Chapter 1853 Long-term Perspective
Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun suddenly discovered that the domestic political situation in North Korea was not as simple as the outside world thought. The so-called political opposition was probably just a way for these officialdom bosses to please their bosses or suppress their opponents. posture, but their true thoughts on the political situation may not have been expressed publicly.
Judging from Cui Mingji's familiarity with Haihan's plan, this person is by no means the kind of ordinary politician who opposes for the sake of opposition. Instead, he really spent a lot of time studying Haihan's plan and combined it with the situation of his country. , and made detailed calculations on the possible subsequent effects and impacts. As for the degree of dedication in doing homework, I am afraid it is unparalleled in North Korean official circles.
Moreover, this man did not seem to have any hatred towards Haihan. At least judging from the half-day conversation with him, Cui Mingji did not show any obvious hostility. It even felt that his questions were intended to pave the way for Haihan's explanation. Allow them to explain the details of this cooperation plan step by step.
Cui Mingji made a lot of obvious preparations for this meeting, which greatly won the favor of Qian and Wang. Although there is no final confirmation of Cui Mingji's true intentions, he is at least a respectable negotiating opponent. They all have a hunch that as long as Cui Mingji is dealt with, the subsequent negotiation process will be much easier.
"But I don't think Kim Sang-hyun will give up the dominant position in the negotiations to him so easily." Qian Tiandun analyzed: "After all, this should be considered a good opportunity for Cui Mingji to make a comeback!"< br>
Cui Mingji lost the battle in the previous war and peace, allowing Kim Sang-heon to control the voice of the domestic political arena. Although King Li Jie did not abandon or demote him for some reasons, he was ultimately defeated by his political opponents. Pressed one end. If Cui Mingji chooses to go against Haihan, it will be difficult for him to maintain his current position, let alone stand up. But if he takes the initiative in cooperating with Haihan, even if it is only part of the plan, he will have a lot of potential. opportunity to return to the center of the stage and continue to serve as an opinion leader in North Korean officialdom.
But Kim Sang-hyun is not a simple character. He has been able to stand in North Korea's official circles for many years and has the ability to control the situation. As long as he is aware of Cui Mingji's intentions, he will definitely not let his opponent act.
Has Kim Sang-heon seen through Choi Ming-gil’s methods? The answer should be yes. In the talks that continued that afternoon, Kim Sang-hyun no longer remained silent, but took the initiative and began to control the content and process of the talks, no longer leaving time to Cui Ming-gil to perform alone.
Before and after the Anti-Qing War in the past few months, Kim Sang-hyun spent most of his time in the Haehan Army, participating in supervising the war on behalf of the Korean official. During this period, he also got very familiar with General Haehan, and he wanted to regain control of the negotiations. process, it will naturally be easier to implement.
Kim Sang-heon did not study the details of the cooperation plan as thoroughly as Cui Ming-gil, and he was not an economic expert either. However, his advantage was that he had cooperated with the Haihan people earlier, and his personal reputation rose to a new level after the war, even with King Li Zhu. We cannot ignore his opinions. And his opponent Cui Mingji obviously cannot compare with him in this regard.
The topic that Kim Sang-heon wants to discuss is different from Cui Ming-gil. The focus is not on technical details, but mainly on the project content and general direction of future cooperation between the two parties.
Regarding the future development direction of North Korea, Kim Sang-heon's ideas are actually very close to King Li Jian. He still hopes that the country can build an armed force strong enough to protect itself and not have to ask for assistance from the suzerain country every time it encounters foreign enemies. In particular, a protective umbrella like Haihan can indeed protect North Korea from being invaded by other countries, but the cost is indeed quite high. It drains the national treasury dry in one go. In the long run, it still needs to improve its own defense system.
Kim Sang-hyun has been at the Taedong River base for a long time. He can basically confirm that Haehan is indeed interested in helping North Korea build a new type of army with more combat effectiveness. But to what extent this help can help depends on the intentions of both parties. The current price offered by Haihan is to implement industrial cooperation projects first, and then carry out in-depth cooperation in the military field. It is okay if North Korea does not agree, but future military cooperation may only remain in the current simple unilateral purchase and purchase by North Korea. Model, if you want to imitate the military system and combat methods of the Haihan Army, it will be difficult to get sufficient technical support.
