I

Tainan, Relanjia City.

Ruyter, who had his right hand cut off and was sent back, told Paul Duratinius, the East India Company's Taiwan chief: "The Chinese have no city walls and no regular troops on the island. They are just a group of civilians, without even muskets, like The natives raided my camp like that. The north (Taipei) is too far, we can attack Zhuluo (Chiayi) directly!"

Zhuluo County in Taiwan Prefecture is not far from the Dutch city of Relanje.

Paul Duratinius scolded: "You idiot, if you attack Zhuluo, it means a full-scale war with China. We go to the north to build castles to set up trading points and supply depots, not to fight the Chinese." .”

Although the Netherlands is like Teddy, they actually have their own logic.

Just try to build a castle first under the noses of the Han people. If China doesn’t care, it’s naturally best. Even if you don't care, you can still try to fight, maybe you can win.

Lost?

Oh, lose it then, as long as you can continue to do business.

Tamsui was really the trading supply station chosen by the Dutch. It can trade with Fujian and is relatively close to Japan. Although Japan is closed to the outside world, there are still feudal lords who secretly engage in maritime trade.

The Dutch, who had lost 50 land troops, immediately became more honest and re-sent envoys to Nanjing.

But Zhao Han continued to put pressure on the Netherlands:

First, for all Dutch merchant ships, the tariffs on various goods will be increased by 5% as a punishment for the Dutch building castles without authorization.

Second, Taichung County was added, five thousand people were immigrated to Taichung at one time to reclaim wasteland, and the government of Taiwan Prefecture was moved to Taichung.

Third, a rammed earth castle was built in Zhuluo County, and all captured artillery was mounted on the castle.

There is nothing to fear from the Dutch in Taiwan, and Zhao Han is more focused on the mainland.

When Sun Chuanting led his men to attack the red-haired ghost at night, Zhao Han issued two more orders in succession.

The first is to let Sichuan's 9th Division and 12th Division immediately attack Xuanfu Division in Youyang after the mixed formation is completed.

If Youyang is successfully captured, the Ninth Division will return to Chengdu and look for opportunities to attack the Western Sichuan Chieftain. The newly formed 12th Division continued to attack the mountainous areas of western Hunan. Those areas were under the jurisdiction of Hunan, but no troops were sent to occupy them. They were all densely populated by large and small chieftains.

The second is to adjust administrative divisions.

Put Lianzhou Prefecture in Guangdong (the government is in Hepu) under the jurisdiction of Guangxi, giving Guangxi an outlet to the sea. And build a port in Qinzhou, so that Guangxi's special products can be transported through the river to Qinzhou seaport.

…

Nanjing.

A Vietnamese minister from Nguyen led the envoys and knelt down: "Nguyen Cuo, the minister of the Annan Le Dynasty, pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of Datong of China!"

"Pingshen." Zhao Han smiled.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Ruan Cuo stood up carefully.

Zhao Han said again: "Give me a seat."

Ruan Cuo was even more happy. The Chinese emperor treated him so politely, and this mission would definitely be successful.

Vietnam is now in the state of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. A hundred years ago, the powerful minister Mo Dengyong usurped the country. The Nguyen family supported the royal family of the previous dynasty, and the Hou Le regime recovered, eventually defeating Mo Theng Dung to unify Vietnam.

Nguyen Gan's son-in-law Zheng Jian used the emperor to command the princes, stole the power of the Vietnamese court, and formed the "Zhengzhu of Le Dynasty" in the north.

Ruan Gan's sons Ruan Wang and Ruan Huang were separatist in the south and did not obey orders, thus forming the "Ruan Lord of the Li Dynasty".

War broke out constantly between the two sides, attacking from the north and defending from the south, and ruling by crossing the river.

