There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 407 This can be called an army? (Two chapters combined)

Although Jeju Island is not small, it only has one city, Jeju Mokseong, which is close to Jeju Port, and two county towns, Daejeong and Jeongui, which occupy parts on the east and west sides respectively.

Although they are called three major cities, they are actually very poor. Take the city of Mucheng in Jizhou, which the Han army has easily captured, for example. The city walls are basically made of rammed earth and are reinforced with wooden fences. There isn't even a decent stone wall.

Even if Yi Eun-hoo, the Korean governor, hadn't fled, the Han army could have taken Mu City with just 2000 cavalry.

The rudimentary city wall, made of rammed earth and wooden fences, could hardly withstand even a few rounds of cannon fire.

This is why, as soon as Wu Liehu heard that Ding Ruoyong knew how to build a city, he immediately pulled him out from among the Korean officials who had surrendered in Mucheng.

The Han Dynasty intended to conquer Jeju Island, using it as a horse-breeding pasture for its overseas army. At the same time, it was also a strategic stronghold for the Han army's northern expedition in the later stages. The simple city walls built by the Koreans were certainly not suitable, and a new city and infrastructure had to be built.

After surrendering, Jeju judge Li Zhizhong, in an attempt to prove himself, immediately took the initiative to act as a guide, handing over all the money and grain treasury, as well as the household registration and military registers in Mokseong.

Wu Liehu flipped through the military register in his hand and was surprised for a moment: "It's all written in Chinese characters?"

Ding Ruoyong had already automatically assumed the role of a Han official and explained: "General, Korea has been a vassal state of Greater China since ancient times. In Korea, the righteousness of the Zhou Dynasty is regarded as the orthodoxy. Therefore, whether it is official documents or folk writing, Chinese characters are used first. More than 300 years ago, King Sejong promoted Hunminjeongeum (Korean Hangul) for a period of time, but Hunminjeongeum was obscure and difficult to use, and had many ambiguities. Therefore, it was quickly abandoned, and Chinese characters were used again afterward."

In fact, even later Koreans, whose Hangul script originated from the Korean script and who even attempted to completely replace Chinese characters with it, abandoned this practice a few years ago after forcefully promoting it, and restored the official script and the main form of Chinese characters in school education.

There's no way around it, Korean is just like Manchu, it's all garbage.

The Korean script was at least compiled with the help of several renowned Korean scholars, and aside from being overly rudimentary, it was generally usable. The Manchu script, however, was quite different. Historically, only two people collaborated on compiling the Manchu script, and one of the chief editors passed away before the compilation even began. The remaining chief editor, however, had to painstakingly piece together the script from various sources.

Then, the official documents of the Qing court were usually written in Manchu, Mongolian and Chinese. The Mongolian and Chinese copies were fine, but the Manchu copies often had ambiguities and even unexplainable words.

Therefore, the ambiguity surrounding Kangxi's nine sons' struggle for the throne, with phrases like "passed on to the fourth son" and "passed on to the fourteenth son," can only be attributed to problems with the Manchu edict.

Because the Chinese character "于" at that time was not the simplified form used in later generations.

The Han soldiers had already undergone literacy training for their officers, so Wu Liehu could recognize most of the commonly used characters. After quickly flipping through the household register of Jeju Island, he laughed and said, "There are quite a lot of people on this island, a total of 9837 households, which is almost fifty or sixty thousand people. However, there are too many military households and low-status households, totaling more than four thousand households, which is almost half of the island's total population!"

Jeju Island was originally a political exile site in Korea. Almost all political prisoners who lost in the struggle were imprisoned on Jeju Island and turned into lowly military households.

When Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he also exiled Chen Youliang and Ming Yuzhen's son to Jeju Island.

However, relying on the influence of their former subordinates, the two escaped from the island the following year and were treated with courtesy by the King of Joseon, becoming Joseon nobles.

Relying on his ability to speak Chinese, Ding Ruoyong then offered a suggestion: "These lowly people who make up more than half of Jeju Island's population are generally the families and descendants of officials who were exiled here due to wrongful imprisonment caused by factional strife. If you, General, simply remove their criminal status and change them from lowly to commoners, these people will surely submit to you immediately."

"The remaining half of the households, although they are not criminals or exiles, will not have a good life either. To put it bluntly, this island is a place of exile. Regardless of whether they are criminals or not, they will be treated as exiles by the island's herdsmen and county magistrates, who will do their best to exploit and extort money from them."

