The sun never sets in America

Chapter 193 Voyage: North Korea

North Korea, Busan Port...

The Port of Busan is the trading port designated by the King Lee family of North Korea and is now the place where North Korea has the most intensive contacts with the outside world.

It is also the most open place in North Korea. Although the local buildings are still a large number of oriental buildings, there are also shops selling Western goods.

Even in Busan, you can still see Han products sold to the Far East. Among them, bicycles, toffee, and canned fruits are the favorites of North Koreans. In North Korea, only wealthy people can afford them.

Speaking of the exchanges between Han and North Korea, it can actually be traced back to the third year of Longwu. At that time, Han's industry was booming and it was when markets were most needed. In addition to opening up the Japanese market in the Far East, Han merchants also tried to open up central and southern China. Markets on the peninsula and the Korean peninsula.

This is also the first step in the contact between Han and North Korea, but this step is actually very shallow. Until now, the relationship between Han and North Korea has been at a level that is not on the stage, and even somewhat secretive.

The most important factor in this is the Qing Dynasty. North Korea is a tributary of the Qing Dynasty. If it interacts with Han openly, wouldn't it be an open rebellion against the Qing Dynasty? ?
  The Korean Kingdom, which had suffered losses from the Qing Dynasty as early as the Huang Taiji period, would naturally not be so foolish as to fall out with the Qing Dynasty.

Because of this, the exchanges between the Han Kingdom and the Korean Kingdom have always been within a controllable range.

What is controllable, trade is allowed, Han Dynasty can immigrate from North Korea, but there can be no other requirements, such as an embassy, ​​this is absolutely impossible.

After all, no matter how stupid the Lee family of Korea is, he knows that the Han Dynasty is thousands of miles away, and the distance between the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty is only an inch.

But even so, people in North Korea are still inevitably attracted to Han.

If North Korea was very proud of Han at the beginning, what kind of country was Han? At best, it was a country founded by wealthy merchants from the south of the Yangtze River. At worst, wasn't it just a country of merchants? ? (Han’s external propaganda stated that the Liu family was from Jiangnan and did business overseas. As for the original pirates, there were no pirates and there had never been any)

And why does this country of merchants come to China? Isn't it just to get some people to enrich the domestic staff? ?

Come to Korea to buy some lowly maids. In the eyes of the early Korean monarchs, Han was a country of rogues! !
  Turning one's back on the host country and establishing oneself overseas, what else is that but a rogue? ?

This situation lasted until the second half of the fourth year of Longwu, which was the year of the Sino-American War.

After the news of Han's victory over the United States came out this year, North Korea's monarchs and ministers became interested in Han. In the beginning, there was actually a Daoguang-like joke.

The king of North Korea asked his ministers: "What country is the United States? Is it as big as North Korea?"

It wasn't until I got a copy of the most complete world map in the world from those foreign businessmen that I discovered that it turned out that the smallest map was North Korea, not the United States.

This has also caused an eternal joke that has been passed down to later generations. Even asking the king to ask for a big deal has become a derogatory term similar to waiting for the rabbit and waiting for the sword.

And if the war between Han and the United States only opened the eyes of North Korean monarchs and ministers, then the changes in Japan, their next-door neighbor, made North Korea no longer able to sit still.

Since the fifth year of Longwu, Japan has become a country with primary industrial product processing capabilities under the investment of Han. Although the so-called factories and raw materials are in the hands of Han and even Han businessmen, for Japan That said, it's already a huge improvement.

In addition, Han's positioning towards Japan since the fifth year of Longwu has been in transit trade and auxiliary Han industry.

Therefore, Japan's foreign exports have been increasing year by year since the fifth year of Longwu. Although most of the profits were earned by the Han Dynasty, the Japanese were just workers.

But North Koreans don’t know that since Japanese products with Chinese characters entered the North Korean market, North Korea’s lower-level industries, especially textiles, the pillar industry, have been almost helpless to fight back. (North Korea, like the Qing Dynasty, was made of homespun cloth. It was difficult to resist cheap and easy-to-use machine-made cloth.)

