1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 835
On June 1668, 6, Yunzhou, Changping (now Otaru City, Hokkaido, Japan).

Deng Ziyi, Qi State's representative in Yunzhou, was walking along the streets of this small town with Huang Zijia, Minister of Honglu Temple, guarded by more than [-] officers and soldiers from Yunzhou Town, watching the pedestrians vigilantly, lest they might collide Envoy of Qi State.

They don't understand why this big man from Qi country stays in the inn comfortably, drinks some fine wine and eats some delicious food. If he is bored, he can also find a few singers to cheer him up.What is there to hang out in this street market place?

Although Changping has always been relatively stable, there are no vicious and vicious people to murder the envoys of Qi State, but if some ignorant lunatics or rural fools offend the people of Qi State, it will be very bad.

In Yunzhou, Qi people are a relatively special group. Among them are official representatives stationed in Yunzhou, Qi naval officers and soldiers who dock here, and Qi businessmen who travel to and from Yunzhou.For these Qi people, officials from all over Yunzhou attach great importance to them. They not only give high-standard courtesy, but also tell their officers and inspectors to provide them with safety protection, for fear that they will be hurt, so that it will affect Qi and Yun. friendship and cooperation between states.

And the envoy they are protecting now is the Minister of Honglu Temple of Qi State, a senior official at the ministerial level, so there must be no mistakes.

These more than 20 officers and soldiers accompanying the guard belonged to the new army of Yunzhou Town, and they looked like they were well-trained and well-trained.

The new army of Yunzhou Town was established three years ago, with a staff of 2000, organized into four infantry battalions and one artillery battalion.The new army was modeled after the Qi State Army model, and was trained by instructors sent by Qi State.Even the military uniforms of the officers and soldiers are based on the Qi army.What is slightly different is that the color of the military uniform is the traditional red of the Ming Dynasty, and the military cap is not the big-brimmed hat of the Qi army, which is somewhat similar to the pointed helmets of the German army before World War I.

Unlike other troops in Yunzhou, which are equipped with a large number of cold weapons, the new army is an all-firearms unit equipped with the latest Qi State "Ganwu-15" flintlock gun with a bayonet under the gun.There are also a large number of Qi military instructors in the army, who provide hands-on guidance from the daily organization, training, logistics, and combat skills of the army.

During the annual "summer hunting" or "winter hunting" against the Qing captives, the new army units also displayed good combat effectiveness under the guidance of military instructors from the Qi State.Facing the local garrison forces of the Qing Dynasty that are several times larger than their own, they can be easily defeated.Even when fighting against the elite Qing soldiers who far outnumbered him, he was not at a disadvantage in the slightest.

Yongwang plans to abolish and streamline the existing more than 5000 miscellaneous troops in the next ten years, and then use the new army as the core foundation to build a powerful army similar to the Qi army.Considering that Yunzhou has absolute control over the sea in the entire Northeast Asia, King Yong accepted the suggestion of the military instructor of Qi State, and planned to temporarily control the land combat force of Yunzhou to around [-] people, take the route of elite soldiers, and build a military force similar to that of Qi State. Model reserve mobilization system.

"This seaside town that was first established in Yunzhou has a population of more than 1. It is considered a relatively large city in the entire Yunzhou." Deng Ziyi introduced the local situation to Huang Zijia as he walked. "There are thirty or forty workshops of various types in the city, mainly in the handicraft industries such as seafood processing, grain and oil processing, medicinal materials, pottery making, woodware, and leather goods."

"Currently, how many people are there in the entire Yunzhou?" Huang Zijia watched the pedestrians on both sides of the street avoiding the two sides, watching them pass by in awe, and couldn't help but feel an inexplicable joy.

"There are about 35 people in Yunzhou, about 12 people in Jinju (now Vladivostok, Russia), 4 people on Tamna Island, and more than 5000 people on Kuye Island. So they have more than 50 people. population size."

