Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 338 Asking for help

Although North Korea is poor, it still has some resources if it squeezes a little. It is rich in minerals and ginseng, and the farmland on both sides of the Han River is also fertile. Of course, for the Qing court, nothing is more important than food.

At the beginning, the Qing court demanded 200,000 dan of grain, but Li Hao refused to give it and was beaten. The capital Seoul was also captured, and the north was full of war. By the time Bolo returned, the amount of grain transported to the interior had exceeded 300,000 dan. As for how difficult Li Hao's life was after returning to Seoul because so much grain was taken away, it had nothing to do with Bolo.

The next day, the Korean envoy Yin Shandao asked to see Yang En. When he saw Yang En sitting in the main seat, he immediately bowed and said, "The Korean envoy Yin Shandao greets Lord Yang."

Korea was deeply influenced by the Central Plains culture. In addition, the Ming Dynasty helped Korea to restore its country. Therefore, many Koreans miss the Ming Dynasty very much. Yoon Sun-do is naturally one of them.

In fact, Yin Shandao did not have much good feelings towards King Meng Jun of Zhou. However, looking around the world now, he could see that there was no one else to turn to for help except King Meng Jun of Zhou who occupied the south of the Yangtze River.

Yang En carefully looked at the envoy and saw Yin Shandao, who was wearing the official uniform of the Ming Dynasty. He smiled and said, "Please stand up, envoy."

"Thank you, Lord Yang." Yin Shandao bowed deeply again, then raised his head and said to Yang En with tears in his eyes: "Lord Yang, the Jiannu have plundered our country, forcibly requisitioned food and grass, and committed many evils. Our country is not strong enough to resist. Tens of thousands of people are crying for food. Now I only hope that the Celestial Empire can help Korea and send 200,000 dan of food and grass to our country. Korea will surely remember the kindness of the Celestial Empire for generations."

After listening to the envoy's statement, Yang En roughly understood the current situation in Korea. The Qing court had invaded Korea twice before, but apart from the large-scale plundering in the first time, the second time only demanded that Korea surrender completely and sever its vassal relationship with the Ming Dynasty.

Who would have known that Dorgon, short of food, was so shameless as to plunder even the surrendered vassal states. The combat effectiveness of the Korean army was indeed so stable. Since the Wanli aid to Korea, whether it was the Battle of Sarhu or the major battles of the Qing army's invasion of Korea, the combat effectiveness had never changed, and it performed as stably as before, losing left and right, again and again.

Listening to the messenger's request for food, Yang En evaded the question by saying, "I am also very worried about the situation in Korea, but my king is still in Wuchang and has not yet returned. I cannot make the decision on such an important matter."

Yin Shandao heard this and asked, "Then I wonder when His Royal Highness Prince Zhou will return from Wuchang?"

Yang En smiled and replied, "My king personally led a large army to conquer Huguang and defeated the captive Wang Duoduo. Once the mission is completed, we will return home."

The envoy Yin Shandao's eyes lit up, he wiped away his tears, and said excitedly: "The Celestial Empire is indeed full of talents. Duoduo was defeated by His Royal Highness King Zhou. Lord Yang, as long as our country can take a breath, when the royal army goes north to attack in the future, we will definitely send troops to help and recover the land of the Ming Dynasty together!"

Yang En was stunned and did not answer, and Yin Shandao continued, "Master Yang, what about the food?"

Yang En pondered for a while, then said to Yin Shan, "I already know about the food shortage in Korea. The envoys should go and rest first. I will report this matter to Wuchang urgently and ask the king to make a decision before making a decision."

Yin Shandao felt helpless when he heard this, but there was nothing he could do. After Yin Shandao left, Chen Zilong and Li Weita came to the meeting hall.

Yang En brought up the issue of Korea's request for food. Li Weitai, who was more sensitive to money and food, spoke first, "Lord Yang, Korea is a hopeless mess. In the past, the Wanli Dynasty fought a bloody battle with Japanese pirates to aid Korea, spending millions of dollars, but how did Korea repay the Ming Dynasty? It surrendered to the Qing court without much resistance. The issue of food aid is like throwing meat buns at a dog, which will never come back. Moreover, the shogunate's treasury has suffered serious losses in order to support the war in Huguang. I suggest that the king reject Korea's request."

Chen Zilong immediately refuted: "How could North Korea not resist? It's just that it's not strong enough. Moreover, North Korea is strategically located. If we can use North Korea as a base, we can also threaten Shengjing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty."

Yang En shook his head and said, "The shogunate's treasury is not full now, how can we provide support? Besides, Korea is thousands of miles away, the journey is long, and the sea transportation is unpredictable."

Seeing that both of them were somewhat hesitant, Yang En simply summoned the directors and clerks of various departments of the shogunate to discuss the matter together.

Soon, Wu Tai, Wu Jinkun, Zhang Zhe, Zhang Kentang, Xiong Ruolin and others arrived one after another.

Yang En bowed to everyone and got straight to the point: "My dear colleagues, the king is on an expedition to Huguang, Korea has sent envoys, and Director Meng of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not in Nanjing. After we discuss it, we can present our opinions to the king for his decision."

Afterwards, Yang En told everyone about the Qing government's forced requisition of grain, Korea's food shortage, and its request for support.

People were talking about it. Some said that Korea was loyal to the Celestial Empire and should be supported. Even if the treasury was not well-off, some should show some support. Some said that the shogunate did not have enough grain and Korea could be asked to buy grain with silver. Others said that Korea was a hopeless case and if they were given grain, it might end up in the hands of the Qing court, which would be even more infuriating.

After discussing for a while, they came up with three plans. One was to allow Korea to buy grain on its own in Jiangnan, one was for the shogunate to organize merchants to sell grain to Korea, and the other was to not sell a single grain of grain to Korea, on the grounds that if the Qing government could take it once, it could take it a second time.

Yang En then urgently sent a report to Wuchang about the arrival of the Korean envoy Yin Shandao in Nanjing and his request for food, and attached the opinions of the shogunate officials in the letter.

…………

Wuchang City.

After receiving the urgent report from Nanjing, Meng Jun fell into deep thought. In fact, what Li Weitai said made a lot of sense. It would not do if North Korea kept making the Central Plains dynasty pay for it.

The reason why Korea misses the Ming Dynasty is that when the Japanese pirates invaded Korea, the country was almost destroyed. The Ming Dynasty rescued it, which made these scholars grateful. Now, as soon as Yin Shandao asked for help, he immediately helped. I am afraid that they will not be too grateful to me in the future.

After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Korea continued to use the Chongzhen era name until it was annexed by Japan. This behavior is touching, but unfortunately it is of little use. If Korea could really resist the Qing Dynasty for the sake of the Ming Dynasty until it was destroyed by the Qing court, then people would be truly moved.

However, if the land of Korea is used well, it can certainly play a huge role in attacking from both inside and outside during the Northern Expedition.

Thinking of this, Meng Jun said in a deep voice: "Congwen, record it."

Shen Congwen on the side hurriedly prepared and soon everything was ready.

"Order, the shogunate allows Korea to purchase grain, but there must be a limit. The specific amount will be determined after consultation with the shogunate, but it must not affect people's livelihood and military supplies."

Meng Jun then said: "Select some people from the army and send them to Korea to train and control the Korean army."