I

The day the Datong Army occupied Hanyang, the city and its surroundings stabilized.

Due to the severe punishment of robbers who took advantage of the chaos, the social security in Hanyang City was even better than ever before, and even petty theft was temporarily eliminated.

"Dang Ambassador, what should we do?" Jin Junyan asked.

Dang Chongjun was also a little confused: "Wait for the North Korean monarchs and ministers to send someone with weight to negotiate."

The imperial order they received was very simple, that is, to seize a piece of land from North Korea. The specific operation was decided by themselves.

So the two made a plan to have the army bombard the city walls. After rejecting the first three rounds of negotiations from North Korea, and under continuous bombardment, they were able to receive the fourth round of envoys, from the time when the lion opened his mouth to paying back the money, and finally extorted a large piece of land.

Dang Chongjun and Jin Junyan, both civil and military officials, never dreamed that the North Korean monarchs and ministers would actually abandon the city and flee!

"Ambassador, there is a North Korean businessman who wants to see you."

"Bring him in."

A North Korean businessman in his forties knelt down in front of Dang Chongjun and said: "Common people of this country, Hong Daoquan, bow down to the Lord Angel!"

Dang Chongjun said: "Get up."

"Thank you, sir." Hong Daoquan stood up and still stood bent, "The king of our country patrolled the city and sent the common people to apologize to the angel."

Dang Chongjun became more and more speechless: "Why didn't you send a minister to ask for mercy, but actually sent a businessman here?"

Hong Daoquan said: "The king sends ministers, and ministers send businessmen."

"What does the leader of North Korea want to say?" Dang Chongjun asked.

Hong Daoquan replied: "I don't know."

Dang Chongjun almost spit out a mouthful of old blood. In this horrible situation, the King of North Korea still doesn't know what to say?

Hong Daoquan explained: "The king and the ministers were arguing endlessly in Kaicheng, and no one could come up with a charter that would convince the public. The common people were sent to find out what the angel said. The angel could ask for half of the land, but the angel would ask for half of the land, and the common people would comply with the truth. Go back and resume your life."

Dang Chongjun became more and more confused as he listened: "Which country are you a businessman from? Why don't you speak for North Korea?"

Hong Daoquan replied: "Reporting to the angel, the common people are pine merchants."

Next to him, a craftsman who had been in North Korea for a long time walked up to Dang Chongjun and muttered: "Ambassador Dang, among the merchants in North Korea, the most powerful ones are Jing merchants, Song merchants, and Wan merchants. Beijing merchants monopolize Hanyang trade, and most of them are concubines from the nobility. Family. Bay merchants are Baozhou merchants, trading on both sides of the Yalu River. Song merchants are Kaicheng merchants, spread throughout North Korea, but they have suffered heavy suppression."

Dang Chongjun understood and asked with a smile: "Do you have a heart for China?"

Hong Daoquan answered unabashedly: "As a pine merchant, I always think about embracing the Celestial Empire!"

Kaesong was called Songak in ancient times. It became the capital during the Goryeo Dynasty, so it was renamed Kaegyeong. The merchants in Kaesong were very prominent at that time. After the establishment of the Lee Dynasty, they not only moved the capital to Hanyang, but also banned the imperial examinations for scholars in Kaesong.

As a result, more and more people from Kaesong became engaged in business because the road to the imperial examination was cut off. The scale of Songshang continued to grow, and "Songfang" was opened across the country, forming a business network throughout North Korea.

The trade between Datong China and North Korea became increasingly prosperous, and the North Korean monarchs once again suppressed pine merchants. The port in Kaicheng was directly closed. The goods purchased by Songshang must be sold to Beijing merchants in Hanyang, who would trade directly with Chinese merchants.

This means that pine merchants all over the country can only work as inland suppliers, working hard and making little money, and future generations have been prohibited from taking imperial examinations. Even to receive goods in the country, two groups of nobles had to issue licenses, and each commercial license had to be exchanged for bribes.

Very rich, with little land, unable to take part in the imperial examinations, with business networks all over the country, and being suppressed by the court at every turn... What do these pine merchants think?

