The sea, the vast expanse of water stretches as far as the eye can see.

Several large ships had full sails in the favorable wind, as light as flying birds. Their sharp bows split the waves, and white water splashed and bloomed.

"Ah..." A sailor stood on the deck with his hands in front of his mouth and shouted loudly to the sea.

"Haha!" Everyone roared with laughter, and someone shouted, "Silly Xiang, you can't read a basket of Chinese characters, so you're going to recite poetry!"

"Ha ha……"

The boat was filled with happy sounds.

A Korean said in jerky Chinese: "Your envoy's ship is too fast. At this speed, we will be able to see our country very soon!"

At this time, the noise on the boat stopped and began to calm down.

After a while, the ship docked at Yongzong Island.

This is the trading port of North Korea.

Although according to the tribute regulations, North Korea must have free trade with the Ming Dynasty, the North Korean court was not a fool. They certainly understood the consequences of more imports and less exports.

The outflow of large amounts of silver and gold has caused great losses to North Korea, exacerbating the scarcity of gold and silver across the country.

Moreover, restricting merchants to Yeongjong Island is more conducive to monopoly and tax collection management, and can be regarded as increasing the treasury revenue to a certain extent.

A few years passed by, and the number of merchants on Yongzong Island gradually exceeded a thousand households. A small town grew up around the consumption of this group of merchants.

Therefore, North Korea established Yongjong County on Yongjong Island.

The group landed on Yongzong Island and were warmly welcomed by the Han merchants on the island.

Especially the arrival of angels brings the atmosphere to its highest peak.

As an envoy, Xia Wanchun was the number one scholar in the seventh year of Shaowu.

Obviously, for him, going to North Korea as an envoy could add a lot of qualification issues, and he would take a step up in officialdom.

As soon as the young and handsome Xia Wanchun came out, people greeted him with endless greetings.

After a long sea voyage, hearing such familiar words in a foreign country made him feel happy.

It's just a banquet, where the guests and hosts enjoy themselves.

The next day, North Korean officials led Xia Wanchun upstream from the Han River to Seoul, the capital of North Korea.

After being devastated by many wars, Seoul actually still retains the wreckage of the war. Nearly half of the outer city has been reduced to ruins, but North Korea is unable to repair it.

Just like their Gyeongbokgung Palace, it never recovered to its original state after the Imjin Japanese Rebellion.

This is the tragedy of small countries.

However, Xia Wanchun felt that was not the case.

Yeongjong Island is prosperous and prosperous, not to mention one million a year, but hundreds of thousands are just idle. It is more than enough to repair these outer city areas. It is nothing more than the Joseon court turning a blind eye to the interests of the common people.

When the Ming Dynasty envoys arrived in the city, Seoul was in great turmoil.

Previously, the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Qing Dynasty fought in Korea, almost destroying the capital, but fortunately the crown prince Li Hao, supported by the Ming Dynasty, once again took over Seoul.

According to common sense, the Ming Dynasty had twice rebuilt Korea. However, a few years ago, tens of thousands of Korean elite soldiers went northward. Except for 20,000 to 30,000 who returned, the rest stayed in Liaodong as soldiers.

This has left North Korea extremely helpless. Over the years, their main concern has been to take back their elite soldiers.

Why?

In fact, elite soldiers are the foundation of strong royal power.

Although King Li Hao of North Korea was not very afraid of the arrival of the Ming Dynasty envoy, he was still a little uneasy in his heart:

"For some unknown reason, your superior country sent envoys to our country?"

Jin Yuze, the chief assistant of the cabinet, coughed and said with relief:

"It should be just a little thing."

"Then I wonder if I can get the elite soldiers from the north back?"

Li Hao relaxed a little and couldn't help but ask.

You Yizheng Yuan Doupiao replied helplessly: "Your Highness, I'm afraid it will be difficult."

"My Korean soldiers and horses have gone through many wars and have become elite soldiers in hundreds of battles. It is impossible for our country to let them go, and we will not release them."

"The old minister is lying. The country above is also restless because our country has such elite soldiers."

When Li Hao heard this, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

It's just nonsense.

If North Korea has these elites, will it still be able to rebel?

It is nothing more than that some wealthy families in the country are not willing to increase their royal power. After all, a king with a powerful army is the most difficult to control and the most willful.

Therefore, this tug-of-war has created difficulties both at home and abroad.

But Li Hao still refused to give up.

