Chapter 1610 Diplomatic Difficulties
The imperial court's attitude was relatively clear, which was to send Fei Cexian, the envoy to Haihan, to appease Haihan. Even if Ming Dynasty suffered some small losses on territorial and trade issues during this period, Haihan's current position must be stabilized first. Ensure that the situation in Liaodong will not be repeated due to Haihan's vacillation, and that the southeastern coastal areas will not be in chaos due to Haihan's restlessness.
This job seems easy, but in fact it is not. This kind of appeasement and concession is not a bottom-line measure. Fei Cexian must also consider the actual situation of the Ming Dynasty and cannot make mistakes and turn appeasement into betraying national interests. Moreover, he also had to convince the Haihan people of Ming's sincerity in cooperation. For example, on the current topic, he had to make a clear statement to ensure that the Haihan people would not doubt whether the military assistance they provided to Ming was worth the money.
Fei Cexian continued: "Master Qiu should also know that the Ming Dynasty and Haihan had agreed in the Liaodong Agreement that the Ming Dynasty would open coastal trade in exchange for Haihan's military assistance. Now that our country has fulfilled the agreement, of course we I also hope that your country can continue to maintain military pressure on the Jin people in Liaodong in accordance with the original agreement.”
Qiu Yuanying said: "Master Fei, don't worry. Our country has always kept its promises. Since these are the contents of the agreement signed in black and white, it will be implemented according to the regulations. However, this form of military assistance also needs to be broken down into specific implementation plans. The current military assistance that can be provided to your country is probably in the form of the Liaodong Garrison. As for the provision of weapons, training and other assistance, we have not yet reached an agreement with your Ministry of War. There may be opportunities for in-depth cooperation in the future. "
Fei Cexian was of course very clear about the inside story of the Liaodong Agreement. The military assistance officially promised by Haihan was indeed what Qiu Yuan said, and it was only temporarily based on the garrison in Liaodong. As for the advanced weapons made by Haihan, the Ministry of War wanted to purchase them in large quantities. However, the price given by Haihan made it impossible for the court to make the decision to pay for them. Because according to news coming back from the south, the price Haihan weapons were sold to Fujian Xu Xinsu was much lower than the price reported to the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War is not a fool, so naturally he will not suffer this loss. Even if he knew that Haihan's high price must be followed by high kickbacks, Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of the Ministry of War, would not dare to approve this matter.
Of course, it is impossible for the Ministry of War to trouble Xu Xinsu over this matter. There have been rumors that Xu Xinsu, the commander-in-chief of Fujian Province, had a close relationship with the Haihan people for several years. Moreover, the Ministry of War repeatedly tried to transfer Xu Xinsu to serve in Beijing, but he rejected it for various reasons. It is said that Xu Xinsu's statement was also It means Haihan people. Although the imperial court wanted to control Xu Xinsu, it did not dare to push him too hard, fearing that he would betray the Ming Dynasty in a hurry and lead the Fujian Ming army to Haihan, and also sacrificed all the cities along the Fujian coast. Therefore, the court could only turn a blind eye to the complicated relationship between Xu Xinsu and Haihan and pretend that nothing happened.
According to the news Fei Cexian heard, there was even discussion within the Ministry of War whether relatively cheap arms could be purchased from Haihan through Xu Xinsu. However, this proposal was also rejected by Zhang Fengyi. The Ming Dynasty's arms procurement was actually controlled by a local commander-in-chief. If this news leaked out, wouldn't the imperial court's majesty be ruined? And based on the relationship between Xu Xinsu and the Haihan people, this matter will almost certainly become a lever in the hands of the Haihan people, and the Ministry of War will not be able to take the blame.
As for training, the Ministry of War did not dare to leave it to Haihan easily. The Fujian Ming Army is a ready example. However, almost all the Ming Army troops who received Haihan's training broke away from the management of the Ministry of War and became soldiers who only obeyed Haihan. A private army commanded by Fujian General Xu Xinsu. Of course, this result is not difficult to understand. After all, all the expenses incurred by these troops in receiving the military training provided by Haihan were paid by Xu Xinsu. So when the Haihan people trained these troops, they naturally helped Xu Xinsu. The command authority was fixed.