After all, at this time, Japan, under the command of the Han industrial giant, had become a major textile industry country second only to China, with an annual output value of more than [-] million yuan. Although most of the profits and investments in this part were taken by the Han Shang took it away, but even if three-tenths were left behind, it would be an unimaginable wealth for Japan.

It is precisely because of this that North Korea even issued a so-called ban on Japanese cloth, prohibiting Japanese machine cloth from entering North Korea, thereby protecting the small farmers in North Korea.

This incident also triggered tensions in relations between Japan and North Korea.

Some Japanese even clamored to use guns and cannons to make the Koreans remember and let them know who is the boss in this area.

Some radicals even shouted slogans of annexing North Korea and marching into the mainland. (With the completion of the new army of [-] men, the young men under the shogunate are full of confidence)

It's just that before such slogans were shouted, the Han Dynasty stepped in to stop them.

Hai Wenqing, the Han minister to Japan, traveled between the shogunate and Li's Korea and actively lobbied.

For Japan, it is to beat and appease Japan. The beating is naturally through Japan's trade, delaying purchase payments, and restricting the shogunate's financial resources. Of course, these are existing methods, and there is a backup method, but it is not Do not use it as a last resort.

That is to let the Pacific Fleet in Penglai Province exercise in Edo Bay. If necessary, the war can even be bombarded. However, this method can easily tear the face. Therefore, Han diplomats have always been very resistant and have always been a carrot for Japan's strategy. Increase the stick.

Will not break up easily! !

As for appeasement, it is a promise to Japan that it can negotiate with North Korea. As for whether it can really be negotiated, it depends on the mood of Han.

As for North Korea, whatever Han said to North Korea was the business of the Japanese and had nothing to do with Han.

The other side put forward trade requirements for Han and asked North Korea to open its market.

Of course, North Korea was firmly opposed to this, and even almost expelled the Han envoys. If the current King of North Korea had not been stupid, it might have triggered a war.

The Han Dynasty used coercion and inducement, and the so-called coercion was Japan. After all, the Japanese really scared the Koreans during the Wanli Period. Even now, the Koreans, even though they don't say it, are actually still afraid of Japan in their hearts.

Then the Minister of Han Dynasty, Kaiwen Keize, talked about Japan's current power, and then he praised Tokugawa Ieki, almost putting the hat of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's second on Tokugawa Ieki's head.

He even boasted about the so-called new army of the shogunate, and even said a few words that Japan was capable of sweeping North Korea in a month.

Although the Koreans don't believe it, they can't stand it. Japan has been too arrogant recently, which makes the Koreans start to doubt it.

Once this person has doubts, it is basically difficult to make an accurate judgment.

The inducement is investment in North Korea. Improving North Korea's textile industry and competing with Japan are what North Korea is most interested in.

The Han State also proposed that they could sign a trade treaty that was satisfactory to all three countries, and it could be a secret treaty without making it public.

This article moved the Korean monarchs and ministers even more than the previous one. After all, what were they most afraid of? Han or Japan? ?
  No, it was the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty that although it was defeated by the foreigners, it still had land advantages. It was the most direct boss of North Korea and the suzerain state of North Korea.

This is also the main reason why North Korea does not dare to communicate openly with the Han people. To avoid danger, North Korea even calls the Han people Americans.

Although even the Qing Dynasty knew the truth behind this, both North Korea and the Qing Dynasty needed this fig leaf. Pulling it off and exposing the buttocks would not be beneficial to everyone, but would easily lead to big troubles.

Therefore, after North Korea learned that a secret treaty could be made, it immediately signed a three-nation trade treaty with Han that was later known as the Far East Secret Treaty in history.

After the treaty was signed, Han merchants swarmed in and occupied all the major coastal cities in Korea in a short period of time.

For a time, Han products were on sale throughout North Korea.

It is not that North Korea has "obtained benefits. The biggest benefit is Han's investment in North Korea. Since the signing of the treaty in the second half of the fifth year of Longwu to the present, Han has invested more than [-] million yuan in North Korea, most of which are based on Mainly textile industry.

It can be seen from this that the Han Dynasty intends to repeat the story in Japan and control North Korea's textile industry, especially the most valuable raw silk industry, in its own hands.

