Chapter 1551 Long-term Perspective
But whether a person like Wang Ji, who is full of small calculations, is suitable to occupy a high position to govern a province, Shi Diwen is not in a position to judge. But based on the two people’s impressions after contacting them today, Shi Diwen feels that this He is more than shrewd, but his overall view is a bit poor. He only cares about the industries and interests he can control, but he lacks sufficient understanding of the prospects of cooperation between the two parties in politics, economy, culture, and military. The two talked for a day and rarely talked about the upcoming establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The conversation focused on grain trade, which obviously should not be the only topic between the two countries.
But for Haihan, as long as Wang Ji wants something, the matter will be easy to handle. Whether it is grain trade or other industries, it is easy to operate it with Haihan's financial resources, not to mention buying large quantities of grain from Zhejiang is very important to Haihan. It was just a necessity, but now it's just a matter of changing the transaction partner. As long as Sanya does not object to this, there will be no other major obstacles to reaching an agreement with Wang Ji.
As for the grain merchants who are currently trading with Haihan, as long as the chief envoy is brought out, these merchants will have no choice but to knock out their teeth and swallow it in their stomachs even if they are not convinced. Later, Wang Ji will try to integrate Zhejiang's grain industry, and that's when these grain merchants will really face the test.
Only three hours after Shi Diwen sent the telegram, he received the instructions from Sanya. Considering that the Executive Committee may have held an emergency meeting specifically for this purpose, I have to say that the efficiency of this work is quite high. The opinion of the executive committee is very clear, that is, buying and controlling Wang Ji is the prerequisite, and other conditions can be decided by Shi Diwen at his discretion. In other words, the future direction of Zhejiang's grain market is actually within Shi Diwen's mind.
However, since the executive committee has made a clear direction and takes the capture of Wang Ji as its primary goal, Shi Diwen has nothing to hesitate about. Negotiations continued the next day. Wang Ji's demands on the first day were basically recognized by Shi Diwen. This was not only the issue of Haihan's grain procurement share, but also the issues of grain transportation, settlement methods, trade authority, etc. A series of agreements have been made to ensure that the grain trade between Haihan and Zhejiang grain merchants can proceed safely and stably. As for the interest transfer relationship based on grain trade, this is the default situation of both parties, and no further explanation is needed.
Of course, Shi Diwen will not stop there. He needs Wang Ji to make further commitments, that is, after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Haihan's rights and interests in Zhejiang will be protected.
"Zhoushan Islands and Shipu Port must be assigned to our country. The boundary demarcation work can be jointly organized by the two countries, but it must be completed before the end of this year." Shi Diwen began to lay out Haihan's conditions: " During normal business activities in Zhejiang, the personal and property safety of Haihan nationals must be guaranteed by the authorities.”
According to the content of the establishment of diplomatic relations agreed between the two countries in Liaodong, in fact, there is still no clear conclusion on the territory with disputed sovereignty. The Ming Dynasty has always refused to give up any territory since its founding. Although this so-called "not giving up" is only a unilateral insistence, But there is indeed no precedent for ceding territory in order to achieve peace in its interactions with foreign countries. Therefore, for the areas actually occupied by Haihan and originally belonging to the Ming Dynasty, the agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries also tried to obscure the territorial sovereignty issues in these areas. However, when it comes to local implementation, Haihan will clearly make territorial claims to the local government, and Zhejiang is no exception.
Shi Diwen's claim for sovereignty over these two places had actually been communicated to Wang Ji through various channels before, so it could not be said to be a sudden attack. However, Wang Ji obviously believed that there might be room for negotiation in this matter, and still tried to adopt delaying tactics regarding Shi Diwen's conditions: "The two places mentioned by General Shi are both the maritime gateways of Zhejiang and cannot be easily given to outsiders. I The matter will be reported to the imperial court and the emperor will make a decision.”
Shi Diwen thought to himself that it is useless to bring Chongzhen out. He is your Emperor of Ming Dynasty and not Emperor of Haihan. How can he still scare me? Immediately he responded with a somewhat dissatisfied tone: "Master Wang, after all this back and forth, I'm afraid another month or two will have passed. We Haihan have a saying that time is money. If you can do it today, We won’t delay the matter until two months later. Besides, your emperor has so many things to do, how can he have time to take care of the small things in this county?”
