There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 435 Surprise Attack on Liaodong
After hearing the translation, Queen Dowager Kim, disregarding all other pleasantries, hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, North Korea is out of food, and Pi Island is also North Korean territory."

The first part is true; since Korea was extorted by the Qing Dynasty to sell grain a few years ago, the national treasury has indeed been running low on funds and grain.

But Xu Qing didn't care about any of that. His mission was to get food from Korea and take back Pi Island: "My duty is to open trade with Korea and provide food for the Dongjiang Town army. I don't care whether Korea has food or not, and Pi Island must be given to us. It is the territory of the Celestial Empire of China."

When Queen Dowager Kim heard Xu Qing's domineering words, she, who had only been in power for less than a year, was immediately furious, but she couldn't let the anger ignite and could only suppress it.

There was no way to beat the big man!

Korea cannot defeat the Manchus, and the Manchus seem to be unable to defeat the Han Dynasty. So how can Korea defeat the Han army?
In particular, the report from Kim Dal-soon, the governor of Jeolla Province, to Seoul, which claimed that there were tens of thousands of Han soldiers on Jeju Island (an exaggeration), almost scared the Joseon king and his officials in Seoul half to death.

Furthermore, North Korea is not only unable to win, but it also has no justification.

Although Queen Dowager Kim shamelessly claimed that Pi Island was North Korean territory, any North Korean minister or noble with some status knew exactly where Pi Island came from.

Pi Island is called Pi Island in China and Kado Island in North Korea. It is located east of the mouth of the Yalu River and in the West Korea Bay.

(The red circle indicates Pidao Island)

Because of the island's unique geographical location, situated at the crossroads of the Liaodong Peninsula and the Korean Peninsula, Mao Wenlong established Dongjiang Town on the island as early as the second year of the Tianqi reign, thus forming a strategic containment of the Manchu flank.

Unfortunately, despite its strategic importance, Pi Island is extremely poor.

The island has an area of ​​less than 20 square kilometers, and its main body is composed of crystalline gneiss, making it very unsuitable for agricultural development.

In the parlance of that time, "Pi Island was all sand and stone, with not a single arable piece of land."

The only advantage here is that it has many small harbors, and the strait between it and Tan Island to the southeast is conducive to the anchorage and shelter of large ships.

Mao Wenlong was killed by Yuan Chonghuan, and Dongjiang Town on the island was torn apart. Huang Taiji took the opportunity to join forces with the Korean army and capture Pi Island.

After resolving his flank threat, Huang Taiji handed over Pi Island to Korea.

North Korea saw this as a great opportunity and regarded Pi Island as a means of "expanding its territory".

Several years ago, King Jeongjong of Joseon specifically conducted a census of the population of Pido Island, and there were approximately 49 households still living there.

These 49 islanders are the result of North Korea's gritted teeth and continuous supply of food to keep them on the island, all in order to preserve the territory that was "opened up" with great difficulty by the Qing Dynasty.

After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing court still thought of Pi Island. The young Kangxi Emperor inspected Pi Island twice, which frightened the Koreans into sending troops to garrison the island. It wasn't until Kangxi Emperor found Pi Island to be a barren land that he lost interest in it.

Now, the Han Dynasty has a perfectly reasonable basis to reclaim Pi Island.

Pi Island was the territory of the Ming Dynasty. The puppet Qing Dynasty were barbarians. It was only reasonable for the Han Dynasty to take back the territory they had given away.
Moreover, the puppet Qing dynasty never voluntarily gave up Pi Island; they simply left the island decades ago. Later, Kang Youwei sent people to survey Pi Island, and in order to make Kang Youwei give up, Korea deliberately withdrew its troops and relocated all the people, making Pi Island appear as a deserted island so that the Qing court would lose interest.

Queen Dowager Kim hesitated for a long time, but Xu Qing couldn't wait much longer and immediately issued an ultimatum: "Does North Korea not want to return Pi Island, or does it not want to trade with our Great Han, or does it not want either?"

