The North Korean monarchs and ministers trapped in the Namhan Mountain City were like drowning people. They knew clearly that disaster was coming, but they still struggled blindly, placing their hope on that unreal straw.
On December 29, after repelling the last North Korean counterattack, the Qing army did not take any military action, but only stepped up the siege of Namhan Mountain City.
The Qing army's actions caused misunderstandings in North Korea.
"Your Highness, if you want to find out whether the Great Khan has arrived, you can take this opportunity to send New Year's greetings."
Whether Huang Taiji arrived at the foot of Namhansan Castle or not, the consequences would be different. The Korean monarchs and ministers were eager to make this clear.
The arrival of the Spring Festival makes them feel that this is an opportunity.
Cui Mingji's proposal was approved by Li Zhu.
However, what the Korean monarchs and ministers did not expect was that the New Year gifts they sent were actually returned by the Qing army.
The only person who came forward from the Qing army was Ma Futa.
"Since you don't know etiquette, why bother annoying people during the festival? Come back tomorrow."
After Hong Ruifeng and the others returned home in despair, they reported the matter to Li Jie.
Others didn't do anything, but Kim Sang-hyun was furious.
"The Jurchens are barbarians! They stepped into the territory of another country without permission and withdrew the congratulatory gift. Where are you? Where is the dignity of Korea when the Lord humiliates his ministers and dies? I implore Your Highness to abandon unrealistic illusions and wait for the arrival of reinforcements from all walks of life.
Fight to the death with the Jurchens."
The Qing army's return of New Year's gifts was a complete breach of feudal etiquette.
There are many people in North Korea who are angry about this.
Even Li Zhu felt humiliated.
But the situation is stronger than the people.
The Qing army's siege became increasingly tight, and the food and grass supply in Nanhan Mountain City was about to run out.
As for the various reinforcements that Jin Sangxian mentioned, they were not visible at all at this time.
Li Jian was really afraid that Nanhan Mountain City would be captured by the Qing army before the reinforcements arrived, making him a prisoner.
Under Cui Mingji's strong request, he still sent envoys, hoping to negotiate with the Qing army.
On the second day of the first lunar month, Hong Ruifeng and the others finally gained something and received Huang Taiji's edict.
In this edict, Huang Taiji completely shifted the responsibility for the war to North Korea.
The country was invaded for no reason, but they had to bear the crime. This made the peace opponents in North Korea increasingly intolerable and once again clamored to resist to the end.
On this day, the only food Li Zhu ate was bland rice cake soup, and even the pickles were only a little bit small.
Although he didn't ask about it, he also understood that this situation meant that the food and grass in Nanhan Mountain City was really running out.
But whether he was captured or starved to death, this was not the outcome Li Zhu wanted.
He didn't want to lose face and continued to maintain his decency.
The only thing that could be done was to continue sending Hong Ruifeng and others to the Qing camp on the third day of the first lunar month, and at the same time send the letter of credence written by Cui Mingji.
At this point, North Korea still wants to maintain the status quo.
Huang Taiji didn't know how to evaluate the North Koreans' naivety. He simply made no response and stopped negotiating with the North Koreans for more than ten days.
Normally, ten days pass by in a blink of an eye, and many people don't care. But for the North Korean monarchs and ministers who are now trapped in Namhan Mountain City, it seems as if a lifetime has passed.
The suffering they endured has reached its peak.
In ten days, the reinforcements were still missing, but the siege of the Qing army at the foot of the mountain was already impregnable.
The horses in Namhansan Fortress began to starve to death due to lack of feed.
Although Li Zhu ordered the horses to be stewed into meat and rewarded to the soldiers guarding the city, everyone knew that after the horses starved to death, the next step was the humans.
Under the strong mental pressure, there is not much that North Korea can hold on to.
On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, North Korea wrote its credentials again and hoped to submit them to Huang Taiji.
