Chapter 1629 Before using force

During this day's visit, Fei Cexian saw a lot of things, from trains and railways to arsenals, to Haihan's top-secret steam engine manufacturing plant. It can be said that what he saw in one day surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty.

The result of several years of operation by the intelligence agency. But unfortunately, Fei Cexian's visit was completely superficial. I saw a lot of excitement, but there were few things that I could understand clearly. Moreover, the visit itinerary arranged by Haihan was obviously very interesting.

Targetedly, there is no production project that Fei Cexian can see from beginning to end. It is all about the middle links. Although Fei Cexian also tried hard to keep Bai Kesi’s introduction in mind, he also understood that as long as

Based on these introductions and my own knowledge, it is impossible to replicate Haihan's weapons workshop or steam engine manufacturing factory in the Ming Dynasty.

So on the way back, Fei Cexian was no longer thinking about how to organize the information so that Ming could imitate Haihan's high-end equipment, but how to write the memorial so that the court would not blame him for his incompetence.

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Before returning to the Guest House, Fei Cexian responsibly went to the embassy construction site, chatted with several foremen sent by Haihan for a while, and got a general understanding of the progress of today's project. Although he did not keep an eye on the construction site himself.

However, we still arranged for the subordinates of the mission to come over to supervise the work. This was not because we were worried about the quality of the Haihan construction team, but to show the Haihan people that we attach great importance to it and maintain good communication. Otherwise, everyone would deal with it perfunctorily.

In the past, problems were discovered only after the embassy was built, and by then the people in charge on both sides would have to be involved.

According to the current project progress, as long as there is no severe weather in the near future, the main building of the embassy can basically be completed within the next forty days, and it will take another twenty or thirty days to complete the basic decoration, configure furniture and other daily facilities, and the earliest

It will be put into use in February next year.

If it were the first few days when he arrived in Sanya, Fei Cexian might be eagerly looking forward to this day coming soon, because only after the embassy is completed, various diplomatic work can really start. Although the conditions of the guest house where he lives now are good, after all, it is just

A borrowed place has many inconveniences whether it is working or receiving visitors, and it is definitely not as convenient as an embassy.

But after staying in Haihan for these days, Fei Cexian suddenly felt that his current living situation seemed pretty good. He could just hang out leisurely every day without having to think about any tasks assigned by the court or talking to Haihan.

Senior officials engage in laborious intrigues, and they are relaxed and free without any major restrictions. Except for a few places such as Tian Du direction and the military port, shipyard, and Victory Fort, which cannot be entered and exited at will, he can go to most areas in Sanya, such as the museum collections.

He can also freely enter and exit the municipal library where a large amount of Haihan's secret information is stored, but the level of authority for borrowing documents is relatively low.

Sometimes Fei Cexian couldn't help but have the illusion that he seemed to enjoy more freedom during his stay in Haihan than in the capital. Thinking about how he used to work in the Ministry of Rites, he had to rush to the Yamen to order orders early every morning. Although he didn't

There are so many things to do, but being locked up in the yamen every day and not being able to go out at will is also a boring job. Occasionally, when I take on errands, I have to deal with envoys from small foreign countries who come to the Ming Dynasty for pilgrimage. Even if there is an interpreter, I can still only make gestures.

Communicate without guessing, and it is very effortless to complete a meeting. How can it be easier than dealing with a country like Hainan where the written and spoken languages ​​are similar.

After arriving in Haihan Country, I have good food and accommodation every day. I can sit around at the construction site if I want to. I don’t want to guard the embassy construction site anymore. I just need to say hello. Haihan will arrange a car to pick me up wherever I go.

Car delivery, and Zhang Qianzhi, a snake oil follower, is available at any time. A few days ago, I went to the library to read all day long. Although I couldn't eat inside, Zhang Qianzhi had people deliver the meals to the teahouse closest to the library on time every day.

, specially opened a private room for him to eat, in order to save the time spent on the road. Although he also knew that these arrangements should be Haihan official means to monitor him, but it did make him experience extremely comfortable service, and

This was almost unimaginable in Ming Dynasty.

