Chapter 1804: Being controlled by others

North Korea is not a rich country, not even comparable to Annan, a South China Sea country that has rapidly accumulated wealth through import, export and ocean trade in recent years. If it wants to fight a full-scale war with a giant like the Qing Dynasty, it must first do something

In order to prepare for emptying the national treasury. Of course, Kim Sang-heon, who advocated asking for help from Hae-han, also knew that moving reinforcements would cost a lot, but thinking about it, he could avoid unnecessary casualties of his own troops and gain the initiative on the battlefield.

The money should be well spent. However, the difference between the price Jin Sangxian estimated and Haihan's asking price was a bit big, so big that he himself found it difficult to accept it.

Earlier, Li Xi spent two thousand taels of gold in Sanya to persuade Haihan to send troops. This amount of money is no longer a small amount for North Korea, but it can be afforded by gritting one's teeth. As for the subsequent expenses, Kim Sang-hyun feels that at most

Another four to five thousand taels of gold should be able to satisfy Haihan's appetite, but now it seems that he still thinks of the other party too simply.

Three thousand taels of gold for half a month, this is a half-and-half discount price given by the other side because it keeps taking care of its allies. But can the battle be resolved in just half a month? Even Kim Sang-hyun, who spared no effort to promote the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army in North Korea, did not

Being so optimistic, in his opinion, being able to force the Qing army to retreat in two to three months is considered a very ideal result. After all, the Haihan people fought against the then Jin Dynasty army in Jinzhou last year, and they fought back and forth.

It took several months for the situation to stabilize.

If the price quoted by the Haihan people is followed, North Korea will pay the Haihan army 6,000 taels of gold as military expenses every month for this war. This is already a number that will cause North Korea quite a pain. If the war lasts for a long time,

For some, this amount of expenditure is enough to bring the country to the brink of bankruptcy. At this moment, Kim Sang-hyun couldn't help but feel a little shaken, and began to doubt whether his insistence on sending troops to rescue North Korea was correct.

However, Qian Tiandun's words at the next moment made him dispel this self-doubt: "Of course, if your country feels that our army's actions are not worth the price and can handle the Qing army's next offensive on its own, then our army will leave North Korea as soon as possible.

Leave the battlefield to your country's military."

"I have absolutely no intention of doing this!" After hearing this, Kim Sang-hyun stopped thinking about the price. If the Haihan Army withdrew, North Korea would have to deal with the invasion of tens of thousands of Qing troops on its own, and when the time comes, wait

The main war faction will inevitably suffer a series of defeats and be pushed out as a scapegoat for the failure of the war. Whether it is for the sake of the country or for himself, he must keep the Haihan Army in North Korea.

However, North Korea's current financial situation, as an important minister of the imperial court, Kim Sang-heon is roughly in control. It is already very difficult for the national treasury to withdraw three thousand taels of gold at a time. It may even be necessary to allocate gold reserves from local areas to barely make up this amount.

As for the follow-up, I'm afraid it's no longer enough to rely solely on the national treasury and local government treasury to cope with this crisis, and we have to think of other ways.

"Does your country have any difficulties?" Qian Tiandun saw that Jin Sangxian looked embarrassed and was still unsure about accepting his offer. Of course, he could guess the reason for the other's hesitation, so he asked deliberately.

Jin Sangxian coughed dryly and said: "To be honest, general, our country's financial resources are actually limited. I'm afraid it will be difficult to provide military expenses to your country's army in this way for a long time... Do you think there is another way, such as providing food and other supplies from our country?

?”

Qian Tiandun's face darkened and he said, "Didn't I explain to Mr. Jin just now that this military expenditure is military expenditure, and supplies are supplies, which are two different things. We can't give rice and noodles to the soldiers as military pay, can we? We can't give them

In the domestic arsenal, a bunch of fruits and vegetables are exchanged for guns and ammunition, right? Lord Jin, not only do people die in war, but they also cost a lot of money. Don’t you, Lord Jin, not understand this?"

How could Kim Sang-hyun not understand this? But with North Korea's financial situation, it is impossible for him to boast in front of Qian Tiandun, otherwise he will not be able to get the money by then, and this loophole will only get bigger and bigger. But he did not agree.

Later, Qian Tiandun threatened to withdraw his troops if they ran out of money. This situation was also a desperate situation for North Korea.

