Chapter 1734 Attitude Change

The reason why this premise exists is actually closely related to the changes in the international situation in the Far East in the past two years. Of course, the root causes of these changes are the results of Haihan's previous foreign wars.

In the area that spans thousands of miles in the north and south directions of Hainan Island, the achievements of the Haihan Army have fully proved its combat effectiveness. However, not everyone can understand the targets Haihan chose to attack with force. Especially

Several military allies who have close relations with Haihan have been privately suggesting that Haihan should make the Ming Dynasty his first choice for military expansion.

The benefits of targeting the Ming Dynasty are obvious. After Haihan occupied the entire Hainan Island, the Ming Dynasty and Hainan were only separated by the narrow Qiongzhou Strait. With Haihan's cross-sea combat capabilities, no one would doubt that something like Leizhou

Places such as the peninsula and the mouth of the Pearl River will be captured by the Haihan army in a very short period of time. And the governments in these places have long been bribed by the Haihan infiltration, and their willingness to resist may not be as strong as the private armed landlords.

Regardless of whether it is from the perspective of combat difficulty or military expenditure, by considering these places as the first choice for external expansion, Haihan will undoubtedly gain much greater benefits than the labor expedition, and the speed of digesting these occupied areas after the war will be much faster.

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Of course, the countries that encouraged Haihan to go to war against the Ming Dynasty would not simply stand by and watch the fun. In a war like this that is certain to win, as long as they follow Haihan, they can make money safely. Once the war starts, they will definitely send troops to cooperate in order to win.

It would be a huge gain to get a piece of the pie after the war, even if it was to get one or two exclusive ports on the Guangdong coast.

However, Ming Dynasty and Haihan reached a diplomatic agreement last year and officially established diplomatic relations at the official level. This was undoubtedly a big blow to the onlookers who wanted to follow Haihan and take advantage. They knew that since Haihan

If the Han Dynasty takes the initiative to establish diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty, it is unlikely that they will break up again. And if anyone wants to bypass the Han Dynasty and start a war with the Ming Dynasty, the consequences are likely to be extremely serious - the Houjin Kingdom far away in Liaodong is the best

example.

Just when everyone was gradually losing hope in this matter, Haihan began to separately investigate the opinions of these allies on today's occasion to see if they could guarantee that they would stand firmly on Haihan's side in the event of a military conflict between Haihan and Ming Dynasty.

Although it is not yet clear what the real purpose of Haihan's measure is, everyone who was asked took it as a sign that Haihan may have seriously considered a plan to fight against the Ming Dynasty.

Without exception, everyone who was asked by senior officials of Haihan chose to side with Haihan. Even North Korea, which had always been regarded as the most loyal vassal state of Ming Dynasty in the past, Li Xi nodded after hesitating for a long time.

, expressing willingness to comply with Haihan’s wishes.

Li Xi did not want to actively choose to betray the Ming Dynasty, but he understood that the question asked by the Haihan people did not leave him any choice. What Tao Donglai said before was already very clear. There are only two kinds of Haihan people.

In diplomatic relations, one is a partner and the other is an opponent.

If you don't choose to side with Haihan, you will automatically become Haihan's opponent. And with North Korea's current national strength, it is really not qualified to be Haihan's opponent. Haihan doesn't even need to send troops to attack North Korea, just a little

Give a signal to Hou Jin to relax the situation in Liaodong, and with the help of Hou Jin, North Korea can be destroyed.

The small court of North Korea also saw this situation very clearly. Without counting on the Ming Dynasty, Haihan became the only life-saving straw that North Korea could grasp. As for whether North Korea should be like what it has been for more than two hundred years.

Continuing to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, Li Xi believes that the Korean state must first continue to exist, and then we can discuss the issue of who to be loyal to. And if North Korea wants to survive now, there is only one way to go, and that is to hug Haihan's thigh.

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Regardless of whether Li Xi is willing or not, he can only choose to compromise with Haihan. He cannot let North Korea be used as cannon fodder between these two powerful countries.

Those who have a clear and positive attitude towards this team are Annan, Portugal and the Netherlands. Annan has been at war with the Ming Dynasty since the beginning of the 15th century. It has long had plans for Yunnan and Guangxi bordering the north, and it is eager for Haihan to intervene.

He was a big man, so he followed behind and fought all the way.

