Chapter 1871 Meet the world
What makes Li Pu feel a little relieved is that although he will have to say goodbye to his hometown for two years during this trip, he will not be too lonely during this trip. In addition to the dozen or so attendants accompanying him this time, there are also a group of students who are also from North Korea. . Although these people are unlikely to live and eat with him after arriving in Haihan, and arrangements will be made by Haihan's relevant agencies, they will definitely spend a lot of time together in the future. Li Bo has even thought about bringing together these foreign talents regularly and holding social gatherings so that everyone can relieve the pain of homesickness in a foreign country.
Although the cabin Haihan prepared for Li Hao on the ship was not particularly large, it was quite comfortable. Most of the furniture in the cabin was custom-made for senior officials such as Shi Diwen, and its workmanship and materials were definitely not available on the market. The goods are comparable. Especially the new thing like spring cushions, this was Li Pu's first time to try it. He sat on it and twisted it left and right. It felt very novel.
The several circular glass portholes on the bulkhead are also quite eye-catching. Although each porthole is small in area, together they can provide sufficient lighting for the cabin during the day. Compared with the old wooden portholes of ordinary seagoing ships, the glass portholes of Haihan look much taller. Moreover, this kind of sailboat that is specially designed to transport important people will usually be escorted by armed warships when it goes out to sea, so basically there is no need to consider too much about the ship's side protection capabilities. Opening a few more portholes will make it look as cool and beautiful as possible.
If you feel the cabin is stuffy, you can also go to the deck. There are specially set sightseeing seats at the bow and stern of the ship. You can lie on soft beach chairs and enjoy the sea breeze and bask in the sun. The crew can even bring you fishing gear. Have fun fishing.
Li Bo is not a person who likes to go to sea by boat, but he has to admit that going to sea on such a sailboat is indeed a pleasant and beautiful thing. Even the bumps caused by the wind and waves on the sea do not seem to be that disturbing. People feel uncomfortable. Before he boarded the ship, he heard that the ship was used by senior officials from Haihan to go on vacation at sea. At that time, he didn't quite understand how going to sea could be regarded as a kind of enjoyment, but after boarding the ship, he vaguely understood that vacation on the ship really had a different flavor. In such an environment, if coupled with good wine and beautiful people, it would be a really good way to enjoy it.
Li Pu recalled the reports he had seen before, saying that the Haihan people were not only good at trade and warfare, but also enjoyed themselves. They were very particular about the details of life, and even built a rather complicated set of baths for them to have access to hot water at any time. device. However, Li Bo didn't know that the boiler made by Haihan for taking hot baths was also used in the steam power device he had seen on the Haihan battleship earlier.
Of course, he is the only one in the entire study abroad team who can enjoy such treatment. Due to the limited space on the ship, most of the crew cabins are very small. Others can still only squeeze into a cabin of four or even twelve people to spend this journey. This is the unique thing in this era. The reality of life for most sailors while at sea.
This is the current situation of Andoshi and other overseas students. As guests, their treatment is slightly better than that of the sailors on the ship. They live in a cabin for four people and the beds are hard bunk beds. Although there is no comfort at all, compared to the three-tiered hardboard bed, which is smaller in space than the one sailors live in, at least you can sit upright on the bed.
However, apart from the relatively small living space, there is nothing to complain about in other aspects. For example, the food on board is very rich, including not only fresh seafood, but also a variety of vegetables and fruits, and even poultry and livestock. Before boarding the ship, An Daoshi and others joked with each other that it would be difficult to supply food during the voyage. They probably could only eat kimchi, salted fish and white porridge, but the actual situation was far better than they expected. Each meal could guarantee at least two meat and two vegetables. Four dishes and one soup. For Andoshi, this was even better than the level of food he had during his training at the Datongjiang base.
Of course, Andao Shi also understood that this was all thanks to the crown prince's companionship, and the Haihan talents had improved the treatment of the entourage. If they were the only students on the ship, the food content would probably be the same as that of ordinary sailors, without so many choices.
However, Andao Shi was born in an Orion family. His family was already poor and he had very low material requirements. This time he was selected to study in Haihan. All expenses were borne by the state, and there was also a military pay. For him, I am already very satisfied, and I don’t feel anything wrong if I work hard on the way.