"Their population is growing so fast!" Huang Zijia was a little surprised, "I remember seven or eight years ago, the entire Yunzhou was less than 30."

"Last year, there was a rare flood in the Yellow River Basin. The river surged and flooded again and again, causing millions of victims. The Huaihe River in the south also suffered frequent floods, and Anhui was the hardest hit. Bozhou alone had 10,000+ victims homeless. .Under such circumstances, last year, Qi State took in more than 50 victims of the disaster, and temporarily resettled them in Ryukyu and Annan respectively. Yunzhou also took advantage of the situation to organize all sea transport ships, and took in [-] to [-] people in one go. In this way, the population of Yunzhou suddenly skyrocketed to [-]."

"The flood of the Yellow River should be in the Henan and Jianghuai areas of the Qing Dynasty. There is still a lot of distance from the sea. If you go to collect the refugees, the Qing Dynasty will not care about it?"

"It's ridiculous to say that." A mocking expression appeared on Deng Ziyi's face, "Floods in Henan and Jianghuai have caused countless victims. However, the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty refused to allocate excess silver and grain to the disaster areas. Instruct the localities to save themselves. Tell me, how can the localities be able to save themselves under such circumstances? In desperation, the Qing officials in Henan and Jianghuai could only let the victims go to other places to beg for food. Some vicious Jianghuai local officials even sent soldiers Drive the disaster victims to the territory of Ming Dynasty to achieve the purpose of "wearing out the enemy" and "weakening the enemy."

"When we organized the immigrant fleet to approach Shandong and the coastal areas of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, we sent several troops into the areas controlled by the Qing Dynasty to recruit refugees. Whether it was the local garrison troops of the Qing Dynasty or their Eight Banners troops, we did not punish our actions at all. Stop it and let us do it. It is estimated that in their view, we can ship the refugees who have no food and clothing, which can be regarded as a huge burden for them. Compared with the millions of disaster victims everywhere, we It’s just about 20 people who were taken away. Alas, I don’t know how many of those refugees stranded in the disaster area will survive last year’s cold winter.”

"This Qing prisoner really didn't treat the people under his rule as human beings." After hearing this, Huang Zijia couldn't help sighing.

"By the way, when you go to Ningzhou (now Sapporo City, Hokkaido) to meet Yongwang, he will definitely suggest to you to loot Japan and North Korea?" Deng Ziyi asked: "Because the population increased suddenly by more than 8 to [-] people last year, All kinds of resettlement expenses have almost exhausted Yunzhou's savings over the years, especially the shortage of food, cloth and other materials. In addition to asking us to increase support, King Yong couldn't wait to send troops out to make some money to supplement Yunzhou. The state's empty coffers."

"North Korea is a vassal of the Ming Dynasty. I'm afraid it's unreasonable for King Yong to send troops to plunder their coastal areas." Huang Zijia said with a smile: "Besides, a few years ago, our Qi State and Yunzhou had jointly defeated North Korea. I’m forced to promise never to betray the Ming Dynasty. When I visited Hanyang last month, North Korea has agreed to fully open its domestic market to Qi State. Such a submissive Ming vassal, don’t want to bully them very much!”

"As for Japan, it is a big country with a population of tens of millions. If the Tokugawa shogunate is annoyed by looting the coast of Japan, they might send troops to attack Yunzhou. Although we have absolute sea control, we are in trouble with Japan. The state of war is not in line with the commercial interests of our country of Qi. Therefore, our country of Qi cannot agree to King Yong's proposal."

"Actually, King Yong has certain territorial ambitions for North Korea and Japan, and wants to gain more territory from these two countries." Deng Ziyi said.

"Bitter leaf island, Zhenzhou, and even the places to the east of Yunzhou (Kamchatka Peninsula), aren't there large tracts of unclaimed land?"

