Chapter 2324
Of course, Qian Tiandun could approve Fu Li's investigation plan with a stroke of his pen, but when it came to implementation, he still had to ask Li Zhen to come forward and give orders to North Korean officials. Otherwise, requiring North Korean officials to be investigated in the name of the Haihan Army will inevitably arouse serious dissatisfaction on the other side, not to mention that the target of the investigation now is the military attache group. If Li Xie does not come forward to put pressure, it is very likely to cause unnecessary of armed conflict. Although the Haihan Army is not afraid of the so-called elite troops of North Korea, there is no need to give them a reason to rebel again.
Therefore, although Qian Tiandun finally confirmed Fu Li's idea, he did not immediately give him the corresponding investigative authority. He had to wait until he got the handwriting drafted by Li Xie before taking action. It happened that Qian Tiandun also had other things to discuss with Li Xie, so he simply took Fu Li to the palace with him.
After listening to Fu Li's investigation report, Li Zhi, who was uneasy, relaxed a little. Since Haihanjun was now serious about pursuing the truth of the incident, he was willing to provide support and cooperation to the best of his ability. Putting aside the aspect of avenging his father, if the matter is not investigated clearly and the perpetrators of the rebellion are not brought to justice, it will still be difficult for him to ensure his own safety even if he sits on the throne.
There was such a big chaos in Seoul, and it can be said that the garrison in the city was to blame. Li Zhi did not believe in their innocence, so he restrained himself by not directly denouncing them as rebels. Now the Haihan people want to investigate which troops were directly involved in the rebellion. This is one of the things Li Zhi wants to get to the bottom of. After hearing Fu Li's request, he readily agreed.
Li Zhi immediately drafted an order requiring all civil and military officials to cooperate with the Haihan investigators specially hired by the imperial court to conduct a thorough investigation into the king's assassination and subsequent events. Anyone who deliberately obstructs or sabotages the investigation will have their official positions revoked immediately and will be arrested as suspects involved in the case.
The severity of this order even exceeded Qian Tiandun's expectations, which also showed Li Zhi's urgency to investigate the truth of the incident.
After receiving such a quasi-imperial edict, Fu Li immediately resigned and left the palace to continue investigating the case. Qian Tiandun stayed and discussed with Li Xie issues that were more important than investigating the case.
"Your Majesty, the situation is urgent, so the ceremony of ascending the throne can only be simplified. If there are no problems on your side, we will hold the relevant ceremony the day after tomorrow. General Wang and I will attend the ceremony on behalf of our country to confirm that you will be the only one recognized by our country. Ruler of Korea ”
Qian Tiandun's words gave Li Zhen reassurance. As long as he could get the full support of Haihan, he would be promoted from crown prince to king of Korea as soon as the enthronement ceremony was over. By then, he would be able to handle all aspects of matters legitimately and no longer be affected by his status as crown prince. Constraints.
Li Zhen responded quickly: "Then I will help you two generals. After I ascend the throne, I will immediately confer two generals to protect the country of Korea!"
The appointment of a foreign military general as a general to protect the country was an unprecedented initiative in the history of North Korea. Li Zhi thought for a long time before he came up with such a way to express his respect and trust for Haihan. Although this is just an honorary title and will not make the two Haihan generals obey his orders, Li Zhi believes that it will at least help tie the interests of both parties together. In the future, North Korea's military needs may also be realized through a good relationship with General Haihan.
Qian Tiandun was also a little surprised by Li Zhen's condition, but he was very aware of Li Zhen's current interest demands, so he could understand the purpose of Li Zhen's move. As for what kind of treatment the general who protects the country can enjoy in North Korea, and whether he needs to bear corresponding obligations and responsibilities, Qian Tiandun did not ask further at the moment, but just expressed his gratitude to Li Xie for this arrangement.
Now that the throne is vacant, Li Zhen is the successor designated by the late king, and with Haihan's full support behind him, ascending the throne is naturally a matter of course. In addition to Li Xie's own ability, the support provided by Haihan is also an extremely important factor in whether he can secure this position.
The support provided by Haihan is certainly not free, nor can it be exchanged for the honorary title of General Protector of the Country. In fact, Haihan's request to North Korea, in addition to bearing all military expenses during Haihan's military operations, actually includes Some other conditions.
