Chapter 1450
Chapter 1450
Chapter 1450
Haihan made great efforts to support Dongjiang Town. On the one hand, the Pidao Army was familiar enough with Liaodong to play the role of leading the party during Haihan's march into Liaodong. Liaodong launched an action, and at the same time tried to open up a channel of communication with the Ming Dynasty.
Although the Haihan Executive Committee is dominated by civilian officials, in the plan for dealing with Daming, they have unanimously abandoned the civilian faction who can only talk about saving the country, and prefer to give priority to contact with the Daming Ministry of War.In any case, with the help of Haihan, Dongjiang Town has achieved a solid record in Liaodong, and regained the lost ground that has been lost for several years. This credit is enough to allow the Daming military to have the capital to make a voice in the court.
Over the past year or so, the semi-open contact between Haihan and Dongjiang Town has become more frequent.As long as a discerning person can find some unusual meanings from the re-emergence of Dongjiang Town, since Haihan can support the down-and-out Pidao Army to counterattack Liaodong, of course, he can also help Daming to resist the continuous southward invasion of the Houjin Army.
The voice calling on the court to introduce Haihan as a strong aid did not appear after the war in Liaodong. In fact, in the past few years, Fuguang and other places in the south have been handing over memorials, saying that there are overseas Chinese who are willing to help the Ming Dynasty to train troops, and the conditions That is, Daming wants to recognize its national qualifications and various powers in the South China Sea, such as territorial ownership, trade and immigration, and judicial jurisdiction.
At the beginning, Haihan's occupation of Qiongzhou Island, which Daming belonged to, was no different from an invasion, but for various reasons, Daming did not start the war.And Haihan took advantage of Daming's lack of time to look south, and even used this condition to coerce Daming to give up his right of recourse to the territory of the South China Sea. Naturally, this kind of robbery-style request would hardly be recognized by the Daming court.Therefore, although officials at various levels in Fuguang and Guangxi successively handed in a lot of memorials to act as lobbyists for Haihan, they were ultimately unable to facilitate the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two sides.
However, the court did not anger the local officials in Fuguang and Guangxi because of this, because this liquidation measure would not affect Haihan in any way, but would put the local officials at risk, and might even collude with Haihan to sell the country. .Rather than taking this risk, it would be better to hold on to the situation, take out the tougher northern adversaries first, and then deal with the less eager southern enemies later.
Of course, such a small calculation of Daming could not be concealed from Haihan, but at that time Haihan believed that his foundation was not stable, and he was not in a hurry to achieve great things.In the past few years, the control area has also crossed the Fujian Strait from the South China Sea, extending to Zhejiang, Shandong, and even Liaodong at this time.The more chips in hand, the more confident he will be in negotiating with Daming, so Haihan has not been in a hurry to reach an official diplomatic agreement with Daming in the past few years. The more they will move closer to Haihan.
Then I heard Shen Zhixiang continue to say: "...Since last year, my uncle has followed your country's wishes and started sending people to work in the capital. Of course, most of the expenses in this process are also funded by your country. It took a lot of work, and finally got a master from Mei Shilang's family in the Ministry of War, and finally paved the road. Last year, I sent 5 taels of silver to Mei Shilang's family twice, and also paid a lot of money. For the rare goods made in your country, Mei Shilang has already let go and promised to speak out for our Dongjiang Town in the capital."
Liu Shang pondered and said: "5 taels of silver... can you buy the third-rank military servant?"
Shen Zhixiang coughed dryly and said: "Today is different from the past, the errand of the Ministry of War is a hot potato, as for the Minister of the Ministry of War, he has changed several positions in the past few years, few can last for two years, let alone Don’t talk about going further, giving 5 taels of silver is already very kind. You can’t say that you will be withdrawn after staying in the seat for a few months, who would dare to throw money in such a big risk.”
Liu Shang didn't know much about these special market conditions, and only after listening to Shen Zhixiang's explanation did he have some clues.Thinking that Haihan people started out as businessmen, they must have calculated this kind of benefit exchange very shrewdly. The 5 taels should be a relatively safe amount.