Of course I want to annex China, divide the fields as I please, kill all the Korean monarchs and ministers, and do business unimpeded from now on!

Moreover, the children of Chinese businessmen can also take part in the imperial examinations, and maybe their descendants can become officials.

Hong Daoquan said: "The kings and ministers of North Korea are in Kaesong at this time, with only 1,500 gunmen following them, and 500 Kaesong defenders. If the Chinese army attacks the city, and the Kaesong merchants are willing to set fire to cooperate, they will definitely be able to defeat it in one battle!" "

"Stand down." Dang Chongjun said.

After the North Korean businessmen left, Dang Chongjun and Jin Junyan looked at each other.

The behavior of North Korea's monarchs and ministers was unexpected in every way, and the Kaesong merchants clearly wanted to lead the way, which was completely unimaginable to them.

Dang Chongjun said: "General Jin, I know what you are thinking. I also want to perform meritorious service, but the imperial court only allows part of the territory in the north of North Korea to be ceded, and it is impossible to swallow it all after the country is destroyed. The imperial court regained Guangnan Province and sent troops Although it went well, it took a lot of effort to suppress the rebellion. North Korea is more complicated than Guangnan. It may be easy to annex, but it will cost countless money and food every year to suppress the rebellion. Moreover, Guangnan is rich in rice, but North Korea has none. Its complete occupation is purely A loss-making business.”

"Then take half and keep the other half?" Jin Junyan said.

Dang Chongjun said: "Sufficient land must be left for North Korea, and North Korean monarchs and ministers cannot be killed. North Korea's monarchs and ministers cede land, and all responsibilities lie with North Korea's monarchs and ministers, which can greatly reduce civil resistance."

"That's right." Jin Junyan nodded.

Dang Chongjun said: "In addition to expanding the territory, the imperial court also wants to lift the silver ban in North Korea so that our Chinese silver coins can pass through North Korea unimpeded. This matter is more important than expanding the territory."

North Korea’s currency reform is somewhat ridiculous.

Copper coins from China were distributed throughout the country through merchants, but Chinese silver coins were never used. In fact, silver trading is officially prohibited, and only copper coins are allowed in North Korea.

This ban on silver has lasted for more than two hundred years.

North Korea initially had to pay tribute of silver to the Ming Dynasty, but the amount was not large, six to seven hundred taels of silver per year. In order to pay tribute to the silver, the kings and ministers of North Korea not only raided temples, but even mined several silver mines for hundreds of taels of silver. Those silver mines will stop working when they have collected six or seven hundred taels, and will start again before the next tribute.

It was not until the Jiajing period that the Ming Dynasty allowed North Korea to stop paying tribute to silver.

It made sense to ban silver in the early years, because copper coins were not popular and barter was popular in North Korea. However, with the development of the economy and the increasing volume of trade, it is sheer nonsense to continue to ban silver. The North Korean monarchs and ministers are simply fooling around.

This kind of messing around is to better control the place.

First, licenses are issued to merchants, a portion of the tax in kind is handed over to the merchants, and then sold to domestic officials and people. The monarchs and ministers of North Korea had firm control over every link, and both groups of nobles could make a fortune at every link.

In the past few years of reforms, Chinese copper coins were introduced, and two groups of nobles controlled the issuance channels of copper coins through merchants. The nobles controlled Beijing merchants and let Beijing merchants issue copper coins. The merchants in Beijing gave the copper coins to the merchants in the Song Dynasty, and the merchants in the Song Dynasty issued the copper coins to the local areas. Only the issuance of copper coins has been subcontracted at various levels in the capital.

North Korea's silver ban once made both China and Japan speechless.

Japan originally mined Iwami Ginzan and suddenly became a silver exporting country. The Japanese envoy An Tongtang went to North Korea to do business with 80,000 taels of silver. As a result, there was no need to go out with the one tael of silver, so he could only return the same way with the money, making it look like he had come to North Korea specifically to show off his wealth.

When the Ming Dynasty came to aid North Korea, due to the inconvenience of transporting grain, it came with a large amount of silver and wanted to buy grain and grass locally in North Korea. The Ming army also had no money to spend, leading to severe food shortages in the early stages of the war.

