Chapter 1873 Tell the Truth
Li Bo actually had no plan to meet Ming officials during his trip. After all, considering the current mutual relations between the three countries, meeting Ming officials in a place like Zhoushan where the ownership rights are still controversial, even if there is no conflict, there will be mutual respect. It will feel awkward. He really didn't expect that Ningbo officials were so open-minded and even came to Zhoushan Island to meet with him. It seemed that his identity still had some weight in the eyes of Ming officials.
However, Li Bo overestimated North Korea and his own influence. The local officials of Ming Dynasty were willing to show up in this matter mainly because of Shi Diwen's face. Moreover, a batch of arms for sale had recently arrived at Dinghai Port, so military leaders from nearby coastal state capitals rushed over to see if they could buy some useful equipment from Shi Diwen. And Li Bo's appearance happened to coincide with the meeting, and no one really regarded the meeting with the Prince of Joseon as a big deal. It just added to the many international social events on Zhoushan Island. It’s time to talk.
Compared with when Haihan first occupied Zhoushan Island a few years ago, the infrastructure construction on the island has undergone very significant changes. In addition to conspicuous areas such as ports and terminals, the living conditions on the island have also been improved. The banquet hall used to entertain Li Bo and his party today was only built last year. It is mainly used for annual investment activities. It can not only set up exhibitions but also hold banquets. It can also be used to hold conferences when necessary.
After Li Bo followed Shi Diwen into the banquet hall, he saw that countless people waiting here were all dressed in Mingren clothes, which was completely different from Haihan's short coat and double-breasted dress. Moreover, these people have dark skin and strong bodies. It is obvious at a glance that they are people who have been living on the beach for a long time.
Shi Diwen took the initiative to introduce to Li Bo: "Your Majesty, this is Commander Yan Guowei of Changguo Guard... This is Ma Lingma Qianhu of Shipu Institute... Commander of Linshan Guard Wei Shanwei... Guanhai Guard Huang Taohuang Commander..."
Of course, Li Bo knew the Ming military's garrison system. Any commander had thousands of soldiers and horses under his command, and the lowest-ranking military attache present was Qianhu. To be able to gather so many powerful military attachés from the Ming Dynasty here, it was surprising. He had a new understanding of Shi Diwen's local influence.
Of course Shi Diwen would not explain to Li Bo the real reason why these Ming military attaches came to Dinghai Port. He wanted to take this opportunity to show Li Bo that the relationship between Haihan and Ming was not as tense as the outside world imagined. The exchanges between countries go far beyond the economic and trade level. Under the water, the areas of cooperation between the two countries actually far exceeded the content of the diplomatic agreement, and these exchanges were actually with the tacit approval of Ming Dynasty.
Some people may think that this is just a choice made by local military leaders for their own selfish interests and does not represent the attitude of the Ming Dynasty. However, objectively their performance will definitely be understood by the outside world as the attitude of the Ming Dynasty. . You must know that these officials present are not small roles. They range from commanders of the third rank to Qianhu of the fifth rank. They all have military power in their hands and can speak more effectively on the sea and border than civilian officials of the same level. After all, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. To most people, the imperial court is just a symbol and not something to be afraid of. In comparison, the benefits gained are more real.
To put it bluntly, even if the imperial court does not agree with the actions of these local military leaders, there is not much that can be done against them. With the example of Fujian Xu Xinsu, many military attachés of the Ming Dynasty had a new understanding of their military power. It turned out that the military power they held could not only be used for fighting, but if they wanted to use their military power to make money, they could not only use empty pay. It's just a method. As for obeying the court's instructions and disobeying them and doing his own thing in the local area, he learned very quickly.
These Ming Dynasty military attachés who came to Dinghaiport to buy arms this time did not get their arms purchase funds from the Ministry of War, and the imperial court did not have the spare money to allow Jiangsu and Zhejiang to strengthen their armaments. Part of this military expenditure was paid out of their own pockets, and the other part came from donations from wealthy merchants and gentry within their jurisdiction. The reason why they wanted to strengthen their armed forces at all costs was because they followed the practices of the Xu family in Fujian. Only when their military strength was strong enough could they be able to neither listen to orders nor listen to propaganda, and remain a wealthy and wealthy warlord in the local area.
However, Haihan's arms business has always been a seller's market, and there are often some political conditions attached to the transactions. Even if the buyer has money, he may not be able to buy the weapons and equipment he wants. That's why this group of talents showed up on this occasion today to gain favor for Shi Diwen, so that they might be able to gain some friendship share in the upcoming arms purchase.
