The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 1075

"Are foreign envoys so arrogant within the borders of our Great Ming?"

"Korea? Isn't Korea supposed to be at war?" the young man in the sapphire blue said disdainfully. "They're still begging our Great Ming to send troops to their aid, yet they dare to ignore us like this."

The two exchanged a glance, and a wicked idea immediately formed in their minds.

Pan Yu's men were all fresh from the battlefield, exuding a fierce aura.

Even though he was a little dizzy from just getting off the ship and rushing on his way, he still dutifully kept watch.

So as soon as they heard light footsteps approaching the envoy's room, the soldier sitting cross-legged inside instantly opened his eyes, gripped his sword, and quietly walked to the window.

Three shadowy figures were seen approaching furtively and pressing themselves against the messenger's window.

The soldier frowned, looked at his comrade, and gestured to him.

His companion frowned and lowered his voice, saying, "I recognize them. They're the attendants of those two relatives of the Sun family at the post station today. I saw them reporting something during the meal. They're imperial relatives; shouldn't we be careful what we do?"

"Hmph, why bother with so much? These people are acting suspiciously, and they clearly have ill intentions. So what if they are imperial relatives? How many of our soldiers died in Korea for the sake of our diplomatic relations? If our envoys were to die at the post station outside the capital, we would not care about our own deaths, but the efforts of tens of thousands of troops would be ruined."

"Then tell me what to do?"

"The moment they pried open the window, we took them down immediately. Anyone who dared to resist was killed without mercy!" A cold glint flashed in the soldier's eyes as he said softly, "So what if they're related to the emperor? Our lieutenant general is the imperial advisor's own brother. When it comes to backing, we're no less powerful!"

Upon hearing this, his companions found it quite reasonable. Two of them immediately leaned against the sides of the door, while one leaned against the window and watched. When they saw the others pry open the window lock, push open the window frame, and were about to climb in, they immediately made a move.

The two people at the door burst through the door and rushed straight towards the three.

The spying soldiers immediately rushed to catch up, and the two sides clashed right outside the Korean envoy's window. With a few loud bangs, the three attendants were no match for the battle-hardened soldiers. In just a few moves, all three were smashed to the ground, their vision blurred.

However, the three soldiers didn't make much noise. They even quickly pulled off their shoes and stuffed their socks into their mouths before they could scream.

After untying the three men's belts and binding them, they straightened up and met Pan Yu's cold gaze.

The three soldiers trembled and immediately jogged forward: "General, we...they were spying on the envoy, so I..."

Pan Yu smiled at them and nodded, saying, "Well done, this is my order."

The three soldiers breathed a sigh of relief.

Pan Yu stepped forward and touched them, finding a lot of silver coins, as well as three jade pendants and jade ornaments, which clearly indicated that they were of high status.

Pan Yu stuffed everything into his pocket and said to the three men, "These three are bandits. Hang them outside the post station and have the post soldiers take them to the county government to be executed tomorrow."

The three soldiers were overjoyed, which meant that Pan Yu was willing to back them up, and if the Sun family retaliated later, it would be against Pan Yu.

But who in the imperial court dares to openly target the Pan family now?
The three soldiers excitedly dragged the three men out of the post station and hung them in the woods opposite.

Tonight, the sky is clear and the moon is bright. Under the moonlight, the ground is as bright as day. Without a single lamp, they can clearly hang people up.

The three men had their own smelly socks in their mouths, their hands were tied behind their backs with their belts, and when they were dragged out of the post station, their trousers, which were loose, slipped down and hung on their ankles.

The three soldiers ignored them, took out a rope, tied it up, swung it, and pulled it, hanging the three men up.

The other end of the rope was tied to the tree trunk, and the three people were then fixed in mid-air about two meters above the ground.

Seeing the soldiers clapping their hands and about to leave, the three men became anxious and started making urgent noises, indicating that they had something to say.

But can the soldiers get them to talk?

It's one thing for them to know they are followers of the Sun family's cousins, but it's quite another for them to say it.

The three soldiers exchanged a glance, then put their arms around each other's shoulders and happily returned to the post station.

Pan Yu had already closed the messenger's window again and was standing in the courtyard waiting for them to return.

He tossed the three money pouches and three pieces of jade that he had just stuffed into his arms to them, saying, "You can divide them among yourselves."

Upon receiving the goods, the three men realized that the general had not kept a single coin, and they immediately offered him a large sum of money as tribute.

Pan Yu waved his hand dismissively and said, "You captured the person, so the spoils are naturally yours. If anyone outside asks, just say I took them."

They were Li Song's men, but this wasn't their first time dealing with Pan Yu. They knew that this adjutant was very generous; aside from the spoils of war that couldn't be refused, he would either confiscate the rest or distribute them to his subordinates.

