Chapter 1551
Long-term vision
Chapter 1551 Long-term vision
However, it is not easy for Shi Diwen to judge whether a person like Wang Ji who is full of small calculations is suitable for a high position to govern a province, but as far as the impressions of the two of them have been in contact today, Shi Diwen thinks that People are more than shrewd, but their outlook on the overall situation is a bit poor. What they care about are the industries and interests that they can control under their own hands, but they lack sufficient understanding of the prospects for cooperation between the two sides in politics, economy, culture, and military.The two talked for a day, and they seldom talked about the upcoming establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The content of the conversation was all about grain trade, and this obviously should not be the only topic between the two countries.
However, for Haihan, as long as Wang Ji has something to ask for, the matter will be easy to handle. Whether it is grain trade or other industries, it is no problem to operate with Haihan's financial resources, not to mention buying a large amount of grain from Zhejiang. It is also a rigid need, and now it is nothing more than changing the transaction partner.As long as Sanya does not object to this, there will be no other major obstacles to reaching an agreement with Wang Ji.
As for the grain merchants who are currently doing business with Haihan, as long as the signboard of the chief minister is brought out, even if these merchants refuse to accept it, they can only smash their teeth and swallow it.Afterwards, Wang Ji will try to integrate Zhejiang's grain industry, and that's when these grain merchants will really face the test.
Only three hours after Shi Diwen sent the telegram, he received the instructions from Sanya.Considering that the Executive Committee may have held an emergency meeting for this purpose, it has to be said that the efficiency of this work is quite high.The opinion of the Executive Committee is very clear, that is, to buy and control Wang Ji as a prerequisite, and other conditions can be decided by Shi Diwen at his discretion.In other words, the future direction of Zhejiang's grain market is actually in Shi Diwen's mind.
But now that the executive committee has made clear the direction and the primary goal is to win Wang Ji, then Shi Diwen has nothing to hesitate.Negotiations continued on the next day, and Shi Diwen basically approved all of Wang Ji's requests on the first day. This included not only the issue of Haihan's grain procurement share, but also the two parties' differences in grain transportation, settlement methods, and trading rights. A series of agreements to ensure the safe and stable grain trade between Haihan and grain merchants in Zhejiang.As for the interest transmission relationship based on the grain trade, this is the default situation of both parties, and no further explanation is needed.
Of course, Shi Diwen will not stop here. He needs Wang Ji to make a further commitment, that is, after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Haihan's rights and interests in Zhejiang and the protection it can get.
"The Zhoushan Islands and Shipu Port must be assigned to our country. The demarcation work can be jointly organized by the two countries, but it must be completed before the end of this year." Shi Diwen began to throw out Haihan's conditions: " During the normal business activities of Haihan nationality personnel in Zhejiang, their personal and property safety must be guaranteed by the official."
According to the content of the establishment of diplomatic relations agreed by the two countries in Liaodong, in fact, there is still no clear conclusion on the territories where the sovereignty disputes exist. But it is true that there is no precedent for ceding territory for peace in dealings with foreign nations.Therefore, for the areas actually occupied by Haihan that originally belonged to Ming Dynasty, the agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries also blurred the territorial sovereignty of these areas as much as possible.However, when it comes to local implementation, Haihan will clearly make territorial claims to the local government, and Zhejiang is no exception.
Shi Diwen's claim for the sovereignty of these two places has actually been blown to Wang Ji's side through various channels before, so it can't be said that it was a sudden attack.However, Wang Ji obviously believed that there might be room for negotiation on this matter, and he still tried to delay Shi Diwen's conditions: "The two places mentioned by General Shi are the sea gateways of Zhejiang, and should not be easily given to outsiders. This matter will be reported to the imperial court, and the emperor will make a decision."
Shi Diwen thought to himself that it is useless for you to pull Chongzhen out, he is your Emperor Daming and not Emperor Haihan, so how could he still scare me.Immediately, he responded with some dissatisfaction: "My lord, after all this tossing and going, I'm afraid it will be another one or two months. We have a saying in Haihan that time is money, and it can be done today." We won’t wait until two months to deal with this matter. Besides, the emperor of your country has so many affairs to deal with every day, so how can he have time to take care of small matters in this county!”
