Chapter 3596
There had indeed been such a substitute before, and Haihan had also joined forces with the Ming Dynasty to deal with the barbarians from the north. However, Manchuria was no longer what it used to be in the early morning. Ever since Haihan blocked the southward invasion route, its war potential began to shrink sharply.
Unable to continue to plunder people and materials from the Ming Dynasty and North Korea, the Manchu Qing Dynasty's national power simply could not withstand the consumption of long-term wars. In just a few years, the Manchus were forced back to the deep mountains and old forests by Haihan, and continued to work in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting. Make a living.
At previous events at the Zhoushan Forum, Yue Shizong had also seen the Manchu envoy Geng Jimao present. He traveled all the way to Zhoushan because he just wanted to find a sea passage for the Manchus. Twenty years ago, it would have been unimaginable that the Manchu envoys would be so humble and begging for help.
Today's Manchu Qing Dynasty, although its territory is not small, the areas it controls are all the vast and sparsely populated bitter cold land of northern Xinjiang. The population under its rule is only a few hundred thousand. Let alone a war with Haihan, I am afraid that even Haihan's subordinates His little brother North Korea can't beat him.
Such a Manchu was no longer worthy of being Haihan's opponent, and of course it was impossible to attract Haihan's attention.
Yue Shizong sadly discovered that apart from his own old rivals and the Manchus, there were no other neighboring countries around Haihan that could pose a threat to him.
Japan has now fallen into a large-scale civil war, and both warring parties are indirectly controlled by Haihan. I am afraid that for a long time to come, they will only be able to retreat to the island and be busy killing each other domestically.
Almost all other neighboring countries are supporters of Haihan, and loyal dogs like Annan and North Korea, who consider themselves allies of Haihan, will spare no effort to assist Haihan in maintaining international order. It is impossible to expect these countries to rebel against Haihan. .
The newspaper said that Haihan was fighting a fierce battle with the Spaniards south of the Luzon region, but Yue Shizong felt that the battlefield was so far away that without huge benefits, it would be difficult to attract Haihan to invest a large number of troops there in the future.
Yue Shizong thought about it and finally found that this plan to divert disaster to the east seemed to be a way out, but in fact it was still difficult to solve the Ming Dynasty's predicament. Because there are not many countries left that are qualified to be Haihan's opponents.
"Dead end! Dead end!"
Yue Shizong raised his head and lamented unwillingly. If Haihan's explosive force was to deal with the Ming Dynasty, then I'm afraid that the Ming Dynasty's two-hundred-year-old country Zuozhen will enter the countdown stage.
Yue Shizong racked his brains in Hangzhou to relieve Ming Dynasty, but then another basin of cold water was poured on him.
An urgent secret order was sent from the capital. When Yue Shizong opened it and took a look, his blood suddenly surged and he almost fainted.
It turned out that the two counties and one state in Nanjing that were attacked by Haihan not only sent distress signals to nearby areas and the Hangzhou embassy, but also reported the matter to the capital.
However, the letters of help sent to the capital from two counties and one state, as well as the subsequent results of the battle, were almost sent to the palace front and back. Before the Ming Dynasty had time to react, several places in the south seeking help had already changed hands.
Emperor Chongzhen believed that in addition to the poor defense in these areas, the embassy in Hangzhou was also involved in the matter. In a secret edict, he reprimanded Yue Shizong for knowing nothing about Haihan's plan, failing to give advance warning at all, and being responsible for negligence.
But at this juncture, the Ming court could not immediately send someone to replace Yue Shizong, so Emperor Chongzhen asked him to atone for his sins, find out Haihan's purpose as soon as possible, and must persuade the other party to stop launching attacks on the Ming Dynasty. If Haihan can be allowed to sign a new armistice agreement, the conditions can be relaxed appropriately, such as voluntarily giving up claims to the occupied areas.
Yue Shizong was angry that even though he was doing his best in Hangzhou, the imperial court blamed him for the loss of land. And judging from the tone of the secret decree, if the follow-up matters are not handled well, he may even be treated as a scapegoat.
Yue Shizong could understand that the imperial court did not regard armed confrontation as the first option, but he was a little disappointed that the responsibility of mediating the war was entirely placed on himself.
If Haihan's ambitions can be eliminated through diplomacy, then Ming will have been beaten for so many years in vain. Using ceding territory in exchange for temporary peace has long been proven to be unworkable.
The "On the Six Kingdoms" written by Su Xun of the Song Dynasty said: Cut five cities today, cut ten cities tomorrow, and then have to sleep overnight. He started to look around the surrounding areas, and the Qin soldiers arrived again.
Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty is a small country that is ceding territory and seeking peace. No matter how much it cedes, it cannot satisfy Haihan's ambitions. Judging from the intentions shown by the Executive Committee, what Haihan wants at this time is not the three melons and two dates on the Yangtze River. It is his real purpose to replace the Ming Dynasty in ruling the world.
But if you tell such a big truth to the court, it will definitely annoy those big shots who want to continue to whitewash the peace.
Maybe the emperor himself was one of them.
Yue Shizong couldn't help but remember that when he went to see Zhu Zian before, the other party also mentioned that Haihan actually wanted to complete the dynasty change through peaceful means so that Ming Dynasty could exit with dignity.
It's just that Daming felt that he still had some financial resources and the ability to fight, so he always had the attitude of procrastinating one day at a time. Maybe after dragging it, Haihan suddenly disintegrated on its own?
As everyone knows, the longer the delay, the stronger the national power accumulated by Haihan will become, and the chance of Ming's comeback will only become weaker. At least after seeing Haihan's powerful arms manufacturing capabilities at the Zhoushan Forum and Japan's Kyushu, Yue Shizong no longer had confidence in the imperial court's slogans of "counterattack Haihan and restore territory."
"Then let's see what happens next!"
Yue Shizong smiled bitterly and put away the secret edict. Since the imperial court didn't care so much about losing his land, why should he fight so hard.
As for how to deal with the superiors, it is too easy to operate. Anyway, Haihan has suspended military operations in the areas around Nanjing, so he can take the credit first and then talk about it. The buffer time gained can be used to plan your future retreat.
Yue Shizong has stayed in Hangzhou for a long time and has seen many officials who switched jobs from Ming Dynasty to Haihan. Most of them can be appointed by Haihan as long as they have certain professional abilities. Although he himself had no intention of surrendering to Haihan, judging from what he knew, he could at least settle in Haihan and obtain asylum after resigning, so that he no longer had to worry about being punished by the Ming court.
Just a few moments after reading the secret decree, Yue Shizong's thoughts changed dramatically. Maybe he himself didn't understand what was going on.
But this change did not happen to him alone. Over the years, sooner or later, many Ming officials had made similar decisions. He was just another person who chose to adapt to the development of the times.