The sails faced the scorching sun, and the fleet cut through the waves.
Hu Dinggui took out his telescope and saw a large island connected to the land in the distance, so he asked: "Is that the island where the old Dongjiang Town is located?"
A merchant explained with a smile: "General, Pi Island is still further north."
"How is Pidao doing now?" Hu Dinggui asked again.
The merchant replied: "There are only a few places on Pi Island where new grains can be grown, and it cannot feed too many people. After the Tatars captured Pi Island, they sent troops to garrison it for a while, but soon gave up. North Korea took the opportunity to take back Pi Island.
"
The merchant's surname was Meng, and his name was Meng Huaien.
This guy was selling cotton from Shandong to Zhenjiang. Due to the uprising of the Northern Cao soldiers, Meng Huaien was temporarily unable to return to his hometown, so he was hired by Hu Dinggui to be his translator and guide.
"Have you often gone to Pi Island before?" Hu Dinggui asked.
Meng Huai'en explained: "When Mao Wenlong of Mao Zong Town was there, Pi Island was full of business travelers. Merchants from the Ming Dynasty brought silk and green cloth, and merchants from North Korea brought ginseng, leather goods, and rice grains. After the two parties traded on Pi Island, the North Korean merchants brought the goods
Ship it to Zhongjiang, and the Tatars will buy Ming goods from North Korea."
"What now?" Hu Dinggui asked again.
Meng Huaien said: "Business can no longer be done now. Since the North Korean leader surrendered to the Tatars, North Korea has been erratic, and there are often interceptions and killings of merchants from the Ming Dynasty. I used to come to Pi Island to trade, but now I can only make a living at home.
, I’m afraid we won’t be able to do domestic business in the future.”
While the two were talking, smoke billowing from Ganghwa Island in the distance rose as a warning.
The Zheng family's fleet sailed for a while, and the North Korean navy came from behind Ganghwa Island.
The Zheng family's fleet consists of six warships and ten armed merchant ships.
The North Korean Navy has a total of more than 30 warships, most of which are turtle ships and wooden house ships.
The turtle ship put a small boat over and shouted in Korean: "Which country's fleet is this coming?"
Meng Huaien replied: "King Zhao Tian of the Ming Dynasty!"
"The Ming Dynasty fleet cannot come to North Korea to do business!" The North Korean kept making small movements, putting his hand on his chest and pointing south, probably wanting the Chinese fleet to do business further south.
They did not dare to offend the Manchus, but they wanted to do business with the Ming Dynasty, so they smuggled quietly in the port further south of Seoul, Hanyang.
Meng Huaien understood and turned around to explain to Zheng Sen, Hong Xu and Hu Dinggui.
As the leader of the fleet, Hong Xu sneered and said: "These Koreans are so worthless that they don't even dare to buy and sell goods in their own capital."
The Zheng family's fleet turned around and the North Korean Navy immediately followed up.
A little further away from Ganghwa Island, the small boat rowed over and was hoisted onto the battleship by ropes.
The North Korean envoy said: "Brothers from the Tang Dynasty, please go to Dafu Island. I will guide you. Please also fire a few cannons into the sea to make the sound of a naval battle. This is for the sake of Jinnu Manqing."
Hong Xu burst into laughter and ordered: "Fire a few cannons into the sea!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The Zheng family's fleet fired cannons indiscriminately, and the North Korean navy also fired. The cannonballs fell on the sea and splashed a lot of water.
Before reaching Daebu Island, the Korean asked to turn around and sail to an estuary on the shore.
At the same time, he asked the Zheng family what goods they had brought and asked for a detailed list. Then he took a boat to the shore to contact the merchants.
The next morning, countless offshore fishing boats came to buy the goods shipped by the Zheng family.
Some merchants didn't have enough money, so they simply bartered for goods, mostly ginseng and leather goods. They also asked the Zheng family if they needed grain and copper ingots.
Hu Dinggui said to Hong Xu: "General Hong, you can have as much grain and copper ingots as you want. Transport them to the Jiangnan government and purchase them."
Immediately, someone asked about medicinal materials, especially fragrant medicines, which are not produced in North Korea.
After half a month of work, the goods were emptied, food and fresh water were replenished, and then they headed south loaded with North Korean goods.
