New Shun 1730

All the ministers who were appointed as Pingzhang Jun Guoshi in Tianyou Palace had fought their way through a single-plank bridge with thousands of troops.

In terms of intelligence and talent, he was far better than Liu Yu.

However, due to his limited knowledge, the political correctness of the Celestial Empire, and the actual practice of the Celestial Empire's tribute system, he did not know much about diplomacy and trade.

Some people even thought that Russians would die of abdominal distension if they did not eat rhubarb. Therefore, they supported the opening of ports and used trade as a threat in the future, similar to the trade policy of the previous dynasty towards Mongolia.

Li Gan hoped to hear another perspective from Liu Yu. After listening to Liu Yu's words, he could not help but feel quite radical.

He was impatient and wanted to do something big and leave his name in history.

He looked okay on weekdays, but once he encountered a big event, his impatient temperament was undoubtedly revealed, and it was inevitable that he had some radical ideas.

But after listening to Liu Yu's words, he realized that the radicalism that he had taken as a warning before seemed extremely conservative in Liu Yu's words.

This matter still needs to be considered, and he turned to ask: "You are talking about the Western Front. Since you said that the ports will be opened in the East and the West, and the Eastern Front is related to the Nurgan Land, what about the Eastern Front?"

"I have heard some rumors that there is something wrong with the Kingdom of Korea?"

"Well, it is not a rumor, but there is a mess."

It is difficult for ordinary people to know about this kind of thing. Liu Yu, a nobleman, has a close relationship with the old nobles, and Li Gan did not feel strange when he knew that there was a change in Korea.

This time, some musketeers from Korea were recruited, one is to show off the military power to Korea, and the other is to test Korea.

In recent years, Korea has really had a lot of big things.

The old king of Korea died just a few years ago, and he had several unpleasant experiences with Dashun because of the "first witch in Korea" Zhang Xipin.

The old king of Korea and his wife could not have children, so he favored Zhang Xipin, who was of humble origin, and Zhang Xipin gave birth to two sons.

He thought of using the power of his relatively humble relatives to clean up the political situation in the court, and sent people to Dashun to request that Zhang Xipin be canonized as the principal wife.

The people of the Dashun Li Government were in charge of etiquette issues, and this kind of thing would definitely not be agreed to. The suzerain state in the ritual and legal tribute circle supported the vassal to abolish the principal wife and establish a concubine?

But after all, it was a vassal, and it was not easy to refuse directly, so he found fault. After looking through the memorials, he found that the four words "stabilize the harem" were used in it. The Yuanwailang of the Li Government questioned: What is your identity? Can you use the two words "harem"? Can these two words be used by princes?

The old king of Korea also understood Dashun's intentions, so he had to send people to confess his crimes again, and finally bribed the people of the Li Government, quoted classics and found many excuses, and went back and forth several times, and finally canonized.

As a result, just a few years after it was done, the old king of Korea abolished Zhang Xipin again. But there was still no official eldest son, so they could only ask for Zhang Xipin's eldest son to be made the crown prince.

The Li government refused again, believing that if she had always been the principal wife, it would be in accordance with the rules to make her son the crown prince. Then you depose her now and make her son the crown prince? Her eldest son is not the eldest son, but a concubine's son. How can the princes be allowed to make a concubine's son the crown prince?

Besides, the King of Joseon is not yet fifty, and he can obviously continue to try with the princess. You two can try again. If you still don't have a legitimate eldest son when you are fifty, then talk about it.

The literati of Joseon also held up the "History of Song Dynasty", saying that Song Shenzong did not make Zhezong until the day of his death, so don't break the rules.

The two sides fought for three or four years, and finally the Dashun Li government also canonized Zhang Xipin's eldest son as the crown prince.

Not long after, Zhang Xipin was involved in the "Witchcraft Disaster". It is said that Zhang Xipin was also a ruthless person. Before she died, she cursed her husband to have no children and grandchildren, and stretched out her hand to pinch her own son's lower body. I don't know whether it was true or not.

I don't know whether her eldest son was scared or really pinched to death. In short, he was stupid and heard that he wet his pants in the court. After he succeeded to the throne, he had no children and only had a younger brother.

The party struggles in Korea were more intense than those in the Song and Tang dynasties. After several party struggles, envoys were sent to the capital to request to be canonized as the king's younger brother and heir.

