On the day that the Daedong army occupied Hanyang, the inside and outside of the city stabilized.

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

"Party ambassador, how is this good?" Kim asked.

Dang Chongjun was also a little confused: "Wait for the Korean monarch and minister, send a weighty one to negotiate." ”

The imperial order that the two received was very simple, that is, to bite off a piece of land from North Korea, and the specific operation was up to them.

So the two made a plan for the army to bombard the city walls. Rejecting the first three rounds of negotiations with North Korea, under the continuous shelling, you can meet with the fourth group of emissaries, from the lion's opening to the landing to repay the money, and finally extort a large piece of land.

Dang Chongjun and Kim Junyan, who are both literate and martial, never dreamed that the Korean monarchs and ministers would actually abandon the city and flee!

"Ambassador, there are North Korean businessmen who want to see me."

"Bring him in."

A North Korean businessman in his forties knelt down in front of Dang Chongjun: "Hong Daoquan, the grass people of the lower country, knock on the angel!" ”

Dang Chongjun said: "Get up." ”

"Lord Xie," Hong Daoquan still bent down and stood after he got up, "Our king patrolled the city and sent the people to apologize to the angels. ”

Dang Chongjun became more and more speechless: "Why don't you send a minister to beg for mercy, and actually send a businessman over?" ”

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

"What does the Korean lord want to say?" Dang Chongjun asked.

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

Dang Chongjun almost spurted out a mouthful of old blood, this ghost situation is over, and the king of North Korea doesn't know what to say?

Hong Daoquan explained: "The lord and the minister are arguing endlessly in Kaesong, and no one can come up with a charter to serve the people. The grass people were sent to find out the angel's mouth. Although the angel offered an offer, he could ask for half of the country, and the grass people went back to restore their lives. ”

Dang Chongjun became more and more confused when he heard this: "Which country businessman are you, why don't you help North Korea speak?" ”

Hong Daoquan replied: "Back to the angels, the grass people are pine merchants. ”

Next to him, a fine work who has been in North Korea for a long time, walked up to Dang Chongjun and muttered: "Party ambassador, those businessmen in North Korea are the strongest in Beijing, Song, and Bay. The Jingshang monopolized the trade in Hanyang, and most of them were families separated from the aristocracy. The bay merchants were the merchants of Baozhou, who traded on both sides of the Yalu River. Songshang, on the other hand, were Kaesong merchants who spread throughout Korea, but they were heavily suppressed. ”

Dang Chongjun understood, and asked with a smile: "Your heart is for China?" ”

Hong Daoquan replied unabashedly: "But all the Songshang, all the time I don't want to attach the Celestial Empire!" ”

Kaesong was called Songak in ancient times, but it became the capital during the Goryeo period, so it was renamed Kaegyo. The merchants of Kaesong were very prominent at that time, and after the establishment of the Yi dynasty, they not only moved the capital to Hanyang, but also banned the imperial examination of Kaesong's scholars.

As a result, more and more people in Kaesong became engaged in business because the road to the imperial examination was cut off. Songsho continued to grow in scale and opened "Songbo" throughout the country, forming a commercial network throughout North Korea.

Trade between China and Korea flourished in Datong, and the Joseon monarchs and ministers once again suppressed Songshang. The port of Kaesong was closed directly, and the goods purchased by the Songshang had to be sold to the Jingshang merchants in Hanyang, who traded directly with the Chinese merchants.

This is equivalent to the pine merchants all over the country, who can only be inland suppliers, and they can't earn a few from working hard, and their descendants have been banned from the imperial examination. Even to receive goods in the country, two classes of nobles had to issue licenses, and each business license had to be exchanged for bribes.

He was very rich, did not have much land, could not participate in the imperial examination, had a business network all over the country, and was suppressed by the imperial court everywhere...... What do these pine merchants think in their hearts?

Of course, I want to attach China inside, divide the fields at will, kill all the Korean monarchs and ministers, and do business unhindered in the future!

