Chapter 2300
Although Zhang Jinbao was a little curious about which big shot visited Hong Kong and created such a huge situation, he also knew that there were some things that he couldn't inquire about casually, especially the itinerary of senior figures in Haihan. That was not something ordinary people should be curious about. , if someone from the government noticed him, he might be treated as a spy.
With this mentality, Zhang Jinbao simply gave up his plan to spend the night in the city, lest he wake up tomorrow and find that the city was also closed, which might delay his subsequent trip. Although the cabin on the ship was not comfortable, sleeping one more night would not kill anyone. In order to rush back to Danzhou safely, I had to make do with one more night.
However, his worries were obviously unnecessary. Nothing happened in the port area that night, and there were no more blockade measures after dawn. After completing the loading and unloading of the cargo, the ship he was on successfully left the port and continued its journey south.
And the "elegant man" whose arrival in Hong Kong led to the temporary closure of the port was currently a guest at the house of Hong Kong leader You Yihan.
"Did you feel comfortable living here yesterday? If you need anything, don't be polite. Even if you ask, I will try my best to satisfy you." You Yihan was very polite to this "noble man", because the executive committee sent The order requires all places along the route, including Hong Kong, to take good care of this "noble person", especially in terms of safety, and must provide absolute protection.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Mr. You! I had a good rest last night, but I have something important to do. This trip is tight and I don't have time to stay in Hong Kong. I will just wait to see Mr. You again when I have the opportunity to come to Hong Kong next time."
The young man sitting opposite You Yihan was dressed in luxurious clothes. Although he spoke politely, his eyes and expression did not seem to be groveling at all. Being able to talk to senior officials in Haihan with such an attitude that is neither humble nor arrogant means that his status is certainly not bad.
You Yihan nodded and said: "This happened unexpectedly, and I only received the relevant news recently. You must be eager to return home at this time, so I will not accept guests. I have already prepared the carriage and it is ready to go at any time."< br>
The young man stood up, bowed and said goodbye: "Then I'll say goodbye to Master You now!"
You Yihan sent the young man to the gate and watched him get on the carriage parked outside. In addition to many armed Haihan soldiers with live ammunition, there were more than a dozen guards in armor and swords on their waists, guarding the carriage. Live, it looks like you are facing a formidable enemy.
Under the guard of more than thirty armed men, the carriage arrived at a pier somewhere in the port that had been cleared in advance. There were already several sailboats on the pier ready to set off, and they were only waiting for the young man to board the ship before unmooring. Raise the sail.
"Andao Shi, tell me to get down and set off!" After boarding the ship, the young man simply gave a few instructions to the military attache who was following him, and then got into the cabin.
Andao Shi responded and quickly conveyed this instruction.
This military attache was An Daoshi, a North Korean military officer who had studied in Sanya before. Naturally, the only person who could dispatch him so casually was his master, the Crown Prince of North Korea, Li Shi.
There are actually still a few months until Li Zhi's study abroad ends, and although the North Korean officers who came to Sanya to study together have participated in the competition, they have not actually completed all their studies. The reason why they had to leave Sanya and return to China in a hurry was naturally because some major changes had occurred in the country and they had to rush back to deal with it as soon as possible.
According to the voyage arrangement, we will only make necessary stops at ports along the way for supplies on this journey north, and we must rush back to Seoul as quickly as possible. Therefore, the ship only stayed one night when it arrived in Hong Kong due to poor weather conditions, and continued on its journey early the next morning.
After returning to the cabin to be alone, Li Xie was no longer as calm as when he faced You Yihan before, and his face became much gloomier. Before going abroad, he had imagined the various difficulties he might encounter while studying abroad, but he did not expect that his studying abroad career would go smoothly. However, the domestic situation that originally seemed stable turned out to be a big problem while he was studying abroad.
At this time, Li Zhi could only be grateful that the cooperation between North Korea and Haihan was close enough. It only took half a day for the news to be transmitted from North Korea to Sanya. The Haihan Executive Committee immediately held a meeting after receiving the news, and then decided to send Li Zhi back to North Korea as soon as possible to deal with the chaos. Only one day later, the fleet carrying Li Xie and his civil and military officials set off from Sanya. Such efficiency made Li Xie unable to find any faults.