Liu Shang then asked, "What are you going to do next about Liaodong?"
Shen Zhixiang was slightly different when he heard this question, secretly thinking that this plan was originally drawn up by you Haihan, why are you still asking me how to operate it now.However, he thought about it, this may be the Haihan people wanting to test whether they will abide by the original agreement, deliberately let Liu Shanglai confirm it again, and calmly replied: "The capture in the Battle of Jinzhou, the head cut off, the enemy army The corpses of high-ranking officials will be sent to the capital by sea as soon as possible, and they will report their merits directly to the Ministry of War. The memorial will be drafted by us, and Shilang Mei will bypass the cabinet for us and report it directly to the emperor. "
Liu Shang said in surprise: "Can this be bypassed?"
"If you can't get around, you have to get around!" Shen Zhixiang said with a wry smile: "Wen Tiren, the chief assistant of the current cabinet, can only play tricks to fight for power and profit, and he is very careful about the Ministry of War. If this memorial is handed over to the cabinet, seven or eight out of ten will be suppressed by him. Shilang Mei said that he has a way to send the memorial directly to the imperial study, so I can only believe him once."
Wen Tiren was a Jinshi in the 26th year of Wanli. He served repeatedly as Minister of the Ministry of Rites. The year Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he was promoted to Minister.This talent is mediocre, but he is quite good at engaging in political struggles. When assisting the government, his main energy was spent on forming the party for personal gain and attacking political opponents.But because he holds the administrative power of the chief minister of the cabinet, all the ministers reported to Emperor Chongzhen through the cabinet must be passed by him. Withhold it, and then weave charges against anyone who dares to attack him.
Although Wen Tiren has been a powerful official for several years, because of his limited ability and jealousy of the virtuous, all the people who hang out with him are mediocre talents, and most people's brains are not even as good as his.These people have limited ability, and there are very few places that can help him in the end. This led to the fact that when Emperor Chongzhen wanted to clean him up, he cut his official position and forced him to retire without any trouble.
However, there is still more than a year before Wen Tiren resigned from office in history. At present, he is still a figure in the cabinet.If Dongjiang Town's memorial is reported in the normal way, Wen Tiren will probably deduct it, because if the military gains power, it will have a significant impact on the civil service faction in the court. Opportunity to act as an opinion leader in the classroom.
As for whether this will make Daming face greater military pressure, Wen Tiren will not care about such a thing. Anyway, no matter how cruel the Jin army is, no matter how much the peasant army is tossing, no matter how powerful the Haihan people are, there is no way for the time being. Threatening him with a knife to his neck.In his view, these foreign enemies are not even as great a threat to him as political enemies in the court.
Regarding Wen Tiren's views, the senior officials of Haihan and Dongjiang Town are surprisingly consistent, so they are more acceptable to Mei Shilang's proposal of bypassing the cabinet and reporting the memorial directly to the emperor.Haihan doesn't care too much about how much it costs, as long as the goal can be achieved in the end.Of course, if Shilang Mei received the money and failed to do anything, or simply hacked the money from Haihan, then Haihan would not suffer such a dumb loss, and there would be a time for liquidation in the future.
As for how likely it is that this will eventually happen, even the most optimistic estimate from Shilang Mei, it would be good to have a [-]% chance of sending the memorial to the imperial study.And whether Emperor Chongzhen would change his previous attitude towards Haihan after reading the memorial is a question that no one can figure out in advance.Of course, the Executive Committee believes that there is a certain hope that will spare no effort to promote this plan, but as the saying goes, people plan things, and things happen in the sky. What will happen in the end of this kind of thing that never happened in history? The direction, probably really only God knows.
On the other hand, a person of Liu Shang's level had no contact with such important figures as the Six Books of Ministers, the Grand Scholars, and the Chief Minister of the Cabinet before he came out of the Ming Dynasty. He had heard of Wen Tiren's name, but he had basically no trace of his conduct. understood.And Shen Zhixiang commented on the first assistant of the dynasty so unscrupulously, obviously he no longer regarded himself as an official of the Ming Dynasty.
