Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 489
Zheng Zunrang asked again: "Brother Jiuke, do you have a letter to send to Xu Gui?"

"Yes." Shi Jiuke nodded, and said again, "In addition to the letter, there is also a winter coat woven by my sister. Isn't this worried that the weather in Liaodong is too cold to freeze?"

After finishing speaking, Shi Jiuke took a package from his carriage.

"It's really cold in Liaodong, so we should prepare a few more winter clothes." Zheng Zunrang took the package from Shi Jiuke, and solemnly handed it to the steward behind him.

The steward took the package and went straight to the canal pier.

When we arrived at the canal wharf, we saw that the fleet of Zheng's Winery was already ready.

They are all 400 shi tank boats, and each boat is full of wooden boxes, and these wooden boxes are basically filled with Zhengji fermented wine in half-liter clay pots.

Zhengjia Distillery used to brew rice wine.

But the fermented wine brewed now is beer.

It's just that the soldiers of the Ming army prefer to call it Mingjiu.

……

Ming wine has become a necessity for Ming soldiers.

Xu Yingwei was holding a jar of Mingjiu in his hand at this moment.

The jar is one of those fired clay pots, half a liter, a little heavy.

According to the standard set by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, each soldier of the Ming army who is going abroad is provided with one liter of Mingjiu per day, that is, two cans, almost one can of Mingjiu for lunch and dinner.

There is one thing to say, this ration of the Ming army is really a bit extravagant.

Seeing Xu Yingwei sip the meat on the left and the wine on the right, Park Dongxi couldn't help swallowing.

Xu Yingwei quickly noticed the slobbering North Korean prisoner of war. Dang even walked up to Park Dongxi with an unopened jar of Mingjiu, and shook the jar in his hand.

This North Korean prisoner of war was just captured two days ago.

At that time, Xu Yingwei was harvesting wheat with the new army.

They also planted their own wheat. They had nothing to do in the past half a year. Apart from repairing the blunderbuss platform, they planted a lot of wheat and soybeans around the blunderbuss platform.

As a result, it was not until the autumn harvest season that Jiannu finally came to sneak attack at night.

The night before yesterday, a group of "Jian slaves" suddenly came out of the forest and attacked them.

After an exchange of fire, the Jiannu musketeers were easily defeated by the Ming army. Dozens of them were killed, and more than 100 were captured alive. It was only later that they were Korean soldiers.

Knowing that they were Korean soldiers, Xu Yingwei's attitude towards these prisoners of war was much better.

Although after Bingzi's rebellion, North Korea terminated its vassal relationship with Daming and turned into a vassal state of Manchu Qing, the hearts of North Korean monarchs and ministers are still toward Daming.

All in all it is a friendly country.

"This wine is called Mingjiu. It quenches thirst and is delicious."

"Do you want to drink? If you want to drink, answer my question honestly."

Seeing that there was no expression on Pu Dongxi's face, Xu Yingwei laughed at himself and said: "Forget it, you Korean stick can't understand Ming Dynasty official language at all, so it's useless to ask you."

However, what Xu Yingwei didn't expect was that Park Dongxi suddenly spoke.

"What does Gaoli Bangzi mean?" Park Dong-hee frowned and asked, "Is it a contemptuous name for us Koreans by Ming Dynasty?"

"Yeah, can you understand Daming official dialect?" Xu Yingwei asked in surprise, "I was wondering where to find an interpreter. Since you understand Daming official dialect, it's easy."

Park Dong-hee is still struggling with Goryeo sticks.

"What does Gaoli Bangzi mean? Why do you call us Gaoli Bangzi?"

"If you don't tell me the meaning of Gaoli Bangzi first, then I will never answer any of your questions."

Xu Yingwei naturally knew what Goryeo sticks meant, because Chongzhen once clearly explained to them the meaning and origin of Goryeo sticks, which is a derogatory term for Koreans.

But there is no need to say this in front of North Koreans.

So Xu Yingwei casually said: "The Koryo sticks are the sticks produced in Korea. They are straight and hard, and they look a bit like your Korean characters."

"Oh, that's what it means." Park Dongxi heaved a sigh of relief.

"If you mean it according to what you said, we are really Goryeo sticks."

Xu Yingwei chuckled and asked, "What's your name? Why did you fight for Jiannu?"

After the conversation just now, Park Dongxi also let go of his vigilance, and said with a wry smile: "My name is Park Dongxi, and I am from Gyeonggi-do. There were [-] North Korean musketeers conscripted to Shengjing with me. Jiannu fought, but there was no other way, we North Korea signed a covenant with Jiannu, we must abide by it.”

"You have five thousand musketeers here?" Xu Yingwei's expression froze.

This is a new situation, and it seems necessary to report it to Nanjing in time.

"Yes, this is only the first batch." Park Dongxi nodded and said, "There will be a second batch next year, and there will be more musketeers in the second batch. There may be 2 people."

"Twenty thousand?!" Xu Yingwei's expression became even more embarrassing.

At this time, Xu Yingwei had already realized the seriousness of the problem.

At that moment Xu Yingwei asked Pu Dongxi again: "Pu Dongxi, how many standing troops do you have in North Korea?"