"Your Majesty, our country and your country have cooperated very happily in the past few years, but there has been a lack of specific regulations in many related fields, which has affected the effectiveness of our cooperation. Therefore, our country hopes to build on the Seoul Covenant signed the year before last. , combined with the current situation of relations between the two countries, to reach a more comprehensive and in-depth diplomatic cooperation agreement between the two countries. ”
Qian Tiandun spoke eloquently: "Our country hopes that this new agreement will take effect immediately after you ascend the throne. We are also convinced that such an agreement will help stabilize the situation in your country and consolidate the alliance between our two countries. ”
Although Li Zhi still doesn't know what the content of the agreement Qian Tiandun is talking about, but the other party's proposal to sign a new diplomatic agreement at this juncture must not be so easy to dismiss.
He asked very cautiously: "General Qian, what is the content of this new agreement? Can you explain it to me?"
Qian Tiandun said: "In fact, most of the contents of the agreement are cooperation projects that are already being implemented. It is just standardized through this agreement to facilitate our future operations. Generally speaking, it can be divided into four aspects..."< br>
The first is the diplomatic aspect. As an ally, North Korea must fully support Haihan’s strategic interests in Northeast Asia. In the same way, Haihan will also support North Korea's strategic interests in the South China Sea.
Second, in terms of economy and culture, North Korea has fully opened up operating rights to Haihan in mining, agriculture, navigation, finance, culture and other fields, allowed Haihan products to be sold in the North Korean market, and allowed Haihan cultural products and related education industries to enter North Korea. country. North Korea needs to provide necessary resources and protection for economic cooperation projects between the two countries.
Third, in terms of population mobility, the two countries allow the cross-border movement of people and private assets, and allow people to change to the other party’s nationality.
Fourth, in terms of military cooperation, North Korea allows the Haihan Army to open military bases and station troops within its jurisdiction, and includes the standard weapons produced by Haihan in its military purchase list. The Haihan Army will provide North Korea with combat skills training and comprehensive wartime support.
At a cursory glance, except for the immigration issue, the others seem to be projects that are already being implemented. After Li Zhi stayed in Sanya for a year, he had accepted the fact that Haihan attracted immigrants from various countries, and no longer expected his own country to receive special treatment.
In fact, Li Yan can roughly understand why Haihan wants to re-sign agreements on these cooperation projects that are already being implemented. After all, these agreements were negotiated with his father before. Now that North Korea has changed the person in charge, what will happen again? It makes sense to sign again.
Of course, from an objective perspective, such an agreement cannot be said to be equal and mutually beneficial between allies, but is obviously beneficial to the stronger party. But Li Zhi had no bargaining capital, and Haihan did not leave him any other options. If he did not agree to this agreement, it is likely that all subsequent enthronement ceremonies would be stopped. "As for the specific content of this agreement, the Crown Prince can take a look at the draft first. If there are no problems, then we will sign this new agreement on the day you ascend the throne." Qian Tiandun said and took out his briefcase A document was handed to Li Xie.
Li Xie took the document and saw that the title on the first page was "Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between Haihan and Korea". He couldn't help but secretly criticize the Haihan people for their scheming. The content of this agreement clearly covered immigration, military, etc. Important areas, but deliberately only mentioned trade and navigation, which seemed quite obscure.
Naturally, there were many aspects of the treaty that Li Xie was not very satisfied with, such as the extraterritoriality that Qian Tiandun deliberately did not mention at all. But this is actually a rule that North Korea has officially acquiesced to, but it is expressed in written form in this treaty, making it more operable.
Li Zhi spent a cup of tea reading the contents of the treaty, and then replied meaningfully to Qian Tiandun: "I have no problem, and I hope you will not have any problem."
Qian Tiandun responded: "Our country has signed an agreement like this with Annan and Fujian a long time ago. Your Majesty, you don't have to worry about any problems. In a year or two, your country will gradually get the many benefits brought by this agreement." , Your Majesty will know when the time comes.”
Li Yan heard that those two companies had also signed such an agreement, and he felt a little better. At least he was not the only one who suffered the loss. As for when they can catch up with those two companies in terms of comprehensive strength, Li Xie thinks that one or two years will probably not be enough. Before leaving Sanya, he watched the martial arts competition held by overseas students in Haihan. He found that his country's soldiers were indeed lacking in ability.
