The Chinese Army's Seoul Garrison Battalion was drawn from Yan Siqi's 5th Division. It has strong combat effectiveness, but does not have heavy firearms. During the coup, they trained on the playground outside the city. Therefore, after the coup d'etat successfully captured the palace, they immediately sealed off the entire city of Seoul. All Korean defenders went up to the city wall to defend.
At the same moment when the coup was initiated, a Chinese army garrison remaining in the barracks in the city was attacked by a North Korean army that was ten times its size. Due to the sudden incident, the Chinese army garrison neglected to take precautions. As a result, more than 100 Chinese army garrison troops were stationed in Seoul. The soldiers were killed and captured. The ammunition and baggage stored in the barracks, including hundreds of new flintlock muskets, were all taken away by the North Korean army.
The troops of the Seoul garrison camp outside Seoul did not attack the city. Instead, they seized the North Korean army's fort on the north bank of the Han River. They built fortifications here and planned to defend the place for a long time and wait for reinforcements. A Korean Forbidden Army officer loyal to Gwanghae Gun garrisoned the Chinese army in Seoul. Delivering a distress letter, he disguised himself and sneaked to Pyongyang. It turned out that the Chinese army here was also surrounded by North Korean coup troops.
At the same time as the Seoul coup, the North Korean garrison in Pyongyang also suddenly attacked the Chinese army and the Chinese company's garrison.
Since the Chinese Company forced the Kingdom of Korea to sign a trade treaty, Pyongyang has been the most important stronghold of the Chinese army in northern North Korea.
At this time, the city of Pyongyang was divided into four parts: the inner city, the middle city, the outer city, and the north city. There was the north city at the north end of the inner city, the Zhuanjin Gate in the south, and the Xuanwu Gate in the north. This small northern city was completely destroyed by the Chinese army three years ago. Occupied. All local indigenous people are not allowed to live within the scope of Beicheng. The Chinese army garrison barracks and the Chinese company's commercial hall are all in Beicheng. The city walls have been reinforced and heightened. Cannons and several "lightning honeycomb guns"-manual machine guns are installed. In On the Xuanwu Gate in the North City, the Chinese army also built a castle-like fort. Therefore, the Chinese army's garrison in Pyongyang, company employees and Chinese business immigrants basically hid in barracks and business buildings in time when the North Koreans suddenly attacked. .Also promptly dispatched personnel to send a distress letter through the Datong River Waterway.
At this time, the remaining troops of the Eight Banners and the Mongolian Horqin Division were harassing Tieyuan and other places in northern Liaodong. Zhao Tie, Yan Siqi and the main force of the Chinese Army's march in Liaodong were on the front line. A large-scale attack on the eastern Mongolian grasslands was being planned.
Therefore, the navy's Beiyang Fleet was the first to respond to the North Korean coup. However, most of their main forces were along the Yangtze River. That's why Chen Zhongji received the request for help from the Liaodong and Beiyang Fleets as soon as possible.
According to the military legal system of the Chinese army stipulated by Yin Feng, individual theater commanders, the so-called "marching commanders", cannot mobilize troops without permission to attack beyond their own theaters. Only in the Jiangnan Campaign, the battleships of the Beiyang Fleet were placed under the command of the Jiangnan Marching Commander. So, It should be reasonable for the Beiyang Fleet to require its warships to be returned to their original status in an emergency. Chen Zhongji is now facing this problem: due to the North Korean coup, a considerable part of the combat forces in the Jiangnan Theater must go north. The Jiangnan Theater must cease fighting.
That night, Zeng Yue, Chen Zhongji, and Luo Quanxiu discussed and decided to submit the issue to the highest decision-maker. The next night, the communication ship anchored in Zhenjiang left the dock and sailed quickly towards the Yangtze River Estuary. At the same time, five homing pigeons headed towards Taiwan. Fly out in the direction.
