Zheng Zunrang asked again: "Brother Jiuke, do you have a letter to give to Xu?" ”

"Hmm." Shi Jiuke nodded, and said, "In addition to the letter, there is also a winter coat woven by my sister-in-law, isn't this worried that the weather in Liaodong will be too cold and freezing." ”

After saying that, Shi Jiuke took a package from his carriage.

"It's really cold in Liaodong, so you should prepare a few more winter clothes." Zheng Zunrang took the package from Shi Jiuke's hand, and solemnly handed it to the steward behind him.

The steward took the package and went straight to the canal docks.

When I arrived at the canal wharf, I saw that the fleet of Zhengjia Distillery was already ready.

They are all 400 stone boats, and each ship is full of wooden boxes, and these wooden boxes are basically half-liter clay pots containing Zheng Ji fermented wine.

Zhengjia Distillery used to brew rice wine.

But the fermented liquor brewed today is beer.

It's just that the soldiers of the Ming army prefer to call it Ming wine.

……

Ming wine has become a necessity for the soldiers of the Ming army.

Xu Yingwei was holding a can of wine in his hand at this time.

The jar is the kind of fired clay pot, half a liter, which is a bit heavy.

According to the standard set by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, each soldier of the Ming army who went out on the expedition was provided with one liter of Ming wine per day, that is, two cans, almost one can of Ming wine for lunch and one for dinner.

One thing to say, this ration of the Ming army is really a bit extravagant.

Seeing Xu Yingwei take a bite of meat on the left and a sip of wine on the right, Park Dongxi couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

Xu Yingwei quickly noticed the North Korean prisoner of war who swallowed saliva, and when he walked up to Park Dong-hee with a jar of unopened wine, he shook the jar in his hand again.

The North Korean prisoner of war had been captured just two days earlier.

At that time, Xu Yingwei was harvesting wheat with the new army.

The wheat was also planted by themselves, and there was nothing to do for most of the previous year, except for repairing the platform, they planted a lot of wheat and soybeans around the platform, one is to relieve boredom, and the other is to lure the slaves.

As a result, it was not until the autumn harvest that Jiannu finally came to attack at night.

The night before, a group of "Jiannu" suddenly came out of the woods and attacked them.

After an exchange of fire, this group of Jiannu musketeers was easily defeated by the Ming army, killing dozens of them, and more than 100 were captured alive, only to learn later that they were North Korean soldiers.

Knowing that it was a North Korean soldier, Xu Yingwei's attitude towards these prisoners of war was much better.

Although after the Bingzi Rebellion, Joseon dissolved its vassal relationship with the Ming Dynasty and turned into a vassal state of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Korean monarchs and ministers still had their hearts set on the Ming Dynasty.

In short, it is a friendly country.

"This wine is called clear wine, quenching thirst, and it tastes good."

"Do you want to drink it? If you want to drink, answer my questions honestly. ”

Seeing that Park Dongxi didn't have any expression on his face, Xu Yingwei laughed at himself and said: "Forget it, you Goryeo stick can't understand the official language of the Ming Dynasty at all, and it's useless to ask you." ”

However, what Xu Yingwei didn't expect was that Park Dong-hee suddenly spoke.

"What do you mean by a Goryeo stick?" Park Dong-hee frowned and asked, "Is it the Ming Dynasty's contempt for us Koreans?" ”

"Ah, can you understand the official language of the Ming Dynasty?" Xu Yingwei asked in surprise, "I'm worried about where to find an interpreter, since you know the official dialect of the Ming Dynasty, it's simple." ”

Park Dong-hee is still struggling with the Goryeo stick.

"What do you mean by a Koryo stick? Why do you call us Goryeo sticks? ”

"If you don't tell me the meaning of the goryeo stick first, then I will never answer any of your questions."

Xu Yingwei naturally knew what the Goryeo stick meant, because Chongzhen had clearly explained to them the meaning and origin of the Goryeo stick, which was a contemptuous term for the North Koreans.

But there is no need to say this in front of North Koreans.

So Xu Yingwei said nonsense: "The Goryeo stick is your Goryeo stick, which is straight and hard, and it looks a little similar to the character of your Koreans." ”

"Oh, that's what it means." Park Dong-hee breathed a sigh of relief.

"If that's what you say, we're really Goryeo sticks."

Xu Yingwei chuckled and then asked, "What's your name?" Why fight for Jiannu? ”

After the conversation just now, Park Dongxi also let down his guard, and said with a wry smile: "My name is Park Dongxi, from Gyeonggi Province, and there are 5,000 North Korean musketeers who were requisitioned and sent to Shengjing with me. ”

"Five thousand musketeers have you?" Xu Yingwei's expression froze.

This is a new situation, and it seems necessary to report it to Nanjing in a timely manner.

"Yes, this is only the first batch." Park Dong-hee nodded and said, "There will be a second batch next year, and the second batch of musketeers will be even larger, maybe 20,000 people." ”

"Twenty thousand?!" Xu Yingwei's face became even more embarrassed.

At this time, Xu Yingwei had realized the seriousness of the problem.

At that moment, Xu Yingwei asked Park Dongxi again: "Park Dongxi, how many standing troops do you have in North Korea now?" ”

Park Dong-hee sighed lightly, shook his head, and said, "According to the roster, our Korean Kingdom should have a standing army of 120,000 people, but in fact, I'm afraid there is not even half of it." ”

Good guy, the same problem as Daming, eating empty salary.