Wang Jidao: "General Shi's words are wrong. If such important matters are not reported to the court, wouldn't it be a dereliction of duty for this official?"
Shi Diwen shook his head and said: "No need to report, it's not that the court of your country is ignorant of these things, otherwise Jinzhou in Liaodong is now occupied by our country, why did the emperor of your country agree to establish diplomatic relations with our country? Isn't it just that we are counting on our army to be able to do so?" In the north, stop the golden cavalry going south for your country! Even the state capital is almost lost in the north, and you are still fighting with us for the county in the south. Do you think His Majesty the Emperor will be happy when he hears the news?"
The establishment of diplomatic relations between Haihan and Daming is essentially a transaction. Daming hopes that Haihan can block the invasion of Hou Jin from the south, while Haihan needs Daming to open the country so that he can obtain the resources and markets he needs. At the same time, he admits that Those lands that have been taken by Haihan have been replaced by new owners.Both parties get what they need in this transaction, which is actually beneficial in the long run.Daming was able to keep its state from being destroyed, and Haihan was able to get the land, raw materials, manpower and market that he needed most.The most important thing is that both countries can get peace from it.
High-level people of insight in the two countries can naturally calculate this situation, and understand the benefits that establishing diplomatic relations can bring to their own countries, so they quickly determined the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries after the Liaodong talks.Haihan spent money and sent troops to hold back Houjin in the north, and then used trade means to earn back the cost in the south, while it was easier for Daming to do things, all he needed to do was to remain deaf and dumb to Haihan's behavior throughout the process. .
A guy like Wang Ji who wants to play a smart person halfway, is naturally unlikely to be recognized by the court and Emperor Chongzhen.His self-assertive plan to report to the court is actually tantamount to tearing off the fig leaf of the court. How could the higher authorities tolerate his behavior.If he hadn't shown his sincerity in cooperating with Haihan, Shi Diwen wouldn't have needed to mention him, he would have let him write the memorial, and then the court would have taken the hat of the chief minister for a reason, and replaced it with a more sensible one. Officials came to Zhejiang to preside over the overall situation.
After listening to Shi Diwen's warning, Wang Ji was still a little skeptical. He knew that Haihan had a desire to annex the land under his control, but he was not very clear about the court's attitude. If this matter is really what Shi Diwen said Well, the imperial court actually knew about it a long time ago but pretended not to know it, so if he jumped out, he would really be playing dead.But he didn't dare to deal with such a major matter hastily, otherwise the court would judge him to be responsible for losing his land, and he would not be able to keep his official position.
Seeing his hesitation, Shi Diwen already guessed what he was thinking, and immediately continued to persuade: "Master Wang, I know you are afraid of taking responsibility, but in fact, you only need to inquire about the situation in Shandong, and you will know that I am not responsible. Lie to you. Even if the imperial court wants to pursue the responsibility for the loss of land, it must first deal with Shandong, which is closer to the capital."
Shi Diwen's words are indeed a word that awakens the dreamer. Haihan's battle in Shandong is even bigger, so Shandong must be the first to be held accountable. But so far, I haven't heard anything about Shandong governor Zhu Dadian. The news of being punished by the court.The Haihan people built a military base in Shandong and used it as a springboard to march into Liaodong. It has been two years now, and the imperial court has not reacted violently. Compared with Shandong, the situation in Zhejiang is really nothing.There was only one time when the Haihan Navy blocked the Qiantang River and caused a lot of trouble, but in the end they still did not use force.
Why the imperial court has been on the sidelines about the situation in Shandong? Naturally, there are various speculations in the official circles. Some say that the Haihan people have negotiated terms with the imperial court long ago, so the two sides maintain a strange tacit understanding.It is also said that the emperor has a lot of trust in Zhu Dadian, and he doesn't believe that the Haihan people can make any big battles in Shandong.It is also said that the imperial court has been preparing for war all the time, but the peasant army in the Central Plains made too much noise and could not spare enough troops to go to Dengzhou to exterminate the Haihan people.
No matter what the real reason is, it is an indisputable fact that in the end the imperial court did not use force against the Haihan people entrenched in Dengzhou.Moreover, they allowed the Haihan people to send troops into Liaodong, and then watched the Haihan army seize the Jinzhou area that originally belonged to Daming from Houjin.