For Shen Zhixiang's mentality, Liu Shang still has some sympathy. When he decided to give up his identity as a spy and start a new life, his views on Daming were somewhat similar to Shen Zhixiang's.It’s just that Liu Shang’s life was good, and he entered the Haihan bureaucracy without much effort. After that, he quickly ascended the position by chance, and in just a few months, he got into one of the most core power organs of Haihan.As for Shen Zhixiang, he wanted to join Haihan and he has been unable to get in, so he could only temporarily continue to serve as the pawn of Haihan in Liaodong. established fact.
But it is a little ironic that although Shen Zhixiang is an outsider, he usually deals with senior generals in the Haihan Army, and the level of information that he can access is higher than that of Liu Shang, an "insider", so he is now Most of the information introduced to Liu Shang was information that Liu Shang did not know before.If it wasn't for this errand assigned by Chen Yixin, Liu Shang would never have dreamed that Haihan had already paved the way to the capital, and even found a way to reach Tianting.
In addition to being surprised, Liu Shang had to sigh that he was rich and easy to do things, and only a rich and powerful owner like Haihan would promote such a complex complex that cost a lot of money, took a long time, and had a low probability of success, regardless of the cost. plan.
If you take into account Haihan's investment in Phi Island in the early stage, the tens of thousands of taels of money spent on the capital side by borrowing the hands of Dongjiang Town is really nothing.To be able to have such courage, it is indeed necessary to have strong financial resources as a foundation.
Thinking carefully about the causes and consequences of this plan, Liu Shang admires the depth of Haihan's high-level planning, at least he began to prepare for entering the north a few years ago.Step by step from the south, the control area will be advanced along the Daming coastline to Liaodong. Regardless of whether Daming surrenders, Haihan has actually controlled the Daming sea frontier. Even if Daming wants to turn against Haihan, it will be difficult to completely drive Haihan from the sea near Daming. out.
And what was Daming doing during this period?The troops were struggling to cope with the post-Jinnan invasions year after year and the intensifying peasant riots in the country, while the civilians were desperately squeezing those areas where there was no war in the political struggle, in order to obtain enough funds to maintain. The reign of the Ming Dynasty.
One side keeps developing and growing in silence, while the other side is constantly changing tricks day and night.Liu Shang believed that if it wasn't for the huge disparity in population and territory, Haihan would have long ago had the idea of annexing Daming.
Will Haihan stop after taking a piece of land in Liaodong?Liu Shang doesn't know the long-term plan of the Executive Committee, but he believes that Haihan will never stop the pace of expansion here.Let Dongjiang Town build a bridge and establish a dialogue channel between Haihan and Daming executives. Liu Shang believes that the real purpose of this move may be to prepare for further expansion in the future.This kind of expansion will not be the barbaric invasion and plundering of Houjin, and Haihan also disdains to do such untechnical things.
In Fuguang, Zhejiang, and Shandong, Liu Shang has seen terrifying scenes in which local officials were bought off by Haihan from top to bottom. When the personal interests of these officials were tied to the big ship of Haihan, they could only do so in the end. Acting as a tracker pulling the boat, providing assistance for Haihan's progress.If Haihan is really recognized by Daming, gets formal diplomatic treatment, and can freely enter and exit Daming territory, it is conceivable that the speed of Haihanization in coastal areas will be greatly accelerated, and the internal affairs directly affected by Haihan will be greatly accelerated. The land area will also be greatly increased than it is now.Even if Daming could get Haihan's military assistance to complete the war against foreign affairs, he would definitely not be the most profitable party in this transaction.
After some conversation with Shen Zhixiang, the context in Liu Shang's mind gradually became clear.Haihan hopes to open the door of Ming Dynasty through peaceful means, which involves a rather complicated exchange of interests.Regardless of whether Daming finally agrees to Haihan's proposal, this small country rising from the South China Sea will steadily continue to nibble on Daming from the coastal areas, which is nothing more than the difference in speed.For Daming, facing the demise or relying on Haihan to get a chance to survive, this is a dilemma; for Haihan, although there are many variables, everything is under control.