Li Zhi immediately picked up a pen and wanted to sign at the end of the agreement, but Qian Tiandun stopped him: "Your Majesty, there is no need to sign now! After your enthronement ceremony is over, summon the princes and ministers to witness, and we will sign together in public."
Li Zhi was slightly startled, and then even if he understood the other party's purpose, Haihan Kingdom did not intend to sign this agreement quietly, but intended to start a hype about it, so that everyone in the government and the public would know that he and Haihan had reached an agreement. Agreement was reached on the future direction of the country.
"Then it depends on General Qian's wishes." Li Xie smiled slightly and put the brush back on the pen holder.
Although limited to the current conditions, the enthronement ceremony can only be held simply, but this ceremony is of great significance. North Korea will move in a new direction of development starting from Li Shi's accession to the throne.
In the original history, it was not Li Zhi who succeeded to the throne. After Yu Bingzi's rebellion, he was captured by the Qing Dynasty and held as a hostage in Shenyang for eight years. He died of illness soon after returning to North Korea, and his younger brother Li Hao took over. throne.
However, due to the strong intervention of Haihan in this time and space, the Manchu Qing's invasion of North Korea was greatly reduced, and naturally they were unable to take Li Xie away. Li Xie, who was not taken as a hostage in Shenyang, was favored by Haihan and later went to Haihan to study abroad in Sanya. As for his performance after taking the throne, there is no historical data for reference, so we can only take it step by step.
The person responsible for organizing the enthronement ceremony for Li Zhi was Jin Sangxian. This was not because Li Zhi and Haihan had changed their views on him, but because they liked his experience. You must know that when Li Zhu launched a palace coup and came to power more than ten years ago, Kim Sang-heon also participated in organizing the enthronement ceremony. By having him conduct the ceremony, at least some necessary and important links would not be missed.
When Fu Li returned to the investigation work, he first went to find Shen Jingzhen, the military judge who had just returned to the city, and showed him Li Xie's handwriting.
Shen Jingzhen was quite happy. After reading it, he immediately expressed his full cooperation and appointed his son Shen Xueyi to assist Fu Li in his investigation.
Shen Xueyi has always had a good relationship with the Haihan Army. This year, the Haihan Army attacked Hirado, Japan. Shen Xueyi also participated in this action as a military observer. When the incident happened in Seoul this time, Shen Xueyi was accompanying Shen Jingzhen on an inspection tour of Ganghwa Island, so he was also one of the few military attachés who could gain Haihan's trust. Having such a person who is familiar with North Korea's military attache system and has a strong background to assist can indeed make Fu Li's investigation work much easier.
Fu Li had already made a rough list of investigation targets before, including all military attachés in the Seoul garrison and related military institutions with an official rank of second grade or above. There were twenty or thirty people, large and small. After Shen Xueyi read the list, he crossed out some people from it.
"These people I just crossed out either died in this incident, or they were not in Seoul at the time and were not involved in this matter at all." Shen Xueyi took the initiative to explain that he had crossed out these people without waiting for Fu Li to ask. reasons.
Fu Li said: "This saves a lot of trouble. But I want to know if the remaining officials on the list basically belong to Kim Sang-heon's faction?"
After listening to his question, Shen Xueyi looked at the list again, and finally nodded slightly: "It seems to be true... Lord Fu means that the situation in the city is actually controlled by Lord Jin?"
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Fu Li said: "Jin Shangxian said that he launched a counterattack at the last moment and eliminated the rebels in the city. According to him, the dead were all bad guys who participated in the rebellion, and the ones who survived were all troops loyal to the king. What do you think? How credible is this? ”
Shen Xueyi seemed to have some scruples, and did not dare to talk about Jin Shangxian casually like Fu Li. At the moment, he had to reluctantly respond: "The situation that Mr. Jin mentioned is indeed possible. Let's interrogate a few more officials, check their confessions, and see what's right." Whether the description on the day of posting is consistent may be able to determine whether what Mr. Jin said is true or false.”
Shen Xueyi's ideas basically coincide with Fu Li's. Cross-comparison of multiple confessions is one of the investigative methods. Fu Li hopes to gradually confirm the truth of the matter through this method.
(End of chapter)