Chapter 3281
Wang Chengen has not been to the south for several years.
Twenty years ago, Haihan had assembled a large-scale armed fleet in the Zhoushan Islands. At that time, the Ming court believed that Haihan was most likely to attack Hangzhou, so Emperor Chongzhen sent Wang Chengen secretly to Hangzhou to supervise the battle.
However, this was just a false alarm. After Haihan's armed fleet conducted a military exercise to show off its force in Hangzhou Bay, it crossed the sea to North Korea and fought for several months with the Qing army that invaded North Korea at that time.
Wang Chengen waited until the report of the Haihan Army's battle in North Korea came out, knowing that the fight in Hangzhou would be impossible, and then returned to the capital to resume his duties.
Unexpectedly, Hangzhou was still not saved. A few years later, it was still occupied by Haihan, and now it has become Haihan's new capital.
Although the Ming Dynasty never recognized Haihan's rule over Hangzhou, everyone including Wang Chengen understood that unless Haihan could be completely defeated on the battlefield, the city of Hangzhou would basically not be able to return to the rule of the Ming Dynasty. .
As for the possibility of defeating Haihan, perhaps twenty years ago, when the Ming Dynasty mobilized the whole country, there was still hope of achieving it, but now that Haihan has grown up, the Ming Dynasty is in a very passive situation on the battlefield, and it is no longer possible to recapture Hangzhou. .
If they really wanted to defeat Haihan on the battlefield, why would they have resorted to such bad tactics as assassinating senior officials of the Executive Committee? Instead, it gave Haihan an excuse to start a full-scale war.
Wang Chengen looked at the "East China Sea Times" on the table in front of him, sighing helplessly from time to time.
This is the latest issue of the newspaper released today. Most of the news reports published on the front page are related to the ongoing war.
These reports should all come from military sources, and the content is very concise, almost copying battle reports.
The format of the article is basically that the Haihan army defeated the Ming army in a certain place on a certain day, or conquered a certain city and wiped out some enemies. But Wang Chengen knew very well that what these cold numbers represented was the Ming army's steady retreat on the battlefield.
The latest battle report is that the Haihan army defeated 20,000 Ming troops in Jurong, southwest of Nanjing.
Half of the 20,000 Ming troops were withdrawn from Zhenjiang Prefecture, and the other half were composed of reinforcements from Jurong Qianhu Station and Chuzhou. In this battle, the Ming army captured more than 3,000 people, and the number of casualties was almost the same. The remaining people fled towards Nanjing.
If the fight continues like this, it seems to be only a matter of time before the Haihan army arrives at the gates of Nanjing.
Wang Chengen wanted to know about Haihan's losses, but such military secrets would obviously not be published.
The only thing he could confirm was that the impact of the war on the front line on Hangzhou was very limited. If it weren't for the large-scale reports about the war in newspapers, Hangzhou would not even feel that it is currently in a state of war.
After turning the front page of the newspaper, the content switched to Haihan's domestic news, most of which were related to various engineering projects currently underway in the Donghai Region.
When it comes to war, it's useless for him, a eunuch with no military power, to worry. What he is most concerned about now is when he can meet with the Executive Committee and start armistice negotiations between the two countries.
It has been three days since Wang Chengen arrived in Hangzhou. For a person who came here with an urgent mission, three days of waiting time is already too long.
Nowadays, the situation on the battlefield is changing day by day. Every day, the Haihan Army will advance dozens of miles on the battlefield. If it drags on for another ten days and a half, the Haihan Army may have entered the capital. We can talk about it then. The conditions for a ceasefire would probably be ten times harsher than now. Wang Chengen has asked several times to meet with senior officials of the executive committee as soon as possible, but the reply he received was just to wait patiently.
Although Haihan was not banned and could move around inside and outside the city, he definitely couldn't go to the executive committee's office.
In fact, the only yamen that Wang Chengen can visit at present is the special liaison office in Xingxianfang in the city, and he can only go there as a routine every day to make reminders.
Wang Chengen put away the newspaper and asked his entourage to prepare the car and try his luck at the Special Liaison Office.
When he stepped out of the gate, a carriage was already parked at the door.
Wang Chengen really likes this kind of carriage, which can protect against wind and rain, and also has a certain degree of privacy. There is a shock-absorbing structure under the carriage, and with the soft seats in the carriage, the riding comfort is much better than that of a traditional carriage.
In fact, Wang Cheng has ridden in this kind of carriage more than once in the capital. Many dignitaries there have purchased this kind of carriage from Haihan as their rides. However, in order to avoid suspicion, they all claimed that it was produced by a private workshop in Nanjing. .
But in fact, Ben, the boss behind this workshop, is inextricably linked to Haihan. He imported the complete vehicle directly from Haihan, and then put his own mark on the inside and outside of the carriage, which is considered to be produced in Nanjing.
Wang Chengen also knew that this thing was actually made in Haihan, but the capital was filled with too many such products that were imported and then remade in workshops. There were even many in the palace. As long as they were easy to use, no one would pursue them. Its true origin.
But he originally thought that such high-priced carriages should be rare in Haihan, and ordinary people would definitely not be able to use them. However, he did not expect that when he looked in Hangzhou, there were many such carriages available for hire on the streets, and he could rent them for a day. The cost is only two taels of silver.
Wang Chengen started thinking about this, and made a special inspection of the prices in Hangzhou. He found that the prices of various popular Haihan-made products in the capital were at least half lower in Hangzhou, and some even differed several times.
It can be seen from this how huge profits the big guys in the capital who have monopolized the franchise rights of Haihan products have made.
Wang Chengen finally understood why there were always voices in the court advocating giving up confrontation, following North Korea and Annan, and cooperating with Haihan in all aspects. The huge economic interests involved may be enough to make some senior officials change their stance.
The place where Wang Chengen lives was arranged by the Special Liaison Office, so it is not far from Xingxianfang and only a short drive away. He informed the concierge of his intention, and soon someone took him in.
Wang Chengen originally wanted to see the person in charge, Li Qingyang, but he was not in the yamen at this time, so the young deputy director Zhu Zian received him on his behalf.
In fact, Zhu Zian played a big role in Wang Chengen's successful arrival in Hangzhou. However, Wang Chengen would not be grateful to Zhu Zian for this. In his eyes, Zhu Zian coming to Haihan to become an official was tantamount to treason and surrendering to the enemy.
Even though Zhu Zian's attitude towards the war between the two countries was to persuade peace and promote talks, Wang Chengen was still unwilling to completely trust this young man. However, due to the current situation, he had to deal with Zhu Zian, so he could only put aside his dissatisfaction with Zhu Zian and try his best to get the other party's support first.
(End of chapter)