Chapter 63 The situation on both sides of the Yalu River
He Xi's judgment involves Ye Wang's blind spot.
When it comes to fighting, Ye Wang has been an expert for decades and can anticipate any situation. But what He Xi said now was like heavenly scripture to Ye Wang.
But he also tried hard to understand and give his own explanation, saying: "Consort He, in my opinion, the two sides of the Yalu River are much better than the Liaohe River. Firstly, there are many old forests on both sides of the Yalu River, and there are especially many big trees. Secondly, The flow of the Yalu River is rapid, and it is easier for the rafts to go down from the upper reaches. Moreover, there are old forests in the upper reaches of the Liao River, but the discharge time from the upper reaches is too long. Moreover, the water flow is slow in a long section of the Liao River. I am afraid that the rafts will be stranded in the bend of the river. The location, on the contrary, is on the Yalu River. Downstream, you can go out to the sea, and there are many small islands near the outlet of the Yalu River, which is convenient for doing things."
"There's just a little problem."
He Xi listened calmly, and he agreed with some things Ye Wang said, such as the situation in Liaohe.
Judging from his journey upstream from the Liao River, the lower reaches of the Liao River, especially the section near the outlet, are mostly in plain areas, with gentle water flow and winding waterways. It's not easy to handle rafts here. It is easy to see what Ye Wang said. And from the lower reaches of the Liao River to Shenyang, you can see lush mountains from a distance. But Wangshan ran to death. Don't know how far it is.
As for the Yalu River side, he has never seen it. But I vaguely remember that there are more mountains in the upper reaches of the Yalu River. He even vaguely remembered that even in later generations, he could occasionally see North Koreans arranging platoons on the Yalu River.
He Xi said: "Just what?"
Ye Wang said: "It is only the east of the Yalu River. Although it is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, over the years, the imperial court has not provided enough support to Liaodong and the subordinate officials are incompetent. They can only manage the west of the Yalu River. As for the east of the Yalu River, more than a thousand soldiers are sent to patrol every year. Not even Dare to go deep. Although Goryeo is a vassal, its intentions are unpredictable. After several eastward patrols, a total of more than 10,000 civilians and soldiers were resettled to the west of the Yalu River. If the imperial court wants to manage the Yalu River, the forest farms on both sides of the river. I am afraid that I have to worry about Goryeo. .”
He Xi was stunned and thought to himself: "Wait a minute. Isn't the Yalu River the boundary river between China and North Korea?"
After all, the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea began with crossing the Yalu River. He Xi was deeply impressed by this. At this moment, Ye Wang suddenly said such words, and He Xi didn't know how to react for a moment. However, He Xi has also mastered the city. Said; "Tell me what's going on in Korea?"
Ye Wang didn't doubt him either. He told everything about Goryeo's situation in recent years.
As mentioned earlier, Goryeo had a special relationship with the Yuan Dynasty. Goryeo women were queens in the Yuan Dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty had a special influence on Goryeo. But so is success, and so is failure.
It is precisely because the Yuan Dynasty had special influence on Goryeo. There was an undercurrent of opposition to the Yuan Dynasty within Goryeo. The reason is simple. The Yuan Dynasty's special influence on Goryeo itself served the Yuan Dynasty, not the other way around.
When the Yuan Dynasty was strong and powerful, the Yuan Dynasty asked for everything from Goryeo. Goryeo is almost regarded as a province, but the Yuan Dynasty's rule in the Central Plains was overthrown by the Ming Dynasty. The Koreans also rose up in resistance. Sweeping away the privileges of the Yuan Dynasty, he turned to the Ming Dynasty. Became a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.
This period of time can be regarded as the honeymoon period between Goryeo and Ming Dynasty.
Since it's the honeymoon period, it means the good times don't last long.
The King of Goryeo, Wang Qi, did all this. Being overthrown. Then Goryeo's pro-Yuan faction came to power. After all, the relationship between the Yuan Dynasty and Goryeo for so many years will not be overturned just because of Wang Qi. Not to mention Wang Qi's internal reforms, which offended a large number of Goryeo dignitaries.
As a result, the pro-Yuan faction killed Wang Qi and even killed the envoys sent by the Ming Dynasty to Goryeo.
However, as said before. The overall situation is important. The Ming Dynasty's situation in Liaodong is very weak. Facing the strong enemy in the north, if Goryeo attacks again, Liaodong will face great difficulties.
Therefore, this matter should be suppressed.
