Chapter 1736 International Trade
In fact, no one would be able to sit comfortably in the position of diplomat stationed in Haihan. Not only Ming Dynasty, but also other countries must face the coercion and inducement methods exerted by Haihan from all aspects. People who are not strong-willed and not loyal enough to the country will often lose in this kind of invisible confrontation. The troubles Fei Cexian is facing now have actually been encountered by envoys from other countries to a greater or lesser extent.
Of course, the situation in the Ming Dynasty is more special, because Haihan established his own national power on the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and a large proportion of the population under his rule came from the Ming Dynasty, even if this country was split from the Ming Dynasty. It’s not an exaggeration. Naturally, the Ming Dynasty would not be reconciled to this situation of being dominated by magpies' nests. Most of the reasons for establishing diplomatic relations with Haihan were forced by the situation, not out of their own free will. If the Ming Dynasty's national situation improves in the future and it can free up its military resources to refocus on the direction of the South China Sea, then it may not be Haihan who takes the initiative to tear up the peace agreement.
However, today's Ming Dynasty is on the weaker side in the relationship between the two countries and cannot afford the threat of war from Haihan. This is what Fei Cexian has a headache for. He wanted to be tough and face the threat posed by the Haihan people, but the current situation in Ming Dynasty hardly gave him enough confidence. Not only could he not be too tough, but he also had to find ways to persuade Haihan to give up his coveting of Ming Dynasty. Compared with the leisurely work he did in the capital before, this job is indeed a bit more difficult for Fei Cexian now.
Seeing that the sky was getting brighter, Fei Cexian was not sleepy at all, but it was said that there were several international business fairs today, and he did not want to miss such events.
After Fei Cexian stayed in Sanya for so many months, one of his most profound feelings was that Haihan had accumulated astonishing wealth through international trade, and the hugely expensive Haihan army relied on these for its overseas combat operations. The wealth gained from trade was used as military expenditure, so that troops could be sent out every year to conquer targets thousands of miles away.
Of course, the actual situation is not as simple as Fei Cexian understood, and Haihan's rapid accumulation of wealth does not only come from import and export trade. But in the eyes of the outside world, the Haihan people's good business management is just like the Haihan army's ability to conquer and fight, which is one of the hallmarks of Haihan.
Moreover, Haihan operates commercial ports all over the South China Sea, which is a condition that makes every country engaged in maritime trade envious. In most cases, Haihan does not even need to rely on the ports of other countries. It can complete international shipping trade between various countries only by relying on the ports it controls.
The Ming Dynasty's attitude towards maritime trade was undoubtedly very contradictory. On the one hand, the court hoped to use strict control measures to prevent pirates and Japanese pirates from plundering coastal areas, as well as the local smuggling trade that was repeatedly banned. On the other hand, it saw similar maritime trade. Countries like China have made huge profits from cross-border maritime trade, but their psychology is somewhat sour and unbalanced.
But this kind of trade is not something you can do if you want to. Nowadays, almost all commercial routes from the coast of Ming Dynasty to the Southeast Asia are controlled by Haihan. If you want to enter this business, it will be very difficult to do it without Haihan's nod. Even global colonial maritime powers such as Portugal and the Netherlands must first register with Haihan. After all, they each have only one operating port north of Hainan Island. The Damuan Port operated by the Dutch is even separated from the Ming Dynasty. Along the Fujian Strait, to complete trade with the Ming Dynasty, we often have to rely on Haihan channels.
Even if the Ming Dynasty did not take Haihan seriously, based on what Fei Cexian saw in Sanya, as long as Haihan said a word, no country would dare to openly receive the fleet from the Ming Dynasty. After all, compared to the Haihan fleet that often showed off its power in the South China Sea, the fleet that sailed to the depths of the South China Sea on behalf of the Ming Dynasty had to go back to Zheng He's seventh voyage to the West two hundred years ago. How many people these days can remember the power of the Ming Dynasty's treasure fleet? Naturally, they are even more afraid of the Haihan fleet, which is now invincible in the South China Sea.
Fei Cexian currently has no way to persuade the court to open formal official maritime trade, nor can he get Haihan to give special care to the Ming Dynasty. All he can do now is to learn as much as possible about how Haihan operates transnational trade and how he completes these lucrative businesses through shipping.
