Chapter 340 The Situation of the Li Sheng Dynasty

On June 18, Yu Tonghai and Sun Chengcai returned to Tenglongwei Wharf with their fleet.

Before they docked, Yang Zhengshan received the news and came to the dock again.

"Sir!" Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng saw Yang Zhengshan and hurriedly saluted.

"What happened?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

Yu Tonghai glanced at the boat behind him and said, "Sir, let's go back to the camp first!"

Yang Zhengshan also noticed that there was a strange ship in the fleet. It was a Haicang ship. Although it was very similar to the Haicang ship of Tenglongwei, there were still many differences in details. Yang Zhengshan recognized at a glance that it was not their ship.

"Okay!" Yang Zhengshan nodded, and returned to the navy camp with Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng.

The camp here is not only the training ground for the navy, but also the office of Tenglong Vanguard. However, because Yang Zhengshan has been in the Acropolis, the office of Tenglong Vanguard appears to be particularly simple.

In the main hall, Yang Zhengshan sat in the main seat. After the tea was served, he asked, "What happened?"

Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng glanced at each other and said helplessly: "The Li Sheng Dynasty has collapsed!"

"What?" Yang Zhengshan was stunned.

The Li Sheng Dynasty collapsed!
This~~
"Destroyed by the rebels?"

Yang Zhengshan remembered that Sun Cheng had mentioned before that there was a rebellion within the Li Sheng Dynasty.

"My lord, that's right. The original Li royal family has been driven out of the capital, and the current capital of Li Sheng has been occupied by the rebels. It is said that the Li royal family has fled to the snowy plains in the north." Sun Cheng said.

The snowfield, which is located in the north of Fuzhou, is the area to the north of the original territory of the Donghai Hu tribe.

If the Li Sheng Dynasty wanted to come to Dayong by land, they would have to take a detour through the snowy plains.

The snowy land is not a good place. It is cold all year round, but there are also many wild beasts and Hu people.

The Hu people is a general term used by Darong to refer to the northern ethnic minorities, but in fact they are also divided into many ethnic groups.

The Hu people in the snowfields have nothing to do with the Hu people in the East China Sea or the Wuliang Hu people. They are completely different ethnic groups.

The Hu people in the snowfields are more barbaric and brutal, and their strength is not weak.

The harsh environment made their survival more difficult, but it also put them through more hardships and created many martial arts masters.

Yes, although they are barbaric and brutal, they are not uncivilized savages.

In fact, the snowfield is very large and there are many powerful forces.

Yang Zhengshan frowned. He didn't care about the current situation of the Li Sheng Dynasty. What he cared about was whether this trade was successful.

"Then what? The regime changed and they refused our trade?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"No, not only did they not refuse, they also wanted to expand trade with us!" Sun Cheng shook his head.

"Expand trade!" Yang Zhengshan narrowed his eyes slightly, "So the ship that came back with you wants to cooperate with us?"

"Well, they want more goods!" said Sun Cheng.

Yang Zhengshan fell into deep thought. If the purpose was just to expand trade, this would not be a bad thing.

It doesn’t matter who you trade with, as long as you can make money.

As for the others~
This involves the Li royal family. All the kings of the Li Sheng Dynasty were enthroned by Emperor Dayong. Since the founding of Dayong, the Li Sheng Dynasty became a vassal state of Dayong.

'Heavenly shepherds the people, and his descendants prosper forever.'

This was the enthronement of the Li royal family by Emperor Taizu of Darong.

For more than three hundred years, the Li Sheng Dynasty has always regarded Dayong as its suzerain state, paying tribute three times a year, almost without interruption.

In addition to the three regular tributes, the Li Sheng Dynasty also paid tribute to Darong in the names of envoys of gratitude, envoys of petition, envoys of offering incense and consolation, envoys of congratulation, envoys of offering tribute, and envoys of escort.

It can be said that the Li Sheng Dynasty is the affiliated dynasty that is most closely connected with Dayong. Similarly, Dayong has always regarded the Li Sheng Dynasty as its own younger brother and has helped the Li Sheng Dynasty to resist foreign invasions many times.

And now the Li royal family has lost their capital to the rebels, and no one knows what the attitude of the Darong court is.

Should we help the Li royal family regain the throne, or enthrone a new king?
Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard and pondered for a long time. This issue involved a lot, the interests of big countries, the attitude of the old emperor, and the thoughts and concepts of important officials in the court. It would probably take a long time to debate before making a decision.

The question before him now is whether or not to cooperate with the rebels of the Li Sheng Dynasty?

If we look at it from the perspective of making money, then it is naturally cooperation. A dynasty that has just completed a succession of royal power must be in a stage of reconstruction. There must be many business opportunities and the profits that can be earned will be immeasurable.

But if we look at this issue from the perspective of the court's interests, more considerations may be needed.

Yang Zhengshan pondered for a moment, and said to Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng: "You go back and compile a file about what you saw and heard in the Li Sheng Dynasty and the situation of the Li Sheng Dynasty. I will meet the envoy from the Li Sheng Dynasty first!"

"Yes!" Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng responded and left.

Afterwards, Yang Zhengshan sent someone to invite the envoy from the rebel army of the Li Sheng Dynasty.

A man in his forties, with nothing special about his appearance, but he was calm and composed. "I, Cui Hongtao, the Left Counselor of the Lisheng Royal Court Council, greet the General!" Cui Hongtao saluted with his fists clasped in a neither humble nor proud manner.

