Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The standing army in Goryeo actually numbered 150,000, divided into two parts: the central army and the local army.

Of course, this number only exists on paper.

In recent decades, even if the whole country of Goryeo went out to fight, there would only be tens of thousands of troops, and they would basically be controlled within 20,000.

The vast majority of the Goryeo local army has become the slaves of civilian officials and generals. Their ability to earn free wages is no worse than that of Song Dynasty officials.

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Goryeo Kingdom carried out a reform.

Its local administrative divisions adopt a new version of the late Tang Dynasty.

In terms of bureaucracy, three provinces and six ministries were introduced, and the imperial examination was introduced. Official names were similar to those in the early Tang Dynasty, and their duties and powers were similar to those in the Five Dynasties and Northern Song Dynasty.

In terms of the land system, the land equalization system of the early Tang Dynasty was imitated and all land was nationalized (nominally).

The core of China's land equalization system is that it does not recognize the private ownership of land. The Tang Dynasty's military system must be based on the equalization of land.

The collapse of the land equalization system led to the collapse of the military system in the Tang Dynasty, and the Jiedushi envoys separated themselves one after another.

Goryeo learned from the experience of the Tang Dynasty and acquiesced to land privatization from the beginning (in fact, it was forced to acquiesce). As a result, the collapse of the land equalization system in Goryeo not only did not form a separatist regime, but instead spawned a unique clan civil service system—probably similar to the clan politics of the Northern and Southern Dynasties mixed with imperial examinations.

The entire Goryeo territory from the Daedong River to the Yalu River was classified as Haoseo Road, and Pyongyang was the core of Haoseo Road.

The Taoist censor is the chief executive, and the Jiedushi is the military chief.

"Li Yushi, those hungry people are here again." Jiedushi Pu Chunyi looked constipated.

Taoist censor Li Jiren scolded: "Didn't I tell you before? Let the local wealthy families provide food relief, and those who can't help will be dispersed. Let them fish in the Datong River, let them hunt in the mountains, and the imperial court will exempt them from taxes this year. They were extremely merciful!”

Pu Chunyi was hesitant to say anything, so he could only accept the promise and carry out the task with a heavy head.

Let local wealthy families provide food relief?

What nonsense.

Not to mention the rich families, all the wealthy families in Pyongyang were robbed completely by the Jin soldiers. Where can the rich families get food to help the people?

Facing more and more hungry people gathering outside the city, Pu Chunyi was afraid of causing civil unrest, so he bravely led troops out of the city to drive them away.

"Li Yushi has an order. You must leave as soon as possible. You are not allowed to gather outside the city. Anyone who disobeys the order will be punished for rebellion!" Pu Chunyi asked the soldiers to ride on horseback and shout around.

These hungry people not only refused to leave, but also reached out to beg for food from the soldiers.

After shouting for a full two-quarters of an hour, Pu Chunyi became ferocious and gritted his teeth and said: "Do it!"

Soldiers, mostly armed with swords, guns and leather armor, rushed towards the unarmed and hungry people.

At first, they just beat and scolded them, but after realizing that the hungry people were slow to move, they gradually turned into fighting with swords, and soon there were hundreds of casualties.

The hungry people finally became frightened and fled in all directions, howling and crying. Soon there was a stampede, and many children who had lost their parents were crying loudly.

Two days later, a young man named Jin Ding rose up with thousands of hungry people.

"Cross the river, cross the river, and eat the rich people!"

After crossing the Datong River, continue walking south, and you will find the Guannai Road dozens of miles away.

The Guannai Road is the core area of ​​Goryeo. It was not looted by the Jin soldiers this time. The hungry people will naturally go to places with more food to rebel.

More and more hungry people responded to the slogan of "crossing the river". Tens of thousands of people crossed the river in more than a dozen places, supporting the elderly and young, dragging their families with them and sweeping towards the south.

Li Jiren stood on the tower of Pyongyang, watching the hungry people crossing the river in the distance, and he breathed a long sigh and said, "We are finally gone."

Pu Chunyi worried: "With so many hungry people crossing the river, I'm afraid they will cause chaos in the pass."

Li Jiren reminded: "I am the censor of the West Road, and you are the governor of the West Road. We only care about the affairs of the West Road, and don't worry about the officials of the Guannai Road."

"The hungry people passed through here after all, and the court may blame them if they investigate." Park Chunyi said.

Li Jiren sneered: "If I could produce food, would there still be so many hungry people?"

Although Li Jiren was also from a wealthy family in Guan Nei, his family was not in Kaizhou, the capital, but in Guangzhou, south of the Han River.

The nobles of Kaizhou collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country, creating such a big problem, but it was left to Guangzhou native Li Jiren to take over. Why?

This was originally a political transaction, in which the Kaizhou nobles were trying to win over the Guangzhou nobles.

Li Jiren was very happy at first, but after arriving in Pyongyang, he was so angry that he wanted to scold his mother. Not only does he have no money to make money, but he also has to face countless refugees. This poor place has been looted by the Jin soldiers and turned into nothing.

But it was said that tens of thousands of hungry people passed through the border like locusts. With crude weapons, they quickly captured the three counties of Guannei Road.

The wealthy families in the pass quickly organized rural soldiers and withdrew to the city to defend the city. At the same time, they requested the imperial court to send troops for rescue.

It was not until the rebel army captured two states that Goryeo officers and soldiers finally came, and...the officers and soldiers were defeated by the rebel army.

The Goryeo court is already short of food, and the civil and military officials are still trying to embezzle and embezzle. The officers and soldiers are already very loyal if they are hungry and do not rebel. How do you expect them to fight against a group of hungry rebels?

If you can't suppress it, then caress it.

