New Shun 1730

This deal was able to be concluded, and it really relied on the credibility of some Confucian scholars.

It was not because of the "many talents in Yingchuan" of the Three Kingdoms, but because under the closed-door policy, only Tsushima could exchange ideas on Zhu Xi's philosophy; this is similar to why Nagasaki has so many talented people in Lanxue.

As soon as Shi Jiang Ru Miao left, the fleet immediately sent a ship to Busan to inform Zhao Baiquan of the matter, hoping that he could cooperate.

After the ship arrived in Busan, Zhao Baiquan did not go to Donglai Prefecture, but stayed in the former Waguan in Busan.

He could not go to Seoul, so he could only live in the Waguan occupied by the Dashun Navy.

Otherwise, if he went to Donglai Prefecture, there would be no residence or house that met his status, which would be inconvenient for both parties.

Somewhat unexpectedly to Zhao Baiquan, the attitude of the Korean side was still very submissive, especially when he heard Zhao Baiquan say that the Celestial Empire would pay the conscripted civilians, the attitude became even more submissive.

However, the local officials here could not make the decision on such a big matter. They still had to send people to Seoul to wait for the king's order.

Zhao Baiquan did not know that Donglai Prefecture was submissive and supportive after hearing about the money, not because of the face of the Celestial Empire, but because of the money.

In Korea, there is a class of untouchables.

The untouchables are divided into public untouchables and private untouchables. The nobles of the two classes and the local tyrants have many private untouchable slaves.

These slaves can "rent labor" to the navy of Dashun to make money by hard labor.

During the Imjin Japanese Invasion, when the King of Korea fled, the untouchables burned the civil register with fire. In addition, the subsequent war recovery policy made many people who were originally untouchables get rid of their untouchable status, unlike the previous slave population accounting for 70%.

But even so, the untouchable slave class at this time also accounted for about 30% to 40% of the population.

Moreover, the one-drop-of-blood principle is followed.

Even if the father is not an untouchable, the mother is an untouchable, then the child is also an untouchable.

Of course, in theory, if a noblewoman marries a low-class man, her children can be considered good citizens, but the problem is that the law stipulates that noblewomen cannot marry low-class men.

Slaves are cattle and horses, not people.

That's why there is a scene in the movie "Namhansanseong": the Korean low-class man who served as a guide and translator for the Qing Dynasty was righteously asked by the Korean nobles: You are also Korean!

But the low-class man asked back: My father is a slave, my mother is also a slave, slaves are not people at all, I am not even a person, how can I be Korean?

Since slaves are not people, Dashun has given money, and the money is not small, far higher than the wealth that a slave can create. The nobles here are of course happy to accept Dashun's recruitment of manpower here.

Although Zhao Baiquan is a member of the Li government, he is also a capable person. He knows that even if he recruits Korean civilians, he can't let Dashun bear the grievances and let Korea take the benefits.

So to be clear, money will be distributed to every civilian to promote the idea that the Celestial Empire pays for hiring people, rather than making those people resent the Celestial Empire for conscripting them for corvée labor.

The wages given by Dashun are based on the labor fees for repairing the Yellow River embankment.

Rice can also be given - sea merchants can easily transport rice here, then earn the difference and take away silver.

If this kind of thing is turned into a business, things will be simple.

How can such a good thing be allowed to be done by good people? Naturally, the big families with slaves and servants will rush to come, otherwise if good people are conscripted, the money will be taken by the good people.

In theory, good people can spend money to buy the lower castes of the Yangban nobles, and Korea uses less money internally. Dashun gives silver, and good people will definitely flock to it.

If Seoul agrees, it will definitely let local officials conscript people locally to help the Celestial Empire attack Japan, and the quota for such a good thing will naturally be divided up by the local big families.

Slaves are not worth much, and a normal horse can be exchanged for two stronger slaves.

Under the caste system and the one-drop-of-blood principle, there is no need to worry about the shortage of slaves. Industry and commerce are not developed, so the price of labor is naturally much cheaper than that of Dashun.

Zhao Baiquan did not expect that the local officials would be so active and enthusiastic. He was so angry that he had no chance to vent. He was really uncomfortable.

Considering the face of the court, he had to take the overall situation into consideration, and it was not good to directly criticize the Donglaifu envoy who was responsible for the trade with Japan in Korea for "usurpation of the title".

Fortunately, the news from the navy relieved his depressed mood.

He thought that if this matter was done, he would also make a contribution. Although the court only asked him to be responsible for contacting Korea, it was so far away from the capital that it was inconvenient to transmit information. He was making his own decision to seek merit.

He got on the ship, arrived at Tsushima, and changed ships.

With him came 150 marines who were transferred to take over Tsushima temporarily.

Mantou and other officers asked about Zhao Baiquan's contact with North Korea, which was related to whether the navy could get a base in Busan.

The navy was thinking of staying in the future. As for the situation in North Korea, the navy judged that their thinking was still stuck in the idea of ​​slowly transferring troops and storing food for the expedition.

So it was a reasonable request to build docks, granaries and artillery for the convenience of combat, and they should agree.

"Don't be anxious. We have to wait for the news from the King of Korea, and the local officials can't make the decision. Without the order of the court, I can't enter the Korean royal city directly. But the local officials are readers of sages after all, so they still support it."

Zhao Baiquan thought about the attitude of the officials of Donglai Prefecture in Korea, and said something good.

After all, in his opinion, Liu Yu's words such as "The hatred between Japan and Korea cannot be traded" are really a bit of an attempt to incriminate. He was quite embarrassed because he felt that Liu Yu was trying to bully a small country by bullying a big country. , too overbearing.

