Chapter 2230
Fei Cexian's words were a double entendre. On the one hand, he showed that he was a man of integrity, and on the other hand, he was insinuating that the crown prince of Joseon had knelt down to Haehan in exchange for special treatment.
In a normal diplomatic situation, Fei Cexian would definitely not say such weird words. However, there happened to be no third person present at this time. It was a rare opportunity to have a one-on-one confrontation with the Crown Prince of Joseon. Fei Cexian simply said Then he vented the grievances that had been pent up in his heart for a long time.
Li Zhi, who was usually very dignified, had never been ridiculed with such sharp words in front of his face. At that moment, he couldn't help being irritated and sternly replied: "Since Mr. Fei is so upright, why don't you just argue and let Haihan take this Qiongzhou?" The island and other places taken from the Ming Dynasty will all be returned to the Ming Dynasty.”
If Fei Cexian's move could be considered a taunt, then Li Xie's counterattack could directly tear the scars.
For Ming Dynasty, the rise of Haihan was actually stepping on its own head and usurping Ming Dynasty's resources for its own development. For various reasons, Ming Dynasty had missed the best opportunity to nip it in the bud. Now, They can only knock out their teeth and swallow it, which acquiesces to Haihan's actual control over these occupied areas.
This was indeed a great shame and humiliation for the Ming Dynasty, which always boasted that it would not negotiate or cede territory, not to mention that the person who mentioned this was the heir apparent of the vassal country. In the past two hundred years, North Korea has always followed the Ming Dynasty. Any envoy sent by the Ming Dynasty to North Korea would be treated as an honored guest. But now the situation has obviously undergone some subtle changes. The authority of the Ming Dynasty is not as good as before, and even even Those in power in the vassal states no longer maintained due respect for the Ming Dynasty.
When the masks of usually politeness were torn off, the so-called diplomatic etiquette had long been forgotten by the two of them, and both of them hurled harsh words without mercy.
It is not up to the North Koreans to evaluate the grievances between Ming Dynasty and Haihan. Of course, Fei Cexian could not let the prince of North Korea humiliate the majesty of Ming Dynasty. Li Zhi believed that Ming Dynasty was already a powerful external force and could no longer exert pressure on North Korea. North Korea should rely on and imitate Haihan for its future development. After ten or twenty years, there would be no need to look at Ming Dynasty's face anymore.
Both of them looked at the current international situation from the perspective of their own countries. They both believed that they had no reason to fear the other party, and there was no need to take the initiative to make concessions. Therefore, they did not leave any room for words.
But after all, they were all respectable people. After a few words of argument, a passerby passed by. They knew that these words could not be heard by outsiders, so they stopped in unison.
It happened that this passerby also recognized them, and immediately stopped: "Your Majesty, Mr. Fei, what a coincidence that I can meet you two here!"
Both of them had unnatural expressions on their faces, and they bowed their hands to the visitor and said, "Mr. Tian!"
The visitor was Tian Zheng from the Foreign Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Tian Zheng was one of the accompanying officials when Li Zhen visited Sanya for inspection around the island last year. Fei Cexian usually dealt with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and met Tian Zheng many times. These two people are familiar with Tian Zheng, so naturally they cannot continue to argue in front of him.
Tian Zheng actually felt a little strange about the scene he saw. Of course he knew that the relationship between the prince of Joseon and the envoy of Ming Dynasty was very delicate. The two people would usually avoid each other intentionally and avoid encounters as much as possible. If they really couldn't avoid it, There is also very little communication.
As a diplomat of Haihan State, Tian Zheng would not try to bridge the relationship between the two people. After all, from Haihan's point of view, the relationship between North Korea and Ming Dynasty was not so harmonious, which was not a good idea for Haihan. Not a good thing. When Haihan was able to win North Korea into his camp, he took advantage of the growing suspicion and disagreement between the two countries.
But just now Tian Zheng saw from a distance that these two people were obviously standing together and talking about something. This special sight also made him very curious. But when the two of them saw him arriving, there was something obviously wrong with their expressions on their faces, and they immediately stopped talking, which made him want to find out what was going on.
"I just saw the two of you talking happily. I wonder what topic is so easy to talk about?" Seeing that neither of them had any intention to continue talking, Tian Zheng took the initiative to ask.