(End of this chapter)
Haihan made great efforts to support Dongjiang Town. On the one hand, the Pidao Army was familiar enough with Liaodong to play the role of leading the party during Haihan's march into Liaodong. Liaodong launched an action, and at the same time tried to open up a channel of communication with the Ming Dynasty.
Although the Haihan Executive Committee is dominated by civilian officials, in the plan for dealing with Daming, they have unanimously abandoned the civilian faction who can only talk about saving the country, and prefer to give priority to contact with the Daming Ministry of War.In any case, with the help of Haihan, Dongjiang Town has achieved a solid record in Liaodong, and regained the lost ground that has been lost for several years. This credit is enough to allow the Daming military to have the capital to make a voice in the court.
Over the past year or so, the semi-open contact between Haihan and Dongjiang Town has become more frequent.As long as a discerning person can find some unusual meanings from the re-emergence of Dongjiang Town, since Haihan can support the down-and-out Pidao Army to counterattack Liaodong, of course, he can also help Daming to resist the continuous southward invasion of the Houjin Army.
The voice calling on the court to introduce Haihan as a strong aid did not appear after the war in Liaodong. In fact, in the past few years, Fuguang and other places in the south have been handing over memorials, saying that there are overseas Chinese who are willing to help the Ming Dynasty to train troops, and the conditions That is, Daming wants to recognize its national qualifications and various powers in the South China Sea, such as territorial ownership, trade and immigration, and judicial jurisdiction.
At the beginning, Haihan's occupation of Qiongzhou Island, which Daming belonged to, was no different from an invasion, but for various reasons, Daming did not start the war.And Haihan took advantage of Daming's lack of time to look south, and even used this condition to coerce Daming to give up his right of recourse to the territory of the South China Sea. Naturally, this kind of robbery-style request would hardly be recognized by the Daming court.Therefore, although officials at various levels in Fuguang and Guangxi successively handed in a lot of memorials to act as lobbyists for Haihan, they were ultimately unable to facilitate the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two sides.
However, the court did not anger the local officials in Fuguang and Guangxi because of this, because this liquidation measure would not affect Haihan in any way, but would put the local officials at risk, and might even collude with Haihan to sell the country. .Rather than taking this risk, it would be better to hold on to the situation, take out the tougher northern adversaries first, and then deal with the less eager southern enemies later.
Of course, such a small calculation of Daming could not be concealed from Haihan, but at that time Haihan believed that his foundation was not stable, and he was not in a hurry to achieve great things.In the past few years, the control area has also crossed the Fujian Strait from the South China Sea, extending to Zhejiang, Shandong, and even Liaodong at this time.The more chips in hand, the more confident he will be in negotiating with Daming, so Haihan has not been in a hurry to reach an official diplomatic agreement with Daming in the past few years. The more they will move closer to Haihan.
Then I heard Shen Zhixiang continue to say: "...Since last year, my uncle has followed your country's wishes and started sending people to work in the capital. Of course, most of the expenses in this process are also funded by your country. It took a lot of work, and finally got a master from Mei Shilang's family in the Ministry of War, and finally paved the road. Last year, I sent 5 taels of silver to Mei Shilang's family twice, and also paid a lot of money. For the rare goods made in your country, Mei Shilang has already let go and promised to speak out for our Dongjiang Town in the capital."
Liu Shang pondered and said: "5 taels of silver... can you buy the third-rank military servant?"
Shen Zhixiang coughed dryly and said: "Today is different from the past, the errand of the Ministry of War is a hot potato, as for the Minister of the Ministry of War, he has changed several positions in the past few years, few can last for two years, let alone Don’t talk about going further, giving 5 taels of silver is already very kind. You can’t say that you will be withdrawn after staying in the seat for a few months, who would dare to throw money in such a big risk.”
Liu Shang didn't know much about these special market conditions, and only after listening to Shen Zhixiang's explanation did he have some clues.Thinking that Haihan people started out as businessmen, they must have calculated this kind of benefit exchange very shrewdly. The 5 taels should be a relatively safe amount.