Li Bo naturally also noticed that almost all of the people introduced to him by Shi Diwen were local military attaches from Zhejiang. Seeing that he had reached the end of the line of guests, Li Bo finally saw a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar.
"This is Mr. He Xiao."
What surprised Li Pu was that Shi Diwen did not introduce this person's official position, since he was not an official of the imperial court. But if this person is qualified to stand with these military attaches, Li Bo still feels that there must be something special about his identity.
Sure enough, Shi Diwen continued to introduce: "Mr. He is a close aide of Mr. Qu, the prefect of Ningbo. Generally, Mr. He comes forward when it is inconvenient for Mr. Qu."
Li Ming understood now that this was the master who represented the Ningbo magistrate. No wonder the other military attaches were not surprised by his presence. The prefect's ability to send people to participate in today's banquet has already shown his attitude. Li Bo does not expect to see the top leaders of the Ming Dynasty local government on the land of Haihan people.
He Xiao bowed his hands and said: "He has met the Crown Prince, and I would like to say hello to the Crown Prince on behalf of the magistrate!"
He Xiao's words made it very clear, and there was no need for Li Bo to second guess his position. Li Bo immediately responded: "Your Majesty, the magistrate is interested, and I would like to ask Mr. He to also convey my son's greetings to the magistrate."
Because Li Bo's identity is relatively sensitive, apart from He Xiao, there are no other civilians on the guest list for today's banquet. They are all officials from Ming and Haihan, as well as envoys from other countries. Li Pu remembered his father's instructions before going abroad. Sure enough, at this first stop, he really felt the pressure of being a symbol of North Korea abroad. Although he occasionally attended political discussions and met with foreign envoys with Li Zhu when he was in the country, he had never met so many foreign officials alone. He was a little nervous at the moment and did not even dare to speak.
However, Shi Diwen was afraid that everyone would not know the purpose of Li Bo's visit. After sitting at the table, he loudly explained to everyone: "The Crown Prince of Joseon is going south to visit Sanya, the capital of our country, and will stay in Sanya for cultural exchanges with our country in the future. The Crown Prince’s visit also symbolizes the profound friendship between our country and North Korea, so as the Crown Prince’s first stop in Haihan, we will first greet the Crown Prince in Zhoushan! Everyone, let us toast the Crown Prince!”
Li Bo quickly raised his glass and stood up to greet everyone in return. He did not expect that this senior official from Haihan would publicize his study abroad in such a high-profile manner to other countries. It was not convenient to explain the ins and outs to these people at the moment, so he had to drink the glass of wine first. Shi Diwen's plan is very clear, which is to use the opportunity of Li Bo to study in Haihan to promote Haihan's international status to other countries - you can see clearly that all the princes of Joseon have studied in Haihan, which has fully demonstrated that North Korea position, Haihan’s camp has gained another member.
As for how Ming officials felt about this, in fact, after North Korea confirmed the arrangement for the crown prince to study abroad, Shi Diwen had already communicated with Qu Yutong and asked him, as a Ming official, his opinion on North Korea's move. .
Qu Yutong's explanation at that time was very practical: "It's going to rain, my mother is getting married, and North Korea wants to change its master, so who can stop it? Now the imperial court doesn't even send envoys to North Korea, even if it's right If you are dissatisfied with North Korea’s choice, there is no place to lose your temper. Can North Korea’s sins be cured?”
As for the attitude of a local official towards this matter, Qu Yutong also said very straightforwardly: "It has no impact on us, so just treat it as a fun event. If it can bring benefits to the area under my jurisdiction, then why not support it?" ?”
Is Li Bo’s study abroad beneficial to the coastal state of Zhejiang? Maybe there is still a little bit of it. Although Haihan also has Shandong and Liaodong ruling areas in the north, if the purpose is trade, Zhoushan Dinghai Port is the closest trading port to North Korea under Haihan's rule. Li Bo's study in Haihan will definitely promote the trade between Haihan and North Korea. The number of merchant ships traveling between Dinghai Port and North Korea will gradually increase. As the state capital closest to Dinghai Port, Ningbo Prefecture will inevitably have access to the water on a first-come-first-served basis. , get many benefits from it.
