No one in the entire Leshan Tower mentioned the peace negotiations between the Ming Dynasty and the Chinese Army. It seemed that this banquet was just to entertain a group of businessmen from the mainland.
Xu Guangqi could calm down, but Yuan Chonghuan couldn't help it. However, no matter who he caught on the other side, as soon as he mentioned the negotiation matters, the other side immediately changed the subject. Wang Gu talked about him and Yin Feng. Partners and subordinates are eligible to attend the Leshan House banquet. Xu Hongji, Zeng Yue and other Zeng family members are traditional literati. The rest are mostly pirates and maritime merchants. Now they are all senior members of the first maritime armed group in East Asia. In In terms of cultural accomplishment, they cannot compare with the civil servants who came from the capital of the Ming Dynasty. But in terms of knowledge and attitude towards life, they are not inferior to these bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty. When talking about their respective experiences and knowledge, all Chinese companies, The members of the Chinese Army can all talk freely about astronomy and geography, overseas wonders, maritime adventures, thousands of miles of battles, etc. All these experiences from all over the world make the people here seem to be well-informed. These are not Those officials of the Ming Dynasty who spent all day scheming and sitting in a well watching the sky can be compared.
Yuan Chonghuan also didn't understand where the calmness and confidence of Yin Feng and his men came from.
In short, although this night's banquet made the members of the Ming Dynasty's imperial mission and Yin Feng's people familiar with each other, the peace talks that Xu Guangqi and others were concerned about were not touched on a word this night.
Evening. Headquarters of China United Company. Yin Feng's study.
Xu Hongji, Zeng Yue, Li Heping, Zeng Rui, Xu Xinsu and secretary You Wenhui were all in this room. They were drinking thick sobering soup. Just now, the company's chief directors took turns to persuade the imperial envoys to drink. They drank almost all the imperial envoys. Except for Xu Guangqi, who has great self-control and is very old. Everyone respects him, so they didn't deal with him.
Yin Feng actually didn't drink much wine. He drank tea slowly behind the desk. "Drinking shows your true temperament. How about it. Everyone, how do these angels look?"
"Except for the Guangdong barbarian, Mr. Xu, and the Jin Yiwei Qianhu Zhang Ye, the rest of the people are not very good. Those from the Ministry of Rites, and those censors sitting at the east window. They look like hypocrites." Li Yue, the company's industrial manager and human resources manager, spoke first. The son of the former president of the Manila Artisans Guild was feeling hot all over after drinking and was sweating.
Zeng Yue moved his butt, a little further away from Li Tiejiang, and then said: "Master Xu has probably seen through us. He said to me privately at the banquet: No matter what conditions we put forward, we can negotiate now."
"Did he really say that?" Yin Feng smiled: "In that case, let them wait for a few more days. Anyway, we have withdrawn our troops from Jiangnan. Our promise to the people of the world has been fulfilled. Now it depends on what the court will do."
Xu Hongji also said: "When we were in Jiangnan, these angels could still struggle a few times. That was because something happened in North Korea. We urgently needed a ceasefire in Jiangnan and mobilized troops to move north. Now, the initiative in negotiations has returned to our hands. We have to seize the opportunity. .Squeeze the Ming court hard."
Zeng Yue saw that Xu Hongji was secretly trying to smooth over his failure in the negotiations in Jiangnan. He smiled at Xu Hongji and nodded. Then he said to Yin Feng: "Shipmaster, that Jinyiwei Qianhu is not an easy guy to get along with. That Cantonese guy named Yuan was dancing happily in front. .This Jinyiwei Qianhu didn't show off his appearance all the way, but he kept looking at us secretly. At the banquet, everyone else was drinking. This guy was the only one who insisted on not getting drunk..."
Zeng Rui also said at this time: "Yes. This guy must have pretended to be drunk in the end. There was a large puddle of water under his table... Your Majesty, will this kid be in trouble?"
"What? You mean they will attack the captain of the ship and carry out an assassination attempt?" Li Yue asked in shock.
"Impossible. The Ming Dynasty would not do this. It is asking for trouble." Yin Feng shook his head and thought about it. It seems that after the Song and Ming Dynasties, political assassinations were extremely rare in China. If the Ming Dynasty
There are still people who dare to play Bolangsha assassination and dare to die, so they will not be stepped on and beaten by the Eight Banners soldiers.
Zeng Yue also shook his head and said: "The Ming Dynasty will not go to war with us now. I have been accompanying them for many days. I can see that they are indeed willing to negotiate peace with us."
Yin Feng nodded, patted the table and said: "Okay. Brother Rui, send someone to keep an eye on everyone in the imperial mission. Brother Zeng, you are responsible for the reception of the mission. Let them hang out in the post first. Three
Days later, we can negotiate with them again.”
Zeng Rui said: "So, how should we deal with these angels in the past three days? We can't let them run around on the streets. Firstly, there are too many people in the city, so there is no reason to monitor their actions. Secondly, after all, most of the people in the city
They are all immigrants from the other side. Most of them still recognize the Ming Dynasty in their hearts. Let the Ming imperial envoys go to the streets at will. I am afraid there will be trouble..."
Yin Feng smiled: "It's up to you to do whatever you want. Anyway, just ensure their safety."
…
After that, Xu Guangqi and others were placed under house arrest for a day. They were locked up inside the Anhaiguan Inn and were not allowed to leave.
The next day, Zeng Yue brought people into Guanyi. He said he wanted to apply for city passes for all the court angels.
