When North Korea's grain transport fleet saw the Ming Dynasty Navy flying the sun and moon flag, they were all stunned.
Koreans have deep feelings for the Ming Dynasty, just like the relationship between generations of tenants and their landlords in the same village, generation after generation.
In the past, when brothers in the family fought among themselves, they would always go to the Ming parents to seek justice.
Even later, the little Japanese thieves from our neighbor to the south came to the door and took over the door. It was all thanks to the Ming Dynasty to beat the little Japanese thieves away.
"Huang Ming!"
On the deck of a grain ship, a North Korean official saw the bright flag, his eyes flashed with tears in excitement, he waved his arms vigorously, and shouted happily.
Others on the same boat were panicked.
"Master Yi Zheng, is that really the Ming army?"
"Yes, it must be."
The people on the boat were even more panicked, "Sir, we are transporting food to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. What should we do? They will definitely attack us."
But Jin Shangxian laughed loudly and became energetic, "Hurry up and lower the sails. This is Huang Ming's army and one of our own!"
The crew members were very panicked. Huang Ming used to be one of their own, but now they have long recognized him as the sect leader.
However, Kim Sang-hyun had a very high prestige. Under his insistent order, the crew began to lower the sails and stopped on their own initiative.
Ruan Mei, who was leading the navy forward, was stunned. What happened to these Korean ships? They actually lowered their sails and stopped when they encountered them?
And looking at the excited waving and shouting on the boat, did he meet his long-lost biological father?
"Could it be a scam?"
Ruan Mei is Ruan Jin's nephew and a powerful member of the Navy. Although they are only sailing fast but smaller forward yachts, he still does not pay attention to the North Korean ships opposite. These bulky grain transports are obviously imitations.
The Guangdong rice boats even have shadows of sand boats. These boats are not suitable for deep-sea navigation at all.
These North Koreans are also very brave. They dare to transport grain directly from Pyongyang to Dengzhou without fear of being capsized by a strong wind.
When Ruan Mei climbed onto the deck of Kim Sang-hyun's boat on the rope ladder, the old man looked at Ruan Mei's Ming Dynasty uniform, his face was filled with tears of excitement, and he grabbed him and wanted to hug him.
Ruan Mei quickly broke away.
"what happened?"
"Are you General Huangming?"
"That's right, Ruan Mei, the forward commander of the Royal Navy's royal camp of the Son of Heaven,"
Jin Shangxian didn't expect that this young man was actually a military officer. Although he had never heard the bugle call, he was still extremely excited, "Huang Ming, I didn't expect to see Huang Ming's soldiers again..."
···”
Ruan Mei was even more confused by this old man with a white beard, "Can you speak properly?"
Kim Sang-heon's Chinese is much better than that of Ruan Meiwei, a native of Fujian. He is a famous Korean poet, a veteran of the Western Party, and is known as Korean Wen Tianxiang.
He and his elder brother Jin Shangyong were both famous figures in Korea. His elder brother was a political official (first rank) and died when the Qing army attacked Ganghwa Island.
He was also a Jinshi, and when the Qing army invaded, he was appointed as the Minister of Rites (Minister of Rites).
Of course, he also served as an envoy from North Korea and went to Beijing to pay homage to the emperor.
When the Qing army attacked North Korea, he was a resolute militant and even became famous in North Korea by breaking a peace treaty. After the king surrendered, he received special protection from the king and did not hand him over to the Qing army. He abandoned his official position.
He went into seclusion, but later the Qing government found out about his rebuke, found him, and took him back to Shenyang for imprisonment.
He went on a hunger strike in Shenyang and hanged himself. He survived and was released after being imprisoned for three years.
After returning to China, he still lived in seclusion, but he was personally invited by the king to come out and serve as the left to discuss government affairs. He declined thirty-two times and refused.
Until not long ago, the king found him again and told him some shocking news. The Ming Dynasty was not dead. There was a holy emperor in the Ming Dynasty, Shaotian Emperor. .
Even if the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains is about to continue at any time, the Tatars are now retreating to the Huanghuai River. They are worried day and night. Because of the lack of food, they have ordered North Korea to quickly transfer food to Denglai for supplies to help the Qing army resist the Ming army.