Have a nice conversation? Gritting his teeth is pretty much it. Li Zhi and Fei Cexian both felt amused. If Tian Zheng had heard the conversation just now, he would definitely not have used such unrealistic adjectives.
However, in front of Tian Zheng, it was difficult for the two of them to talk about the dispute they had just had. Fei Cexian was the first to speak: "I met the prince by chance. I just said hello and didn't talk about anything. Master Tian must have misunderstood."
Li Zhen also responded expressionlessly: "Master Fei has a noble status, I don't dare to talk casually. Master Ruotian has nothing else to do, and I still have homework to complete, so I will leave first and go back."
Fei Cexian snorted and said: "Master Ruotian has nothing else to do. I have to check some information. I'll take my leave now!"
There was still obvious anger between the two people's words. Seeing this, Tian Zheng felt relieved and said goodbye to the two people.
As soon as Li Zhi walked out of the library door, he heard someone greeting him from behind. When he looked back, it was Tian Zheng chasing after him. At this time, without Fei Cexian by his side, Li Xie's expression became much more relaxed. He raised his hands to Tian Zheng and said, "Master Tian, do you have any other advice?"
Tian Zheng waved his hand and said, "I don't have any advice. I'm here to return a piece of information to the library. I happen to have nothing to do at the moment. I wanted to ask the prince if he has time to sit down with us."
Li Xie hesitated for a moment, then nodded and agreed. Tian Zheng smiled when he saw this and said, "Don't worry, I won't drag you out to drink at this time. Maybe I can help you with the homework you have to complete."
It was still early for dinner, so Tian Zheng took Li Xie to a teahouse in the city, asked the waiter to find a quiet place to sit down, and ordered a pot of green tea and some pastries. "I was in the library just now. Did the Crown Prince have an argument with Mr. Fei?" Tian Zheng had come to his senses at this time. The scene he saw earlier was probably not a normal exchange between the two people, but a conversation between them. There was a conflict, so when he came up to say hello later, the attitude of the two people was so blunt.
"Master Fei is just an envoy sent by the Ming Dynasty to your country, but he is making fun of me... Master Tian, if it weren't for your sake, I would have to argue with him about right and wrong. !" Speaking of what happened just now, Li Xie was still angry and admitted Tian Zheng's guess.
Tian Zheng was also secretly amused. The two of them were usually very secretive and seemed to completely ignore each other's existence. But it seemed that this was just the appearance. They both had grudges in their hearts and would still quarrel when they got the chance.
Tian Zheng pretended to persuade: "I guess Master Fei is also responsible. He wants to save face for the Ming Dynasty, not to cause trouble for the prince."
Li Zhi snorted coldly and said: "I once heard your country's General Qian Tiandun say a very reasonable thing, face is given by others, face is lost by oneself! With the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, he has What qualifications do you have to ridicule our country? When the whole country of Korea was fighting against the Qing army last year, what was Ming Dynasty doing? It also said that it would help our country to defeat the Qing Dynasty, but it was said that it would not do anything. , then Ming Dynasty may still be the best in the world!”
When Tian Zheng heard this, he roughly understood where Li Xie's grievances lay. It was obvious that Fei Cexian was dissatisfied with North Korea's attitude toward Haihan and took the opportunity to make a few mocking remarks. As a North Korean, Li Zhi definitely had the opposite view. He believed that the Ming Dynasty did not help North Korea when its life and death was at stake last year, but now it still If he jumps out to accuse North Korea, he will naturally not be convinced.
However, Li Zhi's unkind evaluation of Fei Cexian and Daming also made Tian Zheng refresh his view of him. Tian Zheng originally thought that Li Xie still had great respect for the Ming Dynasty, so he tried his best to avoid meeting Fei Cexian, the Ming Dynasty envoy in Sanya. But now it seems that this view misunderstood Li Xie. It was not out of awe, but because of his previous failure to save him, which made him hate Ming.
Of course, this kind of sentiment may not be a bad thing for the diplomatic relations between Haihan and North Korea. As the future king of North Korea, Li Zhi is alienated from the Ming Dynasty, so it is more likely that North Korea's stance will be inclined to Haihan in the future. , which is exactly what the Haihan diplomats expected to see.
