Chapter 1849 Resistance to Cooperation
The ruling system of North Korea is similar to that of the Ming Dynasty. Important industries such as salt and iron are extremely strictly supervised, and they are basically under the jurisdiction of the state. The private sector is not completely absent, but only a very small number of privileged classes are eligible to participate. For example, Li Jian owns several iron mines in northern North Korea. The operating income from these mines will not be included in the national treasury, but will be transferred to the private sector. In his private treasury.
Not to mention allowing foreigners to directly participate in the management of these industries related to the national economy and people's livelihood, even the country's under-ranking dignitaries have to step aside. Even the Ming Dynasty, which was regarded as the suzerain state of North Korea in the past, has never made similar requests. Haihan hopes that North Korea can open up the management rights of these industries, so that funds from Haihan can build shipyards and ports, set up salt farms, and mine minerals in North Korea.
These projects are all labor-intensive industries and can create a large number of employment opportunities in North Korea in the future. Together with the large amount of taxes paid to North Korean officials, they will play a role in stimulating the economic development of North Korea. But the problem is that this is only the view of Haihan, and North Koreans may not think so.
Haihan's entry into these fields will definitely squeeze out some people's jobs, and even cut off some people's way to make a fortune. This will naturally arouse a lot of dissatisfaction and resistance. North Korean officials are also worried that if some of these industries are controlled by Haihan, it will affect the stability of the original state-owned business model. One of the purposes of Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun's trip was to persuade North Korean officials to accept Haihan's proposal and remove obstacles for Haihan to enter these industries.
The more troublesome part of this matter is Li Jie. Although Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom are confident in persuading him to accept Haihan's conditions, Li Jie's authority in North Korea is not to the extent that he can make a decision with just one word. Especially after the end of the war, a large number of war refugees appeared in North Korea. Since the official had emptied the national treasury before, there were many problems in relieving refugees and organizing post-disaster reconstruction, which led to many doubts in the country. sound. Some people even think that the introduction of Haihan to fight against the Qing Dynasty was actually another form of invasion. Now North Korea has provided Haihan with a large amount of money, and allowed Haihan to station troops in the country and obey his words. This is different from directly surrendering to the Qing army. How big a difference can it make?
Naturally, there are people behind such voices. Officials from the peace faction who have lost power, the northern landlord class who have suffered heavy losses, capitulation faction with ulterior motives, and spies who have long secretly defected to the Qing court all want to influence the future of North Korea through public opinion. towards. Even if the imperial court intends to have in-depth cooperation with Haihan, it will still face a lot of resistance.
As the king of North Korea, Li Jian obviously lacked sufficient authority when facing such a situation and was unable to suppress various domestic doubts. This also affected his judgment on the direction of the situation in North Korea and whether he should negotiate with Haihan. There was hesitancy to deepen cooperation. He was even a little worried that if he did not handle the relationship with Haihan well, it would affect his rule of the country in the future.
However, considering that there are still many matters that require Haihan's help in the future, Li Zhu cannot directly refuse Haihan's proposal to avoid offending the other party, so in his opinion, perhaps the best solution is to drag it to the country. It can only be implemented after the situation has stabilized, or Haihan will give up on his own initiative. Of course, Haihan will definitely not let North Korea continue to drag out this issue.
"Your Majesty the King, the sooner you start implementation, the sooner your country's economic problems can be solved. And with these industries, our country will also reduce or reduce your country's expenses in military cooperation as appropriate. This is a great benefit for both countries. It’s a win-win situation!”
Wang Tom knew very well that the main motivation to persuade Li Zhu to accept his own conditions was from the economic aspect. He had to make Li Zhu aware of the actual benefits that Haihan's entry into these fields would bring to North Korea.
Li Zhu coughed dryly and replied: "General Wang is right, but our country has its own national conditions. Although opening up these industries has many benefits, it will also cause many problems. In the current situation, I am afraid it is difficult to implement."
After Li Zhu finished speaking, Jin Sangxian continued to explain: "Two generals, although the war with the Qing Dynasty has ended, our country has not yet been completely calmed down. Such opening measures will inevitably cause confusion in the hearts of the people. Maybe it is not appropriate right now." The timing.”
