Chapter 3584
Chapter 3584
Chapter 3584
Facing Hai Han's blatant military threat, the Ming Dynasty had no power to resist, but they did not intend to die. While seeking help from the rear, the two counties of Jiangpu and Liuhe also sent people to Hangzhou to beg the Ming Dynasty's diplomats stationed in Hai Han to negotiate with the Hai Han Executive Committee on their behalf.
Some time ago, Yue Shizong, a doctor of the Ministry of Rites, attended the Zhoushan Forum on behalf of the Ming Dynasty and was invited to Japan to watch the war. He stayed there for two months. It was not long after he returned to Hangzhou that he encountered such a difficult problem.
The experiences of the past few months have brought great shock to Yue Shizong. After returning to Hangzhou, he stayed indoors and wrote a secret letter about his experiences and feelings during the Zhoushan Forum and his visit to Japan.
In Yue Shizong's view, Hai Han is demonstrating its military power to countries around the world through the Zhoushan Forum platform and has begun to formulate international rules dominated by it. This is an extremely unfavorable signal to the Ming Dynasty.
Except for the Ming Dynasty, almost all the participating countries showed an attitude of following Hai Han's lead. Yue Shizong believed that if this trend continued, when Hai Han launched the next round of offensive against the Ming Dynasty, the accomplices who would fight with the Hai Han army would probably not only be Korea and Annan.
The subsequent battles in Japan were not large-scale, but both sides were equipped with a large number of weapons and equipment provided by Hai Han, and the tactics they used were also inherited from the Hai Han Army. The entire combat process was simply a demonstration of the actual combat performance of these equipment to the spectators.
Although Yue Shizong was not an expert in international relations, he saw some clues from this. The civil war that broke out in Japan must have been fueled by Hai Han. The most terrifying thing was that the warring parties knew Hai Han's position, but they would still be used by it and throw themselves into this war regardless of the consequences.
Fortunately, Hai Han did not use this plan on the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, given the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, it is hard to say whether any local officials would be instigated by Hai Han to rise up in rebellion and oppose the imperial court.
One point Yue Shizong emphasized in his secret report was to remind the court to pay attention to local movements. If a local government official or a high-ranking general had close ties with Hai Han, or even purchased large quantities of Hai Han-made weapons, then they would have to be extra careful, because they were most likely internal traitors supported by Hai Han.
However, before Yue Shizong finished writing his secret memorial, trouble had already come knocking on his door. Two counties in Yingtian Prefecture reported urgent military intelligence and asked him to come forward to negotiate with Hai Han.
Yue Shizong was also shocked by this. Before this, he had not heard any rumors that Hai Han would launch a new round of attacks on Ming. But Hai Han suddenly assembled an armed fleet in Nanjing and made a gesture of crossing the river to fight. This was certainly not a joke.
War could break out at any time, so Yue Shizong did not dare to delay and immediately requested an emergency meeting with the Executive Committee.
However, he probably could not have imagined that the Executive Committee had just recently received a request for war from Nanjing, requesting that the current military deterrence mission be transformed into an actual offensive against the north bank of the Yangtze River.
There is no consensus within the Executive Committee regarding this sudden application.
Shi Diwen transferred part of the main force of the East China Sea Fleet to Nanjing for stationing. Although it was a bit radical, it was also in line with the strategy of suppressing the Ming Dynasty and maintaining military deterrence. However, taking this opportunity to go to war with the Ming Dynasty was another matter.
During last year's war against the Ming, Hai Han captured several prefectures in Jianghuai, including Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Yingtian, Guangde, etc. The subsequent ceasefire agreement with the Ming was also to recuperate and digest these newly occupied areas.
In just one year, the situation in these areas has been stabilized, but it seems that they are still lacking in strength to be used as the frontline for the next round of offensives. After all, the foundation is still shallow and the ruling power among the people is not strong enough. Therefore, the mainstream view of the Executive Committee is still cautious, believing that starting a war may affect the stability of the Yingtian Prefecture area.
The advocate of war was of course Shi Diwen, who personally handled the matter. However, he was already in Japan at the time and could only express his views through telegrams. He could not personally participate in the discussions of the Executive Committee.
At this critical juncture, Yue Shizong requested a meeting with the Executive Committee, which was undoubtedly aimed at the tense situation in Nanjing.
Although the Executive Committee did not reach a specific result, Tao Donglai still decided to meet with Yue Shizong to understand the Ming Dynasty's attitude towards this.
"If the Ming Dynasty does not have a strong desire for war and just wants to avoid it, then we can try to exert more pressure to see if we can force the other side to submit."
Before meeting Yue Shizong, Tao Donglai explained his idea to his colleagues. Although he was just trying it out, he didn't expect that this method would really work.
After the two sides met, Tao Donglai took the initiative before Yue Shizong could question Hai Han’s military operations in Nanjing.
"Recently, the order in Jiangpu and Liuhe counties has been in chaos, and people have fled with their families to Yangzhou, Nanjing and other places in our country to seek asylum. According to our investigation, it is because the county government of these two counties has imposed heavy taxes and forcibly recruited young men to serve. Lord Yue requested to meet with us, presumably to give a reasonable explanation for this, right?"
Upon hearing this, Yue Shizong was so angry that he was almost speechless. It was clearly the military pressure exerted by Hai Han that led to the panic in the local area and the people fled to avoid the war. But when Tao Donglai said this, the nature of the matter completely changed and it became the fault of the Ming Dynasty.
Yue Shizong was so angry that he laughed and said, "Master Tao, what you said is wrong. Recently, your country's armed fleet has been practicing attacks in the area, pretending to attack Jiangbei, causing panic among the people, which led to the refugee crisis! If your country is willing to maintain peace, you should withdraw the fleet immediately and let the refugees return home as soon as possible."
Tao Donglai said: "According to the armistice agreement signed by our two countries last year, Yingtian Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of our country, but Jiangpu and Liuhe counties in Jiangbei have always been under the control of your country. I have every reason to ask your country to hand over these two counties to our country."
"Also, our businessmen have invested in several quartz sand mines in these two counties. Due to the impact of the refugee crisis, they are no longer able to operate normally. Is your country ready to compensate for the huge losses incurred?"
Yue Shizong said angrily: "The armistice agreement clearly stated that the Yangtze River was the boundary. Now you are asking for the two counties north of the Yangtze River. You are simply going back on your word! In addition, those quartz sand mines are our property. The interruption of production was also caused by your military actions. How can you talk about compensation?"
Although Yue Shizong tried his best to refute, it was obvious that Tao Donglai on the opposite side did not hear his words at all.
Tao Donglai said calmly: "If your country is not capable of managing these two counties, it is better to hand them over to our country as soon as possible. This will avoid unnecessary armed conflicts and restore normal production and life in the local area. This is more in the interests of both sides."