Later, with the further expansion of the territory of the Qing Dynasty, the Lifan Yuan became the organ that governed the affairs of the ethnic minorities in Inner Mongolia, Outer Mongolia, Chahar, Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang and the southwest region. At the same time, it is also in charge of trade and foreign affairs with foreign countries. The power is almost as great as the current Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs, and the Ministry of Commerce.

Originally, during the Shunzhi period, the status of the Lifan Yuan was still lower than the six ministries, and the Shangshu and Shilang of the Lifan Yuan were all concurrently serving as the official titles of the Ministry of Rites, and they were designated as "the title of the Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites is in charge of the affairs of the Fan" or "the title of the Shilang of the Ministry of Rites is the assistant of the Ministry of Rites". In the eighteenth year, Shunzhi thought that the Li Fan Yuan was in charge of the affairs of the foreign domain, and the responsibility was heavy, and it was not appropriate to be attached to the Ministry of Rites, so he issued an edict that the Li Fan Yuan did not need to concurrently hold the title of the Ministry of Rites, so he changed his name to the Li Fan Yuan Shangshu and the Li Fan Yuan Shilang. It also stipulates that the "official system" of the Imperial Court is the same as that of the Six Ministries. The Faculty of Governors can participate in the deliberations of the government.

The specific duties of the Imperial Court are, first, in charge of the feudal raids, annual classes, tributes, encirclements, banquets, and gifts of officials of the feudal domains, and dispatches the members of the court, pen posts, etc., to manage the affairs of the areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, and change them regularly; Second, handle the marriage affairs of Manchurian and Mongolian. The emperor's marriage to the princess has always been handled by the Zongren Mansion and the Imperial Court; 3. To manage the Mongolian flag alliances, border demarcation, post roads, and commercial trade; Fifth, revise the law on the punishment of ethnic minorities and participate in the trial of criminal cases. The members of the Imperial Court are stationed in various departments and participate in the adjudication of ethnic cases in the region. Any person who has been convicted of exile or above shall be reported to the Court of Justice in conjunction with the Criminal Department or the Three Laws Division for examination and execution. Sixth, it is in charge of some foreign affairs and trade affairs.

Kangxi asked Old Man Fei to serve as the secretary of the Imperial Court because he was aware of the importance of exchanges with overseas countries, and in the entire Qing court, there was no one with "qualifications" like Old Man Fei except for Yu Zhong and Ma De. Moreover, he also attaches more importance to Fei Laotou's ability to do things, and in addition, in the past few years, Fei Laotou has also had a good relationship with the Mongolian vassal kings, so it is convenient for Fei to take this position to further draw the relationship between the Mongolian ministries and the Qing court. As for the many powers that the Imperial Court has, he doesn't care much about it, the Imperial Court doesn't actually have many things, and it's generally not big, and when it comes to major events between various ethnic groups, there is no need for a single scholar of the Imperial Academy, so he, the emperor, has to come out personally.

However, what Kangxi didn't expect was that the first thing that Old Man Fei, the secretary of the Imperial Academy, would do after taking office, would actually find North Korea! In fact, although Korea is a vassal state of the Qing court, it has never been regarded as the jurisdiction of the Li Fan Yuan, but it is not beyond the authority of Old Man Fei to do so!

……

North Korea has always been hostile to the Qing court, from beginning to end. At the beginning, the name of the Jin Dynasty was revived after the Qing Dynasty, in order to avoid enemies on both sides, Nurhachi had adopted a strategy of wooing Korea, and sent envoys to Korea many times to submit letters, hoping that North Korea would break off relations with the Ming Dynasty and form an alliance with the Later Jin. But North Korea was unmoved and still supported the Ming Dynasty and opposed the Later Jin. Later, the Later Jin further strengthened, and finally, succeeded by Huang Taiji, and it was in the first year of Tiancong that Huang Taiji ordered Amin, Jierharang and others to lead troops to the east, intending to exterminate the Phi Dao Mao Wenlong who threatened the flank of the Qing Dynasty at that time. However, in the process of beating Mao Wenlong back to the sea, Amin found that the North Korean soldiers were vulnerable. As a result, Houjin turned the target of the attack to Chao. And finally forced Korea to pay tribute, go to the next year, form an alliance, and make an agreement with the Qing Dynasty as a brotherly country. However, North Korea is willing to agree to several other articles, but it is not willing to "extinguish the Ming Dynasty forever". Later, Amin gave in and did not force it again, but because he was dissatisfied with North Korea's performance, he still ordered the soldiers of the Eight Banners to divide their troops and plunder for three days, so that the coastal area of Gyeonggi Province in North Korea was "completely empty". Later, Huang Taiji went on another expedition to the east, captured the Korean king's concubines and ministers, and completely incorporated the Korean state into a vassal state. The Koreans, on the other hand, called Huang Taiji's crusade the "Bingzi Rebellion".