As the emperor of the suzerain country, Li Gan asked politely, saying that he heard that the king of Korea was not in good health. How is his health recently?

The envoy was also familiar with the classics, history, and collections, so he replied, "The lower body is weak." Li Gan asked this polite question, and something went wrong.

Anyone who is familiar with the classics, history, and collections, as long as he has the idea of ​​setting up a mosquito prison, is a master.

When the envoy returned to Korea, someone immediately reported to the King of Korea: Looking through the Twenty-Three Histories, the only person who used the word "痿" in the Book of Jin was the powerful minister Huan Wen who deposed Sima Yi. This person said that the king was "痿", which was his intention to learn from Huan Wen and depose and usurp power, which was obvious!

After another round of party struggles and mosquito prisons, a lot of heads fell, and the King of Korea's health was not good. The king's younger brother "brotherly and respectful" fed his brother a bowl of ginseng soup.

As soon as he finished feeding, his brother died.

This is more yellow mud falling off the crotch than the candlelight and the sound of the axe, which can be explained. How to explain that he died after drinking the ginseng soup?

When the king's younger brother succeeded to the throne, he said that I really didn't poison the ginseng soup, you can believe it or not.

The side branch with the right of succession and the party of the court who had set up the mosquito prison in the first place, of course, did not believe it. In the spring of this year, they went to Beijing to "cry in the Qin court" and ask the suzerain state to administer justice. By the way, they started a rebellion in Korea, punishing the traitors and the rebels, and the three armies in white helmets and white armor were in mourning.

Because of these messy things, the enthronement ceremony has never been carried out.

The Li government has not sent anyone to North Korea yet, but has asked North Korea to explain what is going on. Was it Wang Shidi who conspired to kill the king with poison? Or did he just die by chance?

Zuo Pingzhangjun proposed to recruit Korean musketeers for the Rakshasa War before the national affairs because of the chaos in Korea. In order to please the superior country, the king must have done a lot.

Now that there is a rebellion, this move is considered to be one step ahead.

It is difficult for the sovereign state to directly send troops to interfere in North Korea's internal affairs, but there are North Korean musketeers recruited for the Rakshasa War. This is a force that can influence the situation in North Korea: Whether ginseng soup is poisonous does not depend on the facts, but on who comes to power in North Korea and can control the situation. Dashun was more submissive and more conciliatory.

After the chaos in the late Ming Dynasty, the relationship between North Korea and Dashun was also very delicate.

On the one hand, Wanli fought against the Japanese and aided Korea, which contributed to the reconstruction of the Li Dynasty of Korea. Because of this kind of kindness, North Korea has always secretly respected the Ming Dynasty as orthodox, and has also accommodated many exiles from the Southern Ming Dynasty.

This matter is largely due to etiquette, and it's hard to say anything. It's hard to say that being ungrateful is right and not forgetting old kindness is wrong.

Secondly, after the chaos in the late Ming Dynasty, before Dashun counterattacked Liaodong, the Korean musketeers fought with the Dashun army; after the counterattack against Liaodong, the main force of Houjin was destroyed, and North Korea took the opportunity to rebel and send troops to Liaodong, taking away many people, food and horses. , wanted to take advantage of the chaos to move the border north, and had some conflicts with Dashun.

Dashun was frightened by the lessons of the previous dynasty, and immigrated frantically to Liaodong. North Korea also often crossed the border to collect ginseng, and often had conflicts with Han Chinese ginseng collectors in the border areas; border army soldiers like Du Feng often robbed North Korean smugglers. For political achievements, Liaodong officials often lured North Korean poor people to flee to increase the population and achieve political achievements.

So the two sides were very unhappy. On the surface, the father is kind and the son is filial, but in fact they all have their own agendas.

After Liu Yu came to the Western Front, the North Korean musketeers recruited this time followed the Songhua River Navy along the Handoli Acropolis and are now besieging the old capital of the Sauron Khanate.

North Korea is in rebellion, and both sides are ogling Da Shun crazily.

The King of Joseon was afraid that Dashun would think the ginseng soup was poisonous; the rebels hoped to use Dashun's power to launch a coup with white helmets and white armor to avenge the late king. Even if the coup was successful, it would have to be recognized by Dashun.

In this way, Zuoping Zhangjun's decision to recruit North Korean musketeers before the rebellion gave Dashun a great initiative on the North Korean issue.

