On the Han River outside the capital of Korea, from the elderly over 70 years old to children under ten years old, they all rushed to witness the angels coming from the Celestial Kingdom.

A high platform has been built on the riverside. Kim Sang-hen and Kim Doopiao and other two squad officials are waiting for an exciting moment. This is a time that North Koreans have been waiting for for more than ten years.

Now, North Korea is finally going to return to the embrace of the Celestial Empire and become a vassal state of the Ming Empire again. The Tartars can no longer oppress them. Today, they will support a new king, an angel from the Celestial Empire, an adopted son of the Ming Emperor, and a noble imperial prince personally crowned the King of Korea.

This is the supreme glory.

It was August when the osmanthus flowers were in full bloom, and the people of Gyeonggi Province and Seoul welcomed the heavenly soldiers and generals into the court.

When the giant ships several floors sailed along the Han River, and when the dense gun windows on the giant ship appeared, Jin Shangxian and other North Korean officials were all glad that they made the right choice. The Manchu Tatars only carried more than a dozen cannons, so they forced the king to surrender. But today, they led more than a hundred gunboats and hundreds of cannons. If Jin Zidian led the North Korean troops and horses to intercept them, the two sides would start a war. I am afraid that they would lose more than when Bingzi was in chaos. No, they would definitely lose more miserably.

The Korean monarch and ministers requested the Ming Emperor to enthrone the new king, and the request had been approved. The Duke of Chu sent the fastest fast sailboat to Tianjin and then returned to Beijing to report. The emperor also made a reply as soon as possible and agreed to make Yichang Jun the King of Korea. The edict was sent to Seoul, and the whole North Korea breathed a sigh of relief.

Yichangjun personally led a group of ministers to pay homage to Liu Jun and asked the angels of the country to crown him personally.

"Celebrating the ascension of the Korean king's ascension to the throne, the cannons fired one hundred and eight times!"

Liu Jun waved his hand and ordered his king's flag-plaque official.

"Hear the throne and shout the cannon!"

Three battleships by the river sailed out of the group and drove to the middle of the river, spreading across the line. The three battleships aimed rows of naval guns at a hill on the other side.

Liu Jun smiled and said to the Korean monarchs and ministers sitting next to him, "Please accept the celebration of our Ming soldiers."

Yichangjun was over fifty years old and was the eighth son of Xuanzu. Before the Ming army came to Korea, he never expected that one day he would become the king of Korea. When Japan invaded Korea, he almost died at the hands of the Japanese when he fled. Later, the Ming Dynasty helped Korea defeat Japan and helped Xuanzu repeat the dynasty. But later, the princes fought for the throne, and Guanghai Jun killed his brothers to seize the throne. Later, his nephew mutinized and seized the throne, blinded his eyes and exiled him, and then executed him.

The battle for the throne is cruel, and he is lucky.

Yichangjun Li Yu knew very well that his throne was obtained by the Ming Dynasty, so he respected the adopted son of the Ming Emperor.

"boom!"

The ship cannons roared, and the cannons on one side of the three battleships roared one after another, and the huge sound was like a bolt from the blue.

After one side was bombarded, the cannons on the other side of the warship blew again one after another. The warship did not turn around. This time, all the shells were bombarded to this side. Sitting on the riverside not far away, you could clearly see the orange-red fireworks spewing out of the warship gun window.

I saw the cannonballs with white smoke roaring into the hills by the river, splashing waves of mud and dust.

Li Yan's face was pale, and he felt a tightness in his heart, and even his throat was dry.

This was the first time he had seen such fierce artillery fire. After one hundred and eight sounds, the two small hills on both sides of the river had been leveled by artillery fire.

Leveled!

Not only was the new king shocked, but the other ministers were also like this, and many people were even frightened and exclaimed.

"What kind of cannon is this?" Zhang Wan, the Marshal of Du, who made great contributions this time, couldn't help but ask. The Marshal of Du, with white hair and beard, was an old commander in the Korean army. He sent troops twice to determine the world.

"Long Cannon." Liu Jun said calmly.