"If the general wishes to govern Jeju Island well, he can first release the lowly people back to their homes, and secondly reduce taxes and redistribute land for the people to cultivate. With these two measures combined, the people of Jeju Island will surely be loyal and submit to the Han Dynasty!"

Ding Ruoyong's two suggestions clearly contained his own personal agenda.

As one of the few people in North Korea who has mastered practical knowledge, this guy is not only an all-rounder, but also a reformer.

Jeong Yak-yong believed that the rule of the Yangban aristocracy in Joseon was outdated and that land should be distributed equally among the people and a comprehensive reform of the national system should be carried out in order for Joseon to truly become strong.

Wu Liehu laughed and said, "Let the lowly households become commoners, that is of course necessary. Not only the lowly households, but those who were slaves before will also be converted into commoners. Under the rule of my new Han Dynasty, there is no distinction between good and lowly, and there are no slaves. As for distributing land to the people, this is also a founding policy of my new Han Dynasty."

As he spoke, Wu Liehu waved to someone and instructed, "Li Wenjiao, you will take Ding Wenshu and the other local officials to gather the people in this area, distribute land to them, and re-register them!"

Although Wu Liehu's unit was entirely composed of cavalry, it was also a cavalry division established by Nie Yuxin. Therefore, this 2000-strong cavalry division also had a civilian instructor corps, which was normally a division-level configuration, and there were quite a few of them, with a total of 20 civilian instructors.

Instructor Wen was, in the end, just a special military officer under the army, not someone who managed civil affairs. He was only temporarily brought here by Wu Liehu to lead the surrendered Korean officials from Jeju Island.

Once Wu Liehu regains his footing and writes back to the Nanjing court, the Nanjing court will certainly send new officials to manage the civil administration of Jeju Island.

Just as Wu Liehu was busy gathering the people of Mucheng to explain the Han Dynasty's policies of land redistribution, slave release, and tax reduction, Li Yinhou, the governor of Jizhou who had already fled, finally escaped to Dajing County.

North Korea is really too small. Jeju Mokseong, a city in North Korea, has an official position that is comparable to that of a prefect in China.

However, in terms of actual area and population, it can only be considered a county in China. Dajing County is even more outrageous; it can only be considered a town, and a poor one at that.

This place is so poor and remote that the person in charge of managing the county is not the county magistrate, but the county supervisor. The county supervisor's rank is lower than that of the county magistrate, but their powers are not much different. They belong to the lowest level of the North Korean official hierarchy.

"Minister Li, what brings you here?" Li Deyong, the magistrate of Dajing County, was still somewhat unaware of the situation and hurriedly came out to greet him.

Li Yinhou, without even taking a breath, immediately ordered, "Quickly, gather the villages under your command and send men out to fight immediately! Japanese pirates have landed on the island!"

Lee Eun-hoo ran too fast, so he didn't figure out who the enemy was at all. He guessed from his intuition that it might be Japanese pirates. Only Japanese pirates would be so close and come to harass Jeju Island, this godforsaken place.

It couldn't possibly be a fleet from China!
Li Yinhou issued an order to the magistrate of Dajing County to gather troops, and then quickly sent someone to inform the magistrate of Jingyi County to gather troops for battle.

The two counties are small in size, and the city walls are extremely simple, lacking even complete earthen walls, with most of them consisting of stacked wooden fences.

Although Mokseong has been lost, Jeju Island still has more than a dozen villages in addition to the three major cities. These villages also have many people, most of whom raise horses and graze livestock.

These are all remnants of the Mongol Yuan dynasty's rule over Jeju Island, where the local people have become accustomed to a life of herding horses for generations.

Furthermore, after Joseon occupied Jeju Island, it did not develop agriculture for a long time, but instead encouraged the islanders to raise horses. In the early stages, the horses were sold to the Ming Dynasty, and in the later stages, they began to be produced and sold by Joseon itself as tribute horses for the Joseon king.

Even the political prisoners who were exiled to Jeju Island mainly worked as horse herders.

In just a few days, Li Yinhou had conscripted 5000 troops, of which 2000 were cavalry.

Compared to Jeju Island's population of only 60,000, an army of 5000 is nothing, but 2000 cavalrymen are indeed terrifying.

Li Yinhou finally gained confidence and decided to confront the "Japanese pirates" army that occupied Mucheng.

"Wokou" was the term used by his subordinates; in reality, he already knew that the Han army had occupied Mucheng, and that huge Chinese character flag did not seem like something Wokou could use.

But it doesn't matter. He'll fight the Han army no matter what. Jeju Island is his territory. He only arrived in Jeju Island as governor last year and hasn't even had a chance to settle in yet.