For Qu Yutong personally, the commercial and shipping companies he actually controls can take the opportunity to carry out business targeting North Korea, and the earlier he enters the market, the more first-mover advantage he will have. In practice, among the first batch of Ming Dynasty merchants who entered Seoul to acquire real estate and prepare to settle down after the war, there was a shipping company controlled by He Xiao's brother He Li, and the big boss behind this shipping company was none other than Qu Yutong himself.
North Korea's change of suzerain state was indeed disloyal to the Ming Dynasty, but it was just a matter of face. It is impossible to say that it caused any actual losses to Ming Dynasty. At the very least, the Ming Dynasty would not spend money to send troops every now and then to rescue this weak brother, and there would no longer be a need to bear the huge losses caused by war in order to maintain this vassal state.
For Ming officials like Qu Yutong, who had connections and means, North Korea's change in political stance was actually a good opportunity to make a fortune. They could easily follow Haihan into the North Korean market and obtain considerable profits from it. And if there is an opportunity to establish a personal relationship with the heir to the North Korean throne, this may bring unimaginable benefits in the future. Therefore, although Qu Yutong did not come to Zhoushan Island to meet with Li Bo in person to avoid suspicion, he still sent He Xiao was appointed as his representative to express goodwill to the prince of Joseon.
As a newbie in diplomacy, Li Ming may not be aware of the secrets involved at the moment, but one thing is certain, that is, these Ming officials do not seem to have any ill feelings towards him, or in other words, they are not as dissatisfied with his identity as he expected. So sensitive. On the contrary, people kept coming over to toast him, and then asked him a few questions about the current situation of North Korea, especially trade information. Almost everyone was very interested.
Li Pu didn't quite understand why these military generals were so interested in the buying and selling of goods in the North Korean market, but it was expected that this kind of thing would not involve state secrets. He basically told it frankly and did not show off. The airs of an aristocrat.
Li Shu's attitude easily won the favor of the Ming Dynasty military attachés present. Their purpose of approaching Li Shu could not be more simple, just to see if they could find an opportunity to make money. They can't compare to officials like Qu Yutong who are married to Haihan senior officials. They can easily get first-hand inside information. They can only look for opportunities to collect information, and Li Bo's status is undoubtedly an extremely rare one. As a source of intelligence, people naturally flocked to him, hoping to get more information about the North Korean market from him.
Li Bo has been living in the palace for more than 20 years. After becoming the crown prince, he was deliberately controlled by his father. He kept a certain distance from the ministers and was indeed relatively immature in diplomacy. These military attachés of the Ming Dynasty complimented him a lot, and then as he got drunker, he put aside the words of being cautious in his words and deeds, and chatted and laughed with these military attaches.
The North Korean students who came with Li Bo were just accompanying the guests. Among them, there were only military attaches and no civilian officials, and the military attaches were all low-level officers. They were not even qualified to come forward to toast Haihan and Ming officials. It was not enough, so I could only sit on the outer edge and watch this diplomatic event while eating.
Before the banquet was over, Li Pu was so drunk that he had to be carried back to his residence on a wicker chair. When he woke up in the middle of the night because of thirst, he couldn't remember the experience between when he sat down at the table and before he became drunk. The last scene he remembered was that seven or eight military attaches from the Ming Dynasty gathered around him, saying that they had the opportunity to go to North Korea to see the local customs and customs.
Li Pu couldn't help but snorted coldly when he thought of this scene. In the past few years, North Korea had repeatedly requested military assistance from the Ming Dynasty, hoping that they could send troops to help them resist the Hou Jin Dynasty in the north. However, Ming Dynasty's response repeatedly disappointed them. Except for the soldiers and horses of Dongjiang Town on Pi Island who continued to fight, they never sent a single soldier to North Korea. In the end, the soldiers and horses of Dongjiang Town were abandoned by the Ming Dynasty. In order to protect themselves, they had to leave North Korea and join Haihan, and then moved to Jinzhou. As a last resort, North Korea changed the target of its request for help to Haihan, and received a response quickly.
Nowadays, these Ming officers are shamelessly claiming to go to North Korea for sightseeing, but North Korea has been begging the Ming Dynasty for so long before, but why has no one led troops to North Korea?
Li Bo did not understand how serious the internal and external troubles faced by the Ming Dynasty were, and it was no longer possible to send troops to North Korea to help the war like during the Wanli period. He only knew that it was the Haihan people who saved North Korea in the end, but it was the Ming Dynasty, the former suzerain country, that stood aside and watched the crisis in North Korea.
(End of chapter)