These envoys who went to Nanjing to pay tribute were the Ruan regime in the south. Ruan Cuo said: "Your Majesty, the Zheng family in Annan is immoral, and the King of Li Dynasty has become a puppet. Not only that, just three months ago, the Zheng family accepted the canonization of the puppet emperor of Yunnan, deposed King Annan, and established himself as King Annan! "

Zhao Han looked angry: "This is a rebellious minister and a traitor!"

Ruan Cuo said: "My lord has found the Li Dynasty clan and asks your majesty to grant the seal of King Annan."

Zhao Han sincerely sighed: "It seems that the Ruan family is the real loyal minister."

Ruan Cuo suddenly stood up, walked to the front of the hall and knelt down: "The Ruan family is loyal to the King of Li Dynasty, just like the King of Li Dynasty is loyal to His Majesty!"

Zhao Han said very generously: "In this case, I will give you the seal of King Annan."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Ruan Cuo was ecstatic.

The ruler of Ruan in the south was always at a political disadvantage against the ruler of Zheng in the north. After all, King Annan was in the hands of the Zheng family.

Today, Emperor Zhenwu of the Ming Dynasty, who was supported by Mu Tianbo in Yunnan, is rapidly expanding in Guizhou and Guangxi. Most of the territory transferred between Guangxi and Vietnam had surrendered to Emperor Zhenwu.

Zheng was obviously confused about the situation and felt that Mu Tianbo was awesome.

Yunnan's civil and military ministers also urgently need to be recognized. As a result, the two sides hit it off immediately, and the Zheng family chose to usurp the throne and establish themselves on their own, and the Yunnan small court took advantage of the situation and conferred him the title of King of Annan.

After the Ruan family learned the news, they immediately sent an envoy to Nanjing to get a clan from nowhere and asked Zhao Han to canonize him. From now on, it will be the Ruan family who holds the emperor hostage to order the princes, and they can also accuse the Zheng family of betraying the emperor and usurping the throne.

The Ruan family is very knowledgeable and knows that Zhao Han is likely to unify China!

Because before Zhao Han opened the sea, the area under the Ruan family's jurisdiction belonged to the maritime trade center. Goods from Japan and China were transported to Nguyen's port and then resold to Western merchants such as the Netherlands and Spain.

The Ruan family was able to grow bigger step by step because of the benefits of maritime trade.

Moreover, Chinese merchants have great influence within the Ruan family, accounting for more than 80% of the maritime trade market. In the port of Hoi An alone, there are a large number of Chinese working as officials, and there are also four to five thousand Chinese who are not working as officials.

For Zhao Han, since the puppet imperial court in Yunnan canonized an Annan king, he can also canonize one.

Anyway, let the northern and southern regimes of Vietnam attack each other. It would be best if both sides would lose.

After finishing cleaning up the country, the Datong Army can send troops to northern Vietnam, and it is justified, because the political power there was conferred by the Yunnan puppet court.

…

The Vietnamese envoy withdrew and the North Korean envoy was brought in.

In very fluent Chinese, Yin Shandao knelt on the ground and shouted: "Yin Shandao, a subordinate of the lower country of Korea, comes to greet His Majesty the Emperor of Datong, the upper country of China!"

"Ping Shen." Zhao Han's face was expressionless, and he didn't give him a good look.

After all, the king of Korea at this time was vassal to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

However, Yin Shandao did not stand up, but cried: "The Manchu Tatars are barbaric and cruel. They sent troops to ravage our country and robbed people, livestock and food. Today, ten houses in northern Korea are empty, corpses are everywhere, and the Manchu Tatars also brought The plague is coming. Please send troops to Liaodong and make decisions for the officials and people of the country!"

Zhao Han sneered: "North Korea is a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, and it is not a vassal state of Datong. What does the matter of North Korea have to do with me?"

Yin Shandao kowtowed and said: "The Tatar troops came to the city, and the king of the country had no choice but to surrender to the puppet Qing Dynasty. Our country still uses the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty, and insists on wearing Han clothes. I am here to present the credentials of North Korea to His Majesty, and also return There is a yellow list of the land and population of North Korea. The country of North Korea requests to surrender to the country of heaven. Millions of officials and people of North Korea are willing to serve His Majesty as their lord forever!"

