Chapter 2308
Alliances and mutual assistance between countries are of course not based on loyalty, but on real interests. Li Zhi may not have understood this principle before, but after studying abroad in Haihan for a year, he already had a deeper feeling about it.
One of Li Zhi's main purposes for studying abroad was to learn from Haihan's advanced experience in governing the country and fundamentally change the current situation of Korea. Therefore, he spent a lot of time studying Haihan's history of prosperity and international relations, trying to find a suitable country’s development style.
Li Zhi soon realized that North Korea would not be able to learn the advanced technologies Haihan mastered for a while. Even if Haihan was willing to teach them, most of them would not be able to be implemented in North Korea, which has no foundation. However, it seems that North Korea can learn from Haihan's skills in handling international relations and his approach of building international alliances with himself as the center. In particular, the Annan Kingdom and the Fujian Xu family, which have grown rapidly with the support of Haihan, are both suitable candidates for North Korea to emulate.
But after Li Zhi studied the history of the alliance between these two families and Haihan, he found that the price they paid for the alliance was not small at all. Annan State contributed a large number of people and many natural seaports to Haihan, and the Fujian Xu family He has been purchasing large quantities of arms from Haihan for ten years, and has helped Haihan open up commercial channels in the inland areas of the Ming Dynasty. He is one of Haihan's main trading partners.
To put it simply, the assistance and support these two companies received from Haihan were obtained in exchange for a large amount of benefits. This approach is actually similar to the conditions North Korea agreed to when it asked Haihan to help the war last year. North Korea assigned almost the entire middle and lower reaches of the Datong River to Haihan as a special post-war development zone, and promised to open trade after the war. If not, Haihan might not have been willing to help North Korea when the Qing army invaded last year.
Therefore, even if it is an alliance, if there is no actual benefit, it may not be able to get timely help from allies in times of crisis. When an incident occurred in Seoul this time, the Haihan Army only reached the mouth of the Han River and stopped moving forward. They have been waiting to see the situation. Although there were various reasons that sounded reasonable, Li Zhen still vaguely felt that the Haihan Army should not let go of the eagle when it sees the rabbit. They are waiting for one party to come up with enough benefits before confirming their position.
Although Qian Wang and the two princes shouted affectionately in front of them, it is hard to say whether their position would still be so stable if someone gave Haihan all the benefits he wanted. Therefore, Li Zhi did not dare to delay. After roughly understanding what happened and the current situation, he took the initiative to make a request, hoping that the Haihan Army could use military means to intervene in this chaos as soon as possible.
Of course, at the same time, Li Zhi was also mentally prepared for the lion from Haihan to open his mouth. On his way back home, he had repeatedly considered the pros and cons and believed that the top priority was to regain the king's power as soon as possible. Even if Haihan's request was exaggerated, he could agree to it first as long as it could help him quell the chaos.
Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun looked at each other and seemed to be exchanging opinions on Li Xie's statement. However, the tacit understanding between them was so good that they reached a consensus without even opening their mouths to communicate.
Wang Tom said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. When our allies are in trouble, our country will naturally not stand idly by and will definitely help your country return to normal. But..."
When Li Xie heard this, he secretly thought that this was the main topic, and he quickly pricked up his ears to listen carefully to what Tom Wang was going to say next.
Then I heard Wang Tom continue to say: "...the news in Seoul is not smooth, and our military operations will inevitably bear great risks, so I have to ask Sanya again for instructions. If the Executive Committee nods, then we will start here. Action.”
Li Zhi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard this. He thought it had been a month since the incident happened and he had already returned to North Korea. Why did he have to ask Sanya for instructions again? Wasn't this a waste of time?
But he immediately understood that this was the Haihan people who had kicked the ball to him again, and he had to take the initiative to give benefits. Otherwise, it was hard to say how long it would take to ask for instructions. At that time, they also said that Sanya needed an executive committee meeting to study, and maybe it would have been delayed for another ten days and a half.
