On September 26, the ninth year of Chongzhen, Pang Gang led his army back to Hanyang (also called Seoul), the capital of North Korea. The leader of North Korea, Li Ju, the concubine Xian, along with civil and military officials and tens of thousands of people, lined the road for thirty miles outside Hanyang City.
They were greeted with great gifts and cannons were fired to show their welcome.
This etiquette is not simple. It was specially used to welcome the emperor in ancient times. Today, Li Shu didn't know why he was so crazy that he actually brought out this set of gifts. Logically speaking, anyone with a little bit of sense would not know how to do it.
Pang Gang, who knew nothing about ancient etiquette, didn't think there was anything wrong with accepting such a grand gift. But next to him, Li Yuan, Da Zhuang and other officers from poor military families didn't even know that. They had no idea.
I just accepted this etiquette so stupidly.
Pang Gang didn't know that his behavior in the eyes of many civil and military officials in North Korea had aroused a lot of daydreams and speculations, and made many people start to speculate.
After a lot of trouble, Li Zhu welcomed Pang Gang and others into the Hanyang Palace in Hanyang City. Although it had gone through a lot of war, the Hanyang Palace was well preserved and had not been damaged.
The place where Pang Gang was received was in the Yingbin Hall, which was a place in the palace specially used to welcome distinguished guests. Pang Gang took a look, which was a few winding paths where soldiers could line up two carriages side by side, a group of bungalows of neither high nor low, plus
There were several stone carvings around. Pang Gang was speechless when he saw such a palace.
Even Da Zhuang, who was walking behind Pang Gang, couldn't help but whisper to Li Yuan beside him: "Little Lizi, you said that the palaces of these Koreans are really not that good.
The Hufu is stronger, but it is far inferior to the Qingzhou Commandery Yamen."
Li Yuan glared at Da Zhuang and cursed: "Da Zhuang, if you ever call me "little plum" again, I'm not done with you." After finishing speaking, Li Yuan whispered: "North Korea is a foreigner, how can they afford to build such a house?
It’s already pretty good, but what else do you want from me? You can’t compare it to the Forbidden City in Beijing, right?”
"That's right, we are a kingdom in heaven, can they compete with us?" Da Dangqiang nodded repeatedly with a sense of reason.
Since both of them spoke in the local dialect of Lingshan Guard, they spoke quite hastily, so they were not afraid of being understood by the nearby Koreans. However, Pang Gang, who was walking in front, could hear it clearly. He just smiled slightly and said,
In his opinion, not to mention the current Hanyang, even Seoul, the capital of South Korea in later generations, is not that good. Don't look at those sticks that blew Seoul into an unparalleled place in the sky and on the earth, as if it was the largest country in the universe, but in fact
Most of the houses in Seoul are still bungalows, which are similar to those in Beijing in the 1990s.
However, Pang Gang got a more intuitive understanding of the mentality of the people of the Ming Dynasty at this time from the conversation between his two subordinates.
In Pang Gang's view, the mentality of the Ming Dynasty at this time was quite similar to that of the Yankees in later generations. Although natural disasters continued, they were still confident when dealing with the outside world. Influenced by thousands of years of Confucian culture,
Although there were many corrupt scholars and scholars with rigid thinking, it also created the people's mentality of seeking the country from heaven, which gave the people of the Ming Dynasty a sufficient confidence when facing outsiders.
"Our culture is the best, our writing is the best, and our social structure is also the best." This was the mentality of the Ming Dynasty at this time, from the nobles to the traffickers and pawns.
Thinking of this, Pang Gang couldn't help but think of the later generations where the moon in foreign countries was rounder than in China, foreign adults always walked proudly through the market, girls were proud to have slept with foreigners, and elites rushed to go abroad.
I was very puzzled as to what caused all this to happen. Pang Gang was a little confused.
"The Huge Man...the Huge Man..."
"Oh...ah? What's the matter?" Pang Gang turned around and realized that it was Li Zhu calling him from the side.
"I'm sorry, I was distracted. What's wrong?" Pang Gang asked in a bad tone.
Li Zhu said helplessly: "I am saying, please sit down, Master Pang." In this formal occasion, Li Zhu could not use his father-in-law's name to suppress Pang Gang, otherwise it would be a joke. After all, in
There are some things in this world that cannot be done or said.
"Thank you!" Pang Gang looked at the chair next to him and sat down simply.
After everyone sat down, Li Zhu raised his wine glass and said with a smile: "Man Pangda, I didn't expect you to drive the hateful Qing soldiers out of North Korea so quickly. I'd like to toast you first, let's do it!"
"Dry!"
All the North Korean ministers also raised their glasses and drank it all in one gulp. Pang Gang and the generals also drank the wine happily.
Li Zhu was in a very good mood today. He became even more excited after drinking three glasses of wine in a row. He walked down from his seat, patted Pang Gang on the shoulder and laughed: "General Pang, since the Qing soldiers invaded North Korea, I have never been like today.
