Chapter 1610 Diplomatic Difficulties

The imperial court's attitude was relatively clear, which was to send Fei Cexian, the envoy to Haihan, to appease Haihan. Even if Ming Dynasty would suffer some small losses on territorial and trade issues during this period, Haihan's current position must be stabilized first.

Ensure that the situation in Liaodong will not be repeated due to Haihan's unrest, and that the southeastern coastal areas will not be in chaos due to Haihan's restlessness.

This job seems easy, but in fact it is not. This kind of appeasement and concession is not a bottom-line measure. Fei Cexian must also consider the actual situation of the Ming Dynasty and cannot make mistakes and turn appeasement into betraying national interests.

Moreover, he also had to convince the Haihan people of Ming's sincerity in cooperation. For example, on the current topic, he had to make a clear statement to ensure that the Haihan people would not doubt whether the military assistance they provided to Ming was worth the money.

Fei Cexian continued: "Master Qiu should also know that the Ming Dynasty and Haihan had agreed in the Liaodong Agreement that the Ming Dynasty would open coastal trade in exchange for Haihan's military assistance. Now that our country has fulfilled the agreement, of course we

I also hope that your country can continue to maintain military pressure on the Jin people in Liaodong in accordance with the original agreement."

Qiu Yuanying said: "Master Fei, don't worry. Our country has always kept its promises. Since these are the contents of the agreement signed in black and white, it will be implemented according to the rules. However, in the form of military assistance, specific implementation plans must be broken down.

The current military assistance that can be provided to your country is probably in the form of the Liaodong Garrison. As for the provision of weapons, training and other assistance, we have not yet reached an agreement with your Ministry of War. There may be opportunities for in-depth cooperation in the future."

Of course, Fei Cexian was very clear about the inside story of the Liaodong Agreement. The military assistance promised by Haihan officials was indeed what Qiu Yuan said, but it was temporarily based on the garrison in Liaodong. As for the advanced weapons manufactured by Haihan, the Ministry of War wanted to increase the amount of them.

However, the price given by Haihan made the imperial court unable to make up its mind to pay for it. Because according to the news from the south, the price of Haihan weapons sold to Fujian Xu Xinsu was much lower than the price reported to the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War was not a fool.

, naturally will not suffer this loss. Even if he knew that Haihan's high price must be followed by high kickbacks, Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of War, would not dare to approve this matter.

Of course, it is impossible for the Ministry of War to trouble Xu Xinsu for this matter. Rumors that Xu Xinsu, the general of the Fujian Army, had a close relationship with the Haihan people have been circulating for several years, and the Ministry of War has repeatedly tried to transfer Xu Xinsu to serve in Beijing.

They were all rejected by him for various reasons. It is said that Xu Xinsu's statement also had the meaning of the Han people. Although the court wanted to control Xu Xinsu, it did not dare to push him too hard, fearing that he would betray the Ming Dynasty in a hurry and lead the Ming Dynasty.

After the Fujian Ming army surrendered to Haihan, they also sacrificed all the cities along the coast of Fujian. Therefore, the imperial court could only turn a blind eye to the complicated relationship between Xu Xinsu and Haihan and pretend that nothing happened.

According to what Fei Cexian heard, the Ministry of War even discussed whether relatively cheap arms could be purchased from Haihan through Xu Xinsu. However, this proposal was also rejected by Zhang Fengyi, and the Ming Dynasty's arms procurement unexpectedly

Being controlled by a local commander-in-chief, if this news leaks out, wouldn't the imperial court's majesty be ruined? And with Xu Xinsu's relationship with the Haihan people, this matter will almost certainly become a lever in the hands of the Haihan people, and the Ministry of War will not be able to carry it.

This pot.

As for training, the Ministry of War did not dare to leave it to Haihan easily. The Fujian Ming Army is a ready example. However, almost all the Ming Army troops who received Haihan's training broke away from the management of the Ministry of War and became soldiers who only obeyed Haihan.

The private army commanded by Fujian General Xu Xinsu. Of course, this result is not difficult to understand. After all, all the expenses incurred by these troops in receiving the military training provided by Haihan were paid for by Xu Xinsu, so the Haihan people are training these

When he was in the army, he naturally helped Xu Xinsu secure his command.

Of course, there would be some military generals who were unwilling to obey the arrangements during this process. Unfortunately, they were unable to cause any big disturbance at the local level. Although the court had received several secret reports, when it came time to conduct an investigation, the informant had already

Due to various reasons, Xu Xinsu disappeared from the world. Within a few years, Xu Xinsu had grown up in Fujian, and with the support of Haihan, he became the local grass-head king. The Ministry of War, who had learned from the painful experiences of Fujian, naturally did not dare to go back to Fujian.

