As soon as the North Korean envoy said that he wanted to cross the sea to seek refuge in Shandong, the Ming Dynasty immediately panicked, because although North Korea had lost most of its land, there were still hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children in the country. So many refugees poured into Shandong. Chaos immediately broke out on the peninsula. Not to mention anything else, the relief food prepared for so many people would cost hundreds of thousands of dan. With so many mouths to eat, Shandong would be destroyed.
Coupled with the need to provide "employment", this is an almost impossible task. Because Shandong just experienced floods a few years ago, the Yellow River Flood Area has not yet recovered, and many local people have not been able to be resettled. , not to mention these foreign Koreans.
However, the Ming Dynasty could not explicitly refuse Koreans to come to seek refuge. After all, it was the suzerain state, and it still needed face. If it really refused to save it, the vassal states everywhere would no longer want it.
If they don't send troops to rescue, the whole country of North Korea will come to the Ming Dynasty to seek refuge and kill the Ming Dynasty. If they want to send troops but they can't, they can only ask the Peking Army. And if they want the Peiping Army to send troops, they have to agree to open the sea frontiers. Open sea frontiers, and the Ming Dynasty doesn't want to send troops. Ken. These nonsense have come full circle and are back to the original point: whether the sea can be opened or not.
After receiving the memorial from the Ming envoy, the Ming court held meetings and discussed it for several days. Finally, it compromised and agreed to open the sea frontiers, but only agreed to open the Shandong coast, while other areas remained closed. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty also drew up several openings. It is stipulated that trade can only be done at these ports, and the number of transactions and the number of ships that can come to the port each year are restricted. It is no different from tribute trade, and it is not opening the sea at all.
When Wan Lei received this so-called "peace agreement", he threw it directly back into the hand of the envoy, leaving only one sentence: "It is not about opening up Shandong, but about opening up the southeastern coast. It is not about restricting trade, but opening up trade. , we demand that all routes be opened. If you refuse to agree, then we can only help transport North Korean refugees into Shandong. When the time comes, you will have to decide what to do."
Is it a good idea? If the Ming Dynasty can figure it out, then there is no need to compromise. The Ming Dynasty had to send people thousands of miles to rush to pass the message and bring Wan Lei's reply back to Jinling. This would cost a lot of money. Within a few days, Wan Lei was almost fed up: The Emperor's son is indeed sincere. If he was really sincere, he would have sent a minister with full power to discuss matters. Now running back and forth, it is obvious that he has no sincerity and has not realized the seriousness of the situation.
North Korea could no longer afford to wait for such an inefficient service process in the Ming Dynasty. At the end of August, Pyongyang was captured by the Japanese army. King Lee Bang-won of North Korea fled west again and fled to Uiju City on the Yalu River. He clamored to cross the river for refuge, and even Several refugee teams were also sent across the river to test the situation.
However, as soon as these refugee teams arrived at the center of the river, they were shot back with a barrage of arrows. The Peking Army soldiers stationed on the Yalu River shouted loudly: Anyone who dares to cross the river privately again will be killed without mercy. If such trouble occurs again, , the Peking Army will definitely fight back in self-defense, and all diplomatic commitments will be invalid!
As soon as he heard such tyrannical words from the Peking Army, Li Fangyuan became completely honest and did not dare to send anyone to test the Peking Army again, because the Peking Army promised to transport them to Shandong, which was his last hope. If this If you offend the Peiping Army at that time, then let's wait for the country to be subjugated and the species to be exterminated.
North Korea fell into despair, and August finally passed. On the first day of September, a fleet of fifty Dafu ships appeared at the mouth of the Yalu River. This fleet was also defended by ten gunboats. It can be described as majestic and spectacular. When Li Fangyuan heard that a ship was coming to rescue him, his dead heart came to life again.
However, these lucky boats did not dock, but watched from a distance on the sea. Li Fangyuan, who was eager to escape, sent people to the riverside to shout and invite the boats to dock, but there was no reply from the other side. He was unwilling to give in. They also sent an envoy in a small boat to "negotiate", but before the envoy could get close to the fleet, he was warned by a cannon and shot back.
Two more days passed in this tense atmosphere, and another fleet appeared on the sea. However, this fleet was not a rescue force, but a Japanese navy. On dozens of large ships stood the eighth-level Bodhisattva. The Korean king Li Fangyuan saw the flag and was so anxious that he almost jumped into the river.
Fortunately, the Japanese navy seemed to be very wary of the Peking Navy, and only dared to stay far away on the sea, not daring to get close. The two fleets faced off on the sea, but the Japanese army pushed forward to the Yalu River without any care. Several lines of defense organized by the Korean state have been breached, and sooner or later the Japanese army will be forced to the Yalu River.
On a huge naval battleship of the Peiping Army, the navy commander Liu Wenxiu, who was fully dressed in military uniform, was talking with an envoy from the Japanese navy. The content of the conversation was naturally the issue of demarcating maritime boundaries. Liu Wenxiu strongly advocated that all the coastal waters of southwestern Korea should be It was under the jurisdiction of the Peking Army, and the Japanese navy was not allowed to operate in this area.
On the other hand, the Japanese government used hard words to request permission to operate along the coast of Korea so that they could destroy the remaining enemies of Korea. They also promised repeatedly that they would never cross the mouth of the Yalu River and the sea to the west.
Of course, Liu Wenxiu would not agree to this. He only stated one point: from now on, a straight line would be drawn between the Peking Army and the Japanese Empire, with Tsushima Island as the boundary. The west would be under the jurisdiction of the Peiping Army and the east would be under the jurisdiction of the Japanese. If the Japanese Navy continued to Anyone who dares to cross this boundary line privately is blatantly invading the territorial waters of the Peking Army.
