July 21, the 27th year of Chongzhen.
Jeolla Province, North Korea.
Jeolla Province is located in the southernmost part of North Korea.
There are two sea routes from here to Dongfan.
One is to go to Japan and head south along the Ryukyu Islands.
The second option is to head towards Daming and head south along the coast.
Dozens of ships are sailing slowly on the sea west of Jeolla Province.
Shang Kexi, Wu Sangui and Li Chengdong stood on the deck, looking into the distance with their telescopes.
After a moment, the three of them looked away almost at the same time.
Shang Kexi asked first: "There are two sea routes to Dongfan, which one should we choose?"
Wu Sangui thought for a while and said: "Let's go to Japan first, and then go south along the islands."
Li Chengdong asked in return: "Why not go south along the coast of Daming?"
Wu Sangui worriedly said, "There is a war going on in the Ming court, and Zheng Zhilong has also responded to Zhu Cilang's call and led his navy to fight for the emperor. The Guanliao Dengjin navy is stationed in Dengzhou. If we go there to join in the fun now, I'm afraid we won't know how we died."
Shang Kexi was equally worried: "But if we go to Japan, we might run into Japanese pirates or wolves. Although their fighting power is not as strong as the Ming navy, they are very difficult to deal with."
Wu Sangui sighed and asked them, "It's better to be in trouble than to die, right?"
Shang Kexi and Li Chengdong nodded at the same time: "Indeed!"
The ship continued sailing and soon arrived near Jeju Island.
Since the next stop was a long ocean voyage, in order to stabilize the soldiers' emotions.
They docked at the port of Jeju Island in the name of merchant ships, allowing the soldiers to relax on the island.
At the same time, all the remaining money was used to replenish the supplies needed for the ocean voyage.
Facing the interrogation of the North Korean navy.
They did not dare to resist or speak out, but just paid the money to settle the matter.
Two days later, the ship set off again.
Shortly after they left, several ships appeared on the sea.
On the deck, Sony was using a telescope to constantly look at the surrounding sea, fearing that he might encounter pirates or the North Korean navy.
They had only three ships and a few hundred soldiers.
Among them, there were only more than one hundred naval soldiers, and the rest were Eight Banners soldiers who were not good at naval battles but good at land battles.
If they encountered small groups of pirates or the Korean navy, they could barely protect themselves.
When there are too many enemies, they are no match at all.
Whatever you fear will come true.
As he watched, Sony's expression suddenly changed.
Bumbutai, who was standing next to him, asked, "What's wrong?"
"There are ships approaching in the distance. They look like warships of the navy."
After hearing this, Bumbutai's face also turned ugly.
Sony comforted her, "Don't worry, the Holy Mother Queen. We are just a merchant ship, not a warship, and we are flying the flag of Zheng Zhilong's fleet. I believe the Koreans will not make things difficult for us."
Bumbutai nodded slightly and said nothing.
The fleet in the distance soon came near the three merchant ships and stopped them.
After some inquiries, Sony learned that the other party was the North Korean navy.
The North Koreans were somewhat suspicious of their identities: "You said you were a merchant ship of the Zheng family caravan, why don't you fly the flag?"
The Han people on the boat answered loudly: "Zheng Zhilong responded to the prince's call to raise troops to defend the king and became an enemy of the imperial court in the capital. We were afraid that you were the Ming navy, so we didn't dare to fly the flag of Zheng's fleet."
The North Korean continued to ask: "Where are you going?"
"Let's go to Jeju Island."
"What are you going there for?"
"Return to Fujian after resupplying supplies."
The North Korean hesitated for a moment and then said, "You can't go to Jeonra Island."
"Why?"
"Because you are a merchant ship of the Zheng family fleet. As you just said, Zheng Zhilong responded to the call of the crown prince and raised an army to defend the king, and became an enemy of the imperial court in the capital. Now the outcome is still unknown. If the imperial court in the capital knew that you had docked at Jeju Island, it would probably cause unnecessary misunderstandings."
"Where do we go to get supplies?"
"That's your own problem."
After a warning, the North Korean navy planned to leave.
Before leaving, Sony asked indirectly about the progress of the Ming army.
After learning that Dorgon had been killed, Sony was stunned for a long time.
Bumbutai also stared in disbelief.
But what the North Koreans said was very convincing and it was hard for them not to believe it.
After the Korean navy left, Sony turned pale.
Bumbutai seemed to have lost all her strength and sat on the deck without saying a word.
Sony asked with tears in her eyes: "Holy Mother Queen, the Emperor..."
Bumbutai said firmly despite her sorrow: "Whether he is dead or alive, we must live on."
Sony wiped away his tears and said, "So where are we going next?"
"Where to go?" Bumbutai was also confused.
Dongfan had been occupied by Wu Sangui and Shang Kexi.
North Korea can't stay either.
Not to mention the Ming Dynasty, going there will only lead to death.
On the ship, Bumbutai fell into deep thought.
......
From July 21st to July 24th, Chongzhen received news that the Ping Liao army had completely wiped out the Jiannu, killed Dorgon, and captured Hong Chengchou.
Chongzhen was very happy, and the chief minister of the cabinet, Xie Sanbin, was even happier.
During the time when the Pingliao Army was fighting in Korea, the rebels had already invaded Shandong and captured Yizhou, Yixian, Tengxian, Yutai, Chengwu, Dingtao and Caozhou.
The situation was extremely unfavorable to the court.
Now Dorgon is dead and the Jiannu have been destroyed.
The mission of the pacifying Liao army has also been completed.
It's just right to transfer them to the border to quell the rebellion.
For this reason, Xie Sanbin approached Chongzhen to discuss the matter.
"Your Majesty, the rebels have taken over three prefectures and six counties in Shandong, and are approaching the city of Yanzhou. I request that the Liao army be dispatched to quell the rebellion!"
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