If these things are connected according to the timeline, Wang Ji even suspects that the imperial court deliberately sent the Haihan people to the north and used their military power to intervene in Liaodong, thus forming a situation of sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight.The harder Hai Han fights Hou Jin, the more Da Ming benefits from it. This reason is obvious.But this theoretical plan to drive tigers and wolves away is also quite risky. If Haihan did not choose to go to Liaodong after arriving in Shandong, but developed locally and seized the land on the Shandong Peninsula, then Ming would be in big trouble.
Therefore, Wang Ji does not really believe that the imperial court will take such a big risk. This is more like a choice of desperation-if you really want to fight, you may not be able to beat the Haihan army, since the Haihan people have no intention of invading. , then just turn a blind eye and close your eyes, and first see what Haihan is doing in Shandong.Afterwards, Haihan went directly across the sea to Liaodong. This can only be said that the imperial court’s strategy of shrinking its head was the right bet. The Haihan people did not want to go to war with Ming Dynasty. They would rather go to fight the Jin people in the north than Ming Dynasty. Torn skin.
Perhaps it was also based on this understanding that after Haihan invited the envoys of the Ming Dynasty to meet in Liaodong, the Ming side half-heartedly agreed to a series of diplomatic requests from Haihan, and made an exception on the territorial issue.However, Wang Ji, the chief minister of Zhejiang Province, who was evaluated by Shi Diwen as "short-sighted", obviously did not have enough observation and understanding of this international situation.
But now that Haihan's master is in front of him, it is much easier to understand these issues. Shi Diwen's simple words awakened Wang Ji and made him realize the bias of his thinking.
"Master Wang, we chose to discuss cooperation with you, not because you control the grain market in Zhejiang, nor because we can't find other partners in Zhejiang's officialdom, but because we think your situation is the most suitable for our cooperation. "Shi Diwen continued to persuade: "If you can't even do this most basic cooperation, then I'm afraid we have to reconsider the reliability of this cooperative relationship."
Shi Diwen can already confirm that the political sensitivity and vision of this chief envoy may not be as good as that of prefects like Qu Yutong and He Guanzhi. With his official position, he still can't judge the current situation clearly, which shows that his ability is relatively limited.However, this is not necessarily a bad thing for Hai Han, at least such an official will be easier to deal with.Shi Diwen felt that there was no need to send someone from Sanya, and he could handle Wang Ji by himself.
Shi Diwen's persuasion really worked, and Wang Ji's attitude was obviously shaken, and Dang even said that everything is easy to discuss.As Shi Diwen said, if Haihan is looking for a partner, he doesn't necessarily have to find him. The three divisions at the same level, in addition to the secretary of the political envoy, also have two yamen, the command envoy and the criminal judge. Well, although the people in charge of the two yamen are in charge of military affairs and criminal names respectively, they are of the same rank and level as him, the second rank, and speaking in Zhejiang official circles is also effective.
If Haihan gave up on him and went to the other two yamen to cooperate, although it might take some detours, the same effect could still be achieved in the end.But Haihan has a choice, Wang Ji does not. Without Haihan as a partner, if he wants to integrate Zhejiang's grain market, he may not be able to complete it until the day his term of office expires.And Wang Ji is extremely persistent in this matter, and even disdains other cooperation projects recommended to him by Shi Diwen. Even for this obsession, he must first preserve the cooperative relationship with Haihan.
Shi Diwen was an eye-opener this time, only to realize that in the officialdom of Daming, there really existed such "mediocre" people whose abilities did not match their positions at all.Of course, mediocrity is actually a little exaggerated. At least Wang Ji’s achievements in manipulating the local grain market have far surpassed Haihan’s, and even reached the point where Haihan’s future grain purchases cannot bypass him. Degree.Although this is not a great achievement, it at least proves that Wang Ji also has his own skills.The ability to govern is not good, but it can be regarded as a good hand in managing trade.
Wang Ji had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree to Shi Diwen's request. Anyway, the official document on the establishment of diplomatic relations issued by the capital should be on the way, and it will take two days to know what the court's true attitude towards Haihan is.If it really doesn't work, it's too late to regret it later.