Moreover, the children of Chinese merchants can also participate in the imperial examination, and perhaps their descendants can also become officials.

Hong Daoquan said: "The Korean monarch is in Kaesong at this time, only 1,500 firecrackers are following, and there are 500 defenders of Kaesong. If the Celestial Empire army is attacking the city, and the merchants of Kaecheng are willing to set fire to cooperate, they will definitely be able to fight in one battle! ”

"Stand down." Dang Chongjun said.

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

The behavior of the Korean monarchs and ministers was unexpected everywhere, and the Kaesong merchants made it clear that they wanted to lead the way, which was also completely unimaginable to them.

Dang Chongjun said: "General Jin, I know what you are thinking. I also wanted to make meritorious contributions, but the imperial court only allowed the northern part of Korea to be ceded away, and it was impossible to swallow it all after destroying the country. Although the imperial court recovered Quang Nam Province and sent troops smoothly, it took great effort to suppress the rebellion thereafter. Korea is more complicated than Quang Nam, and annexation may be simple, but in the future, counterinsurgency will cost countless amounts of money and food every year. Moreover, Quang Nam is rich in rice, which North Korea has nothing, and the complete occupation is purely a loss-making deal. ”

"Then take half and keep half more?" Kim Junyan said.

Dang Chongjun said: "There must be enough land left for North Korea, and the North Korean monarchs and ministers cannot be killed." The cession of land by the Korean monarchs and ministers and all the responsibility lies with the Korean monarchs and ministers, which can greatly alleviate the people's revolt. ”

"That's right." Jin Junyan nodded.

Dang Chongjun said: "In addition to expanding the territory, the imperial court also wants to cancel the silver ban in North Korea, so that the silver dollars of the Celestial Dynasty can pass through Korea unimpeded." This matter is more important than soil expansion. ”

North Korea's currency reform has changed somewhat ridiculously.

Copper coins from China were issued to various places through merchants, but Chinese silver dollars were resolutely not used. Even, the official ban on silver trading, North Korea is only allowed to use copper coins.

This ban on silver has lasted for more than 200 years.

North Korea originally needed to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty with silver, and the amount was not much, six or seven hundred taels of silver per year. In order to pay tribute to silver, the Korean monarchs and ministers not only looted temples, but even mined several silver mines for a few hundred taels of silver. Those silver mines, after mining enough six or seven hundred taels, will stop working, and wait for the next tribute to start again.

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

In the early years, it was reasonable to ban silver, because copper coins were not popular, and barter was popular in North Korea. But with the development of the economy and the increasing volume of trade, it is pure nonsense to continue to ban silver, and the Korean monarchs and ministers are simply fooling.

This kind of foolishness is to better control the place.

First, the merchants were issued licenses, and a part of the tax in kind was taken out and handed over to the merchants for disposal, and then sold to domestic officials and ordinary people. In every link, the Korean monarchs and ministers are firmly controlled, and in each link, the two classes of nobles can make a profit.

In the past few years, the reform introduced Chinese copper coins, and the two classes of nobles controlled the issuance channels of copper coins through merchants - the nobles controlled the Beijing merchants and let the Beijing merchants issue copper coins. The Beijing merchants also gave copper coins to the pine merchants, and the pine merchants issued the copper coins to the local areas. Only the issuance of copper coins has been subcontracted in the capital.

North Korea's ban on silver has left both China and Japan speechless.

Japan mined Iwami Silver Mountains, and suddenly became a silver exporter. The Japanese envoy was relieved to Dongtang, and with 80,000 taels of silver, he went to Korea to make a deal. As a result, one or two pieces of silver were not used, so they could only return the same way with the silver, as if they had come to North Korea to show off their wealth.