But opening up the management rights of key industries to Haehan is not only a matter of concern to Li Zhu, but also Kim Sang-hyun. If Haehan gradually controls these industries in the future, it will be equivalent to controlling the lifeline of North Korea. With these three thousand miles of mountains and rivers changing their names, North Korea may not even have the strength to struggle. But the development prospects promised by Haehan are too tempting. Especially after listening to the Q&A between Cui Mingji and General Haehan today, Kim Sang-heon made this point even more clear - North Korea wants to become strong quickly and must obey The Haihan people's arrangement is probably the only solution.
Jin Sangxian began to relent during the negotiations, and Qian and Wang naturally noticed it. This is naturally a good thing for Haihan. Even if there will be long detailed negotiations later, as long as the intention can be confirmed one day earlier, the subsequent negotiations will be completed by their subordinates, and there is no need to sit here in person and waste words. . They are all generals who lead troops to fight. Sitting down and negotiating conditions is not their specialty. If they can complete the task quickly, it will be a relief for them.
But the idea of resolving the war quickly is not so easy to realize. The cooperation projects discussed by the two countries are not trivial. Each item involves a considerable amount of investment, and North Korea is opening up these projects. They are more cautious on the scale, and hope that Haihan will implement more in accordance with North Korea's standards in terms of operations. After all, based on what they know, the industries operated by Haihan tend to have higher production capacity, and over time, they will be at a low level. Prices will be used to squeeze out the market, and what will be done if the government-operated salt fields, mines, and shipyards are all squeezed out?
Even as powerful as the Ming Dynasty, the salt business in coastal areas has been taken over by Haihan. Government-run salt farms in many places have closed down because they cannot compete with the private salt produced by Haihan. Some southern salt farms have even ceased operations. We organized our own production and directly sold the private salt provided by Haihan. There are not a few officials in the salt class promotion department in Fuzhou and Guangzhou who have made a lot of money in recent years.
However, North Korea is surrounded by sea on three sides. Almost all the salt supply in the country comes from seaside salt farms, and a considerable part of the state treasury's revenue relies on the state-owned salt industry. After Haihan enters this industry, it will almost be inevitable to occupy the limited market share. , I am afraid it will be difficult to make up for the losses in the North Korean treasury just by paying taxes.
However, the statement given by Haihan is completely different from what the North Koreans are worried about. The salt farm opened by Haihan in North Korea will not sell salt to the country at a price lower than the supply price of the official salt farm, and its main sales targets Not North Korea, but the Qing Dynasty in the north.
"Your country has a long border with the Qing Dynasty. What will happen if a large amount of low-priced private salt is dumped through your country to the Qing Dynasty?" Qian Tiandun reminded: "You are worried about what will happen in your own country. The situation that will really arise is the Qing Dynasty.”
Jin Sangxian gasped when he heard this. He really didn't expect Haihan to have such a method to attack the Qing Dynasty. Although it would certainly not be able to collapse the Qing Dynasty's economy, it would import low-priced private salt to the Qing Dynasty through dumping. It will definitely have a certain impact on the stability of its rule. However, Kim Sang-hyun is still a little unsure about the feasibility of this statement: "If the Qing Dynasty had tightened the investigation of illegal salt, wouldn't it be impossible to sell it?"
Qian Tiandun responded: "So when the time comes to find a new home, I will look for someone with power to avoid being investigated. As for how to sell private salt as official salt, I probably don't need to be taught anymore!"
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As long as we can find a strong partner in the Qing Dynasty and ensure its profit margin, someone will naturally take over this business. Over time, not only could the salt industry of the Qing Dynasty be destroyed, but there would also be opportunities to do more things through the channels thus opened. Whether it is collecting intelligence or bribing officials, or creating social conflicts and conflicts of interest in its country, it will have greater room for maneuver.
For North Korea, in addition to war, this is probably a good way to retaliate against its evil neighbor in the north. Several North Koreans present were high-level people, and naturally they could quickly understand the role that such a method could play.
As for smelting and shipbuilding, it was just the opposite. Even the slag could not be touched by the Qing Dynasty. The improvement of the strength of these two industries seemed to have more benefits than disadvantages for North Korea, so even Kim Sang-heon did not raise any questions.
