Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

At the end of April in the 38th year of the Yongli calendar, a Dongning merchant ship bearing the Ming flag suddenly appeared off the coast of Jemulpo (Note: Incheon), and sent people to land on the shore in small boats. This move immediately shocked the North Korean side.Because the North Korean side has been claiming among domestic scholars that the former king Xiaozong Zhongxuan had always had the ambition to oppose the Qing Dynasty and help the Ming Dynasty, and the news that Dongning had defeated Shi Lang's army had already spread, so the weak North Koreans did not dare to easily respond to these uninvited people. The Dongning people expressed hostility.Also in view of the strong military pressure of the Qing court in the north, the North Korean side did not dare to openly contact the Ming Zheng side, which is thousands of miles away.Coupled with the fierce internal party struggle in North Korea, any reckless move will become the target of the enemy's attack. As a last resort, the North Korean Ui government, which has weighed repeatedly, can only send a mere official eight-rank secretary to pretend to be a Beijing merchant (Note: Seoul businessman) to spy on the truth of the visitor.

"Master Pan, I don't know what the purpose of your trip is?" This Si Lu named Quan Shunen came on board the boat, and seeing Pan Baicai who was dressed as a civil servant of the sixth rank, she became three points shorter before she could speak, so that she could only From the very beginning, I begged the other party. "The other country is small and the people are weak, and it is very difficult to be caught between the Shang Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty. I also ask the Shang Kingdom to understand the difficulties of the other country and leave as soon as possible."

"I learned that your country still has the ambition to serve you, so I traveled thousands of miles to contact you. I didn't expect you to have such an attitude." Pan Bocai suddenly revealed the true face of North Korea's so-called anti-Qing and Ming-ming. "It's not Songshang (note: ginseng exporter) and Wanshang (note: Yizhou merchants, mainly engaged in trade with Qing Dynasty) who are obstructing it."

"What is the Lord of Shangguo saying? The small country is governed by two classes, and ordinary people can't influence the national policy of the small country."

"Since the scholars in your country are so short-sighted, I have nothing to say." Quan Shunen had just breathed a sigh of relief before listening to Pan Bocai's request. "Please return the Han people living in your country to this dynasty."

"This?" Quan Shun'en's face changed drastically. There are not many Ming people in exile in North Korea, but there are at least a thousand households. How can he be a mere Western class member for such an important matter? Toshiro can answer. "This is a big matter, and I have to ask the middle school adults for instructions."

"Then you go yourself, I'm waiting for your country's reply at sea." Pan Bocai said decisively, sealing off the other party's possible excuses at once, and Quan Shun'en, who looked helpless, had to say goodbye. At this time, Pan Bocai threw a sentence that almost caused him to fall into the first hand. "The sea is far away, and the consumption on the road is quite large. I also ask your country to add some drinking water and food for me. I bring some goods, or it can be used as compensation."

"What did he bring?" Hearing Quan Shun'en's report, several young dignitaries asked with interest. In their view, perhaps what Pan Bocai said about asking for people from Zaiming Dynasty was just an excuse, and they wanted to use this The real purpose of Mingzheng, a pirate group, is to stay and have direct trade with North Korea.

"There are chime bells and globes from Taixi, snow sugar, rock sugar, lacquerware, paper, ink, scriptures from Dongning, tinware from the West, sumac, rhinoceros horn, ivory, tortoise shell, sandalwood, pepper, cardamom, and more. Things like bird guns and Frang machine guns and shark skin armor, yes, there are also dragon birth incense and whale oil candles, and kun fish bone tools."

"What do they want?" There are not many types of items, but they are not too few. Among them, luxury goods account for the main part, which suits the appetite of the rich and powerful. Of course, they will not come forward to buy and sell, and they have their own merchants. Appears as White Gloves.

"Horses, gold, silver, copper and iron, cotton cloth, furs of various colors, ginseng, alum, dried ginger."

"Sure enough, it's for business." Several older Liangban breathed a sigh of relief. You must know that the Japanese pirates who appeared suddenly years ago have already involved too much energy from the North Korean side, and they are still arguing with the Japanese side. They don't want to understand Zheng Fang also came out like this. "But it's okay. The Wakan in Choyang (Note: Busan) has been closed for more than half a year, and the business in Tsushimakou has also been interrupted. The merchants have been complaining. If we can resume trade with Mingzheng, that is also a way out."

"You go down." A judge (note: equivalent to the minister of each department) said to Quan Shun'en indifferently, the following content is not something this mediocre official can listen to, waiting for Quan Shun'en, who is lying on the ground, to be amnesty Withdrew, so the judge surnamed Cao said lightly. "It's good news to come to do business, but after all, we can't trade in Jemulpo."

"Lord Cao is right," Da Sixian (Note: Equivalent to the Imperial Envoy of Zuodu) Jin Wanzhong is the uncle of the first queen of the current dynasty and a well-known green novelist in North Korea. Jiuyunmeng occupies a very important position in the history of Korean literature, but now he is still a bureaucrat who wants to assist the emperor. "It's better not to let Daqing take advantage of it." Jin Wanzhong suggested. "Why don't we set up a Mingren Pavilion in Jeju to deal with Mingzheng trade?"

The deputy Chengzhi, Zhao Chiqian, is one of the sects of young scholars. He has never given a good face to relatives like Jin Wanzhong, but today he agrees with Jin Wanzhong's suggestion: "Ming Zheng's old background is also a pirate. I haven't heard any explanations from him on Mingjiao in [-], so naturally we have to be careful of its possible backlash. Therefore, it is good to put it in a more remote Jeju, but the imperial court also needs to send more soldiers and warships to Jeju and build a city to guard against it. unforeseen."