However, Haihan's attitude seemed to be somewhat unclear. He did not express his attitude to Li Xie that he would do his best to support his actions after returning to the country. He only promised to give him the necessary help. If the domestic situation in North Korea deteriorates, Haihan Security will also be provided to him.
Li Zhi believed that such a statement should be related to the current domestic situation in North Korea, but even the information provided by Haihan was unclear about what the current domestic situation was, and he was unable to make an accurate judgment.
According to the information provided by Haihan, a palace coup took place in North Korea just a few days ago. This kind of thing is not uncommon in the history of North Korea. Even the current King of North Korea, Li Jian, overthrew his uncle Gwanghae Gun who was in power at the time by launching the so-called Injo Rebellion in 1623, and won the Ming Dynasty in 1625. He was canonized and became the king of Korea.
After Li Zhu came to power, the trick of coup did not end. In 1624, Li Shi rebelled because he was dissatisfied with the distribution of rewards based on merit after Li Zhu came to power. In 1627, Li Inju launched a rebellion in Gangwon Province. In 1628 Liu Xiaoli and others wanted to make Lord Rencheng king, but Liu Yingping rebelled in 1632. In 1633, Li Shi said that he wanted to make Li Zhuo king in Jinyuan. In 1635, Li Jian rebelled...
It can be said that its domestic political arena has been quiet for a few years, and coups launched by various forces have emerged one after another. Since King Li Zhu was thirty years old, he has been fighting against various forces in the past ten years. During this period, he also encountered two large-scale invasions from his evil neighbors in the north. Life was really not easy.
Although Li Jian's rule was not stable, he was on the right side during the most critical historical period, saving North Korea from complete collapse in the second invasion of the Qing Dynasty. Although Haihan's intervention could not completely solve the domestic power struggle in North Korea, it at least helped the country reduce military pressure from the outside, allowing Li Zhu to focus more on national governance. However, successive years of civil strife and invasion by foreign enemies have made North Korea's financial situation a mess. After the end of the anti-Qing war last year, it even needed to borrow money from Haihan to maintain the operation of domestic government agencies. Large areas of the country that have been devastated by war are simply unable to do so. After organizing post-war reconstruction, only a series of industries along the Taedong River developed by Haehan supported tens of thousands of war refugees, slightly reducing part of the burden on the North Korean government.
Under such circumstances, Li Zhu sent Li Zhi and a group of civil and military officials to Haihan to study abroad. On the one hand, he wanted to consolidate the diplomatic relations between the two countries and use the force of Haihan stationed in North Korea to maintain his rule. On the one hand, there is indeed the idea of learning advanced military technology and country governance experience. After Li Zhi returns to the country after completing his studies, he will use what he has learned to carry out a major transformation of the domestic bureaucracy.
However, although the ideal is beautiful, the reality is very hard. North Korea lacks sufficient funds in all aspects. Even if Li Zhi broadened his horizons in Haihan and saw how a "powerful country" governs and operates, it would be difficult to apply the methods of Haihan people to govern the country. If you copy it back to China and lack the corresponding talents to implement it, it is likely to become a dragon-slaying technique.
Li Zhi had stayed in Haihan for almost a year, and naturally he had realized the gap between the two countries. In his opinion, after he finished his studies and returned to China, he told his father the necessity of continuing to send people to study abroad in Haihan. Even if funds were tight, he had to continue to implement this method of studying abroad. Only by allowing more civil and military officials to receive training opportunities and improve their governance capabilities can it be possible to fundamentally change the current situation in North Korea.
Li Zhi's thoughts are naturally the result of being indoctrinated with various "advanced ideas" while studying abroad, but even if someone else were to be in Li Zhi's position, the effect would not be much different. Haihan's current ability to govern the country, mastery of production technology, and armed forces are all the best in this era. It is difficult for anyone to not be impressed by his strength after witnessing it in person. Li Zhi, who originally had a scholarly mentality, Those who come will certainly not be an exception.
Learning advanced statecraft and fundamentally changing the current situation of various coups in North Korea is one of Li Xie's main goals for studying abroad. But he never thought that before he could finish his studies and return to the country, another coup with great impact would occur in the country. He didn't know if he would be able to calm down the situation before he rushed back to North Korea.
