Night fell, but the city of Pyongyang was still brightly lit. Torches were everywhere inside and outside the new port, and many North Korean workers were cleaning up the scene and removing the bodies. The former Daming King Zhu Youshu was holding a notebook and a thin charcoal pen, making notes in the firelight. He was also old, but now he was making a living as a clerk in a foreign land.
The Daming Royal Family seemed to be glorious, but it was actually a depressing identity. Zhu Yuanzhang arranged for his children and grandchildren very well, but after more than two hundred years of reproduction, there were too many people with the surname Zhu. Not to mention other things, it was not easy to give a name. Moreover, the royal family could not do any work and could not leave the fief, which was no different from being in prison.
Zhu Youshu was still a king, and many of his distant relatives were not much better than the poor. Now that he was caught and brought to North Korea, his life was interesting. It was just that in the past, as a prince, he spoke unscrupulously and talked big in front of everyone. At most, he suddenly woke up a little today and knew to restrain himself to please others.
During the day, the North Korean Li family's regime put everything on the line. Navy Commander Li Guan took the risk to attack, and finally stimulated the remnant soul of Lee Sun-sin to fight with Zhou Qingfeng. He thought that this was the Li family's three thousand miles of territory, and with the Soul of the Nation, he could fight against the foreign enemy. As a result, Ice Phoenix appeared, and the three of them worked together to kill Lee Sun-sin in a few moves.
The Soul of the Nation was defeated, and the North Koreans were more respectful to the Han people, as if their backbone had been pulled out. Zhu Youshu was followed by a North Korean translator, who helped him count and record the battle losses during the day. His tone and attitude were obviously lower.
"Thirteen warehouses were damaged, six of which were completely destroyed. There were three warehouses that had been stocked with cloth that had been destroyed by fire. "
"Including the enemy navy, we captured about two thousand people. The security forces are punishing them to let them know the consequences of fighting against the Grand Marshal. "
"Two tortoiseshell ships were destroyed, and we are sending people to salvage the things on the ships. It is said that the copper cannons on the ships are very valuable, and they need to be fished out and melted. The captives said that there is a sunken ship blocking the river mouth, and someone has already sailed to confirm. "
The North Korean translator chattered and led Zhu Youshu to look around. The two of them walked to a temporary camp and saw hundreds of North Korean migrant workers eating inside. Cabbage soup was being cooked in a few large pots, and a group of workers were eating rice in a circle around them. When Zhu Youshu saw this, he frowned slightly and said, "The food here is inferior. Don't you have any dishes to go with it?"
"There's food. The cabbage soup is delicious." The North Korean translator pointed to the boiling pot and said, "There's fish in it, and there's a lot of salt. This was a good meal that he couldn't even eat in the past. If anyone says he's not satisfied with such good food and dishes, I'll beat him to death. "
The interpreter seemed to be in a hurry to explain. He even personally grabbed an iron spoon and stirred the pot. The vegetable leaves and fish inside were flipped over, and there was a fresh and salty aroma. But these dishes were far inferior to what Zhu Youshu had eaten when he was a prince. He still frowned and said in a low voice, "You do so much work every day, and you only eat these dishes. It must be hard, right?"
"Not at all, not at all." The translator kept waving his hands and said happily, "It is the blessing of us Koreans that the Grand Marshal can come to Korea from the Celestial Empire. When the Grand Marshal comes, we have white rice to eat. How can we complain about this? "
Zhu Youshu originally wanted to sympathize with the people and mourn for them, but he didn't expect to make a joke of "why don't you eat minced meat". He realized that things were different from what he had imagined, and quickly changed his words. "What did you eat in the past?"
"Only wild vegetables and grains." The translator scolded angrily, "Pyongyang is still considered good. My family is from Sinuiju, and it's even poorer. Fine grains like rice can only be eaten by the nobles, and we can only eat rice bran. Sometimes, we don't even have rice bran to eat, and many people starve to death. That's why those dog officials wanted to attack us during the day, but we didn't want them to. We fought them to the death. "
Zhu Youshu suddenly froze, as if some terrible memory had been evoked. He asked again, trembling with fear, "You … I mean, when the Grand Marshal attacked, didn't your officials give you any rations to encourage you to work hard?"
"What rations?" The translator was confused. "They never gave us any rations."
"That's … that's …" Zhu Youshu wanted to explain for a long time, but in the end, he stopped and shook his head. "Forget it, it's all in the past, let's not talk about it. Life is pretty good now. "
The temporary camp was used to accommodate the North Korean workers. Zhu Youshu passed by the security army camp and saw a group of North Koreans hanging up many prisoners and beating them. Especially those wearing official uniforms, they were subjected to all kinds of torture. He was frightened and ran away as if he was fleeing.
It was late at night, and the loss registration had not been completed. Zhu Youshu could only drag his tired body back to the city to rest. There were many Shandong officials who came back with him. These people used to have high positions of power, but now they could only do some small official work in exchange for rations to make a living.
Walking along the road with the crowd, Zhu Youshu suddenly saw someone. He quickly grabbed the man's arm and shouted, "Zhang Bingwen, stop right there."
The man was also an old man. Although his name was called, when he saw that it was Zhu Youshu, he quickly cupped his hands in greeting.