In his words, he had never married or had children, and his father did not need his support for the time being. He was self-sufficient and his family was not worried about him, so there was no need for the money.

And this General Pan was indeed not greedy for money. When he inspected the military camp, countless people offered him money to bribe him, but he didn't even glance at it.

That's why General Li quickly became good friends with him.

Oh, General Li only took office four months ago. Before that, he was the deputy commander of the Liaodong Military Command. He was promoted to general after the former general was dismissed.

By the way, it was Pan Yu who orchestrated the entire process of dismissing the former general, imprisoning him, and confiscating his property.

The three soldiers happily carried the money bag back to their room to divide the spoils, while Pan Yu also went back to his room but did not go to sleep.

It was his turn to keep watch in the second half of the night.

The soldier who was to keep watch with him tried hard to open his eyes, his eyelids trembled for a long time, but in the end he couldn't open them.

Seeing that he was really struggling, Pan Yu said, "Go to sleep, I can guard it myself."

The person who hadn't opened their eyes instantly calmed down, their eyelids stopped twitching, and soon began snoring.

As soon as the first rays of sunlight streamed into the room, the person sleeping in bed jumped up in a panic, exclaiming, "Oh no! I forgot to keep watch!"

Pan Yu had already packed her luggage. Upon hearing this, she turned around and looked at him quietly.

The soldier was extremely annoyed and quickly explained, "General, I dreamt that you told me I didn't need to keep watch at night, so I..."

"That wasn't a dream."

Upon hearing this, the soldier breathed a sigh of relief: "Really? That's good, that's good."

Pan Yu tightened his luggage bag and said, "Get up quickly, pack your things and have breakfast. We'll leave in 15 minutes."

"Yes!"

The North Korean envoys next door also woke up and tidied up. They even carefully opened the boxes to check the state gifts they brought, and after confirming that everything was correct, they replaced the seals and sealed it completely.

There were three envoys from the country this time. They stayed in one room, while their entourage stayed in another side room.

After the state gift was confirmed, they didn't dare to leave it alone in the room. They left two people to guard it while the other went to communicate with Pan Yu.

Pan Yu then had breakfast delivered to their room and said, "We'll set off in a quarter of an hour."

The envoy should comply.

They were all used to traveling and moved very quickly. They finished their breakfast in half an hour, then ordered their attendants to put the boxes and luggage on the carriage, while the rest of the people mounted their horses.

Envoy A shook the boxes strapped to the carriage to make sure everything was alright, then mounted his horse. Looking up, he vaguely saw figures moving in the woods. Startled, he stumbled and nearly fell to the ground, but Pan Yu, quick-witted and agile, caught him and pushed him back onto his horse. Pan Yu frowned and asked, "What's wrong, envoy?"

Ambassador A pointed a trembling finger into the forest, "There, there, there..."

Pan Yu glanced at it and said, "Oh, it's a thief."

"Thief?"

“Yes, that’s one of the ways our Ming Dynasty deals with thieves,” Pan Yu said casually. “If we catch a thief at night and can’t send him to the yamen immediately, we hang him on a tree. This not only keeps him from hurting people, but also punishes him as a warning to others.”

The Koreans looked at the three people swaying in the woods with admiration, thinking that the method of the superior country was really good, worthy of being the suzerain state.

Messenger B even stepped forward to observe carefully.

The three men were hung up for half the night. Their upper bodies were fine, but they were only wearing underwear on their lower bodies, with their outer pants hanging precariously from their ankles. Oh, and two of them had already fallen off.

It was the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The nights weren't cold, but there were lots of mosquitoes!

In the wild, in summer, in the forest, after one night, their exposed faces, necks, ears, and calves were covered with red welts. What was even more painful was that some mosquitoes would even crawl into their underwear and bite their tender thighs.

This is even more torture than torture itself.

Upon seeing him, regardless of whether he was the person they had intended to steal from the previous night, all three of them looked at him with eager eyes. As soon as their eyes met, tears streamed down their faces like a babbling brook, unstoppable.

The envoy was deeply shocked. Before the three could express their wishes, he rushed back and excitedly told his companions in Korean, "This method is very effective. They are full of regret!"

The envoy, Jia, was not weak in the knees and straightened his knees. He quickly said, "When we return to Korea, we will also implement this method."

Ambassador B: "Remember to take their pants off and shame them!"

"Great idea!"

"Truly worthy of being called a superior nation!"

Pan Yu, who can understand Korean: ...

Although the scholars and officials of North Korea could speak Chinese, the vast majority of the people could not, and they still used their native language.

Therefore, in order to facilitate obtaining intelligence from Japan and communicating with the local people in Korea, Pan Yu diligently studied the Korean language and had no problem with basic conversations.