There are so many seventh-grade sesame officials in the capital, such as the deputy secretary of the Ministry of Etiquette, not to mention the level of service provided by Haihan. Even if you usually drink tea in the yamen, most of the time you have to make it yourself. In Haihan

After staying in the Han Dynasty for such a long time, Fei Cexian found that he was a little reluctant to part with this aspect of life. When the embassy was built and moved from the guest house, there would be no free meals and three meals delivered to the room on time.

, there will be no on-call services, and there will only be a few servants in the mission, so Fei Cexian will probably have to go back to the days of making tea by himself.

"Perhaps we should also consider making compromises with the Haihan people so that they can provide better services to the embassy in the future." Fei Cexian came up with this idea by accident, but he himself also knew that this kind of thinking was too dangerous.

The Han people were playing tricks, and they might end up playing tricks on themselves. I quickly shook my head to dispel this thought.

After returning to the Yingbin Hotel for dinner, Fei Cexian asked someone to take a look at all the newspapers purchased from the market today. Although there are free newspapers for browsing in the Yingbin Hotel, Fei Cexian has researched the Yingbin Hotel.

The hotel only has the official newspaper "Haihan Times", but there are seven or eight newspapers for sale on the market. In order not to miss any valuable information, it is better to spend a few dollars to purchase it yourself.

The focus of Fei Cexian's recent attention is whether the signs of war between Haihan and Spain are likely to further ferment. As expected, several newspapers, including the Times, mentioned the war with Spain this time.

Related news.

A report in the Times stated that a group of Ming Dynasty merchant ships carrying silk and porcelain to Manila were attacked by pirates just half a day's sail from Manila Bay. Only two of the five ships in the fleet escaped, and the other three were looted.

, the pirates also took hostages and demanded ransom from ship owners and cargo owners. Of course, these ships will never be returned.

Although the matter was eventually resolved peacefully and all the hostages were released, the victims suffered heavy losses. It is estimated that the value of the three ships of cargo arriving at Manila Port was more than 200,000 taels of silver, but now both the ships and their cargo are gone.

The Times pointed out at the end of the report that according to the identification of surviving sailors on the ship, many of the pirate gangs near Manila Port were Westerners, and there were even Spanish-speaking thieves. There was reason to suspect that these pirates had an affair with the Spanish in Manila Port.

Merchant ships are advised not to venture to Manila Port in the near future.

Fei Cexian has read warnings like this two or three times in the Times. The reasons each time were different, but each time they were more serious. Whether these ships were really robbed or whether it was a plot arranged by Haihan, it has actually been

Not so important. Fei Cexian believed that this was Haihan's intention to build momentum for the next military operation and to find a more convincing reason for the use of force - such as killing pirates.

Of course, it is not enough to just have pirates. We must also connect these ferocious pirates with the Spanish colonists in Manila Bay. Fei Cexian also carefully studied Haihan’s past foreign wars in the library a few days ago.

newspaper, he basically understood Haihan’s method of public opinion propaganda before launching the war. He believed that regardless of whether these pirates really existed or were fictitious, it was best to first try to convict the Spaniards of colluding with pirates.

There are still a few blood debts related to Haihan. The remaining things are tolerable and unbearable. When it is time to take action, don't say you were unprepared.

Such a method seems a bit despicable, but if it is measured by the interests between countries, then there is nothing to blame Haihan. History is written by the victors. Fei Cexian still understands this truth. As long as Haihan

If the final victory of the war can be achieved, then the war will be just in future historical records. And the losers of the war will probably only become the villains who set off the victors.

As a state-run media, the Haihan Times has no doubt about its voice and publicity effect. If a few more articles like this are published, even the most courageous maritime businessmen will weigh whether it is worth taking the risk to go to Manila, not to mention the Haihan Times now.

The network has gradually begun to be closed, and merchant ships intending to go to Manila will be advised at various ports, trying to cut off Manila's cross-border trade as much as possible before the war begins.