(End of this chapter)
However, it is not easy for Shi Diwen to judge whether a person like Wang Ji who is full of small calculations is suitable for a high position to govern a province, but as far as the impressions of the two of them have been in contact today, Shi Diwen thinks that People are more than shrewd, but their outlook on the overall situation is a bit poor. What they care about are the industries and interests that they can control under their own hands, but they lack sufficient understanding of the prospects for cooperation between the two sides in politics, economy, culture, and military.The two talked for a day, and they seldom talked about the upcoming establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The content of the conversation was all about grain trade, and this obviously should not be the only topic between the two countries.
However, for Haihan, as long as Wang Ji has something to ask for, the matter will be easy to handle. Whether it is grain trade or other industries, it is no problem to operate with Haihan's financial resources, not to mention buying a large amount of grain from Zhejiang. It is also a rigid need, and now it is nothing more than changing the transaction partner.As long as Sanya does not object to this, there will be no other major obstacles to reaching an agreement with Wang Ji.
As for the grain merchants who are currently doing business with Haihan, as long as the signboard of the chief minister is brought out, even if these merchants refuse to accept it, they can only smash their teeth and swallow it.Afterwards, Wang Ji will try to integrate Zhejiang's grain industry, and that's when these grain merchants will really face the test.
Only three hours after Shi Diwen sent the telegram, he received the instructions from Sanya.Considering that the Executive Committee may have held an emergency meeting for this purpose, it has to be said that the efficiency of this work is quite high.The opinion of the Executive Committee is very clear, that is, to buy and control Wang Ji as a prerequisite, and other conditions can be decided by Shi Diwen at his discretion.In other words, the future direction of Zhejiang's grain market is actually in Shi Diwen's mind.
But now that the executive committee has made clear the direction and the primary goal is to win Wang Ji, then Shi Diwen has nothing to hesitate.Negotiations continued on the next day, and Shi Diwen basically approved all of Wang Ji's requests on the first day. This included not only the issue of Haihan's grain procurement share, but also the two parties' differences in grain transportation, settlement methods, and trading rights. A series of agreements to ensure the safe and stable grain trade between Haihan and grain merchants in Zhejiang.As for the interest transmission relationship based on the grain trade, this is the default situation of both parties, and no further explanation is needed.
Of course, Shi Diwen will not stop here. He needs Wang Ji to make a further commitment, that is, after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Haihan's rights and interests in Zhejiang and the protection it can get.
"The Zhoushan Islands and Shipu Port must be assigned to our country. The demarcation work can be jointly organized by the two countries, but it must be completed before the end of this year." Shi Diwen began to throw out Haihan's conditions: " During the normal business activities of Haihan nationality personnel in Zhejiang, their personal and property safety must be guaranteed by the official."
According to the content of the establishment of diplomatic relations agreed by the two countries in Liaodong, in fact, there is still no clear conclusion on the territories where the sovereignty disputes exist. But it is true that there is no precedent for ceding territory for peace in dealings with foreign nations.Therefore, for the areas actually occupied by Haihan that originally belonged to Ming Dynasty, the agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries also blurred the territorial sovereignty of these areas as much as possible.However, when it comes to local implementation, Haihan will clearly make territorial claims to the local government, and Zhejiang is no exception.
Shi Diwen's claim for the sovereignty of these two places has actually been blown to Wang Ji's side through various channels before, so it can't be said that it was a sudden attack.However, Wang Ji obviously believed that there might be room for negotiation on this matter, and he still tried to delay Shi Diwen's conditions: "The two places mentioned by General Shi are the sea gateways of Zhejiang, and should not be easily given to outsiders. This matter will be reported to the imperial court, and the emperor will make a decision."
Shi Diwen thought to himself that it is useless for you to pull Chongzhen out, he is your Emperor Daming and not Emperor Haihan, so how could he still scare me.Immediately, he responded with some dissatisfaction: "My lord, after all this tossing and going, I'm afraid it will be another one or two months. We have a saying in Haihan that time is money, and it can be done today." We won’t wait until two months to deal with this matter. Besides, the emperor of your country has so many affairs to deal with every day, so how can he have time to take care of small matters in this county!”
