Chapter 678 0673 [Returning to Beijing to Be Conferred]

The Jin Kingdom is very busy and cannot spare a large number of troops to attack Goryeo, which has stabbed them in the back.

Let's go back to four months before Goryeo's defeat.

The mouth of the Yalu River.

"Boom boom boom..."

More than a dozen Ming warships madly bombarded the Jin warships one mile away.

These Jin warships belong to Posu Road. Usually they cruise in the Yalu River, and their mission is to guard against Goryeo and eliminate pirates.

The ruling center of Posu Road is Jiuliancheng Town in Dandong City.

Half of the Jin soldiers stationed here were transferred to Huacheng County (Jinzhou) to guard against Yelu Yudu and Zhao Li's troops.

"Get close to the boarding and seize the ship!"

Wuyan Puluhun shouted hoarsely. He was the Jin Kingdom's most skilled general in naval warfare. He came from Helan Road, which was attacked by Goryeo.

More than 30 small Jin warships paddled and sailed towards the Ming sea ships.

"Boom boom boom!"

Another round of artillery fire, and four Jin warships were hit.

Three ships sank quickly, and one was about to sink.

The Jin sailors were terrified, but Wuyan Puluhun still ordered to charge, so they could only row forward.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Ming warships gradually sailed away from the mouth of the Yalu River, and when the shells were almost loaded, they began to turn the ship to fire broadside.

This time, three Jin warships were destroyed, and the Jin navy was almost desperate.

Even if they rushed to the nearby area to fight a boarding battle, it would be difficult to climb onto the Ming warships with higher hulls, not to mention that they were constantly beaten during the charge.

"Deputy governor, retreat, it's too late!" His generals begged bitterly.

Wuyan Puluhun looked at the sea ahead blankly. He used to be a Jurchen fisherman and pirate.

He came and went freely along the coast of Goryeo and Japan, and had never fought such a naval battle. The artillery on the Ming warships was too shameless.

"Retreat!"

Wuyan Puluhun was forced to order a retreat, and retreated several miles upstream of the Yalu River.

Yingxuan had been transferred from Dongting Lake to serve as Li Bao's deputy.

He led several medium-sized ships, rushed out from behind Li Bao's large ship, and gradually approached the dock at the mouth of the Yalu River.

That was the Jin Kingdom's shipbuilding base. Although it could not build any large ships, Li Bao still came to sabotage it after getting the information.

As for the information provider, it was of course Goryeo!

When Li Bao decided to send troops, Monk Miaoqing had not even left Tokyo, let alone instigating the Goryeo king to march north.

It was purely because the place where the Jin Kingdom built ships was too close to Goryeo's Baozhou City. They were worried that after the Jin Kingdom built a large number of warships, it would seriously threaten Baozhou's safety, so they took the initiative to provide the Ming Dynasty with the specific location of the shipyard.

"Fire!"

The Huihui cannon on the medium-sized ship threw gunpowder incendiary bombs at the dock, and then fired rockets at the dock.

A raging fire soon ignited, and most of the remaining coastal shipyards of the Jin Kingdom were burned down in this way.

The Korean defenders on the south bank of the Yalu River had already heard the noise and ran across the river to watch the excitement. The worse the Jin soldiers were beaten, the happier they were, otherwise they would be worried all day long.

It was not until the Ming Navy left that the Jin Navy dared to come back and put out the fire with the Jin soldiers stationed at the dock.

It was almost burned out, and it was useless to put it out.

The Ming Navy quickly returned to Lushunkou, and when passing Dalian Bay, they fired a few shots at the Jin city to listen to the sound.

That day, Li Bao replenished supplies in Lushunkou and returned to Juehua Island the next day.

Compared with the general decline of the Liaoxi Corridor, the population of Juehua Island is actually larger than that of the Liao Dynasty.

Because this is a Buddhist holy place in the Liao Dynasty, many Jin nobles also believe in Buddhism and did not kill people on the island. Many Liao survivors quietly fled to the island, either becoming monks or tenants for monks.

Li Bao captured this island last year and transported nearly two thousand monks to Shandong and handed them over to the prefect of Denglai for disposal.

Dalonggong Temple became Li Bao's military camp.

Li Bao sat down in the abbot's room, took off his hat and threw it casually: "I'll leave this to you, I'm going back to Tokyo immediately."

Ying Xuan bowed and smiled: "Congratulations, brother Li, on your promotion."

"No problem, you will also have a title if you fight more battles." Li Bao was in a very good mood, and he would definitely be promoted to Duke this time.

Ying Xuan shook his head and sighed: "Alas, the Jin Kingdom relocated people and banned the sea, so what wars can we fight?"

Juehua Island was formerly called Taohua Island. Since the name was changed, the area of ​​Xingcheng City in later generations was renamed Taohua Island Town.

Last year, Taohua Island Town was looted by Li Bao once, and the Jin Kingdom relocated the remaining residents.

The nearest city became a seaside county fifty miles away. Moreover, all the coastal residents of the county were relocated to the north, and there was no salt field left that was once bustling (the salt field on the coast was looted once by Zhao Li and Li Bao respectively).

"The prince said that the four seas are vast, and you are in charge of the navy, are you afraid that there will be no battles?"

Li Bao patted Yingxuan on the shoulder, walked out of the abbot's room, and ran to the temple.

After nearly two thousand monks on the island were thrown to Shandong by Li Bao, all the properties of Dalonggong Temple were confiscated. Juehua Island and several nearby small islands were all allocated land on the spot, and obtained land deeds issued by Shandong Denglai Prefecture.

These Liao survivors, who had land in a muddle, immediately regarded themselves as citizens of the Ming Dynasty!

