The Kingdom of Korea, Pyongan Road, and the Shuozhou area bordering Liaodong.
When the army of the Hou Jin Dynasty escorted the last batch of young men and women, cattle, sheep and livestock, as well as various captured goods, loaded countless large and small cars, they evacuated to the northwest, crossed the Yalu River by boat, and returned to Liaodong.
The tens of thousands of North Korean troops following behind, even if they saw the last wooden boat leaving with the last batch of young men and supplies, still did not dare to attack and could only watch with numb expressions.
the other side.
Seoul, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Geunjeongjeon Hall.
There was a sound of wailing and crying.
Jin Shangrong, the right councilor, knelt on the ground, with tears in his eyes, and said to King Li Zhu on the throne: "Your Majesty, those devil-like Tatars are finally gone, but our country is also coming to an end. The young men and women have been killed and taken captive for more than five years.
One hundred thousand, more than one hundred thousand cattle, horses and livestock have been lost, and countless houses and properties have been lost... Our country is going to be finished. If this continues, the kingdom will cease to exist, and the people will be robbed until not a single one is left."
Leader Cui Mingji also cried: "The people killed and plundered by the Tatars are only a small part. After this year's chaos began, countless people with some property fled by boat to Jeju Island controlled by Xujiazhuang. The number of people
More than a million people, and hundreds of thousands of people in Ping'an Road and Huanghai Road, were recruited by the Guan Ning Army to engage in mining, fishing, farming, animal husbandry and other work.
Dangerous and hard work will never be left in North Korea... Your Majesty, the number of people we have lost this year may exceed two million, a large number of cities, villages and towns have been emptied, and basically all those who could escape have escaped. Now there are still people in the country
The remaining population will not exceed five million. If the Tatars come again next year to plunder us, we will really be exterminated."
Minister Jin Yao knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the country is about to be destroyed. What should we do?"
"Can you send another group of envoys to the Ming Dynasty to beg the Ming Emperor to save us? If North Korea is destroyed, the Ming Dynasty will also be in danger. This is a shame."
"It's useless. We sent envoys last year, but the Ming Emperor was unwilling to send troops. He just sent a batch of weapons and asked us to resist the Tatars. He said that the Tatars only have 30,000 young men. As long as we fight hard, the chaos will subside.
, It’s only our fault that we failed to live up to our expectations, ten soldiers couldn’t kill a single Tatar, and there were many people who surrendered and ran away.”
"The Ming Dynasty ignores our life and death and is ruthless and unjust. Let's just surrender to Japan and let Japan send troops to rescue us. At worst, we will become vassal to Japan and send them some property and land to them!" the minister said through gritted teeth.
"No! The Tatars are tigers, and the Japanese are wolves. They all eat people and take their lives. How can we drive away wolves and devour tigers? The only one who can save us is the Ming Dynasty. We can only send out batches of envoys.
Only by kowtowing and bleeding in the Golden Palace of the Forbidden City and praying for death can we gain the intolerance and mercy of the previous emperor."
"In fact, there is another way, that is to send envoys to Xujiazhuang in the south of the Yangtze River, beg Xujiazhuang for tolerance and charity, and beg them to let us go. We agree to agree to any conditions and make any compromises, as long as they are merciful and let the Tatars stop coming again.
Take us captive."
"The Tatars of Houjin were about to perish, but they were supported by Xujiazhuang. Although the Tatars are devils, Xujiazhuang is the mastermind behind the scenes and the most hateful enemy! How can we compromise with Xujiazhuang?" the minister said
.
"But Xujiazhuang is extremely powerful. Japan is no opponent. Ming Dynasty also has to be tolerant to Xujiazhuang. Tatar is a dog raised by Xujiazhuang. There is also the Guan Ning Army that has become strong. Without Xu Jiazhuang's support, how could Guan Ning's army survive?
Today? If we continue to ignore Xujiazhuang and refuse to give in, any dog released by Xujiazhuang will kill us... It’s time to face reality. If we don’t show kindness and beg for mercy to Xujiazhuang, we will only die."
"That's right, it's useless to look for Ming Dynasty, Japan, or Guan Ningjun. Only by begging Xujiazhuang to let us go can we survive safely."
"..."
The ministers talked a lot and even quarreled fiercely, but no matter how hard the opponents resisted, all the ministers had to admit: if they want to survive this crisis of national subjugation, they can only ask Xujiazhuang for help, they can only surrender and beg Xujiazhuang, and find Xujiazhuang.
Other forces are useless.
but……
The ministers looked at the monarch Li Zhu who was sitting at the head, and they all shook their heads helplessly.
In fact, most of the officials like them have noticed the prosperity and power of Xujiazhuang in recent years. They are also regular readers of the "Oriental Times". They basically read it regularly, and they are quite familiar with the situation of Ming Dynasty and Xujiazhuang.
Xujiazhuang has developed into a behemoth.
Xujiazhuang is the most advanced, civilized, prosperous and developed place.
Xujiazhuang cannot be defeated and defeated.
If you want to get development and live a good life and get rid of poverty, the best shortcut is to embrace Xujiazhuang and cooperate with it.
In the future, Xujiazhuang will become richer and more powerful, and even become the overlord of the world. All people and forces can only obey and cooperate, not resist, otherwise it will be a dead end.
These impressions above.
