1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2300
Although Zhang Jinbao was a little curious about who made such a big splash by visiting Hong Kong, he also knew that some things should not be inquired casually, especially the itinerary of high-level figures in Haihan, which is not something that ordinary people should be curious about. , if the people in the government noticed, they might be treated as spies.

With such a mentality, Zhang Jinbao simply gave up his plan to spend the night in the urban area, lest if he woke up tomorrow and found that the urban area was also closed, it might delay his subsequent itinerary.Although the cabins on the ship were not comfortable, one more night of sleep would not kill anyone. In order to return to Danzhou in a safe and sound way, we just had to make do with one more night.

However, his worries were obviously unfounded. Nothing happened in the urban area of ​​the port area that night, and there were no further blockade measures after dawn. The ship he was on board left the port smoothly after completing the loading and unloading of the cargo and continued its journey southward.

And the "noble man" who caused the local government to temporarily close the port due to his arrival in Hong Kong is currently visiting the residence of You Yihan, the person in charge of Hong Kong.

"Is it okay to live here yesterday? If you need something, don't be polite, just ask, and I will try my best to meet it." You Yihan treated this "noble man" very politely, because the executive committee sent The order requires all places along the route, including Hong Kong, to take good care of this "noble man", especially in terms of safety, which must be absolutely guaranteed.

"Thank you, Lord You, for taking care of me! I had a good rest last night, but I have important matters to attend to. The schedule is busy this time, and I don't have time to stay in Hong Kong. I will only visit Lord You when I have the opportunity to come to Hong Kong next time."

Sitting opposite You Yihan, the young man was dressed luxuriously. Although he spoke politely, his eyes and expression did not show the slightest servility.Being able to talk to high-ranking officials of Haihan with such an attitude of neither humble nor overbearing, the status is naturally not bad.

You Yihan nodded: "The incident happened suddenly, and I only received the relevant news recently. Presumably, your Excellency is also eager to return at this time, so I will not keep guests. I have already had the carriage ready, and I can leave at any time."

The young man got up and bowed to say goodbye: "Then I will bid farewell to Mr. You!"

You Yihan sent the young man to the gate, and watched him get into the carriage parked outside. Beside the carriage were several Haihan armed soldiers with live ammunition, and more than a dozen guards in armor and with sabers across their waists, guarding the carriage. Live, it looks like an enemy.

Under the guard of more than thirty armed men, the carriage arrived at a dock somewhere in the port that had been cleared in advance. There were already several sailboats on the dock ready to set off, waiting for the young man to board the boat before unmooring. Hoist the sails.

"Andaoshi, order me to go down, let's go!" After boarding the ship, the young man simply ordered a few words to the military officer who followed him, and then got into the cabin.

An Daoshi responded, and hurriedly conveyed the order.

This military officer was An Daoshi, a Korean military officer who had studied in Sanya before, and the only person who could dispatch him at will was his master, the son of the Joseon Dynasty, Li Yi.

There are still a few months before the end of Li Yan's study abroad, and although the North Korean military officers who came to Sanya to study together have already participated in the martial arts competition, they have not completed all their studies in fact.And the reason why they left Sanya in a hurry to return to China was naturally because of some major changes in the country, and they had to rush back to deal with them as soon as possible.

According to the schedule of the voyage, only necessary stopovers and supplies will be made at the ports along the way northward, and it is necessary to rush back to Seoul as soon as possible.So the ship arrived in Hong Kong only stayed for one night due to bad weather conditions, and continued on the road early the next morning.

After returning to the cabin alone, Li Yan was no longer as calm and composed as before when he faced You Yihan, and his face was much gloomy.Before going abroad, he had envisioned all kinds of difficulties that he might encounter during his study abroad, but he did not expect that his study abroad career would be smooth, but the domestic situation that seemed to be stable originally had a major incident during his study abroad.

At this time, Li Yan could only be thankful that the cooperation between North Korea and Haihan was close enough, and the news was transmitted from North Korea to Sanya, but it only took half a day.The Haihan executive committee held a meeting immediately after getting the news, and then decided to send Li Yi back to North Korea as soon as possible to deal with the chaos.Only one day later, the fleet carrying Li Yi and his civil and military officials set off from Sanya. This kind of efficiency made Li Yan unable to find any faults.