Wang Ji said: "General Shi's words are wrong. If such a major matter is not reported to the court, wouldn't it be dereliction of duty on my part?"
Shi Diwen shook his head and said: "There is no need to report it. It's not like your court doesn't know these things. Otherwise, Jinzhou in Liaodong is now occupied by our country. Why did your emperor still agree to establish diplomatic relations with our country? Isn't it just that we hope that our army can In the north, you are blocking the Jin cavalry from going south! Even the state capital in the north can hardly be saved, and you are still fighting with us in the south for this county. Do you think His Majesty the Emperor will be happy to know this news? "
The establishment of diplomatic relations between Haihan and Ming Dynasty was essentially a transaction. Daming hoped that Haihan could block Houjin's invasion from the south, while Haihan needed Ming Dynasty to open the country to allow him to obtain the resources and markets he needed, while at the same time admitting that The land that had been taken over by Haihan had new owners. Both parties get what they need in this transaction, which actually benefits them in the long run. The Ming Dynasty was able to protect its national system from destruction, and Haihan was able to obtain the land, raw materials, manpower and markets it needed most. The most important thing is that both countries can get peace from it.
The knowledgeable people at the top of the two countries can naturally calculate this situation and understand the benefits that establishing diplomatic relations can bring to them. That is why they quickly decided on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries after the Liaodong talks. Haihan spent money and sent troops to hold back the money in the north, and then used trade methods to earn back the expenses in the south. However, it was easier for Ming Dynasty to do things. They only needed to remain deaf and dumb to Haihan's behavior throughout the process. .
A guy like Wang Ji who wants to play the smart guy halfway is naturally unlikely to be recognized by the court and Emperor Chongzhen. His clever plan to report to the imperial court was actually tantamount to tearing off the imperial court's fig leaf. How could the higher-ups tolerate such behavior of his? If he hadn't shown his sincerity in cooperating with Haihan, Shi Diwen would have asked him to write a memorial without mentioning him, and then the court would have taken off the chief envoy's hat and replaced him with a more sensible one. officials came to Zhejiang to take charge of the overall situation.
Wang Ji was still a little skeptical after hearing Shi Diwen's warning. He knew that Haihan had the desire to annex the land under his control, but he was not very clear about the court's attitude. If this matter is really what Shi Diwen said, , the imperial court had actually known about it for a long time and pretended not to know, then he would really be seeking death if he jumped out. But he didn't dare to handle such a big matter hastily, otherwise the court would sentence him to losing his land, and he would not be able to keep his official position.
Seeing the hesitation on his face, Shi Diwen already guessed what he was thinking, and immediately continued to persuade: "Master Wang, I know you are afraid of taking responsibility. In fact, as long as you ask about the situation in Shandong, you will know that I have no I'm lying to you. Even if the imperial court wants to pursue the responsibility for losing the land, it will definitely deal with Shandong, which is closer to the capital." Shi Diwen's words really woke up the dreamer, and the battle that Haihan caused in Shandong was even greater. , then the pursuit of accountability will definitely start with Shandong, but so far there is no news that Shandong Governor Zhu Dadian has been punished by the court. The Haihan people built a military base in Shandong and used it as a springboard to march into Liaodong. It has been two years since then, and the court has not made a drastic response. Compared to Shandong, the situation in Zhejiang is really nothing. There was only one occasion when the Haihan Navy blocked the Qiantang River and caused a big fuss, but in the end no force was used.
There are naturally various speculations in the official circles as to why the imperial court has been keeping a wait-and-see attitude towards the situation in Shandong. Some say that the Haihan people and the imperial court have already negotiated terms, so the two sides maintain a strange tacit understanding. It was also said that the emperor had great trust in Zhu Dadian and did not believe that the Haihan people could create any big battles in Shandong. It was also said that the imperial court had actually been preparing for war, but the peasant army in the Central Plains was making too much noise and could not send enough troops to Dengzhou to annihilate the Haihan people.
No matter what the real reason was, in the end the court did not use force against the Haihan people entrenched in Dengzhou. This is an indisputable fact. And then they allowed the Haihan people to send troops into Liaodong, and then sat back and watched as the Haihan army seized the Jinzhou area that originally belonged to the Ming Dynasty from Hou Jin.