In addition to land, there are also many treasures in Dalonggong Temple.

Because this is the center of Liao Buddhism, the abbots of Dalonggong Temple in successive dynasties were all canonized as national masters by the Liao emperors. After the Jin Kingdom came, the Jurchen nobles also received rewards, all of which were stored in the temple and were taken away by Li Bao.

The value of those treasures alone was enough to pay the Ming army on Juehua Island full salaries for several years.

The snow has not melted yet, but the square outside the Dalonggong Temple is already bustling.

This used to be a place for Buddhist ceremonies, and the Liao nobles often came here. Now it is used for Ming soldiers to drill, and if the soldiers have a day off, the islanders are allowed to come and take a walk.

The military opera troupe came before the Spring Festival.

They first performed in Lushun to express their condolences, and then came to Juehua Island.

The soldiers have watched several performances, and today it is open to the public, and the islanders brought their families to watch the fun.

The sound of "dong dong dang dang" kept ringing. The play being performed on the stage was "Old Orphan Sends Da", which is very famous in both the Song and Liao dynasties.

"Gu" is the name of a character in the Song, Yuan and Ming operas. In the Song Dynasty, it was mainly an official, and merchants began to appear in the Yuan and Ming dynasties.

"Da" is a miswritten version of "jie", which later evolved into "dan", which is the dan role in the Qing Dynasty opera.

The roles of mo, jing, and chou have also been formed at this time.

"Good!"

The islanders cheered loudly, and it seemed that the opera was at its best.

This troupe was newly established last year, with actors mainly from Hebei. Zhu Ming had people collect several scripts, mainly exposing the brutality of the Jin people's rule and reflecting the benevolence of the Ming court.

But every time the performance is performed, traditional plays will be performed first so that the audience can focus.

The people watch the troupe, and Li Bao watches the people.

In Li Bao's eyes, the men here are all sources of soldiers, and the women here can also farm. Including the two islands next to it, there are nearly 3,000 residents, many of whom fled during the Liao-Jin War.

In addition to farming, they also fish, and their lives are basically self-sufficient.

Li Bao returned to Beijing to receive the reward this time, and planned to ask the court for some weapons. Get some for the residents of Juehua Island and some for the people in Lushun, organize them into baojia and train during the slack season, so that they can pick up weapons and fight when they encounter situations.

He can raise at least 6,000 militiamen in the two strongholds!

The Liaoxi and Liaonan areas of the Jin Kingdom were both sparsely populated, especially the Fuzhou area, where the city was burned down and the people surrendered to the Ming.

As long as he gathered his troops to attack and take Huacheng County and Huacheng Pass, and then asked the court to send 10,000 troops, Li Bao could lead the army to directly capture Liaoyang.

A few days later, two supply ships arrived at Juehua Island.

After unloading a lot of food, salt, wine, vinegar and other things, and leaving with salted fish from the island, Li Bao also took the returning supply ship to Shandong.

When staying at Dengzhou Hotel, Li Bao casually asked and found out that all the monks he threw back were dispersed and settled in Shandong to farm. Only the abbot of Dalonggong Temple was left, carrying the Buddhist treasures in the temple and following the officials to Tokyo.

When Li Bao arrived in Jinan, he met Deng Chun and Han Shizhong who were ready to go.

When the three met, Han Shizhong joked, "If Lord Li doesn't come, General Deng and I will leave first."

Li Bao explained, "Before we set off, we went to fight another battle."

Han Shizhong enviously said, "Lord Li is lucky, he can always find a battle. Our journey last year was really boring. We met the pseudo-Kingdom army and never fought a decent battle."

Li Bao smiled and said, "You can ask to be transferred to the island to lead the troops."

"I have been transferred to Linfu. I will fight the Jin thieves there first." Han Shizhong laughed. He was born as a general of the Western Army, and now he is transferred back to lead a part of the Western Army. It can be regarded as a real sense of pride.

Deng Chun asked, "How is the Liaodong of Jin?"

Li Bao said, "In Liaoxi, Liaodong and Liaonan, the prefectures and counties of Jin were sparsely populated. I led troops to stir up trouble, and Yelu Yudu persuaded the remnants of Liao to surrender. Most of the prefectures and counties there have been abolished. When I return from Tokyo, I will attack Huacheng Pass. Anyway, I will not let the Jin people live a peaceful life."

"Harvest the wheat before fighting," Deng Chun reminded, "Shandong has run out of food and grass. Before the new wheat is harvested, even grain merchants can't get much food."

"Think about it." Li Bao is from Shandong, and of course he knows how much impact the outbreak of the war in Hebei will have on the people's livelihood in Shandong.

The three of them took a boat to the capital area. The closer they were to Tokyo, the more lively the cities and villages were.

This year, the fourth batch of large families have been split and migrated.

The large families that have not been split have finally given up their fluke mentality and have voluntarily divided their families and properties one after another. After selling their land and shops, they applied to the local government and then went to various counties in Hebei to buy land and property.

The government offices in Hebei and Jingji received official documents from Zhu Guoxiang and even opened a land exchange service.

That is, the Jingji clans used the land in Kaifeng Prefecture to exchange the land in various counties in Hebei. In this way, it can not only alleviate the land annexation in Kaifeng Prefecture, but also increase the most scarce resource in Hebei - population.

The Jingji land vacated by the clans was first awarded to the soldiers whose household registration was moved to Kaifeng, and the rest was half on credit and half on the landless farmers in the village.

In the entire Kaifeng Prefecture, basically all farmers have land.

Of course, it is not a free distribution. Farmers buy land on credit at a low price and have to pay more grain every year to repay in installments.

In any case, everyone is full of energy and a thriving scene.