Chapter 2076
As exchanges between the two countries increase year by year, North Korea has gradually learned about Haihan's illustrious family history. North Korea's rulers can be said to respect and fear this country that mainly relies on force to expand its territory. The territory of Haihan was seized from various countries, mainly the Ming Dynasty. Even countries such as Annan that were allied with it from the beginning still contributed several ports to Haihan in the form of leases.
So far, North Korea has only set aside an area for Haihan in the lower reaches of the Datong River last year to establish a defensive line to resist the massive invasion of the Qing army at that time. After the war, this area naturally became Haihan's military base and was placed under Haihan's jurisdiction. So far, Haihan has not taken the initiative to request a certain place from North Korea.
But for North Korean officials, the string in their minds has never been loosened. Judging from Haihan's past operations, as long as it is a place that this country wants to occupy, no matter which country it belongs to at the time, Haihan will try to get it. Even in Liaodong, which was thousands of miles away from its homeland, Haihan sent troops to seize a piece of territory from Hou Jin, who controlled this area at the time. If Haihan proposes to gain control of a certain area from North Korea, it seems difficult for North Korea to resist such a request.
Although Haihan was grateful to North Korea for sending troops to repel the Qing invasion last year, Li Jian was certainly not happy to give away his country's territory to Haihan in vain. After receiving the news from Wang Tom, he was not sure of the other party's intentions. Why exactly was that why Kim Sang-hyun and Cui Ming-gil were specially summoned to the palace to hear the opinions of these two important ministers? The first reaction of the two people after hearing this was similar to his, thinking that this might be the Haihan people testing their attitude. If North Korea is not very sensitive to this, then they may make further moves against Jeju Island. .
Sending naval warships to Jeju Island in the name of training seems a bit unfriendly to the North Koreans, because since Haihan reached a military cooperation agreement with North Korea, naval forces have never been arranged to operate in the waters near Jeju Island. Conduct training. In the past, the Haihan Army's military operations and training arrangements, with or without the participation of the Korean Army, were mostly arranged in the Yellow Sea between the Korean Peninsula and the Liaodong Peninsula, so as to facilitate the completion of supplies at the Datong River base and Port Arthur. .
In the past two years, the Haihan Army's main enemy in the area surrounding North Korea was undoubtedly the Qing Kingdom in Liaodong. Almost all of Haihan's military operations in this area were formulated and implemented against the Qing Army. However, The location of Jeju Island is about 1,500 miles away from the territory of the Qing Dynasty. In addition, the Qing army's current maritime combat capability is almost zero. This makes the Korean monarchs and ministers unable to think of a reasonable explanation for Haihan's presence in Jeju. The reason for arranging sea training near the island.
After listening to the two people's answers, Li Zhu felt more and more that his worries were justified, but the question was, could he refuse the request made by the Haihan military?
Li Jian couldn't think of a way, so he hoped that his ministers could give him some advice: "Two dear friends, do you have any way to dispel the idea of the Haihan Army borrowing land on Jeju Island without causing this? And offended them? ”
Jin Sangxian and Cui Mingji looked at each other after hearing this, and they both saw deep helplessness on each other's faces. They can clearly feel the arrogance of Haihan people in their daily contacts with senior officials of Haihan. Neither the Ming Dynasty nor the Qing Dynasty take it seriously. If anyone dares to refuse Haihan's request, then in the end, What awaits is often a one-sided war.
After last year's war, North Korea's monarchs and ministers basically gave up the idea of competing with Haihan in terms of military strength. If before this, there was a debate in the North Korean court about whether to fight to the death or negotiate for peace when facing foreign enemies, but when facing Haihan, there was basically no second voice. He even publicly regarded Haihan as Imaginary enemies are also taboo. If today's discussion between the emperor and his ministers had taken place in the court, then these two senior officials would probably not have questioned Haihan's request at all.
Li Zhu felt quite disappointed when he saw that these two people were silent and had no energy that usually made them blush in front of him. He didn't know that the Haihan people couldn't afford to offend him, but he was still unwilling to let the other party take advantage of the opportunity to take away the land that belonged to him. And civil servants like Kim Sang-hyun and Cui Ming-gil, who usually argue issues with integrity, have absolutely no hope at this time, and they can't even think of a feasible solution for themselves.
