On the banks of the Han River outside the capital of Korea, from the elderly in their seventies to children under the age of ten, they all vied with each other to see the angels coming from the Heavenly Empire.

On the riverside, a high platform has been built, and a group of officials such as Kim Sang-hun and Kim Doop-pyo are waiting for an exciting moment, which is a moment that North Koreans have been waiting for for a long time for more than a decade.

Now, Korea is finally going to return to the embrace of the Celestial Empire and become a vassal state of the Ming Empire again. The Tartars can no longer be oppressed on their heads, and today, they will have a new king, an angel from the Heavenly Empire, and a noble prince of the Ming Dynasty who will personally crown the king of Korea.

This is the supreme glory.

In August, when the osmanthus flowers are in full bloom, the people of Gyeonggi Province and Seoul welcome the Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals into the court.

When the multi-story giant ship sailed along the Han River, and when the dense layers of gun windows on the giant ship appeared, Kim Sang-hun and other North Korean officials were glad that they had made the right choice, and the Mantar was forced to surrender with only a dozen cannons. And now that the angel is leading more than 100 gunboats and hundreds of cannons, he really wants Jin Zidian to intercept with the North Korean soldiers and horses, and the two sides will fight, I am afraid that they will lose worse than when Bingzi was in chaos, no, they will definitely lose even worse.

The Joseon monarch asked the Ming Emperor to canonize the new king, and the request had been approved, and the Duke of Chu sent the fastest fast sailing ship back to Tianjin, and then returned to Beijing as soon as possible. The emperor also made a reply at the first time, agreeing to establish Yi Changjun as the king of Joseon. When the edict was sent to Seoul, the whole North Korean breathed a sigh of relief.

Yi Changjun personally led a group of ministers to meet Liu Jun and asked the angel of the kingdom to personally crown him.

"Congratulations to the king of Korea on his accession to the throne, the cannons rang out one hundred and eight!"

Liu Jun waved his hand and commanded his royal flag officer.

"He ascends the throne, fire a salute!"

Three battleships on the riverside sailed out of the group. Open to the center of the river, one word horizontally. Three battleships aimed rows of naval guns at a hill on the opposite bank.

Liu Jun smiled and said to the Korean monarchs and ministers sitting next to him, "Please accept the congratulations of my Ming soldiers." ”

Yi Changjun was in his fifties, the eighth son of Seonjo, and he would never have imagined it before the Ming army came to Korea. One day he could become the king of Joseon. Back then, Japan invaded Korea, and he almost died at the hands of the Japanese when he fled, and later the Ming Dynasty helped Korea defeat Japan and help Seonjo repeat the dynasty. But later, the princes competed for the throne, Gwanghaejun killed his brother to snatch the throne, and then his nephew mutinied and seized the throne of Gwanghaejun, blinded him and exiled him. He was then executed.

The battle for the throne was brutal, and he was lucky.

Yichangjun Li Jian clearly knew that his throne was all obtained by the Ming Dynasty, so he had great respect for the righteous son of the Ming Emperor.

"Boom!"

The guns of the ships roared, and the cannons on one side of the three battleships roared one after another, and the huge sound was like a thunderbolt from the sky.

After the bombardment on one side, the cannon on the other side of the battleship roared in turn, and the battleship did not turn around, this time all the shells bombarded this side. Sitting by the river, which is not far away. You can clearly see the orange-red fireworks spewing out of the battleship's gun window.

I saw the cannonballs with white smoke whistling into the hill by the river, splashing up bursts of mud and dust.

Li Juan's face was pale. I felt a tightness in my heart and even a dry throat.

It was the first time he had seen such a fierce artillery fire, and after one hundred and eight shots, the two small hills on both sides of the river had been leveled by the artillery fire.

Razed!

Not only was the new king shocked, but so were the rest of the ministers. There were even many people who were frightened and exclaimed.

"What kind of cannon is this?" Marshal Zhang Wan, who made great contributions to the uprooting of the chaos anyway, couldn't help but ask, this white-haired Marshal Du is an old commander in the North Korean army, and he has sent troops twice to settle the situation.

"Long cannon." Liu Jun said very blandly.

"Is it a Hongyi cannon?"

"More advanced and more powerful than the Hongyi cannon."

Zhang Wan's eyes were fixed on the three battleships, "Is this cannon forged by Shangguo himself?" And such a battleship was also made by himself?"

"These three warships and the guns on board were all obtained by me from defeating Xiyi at sea before, but now I have mastered the art of casting cannons and building ships. The fleet that came with me this time was just a detachment of my Ming Beiyang Naval Division. ”

"How many sub-fleets does one fleet of the Great Ming Navy Division have?"