Li Zhu hoped that Jin Sangxian would go to the Central Plains in person, follow the grain ship to Dengzhou, and go there to find out for himself whether it was as rumored.
This king, who had been forced to kneel by the Jianqiu, always resented the Tatars in his heart.
After hearing the good news from the Central Plains, I couldn't wait to know.
Originally, Kim Sang-hyun had no intention of leaving the mountain again. When he was trapped in Namhan Mountain Fortress, he firmly opposed surrender and persuaded the king to fight to the end, even begging him to die in front of the battle.
Although the Korean Wen Tianxiang was taken to Shenyang and imprisoned for three years, the Qing government did not let him change.
This time, he is here.
Before coming, the king wrote him a message: I would like to see China.
He keeps it close to his heart.
He had been to the Ming Dynasty more than once, and even after the Qing army entered the customs, he was forced to accompany the crown prince to Beijing to attend the coronation ceremony of Emperor Shunzhi in Beijing. But standing in the palace in Beijing, he cried.
For this he was scolded by the Qing people and almost killed.
North Korea calls itself Little China, and also calls itself a land of etiquette. They are the vassal state that has learned from China and accepted the most thorough sinicization of Confucianism.
When the Tatars entered the country and occupied Beijing, he was as heartbroken as those loyal Ming officials.
His age, especially the three years he was imprisoned in Shenyang, made him too weak, but this time he came regardless of the wind and waves. He even chose a direct flight to Dengzhou in order to get to Daming earlier. route.
Unexpectedly, before arriving in Dengzhou, they encountered the Ming Navy at sea.
Ruan Mei took Jin Sangxian to the rear naval fleet by speedboat. She looked at the huge naval fleet, the sun and moon flag, the golden dragon flag, and the clear characters.
See the cannons on the battleships and the dazzling swords and guns.
When Kim Sang-hyun boarded the emperor's flagship Shandong, the first thing he did was to kneel directly on the deck, lower his head and kiss the deck of the ship where the emperor sat.
"My lord, Kim Sang-hyun, the left councilor of the Ming Dynasty of the Joseon Kingdom, pays homage to His Majesty the Ming Emperor. Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"
Kim Sang-hyun shouted excitedly.
Zhu Yihai was stunned.
Ruan Mei said from the side, "Your Majesty, I wonder if this person is a lunatic. I have been very abnormal since I saw you just now. It's like he suddenly got crazy..."
Grain pot
Zhu Yihai patted Ruan Mei and said, "Thank you, General Ruan, for your hard work."
He walked towards Jin Sangxian and looked at the thin old man.
Although I don't know him, I can feel his emotions at this time by looking at his expression and voice.
Zhu Yihai was touched.
"Jin Aiqing, please get up quickly," Zhu Yihai helped him up personally.
Kim Sang-hyun politely did not raise his head to look at the emperor.
"Thank you for your hard work, Jin Qing."
······
After quite a while, Kim Sang-hyun was still in a state of extreme excitement and excitement, sometimes laughing with joy, sometimes shedding tears and crying loudly.
Zhu Yihai accompanied him patiently.
"The foreign minister is rude and makes His Majesty laugh."
"I can understand Jin Qing's mood, and I am even more grateful for Jin Qing's loyalty."
Jin Sangxian was grateful to the Holy Emperor for being young, heroic, and approachable, while Zhu Yihai lamented that Ming Dynasty could still have such loyal fans overseas.
Jin Sangxian, who had regained his clarity of mind, poured beans out of a bamboo tube and took the initiative to explain everything. This time, he brought food to Dengzhou to supply the army.
Then he talked about how the North Korean king had great ambitions for the Ming Dynasty, but he had been insulted and oppressed by the Tatars in recent years.
He said that the king knew that the Ming Dynasty was still there and sent him to the Central Plains to check.
"Your Majesty, you are interested."
Kim Sang-hyun was very shocked when he looked at the large fleet, especially the large Western-style sail gunboat at his feet.
"Your Majesty wants to make an expedition north to the Central Plains and recover Shandong?"