However, Hai Han's attitude seems to be a little unclear and vague. He didn't express his attitude to Li Yan that he would do his best to support his actions after returning to China, but only promised to give him the necessary help. If the domestic situation in North Korea deteriorates, Hai Han It will also provide him with security.

Li Yan believes that such a statement should be related to the current situation in North Korea, but what is the current situation in the country, even the information provided by Haihan is vague, and he has no way of making an accurate judgment.

According to the information provided by Hai Han, just a few days ago, a palace coup took place in North Korea.This kind of thing is not uncommon in the history of North Korea. Even the current king of North Korea, Lee Ji himself, launched the so-called Injo Rebellion in 1623, overthrew his uncle Gwanghae who was in power at the time, and won the Ming dynasty in 1625. Only then did he become the king of Joseon.

After Li Zhen came to power, the trick of the coup did not stop there. In 1624, Li Shi rebelled because he was dissatisfied with the distribution of rewards for meritorious deeds after Li Zhen came to power. Liu Xiaoli and others wanted to establish Lord Rencheng as king. In 1627, Liu Yingling conspired against him. In 1628, Li Shi said that he wanted to establish Jinyuan and made Li Zhuo king. In 1632, Li Ji'an conspired against him...

It can be said that the domestic political arena has not been quiet for a few years, and coups launched by various forces have emerged one after another.Since the age of 30, King Li Zhen has been struggling with all kinds of forces in the past ten years. During this period, he also encountered two large-scale invasions from evil neighbors in the north. Life is really not easy.

Although Li Ji's rule was not stable, he was on the thigh during the most critical historical period, which saved North Korea from completely falling in the second invasion of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.Although Haihan's intervention could not completely solve the power struggle in North Korea, it at least helped the country reduce the military pressure from the outside, allowing Li Jing to focus more on national governance.

However, the years of civil strife and the invasion of foreign enemies have made North Korea's financial situation a mess. After the end of the Anti-Qing war last year, it even needed to borrow money from Haihan to maintain the operation of domestic government agencies. Large areas of the country that have been devastated by the war are simply powerless. To organize post-war reconstruction, only a series of industries developed by Haihan along the Datong River have fed tens of thousands of war refugees, slightly reducing part of the burden on the North Korean government.

Under such circumstances, Li Zhen sent Li Xuan and a group of civil and military officials to Haihan to study abroad. On the one hand, he wanted to use this to consolidate the diplomatic relationship between the two countries and use Haihan's military force stationed in North Korea to maintain his rule. On the one hand, it is true that he has the idea of ​​learning advanced military technology and experience in governing the country. After Li Yi returns to China after studying, he will use what he has learned to carry out a major transformation of the domestic bureaucratic system.

Although the ideal is beautiful, the reality is very weak. North Korea lacks sufficient funds in all aspects. Even if Li Yan broadens his horizons in Haihan and sees how a "powerful country" governs and operates, it is difficult for the Haihan people to govern the country. Copying it back to China, and lacking the corresponding talents to implement it, is likely to become a dragon-slaying skill.

Li Xuan has been in Haihan for almost a year, so he has naturally realized the gap between the two countries.From his point of view, after returning home after his studies, he would tell his father the necessity of continuing to send people to Haihan for further study.Only by allowing more civil and military officials to receive training opportunities and improve their governing ability can it be possible to fundamentally change the status quo in North Korea.

Li Yan's thoughts are naturally the result of being repeatedly instilled with various "advanced ideas" during his study abroad, but even if someone else came to Li Yan's position, the effect would not be much different.Haihan's ability to govern the country, the production technology it has mastered, and its armed forces are all outstanding in this era. It is difficult for anyone not to be impressed by him after witnessing his strength. Those who come are of course no exception.

One of the main goals of Li Yan's study abroad is to learn advanced state governance techniques and fundamentally change the status quo of various coups in North Korea.But he never thought that before he finished his studies and returned to the country, there would be another coup d'état with great influence in the country, and he didn't know if he would have time to calm down the situation when he rushed back to North Korea.

