Chapter 1776 Sincere Thank You
Even if he knew that Haihan had an attitude of not letting go of the rabbit before sending troops, and had to wait for North Korea to agree to pay before sending troops, Li Xi could only pretend not to know, and had to offer financial compensation to appease and motivate him to go to the north. The Haihan Army. However, Li Xi was not sure how much he should pay, so he could only follow his own prediction beforehand, and gingerly shouted out the price of one thousand taels of gold, saying that North Korea was willing to use it as a reward for those who were willing to send troops to aid North Korea. Haihan troops.
After Li Xi made the bid, he saw Yan Chujie's expressionless face and felt something in his heart, secretly thinking that something was wrong. The country of Haihan is rich and powerful. One thousand taels of gold is certainly not a small amount for our country, but for these high-ranking officials of Haihan who have a high vision, it may not be enough to impress them.
Sure enough, Yan Chujie put down the teacup in his hand, coughed dryly and said: "Master Li, you have your heart, but... our army only owes allegiance to the Executive Committee, and it also obeys the orders of the Executive Committee when performing combat missions overseas. Your country If there is such a bounty, then this matter will change.”
Li Xi was stunned for about two seconds, and then immediately nodded and responded: "The chief is right, but the subordinate's wording was inappropriate! This is not a bounty, but a small token of thanks from my country for sending troops to assist your country."
Yan Chujie said in difficulty: "I can understand your country's difficulties, but if your country's thank you gift is just this, I'm afraid my generals will mistakenly think that North Korea is deliberately humiliating our country, which will affect both countries. relations between the two countries and the fighting enthusiasm of the soldiers.”
Li Xixin thought it was too little money to be spoken of so high-soundingly by you. He is worthy of being a big shot in the executive committee and has profound skills, so he had to accept it. But now that he was asking people to do things, Li Xi didn't dare to withdraw the conditions he had given, so he could only increase the amount until Yan Chujie was satisfied.
Li Xi asked cautiously and tentatively: "What does the chief think is more appropriate?"
Yan Chujie waved his hand and said: "As Mr. Li said, this is a thank you gift from your country. The most important thing is sincerity, the number is secondary. Mr. Li can control it himself."
Li Xi was so angry that his teeth itched, but he still had to deal with Yan Chujie's deliberate embarrassment patiently. He gritted his teeth and said: "Then...two thousand taels of gold! I hope the chief will be considerate of our country. I really can't give more thanks." ! ”
This number actually exceeded Yan Chujie's expectations by a large margin, but it can also be seen that the North Koreans are really anxious about this matter, and they are so proactive even in paying protection fees. If you squeeze it more, there may be some room for improvement, but if this method is taken to the extreme, it may really hurt the relationship between the two countries. It is possible but not necessary, and Yan Chujie does not intend to do so.
"As long as your intention comes, don't force it!" Yan Chujie accepted the request and pretended to comfort Li Xi: "After your country's thank you gift arrives, I believe our soldiers will no longer have any resentment against the expedition."< br>
Li Xi heard that Yan Chujie was still emphasizing the need to receive the money first, and quickly explained: "Xiaguan left in a hurry when he went south and did not bring so much money. At this time, I can only write a document to your country first. After that, we will allocate gold from the treasury as soon as possible to offer it!”
Of course, the money around Li Xi could not be as large as two thousand taels of gold. After blowing this bullshit, he could only issue an IOU first. If he were an ordinary diplomat, this kind of promise might not be recognized and trusted by Haihan, but Li Xi's identity is a little special. He is a member of the royal family of North Korea and can directly represent the attitude of the North Korean king and give The conditions naturally represent North Korea, and Yan Chujie agrees with this.
"North Korea and our country are allies of each other, and it is reasonable to help each other in times of crisis. Mr. Li, don't pay too much attention to such details." Yan Chujie comforted him with a pleasant tone: "We are all from the same family, there is no need to speak the same language. ”
The attitude shown by Yan Chujie at this time made Li Xi have the illusion that the person who repeatedly hinted that he wanted to exchange money for assistance in the previous conversation was actually another person. However, he did not dare to take Yan Chujie's polite words seriously anymore, and immediately responded: "Please wait a moment, chief. I will write down what I just mentioned, and ask your navy to bring this document with you when they go north." , handed over to the king of our country.”