The issue of Nurgandusi is also closely related to North Korea. North Korea is like a knife, cutting off the connection between the hinterland of Dashun and Nurgandusi.

The existence of the Songliao watershed makes it difficult to pass by land; the existence of North Korea makes it difficult to pass by water. Without North Korea, the Central Plains Dynasty would still have easily controlled Heilongjiang, Jilin and even the outer Northeast.

At this time, seeing Liu Yu mention North Korea as the opening of ports on the eastern front, Li Gan was thoughtful and asked, "What does Nu'er Gandusi have to do with North Korea?"

"I think that your majesty should open a port in Shandong to trade with North Korea; open Vladivostok at the mouth of the Suifen River as a port, and also trade with North Korea. Coinciding with changes in North Korea, the country and North Korea should tighten their control over North Korea. One The country is short of copper, and North Korea has more copper, which can be alleviated; secondly, by opening up trade, we can penetrate into North Korea, exert influence and gain more control. "

"Furthermore, since Japan's Guanbai rebellion, Japan has been locked up and it is still difficult to pass through. How do you know that it is not recuperating? How do you know that its country does not have another Toyotomi Hideyoshi? Once Japan rebels, it must first conquer Korea and peek into the Central Plains." Hong Kong trades with North Korea and forces North Korea to allow Chinese and North Korean merchants to dock at its ports. This can be like what happened on the Western Front, knowing the foundations of North Korea and guarding against Japan. "

"As for the governor of Nu'ergandu, if a port is opened in Heilongjiang or Jinqili River, it is difficult to carry out Rakshasa trade by land and must be carried by water. Shandong ships ship goods to North Korea, and caravans cross North Korea, take ships to Vladivostok, and jump Entering the Mudan River and entering the Songhua River, you can compete with the West Port by taking the waterway in summer and sledding on ice in winter.”

"Once there are merchants, there will be many inns, car shops, wine shops, and restaurants along the way. Once there are more of these, towns will gather along the way, and people will gradually cultivate the surrounding areas, and the population will also increase."

"Once there is a disaster in Shandong and Henan or in the Yellow River, merchant ships can be recruited to transport the victims directly to Nurgandusi or Liaodong. Moreover, people in North Korea have been fleeing northward in recent years, and the Chinese language in the border areas has become less and more Korean. , we must pay attention to it, especially in Vladivostok and other places, there are many North Korean escapees. If we don’t manage it, we will be in trouble in the future.”

"In addition, if the frontier army is suffering from the cold, it can raise its gold and silver and become a shareholder of the Chamber of Commerce..."

Li Gan was heard nodding his head in front of him, but when he heard the last thing about "border troops buying shares in the Chamber of Commerce", Li Gan immediately objected: "No! If the soldiers are engaged in business, they will fall into decline over time! If you don't make a living by farming and fighting, where will you find someone like this in the future?" The government soldiers and light cavalry?”

"Your Majesty, looking at the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there are no soldiers who have been good at fighting for a hundred years. It is amazing that the soldiers can fight for eighty years. Now that Nu'er Gandu Division has been restored, does Your Majesty really want to transfer the soldiers along the Songhua River to the north? Let them give up. The land that has been cultivated for decades, go Fighting in a bitter cold land to establish oneself? Even if you don't rebel, resentment will flourish, how can you be willing to fight for eighty years? Why go to war?"

Li Gan has also considered this issue, but the territory that was conquered must be defended by someone.

Once the soldiers of the government got rich, according to the emperor's opinion, they would become depraved and would no longer be able to fight.

Only by living by farming and fighting can one remain brave.

But the problem Liu Yu mentioned does exist. Those people have been cultivating in northern Xinjiang for decades, and their lives are prosperous. They also pay the "blood tax" on time when the court fights.

It is easy to cause trouble if they are asked to move north again at this time.

Liu Yu said again: "Your Majesty, the affairs of Nurgan Dusi are not about military affairs, but about food and population. The imperial court set up Zhechongfu in Songhua River, one is to guard the border, the second is to provide soldiers, and the third is to save food without collecting taxes, so that once the war starts, they can directly spend money to buy it here."

"As long as the food problem is solved, if the Northeast can become a grain-producing area like Shandong and Henan, the population will grow, and there will be no problem on the border. In the end, there are still few people."

"Your Majesty is worried about the soldiers, you can recruit strong and poor people from Hebei, Shandong, Henan and other places, set up Zhechongfu on both sides of the Heilongjiang River, and continue to support the soldiers."