Moreover, An Daoshi and several other officer cadets who had a secret agreement with General Haihan in advance will also enjoy a "special scholarship" provided by the Haihan military during their studies abroad. Of course, the existence of this scholarship is confidential and will not be distributed publicly. And if Ando Shi and others were not too stupid, they would not spend it lavishly just because they had this money. That would easily expose their unknown source of income to their peers.
An Daoshi was slightly surprised that the prince's son actually joined the team that went to Haihan to study this time. He didn't know that Haihan had already made a suggestion to his king to send a prince to study abroad, and during this period, he was also mixed with different political factions in the court. The game between King Li and King Li was difficult to choose for a long time. However, the addition of the crown prince still made Andao Shi a little excited, because it showed that the country paid enough attention to their group of overseas students to allow the future king to study abroad in Haihan with them.
However, An Daoshi considered himself in a humble position and did not dare to take the initiative to talk to the Crown Prince. After setting off from Seoul, he saw the Crown Prince walking on the deck and he took the initiative to stay away. Compared with the prince whose status is too different, he is more willing to communicate with his companions who are studying abroad in Haihan this time, without worrying about having no common topics to talk about.
Although Haihan deliberately slowed down its speed in consideration of the comfort of sailing, it still took just over three days to reach the waters of the Zhoushan Islands in Zhejiang Province during the Ming Dynasty.
Li Pu had never stepped into the territory of the Ming Dynasty before. In his mind, the Ming Dynasty across a sea should be a very distant existence. However, the Haihan sailing ship completed this cross-country voyage so quickly, which made Li Pu feel happy. Somewhat complicated. He remembered that after he was crowned the crown prince by his father, because the Ming Dynasty never sent an envoy to North Korea to confirm the validity of the title, he had been in a state of injustice for the next nearly ten years of his career as crown prince. .
I think that the Ming Dynasty used the reason that Liaodong was occupied by Hou Jin and was inaccessible, so it delayed the dispatch of the envoy. However, the distance between the two countries was only three days' voyage. The Ming Dynasty was able to do so more than two hundred years ago. How could it be that Eunuch Sanbo led his fleet to sail to the South Seas and was unable to send envoys across the sea between the two countries? This was clearly a deliberate attempt to neglect North Korea and refused to recognize the legality of Li Jie's move to overthrow the previous ruler Gwanghae Gun by force. sex. In this kind of political game between countries, Li Bo became a prop used by the Ming Dynasty to manipulate North Korea.
Although North Korea, as a vassal state, had long had the awareness that the weak should obey the will of the strong, this arrangement still made Li Shu, an adult and sensible person, feel very uncomfortable. This trip to the Ming Dynasty in the Haihan sailboat reminded him of the unhappy past. However, as the crown prince, he still hid his emotions very well, and no one noticed that Li Bo had a brief negative emotion.
The officer in charge of commanding this fleet is Lieutenant Colonel Xie Li of the Navy. He was originally stationed in Liaodong. This time he was transferred to North Korea to participate in the Anti-Qing War. He just happened to return to Zhoushan to complete the defense change and enjoy the backlog that had been accumulated for two years. take a vacation. Escorting this group of North Korean students to complete the voyage from Seoul to Zhoushan Dinghai Port was his last task before this.
After entering the waters of the Zhoushan Islands, Xie Li ordered people to signal Li Bo's merchant ship, and the personnel on the ship informed Li Bo of the current location of the fleet. The main purpose of this is to maintain mutual trust between the two sides and prevent North Koreans from misunderstandings when they are unclear about the surrounding environment. Another reason that is not humane to outsiders is that after entering the waters of Zhoushan Islands, the identities of North Koreans become more sensitive. Xie Li notified them, but also reminded them to be careful in their words and deeds from now on, and not to be too ostentatious, so as not to provoke others. Unnecessary trouble.
The so-called trouble is mainly due to Li Bo's existence. If only ordinary Koreans were to enter and exit Zhoushan or even Ningbo City, there would be no problem. However, Li Bo's identity is too special. When the prince of Joseon visits the Ming Dynasty, he must first apply to the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty will approve and make corresponding actions. The trip could not take place until the arrangements were made, and now Li Bo took Haihan's ship to Daming territory, but did not say any hello to Daming beforehand. If Daming knew about it, Haihan would not care, but North Korea did not But he was still very afraid and didn't want to offend Daming.