Gradually, like a stamp of thought, it was imprinted on the minds of these Korean civil servants and generals, and it continued to solidify, making each of them realize that if they did not maintain a good relationship with Xujiazhuang, the Korean Kingdom would be doomed, and they would all be doomed.
But taking the initiative to send envoys to Harbor City, proposing to improve relations, begging Xujiazhuang to let go, or even establishing cooperation, these are all unlikely things.
Because the king, Li Zhu, is the staunchest opponent and the biggest obstacle in front of him.
First, Xu Jiazhuang’s theft of Jeju Island, the territory of North Korea, is unacceptable. Unless Xu Jiazhuang returns this precious land, Xu Jiazhuang will always be a threat and enemy... This is the view of North Korean ministers, and it still is
The number of people who hold this view has decreased, but in the heart of King Li Zhu, it is impossible for him to accept the fact that Jeju Island cannot be returned.
Secondly, the previous Korean king, Li Hui, the King of Gwanghae, is now in the hands of Xu Jiazhuang and has become a card of Xu Jiazhuang. It is impossible for Li Hui to accept the existence of Li Hui. He only hopes that he will leave as soon as possible.
This world disappears. Otherwise, if he lives for one day, he will pose a threat to Li Zhu's position as king. He may be restored at any time. In addition, he has the support of Xujiazhuang. Perhaps as long as Li Hui shows interest in regaining the throne and raises his arms, maybe
There will be countless responses, and there will be countless rebellions in North Korea. This is what Li Zhu fears most, because once he loses the throne, he will lose everything, and even his life will be difficult to save.
Thirdly, Li Shujing, the daughter of Lord Guanghai Li Hui, is now the concubine of Xu Yuan, the owner of Xujiazhuang. Xujiazhuang abducted him from his Gyeongbokgung Palace by force, and almost captured Li Shu as well.
Taking him away was a great shame and humiliation for Li Shu! He often fell into endless nightmares. In addition, after Li Shujing became Xu Yuan's concubine, she gave birth to a son and a daughter for Xu Yuan. Her status was stable and she was favored.
, then Xu Yuan will naturally side with Li Shujing unconditionally, and side with his father-in-law Li Hui, which will only pose an even greater threat, often making Li Zhu feel extremely frightened.
That is to say, as long as Xu Yuan is willing, he can send troops to help his father-in-law at any time, seize Li Zhu's throne, and take his life. How long he can enjoy the current power and wealth depends entirely on Xu Yuan's thoughts.
deadlock.
This created a deadlock in which it was impossible for the Korean Kingdom to take the initiative to improve relations with Xujiazhuang. If any minister dared to mention this, Li Zhu would order his death without hesitation, becoming an untouchable villain.
But it’s too late not to mention it now.
The Kingdom of Korea can no longer bear it.
Even though the Eight Banners elite of Hou Jin only numbered less than 30,000 people, the extremely rookie North Korean army could not withstand it at all. They suffered disastrous defeats time and time again, causing at most less than three-digit casualties to the Hou Jin army.
If the Jin army attacks and plunders them again next year, the Korean Kingdom will most likely be completely taken away by this wave.
Therefore, in the huge crisis of national subjugation and annihilation, the officials of North Korea had no choice but to break the taboo and plead with King Li Zhu to send envoys to improve relations with Xujiazhuang and find a way out for the country.
And faced with the cries and begging of the ministers who were kneeling.
Li Zhu, who was sitting on the throne, frowned and was in great embarrassment, which aroused some nightmare-like memories in his mind.
Are we really going to take this step?
Xujiazhuang is so powerful. How much price will North Korea have to pay to get Xujiazhuang to help?
How much price will he have to pay?
What if Xujiazhuang asks for more land and is forced to give up a lot of benefits?
Perhaps Xujiazhuang asked him to give up the throne and return the throne to Li Hui. Wouldn't that be equivalent to killing him?
what to do?
What should he do?
What about surrendering directly to Hou Jin? What they want most is just a large number of young slave workers. This is a simple matter. There is no need to send troops to attack. He takes the initiative to send 100,000, no, 50,000 every year.
Let them go to Liaodong to work in Liaodong, such as mining, cutting down trees, farming, etc. They can do anything. Why bother? Every time I send troops to rob them, can't I take the initiative to send them there? There are only tens of thousands of untouchables.
That's all, if you die, you will die. As long as you can keep your rights and wealth, even if most of the people are sent over, he will nod in agreement.
It's just that it's impossible for him to say these words. It will only cause opposition and uproar. If it spreads, he will lose the support of the people and lose the legitimacy of the throne. At that time, without any force to force him, the people of North Korea will rebel and make him abdicate.
.
However, apart from this method, he had absolutely nothing to do, including being a dog for Guan Ning's army, asking Japan for help, etc. These forces are now under the influence and control of Xujiazhuang. Looking for them is equivalent to looking for Xujiazhuang. As for the Ming Dynasty, they don't care about the filial son of North Korea at all.
, only caring about his own enjoyment, being stingy and selfish to the extreme, which made him feel cold.
In the end, it seemed that the only way left was to compromise with Xujiazhuang.
"Okay, let's send an envoy to Xujiazhuang. What conditions does Xujiazhuang have? As long as it is not excessive and North Korea can be spared, I will agree to it!"
King Li Zhu had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, and all the ministers suddenly looked happy, shouting that the king is wise.