"The Beiyang Naval Division has three detachments, with one hundred and fifty warships and 1,500 cannons."

Zhang Wan and the rest of the Korean monarchs and ministers couldn't help but take a breath of cool air when they heard this, one hundred and fifty warships, one thousand fifteen hundred cannons. In this world, what kind of city can withstand so many artillery attacks, and at sea, who can stop such a fleet.

Liu Jun added at this time, "The Beiyang Naval Division is only one of the imperial naval divisions under the command of a certain imperial court, and it is used as a coordinated operation of the three towns of the army under the command of the Duke of China. There are three fleets in the Ming Empire, namely the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the Yangtze River Navy, of which the South China Sea and the East China Sea are much stronger than the Beiyang, whether it is more warships or artillery. ”

As soon as these words came out, the Korean monarchs and ministers were even more stunned.

The awe of Daming in everyone's hearts has reached a higher level.

When the auspicious time came, in the sound of salute music, Liu Jun represented the son of tomorrow and crowned the king of Joseon.

The new monarch of North Korea, Li Juan, dressed in a ceremonial dress, walked up to the stage step by step.

The officials of the Daming Rite Department who came from Beijing took out the canonization edict of the Great Tomorrow and read it out in public.

After the edict was read, Li Juan knelt down to receive the edict.

Then, Liu Jun walked to the middle of the stage with the king's crown in his hand, and Li Jun stepped forward and knelt down in front of Liu Jun.

Liu Jun held the crown in his hand and put it on for Li Jun, and then handed over the golden seal of the Korean king given by Chongzhen to Li Jun.

After a ceremony, Li Jian was officially crowned as the king of Joseon.

After Li Jian ascended the throne, his first order was to arrest all pro-Qing factions, whether they were Westerners, southerners, or northerners, as long as they had previously supported the pro-Qing peace talks, they would be removed from office and removed from office. Among them, the main ones such as Cui Mingji, Jin Zidian and other Xunxi factions were arrested, and then on the first day of the new king's accession to the throne, they were publicly beheaded to show their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty.

Execute the principal officials of the parliamentary and factional faction, and demote the remaining party of the parliamentary and faction. This is one thing that Li Jian did.

The second thing was to order the arrest of all the Jurchens in Korea and hand them over to the Ming Dynasty.

And the third thing is to deal with it secretly.

The former king Li Liang was exiled to Ganghwa Island, and then on the way, the ship was caught in a storm and capsized, and Li Liang, his wife and children were all drowned in the sea and drowned.

This matter was not requested by Liu Jun, but was done by the new king and ministers of Joseon themselves, and they did not want to leave any troubles in the future than Liu Jun.

Just like when Li Liang mutinied and overthrew Guanghaijun, then poisoned him and killed him. Political struggles are always brutal. Li Juan ascended to the throne, and Li Juan naturally had to die. The old Western faction came to power, and the Xunxi faction and the Shaoxi faction also had to be purged.

The camp of the Ming army in Seoul.

Kim Sang-hun, the new leader of the parliamentary government, came to visit Liu Jun with many officials, and brought many carts of cattle, sheep, wine and meat and other rewards. They also prepared a generous gift for Liu Jun, a thousand taels of gold and ten beauties.

However, Liu Jun didn't accept it, there was a lot of gold in a thousand taels, but he was not short of it. As for the ten beauties. Although North Korean officials blew for a long time how beautiful their women were, they were still virgin. But the big cake face with single eyelids and high cheekbones, Liu Jun really doesn't like it very much. There are certainly beautiful girls in North Korea, but it is never that aesthetic standard that he appreciates.

"I don't need these things, in fact, I would rather like to negotiate a few mutually beneficial business deals with North Korea."

Seeing that Liu Jun refused to accept the gift, but wanted to talk about business, Jin Shangxian and others were very puzzled. I thought Liu Jun wanted more gifts.

"You don't have to think about it, it's just a business, and it's good for you. Let me mention it first, you see our artillery battleships, right? This can be sold to you as long as you want. Liu Jun threw out a tempting bait first.

Kim Sang-hun hasn't reacted yet. The old marshal Zhang Wan immediately asked impatiently, "Can you really sell us those artillery warships?" ”

"Absolutely!" Liu Jun said with a smile.

"We buy, on what terms?" Zhang Wan asked repeatedly, his anxious look, Jin Shangxian who saw it was slanderous. How can there be such a talk about trading, even if you really want to buy, you can't show such urgency.

But Zhang Wan didn't care about these, he now knew the power of these artillery warships, and if North Korea could have some of it himself, it would not be bullied by both Japan and Manchukuo in the future.