Not everyone in North Korea could see this. For example, Hong Daoyong, a scholar in North Korea celebrating Shang Dao who had read Han's Oriental Theory and had a general understanding of what Han was doing in the Far East, wrote a letter asking to sever ties with Han. relations between the two countries, he wrote in his memorial:

"The Han Dynasty, a country in America, although it is called Hantong, is actually an ambitious generation. They are in Japan, controlling Japan's economy, sucking the blood and sweat of the Japanese people. The Japanese want to rebel, so they send warships to suppress it. Today, people use The abandonment of the reign name of the Japanese king and the use of the reign title of the Han king can serve as a lesson for what is happening in Japan today... I hope that my king will understand clearly, drive away the violence of the Han Dynasty and set the right course for the government. If not, the day when Korea will be on par with Japan will not be far away. That’s right...” (Korean people belittle the Japanese and call the emperor the Japanese king)

Although this so-called memorial letter was finally placed on the desk of the King of Joseon a few months later, in the end it was ignored because of his lack of official status and was ignored.

The cooperation between the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty intensified at that time. North Korea also took advantage of the cooperation between the Han Dynasty and collected a large amount of tax money. Two groups of nobles also made a lot of money by reselling Han Dynasty products and taking shares in Han Dynasty factories. , Who would you show this to when you say such depressing words at this time? ?
  In the end, Hong Daoyong was not only deprived of his fame, but also exiled to Jeju Island, with the euphemistic name of deceiving people! !

Just because of a memorial, he was exiled and had his job title revoked. If there wasn't something fishy about it, who would believe it? ?
  In general, the relationship between Han and North Korea is like Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian.

The man is affectionate and the concubine is interested. As for who Wu Dalang is, it’s okay not to say it! !
  .............................................

Busan Port, due to the intervention of the Han State, introduced a lot of Han domestic machinery and equipment, but it was much wider than before.

Coupled with the steam cranes constantly working on the pier and the wooden oriental buildings behind it, it gives a weird beauty.

It’s like Eastern steampunk! !

And when the Happiness arrived from Edo Port in Japan to Busan Port in North Korea, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.

At this time, the workers on the dock were standing lazily on the dock, greeting the ships to enter the port, and they seemed to be in no spirits.

However, today's weather does make people feel sleepy. The perfect temperature, coupled with the gentle sea breeze that blows from time to time, all make people have an urge to sleep.

Even Bai Erwen and Luo Daniu on the deck of the Happiness, looking at Busan Port in the distance, were the same.

After selling off their stolen goods and buying stocks worth [-] Chinese dollars, the two set off again with the Happiness, and their destination was North Korea.

As for why it was North Korea, the main reason was that in the bilge of the Happiness, there were some hardware tools from Jinshan. These things are still very popular in North Korea today.

Especially after North Korea built some factories, the demand for these tools became even greater. Coupled with the needs of the people themselves, the tools worth hundreds of thousands of dollars carried by the Xingfu were immediately sold out, making Jinshan Navigation behind it The company, ruthlessly, made a small profit.

When Bai Erwen and Luo Daniu set foot on North Korea, they discovered that it was very different from Japan.

On the way here, the two of them regarded North Korea as the second Japan and did not even have any interest in it.

But after entering Busan City, I discovered that this place is a completely different world from Japan, or rather from Japan’s big cities.

There is no open atmosphere like Japan here. Although some women wear clothes that are too revealing, most of them come from poor families, and all wealthy families dress well.

However, many of these people's clothes were adapted from the Ming Dynasty costumes, which they called court clothes, but they were completely different from the situation in Japan where all the people wanted to wear Han-made Western clothes.

So much so that when Bai Erwen and Luo Daniu walked to the street, people were watching them secretly.

There were even a few women snickering behind their backs, and a few children singing songs to them in unintelligible Korean.

Although I couldn't understand it, I knew it wasn't a good word.

This makes Bai Erwen and Luo Daniu very depressed. Doesn't it mean that North Korea is the same as Japan? ?
  I didn't know until I came to a place where Han merchants gathered.

Although North Korea trades with the Han, the Han people are required to stay only in a few trading ports and in the industrial zones invested by the Han people. If they want to go to other places, they have to report to the Yamen.

