Chapter 1552 Establishing Diplomatic Relations and Commerce

The summer of 1636 was slightly cooler than the same period in previous years. The scale displayed on the mercury thermometer made by Haihan rarely even exceeded 35 degrees Celsius. Ordinary people simply believed that this was God's blessing and did not use the scorching sun to scorch it.

The world, but the travelers know very well that this is just a manifestation of the climate changes of the Little Ice Age in the late Ming Dynasty. And even if there is no scorching sun, the drought of the Little Ice Age still comes as scheduled, and farmers waiting for the autumn harvest have to use

A lot of manpower is used to irrigate farmland so that the crops in the fields can be preserved.

In the summer and autumn of this year, it is almost inevitable that the Ming Dynasty's grain production will decrease. The grain-producing areas in the Central Plains were disrupted by the peasant army, and the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas suffered from drought and lack of rain that lasted for many days. The grain output level was a mess compared to previous years. And in this situation

Under such circumstances, major grain merchants in the main grain-producing areas of Shaoxing, Jiaxing, Hangzhou, and Huzhou are consciously controlling shipments and buying bulk goods from the grain markets in Ningbo and Taizhou.

The output of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang grain-producing areas is an important factor in stabilizing grain prices in northern Daming. However, this year has not yet reached the rice harvest season, and the grain prices on the market have already begun to rise sharply due to artificial speculation. Fortunately, this is a land of plenty.

, there will not be widespread food shortages in a short period of time, social conditions have not yet been turbulent, and ordinary people are not even aware of what kind of market trends the fluctuations in food prices symbolize and what is hidden behind them.

Such a game.

What Wang Ji has to do now is to win the say in the grain market with the help of Haihan, a big buyer. Haihan will purchase at least several thousand tons of grain in Zhejiang in the second half of the year. Is this a big amount?

It's not too small. At least for the current turbulent grain market in Zhejiang, this is definitely the largest order besides the imperial grain tax. And no grain merchant can supply such a large-scale transaction alone, even if

These grain merchants under Wang Ji also had to work together to transfer goods, and even scanned the grain markets in various states early in order to meet Haihan's order demand.

Although some grain merchants are aware of the implications behind the changes in the market situation, they are unable to resist the trend of the industry being gradually consolidated. After all, once the industry's voice is concentrated in the hands of grain merchants with strong official backgrounds, unless their background is collapsed, the future

It can only operate according to the regulations set by Wang Ji. What's more, there are Haihan people assisting in this matter. Grain merchants who want to be tough must first consider whether they can go against the Haihan people.

Wang Ji had his own calculations in setting up such a large battle. He knew that some people in Zhejiang who had lost interests might be dissatisfied with his actions and would even try to obstruct his actions, but Wang Ji chose this time to start taking action.

, it is calculated that the news of the establishment of communications between the two countries will be announced during this period, and everyone's attention will be attracted by this big news. As for the changes in the grain market, the changes will not be so obvious.

At the end of August, there was finally official news about the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Ming Dynasty and Haihan, which had been rumored for many days inside and outside Hangzhou. The Zhejiang Chengxuan Government Envoy posted a notice outside the Si Yamen, announcing that the Ming Dynasty and Haihan would establish formal diplomatic relations from now on, and would allow

Haihan merchants carried out trading activities in the coastal states of Zhejiang. The content of the notice certainly did not explicitly state the final ownership of the Zhoushan Islands and Shipu Port, but it recognized Haihan's rights and interests in the coastal areas of Zhejiang. This included

Various facilities built by Haihan on the territory of the Ming Dynasty, reclaimed farmland, mines mined, seaports and terminals built, bridges and roads, etc.

The Ming court recognized the legality of the assets invested and constructed by Haihan, which was actually a disguised recognition of Haihan's control over these areas. Although the communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations did not mention the word "ceding land", the upper-level officials who knew the inside story

Everyone understands that this is actually the biggest compromise the court has made to Haihan, but it is not clearly written in black and white. Haihan will get the islands and ports they want, and will enjoy the designated coastal state capital in Zhejiang.

The power of free trade.

This so-called trade right, in addition to buying and selling in the ordinary sense, actually also includes financial institutions represented by Haihan Bank entering the Ming Dynasty to set up business outlets. Haihan can legally employ people in the Ming Dynasty.

