1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 666 Gradient
On August 1651, 8, Jiaozhou.

Li Benshen sent Chi Chong'an, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites who announced the decree, out of the door, then returned to the lobby, and sat on the main seat.

"Congratulations, my lord!" Wei Shiqian, the chief soldier of Juzhou, was the first to come forward with a smile and congratulate him.

Hearing that Li Benshen had repelled the Qing army's attack in Gaomi one month ago and beheaded "thousands", Emperor Yongchu was overjoyed, so Li Benshen was promoted to be King of Yong'an, and he was rewarded with 3000 taels of silver.

Although Gaomi was captured by the Qing army less than ten days after the Yongchu court received Li Benshen's victory document, considering that he wanted to try his best to win over the few capable troops under the court, Emperor Yongchu still held his hand. Nose, make Li Benshen king.

Without him, the current Yongchu court is too difficult.Since the great war last year, the Yongchu court not only lost more than a dozen prefectures and counties in Shandong, but even Denglai was almost lost. If the Qi army and navy did not rescue them in time, the Yongchu court might have been captured by the Qing army , or be thrown into the sea.

Although the situation in Penglai was stabilized in the end, the Yongchu court suffered heavy losses. Its territory was only a few towns and strongholds along the coast. Most of its population and army were lost, and it almost lost the ability to fight back.

However, Li Benshen, who occupies more than ten counties in southeastern Shandong, including Juzhou, Yizhou, Rizhao, Gaomi, Jiaozhou, and Jimo, has not been besieged by the Qing army and has maintained his own strength very well.Under such circumstances, the Yongchu court had no choice but to try its best to win over Li Benshen to prevent the other party from defecting and surrendering to the Qing court.

However, Li Benshen himself knew that he had followed Qi's army across the sea and invaded Liaodong, killing the Qing captives too much, and many Eight Banners nobles and their families died in his hands.If I think about it again and again, and surrender to the Qing army, I might be chopped into pieces by others.

Therefore, apart from trying his best to rely on the Yongchu court and Qi State, Li Benshen didn't think about anything else.But in order to ensure the future, he not only sheltered several of his children in Qi State, but also placed them in the mainland of Hanzhou.In addition, he also followed the advice of the people of Qi, and cooperated with the Yongchu court to immigrate to the northeast coast and Ezo lands for several years, and established overseas strongholds as the last shelter.

"Hey, what's the joy of being just a worthless prince?" Li Ben said with a deep sneer, "Maybe, after a while, the Qing army will kill us, and we will all be ghosts under the knife."

"My lord, you don't have to be so discouraged." Xie Yuansheng, the commander-in-chief of Jiaozhou Mi, said, "I heard that the Qing soldiers were defeated in Huguang, losing tens of thousands of troops and losing thousands of miles of land. A month ago, after the Qing army captured Gaomi, they stopped fighting. It is estimated that most of them were affected by this before. Perhaps, the situation of the whole world has changed, and it is unknown."

"So what?" Li Benshen shook his head and said, "The Battle of Huguang was done by the Western Army, and it was thousands of miles away from Denglai and Shandong. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to change our situation. To ensure the safety of the emigration route, we are concentrating our naval fleet on attacking and weakening Zheng Zhilong’s navy, and have no intention of fighting in the north. Let’s get through some of it.”

"Your Majesty, I heard that a few months ago, Sun Kewang and others asked His Majesty to travel to Yunnan and Guizhou to avoid the Qing Dynasty. Recently, many civil and military officials have been persuading His Majesty to leave Denglai. In this way, this will affect the entire Shandong and Denglai. The current situation will bring unpredictable changes." Vice-General Gao Yuanjue said softly.

"That's right, I've also heard about it." Li Benshen said with a trace of worry on his face, "If Emperor Yongchu really moves to Yungui, then why are we still resisting here?"

"The State of Qi should dissuade His Majesty Yongchu." Wei Shiqian said: "They have been operating in Denglai and its coastal areas for ten years, how can they abandon this place easily? Didn't they always emphasize that as long as they keep Denglai, they can threaten Beijing at any time, It also restrained tens of thousands of Qing troops. At the same time, it also played a role in motivating and invigorating the anti-Qing forces in the country."

"Oh, Qi State spared no effort to support my Ming Dynasty, and the goal is the population." Li Ben smiled deeply, "Last year they broke through the city of Nanjing, and gained a population of no less than 8 to [-] people, all of which were accumulated in Jeju, Ryukyu, Annan, etc. The Great Western Army of Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo captured Guangxi, and Qi State will definitely support it in order to add an immigration window. Therefore, the land of Denglai may not be valued very much any more.”

"Will they... abandon us?"

"That's not true." Li Ben smiled wryly, "However, at the last moment, they will send us to Ezo and Outer Northeast, and let us live in the barren land outside the Great Wall."
-
On August 8, Yunzhou (now Hokkaido), Zhongxing (now Ishikari City, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan).

