This is not the first time that Ming Dynasty and Haihan held armistice negotiations. The two countries held a negotiation in Tianjin three years ago, and the location of this meeting was changed to Balizhuang in the east of the capital.
During the last negotiation, half of the Haihan Executive Committee came, and Tao Donglai personally took charge of the overall situation. In this negotiation, the executive committee's attention was obviously reduced, and only Chen Yixin was present.
During the negotiations three years ago, Chen Yixin was only Qian Tiandun's deputy and could only participate in the audit. Now that he is a member of the executive committee, he is fully qualified to represent Haihan on such occasions.
As for the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen did not send out the same senior court officials as last time, and even the cabinet bachelors were all absent. Instead, he continued to appoint Wang Chengen to take on important tasks. In addition, he assigned several doctors from the Ministry of Education and the Sixth Ministry to serve as assistants. It seems that It looked like he had lost trust in the high-ranking officials in the court.
Of course, it is also possible that he wanted Wang Chengen to take the blame. Anyway, he was the one who negotiated Hangzhou. Whatever the final negotiation was, the country would definitely label Wang Chengen as "losing power and humiliating the country."
When the domestic dissatisfaction becomes too great, all that is needed is to throw Wang Chengen out as a scapegoat. After all, he is an eunuch in the inner palace with no basic background, and is far easier to deal with than a high-ranking official with deep roots in the court.
Regarding some of the armistice conditions proposed to Ming Dynasty, Chen Yixin had already communicated with other members of the Executive Committee when he went to Hangzhou in April. Later, the Executive Committee made some minor changes and informed him via telegram.
Holding those involved in the Hangzhou assassination accountable is only the first of Haihan's many conditions. The real big deal lies in the various claim clauses at the back.
"The Ming Dynasty needs to compensate the Haihan Kingdom for the military expenses and various miscellaneous expenses incurred by sending troops this time, totaling 80 million taels of silver."
"The Ming Dynasty needs to cede the entire Yongping Prefecture, Hejian Prefecture, and the thirty-mile coastal area of Shuntian Prefecture to the Haihan State."
"The Ming Dynasty needs to cede the Qingzhou Prefecture and the fifty-mile coastal area of Jinan Prefecture to the Haihan State."
"The Ming Dynasty needs to cede Changzhou Prefecture, Zhenjiang Prefecture, Guangzhou Prefecture, Ningguo Prefecture, Huizhou Prefecture, Chizhou Prefecture, Taiping Prefecture, and the Jiangnan area of Yingtian Prefecture to Haihan."
"The Ming Dynasty needs to open the entire Beijing-Hangzhou Canal navigation rights to the Haihan Kingdom and cancel all restrictions on Haihan ships by the water transport yamen."
"The Ming Dynasty needs to open the ports on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to Haihan Kingdom for trade and navigation, and allow Haihan merchants to enter the coastal states to establish business houses and engage in trading activities."
Wang Chengen listened to the adjutant behind Chen Yixin read out these claim clauses one by one, and his back was already soaked with cold sweat.
It was expected that Haihan would demand cession of territory and compensation. After all, Haihan also made a similar request during the last armistice negotiation.
However, the amount of 80 million taels of silver was mentioned at the beginning. This is too much. The Ming Dynasty's current treasury income per year is only a few million taels. The amount Haihan requested will probably take the next twenty years. Only by donating all the revenue to the national treasury can this big hole be filled.
This is of course impossible to achieve. Once the national treasury runs out of revenue, the entire country will quickly stop and collapse. Not to mention twenty years, even two years would not make it through.
Then this series of land-cutting requirements hit the most critical points.
Haihan has coveted the coastal territory of Shandong for a long time and has been infiltrating it for many years. It is not surprising that he takes this opportunity to officially seize it. But Yongping Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture in North China are the gateways to Shuntian Prefecture and the capital. These two places are assigned to Haihan, which is equivalent to putting a gun to his forehead. The next time Haihan wants to raise troops to attack the capital, he will not There is no need to send troops all the way from Shandong and Liaodong.
Especially for the Northern Line, once Yongping Prefecture is assigned to Haihan, the iron gate of Shanhaiguan will be lost. Although the Haihan Army nominally broke through Shanhaiguan this time, in fact, in order to pursue the advancement speed, they finally sent troops by sea to land around the rear of Shanhaiguan, which shows how strong this line of defense is.
In the future, if there is no such line of defense to stop them, the Haihan Army in Liaodong can move south at any time and rush directly to the capital.
As for the state capitals in the Jianghuai region, it is even more painful for Ming Dynasty. About a quarter of the current treasury revenue of the Ming Dynasty comes from the Jianghuai River. Haihan took away all the areas south of the Yangtze River with one strike. This means that the Ming Dynasty will not only shrink its territory, but also its future harvests will also be greatly reduced. .
Compared with land cessation and compensation, Wang Chengen felt that opening up the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River waterways and coastal trade rights was not so harsh.
Although he also knew that this would put Haihan at risk of using the waterway to project troops, but having said that, the gap between the Daming Navy and its opponents was wider than on land. Even if they did not agree to Haihan's conditions, they would not be able to stop him in a real fight. Can't stop the opponent's fleet.
If it were not for the weak strength of the navy, the city of Nanjing on the Yangtze River would not have been completely blockaded by the Haihan Army, and the reinforcements from Jiangbei would not be able to go even if they wanted to.
The southern coast of the Ming Dynasty has long been occupied by Haihan. If the coastal state capitals are given away this time, the Ming Dynasty will be completely reduced to a landlocked country. Wang Chengen knew that the far-reaching impact this would have in the future would be serious, but to what extent it would be serious, he could not imagine the specific situation based on his knowledge.
"Master Wang, do you understand the conditions proposed by our country?"
When Wang Chengen heard Chen Yixin's question, he quickly responded: "This is really a lot of terms... Could you please Mr. Chen to give me a list? We have to take a good look at it."
Chen Yixin made a gesture, and someone immediately handed Wang Chengen the prepared written terms.
Wang Chengen frowned and looked at it for a long time before saying: "With all due respect, the terms proposed by your country are indeed a bit harsh, and they need to be discussed slowly."
Chen Yixin smiled and said: "In negotiations, of course there is room for bargaining. That is no problem. But there is one thing I need to add."
Chen Yixin paused and then continued: "Before the formal armistice agreement was signed, our country's participating troops were in a wartime state, so the military expenditures for this first item will continue to increase during this period. The longer the negotiation takes, the more The number will be larger, Mr. Wang must not know it.”
Wang Chengen did not expect that the other party would have such a trick, and quickly asked: "I don't know how much this cost will cost per day?"
Chen Yixin said: "There are always 60,000 to 70,000 troops participating in the war plus logistical equipment. If people eat horse chews and consume ammunition, let's count it as 200,000 taels a day!"
Wang Chengen said in astonishment: "Two hundred thousand taels a day? Isn't that too much? And as far as we know, your army outside the capital should only be more than 10,000 and less than 20,000. Even if you add in the logistics personnel, This water is too much.”
Chen Yixin waved his hand and said: "Master Wang has forgotten, the battlefield is not just in Beijing, the troops in the southern battlefield must also be included!"