The Goryeo court sent officials to recruit people, granted official posts to the leaders of the rebel army and made wishes, and at the same time forcibly requisitioned grain to provide extra meals to the officers and soldiers.

Under the combined use of suppression and appeasement, four leaders of the rebel army accepted the invitation and became traitors.

Jin Ding, the leader of the rebel army, was even tricked and killed by his own subordinates.

The young and elite members of the rebel army were selected to serve as soldiers and could live with their families in the customs. The remaining rebels were all driven back to the north of the Datong River, and were left without food to fend for themselves.

When Ming officials and troops arrived in Pyongyang, the place was already starved to death, and dead bodies could be seen just walking outside the city.

Moreover, most of the corpses were incomplete, either eaten by wild dogs, or cut up and eaten by their companions.

Even the most prosperous Nampo Port in Goryeo is deserted and looks like a ghost.

"This, this, this... what's going on?"

Cui Huan, the Korean envoy who was still making a fuss on the ship, was so frightened that he couldn't even speak shortly after disembarking from the ship.

Xu Kangzong looked at the bloody bones a few steps away and sighed: "I have seen such a tragic situation when I was on my mission to the Kingdom of Jin. The prefectures and counties in the north were depopulated and the roads were full of human remains."

Zheng Zhichang ran toward the northeast from the dock as if he was crazy, with tears streaming down his face as he ran.

This is his hometown, the richest place in Goryeo. He once invited friends to go boating on the Datong River and wrote countless popular poems.

No more, all gone.

I am afraid that even Wanyan Zongqian could not have expected such an ending. He mainly engaged in robbery in Pyongyang and did not carry out large-scale massacres. As long as the Goryeo court provided some relief, it would not be like this.

Seeing Zheng Zhichang come back in despair, Xu Kangzong felt quite sympathetic and sighed: "Let's talk about it in the city first."

Nampo Port is still 90 miles away from Pyongyang City in a straight line.

All supplies were transferred to small boats brought by the navy and transported in batches along the Taedong River to Pyongyang. Soldiers escorted officials and baggage along the river.

Civil and military officials, soldiers and civilians in Pyongyang did not dare to leave the city at this time.

It wasn't until Xu Kangzong led his people to arrive three or four miles outside the city that the defenders in the city discovered their traces. Each one of them felt as if they were facing a powerful enemy, thinking that the chaos was coming again.

Walking closer, I finally realized something was wrong.

"Censor, there are many soldiers and horses coming outside, and there are also fleets in the Datong River!"

There were many bones in the suburbs, but Li Jiren was drinking and having fun in the city. When he got the news, he quickly went to the city to check.

Pu Chunyi was also watching and said to Li Jiren: "It can't be rioters. Although they are not wearing armor, you can tell they are elites just by looking at the march. Even in Kaijing, there are no such elites."

"They stopped." Li Jiren said.

I saw the fleet and the army stopped together, hundreds of people armed with guns formed a formation, and the remaining soldiers moved armor from the ship.

Soon, the Ming army put on their armor neatly outside the city and slowly marched towards the city gate. Several teams of soldiers were also separated to escort the small boat back to Nanpu Port. They needed to continue transporting supplies in batches.

Li Jiren finally saw it clearly and said in panic: "The flag has a sun and moon pattern, and the leading official is holding a scepter. That is the envoy of the Ming Dynasty. Come with me out of the city to meet the angel!"

A group of officials swarmed out.

After the Jin soldiers left, the wealthy Pyongyang people who took refuge in the city still had some hidden wealth and food. When they heard that the Ming Dynasty envoys had arrived, they also rushed out of the city, hoping to get angel protection and catch the autumn wind to see if they could get food.

"The little minister Li Jiren, the imperial censor of the Western Province (Pu Chunyi, the envoy of the Western Military Region), pays homage to the Angel of Heaven!"

While these officials were paying their respects, suddenly a wealthy man from Pyongyang shouted: "It's Mr. Nanhu!"

Mr. Nanhu is Zheng Zhichang.

Zheng Zhichang had lost his mind and rushed over to grab Li Jiren: "As an official, why do you govern Pyongyang like this?"

Li Jiren complained bitterly: "The Jin people are wreaking havoc and stealing all the food. The court does not allocate food for relief. How can I produce food?"

The military doctor saw bones outside the city and ran to Zhao Li to whisper.

Zhao Li came to Xu Kangzong again: "Ms. Xu, the military doctor advised not to enter the city, but to choose a place to camp outside the city. According to the methods taught by His Majesty and the Prince, lime must be spread widely in the military camp, and the entire army must make masks. Wear it. Don’t touch any debris with your hands, and be sure to boil the water you drink.”

"Why?" Xu Kangzong asked.

"Prevent catching the plague." Zhao Lidao.

Xu Kangzong suddenly became serious: "What else should we pay attention to?"

Zhao Li said: "Organize manpower to search for corpses in the wild, pile them all in one place and burn them on fire. People who move the corpses should live in isolation as much as possible to prevent contracting the plague. Let the city carefully observe that there are no strange symptoms within a month. It won’t be too late for us to enter the city then.”

Xu Kangzong said: "I'm afraid no matter how tight the persecution is, the Goryeo court won't be able to produce much food. We have to ask Denglai Mansion to transport some military rations."

Next to Zheng Zhichang, a group of wealthy Pyongyang people were still crying and howling.

Cui Huan quietly approached Li Jiren and explained the situation in a low voice: "I was ordered to send an envoy to the Ming Dynasty to ask the Ming Dynasty to send troops to help. Who would have thought that the Ming Emperor actually sent troops. They used the excuse of guarding against the Jin soldiers to station troops in Pyongyang and Baozhou. , and also ask our country to provide military rations. Please send someone to the capital as soon as possible, let the ministers of the DPRK and China know about this, and find a way to send these Ming troops away."