He easily handed over the troops to Haihan for training. As for Haihan's initiative to have Ming Dynasty send senior officers to Hainan Island for further training, the Ministry of War has not agreed yet - if a few more Xu Xinsu-like figures come out, then

Ming Dynasty is really in danger.

Fei Cexian only knew a little about the affairs of the Ministry of War, but because of his low position, he had no power to interfere in these affairs. It was not until Zhang Fengyi, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, clarified his attitude to Haihan before he went to Haihan that Fei Cexian finally had a chance.

Through his own work, he will do something for the military development of the Ming Dynasty. However, he is not a military expert, so he still needs to be careful when communicating with Qiu Yuan on such issues to avoid saying the wrong thing and causing trouble to the Ministry of War.

Of course, if Fei Cexian had done his homework in depth enough and understood Qiu Yuan's development trajectory in Haihan, he would know that Qiu Yuan was not a real military attaché. If we really wanted to talk about professional military issues, Qiu Yuan was not

Impeccable. It's just that Qiu Yuan has the capital to speak forcefully from Haihan's standpoint, but Fei Cexian does not have such confidence.

However, Fei Cexian was selected by the imperial court as an envoy to represent the Ming Dynasty. He had his own abilities. Seeing that this topic was not good for him, he immediately changed the subject decisively and proactively: "I have another important mission when I come to Haikou this time.

, just to select a location for the Ming Dynasty embassy, ​​I wonder if Mr. Qiu has any recommendations?"

Qiu Yuanying said: "I can't recommend it, but we have set aside a piece of land to the west of Haikou City for this purpose, with an area of ​​about fifty acres. If Mr. Fei is interested, you can go and see the place tomorrow. In addition, there is a place in Haikou itself

We have a ready-made construction team ready to start work at any time.”

Fei Cexian did not expect that Haihan had prepared all these things early, and did not even intend to leave room for bargaining. He smiled and said: "Master Qiu is really thoughtful."

Qiu Yuan said seriously: "It has been several months since the Liaodong Agreement. We also hope that Ming Dynasty can build the embassy as soon as possible to carry out formal diplomatic work. Although there are many things that we can implement alone, in the end we still have to

It would be better to discuss it with your country."

Qiu Yuan did not explain what exactly needed to be discussed, but Fei Cexian knew it well. Haihan had always been very strong on issues such as cross-border trade and territorial disputes, and had almost refused to give in in past negotiations.

It was only after the Liaodong Agreement that some concessions were made in order to allow Ming to formally recognize the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The so-called concession only provides a room for negotiation, so that past disputes can be put on the negotiating table for discussion and resolution, instead of Haihan taking unilateral actions. For Daming, this is actually better than nothing, and there is no hope.

Being able to get back something that originally belonged to the Ming Dynasty from the negotiation table was a little benefit that Mei Shengchuan, the Minister of War, wrested from Haihan. Naturally, he had to hold on to it tightly.

The agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations signed before by the two countries is only a framework, and the specific content still needs to be slowly negotiated and improved by the diplomatic departments of the two countries. Haihan is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ming is the Ministry of Rites, but it needs to be professional.

In comparison, the Ministry of Rites is still far behind its opponents. For example, in terms of preparations for building the embassy, ​​it is obvious that Haihan is already ahead of the curve.

Haihan's initiative in everything means that Fei Cexian is passive. Not long after arriving in Hainan Island, he already had a very clear feeling about this. Fei Cexian did not want to stay in Haihan country forever.

In this passive state, he knew very well that if Haihan led the way in everything, he might be completely ignored before long and become an ornament in the relationship between the two countries.

Until the end of the banquet, Fei Cexian tried several times to emphasize the status and majesty of the Ming Dynasty, but still failed to change the situation. The almost arrogant self-confidence displayed by official Haihan during the conversation made his attempts

It has become futile. But think about it, it is also true. In recent years, I have only heard that Ming officials were bribed by Haihan, but I have never heard of any Haihan official who was inspired by righteousness to abandon the dark side and join the Ming Dynasty. It seems that righteousness is not worth gold and silver after all.

, Fei Cexian could only lament that people’s hearts are too realistic.