If you don't want either, then you're going to rebel against the Han Dynasty!

After all, if you don't want to do business with the suzerain state and instead occupy its territory without returning it, isn't that just being inherently rebellious and wanting to rebel against the suzerain state?

The Grand Tutor Kim Jo-soon, who was standing nearby, understood the meaning and suddenly said, "The angel has misunderstood. The lower kingdom of Joseon had previously seen the Celestial Ming Dynasty destroyed by barbarians, and in order to protect the Celestial Empire's territory, it temporarily managed Pi Island on behalf of the Celestial Empire. Now that the Great Han Dynasty has been restored and is about to overthrow the Manchu barbarians, the lower kingdom of Joseon should naturally return Pi Island."

"As for food, Korea is indeed running low, but His Majesty the Emperor of the Celestial Han Dynasty needs food, so even if Korea has no food, it must find a way to procure it for the Celestial Han Dynasty. We must not let the Celestial Han Dynasty lack food."

Kim Jo-soon's mind worked quickly, and he figured it out almost immediately: Pi Island definitely had to be given, and food was even more important.

Since we're going to give it anyway, we should give it ourselves to maximize his benefit.

They say this is selling out the country for personal gain, but what does selling out the country for personal gain mean?
He's essentially secured a lifeline for North Korea from the Celestial Empire. Trading Pi Island and some grain for the protection and tolerance of the Celestial Empire—it's a very worthwhile deal.

Moreover, Pi Island itself is a barren land. How much money, food, and goods does North Korea have to invest in Pi Island every year?

Similarly, while it's true that North Korea was devastated by the Qing Dynasty and lacked food, it was primarily the ordinary North Koreans who suffered from the lack of food. The wealthy and powerful not only didn't lose any more food, but actually gained even more.

Because of the Qing Dynasty's extortion of grain, the Korean national treasury was almost emptied. In addition, the Korean nobles hoarded and speculated on goods, which almost wiped out the country's grain reserves.

With the national treasury empty and a severe famine caused by floods and droughts, many people in North Korea starved to death. The resulting loss of land left large tracts vacant, which were then seized by North Korean nobles.

Even those who didn't starve to death were forced to sell land to survive. In just a few years, the yangban nobles of Korea have become fat and bloated.

The common people have no food, yet their grain is piling up like mountains.

Now that the Han Dynasty wants to do business with Korea, the Korean nobles can take the opportunity to make a fortune.

At the beginning of the year, the nobles and officials of Seoul made a fortune from a small-scale trade with the Han merchant ships, earning far more than the limited trade during the Qing Dynasty's previous policy of isolation.

Moreover, the Qing Dynasty had been fighting wars for several years, and the amount of money they paid to Korea for grain had been decreasing, making it almost a losing proposition. It would be better to sell to the Han Dynasty, where they could earn more money.

In short, Kim Jo-soon had already thought it all out: returning Pi Island would appease the Han Dynasty and avert a crisis in Korea. It would also allow them to trade grain with the Han Dynasty, benefiting both himself and the Yangban nobles.

Even the politically opposed ministers remained silent at this moment, as if they had no idea what the Korean people would eat if the grain was sold to the Han.
……

A few days later, the Han Dynasty sent a large ship to Ganghwa Island for trade.

Only a few warships arrived; the rest were all armed merchant ships, clearly indicating that preparations had been made in advance.

Two of them had already come here earlier this year, and now they've come again.

North Korea isn't stupid; it keenly sensed this.

Queen Dowager Kim and a group of North Korean officials were all terrified.

Fortunately, they agreed decisively; otherwise, the Han people would have not only failed to earn money and supplies but also suffered a loss, which might have angered them enough to lead to an attack on Korea.

The Han fleet traded on Ganghwa Island for several days before finally leaving the island fully loaded with grain and heading north.