Therefore, before the study abroad team set off, North Korea discussed this with Haehan and concluded that the impact of the Joseon Crown Prince's visit to Haehan should be minimized. Although this matter cannot be completely kept secret, there must be Ming Dynasty's eyes and ears in Seoul who will spread the news back to the country, but this kind of thing itself cannot be said to be done. As long as Ming Dynasty does not act in a high-profile manner, even if Ming Dynasty knows it, it will not take the initiative to disclose it. After all, if things get serious, it won't be Haihan and North Korea that will be embarrassed.
This principle is the same as when Ming Dynasty was occupied by Haihan and kept silent on Hainan Island. Since the situation that has already occurred cannot be changed, remaining silent is equivalent to saving one's face. Besides, in fact, the Ming Dynasty has already lost the vassal state of Korea by default. Regardless of whether this younger brother is loyal to the Qing Dynasty or Haihan, in short, if he jumps out and thinks that he is his suzerain country now, he will only be asking for trouble.
Li Pu was very aware of the stakes involved, and he did not want the political relations between the three countries to become delicate again because of his appearance, so after receiving the notice from the Haihan military, he asked his subordinates to inform him again. The students on the ship asked them to keep a low profile as much as possible after arriving in Zhoushan, especially not to reveal their identity or the real reason for coming to Zhoushan.
It was getting dark and it was too late for the fleet to reach Zhoushan before sunset, so Xie Li ordered to stop at Shengsi Islands to rest for one night and set off again early the next morning.
There is only a small fishing village on the island here, but Xie Li still had someone set up a tent on the coast and asked Li Shu to go ashore for the night to avoid the bumpy night.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to have dinner together, Li Bo asked Xie Li how far it was from Dinghai Port in Zhoushan. Xie Li didn't hide anything from him, and asked him to get a chart to show him the current location of the fleet.
"Except for Zhoushan Island, have Daishan Island, Qushan Island, and Shengshan Island, where we are currently located, all been placed under the jurisdiction of your country?" Li Bo asked curiously, looking at the sea map.
Xie Li explained: "To the east of Hangzhou Bay, the ownership of these islands in the sea has not been clearly determined. However, it is generally accepted that Zhoushan Island is under the jurisdiction of our country, and other islands are jointly managed by the two countries. Considering that the Zhejiang Navy generally does not Overseas activities are under the actual jurisdiction of our country most of the time.”
Li Shu was a little confused by this roundabout rhetoric. After sorting it out for a while, he understood what Xie Li meant - in fact, it was all under the control of Haihan, and the only difference was a name that was jointly confirmed by the officials of the two countries.
But Li Bo believed that this step was probably impossible. The Ming Dynasty would never cede territory to other countries - it would be considered a loss of territory at most, but it would never recognize other countries' right to rule over it.
And this is indeed the case. Although Haihan has more and more actual control areas on the Ming Dynasty coastline, the Ming Dynasty has never recognized the change of ownership of these places. Even though the two sides signed a diplomatic agreement last year, these disputes The definition of ownership of the area remains vague, and there is no written recognition of the ownership rights requested by Haihan.
In order to take care of Daming's face, Haihan finally accommodated the other party and did not forcefully claim the ownership rights of these areas. He still continued the past statement and called these places controlled by Haihan as disputed areas. That's why there were Xie Li's explanation was quite difficult to pronounce.
From Haihan's point of view, Xie Li's statement was very polite. Now the prosperity of Zhoushan Island has even surpassed that of the neighboring Ningbo Prefecture, and the actual rule of places like Xiangshan and Shipu is also happening faintly. Changes, Haihan's control area along the coast of Zhejiang actually extends beyond these islands at sea.
Of course, regarding this situation, Zhejiang officials will basically no longer take the initiative to say anything. In recent years, those who have been in the early years have died, been demoted, and disappeared. Instead, they choose to side with Haihan, such as the prefect of Ningbo. Qu Yutong, Hangzhou Tongpan Wang Yuan, Zhejiang Chief Envoy Wang Ji, etc. all made a lot of money and even had many properties overseas.
From a certain perspective, Zhejiang officials and Haihan have reached a tacit understanding. Haihan will no longer take hostile military measures in Zhejiang, nor will he send troops to occupy Zhejiang's borders. Zhejiang officials also turn a blind eye to Haihan's existence. Close your eyes and don't interfere with each other.
(End of chapter)