Once the Chinese army ceased fighting and withdrew its troops, the Ming Dynasty envoy went to Taiwan Island for negotiations. The negotiations between the two sides were deadlocked at this critical point. Zeng Yue and others were very depressed. After all, they still could not fully grasp the initiative in the recruitment negotiations. It could be resolved. The deadlock in this negotiation was only Yin Feng's decision.
In fact, when Chen Zhongji sent a letter to Taiwan, he had already begun to arrange a gradual withdrawal plan. At the same time, he also asked five three-masted cruisers of the Beiyang Fleet to return to Lushunkou and return them to the command of the Beiyang Fleet.
In addition to the four strategic points of Wuchang City, Wuhu, Hukou, and Anqing, the Chinese Army has begun to evacuate from cities along the Yangtze River. However, the encirclement of Jinling City has not been lifted. Chinese Army warships patrolling the Yangtze River are still patrolling from time to time. Fire a few cannons at Jinling City.
Xu Guangqi also made some conciliatory gestures. He and Sheng Yihong jointly issued an order to the Ming army along the Yangtze River in the name of the Governor of Jiangnan, requesting a temporary suspension of fighting with the Chinese army. Although the Ming army took the initiative to attack only a handful of times during the entire war.
It will take at least twenty days to wait for feedback from Taiwan. And the more than 40 members of the Ming Dynasty mission have been locked up in Zhizaofu Yamen. It is indeed inappropriate.
So, on the second day after the temporary suspension of negotiations, the Chinese Army sent people to inform the Ming Dynasty envoys that they were allowed to go out and move around freely. However, no more than ten people were allowed to go out at a time. Of course, Xu Guangqi, Sheng Yihong and other imperial envoys could go to the streets at will. Activity.
When they took to the streets of Suzhou, there were always more than a dozen Chinese Army soldiers accompanying them. But luckily, these soldiers were just accompanying them and did not interfere with the actions of Xu Guangqi and others. Even when Xu Guangqi proposed to visit the Chinese Army During the military camp, the Chinese Army officers responsible for the security protection of the mission did not object.
After the Chinese army lifted the ban on the Ming Dynasty imperial mission, members of the Ming Dynasty mission were cautious at first when they took to the streets. However, they found that the Suzhou market seemed not to be affected by the pirates at all. Buying and selling in various markets was booming. Home weavers - silk weaving workshops are operating at full capacity. They are producing silk fabrics for overseas trade for Chinese companies. Large-scale cotton spinning and silk weaving workshops opened under the name of Huaxing Co., Ltd. are also recruiting people. Those who make a living by doing part-time work Farmers and weavers in Suzhou queue up to work.
A large number of overseas products are also on sale in shops across Suzhou. Cochin silk, tortoise shell, turtle tube, green feather, crane top, colored glaze, nan incense, agarwood, instant incense, sandalwood, crane egg cups, and bird's nests from the West. From the West Western cloth, jibei cloth, silver coins, glasses, diamonds, Western cloth.
Extremely rare ones include rhinoceros horns, antelope horns, ivory, and amber from Africa. Benzoin, musk, frankincense, clove, plantain, rose water, styrax oil from West Asia and Arabia, and Japanese products that are publicly traded - Japanese screens. , Japanese knife, etc.
There are also white sugar, ironware, copperware, chime bells, glass mirrors, Jiawen mats, and rattan flower mats produced by the China Company's factories. Antlers, otter skins, horsetails, and peacock tails produced in Taiwan, Hainan, Luzon Island, and Java Island. , yellow wax, white wax, rosewood, ebony, hematoxylin, palm bamboo, vine, garcinia, myrrh, blood root, aloe vera, pepper, baby tea, crab meat, jackfruit, coconut...most of these things are The imperial envoys of the Ming Dynasty had never seen anything. Some of them had never even heard of it. Some officials in the mission couldn't help but regret not bringing enough gold and silver to Suzhou. The quality of the things here is not to mention good, and the quantity is abundant and the price is cheap. When these same overseas goods are sold in the capital, their prices will rise at least several times.