"Is it a red cannon?"

"More advanced and more powerful than the Red Cannon."

Zhang Wan stared at the three battleships with his eyes, "Did this gun be forged by Shangguo himself? And such warships were also built by himself?"

"These three warships and the artillery on the ship are all obtained by my previous defeat of the Western Barbarians at sea, but now I have mastered the art of casting and shipbuilding. The fleet that came with me this time is just a squadron of my Ming Beiyang Navy."

"How many squadrons does a fleet of Daming Navy have?"

"The Beiyang Navy has three squadrons, one hundred and fifty warships, and one thousand five hundred cannons."

Zhang Wan and the other Korean kings and ministers couldn't help but take a breath of cold air when they heard this. One hundred and fifty warships and one thousand five hundred cannons. What kind of city can withstand the attacks of so many cannons in this world, and who can stop such a fleet at the sea?

At this time, Liu Jun added a sentence, "The Beiyang Navy is just one of the imperial naval divisions under a certain command. It is a joint battle between the three towns under the command of the Duke of the country. For a naval fleet like the Beiyang Navy, our Ming Empire has three fleets, namely the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the Yangtze River Navy. Among them, the South China Sea and the East China Sea are much stronger than the Beiyang, and there are more warships and cannons."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Korean monarchs and ministers were all stunned.

Everyone's awe for the Ming Dynasty has reached a higher level.

The auspicious time comes, and amid the sound of rituals and music, Liu Jun crowned the King of Korea on behalf of the Emperor of Ming Dynasty.

North Korean new king Lee Yoon walked up to the ceremony step by step in dress.

Officials from the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Rites who came from the capital brought out the enthronement of the Emperor of Ming and read it in public.

After the edict was read, Li Yu knelt down and received the edict.

Then, Liu Jun walked to Taichung with the king's crown in his hand, Li Yan stepped forward and walked to Liu Jun and knelt down.

Liu Jun put the crown on his hand and then handed over the golden seal of the Korean king given by Chongzhen to Li Ju.

After a ceremony, Lee Kan was officially crowned and ascended the throne as the king of North Korea.

After Li Yu ascended the throne, his first decree was to arrest all pro-Qing factions, whether they were Westerners or southerners, and northerners, as long as they had previously supported pro-Qing peace, they were removed from office and removed from office. Among them, the main ones, Cui Mingji, Jin Zidian and other honorary Western factions, were arrested, and then publicly beheaded on the first day of the new king ascended the throne. They showed their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty.

Li Yan did something that he did to execute the main officials of the Anti-Hao faction and demote the remnants of the Anti-Hao faction.

The second thing is to issue an order to arrest all the Jurchens in North Korea and hand them over to the Ming Dynasty.

There is another third thing, which is to deal with it secretly.

Former King Li Nie was exiled to Jianghua Island, and then halfway through the ship on the sea, he encountered storms and waves. Li Nie and his wife and children were all drowned in the sea and drowned.

This matter was not something that Liu Jun asked for, but was done by the new king of North Korea and his ministers themselves. They did not want to leave any future troubles than Liu Jun.

Just like when Li Jue mutiny overthrew Guang Haijun, then viciously blinded him and killed him again. Political struggles were always cruel. When Li Jue came to power, Li Jue naturally had to die. The old Western faction came to power, and the honorary Western faction and the young Western faction had to be purged.

The Ming army camp in Seoul.

The new government led the remarks and political affairs, Kim Sang-heon, brought many officials to visit Liu Jun, and brought many cars of cattle, mutton, wine and meat and other rewards. They also prepared a generous gift for Liu Jun, a thousand taels of gold and ten beauties.

However, Liu Jun did not accept it. There was a lot of gold for a thousand taels, but he didn't lack it. As for the ten beauties, although North Korean officials whispered how beautiful their women were, they were still the same. However, Liu Jun really didn't like the big pie face with single eyelids and high cheekbones. North Korea must have beautiful girls, but what he admired would never be such aesthetic standards.

"There is no need for these things. Actually, I would rather want to talk to North Korea about some mutually beneficial businesses."