Tom Wang continued: "Such an important decision must have advantages and disadvantages, but as long as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, it is worth implementing. There will definitely be some people in your country who will suffer losses because of this decision, but we can guarantee that it will only be extremely A small number of people, and it is impossible to affect the ruling status of His Majesty the King. Our country will continue to give the strongest support to His Majesty the King, whether political or military!”
Tom Wang actually knows a little bit about why Li Jie is hesitant to cooperate, so in addition to the large enough benefits, he must also give the other party enough confidence. And now that the war has just ended, the "support" promised by Haihan is undoubtedly quite weighty.
However, this kind of support actually has certain limitations. If Haihan intervenes militarily in North Korea's internal disputes, he may indeed be able to quickly suppress the opposition, but this will also cause more fear. Even King Li Zhu would not necessarily be willing to allow foreign armed forces to directly intervene in the political disputes of his country. If a powerful nobleman secretly found Haihan and promised him a lot of benefits to change his stance and support his rise to power, then Haihan would be in trouble. The Han Dynasty may not necessarily regard Li Zhu as his first choice for support.
Therefore, Wang Tom could only express his attitude towards this, rather than directly take measures to suppress opponents, so as not to backfire and make Li Zhu feel scrupulous. Of course, this also has another deeper meaning, which is to take this opportunity to remind Li Zhu that whether his current dominance is stable or not depends on the strength of Haihan's support to a certain extent.
Qian Tiandun also spoke at this time: "Your Majesty the King, these cooperation plans proposed by our country are not to take over the projects operated by your country, but to develop and operate them separately. The powerful people in your country will also have the opportunity to join these projects. Come in. The goal we pursue is to make a fortune together, not to transfer the existing wealth of your country into our own pockets. Even if some people will suffer from this, more people will benefit from it. The good thing is that the voice of support will soon overwhelm the opposition, and your Majesty does not need to worry too much about this.”
Benefit! In the final analysis, whether one supports or opposes Haihan's development plan, the fundamental issue still lies in personal interests. Only by solving this issue first can other various resistances be resolved. Qian Tiandun's words were a reminder to Li Zhu that those who objected could be included in the development plan, allowing them to benefit from it, and then use this to change their stance.
Of course, as for which people are worth winning over and who can be allowed to get a share of the pie, it is up to Li Zhu to make the choice. This may also become one of his means to calm down the domestic chaos.
But even though Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom spent a lot of words, the negotiations with North Korean senior officials still went stumblingly and did not go smoothly. No substantive results were achieved throughout the day. Jin Sangjiu, who was specially summoned to participate in the negotiations, only acted as a spectator during the entire process because he did not enter the stage of negotiating specific conditions that he was originally responsible for.
After returning to their residence, Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom discussed the status of today's negotiations. They believed that the key issue was not only the different opinions in North Korea, but also the development prospects of these development projects proposed by Haihan. I am not optimistic about it, so I dare not make up my mind to support Haihan's plan.
The best way to solve this problem is, of course, to invite people like Li Zhu and Jin Shangxian to the areas under Haihan's rule to see the actual operation of these business projects, such as Sanya Shipyard, Heitugang Coal Mine, Shilu Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. Mines, Yinggehai Saltworks, etc. After seeing it, they will naturally understand that what Haihan said is true. The benefits these industries can bring are far beyond their imagination. But this is obviously a method that is difficult to implement in the near future. The domestic situation in North Korea is not stable. How could Li Jie dare to leave the country and go on an overseas tour? Moreover, he now relies heavily on Kim Sang-hyun's domestic influence, and it is unlikely that he will send Kim Sang-heon to the country. We went to the south to visit and inspect Haihan’s operations on these projects.
"Perhaps we can make arrangements nearby and let the North Koreans go to Lushun to visit the shipyard, to Shandong to inspect the Fushan copper mine, and to Zhejiang to visit the salt fields in Ningbo... Although the scale of operations in these places is not as large as that in the south, they have now reached the Once the track is installed, it can be considered a success." Qian Tiandun proposed a solution.