"What is a pass? Is it a road guide?"
"No. It is a document that all foreigners must hold when entering Taiwan's port city. With this pass, you can move around as you please within the scope of the pass."
Yuan Chonghuan, Sheng Yihong and others were very angry. They refused to apply for any pass documents: "We are imperial envoys. We exercise the power of recruitment on behalf of the emperor. How can we be compared with those businessmen?"
Zeng Yue spread his hands and smiled and said: "We will check the pass at any time on the street here. For your convenience, you should apply for it. Of course, you definitely don't want to do it. I can't help it."
Most members of the mission regarded the behavior of the Chinese army as an insult and refused to handle it. Sheng Yihong even shouted that he should return to Jinling immediately and suspend the negotiations.
On the third day, only Zhang Ye and Zhou Xiang applied for relevant documents and went out to the streets with several brothers from Jinyiwei.
After walking out of the headquarters of China Corporation, which is dotted with various administrative agencies and corporate institutions, Zhang Ye and Zhou Xiang walked into the dazzling city of Taiwan.
The person leading them was a lieutenant captain of the Yin Feng Guards. He was not tall but very strong. A pair of big and smart eyes showed his intelligence. This is Hong Xu, who is 18 years old. Zi Nian Jin is from Tong'an, Fujian.
In another time and space, Hong Xu was Zheng Zhilong's general and a capable general whom Zheng Chenggong valued. Today, he is a captain in charge of fifty soldiers in the Yinfeng Palace Guards.
Zhang Ye originally thought that this man was just a fisherman with a pirate background. After asking around, he found out that Hong Xu was from a wealthy family with a farming and education heritage. However, his father was a concubine. After he separated from his eldest son, he relied on his own land.
He could barely make ends meet with his property. On October 18, 1607, which was the 28th day of the eighth lunar month in the thirty-fifth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, there was a great earthquake in Quanzhou. Hong Xu was still in his infancy. His home was caught in the hurricane after the earthquake.
was destroyed. From then on, the family business failed to recover. When he was twelve years old, his family no longer had the financial resources for him to study, so he had to drop out of school and go home to farm. When Tong'an, Quanzhou and other places were occupied by the Chinese army, Hong Xu immediately abandoned him
Hoe joined the Chinese Army.
"Haha. I can't tell you are still a scholar." Zhang Ye had a good impression of this smart young man.
"Ashamed. Before I joined the army, I was only roughly proficient in writing."
"Oh. You also attended the Chinese Military Academy."
"Yes. I actually went to military school twice: one was the NCO crash course and the other was the officer training course. I studied in the military school for a total of one and a half years. This year and a half was the time when I learned the most.
"A kind smile flashed across Hong Xu's face. He seemed to be recalling the good times in the military academy.
He turned his head and said: "I got the order. After the negotiation is over, you can visit the Chinese Military Academy. But for now, let me take you to Nancheng District to see how it goes."
Zhang Ye looked around at the endless crowds of people filling the streets and marveled at the bustling scene of the local area.
…
On a night of heavy rain, the main force of the Chinese Army's Fourth Division entered the Taedong River on boats. Early in the morning, the troops of the Fourth Division landed on the north bank of the Tatong River. The troops were directed towards Pyongyang.
"Pyongyangfu" is the capital of Ping'an Road. It is also known as the "Two Western Important Towns". Pyongyang City is divided into four parts: the inner city, the middle city, the outer city, and the north city. The inner city has five gates. The Suzaku Gate is in the south and the Suzaku Gate is in the east.
Datong Gate (with Wengcheng). The northeast is Qixing Gate. The southeast is Changqing Gate. The west is Jinghai Gate. Outside the inner city is Zhongcheng. The south gate is Zhengyang Gate. The east gate is Hanmen Gate. The north gate is Qingchang
Gate. The west gate is an ordinary gate. Outside the middle city is the outer city. The south is the car shelter gate. The west is the multi-view gate. In addition, there are Chengfu Gate, Zupu Gate, Daodao Gate, Xiaotong Gate, Shuide Gate, etc. Inside
There is Beicheng at the north end of the city. Zhuanjin Gate is in the south and Xuanwu Gate is in the north.
More than 2,000 soldiers, businessmen and immigrants from the Chinese Bureau were surrounded by tens of thousands of North Korean troops and volunteers in Beicheng. They fought hard for two months. Finally, the rescue troops arrived. Soon, foreign mercenary groups and the Chinese Army's Liaodong troops arrived in Pyongyang one after another.
At this time, the Chinese garrison in Seoul had already been attacked by the North Korean army a month ago due to lack of food and ammunition. Including garrison soldiers and Han merchants, a total of more than 600 people were killed by the North Koreans.
News of the fall of the Seoul fort had reached Pyongyang. Yan Siqi, who had just arrived in Pyongyang, was furious and issued an order: After Seoul is captured, all North Koreans who participated in the attack on the fort on the north bank of the Han River will be executed without mercy.
At the same time, the Chinese Navy's Beiyang Fleet captured Ganghwa Island in one fell swoop, blocking the North Korean royal family's retreat. At the same time, the Chinese Navy's shallow-water heavy artillery ships converted from sand ships sailed into the Han River and bombarded North Korean military strongholds along the coast.
After Yan Siqi basically pacified the northern part of North Korea, he assembled the Fifth Division, the Fourth Division and the main force of the foreign mercenary group and headed south to Seoul.