Of course, even Fei Cexian himself could not escape this reality. After the banquet, Qiu Yuan gave him a red envelope, which contained three thousand Haihan banknotes, which was roughly equivalent to three thousand taels of silver. This amount

Money is really not a small amount of money for Fei Cexian, who works in Qingshui Yamen like the Ministry of Rites, and he has saved less than 10,000 taels of money after ten years of working in the Ministry of Rites.

The Han people casually hand out a red envelope and treat it as if they have been working hard for several years.

Fei Cexian was not dazzled by the benefits that fell from the sky, and immediately wanted to reject Qiu Yuan's "good intentions", but Qiu Yuan insisted that the money was official "office expenses" provided by Haihan to the Ming envoys, and was not private.

If Fei Cexian doesn't accept the bribe, it means he is dissatisfied with Haihan's arrangement.

Fei Cexian was not a three-year-old child, so of course he knew that this was just Qiu Yuan's excuse, but the other party used the sign of diplomatic relations to pressure others, and he really couldn't refute. So under Qiu Yuan's insistence, Fei Cexian finally

Ce Xian accepted the money half-heartedly.

Returning to the temporary residence arranged by Haihan, Fei Cexian took out the Haihan banknotes from the red envelope and spread them on the table. He vaguely regretted his softness just now. It would be a small matter to accept the money, but if Haihan behaves like this in the future,

It would be troublesome to use this as a basis to blackmail him into doing some unreasonable things. Fei Cexian decided to seal up the money for the time being. If there was a recurrence in the future, he could at least take out the money intact and show that

I didn't accept it because I was greedy for money.

Qiu Yuan's idea was completely opposite to his. Now that the Ming Dynasty envoys had started to collect money, it would be easier to do the following things. Haihan was never afraid of encountering corrupt officials, he was only afraid of encountering unfair officials.

If Fei Cexian is willing to accept benefits, although he talks about Ming Dynasty at all times, he is still unambiguous when he sees the money. Although giving money and bribery is not a clever method, it has been tried almost a hundred times in Fujian and Guangzhou provinces.

Bailing, now it seems that even officials from the capital are no exception. Three thousand yuan is not much, but it is worth it to get a good start in the first contact with the Ming envoy.

The next day, Qiu Yuan took Fei Cexian to see the place designated for the Ming Dynasty to build the embassy. The place Qiu Yuan prepared was also very conscientious. It was located close to Guandao and Haikou City, making life convenient. The fifty acres of land were suitable for building the embassy.

It was enough to say that. Fei Cexian was originally wary of Haihan plotting against the Ming Dynasty on the embassy land, but after seeing it in person, he had to admit that he was a villain. But he changed his mind, including

These lands, including the entire Hainan Island, were all the territory of the Ming Dynasty in the past. Now that fifty acres are being used to build an embassy for the Ming Dynasty, I would actually feel grateful. This is simply unreasonable.

"Master Fei, what do you think of this place?" After looking at the surrounding environment, Qiu Yuan took the initiative to ask Fei Cexian what he thought.

Fei Cexian responded: "The place is indeed good, but it is located outside the city. If there are urgent political matters at night and we need to communicate with Mr. Qiu, it will be somewhat inconvenient."

Qiu Yuan knew what the other party was worried about, so he explained to him: "Master Fei, although Haikou City has a curfew, the city gates are not closed at night. If you want to enter the city, you can enter at any time. I will issue a special pass at that time.

Give the token to the embassy to ensure that your entry into the city at night will not be blocked."

Fei Cexian thought that the people of Haihan were indeed very arrogant. They did not even close the city gates at night and were not afraid of enemy attacks. But then he thought about it, the reason why Haihan acted like this was because they had already eliminated potential threats in the surrounding areas.

There is no other armed organization that has the strength to attack the city at night. Even the Ming Dynasty Navy may not be able to safely pass through the Qiongzhou Strait.

However, Fei Cexian had already decided to go to Sanya for inspection, so he was not in a hurry to make a decision. He just thanked Qiu Yuan for his kindness. Qiu Yuan was not in a hurry. After seeing the land, he took the initiative to buy it again.

He took Fei Cexian to visit the local army and navy camps. Nothing can be more shocking than witnessing it with his own eyes. Qiu Yuan knew this very well, so he planned to let Fei Cexian take a good look at Haihan's pride.

Confidence.

The size of the army stationed in Haikou is actually not too large. One battalion of the army and half of the fleet are stationed at the military port west of Haikou City, and the other half of the fleet is stationed in Danzhou. However, the Haihan Army is not known for its military strength and is advanced.

And powerful weapons and equipment are the most powerful asset of this army.
Chapter completed!