The fleet passed through Hwanghae Province and Pyongan Province in North Korea, but instead of turning northeast to Pi Island, it continued sailing northwest.

Several grain merchant ships accompanying the convoy all noticed that the course was wrong, but none of them dared to ask.

After drifting at sea for several days, the fleet was finally able to see land.

It's still a vast expanse of land... a peninsula!
Good heavens, the Han army has tricked these grain transport merchant ships into coming to the Liaodong Peninsula.

That large peninsula landmass was Jinzhou, which juts out from the Liaodong Peninsula, and should now be called Ninghai County (Jin County).

The talk of restoring Pi Island and establishing Dongjiang Town is just a smokescreen. What use would it be to establish a military outpost on Pi Island?

The island can't hold many soldiers, and it needs to continuously transport food from outside. If sea transport is cut off, or if Korea sides with the Qing Dynasty, Dongjiang Town on Pi Island will be finished.

Nie Yu wanted Pi Island simply as a backup plan. Not long ago, the spies that the Great Han had planted in the north received information from somewhere that the Qing court had transferred a large number of Eight Banner troops and Solon soldiers from outside the Great Wall into the country.

Today, the defenses outside Liaodong Pass are extremely weak.

Nie Yu originally set up a cavalry division on Jeju Island as a preparation for a future sea crossing and recapture of Liaodong.

As it turned out, plans couldn't keep up with changes, and the Qing court pulled off this bizarre maneuver.

Nie Yu believed that even if there were no guaranteed success, he should still try his luck first. At worst, he could simply take a boat back to Pi Island and rebuild Dongjiang Town.

Thus, the Han army, having rushed all the way, and even with a somewhat hasty sea crossing strategy, brazenly marched into Jinzhou.

Although the puppet Qing dynasty established Ninghai County in Jinzhou, it maintained a military government system outside Liaodong Pass for a long time. At the same time, it adhered to the principle that the ancestral land outside the pass could not be developed and prohibited people inside the pass from fleeing to settle outside the pass.

Ninghai County is said to be a county, but the total population of the county is only a little over two thousand. The county magistrate is concurrently the local Jinzhou Defense Commandant.

Of these two thousand-plus people, more than 800 Eight Banner soldiers belonging to the Jinzhou Defense Commandant, who could also be called Eight Banner military households, had to be removed.

As for combat effectiveness, we're already military households, what's the point of talking about combat effectiveness?

The Han army's fleet docked and anchored in Dalian Bay.

The Eight Banners magistrate of Ninghai County failed to notice the sudden arrival of the boat. The enslaved villagers who fished along the coast were equally bewildered by the unexpected stop.

The soldiers who disembarked were all dressed in the same standard Eight Banners cotton armor, which was even newer and better than the armor worn by their Eight Banners masters that they had seen before.

Several villagers and slaves immediately prostrated themselves on the ground.

"What's going on? Why are all these people kneeling down?" Wu Liehu had just disembarked when he saw many villagers kneeling on the shore.

These villagers were dressed in rags and were filthy; they were clearly extremely poor and living very difficult lives.

Fu Zhina, who disembarked first, quickly explained, "Reporting to the general, these people should all be slaves of the Eight Banners soldiers of this county, and they are even less likely to be considered bondservants."

Upon hearing the word "slave," Wu Liehu's face instantly turned cold. He didn't even bother to ask if the other party was Manchu or not, and said directly, "Tell these people that we are an army from the Han Dynasty. Let them tell us where their city is and how many Tartar troops are stationed there. As long as we destroy those Tartars, they will no longer be slaves. We can even distribute land to them so they can live in peace and farm."

After saying that, he pointed to Fu Zhi and said, "You go with Li Wen and the others and explain things to them first."

Not long after, Fu Zhina and Li Wenjiao returned, bringing with them specific information about Ninghai County.

"Wait, where is Ninghai County?" Wu Liehu interrupted and asked.