When you ask why, people just hesitate and don't say anything.

Later I found out that the Koreans were afraid that the Han people's weird short hair would frighten the people, and they even made Korea wear weird short hair clothes like Japan does now.

The so-called strange clothes are actually the Han-made Western clothes worn by the Japanese.

The Koreans were very resistant, and even said: "Although the Han Dynasty inherited the Ming Dynasty, they became barbarians. Korea is the orthodox Ming Dynasty..."

In addition, although North Korea welcomed Han's trade, the doctrines related to Han were expressly prohibited in North Korea.

The two groups of nobles in North Korea still hold the Four Books and Five Classics in their hands, shaking their heads, using the self-righteous Confucius and Mencius methods to pick and choose everything in the Han Dynasty.

Han's pursuit of science and technology was dismissed by North Korean literati and literati as grotesque skills. Han's short hair was described as a barbarian country by North Korean literati. Han's various theoretical books were looked down upon and even feared.

North Korean officials even wrote a memorandum to the King of Korea: "The teachings passed down by the Han Dynasty deviate from the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and are actually evil ways. If they are allowed to flow into the country, it may cause trouble..."

"Therefore we should block it and abandon it..."

"It must be strictly guarded. If anyone has hidden Han books, he will be confiscated and sent into exile..."

It is against this background that North Korea seems to be cooperating with Han, but in fact it is on guard at all times, for fear that Han will lead North Korea to ruin.

But Han's current requirement for North Korea is trade. As long as North Korea's economic lifeline is in the hands of Han, there is no fear that North Korea will not submit in the future.

Han's current Far East strategy is actually about relaxation and control.

The purpose of slowing down is to prevent the situation from getting serious, while controlling is mainly about the economy. After all, the current Han State has not yet reached the time to really plan for the Far East.

Especially for Japan, Han has always focused on economy and supplemented by military.

Although some officials proposed to annex the Ezo Territory, or even the entire Japan, Liu Peng read these memorials and kept them in silence, making no statements or commitments, waiting for the situation to subside.

A smart person will naturally understand what Liu Peng means, and naturally he will say nothing more.

And those who don't understand, no longer say anything after being suppressed.

…………

"Er Zi, why do you think these Koreans like to eat this kimchi? Isn't fresh food bad??" Luo Daniu pointed to a plate of kimchi on the table and said with some nausea, which restaurant did the two of them go to eat during this time? , all have kimchi, which made him wonder, are Koreans made of kimchi? Can’t they live without kimchi? ?

"Who knows, anyway, I feel that this North Korea is different from Japan. When those people look at us, they always feel like they are watching the fun, and they don't know what they are looking at..." Bai Erwen pointed with his chopsticks to another person peeking at them. A table of Koreans.

The child also made a face at him, which made Bai Erwen a little funny.

"I said, I can't stay in North Korea for a day anymore. These guys are using things from our Han country and pointing fingers at us..." Luo Datou was very disgusted with the pretentiousness of the North Koreans. In his opinion, isn't this just pretending? ?
  "North Korea is no better than Japan. Japan is located overseas and its folk customs are relatively radical. North Korea is different. It is located on the mainland and is greatly influenced by China. Confucius and Mencius are prevalent..." Bai Erwen read to Luo Datou a passage from his Far Eastern Chronicles published in Han. , the first paragraph about the Kingdom of Korea.

"I don't understand what is wrong with folk customs. I only know that North Korea is not as good as Japan now. Once the two countries fight, North Korea will definitely not be able to defeat Japan..." Luo Daniu said carelessly. Although he said it impulsively, it was The truth.

"You are right, North Korea will definitely not be able to defeat Japan." Bai Erwen nodded to Luo Daniu with approval, "But it is impossible for Japan to defeat North Korea." Bai Erwen said to Luo Daniu with a smile.

"Why??" Luo Daniu looked at Bai Erwen in confusion and asked.

"Because of us, because of our Han country!!" Bai Erwen looked out the window at the North Korean civilians wearing court uniforms coming and going, and replied to Luo Daniu.

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  (End of this chapter)