Chapter 2654
The only thing that pleased the young officials was that compared to the kimchi dishes that filled half the table when they were hosted by An Wenbo in Jeju Island, the quality of this state banquet was much higher. The King of North Korea did not insist on using shabby Korean food. To entertain them, the familiar Haihan flavor became the protagonist of the banquet, and you could even choose several famous wines produced in Haihan to accompany the meal.
Of course, it is not appropriate to indulge in heavy drinking in this kind of diplomatic occasion. The young officials only toasted a few glasses of wine symbolically, trying to keep their heads clear and waiting for Li Xie to introduce the topic.
After drinking for three rounds, Li Zhiping withdrew from the banquet hall's Sizhu team and other people. Seeing this, everyone knew that Li Zhi was going to talk about business, so they silently put down their chopsticks and sat upright.
Li Yan said in a deep voice: "Two months ago, your country sent a message informing that it would arrange a mission to visit our country. Taking this opportunity, the two sides can also discuss some issues of common concern and maintain the long-term relationship between our two countries." We have maintained good relations since then. The king has ordered all government offices in the imperial court to make relevant preparations, and talks can begin tomorrow.”
After Li Zhen stood up, he introduced to the Haihan officials the lineup of North Koreans participating in the talks, including civil and military officials from Uijeongbu, Si Xianfu, Si Jian Yuan, Liucao Yamen, Fifth Military Camp, Nei Santing and other yamen. .
In addition, or considering the principle of level reciprocity, Li Zhi will not personally participate in specific talks, but appoints the young crown prince Li Bai as the person in charge of the talks on the North Korean side.
This young prince should be younger than people like Haihan. Although he looks quite stable, it seems that he has not been heard of independently participating in foreign affairs activities before. I think the purpose of Li Zhi's arrangement is It is planned that the prince will start to establish external influence.
However, there are many important issues involved in the negotiations. The person who is really at the helm of this process will certainly not be the crown prince Li Bai, but the current leader Park Hongye.
The status of the chief minister in the Joseon Dynasty was equivalent to that of the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty. Cui Mingji, who launched a palace coup to overthrow the former king Li Jie in the early years, was the chief minister of the Uijong government at that time. After Li Zhen ascended the throne, he deposed Cui Mingji, promoted his old enemy Kim Sang-heon to take over the post of political leader, and arranged for his confidant Park Hong-yeop to be Kim Sang-heon's deputy.
Pu Hongye was one of the few civil servants who followed Li Zhen to study in Sanya. Later, he followed him back to Seoul to seize power. The road to promotion was paved for him.
Jin Sangxian was already old, and Li Xie's purpose of using him was more to stabilize the government, so he did not stay in the political leadership position for a few years, and retired and returned home when he was seventy years old. However, Park Hongye had too little experience in the court, and trying to correct him would inevitably lead to criticism. Therefore, the position of leader of the political affairs had been vacant after Kim Sang-heon left office. It was not until Kim Sang-heon passed away a few years ago that Li Zhi naturally helped Park Hongye.
In fact, before Kim Sang-hyun retired, Park Hong-yeop was already a powerful figure in the DPRK. Over the years, he had been conscientiously assisting Li Zhen, handling many difficult affairs, and thus gained Li Zhen's full trust. There are many issues closely related to the future development of North Korea in the talks with the Haehan delegation, and it is necessary to have senior officials like him who understand the situation in North Korea in various fields.
But to be serious, the lineup of the Haihan Mission is undoubtedly more important. There are six people from the second generation of Chuan Dynasty who have a distinguished background, and there is also Zhu Zian, who has a background in the Ming Dynasty royal family. As the Haihan official who knows the situation best in North Korea, Fu Li naturally has to participate in the whole process as a consultant.
After the routine reception banquet was over, everyone in the envoy said goodbye and left the palace, arriving at the residence prepared for them by Fu Li. As Fu Li said before, there is not much difference between Seoul and Haihan in domestic cities. This is reflected in the living environment. All daily necessities here are from Haihan, and the rooms are equipped with hot water bathrooms, which are similar to Haihan. It was not much different from any official guest house they had lived in in other big cities in the country. Even the service staff who serve them all speak with Haihan accents.
Of course, the cost of building such a guest house that replicates the domestic environment in a foreign country must be very staggering. During the period of business, not many people can afford the fees here.
Fu Li did not arrange for them to stay and call it a day. Instead, he called everyone together and held an impromptu meeting. The content was of course the diplomatic talks that would start the next day.
"According to prior arrangements, the mission's activities during its stay in Seoul were divided into three parts. The first was talks with North Korean officials to discuss some issues that had been formulated. The second was exchange activities with local people, including those held in the name of the mission. Banquets, public open days of the fleet, and some cultural activities. The third is the rotation of personnel stationed in North Korea and the handover of work.”
Fu Li briefly listed the various tasks of the mission, and then asked Shi Chengwu and others to explain the mission's preparations on these matters.
Zhu Zian wanted to avoid suspicion, but Shi Chengwu asked him to stay and observe, and give a summary of the meeting. Zhu Zian was already curious about the mission, so he stopped refusing at the moment.
The key task of the mission's visit to North Korea is, of course, to discuss matters with North Korean officials. Haihan has some new requirements for the current trade, culture, immigration and other fields between the two countries, which require cooperation from North Korea. Of course, the benefits are not exclusive to Haihan. The North Koreans will also get some of the conditions they have always wanted to achieve.
For example, North Korea has wanted the smelting industry in the Taedong River basin to expand its production scale and upgrade its technology many years ago so that the local area can produce higher-quality steel instead of just cheap pig iron. This Haihan mission will bring good news to the North Koreans. In the future, the Datong River will produce high-quality steel, and the production capacity will soon be expanded to more than ten times the current level.
Of course, such technical support is not given in vain. More than 70% of the steel for the expanded production will be supplied to Haihan at cost price, and the remaining part will be left to North Korea to decide its own use.
The main reason for such an arrangement is that Haihan's capital relocation plan will require a large amount of steel, and Haihan's smelting center is located in the remote Changhua County of Hainan Island. The voyage to Hangzhou Bay is several times farther than that of North Korea. Considering the transportation cost, relevant departments believe that it is more cost-effective to obtain steel from North Korea.
Of course, the premise is to upgrade the coal-iron complex located downstream of the Datong River to ensure that there is sufficient local steel production capacity to supply the Hangzhou area.
(End of chapter)