Chapter 1118 Aid and Conditions
During his service in the navy, Xie Li had dealt with Ming generals in many places in Fuguang, and he was no stranger to such diplomatic contacts. After landing and meeting with Shen Zhixiang, he calmly announced his identity and his intention to come here for peace talks.
"Haihan? Are you not from my Ming Dynasty?" Shen Zhixiang felt a little confused after hearing the other party's self-introduction. The name of this country was very unfamiliar to him, and he did not remember that there was such a country with a navy around the Yellow Sea. The other person spoke with a northern accent and looked like a Han Chinese. Except for his strange clothing, he didn't look like a foreign visitor at all.
"We are an ally of the Ming Dynasty, but we are less active in the north. If you have been to the Lingnan area, you should know that we have always cooperated happily with the local government, and we are also willing to help the Ming Dynasty solve various difficult problems, such as relieving refugees and defending against foreign enemies." Xie Li explained calmly: "We heard that the recent situation on Pi Island is not very good, so we came here from Dengzhou, hoping to provide some help within our ability to the Ming army and people here."< br>
Shen Zhixiang half understood what he heard, but it sounded like he had good intentions and had no intention of persuading Hou Jin to surrender. However, out of caution, he still asked one more question: "Then you and the gold thief...are not on the same side?"
Xie Li responded: "Your Excellency, you have misunderstood. We are on the same side as the Ming Dynasty. The golden thief is the enemy of the Ming Dynasty, and naturally he is also the enemy of our Haihan."
Xie Li was actually from the south. He had no personal experience of the disasters caused by Hou Jin outside the customs, nor could he say he had much hatred. He has been involved in Haihan for several years, and his allegiance has long been switched to the Haihan Executive Committee. He no longer regards himself as a Ming member, and Ming's predicament in the north is not what he really cares about.
However, the level of information he has access to is relatively high, and he also knows that the Executive Committee has big plans in Northeast Asia. Hou Jin is one of the targets that Haihan must attack. This is the reason why Haihan will attack Hou Jin. As the main reason for their opponents, the grudge between Daming and Hou Jin is just an excuse. Wang Tom decided to visit Pi Island halfway. The main purpose of his visit was to target the population of the island. If the attitude of the Ming army here was good enough, then it wouldn't be a bad idea to give them some support. Xie Li also understood this. Chest, the rhetoric when facing the Ming army was naturally modified with some purpose.
After hearing this statement, Shen Zhixiang's nervousness eased a little. Since the other party was not a Houjin man, but an friendly country from the south, he could contact them to see what kind of help they could provide to Pidao. Immediately, he took Xie Li to see Shen Shikui.
Pi Dao is no better than the Ming Dynasty. It is isolated overseas and it is difficult to receive material and military assistance from the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Pi Dao has always been willing to accept foreign forces that are willing to provide help. Although I have never heard of the name "Haihan Country" before, but just looking at the opponent's fleet parked at sea, if it can build such a large sea-going ship, it is at least quite capable in shipping. If It would be pie in the sky to be able to provide some supplies and food to Pi Island from time to time through the sea channel.
As for military assistance, Shen Zhixiang hasn't thought that much yet. Even the nearby North Korea did not dare to give Pidao much explicit military assistance, let alone foreign aid from the south.
Shen Shikui was more cautious. After hearing Shen Zhixiang's introduction, he still did not believe Xie Li's unilateral statement: "Since they are friendly countries, does the special envoy have any evidence?"
Xie Li was quite prepared for this. Before the fleet sailed north to Liaodong this time, Wang Tom specially brought various announcements issued by various state capitals in the south and the Fushan County Government in Dengzhou specifically for Haihan, in order to inform Haihan when necessary. A third party confirmed the "friendly relationship" between Haihan and Daming. Since Shen Shikui took the initiative to ask about this matter, Xie Li asked Sun Bing to take out these documents and show them to him.
Although Shen Shikui has been an official for many years, he has never seen government notices from so many places at once, and he couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded at the moment. However, he was still an important member of the party, and he still had basic self-cultivation. He quickly recovered from the shock and checked the notices one by one.