During his stay in Sanya, in addition to the municipal library, one of the places Fei Cexian visited more often was the various trading markets in Sanya. Sanya's trading market is basically operated by the government, where domestic and foreign merchants traveling to and from the local area publish supply and demand information, sign sales contracts, and complete the delivery of money and goods. As the scale of Sanya's trade continues to expand, this trading market is gradually subdivided according to different commodities, and has even produced many brokers who rely on news.
Even officials like Fei Cexian who have no business knowledge have gradually learned some common sense about economics and trade after staying in the trading market for a long time. Haihan's official support for shipping and transnational trade was incomparable to that of the Ming Dynasty. Especially in terms of the social status of merchants, the gap between the two countries was even greater.
Although wealthy merchants in the Ming Dynasty could live a luxurious life, they traditionally focused on agriculture and neglected business. Their social status was ranked according to scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, with merchants ranking at the bottom. The situation on Haihan's side is quite different. Rich and powerful businessmen even have considerable influence on the government, and their reputation in society is not as low as that of Ming businessmen. Therefore, in recent years, many Ming businessmen have begun to move their families to Haihan, or have transferred their properties to the areas under Haihan's jurisdiction. As far as Fei Cexian knows, almost all of the richest private businessmen in Haihan are from the Ming Dynasty.
It is impossible to estimate how many resources these merchants took away from the Ming Dynasty, but there is no doubt that they played a huge role in promoting Haihan's commercial development. If it were not for the help of these merchants, Haihan's process of opening trade channels in the Ming Dynasty would definitely be much more troublesome than it is now.
According to the arrangements announced at yesterday's banquet, this afternoon there will be an official investment promotion event held by Haihan and a trade fair attended by businessmen from multiple countries. Although Fei Cexian will not be directly involved in the trade, he must go and have a look to grasp the latest trends in Haihan. And after last night's conversation, he had to be more vigilant. If Haihan continued as usual and continued to maintain frequent trade with Ming, then what Ning Qi said might be true. If trade volume decreases or even stops at some point in the future, it means that the relationship between the two countries is likely to become precarious, and an alarm signal must be sent to the country.
Although Fei Cexian was not sleepy, in order not to delay his business, he finally forced himself to lie down on the bed. After tossing and turning for a while, he finally fell asleep.
Compared with the painful Ming envoys, the envoys from the neighboring country of Annan slept very soundly that night. After the banquet was over and they returned to the guest house, the young prince Zheng Zhao even had people go to the city to find two dancers from Persia to entertain them, and then held a private cocktail party to introduce the new North Koreans they had just met yesterday. Envoy Li Xi and his old friend Xu Yuzhuo were invited to discuss whether a trade route connecting Annan and North Korea via Fujian could be opened in the future.
In addition to the Zheng family in Annan, the Qing Dynasty King Zheng Jie controls the country's administrative power. This family also makes full use of the power in their hands and almost monopolizes the hugely profitable industries in Annan such as salt and iron. As the eldest son who is most trusted by Zheng Jie, , Zheng Zha is responsible for the foreign trade affairs of Annan Kingdom.
In the early years, Annan ceded several natural harbors on the coastline to Haihan in the form of concessions in return for Haihan sending troops to help in the war. As post-war reconstruction progressed, these ports also became Annan's window to the world. By selling various local products and grains, Annan earned a lot of profits from foreign trade. Zheng Zha became more and more ambitious, and gradually began to be no longer satisfied with just trading with a limited number of two or three countries such as Haihan. , wanting to create some new trade channels that are completely under their own control. In Zheng Zha's view, countries outside the region like North Korea are excellent targets. Their location is far away from the South China Sea, and their products are quite different from those of countries in the South China Sea. This provides the basic conditions for exchange of needs. This country knows almost nothing about the situation in the South China Sea, which leaves Annan with more room for maneuver.
In addition, Li Xi's status as a member of the royal family also attaches great importance to Zheng Zha. He believes that since he can be sent to Haihan as an ambassador by North Korea, he should have a certain influence in North Korea. Winning over Li Xi will help Promote the establishment of trade relations between the two countries.
Fujian was the one that Annan had always wanted to win over. Annan had even set up an office in Zhangzhou two years ago to deal with commercial affairs between Annan and Fujian. Of course, the establishment of such an organization was with Haihan's tacit approval, otherwise nothing would have been accomplished even if there was such an organization.
