Chapter 1420 Negotiation Weight
"I just received a telegram from Zhoushan. Wang Tom has already led the fleet to set off from Dinghai Port."
At the daily executive committee meeting in Fort Victory, Yan Chujie reported the news to the senior officials present on behalf of the military. The Liaodong Spring Offensive was Haihan's first foreign war in 1636. It was also an important strategic move that had been prepared for a long time. It can be said to be Haihan's top priority this year. To this end, the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense gave the green light and provided full cooperation in the deployment of funds, personnel and materials, in order to achieve victory in the first battle and complete the preliminary strategy for the Liaodong region.
"When this battle is over, we will no longer have to hide our capabilities and bide our time. No matter which country we negotiate with, we will have more leverage." Tao Donglai has some thoughts about the upcoming war in the distant Northeast. More expectations, to be precise, are expectations for changes in the international situation after the war.
The official founding of Haihan was in the seventh year after the time travel, and today they are planning to attack Liaodong, which was occupied by Hou Jin. They still brought in a Ming army as a cover to prevent Ming from losing face. It can be said that they act in a very low-key manner. .
Haihan's low profile in the early stage was indeed for the purpose of keeping a low profile and avoiding premature exposure of strength and attracting suppression from the Ming Dynasty. In the later period, it was to avoid territorial disputes with the Ming Dynasty as much as possible. Although Haihan is no longer afraid of the Ming Dynasty, he does not want the relationship between the two countries to deteriorate or even go to war with each other, because this will directly affect the two matters of trade and immigration that Haihan attaches most importance to. Therefore, although small-scale armed conflicts will break out between the two countries from time to time, Haihan will maintain restraint when he has the advantage and try to control the situation within the tolerance of Ming Dynasty.
It is impossible for Haihan to become a slave state of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty will not give these time travelers better treatment than recruiting peace. There are almost no conditions of equal exchange between the two parties that can be brought up on the negotiation table, so Haihan He has been waiting for the international situation to change, or to put it more bluntly, waiting for the moment when the Ming Dynasty is in trouble.
Haihan needed more external conditions to check and balance Ming, forcing Ming to take the initiative to choose negotiations to resolve the disputes between the two parties and Haihan's international status. This so-called external condition was Houjin, Ming's most powerful opponent in the north.
If Haihan did not seek to use force to intervene in the war between Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin Dynasty, then according to the original historical trajectory, Ming Dynasty would have entered the countdown before its collapse. The Executive Committee believes that in order to obtain equal negotiating power with Ming Dynasty, in addition to being strong enough, Houjin is also an important negotiating weight.
The purpose of Haihan's attack on Liaodong was to contain Hou Jin from going south. The purpose of containing Hou Jin from going south was not only to extend the life of the Ming Dynasty, but also another very important reason was to use this as an exchange to start formal diplomacy with the Ming Dynasty. negotiation. If the negotiation between the two parties goes well, then Haihan can continue to hold Hou Jin's tail for Daming, giving Daming a chance to breathe; if the negotiation between the two parties is not ideal, then Haihan can also let go appropriately and let Hou Jin out of the cage to bite. Have a few bites of Daming.
Of course, it is not impossible that the rulers in the capital are confused and want to start a war with Hou Jin and Haihan at the same time, but if there is such a sign, then the Ming Dynasty's thousands of miles of sea territory may be in danger at the same time. Especially in the coastal areas south of the Yangtze River, there will never be any navy bold enough to challenge the authority of Haihan Navy. If they really break up, at least the Ming army will not be able to create any big trouble for Haihan on the maritime battlefield. .
Gu Kai took over Tao Donglai's words and said: "Although the spring offensive will not start until March, in fact our diplomatic preparations have already started since last year. Most of the official figures in Fujian and Guangdong and Guangxi have been prepared. At that time, the Sansi Yamen of these two provinces will write to the capital, suggesting that the Ming Dynasty have formal diplomatic talks with us. In addition, Zhejiang is also still thinking of ways, but our local influence is not as good as that of the South. The Sansi Yamen is probably here. We can’t win it in the short term. It would be nice if at most two or three prefects would come forward to write a memorial.”