The contents of the notices are similar. Basically, they inform the public that there are Hai-Han business groups in the local area, and they can trade with them or accept their employment under the supervision of the government. There are signatures and official seals of various local officials below, and their nature is obviously that the government is here. Endorse Haihan. However, the coverage of the areas under the jurisdiction of these governments is shocking enough. From Guangdong and Guangxi to Fujian and then to Zhejiang, the official seals of most coastal states appeared in front of Shen Shikui. If it weren't for such a fleet at sea, it would be right in front of him. , Shen Shikui would definitely think that the people in front of him were swindlers who forged government notices.
Of course, the most eye-catching one is the last notice from Fushan County. Although the content above is similar to other places, it is the only official document issued by the government in Shandong. It also mentions that Haihan assisted the government in Fushan County. The glorious deeds of defeating the bandit-armed Wanjia Army and capturing the bandit leader. And looking at the signature above, it's only been about ten days since then.
For Shen Shikui, this not only means higher credibility, but more importantly, it proves that these Haihan people have settled in Shandong. Coupled with their strong shipping capabilities, it is indeed possible to provide some assistance to Pi Island. possible. The Denglai Rebellion caused Shandong to lose most of its military ships. Nowadays, aid from the Ming Dynasty is intermittent, and food is often cut off. If there is a fleet that can provide regular shipping services to Pi Island, it will really solve Shen Shikui's problem. It's urgent.
"Come here, please serve tea to the special envoy!" Shen Shikui quickly made a balance. No matter who the Haihan people were, as long as they could help him, they deserved to be treated with courtesy. As for whether the special envoy is a Han or a foreigner who can speak Chinese, those are all trivial matters. There is no need to get to the bottom of it at this time. The actual benefits are the most important.
"I wonder how you found Pidao? And why did you come from the north?" After Xie Li took his seat, Shen Shikui couldn't wait to ask the questions he was concerned about. He now needs to understand what the other party's motive is for coming here, whether it is a spontaneous act, or whether he is entrusted by the Shandong government. By the way, he needs to verify whether there are any doubts about the other party's origin. After all, such a rare thing like pie in the sky still needs to be solved. It's better to be careful.
After completing the voyage from the Liaodong Peninsula to the northern part of the Yellow Sea, Xie Li had a preliminary understanding of the situation in the Liaodong region. He could roughly guess where Shen Shikui's doubts came from, and he immediately explained to him: "Our team The fleet came north from Zhejiang. It originally hoped to build a dock and set up a business inn in Dengzhou Prefecture, and to see if it could expand the trade route to Liaodong and North Korea, so it headed northeast along the Liaodong coastline. We have already been to Lushun, Changshan Islands, and Zhenjiang Fort. When we got here, we heard that Ming Dynasty troops were still stationed on Pi Island, so we came here to visit if there was anything we could do to help on the island. Master Shen said it clearly.”
Shen Shikui said: "You must have heard about the rebellion caused by the Kong thieves in Denglai, right? After this chaos, Shandong was unable to take care of the supplies of Dongjiang Town. In addition, the gold thieves continued their offensive and continued to encroach on our Dongjiang Town jurisdiction. Now the supplies Food and grass is indeed a big problem. The special envoy has also seen that Pi Island is full of sand and gravel and is not suitable for growing food. This fact is an urgent need at the moment. If you can purchase grain from the Ming Dynasty and organize transportation to Pi Island, the current dilemma may be solved. " Xie Li thought that if the other party took the initiative to propose this plan, it would save him a lot of trouble, and he would not have to waste time and effort in persuading him. However, Haihan's help to Pidao would not be provided free of charge, and Xie Li had to find out first. What conditions can the other party provide Haihan?
At that moment, Xie Li asked: "Excuse me, Master Shen, what is the current population of this island?"
Shen Shikui did not lose his vigilance, and he also had reservations in his answer to this question: "There are currently more than 46,000 people on the island, and there are at least one or two thousand Han people who flee from Liaodong via North Korea every month." He only said Talking about the population of the people, but keeping silent about the number of troops stationed, is also deliberately keeping military secrets to avoid inadvertently exposing the strength.
Xie Li heard the reservation in Shen Shikui's words and did not point it out at the moment. He just turned the topic back to food: "If we want to supply the food and grass needed by tens of thousands of mouths for a long time, we are probably beyond our capabilities!"
Shen Shikui quickly advised: "Whatever you have, as long as there is food, fewer people will starve to death on the island."
Xie Lidao: "Master Shen also said just now that the soil on this island is not suitable for growing food. Even if more food is brought from the outside world, it is only an emergency measure and cannot fundamentally solve the food problem on Pi Island. In my opinion, This approach is not the best option.”
