition was copied, there had to be muskets to use. The muskets of Korea were previously copied from Japanese iron cannons, and the caliber was different from the heavy and light muskets currently used by the Ming army.

At first they simply made the wooden stock bigger or smaller, but they found that the accuracy was very poor when firing with the musket.

Only if it is built exactly the same as the Ming army's and uses Ming's muskets can the accuracy be better.

Therefore, Korea also began to imitate the Ming Dynasty's musket, and used it to achieve the record of shooting and killing Yangguli.

For the old muskets, the gun barrels were connected together, like the Shenji Arrow, and hundreds of rounds could be fired at a time.

This naturally does not require precision and can make use of the existing muskets.

Because the arrow-shaped bullet is extremely lethal, it can cover and kill enemies thousands of meters away.

This secret weapon is still called the Divine Arrow by them, and it is used as a weapon to show strength to the Ming Dynasty and resist the Jianlu.

Jin Zidian's Northern Expedition was not only a boost for the Ming Dynasty, but also a result of the confidence brought by this weapon.

Even if he wanted to be granted a vassal state by the Ming Dynasty, he also wanted to strive for greater power!
So he planned to perform well when the Jianlu moved south, trying to stop them, or even push them back to Liaodong. (End of this chapter)