As for the land east of the Yalu River in the Ming Dynasty, to be precise, it should be the land east of the Yalu River in the Yuan Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty claimed to inherit the territory of the Yuan Dynasty, so the land east of the Yalu River in the Yuan Dynasty was the land of the Ming Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a Shuangcheng Mansion east of the Yalu River. Just south of the Mentu River and east of the Yalu River. That is now a large part of northwest North Korea.
The King of Goryeo, Wang Qi, also attacked the Yuan Dynasty and defeated the Shuangcheng Governor's Mansion.
In this way, a large area of land east of the Yalu River and the entire east bank of the Yalu River belong to two lands.
He Xi secretly thought: "It's better than I imagined."
Originally, He Xi had no intention of doing anything on the east bank of the Yalu River. Now it seems that it can be done. Although Goryeo is now at both ends, colluding with the Tatars, and trying to refuse with the imperial court. But you still have to live with your face.
At least they won't do anything about logging.
And in He Xi's opinion, the vegetation in the Northeast is much better than that in Guan Nei. Even if there is no river drainage, if you want to exploit it, it will be much better than in the West and Southwest. In the Ming Dynasty, many mahogany trees came from Southeast Asia.
As long as industrial scale is established, costs can be kept very low. Now it is just a matter of borrowing water conservancy.
He Xi said, "Okay, I'll go to the Yalu River and have a look. By the way, if we send people to run the forest farm, how many people can be recruited from Liaodong?"
For a moment, Ye Wang looked troubled and said, "It's not that I'm embarrassing the prince-in-law. It's really that without an order from the court, such a large-scale personnel transfer is impossible."
He Xi said, "I understand. I'll take care of this. Just tell me how many people can be arranged."
He Xi actually saw the meaning of Ye Wang's expression, and Ye Wang felt that this matter was difficult to handle. But He Xi must also find a bottom. Otherwise, the following work cannot be carried out. He can't always arrange everything. The research is almost done.
In the end, Liaodong Dusi couldn't arrange the people?
Ye Wang could only say: "The Liaodong Dusi of the Ming Dynasty had more than 20 guard posts, most of which were west of the Qianshan Mountains. That is, on the Liaodong Peninsula and the Liaoxi Corridor, eighty-nine percent of the Liaodong Dusi gathered here. Population of ten.”
Although Ye Wang spoke in a roundabout way, He Xi still understood the underlying meaning. He said, "How many people are there in the Ming Dynasty east of the Qianshan Mountains?"
The Qianshan Mountains are the remnants of the Changbai Mountains and can be considered the backbone of the Liaodong Peninsula. It is the mountain range southeast of Shenyang City.
Ye Wang said: "There is only one guard station. Ding Liao Youwei. It is full of troops, less than 30,000 people. Even women and children are included."
He Xi suddenly didn't know what to do. It’s really hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.
Not to mention anything else, tens of thousands of people and thousands of troops may not be enough to maintain the military presence in the confrontation with Goryeo. Not to mention that logging is physically demanding work. It may not be enough to pull all these men up. Not to mention. We can't let all the soldiers cut trees. What will happen if Goryeo develops suddenly?
He Xi had to admit it. He has always looked at Liaodong from the perspective of a province, but now it seems that the economic and population of Liaodong may not exceed that of Jiangnan. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang once set up prefectures and counties in Liaodong, but later canceled them all. It was not without reason.
Yao Guangxiao, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said: "General Ye, in this case, the population on both sides of the Yalu River is so sparse, is there really no one at all?"
The reason why Yao Guangxiao concluded so. Because now is not the ancient times after all. In ancient times, there were large areas of no-man's land, where there were really no people. Nowadays, many of the so-called no-man's lands are just that there are no people on the court's account books.
Although the mountains are high and the forests are dense, there are a large number of indigenous people even in a natural environment like Taiwan. Is there really no one here in the Northeast?
Ye Wang said: "There are naturally not many people. Deep mountains and old forests. Wild beasts are infested. There are only inns built in the past few years. All the way to the bank of the Yalu River. Apart from that, there are no Han people anymore. But there are Jurchens. .But the number is not large.”
Yao Guangxiao said: "Approximately how many are there?"
Ye Wang shook his head in silence and said: "I don't know. This place is too big. The various Jurchen tribes are too scattered. There are various theories, some say there are a hundred thousand people, and some say there are only about 30,000 people. Still. There are some savages from other tribes.”