Tian Zheng nodded and said: "Today's Ming Dynasty is facing constant internal and external troubles. If it is not handled well, the situation will only become more difficult in the future. That Lord Fei doesn't know the changes in the world situation, and it is inevitable that he will have some thoughts of watching the sky from the bottom of a well. Your Majesty, you Today’s vision is much broader than his, so of course we won’t agree with his limited and one-sided views.”
At present, the study courses arranged by Haihan officials for Li Zhi are extremely complex and involve various fields, among which diplomacy is naturally indispensable. Although Tian Zheng was not the instructor teaching Li Xie, as an official of the Foreign Affairs Department, he also participated in the formulation of the course content, so he also had a rough idea of what related content Li Xie would learn.
If Haihan wants Li Xie to bring North Korea into his camp in the future, he must make Li Xie's worldview and values consistent with Haihan through training while studying abroad. To achieve this effect, it is natural for Li Xie to broaden his horizons and no longer stick to the three-acre land at his doorstep, but to look at the world and understand the changing direction of the international situation.
Although the various courses Li Zhi studied were in different professional fields, they complemented each other and had the same teaching objectives. For example, Li Zhen came to the library today to check map information to complete his navigation homework. Through this process, he could more vividly understand the actual scope of Haihan's control in Northeast Asia, especially his control of the mainland coastline.
These cognitions cannot be explained to Li Xie through simple language descriptions, but when he measures and calculates the voyage on the map, he can establish a clearer understanding of the "control of the sea" described by the instructor. There was a deeper understanding of the Han's ability to establish trade networks and military bases via sea routes beyond the local area.
When this information gradually pieced together a powerful image of the Haihan Kingdom in his mind, Daming, which had mediocre results in this area, would naturally be placed in a second-class position by him.
Tian Zheng's words made Li Xie greatly benefited, and finally a smile appeared on his face: "Thank you, Mr. Tian! My improvement in my horizons also depends on your country's ability to arrange this opportunity to study abroad. If I hadn't gone abroad, I have seen that the world is vast, and my thoughts may be similar to that of Mr. Fei, who only sticks to the old understanding of the past and is unaware of the changes in the current situation.”
Tian Zheng nodded and said: "That's right. In this era, all the heroes are rising together. The strong may not always be strong, and the weak may not have no chance to get ahead. The world is so big, not just the eastern countries we are familiar with. In the far west There are many powerful countries. Among the coalition forces that went to fight in your country last year, Portugal was one of them. They have gone to more places in the world than our country, but their territory is only half the size of your country. It's just that, but it can conquer the world. Although our country of Haihan has been established for less than ten years, it has become a maritime power. In the future, we will definitely expand our territory to a larger scope. Your country will do what we can in the future. It’s also possible.”
Li Xie was very excited when he heard it. Some of the information Tian Zheng said he had already been exposed to in the course, and some of it was the first time he heard it today. Of course, he dreamed that his country could one day become a powerful country like Haihan, but hearing such a possibility from Haihan officials made him excited.
As for how to realize this possibility, Haihan has actually given a way, which is to let North Korea follow Haihan's development path. Li Xie and the officers, craftsmen, etc. who came to Sanya to study with him, their mission is to Bring the advanced features of Haihan back to North Korea for implementation. Perhaps after a few years, it is hard to say that the national power will really surpass the Ming Dynasty - at least Li Zhen has such strong expectations.
Li Yan said: "A few years ago, I would never have believed that there was a country more powerful than the Ming Dynasty in the world, but now it seems that there are at least two emerging countries in the south and north of the Ming Dynasty that are more powerful than it. Our country faces three challenges It is naturally impossible to follow the development route of the Qing Dynasty, and only your country's approach from sea to land is the most suitable for our country's situation. In the future, we will take care of your country's north and south, and we will no longer have to worry about powerful neighbors!"
Tian Zheng nodded and said: "Your Majesty can recognize the changes in the international situation. If he governs North Korea in the future, your country's national power will surely grow rapidly. When the Ming Dynasty sends envoys to your country, your Majesty will no longer need to treat him like a courtier. ”
Li Zhen Surong said: "When I ascend the throne, I will notify the Ming Dynasty to end the vassal relationship between the two countries. From now on, we will treat it as normal diplomatic relations."
If Fei Cexian was present to hear this statement, he would probably be so angry that he would blow his beard and stare. However, this is also the general trend of history, and it will not stop because of the dissatisfaction of individual people.
(End of chapter)