The highest institution in the court of King Yi Seong was the Council of Government, which was very similar to the cabinet of Dae-yeong. The Council of Government consisted of the Left and Right Councillors, both of the first rank, the Left and Right Assistants, both of the first rank, and the Left and Right Counsellor, both of the second rank, and the Saerin.

Under the Council of Government are the Six Ministries, the Seongjeongwon and other government offices.

Cui Hongtao was the left counselor of the second rank, and his rank was higher than Yang Zhengshan. Yang Zhengshan was only a general of the second rank, and it was a nominal position, while his actual position was the commander of the Tenglong Guard, a third rank.

In addition, the rank of Darong's military officers was too high. No matter whether they were the second-rank General Dingguo or the third-rank Guard Commander, they could not get a place in the court.

In comparison, Cui Hongtao, the second-rank left counselor, holds a relatively important position in the Li Sheng royal court.

However, the Li Sheng Dynasty was a vassal state of Dayong. Although the two countries had close relations and recognized each other's achievements and official positions, a vassal state was a vassal state. Officials of the Li Sheng Dynasty naturally could not use the rank of the Li Sheng Dynasty as the standard in Dayong.

More importantly, Cui Hongtao is not an official of the Li Sheng Dynasty, he is an official of the rebels. Although the rebels have occupied the Li Sheng Dynasty, as long as Dayong does not recognize their legitimacy, they are just rebels and cannot replace the Li royal family.

Yang Zhengshan sat in the main seat, looking at Cui Hongtao calmly.

The fact that Cui Hongtao dared to come to see him alone showed that he was extremely courageous.

His calm demeanor also proves that he is not a simple person.

"Who is your master?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

master!

This title is actually not appropriate.

The relationship between the monarch and his subjects was not that of master and servant. Whether it was the Daryong or Li Sheng dynasties, the relationship between the monarch and his subjects was a cooperative relationship. Although the monarch also had a sense of being a master, it was more of a subordinate relationship than a master and servant.

Cui Hongtao did not point out the mistake in Yang Zhengshan's words, but said in a clear voice: "My master is Jin Shangjun of Silla."

The Kim surname was a big surname in the Lee Seong Dynasty, and the Silla Kim family was a prominent family in the Lee Seong Dynasty. It is not impossible for the Silla Kim family to overthrow the Lee royal family.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "What kind of deal do you want to make with us?"

"We need a large amount of goods, including cotton cloth, grain, medicinal materials, fur, porcelain, etc.! In return, we are willing to trade with iron ore!" Cui Hongtao stood in place and said loudly.

Yang Zhengshan's eyes flickered.

Iron ore?
Are you sure this isn't a trap for me?

I'm a commander of the Guards, and you ask me to give you a large amount of iron ore. Aren't you trying to kill me?

Although the yamen at all levels of the garrisons could forge weapons and armor on their own, they were not allowed to privately mine or buy and sell iron ore. The reason was very simple. After all, the garrisons were military institutions and they definitely needed weapons and armor. The weapons and armor forged by the court were generally given to the imperial guards or border troops, and rarely to the garrisons in various places. Therefore, if the garrisons wanted to obtain weapons and armor, they could only forge them themselves.

The garrisons can forge weapons and armor, but they need iron ore allocated by the higher authorities.

Iron ore was the means by which the court controlled the number of soldiers and armor in the garrisons.

Yang Zhengshan can do any business, but he cannot buy or sell iron ore. Even though Tenglongwei needs a lot of iron ore now, he still cannot buy iron ore from other places.

This is a taboo, even more taboo than the salt business.

Getting involved in the salt trade may be just a desire to make money, but getting involved in the iron ore trade may mean that one has ill intentions, bad motives, and is trying to rebel.

If civil officials were involved in the iron ore trade, it would not be a big problem, but military officers were absolutely not allowed to get involved.

Yang Zhengshan said calmly: "Besides iron ore, what else can you trade?"

Cui Hongtao was silent for a while, then said, "Gold and silver ore!"

"..."

Yang Zhengshan was speechless.

So they can only trade with ore!
But when you think about it, there is really nothing special in the Li Sheng Dynasty that Dayong particularly needs.

Whatever the Li Sheng Dynasty had, Liaodong basically also had. From the perspective of trade alone, the Li Sheng Dynasty's trade demand for Dayong was much greater than Dayong's trade demand for the Li Sheng Dynasty.

"Go down and rest first. I will consider this matter carefully!"

"General, I can promise on behalf of our lord that as long as you are willing to trade with us, we will reward you generously!" Cui Hongtao promised.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly and served the guest tea.

When Cui Hongtao walked out of the main room, Yang Zhengshan looked up at his back.

It seems that the Jin rebels are in urgent need of commercial goods from Dayong, otherwise the other party would not have made such a guarantee, let alone put up gold and silver ore for trading.

At the same time, it also shows that the situation of the Li Sheng Dynasty is not very good. The other party is in urgent need of necessary survival supplies such as cotton cloth and food. Obviously, this is because the chaotic situation has caused the entire Li Sheng Dynasty to fall into a shortage of supplies.

After the Silla Kim family took control of the Lee Seong Dynasty, they must first restore people's livelihood, stabilize the situation, eliminate the influence of the Lee royal family, and then completely control the entire dynasty and establish a new regime.

However, Yang Zhengshan was very curious about the current situation of the Li royal family. Did they really escape to the snowfield? Would they come to Dayong for help from the snowfield?

(End of this chapter)