What surprised Yuan Chonghuan and Jinyiwei Qianhu Zhang Ye the most were the iron and bronze wares produced by the Zhonghua Company's factories. Most of them were household appliances. Their sophistication was comparable to the royal supplies of the Ming Dynasty. The quality of the knives was also comparable to that of the third camp of the Ming Dynasty's capital. The best weapon.
What shocked Xu Guangqi was the management of Suzhou City by the Chinese Army. There were newly formed urban management and security teams and tax officials, replacing the original subordinate officials of the Ming Dynasty government. Their powers were clearly defined and each performed their own duties; they collected taxes on market trade. It also maintains market order. The "beating" gangster organizations that originally caused chaos on the streets of Suzhou were all suppressed. The local ruffians who bullied the market disappeared without a trace.
The Chinese company here fully reflects the commercial-oriented characteristics. In the past few months, several professional markets have been formed in the south of Suzhou: cotton, silk cocoon, grain, aquatic products, etc. Especially a large number of Java, Taiwan, The rice produced in Siam impacted the Jiangnan grain market, causing grain prices in Jiangnan to plummet. Ordinary small-scale farmers could not make much money by selling their surplus grain. They could only eat it at home to subsidize their families. These farmers came to the city to work in the slack season to make money.
In terms of silk weaving workshops, Chung Hwa Company has broken the restrictions of guild regulations. It has a unified organization that integrates production, purchase and sales. Chung Hwa Company's workshops have broken through the limitations of workshop size and number of people. There are five to six hundred people working together at the same time. Hundreds of looms were started at the same time. The noisy sound of the looms could be heard a mile away. Because Suzhou is located in a plain, it is impossible to drive machinery with water power. The engineering department of the China Company is trying out a set of animal power here using donkeys, oxen, and horses. The driving mechanism, a seemingly simple machine, contains mathematical and physical principles. Among the imperial envoys of the Ming Dynasty, only Xu Guangqi and his students could understand the scientific and technological content of these animal-powered machines.
Xu Guangqi has been advocating and promoting "Elements of Geometry". He wants China's mathematics level to keep up with the world's advanced trends. Unfortunately, he has always been high-minded. In the entire Ming Dynasty, he was the only one who could understand the essence of modern technology: axiomatic mathematical knowledge is advanced technology. Basics. Xu Guangqi looked at the textile machine driven by animal power machinery in front of him. He sighed: Designing and manufacturing such machinery is not a technical level that can be achieved by a simple manual workshop. Xu Guangqi deeply felt an invisible pressure. The Ming Dynasty seemed to be under pressure. In all aspects, it has begun to lag behind Chinese companies.
Xu Guangqi, Yuan Chonghuan and others have felt that the Chinese army's attitude towards them has changed. The original straightforward and brutal show of force seems to be changing into a more flexible one, showing strength in economic management and governance capabilities.
A few days after the ban was lifted, the Ming Dynasty invited imperial envoys to visit the Chinese Army barracks in the north of Suzhou. This was the result of Yuan Chonghuan's instigation of Xu Guangqi.
Yuan Chonghuan did not follow Xu Guangqi to inspect the people's livelihood in Suzhou these days. Instead, he wanted to go to the Chinese Army barracks to inquire about the situation. He was followed by several Chinese Army soldiers. There were also some unidentified people in plain clothes following him secretly. No matter how hard Yuan Chonghuan tried, They were unable to find out any news about the Chinese army camp. Even if they looked at it from a distance, they would be stared at. Finally, Yuan Chonghuan encouraged Xu Guangqi to directly propose to the escorting Chinese army officers: The imperial ministers wanted to visit the military camp.
I thought this request would be a bit troublesome. Unexpectedly, the young officer from the Chinese Army immediately nodded and agreed. He just said that there was no time to notify the military camp today and could not apply for a military camp pass, so I could only go tomorrow.