Seeing that Liu Jun refused to accept gifts and wanted to discuss business, Jin Shangxian and others were very confused and thought that Liu Jun wanted more gifts.

"You don't have to think too much about it, it's just a simple business. And it's good for you. Let me mention it first, have you seen our artillery warship? As long as you want it, this can be sold to you." Liu Jun first threw out a tempting bait.

Before Jin Shangxian could react, the old marshal Zhang Wan immediately asked impatiently. "Can you really sell those artillery warships to us?"

"Of course!" Liu Jun smiled.

"What are the conditions for us to buy?" Zhang Wan asked repeatedly. His anxious look made Jin Shangxian feel very irritated. How could he talk about business like this? Even if he really wants to buy, he can't be so urgent.

But Zhang Wan was not concerned about these things. He now knew the power of these artillery warships. If North Korea could have some of them, it would not be bullied by Japan and Manchus in the future.

Liu Jun was willing to sell some artillery and warships in North Korea, but the ones sold must be exported to foreign trade. To put it bluntly, it is ordinary rather than high-end. At most, it is the traditional red-brand cannon type, or some Folang aircraft and tiger squat cannons, at most, they can sell some howitzers. Anyway, North Korea is weak, and their army is not even a regular army, but similar to militias, with no special generals or special troops. They gather only when needed. To put it bluntly, it is as rotten as the guards of the Ming Dynasty. When the Qing army invaded, eight Korean troops, thousands or even tens of thousands of people, were often defeated by hundreds of Qing troops.

Sell ​​them some firearms and they won't do anything.

Instead, giving them these very desired equipment can exchange for them to give in other aspects.

What Liu Jun wanted was trade and trade, not official tribute trade and buying, but all-round trade and free trade. Now, like Japan, North Korea has embarked on the road to seclusion and locked in the country. When people were beaten up, they shrank and became a turtle.

Liu Jun proposed to North Korea that the Ming East India Company obtained exclusive trading rights with North Korea. The East India Company can freely purchase and sell goods in various parts of North Korea, and can freely enter and exit the ports and terminals of North Korea. Moreover, North Korea levies East India Company's merchant ships at the same tax rate in the country and cannot be additionally levied.

In addition, North Korea assigned the two islands of Danluo Island and Juje Island to the Ming Dynasty as the navy's garrison and commercial port.

"We need to consider this." Kim Sang-hen didn't expect that Liu Jun had such high requirements and had to ced two islands at once. These were not two small islands, but the two largest islands in North Korea.

Liu Jun smiled and said, "As long as you agree with our request, we can not only sell artillery warships to you, but also exempt all kinds of tributes from North Korea from the Ming Dynasty. In addition to symbolic tribute to a small number of Korean specialties every year, we will no longer recruit soldiers, civilians, food, etc. from North Korea, nor will we ask you to send troops to fight against the Qing army. On the contrary, we will also send troops to help you defend the north and block the Qing army's invasion in the future. The navy stationed on the two islands of Tanluo and Juji can also fight pirates for you and prevent Japanese invasion."

As soon as this request was put forward, many North Korean officials were moved.

After they surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, they had to pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty six times a year, and various materials were tributed in a very large quantity. Sometimes they had to pay 100,000 stones of grain and thousands of horses at one time. That was no longer just a tribute, but a plunder. But they had no choice and even had to pay tribute to girls every year.

In the past, during the Ming Dynasty, there were many tributes. In those years, Dongjiang Town was on Pi Island. They often asked them to provide food and grass. Of course, what made them most excited was that the Ming army generals helped them defend the Yalu River front line. The Qing army's invasion made them miserable. Now that they have surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, what they are most worried about is that the Qing army has come to take revenge again.

"How to cede?"

"Tanluo will be permanently ceded to Daming. You can move the people on the island or stay. If they move, we will pay you an additional five taels of silver per person. If they stay, they will become Daming's people. We will pay North Korea and North Korea ten taels of silver per person. In addition, we will also pay a one-time compensation of 100,000 taels of silver."

