Chapter 1629 Before Using Force
During this day's visit, Fei Cexian saw a lot of things, from trains and railways to arsenals, to Haihan's top-secret steam engine manufacturing plant. It can be said that what he saw in one day surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty. The culmination of several years of intelligence agency operations. But it's a pity that Fei Cexian's visit was just a quick tour. He saw a lot of excitement, but there were few things that he could understand clearly. Moreover, the visit itinerary arranged by Haihan is obviously very targeted. There is no production project that Fei Cexian can see from beginning to end. It is all intermediate links. Although Fei Cexian tried his best to keep Bai Kesi's introduction in mind, he also understood that based on these introductions and his own knowledge, it was impossible to replicate Haihan's weapons workshop or steam engine manufacturing factory in the Ming Dynasty.
So on the way back, Fei Cexian was no longer thinking about how to organize the information so that Ming could imitate Haihan's high-end equipment, but how to write the memorial so that the court would not blame him for his incompetence. .
Before returning to the Guest House, Fei Cexian responsibly went to the embassy construction site and chatted with several foremen sent by Haihan for a while to get a general understanding of the progress of today's project. Although he himself was not watching at the construction site, he still arranged for subordinates from the mission to come over and supervise the work. This is not to worry about the quality of the work of the Haihan construction team, but to show the Haihan people that they attach great importance to it and maintain good communication. Otherwise, everyone will deal with it perfunctorily and only find out what the problem is after the embassy is completed. At that time, the people in charge on both sides were closely related.
According to the current project progress, as long as there is no bad weather in the near future, the main building of the embassy can basically be completed within the next forty days, and it will take another twenty or thirty days to complete the basic decoration, configure furniture and other daily facilities, and the earliest It will be put into use in February next year.
If it were the first few days after arriving in Sanya, Fei Cexian might be eagerly looking forward to this day coming soon, because only after the embassy is completed can all diplomatic work truly begin. Although the guest house where I live now is in good condition, it is just a place to stay after all. It has many inconveniences whether it is working or receiving visitors, and it is definitely not as convenient as the embassy.
But after staying in Haihan for these days, Fei Cexian suddenly felt that his current living situation seemed pretty good. He could just hang out leisurely every day without having to think about any tasks assigned by the court or talking to Haihan. High-ranking officials engage in laborious intrigues, and they are relaxed and free without any major restrictions. Except for Tian Duxiang and a few places such as the military port, shipyard, and Victory Fort, where he cannot enter and exit at will, he can go to most areas in Sanya. For example, the Municipal Library, which houses a large amount of Haihan secret information, can also enter and exit freely. It’s just that the permission level for borrowing documents is relatively low.
Sometimes Fei Cexian couldn't help but have the illusion that he seemed to enjoy more freedom during his stay in Haihan than in the capital. Thinking about how I used to work in the Etiquette Department, I had to rush to the yamen early every morning to take orders. Although there wasn't much to do, being locked up in the yamen every day and not being able to go out at will was also a boring job. Occasionally, I would take on errands to deal with envoys from small foreign countries who came to the Ming Dynasty for pilgrimage. Even with an interpreter, I could only communicate with gestures and guesses. It was so effortless to complete a meeting, but it was nothing compared to using words like Haihan. It is easier to deal with countries where we all speak the same language.
After arriving in Haihan Country, I have good food and accommodation every day. I can sit around at the construction site if I want to. I don’t want to guard the embassy construction site anymore. I just need to say hello. Haihan will arrange a car to pick me up wherever I go. Car delivery, and Zhang Qianzhi, a snake oil follower, can be dispatched at any time. A few days ago, he went to the library to read all day. Although he couldn't eat inside, Zhang Qianzhi had his meals delivered to the teahouse closest to the library on time every day. He also opened a private room for him to eat in order to save the cost of going back and forth. Time on the road. Although he also knew that these arrangements were probably Haihan's official means of monitoring him, they did allow him to experience extremely comfortable services, which was almost unimaginable in Ming Dynasty.