After a long time, Jin Sangxian tentatively responded: "Then it would be better for the minister to go to the Datong River in person and ask what the Haihan people mean, so that your majesty can deal with it more easily."
Li Zhu thought that there seemed to be no other way to figure out the Haihan people's intentions at the moment, so he agreed to Jin Sangxian's offer and gave him a job as a labor force. In this way, it would be easier to visit the Haihan people on the other side of the Datong River. It would appear too abrupt.
Since he was a labor force, of course he couldn't go empty-handed. Kim Sang-hyun spent two days in Seoul to purchase a batch of livestock, medicinal materials, cloth and other daily necessities, and then loaded them on ships to the Taedong River base in the north.
The last time Kim Sang-hyun came to the Taedong River base was last year, so when the boat he was riding entered the estuary of the Taedong River, he saw a large area of salt pans under construction appearing on the originally barren river bank. These salt fields spread out along the river bank and extend for several miles to the north. According to the Haihan people, the production capacity of the Datong River Salt Fields after its completion is sufficient to supply the daily needs of the west coast of North Korea, and the huge profits generated from this are also conceivable.
"Mr. Cui thought that the commissioning of the Datong River Salt Farm would make me jump in panic. How short-sighted!" Kim Sang-hyun was not disappointed when he saw the scene by the river, but was actually quite excited.
The Kim family was indeed involved in part of the operation of North Korea's official salt farms in the past, and Cui Mingji's information on this point is accurate. But what he didn't know was that Kim's participation was also very high in a series of large-scale projects that Haihan and North Korean officials cooperated with in the lower reaches of the Taedong River.
At that time, it was Kim Sang-hyun who represented North Korea and Hae-han to discuss the content and implementation plan of the cooperation project. In this process, it was extremely easy to obtain some invisible benefits for his family. More than half of the construction funds for this salt farm came from the Lee royal family, and Kim Sang-heon's family also accounted for a certain proportion of the remaining investment. Therefore, after the salt farm was put into operation, the Kim family was also one of the beneficiaries.
Of course, as the person in charge of discussing these cooperation projects, Kim Sang-hyun rudely excluded the Choi family, so the person who really couldn't even drink soup was not Kim Sang-hyun, but Choi Ming-gil and the family behind him.
Naturally, Kim Sang-hyun would not take the initiative to expose these inside stories. Since Cui Ming-gil is self-righteous, let him continue to misjudge the situation. After a few years, the effects of Kim's participation in major projects such as salt production, iron smelting, shipbuilding, and military industry will gradually become apparent. In addition to considerable economic benefits, political benefits will also be Consolidate Kim’s influence in domestic politics. By then, it is estimated that Prince Zhaoxian will also return to China from studying abroad in Haihan. If he wants to completely suppress the Cui family in the officialdom, it will be a natural result.
But to achieve such a situation, Kim Sang-hyun must continue to hold Hae-han's thigh tightly for now. Although he expressed his worries about Haehan's ambition to Li Zhu in Gyeongbokgung Palace the day before yesterday, it was actually just a show for his superiors and colleagues.
During the battle with the Qing army last year, Kim Sang-hyun spent almost the entire battle at the Haehan position on the banks of the Datong River. Probably no one in North Korea knew the terrifying strength of his teammate Haehan army better than him. Fight against Haihan? He would not make such a stupid choice, not to mention that the Haihan people had hinted to him more than once that as long as they maintained a deep cooperative relationship, they would secretly support the development of the Jin family in the future. The support mentioned by the Haihan people is not just verbal. In addition to allowing the Jin family to invest in these large-scale projects in the Datong River Basin, it also provides the Jin family with some overseas trade channels, such as being chartered to establish a Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province. Trade warehouses to facilitate long-term cross-border trade. In addition, the Jin family can also select young talents with outstanding qualifications in the family to study abroad in Haihan Kingdom and learn various advanced skills and knowledge.
These benefits are by no means easily obtained by North Korean officials, and Kim Sang-hyun also understands that the reason why he has been favored by the Haihan people is that in addition to satisfying the other party's performance in last year's cooperation, another very important point is that he has always been firm. This choice of team should be consistent with Haihan's interests.