"As for Juji Island, it is considered a lease, but there is a garrison to build a city freely. The island can do business, trade and reclamation freely. The Ming Dynasty's law is implemented, and the people of the Ming Dynasty have the right to live. We are willing to pay a rent of 1,000 taels of silver every year, and in addition, the merchants will pay you a tariff, and there will be no other taxes or fees."

In addition, North Korea handed over Yizhou and Tieshan to the Ming Dynasty to build a city, and the Ming army was stationed to help them defend against the Qing army's invasion.

Jin Shangxian and others went to discuss it alone, mainly because the issue of two islands was the main issue. Especially Tanluo Island, although Juji Island was also very large, there were not many people. One of the Great Desert Islands was rented to the Ming Dynasty, and it would be best if it could still have 1,000 taels of silver a year. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty stationed troops here to build commercial stations. In the future, they could collect another tariff, and even protect the southeast coast for them and defend Japan.

The problem is Danluo, this is a large island, once an ancient country, and later incorporated into Silla, and now it has become part of North Korea. This island is an excellent pasture and produces a large number of good horses.

Jin Shangxian and others were unwilling to throw away the island, nor were they willing to offend the Ming Dynasty, so they wanted to rent it to the Ming Dynasty like Juji Island.

After hearing this proposal, Liu Jun agreed with a smile. He offered the same conditions as Juji, one thousand taels of silver a year, and additional tariffs on in and out. However, in the future, Juji and Danluo were both concessions of the Ming Dynasty. The laws of the Ming Dynasty were implemented in the concessions. The Ming Dynasty could garrison troops in the concessions and had extraterritorial legal powers. North Korean laws were not passed in the concessions, and those compensation silver were gone.

Kim Sang-heng-heng and others finally chose to rent it out, but proposed that the original North Korean government remained in the lease, and the people of Ming Dynasty were not subject to North Korean laws, but the North Koreans on the island were still under the jurisdiction of the North Korean government.

Liu Jun rejected this reasonable request and insisted that the people on the island would be dealt with according to the Ming Dynasty laws in the future. In the end, Jin Shangxian and others compromised.

They also got what they wanted. Both sides signed arms purchase contracts. North Korea ordered a large number of firearms from the Ming Dynasty, including Red Cannons, Francs, cannons, muskets, bullets, etc., and several gunboats. In addition, Liu Jun also signed a joint defense agreement on behalf of the Ming Dynasty and the King of North Korea. When either North Korea or the Ming Dynasty was attacked by a third party, the other party was obliged to send troops to assist in the defense.

Originally, Liu Jun had told them that there was no need for North Korea to send troops to help the Ming Dynasty fight, but the North Koreans believed that they had rights and obligations. Since the Ming Dynasty needed to help them defend against the Qing people and the Japanese, they had to help the Ming Dynasty fight, otherwise they would be afraid that the Ming army would not really help them.

At the same time, they also reached several other agreements, such as the number of tributes and the scope and quantity of tributes.

North Korea received the Ming Dynasty's promise of protection and was not asked for many supplies, money and food, and they were very happy.

Liu Jun was also very satisfied. He reached a number of transactions with North Korea on behalf of the Ming East India Company. In addition to the firearms and ships transactions, Liu Jun also signed a purchase agreement with North Korea to purchase 10,000 horses and 30,000 cows, as well as a large number of Korean ginseng, cloth, medicinal materials, grain, etc.

The Ming East India Company purchased these goods from North Korea, and the price was about 10% higher than the North Korean market, and it paid the bill with excellent quality Ming silver dollars.

The monarch and ministers of the Korean Republic were quite satisfied with this kind of transaction. In the past, the court also traded cattle and horses with the Ming Dynasty, but they exchanged goods for goods every time, and the price was not satisfactory. Now Liu Jun bought it directly with silver, and the price was fair, or the transaction was fair. The most important thing was that they took the silver and turned around and ordered a large number of supplies from Liu Jun, including various sharp firearms, mighty warships, and even various Chinese luxury goods, with the prices very fair.
To be continued...