"As for the old soldiers in Songhua River, after the battle against Junggar, the Zhechongfu can be abolished and counties can be established. If they are asked to participate in trade, they will have rewards and money after the war, so they will not want to be soldiers, but I want to transform into a local landlord."

"Let them have money, abolish their privileges as soldiers, and transfer them to county citizens. Allow them to recruit people to cultivate land and work for themselves, then they will naturally be full of enthusiasm. The court does not have to pay, they will reclaim all the land suitable for cultivation, as long as they are exempted from taxes for five years, they will definitely reclaim as much as they can. If there is a shortage of manpower, people will naturally go to the interior to hire... In this way, after a few decades, the banks of the Songhua River can also be used as granaries. If there is a war in the northern border, they can directly buy grain from the Songhua River."

"The court has to spend money from the treasury to relocate disaster victims. Moreover, immigration officials are not working for themselves, and they may deduct or ignore their lives. Allowing immigrants to be recruited as tenants and long-term workers, the court does not have to spend money from the treasury, and everyone can actually sell money there... Although it sounds bad, it is the truth that people are sold for money. The Northeast is not like the interior of the country. It is vast and sparsely populated. After working for a few years, even if they flee, they can cultivate a piece of land to survive. Once the population increases, and they are all immigrants from the interior of the country, how is it different from the Central Plains? It must be the most stable place. "

"With a large population and more food, the cost of immigration to the court in the future will be lower. With ready-made villages and the ability to buy food, the efficiency of immigration will be far greater than that of going to the wilderness now."

"Besides, the Northeast is vast and sparsely populated, so there is no need to worry about annexation. Allowing it to be annexed can be emulated in the way that the main households in Western countries pay for cattle and horses, long-term and short-term workers earn wages, large tracts of land are used for water conservancy, and plows and heavy plows are introduced. In a hundred years, it will be a granary. Since it is a granary and has a large population, there is no need to worry about the threat of the Russians. When the time comes, 20,000 soldiers can be sent north to attack the Russians again, with Lake Baikal as the Russian boundary. , encircling Mongolia, making it more stable. "

"Abolishing the Songhuajiang Zhechongfu and setting up prefectures and counties is not a matter of one day or one night. Five or ten years later, the soldiers of the Songhuajiang Prefecture will be transferred to civilians to set up prefectures and counties, and the Zhechongfu along the Heilongjiang River will also be established. The combat effectiveness is also the strongest at that time, and there will be no gap. "

"Trade with North Korea, and North Korea can be used as a springboard...so that the disaster victims in Henan and Shandong do not have to take the difficult land route, but go directly north along the sea route to the Nurgan Dusi. Gather at Vladivostok at the mouth of Suifen River, slowly move north, and enrich the population. In the future, there will be more farming along the coast of Suifen River and Heilongjiang River, and there will be enough food. You can also buy food directly in Vladivostok and the mouth of Nurgan River to facilitate the resettlement of immigrants. "

While talking about the Nurgan Dusi, I thought in my heart that there are many places to jump to as a springboard, not just the Northeast.

Using North Korea as a springboard, you can jump to Japan.

As long as the opening is made, as long as ports are opened in Leiden and Vladivostok, who can control the smuggling to Japan? As long as the court opens a hole, the merchants who dare to venture out will dare to tear the hole into a skylight or even a door.

For trade with Russia, the port is opened in the west, and the royal family participates in eating meat. The port is opened in the east, and the distance is far, so you can only drink soup. But drinking soup with Russia, you can eat meat with North Korea and even Japan. Now copper is so expensive, and the court is short of copper and even orders not to use copper utensils for trade with North Korea. How can you not make money by smuggling to Japan?

Liu Yu has no interest in eating the meat in the west, and he can't compete with the emperor for food. The meat in the east can be eaten in two bites, as long as you get inside information in advance, you can be one step ahead.

For trade with Japan in the south, you can only go through Taiwan, Diaoyu Island, Ryukyu, Nagasaki to Tanegashima, and jump islands little by little by relying on needle songs.

If the north can also participate, although the current navigation technology cannot sail directly to Japan, it is still no problem to reach Tsushima along the coastline of Korea.

Now the opportunity is rare. If the court does not take this opportunity to make Korea's vassal status closer to opening ports for trade, it may only be able to wait until a hundred years later when Westerners force the opening of ports.