With the smooth issuance of Chinese copper coins, businessmen all over North Korea now hope to break the silver ban, because using copper coins to conduct large transactions is too tiring.

The two discussed it and decided to continue marching.

Thousands of Datong troops sat on warships and arrived near Kaicheng the next day.

Before there was a chance for friendly exchanges, the Korean monarchs and ministers ran away again, fleeing all the way north to Xinxi, leaving the Datong Army soldiers in a mess in the wind.

What the hell?

The news that North Korea's monarchs and ministers were constantly escaping was deliberately spread by Bay merchants (Baozhou merchants).

Since Baozhou was occupied by China, many Gulf businessmen have become Chinese citizens and have monopolized the commercial trade of the Yalu River. However, their business network covers the entire Pyongan Province, Hamgyong Province and Hwanghae Province, and they have a fierce competition with Songshang.

The Song merchants wanted to annex China because they wanted to overthrow the Beijing merchants and engage in maritime trade.

If Gulf businessmen want to destroy North Korea, they want to extend their commercial tentacles to the central and southern markets of North Korea.

At this moment, Gulf businessmen took the opportunity to cause trouble and used the "Wanfang" to spread the news that the North Korean king had fled.

The North Korean farmers on Ping'an Road have long known that farmers in Baozhou have a better life. Every year, farmers drag their families to Baozhou smuggled into Baozhou. Outside Baozhou City, dozens of miles in radius are effectively controlled by China, and the land has long been divided.

The farmers who were unable to obtain land in Baozhou were extremely resentful towards the King of Korea. Moreover, the North Korean monarchs and ministers still stationed a large number of troops on the border to arrest and kill farmers who tried to cross the border. The farmers on Ping'an Road had long been filled with resentments, and there was only one opportunity for an uprising to break out.

What do you say about the land conflict in North Korea? A bit similar to the late Ming Dynasty.

Since Yanshanjun, land transactions have been legal by default. The land of the two groups of nobles was initially concentrated in Gyeonggi Province, and then expanded to Gangwon Province, Chungcheong Province, Jeolla Province, and Gyeongsang Province in the central and southern regions.

In central and southern Korea, land annexation has become increasingly serious, and a large amount of hidden land has not paid taxes.

As a result, tax revenue was transferred to Pyongan Province, Hwanghae Province and Hamgyong Province in the north. Those places are already poor, and they have to double taxes, and military service is the most common of the three.

In the past few decades, there was first a peasant uprising in Hamgyong Province, which persisted for three months but was suppressed. During this period, a large landowner named Li Shiai sneaked into the uprising, claiming to be a descendant of the royal family, and wanted to change the dynasty.

Then came the Hwanghae Province Peasant Revolt, led by Lim Ju-jung. This time the trouble was even greater, and they defeated the imperial army many times and lasted for a full year and two months. During this period, the king of Korea was also forced to grant Hwanghae Road and Ping'an Road tax exemption for one year to prevent more farmers from joining the uprising.

However, it is said that after the Korean monarchs and ministers fled to Xinxi, the farmers of Ping'an Road started to riot.

North Korea's Ping'an Road can be understood as China's Shaanxi and Shanxi. In recent years, famines have continued, and taxes have become higher and higher. However, there is Baozhou, where the farmers live and work in peace and contentment, which makes the farmers of Ping'an Road envious to death. If things continue like this, can we not rebel?

At first, there was only a thousand peasant uprising. In just a few days, the uprising force grew to tens of thousands. Killing the gentry and landlords, capturing the prefectural and county cities, and frightening the Korean border troops, they all ran to Baozhou to ask for asylum from the Datong Army.

Immediately afterwards, the farmers of Hwanghae Province also rebelled. The two peasant armies attacked from the north and the south and even captured the city of Pyongyang.

Then the soldiers headed southeast and fought towards Singye where the King of Joseon was.

The peasant army has a clear uprising slogan: "Be a citizen of China, cultivate the land of China, and live a good life in China!"

The Korean monarchs and ministers were so frightened that they retreated towards Jinhua and ordered the whole country to serve the king. At the same time, they sent ministers to contact the Datong army.

(Updates will resume tomorrow.)