The Haehan people invited Crown Prince Sohyun to study abroad. The purpose was, of course, to enable the future rulers of North Korea to continue their pro-Haehan political stance. During the period when the Crown Prince left North Korea, Haehan hoped that there would always be someone loyal to him in the Korean officialdom. A group of followers were created to ensure that the prince could successfully inherit the throne after he returned from his studies. As one of the most influential officials in North Korea's political arena, Kim Sang-hyun is undoubtedly a very suitable candidate for this task.
If Kim Sang-hyun wants to ensure that his career will be smooth in the future, that he can enjoy prosperity and wealth, as well as the future development prospects of his family, he must tie his own interests to Haihan. Of course, he doesn't want to betray his country for this, so it's not easy to grasp this scale. Regarding the Haehan people's request to provide a military supply port on Jeju Island, Kim Sang-hyun also hoped to get a reasonable explanation from the other party so that he would not have to suffer for this.
Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom were not too surprised by Jin Sangxian's initiative to visit. They actually thought that the North Koreans would not readily agree to the conditions they proposed, and they would probably have to find another way to find out about Haihan. True intention. Kim Sang-hyun arrived at the Datongjiang base two or three days earlier than they expected.
"It seems that Li Zhu can't hold his anger anymore." Wang Tom joked: "It's probably because the way we made the request made him a little worried."
Qian Tiandun said: "When something goes wrong, there must be a monster. We didn't go to Jeju Island at all before, but now we suddenly have to send warships to station there. It's strange that the North Koreans don't panic. Li Zhu will probably think that we are interested in it." In Jeju Island, they are going to find an excuse to eat it alive. They don’t dare to refuse us directly, so they can only send someone over to find out.”
Qian Tiandun's speculations were basically all right, and he understood the official mentality of North Korea extremely accurately. But in fact, they are not pretending to be mysterious to scare the North Koreans, but if the purpose of the operation is announced, the news will easily leak out in advance. And they really wanted to try their luck. If the North Koreans agreed immediately, they would save a lot of trouble, but now it seems that this expectation has not been realized.
Since Kim Sang-hyun came to the door on his own initiative, he must have come to ask for an explanation, and it was impossible for the two of them to close the door to him. Later, Jin Sangxian was taken to the base by carriage and met with Wang Qian.
"Master Jin is so polite. He brought so many things as a guest!" After Wang Tom read the gift list presented by Jin Shangxian, he also said a few polite words. Although the labor supplies sent by Jin Sangxian were not rare, they were not small in quantity. They would cost at least seven to eight thousand taels of silver to purchase.
Kim Sang-hyun said with a smile on his face: "The labor force this time is His Majesty's wish, and I am only responsible for handling it. The two generals stationed here will inevitably work hard, and these supplies are also a token of gratitude from the country."
After a few polite words, Wang Tom took the initiative to get down to business: "Master Jin is coming here this time. He must have other tasks, right? If you have anything to ask, you might as well just say it."
Jin Shangxian laughed twice and said: "General Wang is really awesome, so I'll tell you straight. Your Majesty didn't quite understand the letter that the general sent to the palace the day before yesterday, so..."
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"Then why doesn't your Majesty understand?" Wang Tom asked.
"Well... I just don't understand why your country arranges to conduct training near Jeju Island. After a long journey, why not train in the Yellow Sea, where supplies are convenient, and if actual combat training is needed, you can also find opponents. Wouldn't it be a hundred times better than Jeju Island? "Kim Sang-hyun had already thought of the words when he came, and he spoke them out immediately, hoping that Haihan could give a reasonable reason.
Wang Tom said: "Most of the reasons mentioned by Mr. Jin are reasonable, but due to confidentiality considerations, the goals of military operations sometimes cannot be announced to the public in advance."
Kim Sang-hyun was very perceptive and responded immediately: "What General Wang means...is there another purpose for your army to take actions near Jeju Island?"
"Yes." Wang Tom readily admitted this, and then clarified: "But it may be different from the purpose of His Majesty the King and Lord Jin."
(End of chapter)