But Liu Yu couldn't say this matter openly. Thinking that the northeastern issue that the emperor is most concerned about now is actually the issue of immigration to the border, he tried to persuade Li Gan through this matter.

"If your majesty can allow the opening of ports in the east, the establishment of chambers of commerce, and the use of Korea as a springboard, then I can come forward to handle this matter, ensuring that there will be 1,000 immigrants in the first year, and then increase every year. After ten years, 10,000 immigrants will be sent to Nurgandusi every year. If it is less than this number, I am willing to be punished."

"The court does not need to spend a penny. With 10,000 immigrants every year and the population growing, in less than a hundred years, Nurgandusi will have a population of one million, all of whom are Han people from Shandong and Henan, just like the Central Plains, and there will be no dissent."

"The court does not need to spend a penny here. In a few decades, there will be another million people and tens of millions of acres of land, and the annual tax can be increased by one million taels; the border will be stable."

The last reason finally made Li Gan a little excited, and he asked: "Ten thousand per year? Do you really mean it?"

Li Gan's way of thinking is an official way of thinking. The court pays for official immigration, and it is not enough to spend hundreds of thousands for ten thousand people.

Liu Yu understood how great the population pressure in Shandong and Henan was. As long as the emperor acquiesced to trade with North Korea, Japan, and Russia, he could gather equity and operate from it, and replace the monopoly privilege tax with the number of immigrants. Not to mention 10,000 a year, 20,000 a year in ten years would be able to be taken away.

The Little Ice Age has passed. In addition to swamps like the Sanjiang Plain, there are still many lands in the Northeast that can be cultivated now.

The plains around the Suifenhe estuary, the plains around Lake Xingkai, the upper reaches of the Ussuri River, the Songhua River Valley, and the Jingqili River Plain can now be cultivated with rye, potatoes, sorghum, and soybeans.

Although it is more unpalatable than wheat, it is still better than starving in Henan and Shandong. The cost of immigration is gradually reduced as the population of the immigration area increases. Moreover, Henan is plagued by disasters. The court bureaucrats do things, and the immigrants who are pointed at them are starved to death, and there will be no shortage of immigrant disaster victims.

After weighing this small goal of 1,000 per year at the beginning, Liu Yu nodded and agreed to it as long as he was sure that there would be no problem as long as trade with North Korea and Russia was allowed.

"Well... in that case, let's discuss this matter later. Don't worry about the affairs of Korea. The ministers in the court understand that this is an opportunity for my court."

"Whether it can be done in the future, we will discuss it after we return to Beijing after talking with Luosha. It also depends on the situation in Korea. But it's always right to prepare in advance. The bottom line of the court will be given to you later. Now there is the matter of trade, and we will allow the opening of ports in the east and west during the negotiations."

"The bottom line is there. If you cross the bottom line, you will be killed! Beyond the bottom line, the more land you get, the more credit you will get."

"It's getting late, and autumn is approaching. You should leave as soon as possible to assist the Duke of Qi. Don't bring too many people, just 300 people. I also want to return to the court as soon as possible. The matter here is done, and I can't stay for long. That Shutu has been with you for so long. I plan to let Zichuan Hou guard it as the main general, and that Shutu will serve as the vanguard to continue to capture several castles of Luosha people. What do you think?"

I thought about Jiao Laobutu's character. He is still capable. With his own guidance, there will be no problem in slowly besieging the city.

"I think there should be no problem. Three thousand soldiers are the best for this place, not too many. The Russians have no field soldiers here. If they divide their troops to defend, they should shrink and retreat after taking another city."

The emperor nodded in agreement and asked the attendant to hand over the bottom line of the negotiations with the Russians to Liu Yu, and wrote an edict asking Liu Yu to assist the Duke of Qi, which was considered a title.

Finally, he asked Liu Yu to organize the things he had said before into a document and submit it before leaving.

After opening the bottom line of the negotiations with the Russians and taking a look, Liu Yu thought it was not difficult. The bottom line of the court is the Heilongjiang River, and the Shilka River and the Onon River are to the west.

Now, except for a castle on the Shilka River, the Russians' fortresses within the bottom line have basically been removed, so it should be easy to talk.

Now it depends on how the court will deal with the Korean affairs. He doesn't care about this matter, and he has no right to care.

If the court on the Korean side doesn't know how to seize the opportunity, his idea of ​​opening a port and immigration to the east will not work.