Zuo Yizheng Li Jingshi saw the king's eagerness and said: "Your Highness, even if the army returns to the country, our country cannot afford it!"

"It's ridiculous. The imperial court can't afford to support only 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers and horses. There are nearly 200,000 soldiers and horses in the country, so there aren't many of these!"

"Your Highness, as far as I know, the monthly salary of the border troops of the Ming Dynasty is two silver coins..."

As soon as these words came out, Li Hao was shocked and speechless.

"This, this is too much!"

North Korea is a country short of gold and silver. This has been a consensus for hundreds of years.

Especially in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was particularly dissatisfied with North Korea and borrowed tribute to subsidize his family. Therefore, from 1379 to 1385 alone, Goryeo's tribute to the Ming Dynasty included 10,400 taels of gold, 62,000 taels of silver, 65,500 pieces of cloth, and 7,583 horses.

.

This almost wiped out all the gold and silver in North Korea.

Most of the horses raised on Jeju Island in the Yuan Dynasty were brought to the Ming Dynasty.

After the treasury was empty of gold and silver, the gold and silver axes used in the ceremony held after Li Fangguo's death were all fake.

His embarrassment is evident.

Later, after the Taizongs on both sides, Zhu Di and Li Fangyuan, succeeded to the throne, the relationship between the two parties gradually eased due to their similar experiences.

Without Zhu Yuanzhang's use of tribute as a means of provocation, North Korea's annual tribute content has stabilized at 150 taels of gold and 700 taels of silver.

But even such a request would be difficult for North Korea to fulfill, because North Korea (almost) does not produce gold or silver.

In 1429, under North Korea's repeated requests (the first two were in 1409 and 1420), the Ming Dynasty exempted North Korea from paying gold and silver tribute and instead paid tribute to native products, thus relieving North Korea of ​​its burden.

Even though Yeongjong Island is now open to trade and gold and silver are flowing in, the shortage of gold and silver has not improved much because North Korea has been hungry and thirsty for hundreds of years.

It is simply unimaginable to give ordinary soldiers two silver coins and two taels of silver.

Seeing that the king finally gave up, several ministers breathed a sigh of relief.

Xia Wanchun, on the other hand, moved into the Muhua Pavilion where China's "angels" were welcomed.

There is a Ying'en Gate in front of Muhua Hall, which was originally called Yingzhao Gate. Later, when Xue Tingchong, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, came to Korea, it was renamed Ying'en Gate.

Later, Ying'en Gate was destroyed during the Japanese Rebellion of Imjin. After it was rebuilt, the Ming Dynasty envoy Zhu Zhifan re-inscribed the plaque "Ying'en Gate" in 1606 and signed "The Imperial Envoy Jinling Zhu Zhifan's Letter".

Of course, during the Japanese occupation, Ying'en Gate was demolished, and later the Koreans built the Independence Gate on the site.

When the sky was slightly bright, a colorful yellow tent hall was built in front of Ying'en Gate. A yellow house, dragon pavilion and incense pavilion were set up in the middle of the tent hall. Golden drums, yellow ceremonial guards and drum music were displayed in front of it.

This is part of the "suburban welcome" etiquette for the arrival of the Heavenly Angel.

King Li Hao of North Korea, wearing a dragon robe with a royal crown and a royal robe, led his clan members and officials to the Ying'en Gate.

Xia Wanchun was dressed in official robes with fluttering belts. He held the imperial edict in his hands and held his head high.

The thin body seemed extremely huge at this time.

In front of him, Li Hao and his ministers bowed respectfully:

"The little king leads his clan and officials to welcome the angel's arrival——"

Xia Wanchun returned the gift, and then together they enshrined the imperial edict in the Long Pavilion.

After that, he walked side by side with the King of Joseon, passed through the Ying'en Gate together, and then headed towards the palace.

The ceremony was grand, with all the rituals and music, no one in North Korea dared to neglect it at all, and there were countless people watching.

This once again declared North Korea's submission, and Xia Wanchun was very satisfied.

When he entered the palace, he could not help but frown at the green-tiled Gyeongbokgung Palace:

This King of Korea is really too poor!

The banquet was quite lively.

Almost all North Korean civil and military officials could speak Chinese, and every one of them was fluent in Chinese. Their standard was no less than that of Xia Wanchun, which surprised him.

When asked why, Jin Yuze, the political leader, laughed and said: "In our country's imperial examinations, even if one has profound knowledge, if one does not speak Chinese, he will be dismissed."
To be continued...