Prisoner, Hulu!

Korea, which has always regarded itself as a "little China" and has a great belief in Confucianism, is saddened by the vassal state of the Qing Dynasty established by a backward mountain and forest hunting people. The Qing Dynasty's conquests also increased the burden on Korea. Economic plunder, political oppression, and cultural differences have made the anti-Qing sentiment of Siming the end of the Joseon Dynasty to be the mainstream of social thought.

The first two kings of Joseon, Hyojong Yi Hao and Hyeonjong Yi Di, have been planning one thing during their reigns, that is, the "Northern Expedition"! Whom? Naturally...... Clearing!

The monarchs of the Li Dynasty were convinced of the Confucian maxim that "the Hu people have no luck for a hundred years", and for the Northern Expedition, they took measures to expand their armaments, expanding their troops several times, and even ordered monks to also perform military service in order to increase the source of troops! Not only that, Korea had high hopes for the Southern Ming regime, Wu Sangui and the separatist forces of the three feudatories, Taiwan's Zheng Chenggong, Dzungar Mongolia and other anti-Qing forces, and was ready to send envoys to cross the sea to liaise and plan to flank the Qing Dynasty. Even, they had planned to "join forces with Japan to clear the Qing". Eventually, however, all of these plans "came to an end." In the end, Korea did not intervene in the Chinese civil war, nor did it take the risk of uniting Japan to cross the Yalu River and invade Manchuria, offending the emerging Qing Empire, which was in a period of full rise and exuberance. …… This is a great fortune for North Korea and Japan, but a great fortune for China!

Xiaozong, after Xianzong, in the fortieth year of Kangxi, Joseon was reigned by Suzong Li Zhuo.

This Su Zong is a cowardly person, and he has always been bullied by the concubine Zhang, who controls the government and most of his subordinates are attached to that woman, so he is very melancholy. Moreover, the party struggle in North Korea was very fierce, and the southern and western factions were opposed to each other.

However, after Su Zong, who had a fierce wife in power and a party struggle among the ministers, he still did not forget his father's last wish of "opposing the Qing Dynasty and respecting the Ming". On the anniversary of the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he forbade the altar from the Yichun Gate and sacrificed to Emperor Chongzhen with the ether. He also ordered the Hanseong government to set up a "big newspaper altar" in Chuntangtai, the back garden of Changdeok Palace, to worship Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty. And constantly carry out various laws and regulations, and build the city in order to try to move the army to the north. ("Dabao" comes from the suburbs of the "Book of Rites", which is the righteousness of the suburbs, and also has the meaning of repaying virtue.) ）

And in this case, the envoys sent by Old Man Fei and Sabu Su arrived!

Originally, the Qing court stationed only 2,000 troops in Korea, but later due to the attack on Manchuria, the Qing court sent more than 15,000 soldiers and horses here, led by three commanders, one in Asan, one in Chenghuan, and one in Gongju. Later, the number of soldiers and horses was reduced to 10,000, then to 7,000, and the number of men was no longer reduced until now 5,000.

The 5,000 men were no longer scattered, but were stationed in Gongju, led by the capital commander Chipe, under the control of Sabusu.

……

The person sent by Old Man Fei was a member of the Imperial Court, and he directly made Old Man Fei's request to Li Zhuo: cut the warships of the Korean Navy Division in half!

This demand caused an invisible uproar inside and outside the Korean court!

Li Zhuo was terrified, and hurriedly convened the ministers to discuss countermeasures!

All along, the Qing court was not very wary of North Korea. After all, what threat can a rabbit pose to a tiger? Even the last time more than 15,000 people were sent over, it was just a formality, and the main object was only to guard against a possible Japanese surprise attack. As for the so-called "Northern Expedition" in Korea, the Qing court had never heard of it at all. That's why North Korea is immersed in some kind of fantasy and doesn't have to worry about anything.

But Old Man Fei suddenly asked them to cut half of the water army this time!

What does that mean? In the past, the Qing court only wanted this and that, and after occupying the Central Plains, it didn't bother to ask for much, but the Qing court never had such a request to North Korea! Disarmament? Could it be that the Qing court felt that their army was already excessive?

The Qing court may not know their so-called Northern Expedition intentions, but this does not mean that the Qing court will not punish them once they hear about it! The two attacks of Amin and Huang Taiji have made the Korean monarchs and ministers fed up with that humiliation, although they hate, but the Koreans are more afraid! Although they have been expanding their armaments and warfare, they do not have the courage to really go to war, especially now that the Qing court has completely controlled the entire continent, they are even more daring.