Park Dong-hee sighed lightly, shook his head and said, "According to the roster, our Kingdom of Korea should have a standing team of 12 people, but in fact, I'm afraid there are not even half of them."

Good guy, he has the same problem as Daming, and he is paid for nothing.

Xu Yingwei thought that if North Korea only had [-] to [-] troops, then it would not be a big problem, because even if the [-] to [-] troops were recruited to the Central Plains by Jiannu, it would be difficult to affect the overall situation.

But soon, Xu Yingwei thought of another problem.

At that moment Xu Yingwei asked again: "How many people do you have in North Korea?"

"Population?" Park Dong-hee shook his head and said, "Our North Korea has not conducted a population inventory for many years, but there was an inventory in the Wanli period, and the population at that time was more than 500 million."

"There were still more than 500 million people in the Wanli period?" Xu Yingwei said, "After decades of war and chaos, the current total population should be between 200 million and 300 million."

"It's definitely not the only one." Park Dongxi said, "There should still be 500 million people."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Xu Yinglong next to him couldn't help scolding, "There were only more than 500 million people in the Wanli period, and there are still 500 million after decades of war? The population of North Korea has not decreased?"

"No, no, things are not what you think." Park Dongxi quickly explained, "The population counted during the Wanli period is only the total population on the register, but in North Korea, apart from the population recorded in the Fish Scale Atlas, there are escaped slaves and hidden populations. , so the actual total population should double during the Wanli period.”

Xu Yinglong asked in surprise, "1000 million people?"

"Yes." Park Dongxi said, "At least 1000 million people."

After a pause, Park Dong-hee said again: "But now there are at most 500 million mouths left."

Even 500 million people is a huge number, Xu Yingwei frowned more and more. If Jiannu was allowed to eat and digest the 500 million North Korean population, it would be a big trouble.

Xu Yinglong on the other side couldn't help but taunt: "You Koreans are really a bunch of trash, with a population of 500 million, how can you make up 100 million strong men? 100 million strong men can't beat the mere 10,000+ Jiannu Jurchen."

"How much stronger is your Ming Dynasty than our North Korea?" Park Dongxi retorted, "Our North Korea has no more than a million strong men at best, but your Ming Dynasty has at least 5000 million strong men, so you still can't beat Jurchen?"

"Hey, how dare you talk back?" Xu Yinglong said angrily, "Let's see if I don't beat you to death."

As Xu Yinglong spoke, he raised his fist as big as a sandbag, and Park Dongxi quickly curled up into a ball.

"Okay, second child, don't make trouble." Xu Yingwei stopped Xu Yinglong, and said to Park Dongxi, "I'm afraid you are not a child of an ordinary family in North Korea, right? Otherwise, it is absolutely impossible to know so much."

Pu Dongxi immediately fell silent, he is not just a child of ordinary people.

"Here you are." Xu Yingwei threw the wine jar to Park Dongxi, "I have a suggestion."

Pu Dongxi reached out to catch the pot, feeling a little flattered: "What suggestion?"

Xu Yingwei said quietly: "Please forgive me, the Kingdom of Korea should put things right."

"Set things right?" Pu Dongxi's eyes lit up instantly, "Are you going to let me go?"

"I will not only let you go, but also give you an army." Xu Yingwei said solemnly.

"Give me an army?" Park Dongxi was shocked, "Why?"

"Because your surname is Li." Xu Yingwei said with a smile, "You belong to the royal family of Joseon."

Park Dong-hee can speak standard Ming Mandarin, and he still knows so much.

With just these two points, his identity is already ready to be revealed.

"No, my surname is Park." Pu Dongxi denied it panicked, "I'm not surnamed Li."

"Okay, your surname is Pu." Xu Yingwei didn't reveal it.

"During this time, you can live in Gaizhou with peace of mind."

Xu Yingwei had to report to Chongzhen first.

……

However, Ye Keshu, General Ye Keshu, who established slaves in Shengjing, made his way to Prince Rui's residence in Beijing first.

"The third prince of North Korea, Lord Linping, was arrested by the Ming army?" Dorgon looked a bit embarrassed, "What is Ye Keshu doing? You are so careless."

The arrest of Lee, the third prince of North Korea, is no small matter.

Because the son Sohyun of the Joseon Kingdom had just died of illness not long ago, the king of Joseon Lee Jae deliberately chose one of his two grown-up sons to be the son of the Joseon king, and Lee was one of them.

But at this juncture, Li was arrested by the Ming army.

This made the diplomacy between the Qing court and North Korea face a severe test.

If it was changed to before, Dorgon would not care at all. If North Korea is disobedient, it will be enough to send troops to teach it again. It can just rob some population and make up for the population disadvantage of the Qing Dynasty.

After all, when the Qing Dynasty beat North Korea, it was like an adult beating a three-year-old child, holding hands.

But the trouble is that the current situation has become different from before, and Nanming has risen again.

Now the Qing Dynasty had to concentrate all its manpower, material and financial resources to prepare for the decisive battle with Nanming. It really couldn't afford to teach North Korea a lesson, and even had to ask North Korea to send troops to help in the war.

(End of this chapter)