These North Korean navy seem to be pitiful, and they don't even dare to engage in serious trade.
In fact, it is very hateful. If the Zheng family fleet does not have enough force, it will be robbed by the North Korean navy.
Before leaving, Hu Dinggui specifically inquired about the news: "I heard that you can buy horses in Jeju Island?"
The merchant replied: "The horses and cattle on Jeju Island are tribute. Jeju's pastors have no right to sell them and must obtain the permission of the king."
The tribute was not paid to the Ming Dynasty, nor to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but to the King of Korea from Jeju Island.
It was a place where prisoners were exiled. The former king of North Korea was raising horses on Jeju Island.
Hu Dinggui asked again: "How many cattle and horses can Jeju Island pay tribute to every year?"
The North Korean merchant replied: "The annual tribute is 200 horses, the annual tribute is 60 oxen, and the annual tribute is 700 horses."
Shi Nian is the Zi, Wu, Mao and You years, once every three years.
Calculated, Jeju Island contributes 433 horses and 60 cattle to the King of Korea every year.
The North Korean merchant said: "If you want to buy horses, I will go back and report to the king."
With permission from the King of Korea, merchants could choose horses from time to time and directly conduct business transactions on cattle and horses.
Hu Dinggui had a suspicion in mind. It seemed that Jeju Island had a large number of horses. It paid hundreds of horses as tribute every year, but there were still some left over to sell to merchants.
Three days later, the fleet arrived near Jeju Island.
There are three cities in Jeju Island, Jeju Muchong in the south, Daejong County in the east, and Jeongui County in the west.
The highest official on the island, his official title is "Jeju Soldiers, Horses and Navy Military Envoy and Jeju Pastoral Envoy".
"Let's start the fight directly?" Hong Xu asked.
Hu Dinggui said: "Fight directly and destroy the Jeju Navy first."
…
The pastoral envoy to Jeju must have the surname Li and be held by a member of the North Korean clan. This shows that this island is highly valued by North Korea.
In broad daylight, Li Hengzhong was drinking and having fun.
Other than that, there's not much else to do. There's no other fun on the broken island.
Concubine Ji was dancing, Li Hengzhong clapped his hands and praised her, and took another sip in a daze.
A soldier rushed in, knelt down and shouted: "Master Shepherd, a Ming fleet is coming, and there are many warships!"
"roll!"
Li Hengzhong was furious that he was disturbed.
In Jeju Port, more than a dozen North Korean warships dare not sail out for fear of being attacked by foreign fleets.
These guys are also afraid of the hard.
More than twenty years ago, a fleet composed of merchants from Ming Dynasty and Annan drifted to Jeju Island due to a storm.
At first, the Jeju pastor received them warmly, but soon they discovered that the ships were full of goods. So, hundreds of Han Chinese and Vietnamese were ordered to be killed by the Jeju pastor, and they reported to the king of Korea that the Japanese pirates had been killed.
When this matter was revealed, there was a big fuss.
"fire!"
"Boom boom boom boom!"
Six warships and ten armed merchant ships bombarded the North Korean Navy in the port.
The main ship of the Jeju Island Navy is a wooden house ship. It is clumsy, slow and brittle. If it takes a shot, it will make a hole in it.
The Zheng family's fleet fired dozens of cannons, and North Korean sailors jumped into the sea one after another without offering any resistance.
In this way, all the ships of the Jeju Island Navy were captured. This thing was useless and the Zheng family did not like it at all. Even if it sailed to Shandong, there was a risk of sinking.
"But Jin Guo called?"
When Li Hengzhong heard the rumble of cannons, he suddenly woke up from alcohol.
This guy couldn't care about his concubine, so he got up and ran away. He ran to the stables, asked the servants to help him get on the horse, and then galloped away from Jeju Mucheng. He drove drunk and didn't get into an accident.
Seeing that all the pastoral envoys had fled, the Korean soldiers fled one after another, and the officials followed suit.
In a side hall, the soldiers who were in charge of guarding went home in panic, took away their belongings, and dragged their wives, children, and children with them.
Li Hui heard the chaotic shouts outside and said to himself happily: "Could it be King Qin's army coming?"