Jin Shangxian suddenly discovered that dealing with the Haihan people seemed to be no easier than dealing with the Qing Dynasty. If the Qing Dynasty planned to invade North Korea and then rob it openly, then the Haihan people's method of forcing North Korea to provide money and food might be considered a covert robbery.

And this money has to be taken. The Haihan Army has already started a war with the Qing Army on the border. The Qing Army will naturally blame all the debt on North Korea. If Haihan lets go, all the money and resources invested in the early stage will be lost.

Regardless of whether they were in trouble or not, the land, wealth, and power they wanted to keep would still be taken away by the Qing army.

Of course Kim Sang-hyun doesn't understand what a sunk cost is, but he knows that he can't let go at this time. He must find a way to save the country, and by the way, save himself and those who vassal him. Even if he has to pay a greater price for it,

Now there is no turning back, we can only continue to move forward in the current direction. If we want the Haihan Army to continue fighting on the front line, we must first pass Qian Tiandun and satisfy him as much as possible

.

Kim Sang-hyun stood up, bowed to Qian Tiandun and said: "General Qian, please show our country a clear path. The whole country will be grateful!"

Qian Tiandun waved his hand and said: "I can't give you advice, but if your country is really in financial difficulties, then I can give Mr. Jin some advice."

When Jin Sangxian heard that there was something going on, he quickly responded: "I would like to hear the details."

Qian Tiandun said: "It's very simple to say. Although your country's treasury does not have much money, there must be a lot of wealth hidden among the people. As long as Mr. Jin thinks of ways in this direction, I believe it will not be difficult to raise money for the next war."

to military expenses.”

Jin Sangxian said: "But if taxes are suddenly increased, I'm afraid the people will be resentful. Maybe the country will be in chaos before the Qing army comes over!"

Qian Tiandun said: "Don't just focus on the common people! Are ordinary people the richest in North Korea? Of course not. Lord Jin should know very well which ethnic groups are the richest, just keep an eye on them."

Kim Sang-hyun is still in a dilemma: "But these wealthy people are often powerful at the same time. If they want to touch people's property, it will cause a lot of disputes, and it is also easy for the country to become chaotic!"

Qian Tiandun saw that Kim Sangxian hadn't understood his intention, so he had to speak more bluntly: "Master Kim, if there are any people in North Korea who are against you, let's take advantage of this moment to deal with it! It's time to carry out a big purge.

Don’t be merciful when you are here!”

Jin Sangxian was shocked, and then he understood what Qian Tiandun meant by making money from the people - the Haihan people hoped to take advantage of this opportunity to cleanse and eliminate dissidents in the officialdom and among the people in North Korea, and would use the results gained from this

The proceeds were used to pay Haihan's military expenses.

If we want to talk about Kim Sang-hyun's dissidents in North Korea, they are naturally the peace faction headed by Cui Mingji. In addition to some officials in the DPRK and China, behind the peace faction are a large number of landlords from northern Korea, because once the Qing army has passed

When the Yalu River went south, the first people to suffer were the wealthy people in these areas. Naturally, they did not want to fight to the death with the Qing army, but hoped to change the country's attitude towards this war by lobbying senior officials of the court.

Most of the financial backers behind Kim Sang-heon, the main militant faction, came from Chungcheong Province, Jeolla Province, and Gyeongsang Province in the south. Even if the Qing army went south, they would not be able to reach these places for a while, so most officials, landowners and businessmen from the south would

I agree with Kim Sang-hyun's opinion and believe that North Korea should fight the Qing army to the end instead of surrendering to these Northeastern barbarians.

Kim Sang-hyun has just considered raising funds from the private sector. There may be some big businessmen and landowners in the south who are willing to donate, but in the north it is estimated that it will be difficult to raise military expenses voluntarily. Qian Tiandun’s proposal is to

Kim Sang-heon decisively attacked the dissidents and quickly raised the military expenses needed by Haihan through fines and confiscations instead of the traditional method of taxation and fundraising.

In addition to getting money quickly, this has another advantage that Kim Sang-hyun cannot ignore, that is, he can take the opportunity to eliminate political opponents in the domestic officialdom, and then install officials of his own faction to take over these positions. Anyone who is not willing to pay for cooperation, Kim Sang-hyun

You can fabricate some charges to remove them from their official positions. Although this will inevitably lead to resistance and accusations, compared with the risk of destroying the country, I believe that His Majesty the King will ultimately side with the war faction.

However, there is still a lack of a high-sounding name to do this. Kim Sang-heon must at least obtain the authorization from the king first, and be able to exercise management power over the promotion and removal of domestic officials, and implement coercive measures against non-cooperative people. Only in this way can he achieve this.

