I was living at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and I dealt a brutal blow to the Eight Banners!

Gaizhouwei

Inside the military council hall at the south gate tower, Shi Tingzhu, the banner lord of the Plain White Banner of the Han soldiers, and Tong Puhan both looked grim, clearly having just had a quarrel.

"His Majesty will soon be sending troops to Ningyuan. The provisions and supplies for tens of thousands of troops are no small amount. If we don't buy them from Zhang Jingchuan, where am I supposed to get them from?" Tong Puhan said in a deep voice.

Shi Tingzhu said with difficulty, "If I send troops to help you escort the goods south, the defense of Gaizhouwei will inevitably have flaws. Once Zhang Jingchuan leads his army to launch a surprise attack, not only will the goods in your seven warehouses be looted, but Gaizhouwei will also fall."

"Shi Tingzhu!" Tong Puhan said angrily, "If you hadn't led your troops south back then, how could Gaizhou Guard have been attacked by the Ming army, and how could Zhang Jingchuan have seized the grain and supplies from my seven warehouses!"

Tong Puhan was the head of the Tong family and a royal merchant appointed by His Majesty. Moreover, Tong Puhan was related to Prince Li, Daishan, by marriage. How could Shi Tingzhu, a mere Han soldier banner leader, dare to offend him?

Furthermore, he bears undeniable responsibility for the looting of Gaizhouwei.

Now, faced with Tong Puhan's accusations, Shi Tingzhu can only swallow his anger and suffer in silence.

“In two days, when Prince Li’s army arrives, I will personally escort it for you!” Shi Tingzhu said helplessly.

Tong Puhan rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Zhang Jingchuan gathered a group of merchants from the Jiangzhe region and established the Jinzhou Chamber of Commerce in Jinzhouwei. They bought up ginseng, deer antlers, furs and other goods in Liaodong, making it impossible for me to sell my goods at a good price."

In addition, they inflated the prices of grain and herbs by 30%, and the prices of salt and iron by 50%. How hateful, how hateful!

Shi Tingzhu frowned and asked, "Is Zhang Jingchuan here to fight a war or to do business?"

“If they’re using war as a pretext to do business, that’s fine,” Tong Puhan said, then sighed again, “but I’m afraid Zhang Jingchuan will use business as a cover to attack and seize territory.”

at this time,

The messenger rushed in and hurriedly reported:

"It's terrible! The Ming army has captured Fuzhou!"

Tong Puhan was shocked and stood up to ask, "There are five hundred garrison soldiers in Fuzhou City, and three hundred newly recruited young men to assist in the defense. How could it have been captured without any movement?"

The messenger said in a panic, "The garrison commander of Fuzhou City led a rebellion. First, he led his men to launch a surprise attack on the supervising team inside the city, and then he took the initiative to open the city gates to welcome the Ming army into the city."

At this moment, Shi Tingzhu was so surprised that he couldn't speak.

Tong Puhan stood frozen in place, his eyes filled with terror, muttering to himself, "It's over, it's over, Zhang Jingchuan is using business as a pretext to invade and seize territory."

Shi Tingzhu looked at the messenger and demanded, "Who is the Ming general who captured Fuzhou Guard?"

……

"It was my guerrilla commander Wu Guozhong who captured Fuzhouwei this time!"

On the galleon, Zhang Jingchuan pointed to Fuzhou City in the distance with the hand holding a cigar and introduced it to Shen Qiyuan, the Goryeo minister beside him, with a smile.

Shim Ki-won was a meritorious official who helped King Injo of Goryeo rebel, or to put it bluntly, a trusted minister of the Goryeo emperor. Moreover, Shim Ki-won was the leader of the Tongming faction among the Goryeo officials.

Zhang Jingchuan first instructed Li Ruolian to contact the Imperial Guards lurking in Goryeo, and have them find Shen Qiyuan to explain the situation. After Shen Qiyuan reported this, he agreed to make contact with Zhang Jingchuan.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Jingchuan ordered Shi Lang to lead the Liaodong navy to Hanyang, the capital of Goryeo, to pick up Shen Qiyuan.

When two galleons with a displacement of 1,000 tons and ten fu ships with a displacement of 200-300 tons appeared in Incheon Port, the people of Goryeo in Incheon Port were greatly shocked, and Shen Qiyuan was so excited that he burst into tears.