Liu Junken sold some artillery and warships to North Korea, but what he sold was definitely for export and foreign trade, and to put it bluntly, it was an ordinary type rather than a high-pointed type. Artillery for sale, at most, the traditional Hongyi cannon type, or sell some Franc machines, Tiger squat guns, at most sell them a little howitzer. Anyway, the strength of North Korea is weak, their army is not even a standing army, but similar to the militia, there are no special generals and no special troops, only when they need to assemble, to put it bluntly, it is as rotten and galloping as the Ming Dynasty's guard army, when the Qing army invaded, the Eight Korean Army, thousands or even tens of thousands of troops, were often defeated by hundreds of Qing troops.

Sell them some firearms, and they won't do anything.

Instead, they were given the equipment they desperately wanted, in exchange for other concessions.

What Liu Jun wants is a mutual trade market, not an official tributary trade and buying, but an all-round mutual market and free trade. North Korea, like Japan, has now embarked on the road of closing itself off from the rest of the country, and when it is frightened by others, it shrinks its head and becomes a turtle.

Liu Jun proposed to the DPRK that the Daming East India Company obtain the exclusive right to trade with the DPRK. The East India Company was free to buy and sell goods throughout Korea, and had free access to Korean ports and terminals. In addition, the merchant ships of the East India Company were levied at the same tax rate as those in Korea, and no additional levy could be levied.

In addition, North Korea allocated the two islands of Tamna Island and Geoje Island to Daming as a naval division station and trading port.

"We need to think about this." Kim Sang-hun didn't expect Liu Jun to be so demanding, and he wanted to cede two islands at once, which were not two small islands, but the two largest islands in North Korea.

Liu Jun said with a smile, "As long as you agree to our request, then we can not only sell you artillery warships, but also the Ming Dynasty will exempt North Korea from all kinds of tribute, in addition to the annual symbolic tribute of a small amount of North Korean specialties, we will not recruit soldiers, people, and grain and grass to North Korea, etc., nor will we ask you to send troops to fight against the Qing army, on the contrary, we will also send troops to help you defend the north and block the invasion of the Qing army in the future." The presence of sailors on Tamna and Geoje Islands can also help you fight piracy and prevent Japanese aggression. ”

As soon as this request was made, many North Korean officials were moved.

After they surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, they had to pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty six times a year, and all kinds of materials were tributed. The amount is very large, sometimes a tribute of 100,000 stone of grain and thousands of horses. That's not just a tribute, it's a plunder. But they have no choice, and they even have to pay tribute to the girl every year.

In the past, when the Ming Dynasty was in the past, there was no less tribute, and in those years, Dongjiang Town was in Phi Island, and they often asked them to provide grain and grass. Of course, what made them most excited was that the Ming army would help them defend the front line of the Yalu River. The invasion of the Qing army made them miserable, and now that they have joined the Ming Dynasty, what they are most worried about is that the Qing army will come to retaliate again.

"How?"

"Tamna is permanently ceded to the Ming Dynasty, and the people of the island can be moved away or stayed. If you move away, we will pay you an additional five taels of silver for each of you, and if you stay, then they will become the people of the Ming Dynasty. We paid the North Koreans ten taels of silver for each of them. In addition, a one-time compensation of 100,000 taels of silver will be paid. ”

"As for Geoje Island. It is a lease, but there is a garrison to build a city freely, the island can be free to do business and trade and reclaim, the implementation of the law of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming people have the right to live. We are willing to pay a rent of 1,000 taels of silver a year, and we will pay another merchant. You will be paid an additional duty and no other taxes will be levied. ”

In addition, the Joseon handed over the two places of Uiju and Tiesan to the Ming Dynasty to build a city, which was garrisoned by the Ming army to help them defend against the invasion of the Qing army.

Kim Sang-hun and the others went to the side alone to discuss. The main problem is the problem of two islands, especially Tamna Island, although Geoje Island is also very large, but there are not many people at all, and the Great Wilderness Island is one, if it is leased to the Ming Dynasty, it is best to have 1,000 taels of silver a year. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty garrisoned troops and built a trading station here, and they could collect another tariff in the future, and even protect the southeast coast for them to defend against Japan.

The problem is Tamna, which is a large island that was once an ancient kingdom that was later incorporated into Silla and is now part of Korea. The island is an excellent pasture that produces a large number of good horses.

Kim Sang-hun and others were unwilling to lose the island, and they did not want to offend the Ming Dynasty, so they wanted to lease it to the Ming Dynasty like Geoje Island.

