Brocade tears

Meng Kuang originally planned to call Guo Dayou, but Lao Guo seemed to have heard the movement and had already walked out of the room.The three met in the courtyard, and then went to Ban Ruhua's room where the princess was.On the way, Lao Guo couldn't hold back the excitement in his heart, and repeatedly asked what new news there was. Qiu Bai's face became serious, and he said:

"We have been exhausted for a while, and the news is really lagging behind. I went to the General Chamber of Commerce in Hangzhou City yesterday afternoon according to the order of the princess, and I didn't expect to hear the news that the Japanese country raised troops to attack North Korea is gone, and it is said that it is invincible and unstoppable. On April 20th, they crossed the sea to attack and broke into the hinterland of North Korea in less than [-] days. The capital was lost, and he fled to the north in embarrassment. He first fled to Pyongyang, but within a few days Pyongyang was also captured, and he had to flee to Uiju.

After I was done with the things the princess ordered, I stayed in the city on purpose at night, and invited two acquaintance shopkeepers of the business to drink and chat, and inquired carefully.It is said that these days, the activities of Japanese pirates in the southeast coast are also very frequent, and these Japanese pirates are not pirates who harassed the coast during the Jiajing period, they are stragglers.These Japanese are obviously well-trained soldiers, well-organized and secretive.Most of them came to collect ironware and ammunition, obviously preparing for war. "

While speaking, the three of them had arrived in front of Ban Ruhua's room. Qiu Bai raised his hand and knocked on the door. Not long after, Zhu Qingpei, the owner of Xinyang County with blue eyes, came out and closed the door quietly.The princess has never tied her hair, and her long hair is shawl. She only combs the upper half and uses a wooden hairpin to tie it.Wearing a wide-sleeved purple gauze Taoist robe, he looked a bit out of the world.It's just that her steps were a little wobbly, obviously because of lack of sleep, she was a little groggy.

"Princess, you haven't slept all night again? You can't take it anymore." Qiu Bai said worriedly.

Zhu Qingpei shook his head and said with a smile: "Ruhua will need someone to take care of her more in the past two days. When she recovers, I can rest well. It's okay, it's only two days. If there is anything, let's go to the waterside to talk Come on, let the cook bring the food, and use it while talking."

The four of them entered the water pavilion and sat around a round table.A servant in the house poured tea, and everyone drank slowly and talked.Qiu Bai drank a cup of tea to quench his thirst, and then told the princess again what he had just said to Meng Kuang and Guo Dayou, and took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, spread it out on the table, and displayed it to everyone in front of you.Meng Kuang saw that the names and addresses of several companies were recorded on the paper, and some strange numbers were also marked on the back.For example, "three hundred and sixty catties of pig iron", "five hundred catties of one hundred forged steel", "three hundred and eighty catties of saltpeter" and so on.

Qiu Bai continued to add:

"This is the list of shops in Hangzhou that have received orders from Japanese people, and the list of goods sold. It is incomplete. The two shopkeepers told me from memory last night. I wrote it down on the spot. Maybe the numbers are wrong. But These days in Hangzhou City, the major shops have sold a lot of things to Japanese pirates, which is absolutely true."

"Could it be that the Japanese dared to enter the city to buy these things so ostentatiously, and they really sold them without checking the name of the shop? You know, whether it is pig iron or saltpeter, they are all goods under government control, so how could they be sold casually?" Guo said. Dayou asked suspiciously.

Qiu Bai hurriedly explained: "No, no, Guo Qianhu, the Japanese have agents. It is said that it is a private shipyard on the coast of eastern Zhejiang. They came to Hangzhou to purchase in the name of this shipyard. Yes. Purchasing is an authentic native of Eastern Zhejiang, with an accent from Fenghua County, Ningbo Prefecture. You said, who of us would be suspicious at first? It is said that Purchasing made up a very bluffing excuse, saying that their shipyard has just been established. Shipbuilding started in the first year of this year, and a large number of civilian ships were to be launched, so the purchase volume was huge. When our company delivered all the goods, we didn’t realize that the other party was behind the Japanese. Later, we still relied on memories and account books. Only after recording, can we find out which orders were traded with Japanese people."