However, Huang Taiji is definitely a master at playing with people's hearts. He refused to accept it because it was dark. He delayed it until the next day. Although he accepted the letter of credence, he did not make any reply.
This situation was tantamount to lighting a fire in the anxious bodies of North Korea's monarchs and ministers.
Five days later, Cui Mingji and Hong Ruifeng rushed to the Qing camp again to inquire about their attitude.
Ma Futa came forward and his words were quite rude.
"If you don't have any new words, don't come again."
Cui Mingji and Hong Ruifeng were dumbfounded on the spot.
They knew that the Qing army was not satisfied with the existing conditions and had to force North Korea to bow its head.
However, just when they were about to go back to resume their lives, Mafuta told them a piece of news that was like a bolt from the blue.
"I heard that the North Korean royal family still has two princes, both of whom are on Ganghwa Island. His Majesty cannot bear them to starve on the deserted island, and plans to invite them over to reunite with the North Korean leader."
When they heard that the Qing army was about to attack Ganghwa Island, Cui Mingji and Hong Ruifeng rushed back to Namhansan Fortress like crazy.
No one among the Korean monarchs and ministers in Namhansan City was sure whether Ganghwa Island could be defended. But everyone knew what it would mean once the royal family fell into the hands of the Qing army.
Afterwards, North Korea repeatedly lowered the conditions, but none of them were recognized by the Qing army.
"We have spent a long time in North Korea. Since the North Koreans still cannot recognize the reality until now, Prince Rui, fight this most important battle."
Huang Taiji handed over the task of attacking Jianghua Island to Dorgon.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will come back as soon as I go."
Dorgon was full of confidence and immediately launched an attack on Jianghua Island.
At this time, the North Korean garrison on Ganghwa Island only had more than a thousand troops, and the leader, Zhang Shen, was still a fool.
The other prosecutors, Jin Qingzheng and deputy prosecutor Li Minqiu, not only have no military power, but are also unreasonable.
Jin Liu arranged for his son to come here for gold plating, but he tricked North Korea into a big trap.
Although the Qing army had already made preparations to cross the sea on the opposite side of the Jianghua Strait, Zhang Shen did not take it seriously.
"The Jurchens are just tigers in the mountains. When they reach the water, they turn into chickens. With our general here, they can't come here."
On the 22nd of the first lunar month, the Battle of Ganghwa Island officially began.
Dorgon divided his army into two parts and rushed towards Ganghwa Island from the south and north.
After learning about the military situation, Zhang Shen panicked and also divided the army into two.
He personally led twenty-seven wooden house boats northward, hoping to block the main force of the Qing army by virtue of the strength of the boats and their powerful artillery.
Jiang Jinxin, the Zhongqingshui envoy, led seven wooden house boats southward.
However, something embarrassing happened.
The fleet led by Zhang Shen had just arrived at the battlefield, but encountered low tide.
The wooden house boats with deeper drafts were stranded on the beach one after another, unable to move. They could only watch the Qing army's boats passing by quickly and landing on Ganghwa Island one after another.
Although Jiang Jinxin on the south road was not stranded by the low tide, he was beaten to the point of collapse when faced with Dorgon's red cannon set up on the shore.
Seeing that the Qing army landed on Ganghwa Island so quickly, the Chinese army Huang Shanshen could only lead more than a hundred people around him to resist.
As you can imagine, it's of no use.
In Jianghua City, the leader of Fenglin was Li Hao.
He also wanted to organize a resistance, but all the soldiers below disobeyed his orders and hid one after another.
Seeing the Qing army approaching the city, and the concubines and royal family members around him all trembling with fear, Li Hao sighed, and had no choice but to order the city gates to be opened, and chose to surrender.
North Korea's plan to use Ganghwa Island to preserve the royal family's incense as a precaution was completely shattered.
Li Zhu was trapped in Nanhan Mountain City again, with no way to escape.
Maybe it won't be long before the Korean royal family will become extinct.