Even though he was dissatisfied with the king's affairs in his heart, he believed that the direction of his dissatisfaction should be on matters such as status and status, rather than fighting for trade benefits.

Seeing that the situation in North Korea seemed to be good, Mantou told some of Ma Fan's situation, including why he wanted money and why he asked the samurai and businessmen to evacuate after asking for money.

He added: "This time, Mr. Zhao, there is really nothing we can do. They can't trust us soldiers, but they can trust you Confucian scholars. We thought that since the war started, if a big name surrendered at the beginning of the war, it would be easier in the future. induce differentiation.”

Although Zhao Baiquan was excited, he knew that this was an opportunity. His trip to Ryukyu had already gained some fame in the court, and he was in the emperor's heart. If he can make meritorious deeds again this time, it will be like a carp leaping over the dragon's gate.

But it also involves asking for money, buying roads, releasing people, etc., which needs to be considered.

If you just act as a guarantor to get Zong Yiru to surrender, you will only have merit but no responsibility. But it involves money and releasing people, which requires some responsibility.

After thinking about Liu Yu's actions in Ryukyu, it seems to be much more serious than this. Chaozhong just chose to cover it up, and it seemed that Chaozhong and His Majesty were very happy.

Then he made up his mind, nodded and said: "It makes sense. Since he admires the Celestial Empire and wants to join him, the Celestial Empire will naturally accept him. If the name of our army's benevolence and integrity can be promoted, it is not wrong to let these people go." This can be done.”

"There's only one thing. I have something big going on. If you ask me to stay as a hostage for no reason, that's absolutely impossible. It's not that I'm cowardly and afraid of death, but the imperial court ordered me to contact North Korea. Your life is on your side, so you must first Follow your orders and do it yourself.”

Mantou said: "Yes, we all understand Mr. Zhao's responsibilities. If he insists on having someone as a hostage, we can also send someone over. Mr. Zhao can rest assured."

Zhao Baiquan thought for a moment and then asked: "The geography of Tsushima is important. If Zong Yiru surrenders, only 150 marines will be stationed. Isn't it a little too little?"

"Quite a few."

Steamed Bun immediately shook his head.

"These one hundred and fifty people are just going up to maintain order after the chaos and panic. In the future, only thirty or fifty people will be left here. If the Japanese come, they will withdraw from the north. But most of the Japanese don't dare to come."

"It's useless for the Japanese to fight against Tsuima. They can't defeat Tsuima in a sea battle, so they are here to send people up. As long as they can't win a naval battle, they won't dare to come to all the islands. We don't have a big camp at Tsuima either. The big camp is far away. In Busan, Tsushima is nothing more than an outpost.”

Zhao Baiquan understood it for a long time, but he didn't understand what it meant. However, thinking that naval warfare was full of weirdness, even though he had read military books, it was difficult for him to understand, so he stopped asking any more questions.

Soon, Ujie Rumiao came again. After arriving, he did not mention surrender first, but talked to Zhao Baiquan about Yumori Yoshisu's instructions before his death.

"On Tsushima Island, there was a Confucian scholar named Tao Shan. He risked his life and carried out benevolent and righteous policies. The mountain people built a monument to commemorate it, but it has not yet been completed. Dashun is a country of benevolence and righteousness, so please do not disturb the inscription of this Confucian scholar."

It's just that Ujie Rumiao didn't say that this was Umori Yoshisu's request before his death, but instead hid Umori Yoshisu, as if Soyoshi was a benevolent person.

Zhao Baiquan heard this story when he communicated with Yusen Fangzhou before, and he couldn't help but secretly praise him at this time, thinking that Zong Yiru was really a benevolent and honest man. Although he has no abilities, he has some kindness.

"It goes without saying. The Celestial Empire has promoted benevolence and righteousness, and has fought against rebellious thieves. Wherever they go, there has been no crime since the autumn. The Japanese country is cruel and cunning, and there are many rumors that they know small etiquette but no great righteousness. The dull people of Taoshan are also rare. Disciple. Since we have made great achievements and the people set up monuments to commemorate them, why do we want to die?"

Thi Jiang Ru Miao said: "In this case, we all thank you for the people. We also hope that the heavenly soldiers will be stationed and do not disturb the people. The feudal lord surrenders to the heaven, not because he is afraid of death. On the one hand, he has admired the heaven for a long time, and on the other hand, he cannot bear to treat the people of Ma. There will be casualties. If the Chinese army cannot abide by the agreement not to disturb the people, the feudal lord would rather fight to the death."

As soon as he said the beautiful words, Zhao Baiquan didn't know whether they were true or not, and he didn't want to know whether they were true or false, so he just followed them along.

Finally, Ujie Rumae made a request, hoping that Zhao Baiquan could board Tsushima and read some words in front of Tsushima Castle Town as a sign of sincerity.

Naturally, you can't say that Zong Yiru wants to surrender, but say something else so that the people Zong Yiru wants to get rid of can get out.

The words were nothing more than words such as "a teacher of benevolence and righteousness", "the great shun soldiers won many battles without using force, so I ordered you and other samurai to return to the Japanese island to fight again in the future", "go back and tell the shogunate to surrender early" and so on.

Some things still require cooperation from Dashun. I am not afraid of those who are not afraid of death, but I am afraid that some people are not afraid of death themselves, but will kill Zong Yiru when they hear Zong Yiru surrender after staying.

Zhao Baiquan did not answer immediately, but first put aside Thijiang Rumiao and asked the navy officers.

"Could this be a trick by the Japanese to take me hostage?"

Several officers smiled, and one of them took out a standard naval officer's blunderbuss and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, decide on your own. This blunderbuss is given to you. If there is really a fraud, you can drink the bullet and live forever. We will avenge you later." ”