When the Ming Dynasty came to aid North Korea, due to the inconvenience of transporting grain, he brought a large amount of silver and wanted to buy grain and grass on the spot in North Korea. The silver of the Ming army was also not used for a tael, resulting in a serious shortage of food in the early stage of the war.

With the smooth issuance of copper coins in China, merchants all over North Korea now want to break the ban on silver, because it is too tiring to use copper coins for large transactions.

The two discussed it and decided to continue the march.

Thousands of Datong troops sat in battleships and arrived near Kaesong the next day.

Before they had time for friendly exchanges, the Korean monarchs and ministers ran away again, fleeing all the way north to Xinxi, leaving the officers and men of the Datong Army messy in the wind.

What the heck?

The news of the continuous flight of the Korean monarchs and ministers was deliberately spread by the bay merchants (Baozhou merchants).

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

Songshang wanted to attach China to China, but he wanted to overturn the Beijing merchants and engage in maritime trade.

The Gulf businessmen want North Korea to destroy the country, but they want to extend their business tentacles to the central and southern markets of North Korea.

At this moment, the Bay merchants took the opportunity to make trouble and used the "Bay House" to spread the news of the defeat and flight of the Korean king.

The North Korean peasants in Ping'an Province have long known that the peasants in Baozhou are having a good life, and every year there are peasants who drag their families to smuggle into Baozhou. Outside the city of Baozhou, within a radius of dozens of miles, they are all controlled by China in essence, and the land has long been divided.

The peasants, who were unable to obtain land in Baoju, resented the Joseon king. Moreover, the Korean monarchs and ministers also stationed a large number of troops on the border to arrest and kill peasants who tried to smuggle in, and the peasants of Pyongan Province had long been resentful, and there was only one opportunity for an uprising to break out.

What do you say about the land contradictions in North Korea? It's a bit like the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Since Yan Shanjun, land transactions have been legal by default. The lands of the two classes of nobles were initially concentrated in Gyeonggi-do, and then expanded to Gangwon-do, Chungcheong-do, Jeolla-do, and Gyeongsang-do in the south-central region.

In south-central Korea, land annexation is becoming more and more serious, and a large number of hidden fields are not taxed.

As a result, tax revenue was transferred to Pyongan Province, Hwanghae Province, and Hamgyong Province in the north. Those places were already poor, and they had to be taxed twice, and military service was the most common of these three things.

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

Then came the Huanghae Provincial Peasant Uprising, whose leader was called Lin Juzheng. This time the trouble was even greater, defeating the imperial army many times, and holding out for a year and two months. During this period, the king of Joseon was also forced to give tax exemption to Hwanghae-do and Pyongan Province for one year to prevent more peasants from joining the uprising.

However, it was said that after the Korean monarchs and ministers fled to Xinxi, the peasants of Pyongan Province made a fuss.

North Korea's Ping'an Road, you can understand China's Shaanxi and Shanxi. In recent years, disasters and famines have continued, but taxes have become higher and higher, but there is also a Baozhou, where the peasants live and work in peace and contentment, and the peasants of Ping'an Dao are envious to death. In the long run, can you not rebel?

Initially, there were just over 1,000 peasant uprisings, but in just a few days, the uprising grew to tens of thousands. Killed the squires and landlords, captured the county and county towns, frightened the Korean border army, and all ran to Baozhou to ask for refuge in the Datong army.

Immediately afterwards, the peasants of Hwanghae-do also rebelled, and the two peasant armies attacked from the north and south, and even brought down the city of Pyongyang.

Then Bingfeng headed southeast and killed Singgye, where the king of Joseon was located.

The peasant army had a clear slogan of the uprising: "Be a citizen of the Heavenly Dynasty, cultivate the heavens and the earth, and live a good life in the Heavenly Dynasty!" ”

The Joseon monarchs and ministers were frightened, and while retreating towards Jinhua, they ordered the king of the whole country to be king, and at the same time sent ministers to contact the Daedong army.

(Updates will resume tomorrow.) ）

(End of chapter)