Liu Shang then asked, "What are you going to do next about Liaodong?"
Shen Zhixiang was slightly different when he heard this question, secretly thinking that this plan was originally drawn up by you Haihan, why are you still asking me how to operate it now.However, he thought about it, this may be the Haihan people wanting to test whether they will abide by the original agreement, deliberately let Liu Shanglai confirm it again, and calmly replied: "The capture in the Battle of Jinzhou, the head cut off, the enemy army The corpses of high-ranking officials will be sent to the capital by sea as soon as possible, and they will report their merits directly to the Ministry of War. The memorial will be drafted by us, and Shilang Mei will bypass the cabinet for us and report it directly to the emperor. "
Liu Shang said in surprise: "Can this be bypassed?"
"If you can't get around, you have to get around!" Shen Zhixiang said with a wry smile: "Wen Tiren, the chief assistant of the current cabinet, can only play tricks to fight for power and profit, and he is very careful about the Ministry of War. If this memorial is handed over to the cabinet, seven or eight out of ten will be suppressed by him. Shilang Mei said that he has a way to send the memorial directly to the imperial study, so I can only believe him once."
Wen Tiren was a Jinshi in the 26th year of Wanli. He served repeatedly as Minister of the Ministry of Rites. The year Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he was promoted to Minister.This talent is mediocre, but he is quite good at engaging in political struggles. When assisting the government, his main energy was spent on forming the party for personal gain and attacking political opponents.But because he holds the administrative power of the chief minister of the cabinet, all the ministers reported to Emperor Chongzhen through the cabinet must be passed by him. Withhold it, and then weave charges against anyone who dares to attack him.
Although Wen Tiren has been a powerful official for several years, because of his limited ability and jealousy of the virtuous, all the people who hang out with him are mediocre talents, and most people's brains are not even as good as his.These people have limited ability, and there are very few places that can help him in the end. This led to the fact that when Emperor Chongzhen wanted to clean him up, he cut his official position and forced him to retire without any trouble.
However, there is still more than a year before Wen Tiren resigned from office in history. At present, he is still a figure in the cabinet.If Dongjiang Town's memorial is reported in the normal way, Wen Tiren will probably deduct it, because if the military gains power, it will have a significant impact on the civil service faction in the court. Opportunity to act as an opinion leader in the classroom.
As for whether this will make Daming face greater military pressure, Wen Tiren will not care about such a thing. Anyway, no matter how cruel the Jin army is, no matter how much the peasant army is tossing, no matter how powerful the Haihan people are, there is no way for the time being. Threatening him with a knife to his neck.In his view, these foreign enemies are not even as great a threat to him as political enemies in the court.
Regarding Wen Tiren's views, the senior officials of Haihan and Dongjiang Town are surprisingly consistent, so they are more acceptable to Mei Shilang's proposal of bypassing the cabinet and reporting the memorial directly to the emperor.Haihan doesn't care too much about how much it costs, as long as the goal can be achieved in the end.Of course, if Shilang Mei received the money and failed to do anything, or simply hacked the money from Haihan, then Haihan would not suffer such a dumb loss, and there would be a time for liquidation in the future.
As for how likely it is that this will eventually happen, even the most optimistic estimate from Shilang Mei, it would be good to have a [-]% chance of sending the memorial to the imperial study.And whether Emperor Chongzhen would change his previous attitude towards Haihan after reading the memorial is a question that no one can figure out in advance.Of course, the Executive Committee believes that there is a certain hope that will spare no effort to promote this plan, but as the saying goes, people plan things, and things happen in the sky. What will happen in the end of this kind of thing that never happened in history? The direction, probably really only God knows.
On the other hand, a person of Liu Shang's level had no contact with such important figures as the Six Books of Ministers, the Grand Scholars, and the Chief Minister of the Cabinet before he came out of the Ming Dynasty. He had heard of Wen Tiren's name, but he had basically no trace of his conduct. understood.And Shen Zhixiang commented on the first assistant of the dynasty so unscrupulously, obviously he no longer regarded himself as an official of the Ming Dynasty.