The citizens of the Ming Dynasty and the citizens of Haihan have the right to rent and buy land, build houses, and live in the trade capital. Haihan wants to use Daming as a source of raw materials and labor, as well as a sales market for high-end products, and the contents of the trade agreement will be provided

Great convenience.

Through this agreement, Haihan obtained all the conditions he needed from the Ming Dynasty. In the future, various business activities in the Ming Dynasty will no longer need to be as secretive as in the past. This will save a lot of money for Haihan.

Human, material and financial resources are secondary. The long-term benefits that will be brought about by the change in the relationship between the two countries are the most important part.

Since Chuanchuan Group landed in Sanya, raw materials, labor force and sales market have always been the three major factors restricting the development of Haihan's national power. Therefore, Haihan tried every means to open up overseas colonies, introduced immigrants from Daming, Annan and other countries to supplement the labor force, and used force

As a stepping stone, it forcibly opened up the markets of the Ming Dynasty and Southeast Asia. And the Ming Dynasty, which shares the same roots as the travelers, has naturally become the main direction for Haihan to solve the needs of these three elements.

After nine years, the time-travelers finally made Ming, a powerful country in the Far East, bow its head to them. Although this action may not be so willing for Ming, it is of extraordinary significance to Haihan. The time-travelers have been determined to do it for several years.

To build Haihan into the most powerful country in the Far East, the criterion for measuring this "first" naturally depends on Ming's attitude towards Haihan.

In the past, the Ming Dynasty was aloof and ignored Haihan's proposal to establish diplomatic relations submitted to the court through officials from Fujian and Guangzhou provinces. However, since Haihan crossed the Fujian Strait and headed north, the balance of power between the two countries has changed silently.

The Ming Dynasty, which originally took the initiative, became increasingly fragile due to the deterioration of the domestic and international situation. However, Haihan continued to grow and develop at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even had the ability to launch thousands of people in unfamiliar areas thousands of miles away from home.

The ability to conduct large-scale battles. And the military assistance that Haihan could provide to the Ming Dynasty has also changed from armchair talk in the past to real action witnessed by the Minister of War.

From Emperor Chongzhen onwards, all the ministers in the court agreed with the idea of ​​letting Haihan attract the firepower of the Later Jin Dynasty on the northern front. For this reason, it was actually a very cost-effective deal to temporarily suffer a small loss on the territorial dispute. Regardless of the emperor,

Both the ministers and ministers believed that this passive situation would not last long. After the work of fighting against the outside world was completed, troops could be slowly mobilized to drive the Haihan people out of these occupied areas.

This is of course the wishful thinking of the senior officials of the Ming Dynasty, who believe that no matter how severe the situation is, the current grievances are only temporary. As long as they can free their hands in the future, they can drive the Haihan people away from the Ming Dynasty at any time. Of course, this will happen

Most of the senior officials who had the idea were in the capital, but local officials who had daily contact with Haihan would not be so confused. After all, the former Ming territory that Haihan swallowed had never been spit out again.

But it was Haihan who really felt that he was aggrieved. After all, he controlled the armed forces with the strongest combat capabilities in this era, but he could only patiently negotiate with Ming Dynasty slowly, but could not readily use force to surrender to Ming Dynasty.

, this is undoubtedly a kind of torture for a general like Shi Diwen who leads troops. If Shi Diwen were to choose a way to make Ming bow his head, he might really consider leading troops into Hangzhou or even Nanjing.

Let Daming understand how determined Haihan's position is at the first time.

However, the possibility of this happening is as small as if Ming Dynasty decided to take the initiative to go to war with Haihan. Both countries were unwilling to take military measures to break the balance. In the end, they chose to coexist in a peaceful way, and then both sides took what they could.

What you need, get what you want.

When the announcement of the establishment of diplomatic relations was posted in Hangzhou, Shi Diwen had already returned to Ningbo and discussed with Qu Yutong to establish some industries in Ningbo after the formal establishment of diplomatic relations, such as various quasi-industrial manufacturing workshops, with Haihan providing the money and technology.

, Qu Yutong arranged for people to vacate the land. In the past, there were many fears about engaging in this kind of cooperation. Qu Yutong was also worried that others would be caught if he allowed Haihan people to operate industries on his own territory, but now there is a trade agreement.

, everything can be implemented with ease.