The situation Qian Tiandun mentioned. But how much trouble this would cause in the end, and whether he could control such a situation, Kim Sang-hyun was not sure at the moment.

Qian Tiandun saw that Jin Sangxian's face was uncertain, and he knew that it was still difficult for him to make up his mind, so he gave him an idea: "Master Jin can find a way to make a fuss about the mistakes of the Yiju border army and make things worse."

The bigger, the better. Our army will also try its best to cooperate with Master Jin’s actions to make His Majesty the King realize who is the most reliable minister!"

Taking the mistakes of the Uiju frontier army as an opportunity to let Kim Sang-hun carry out political purges in North Korea, this idea was not thought up by Qian Tiandun, but by Wang Tom on the front line, who informed Qian Tiandun through a telegram. However,

Enriching these details and convincing Kim Sang-heon to accept this proposal basically depends on Qian Tiandun's own performance.

Jin Sangxian suddenly felt that his experience in officialdom for so many years was not as good as that of a Haihan general. This kind of political conspiracy was extremely complete, and the Haihan people clearly understood their influence. All these methods and

All steps are extremely feasible. When it comes to politics, the gap between North Korea and Haihan seems to be no less than in the military field.

Jin Shangxian silently weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and he had to admit that the plan proposed by Qian Tiandun was the most promising way to save the situation at the moment, and it indeed had many benefits for the main war faction he led.

If this opportunity is not used to attack political opponents, it would indeed be a waste of opportunity. If used properly, there should not be too much annoying noise in North Korean official circles in a year and a half.

"General Qian's instructions are very accurate. I am here to thank the general on behalf of Korea!" Kim Sang-hyun no longer hesitated and bowed deeply to Qian Tiandun, who also returned the bow.

After Kim Sang-hyun saluted, he raised his head and met Qian Tiandun's eyes. Both of them knew that this cooperation would get what they wanted from each other. They each got what they needed, and it was tacitly understood. Of course, this time

The turbulence caused by the cooperation with North Korea will not be much less than the impact of the Qing invasion. There are still a lot of problems that need to be handled carefully by Kim Sang-hyun. However, Kim Sang-hyun has a high prestige in North Korean official circles, and he is a figure who responds to everything.

, the next thing is not something he will do alone, the results will depend on how he operates.

After Qian Tiandun sent away the worried Kim Sang-heon, he immediately sent a telegram to Wang Tom on the front line to inform him of the progress of the negotiations on Ganghwa Island.

Haihan's ambitions for North Korea were not just about opening a trade port or demarcating land to build a port. Now that North Korea had taken the initiative to invite Haihan to garrison troops, Victory Fort also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to gradually increase Haihan's influence on both the Korean government and the public.

In addition to stabilizing external military pressure on North Korea, another important task that must be done is to support pro-Haehan officials in office.

Analyzing the situation in North Korea, the main militant faction led by Kim Sang-heon is undoubtedly a naturally pro-Haehan political faction. Supporting it can obtain more favorable political conditions for Haehan, such as allowing North Korea to pay

Sky-high military spending is one of Haihan's gains.

The price offered by Qian Tiandun to Kim Sang-hyun was also carefully calculated, which was to make North Korea's finances unaffordable, so as to persuade Kim Sang-heon to purge dissidents in the country and raise funds to pay.

Hae-Han's military expenditure. In the process, Kim Sang-heon was able to consolidate his influence and place more officials under his orders to serve in various places. It can be said that there are many benefits, and he naturally has the motivation to cooperate with Hae-Han.

As for how the Haihan Army on the front line would cooperate with Kim Sang-hyun, Qian Tiandun did not go into details at the moment, but the preliminary plan was already in place. Rather than cooperating with Kim Sang-hyun, it would be more appropriate to describe it the other way around. Wang Tom planned to do it at the appropriate time

At that time, he evacuated the Yalu River and first sent some Qing troops south. Then at home, Kim Sang-heon could liquidate the civil and military officials in the areas near the northern border on charges of dereliction of duty, and then bring down the peace-promoting officials in the domestic officialdom and the northern folk.

Many related persons were dragged into the trap together. Once Kim Sang-hyun finished confiscating the private properties of these people, he would have money to pay Haihan, and then Haihan would launch an attack on the Qing army to restore the situation and build momentum for Kim Sang-heon's purge activities.
Chapter completed!