Portugal and the Netherlands are colonial powers. As long as they can occupy land in the Far East, especially the many ports in the south of the Ming Dynasty, they do not mind sending armed forces to join Haihan and fight in the Ming Dynasty. Compared with the enthusiasm to promote the international trade system

For Haihan, the Ming Dynasty's self-isolation made it difficult for these Western colonial countries to adapt. If they were not concerned about the existence of Haihan, these two countries would have already thought about using force against the Ming Dynasty.

As for some other countries in the South China Sea, although they dare not express their stance easily due to the power of the Ming Dynasty, compared to the Ming Dynasty, which has basically given up on the South China Sea, Haihan is the object of their most awe. Not long ago, they were separated from Hainan Island by the entire South China Sea.

All the Spaniards were driven out by the Haihan army and beaten to death. Even the city of Manila, which had been in operation for more than half a century, was lost. Who dared to say no in front of the Haihan people?

Therefore, before Fei Cexian, the Ming Dynasty envoy, was aware of it, Haihan quickly completed the unification of opinions on the envoys of various countries. If the two countries went to war, then these countries would side with Haihan and give up their opposition.

Daming any kind of support.

Everyone thought that this was part of Haihan's pre-war preparations, even Fei Cexian, who had just been informed of the situation by Ning Qi. When he heard Ning Qi take the initiative to admit such an arrangement, he almost didn't do it again.

He restrained his emotions and wanted to quarrel with Ning Qi.

Ning Qi filled Fei Cexian's wine glass and said, "Master Fei, don't panic. I'm telling you this just to let you know that our country actually has no malicious intentions."

Fei Cexian was so angry that his lips trembled: "You...you don't have any malicious intent in doing this? You unite all the countries to attack the Ming Dynasty. Do you think our country is weak and can be bullied?"

Ning Qi explained: "There are too many people who want to take advantage of your country at the moment. In order to prevent the situation from getting out of control, we simply let our country take the lead. Anyone who wants to make trouble with the Ming Dynasty in the future is equivalent to taking it from our country.

Now that the business is done, people who think like this will naturally have to consider the consequences. To put it bluntly, it is actually protecting your country in disguise, Mr. Fei, do you understand?"

"What a protection!" Fei Cexian laughed angrily: "I don't think it's appropriate to call it protection. It's better to call it coercion."

Regarding Ning Qi's explanation, Fei Cexian thought it was nonsense. Haihan might have done this out of good intentions. He clearly wanted to separate Ming Dynasty from these countries. When Haihan tried to take action in the future, Ming Dynasty also

We can only fight it alone, without support and assistance from other countries.

Ning Qi spread his hands and said: "Master Fei must go in such an extreme direction to understand, then I can't help it. But Master Fei can think about it, if our country really wants to use force against the Ming Dynasty, why bother?

Let me tell you in advance? Our country only needs to transfer the troops deployed in Liaodong back to the south. What parts of the coastal provinces cannot be taken away?"

Fei Cexian snorted coldly, but did not answer Ning Qi's words. Of course he knew that the strength of the armies of the two countries was very different. The only military advantage of the Ming Dynasty was probably that the size of the army was much larger than that of Haihan, but if he wanted to fight Haihan,

, this advantage is actually of little use, because Haihan's operations are almost always launched from the sea, and Ming Dynasty is simply unable to defend the long coastline, and cannot quickly form a military advantage on local battlefields.

And as Ning Qi said, there is only one reason why Haihan did not take such action, that is, Haihan did not want to do it. Otherwise, with the intensity of Haihan's combat in Liaodong, he would not be able to attack any coastal state capital of the Ming Dynasty.

After all, this gap in hard power is really unacceptable.

Ning Qi continued: "Master Fei, think about it again, from the secret negotiations before the two countries established diplomatic relations last year to the subsequent agreement, how many twists and turns it took. If our country is determined to use force against your country, why bother with all this?

Isn’t this the end of the matter? Do you think our country sent troops to attack Houjin and Spain? Did they do anything to cover up before the war?"

This is also one of the things Fei Cexian doesn't understand. If Haihan was going to be detrimental to the Ming Dynasty, then why did he spend so much time in the past few years to get through the joints of the court and establish diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty? All the costs involved

The money is probably enough for Haihan to start a few more foreign wars. Moreover, after Haihan fought, Jin and Spain both declared war first and sent troops. He indeed defeated his opponent in an upright manner. It seems that there is no need to start it in the Ming Dynasty.

circle.