However, after the news of his stay in Ningbo spread through various channels, he was quickly blocked in the city by businessmen from all walks of life who came after hearing the news. The reason was the construction and transportation announcement posted in Hangzhou City. People with a keen sense of smell were

Businessmen will immediately find that this is a good opportunity to make a fortune, and whether they can take advantage of this opportunity depends on whether Haihan is willing to cooperate. Therefore, a large number of businessmen suddenly poured into Ningbo City, including even

There was no shortage of businessmen who came all night from Hangzhou.

Of course, with Shi Diwen's current status, not everyone can meet him if he wants. Businessmen can only go to the place where Shi Diwen is staying to submit greetings, and then return to his residence to wait patiently for notification. Only a handful of people can meet him.

Only businessmen with whom Haihan has in-depth cooperation can be interviewed by Shi Diwen as soon as possible. Even so, the number of businessmen Shi Diwen needs to meet every day has reached double digits, which shows that the trade between Zhejiang's coastal state capital and Haihan

How close the contacts are.

Although in most cases this kind of meeting only confirms that future cooperation will continue, and does not achieve any substantial new results, Shi Diwen still has to complete this work well. He has to show it through himself

This attitude reassures Daming's customers and merchants, so that these people will not change their enthusiasm for Haihan trade due to changes in the current situation. Moreover, Shi Diwen also hopes that through this kind of contact, he can select from among the many collaborators

Some powerful and reliable businesses promote Haihan’s quasi-industrial processing projects.

To realize industrialization in this era, the biggest problem Haihan faces is neither capital nor technology, but a large number of well-trained industrial workers. In this society where agricultural production is the main body, only a handful of people are engaged in non-agricultural production.

A small number of people simply cannot meet the requirements for industrialization. Even in Sanya, after nearly nine years of development, the number of industrial workers actually engaged in technical production work is only about 10,000, and even 20% of the total population of Haihan is

Less than one tenth. Measured by this occupational ratio, even in Hainan Island, which has the most advanced productivity in this century, only a few places such as Tiandu Industrial Zone have achieved industrialization.

Shi Diwen set up an industry in Zhejiang, hoping that in this way, he could train more industrial workers for Haihan. Although most of the industries set up here in the future will be rough processing of raw materials, they cannot be compared with those in Tiandu Industrial Zone.

Compared with real technical production, Shi Diwen firmly believes that this method will be more conducive to the promotion of industrial production in Zhejiang. Even if the number of industrial workers trained for Haihan is limited, it is still a gain.

This continuous negotiation soon made Shi Diwen exhausted physically and mentally. After three days of continuous high-intensity work, Shi Diwen announced that he was ill and stopped seeing customers for two days. He needed to take a rest to recuperate his body. Now the businessmen

I smelled a new opportunity, and various tonics and wine were delivered to Shi Diwen's residence as if they were free of charge. Those who had not met him yet wanted to take this opportunity to meet him, and those who had already met him also wanted to follow this method.

Let’s consolidate the relationship. For a time, the precious medicinal materials in major prescriptions in Ningbo were almost out of stock, and tonics such as ginseng, even those as thick as the little finger, were looted.

This news soon spread to Hangzhou, so the chief officials of various yamen in Hangzhou also wrote personal letters to Ningbo to greet Shi Diwen. After all, the two countries had just established diplomatic relations. Shi Diwen, who was stationed in Zhejiang and was in charge of military and commercial affairs,

If he falls ill, many things that have been agreed upon will have to be suspended, which is a situation that officials do not want to see.

The chief envoy Wang Ji even sent his personal doctor to Ningbo to diagnose Shi Diwen's pulse and treat his illness. However, when the doctor arrived in Ningbo after a long journey, he found that he was waiting in line to treat General Shi from Haihan.

There are also an astonishing number of doctors here, almost all of them, like him, came here after being hired by various people. If we look at the number alone, there are enough doctors waiting here to open a hospital.

Shi Diwen didn't expect that his illness caused by fatigue would attract so much attention. He was a little dumbfounded at the moment, thinking that with so many people in the Travel Group, I was probably the only one who had enjoyed the treatment of dozens of doctors for consultation.

Of course, consultation is a consultation, and the prescriptions prescribed by so many doctors are somewhat different. The intensity of the debate among the doctors about medication is even more intense than the business negotiations in the courtyard.
Chapter completed!