Hearing this tone, Shen Shikui knew that the other party did not say everything, so he immediately answered: "If the special envoy has any clever ideas, you might as well tell them."
"I can't tell you a brilliant idea. There are some simple principles that I would like to invite you to discuss in detail." Seeing that Shen Shikui was also very interested, Xie Li immediately came up with a Haihan-style solution: "It is better to block these refugees and people than to block them." If they are kept in captivity on the island and have nothing to do, it is better to transport them to other places for resettlement, so that they can open up wasteland in other places, and part of the food they produce can be fed back to Dongjiang Town. The people are also saved, and the food of Dongjiang Town Supply can also solve part of the problem, isn’t it the best of both worlds? ”
Shen Shikui sighed and said: "I don't know this truth. It's just that the Changshan Islands that can produce food have been lost. It will be difficult to find other places to resettle these refugees for a while. Originally, the refugees from Liaodong could be resettled directly in Shandong. But the killings of the Denglai Rebellion will make it impossible to heal the rift for generations to come.”
The regional conflict Shen Shikui was referring to was the murderous conflict between Shandong natives and Liaodong immigrants during the Denglai Rebellion. Both sides tried to eliminate each other quickly, and there was no sense of friendship between fellow Ming citizens. During the Denglai Rebellion, tens of thousands of people died in this regional conflict. This war has completely severed the identity of the people in the two places. Both sides regard the other as enemies, and it is impossible to live in peace in the short term.
There are so many refugees on Phi Island who are like a burden, and they have been a burden to Dongjiang Town since Mao Wenlong's period. However, several governors have not been able to completely solve this problem, and they can only try their best to transfer the refugees to islands that can produce food. However, the war situation in Dongjiang Town has been unfavorable in the past year. The territory has been gradually compressed by opponents. Most of the grain-producing island has been lost. The situation has become quite difficult, and it is no longer able to resettle the refugees on the island.
Shen Shikui's hair has turned a lot gray recently in order to solve the food problem of the people on the island. His sigh was not an act. Almost all the places around the Yellow Sea that could be resettled for refugees were occupied by Hou Jin, and there was no way to move the people on the island. If he had not taken into account the relationship between the two countries, he would have raised troops to occupy the territory of the neighboring North Korea.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Xie Li said insinuatingly: "Master Shen, if you can nod, we can try to send the people on the island to the south for resettlement. From now on, their output in the south will also be collected in the form of grain tax." Part of it was sent to Pi Island for consumption by the Ming army. ”
"South?" Shen Shikui frowned and said, "You mean south of Shandong?"
"That's right." Xie Li nodded and replied: "We, Haihan, own many islands and fertile fields along the coasts of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong and Guangxi. It is absolutely no problem to resettle tens of thousands of people in batches. The population on the islands is small. I believe Master Shen's pressure will It’s not that big. As for the food that these people who migrate to other places can produce in the future, we can also advance part of it to Dongjiang Town to meet the urgent needs of the island.”
Shen Shikui did not respond immediately. The solution provided by Xie Li was undoubtedly very tempting to him. Not only could it reasonably and legally get rid of these "burdens" on the island, but it would also produce continuous output in the future. The rewards should be worthwhile in terms of benefits. Moreover, I just saw so many notices about rehabilitating people, which seems to indicate how influential Haihan is in the south, and the credibility of the other party's ability to arrange thousands of people to settle in the south is relatively high.
"You... can you really send people to the south for resettlement?" This is the point that Shen Shikui feels most uneasy about at the moment. In his opinion, Haihan is undoubtedly asking for trouble by doing this, and will bring thousands of people to the south for resettlement. People were sent to the south for resettlement, and part of their output was sent back to the north to supply Pi Island. This was not a cost-effective deal. These Haihan people were not from the Ming Dynasty. Shen Shikui didn't understand why they would take the initiative to do this. "sacrifice".
Xie Li had already made a record of this, and responded confidently: "This is our first time dealing with the adults, and it is normal for the adults to feel uneasy about the way we operate. But this is easy to handle. As the saying goes, hearing is false and seeing is believing. Now that we have set up a base in Zhifu Bay, Fushan County, Dengzhou, you only need to send someone to the area to see if what we say is true.”
(End of chapter)