Chapter 1730 Diplomacy

The Haihan logistics department put a lot of thought into the dishes produced for this dinner, which should not only take into account the different food tastes of various countries, but also highlight the characteristics of Haihan food culture. Fan Weiwei, who has long since stopped cooking dishes himself

The chef organized his capable staff to study the menu and reserve ingredients a month in advance, and spent a lot of time preparing.

However, when it comes to the banquet, there are actually not many guests who pay attention to the dishes. The status of these people attending the banquet is either rich or noble. They usually eat a lot of Yan, abalone, fins, ginseng, delicacies from mountains and seas, not to mention that many people have been there for a long time.

During the Sanya activities, I have long been accustomed to the taste of Haihan. Even if the chefs of Haihan can cook in various ways, there will be nothing special in their eyes.

What really attracted the attention of the guests were the signals released by Haihan officials through this dinner, as well as the opportunity to have face-to-face communication with many prominent figures during the dinner. After all, in an occasion like this that can facilitate international exchanges, in

The Far East in this era is an extremely rare opportunity. Even the Ming Dynasty, which once had such a prosperous scene as "all nations come to Korea", would not have the advanced diplomatic concepts of Haihan to hold such an event.

And those who are interested have already heard some overtones from Tao Donglai's brief speech before the dinner. First, Haihan is now gradually getting out of the state of keeping a low profile. Tao Donglai even used the word "second to none" in his speech without humility.

, words like "powerful" are used to describe Haihan State today, which is obviously different from Haihan's low-key diplomatic rhetoric in the past few years.

Second, Tao Donglai emphasized Haihan's leading level in multiple fields, which is enough to make allies and partners confident in the prospects of future cooperation. What is the purpose of this emphasis? Those who are interested will naturally associate it with some recent rumors.

, for example, the Ming Dynasty intended to borrow troops from Haihan to resist the invasion of powerful enemies in the north.

Although this model of providing paid military assistance to other countries is not the first time for Haihan, there is no doubt that the appearance of the Ming Dynasty has greatly increased Haihan’s strong attributes. Imagine that even the first empire of the Far East in the past has

If you ask Haihan for military assistance, even a blind person can confirm Haihan's international status in military affairs.

As for why Tao Donglai showed a high-profile attitude on this occasion, each participant has his or her own opinion. Representatives like Annan will be happy to see it happen. The growth of Haihan will bring more advantages than disadvantages to Annan. With this

With a strong backing, Annan would be able to firmly gain the upper hand in the protracted war with Siam.

Western countries such as Portugal and the Netherlands have a somewhat sour mentality. Haihan's strength is not a good thing for their competitors, which means that their goals of occupying colonies in the Far East and expanding trade scale will encounter greater difficulties.

Resistance. Even if the cooperative relationship between Portugal and Haihan is very close, it is difficult for Thomas not to consider whether Portugal will become even more humble in the future when the two countries get along.

As for Su Keyi, he feels even worse. Since he entered Sanya as an envoy, he has personally felt that this country is developing and growing at a speed that is almost visible to the naked eye. The speed of infrastructure construction in Sanya alone is incomparable to that after the war.

The rebuilt Batavia was many times faster, and the prosperity of Victory Port and Sanya Port made him even more envious. Tao Donglai's words just now seemed to him more like a demonstration. The East India Company responded to this

But he was unable to fight back, which is really a sad thing.

Of course, the one who suffers the most is not Su Keyi, but the Ming envoy Fei Cexian. The faster Haihan develops, the more trouble it will be for the Ming Dynasty. Such a powerful and restless neighbor has been like a thorn in the back of the Ming Dynasty in recent years.

, but couldn't make a move to get rid of it quickly.

If in the past, Ming Dynasty could still rely on its advantages in population and land area to offset its disadvantages in the military and economic and trade fields, then as Haihan occupied more and more places in the Far East, especially along the coast of Ming Dynasty, he established

A series of colonizations have attracted immigrants nearby, and the gap in strength between the two sides is increasing bit by bit. Tao Donglai's words indicate that Haihan will not stop there, and is very likely to continue to encroach on the Ming Dynasty in this way.

Fei Cexian stayed in Sanya for several months. The more he learned about Haihan, the more he understood that it was difficult to make the country accept Ming's arrangements through pure negotiation. In order for Haihan to change his approach, he had to come up with something

Sufficient conditions are required, but it is impossible for Ming Dynasty to trade territory or population, so this conflict of interest is fundamentally unsolvable. Whenever Fei Cexian thinks about this, he can't help but feel a twinge of anger in his heart.

