"200,000 stone grain...... ...... ...... I really can't take it out. ”

In the palace of Seoul, the king of Joseon, Yi Liang, frowned and looked at the letter of state handed over by Susa, the minister of defense of the Qing State who was sitting on the side of the throne.

In the past few years, the Ming and Qing dynasties have fought continuously, and Li Liang also knows that the Manchu Qing Dynasty has suffered great losses, but in recent years, he has not gotten rid of the shadow of Bingzi's chaos, and he is still full of fear of the Manchu court.

It's just that the Manchus asked for 200,000 stone of grain, and Li Liang, the king of Joseon, really couldn't take it, and since the Imchen War, the cultivated land area of North Korea has been sharply reduced from the original 1,708,000 knots to 580,000 knots, and the number of domestic population has also dropped by 20 percent, especially the young and strong labor force has been reduced by 60 percent.

The grain production of a knot of land in Korea (about equal to about one mu of the Ming Kingdom) is about one stone and five stones, and the best fields are only about three stones, which means that after the invasion of the Kingdom of Korea, the domestic grain production is only about one million stone a year.

According to the historical records of the DPRK, "recently, the tax revenue has not been enough, and the funds have become more and more extensive, and the rice earned in a year cannot be used for half a year." The number that should be collected every year is only more than 50,000 stones, and more than 100,000 stones should be used a year."

Therefore, Kwanghae-kun, who took over the army, had to order a reduction in expenditures, reducing the size of the original army of 150,000 to 60,000, of which the number of soldiers was only 20,000, and the rest were ordinary young men who worked in peacetime and served as auxiliaries in wartime.

The drastic reduction in the number of troops was also one of the main reasons why the Lee regime in Korea was vulnerable to the soldiers of the Eight Banners of Manchuria.

"This is the dictation of my Qing Dynasty auxiliary king Jierharang, if the king does not gather the money and food within a month, then my Qing Dynasty will take it from itself."

Susa glanced at the Korean princes and ministers in the Li Yu palace with disdain, slowly straightened up, and walked out of the palace with Shi Shiran, as the Qing Dynasty's garrison minister in Korea, in fact, the emperor of Korea, he could naturally ignore the Korean monarchs and ministers.

"Retreat from the dynasty, the minister of parliament will stay, and let's discuss how to raise grain."

Li Liang looked at Susa who was gradually moving away with hatred, although he was forced to choose to be a vassal to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but in his bones he was still inclined to the Ming Dynasty, because the Ming Dynasty, the suzerain, has been giving preferential treatment to North Korea since the founding of the country, not only giving rich rewards every year, but also the Wanli Emperor has the grace to recreate Korea, if it were not for the Wanli Emperor to send troops to aid the DPRK, it is impossible to say that the Korean Kingdom would have been annexed by the Japanese people long ago.

"Commandment!"

A group of Korean ministers hurriedly received the order and bowed down and withdrew from the palace hall.

"What do you say?"

After the officials left the palace, Li Liang spoke again, and those who stayed were all the confidants and ministers who supported him to get rid of Gwanghaejun, that is, Jin Dazhong ostensibly supported Manchuria, but in fact, it was also to maintain the ancestral temple inheritance of the Li family in Korea, and he had to do it as a last resort.

"My lord, a few years ago, there was a letter to Seoul, only to say the east...... Manchuria was defeated by the Ming court and successively lost strategic places such as southern Liaoning and the capital Shenyang...... The minister thought that the Manchurians might not be able to hold on now. ”

Li Xingli, the training general in Seoul, was the number one contributor to the coup d'état of "Injo anyway" against Gwanghae-kun, who monopolized the government, and was also a staunch supporter of Li Liang; at the age of 54 this year, he also did not have any good feelings towards Manchuria, and his meaning was very clear, that is, he hoped that Li Liang would not provide food to Manchuria.