This guy was the former king of North Korea. He sent 13,000 troops to help the Ming Dynasty fight against the Jin Tatars. As for their combat effectiveness, they were no different from the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Guards.
Li Hui lay behind the door and eavesdropped. The shouts became farther and farther away, and he was sure that the soldiers guarding him had really left.
Li Hui cautiously walked out of the place of house arrest, only to see people running around in the city.
In fact, there are not many people on the island. Most of them are herders on the island, and the city area is very small. There is not even a formal city wall, just a wooden fence, whose main purpose is to guard against wild beasts.
"Where is King Qin's army?"
Li Hui was confused. He thought it was his son who led the troops to save him.
His son is currently under house arrest on Ganghwa Island.
Suddenly seeing a group of soldiers rushing towards him, Li Hui quickly ran up and shouted: "I am the leader of North Korea, I am the leader of North Korea!"
Meng Huai'en was advancing with his army. Hearing this shout, he immediately said with joy: "General, the deposed leader of North Korea is on the island. You can use him as a puppet to recruit enemy troops and herdsmen to surrender."
"Bring him here!" Hu Dinggui was also overjoyed.
Li Hui was dragged in front of Meng Huai'en by two soldiers. He asked in confusion: "Aren't you Korean soldiers?"
Meng Huaien said: "This is General Hu Dinggui, who is under the command of King Zhao Tian!"
"Who is King Zhao?" Li Hui was even more confused.
Meng Huaien said: "King Zhao Tian has occupied half of the Ming Dynasty."
The Ming Dynasty rebelled against thieves?
Li Hui suddenly trembled in fear, knelt down and said: "Greetings to the general!"
Hu Dinggui said: "Tell this man that if he wants to go back and be the king of the country, he must be honest and obedient. I only want Jeju Island to raise horses, and I don't care who becomes the king of North Korea."
Meng Huai'en translated: "His Royal Highness, General Hu, said that he wants Jeju Island to be a horse breeding ground. If the Lord can appease the army and herdsmen on the island, and wait until King Zhao Tian wins the Ming Dynasty, he will help the Lord return to the country and restore his throne."
"Thank you so much, General," Li Hui was ecstatic, kneeling on the ground and said, "General, can you lead troops to Ganghwa Island to rescue the crown prince?"
Li Hui is sixty years old and has been exiled and under house arrest for many years. His physical condition has never been good. He wants to bring his son over as a puppet.
Hu Dinggui said ambiguously: "As long as you work for me wholeheartedly, I will consider saving the crown prince of North Korea."
Li Hui was so excited that tears filled his eyes and he kowtowed to Hu Dinggui on the spot.
This old guy didn't have a good impression of the Ming Dynasty. When he was established as the crown prince, Wanli was considering abolishing the eldest son and establishing a younger one, and he was inexplicably involved in the battle for the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty.
Just because Li Hui is not the eldest son.
North Korea requested the Ming Dynasty to establish an eldest son three times in a row, but the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty refused, insisting that North Korea establish an eldest son.
From the crown prince of Joseon to the king of Joseon, within fourteen years, the Ming Dynasty refused to canonize him five times, and finally bribed the Ministry of Rites with a large amount of money to get permission. This was unprecedented for Joseon; it was a great shame and humiliation for Li Hui.
Li Hui was afraid that the Ming Dynasty would change his mind, so he could only imprison his mother and massacre his brothers, so that he could be king with peace of mind.
The Ming Dynasty deserved to die, and King Zhao Tian is not bad.
Li Hui hoped that King Zhao Tian would quickly aspire to the Central Plains and send troops to escort him to Hanyang and Seoul to become king.
…
I have something to do during the day, so there are only two updates.
In addition, I would like to reply to the book friend’s question. Horse breeding in Shandong started in the fourth year of Xuande, and it was mainly raised by the people in tanks. In Shandong as a whole, plus Henan, there are only more than 200 hectares of pasture. How many horses can be raised on this pasture? How many horses can be raised in the north?
Ma Zheng forced countless families to lose their lives. The Liu Liu Liu Qi Rebellion in the Zhengde Dynasty was caused by Ma Zheng. Wang Shizhen's rectification of Ma Zheng only lasted for more than ten years, and then it was completely ruined. There were no horse farms in Shandong during Chongzhen.