Park Seong-hyeok’s wealth had shrunk considerably just after he received his naturalization certificate, and before he could even savor his joy for long.
Conversely, Choi Seong-yu, who was usually looked down upon as a mere commoner, had suddenly turned his fortunes around and become a person of standing. The government of Lingzhou County had directly returned the property that Choi Seong-yu had been robbed of, even calculating the interest.
What should the Koreans do if they couldn't repay the money or were dead set against it?
There was an old saying in the Central Plains guilds: "The hearts of the people are like iron, and the laws of the officials are like a furnace."
There was never anything that the government was unwilling to do, but nothing that the government wanted to do and could not achieve.
If they couldn't repay the money, their oxen would be sold and their houses auctioned. If that wasn't enough, they would be thrown into the mines to work as laborers to earn money. Regardless of the method, the money had to be repaid to Choi Seong-yu.
As for whether the Koreans would cause unrest because of this?
The officials of Lingzhou County expressed that they didn't care if the Koreans rebelled, and were even somewhat looking forward to it.
These officials had truly had enough of these Koreans.
Not only were they incompetent, but they also loved to brag. Given two taels of strong liquor, they could brag that the entire universe was their family’s.
Of course, bragging wasn't much of an issue; the people of the Great Ming also had a tendency to brag, just not as much as these Koreans. However, these Koreans had another problem.
Theft.
They stole money, they stole grain, they stole clothes; there was almost nothing they didn't steal.
If this was merely petty theft, then the act of stealing even one's ancestors was truly disgusting.
Those surnamed Li claimed their families were branches of the Zhao Commandery or Longyou Li families, while those surnamed Choi claimed to be branches of the Qinghe Cui clans. As long as there was a slight connection, they would try to claim kinship.
Of course, if it were only this, the officials of the Great Ming could have tolerated it. After all, claiming false surnames wasn't something only the Koreans did; many natives in Burma and Jiaozhi also liked to claim false surnames and seek kinship.
The problem was that these Koreans always felt they were very impressive. When they spoke, they would talk about the achievements of some king or the earth-shattering deeds of some great lord. They would even bring up the Battles of Luliang and Myongnyang as if without the Koreans, the Great Ming would have been invaded by the Japanese.
Furthermore, there were always some Koreans shouting that Li San should be reinstated as king and that Korea should return to its status as a vassal state, which greatly displeased the officials dispatched to the Joseon Provincial Administration.
Therefore, these officials wished that the Koreans would rebel as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, many Koreans were unwilling to rebel.
Although the Koreans' thought processes were quite peculiar, and many Koreans were conceived from the placenta they were born from, these placentas were not entirely foolish. They knew how different life under the Great Ming was compared to the rule of Li San and Li Shen.
Having enjoyed a good life, these Koreans were unwilling to return to the hardships of the past.
Except for people like Park Seong-hyeok.
The money, grain, and land that had been seized from Choi Seong-yu's family had returned to Choi Seong-yu's hands, and Park Seong-hyeok had to pay additional interest as compensation. This made Park Seong-hyeok gnash his teeth in hatred, and even the joy of receiving his naturalization certificate was diminished.
Park Seong-hyeok had never felt that his father’s generation was wrong in forcibly seizing Choi Seong-yu’s property. They were mere commoners, and letting them live was already a great favor. How could they dare to covet property? Where were the rules of conduct?
It was only when the "Sambyeolcho Volunteer Army" heard of Park Seong-hyeok's deeds and secretly contacted him that Park Seong-hyeok felt even more displeased.
That's right, it was all the Great Ming’s fault. If the Great Ming hadn’t entered Joseon, then Joseon would still be Joseon’s Joseon, and he would still be the high and mighty Lord Park, not a low and humble second-class citizen as he was now.
Park Seong-hyeok had never considered that the Koreans had actively requested to submit, rather than the Great Ming sending troops to conquer them.
Park Seong-hyeok had also never considered that it was precisely because the Sambyeolcho constantly caused trouble that the Ming court, which had been preparing to completely transform Korea into the Joseon Provincial Administration and grant the Koreans the status of citizens of the Great Ming, changed its mind.
Naturalization certificate?
The naturalization certificate, which he had once treasured like a rare gem, now seemed so glaring in Park Seong-hyeok’s eyes.
As Park Seong-hyeok picked up the naturalization certificate, about to tear it up, the envoy sent by the "Sambyeolcho Volunteer Army," Park Deu-hwan, was scared half to death.
Park Deu-hwan grabbed Park Seong-hyeok and advised, "We still need this naturalization certificate now. Without it, you won't be able to move freely between our Korean lands, and the Ming authorities will question you everywhere. Now, we need this naturalization certificate to pass messages for everyone."
Park Seong-hyeok sat back in his chair, his face filled with anger, and asked, "Then what do you plan to do? Now those commoners all sympathize with the Ming government and are unwilling to acknowledge the King's rule. It will be difficult to drive out the Ming people, won't it?"
Park Deu-hwan stroked his beard with feigned profundity and smiled, saying, "Difficult? Not necessarily."
"The reason the Ming government can win over those commoners is simply because they distribute grain and land, and their superficial efforts are also in place, making those commoners mistakenly believe that the Ming government can represent their interests."
"Therefore, to drive out the Ming people, one only needs to use their own spear to attack their shield."
Park Seong-hyeok frowned and asked, "What is the plan?"
Park Deu-hwan chuckled and said, "Don't worry. The King has already made all the arrangements. As long as it can be implemented smoothly, the Ming government will surely be in a sorry state, and their mask of hypocrisy will be ripped off."
Seeing that Park Deu-hwan had been talking for a long time without getting to the point, Park Seong-hyeok felt a bit displeased and snorted, "If you don't trust me, why are you looking for me? Please, go ahead!"
