Chapter 2909
Although Su Keyi was confident in his words, he was actually not very sure about Haihan's true intentions.
In the past twenty years, Haihan has indeed regarded the Spanish as his main opponent in the South China Sea, and the hostile relationship between the two sides has never shown any sign of resolving. However, this does not mean that Haihan will only regard the Spaniards as his main rival in the South China Sea in the future. The spearhead is aimed at the Spaniards and will not attack other forces.
Having stayed in Sanya for such a long time, Su Keyi knew very well that Haihan's territorial ambitions were not much worse than those of Westerners. Although Haihan had regarded the East India Company as a business partner before this, if the right time came, he could Haihan may not be merciful in clearing the East India Company from the South China Sea.
At the same time, Su Keyi is far from the only one who is uneasy about Haihan's official statement. Sanya is the capital of Haihan Kingdom. Currently, more than 20 countries have established embassies here, most of which are from the South China Sea region. If Haihan really intends to restart war in the South China Sea, then the countries in the region will naturally bear the brunt.
Among them, the only countries that can continue to remain calm are probably Annan and Champa, which have long been clearly attached to Haihan. Not only will they not be targeted by Haihan, but they will have the opportunity to profit from it.
In particular, Annanguo, who had been serving as Haihan's servant army all year round, had already confirmed before that that he would send troops with Haihan to coordinate actions, so the embassy was naturally not surprised by the news published in the newspaper.
But after reading the newspaper, the embassies of most other countries had similar thoughts to Su Keyi. The first thing they thought of was to confirm the news with Haihan officials and exclude their countries from Haihan's attack targets. For a time, there was a bustling traffic outside Sanya Victory Fort, with visitors from all over the world queuing up to visit senior officials of the Executive Committee.
But compared to the envoys from various countries who tried to confirm the news through official channels, some people took a different approach and went directly to the homes of senior officials in Haihan based on personal relationships.
Tao Donglai did not appear at Fort Victory today, but stayed at home because an important guest arrived unexpectedly.
"These are some Guangzhou specialties that my father asked me to bring here. He said that he hasn't seen you all for a long time and hopes to have a chance to see you again in Guangzhou."
The middle-aged man who spoke had a short beard, fair complexion, and wore a sapphire blue silk robe. He looked like he was from a wealthy family. As he spoke, he handed Tao Donglai the gift list.
Tao Donglai was not polite at all. He reached out to take it, opened the gift list politely, looked at it, and said: "We are all members of our own family, so why should we be so invisible when we go to each other? How is your old man's health recently?"
The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and said: "I am almost eighty years old, how can it be better? I can usually walk a few steps slowly in the yard with a stick, but if I want to go out, I can only take a car or a sedan. He is clamoring to come to Hainan Island for a walk, but we don’t dare to let him go out. If he catches the cold outside, he will be in big trouble!”
Tao Donglai said: "The old man used to like to go out to listen to operas. Now he can only invite the opera troupe to perform at home, right?"
The middle-aged man responded: "More than just inviting theater troupes, in order to make him happy, we paid for the two best theater troupes in Guangzhou and Foshan. If he wants to listen to the opera, he doesn't have to go out. He can listen at any time. Anyway, as long as he It’s what he wants, so we bought it in advance to prevent him from getting angry when he can’t go out.”
Tao Donglai nodded and praised: "You three brothers are also thoughtful!" The middle-aged man who spoke to Tao Donglai was Li Nai, the third young master of the Li family in Guangzhou.
Now Furifeng's boss, Li Jifeng, is old and has long since stepped aside, leaving all business matters to his three sons. Li Nai, as always, is still responsible for various matters related to Haihan.
As one of the earliest trading partners to start commercial cooperation with Haihan, the interests of Furifeng and Haihan are deeply entangled. Li Nai had already come to Sanya before Haihan officially founded the country, and worked with Tao Donglai and others. Senior officials from Haihan established a personal relationship as both teachers and friends.
The mutual trust and friendship established over more than 20 years are of course far more reliable than those diplomatic relations based on official exchanges. It is precisely because of such close relations that Li Nai has a deep understanding of Haihan's various The degree of understanding of the means must also be clearer than that of the outside world.
Li Nai had just arrived in Sanya from Guangzhou the day before yesterday and was not informed of Haihan's latest plans in the South China Sea in advance. He also only realized this after seeing the latest issue of The Times. However, unlike the reaction from the outside world, Li Nai is not only thinking about the countries that will be affected by this, but also the trade opportunities it will bring to Furifeng.
Li Nai would not stupidly go to Fort Victory and wait in line to be received. He would go to Tao Donglai's house early in the morning and block the door. He was sure that his surprise visit would not be rejected. Since he had this exclusive source of information, why should he make other detours.
The reason for this certainty was that Li Nai had already made an appointment with Tao Donglai to betroth his daughter to Tao Donglai's eldest son, Tao Hongfang. However, after Tao Hongfang went to Hangzhou for inspection last year, he stayed and took up a post there and did not return to the south. It is estimated that this marriage will still not be possible in the near future.
Of course, this marriage was not just Li Nai's personal intention, but also the wishes of Li Jifeng, the head of the Li family. Li Jifeng knew that his time was short, and if he wanted to find a strong backer for his descendants, he would have to choose to marry a high-ranking official from Haihan. Tao Hongfang is young and promising, and if nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely continue to hold power at the top of Haihan in the future. If the Li family can get this son-in-law who rides the dragon, they will naturally ascend to heaven, and the whole family will become relatives of the emperor, at least for the next two or three generations. No need to worry about prosperity or wealth.
Although Li Nai's ideas are not as philistine as his father's, he also believes that Tao Hongfang is an excellent son-in-law candidate. If his precious daughter can marry into the Tao family, he won't have to worry about it anymore.
With this relationship between the two parties, Tao Donglai would refer to him as "one of his own family members". As for the actual value of those souvenirs, they actually don't care too much.
After exchanging greetings, Li Nai took the initiative to mention the reason for his visit: "If I hadn't read the newspaper yesterday, I wouldn't have remembered that twenty-one years had passed since the diplomatic war with the Spaniards in Port Victory. Time really flies. ! ”
Tao Donglai said: "I still remember that on the day of the battle, you were with us at the Yulinjiao Lighthouse to watch the battle."
Li Nai sighed: "That was also the only sea battle I had ever seen in my life. On that day, the sound of cannons inside and outside Victory Port was rumbled, and the Spanish fleet collapsed. Everything seemed like just yesterday. I remember that since that day, Hainan There has been no war on the island since then.”
(End of chapter)