Chapter 1180 Getting worse

After the three of them sat down, Qi Jie took a good look at the big man opposite him who was said to command the entire Haihan navy. His dark and rough complexion showed that he must have stayed at sea for a very long time, and his body was strong but not bloated.

It shows that he has not lived in a pampered environment for a long time. Only the black fur coat and long leather boots on his body seem to distinguish him from the ordinary Haihan soldiers wearing gray winter clothes around him.

Of course, this was just Qi Jie's first impression. When he met Wang Tom's eyes, he clearly felt the power of a superior. This is not something ordinary people can pretend. It can only be seen on the battlefield.

Only a general who has commanded thousands of troops can have such an aura of calmness and authority. It is rumored that this king Tom once led his army to fight against the armies of many countries without ever losing. This time I finally saw the real person, and it felt true.

He's a powerful person.

"General Wang, I and Mr. Qi are here to visit today to resolve the misunderstanding between the two countries. I hope the general can withdraw his troops as soon as possible to avoid killings and restore peace to the people of the two countries as soon as possible." Qu Yutong first took the initiative to mention the purpose of his visit.

Wang Ji's request to him was to resolve this armed conflict as misunderstood as possible and not to turn it into a direct conflict between countries, which would be difficult to end.

Wang Tom nodded and said: "I also hope that these situations between us are just misunderstandings. I believe the two adults are very clear about the reason why we came to Hangzhou. But about the Tongsheng Pier fire case, half a year has passed now.

After many months, there is still no clue. Not to mention the real murderer has been caught. Even the identity of the murderer is not clear. How can this be convincing? Since the government can't investigate, then we have to take action ourselves. "

Qi Jie interjected: "Although the government's investigation of the fire case is not going well, they have been pursuing it. Your country relies on the identity of the victim, so it sends troops to the city to threaten them with force. This approach seems inappropriate, right?"

Wang Tom's eyes returned to Qi Jie, and he said in a deep voice: "What is the reason why the murderer has not been caught despite being traced? I have heard a lot of rumors about officials protecting each other in official circles in Zhejiang. The reason why the truth cannot be found out

, maybe it’s just because the murderer is someone the government can’t touch, right? The government doesn’t dare to move, so we can do it for you! There is no need to threaten, we have no other purpose, just to seek the truth and a fair result.”

Wang Tom almost made it clear that Ming Jun was the murderer. Although Qi Jie understood what he meant, he couldn't accept it. He knew very well how detrimental the rumors outside were to Ming Jun, and the only way to prove his innocence was

That is to catch the culprit. However, after many days of investigation by various yamen in Hangzhou City, except for all the known evidence pointing to the Ming army, there is no more progress. The case that seemed to have a lot of evidence turned out to be nothing.

The first public case. Although the military also had some suspicions that someone among them was deliberately causing trouble to lure Haihan into the situation, they really didn't expect that this matter was planned by Haihan from beginning to end. How could they find out the real culprit?

Tom Wang raised his voice and said: "As for our requirements, Boss Zheng made it very clear when he came last time, but the government did not give a reasonable response to this, and instead tried to use force to expel us...

I can only express my regret for your attitude."

Hearing these words, Qi Jie wanted to slam the table and scold his mother - your Haihan army has sealed off the Qiantang River, and all the troops have advanced outside the city of Hangzhou. I won't use force to expel you, so why should I open the city gate and invite you in as a guest? This is the place.

But under the Ming Dynasty, it is not your territory of Haihan Kingdom!

Of course, in the current relatively passive situation, Qi Jie can only endure this tone in order to avoid irritating the other party and making things more out of control. After all, what the Ming side wants now is that the other party can retreat as soon as possible to avoid trouble.

To make a big fuss, instead of having to decide the winner on the battlefield.

Comrade Qu Yu said: "General Wang, I have also understood the three conditions you have put forward before, and there are indeed some issues worthy of discussion. For example, the truth of this case is still being investigated, and the real culprit is not yet known, so what?

Can the murderer be handed over to you? The amount and whereabouts of the money missing from the fire scene have not yet been verified. It is too early to talk about the specific amount of compensation. As for trade rights, this is not impossible to discuss, but you have threatened to use force.

The agreement that comes out will be unfair."