There are so many seventh-grade sesame officials in the capital like Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Etiquette, not to mention the level of service provided by Haihan. Even if you usually drink tea in the yamen, most of the time you have to make it yourself. After spending these days in Haihan, Fei Cexian found that he was somewhat reluctant to let go of this aspect of life. When the embassy is built and moved from the Guest House, there will be no free meals delivered to the room on time, nor will there be various services on call, and there will only be a few handymen in the embassy. My servant, I'm afraid Fei Cexian will have to go back to the days of making tea by himself.
"Perhaps we should also consider making compromises with the Haihan people so that they can provide better services to the embassy in the future." Fei Cexian came up with this idea by accident, but he himself also knew that this kind of thinking was too dangerous. The Han people were playing tricks, and they might end up playing tricks on themselves. He quickly shook his head to dispel this thought.
After returning to the Guest House for dinner, Fei Cexian asked someone to take a look at all the newspapers purchased from the market today. Although there are free newspapers for browsing in the Guest House, Fei Cexian has researched that there is only the official newspaper "Haihan Times" in the Guest House, while there are seven or eight kinds of newspapers for sale on the market. In order not to miss any For any valuable information, it is better to spend a few dollars to purchase it yourself.
The focus of Fei Cexian's recent attention is whether the signs of war between Haihan and Spain are likely to further ferment. As expected, this time several newspapers, including The Times, mentioned news related to Spain.
A report in the Times stated that a recent batch of Ming Dynasty merchant ships carrying silk and porcelain to Manila were attacked by pirates only half a day's sail from Manila Bay. Only two of the five ships in the fleet escaped, and the other three were looted. , the pirates also took hostages and demanded ransom from ship owners and cargo owners. Of course, these boats will never be returned.
Although the matter was eventually resolved peacefully and all the hostages were released, the victims suffered heavy losses. It was estimated that the value of the three ships of cargo arriving at Manila Port was more than 200,000 taels of silver, but now all the ships and cargo were lost.
The Times pointed out at the end of the report that according to the identification of surviving sailors on the ship, many of the pirate gangs near Manila Port were Westerners, and there were even Spanish-speaking thieves. There is reason to suspect that these pirates have an affair with the Spanish in Manila Port, and merchant ships are advised not to venture to Manila Port in the near future.
Fei Cexian has read warnings like this two or three times in the Times. Each time the reason was different, but each time it was more serious. Whether these ships were really robbed or whether it was a plot arranged by Haihan is actually not that important. Fei Cexian believes that this is Haihan's intention to build momentum for the next military operation and to find a more convincing one for the use of force. reasons - such as killing pirates.
Of course, it is not enough to have pirates. These ferocious pirates must also be connected with the Spanish colonists in Manila Bay. Fei Cexian was in the library a few days ago and carefully read the newspapers from Haihan's past foreign wars. He basically understood Haihan's publicity methods before launching the war. He believed that no matter whether these pirates were real Whether it exists or is a fiction, in short, we must first try to substantiate the Spaniards' charges of colluding with pirates. It is best to still have a few blood debts related to Haihan. The remaining things are what is unbearable, and when it is time to take action Don't say it was unexpected. Such a method seems a bit despicable, but if it is measured by the interests between countries, there is nothing to blame Haihan. History is written by the victors. Fei Cexian still understands this truth. As long as Haihan can win the final victory of the war, then this war will be just in future historical records. The losers in the war can probably only become the villain to set off the victors.
As a state-run media, the Haihan Times has no doubt about its voice and publicity effect. If a few more articles like this are published, even the most courageous maritime merchants will weigh whether it is worth taking the risk to go to Manila, not to mention the Haihan Times now. The network has gradually begun to be closed, and merchant ships intending to go to Manila will be advised at various ports, trying to cut off Manila's cross-border trade as much as possible before the war begins.