Xu Yingwei thought to himself that if North Korea only had 50,000 or 60,000 troops, it would not be a big problem, because even if these 50,000 or 60,000 troops were all requisitioned and transferred to the Central Plains by Jiannu, it would be difficult to affect the overall situation.

But soon, Xu Yingwei thought of another question.

At that moment, Xu Yingwei asked again: "How many people do you have in North Korea?" ”

"Population?" Park Dong-hee shook his head and said, "We haven't conducted a population inventory in North Korea for many years, but we did an inventory during the Wanli period, and the number of mouths at that time was more than 5 million. ”

"There are still more than five million people in the Wanli period?" Xu Yingwei said, "After decades of war and chaos, the total population should be between two million and three million. ”

"It's definitely not just that." Park Dong-hee said, "There should still be five million people." ”

"What nonsense are you talking about." Xu Yinglong, who was next to him, couldn't help but reprimand, "There were more than five million people in the Wanli period, and there are still five million after decades of war?" The population of the joint DPRK has not decreased? ”

"No, no, things aren't what you think." Park Dongxi hurriedly explained, "The number of people inventoried during the Wanli period is only the total number of people registered, but in addition to the population recorded in the fish scale atlas, there are also fugitive slaves and hidden populations in our North Korea, so the actual total population in the Wanli period should be doubled." ”

Xu Yinglong asked in surprise: "Ten million mouths?" ”

"Yes." Park Dong-hee said, "At least 10 million mouths." ”

After a pause, Park Dong-hee said again: "But now there are at most five million left." ”

Even five million is a huge number, Xu Yingwei's brows are getting tighter and tighter, if Jiannu is allowed to eat and digest the five million North Korean population, it will be a big trouble.

Xu Yinglong, on the other side, couldn't help but start mocking: "You North Koreans are really a bunch of waste, five million people, how can you make up a million strong men, right?" A million strong men can't beat a mere 100,000 Jiannu Jurchens. ”

"How much stronger can you Ming be than our North Korea?" Park Dongxi sneered at each other, "Our North Korea is only a million strong men at best, but you Ming Dynasty has at least 50 million strong men, can't you beat the Jurchens?" ”

"Hey, dare you talk back?" Xu Yinglong said angrily, "Look at the young master if he doesn't kill you." ”

Xu Yinglong raised his fist the size of a sandbag as he spoke, and Park Dong-hee quickly curled up in a ball.

"Okay, don't make trouble, second child." Xu Yingwei stopped Xu Yinglong, and said to Park Dongxi, "I'm afraid you are not an ordinary child in North Korea, right?" Otherwise, it would never have been possible to know so much. ”

Park Dong-hee immediately fell silent, he was not just an ordinary child.

"Here you go." Seo Yingwei threw the wine jar to Park Dong-hee, "I have a suggestion. ”

Park Dong-hee reached out to catch the clay pot, feeling a little flattered: "What advice?" ”

Xu Yingwei said quietly: "Please forgive me for saying bluntly, the Korean kingdom should put things right. ”

"Putting things right?" Park Dong-hee's eyes lit up instantly, "Are you going to let me go?" ”

"This officer will not only let you go, but also give you an army." Xu Yingwei said solemnly.

"And give me an army?" Park Dong-hee's heart pounded, "Why? ”

"Because your surname is Li." Xu Yingwei said with a smile, "It's the Korean royal family." ”

Park Dong-hee can speak the standard Daming official dialect, and he understands so much.

With just these two points, his identity is already desired.

"No, my surname is Park." Park Dong-hee denied it in a panic, "Not surnamed Lee." ”

"Okay, your surname is Park." Xu Yingwei did not debunk it.

"During this time, you will live in Gaizhou with peace of mind."

Xu Yingwei had to report to Chongzhen first.

……

However, the Tang newspaper of Ye Keshu, the general of Jiannu Shengjing, arrived at Prince Rui's mansion in Beijing first.

"The third prince of Korea, the prince of Linping, was captured by the Ming army?" Dolgon's face was a little embarrassed, "What is Ye Keshu doing with this dog minion?" It turned out to be so careless. ”

The arrest of the third prince of North Korea, Lee, is not a trivial matter.

Because the son of Chohyun of the Joseon Kingdom had just died of illness not long ago, the Joseon king Yi Liang intended to choose one of the two adult sons to be the prince of Joseon, and Lee was one of them.

But at this juncture, Li was arrested by the Ming army.

This put diplomacy between the Qing court and Korea to a severe test.

If it were the same as before, Dolgon wouldn't care at all, if North Korea was not obedient, it would be enough to send troops to teach a lesson again, just to capture some of the population and make up for the demographic disadvantage of the Qing Dynasty.

After all, the Qing Dynasty beat North Korea with an adult beating a three-year-old child, holding a handle in his hand.

But the trouble is that the situation has become different from before, and Nanming has risen again.

Now the Qing Dynasty must concentrate all its manpower, material and financial resources to prepare for a decisive battle with the Southern Ming, and it is really impossible to spare his hands to teach North Korea a lesson, and even have to beg North Korea to send troops to help in the war.

(End of chapter)