Wang Jidao: "General Shi's words are wrong. If such important matters are not reported to the court, wouldn't it be a dereliction of duty for this official?"
Shi Diwen shook his head and said: "No need to report, it's not that the court of your country is ignorant of these things, otherwise Jinzhou in Liaodong is now occupied by our country, why did the emperor of your country agree to establish diplomatic relations with our country? Isn't it just that we are counting on our army to be able to do so?" In the north, stop the golden cavalry going south for your country! Even the state capital is almost lost in the north, and you are still fighting with us for the county in the south. Do you think His Majesty the Emperor will be happy when he hears the news?"
The establishment of diplomatic relations between Haihan and Daming is essentially a transaction. Daming hopes that Haihan can block the invasion of Hou Jin from the south, while Haihan needs Daming to open the country so that he can obtain the resources and markets he needs. At the same time, he admits that Those lands that have been taken by Haihan have been replaced by new owners.Both parties get what they need in this transaction, which is actually beneficial in the long run.Daming was able to keep its state from being destroyed, and Haihan was able to get the land, raw materials, manpower and market that he needed most.The most important thing is that both countries can get peace from it.
High-level people of insight in the two countries can naturally calculate this situation, and understand the benefits that establishing diplomatic relations can bring to their own countries, so they quickly determined the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries after the Liaodong talks.Haihan spent money and sent troops to hold back Houjin in the north, and then used trade means to earn back the cost in the south, while it was easier for Daming to do things, all he needed to do was to remain deaf and dumb to Haihan's behavior throughout the process. .
A guy like Wang Ji who wants to play a smart person halfway, is naturally unlikely to be recognized by the court and Emperor Chongzhen.His self-assertive plan to report to the court is actually tantamount to tearing off the fig leaf of the court. How could the higher authorities tolerate his behavior.If he hadn't shown his sincerity in cooperating with Haihan, Shi Diwen wouldn't have needed to mention him, he would have let him write the memorial, and then the court would have taken the hat of the chief minister for a reason, and replaced it with a more sensible one. Officials came to Zhejiang to preside over the overall situation.
After listening to Shi Diwen's warning, Wang Ji was still a little skeptical. He knew that Haihan had a desire to annex the land under his control, but he was not very clear about the court's attitude. If this matter is really what Shi Diwen said Well, the imperial court actually knew about it a long time ago but pretended not to know it, so if he jumped out, he would really be playing dead.But he didn't dare to deal with such a major matter hastily, otherwise the court would judge him to be responsible for losing his land, and he would not be able to keep his official position.
Seeing his hesitation, Shi Diwen already guessed what he was thinking, and immediately continued to persuade: "Master Wang, I know you are afraid of taking responsibility, but in fact, you only need to inquire about the situation in Shandong, and you will know that I am not responsible. Lie to you. Even if the imperial court wants to pursue the responsibility for the loss of land, it must first deal with Shandong, which is closer to the capital."
Shi Diwen's words are indeed a word that awakens the dreamer. Haihan's battle in Shandong is even bigger, so Shandong must be the first to be held accountable. But so far, I haven't heard anything about Shandong governor Zhu Dadian. The news of being punished by the court.The Haihan people built a military base in Shandong and used it as a springboard to march into Liaodong. It has been two years now, and the imperial court has not reacted violently. Compared with Shandong, the situation in Zhejiang is really nothing.There was only one time when the Haihan Navy blocked the Qiantang River and caused a lot of trouble, but in the end they still did not use force.
Why the imperial court has been on the sidelines about the situation in Shandong? Naturally, there are various speculations in the official circles. Some say that the Haihan people have negotiated terms with the imperial court long ago, so the two sides maintain a strange tacit understanding.It is also said that the emperor has a lot of trust in Zhu Dadian, and he doesn't believe that the Haihan people can make any big battles in Shandong.It is also said that the imperial court has been preparing for war all the time, but the peasant army in the Central Plains made too much noise and could not spare enough troops to go to Dengzhou to exterminate the Haihan people.
No matter what the real reason is, it is an indisputable fact that in the end the imperial court did not use force against the Haihan people entrenched in Dengzhou.Moreover, they allowed the Haihan people to send troops into Liaodong, and then watched the Haihan army seize the Jinzhou area that originally belonged to Daming from Houjin.