Tom Wang smiled bitterly and said: "Of course it is possible, but I am afraid that after seeing it, the North Koreans will retreat."
"How do you say this?" Qian Tiandun asked in confusion.
Wang Tom said: "These places are actually the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but they were occupied by us as our own. Do you think the Koreans will worry about the possibility of losing these resources of their own country after seeing them?" The same fate?”
After Qian Tiandun listened, he had to admit that what Wang Tom said made some sense. Among the places he just mentioned, except for Zhoushan, Shipu, Xiangshan and other places in Ningbo, the operation of the salt fields has the participation of local officials. , the local government has long been excluded from the mining of the Fushan copper mine in Dengzhou, Shandong, and even went to war with the Ming army in Dengzhou.
Not to mention Lushun. After the negotiation with Ming Dynasty ended last year, Haihan had placed it under its own territory and did not allow Ming Dynasty to station local officials there, even in name only. Nowadays, the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town who have moved from Pidao to Jinzhou are also changing their nationalities one after another. The Ming Dynasty is unable to raise troops in Liaodong, and it is not willing to offend Haihan for this, so it can only suffer the dumb loss.
These places used to belong to the Ming Dynasty, but they were successively occupied by Haihan for various reasons. Even if the Koreans didn't say anything after reading it, they might not have any opinions in their hearts. After all, they even dared to snatch the meat from the Ming Dynasty's bowl. It would not be unusual to take advantage of North Korea in the future. Now that Haihan wants to build these industries in North Korea, if these projects in the Ming Dynasty are used as examples, it is indeed possible that the North Koreans will be discouraged.
Qian Tiandun sighed and said: "If these development plans cannot be negotiated, then the subsequent immigration issues will not be easy to handle!"
According to their original idea, as long as they can finalize cooperation with North Korea on these industrial projects, they will then employ a large number of manpower in North Korea. By then, there may be tens of thousands of North Koreans working for Haihan, and many North Korean dignitaries will also There are interests involved, and when the time comes to talk about immigration, it will be much easier than it is now.
"Immigration... Let's first see if the road Liu Shang paved is feasible!" Wang Tom also knew that Liu Shang had approached North Korean official Park Buk-soo to open up connections before leaving office, and asked him to try to persuade Kim Sang-heon to change his attitude towards immigration. attitude. But I'm afraid this method will not have immediate results even if it costs money, so we can only wait and see what happens.
"Perhaps we should find out where the main sources of opposition in North Korea are. There must be some opinion leaders among them. If we deal with these people first, Li Zhu will no longer be hesitant. "Tom Wang took a different approach and proposed a new solution.
Qian Tiandun said: "Then let's go visit Kim Sang-hyun tonight?"
Tom Wang shook his head and said: "Kim Sang-hyun also has a lot of concerns about this matter, and he may not be willing to tell him frankly... I think it is better to find Jin Sang-jiu. He is probably the North Korean who knows the most about our country's situation in Seoul. His thoughts , maybe not as rigid as other Koreans.”
As an envoy sent abroad, Jin Shangjiu has been living in the Haihan ruling area for some time, and he served as a liaison officer in the coalition forces some time ago. Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun both have a good impression of this person, so at this time it is still I thought of him and thought that I could put the hope of opening a breakthrough in him.
There were North Korean troops guarding the area outside the Haihan Mission. If the two of them went out, there would be a lot of noise, so they immediately sent someone to ask Jin Shangjiu to come over to the house. Jin Shangjiu was also involved in this negotiation, so he asked him to meet in the name of consultation, which seemed reasonable.
Jin Shangjiu did not refuse the invitation, and soon took a carriage to the residence of the Haihan Mission. After listening to the questions raised by Wang Tom, Jin Shangjiu immediately understood what they meant: "The two generals asked for information about the opposition. They wanted to suppress the opposition voices in our country's political arena first, so that the king would have no worries, and then Continue to promote negotiations on those industrial projects?”
Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "There is a saying in our country that there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. As long as there are large enough common interests, enemies can also become partners. We want to try it and see if we can make those Dissenters are also joining in this big plan that can change North Korea.”
(End of chapter)