It has been more than four years since Zhu Jingshui came to Yunzhou, and at first he thought it was a wild place.However, after staying for a long time, except for the severe cold and deep snow in winter, he feels that all the environment here is no different from Shandong.Moreover, the wheat and sorghum planted, as well as the corn and potatoes provided by the people of the Qi State, had a good harvest in autumn.After handing over the public grain to the government, the grain left in the field can barely fill the stomachs of a family of three.

Oh, by the way, my wife and daughter were assigned from the government last year.That poor woman was Jiannu who fled to Dengzhou after breaking through the Laizhou government last year. As a result, her husband fell ill and died on the way, leaving them orphans and widows.After the army of Qi State helped the imperial court repel Jiannu, they began to transfer many refugees to Tamna Island (Jeju Island), Yunzhou, Tingzhou (Russian Vladivostok) and other places.

Last year, because of the war, a large number of refugees were transported to Yunzhou. More than 200 people came to the village where Zhu Jingshui was located, making this formerly barren place suddenly prosperous.

Being married to a woman by the government, Zhu Jingshui naturally can no longer live the life of a collective village like before.With the help of a group of acquaintances in the village, they built two earthen houses during the slack season and established a small family initially.

At the beginning of the year, the official family divided [-] mu of land with Zhu Jingshui as agreed, and paid two taxes in summer and autumn every year, and paid a tithe to the land.

Plowing the fields and sweating hard, as a farmer, Zhu Jingshui is not afraid of hardships. He believes that with the efforts of himself and his wife, he will definitely manage the [-] mu of land well.If the weather is good, there must be a lot of surplus food that can be saved.

However, I received a notice from the village officer yesterday that all the middle-aged men will gather at the wheat field this morning, saying that they will conduct armed training for the village soldiers.

Zhu Jingshui knew a little about the township soldiers. When he was in Dengzhou a few years ago, he saw many Qi country soldiers from Changshan Island helping the imperial court to defend the city and fight.They were all dressed in gray military uniforms, some with muskets, some with swords and spears, and they looked no different from their regular army.

What's the matter, here we also have to learn from the Qi people to implement the village soldier system?Could it be that the imperial court is planning to enlist us to fight in Denglai?
On the wheat field, Zhu Jingshui and the other two hundred strong men in Mintun were all whispering to each other, with expressions of fear and anxiety on their faces.

"You live in a barbaric place outside the territory, surrounded by tigers and wolves. What's more, slaves are rampant in the mainland of China, occupying my home, and slaughtering my people. My Ming Dynasty is in danger, and it is also hanging by a thread." A soldier from Zhongxing City The official of Beidao looked at the messy group of villagers in the wheat field and said loudly: "Therefore, by the order of Your Majesty, the command of the Chinese military governor's office, all the prefectures and counties in Yunzhou will establish a system of rural soldiers."

"All males over the age of [-] are required to participate in military drills for more than three days a month. They must not be absent without reason, let alone evade or slack off. Anyone who violates the rules will be severely punished with a stick and punished with hard labor. Silver fines, tax increases, and land confiscation.”

In view of last year's big defeat in Denglai, the elite of the army was almost lost. Yongning Hou and Denglai Town Commander Jiang Yongrui wrote a letter to Emperor Yongchu, imitating the model of all the people in Qi State, in Denglai and Jeju Island, Yunzhou, Tingzhou Several overseas territories have also implemented the township soldier system, which can not only strengthen the control of the local grassroots, but also maintain a huge reserve of soldiers.More importantly, the many township soldiers who have undergone military training will not need to spend the imperial court's stretched finances if they are used.

Emperor Yongchu immediately decreed that Yu Denglai and all the overseas territories under the control of several imperial courts implement the township soldier system. Not only did they dispatch a large number of officers and veterans from the army to go to prefectures, counties, towns and towns, but also sent a letter to Changshan Island, requesting Qi to send Officials and military officers who are well versed in the construction and training of the village soldier system will give the whole process of planning and guidance.

"The township soldiers not only need rigorous training, but if necessary, they still have to be pulled out for some actual combat." A small township soldier from Changshan Island, after finishing the military training that day, asked the soldiers of Zhongxing City The road official suggested.

"After all, it is not a regular military force. If it is rashly dragged to the Denglai battlefield, I am afraid it will be difficult for it."

"That's natural!" The captain of the township soldier smiled, "At the beginning of the establishment of the township soldier, it is inevitable that it will not be able to experience a big battle. However, it can be pulled out to fight the natives. On this big island, there should be many Local natives, you can try to launch a few times to clear them up. In addition to training the actual combat skills of the township soldiers, it can also replenish the population for you. After staying for a year or two, with a certain military strength, you can go there by boat. Take a turn around the coast of North Korea. Of course, you can also rely on the support of the village soldiers to expand your power to the south and expel the Japanese there."

Qi Guoxiang soldiers on Changshan Island usually go to North Korea with the Marine Corps and the Self-Rescue Army after more than a year of military training to "bring up" their combat skills.After several raids and harassment battles, he can basically act as an auxiliary combat force of the Marine Corps and participate in some high-intensity combat missions.Therefore, there are established and mature models for how to quickly increase the combat experience of rural soldiers and improve their combat effectiveness.