When it was time for dinner, Li Zhu naturally invited Qian and Wang to stay at Gyeongbokgung Palace for dinner. The two of them did not refuse, they both wanted to finalize the matter while the iron was hot as much as possible.
Li Zhu called out his three sons who were listening in another room next door and asked them to participate in the dinner. Since they had informed Haihan about the arrangement beforehand, Qian and Wang were not surprised at all.
Li Zhu's eldest son, the crown prince Li Shu, had already met before at the reception banquet, while the second son Fenglin Lord Li Hao and the youngest son Linping Lord Li Jun met for the first time.
During the dinner, Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom both noticed some details, that is, Kim Sang-heon was obviously more inclined to the crown prince, while Cui Ming-gil was more friendly with the eighteen-year-old Fenglin Maharaja. This also made them aware of the differences between Kim Sang-heon and Cui Ming-gil. The dispute between Mingji and Mingji is probably not limited to the current cooperation plan. People are probably already considering the situation in the court a few years from now.
But regarding Li Zhu's sons, they had not done much homework beforehand. It was certainly inconvenient to show their preference at the moment. They could only wait until they returned to the station before sending a telegram back to the south to inquire about the matter. This choice may not have any effect at the moment, but if we can make good friends with the next king of North Korea earlier, it will be easier to handle relations between the two countries in the future.
After dinner at Gyeongbokgung Palace, the two of them took a car back to the base. Then they ordered someone to set up an antenna in the courtyard, turned on the radio and sent out a telegram. In addition to reporting on the current progress of the negotiations, they also asked the base camp to provide Li Junsan. Information about his son, as well as suggestions for choosing someone to support.
After being forwarded twice through Zhoushan and Penghu, the telegram was finally sent to Ning Qi's desk. After reading it, Ning Qi did not dare to neglect it. He retrieved the relevant information from the large database overnight, but the results were not satisfactory. Ning Qi had no choice but to write an analysis based on the current situation and reply to his colleagues in North Korea by telegram.
Qian and Wang saw that it was already noon the next day when they called back, and the content also made them feel a little surprised. Ning Qi did not give a clear suggestion in the message, because there is a big difference between the situation recorded in history and the current actual situation.
According to historical records, Li Fu, who was born in 1612, was granted the title of Crown Prince when he was thirteen years old. However, after causing chaos in Bingzi, he, his wife Jiang, and two younger brothers were taken hostage to Shenyang. He also went south with the Qing army and entered the Pass. It was not until the Qing army captured Beijing in 1645 that the regent Dorgon released Li Bo and returned to the country.
However, this man did not successfully take over as king after returning to China. He suddenly died of illness just two months later, and his posthumous title was revealed. As for the actual cause of his death, there are different opinions in history, but judging from the fact that his wife was sentenced to death and his three sons were exiled, it is likely that the prince Zhaoxian was executed on the order of Li Zhu. As for the reason, some historians believe that Prince Zhaoxian gradually changed his mentality during his eight-year stay as a hostage, and under the influence of the Qing court, his position gradually became more supportive of the Qing Dynasty. Especially after personally participating in the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Shunzhi held at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, he believed that the relationship between North Korea and the Qing Dynasty needed to be repositioned, which was unacceptable to the ruling class of North Korea, which was centered in time and space and faced the Ming Dynasty.
After Li Bo's death, the second eldest son, Li Hao, was soon released and returned to North Korea. In the same year, he was named the Crown Prince of Joseon by the Qing government. Four years later, when Li Bo passed away, Li Hao succeeded him and became the seventeenth generation monarch of Lee's North Korea. , known as Xiaozong in history.
But in this time and space, the so-called Bingzi chaos was delayed for more than half a year, and the Qing army did not win the war as recorded in history. Instead, it was defeated by the coalition forces led by Haihan as soon as they reached the Datong River, and even the border capital of Seoul was defeated. Withdrew without touching it. As the victor, North Korea would naturally not have the prince abducted as a hostage, let alone go to Shenyang to eat and live with the Qing people for several years.
In this time and space, Li Shu, Li Hao, and even the third oldest Li Jun, who was mentioned briefly in historical data, may actually become successors. Of course, Li Bo has the greatest chance among them. After all, he is the crown prince who has been canonized long ago, and his two younger brothers are just candidates.
(End of chapter)