Guo Dayou couldn't help laughing, and said: "The Japanese people are cunning. In fact, the amount of iron they want is not like building a water transport ship. It is similar to building a sea-going ship. And they only buy iron, not wood. How can there be such a shipyard in the world? It must be because the imperial court has regulations. For example, if a new ship is built, it is necessary to measure the production of wood and water and send people to build it. To build a sea ship, it must be reported to the government. Private shipyards cannot build sea ships. This loophole is too big. Check it out. It was found out, and it can't be said to be such a bluffing excuse."

"They don't buy wood because they don't need wood? Or is there no shortage of wood?" asked the princess.

"The sea ships of the Japanese army have been built long ago, and a considerable number of people have already crossed over to the Korean land. They have been fishing for a living on the Japanese island, and they have been building ships for thousands of years. There is no shortage of ships, so naturally they don't need to be We buy wood here, what they really lack is iron and fire/powder. It is said that the Japanese army used a lot of fire/guns to fight, and their guns are also more advanced than the bird guns of our Shenji Camp, and they are very powerful in fighting." Guo Dayou He replied that he has been studying the Wa Kingdom for several years, and he has collected a lot of information about the Wa Kingdom, and he still has a lot of experience.

The princess frowned: "What kind of sharp gun is this? It's so powerful. Where did the Japanese get it? If it weren't for this kind of sharp gun, how could the Japanese capture the North Korean capital in a month? The Koreans are really so unbearable." one strike?"

Guo Dayou said with a strange expression: "The gun is a good gun, and the Shenji Camp is also commonly equipped with this kind of gun. This is a light matchlock gun from Frankie. The Japanese call it 'Iron Cannon'. Bird guns should be cheap and have a much longer range than bows and arrows. The most important thing is that they have a strong ability to penetrate armor at close range. The operation is also very simple. An ordinary farmer or fisherman can fully master it after ten days of training. The Japanese are very easy. Use this kind of light arquebus to equip ordinary farmers and fishermen on a large scale, turn them into iron cannons, and form an army. However...it cannot be said that this kind of army has absolute advantages..."

Qiu Bai nodded, then took the conversation and explained: "Princess, although the Japanese guns are very powerful, but this time they can drive straight into the heart of North Korea and no one can stop them. It really doesn't depend entirely on weapons. North Korea really can't resist. North Korea... ...North Korea's military, like paper, is completely useless."

"What's going on?" Zhu Qingpei couldn't help asking because he didn't know much about North Korea.

"Partisanship is too serious. It's quite complicated to say, so I'll make a long story short." Guo Dayou took the lead and said, mentioning the situation in North Korea, Qiu Bai is not as clear as he, Jin Yiwei, who collects foreign intelligence, "The princess should know that today's North Korea , is the Joseon Kingdom of the Lee family. The founding king Li Chenggui was originally a general of the Koryo Kingdom of the Wang family, but the royal power was seized by a mutiny. Soon after the founding of the country, the Korean gentry split up. The lay scholars who insisted on solar terms and refused to serve the new dynasty.

The struggle between the two factions lasted until the sixth generation of Joseon King Duanjong of the Lee family. Duanjong's throne was usurped by his uncle, who established himself as the ancestor. Since then, the old faction of Hoon also split. Liduanzong was restored, and then all of them were executed.One group of "Sheng Liu Chen" faded out of the court and the public, the old school of Xun gradually declined, and the school of scholar-liners began to set foot in the government.

In the tenth generation of Joseon King Yeonsangun, his temperament was cruel and innocent. During his reign, there were many military accidents, resulting in the mass murder of Korean gentry. Finally, the officials of the DPRK and China couldn't bear it and staged a coup, forcing him to abdicate and became the deposed king.During the 50-year civil war, the Shilin forces, which had suffered repeated blows, formed cronies in the imperial court, so the struggle between scholar-bureaucrats rose to the stage of party struggle.

Entering the reign of the current king of Joseon, Lee Chan, due to the competition for the position of the court, the conflict between the official Cao Shenyi Shen Yiqian and the official Cao Quanlang Kim Hyo-won was caused.Because Shen Yiqian opposed Jin Xiaoyuan's appointment to the important position of official Cao Quanlang, he turned against Jin Xiaoyuan, thus forming the Eastern People's Party headed by Jin Xiaoyuan and the Western People's Party headed by Shen Yiqian. differentiated from the west.The Eastern People's Party has long controlled the government and rejected the Western People's Party.Then last year, the issue of Wang Shizi's canonization was used as an excuse to trigger the confrontation between the moderate faction and the hard-line faction in the Dongren Party, which split into the Southern Party and the Northern Party.All in all, it's a mess. Little North Korea is fighting like this. How powerful do you think they can be?