Before Qu Yutong came to Hangzhou, he had already deduced possible situations with Xu Ke and other staff. If Qu Yutong came to negotiate alone, there would be no need to say anything, just do what Haihan wants.

That's fine; but if someone is accompanying him, Qu Yutong naturally cannot express his pro-Haihan stance too clearly, lest he be unable to explain to his superiors afterwards. So in front of Qi Jie, Qu Yutong's performance should be

We still have to act, no matter what the final outcome of the negotiation is, at least there still has to be a bargaining process.

Wang Tom shook his head and said: "Master Qu, you probably don't understand our request. What we want is not a bargain, but an uncompromising implementation. If the government could pay attention to this case and handle the aftermath, things would not be the same at all.

It will lead to the current situation. If you really want to negotiate a peace, then first meet the conditions we have proposed, and then talk about withdrawing troops. This will appear more sincere."

Qu Yutong pretended to be surprised and said: "How can this happen? Isn't it right for everyone to negotiate good terms and take a step back?"

Wang Tom sneered and said: "It's not that the conditions cannot be negotiated, but the time to negotiate the conditions has long passed. If we were defeated by the Ming army led by Master Qi two days ago, would you still have the leisure to come to me for peace talks?"

Qi Jie's face turned blue and red, and while he was feeling unhappy, he was also a little shocked by the accuracy of Haihan's intelligence. He had always been holding the battle from behind when he went out to fight in the city that day. Although the flag was raised, it was more than a mile away.

Haihan's camp may not be clearly visible, let alone his identity. It can be seen that Haihan is not completely ignorant of the situation of the Hangzhou defenders, and it is very likely that he has reliable intelligence sources in the city.

Qi Jie wanted to refute Wang Tom's statement, but the problem was that he had indeed suffered a defeat. How could a defeated general be brave enough to speak forcefully?

Qu Yutong saw Qi Jie's expression in his eyes and knew that this was Wang Tom's intention to suppress him and let him control the pace of the negotiations. He immediately took over the conversation and said: "The requirements that General Wang made earlier need to be met."

It will take a lot of time to implement it. Now your army is stationed along the Qiantang River. The war has caused chaos in Hangzhou and the people are in dire straits. It will probably take even longer to realize these requirements. If it continues, it will be harmful to both sides. Wang

General, why don't you find a compromise within a mutually acceptable range, so that you don't have to worry about it anymore."

Wang Tom said: "I understand what Mr. Qu said. I don't want to waste money by stationing the army here, let alone be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty. But the government must come up with an explanation for the matter of Tongsheng Wharf. If we want to

We will withdraw immediately. Then we will sign the agreement in black and white and implement the promised conditions as soon as possible to avoid changing our words and denying it in the future! This is the bottom line for me to give in. If Mr. Qu has other demands, then please come back. You don’t have to stay with me.

What a waste of saliva.”

Qi Jie suddenly said: "It's not enough to arrest the murderer and open up trade. It is also the responsibility of the government. However, you asked the government to compensate ten times the actual losses. This is probably a bit too much. It is the murderer's responsibility to compensate for this money."

, how can it be blamed on the government?"

Wang Tom retorted: "If the murderer cannot be caught, the responsibility does not fall on the government, but on the people of Hangzhou? It's okay if you don't want to pay the money, but let me put it another way, I have been sending troops here for so many days

, the government should reimburse the military expenses! My requirements are not high, just one hundred thousand taels of silver a day."

Qi Jie gasped when he heard this. Wang Tom's big mouth really frightened him. One hundred thousand a day, if the government doesn't come up with millions of snowflakes of silver, it might not be able to satisfy the greed of the Haihan people. But the whole Hangzhou is a year

The taxes and levies are not that high, and with so much money to be drawn from the official treasury, it will be difficult to make up for the gap in the short term without concealing it from the court. In addition, the current Haihan Army's actions have caused direct and indirect economic losses to Zhejiang.

There are at least hundreds of thousands of silver taels. Who should I turn to for this money? Should I look for the invisible and intangible murderer?

Let the Zhejiang government focus on the huge compensation, which is exactly what Haihan wants to achieve. The main purpose of the military planning such a massive military operation is not to extort money from the Zhejiang government.

A sum of money, the arrest of the murderer, and compensation for the losses were all actually used as a cover for the last request to open Haihan's trade rights in Zhejiang.