"After all, there are still descendants of the Ming Dynasty on the other side, so I'm afraid it's not good for the imperial court to spread the word."

Looking at the worried Li Cao Pan (note: equivalent to Shang), and Zhao Chiqian's Sijiayuan (note: equivalent to the admonition platform in the Tang and Song Dynasties) Zhengyan Han Taidong smiled coldly: "Master Cui probably hasn't seen it. "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Dongning is now Cao Cao, coercing the emperor to command the princes, dealing with this kind of thing, this official is very cold."

"Whether Dongning is coercing the emperor to order the princes or not, but he has the edict of the Ming Dynasty in his hands, and it is justifiable for them to return to the Ming people," said Zuo Yizheng Song Shiyeol, who is the most famous rationale in North Korea in this era (Cheng Zhu Neo-Confucianism) A scholar and a thinker who advocates anti-Qing and Ming Dynasty is known as one of the eighteen sages in the Eastern Kingdom. In addition, he is also the leader of the Western Party and the first leader of the Laolun Party. Later generations of Koreans call him Song Zi () or Song Master () , I saw him narrowing his eyes and saying softly. "If this matter is not handled properly, it will become an excuse for Ming Zheng and the Qing court to send troops to North Korea in the future."

"Mingzheng sent troops? Are you joking, my lord?" Zuo Zhancheng (Note: equivalent to the deputy prime minister) Nan Jiuwan was full of envy and hatred for the mountain and forest prime minister who had resigned from the field, thinking that he was in his way, So seize the opportunity to secretly hurt the other party. "Ming Zhengyuan is thousands of miles away, do they have the power to deal with North Korea?"

"Where did the pirates who plundered between North Korea and Japan come from?" Song Shilie still responded softly, but his words were equivalent to a heavy bomb. "Who else can cross the sea? Except for Taixi's Hongyi, only the Qing Dynasty and Ming Zheng have this power." Song Shilie paused. "If the Qing Dynasty wants to conquer North Korea, there is no need to act like this. Only Ming Zheng is the most suspected."

"Your Majesty is really old, and you're talking nonsense." Li Ruiyu, a leader of the Nanren Party, was different from the relatively prudent Nan Jiuwan. He was almost shirtless. "Mingzheng was threatened by the Qing army at that time, and it was not enough for them to gather all their forces. How could they cross the sea to conquer Japan and North Korea? This is absolutely impossible."

"There are too many impossible things in the world that are actually possible." Song Shilie said a very twisted sentence. "Mingzheng may not have been possible at the beginning, but think about it, when did the Japanese pirates disappear? Wasn't it the eve of Mingzheng being invaded by the Qing army? They were still under the banner of the remnants of the Toyotomi clan. Who are they lying to?" .”

"Maybe it's just a coincidence?" Some people still couldn't believe Song Shilie's speculation. "Perhaps the remnants of the Toyotomi family hid on a certain island, and saw that the imperial court and the Japanese side had paid more attention to it, so they retreated."

"Which island are you hiding on?" Song Shilie seemed to be fighting the Confucians. "Isn't Dongning just a big island?"

"My lord's words are off topic." Zhao Chiqian's teeth ached when he saw Song Shilie's behavior, so he reminded him specially. "Whether Mingzheng was a pirate who plundered the border years ago, we have no evidence. The key now is how to answer the request of the other party's dignitaries. As the boss himself said, Mingzheng is as difficult to deal with as the Qing army. How to do it so that nothing leaks?" ?”

Several ministers in the hall looked at each other, and after a long time, Jin Wanzhong held back an idea: "It's still the old way, procrastinate, Ming Zheng is mainly here for trade, when the things that should be sold are sold, and the things that should be bought are bought, I will not believe it." He will stay in Jimulpo and wait for them to leave and tell them to go to Jeju next time, otherwise he will be wiped out as a bandit ship. As long as they don't come to Jimulpo and don't threaten the capital, maybe two at a time After this time, they will not mention it themselves, so (the Qing court) North Korea’s participating leaders will also be able to explain it.”

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Song Shilie still looked worried. "This can only postpone the matter, but it can't completely solve it. It's better to give them back more or less. I think everyone has a purpose to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty."

"It's not right, it's not right. Doesn't my lord say that it means that North Korea will add a Supreme Emperor to himself again." Li Ruiyu jumped out again. "Even if this dynasty has the intention to oppose the Qing Dynasty and help the Ming Dynasty, it is one thing to support secretly, and another time to openly associate with each other. Don't confuse them. Moreover, anti-Qing and aiding the Ming Dynasty is just Xiaomiao's personal opinion, not North Korea's. public opinion"

Hearing this, Song Shiye, who was defeated by King Xiaozong Zhongxuan of the Joseon Dynasty because of his anti-Qing and Ming Dynasty, was furious. He flicked his sleeves, turned around and walked away. Looking at his back, Nan Jiuwan smiled sinisterly: "Jiang Gui Old and misinformed, the boss is already in the age of hearing, and he is still so angry."

"Forget it, forget it," the person next to him hurriedly interrupted Nan Jiuwan's possible sarcasm. "It's still important to get down to business. Whether procrastination will be effective or not is anyone's guess. Why don't you ask those who entered the Ming Dynasty if they would like to go to Dongning?"