No matter how the situation develops in the end, the next king of North Korea will definitely have to ask Haehan to continue the current diplomatic relations and cooperation projects. Therefore, the people of Haehan do not need to worry at all. They can sit on the mountain in Ganghwa Island and watch the fight between tigers and tigers until the situation becomes clear. Then come out and stand in line. But Li Zhi couldn't afford it. The longer it was delayed, the greater the risk would be. If it were a few days later, the late king's abdication edict might be issued. By then, his crown prince would become a deposed crown prince, and it would not be so justifiable to restore the country and put an end to the chaos. .
If Li Zhi wants to ask Haihan to send troops immediately, he can only offer sufficient benefits. At that moment, he offered up the conditions he had previously said to Shi Diwen in Zhoushan, saying that after the matter was over, the immigration restrictions that Haihan had been thinking about could be opened, and that he would bear all the expenses of Haihan's army during this period. .
This is basically the most meaningful condition that Li Zhi can think of for Haihan. If he can regain the royal power, he can accept the loss of some people in the short term. Moreover, Haihan has introduced Korean immigrants in a large scale, so in the future, North Korea will Haihan's influence may also be improved a lot because of this - Li Zhi can only comfort himself with this reason now.
Li Zhen paid attention to Wang Tom's expression as he spoke, but the other party did not show any happy expression after hearing this. This made Li Zhi slightly worried whether the exchange conditions he proposed could really impress the other party.
Wang Tom said: "Your Majesty may have misunderstood some of our country's previous attitudes. Our country's proposal for population mobility is to facilitate normal exchanges between the two countries, such as trade, study, work, etc. It is not a one-way immigration. . Nowadays, there are many Haihan people who have settled in your country for a long time, right?”
Wang Tom's words were very tactful, but Li Xie already understood what the other party meant - this condition was not weighty enough!
After the war against the Qing Dynasty ended last year, a large number of Haihan people indeed poured into North Korea to engage in various trade activities. So far, there are at least thousands of Haihan people living in Seoul for a long time. This number must greatly exceed that of North Korea. The permanent population of the country is in Haihan Capital, so at this stage, as Wang Tom said, in terms of population mobility, North Korea is actually the one currently maintaining a surplus.
Of course, this is under the circumstance that North Korea has set up immigration restrictions. If these restrictions are relaxed in the future in accordance with Haihan's request, the situation may change dramatically.
Given the conditions of Haihan State, it is not difficult to absorb a large number of immigrants from North Korea, which has a relatively poor living environment. The net outflow of people after the restrictions are lifted is estimated to be tens of thousands. It was precisely because Li Zhu was aware of this possibility that he would not let go. But the current situation does not allow Li Zhi to continue to treat this issue with a tough attitude. However, he did not expect that after he made concessions, General Haihan said that this condition was not weighty enough. It seemed that just opening up immigration restrictions would not make it possible. They feel satisfied.
As for the issue of North Korea bearing the military expenses during the counter-insurgency operation, Wang Tom did not mention it at all. He obviously felt that there was no need to discuss this issue. It is natural that North Korea should bear the relevant expenses and should not be included in the list at all. part of the quid pro quo. Li Zhi took a deep breath, calmed down, and then said to Tom Wang: "If General Wang has any requirements, you might as well put them forward directly, and I will try my best to satisfy them!"
Wang Tom said: "It's not a request, but we have a few suggestions. I hope the prince can consider them."
Wang Tom said it politely, but Li Zhi understood that this should be because the other party had already prepared the conditions for exchange and had not taken the initiative to propose them. He probably wanted to step by step until he had no way out before offering conditions, so that he could succeed. The probability will naturally increase greatly.
Li Zhi groaned secretly in his heart, knowing that he could not defeat the shrewd old foxes like Haihan after all, but at this moment the arrow was on the string and he had to shoot. He had no retreat option and could only bite the bullet and rush forward.
"Please give me some advice, General Wang!" Li Xie didn't dare to neglect and responded quickly.
