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The figures in front of the haenyeo were extraordinary, probably high-ranking officials of the "bald-haired pirates". [Read the latest chapter] Although they have little knowledge, they still understand that under the authority, only by being obedient can they endure less hardship and save their lives. They all knelt on the ground with submissive expressions.
The two sides exchanged a few words. There is obviously a big difference between the Korean in the 21st century and the Jeju dialect in the 17th century. Feng Zongze and Nangong Wudi's Korean is at an elementary level, so it is a bit difficult to communicate. Both sides made gestures and said that fortunately, Korean, like Japanese, is a language island and is highly closed-minded, so the changes over the past few hundred years have not been great. After some physical and facial expressions and "Smecta", Feng Zongze was finally able to communicate with the haenyeo smoothly.
From the mouths of the haenyeo, they knew that these haenyeo were indeed from nearby fishing villages. There are very few men in the fishing village, most of them are women. Because men often encounter storms and die in the sea when they go fishing, over time a haenyeo village, dominated by women, was formed. Women mainly make a living as divers, fishing for various seafood to make dry goods and then selling them to merchants.
Naturally, life is extremely difficult. The money earned from selling dried abalone, sea cucumber and other seafood is exchanged for a little food and catch, and they can barely survive. Contrary to what the elders imagined, Jeju Island cannot be self-sufficient in food and must rely on shipments from the Korean Peninsula. Although the haenyeo have little overall perspective, the older haenyeo say that the population has been decreasing in the past ten years - many people have moved to the peninsula.
In the past few years, Jeju Island suffered from successive natural disasters. The court's food relief was slow and infrequent, and many people died of starvation and fled. Many nearby villages are deserted.
As for the specific situation on the island. Not much is known about the haenyeo - they rarely go out to buy seafood, and merchants selling food come to the village every month. Someone in the village has been to Jeju. Because Jingyi County is close, there are many people visiting it.
Feng Zongze sat upright and asked: "What is the population of Jingyi County and how many soldiers are there? What is the radius of the city?"
"Sir, all the slaves are ignorant and despicable white women. The questions asked by the masters are not very clear. If the answers are not good, please forgive me..." The haenyeo who answered was about 25 or 26 years old. She looks relatively smart, and she always answers Feng Zongze's questions. She lowered her head and said respectfully, "I don't know the population of Jingyi County. I only know that there are few residents in the city and there are two villages outside the city. The total population is only two to three thousand."
As for the soldiers, there were about two hundred of them. What is the radius of the city? Haenyeo have no concept of size and cannot explain it clearly. However, she said that there was a large official warehouse in the city, which stored a lot of grain.
This was important news. Feng Zongze and Nangong Wudi's eyes lit up - food was the top priority. Especially those who heard about Jeju Island, "I heard that there are many cattle and horses here. Where are they?"
"Bovines and horses are all in the mountains beyond Halla Mountain, all over the mountains and plains. But there are not many here-" Haenyeo replied. The reason why is not much. It's because there's not enough water at the beach. Cattle and horses need a lot of water, and there are only springs in this area.
Feng Zongze nodded with satisfaction and asked again: "What's your name?"
Haenyeo hesitated for a moment and said, "Reply to the master: I am a humble maid, Mrs. Pan."
This is not much of a name - but Chinese women, until the 1930s, there were many women in remote rural areas who were born with the surname "X" all their lives. Haenyeo are Baiding, just a little better than public and private sluts (slaves). It is normal to not have a name.
"Are you joining the army?" he asked suddenly.
Ama looked at him with wide eyes. He quickly lowered his head and said: "You are a young servant, just a member of the Chinese Army."
The so-called Zhongjun Shangjun is a level among the Haenyeo community in Jeju Island. It starts from "Children Shangjun", goes through Lower Army, Zhongjun, Shangjun, and finally reaches the rank of Senior Shangjun.
But this title is only spread among the haenyeo of Jeju Island. Even the officials and scholar-bureaucrats of the Li Dynasty may not know that such a foreign pirate would actually know, which surprised the haenyeo.
Nangong Wudi and Xue Ziliang asked some more about the local situation. Some of the women knew something and some they didn't know. Obviously, there was no value in asking.
Feng Zongze asked them to take them all down: "Each person was given a relief biscuit and a bowl of hot soup. Let them find their clothes and fishing tools."
"Why, are you still keeping them?" Nangong Wubi's enthusiasm for the divers has dropped a lot - although the divers are in good shape and two of them are still young. But he didn't like the appearance very much.
"Keep them for now. After the interrogation is over, the soldiers will be released together." Feng Zongze said that it was not that he had any nostalgia for the haenyeo, but that he planned to use them to carry out civil affairs work. We must follow the opinion of the article "How to Use Class Theory in Civil Work" written by Du Wen: the oppressed class is a natural resister and a leader. Haenyeo have a low status and a difficult life, but they have the desire and motivation to stand up.
Then the soldiers were interrogated. According to the report of the special reconnaissance team, there were only five garrison soldiers on the beacon tower. When the special reconnaissance team suddenly appeared, they didn't even make an attempt to resist, they just tried to escape. He doesn't seem to have the will to fight at all.