After hearing this proposal, Liu Jun agreed with a smile. He offered the same conditions as Geoje, 1,000 taels of silver a year, plus customs duties for entry and exit, but in the future, Geoje and Tamna were both concessions of the Ming Dynasty, and the laws of the Ming Dynasty were implemented in the concessions, and the Ming could garrison troops in the concessions and have extraterritoriality, and the laws of Korea were not in circulation in the concessions, and the compensation silver was gone.

Kim Sang-hun and others finally chose to lend, but proposed that the original Korean government in the lease should still be retained, and the people of Daming would not be governed by North Korean law, but the Koreans on the island would still be under the jurisdiction of the North Korean government.

Liu Jun rejected this reasonable request and insisted that the people on the island should be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty in the future. In the end, Kim Sang-hun and others compromised.

They also got what they wanted, the two sides signed a contract for the purchase of arms, and North Korea ordered a large number of firearms from the Ming Dynasty, including Hongyi artillery, Franc machine guns, shells, guns, bullets, etc., as well as several gunboats. In addition, Liu Jun also signed a mutual defense agreement on behalf of the Ming Dynasty and the Joseon king, under which when either side of Korea and the Ming Dynasty was attacked by a third party, the other side was obliged to send troops to assist in the defense.

Originally, Liu Jun had already told them that there was no need for North Korea to send troops to help the Ming Dynasty fight, but the North Korean people thought that they had rights and obligations, since they needed the Ming Dynasty to help them defend against the Qing and Japanese, then they also had to help the Ming Dynasty fight, otherwise, they were afraid that the Ming army would not really help them.

At the same time, they also reached several other agreements, such as the amount of tribute and the scope and amount of tribute.

The DPRK was very happy that they had received a promise of protection from the Ming Dynasty and had not been asked for many supplies and money.

Liu Jun was also very satisfied, he reached a number of deals with North Korea on behalf of the Ming East India Company, in addition to the transaction of firearms and ships, Liu Jun also signed a purchase agreement with North Korea to purchase 10,000 horses and 30,000 cattle, as well as a large number of Korean ginseng, cloth, medicinal herbs, grain, etc.

The price of these goods purchased by the Daming East India Company from North Korea was about 10% higher than that of the North Korean market, and it was paid with excellent quality Daming silver dollars.

The Joseon monarchs and ministers were quite satisfied with this kind of transaction, and in the past, the imperial court also traded cattle and horses with the Ming Dynasty, but each time it was bartered, and the price was not satisfactory. Now Liu Jun buys it directly with silver, and the price is fair, or it is a cash transaction. The most important thing is that they took the silver, turned around and ordered a large number of supplies from Liu Jun, all kinds of sharp firearms, mighty warships, and even all kinds of Chinese luxury goods, and the prices were very fair.

After the deal was negotiated, Liu Jun didn't plan to stay longer, he planned to go to Tamna and Geoje Island for a turn. If I could, I would like to talk to Japanese people about business.

Hearing that Liu Jun was leaving, the Korean monarchs and ministers were very reluctant, and Li Jian invited Liu Jun to the palace for a banquet.

During the banquet, a young woman came up to meet Liu Jun.

"This is Princess Jingshu."

After the woman stepped back, Li Jian told Liu Jun. Li Jian ascended the throne, and his children were also crowned. Among them, the concubine was named the princess, the concubine was named the lord, Princess Jingshu is the third daughter of Li Juan, and her only daughter-in-law, the only daughter who has won the title of princess, this year's sixteen, has not yet married.

"This king wants to marry the Duke of Chu, I don't know if it's possible?" Li Jian asked.

Liu Jun remembered the woman just now, she looked pretty good, it was rare not to have a single eyelid and high cheekbones, a big cake face, clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, although she was a little short.

"So-and-so is married." Liu Jun replied.

"This king doesn't care about this, I believe you will be good to her, it is her honor to marry a hero like Duke Chu."

"Does she really want to?" Liu Jun asked with a smile.

"Of course I do." Seeing that Liu Jun didn't seem to refuse this family matter, Li Jian hurriedly replied with a smile, if Liu Jun became his son-in-law, then his throne would really be stable.

"My Fair Lady, good gentleman, thank you for the love of the king and princess, I must first play the great son of tomorrow in this matter, if my father agrees, then I naturally will not have an opinion." Liu Jun replied with a smile. Since the king and princess of Joseon don't care about the difference between their wives, how can he, Liu Jun, refrain from resigning and marrying the daughter of a Joseon king, it is definitely good for him.

"This matter is settled, and I immediately sent someone to play the Son of Heaven to ask for permission to this marriage." Li Jian laughed. (To be continued......)