The Northern Counties of the Li Dynasty had been devastated by wars for decades since the Liaodong War began in the last year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty. After the current leader of the Li Dynasty, Li Zhu, took office as king, he also experienced wars and chaos such as the Dingmao Rebellion and the Bingzi Rebellion.

Great destruction.

Nowadays, several areas in the north of Li Dynasty are in dilapidated state, many cities are destroyed, business travel is blocked, the people have fled, and the population is sparse. It can be said that the fields are barren and all industries are depressed.

As for the mines and pits that were originally mined, they have long been abandoned.

Especially after the Bingzi Rebellion that occurred in the past few years, facing the Qing Dynasty whose military strength was far superior to his own, Li Jie and the powerful ministers of the Zhuhe faction in power in the Li Dynasty had completely chosen to lie down.

For the long-abandoned Tieshan Iron Mine and Jiechuan Iron Mine, they have no idea of ​​restarting mining.

As for the matter of smelting iron and casting cannons by themselves and re-arming themselves, they have not even dared to think about it.

If it weren't for the fact that Yang Zhen had specified in the secret agreement on Ganghwa Island with Li Chao Junchen that the gold and silver compensation would be offset by the Ping'an Road iron ore, Li Chao Junchen would not have even considered recruiting miners to restart the Jiechuan Iron Mine.

thoughts.

Therefore, although it has been several months since Yang Zhen's trip to Ganghwa Island, the North Koreans have been making slow progress in restarting the Jiechuan Iron Mine to compensate for the compensation with iron ore.

It’s not because the Jiechuan Iron Ore is difficult to mine and transport. On the contrary, the Jiechuan Iron Ore is a large open-pit mine and is not difficult to mine.

And its location is also very good, just downstream of the Chongchuan River. It is close to the Chongchuan River waterway and not far from the outlet of the Chongchuan River.

The Yu Liangtai naval fleet stationed on Jinhai East Road can directly enter the Qingchuan River Estuary from the sea, and then when the sea is high tide, it can effortlessly go upstream and arrive near the Jiechuan Iron Mine to load ore.

As for the Jiechuan Iron Mine, it is not only located east of the Yalu River, but also further east of the Qingchuan River. Jierhalang, who was stationed in Zhenjiang Fort, and the Minister of Korean Affairs of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, who was stationed in Jiuliancheng, could hardly find the Jiechuan Iron Mine on the east bank of the Qingchuan River.

Trouble nearby.

Therefore, the problem restricting the output of Jiechuan Iron Mine is none other than a human problem.

After the secret agreement between Yang Zhen and Li Chaojun's Ganghwa Island was reached, Li Zhuo will restart the Jiechuan Iron Mine and provide free iron ore to Yang Zhen's Jinhae Town, leaving it to the Pyongan Province soldiers stationed in Pyongyang.

Du Shi Liulin.

Of course Liu Lin was very angry about this Ping An soldier.

Although this Ping'an Dao Bingma Jiedushi, like his in-law Shen Qiyuan, was secretly a pro-Ming faction and felt very humiliated by the Li Dynasty's surrender to the Manchus, and was especially resentful of the humiliation he suffered from the Manchus, but Li

He asked him to recruit manpower to mine the Jiechuan Iron Mine and then provide it to the sudden appearance of Jinhai Town for free. He was also reluctant and unwilling in his heart.

If Yang Zhen hadn't sent Shen Qiyuan's younger brother Shen Qicheng to contact Liu Bingshi on his way back from Jianghua Island, then the restart of Jiechuan Iron Mine would have been delayed for a long time.

But even so, since the Ganghwa Island secret treaty was concluded, Yu Liangtai's East Route Navy fleet has only transported back a batch of iron ore from the Jiechuan Iron Mine on the banks of the Chongchuan River.

Because the population in the northern part of the Li Dynasty was too sparse, even if they searched and captured strong men everywhere to serve as soldiers and sent them to exploit the Jiechuan iron ore, the Liulin and Liubing envoys could not capture many young men.

Therefore, Ping'an soldier Liu Lin wanted to mine Jiechuan iron ore on a large scale and then supply large quantities of iron ore to Yang Zhen's Jinhai Town, but for a while he was powerless.

Therefore, although Yang Zhen had a secret agreement with the monarchs and ministers of the Li Dynasty, and the Ping An soldiers Liu Lin tried their best for the sake of Shen Qiyuan and Shen Qicheng, the iron ore shipped from the Jiechuan Iron Mine was still It is far from meeting the needs of Jinhai Town.

At this time, Yang Zhen saw the large ships and small boats in the port drafting the city, obviously carrying heavy objects. When he heard about the windfall that Yuan Jin and the others said, his first reaction was that the output of Jiechuan Iron Mine had increased. Liu Lin, a safe soldier, The attitude toward iron ore mining has become positive.

However, Yang Zhen guessed wrong. He still underestimated the windfall that Yuan Jin and the others said.

"Jiechuan Iron Mine? No, no, no, Governor, the output of Jiechuan Iron Mine has indeed increased, but it is not an unexpected gain. Haha, this unexpected gain is all the way from Ganghwa Island. Several figures from the Li Dynasty who came with the low-ranking fleet to pay homage to the governor!"

Yuan Jin and Yu Liangtai were stunned for a moment after hearing Yang Zhen's guess. Then they looked at each other and smiled, and Yu Liangtai immediately stepped forward to clear up Yang Zhen's doubts.

"How many people from the Li Dynasty?"

"That's right, the governor, it's the several figures from the Li Dynasty who came with the ship from Ganghwa Island!"