What Haihan has always wanted is Zhejiang, a market with strong consumption power. Taking this opportunity to legalize Haihan's trading system and operate it openly can truly maximize profits. As for burning it in the fire

The three sailing ships and goods of limited value, as well as the expenses for subsequent military operations, are really just a small amount that can be sacrificed compared to the considerable benefits after obtaining the right to trade. Although the price paid for the flesh-and-blood scheme is not small, it is

Compared with the returns you can get, it seems to be a very good deal.

In order to achieve this goal, Haihan also painstakingly made up two conditions that the Zhejiang government could not achieve. Whether it was a murderer who did not exist in the first place or a huge amount of compensation, it was obvious that Haihan could not be satisfied from the government's standpoint.

demands, and Haihan only made three demands in total. If we can't agree on any of them, there will definitely be no hope for peace talks. Speaking of this, even officials like Qi Jie who have always been hostile to Haihan will subconsciously

I think the third requirement is relatively easy to achieve, so I focus on the other two more difficult requirements for bargaining.

Colleague Qu Yu had had close communication with Haihan before, so he naturally understood Haihan’s true purpose, and immediately spoke out to smooth things over: “In my opinion, the amount of compensation can be negotiated slowly, but the top priority is to reach an agreement as soon as possible.

, quell the war and restore order in various state capitals."

Wang Tom nodded and said: "I can accept Mr. Qu's proposal, but who will sign this agreement? Please forgive me for saying something rude, but I still hope that a higher-ranking official can sign this agreement.

agreement, otherwise its legality will be questionable."

Qi Jie secretly cursed in his heart, thinking that I am a dignified fourth-grade imperial official, and now I have condescended to negotiate with you, an enemy chief, and you actually dare to think that your rank is too low? If he were not currently in the Haihan camp, Qi Jie would really

I really wanted to call my subordinates immediately to tie up this arrogant and domineering officer Haihan and teach him a lesson.

Wang Tom didn't care what he was thinking about. After talking about business in a few words, he served tea to see off the guests and asked them to go back to the city to ask their superiors for their opinions. Anyway, the most anxious thing now is not Haihan. If this group of officials in Hangzhou city

If he wants to delay time, Wang Tom doesn't mind staying here for a few more days. The army has temporarily requisitioned a house near the camp, and he doesn't have to live in the narrow captain's cabin of the flagship. He has good food and accommodation every day, which is better than in Zhoushan.

Staying on the island is much more leisurely. On the surface, I am performing a mission, but considering the current intensity of the battle, it is not an exaggeration to say that I am on vacation.

Qu Yutong and Qi Jie were only the envoys responsible for the negotiations, and did not have the authority to make decisions on the spot. For the sake of communication, Haihan was already refusing to give in, so they could only go back and resume their duties with the existing results. As for Hangzhou City

Whether the big guys here are willing to put down their dignity and accept the existing conditions is not something they can determine now.

After sending away the two Ming officials, Wang Tom called Pan Yan out from behind. Pan Yan was from the north and had become a rebel general of the Ming Dynasty. Wang Tom did not have to worry about him causing harm, so he specially asked Pan Yan to negotiate this time.

Yan was listening in the back and wanted to ask his opinion.

Pan Yan bowed and said: "My lord, I humbly believe that none of the civil and military officials in the city have seen through your lord's clever plan. Otherwise, the focus of today's negotiations would be on the last item, instead of focusing on the murderer and compensation. But I heard what your lord said before, Zhejiang

The capital is quite hostile to Haihan, and I am afraid that he will use stumbling blocks to obstruct the peace talks."

Wang Tom shook his head slightly and said: "This won't hinder the problem. They can't defeat us with their existing troops, and they are worried about making things worse, so they can't dispatch more troops from surrounding areas to fight in Hangzhou. If they don't agree to our conditions, then

Just continue to waste it, our supply ship is just making a few more trips, and the fleet happens to be familiar with the terrain of the Qiantang River Basin, maybe it will come in handy in the future, don't you think?"

Pan Yan felt quite complicated after hearing this. As a former military general of the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible for him to have no feelings for the Ming Dynasty, but maybe it was because he was in the camp of the strong, or maybe he realized that he had really

Breaking away from his role as a military attaché of the Ming Dynasty, he felt a sense of pleasure seeing Haihan "bullying" the local garrison in Zhejiang so forcefully.
Chapter completed!