The news in other newspapers is relatively gossipy and doesn't sound that trustworthy. A newspaper reported that signs of plague began to appear in Manila some time ago, and Spanish dignitaries rushed to flee the area. In order to leave the local area as soon as possible, wealthy people even spend a lot of money to buy fishing boats as transportation. But since rats are everywhere, including on boats, it's difficult to find a rat-free boat.
Another newspaper stated that because the local Han people in Manila paid half as much tax as the Spaniards, the local Han elders organized a petition to Philippine Governor Aragones to reduce taxes. However, during this period, the Han people who petitioned There was a conflict with the native armed forces sent by Spain to maintain order. The friction between the two sides quickly developed into a fight of thousands of people, with many casualties on each side. The Spaniards, considering their own interests, did not control the situation. As a result, the fighting intensified. It is said that the fighting has expanded from inside the city to outside the city, and has a tendency to gradually lose control.
Another newspaper said that a typhoon hit Manila Bay not long ago, and the local damage was extremely serious. A large number of houses outside Manila were destroyed by strong winds, and there were hordes of homeless people everywhere. The Spaniards in the city could not take many effective measures for disaster relief, so that groups began to rob food in the market.
The descriptions in these newspapers all have noses and eyes, and even include specific names such as Zhang San and Li Si. At first glance, they seem to be quite credible, but if you are a thoughtful person, buy a few more newspapers and think about it slowly, you will find that It is almost impossible that the stories written in these newspapers happened in the same place at the same time. If such a coincidence happened, then the city of Manila would not need Haihan to send troops to fight. The disaster brought by God would be enough to destroy the city. .
Moreover, newspapers are so focused on reporting negative news about the city of Manila. It is obvious that there is a force behind it. Besides Haihan officials, who has the ability to mobilize so many newspapers to act together?
Of course, the channels for ordinary people to obtain information must be more diversified. It is unlikely that Fei Cexian will be so free as to buy all the newspapers on the market and read them slowly. They tend to only get information related to Manila from one specific source. Haihan's official approach is to adjust the information about Manila on every public information platform to be negative, in order to guide public opinion among the country's people.
After Fei Cexian roughly understood Haihan's methods, he still admired this arrangement. Although he was not a soldier, he also knew that before starting a war, he must let his own people understand the significance of the war and let himself Standing on the side of justice can gain the support of the people. Haihan did not have supreme imperial power, nor did he let the executive committee play this role. He only arranged for the propaganda department to use newspapers as information channels to guide public opinion and make the people gradually realize the necessity of sending troops to conquer Manila.
"What a brilliant method!" Fei Cexian couldn't help but sigh after browsing all the newspapers. It would be great if the Ming Dynasty's Di Bao also had such a propaganda effect, then it could mobilize the power of the whole country to deal with the civil strife in the Central Plains and the Jin people in the north.
However, the Ming Dynasty's Di Bao was only copied to government offices at all levels. People who could read the contents of Di Bao were either rich or noble, so it was difficult for it to achieve the same large-scale publicity effect as Haihan's newspaper. As Fei Cexian, the most he could do was write down his experiences in Haihan in a memorial and send it back, but he did not have the qualifications to suggest that the court change the distribution method of the Di newspaper, or start another newspaper for ordinary people. .
However, considering the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty, it was difficult to guarantee the cost and timeliness of running such a newspaper for the public. So he soon discovered that this was another project that he knew was very good, but was difficult to copy to Ming Dynasty.
Why are there so many good things that cannot be implemented in Ming Dynasty? Fei Cexian couldn't help but start to think about this issue again. Is it true that, as the Haihan people claim, the "social systems" of the two countries are very different. The country ruled by imperial power has too many taboos that cannot be changed, and it is impossible to govern according to the situation like the Haihan country. However, Fei Cexian's education since childhood was to be patriotic and loyal to the emperor. The imperial power was an authoritative existence that could not be challenged. He really could not understand how a country like Haihan could replace the emperor with an executive committee.
(End of chapter)