At the beginning of February, Seoul was covered in snow, and the whole world was a sea of white as far as the eye could see.

In 1652, Joseon had just come out of the haze after the curse of the Cho clan in Injo's harem in November last year, and the head of the pro-Qing faction, Kim Zidian, was ordered to be executed by the monarch in this case, and his family members were also beheaded.

Until the fifth day of the second month, a huge fleet brazenly sailed into the Han River, although this fleet only had ten warships, but its hull was tall and slender, the left and right gunsoft windows were numerous, and the Ming army flag was hung on its mast.

The fishermen rowing and fishing on the Han River looked at this strange fleet in amazement, although they had never seen a warship of this style, but the Ming army battle flag flying high was so familiar.

On both sides of the Han River, some people who still cherished their old names looked at the fluttering battle flag with tears in their eyes, and couldn't help but kneel on the ground, shouting the Great Ming Army.

Soon after the fleet sailed into the Han River, the Korean naval division heard the news, and the Korean naval sub-general (commander of the first division) who led the army looked at the fleet in amazement, and asked his cronies beside him: "This officer should not be dazzled, is that the battle flag of the Ming army?" ”

"Your Excellency, you read that right, it is indeed the battle flag of the Heavenly Army." The cronie replied in a somewhat excited tone, not only him, but also the sailors on all ships were delighted, which made the sailors have to weigh it again, and he had no doubt that if he gave the order to attack, those sailors would most likely disobey on the spot.

But if he allowed the Ming navy to swagger into the Han River and arrive at the port of Seoul, he would definitely be held accountable - Korea was now a vassal state of the Qing court, and contact with the enemy of the suzerainty was completely taboo.

The stakes were so high that the commander of the naval army hurriedly sent someone back to Seoul to report the matter to the imperial court, and he took his cronies to sail to the leading flagship in a small boat.

After the boat rowed under the flagship, he felt the height of the Ming warship at close range, and although the gun windows on the left and right sides were not opened, he could see from that number how elite the number of guns deployed by this battleship was.

He did not hesitate to have more guns on this flagship alone than the ships under his command.

It didn't take long for the naval division to be pulled to the deck, and after getting on the deck, he carefully looked at everything around him, and the numerous artillery pieces on the deck, the high morale of the Ming soldiers and the elite equipment all impacted his worldview.

In his cognition, the Ming army should be the same as the waste of the infantry army, how can they have such a good performance?

In addition to being shocked in his heart, he saw Wu Zhongluan, who claimed to be the secretary of the Ming Court's Ministry of Rites, he first stabilized his mind, then identified himself, and asked Wu Zhongluan about the purpose of their arrival.

Wu Zhongluan did not deign to talk to a small general manager in person, he maintained the appearance of an envoy from the heavenly empire on high above, and let his entourage express his intention to the general manager, asking the general manager to get out of the way and let the fleet continue to advance.

Perhaps he was deterred by Wu Zhongluan's aura, or he saw the strength of the Ming army's sailors, but the navy commander finally obediently ordered his warships to give way and watched the Ming army's sailors pass through in awe.

When the Ming army sailors arrived at the periphery of the port of Seoul, there was another round of uproar, and the Korean people living near the port came to watch, they stood on the shore and pointed at the fleet, and their mouths were full of remembrance and nostalgia for the former Celestial Empire.

At the same time, there was also a round of heated discussions within the Joseon court, which received the news, and the pro-Ming faction headed by Kim Yu, the important minister on whom the Joseon monarch depended, strongly demanded that the Ming court envoy be welcomed into Seoul and that the monarch should personally receive him.

Kim Yuqi was the last minister in the history of the Joseon Dynasty to go to the Ming Dynasty, so his affection for the Ming court naturally deepened than that of other ministers.

His reason is very simple, the Ming court is gradually moving towards Zhongxing, the Qing court is rapidly declining, and forcing North Korea to increase the harvest of grain and grass, North Korea has been oppressed to the point of complaining, rather than continue to be oppressed by Hu Yi, it is better to return to the arms of his parents and continue to be the filial son of my Ming Dynasty.

Although the pro-Qing faction strongly opposed, their power in the court is this (this chapter is not finished!) )

Chapter 256: North Korea Trip

In order to show his attention to the Ming envoy, Li Hao ordered Song Shilie, the right-hand politician, to personally go to the port to welcome the delegation into Seoul.

Li Hao's decision naturally angered those pro-Qing ministers, although they had no way to deal with Li Hao directly, but it did not mean that they could not do anything - they immediately sent a secret letter to the north to report to the Qing court, hoping that the suzerainty would intervene.

At the same time, the ministers who held military power in Gyeonggi, Seoul, also began to act secretly, trying to kill the Ming delegation first.

No matter how the pro-Qing faction responded, on the orders of Li Hao, Song Shilie, the right-hand politician, rushed to the port of Seoul to meet Wu Zhongluan and the delegation led by him.

The guards on the harbor surrounded the Ming legions guarding Wu Zhongluan, and although the two sides were not to the point of saber rattling, they both looked at each other vigilantly, and the Ming warships on the Han River also demonstratively opened the gun window, exposing the black hole of the cannon mouth.

It wasn't until Song Shilie arrived that the atmosphere at the scene finally eased up.

Song Shilie respectfully expressed the monarch's goodwill to Wu Zhongluan and invited the delegation and his entourage to Seoul to meet the monarch, which Wu Zhongluan naturally gladly accepted.

Before he set out, he handed over the affairs of the naval division to Chen Zhaojun, who was the commander of the navy, and ordered him to anchor on the Han River and act cheaply, and then he went to Seoul with the entourage of the mission and a company of guards and infantry guarding it.

Because they did not dare to be too blatant, the Ming delegation did not enter Seoul by Ying'en Gate as usual, but although they took through other city gates, they still aroused a warm welcome from the residents of Seoul, and the local people heard that the mission of the Celestial Empire had revisited, and they took to the streets to watch.

They looked at the Ming Dynasty officials who came to Seoul for the first time in decades with all kinds of complex emotions, and some of the old people who had lived from Wanli to the present even burst into tears, and their emotions infected many people around them, and the people recalled the humiliation suffered in the Bingzi chaos and the grace of the Ming Dynasty to rebuild Korea, and they also shed tears.

Some of the children who had only been born after the chaos had never seen the envoy before, and could not understand the emotions of others, they could not help but ask curiously to the adults next to them:

"Who are they? Why do so many people bow their heads and weep? ”

"They are the envoys of the Ming Dynasty, the parent state of North Korea, if it weren't for the Ming Dynasty, my North Korea would now be the territory of the Japanese people."

Some people also took the opportunity to teach their children to remember the kindness of the Great Tomorrow Dynasty to North Korea, and not to forget the grace of reinvention because the Hu people gained power for a while.

Chapter 256: North Korea Trip