The reason why Liu Wenxiu's attitude was so tough was mainly because he received instructions from Wan Lei to try his best to "provoke" the Japanese country and let the Japanese country "fire" the first shot, so that the Peiping army could "self-defense and counterattack".
Faced with Liu Wenxiu's tough stance, the Japanese envoys did not dare to slam the table on the spot. They just ran back to report the matter to their leaders. The Japanese army was fighting on the front line with the chief general Persian Yijiang. This guy became famous because of his consecutive victories. He was a little confused and felt very unhappy when he saw that the Peiping Army was so disrespectful. He ordered the navy to stay put and planned to just wait and see what the Peiping Army could do.
For the time being, the Peiping Army really didn't know how to deal with the Japanese army. No, instead of taking the initiative to attack, Liu Wenxiu ordered the fleet to retreat dozens of miles to the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula. Seeing that the Peiping Army retreated without a fight, the Japanese Navy thought The Peking Army was frightened, so it became even more aggressive. The navy directly docked and cooperated with the Japanese army on land to launch a general attack on the Korean army that had retreated to the Yalu River.
Liu Wenxiu's withdrawal made Li Fangyuan, who originally had some illusions, completely despair. And he was not the only one who was desperate, but also the hundreds of thousands of old, weak, sick and disabled around him. They looked at their own defense lines one by one. Defeated, the shadow of death is getting closer and closer, and all we can do is cry out to the sky and the earth, but the sky and the earth are unable to respond.
Hundreds of thousands of Koreans were "fighting" by the Yalu River, and the news that they might be surrounded and annihilated at any time soon spread back to Beiping City. The envoys sent by the Korean state not only cried for help to Wan Lei, but also knelt down to the Ming Dynasty envoy In front of the mission, the Ming Dynasty mission must behave well and give the Korean people a way to survive.
"It's not that I refuse to rescue you. I have sent a fleet to prepare to transport people, but the Ming Dynasty does not agree to accept them. We help rescue people for free. We can't bear the burden on ourselves. So, my fleet Withdrew again. If you can convince Ming Chao, then we will pick them up." Wan Lei still looked innocent.
"Master Dong, God is kind to you, do you really want to see death without saving him?" Han Shangjing's eyes were blood red and he glared at Dong Lun. His eyes seemed to be those of an innocent soul from Jiuyou, making people dare not look at him.
"Mr. Dong, I know that you are just a messenger and have no real power at all. If you report back and forth like this, you will not be able to make up your mind even if everyone dies. Well, I can send a ship to pick up people first, but I have made a deal. These people were only transported to Shandong. Whether they live or die, you will be responsible tomorrow." Wan Lei said seriously.
"Master Wan, what you said is to pick up the person first and resolve the crisis. We will talk about other things later. We will talk about it later." Han Shangjing was like a drowning man who found a life-saving straw and did not hesitate. Caught hard.
Seeing that Han Shangjing also agreed, Wan Lei directly ordered the release of blue flares without waiting for Dong Lun's reply, and sent an order to the navy to immediately carry out rescue operations.
This urgent military order was delivered with a special salute, and it was passed from station to station like a baton. Half an hour later, it reached the Yalu River in Liaodong. Liu Wenxiu saw this blue salute. , naturally knew that this was a signal to attack, and immediately ordered the entire army to prepare for war. The fleet turned to the northeast and entered the battlefield on the Yalu River.
Before the formal war with the Japanese began, Liu Wenxiu sent out a small boat as usual to declare: Once again, this is the sea area under the jurisdiction of the Peking Army, and the Japanese navy must leave immediately. He also issued an ultimatum. If he does not leave, he will violate our territorial waters. We The army will definitely counterattack in self-defense.
However, the Japanese army and the stubbornly resisting Korean army were fighting happily. The soldiers shouted for a long time, but the Japanese army did not respond. Obviously, the Japanese army had regarded the Peiping army as "cowards" who could only talk but not take action. The three-way call passed quickly. Liu Wen raised the corners of his mouth and ordered the entire army to form a formation and prepare for an assault.
"Boom, boom, boom..." As soon as the fleet entered the firing range, it aimed in the direction of the Japanese navy and started bombarding. At this time, all the guns used by the navy were the latest steel cannons, with large diameters and a range of up to four miles. Hitting the target within one mile, the five-inch-thick ship plank was also destroyed with one shot.
No, just after the sound of the cannon, a heavy lead ball as big as a head was like Li Xuan's arrow, hitting the Japanese ship array hard. And those Japanese ships were all modified from small cargo ships, although they were added with coats. Some iron armors cannot withstand the explosion at all. A big hole will be created by the explosion, and they will be useless even if they don't sink.
The Japanese soldiers who were fighting on the shore were shocked by the thunderous sound of cannons coming from the sea. When they turned around, they saw a flash of fire on the sea and another rumbling cannon. As soon as the sound came, huge lead balls fell like raindrops, and dozens of our own warships were hit, sinking or capsized. The seaside was in a mess.
"Listen, Japanese military. This is our territorial waters. You have openly invaded our territorial waters and have refused to retreat even after being dissuaded by all parties. We will counterattack your troops in accordance with the self-defense and counterattack regulations. Please retreat quickly, otherwise you will be responsible for all the consequences." After three rounds of bombardment, Liu Wenxiu asked someone to shout again. Of course, this kind of shouting was also nonsense, because more than half of the Japanese navy's warships had been sunk, and only a dozen or so were left standing crookedly on the sea. If you can't move at all, how can you retreat quickly?
However, Liu Wenxiu did this mainly to shift the responsibility for the war to the Japanese army. No, after ten minutes of silence, the naval warship became angry again. Before the Japanese army had time to send people over to negotiate, the war began to "escalate" .