After the Lantern Festival, the people of Beijing began to slowly return to their old lives from the annual spring break. The war that broke out suddenly because of the invasion of the Ming Dynasty by the Later Jin Dynasty made Shen Qiyuan and Gu Shihe, the envoys of the Korean Kingdom who were stranded in Beijing unable to face the saints, finally received by Chongzhen.

Since Chongzhen ascended the throne, the Ming Dynasty, who had never cared much about the Korean Kingdom, was unusual, first forcibly taking Gwanghaejun to the Ming Dynasty, and then forcibly leasing Tiesan County and other areas, and last year also sent a survey team to interview and sample around North Korea, which made the current Korean king Li Liang very frightened.

So in the second year of Chongzhen, the Korean Kingdom sent the winter solstice envoy to the Ming Dynasty, and Li Liang changed the previous insignificant people to send them, but used the Jeolla Provincial Observation Envoy Shen Jiyuan as the envoy to go to the Ming Dynasty to congratulate Chongzhen.

Shen Qiyuan is not only a descendant of Shen Dayuan, a famous sage, but also very proficient in Confucianism. He is also the "meritorious hero of the Yasusha" who helped Li Liang ascend to the throne of the king of Joseon, and can be said to be one of the most trusted people by Li Liang.

In principle, North Korea had to send envoys to the Ming Dynasty three times a year, one for Chongzhen's birthday, once for the crown prince's birthday, and once for the winter solstice. Joseon was originally a dynasty established by Yi Sung-gye usurping the Goryeo Kingdom, and this Goryeo is not the same thing as Goryeo in the Tang Dynasty.

Because Li Chenggui was not righteous, and the Ming Dynasty at this time was the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, the extremely powerful founding monarch, so at that time, in order to be able to use the strength of the Ming Dynasty to deter the remnants of Goryeo in the country, he adopted the principle of Muhua and Shida, and sent 4 groups of envoys to Nanjing every year, and these envoys were also called angels.

Of course, Li Chenggui sent envoys to Daming so frequently, and it was not as nice as he said. The tasks of these envoys were: First, to find out the situation in the Ming Dynasty and the changes in the attitude of the Ming court towards the Korean Kingdom, so as to prevent the Ming army from suddenly attacking the Korean Kingdom.

The second is to send those ministers who are highly respected but have Goryeo in their hearts to the Ming Dynasty, so that he can cleanse the remnants of Goryeo without hindrance in the country.

After both Korea and the Ming Dynasty entered a period of stability, the political tasks of these Korean angels, who were originally burdened with special tasks, began to gradually decrease, but the task of purchasing materials lacking in the country through tributary trade, or giving protection to merchants, and earning the difference in the price of goods between the two countries, began to become the main business of these Korean envoys.

The change in the flavor of the Korean envoys' missions also caused the Ming court to begin to reduce the number of visits of the Korean angels, and Tobe was very dissatisfied with the Korean envoys' efforts to focus on tributary trade every time they came to Kyoto. They really can't stand to buy a bunch of useless North Korean goods, and most of the more sought-after North Korean specialties such as ginseng and seafood are sold by North Koreans in the market.

Such a bunch of useless things were thrown to the household department, and the household department also rewarded a batch of valuable Ming goods out. They also often liked to ask the emperor for additional rewards, which was obviously a loss-making deal, and the household officials who felt the pain were naturally not happy to receive them. Therefore, they repeatedly suggested to the emperor that the Korean kingdom should only send envoys once a year, which would save everyone a lot of trouble.

Zhu Youzhen had not yet considered the suggestion of the household officials, so he decided to meet the DPRK chief and deputy envoys first. is different from the previous trembling and petty North Korean envoys. Although Shen Qiyuan can't speak Chinese, his appearance and bearing are also quite impressive.

Deputy Envoy Gu Shihe is a talented person who is proficient in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Manchurian, but his appearance is really ugly. If it weren't for the fact that this envoy was very important, and Li Liang and Shen Qiyuan needed an interpreter who could correctly convey the opinions of both sides, this deputy envoy would not have been able to fall on the head of the concubine of the Ayacheng Gu clan who had a low status.

With Gu Shihe's accurate and literary translation, Zhu Youzhen and Shen Qiyuan chatted quite well. However, when Shen Qiyuan euphemistically proposed to Chongzhen, hoping to reduce the grain supplied by North Korea to Dongjiang Town, and hoping to obtain part of the administrative power of Tieshan County, Zhu Youzhen's originally relaxed expression suddenly disappeared.

He looked at Shen Qiyuan seriously for a long time before he spoke: "Is Li Liang planning to betray my Daming and take refuge in the Houjin Kingdom?" ”

Hearing Emperor Daming's stern tone, Gu Shihe was only shocked, and calmly conveyed Chongzhen's meaning to Shen Qiyuan beside him. Shen Qiyuan immediately threw himself on the ground from the throne, kowtowed to Chongzhen, and said quickly: "Xiaobang has been subservient to the Celestial Empire for more than 200 years, and has never betrayed the Celestial Empire.

If it weren't for Emperor Shenzong's heavenly army to help, the small state would have been shattered. The Celestial Empire has the grace of reinvention for the small state, and the small state is inscribed with a sense of guilt, how dare they be ungrateful and betray the Celestial Empire.

Our DPRK is a barrier of the Celestial Empire, and it also belongs to China. The Jurchen is a Tatar, and the country is a tiger and wolf, and the whole country does not know Chinese characters, does not know the way of sages, and behaves like a barbarian. Although the small state is based overseas, it also knows that people are moral, how can they betray the Celestial Empire and enter the barbarian state. Please also ask Your Majesty to be clear. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the two North Koreans kneeling on the ground in front of him, and thought for a long time before he said word by word: "I hope that you will remember my words well in the future, and convey what I said to Li Liang word for word."