For Shen Zhixiang's mentality, Liu Shang still has some sympathy. When he decided to give up his identity as a spy and start a new life, his views on Daming were somewhat similar to Shen Zhixiang's.It’s just that Liu Shang’s life was good, and he entered the Haihan bureaucracy without much effort. After that, he quickly ascended the position by chance, and in just a few months, he got into one of the most core power organs of Haihan.As for Shen Zhixiang, he wanted to join Haihan and he has been unable to get in, so he could only temporarily continue to serve as the pawn of Haihan in Liaodong. established fact.
But it is a little ironic that although Shen Zhixiang is an outsider, he usually deals with senior generals in the Haihan Army, and the level of information that he can access is higher than that of Liu Shang, an "insider", so he is now Most of the information introduced to Liu Shang was information that Liu Shang did not know before.If it wasn't for this errand assigned by Chen Yixin, Liu Shang would never have dreamed that Haihan had already paved the way to the capital, and even found a way to reach Tianting.
In addition to being surprised, Liu Shang had to sigh that he was rich and easy to do things, and only a rich and powerful owner like Haihan would promote such a complex complex that cost a lot of money, took a long time, and had a low probability of success, regardless of the cost. plan.
If you take into account Haihan's investment in Phi Island in the early stage, the tens of thousands of taels of money spent on the capital side by borrowing the hands of Dongjiang Town is really nothing.To be able to have such courage, it is indeed necessary to have strong financial resources as a foundation.
Thinking carefully about the causes and consequences of this plan, Liu Shang admires the depth of Haihan's high-level planning, at least he began to prepare for entering the north a few years ago.Step by step from the south, the control area will be advanced along the Daming coastline to Liaodong. Regardless of whether Daming surrenders, Haihan has actually controlled the Daming sea frontier. Even if Daming wants to turn against Haihan, it will be difficult to completely drive Haihan from the sea near Daming. out.
And what was Daming doing during this period?The troops were struggling to cope with the post-Jinnan invasions year after year and the intensifying peasant riots in the country, while the civilians were desperately squeezing those areas where there was no war in the political struggle, in order to obtain enough funds to maintain. The reign of the Ming Dynasty.
One side keeps developing and growing in silence, while the other side is constantly changing tricks day and night.Liu Shang believed that if it wasn't for the huge disparity in population and territory, Haihan would have long ago had the idea of annexing Daming.
Will Haihan stop after taking a piece of land in Liaodong?Liu Shang doesn't know the long-term plan of the Executive Committee, but he believes that Haihan will never stop the pace of expansion here.Let Dongjiang Town build a bridge and establish a dialogue channel between Haihan and Daming executives. Liu Shang believes that the real purpose of this move may be to prepare for further expansion in the future.This kind of expansion will not be the barbaric invasion and plundering of Houjin, and Haihan also disdains to do such untechnical things.
In Fuguang, Zhejiang, and Shandong, Liu Shang has seen terrifying scenes in which local officials were bought off by Haihan from top to bottom. When the personal interests of these officials were tied to the big ship of Haihan, they could only do so in the end. Acting as a tracker pulling the boat, providing assistance for Haihan's progress.If Haihan is really recognized by Daming, gets formal diplomatic treatment, and can freely enter and exit Daming territory, it is conceivable that the speed of Haihanization in coastal areas will be greatly accelerated, and the internal affairs directly affected by Haihan will be greatly accelerated. The land area will also be greatly increased than it is now.Even if Daming could get Haihan's military assistance to complete the war against foreign affairs, he would definitely not be the most profitable party in this transaction.
After some conversation with Shen Zhixiang, the context in Liu Shang's mind gradually became clear.Haihan hopes to open the door of Ming Dynasty through peaceful means, which involves a rather complicated exchange of interests.Regardless of whether Daming finally agrees to Haihan's proposal, this small country rising from the South China Sea will steadily continue to nibble on Daming from the coastal areas, which is nothing more than the difference in speed.For Daming, facing the demise or relying on Haihan to get a chance to survive, this is a dilemma; for Haihan, although there are many variables, everything is under control.
(End of this chapter)