Faced with Yu Liangtai's statement, Yang Zhen was a little surprised and asked Yuan Jin again, and Yuan Jin, like Yu Liangtai, gave an affirmative answer.

At this moment, Yu Liangtai turned around and waved to the crowd of followers not far behind him, and immediately three people bowed and walked over quickly.

Yang Zhen looked sideways and saw that the three people were all wearing court hats, two of them were wearing court soap-colored scribes' robes, and the other was wearing a gray monk's robe.

When Yang Zhenzheng was confused, the three people had already arrived a few steps away from him. At this time, Yu Liangtai also introduced him to Yang Zhen in time:

"The Governor, Bei Zhi and General Yuan followed the Governor's orders and stopped at Ganghwa Island on their return voyage. While waiting for the North Koreans to raise rice, a monk came to visit us at the anchorage of the fleet and claimed to be the North Korean man. Pedestrians under the tent of Lin Qingye, commander of the naval forces.

"This monk claimed his Dharma name Dopuk, and claimed that he had been entrusted by someone to come to Jinhae Town to contact the governor about important confidential matters. The humble ministers and others used the secret agreement between the governor and the emperor and ministers of the Li Dynasty on Ganghwa Island to find out. He answered fluently without any mistakes. , the humble officials brought him with him on the ship.

"As for the other two people, they later arrived at Ganghwa Island with the North Korean rice transport team. After the rice was delivered and loaded, these two people suddenly found their humble positions and showed their Korean soldiers' certificates. One of them claimed to be a Korean soldiers. Shen Qiyuan's younger brother, one of them claimed to be the son-in-law of Shen Qiyuan, the court's military judge. They also said that they had confidential matters and wanted to come with the ship to Lushunkou to see the governor.

"Bizhi asked about the affairs of the Governor on Jianghua Island, and found out that these two people were also familiar with the inside story. Moreover, these two people were also acquaintances with Monk Dubu. Beizhi was afraid of missing important events, so Beizhi discussed with General Yuan and decided to They hid them in the boat and brought them back together!"

When Yu Liangtai said this, the three people he mentioned had already arrived in front of Yang Zhen, so Yu Liangtai pointed at the three people and introduced them to Yang Zhen one by one:

"Captain, this is the one I just mentioned, Shen Qizhou, who claims to be the younger brother of Cao Banshu, the imperial soldier!"

"Shen Qi Zhou?"

When Yu Liangtai talked about the identities of these people just now, he mentioned that when Cao Renbingshu was sent to Shen Qiyuan, Yang Zhen had already vaguely guessed what was going on.

Previously, the Qing captives had asked for grain and rice from the Korean people, and they had also borrowed troops and ships from the Korean people, and were preparing to join forces to attack Jinhai Town. For Yang Zhen, this matter was an opportunity hidden in the danger.

If the soldiers, horses and warships lent by the court to the Qinglu were brought to one's side, and the Qinglu were given a plan to vacate the cage for a bird, or to massacre the city with a wooden horse, then what would happen next when the Qinglu went south to attack Jinhae Town again? Isn’t it already a sure win?

By then, even if he cannot kill the Qinglu Xianglan Banner army entrenched in the Zhenjiang Fort area in one fell swoop, he will definitely be able to inflict heavy damage on them.

Yang Zhen had this idea for a long time. Although Yang Zhen did not explicitly state these plans during the separate meeting with Shen Qiyuan on Jianghua Island, there were already foreshadowings and hints, and he had already reached an agreement with Shen Qiyuan. There was some tacit understanding.

During this period of time, Yang Zhen had originally intended to wait for the takeover of Yingzhou Island, and then sent people to Pyongyang City to talk to Shen Qiyuan's relative, Weng Liulin Liubingshi, and Shen Qiyuan's brother Shen Qiyuan, who was stationed in Pyongyang City on his behalf. I'll contact you to discuss it.

Unexpectedly, I haven't sent anyone to contact him yet, but Shen Qiyuan can't wait to send someone across the sea.

After understanding this, Yang Zhen's face, which was originally full of doubts, was immediately filled with smiles. He stepped forward to support Shen Qizhou, who was bowing and saluting, and said with a smile:

"Unexpectedly, a distinguished guest is here! Welcome, welcome!"

This Shen Qizhou, about fifty years old, bears a striking resemblance to his elder brother Shen Qiyuan and his younger brother Shen Qi when they were growing up. He has a Chinese character face, thick eyebrows, big eyes, a mustache and a goatee, and has the elegant appearance of a scholar.

Seeing Yang Zhen supporting himself with a smile on his face, Shen Qizhou was obviously relieved, but he still bowed his head to Yang Zhen politely, while holding up a bronze medal to prove his identity, and said in smooth Jiao Liao Mandarin:

"In Sinking Week, I was ordered to cross the sea and come to meet the Ming Dynasty's general who conquered the east, Jin Haibo and Governor Yang!"

"Haha, Mr. Shen is too polite, no courtesy, no courtesy!"

Seeing Shen Qizhou's behavior, Yang Zhen took the copper token he presented, looked at it over and over, and said to him with a smile:

"I wonder what's going on with Brother Ling, Shen Bingpan? I had an interview with Brother Ling on Ganghwa Island that day. At that time, they talked about the cause of resisting the Japanese invaders, and they were very sympathetic to each other. I wonder if Mr. Shen has any orders during his trip. Did you bring a letter from brother?"

When Yang Zhen asked, Shen Qizhou straightened up, raised his head, looked at Yang Zhen, then looked at the people around Yang Zhen, and finally said:
Chapter completed!