Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 514: The Upper Country Wants to Requisition Warships

Shanhaiguan is bordered by the Bohai Sea in the south and the Yanshan Mountains in the north. It is a vital passage connecting Northeast China and North China, and is known as "the key to the two capitals and the first pass of the Great Wall."

It's really a world of changes.

This area was still submerged by sea water during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cao Cao even sighed by the sea here and composed a four-character quatrain "Viewing the Sea".

At that time, if one wanted to go further north from the North China Plain, one could only cross the Yanshan Mountains and the Taihang Mountains. Several obstacles in Shanxi became important battlefields between the Central Plains dynasties and nomadic peoples.

In the following hundreds of years, the sea water continued to recede, and a mudflat half-covered in the sea gradually emerged between the eastern foot of Yanshan Mountain and the Bohai Sea.

But at that time, this place did not have much strategic value for the Central Plains regime that needed logistical supplies. The Sui Dynasty built a small pass during the Kaihuang period and did not pay much attention to it. The importance of Shanxi was not affected much.

This situation continued for several hundred years, during which time the sea water continued to slowly recede at its original rhythm, and the eastern foot of the Yanshan Mountains was completely cut off from the Bohai Sea through the seaward cliffs.

However, the Liao, Jin and Yuan dynasties that followed all firmly controlled the area around Yanshan Mountain. This passage, which took nature thousands of years to create, did not have much practical value. It was not until the Ming Dynasty drove out the Mongols and the Central Plains dynasty transitioned from land power to sea power that this offensive and defensible passage was truly taken seriously, and the world's first pass appeared on the Liaoxi Corridor.

But then again, according to the logic of Chinese wars over thousands of years, no matter how important Shanhaiguan is, it seems to have nothing to do with the current Ming Dynasty.
Korea
Seoul. Changdeokgung Palace

The King of Joseon originally lived in the Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was seriously over-sized, and Changdeokgung was just a detached palace.

This situation lasted for more than two hundred years. It was not until the Ming Dynasty used the lives of more than 100,000 Japanese during the Imjin War that the King of Korea demonstrated what the Celestial Empire was. Only then did he move safely into Changdeok Palace, which strictly followed the regulations of the Ming Dynasty.

This is really ridiculous.

After all, during those two hundred years, the Ming Dynasty had never troubled Korea over these harmless matters, and it was unlikely that it would pursue the Korean king for violating the rules.

But this tiny country made such a ridiculous move after experiencing the power of the Ming Dynasty firsthand. I'm afraid it can only be described as "fearing power but not cherishing virtue."

"Your Majesty, the Jinzhou Guards of our country have sent a letter saying that they want to requisition our warships."

"Jinzhou Guard?"

As soon as he heard the report from Prime Minister Kim Ja-jeom, King Yi Jong of Joseon began to have all kinds of doubts.

Korea had been subject to the Qing Dynasty for ten years. During this period, the Manchus had asked for food and money, but except for dispatching warships when attacking Dongjiang Town, they had never made such demands.

Of course, since the superior country has made the request, North Korea has to act according to the order. However, this incident has no context, so Li Jong can't help but ask a few questions.

"Dongjiang Town has already been destroyed. Why does the upper country want warships?"

Upon hearing his king's words, Jin Zidian smiled first.

At that time, they were defeated miserably in the Bingzi Campaign. Not only were 500,000 people abducted by the Qing Dynasty, but even most of the ministers who were loyal to the Ming Dynasty were killed.

As a result, Li Jong, who was frightened by the Qing army, completely turned to the Qing Dynasty, and he, who was called a traitor by some people, completely took control of the government.

At this time, his own king was facing the Qing Dynasty's request and actually asked for a reason. His smile was somewhat of a mockery of Li Jong's ignorance of the current situation.

"Reporting to the king, the messenger only said that the navy must be dispatched within one or two days, but did not elaborate on the specific reason. However, I think that the upper country has already fought in the south, so it is possible that our warships will attack from the sea." "That's true, but wasn't there a rumor a few days ago that Prince Yu was defeated in the south? This..."

"Your Majesty, this is exactly why the Upper Kingdom has mobilized our navy," Jin Zidian paused for a moment, and then looked at the elderly Li Jong before continuing, "The Upper Kingdom is not good at naval warfare, so this is the time for our country to do its bit. Otherwise, with the strength of the Upper Kingdom, when will our dynasty have the opportunity to repay its kindness?"

Li Zong nodded when he heard the words, but when he was about to agree to it, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

"Father! Your son, Li Hao, requests to see you."

"come in."

With Li Jong's permission, a tall young man strode in. Then Jin Zidian performed the salute of a subject to him. Then the heir to the Kingdom of Korea began to speak to his father.

"Father, I have heard that the Qing Dynasty wants to requisition our warships. In my opinion, we absolutely cannot agree to this!"

Looking at the prince of the kingdom who was resigning so generously, Jin Zixin couldn't help feeling annoyed.

This prince had been captured by the Qing army during the Bingzi Rebellion. After he was released, the previous prince died, so he naturally took over the position of crown prince.

Originally, Jin Zidian did not have much ill will towards this prince who had experienced many hardships.

But I don't know if it was because he suffered too much humiliation at the hands of the Qing people, or if there was something wrong with his brain, but this prince actually concocted the "Northern Expedition Theory" in recent times.

They took advantage of the fact that most of the Joseon people were overwhelmed by the humiliation brought about by the Byeongja Rebellion and put forward the argument that "the people today are thinking of the Han Dynasty, and all of them are weeping and indignant, and want to avenge the dynasty. If they can work hard for justice and encourage morale, the trend will surely be boosted." They have also done their best to spread this argument among scholars in recent times.

It has to be said that this argument, under the slogan of anti-Qing and restoration of Ming, did cause great confusion to many people. However, Jin Zidian was labeled as a traitor, so how could he be easily fooled?

He could see clearly that no matter what the ideas of these people were when they first proposed this theory, they had changed their minds when the Qing Dynasty was about to sweep across the world.

Going back to the roots, if a group of savages who escaped from the White Mountains and Black Waters could rule the Central Plains, why couldn't Korea, a vassal state that had been under the rule of the king for many years, rule the Central Plains?

Honestly speaking, even if there was a 30% to 40% chance, Kim Ji-jeon was willing to support the "Northern Expedition Theory". At most, after the Joseon Dynasty became the legitimate dynasty in the world, he would confer a title like Duke of Sanyang on Hongguang. Who would dislike having too much power?

But after all, he is not a lazy and useless waste. How could he think that what the Qing Dynasty could do, Korea could also do?
"Sir, the fact that the Shangguo was able to rule the Central Plains was due to many factors. It is by no means that simple. You don't need to mention your 'Northern Expedition Theory' anymore."

In front of his own king, Jin Zidian harshly rebuked the prince. He then bowed towards the throne and continued speaking only after he straightened up.

"Your Majesty, the matter of requisitioning warships must not be delayed for too long, otherwise it will be troublesome if the superior country blames us."

"Jin Zidian! Tartar."

Faced with Jin Zidian's extremely disdainful words, the Crown Prince of Korea, who had long been immersed in his own imagination, immediately prepared to retort, but before he could yell half a sentence, there was a burst of hurried footsteps outside the door. When they turned around, they saw a man kneeling outside the porch.

"Council! The Ming navy broke through Shanhaiguan yesterday!"

(End of this chapter)