Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

Updated: 2012-11-12

< However, Chuntai's army has not yet left the border of Gyeonggi-do, and the Qing army explored horses and found a solid ice city lying in front of them in Ansan County.Fortunately, Ansan County is not directly facing the traffic arteries going south, so Chun Taicai did not sit on the spot.

However, Zheng Jun's attempt to threaten the Qing army's Liangdao has been very clear.As a last resort, Chuntai was forced to garrison thousands of troops in Gwacheon on the outskirts of Ansan to prevent the Zheng army from flanking, and further increased the guards of the food and fodder transportation team to ensure the safety of the back road and smooth supplies.But in this way, the strength of the Qing army was further dispersed, and when they finally reached Cheongju, an important town on Chungcheong Province, Chuntai's available troops had plummeted to [-].

But Chun Tai still insisted on going south, so he left another 500 people to guard Cheongju, and the brigade continued to rush to Chungju.

It has to be said that Chuntai was right.The royal court of South Korea left a garrison of 500 men in Chungju, equipped with homemade matchlock guns and two Hongyi cannons imported from Zheng Fan.However, the training of the South Korean army was extremely poor, and their morale was also low. When they heard that the Qing army was attacking in the snow, they immediately dispersed and handed over Zhongzhou to the Qing army.

Now that Chungju changed hands, going further south would lead to the flat Jinjiang Plain. If the Qing army moved forward freely, it would only take three to five days to attack Jeonju, where the royal court of South Korea is located.Chun Tai, who thought that victory was just around the corner, ignored the persuasion of Sun Zhaqi and other generals, and insisted on continuing to march in order to do his best.

But Tanma came the news that the Qing army least wanted to hear: there was a fortress of Zheng Jun in Iksan County, Jeolla Province, south of Jinjiang.

This fortress is not a single emergency fortress cast in ice water, but a group of more than a dozen small bastions that are closely connected.

Regarding the bastion, Chun Tai and other high-ranking officials of the Qing court had already learned about its construction method and its effectiveness in defense from the Taixi missionaries. The poor students only know that the bastion is very difficult to conquer, but they don't know how to conquer it.

If it's just Zheng Jun's bastion group, it's fine. At worst, it will be dealt with by long-term siege.However, under the threat of his soldiers, Chuntai's target moved south to Gwangju again. As a result, the Qing army fell into a dilemma--offensive, and it will not be able to take it for a while, wasting military resources and rations in vain; turning to attack Quanzhou However, the royal court of South Korea is no longer there, and it is useless to take it down; if you continue to advance south, you will have to cover the grain roads with heavy troops, which will weaken the already stretched combat power; It is a precious resource for the imperial court.

What can I do?Facing a major decision, Chun Tai was so sad that he couldn't make the decision he should have made.

"My lord, considering the current situation, it is better to withdraw the troops," Song Zhu, the right servant of the Ministry of War, persuaded at this time. "Our soldiers are running out, and we don't know when we will end the pursuit. Why don't we go back to Seoul to rest, and when the weather warms up, we can pull out the nails that Haini put in the army's belly, and start over."

Song Zhu's subtext was not spoken, but Chun Tai understood it.You must know that this is North Korea's home field after all. Even if the North Korean soldiers don't fight, they can't stand the crowd. There are only 5000 tired soldiers from far away. In a hurry, South Korea will send more soldiers to fight several times, and it will be able to use up all of its soldiers.Besides, there is more than one enemy here, the court soldiers with extremely poor combat power, Zheng Jun is still eyeing it.

Although Chun Tai was moved by Song Zhu's words, Chun Tai still hesitated: "How can the emperor explain?"

"The emperor is mainly worried that the war will continue and the court will not be able to support it. However, we have half of North Korea to provide wealth, food and fodder, so it may not increase the burden on the household department. Besides, those barbarians in Eastern Mongolia have actually done a good job." Song Zhu Persuaded with a ferocious face. "The people here are all supporting Li Yan, that is, the rebellion of the imperial court and the enemy's country. If this is the case, there is nothing wrong with the enemy because of food. Maybe it will make Haini unable to eat and retreat on his own."

"That's it." Chun Tai was finally persuaded. "Retire the soldiers and go back to Seoul. By the way, tell Zhongqing Dao. How did the name come about? Zhongqing Zhongqing, loyal to Daqing, it's really hard to report." Chuntai said with a frown. "By the way, the rebellious counties and counties in Chungcheong Province were wiped out one by one, and the gains were used as military funds and escorted back to Seoul."

After waking up, the Qing army, blocked by Zheng Jun's defense line, took the initiative to retreat, but South Korea was frightened by the Qing army's invasion. In addition, refugees from Chungcheong, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon provinces successively moved south, so that only the whole country The South Koreas of Luo and Shangqing have no way to support them.So someone secretly came up with the idea of ​​persuading Li Xuan to abdicate and surrender to the Qing army.

But the private connection hadn't started yet, and Cui Yingzhi, who was sent to Mingzheng, came back.

"The king of Xia promised to send another army to help North Korea resist the Qing army." Cui Yingzhi reported the results of the envoy to the councilors, supporters, and counselors of the government, as well as the judges and counselors of Liucao. "In addition, the king of Xia agreed to borrow 30 guan of silver, 20 shi of rice, and 15 pieces of cloth from North Korea, and sold [-] cannons, [-] bird guns, [-] collars, [-] bows, and arrows to North Korea on credit. [-] sticks, [-] catties of gunpowder, and [-] catties of lead."