Li Xi was afraid of a long night and many dreams, so he quickly laid out paper and ink to write the IOU. Yan Chujie was polite but didn't really stop him, so he let him finish writing the document.
After Li Xi finished writing, when the ink was slightly dry, he immediately presented it to Yan Chujie's hands for him to review. By now, Li Xi knew very well that if the previous procedures were not completed, Haihan could not be expected to send troops to rescue North Korea in a short time. The longer this matter drags on, the more dangerous North Korea's situation will be, so he must get rid of the Haihan Executive Committee and the military as soon as possible in order to hope to save the crisis before the Qing army attacks.
This task is not easy for Li Xi. Although he has been dealing with the Haihan people for several months, he does not have any high-level connections in Sanya. He can only test the senior officials of Haihan bit by bit. Attitude, try to persuade them to send troops to station in North Korea. But judging from the final result, the cooperation between the two countries is ultimately based on pure interests. If North Korea wants to obtain the military assistance provided by Haihan, it can only impress Haihan by offering enough benefits.
However, Li Xi actually has no resentment about this. After all, Haihan State and North Korea just formed an alliance last year, and there is no obligation to send troops to fight for North Korea, let alone bear these additional military expenditures for North Korea. Haihan can even find any reason to refuse his request for help. Being able to offer conditions to North Korea is already a concession. Although this is a very helpless choice for North Korea, as long as Haihan sends troops to scare the Qing army and keep North Korea safe, let alone two thousand taels of gold, even if the price is higher, Li Xi will grit his teeth first Just agree to it later.
As for whether this unauthorized decision would make the king furious, Li Xi no longer cared so much. If Haihan did not send troops in time and allowed the Qing army to invade North Korea, sooner or later the wealth in the treasury would benefit the enemy. As the saying goes, choose the lesser of two evils. Sooner or later, you will have to sacrifice your wealth to save your life. The wisest choice is of course to give priority to using this money to win over allies and fight against enemies. If the king holds him responsible for this matter afterwards, he is not too nervous. After all, it is Haihan who wants to collect the money. If the king does not give the money or investigates him afterwards, he will actually offend Haihan. Haihan in turn became his shield.
All Li Xi's efforts were to get Haihan to send troops to protect North Korea as soon as possible, but it must be said that his expectations for Haihan were a bit too high. Although Haihan's battlefield in the Liaodong Peninsula had severely damaged the Jin people several times in the previous two years, in fact it could only maintain the control area in a small area at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula, and there was no attempt to advance the actual line of control northward. The military strength deployed by Haihan in Liaodong and Shandong is not enough to support the implementation of military operations on a larger scale. Sticking to the existing control area is basically the limit. Haihan moved the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town from Pi Island back to Jinzhou for resettlement. On the one hand, he wanted to use these people to develop the occupied area. On the other hand, it was also because Pi Island was too far away from Jinzhou. Once a war broke out, it would be difficult for Haihan to deal with it. It provides timely reinforcements. As for North Korea, from the moment Haihan moved the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town, he had actually given up the possibility of providing all-round asylum to North Korea to a certain extent.
It's just that the North Koreans themselves became aware of this crisis too late. They really thought that this was because Haihan wanted to mobilize some troops to move south for defense, so they wanted to shrink the defense circle in this way. When they realized that their country was completely exposed to fierce enemies and could be trampled across the border by cavalry from the north at any time, it was already a bit late to make suggestions to Haihan about garrisoning troops.
Li Xi tried his best in Sanya, which was actually a remedial move, but the effect may not be as he thought. As long as the Haihan army arrived in the northeast in time, it could successfully stop the Qing army's invasion momentum. In fact, Haihan had no intention of treating North Korea as his home court and blocking the Qing army on the frontal battlefield. However, no one will explain this kind of issue to him in advance. How the Haihan Army will act in Liaodong is not something North Korea can dictate.
Yan Chujie took the document from Li Xi and sent it out with his gratitude. Then he took a carriage back to Fort Victory and reported his gains to his colleagues on the executive committee.
"Two thousand taels of gold? North Koreans still have some wealth!" Tao Donglai sighed at Li Xi's bid: "This is equivalent to the output of Jinguashi Gold Mine in two or three years!"
