Cui Mingji sent people to Denglai, which brought three news to Zhou Xian. One was that Huang Taiji no longer planned to offend North Korea; the other was that Meng Qiaofang and his son had been beheaded by Huang Taiji and made public, and the plan of separation had been successful. The third was that the Qing Dynasty asked North Korea to provide 500 ship-making craftsmen and 3,000 ship-makers.

Among the three news, only the second one is good news for Zhou Xian. In the first one, if Huang Taiji condemns North Korea in a big way, it means that they will gradually push North Korea to the Ming Dynasty. Now this cold treatment is to allow North Korea to remain neutral for the time being. For the Ming Dynasty, it can only be regarded as an intermediate news that is neither good nor bad.

The third article is obviously bad news. The Qing Dynasty had realized that the Ming Navy might bring them in the future and was preparing to create its own naval army. However, Zhou Xian was not very worried about this. More than 5,000 elite troops of the Korean Navy had been brought to Denglai by himself. With this foundation, the Penglai Navy he created would surely grow rapidly. In the Qing Dynasty, only Kong Youde had the foundation to escape the Dongjiang Army, and the resources between the two places were very different. Zhou Xian must have been the first to fight back for a long time.

But Zhou Xian also has his own problems, for example, what is in front of him is a big problem.

The winter is cold, and the bitter north wind is howling, cutting the cheeks like a knife.

But at this moment, on the school ground outside Penglai City, more than 30 soldiers were stripped of their shirts and all fell to the ground. They supported the ground with their hands, bent down and lowered their heads, and their bodies were trembling. Next to each of them, there was a strong soldier holding a horse whip. As the numbers started to scream, the horse whip was raised high and then threw it off with force.

The horse whip was soaked with salt water. Each time, it left a bloody whip mark, and it also brought a scorching pain. After dozens of whips, the soldiers' bodies were already covered in blood. Although they were alive, they would never be able to recover completely without resting for more than a month.

A executioner quickly ran to Zhou Xian, clasped his fists and said, "Report to the military gate that the fifty whippings have been dealt with. Please tell me."

Zhou Xian nodded, waved his right hand, and a group of soldiers quickly stepped forward and helped the soldiers who were dealt with. Most of the strokes dealt with could no longer stand completely, so the two soldiers could barely hold them up.

Zhou Xian glanced at them and said in a deep voice: "In our army, whether it is Han people, Koreans, or people who were forced to serve the Han people but now return to the Han people. As long as we join our army, it is my brother Zhou Xian, who is also the one of you. Therefore, I will never allow you to make fun of them with their identity issues, no matter who they were or what they did, it is the case. Today's fifty whips are just a punishment for you. I will definitely be fine if you commit another crime next time. Do you understand?"

Everyone shouted in unison, "I understand." But everyone's ideas were different in this understanding. The initial soldiers under Zhou Xian's rule just followed an order. Many Koreans and the newly-Gui Han people who had just cut off their braids and had bald heads were moved.

Zhou Xian nodded slightly and continued to whisper: "Help them down and apply medicine. Lin Qingye, come out to receive the order."

Lin Qingye stepped out of the line, knelt down on his knees, "I received the order."

Zhou Xian nodded to the eunuch behind him, who stepped forward and sang loudly: "The Emperor Fengtian Chengyun, and the imperial edict said: Lin Qingye, the general of the North Korean country of the Ming Dynasty, is loyal and brave, good at fighting, both virtuous and capable, and is actually a pillar of the country. From now on, he will be appointed as deputy general of the Ming Dynasty and serve in the Governor of Denglai. In December of the 14th year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, he was honored."

Lin Qingye was a little confused for a moment. The Ming Dynasty deputy general was second only to Zhou Xian and Huang Fei in the territory of Denglai. Why did the Ming Dynasty emperor let himself be a Korean? Since then, he has been considered a general of the Ming Dynasty or a general of the North Korean? Although he has doubts about his identity, this is not the most important thing. He is more concerned about whether such a deputy general is a real power in charge of the soldiers, or a false position offered by the Ming Dynasty emperor to win over the Koreans.

Seeing Lin Qingye kneeling there motionless, the eunuch was a little dissatisfied and said shrillly: "Deputy General Lin, why don't you kowtow to thank me quickly?"

Lin Qingye woke up and put his hands on the ground, shouting: "I, thank you for your order."

The eunuch handed over the imperial edict, Zhou Xian pulled him aside, handed him two hundred taels of silver to him on behalf of Lin Qingye, and said with a faint smile: "Eunuch Liu, I have worked hard all the way. I hope I can accept this little meaning with a smile."

Eunuch Liu's face was full of smiles and his eyes narrowed into a slit. "Oh! Zhou Junmen is so polite. I heard that Zhou Junmen is generous before, but when I see it today, it's true."

Zhou Xian laughed twice and sent him away. By the time he returned, all the soldiers had left, only Lin Qingye was still standing there, frowning high, as if he was thinking about something.

Zhou Xian walked forward and smiled and said, "Deputy General Lin, what's wrong? I'm not satisfied with the position of this deputy general?"

Lin Qingye hurriedly bowed and said, "Zhou Junmen is joking. I, Lin Qingye, was lucky enough to be the deputy general of the Ming Dynasty. Where can I be dissatisfied with me? I was just curious just now, why is this so? After thinking about it, I only thought that it might be the result of your efforts in Zhou Junmen. I really don't know how to repay you in the future."

Zhou Xian waved his hand and said, "I just wrote a letter to my emperor, saying that you are of great use. It is something I didn't expect to directly promote you to a deputy general. But it's good that this is the case. With this deputy general's position, I can hand over the Denglai Navy to you with full authority."

Lin Qingye's face changed drastically, and his face was full of disbelief. "Zhou Junmen, what did you say? You want to hand over the Denglai Navy to me."

Zhou Xian nodded and said, "In the territory of Denglai, there are only two people who are capable of commanding the Denglai Naval Division. In my eyes, one is General Huang Fei, and the other is you. But as General Huang Fei, as General Huang Fei, needs too many things to deal with, and he cannot focus on the navy. Besides, you have a natural advantage. The Penglai Naval Division has less than 3,000 Han people, while the Koreans account for about 5,000. Although I have no malicious intentions, moving them to Ming Realm is not what most Korean soldiers want. If you are the commander, you can also conquer their hearts as soon as possible."

Lin Qingye was silent for a moment, and his desire to lead the army defeated everything. But he also raised his own doubts. "Zhou Junmen, if you let me, a North Korean, be the leader of North Korea, most of the Ming soldiers may not be convinced!"

Zhou Xian waved his hand and said, "Then you have to convince them with your record. I will let Han Kuo be your deputy. As for the extent you can do in the future, it depends entirely on yourself."
Chapter completed!