Wang Tom said: "We believe that the main reason for the sudden coup in your country is the lack of effective internal supervision measures and insufficient preparedness against careerists. Taking into account the historical situation of your country in the past two hundred years, various The repeated occurrence of coups may also affect the thinking of some people, thinking that this is a way to achieve a change in royal power. It is the immediate thing to do, but we think it is necessary to fundamentally put an end to this phenomenon. Further measures need to be taken.”
"We are prepared to assist your country in setting up a special internal supervision agency after the war to take charge of this matter. It will conduct long-term monitoring of officials at all levels and private movements. Once signs of this are discovered, we will deal with them as soon as possible. There is no need to report to the court first. Report, to prevent any more ambitious people from challenging the normal way of inheriting royal power. Of course, to do this, this institution must have higher authority, and it is best to be loyal only to the king himself.”
Li Xie thought to himself, behead first and then report, with the imperial power's permission, isn't this the Jinyiwei Yamen of the Ming Dynasty? Although North Korea also has secret armed groups loyal to the king, they do not have such freedom to act.
Li Xie responded: "Is this organization too powerful? Once out of control, no one can control them!"
"We have also considered this issue." Wang Tom explained calmly: "In addition to the royal power, there are also other forces that can restrict this institution. Therefore, it is composed not only of officials from your country, but also of our country. Participate in the daily operations of this organization to ensure that it does not misuse its authority to do something that is not in the interest of your country.”
Only when Li Zhi heard this did he realize that the Daqing Haihan people wanted to put this privileged institution under their control. Even if this institution was loyal to the King of North Korea, all information must be shared with Haihan, and it might even be possible on a daily basis. Operations and actions require taking orders from the officials stationed in Haihan.
This is by no means good news. Even if Li Zhi does not understand intelligence security, he also knows that doing so will allow Haihan to enjoy greater privileges in his country. Some matters that are inconvenient for Haihan garrison to handle may be handled by Haihan in the future. This agency has taken charge.
When Wang Tom saw that Li Xie was silent, he continued: "I know that the prince must have a lot of doubts about this, and will be worried that our country will use this institution to engage in some activities that are not beneficial to your country. But I can assure the prince that such worries are unnecessary. Yes, the officials stationed by our country are only responsible for communication between the two countries and will not participate in specific operations. As for the command, of course it remains in the hands of the king of your country.”
Li Zhi forced a smile on his face and said: "I don't doubt your country's good intentions. It would be best if it can be used to prevent all kinds of rebellious actions after its establishment."
Will Haihan honestly send only a few liaison officers to this agency? Li Yan didn't believe the promise made by Wang Tom at all. Although he still doesn't know what rules Haihan has planned for this organization, one thing is very obvious. General Haihan specifically raised this matter at this time, obviously as part of the exchange conditions. The weight even exceeds Li Zhi's initiative to lift immigration restrictions. Haihan will definitely exert influence in this organization in the future to safeguard his own interests.
But believe it or not, Li Xie was unable to refuse Wang Tom's proposal. Even if he knew it was poison, he could only swallow it with his eyes closed. At the moment, I could only force out a smile, thanked Tom Wang for his "kindness", and promised to start setting up this organization immediately after the chaos was quelled. Of course, Haihan must provide corresponding plans for this establishment work, select suitable personnel, and provide the required professional training.
Of course, Wang Tom's proposal is not just to maintain the dominance of Li Jian's lineage in North Korea. With such a privileged institution, Haihan can monitor various targets in North Korea, especially those who oppose North Korea and Haihan. For cooperative officials or those who are hostile to Haehan, Haehan can use this agency to eliminate hidden dangers, thereby ensuring that North Korea can remain attached to Haehan in a long-term and stable manner.
As for how to control this organization in the hands of Haehan, it couldn't be simpler. The operation method is decided by Haehan, and the manpower is selected and trained by Haehan. Even if North Korea appoints several officials in charge, it will be implemented in actual operations. It is not difficult to stand up.
Mastering such a special force means that Haihan's influence on North Korea will be further strengthened, which is as significant as measures such as opening up immigration restrictions. In the future, any voice or movement in North Korea that is not conducive to Haehan will become the target of this agency, which is far more convenient than using the garrison at the Taedong River base.
(End of chapter)