"Um."
Jin Sangxian said happily, "The foreign ministers have nothing to help His Majesty, so they are willing to use these grain ships and grain to help the army."
"If your majesty is willing to trust me, I have another plan that can help your majesty take Shandong."
Kim Sang-hyun offered to let the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Navy board his grain ship and go to Dengzhou Port under the pretext of sending grain from North Korea, so that they could seize the opportunity to seize Dengzhou Port.
"This is a good strategy, but when the Tatars want to accuse North Korea, what will you do?"
Kim Sang-hyun said directly, "If the Tatars are to be held accountable, we will say that the fleet encountered the Ming Dynasty at sea and was attacked and captured. The ship's provisions were lost and all the soldiers were wiped out. There is nothing the Tatars can do."
"Hahaha, Jin Qing is really smart."
This plan is indeed quite feasible.
After all, North Korea has been quite submissive to the Tatars in recent years. No matter how much Li Zhu said he hated the Tatars, they did not dare to refuse the Tatars if they wanted to mobilize North Korean soldiers. They followed them to attack Jinzhou and enter Shanhaiguan.
If you want food, give food; if you want money, give money.
Therefore, when North Korean grain ships appeared outside Dengzhou Port, Kong Youde did not expect that these ships were Ming navy.
After the Ming army on the grain ship took the port by surprise, the Ming navy fleet in the outer sea rushed over immediately. At that time, Kong Youde couldn't hold it back.
Dengzhou Port was an important port in the north in the late Ming Dynasty. Under normal circumstances, it would take a tough battle to seize it.
When Zhu Yihai went north this time, he did not go to Haizhou first, but went straight to Dengzhou. He did not want to alert the enemy and prepared to raid Dengzhou. Unexpectedly, he met helpers.
·······
Dengzhou.
Kong Youde was very emotional when he returned to his hometown.
At that time, he invested in Dongjiang Town in Liaodong and became Mao Wenlong's adopted grandson. He did a lot of damage to the Tatars in the rear of Hou Jin Dynasty. Unfortunately, the thief Yuan Chonghuan later killed Mao Wenlong, so he surrendered to the governor Sun Yuanhua and followed him to Denglai.
Here, he followed Sun Yuanhua to build a new army of Western-style firearms.
It was a pity that when he finally led his troops to Liaodong for reinforcements, supplies were insufficient, and the soldiers ate the gentry's food, which triggered a mutiny. He had no choice but to rebel against the Ming Dynasty under Li Jiucheng's persuasion.
Unfortunately, the Denglai Rebellion only lasted less than half a year, and in the end he had to cross the sea to join Houjin.
After thirteen years, Kong Youde was stationed in Dengzhou again.
This place no longer has any of the bustle and bustle of Dagang, an important northern town in the past, but is instead desolate and desolate.
The fields on the outskirts of the city are deserted, there are no merchant ships in the port, and the city's industry and commerce are even more depressed.
The people looked hungry, and there were homeless people and beggars all over the place.
This shitty Ming Dynasty should have died long ago.
"Your Majesty, when will the North Korean grain ship arrive? There is not much food in the camp." An officer came over and interrupted Kong Youde's thoughts.
"It should be here soon, let the brothers save some food."
"No matter how much you save, you won't save much. We can't let all the brothers go hungry."
Kong Youde was dissatisfied, "If the court doesn't provide food and salary, I can't do anything about it."
"Your Majesty, if this is not possible, let each battalion go to the countryside to raise food."
Kong Youde knew the meaning of going to the countryside to raise food, which meant that the soldiers would loot the food. Once the soldiers went out, they didn't know what kind of trouble would be caused.
Last year when I went south, a group of villagers burned the camp in Xuzhou with gunpowder and blew up the camp. I lost thousands of troops for nothing. I was scolded in the end, and I had to accompany Tan Tai to suffer from cold and hunger for several months in Yanzhou.
Now that we have moved to Dengzhou, we finally don't have to be angry with the Manchu soldiers, but we are still short of food.
"hold on,"
"If the North Korean grain ship has not arrived in three days, send some brothers to the countryside to borrow grain from the landlords!"