We are so happy. If the mother country of the Ming Dynasty had not sent troops to help us, I am afraid that North Korea would have fallen long ago. I have said before that as long as whoever can lead the troops to drive away the Qing army, I will agree to one condition. Now you have done it.
Do you have any requests?"
As soon as these words came out, the originally noisy environment suddenly became quiet. Everyone looked at Pang Gang, wondering what the general from the Ming Dynasty wanted from North Korea. However, they were not worried about Pang Gang returning home.
What a sky-high reward, because based on their past experience, officials of the Ming Dynasty have always been known for their gentleness and gentlemanly demeanor in dealing with foreign vassals, and they have always despised giving favors and threatening repayments.
For example, in the Battle of Wanli and Korea that took place in April 1592 (the 25th year of Emperor Xuanzu of Korea, the 20th year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty, and the first year of Wenlu in Japan), the Japanese almost reached the Yalu River. As the sovereign state of Korea, Ming Dynasty dispatched
It took tens of thousands of troops to help North Korea for several years, and even the generals were killed in the battle, and then they drove away the Japanese. But when they left, they didn't get any benefits from the Koreans. This also made the Koreans always treat the Ming Dynasty
He is regarded as a live thunder front in ancient times, a typical example of doing good deeds without leaving a name.
Although Pang Gang had driven away the Japanese, to be honest, the Korean monarchs and ministers were not worried about this. That's why Li Jie asked Pang Gang so calmly what reward he wanted.
And what about Pang Gang? Would this man, who was deeply influenced by the scholasticism of later generations and the social climate of not daring to help an old lady up when she saw her fall while crossing the road, so easily come to this place in vain?
Pang Gang smiled slightly and said slowly: "Your Highness, you are welcome. As the mother country of Ming Dynasty, it is necessary to protect the safety of the vassal country. What you said makes Pang Gang a little embarrassed. But to be honest, if you want to make a request,
If so, Pang Gang really has another one, but I don’t know if you are willing to let him go."
When Li Zhu and the ministers of North Korea heard this, they couldn't help but "thump" in their hearts, and thought to themselves: "Is this Pang Gang different from the previous officials of the Ming Dynasty? He wants to take this opportunity to make a lot of money in North Korea?"
Thinking of this, Li Junjie, the Li Cao judge on the side, forced a smile and said: "Oh, I wonder what General Pang likes about me in North Korea? I think I am a small and poor country in North Korea. It is rare to have something that can attract the attention of adults from the country.
, that’s our honor!”
"Bah!" Pang Gang couldn't help but cursed in his heart upon hearing this, "These sticks are so mean to pick out your buttholes and lick your fingers, so stingy. The boss just patted his chest and said, whatever you want, I will satisfy you. What's next?
My little brother immediately jumped out and cried, what the hell!"
However, Pang Gang had been an official for more than a year. Although he couldn't say how deep the city government was, he was not superficial enough to scold his mother on the spot. He smiled slightly: "Of course Pang has a request, and this request is also very special.
Your Highness and the Imperial Concubine have agreed. Pang has long admired Princess Jiayi of your country for her intelligence, appearance and intelligence, and is extremely admiring of her. Therefore, she specifically requested the Lord to marry Princess Jiayi to Pang. I wonder if Your Highness is willing to do so?"
As soon as Pang Gang said this, everyone was silent. Everyone opened their mouths and looked at the general in front of them in surprise.
Of course, what surprised them was not that Pang Gang's requirements were too high, but that this person's requirements were too low. In fact, the ministers here all knew that their Princess Jiayi had long been packaged and given away by them.
The General Pang in front of him has already lived in his house. He must have eaten him to pieces by now, right? But now he has solemnly proposed to marry him. This nature is different.
Everyone on earth knows that although the results of a back-propagation and a serious proposal are essentially the same, they are quite different in name.
General Pang is now so solemnly proposing to propose to the princess, which means that the princess can at least exist as an equal wife after passing away, instead of being in the embarrassing position of being inferior to a concubine like before.
, from now on, her own princess can also openly say that she is Pang Gang's legitimate wife. This is of great significance to the ancient women who valued their status.
After listening to Pang Gang's request, Concubine Xian was first moved. Her eyes instantly turned red and she shed crystal tears. What could make a mother happier than her daughter finding a good home?
"Okay! Okay!" Li Zhu was also moved by Pang Gang's "selfless" sentiment. He said loudly: "General Pang, I agree to your request. As a father, I can't be stingy when marrying my daughter. Naturally,
I want to give Princess Jiayi a dowry. Let’s do this..."
Li Zhu pondered for a moment and said: "I gave Princess Jiayi three hundred thousand taels of silver, three thousand taels of gold, three thousand catties of Korean ginseng, fifty pairs of pearls, ten loads of furs..."
Facing the endless rewards that came out of Li Zhu's mouth, the North Korean ministers were dumbfounded. How could this be marrying off a daughter? This was clearly marrying off money. Isn't His Highness too generous?
Pang Gang's heart also beat violently, "North Korea is really rich. Even ginseng is sent in tons!"