The war between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty was a war between the Chinese civilization and the barbarians, and this war was not only to defend the Ming Dynasty, but also to defend all the countries and people who identified with the Chinese civilization.

In this war of civilization and barbarism, all countries and peoples under the sequence of Chinese civilization should make contributions to the best of their ability. If North Korea still admits that it belongs to the Chinese civilization, then it should join the war without complaint.

Just like when Japan invaded Korea, I did not hesitate to send troops to defend the Korean Kingdom. Emperor Shenzong sent troops to help the Korean Kingdom resist the Japanese invaders, was it just to preserve the existence of a vassal state of our Ming Dynasty?

Obviously, this is not the case, what I want to protect is a subject country that has accepted Chinese culture and belongs to a member of Chinese civilization. Therefore, Emperor Shenzong sent troops to Korea, not to fight for Korea, but to fight for Chinese civilization.

What is Chinese civilization, Chinese people, China also. He was taught by the king, belonged to China, was well-dressed, filial piety, and etiquette, so it was called China.

I have heard that Koreans often claim to be Little China overseas, since you consider yourself a part of Chinese civilization, when our Ming Dynasty fought fiercely with the barbarians and defended the Chinese civilization, you complained to me that the Ming soldiers who defended Korea from falling into the hands of the barbarians asked for too much food?

Is this Li Liang's filial piety to me? Is this the etiquette of the Korean vassal state to the state of parents? ”

Regarding Chongzhen's questioning, Shen Qiyuan was sweating profusely and was speechless for a while. For a long time, the monarchs and ministers of Korea regarded this war as a matter between the Ming Dynasty and the Jurchen Tatars, and believed that this war had nothing to do with Korea. Many people even feel that because the refugees from Liaodong fled into North Korea and the establishment of Donggang Town in North Korea, it was a completely unwarranted disaster for North Korea.

It's like two powerful neighbors fighting, but they rush into an unrelated North Korean home and smash a lot of North Korean furniture, and North Korea has nothing to do about it.

What's more, although the Korean scholars have always adhered to the principle of Muhua and Shida, they do not mean that they are willing to be completely annexed by the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, they were always vigilant and fearful of the appearance of the Ming army on the territory of the Korean Kingdom.

This is also why, the North Korean people have always wanted to reduce the supply to Donggang Town, so as to prevent Mao Wenlong from becoming bigger in North Korea, and finally the king of land will not leave.

Li Qian hoped that through this mission, Chongzhen would be forced to make a little concession with morality and etiquette, reduce the food supply of North Korea to Donggang Town, and take back some of the administrative power of Tieshan County. Since Wang Huazhen forcibly leased Tieshan County, it was announced that those who were willing to pay taxes and grain to the Ming people in this area would automatically obtain the status of a good person.

As a result of this policy, slaves and maidservants in nearby areas began to flee to Tieshan County to obtain the status of beloved from the Ming people. However, the Korean sergeants and government did not dare to enter Tiesan County to arrest fugitive slaves, which made many landlords and two classes very dissatisfied. It is hoped that Li Qi can change this situation and stop Tieshan County's policy of emancipating fugitive slaves.

However, after Shen Qiyuan arrived in the Ming Dynasty and witnessed the victory of Chongzhen's personal expedition to defeat Houjin, he was somewhat awakened to the fact that this mission might be difficult. He could only hope that the young Emperor Ming was a good-looking man and would not condone Mao Wenlong's wanton behavior in the vassal kingdom and ruin the reputation of the Ming Dynasty.

But he didn't expect that Chongzhen would actually blame the Korean Kingdom and the monarch Li Liang with great righteousness. This not only made him unable to make the emperor back down, but put the sovereign Li Liang in a dangerous situation. Turning one's back on Chinese civilization and trying to take refuge in barbarians is a very serious crime.

And the force of the Korean Kingdom can't even resist the power of Donggang Town, otherwise the monarch Li Liang would not have sent him directly to Chongzhen to intercede. With the abolished king Guanghaijun in his hands, coupled with the name of righteousness, Shen Qi was far from thinking that the monarch Li Liang could resist the Ming Dynasty's questioning master.

Shen Qiyuan, who couldn't solve the dilemma in front of him, could only repeatedly emphasize that the sovereign Li Liang had no intention of betraying the Ming Dynasty, and that the Korean Kingdom was really weak and poor, and could not afford the food supply in Dongjiang Town, so he had to send him as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty to ask the emperor for mercy.

After Zhu You heard this, he sneered and asked, "Since the Joseon Kingdom can't afford the grain in Dongjiang Town, why was it able to transport a thousand bags of grain to Houjin?" Do you think I'm a bully? ”

Shen Qiyuan was dumbfounded and didn't know how to answer, but Gu Shihe reacted quickly and said: "Back to Your Majesty, this must be some lawless people smuggling grain to Houjin to make a profit."

Just as there are profiteers who collaborate with the enemy in the Ming Dynasty, there are also many birds and beasts in our DPRK who see profit and forget their righteousness, and I ask Your Majesty to be aware of everything and not to misunderstand the small state. ”

Zhu Youzhen stared at Gu Shihe for a long time before he said, "Misunderstanding? Then please prove whether I misunderstood you. Stand down, I will send someone to sign an agreement with you, and if you do, I will treat it as a misunderstanding..."