A deep sense of powerlessness.

Even if every dish placed in front of him is carefully cooked, Fei Cexian really can't muster the appetite to taste it. He is now counting on the meal to end quickly, because according to the arrangement, after the meal is over, the formal

The social reception has just begun.

Among the guests at the banquet, Fei Cexian was certainly not the only one who had similar thoughts. In a social occasion like today, eating is just a ritual, and most people are waiting for the real highlight later.

Everyone had their own concerns. Some anxious people ate a few bites of the main course and then put down their chopsticks and wiped their mouths, waiting for the senior official Haihan to announce the next arrangements. They did not wait too long, and Ning Qi soon stood up and announced.

, you can move around on your own during the dinner, and follow-up activities can be arranged freely.

The high-ranking officials of Haihan were the first to be surrounded, but most of these quick-moving people were businessmen from various countries who came to consult with them for commercial purposes. The envoys relied on their status, but no one planned to compete with these people for ranking.

.

Fei Cexian also sat motionless. As an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, he naturally had to act like a big country and would never take the initiative to attack until the right time. However, he still looked around carefully to see who was at the banquet.

Which guests were present? As soon as they came in, they were being dragged into talking, but they didn’t have time to take a good look around them.

At this glance, he saw an envoy from North Korea sitting not far away from him. It was not difficult for him to identify the official uniform of North Korea. When Fei Cexian saw that the other party was also looking towards him, he looked at him for a moment.

He nodded as a greeting.

Li Xi couldn't sit still now. North Korea was still a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Since the Ming Dynasty envoy had noticed his existence, it would be bad to continue sitting there pretending to be fine. He quickly got up and poured himself a glass of wine.

Then he went over to toast Fei Cexian.

Although Fei Cexian had some opinions about North Korea's attitude in his heart, he did not reach out to hit the smiling man, and did not deliberately put on airs to embarrass Li Xi, so he invited him to sit down and have a drink.

"I heard that a North Korean envoy has arrived in Sanya, but I haven't had time to meet with you yet, but it's a good occasion today." After putting down his wine glass, Fei Cexian took the initiative and said, "But the seats in the Haihan row are good.

There is something really wrong. I know clearly that my country, Ming Dynasty, has a profound relationship with your country, so why don’t you arrange to sit in an adjacent seat?"

Li Xi was shocked when he heard this, and quickly defended: "I have just arrived in Sanya, and I haven't had time to visit Mr. Fei yet. I hope Mr. Fei can forgive me for being disrespectful."

Although Li Xi did not want to meet with the Ming Dynasty envoys in Sanya, he also did not want to offend them because of these etiquette issues. If he reported the news to the capital with added embarrassment, the envoys from North Korea to the Ming Dynasty would probably have a very difficult time in the future.

It's not easy. As for the issue of arranging seats, Fei Cexian dared to say it casually, but he didn't dare to agree with it. There are people coming and going in this place. If someone hears it, wouldn't it be easy to stab the Haihan people?

It will offend the Haihan people.

Of course, from Li Xi's heart, he actually preferred the seat arranged by Haihan. After all, it was a bit embarrassing to sit next to Fei Cexian on such an occasion. If he hadn't met Fei Cexian's eyes just now, he would have

I originally planned to find an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Haihan to introduce me first, which would make it appear more formal.

Fei Cexian asked: "I wonder what Master Li has to say about what Master Haihantao said just now?"

Li Xi responded: "I dare not express my opinion. I think what Mr. Tao said is very true. A strong Haihan should bring more benefits than disadvantages to neighboring countries. As long as we have good relations with Haihan, we should all benefit from it."

Fei Cexian nodded calmly and continued to ask: "I wonder what benefits Mr. Li thinks the North Korean Congress will gain from this?"

Li Xi hesitated for a moment when he heard this question. If he didn't answer it well, he might easily offend the other party.

As if he saw Li Xi's difficulty, Fei Cexian comforted him: "Today is not a formal negotiation occasion. It should just be a chat after drinking. Just say so."

Li Xixin asked: Is it so easy for you to deceive a three-year-old child? However, he still responded to the other party's question after slandering: "To be honest, Mr. Fei, the biggest threat our country currently faces is Houjin. It is said that Houjin is the enemy of the chief.