Fei Cexian said: "That being said, I apologize that I cannot trust your country's approach!"

Ning Qi said: "It's understandable that Mr. Fei doesn't understand our country's painstaking efforts now. Since Mr. Fei can't listen to anything I say, let's talk about this first. Let time verify our country's true attitude.

!”

Fei Cexian was a little panicked for no reason when he heard this. If Haihan really planned to invade the Ming Dynasty, then the verification process would probably have to be carried out through war. One of his most important tasks when sending Haihan as an envoy was to maintain peace between the two countries.

The two countries want to live in peace, so if Haihan takes the initiative to start a war, it will be considered a dereliction of duty on his part.

"Wait a minute!" Fei Cexian stopped Ning Qi, who was about to get up and leave: "Since Chief Ning is so sure of his words, can he give us an accurate indication of where the Haihan Army will use its troops next?"

Ning Qi asked: "Then what is your country's hope? I think Emperor Chongzhen must be happy to let our army continue to fight in Liaodong, right?"

Ning Qi brought Chongzhen out to speak. Fei Cexian did not dare to answer the question and could only respond: "I have a low official position and I dare not speculate on the holy will."

Ning Qi said: "I am in charge of diplomatic, cultural and educational affairs, and military matters, it doesn't matter what I say. But the next step for the Haihan Army to use troops will definitely not be in the Ming Dynasty. This can make Mr. Fei feel more at ease.

?”

Fei Cexian thought to himself, "What difference does it make whether you said it or not? How can I rest assured?" He suddenly felt that these Haihan people seemed to be far less organized in diplomacy than in other fields. This routine made him completely confused.

I just can’t understand what the other party’s true intentions are, or maybe this is what Haihan wants to achieve?

In the past, the Ming Dynasty's foreign policy at the national level was very simple. Those who were willing to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty were treated as vassal states, and those who were disobedient were sent out to conquer. But peace is war, and why is it fought? It is rarely done through diplomatic channels.

Make decisions, let alone use diplomatic means to calculate opponents and weaken opponents in non-war forms. The international relations that Fei Cexian had access to during his tenure in the Ministry of Rites were relatively simple, and he could not imagine some more advanced ones.

mode of operation.

For Haihan, the Ming Dynasty is a source of resources, a sales market, and a source of manpower, but it is also an opponent that needs to be careful. For his own benefit, Haihan must try to continue the Ming Dynasty, and even send troops to defend it from foreign enemies, but

At the same time, we must also carefully weaken Ming's defense against itself so that we can control the direction of the regional situation.

For this reason, while establishing diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty, Haihan deliberately created some signs that he might use force against the Ming Dynasty and tried to suppress the international status of the Ming Dynasty. The Executive Committee and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs designed an extremely complex and even seemingly contradictory plan.

Some measures and means were used to achieve such a goal. As expected, Fei Cexian could not understand this complicated situation at all. He was confused and could only be led by Haihan step by step.

"Master Fei, you must believe in us, otherwise it will be very easy to lose the rare peace." Ning Qi continued to pour ecstasy on the other party: "You have to know that not everyone in our country agrees with providing military supplies to your country.

Aid and existing diplomatic relations are hard-won and fragile and need to be safeguarded by us together."

Fei Cexian was thinking, "It seems that I am the one who wants to destroy the peace. It's obviously you who spread the rumors about taking action against Ming Dynasty! And this attitude keeps changing, what exactly is it like?"

This was Haihan's true intention, and Fei Cexian became increasingly confused.

What Fei Cexian didn't know was that at the same time, envoys from other countries who were talking to senior officials from Haihan had all lowered their expectations for Ming, because they all believed that once Haihan declared war on Ming, they would be the first to fall into war.

It must be wealthy places such as the Pearl River Delta, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. What will be affected subsequently is the price of Ming Dynasty’s export commodities. Due to the war, production capacity will decrease and prices will increase. Some people are already making calculations in their minds.

, we should notify our country's merchants as soon as possible to stock up on Daming products, and we may be able to take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune.

Of course, no matter how fast they move, they cannot be faster than Haihan, who arranged this situation. Haihan has already started laying out the market for high-end goods such as silk, porcelain, and tea several months in advance. Considering the delay in delivery,

Some commodities have already entered Haihan's monopoly purchase list in the second half of last year. Foreign businessmen who want to purchase certain specific commodities can probably only purchase the goods from Haihan after the prices have increased.
Chapter completed!