The news that 5000 Jeju troops were marching towards Mokseong quickly alarmed the Han army in Mokseong.

Judge Li Zhizhong, who had already surrendered to Mucheng, hurriedly reported: "General of the Celestial Dynasty, something terrible has happened! The rebel false governor is leading tens of thousands of troops to attack!"

Fujian businessman Zhou Zongfu had not left yet; they were still buying local specialties on Jeju Island.

Zhou Zongfu was startled and quickly advised, "General, you only brought two thousand soldiers with you on this mission. I'm afraid it will be difficult to resist. Why don't we retreat to the port first and make further plans?"

Upon hearing the two men's pessimistic pronouncements, Wu Liehu's face darkened. He said, "Boss Zhou, if you're worried, you can go back to the ship first. Brother Cai, please go back too. If things go wrong, we'll need you to come and help us later."

"Brother Wu, do you mean you want to defend the city?" Cai Hong could guess Wu Liehu's intentions without even having to guess.

Wu Liehu grinned and said, "We've only fought against the pseudo-Qing Tartars before. We haven't even tested the strength of the Korean army yet!"

Cai Hong had always followed his uncle Cai Qian as a pirate, so he had never seen the Han army in actual combat, only heard that the Han army was powerful. But even with such powerful combat strength, wasn't it a bit of a stretch for two thousand to fight ten thousand?
Moreover, it's not that the Han army was strong because of firearms. General Wu's troops were all cavalry, and they didn't bring many firearms. It would be safer to retreat to the port.

They had ten warships and seven armed merchant ships. The North Korean navy in front of them was completely capable of blockading the port and starving the North Koreans on Jeju Island.

Unfortunately, Wu Liehu was the commander-in-chief, while Cai Hong only came along on the ship, worried that Wu Liehu would not be able to command the naval battle.

Finally, Cai Hong and Zhou Zongfu, along with other merchants, retreated to the port to prepare for Wu Liehu's arrival.

No sooner had Cai Hong and his men left than Li Yinhou's army arrived.

"Attack the city! Kill the Japanese pirates!" Li Yinhou shouted.

This guy had already found out that the army flying Chinese characters and suspected to be Qing rebels only had 2000 men. He, on the other hand, had brought 5000 troops, more than twice the size of the enemy, so he was sure to win.

Li Yinhou was confident, while Wu Liehu, standing on the rammed earth city wall, also had a strange expression. "This is what you call an army of tens of thousands?" Wu Liehu put down his binoculars, almost questioning his own existence.

The North Korean army outside... well, let's just call them an army for now. Only some of the leaders wore scattered leather armor, and some carried weapons that looked like bows and arrows. The rest of the ordinary soldiers were all dressed in civilian clothes, many of them were ragged, and some were even barefoot.

Okay, okay, you call this an army?

This can be called an army of tens of thousands?

He even considered the other party a rival, ready to test their mettle. Now, there's no need to test them; it's obvious just by looking.

There's no way around it; Jeju Island was originally a desolate island used for exiling political prisoners and raising horses. There's nothing on the island; it's practically a godforsaken wasteland.

Almost all the North Korean officials who came here to serve as officials exploited and oppressed the North Korean people of Jeju Island. After all, these were exiled criminals, and no one would care if they died, as long as they paid tribute to the king with a lot of horses every year.

On such a poor and dilapidated island, how could you expect it to have any decent army stationed there? The fact that it even has a few shabby ships symbolically serving as a navy already shows how much importance the Korean monarch and his officials placed on it.

Seeing how pathetic the North Korean army is, what's the point of looking around? Let's just start fighting!

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The Han army's rifled muskets opened fire immediately.

The Han army's cavalry was not a pure cavalry force; it also included special cavalry units equipped with muskets, crossbows, and hand grenades.

Moreover, in order to ensure combat effectiveness, Wu Liehu's newly formed cavalry division has officially phased out crossbows and replaced them with rifled guns for 500 men, and hand grenades for another 200 men.

Those Korean soldiers were all lowly people from Jeju Island who hadn't seen a war for hundreds of years and didn't know anything about fighting. Even the few slightly more formal military households didn't know anything about it.

Upon hearing the shepherd's command, they rushed forward without hesitation.

Once you reach the city walls, what should you do next?

do not know!
Can such an army fight a war?
The Han army's rifled guns fired simultaneously from both sides. In one volley, nearly 100 Korean soldiers who had charged to the front were killed, and more than 200 others were shot and fell to the ground.