Haihan has been operating in Fujian and Guangzhou provinces for many years, and almost everyone in the officialdom has been infiltrated by Haihan. Those officials who once had obvious hostility towards Haihan have died and disappeared in the past few years, due to various strange things. There are also many people who have been dismissed from their posts due to bizarre crimes. Today, there are few officials in the official circles of these two provinces who dare to openly oppose Haihan, but more and more officials are willing to serve Haihan out of practical considerations. Even the senior officials in the Sansi Yamen have already been beaten down by Haihan's continuous sugar-coated bullets.
At least 70% of Haihan's trading partners in Fuzhou and Guangzhou have government backgrounds, and many regional agents are even family members of officials. A considerable part of the profits from the sales of Haihan products in the Ming Dynasty also flowed into the pockets of these officials. Under this symbiotic interest relationship, officials who have a cooperative relationship with Haihan naturally hope that this trading partner can be recognized by the Ming court so that the current illegal smuggling business can be legalized. Although most of these smuggling businesses have been semi-open in Fuguang territory, if they can be recognized by the court, it will naturally be more convenient for future operations. Officials are happy to see success in business even if they have to bear a certain amount of tax.
Haihan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been using various channels to lobby various senior officials since last year, describing Haihan's military operations in Shandong, Liaodong and other places as measures to "take the initiative to solve problems for the Ming Dynasty", and requesting these senior officials to march into Liaodong in Haihan After that, he petitioned the imperial court to recognize Haihan's national power and rights in the South China Sea, so that the two countries could establish formal diplomatic and trade relations.
Of course, this kind of job is not for nothing. For officials who are willing to contribute, Haihan, in addition to cash remuneration, also promises to provide certain care to their agents in the distribution of commodity agency rights in the coming year.
After several months of activities, many senior local officials have indeed been persuaded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express their willingness to apply to the court to establish diplomatic relations with Haihan when the time is right. As for the right time, naturally we have to wait for the success of Haihan's spring offensive in Liaodong.
Ning Qi added: "The only thing these officials are worried about now is whether we will use force against Ming when we can't reach an agreement. There is no way to sign a written agreement with them first for this kind of thing, so we have to find a way to give them more food." Just a little reassurance.”
Yan Chujie responded: "How can we take this reassurance? This time, so many troops have been transferred from the south to the north, and the number of troops stationed in Fuguang has been significantly reduced. Isn't that enough to reassure them? Let's not talk about Guangdong, Fujian They asked Xu Xinsu to send military observers to Liaodong, so he shouldn’t have anything to worry about, right?”
"Xu Xinsu is worried about something different. It is not about whether we win or lose in Liaodong." Schneider also interjected: "After our route extends to the north of the Fujian Strait, the impact of the industry he operates on our country will become smaller and smaller. This trend It is not a good thing for him and his family. If we establish a colony in Liaodong, then the entire shipping industry in the Bohai Sea will be controlled by us. From Xu Xinsu's position, if he does not want the Fujian Xu family to be in our country. If the influence continues to decline, then we must try to follow up as soon as possible, just like they did in Zhejiang before.”
When Haihan built Kaohsiung Port on the island of Taiwan, Xu was just one step behind before being overtaken by Guangdong businessmen. To catch up with this first-mover advantage, Xu could only invest more money and manpower locally. Later, when Haihan crossed the Fujian Strait and marched into Zhejiang, Xu Xinsu knew that this momentum was unstoppable, so she took the initiative to cooperate with Haihan's actions and provided support in materials, maritime transportation capacity, and connections. After Haihan seized control of the Zhoushan Islands, he reciprocated by giving the Fujian Xu family the opportunity to establish an exclusive terminal at Zhoushan Port, and helped the Xu family introduce their family business to Zhejiang. Haihan went north to Shandong to open up a new stronghold, and the Xu family followed suit and established a large business store on Zhifu Island. Next, he would cross the Bohai Strait and enter Liaodong. If nothing unexpected happened, Xu Xinsu would definitely continue to do what he had done in the past few years. Follow closely in Haihan's footsteps.
"Who did Xu Xinsu send to Liaodong this time?" Tao Donglai asked.
"The fourth son of his family, Xu Yuzhuo," Yan Chujie replied, "I had already gone to Zhoushan to meet Tom Wang when winter came, and his attitude was quite positive."
Tao Donglai smiled and said: "Probably to participate in the navy's winter training."