Zheng Zao has always admired Haihan's management methods in international trade, and he also intends to imitate Haihan's methods to establish his own foreign trade system for Annan. Whether it is the Fuguang area in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty or the distant North Korea, in Zheng Zao's eyes, they are all objects that can be exploited. If done properly, a trade channel from the Indochina Peninsula to the Korean Peninsula via the Ming Dynasty coastline can be connected.
Although this maritime trade line currently only exists in Zheng Zha's mind, he is very confident in the inspiration that just emerged at the banquet, and is optimistic that this route will bring benefits to all three parties involved in the matter. Bring very generous benefits.
But Li Xi's mind was not entirely focused on the bright prospects described by Zheng Zha. He was still worried about the warnings given by senior officials of Shanghai Han Dynasty at the banquet. If Haihan really declared war on the Ming Dynasty, what should Korea do?
It is obviously impossible to send troops to help in the fight. If North Korea, which has little self-awareness, dares to send troops to participate in this kind of fight between gods, it will really be a mess. No matter which side it joins, North Korea cannot withstand the wrath of the other. But if they want to stand by and remain neutral, these two countries will probably not let North Korea watch the war so leisurely. Previously, Haihan fought against Hou Jin in Liaodong. Although he did not ask North Korea to send troops to participate in the war, he still proposed that North Korea send civilians to the war zone to take charge of logistics.
Li Xi is very worried that if the two countries really want to start a war, they will force North Korea to express its stance, and it is likely to be more than just a verbal stance. It must use actual actions to show its chosen camp.
Li Xi looked at Zheng Zha, who was talking loudly, but didn't listen to what he said. He was just thinking that Annan and Haihan are staunch allies. You can safely stand by Haihan's side. Naturally, you don't have to worry about getting hurt. But our country, North Korea, is sandwiched between two big countries. Whenever we encounter a situation where we need to express our position, we are not human. This is an embarrassing situation.
"Lord Li, after the establishment of trade, our two countries will be able to trade through sea routes, which will be of great benefit to each other. What do you think, Lord Li?"
Zheng Zao's raised-pitched question finally woke Li Xi up from his reverie, but Li Xi didn't quite understand what Zheng Zao wanted, so he didn't answer his question immediately, but kicked the ball to the guy next to him. Xu Yuzhuo: "What do you think, Mr. Xu?"
Xu Yuzhuo saw this very clearly. He cupped his hands towards Zheng Zao and Li Xilue and said, "Both of them represent their respective countries, and Xu can only speak for my Fujian Xu family. If there is anything inappropriate, , I hope you two don’t blame me!”
Zheng Zha responded: "It doesn't matter, Mr. Xu."
Xu Yuzhuo continued: "The young prince wants Annan's merchant fleet to transit through the Fujian Strait, or North Korea's merchant ships to pass through the south. This is naturally easy to say, as long as the Haihan people nod. As for the need to dock at Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in the Fujian Strait , or Haihan’s Penghu Port, that’s all up to you. There’s only one thing. If you haven’t said hello to Haihan, don’t go to Damiang Port, which is controlled by the Dutch. Haihan is quite taboo about this.” br>
Zheng Zhu nodded and said: "Thank you for reminding me about the Netherlands. I won't go to Damuan Port if I can."
Li Xi was not too clear about the grievances between Haihan and the Netherlands, but listening to the conversation between the two people, it was obvious that Haihan took special care of the Dutch colonial port in the Fujian Strait, and even deliberately prevented ships from other countries from going there. It seems that the local Dutch people will not be too happy here.
However, most of North Korea's sea-going ships are small in size and are not suitable for carrying out long-distance shipping missions. For example, when Li Xi himself went south from North Korea to Sanya, he changed to a boat provided by Haihan after arriving at Dinghai Port in Zhoushan instead of taking a small sailboat from his own country. The trade route proposed by Zheng Zha can only be dispatched by Annan's fleet. North Korea does not yet have the corresponding conditions to organize such a trade fleet.
But Li Xi felt that it was a bit embarrassing to say this situation. Compared with Fujian Xu and Annanguo, North Korea's maritime transportation capabilities are really shabby.
(End of chapter)