There are no high-end goods such as gun heads and knives in this sales list. Zheng Kezang thought that their added value was too low, so he erased them.The same is true for bows and arrows. Zheng Fan does not produce these weapons, but the Zheng army has seized a large amount of them after years of fighting. Instead of leaving them in the warehouse for damage, it is better to sell them to the North Koreans for a price.

"Lord Cui has worked hard. Silver, rice, and cloth are all of great use to our court." Li Cao judged Li She because he took the lead in accepting Li Yan as the king, so he was promoted to Zuo Zan of the South Korean royal court. Listen to him now. Said first and then restrained. "But I don't know if these loans are specially used for King Xia's army, or can they be given to the Korean people?"

"The 15 guan of silver is used as the military salary of the Ming army, and the other 15 guan is the deposit for North Korea's purchase of military equipment and grain fodder. Your lords should know that King Xia's credit sales and loans alone are far from enough." After talking for a long time, None of this money will reach the hands of the North Koreans. "As for the rice and cloth, the king of Xia deducted half of each as the military supplies that our dynasty promised to provide to the Ming army. Of course, this is not enough. When buying grain and fodder in the future, it will be similarly punished. The rest will be shipped to Zhenhai for delivery. It will be used by our court." Since the provision of military funds for the Zheng army entering the court was previously agreed, Li She had nothing to say, after all, Zheng Kezang still left half of it for the North Koreans. "The same is true of gunpowder and lead in the ordnance. Each side holds half."

"Master Cui, I don't know how the interest of this batch of loans is calculated and how to repay them, and the price of this batch of arms sold on credit."

"Master Quan," Cui Yingzhi's heart skipped a beat when he saw the sinister and cunning eyes of Quan Nanping, the new Husband Cao's judge. However, although he was a little uncomfortable, the question still had to be answered. "For the loan part, the annual interest is 30%, and I am allowed to pay it off within 20 years. I can only repay the interest in the first 30 years, and repay the principal and interest in the next 15 years." The annual interest of 38% is not very high in this era. The pressure on North Korea does not seem to be too great, because Quan Nanping, who does not understand modern finance, is satisfied. "As for this batch of ordnance, among them are ten 28-jin Hongyi cannons, each with [-] guan; ten [-]-jin cannons, each with [-] guan; One hundred guan, each bow forty guan, one hundred arrows and two guan, [-] jin of gunpowder cost [-] guan, and [-] jin of lead cost [-] guan, totaling [-] guan.” The officials were shocked. "Among them, [-] guan has already been paid with the loan part, and the remaining [-] guan must be paid by the imperial court half of which, and the rest is the land price silver purchased by Daming from Jeju!"

"What!" The scene suddenly became chaotic, and several old ministers were so angry that they blew their beards and stared. "Jeju is a solid land in North Korea, and King Xia took advantage of the fire to loot it"

"My lords, Jeju is now in King Xia's hands. If we insist on not returning it, we will have nothing to do with the mastery of King Xia's navy." Cui Yingzhi threw up his hands in response to the accusations of his dereliction of duty. "Now I can exchange some property to survive the current situation. Is it worthwhile? Please ask a few adults to discern."

"The Qing captives don't want me to go to the country." Even so, everyone knows that this is not because of Cui Yingzhi's incompetence, so although there are still criticisms, they have quietly changed. "Even if you want to sell, why don't you ask for more property?"

Regarding this, Cui Yingzhi smiled wryly and said: "It's not that the lower officials don't care about bargaining, it's just that the King of Xia has made it clear that there are only two ways to agree or not. , but our generation is the rebellious and rebellious person appointed by the Northern Dynasty, how should we deal with ourselves at that time?"

Hearing what Cui Yingzhi said, even if the people present had other thoughts, they had to stop at this moment, but someone calculated the account, and the result was embarrassing: "Half of 28 is 14. Qianguan, how can the imperial court get it out, and the Hongyi cannon is too expensive."

"My lords, I don't know, the guan here is a new silver guan made in the Ming Dynasty." Cui Yingzhi took out the exquisite silver guan and shared it with the people present. "It has always been about six qian of Kuping silver, so the price is not wrong, and King Xia promised that if there is no silver, you can pay for the goods with copper coins. If you don't have copper coins, you can also use equivalent goods such as ginseng, big wood, and pig iron. There are not even these things. , it can also be repaid within 30 years at an annual interest rate of [-]% according to the previous loan example."

"Then there are still [-] pens in King Xia's account, when can I use them?"

"The imperial court can discuss what else to buy for winter and spring. The [-] guan can be used for purchase."

"Other than that, what other conditions does King Xia have?"

"Yes," Cui Yingzhi replied quickly. "The first is to formally profess the vassal to Ming Dynasty; the second is to open Haeju, Nampo, Hamgyong and Dokyongseong in Hwanghae Province as commercial ports after the Qing captives are expelled; third," Cui Yingzhi said. paused.There was an inexplicable look on his face. "Ask the king to succeed the son of King Xia and the princess as his grandson"

Leader Li Rumeng stood up suddenly: "Absolutely not!"