Yan Chujie nodded and said: "It must be that way. After all, even the people from Pi Island came all the way to Zhejiang last winter. Those who are close to the water in Fujian are first come first served. There is no reason to miss this rare opportunity for further study."
Both the East China Sea Fleet and the Northern Fleet of the Navy spend the winter at Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, and intensive training every winter has become a reserved project of the local navy. As a loyal supporter and ally of the Haihan Navy, the Fujian Navy knew about this arrangement, so it would naturally send some officers to Zhoushan for training and learning. Xu Yuzhuo, as the fourth son of Xu Xinsu and a general of the Fujian Navy, naturally fell to him.
After Haihan informed Xu Xinsu of the spring offensive plan, Xu Yuzhuo had another errand, which was to go north with Haihan's naval fleet to participate in Haihan's military operation to attack Liaodong. After Haihan succeeded in attacking Liaodong, Xu Yuzhuo took full authority to represent the Xu family in Fujian and immediately enclosed land and built a business in Liaodong. In short, no matter what Haihan wants to do locally, the Fujian Xu family will join in first. Xu Xinsu has long understood in the past few years that when doing business with Haihan, spending a little money will not buy you a loss or being cheated. If you hesitate, this opportunity may go to someone else.
The Xu family of Fujian relied on Xu Xinsu to bring his family members to join the army, so that they could gain convenience and have in-depth cooperation with Haihan in addition to trade relations. Nowadays, more and more people have found this trick. Even in places like Guangdong, where the naval establishment has existed in name only, in the past two years, many wealthy businessmen have spent large sums of money to donate naval attaché positions in order to imitate many people. The family likes Haihan, and it is easier to do things if you have an official position. Although Xu Xinsu didn't know if Haihan would bring other families with him when he went to fight Liaodong, he didn't dare to be careless, so he naturally wanted to send his trusted son to the front line to keep an eye on it.
Tao Donglai added: "This time we are going north to Liaodong, a lot of people from Sanya have been recruited to follow us, so the work of various departments may be affected in the near future. Everyone should be a little more diligent and try to fill all the vacancies. ”
Different from attacking overseas colonies in the past, this time Haihan sent a group of people to the north before starting the war, with different missions. These people include Haihan Ordnance Industry Director Bai Kesi, who is responsible for sending a batch of experimental weapons to the Liaodong battlefield to test the performance and reliability of these unfinished products in actual combat.
Liu Shanxia of the Ministry of Construction will be responsible for organizing and building a reliable line of defense in the Jinzhou Isthmus after the war to withstand possible continuous counterattacks by the Jin Army in the next few years. At the same time, he can also provide guidance on various infrastructure projects in the occupied areas.
Zhang Guangze, who is in charge of communications engineering, wanted to check the status of communications equipment in various coastal colonies and optimize and adjust the existing radio communication network and communication methods. Radio is currently the main information transmission method for overseas colonies to maintain close contact with the Sanya base camp. Although it is convenient, it also requires regular debugging. This task can only be completed by professionals.
Gao Huan from the Ministry of Agriculture will go to the local area to guide the immigrants in planting spring wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and other food crops. The local area is too far away from the grain-producing areas under Haihan's control. If food self-sufficiency cannot be achieved as soon as possible, it will bring an extremely heavy transport capacity burden to the northern route.
In addition, the executive committee has already selected the chief administrative officer for Jinzhou, which has not yet been acquired, and it is Sha Xi who was previously in charge of immigration affairs in Guangdong. He had been working in the Office of the People's Republic of China in Guangzhou in the past few years, and later served as a supervisor in Haizhu Town, across the river from Guangzhou City. Although this transfer spanned a relatively large geographical area, it was a transfer that Sha Xi applied for himself. There were not many people who were willing to serve in Liaodong, and the executive committee had no more suitable candidates on hand, so it complied with his wishes.
This group of personnel heading north arrived in Zhoushan one after another in mid-January. After a period of rest and recuperation, they headed to Liaodong this time with the fleet heading north. However, most of them will be sent to Zhifu Island for resettlement first, and after the combat operations in Liaodong are over, they will go there to perform their duties.
Although it seems that not many people have been removed, these people are all unique figures in their respective departments. This departure will take at least a few months and will definitely have a certain impact on the work of the original department. The jobs they are responsible for cannot be expected to be replaced by naturalized cadres, so the time travelers can only work overtime to fill these vacant positions.
(End of chapter)