Chapter 3497
The situation of being ignored by no one in the venue was actually what Yue Shizong had expected. Since Haihan announced his crusade against the Ming Dynasty due to the Hangzhou assassination last year, the Ming Dynasty embassy where he is located has quickly entered a diplomatic desert.
At that time, a large number of excited people surrounded the embassy every day, and there were countless rotten eggs and vegetables thrown in from the wall. If it were not for the Haihan army guarding the embassy, the embassy would have been stormed long ago.
Since then, there have been very few visitors to the Ming Embassy. If there are no foreign affairs arrangements, Yue Shizong also takes the initiative to reduce the number of trips out so as not to cause unnecessary trouble outside.
Being close to Ming Dynasty means offending Haihan, which has become a recognized taboo in the international system built by Haihan. In particular, vassal states that had close relations with the Ming Dynasty in the past, such as Korea, have taken the initiative to draw a clear line with the Ming Dynasty in recent years and cut off diplomatic exchanges as much as possible.
If it was the Ming Dynasty in its heyday, it would naturally not have to care about the attitudes of the surrounding small countries. But now that the Ming Dynasty is declining and being eaten away by Haihan step by step, it is indeed a bit miserable when there is not even a helper waving flags and shouting around.
But the more unfavorable the environment was to the Ming Dynasty, the more Yue Shizong could not give up foreign affairs activities. He must show other countries that although Ming Dynasty has temporarily lost power, it has not yet perished.
Yue Shizong did not expect to win allies during this Zhoushan Forum, but he had to attend this event to ensure that Haihan would not position Ming Dynasty as a target of public criticism during the forum.
Although Haihan's proactive invitation made him judge that this situation was unlikely, it would be a serious dereliction of duty as a diplomat if Haihan found an excuse to defeat Ming again so quickly.
The book Yue Shizong was looking at was the main activity arrangement of this forum, which listed a number of public issues for discussion by the participants. Guests who are interested in these topics can attend relevant activities according to the time and location indicated above.
What made him feel a little reassured was that most of these topics were focused on international relations, and at first glance he could not find any content specifically targeting the Ming Dynasty.
Many of these issues are related to the cross-border maritime trade that Haihan is currently vigorously developing. Route formulation, tariff standards, port facilities, cargo handover and settlement methods, etc. are all issues of great concern to many countries.
However, this basically has nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty, because the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty have now fallen into the hands of Haihan, and the Ming Dynasty has also changed from a country with a long coastline to a landlocked country, and is naturally involved in sea trade. No more.
Most of the remaining topics are military-related, which is exactly the purpose of this forum. Regardless of whether Yue Shizong is interested or not, he can only focus on this area.
In addition to discussing issues such as military mutual trust, border garrison rules, and military alliances led by Haihan, there will also be multiple equipment conferences that will introduce the latest weapons and equipment developed by Haihan and announce equipment models for sale to various countries.
Due to the deterioration of relations, Ming Dynasty is no longer able to purchase weapons and equipment from Haihan, but now that there is an opportunity to learn about Haihan's equipment development progress, Yue Shizong will certainly not miss it.
Yue Shizong closed the book and looked around. There were many familiar faces present, most of them diplomats from various countries who were stationed in Hangzhou like him.
However, these people obviously would not come to say hello to him on this occasion. Even if they met his eyes, most of them would immediately pretend that nothing happened and look away. Only two or three people would give him a slight nod, which was considered a very friendly gesture. Yue Shizong soon discovered that he was not the only one who was ignored in this meeting. Not far away, there was someone who was in a similar situation to him, and that was Geng Jimao, the envoy from the Qing Dynasty.
Geng Jimao was the son of Geng Zhongming, the rebel general of the Ming Dynasty. He held the hereditary title of King Jingnan in the Manchu Qing Dynasty. In terms of his status, he was much higher than diplomats like Yue Shizong. That he came to Zhoushan to attend the event on behalf of the Manchu Qing Dynasty also shows that he attaches great importance to this forum.
As we all know, Haihan and the Manchus have a long history of grievances. Ever since Haihan extended his tentacles to Liaodong more than 20 years ago, armed conflicts between the two countries have continued, and the battlefield of confrontation has even expanded to North Korea.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty was happy to see the conflict between the two countries come to fruition, and even hoped that they would fight to the death, so that the Ming Dynasty could regain the territory that was encroached by the two countries.
However, with the rapid development of Haihan's national power, the Manchu Qing Dynasty gradually lost its enemy in the protracted war of attrition. In the end, they had no choice but to surrender to Haihan like the Ming Dynasty.
After the Manchus surrendered, they were able to preserve part of their territory in the mountains and forests of Liaodong, but at the same time they also lost their outlet to the Yellow Sea.
However, Haihan still temporarily left room for its development to the north. As long as the Manchu and Qing Dynasties expanded northward along the Changbai Mountain, sooner or later they would be able to obtain a new outlet along the Sea of Japan, but they did not need to be completely suppressed like the Ming Dynasty. landlocked country.
Yue Shizong did not know why Haihan invited the Manchus to attend the Zhoushan Forum. He thought that perhaps Haihan wanted to take the opportunity of releasing new weapons and equipment to frighten the Manchus.
The establishment of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was too short. Even counting from the time when Nurhachi founded the country and proclaimed himself emperor, it has only been more than 40 years. If Huang Taiji designated the country as the Great Liquidation, it would only be more than 20 years ago.
In such a short history, the territory has been limited to Liaodong, resulting in Manchu Qing not having much diplomatic relations at all.
Its neighboring Korea, Mongolia, Ming Dynasty, and later Haihan were all opponents on the battlefield, and there were only short-term diplomatic activities during armistice negotiations.
Now isolated by Haihan in the deep mountains and forests of Liaodong, it is even more difficult to communicate with other outside countries. Its influence is still far behind that of the Ming Dynasty, which is now declining, and is even inferior to its neighbor North Korea.
Although the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Qing Dynasty shared the same fate, there was an irresolvable hatred between the two countries. It can be said that the decline of the Ming Dynasty's national power was largely due to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. As a diplomat of the Ming Dynasty, Yue Shizong would definitely not greet the Manchu envoy, not to mention that the other party was the son of a rebel general of the Ming Dynasty.
If there is an opportunity to trip up the other party during the forum, Yue Shizong believes that the other party will be like him and will not hesitate at all. Therefore, he was extremely cautious and planned to carefully observe the other party's movements during this period.
At this time, a burst of drum music sounded, and several senior officials from the Haihan Executive Committee entered the venue. Several people in the venue stood up first and welcomed the arrival of these important figures with Haihan's applause.
Yue Shizong was naturally not in the mood to flatter the senior officials of Haihan, but it was not advisable to act too hostile in this situation, so he could only deal with it with a symbolic pat of his hands.