The news in several other newspapers is relatively gossipy and does not sound very credible. One newspaper said that signs of plague began to appear in Manila some time ago, and Spanish dignitaries rushed to flee the area. In order to leave as soon as possible

Locally, wealthy people even spend a lot of money to buy fishing boats as a means of transportation. But since rats are everywhere, including on boats, it is really difficult to find a boat without rats.

Another newspaper stated that because the local Han people in Manila paid half as much tax as the Spaniards, the local Han elders organized a petition to Philippine Governor Aragones to reduce taxes. However, during this period, the Han people who petitioned

There was a conflict with the native armed forces sent by Spain to maintain order. The friction between the two sides quickly developed into a fight of thousands of people, with many casualties on each side. However, the Spaniards, considering their own interests, did not control the situation. As a result

The fighting intensified. It is said that the fighting has expanded from inside the city to outside the city, and has a tendency to gradually lose control.

Another newspaper said that a typhoon hit Manila Bay not long ago, and the local damage was extremely serious. A large number of houses outside Manila were destroyed by strong winds, and there were hordes of homeless people everywhere. And inside the city,

The Spaniards could not take many effective measures for disaster relief, so groups began to rob food in the market.

The descriptions in these newspapers all have noses and eyes, and even include specific names such as Zhang San and Li Si. At first glance, they seem to be quite credible, but if you are a smart person, buy a few more newspapers and think about it slowly, you will find that

It is almost impossible that the stories written in these newspapers happened in the same place at the same time. If it were such a coincidence, then the city of Manila would not need Haihan to send troops to fight. The disaster brought by God would be enough to destroy the city.

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Moreover, newspapers are so focused on reporting negative news about the city of Manila. It is obvious that there is a force behind it. Besides Haihan officials, who has the ability to mobilize so many newspapers to act together?

Of course, the channels for ordinary people to obtain information must be more diversified. They are unlikely to be as free as Fei Cexian, who buys all the newspapers on the market and reads them slowly. They often only learn about Manila-related information from a specific channel.

information. The Haihan official approach is to adjust the information about Manila on every public information platform to be negative, in order to guide public opinion among the people of the country.

After Fei Cexian roughly understood Haihan's methods, he still admired this arrangement. Although he was not a soldier, he also knew that before starting a war, he must let his own people understand the meaning of the war and let himself

Only by standing on the side of justice can we win the support of the people. However, Haihan does not have supreme imperial power, nor does he let the executive committee play this role. He only arranges the propaganda department to use newspapers as information channels to guide public opinion and let the people gradually become aware of it.

The necessity of sending troops to the country to conquer Manila.

"What a brilliant method!" Fei Cexian couldn't help but sigh after browsing through all the newspapers. It would be great if the Ming Dynasty's Di newspaper also had such a propaganda effect, then the whole country could be mobilized to deal with the Central Plains.

Civil strife and the Jinmen of the North.

However, the Ming Dynasty’s Di Bao was only copied to officials at all levels. People who could read the content of Di Bao were either rich or noble. It was difficult for it to receive a large-scale publicity effect like Haihan’s newspaper. As Fei Cexian,

At most, he could only write down his experiences in Haihan in a memorial and send it back, but he did not have the qualifications to suggest that the court change the distribution method of the Di newspaper, or start another newspaper for ordinary people.

However, considering the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty, it was difficult to guarantee the cost and timeliness of running such a newspaper for the people. So he soon discovered that this was another case that he knew was very good, but was difficult to

The project was copied to Daming.

Why were there so many good things that could not be implemented in the Ming Dynasty? Fei Cexian couldn't help but start to think about this problem again. Is it true that, as the Haihan people said, there are big differences in the "social systems" of the two countries, and the imperial power ruled

The country has too many taboos that cannot be changed, and it is impossible to take advantage of the situation to govern like Haihan State. However, Fei Cexian has been educated since childhood to be patriotic and loyal to the emperor. Imperial power is an authoritative existence that cannot be challenged. He really cannot understand the situation like Haihan State.

How could such a country replace the existence of the emperor with an executive committee?
Chapter completed!