Fuzhi pointed to the map and said, "This is the place, Jinzhou. It used to be called Jinzhou, but Emperor Shizong... no, Emperor Yongzheng, the puppet Qing dynasty's chieftain, renamed it Ninghai County. But the locals still call it Jinzhou, and it's not much different from the original Jinzhou."

“Yes, I understand,” Wu Liehu nodded. “So, there are fewer than 800 Qing soldiers in Jinzhou?”

Fu Zhina said, "It's probably even less. This is outside the Great Wall, which is an extremely cold and harsh place compared to the interior. Moreover, Jinzhou is located on the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula and is basically not threatened. So the garrison here is nominally close to 900 soldiers, but in reality, it certainly won't reach 900, and even 800 would be hard to find. These 800 are at most wearing cotton armor. According to these villagers, the cotton armor of those Eight Banner soldiers is still very worn out. If the cotton armor is worn out, the military equipment will only be more dilapidated."

Upon hearing this, a glint of light finally flashed in Wu Liehu's eyes. He had already prepared to fight when he learned that there were 800 Qing soldiers.

Now that we hear there are fewer than 800 people and that their military equipment is extremely dilapidated, what are we waiting for? Let's start the attack!

Wu Liehu made almost no preparations, taking with him the 1500 cavalrymen he had brought with him (500 of whom remained on Jeju Island), and 10 red-coated cannons (shipped from Jiangsu), and sped towards Jinzhou City.

The Qing army in Jinzhou only learned of the news after they had already passed Nanguanling.

"You said a large army of several thousand men has appeared over Nanguanling?" Akdan, the magistrate of Ninghai County and commander of the defense of Jinzhou, asked with some doubt.

The messenger slave bowed and scraped, saying, "Yes, Master. Among those soldiers, there are others like you, but their armor is newer and more..."

Before the messenger could finish speaking, Akdan kicked him to the ground, shouting, "Nonsense! You Nikan slaves love nothing but spouting nonsense!"

If it were said that there were several thousand troops, Akdan would have wondered where they came from. But to say that there were Eight Banner soldiers like himself in the army, and that their cotton armor was even newer than his, was pure nonsense.

This slave Nikan is deceiving me; he probably just wants a reward from me!
Akdan didn't take it to heart at all and went back to his old house in the city to sleep.

There was no other way; this was outside the Liaodong Pass. Ever since the Manchus entered the pass, although Liaodong was known as the ancestral homeland of the Manchus, it had long been extremely poor, lacking everything and only experiencing harsh and desolate conditions.

Ninghai County was able to become a county because a city was built here during the Ming Dynasty. It's been almost several hundred years now, and the city walls have almost fallen into ruin.

Akdan's old house is truly an old house, yet it's still considered the best house in Golden State.

After all, the total population outside the Great Wall was less than 80 by the time of the Jiaqing Emperor. On average, a county with a population of a thousand or so would be considered quite good.

What can a thousand people do?

Akdan didn't take it seriously, but the Han army valued speed.

In less than half a day, the army marched from Nanguanling to Jinzhou.

Because they hadn't set up a defensive line in advance, the Qing troops in Jinzhou were completely dumbfounded when they saw thousands of Han soldiers slowly appearing outside.

Don't give them time to react or call for help.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Han army immediately unleashed a barrage of fire from their red-coated cannons.

The deafening roar of the cannons carried immense power; just two shells were enough to blow up the Jinzhou city gate tower.

This city is too ancient, older than the Qing Dynasty itself, and simply cannot withstand the impact of cannons.

"Run!"

When the Qing troops in Jinzhou saw how powerful the Han army's cannons were, no one thought of resisting; they just ran away shouting wildly.

Akdan, the garrison commander of Jinzhou, was fast asleep in the city when he was awakened by the sound of cannons outside the city. When he went out, he saw that the Han army had already entered the city.

(End of this chapter)