Shen Qiyuan put down his telescope, tried his best to suppress his excitement, and nodded heavily.

Zhang Jingchuan exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and grinned, "The Qing people are wicked; it's time we showed them what we're capable of!"

Shen Qiyuan nodded again, deeply agreeing, and said, "We, the people of Goryeo, from His Majesty to the common people, have all been under the tyranny of the Qing barbarians. Now that the Ming army has arrived, we no longer need to submit to the Qing barbarians!"

As he spoke, Shen Qiyuan raised his sleeve and wiped the tears from his face.

"Now that I am leading a separate force here, the grain and supplies of my Great Ming Dynasty are running out. It's a difficult situation!" Zhang Jingchuan said, feigning worry.

Shen Qiyuan glanced at the surrounding warships and asked in confusion, "With such a navy at your command, does Your Excellency still worry about the safety of maritime transport?"

“Lord Shen, you may not know this,” Zhang Jingchuan sighed sadly, “Now our Great Ming is beset by internal and external troubles, and the national treasury is empty. Even the more than 40,000 soldiers of Jinzhou Guard were all gathered up by me with great difficulty.”

However, if we wish to recover the lost territories of Liaodong and assist Your Majesty in driving out the Qing invaders, these 40,000 troops are far from sufficient.

"What does the Earl mean?"

"I want to expand the army to 100,000. Recruiting people is easy, but the money and provisions are..." Zhang Jingchuan said with a hint of unease.

Shen Qiyuan frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said thoughtfully:

"If you, Lord, can truly assist my Emperor in driving out the Qing invaders, I might be able to find a way to address the issues of money, provisions, and supplies..."

Zhang Jingchuan was overjoyed, but on the surface he tried his best to suppress the upturn of his mouth, put on a deeply moved posture, bowed to Shen Qiyuan and said: "Then on behalf of my more than 40,000 soldiers, I thank you, Lord Shen!"

Seeing the lord of the Ming Dynasty, who held a large army, bow to him, Shen Qiyuan was shocked. He quickly stepped forward to help the other man up and said in a panic, "Lord, you must not do this. The Ming Dynasty is the suzerain state. We, the people of Goryeo, should fight against the Qing invaders together with the Ming Dynasty!"

While Shen Qiyuan was still moved, Zhang Jingchuan quickly brought up the matter of trade.

After the Ming Dynasty established a tributary relationship with Goryeo, Goryeo paid tribute to the Ming court every year with large quantities of rice and other grains, as well as a large number of horses and cattle. The goods exported by the Ming Dynasty to Goryeo were more varied.

It mainly consists of indigo cloth, silk, and cotton, supplemented with salt, copper, spices, alum, and other substances.

While providing financial and material aid, Goryeo also needed to support trade. Jinzhouwei needed to develop its people's livelihood, and the support of oxen was indispensable.

Zhang Jingchuan needed to build a large-scale cavalry force, which required a large number of horses. It wouldn't be appropriate to ask Goryeo for these again, so he simply bought them.

Although it was an attempt to take advantage of Goryeo, Zhang Jingchuan still cared a lot about how people behaved.

and,

Selling some goods that Korea needs to them can be considered mutually beneficial to a certain extent.

“There is something,” Shen Qiyuan said worriedly, “Lord, you must be careful.”

"Please speak, Lord Shen."

"The Qing forces were not accustomed to naval warfare, so in order to resist the Ming navy, they urgently dispatched the Goryeo navy to Lianyungang in Gaizhouwei," Shen Qiyuan said truthfully.

"The Goryeo Navy?" Zhang Jingchuan frowned and looked at Shi Lang beside him.

“Lord,” Shi Lang explained respectfully, “the Goryeo navy mainly uses Panok-ships, which are large in size but relatively slow in speed.”

At this point, Shi Lang glanced at Shen Qiyuan and whispered, "Nothing to fear..."

Shen Qiyuan looked embarrassed, licked his lips, and lowered his head.

Zhang Jingchuan smiled slightly and said, "My Liaodong navy lacks nothing, except warships..."

Shi Lang's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but guess, "What does the Earl mean?"

Zhang Jingchuan grinned, took a puff of his cigar, and said:

"Building ships ourselves is still a bit slow."

……