Looking at the looks of the soldiers, one can tell that their fighting will is not that high. The soldiers all looked haggard and looked like they had not had enough to eat for a long time. The coat he was wearing was in tatters and had faded. They had no armor, only a bamboo hat, and the weapons they used were crude. The elders had seen the weapons of the Ming army captured in the Battle of Chengmai, and had also seen various miscellaneous equipment abandoned by the pirates. But the level of weapons and equipment of the Li Dynasty army in front of them was not even comparable to that of large groups of pirates. There were no firearms that were already common in the Ming Dynasty army, and the spears they were equipped with had extremely short handles, only 1.70 meters at best. Apart from serving as a guard of honor, it has basically no use. The knife is also very crude. Slightly better were their bows and arrows, which seemed to be well-made.
North Korea under the rule of the Li Dynasty was known as "Little China", and its disregard for the army was not only on par with the Ming Dynasty, but even worse - the Ming Dynasty still had a small number of elite servants as the core of the army.
Nangong Wudi looked at the soldiers and weapons and thought to himself, if even Kinoshita Fujikiro is here to fight North Korea - what is the difference between this army and a scarecrow?
The soldiers quickly revealed everything they knew. As soldiers they were frequently mobilized on the island. Moreover, the leader of the Taiwanese soldiers has been a soldier here for more than 20 years, and has served in almost all defense posts across the island. She knows much more than the haenyeo.
From the soldiers' mouths, Nangong Wudi knew that there were three divisions of soldiers on the island, each with 500 people. In other words, the number of regular troops on the island is 1,500, which is lower than the 2,000 they originally had.
The pastoral envoy on the island has been asking the court to expand the garrison in Jeju to the fifth division and gather a battalion of troops. However, natural disasters have occurred continuously over the years, and the imperial court was so overwhelmed that it had neither the intention nor the ability to strengthen the defense of Jeju Island. Fortunately, since Tokugawa closed the country, the harm caused by Japanese pirates has been much less than before, and they can barely be dealt with.
Because the enemy in Jeju Island mainly comes from the sea, the soldiers of these three divisions are dispersed throughout the island. There are 500 people in Jeju Island, and more than 200 people in Daejeong and Jeongui counties. In addition, there are nine garrison offices - "Pu", which are similar to the Ming Dynasty's guards. Each village has thirty to fifty garrison troops. These garrison offices are all located on the harbors entering and exiting Jeju Island, and are lined up along the coastline, fully embodying the coastal defense thinking of guarding the ports. There are also eighteen beacon towers, each with five soldiers.
The Li Dynasty's army was equipped with artillery, and there were a small number of artillery in various garrisons and cities, but there was no heavy equipment like the Ming Army's Hongyi cannon.
From this point of view, the largest heavily armed group is only 500 people in Jeju. A single infantry company can easily wipe them out.
As for the navy, the Li Dynasty basically had no navy on the island. There are only a few small boats patrolling the coast.
"Who are the officials on the island? Tell them one by one!" Feng Zongze shouted.
"Yes. The Jeju Observer is Mr. Li Zhenqing, the judge is Mr. Li Mansion, the Supervisor of Daejing County is Mr. Li Qiu, and the Supervisor of Jeongui County is Mr. Cui Ingun."
The Jeju Observer is the highest official on the island of the Lee Dynasty, a third-grade civil servant, and the judge is the highest military attache on the island.
"How many official slaves are there on the island and where are they?"
Official slaves are what the senators are most interested in - they are perfect candidates to lead the party. To take a step back, even if the consciousness of official slaves is not high, they are still the most convenient labor force to use.
"The prison camps in the three cities of Jeju, Daejeong, and Jeongui have official slaves and maidservants. You don't know the total number, but there are tens of thousands of them. There was a famine in the past few years, and many people died of starvation and escaped..."
The former finger was quite satisfied with the soldier's confession and had a lot of detailed information.
After ordering the prisoners to be taken away, the former commander held a brief meeting and decided without further delay to immediately dispatch troops to control the three cities of Jeju and take all the food stored in each city into his own hands. Disarm all garrison areas. At the same time, it controls the main ports entering and exiting Jeju Island.
Nangong Wudi proposed to send a mixed infantry and artillery task force. The infantry marched on foot along the official road on the island, and the artillery and supplies used the large boats and rowing boats brought by the fleet to maneuver along the coastline. Among the three cities of Jeju, apart from Jeongui County, Jeju and Daejeong are both on the seaside. Ships can be easily used for supply support.
Out of caution, it was decided to capture Jingyi County, which is closest to the Chengshan base, to gain an intuitive understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Li Dynasty's army and the city's defense system, and then proceed to the next step of operations depending on the situation.
Jeongui County is a city in South Korea in the old days. When South Korea developed tourism, the county's old site was restored and built into a folk village. Although it is not on the seaside, it is actually very close to Seongsan. There is also a road accessible. Both Xue Ziliang and Nangong Wubi have been to this folk village. However, after all, the folk village was built by later generations. Although there are restorations and so-called historical research, no one can guarantee how different it is from reality.
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