"What General Li means, Gu understands, but the Eight Banners of Manchuria are in Pyongyang, and the Ming court is far away from the ocean, and Gu has already been on the table and officially declared himself a vassal to Manchuria, can the Ming court still send troops to rescue him?"

Li Liang was really afraid of the Manchurians, and since he ascended the throne, he had experienced "Ding Mao Chaos" and "Bingzi Chaos", which made him full of fear of the Manchurian Eight Banners.

"Alas! I received Ming Grace in the world, but the Manchurians were stationed in Pyongyang, tens of thousands of troops arrived in the morning and evening, if we did not follow their orders, I could not say that the Eight Banners and soldiers would come to the city, the old minister heard that although Manchuria suffered heavy losses last year, but the imperial court was also defeated in Songjin, the 130,000 army was wiped out, the Ming Emperor died because of the martyrdom, and there were rogues in the country, where to send troops and horses to rescue us, according to the old man's opinion, it is better for everyone to get together together, first raise a hundred thousand stones to deal with the past, how about it. ”

Although Kim Dae-quan, the minister of the Parliament, was a so-called traitor, he was not a staunch supporter of the Manchu regime, and the reason why he was in charge of Manchuria was actually to keep the power of the Lee dynasty in Korea.

"Song Jin, although the Ming court was defeated, but the minister heard the news of Liaonan, and now the person presiding over the government affairs of the Ming court is His Royal Highness Li Xingzhi, His Royal Highness the King of Yan since the formation of the army, not only repeatedly defeated Manchuria, but also continuously exterminated Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, before Hong Tai was captured by His Royal Highness the King of Yan, the minister thought that we could contact the Ming court Liaonan garrison and ask the court for support."

Shen Jingzhen is Li Kun's brother-in-law, and he is also the minister of coastal defense of North Korea, and he is still relatively familiar with the affairs of Liaodong, and he has received a lot of news from the imperial court from the Dengzhou City Bo Division, and this time he returned to Seoul from Jeju Island to make a statement to Li Kun, hoping that North Korea will change its course and completely sever relations with Manchuria.

"Since Bingzi, we have provided 30,000 stone of grain to Manchuria every year, and the country has long been overwhelmed, according to the opinion of the ministers, it is better for the king to move to Ganghwa Island in the name of requisitioning grain, and the ministers will send troops to Incheon Province again, first cut off the connection between Pyongyang and Seoul, and declare that they will return to Ming anyway."

Gu Renyuan was Li Kun's cousin and a staunch anti-Qing activist, and he also knew that the garrison of Seoul alone could never be the opponent of the 3,000 Manchurian soldiers in Susa's hands, and for the safety of the Korean royal family, he felt that it was a safe plan to move the royal family to the sea first.

Incheon is the only city named after the capital in North Korea, which is on the same level as each province, it is the transportation hub of Pyongyang and Seoul, and it is also the forward position of Seoul to defend Manchuria, therefore, North Korea has been hoarding heavy troops here, Gu In-yong put forward a proposal to fortify in Incheon, but also took a fancy to Incheon's developed transportation, the city is strong, and close to the sea, once North Korea raises the flag, even if the Manchurian army presses the border, he can also calmly bring the soldiers and horses overseas.

"Moving to Jianghua Island? Let Gu think, and let Gu think. ”

Li Liang's face hesitated, what the henchmen here said was indeed reasonable, the Manchurians had fallen to North Korea to ask for food, this must be too much pressure in the country, but the Manchurians' great martial might still made him afraid, when the "Bingzi was chaotic", the scene of the Manchurian soldiers arranging troops in Seoul, he still remembered vividly, and he had to think carefully for the inheritance of the temple of the Li Dynasty.

Seeing Li Liang's hesitation and the fact that the officials were very aggressive, he said: "The old minister thinks that if the king moves, Susa and they will definitely not forgive the people of Hancheng, for the sake of Hancheng, for the sake of the people, we can send people for help, while collecting some grain to the Manchurians, and when the imperial court and the prince arrive, it is not too late for us to settle accounts with the Manchurians." ”