The smile on Park Deu-hwan's face faltered for a moment, and then he sighed, "It's not that I don't trust you, but this plan is too insidious. It will cost us a thousand to kill the enemy, and even three thousand to lose ourselves. Are you sure you want to know?"
Seeing that Park Seong-hyeok was unmoved, Park Deu-hwan couldn't help but sigh again, "This plan is actually not strange at all. It's to find a way to cause an epidemic in the regions governed by the Ming government, so they won't care about the lives of those commoners."
In order to drive out the Great Ming, Li San and his strategists had gone to great lengths, discussing all possible methods. In the end, they decided to poison the regions governed by the Great Ming.
For example, they would have death warriors walk around ostentatiously wearing the clothes of patients with infectious diseases, or they would have death warriors get infected first and then throw themselves into wells, lakes, and other water sources to commit suicide.
It must be admitted that this method was indeed insidious and toxic. If it were solely up to the local government, it might not have been able to solve the problem.
However, the Great Ming also had an extremely famous intelligence organization.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard.
It was said that they could make the emperor know what a minister ate, drank, saw, and said the day before. They could make the dead confess and identify the murderer, and make a bear admit it was a rabbit.
As soon as Li San and his subordinates began to devise their poisoning schemes, the Embroidered Uniform Guard sent the relevant intelligence to Chen Xiude, the Provincial Governor of Joseon, shortly after.
Chen Xiude was amused to the point of laughter.
You could say these Koreans were stupid, yet they had these little tricks. If you were to say they were smart, they only did the most foolish things.
Poisoning the water sources?
Wells and small lakes were indeed vulnerable to poisoning, but would rivers and large lakes be afraid of poisoning? How many death warriors would it take for that?
Besides, if a well was rendered useless, couldn't they just dig a new one?
Also, this method of harming people through epidemics might have worked during the Qing Dynasty, as the officials of the Qing Dynasty were too incompetent. Either they were bookworms who were detached from reality and ignorant of agriculture, or they had bought their positions with money. Except for a very small number who gradually learned how to be officials, the rest knew how to climb the ladder, but not how to govern a region.
These officials were even toyed with by the local gentry and scholars, and they usually had to rely on their advisors and aides.
But the officials of the Great Ming were different!
The officials of the Great Ming either rose step by step from peasant associations or passed the imperial examinations (equivalent to public recruitment). The former had extensive experience in officialdom, while the latter, although inexperienced, would be sent to intern in the Six Ministries and Five Courts. Only after passing the examinations would they be appointed as officials.
If any local gentry dared to treat the officials of the Great Ming as fools, the officials of the Great Ming would have the ability to show them what it meant to be an official.
The officials of the Great Ming had long learned the relevant solutions to the petty tricks played by Li San. In the Great Ming, they might have been hesitant, but in Joseon, these officials had no reservations.
Upon receiving the intelligence, Chen Xiude immediately ordered a lockdown of all of Joseon. Everyone living in Korean territory, whether Korean or a citizen of the Great Ming, had to stay at home. Their food and water were delivered by assigned personnel. He then wrote a memorial requesting the Great Ming court to immediately send reinforcements.
First, a lockdown, then a division into zones, followed by treatment, then source investigation, and problem resolution. This entire process, apart from a large number of Li San's death warriors perishing, could not be said to be completely useless, but rather completely ineffective.
This time, Park Seong-hyeok could no longer laugh.
Park Seong-hyeok glared at Park Deu-hwan and questioned, "What's going on? The Ming government was not affected at all. Instead, I was summoned to the government office for questioning several times. If I didn't have the naturalization certificate, you probably wouldn't have seen me again!"
Thinking of the experience of being interrogated by the authorities, Park Seong-hyeok's expression turned grim. "You had better find a way to clear my name. If the authorities continue to question me like this, I might end up revealing something."
Park Deu-hwan was also baffled. "It shouldn't be like this. These epidemics have been confirmed by doctors. If one person gets infected, it can spread to the entire village. All the villages, large and small, in Lingzhou County have been poisoned. How is it that not a single person has been affected?"
"Also, aren't the officials of the Great Ming usually fond of visiting brothels? This time, to ensure the plan's success, we even infected the prostitutes!"
Park Seong-hyeok said with a look of misfortune, "Don't mention it. All the brothels in Lingzhou County were shut down by the authorities!"
Park Deu-hwan grunted, got up, walked to Park Seong-hyeok's side, patted his shoulder, and said, "It's nothing to worry about. Even though the epidemic didn't cripple the Ming government, this year's spring plowing is completely ruined. By then, those commoners will have no food to eat, and trouble will surely arise sooner or later."
Just as Park Seong-hyeok was about to nod, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, and his mouth was tightly covered by Park Deu-hwan.
Park Deu-hwan grinned menacingly and said, "Don't blame me. Blame yourself for your lack of caution and being summoned for questioning by the Ming government so many times. For safety's sake, I can only send you on your way first."
Before Park Seong-hyeok could even struggle, he breathed his last.
Park Deu-hwan wiped the bloodstains from his dagger, then searched Park Seong-hyeok's body for the naturalization certificate. He then sighed and said, "Rest in peace. If Joseon is ever restored, the King will surely not forget your merits."
However, just as Park Deu-hwan was about to turn and leave, a round of applause suddenly came from the courtyard. Someone was clapping their hands and saying with a laugh, "Good, good. To witness such a good show, today was not in vain."
Park Deu-hwan was startled. He gripped his dagger and looked towards the courtyard. He saw that six people had appeared in the courtyard at some unknown time. The person in the lead was laughing and clapping his hands in applause, while the other five were all holding firearms.