Of course, there would be some military generals who were unwilling to obey the arrangements during this process. Unfortunately, they were unable to cause any big disturbance at the local level. Although the court had received several secret reports, when it came time to conduct an investigation, the informant had already Disappeared from the world for various reasons. Within a few years, Xu Xinsu had grown up in Fujian and became the local grass-head king with the support of Haihan. The Ministry of War, having learned from the experience of Fujian, naturally did not dare to easily hand over the troops to Haihan for training. As for Haihan's initiative to have Ming Dynasty send senior officers to Hainan Island for further training, the Ministry of War did not agree for the time being - -If a few more characters like Xu Xinsu come out, Ming Dynasty will be really in danger.
Fei Cexian only knew something about the Ministry of War, but because of his low position, he had no power to interfere in these affairs. It wasn't until Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of War, explained his attitude to Haihan before he went to Haihan that Fei Cexian finally had the opportunity to do something for the military development of the Ming Dynasty through his own work. However, he is not a military expert, so he still needs to be careful when communicating with Qiu Yuan on this kind of issue, so as not to say the wrong thing and cause trouble to the Ministry of War.
Of course, if Fei Cexian had done enough homework and understood Qiu Yuan's development trajectory in Haihan, he would know that Qiu Yuan was not a real military attache. If we really want to talk about professional military issues, Qiu Yuan was not Impeccable. It's just that Qiu Yuan has the capital to speak forcefully from Haihan's standpoint, but Fei Cexian does not have such confidence.
However, Fei Cexian was selected by the imperial court as an envoy to represent the Ming Dynasty. He had his own abilities. Seeing that this topic was not good for him, he immediately changed the subject decisively and proactively: "I have another important mission when I come to Haikou this time. , is to choose a location for the Ming Dynasty embassy. I wonder if Mr. Qiu has any recommendations?”
Qiu Yuanying said: "I can't recommend it, but we have set aside a piece of land to the west of Haikou City for this purpose, covering an area of about fifty acres. If Mr. Fei is interested, you can go and see the place tomorrow. In addition, there is a place in Haikou itself. The construction team is ready to start work at any time.”
Fei Cexian did not expect that Haihan had prepared all these things early, and did not even intend to leave room for bargaining. He smiled and said: "Master Qiu is really thoughtful."
Qiu Yuan said seriously: "It has been several months since the Liaodong Agreement. We also hope that Ming Dynasty can build the embassy as soon as possible to carry out formal diplomatic work. Although there are many things that we can implement alone, in the end we still have to It would be better to discuss it with your country.”
Qiu Yuan did not specify what exactly needed to be discussed, but Fei Cexian knew it well. Haihan had always been very strong on issues such as cross-border trade and territorial disputes, and had hardly given an inch in past negotiations. It was only after the Liaodong Agreement that some concessions were made in order for Ming Dynasty to formally recognize the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The so-called concession only provides a room for negotiation, so that past disputes can be put on the negotiating table for discussion and resolution, instead of Haihan taking unilateral actions. This is actually better than nothing for Ming Dynasty, and there is no hope of getting back what originally belonged to Ming Dynasty from the negotiation table, but at least it is a little benefit that Mei Shengchuan, the Minister of War, extracted from Haihan, so naturally he must hold on tightly. Don't let it go in your hand.
The agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations signed before by the two countries is only a framework, and the specific content must be slowly negotiated and improved by the diplomatic departments of the two countries. Haihan's side was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while Ming's side was the Ministry of Rites. However, in terms of professionalism, the Ministry of Rites was still far behind its opponents. For example, in terms of preparations for the construction of the embassy, it is obvious that Haihan has already taken the lead. Haihan's initiative in everything means Fei Cexian's own passivity. Not long after arriving in Hainan Island, he had a very clear feeling about this. Fei Cexian did not want to remain in such a passive state in Haihan Kingdom. He knew very well that if Haihan led the way in everything, it would not take long for him to be completely ignored and become a factor in the relationship between the two countries. of an ornament.
Until the end of the banquet, Fei Cexian tried several times to emphasize Ming's status and majesty, but he still failed to change the situation. The almost arrogant confidence that Officer Haihan displayed during the conversation made his attempt futile. But think about the same truth. In recent years, I have only heard that Ming officials were bribed by Haihan, but I have never heard of any Haihan official who was inspired by righteousness to abandon the dark side and join the Ming Dynasty. It seems that righteousness is not worth gold and silver after all, Fei Cexian I can only lament that people’s hearts are too realistic.