Li Yan took out a piece of letterhead, and pulled out a piece of paper from it. He had read the content written on the paper at least a hundred times, but at this moment he still couldn't help taking it out to browse again.

The content on this piece of paper is the news that Haihan sent back from North Korea by telegram. It is said that the coup in Seoul was quite powerful, and many soldiers and horses fought in the city all night. The palace was destroyed by fire.As the main figures of the Joseon royal family, King Li Ji, Fenglin Dajun Li Hao, Linping Dajun Li Jun and others are all dead or alive.

Although Haihan has stationed a lot of troops in North Korea, in order to avoid arousing the suspicion of the North Koreans, they are basically stationed at the Taedong River base in the north, and there are not many troops stationed in the Seoul area, so they are not in the first place. Intervening in the handling of this coup, the information they have is extremely limited.

According to the telegram, the initiator, purpose, and result of this coup are still unclear, and the royal family has no one to take charge, and the entire Seoul is in a state of extreme chaos.

Under such an unexpected situation, if Li Yi, the son of Sohyun, can appear in Seoul, he will naturally be the best candidate to reunite the people, calm the situation, and coordinate all parties, so Haihan notified him in the shortest possible time Li Yan ended his study abroad ahead of schedule and returned to China, and arranged his itinerary for him in advance, hoping that he would return to North Korea in time to preside over the overall situation.

Li Yan would be lying if he said not to panic. On the one hand, he was worried about the safety of his family, and on the other hand, he was also worried that his legal inheritance rights would be taken away by others.If the person who initiated the coup had already controlled the military power, it would be difficult to reverse the situation just by rushing back with his group, and it is even very likely that they will end up in a trap thousands of miles away.But if he didn't go back to find out what happened in Seoul himself, how could he be reconciled.

Although the military officers who went to Haihan with Li Yan to study abroad are considered capable and have basically chosen to be loyal to him, these officers were only middle-level officers before going abroad, and they did not have the authority to mobilize the army at all. I want to rely on them to take back Military power may be somewhat difficult.

Therefore, Li Yan believes that it is necessary to try to win the support of the Haihan Army so that it can send troops to cooperate with him to return to Beijing. Perhaps the process of quelling the rebellion will be much easier.

But he also knew that the procedures for Haihan to dispatch troops were quite complicated, and it would definitely not be an easy task to persuade the troops stationed in North Korea to dispatch to clean up Seoul.So after starting from Sanya, Li Yan has been thinking about how to realize his ideas.

The reason why he did not try to persuade the executive committee in Sanya is because Yan Chujie gave him a very clear suggestion. Since no one in Sanya knows the real situation in Seoul, should the garrison take action to deal with the chaos in the area? , it is up to the garrison headquarters to make decisions.

There is nothing wrong with Yan Chujie's statement. The navy commander Wang Tom who is still stationed at the Datongjiang base is also one of the executive committee members, and he is fully qualified to make important decisions on behalf of the executive committee.Moreover, he has been staying in North Korea at this stage, and he may have a clearer and deeper understanding of the local situation and the reasons for this coup.

The telegram stated that the Haihan Army did not intervene in this matter, but that was the situation a few days ago, and there is no update on the development of the situation after that.It is difficult for Li Yi to make a clear judgment on the situation in Seoul, so naturally he has no choice. He can only look forward to getting the latest news when he next calls at the port under the Haihan rule.

And as Li Yan's capable general, An Daoshi is also at a loss about the current situation.Based on the level of intelligence he had access to, he only knew that a coup d'état had taken place in Seoul, that the death of the king and others was unknown, and he didn't know anything about the rest of the situation.Even though he learned a lot in Haihan, it is difficult to speculate on the actual situation in Seoul with such limited information.

But no matter what, there is a reason that is very clear. What happened in Seoul must be unfavorable to the heir to the throne overseas, Li Yi, and as an officer loyal to Li Yi, this unfavorable influence will continue to his head superior.If An Daoshi wants to become a high-ranking general in North Korea who holds the power of soldiers and horses in the future, he must first assist Li Yan to overcome the current difficulties, and this job is not so easy at present.

(End of this chapter)