OBS Chapter 351 It was already lucky to be able to sell Goryeo to the Ming Dynasty.
Chapter 351 It was already lucky to be able to sell Goryeo to the Ming Dynasty.
Upon hearing the names of Confucian classics such as the Analects and Mencius, and after hearing Yang Shaofeng explain the importance of the Classic of Filial Piety and the Analects, Park Deok-hwan and Park Sung-sung were overjoyed and repeatedly thanked Yang Shaofeng.
Park Sung-sung bowed deeply and said, "Our humble country has troubled Your Highness to take such a great deal of care. I am deeply grateful and will never forget it."
Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Goryeo is a vassal state of our Great Ming Dynasty, and I naturally cannot sit idly by while the people of Goryeo suffer from poverty and hunger."
Strictly speaking, Yang Shaofeng's actions against the Koreans were wrong, because Korea was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. The Korean ruler, like Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen, was a subject of Emperor Zhu. The Korean people could also be considered subjects of the Ming Dynasty, and Korean territory could be regarded as part of the Ming Dynasty's territory.
But as the famous degenerate writer Mr. Kang Bodu said: As long as I have no morals, no one else can use morality to bind me. As long as I don't treat people like human beings, they are not human beings.
For Yang Shaofeng, using the Analects and the Classic of Filial Piety to harm Koreans was not entirely without its challenges, but it certainly didn't cause him any trouble.
After all, they are South Korea, which is separated from us by only a narrow strip of water.
Well, being separated by only a narrow strip of water is not a good thing.
The History of the Southern Dynasties, Annals of Chen, Part II: "Emperor Wen of Sui said to Minister Gao Jiong: 'I am the parent of the people. How can I not save them because they are separated by only a narrow strip of water?'"
In other words, Emperor Wen of Sui had just created the idiom "separated by a strip of water" when he sent his army to destroy the Southern Chen dynasty.
Yang Shaofeng wasn't the emperor, and before Hu Yuan was completely finished, he couldn't persuade Zhu Chongba to send troops to kill the Koreans. However, Yang Shaofeng definitely wouldn't mind digging a pit to bury the Koreans first.
To Yang Shaofeng's utter surprise, before he could even prepare to dig a hole, the Koreans unceremoniously came over with shovels to help!
After returning to the county government office, Park Sung-sung bowed directly to Yang Shaofeng and said, "Your Highness, I have another request, and I hope Your Highness can grant it."
Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Vice Envoy Park, please speak."
Park Sung-sung cupped his hands and said, "It is to inform Your Highness that although Goryeo is a small country with a small population, it has quite a few scholars. These scholars greatly admire the culture of the Central Plains. Our king intends to send some scholars to study in the Ming Dynasty. I wonder..."
Upon hearing Park Sung-sung's words, Yang Shaofeng immediately became wary.
The Koreans want to send students to the Ming Dynasty. This matter should be handled by the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Academy. What the hell do you mean by hoping that the Prince Consort will grant their request?
Isn't this setting a trap for me?
Yang Shaofeng said directly, "If Goryeo intends to send some students to our Great Ming, Vice Envoy Park should seek help from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Academy. I am merely the Prefect of Dengzhou and cannot help Vice Envoy Park."
After a slight pause, Yang Shaofeng added, "However, I can put in a good word for your country's ruler before His Majesty the Emperor of my Great Ming Dynasty, but I cannot guarantee whether it will be successful."
Park Sung-sung realized he had misspoke, but could not contain his excitement. He immediately bowed to Yang Shaofeng and said, "I was being presumptuous just now. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."
Seeing that Yang Shaofeng still looked unhappy, Park Sung-sung gritted his teeth again and said, "Your Highness is willing to put in a good word for our king before His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. I am extremely grateful and am willing to send 10,000 laborers to Dengzhou to help Your Highness build the city walls."
This time, before Yang Shaofeng could refuse, Park Sung-sung preemptively said, "Your Highness, rest assured, this foreign minister will ask our king to first submit a memorial to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty, and at the same time, have these laborers bring their own provisions and fodder, so as not to cause Your Highness any trouble."
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Park Sung-sung and said with a forced smile, "Vice Envoy Park, hard labor is no easy task; problems can easily arise if you're not careful."
Park Sung-sung nodded vigorously and said, "Your Highness, please feel free to order those laborers around."
After a slight pause, Park Sung-sung added, "The foreign minister will send an additional thousand supervisors. Your Highness, please feel free to give them any instructions, and they will naturally arrange the hard labor for you."
Upon hearing Park Sung-sung's statement, Yang Shaofeng's interest was immediately piqued.
He had just said that problems could easily arise if he was not careful, referring to the dangers of building the city and the potential for casualties among the laborers. However, Park Sung-sung said that he could do whatever he wanted with him, implying that it didn't matter how many laborers died.
As for the thousand overseers, that's even more interesting—they give orders to the overseers, who then arrange the hard labor. In other words, those overseers will voluntarily bear all the blame, so that the Ming Dynasty doesn't have to take any responsibility.
Kind of interesting.
Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Since your esteemed envoy insists, then we shall proceed as you wish."
……
After leaving the Penglai County government office and returning to the accommodations arranged by Yang Shaofeng, Park Sung-sung finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's finally all arranged."
Park Deok-hwan frowned slightly and said, "Vice Envoy Park, ten thousand laborers is no small matter. You promised it without the King's consent, I'm afraid..."
Park Sung-sung chuckled and said, "As long as the quota of one thousand supervisors is still available, both the king and the king will agree to send out these ten thousand laborers, and the officials of my Goryeo court will not object either."
Park Deok-hwan was slightly taken aback, but after realizing what he meant, he couldn't help but sigh and say, "Vice Envoy Park, you haven't seen how arrogant and domineering Yang Shaoqing was in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. If you had, you would never have said these words today."
Park Sung-sung chuckled again, looking at Park Deok-hwan and asking, "I know this is like asking a tiger for its skin, but given the current situation, do we in Goryeo have any other options?"
As Park Sung-sung finished speaking, Park Deok-hwan fell silent once again.
Just like when he was forced to sign the "Myeong-Goryeo Friendship Treaty," even though he knew that signing the treaty would be tantamount to betraying the interests of Goryeo and its people, did he have any other choice?
Seeing that Park Deok-hwan remained silent, Park Sung-sung continued, "Since we're going to sell out Goryeo's interests no matter what, let's offer all the conditions we can negotiate and try to get a good price."
After a slight pause, Park Sung-sung added, "This world has never been fair. You think you've betrayed Korea's interests, but little do you know that many people can't find buyers even if they wanted to betray their country's interests."
"Compared to them, the two of us are already lucky to have sold Goryeo to the Ming Dynasty."