"King Yong dislikes that those places are too bitter and cold, and they need to be developed vigorously, and they can't support many people." Deng Ziyi said helplessly: "The southeast of Korea and the north of Japan are all places with warm climate and suitable land for farming. If If you directly capture it, you can quickly increase the strength of Yunzhou."

"Yong Wang is planning for the future!" Huang Zijia said: "But he is not afraid of falling into long-term disputes with Japan and North Korea, and then weakening Yunzhou's own strength? In fact, Yong Wang relies on Yunzhou , Zhenzhou, Tanna Island, Kuye Island and other places, as long as they are well managed, with the support of our Qi State, they will inevitably become the most powerful local governments in the region in 30 to [-] years. In addition, they will slowly develop China’s navy, not to mention Japan, even Sun Kewang, who will seek power and usurp the throne in the future, will have nothing to do with them.”

"But King Yong wanted to counterattack the mainland and rebuild the Ming Dynasty after Sun Kewang usurped the Ming Dynasty."

"Hmph..." Huang Zijia snorted coldly, "Rebuild Daming? He wants to cause a new continental war, and our country of Qi will definitely not support this. The necessity of the existence of Yunzhou lies in the fact that it can be Hijacking North Korea and Japan, and our two overseas territories, Ryukyu and Annan, vaguely form an island chain to blockade the mainland."

"Will our country of Qi have a war with the mainland in the future?"

"Although our Qi State and the mainland have deep ties in politics, economy, and even humanities, it can even be said to be a country of brothers from other regions." Huang Zijia glanced at the officers and soldiers of the Yunzhou new army guarding the left and right, expressionless He said: "However, the relationship between countries is not connected by this link. Your Majesty once said that in this world, there are no eternal friends or eternal enemies between countries. Only There is eternal benefit."
-
On the evening of July 7, in Juzhou (now Ju County, Shandong).

Deng Guilin and Baojialu each carried a small bag on their backs, and walked on the somewhat noisy street. While walking, they looked at the shops along the street, planning to find a restaurant to satisfy their already empty bellies.

"Or, let's go to this one." Baojia Road stopped at the door of a restaurant, looking at the few customers in the store, but the scent wafting from the inside immediately whetted the appetite.

"En." Deng Guilin looked into the store, nodded in response, but subconsciously turned his head to look around, and followed Baojia Road into the store.

"Hey, guest officer, please come inside!" A waiter saw two guests coming in, and immediately stepped forward to greet them warmly, "What do you two want?"

"There's nothing here to pad your stomach." Bao Jialu chose a table by the window, and put the small burden behind him on the bench next to him.

"There are all kinds of pasta." The waiter took off the rag from his shoulders and wiped the table neatly. "In addition, there are mutton, pork, donkey meat, and various seasonal vegetables in the store. If the guest If you want to drink some wine, the store also has self-brewed shochu, rice wine from the south, and Japanese sake... Oh, and there are also some honey wine and wine from Qi in the store."

"Heh, you have quite a lot of food and wine in this small shop." Hearing this, Bao Jialu rolled his throat subconsciously a few times, "First, bring us two big bowls of noodles to pad our stomachs. Then, serve A plate of donkey meat and two side dishes. Wine..."

With that said, Bao Jialu turned to look at Deng Guilin.

"Have a jug of rice wine."

"This kind of soft wine is boring to drink." Bao Jialu licked his lips when he saw the waiter walking swiftly towards the back kitchen.

"This is under the control of the Qing Dynasty." Deng Guilin said in a low voice, "If you drink soju and get drunk, you will be in trouble."

The two were spies sent to Shandong from the general administration of the Qi State stationed in Changshan Island. They came to investigate the distribution of troops behind the Qing Dynasty and the accumulation of grain and grass supplies, in order to prepare in advance for the "Summer Hunt" that will be launched next month.Shandong has always been the main logistics supply area supporting the defense line of the Qing Dynasty, the Jianghuai River, and countless material warehouses have been established in various major counties.