If these things are connected according to the timeline, Wang Ji even suspects that the imperial court deliberately sent the Haihan people to the north and used their military power to intervene in Liaodong, thus forming a situation of sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight.The harder Hai Han fights Hou Jin, the more Da Ming benefits from it. This reason is obvious.But this theoretical plan to drive tigers and wolves away is also quite risky. If Haihan did not choose to go to Liaodong after arriving in Shandong, but developed locally and seized the land on the Shandong Peninsula, then Ming would be in big trouble.
Therefore, Wang Ji does not really believe that the imperial court will take such a big risk. This is more like a choice of desperation-if you really want to fight, you may not be able to beat the Haihan army, since the Haihan people have no intention of invading. , then just turn a blind eye and close your eyes, and first see what Haihan is doing in Shandong.Afterwards, Haihan went directly across the sea to Liaodong. This can only be said that the imperial court’s strategy of shrinking its head was the right bet. The Haihan people did not want to go to war with Ming Dynasty. They would rather go to fight the Jin people in the north than Ming Dynasty. Torn skin.
Perhaps it was also based on this understanding that after Haihan invited the envoys of the Ming Dynasty to meet in Liaodong, the Ming side half-heartedly agreed to a series of diplomatic requests from Haihan, and made an exception on the territorial issue.However, Wang Ji, the chief minister of Zhejiang Province, who was evaluated by Shi Diwen as "short-sighted", obviously did not have enough observation and understanding of this international situation.
But now that Haihan's master is in front of him, it is much easier to understand these issues. Shi Diwen's simple words awakened Wang Ji and made him realize the bias of his thinking.
"Master Wang, we chose to discuss cooperation with you, not because you control the grain market in Zhejiang, nor because we can't find other partners in Zhejiang's officialdom, but because we think your situation is the most suitable for our cooperation. "Shi Diwen continued to persuade: "If you can't even do this most basic cooperation, then I'm afraid we have to reconsider the reliability of this cooperative relationship."
Shi Diwen can already confirm that the political sensitivity and vision of this chief envoy may not be as good as that of prefects like Qu Yutong and He Guanzhi. With his official position, he still can't judge the current situation clearly, which shows that his ability is relatively limited.However, this is not necessarily a bad thing for Hai Han, at least such an official will be easier to deal with.Shi Diwen felt that there was no need to send someone from Sanya, and he could handle Wang Ji by himself.
Shi Diwen's persuasion really worked, and Wang Ji's attitude was obviously shaken, and Dang even said that everything is easy to discuss.As Shi Diwen said, if Haihan is looking for a partner, he doesn't necessarily have to find him. The three divisions at the same level, in addition to the secretary of the political envoy, also have two yamen, the command envoy and the criminal judge. Well, although the people in charge of the two yamen are in charge of military affairs and criminal names respectively, they are of the same rank and level as him, the second rank, and speaking in Zhejiang official circles is also effective.
If Haihan gave up on him and went to the other two yamen to cooperate, although it might take some detours, the same effect could still be achieved in the end.But Haihan has a choice, Wang Ji does not. Without Haihan as a partner, if he wants to integrate Zhejiang's grain market, he may not be able to complete it until the day his term of office expires.And Wang Ji is extremely persistent in this matter, and even disdains other cooperation projects recommended to him by Shi Diwen. Even for this obsession, he must first preserve the cooperative relationship with Haihan.
Shi Diwen was an eye-opener this time, only to realize that in the officialdom of Daming, there really existed such "mediocre" people whose abilities did not match their positions at all.Of course, mediocrity is actually a little exaggerated. At least Wang Ji’s achievements in manipulating the local grain market have far surpassed Haihan’s, and even reached the point where Haihan’s future grain purchases cannot bypass him. Degree.Although this is not a great achievement, it at least proves that Wang Ji also has his own skills.The ability to govern is not good, but it can be regarded as a good hand in managing trade.
Wang Ji had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree to Shi Diwen's request. Anyway, the official document on the establishment of diplomatic relations issued by the capital should be on the way, and it will take two days to know what the court's true attitude towards Haihan is.If it really doesn't work, it's too late to regret it later.
(End of this chapter)