Of course, even Fei Cexian himself cannot escape this reality. After the banquet, Qiu Yuan gave him a red envelope, which contained three thousand Haihan banknotes, which was roughly equivalent to three thousand taels of silver. This amount of money is really not a small amount for Fei Cexian, who works in Qingshui Yamen like the Ministry of Rites, and he has saved less than 10,000 taels of silver after ten years of working in the Ministry of Rites. This Haihan man casually hands out a red envelope and treats it as if he has been struggling for several years.
Fei Cexian was not dazzled by the benefits that fell from the sky, and immediately wanted to reject Qiu Yuan's "good intention", but Qiu Yuan insisted that the money was official "office funds" provided by Haihan to the Ming envoys, and was not private. If Fei Cexian doesn't accept the bribe, it means he is dissatisfied with Haihan's arrangement.
Fei Cexian was not a three-year-old child, so of course he knew that this was just Qiu Yuan's excuse, but he really couldn't refute the other party's use of diplomatic relations as a sign of pressure. So under Qiu Yuan's insistence, Fei Cexian finally accepted the money half-heartedly.
Returning to the temporary residence arranged by Haihan, Fei Cexian took out the Haihan banknotes from the red envelope and spread them on the table. He vaguely regretted his softness just now. It would be a small thing to accept the money, but if Haihan behaves like this in the future, If you use this as a reason to blackmail yourself into doing unreasonable things, you will be in trouble. Fei Cexian decided to seal up the money for the time being. If there was a recurrence in the future, he could at least take out the money intact to show that he was not greedy for money.
Qiu Yuan's thoughts were completely opposite to his. Now that the Ming Dynasty envoys had started collecting money, it would be easier to do the following things. Haihan was never afraid of meeting corrupt officials, only those who refused to accept benefits. Although Fei Cexian talked about Ming Dynasty at all times, he was still unambiguous when he saw money. Although sending money and bribes is not a clever method, it is almost always tried and true in Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Now it seems that even officials from the capital are no exception. Three thousand yuan was not much, but it was still worth it to get a good start in the first contact with the Ming envoy.
The next day, Qiu Yuan took Fei Cexian to see the place designated for the Ming Dynasty to build an embassy. The place Qiu Yuan prepared was also very conscientious. It was located close to Guandao and Haikou City, making life convenient. Fifty acres of land was enough for the construction of the embassy. Fei Cexian was originally wary of Haihan plotting against the Ming Dynasty on the embassy land, but after seeing it on site, he had to admit that he was a villain. Just then I thought about it, these lands, including the entire Hainan Island, were all the territory of the Ming Dynasty in the past. Now that fifty acres are being used to build an embassy for the Ming Dynasty, I would actually feel grateful. This is simply unreasonable.
"Master Fei, what do you think of this place?" After looking at the surrounding environment, Qiu Yuan took the initiative to ask Fei Cexian what he thought.
Fei Cexian responded: "The place is indeed good, but it is located outside the city. If there are urgent political matters at night and we need to communicate with Mr. Qiu, it will be somewhat inconvenient."
Qiu Yuan knew what the other party was worried about, so he explained to him: "Master Fei, although Haikou City has a curfew, the city gates are not closed at night. If you want to enter the city, you can enter at any time. I will issue a special permit then. Give the token to the embassy to ensure that your entry into the city at night will not be blocked.”
Fei Cexian thought that the Haihan people were really arrogant. They did not even close the city gate at night and were not afraid of enemy attacks. But then I thought about it, Haihan acted like this because they had already eliminated potential threats in the surrounding areas. How could there be any armed organization with the strength to attack the city at night? Even the Ming Dynasty Navy may not be able to pass through the Qiongzhou Strait safely.
However, Fei Cexian had already decided to go to Sanya for inspection, so he was not in a hurry to make a decision. He just thanked Qiu Yuan for his kindness. Qiu Yuan was not in a hurry. After looking at the land, he took Fei Cexian to visit the local army and navy camps. Nothing is as shocking as witnessing it with your own eyes. Qiu Yuan knew this very well, so he planned to let Fei Cexian take a good look at Haihan's pride.
The size of the army stationed in Haikou is actually not too large. One battalion of the army and half of the fleet are stationed at the military port west of Haikou City, and the other half of the fleet is stationed in Danzhou. However, the Haihan Army is not known for its military strength. Advanced and powerful weapons and equipment are the most powerful asset of this army.
(End of chapter)