But Zhu Youshu asked angrily, "Surnamed Zhang, you are the Shandong administrative envoy. When Jinan City was breached, you were also there. Let me ask you, before the 'revolutionary army' went south, you encouraged all the rich families in the city to donate and recruit soldiers. I also donated 5000 taels of silver and 20,000 dans of food. Where did these rations go? "
Zhang Bingwen was surprised. He didn't expect to be asked about this. But now that everyone was in trouble, it was useless to lie. He said with a smile, "I won't hide it from King De, the rations were all divided by the officials. I took my share, and the rest was naturally given to others. As for how much was actually used to recruit soldiers, I don't know. "
"You …" Zhu Youshu exclaimed, "At that time, the city was about to be breached, and you still have the mind to be greedy? You even dare to be greedy for this prince's money? "
Zhang Bingwen still shook his head, "Your Highness, it's not that I want to be greedy, it's just that the official rules are like this. I also know that the situation was critical at that time, and it was a big taboo to be greedy for rations. But when your rations were delivered, the people under you naturally took out my share. If I am not greedy, others will be greedy. If I am not greedy, others will exclude me. If I am not greedy, I can't be an official. "
After saying that, he pointed around, "It's not like I am the only greedy one. Everyone is from Shandong. Ask them, which one of them is not greedy? Besides, we are not only greedy for you, we are greedy for all the people in Shandong. What is there to be angry about? This has been the case for hundreds of years, and old habits are hard to change. Daming's defeat is not unjust at all. "
Zhu Youshu was so angry that his nose was crooked. He stomped his feet and scolded, "You bastards, my, Daming's country was lost in the hands of corrupt officials like you. When Jinan City was breached, the people in the city were like the people of Korea. They didn't help at all and instead turned against me. It's a pity that this prince didn't do anything bad, but was exiled with you corrupt officials. How can I be wronged? "
"Everyone understands the reason, but no one can do anything about it. If you want to scold me, I can only let you scold me. "Zhang Bingwen was put in an extremely difficult situation. He could only cover his ears and leave.
The other officials also couldn't stand Zhu Youshu's scolding and went back to their dormitories to close their doors. However, there was someone standing to the side holding a pen and paper, writing and drawing. Zhu Youshu scolded him and shouted at him, "Liu Chi, what are you writing here?"
The person who was recording was also old. When he heard this, he didn't stop writing and said, "I live in Jinan and study history. It is the most suitable time to write books and write about the country. Other people don't like to come to Korea, but I like it. The quarrel between Prince De and Minister Liu tonight will also be recorded by me as a warning for future generations. If Prince De has any resentment in his heart, feel free to say it. I will write it down one by one. "
"You, you, you … you are also making fun of this prince." Zhu Youshu straightened his finger and scolded, "You pedantic scholar, are you trying to anger me to death?"
Zhu Youshu couldn't vent his anger after scolding him, so he simply ran to find Zhou Qingfeng. He felt that he should expose this matter and let Zhou Qingfeng clean up those corrupt officials. But when he found Zhou Qingfeng and told him about the situation …
But Zhou Qingfeng only chuckled and said, "The officials of Shandong who have committed atrocities have all been executed. Those who can be exiled have been forgiven of their past sins, so I will not pursue it anymore. Mr. Zhu can work in Korea peacefully for a few years. When the situation stabilizes, I will let you go back. "
With a few words, the angry Zhu Youshu was easily dismissed. However, Zhou Qingfeng said in the office with a bitter face, "Why did you come to me? If you don't tell me clearly, I can't help you. "
Fire Phoenix flashed out from behind the screen in the office and shouted angrily, "Do you know that Black Tortoise is helping the Ming court train five thousand elite 'Black Armor Army'?"
Zhou Qingfeng shook his head, "I really don't know about this."
"Do you know that White Tiger is the king of all beasts? It helped Hwang Tae-gil recruit a large number of powerful monsters?"
"I am not sure about this."
"The Ming court has secretly made peace with Kennu. They have recruited Taixi people to build cannons, and now they have made great progress. Now your cannons are sharp, but it won't be long before your opponents also have a large number of cannons. "
"Oh, I have heard about this, but I don't care too much. In terms of cannons and firearms, we are definitely the best. The production capacity of the Ming court is far less than the mass production of our 'Revolutionary Army'. "
"Your opponents are getting stronger and stronger. Aren't you afraid? You still have time to fight Korea? Is there any benefit to you in Korea? "
"It's not a good thing to expand rashly. But there are some benefits in Korea. " Zhou Qingfeng still wanted to talk about his dream, but he changed the topic and asked, "I am very grateful that you helped me to fight against the enemy during the day. But you listed so many difficulties. Are you just trying to scare me? But I am not afraid of these at all. Why do you want to see me? "
"You …" Fire Phoenix was so angry that her teeth were itching. However, she suddenly said dispiritedly, "My life is coming to an end. I will be reborn again in ten years."
"Isn't it good? Immortality! "Zhou Qingfeng felt that this was a good thing that others couldn't even beg for.
"I go through Nirvana once every three hundred years. Every time, I have to watch my friends and enemies die in front of me. Ups and downs, love and hate, I have to keep tasting it. Every time I go through Samsara again alone. No matter if I like it or hate it, it is a heart-wrenching pain every time. Do you think I like it? "
Fire Phoenix said with gritted teeth. She pulled Ice Phoenix and gently hugged her. Full of resentment, she said, "We are mother and daughter in name, but in fact, we are sisters. We take turns to give birth to each other. Ice Phoenix is still young. In her memory, there are only happy things when she was young.
But in my mind, there are all kinds of messy memories of the past thousands of years. Every day that I live, there are countless more messy thoughts in my mind. After accumulating for a long time, I am going crazy. I was hoping that you would beg me when you couldn't hold on, but who knew that you could fight so well. Then I have to do it myself. "
"Thousands of years of reincarnation, this doesn't sound very good." Zhou Qingfeng said with sorrow, "Then what do you want me to do?"
"Ice Phoenix and I want to merge with you to get rid of the fate of reincarnation. It doesn't matter even if we die in the end. This will also be of great benefit to you. "
"Ah …, merge? It sounds interesting. How do you do it? "
"Ice Phoenix and I want to share your lifespan."
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