Taiji originally planned to lead an army of 100,000 to conquer our country last year, but it happened that the Haihan army also entered Liaodong last year, stalling Hou Jin's eastward expedition plan, and our country was able to avoid the war. Moreover, we agreed on an alliance with Haihan last year.

At that time, they also promised our country that if Hou Jin sent troops to invade our country, they would provide military assistance to North Korea."

Fei Cexian said: "Although the Haihan people are powerful in military force, they will not fight for other countries in vain, let alone send troops for free to defend your country against foreign enemies like our Ming Dynasty. The promises they made are not reliable. Your country needs

Think twice before you act!”

The "free troops" that Fei Cexian mentioned refers to the troops sent to defend Korea against the Japanese invasion during the Wanli period. At that time, even the capital of Korea was captured by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army, and seven of the eight Koreas had fallen. If it had not been for the Ming Dynasty,

By sending troops to aid Korea in time, the Korean Peninsula had become Japanese territory more than forty years ago.

The Ming Dynasty sent tens of thousands of elites and spent millions of taels of silver to save the country for North Korea. In the Ming Dynasty's view, this was undoubtedly a huge favor that the North Koreans could never repay for generations to come.

As for such selfless military assistance, Fei Cexian was certain that the Haihan people would not be able to provide it. First, the Haihan people were always good at calculations and would never make a loss-making business, let alone a war that cost human lives; secondly, the Haihan people

The mainland is too far away from Korea, and the cost of sending troops to Korea will only be higher than the Ming Dynasty's operation. And Korea has only had a generation to recuperate after being plundered by Japan, and there is simply not enough remuneration to satisfy Haihan.

Ce Xian believed that if he wanted Haihan to send troops to assist, North Korea had only two choices, either to donate its land or to provide its population.

Fei Cexian used this as a basis to warn Li Xi, but it was not to slander Haihan, but his purpose was to use this method to make North Koreans doubt their future cooperation with Haihan. Even if he could not bring North Korea back,

As for Daming, at least it cannot be allowed to join Haihan's camp so quickly.

As a member of the royal family, Li Xi knew a little bit about the content of the agreement negotiated between North Korea and Haihan. He also knew that Haihan's military assistance was by no means free, but the price North Korea had to pay for it was more expensive than the subjugation of the country.

The serious consequences of this seem trivial. However, he would not say such words to Fei Cexian, because the other party simply could not understand how North Korea's situation required the support of strong people. The Ming Dynasty was already in a situation where it was difficult for the Ming Dynasty to cross the river.

Due to the current situation, it is no longer possible to provide North Korea with military assistance similar to that during the Wanli period. Now the only life-saving straw North Korea can grasp is the Haihan people who are very snobbish but also very powerful.

No matter how harsh the conditions offered by Haihan were, their army was really defeated in Liaodong and the Jin army could not hold its head up. Moreover, the military assistance mentioned was not just a cake to satisfy hunger, sold by Haihan to North Korea.

The first batch of muskets and artillery arrived in North Korea at the end of last year, and the officer cadets selected by North Korea also went to Liaodong to receive military training from Haihan on the battlefield and learn advanced firearms tactics that could defeat the Jin army.

Although with North Korea's national strength, even with the help provided by Haihan, it is impossible to defeat Hou Jin for a while, but this at least gives North Korea a little hope, and they no longer have to wait and see as much as they did in previous years.

The Ming Dynasty received aid, but in the end nothing came of it. Although the Haihan people were greedy, they were unambiguous in what they did after receiving the money. At least their business reputation was trustworthy.

But Li Xi really couldn't tell Fei Cexian frankly about these things. He gave up the Ming Dynasty and chose Haihan's assistance. This way of dealing with it would definitely be understood as disrespectful to the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, in response to Fei Cexian's warning, Li Xi

Nozomi could only bow her head and thank her, not daring to say anything to refute.

Seeing that Li Xi had a better attitude, Fei Cexian felt that his persuasion should have worked to some extent, so he continued: "When your country establishes diplomatic relations with Haihan, don't just see the immediate benefits. I think when they first arrived in Qiongzhou, they

Who would have thought at that time that these people would annex the entire Qiongzhou Island after buying off local officials? As a master of past affairs, your country needs to be more vigilant about the cunningness of the Haihan people."
Chapter completed!