In his small palace, he met with several ministers, Kim Chun-taek, Song Si-yeol, Yoon Yong, and Park Tae-suk.

"What to do? You say, why did the Qing Dynasty suddenly give us this order? As soon as they met, Li Yan asked impatiently.

"The king, the minister thought, it is very likely that Qing Yu found something!" Song Shilie thought for a while and replied. He, Yoon Yong, and Park Tae-suk were all advocates of Zhu Zi's science, and they elevated Zhu Xi to the status of an idol in North Korea, and his influence among Korean scholars was not small.

"Noticed? So what do we do? Li Yu shouted in horror.

"The Qing Lu is powerful, and even people as powerful as Generalissimo Wu Sangui have been defeated by them, and we ...... Alas! Jin Chunze sighed. The year when Li Zhuo succeeded to the throne, it was the year when the Qing Dynasty's "Rebellion of the Three Feudatories" broke out, seeing Wu Sangui's successive victories, the whole of Korea thought that the time for the Northern Expedition had come, but because Li Zhuo's father Xianzong also died in that year, Li Zhuo Junchen decided to wait and wait until the mourning period was over before sending troops, and as a result, there was no follow-up to this wait. Li Yan has always been that sentence: "Although the Qing country is tired, it is more than enough to control me." In this regard, the historian of North Korea commented: "...... Sangui called out in Yunnan (North Korea seems to have forgotten who hanged the Yongli Emperor in Yunnan), and the heroes should be in the sea. Take advantage of this, if I raise troops to cross the Liao, go straight to the lair, the royal family attacks its south, and our soldiers attack its east, then I can kill the snake and cut the pig, and sweep away the filth. …… Let all the nations of the world know the loyalty festival of the three Koreas, and it is still untouchable. And the unfortunate good news (referring to Wu Sangui's counter-news) arrived, and the first king abandoned the ministers. The Lord is rushing to the New Year, the old traitor is the country, the evil is coming, chewing on the virtuous, and the scholars are expelled, so why do you have time to think about the country's plans? ! …… It's painful! ”

"Then should we send someone to Beijing to petition for guilt?" Li Yan asked again.

"That's a great plan! As long as we express our unwillingness to be the enemy of the Qing captives, we will naturally be fine, and at most we will be reprimanded...... It's just that the ministers are incompetent, and the tired king is wronged! Guilty, guilty! Yin Yong said in frustration.

"Alas, if we had crossed the sea to attack the Qing royal family when Generalissimo Wu Sangui raised his army, how could we have fallen into the situation where we are now being bullied?" Song Shilie sighed.

"Humph! Bullying? It's clear that you're incompetent! With a cold snort, a young woman pulled open the door and walked out.

“…… It's Xi Concubine (Concubine Zhang)! Li Yan looked at this fierce wife, lowered his head and stopped talking. And several of his ministers saluted and greeted the Zhang family, who did not have the name of a queen but had the reality of a queen.

"May I ask the princess, how should we deal with this?" After seeing the ceremony, Song Shilie naturally asked Zhang again.

"Hmph. Qing Guo just sent people to let us cut down the water division, so they must only be suspicious at the moment, you are in such a hurry to write a letter to ask for guilt, aren't you throwing yourself into the net? Zhang Shi looked at several ministers and reprimanded sharply.

"Your subordinates are incompetent!"

"Xi Concubine, what do you think we should do?" Li Yan looked up again and asked.

"The King. The concubines thought that we were going to send envoys to Beijing to find out the truth in the name of tribute, and if the Qing emperor still treated us as before, it would mean that there would be no big deal; If not, then we should immediately petition for sin. Second, it is necessary to immediately reduce the number of ships of the naval division. Two hundred warships, one hundred and fifty must be cut at once! ”

"One hundred and fifty? But Qingguo only needs us to cut half of it! Li Yan said.

"Humph! Doesn't leaving 100 warships mean that our country has 200 warships? Since the Qing State sent someone to let us cut it, it will naturally send someone to inspect it! Moreover, our sailors will have to obey the dispatch of the Manchurian sailors of the Qing Dynasty in the future, so how can we not take precautions early? Therefore, the other 100 ships should be destroyed immediately, and the Qing people should not know about it! Zhang said.

"Ruined? This...... Isn't it a pity? Li Yan said embarrassedly.

"King, the ship can be rebuilt if it is destroyed, but if the Qing Kingdom finds out that we have bad intentions, it will be a catastrophe! Have you forgotten the scourge of the 'Rebellion'? …… The envoy of the Imperial Court came with the people of the Admiral of Fengtian, so maybe he had some intention of mobilizing troops! Zhang said.

"This ...... In that case, let's do it! Li Zhuo sighed and responded.