The only gold mine currently being mined in the area under Haihan's rule is the Jinguashi gold mine near Jilong Port on Taiwan Island. At that time, Haihan sent troops to expel the Spanish colonists from this area, one of the purposes of which was to occupy this gold mine. veins. However, gold mining is not comparable to other minerals. Even if Haihan starts operating it, the output will not be much higher.
Of course, the gold reserves of Haihan's treasury do not only come from this place. In addition to trade income, a lot of gold has been collected from the wealth plundered by Haihan's foreign wars over the years and has been collected into the treasury as reserves. Even the gold snatched back from outside far exceeds the income from gold mining. After capturing the city of Manila at the beginning of this year, Haihan collected more than 200 kilograms of gold artifacts in the city, which was a real fortune.
But even the wealthy Haihan did not dare to underestimate the "thank you gift" promised by Li Xi. Schneider smiled next to him and continued: "It seems that the North Koreans are really anxious. With this money back, the military expenditure for sending troops to Liaodong this year should be enough!"
However, Yan Chujie still refused to let go: "The money is still on paper. It is still unclear whether we can receive it or not. By then our fleet will rush over and the Qing army will not take action, so the Koreans may not be willing to donate the gold. I I am a bit doubtful whether the North Korean treasury can still get this money.”
Of course, Schneider understood that the reason why Yan Chujie didn't let go was that he didn't want the money to be confiscated by the Ministry of Finance before it was handled. He immediately advised: "Lao Yan, when the time comes, you go to receive the gold, and the Ministry of Finance will also send people to verify it. This is a rule, don’t think about it.”
Yan Chujie glared and said: "Of course I understand the rules of gold entering the national treasury, but this money is obtained by the military. The God of Wealth must allocate a temporary military expenditure for us to leave, right?"
Schneider glanced sideways at Tao Donglai, and when he saw the other party nodded slightly, he responded to Yan Chujie's request: "Okay, it's an advance on next year's military expenses. When you bring the gold back and put it into the treasury, we'll do it again." We should reimburse this part of the military expenditure to the Ministry of National Defense.”
Yan Chujie was not very interested in these financial procedures. As long as Schneider was willing to give him money, everything would be easy. Although Yan Chujie's conditions for the North Koreans were extortionate, from another perspective, the extent of the movement of the Haihan Army's northward movement was also affected to a certain extent by the military budget. If the funds are really sufficient, then the Ministry of National Defense may not be able to arrange some major actions.
Yan Chujie had already begun to wonder in his mind whether with this sudden military expenditure, in addition to Wang Tom's Northern Fleet and Marine Corps, he would have room to use other means.
At present, Haihan's strongest combat force, Qian Tiandun's independent regiment, is also resting in Sanya and is basically fully equipped. If this unit really needs to be mobilized, it is not impossible. It's just that Qian Tiandun had already reported to the Ministry of National Defense before the Battle of Manila, hoping to change the garrison to a place slightly south. After all, the team of his unit is mainly composed of southern soldiers. They are stationed in the cold Liaodong area all year round, which will actually have a certain negative impact on the combat effectiveness of the unit. The homesickness of the soldiers is also difficult to overcome through ideological work and logistical support. ease.
The most important thing is that Qian Tiandun's original idea of building this unit was to target the mountainous and jungle environment in the south. The tactical framework and training content were also based on this basis. Later, he was sent to the north, in Liaodong. Acting as the main force on the frontal battlefield in the ice and snow, it really feels like rushing a duck to the shelf. Now that he has been in the north for more than two years, it is reasonable for Qian Tiandun to request that the military garrison be transferred back to the south.
The Ministry of National Defense had originally agreed to this request, but judging from the current situation, it seems that only Qian Tiandun's troops can cope with the emergency mission in the north.
But where was Qian Tiandun? Yan Chujie suddenly realized that this was a problem. Qian Tiandun went on vacation after the military parade. If you look for him at this time, you may not be able to find him right away. Yan Chujie quickly walked out of the conference room and asked his adjutant to try to contact Qian Tiandun. Whether the Independent Group is willing to take on this job or not, we have to talk to Qian Tiandun first to find out. How the situation in North Korea will develop next may depend on Qian Tiandun's attitude to a certain extent.
(End of chapter)