Li Yan took out a letter and pulled out a piece of paper. He had read the content written on the paper at least a hundred times, but he still couldn't help but take it out to browse again.
The content on this piece of paper is the news that Haehan sent back from North Korea by telegraph. It is said that the coup in Seoul was quite powerful. The palaces were destroyed by fire. As for the main figures of the Joseon royal family, King Li Ju, Bonglin Grand Prince Li Hao, Linping Grand Prince Li Jun and others are all unknown whether they are alive or dead.
Although Haihan stationed a lot of troops in North Korea, in order to avoid arousing the suspicion of the North Koreans, they were basically stationed at the Datong River base in the north. However, there were not many troops stationed in the Seoul area, so they were not able to respond immediately. The information available to intervene in this coup is extremely limited.
According to the telegram, the initiator, purpose, and results of this coup are still unclear, and no one from the royal family is in charge. The entire Seoul is in a state of extreme chaos.
In such an emergency situation, if Li Zhi, the crown prince of Zhaoxian, could appear in Seoul, he would naturally be the best person to reunite people's hearts, calm the situation, and coordinate all parties. Therefore, Haihan informed him in the shortest possible time. Li Zhi ended his studies abroad and returned to China early, and arranged his itinerary in advance, hoping that he would return to North Korea in time to take charge of the overall situation.
Li Zhi would definitely be lying if he said he was not panicking. On the one hand, he was worried about the safety of his family, and on the other hand, he was also worried that his legal inheritance rights would be taken away by others. If the person who initiated the coup has already taken control of the military, it will be difficult for him and his party to reverse the situation just by rushing back, and they may even end up thousands of miles away. But how could he be willing to do so if he didn't go back in person to find out what happened in Seoul?
Although the officers who went to Haihan to study with Li Zhi were all quite capable and basically chose to be loyal to him, these officers were only mid-level officers before going abroad and did not have the authority to mobilize the army at all. They wanted to rely on them to regain I'm afraid there are some difficulties with military power.
Therefore, Li Zhi believed that he must try to win the support of the Haihan Army so that it could send troops to cooperate with his return to Beijing. Perhaps the process of quelling the rebellion would be much easier.
But he also knew that the procedures for sending troops to Haihan were quite complicated. It was certainly not an easy task to persuade the troops stationed in North Korea to dispatch troops to clean up Seoul. So after setting off from Sanya, Li Xie has been thinking about how to realize his idea.
The reason why he did not try to persuade the Executive Committee in Sanya was because Yan Chujie gave him very clear advice. Since no one in Sanya knew the true situation of what happened in Seoul, should the garrison take action to deal with the chaos in the area? , it is up to the garrison headquarters to make the decision.
There is nothing wrong with Yan Chujie's statement. Navy Commander Wang Tom, who is still stationed at the Datong River Base, is also one of the executive committee members and is fully qualified to make important decisions on behalf of the executive committee. Moreover, he has been staying in North Korea at this stage, and may have a clearer and deeper understanding of the local situation and the reasons for this coup.
The telegram said that the Haihan Army had not intervened in the matter, but that was a few days ago, and there has been no update on the development of the situation since then. It was difficult for Li Zhi to make a clear judgment on the situation in Seoul, and naturally he had no choice. He could only look forward to getting the latest news when he next docked at a port under Haihan's rule.
As Li Xie's right-hand man, Andao Shi is also confused about the current situation. Based on the level of intelligence he had access to, he only knew that a coup had taken place in Seoul and that the life and death of the king and others were unknown. He knew nothing about other situations. Even if he learned a lot in Haihan, it would be difficult to speculate on the actual situation in Seoul with such limited information.
But no matter what, one thing is very clear. What happened in Seoul will definitely be detrimental to Li Zhi, the heir to the throne who is overseas. As an officer loyal to Li Zhi, this negative impact will also extend to him. superior. If An Daoshi wants to become a high-ranking general in North Korea with military power in the future, he must first assist Li Xie through this current difficulty, and this job does not seem to be that easy at the moment.
(End of chapter)