Over the years, the nobles of the Korean gentry have continued to embezzle land and control wealth, while the court's finances have continued to shrink.There is no money to train the army, the civil servants are busy fighting among themselves, and the generals are busy chasing each other, so who will train soldiers?There are not many fire/guns in North Korea, and the soldiers are all paid for food, so they can't fight at all.Speaking of which, North Korea's political situation is somewhat similar to my Ming Dynasty's, but it is even worse than my Ming Dynasty's situation. "

Zhu Qingpei felt speechless, and an uncontrollable sense of shame welled up in his heart.Although she was kicked out of the clan, she was still the Zhu family and still wanted to see Daming better.Having been explicitly pointed out the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty's government, and hearing that the vassal state of Korea is so weak and decadent, I couldn't help feeling a sense of urgency in my heart.

"Since that's the case, why didn't we take any action? I think the Japanese invaded North Korea in a big way this time, with big plans. I'm afraid that little North Korea can't satisfy their greed. They came after me, Ming." Zhu Qingpei said.

"That's right, but the imperial court has been suspicious all the time, suspecting that the Japanese and North Korea have united to trick me into sending troops from the Ming Dynasty." Qiu Bai said.

"Ah?" The princess felt extremely puzzled and surprised, and couldn't understand why the court had such suspicion for a while.

"Princess, the imperial court is just like you. I don't believe that the Japanese army can be so powerful and the Korean army is defeated like a mountain. It is really unbelievable. And there are also Fujian maritime merchants who reported to the imperial court the news they heard when they went to North Korea for business. North Korea and Japan are in a conspiracy." Qiu Bai said.

"Isn't this... there is no way to prove it?"

"Confirmation is definitely verifiable. The most anxious person must be the king of North Korea, Li Yan. He must try his best to prove the authenticity of the war to the court. Liaodong will also send envoys into North Korea to confirm the situation. Presumably at this juncture, the court will definitely The fact that the Japanese army invaded North Korea on a large scale has been confirmed. But whether to aid North Korea or not is a matter for discussion. Now that the war in the northwest is tight, most of the combat power of our Ming army has been restrained by the Qibai rebels in the northwest. It is understandable that the imperial court is hesitant to help North Korea with soldiers." Guo Dayou said with a rather headache.

The owner of Xinyang County was a little anxious, and said to Guo Dayou: "Guo Qianhu, you have to think of a way to prompt the imperial court to send troops as soon as possible. This is not an option. If North Korea can't resist, let the Japanese army cross the Yalu River and fight to Liaodong." It’s really too late, the battlefield can’t spread to our land of Ming Dynasty, otherwise, how can the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong, who have been fighting for years, still be able to resist the artillery fire of the Japanese? If the Liaodong barrier is also breached by then, the capital will be in jeopardy.”

Guo Dayou's face was serious and he didn't answer, but Meng Kuang was thinking in his heart at this time, what the princess just said was probably the plot of the Japanese.They have seen through the fact that North Korea is weak and the Ming army is empty, and they know that as long as North Korea is swallowed up by lightning, and then use North Korea as the backing and supply line to break through the Liaodong pass, they can invade the north of our Ming Dynasty on a large scale. At that time, Beijing will receive the most direct impact, no? It is impossible not to be won in one fell swoop.As for winning Beijing, the best result is to capture the emperor alive, and the worst result is to force the Ming emperor to flee. This can severely damage our Ming emperor and ministers, destroy the fighting spirit of the Ming army, and dominate the Central Plains just around the corner.

This Toyotomi Hideyoshi really has great ambitions and ruthless schemes. A small island country has the greed to swallow elephants.Meng Kuang couldn't help feeling a chill down his spine, and a sense of urgency to do something.

At this time, Guo Dayou said: "Well, let's find the Japanese procurement as soon as possible, follow the clues to catch a Japanese, and ask for a confession. Then I will find a way to present the confession to my elder brother as soon as possible, and let him persuade the court to send troops as soon as possible. "

The princess was overjoyed when she heard the words, and hurriedly said: "Okay, let's do this. Guo Qianhu, if you need any help, just tell me."

"Then let me find out where the Japanese bought it." Guo Dayou subconsciously touched the iron mace on his waist and said.