At this point, we can only make the best of a bad situation; what else can we do?

Should we tell them that he's settling a personal score while on official business?

Pan Yu glanced back at the post station, knowing that most of the distinguished young masters were still asleep. He had to focus on celebrating his younger sister's birthday and had no intention of getting entangled with them. So he urged everyone, "Hurry up and mount your horses and set off."

The crowd agreed, mounted their horses, and escorted the state gift toward the city gate.

This place is only about ten miles from the capital, and it takes about half an hour to get there by fast horse.

As soon as they lined up to enter the city with their credentials, officials from the Court of State Ceremonies came to receive them.

Before they set off, they had already sent a message back by telegram.

Not only did officials from the Court of State Ceremonial arrive, but the previous group of envoys from the Joseon Dynasty also sent people.

Pan Yu escorted them to the guild hall where they were staying, opened the box on the spot to confirm that the state gifts were correct, and then signed the handover document.

After a flurry of activity, it was nearly noon. As soon as Pan Yu stepped out of the Honglu Temple gate, Miao Zhen, who was guarding the entrance, immediately stood up, clasped her hands in a salute, and said, "Second Young Master Pan, your junior uncle sent me to escort you into the palace."

Pan Yu quickly followed, saying, "Why are you here to pick me up? I was just about to submit a memorial to the palace for an audience."

He had returned in triumph, and according to custom, he should have personally submitted a memorial to the emperor to report on the battle situation.

Miao Zhen smiled and said, "General Li has already reported this by telegram. His Majesty knows that you have won a battle and that you escorted the envoy here, so he asked you to go see Junior Uncle first."

Pan Yu nodded: "Your Majesty knew that I had come back to celebrate my little sister's birthday."

Miaozhen nodded.

Pan Yu glanced down at her clothes and whispered, "I want to go home, take a shower, and change my clothes."

Miaozhen: "There are my third senior brother's clothes in the Imperial Observatory. You can change into his clothes."

Pan Yu said no more.

But as he walked, he felt something was off: "Why is my little sister in such a hurry to find me?"

Miaozhen: "I was going to tell you anyway, even if you hadn't asked. There's a fight going on in the palace, and Junior Uncle wants you to go in and help with it."

Pan Yu felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but ask, "This... they've already gone to the palace to file a complaint so quickly?"

"Who? Who has come to the palace to file a complaint?"

Pan Yu paused slightly: "Wasn't it someone from the Sun family who came to the palace to file a complaint?"

"What does this have to do with the Sun family?" Miaozhen said, "It's about arguing with the various tribes of the grasslands. They don't believe the messages we send back from the telegraph machine. Even if someone takes the telegraph machine out of the city and tests it in front of them, they still won't believe it. General Pan, you came back from the Korean battlefield, and your junior uncle asked you to give a firsthand account. Since they don't believe the machine, let's talk about specific battles."

Pan Yu breathed a sigh of relief and grinned, saying, "I can do this."

But he wondered, "Why do we have to make them believe us?"

Miao Zhen said, “Now the Oirats and Tatars are both under the jurisdiction of our Great Ming’s tributary states. Although they are tributary states, they are not left to their own devices like the Nurgan Regional Military Commission. Instead, like in the southwest, we send officials to manage the tribes, and the tribes manage the herdsmen.”

"If the imperial court wants to win the hearts of people of all ethnic groups, it must fulfill its responsibility of education and guidance. They will need things like telegraph machines."

Pan Yu frowned slightly: "Education? Could it be that the imperial court intends to relocate Han people to the grasslands?"

Miaozhen nodded: "Not only will Han people migrate to the grasslands, but some of the herders from various grassland tribes will also migrate to the Central Plains in the future."

“This is too dangerous,” Pan Yu frowned. “People from the Central Plains who enter the grasslands are likely to contract diseases such as plague, while people from the grasslands who enter the Central Plains are not only at risk of contracting smallpox themselves, but also bringing the smallpox virus with them.”

"During the Yuan Dynasty, when those nomadic peoples entered the Central Plains, how many died from acclimatization problems?"

Miaozhen said, "We have found a solution to smallpox and are currently testing it. As for the plague, don't worry, after the smallpox prevention is completed, my senior brother and junior sister will begin to study the plague."

Pan Yu was stunned. "You, you cured smallpox?"

Miaozhen smiled slightly at him, everything was understood without words.

Pan Yu suppressed his excitement and quickly quickened his pace to catch up.

Since my younger sister became the Imperial Advisor, the world has truly changed rapidly, especially the capital. He had only been away for a little over a year, and the capital had already undergone a complete transformation.

"When I first entered the city, I saw someone riding a two-wheeled vehicle..."

"That's a bicycle. If you like it, your junior uncle will give you one."

(End of this chapter)