And Juzhou was an important coastal defense city of the Qing Dynasty, with more than [-] Qing troops stationed there in response to the "summer hunting" or "winter hunting" border raids that Qiguo and Yunzhou towns routinely launched every year.

The two wolfed down the pasta in their respective bowls, and then burped loudly and comfortably.Immediately, he began to eat food and drink wine unhurriedly, while listening to all kinds of news that the diners in the store were talking about.

"Have you heard? Last month, Marshal Murima (Oboi's younger brother) was on the front line in Xuzhou, and he repelled a large-scale attack by hypocrites and beheaded six thousand people. Hey, it's about fighting father and son soldiers, beating tiger relatives What about brothers. Master Shaobao in the court is a famous general in all battles, as Shaobao's brother, Marshal Murima will not give in too much!"

"That's right. Since Marshal Murima took office as the General of Zhengnan in May, he has fought and won victories. In a few months, he has repelled more than ten attacks by the puppet Ming Dynasty, and beheaded a total of [-] to [-] people. You say, this puppet Ming Dynasty How many troops are there, enough to kill Marshal Murima?"

"The population of Pseudo-Ming is several times larger than that of our Qing Dynasty. Naturally, the army relies on the accumulation of numbers to fight against my Qing Dynasty. Come to think of it, they must have 60 to [-] people."

"According to the record of Marshal Murima, this hypocritical army is not all consumed on the front line of Xuzhou."

"That's not right!... Hey, what do you mean? Why do I feel that you are alluding to Marshal Murima's false report of military exploits!"

"Don't blame me so wrongly! If the master of the Eight Banners in the city hears about it, he will have to chop off my head!"

"...After thinking about it this way, I really feel a little wrong. In just over two months, thirty to fifty thousand people were beheaded, and the hypocritical army would have to collapse... What are you doing? Why are you kicking the table? It's..."

"...Oh, why is this room shaking?"

"What's the matter? Oh, my flagon, my plate..."

I saw a few tables in the restaurant shaking, the wine glasses were overturned, the beams and rafters of the roof were folded and folded, and all the diners were concerned about each other.

"Earth Dragon turned over (earthquake)!" Suddenly, someone woke up and shouted loudly.

"Earth Dragon turned over!"

"Mom, run away!"

Everyone changed their colors in horror, and then quickly rushed out of the store.

The whole Juzhou suddenly became noisy. People rushed out of houses, shops, and official houses. Countless houses in the city were overturned. The cracks in the border ground are either too wide to be crossed, or too deep to be seen. The cracks are all turned up with soil and sand, and yellow water gushes out, and springs gush up to a height of two or three feet.

All the people in the open space were dizzy and unable to stand upright. They slumped on the ground and felt like they were spinning around. Everyone had expressions of horror on their faces, and the whole city was full of chickens and dogs barking.

"There is no way to clear the captives, so that the earth dragon turned over!" Bao Jialu stared blankly at the messy scene.

"The turn of the earth dragon in such a formation may affect more than Shandong." Although Deng Guilin was dizzy, a thought suddenly flashed in his mind, "Perhaps, the Ming Dynasty will take advantage of this catastrophic natural disaster to launch another Northern Expedition to clear the captives." Lift it!"

On July 7, a severe earthquake occurred in Tancheng, Shandong Province, affecting more than ten provinces and more than 25 counties including Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Liao, as well as the Korean Peninsula.Tancheng, Linyi, and Juzhou were especially affected by the disaster, causing more than 5 deaths, and the damage area covered a radius of nearly [-] kilometers.

On August 8, Wang Shangli, the commander of the Daming Suzhou Camp, found out that the Xuzhou Qinglu Camp was affected by the earthquake. Numerous barracks collapsed, and most of the supplies were lost. Moreover, the road behind was severely damaged, and food, grass, and soldiers were not available. He took advantage of the situation and launched an offensive. Leading an army of more than 10, they rushed towards Xuzhou.

The third Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty started slowly.

(End of this chapter)