The deposed lord of Joseon on Jeju Island has died of illness, and the crown prince of the deposed lord of Ganghwa Island has also been killed by the king of Joseon.

It is really inconvenient for Zhao Han to plan a coup in North Korea, mainly because the profits after the coup are not high.

Zhao Han pretended to be angry and asked, "Did you know that during the Datong Army's Northern Expedition, they encountered North Korean gunmen on the battlefield?"

Yin Shandao was stunned, and then he put his forehead on the ground and his buttocks in the air and replied: "Your Majesty clearly knows that those are my lord's personal soldiers. Being forced by the Tatars to fight is not my lord's original intention!"

"Whether it was intentional or not," Zhao Han said, "North Korean soldiers have caused casualties to the Datong Army, and the King of North Korea must give an explanation!"

Yin Shandao prostrated and said, "Your Majesty, please speak clearly."

Zhao Hanzi opened his mouth: "North Korea sells 300,000 dan of grain to the Datong Army every year."

Yin Shandao was so anxious that he shed tears: "Your Majesty, before the Tatars plundered, our country might have been able to scrape together so much food. But after the Tatars plundered, North Korea was devastated and in need of reconstruction. It was really impossible to produce three One hundred thousand stones."

"Then two hundred and fifty thousand dan, no less," said Zhao Han, "I have tens of thousands of troops in Liaodong, and it is a time of shortage of food. If we are defeated due to lack of food, we will have no choice but to withdraw from Liaodong. The Tatars have no worries and can go to North Korea to plunder at any time. You are not asked to pay tribute, it is just a grain trade. The Datong Army gives you silver at market prices and helps you fight against the puppet Qing Dynasty. If you are still pushing back and forth, then go back as soon as possible. Let’s go. After I destroy the Tatars, I will send troops to North Korea to hold them accountable!”

Yin Shandao said with a dry mouth: "Can it be two...two hundred thousand dan per year?"

"No, I said 250,000 shi, that's 250,000 shi." Zhao Han said, "You go back to collect food first. When you sell enough 250,000 shi this year, I will naturally send an envoy to enthrone North Korea." king!"

Yin Shandao didn't dare to argue anymore, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "I obey!"

Don't think that Chinese emperors are all fools. They are all very generous to their vassal countries. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di almost drove the king of Korea crazy.

North Korea was also very impressive when it was founded. It inherited the war horses of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, trained tens of thousands of cavalry, and pushed the country to the front line of the Yalu River.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di firstly wanted to fight Mongolia, and secondly, to curb North Korea's development momentum, they forced North Korea to sell a large number of war horses. After several decades, the good horses in North Korea disappeared, and even the officials’ mounts were sold to the Ming Dynasty. The average height of North Korean horses dropped by about ten centimeters.

Zhao Han was just following Zhu Yuanzhang's example and forcing North Korea to sell food.

Two hundred and fifty thousand dan per year is enough to feed Liaodong's 35,000 troops for more than half a year, which can greatly alleviate the pressure on military rations. However, the North Korean people will definitely fall into famine as a result, and North Korean society, which is already riddled with holes, will inevitably become more difficult to restore people's livelihood.

The more thorough the Bund, the better. After taking care of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, they will then go to take care of North Korea.

The reason for sending troops was to punish the people. The large territory in northern Korea was lost by the Han family - it was inherited from the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties. Zhu Yuanzhang gave up because of the situation.

By the way, a coup is brewing in North Korea.

The two sons of the Korean king were held as hostages by the Manchus. First he lived in Shenyang, and then moved to Beijing. His eldest son contracted the plague and died, and his second son also fell ill after returning to Liaodong.

In addition, North Korea was robbed too hard, and dissatisfaction with the king was brewing throughout the country.

It seems that by changing the king, North Korea can revive.