"Run!"

The North Korean soldiers behind them were all terrified. So many people had died in one encounter. Those who had been shot and fallen to the ground were also considered casualties by those behind them. It was truly terrifying.

The Korean soldiers instantly collapsed and retreated. Lee Eun-hoo, who was supervising the battle from the rear, had a gloomy face. He drew his sword and shouted, "Tell them not to escape! All of you, go back and kill the Japanese pirates! Defend Jeju Island!"

At the command of Governor Yi Eun-hoo, 2000 Korean cavalrymen immediately charged forward, hacking and slashing at the fleeing soldiers, driving them back to continue the siege.

The Korean deserters cried out as they were killed and sent back.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The Han army was ready for a second volley of rifled guns. This time, because the Korean soldiers were scattered, fewer soldiers were hit, and less than 200 died.

There was really no other way; rifled guns were, after all, relatively new firearms, and shooting at moving targets required a high level of marksmanship from the soldiers.

But it doesn't matter, the Han army still has grenades.

"Unplug the cable and let it out!"

One of the 200 Han cavalry grenadiers took out a grenade, pulled out the fuse, and threw it randomly among the Korean soldiers.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The violent, continuous explosions blasted several large craters into the ground.

Previously, people were only killed by rifled guns, and at least the bodies were intact, so it wasn't that horrific.

Throwing 200 hand grenades around now won't produce as much destructive power as you might imagine, but the visual impact will be absolutely strong, even more frightening than artillery.

Everywhere were North Korean soldiers, their bodies blown to pieces, arms and legs flying everywhere.

Now, the Korean soldiers were completely terrified, and even with cavalry chasing after them, they dared not fight back.

Not only did they dare not fight, some even laid down their weapons and, leading many Korean soldiers, ran wildly towards the city wall, shouting in broken Chinese, "We are willing to surrender! The Celestial Empire's army, please don't kill us! We are willing to surrender..."

Indeed, the guy who led the surrender is just like the Ding Ruoyong brothers; they were also political prisoners implicated in last year's "Xinyou Evil Prison" and exiled.

For them, they have already lost in the party struggles, lost their families, and have no feelings for the so-called North Korean motherland.

Now that the governor Li Yinhou wants their lives, it is perfectly reasonable for them to defect to the Heavenly Dynasty's army in order to save their lives!
As for how he saw through Li Yinhou's deception?
It's very simple. Li Yinhou knows the Chinese characters on the Han army's flags. As a former member of the Yangban aristocracy in Hanyang, it's impossible that he doesn't know them.

Even as he got closer and got a better look at the style of the Han army's armor, he vaguely remembered the tribute envoys who had mentioned a rebel army within the Qing Dynasty two years ago, something like... the Han army.
All I can say is that Nie Yu's decision to seize Jeju Island was perfectly timed.

It just so happened that the King of Joseon died, and then the country was in turmoil due to the young ruler and the most intense period of factional struggles. A large number of political prisoners poured into the entire Jeju Island.

These political prisoners had no feelings for North Korea, only hatred—hatred for the country being filled with scoundrels who exiled them to Jeju Island to suffer.

"We surrender, we surrender..."

A group of Korean soldiers, shouting in broken Chinese, rushed forward to surrender.

The Han soldiers immediately shouted, "Halt! Everyone, put your hands on your heads and squat down!"

Seeing that no one was listening, they fired again, killing several people.

The guy who led the surrender finally understood the Mandarin he was speaking and immediately shouted for everyone else to squat down as well.

Behind them, the North Korean troops still on the periphery had completely fallen into chaos.

The Han soldiers, armed with rifled muskets, were firing shots at their men with great enthusiasm.

Li Yinhou, who was overseeing the battle from the rear, had a face ashen with fear. This was not what he had expected. Wasn't the Han army only 2000 men?

Is it really that hard to beat 2000 people?

And what are those things that explode? They don't seem to be cannons!

Yin Que, the magistrate of Jingyi County beside him, couldn't help but urge, "Governor Li, we can't hold on any longer. We should retreat immediately, preserve our strength, and wait for reinforcements!"

Li Yinhou roared, "I said, no retreat! Go back and fight to the death! Kill the Japanese pirates!"

Li Yinhou was so agitated by the battle in front of the city that he became incoherent and even issued unclear orders.

“But…” Yin Que wanted to persuade him again.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out among Li Yinhou's 2000 cavalrymen, with several soldiers shouting and yelling.

"Kill the shepherd! Kill the county magistrate!"

……

(End of this chapter)