Chapter 2657
Shi Chengwu's words are actually not difficult to understand, because Zhu Zian has discovered that the names on the invitations he wrote on the way correspond one-to-one with the North Korean officials participating in the negotiations today.
Why the Haihan Mission wanted to entertain these people was not stated clearly on the invitation, but the purpose was already obvious at this time. These officials negotiated with the Haihan delegation on stage, and attended the banquet in a private capacity off stage. Even if Zhu Zian was still a layman in foreign affairs activities, he could roughly guess the connection.
As expected, the talks ended early on the second day, but after the two parties said goodbye at Gyeongbokgung Palace, they soon met again at Haehan Station. Except for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Councilor Pu Hongye who did not come to this dinner, almost all other North Korean officials involved in the negotiations were present.
Zhu Zian really admired Haihan's methods at this time. It was not surprising to entertain officials from the other side at foreign affairs events. However, the guest list provided by Shi Chengwu had been determined several days in advance, which meant that Haihan had already mastered it at that time. North Korea has a lineup of officials participating in the negotiations and has formulated corresponding strategies.
When negotiations begin under such circumstances, North Korea has no chance of winning. It is no wonder that Shi Chengwu and others are not anxious about the negotiation process.
Sure enough, after these North Korean officials arrived, their attitudes were completely different from those at the negotiation table. They were all smiling and chatting and laughing with the officials from the Haihan mission. As for why they were so relaxed, Zhu Zian quickly found the answer.
Shi Chengwu promised these North Korean officials that after the new cooperation agreement is reached, they will receive a certain proportion of returns from the profits of their respective industries, and will also receive all-round support from Haihan in the future.
This so-called support is not just about benefits, but also includes the future prospects of these officials. They can purchase properties in the areas under Haihan's rule and send their families to Haihan to settle or study abroad. This is equivalent to leaving a way out for them. Even if they lose power in the future, they can still ensure prosperity and wealth for the rest of their lives.
What these North Korean officials have to do is to make certain concessions in the negotiations and sign a cooperation agreement on Haihan's terms.
Zhu Zian witnessed the whole process, and it was obvious where the benefits these officials would receive came from. Just for having such a blatant private meeting with the Haihan envoy, aren't you afraid of being reported to the king?
After the banquet, Zhu Zian took the initiative to ask Shi Chengwu about this festival. Shi Chengwu smiled and said: "Since you can think of this problem, these officials are not fools, and of course they will not risk their lives and property. If they dare to come, it means they have received tacit approval."
Zhu Zian was shocked: "What do you mean, your Excellency, the king acquiesces to them doing this? This...what good does this do to the king?"
Shi Chengwu explained: "The industries we are involved in the negotiations are all operated by the government, and of course the profits go into the treasury. But the treasury is not owned by the royal family, and this difference is the reason."
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Zhu Zian suddenly realized that those with vested interests were not just the officials who had interacted with the mission just now. The princes and even the king who were supervising the formation behind them were actually all members of this group. It's just that their status is special, Zhu Zian didn't realize this at the first time.
It is normal for the operating profits of official industries to be included in the national treasury. Subsequently, whether it is official salaries or royal family expenses, they are all allocated through the national treasury. Although the king is the most respected person in the country, there is no reason to use the national treasury as a private treasury, and the amounts allocated from the national treasury are well-documented and clear, which inevitably puts the royal family under many restrictions on the use of money. So the question becomes, how can we increase the royal family’s funding sources without going through public channels like the treasury that are watched by countless people? The answer, of course, couldn't be simpler, which is to prevent part of taxes or official industry operating income from being included in the national treasury, but directly entering the pockets of the royal family.
However, for various reasons, it is probably inconvenient for the royal family to directly make such a request to Haihan, so some unusual situations will occur during the negotiation of cooperation conditions. Haihan knew this very well. As long as North Korea was willing to agree to the terms of cooperation, it would be okay to give them more benefits.
The North Korean side is also very clear about the final direction of the negotiations. The cooperation agreement must be signed. Under the premise of determining this result, the most important thing is of course to gain more benefits for itself. On this point, North Korea's monarchs and ministers have apparently reached a certain tacit understanding.
Zhu Zian thought of the Crown Prince who participated in the talks. The reason why the king appointed him to participate was probably not only to supervise the formation, but also to ensure that the royal family could obtain the due benefits from the negotiation process.
Everyone got the benefits they wanted from the negotiations. This seemed to be a happy ending. It is no wonder that North Korea has cooperated very happily with Haihan in the past twenty years and abandoned Ming Dynasty, its former suzerain state, without looking back. .
After all, apart from canonizing the title of king, Ming Dynasty seemed to have no practical benefits to provide North Korea. Serving such a suzerain country is certainly not as beneficial as hugging Haihan's thigh.
Shi Chengwu suddenly asked: "If you were in the position of the King of North Korea, what would you do?"
Zhu Zian was silent for a while before responding: "The choices of my subordinates should be the same as those of the North Koreans. In this situation, it seems that there is a choice, but in fact it is not. If you don't cooperate, the throne may be unstable."
Shi Chengwu smiled and nodded: "You see clearly."
Almost all the officials involved in the negotiations attended the banquet, which showed that there were no clean people in the yamen of the North Korean court. If the king wanted to suppress this momentum, it would undoubtedly cut off the wealth of many people. In a country like North Korea with a tradition of palace coups, instability in the throne is a very dangerous situation. After all, Li Zhi was unwilling to take such a risk and could only choose to follow the trend.
After this night's banquet, Zhu Zian also roughly understood this wonderful cooperative relationship between the two countries. No matter which field it starts from, North Korea is unable to resist Haihan and can only try its best to gain more benefits from cooperation. Haihan is obviously very familiar with how to control the situation and can fully mobilize and utilize various resources in North Korea for his own use.
However, Zhu Zian felt that the role he played during this period seemed to be far from what was expected, and North Korea did not have any special reaction to his special guest from the Ming Dynasty royal family. Of course, this may be because North Korea is concerned about the feelings of the Haihan delegation and does not dare to have too much contact with him, but Zhu Zian himself vaguely feels that it is actually because the Ming royal family does not seem to have that much influence on North Korea.
(End of chapter)