If these things are connected according to the timeline, Wang Ji even suspected that the imperial court intended to let the Han people go north and use their military power to intervene in Liaodong, thus creating a situation of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight. The more fierce the fight between Haihan and Houjin was, the more Ming Dynasty would benefit from it. This truth is obvious. However, this theoretical plan to drive away tigers and devour wolves also has considerable risks. If Haihan does not choose to go to Liaodong after arriving in Shandong, but develops on the spot and seizes land on the Shandong Peninsula, then Ming Dynasty will be in big trouble.
Therefore, Wang Ji didn't really believe that the imperial court would take such a big risk. This was more like a helpless choice - if he really wanted to fight, he might not be able to defeat the Haihan Army, since the Haihan Army had not shown any intention of a massive invasion. , then simply turn a blind eye and see what Haihan is doing in Shandong first. After that, Haihan went directly across the sea to Liaodong. This can only be said that the court's strategy of shrinking back was right. The Haihan people did not want to go to war with the Ming Dynasty. They would rather fight the Jin people in the north than the Ming Dynasty. Break the skin.
Perhaps it was based on this understanding that after Haihan invited envoys from the Ming Dynasty to meet in Liaodong, the Ming Dynasty half-heartedly agreed to Haihan's series of diplomatic requests, and was particularly lenient on territorial issues. However, Wang Ji, the chief envoy of Zhejiang, who was evaluated by Shi Diwen as "short-sighted", obviously did not have enough observation and understanding of this international situation.
But now that the rightful owner of Haihan is in front of him, it is much easier to understand these issues. Shi Diwen's simple words awakened Wang Ji and made him realize the bias of his ideas.
"Master Wang, we chose to discuss cooperation with you, not because you control the grain market in Zhejiang, nor because we can't find other partners in Zhejiang's officialdom, but because we think your situation is the most suitable for our cooperation. "Shi Diwen continued to persuade: "If you can't even do this most basic cooperation, then I'm afraid we have to reconsider the reliability of this cooperative relationship."
Shi Diwen can already confirm that the political sensitivity and vision of this chief envoy may not be as good as those of prefects such as Qu Yutong and He Guanzhi. His official position cannot clearly judge the current situation, which shows that his abilities are relatively limited. But this is not necessarily a bad thing for Haihan, at least such officials will be easier to deal with. Shi Diwen felt that there was no need to send anyone over from Sanya, as he could handle Wang Ji on his own.
Shi Diwen's persuasion really worked, and Wang Ji's attitude was obviously shaken, and he even said that everything was easy to discuss. As Shi Diwen said, Haihan does not necessarily have to look for a partner if he wants to find a partner. In addition to the Provincial and Administrative Envoys Division, the three bureaucracies at the same level also have two yamen: the Commanding Envoys Division and the Punishing and Prosecution Division. Although the leaders of the two yamen were in charge of military affairs and criminal affairs respectively, they were of the same rank and rank as him, and their words were equally effective in Zhejiang officialdom.
If Haihan gives up on him and looks for cooperation with two other yamen, although it may take some detours, the same effect can still be achieved in the end. But Haihan had a choice, but Wang Ji did not. Without Haihan as a partner, he wanted to integrate Zhejiang's grain market, but he was afraid that he would still not be able to complete it when his term expired. Wang Ji was extremely persistent about this matter and even disdained other cooperation projects recommended to him by Shi Diwen. Even for this obsession, he had to preserve the cooperative relationship with Haihan first.
Shi Diwen's eyes were opened this time, and he realized that there really were such "mediocre people" in Ming Dynasty official circles whose abilities did not match their positions at all. Of course, saying he is mediocre is actually a bit exaggerated. At least Wang Ji has far surpassed Haihan in controlling the local grain market, and has even reached the point where Haihan will not be able to bypass him in future grain purchases. extent. Although this is not an extraordinary political achievement, it at least proves that Wang Ji is also good at something. Although his administrative ability is not good, he can be considered a good hand at running trade.
Wang Ji had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree to Shi Diwen's request. Anyway, the official document on the establishment of diplomatic relations from the capital should already be on the way. In less than two days, he would know what the court's true attitude towards Haihan was. If it really doesn't work, it will be too late to regret it when the time comes.
(End of chapter)