At present, the Yongchu imperial court is on this big island named Yunzhou. In addition to ZTE and Changping (today’s Otaru City, Hokkaido, Japan), which was the first to land and occupy, there is Beiguan (today’s Wakkanai City, Hokkaido, Japan) , Linhai (now Iwanai Town, Hokkaido, Japan), Zhaoyi (now Yoichi Town, Hokkaido), Ningzhou (now Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan), and several other immigration points, with a population of more than 2000.Compared with Japan's Matsumae Domain, which occupies the southernmost part of the island, with only [-] people, it can be described as an overwhelming advantage.

Two years ago, several fishing boats belonging to the Matsumae clan discovered the existence of the Ming territory in the waters near Changping.Then, a month later, a chief of the Matsumae Domain came to Changping with a dozen warriors, and negotiated with the officials stationed here by the Yongchu court, asking them the purpose of coming here.

When the head of the Matsumae clan heard that the Ming Dynasty had brought the land under the jurisdiction of the imperial court and carried out large-scale immigration here, his face suddenly changed.

Isn't the Ming Kingdom being invaded by the barbarians from the north and losing its capital? It is said that their emperor committed suicide and died for the country, and the country is also experiencing tragic civil strife.Under such circumstances, how could they still have the energy to immigrate to the Ezo land?
The person in charge of the Matsumae Domain cautiously informed the Ming officials that the entire Ezo area was designated by the shogunate as the territory of the Matsumae Domain, and asked the Ming Dynasty to withdraw immediately and not to invade the Japanese domain.

Since the middle of the Muromachi period, there have been continuous Japanese colonization activities in southern Hokkaido.Matsumae Yoshihiro, the ancestor of the Matsumae Domain, was one of them.Later, the Matsumae clan continued to gain advantages in the war with the Ainu people, and gained a foothold in southern Hokkaido.Matsumae Yoshihiro (named Oysteraki Yoshihiro at the time) obtained the right to recognize the land of Ezo from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and became independent from the Ando family.After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, Matsumae Yoshihiro actively moved closer to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and got Ieyasu's recognition of his territory.

Because Hokkaido did not produce rice at that time, the Matsumae Clan of the Matsumae Domain was not listed as a daimyo without Ishitaka. In 1604, it was awarded the "Black Seal" by Tokugawa Ieyasu, monopolizing the trade with the Ainu people in Ezo.Later, during the period of the fifth shogun, Iezuna Tokugawa, he was granted the banner title.

The main sphere of influence of the Matsumae Domain is the "Wajindi" (the area where the Japanese gather) in the southern part of the Toshima Peninsula on the island of Hokkaido.However, the territory allocated to the Matsumae Domain by the Edo Shogunate was far larger than the Toshima Peninsula, covering the entire Hokkaido area.Hokkaido and its surrounding islands are under the jurisdiction of the Matsumae Domain, except for the East Ezodi (the part of Hokkaido along the Pacific Ocean).However, due to the large number of Ainu people living here, and the limited strength of the Matsumae Domain, it is actually impossible to effectively manage it comprehensively.

At present, the Matsumae Domain has only established Fukuyama Castle (near Matsumae Castle, Hokkaido, Japan) at the southern end of the Ezo region. No matter in terms of population size or military strength, it cannot compete with the Yunzhou territory of the Yongchu court.

When the Yongchu officials in Changping City heard that the chief of the Matsumae clan asked them to withdraw, they just said coldly, "Under the whole world, is it the king's land?" and sent the people of the Matsumae clan away.

If so, at the beginning of the establishment of Yunzhou, when the power was weak, the officials of the Yongchu court were still a little afraid of the Japanese coming to interfere and expel them.But the Yongchu imperial court has been immigrating for several years in a row, with a population of tens of thousands, and nearly a thousand officers and soldiers stationed there, how could they be afraid of you, a small Japanese feudal kingdom.

In addition, the Qi people also said that this island is basically a land without an owner, that is, the Matsumae Domain took advantage of the short distance to forcefully occupy a stronghold on the southern coast.Although my court of the Ming Dynasty is weak now, it is not something that a small domestic feudal clan in Japan can easily force back with a few words.

Now, with the further growth of the population in the Yunzhou area and the gradual establishment of the township military system, it is time for the Yongchu court to consider expelling the Japanese who occupied the southern coastal area of ​​Yunzhou and fully incorporate the island into the Under the rule of Ming Dynasty.

On the side of the couch, how can you allow others to snore and sleep!Taking a ten thousand step back, if one day, the imperial court can no longer gain a foothold in Denglai or the mainland, this land of Yunzhou may be the last refuge of all the survivors of the Ming Dynasty.Leaving the Japanese Matsumae clan on the southern coast of Yunzhou, how could there be any hidden danger in the future.

(End of this chapter)