Chapter 1873 Tell the truth

In fact, Li Bo had no plan to meet Ming officials during his trip. After all, considering the current relationship between the three countries, meeting Ming officials in a place like Zhoushan where the ownership rights are still controversial, even if there is no conflict, there will be no conflict between them.

He would feel embarrassed. He really didn't expect that Ningbo officials were so open-minded and even came to Zhoushan Island to meet him. It seemed that his identity still had some weight in the eyes of Ming officials.

However, Li Bo overestimated North Korea and his own influence. The local officials of the Ming Dynasty were willing to show up in this matter mainly because of Shi Diwen's face. Moreover, there happened to be a batch of arms shipments for sale recently.

After arriving at the seaport, the military leaders from the nearby coastal states rushed over to see if they could buy some suitable equipment from Shi Diwen. Li Bo's appearance coincided with the meeting, and no one really

Treating the meeting with the Prince of Joseon as a big deal only added another topic for discussion at the many international social events on Zhoushan Island.

Compared with when Haihan first occupied Zhoushan Island a few years ago, the infrastructure construction on the island has undergone very significant changes. In addition to conspicuous areas such as ports and terminals, the living conditions on the island have also been improved. Today

The banquet hall used to entertain Li Bo and his party was only built last year. It is mainly used for annual investment activities. It can not only set up exhibitions but also host banquets. It can also be used to hold conferences when necessary.

After Li Bo followed Shi Diwen into the banquet hall, he saw that numerous people waiting here were all dressed in Ming Dynasty clothes, which was completely different from Haihan's short clothes. Moreover, these people had dark skin and strong bodies. It was obvious at a glance that they were

People who have been living on the beach for a long time.

Shi Diwen took the initiative to introduce to Li Bo: "Your Majesty, this is Commander Yan Guowei of Changguo Guard... This is Ma Lingma Qianhu of Shipu Institute... Commander of Linshan Guard Wei Shanwei... Guanhai Guard Huang Taohuang

Commander..."

Of course Li Bo knew the Ming military's garrison system. Any commander had thousands of soldiers and horses under his command, and the lowest-ranking military attache present was Qianhu. It was so surprising that so many powerful military attachés from the Ming Dynasty could be gathered here.

He gained a new understanding of Shi Diwen's local influence.

Of course Shi Diwen would not explain to Li Bo the real reason why these Ming military attaches came to Dinghai Port. He wanted to take this opportunity to show Li Bo that the relationship between Haihan and Ming was not as tense as the outside world imagined.

The exchanges between the two countries go far beyond the economic and trade level. Under the water, the areas of cooperation between the two countries actually far exceed the content of the diplomatic agreement, and these exchanges are actually with the tacit approval of the Ming Dynasty.

Some people may think that this is just a choice made by local military leaders for their own selfish interests and does not represent the attitude of the Ming Dynasty. However, objectively their performance will definitely be understood by the outside world as the attitude of the Ming Dynasty.

. You must know that these officials present are not small roles. They range from commanders of the third rank to Qianhu, the fifth rank. They all have military power in their hands, and they can speak more effectively on the sea and border than civilian officials of the same level.

After all, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. To most people, the imperial court is just a symbol and not something to be afraid of. In comparison, the benefits gained are more real.

To put it bluntly, even if the imperial court did not agree with the actions of these local military leaders, there was not much they could do against them. With the example of Fujian Xu Xinsu, many military attachés of the Ming Dynasty had a new understanding of their own military power.

His military power can not only be used to fight wars, but if he wants to use his military power to make money, the only way is to take empty pay. As for obeying the instructions of the imperial court and disobeying the instructions of the court, he can do his own thing in the local area, and he learns very quickly.

These military attachés of the Ming Dynasty who came to Dinghaiport to buy arms this time did not get their arms purchase funds from the Ministry of War, and the imperial court did not have the spare money to strengthen Jiangsu and Zhejiang's armaments. Part of this military expenditure was paid out of their own pockets, and the other part came from their jurisdictions.

Donations from wealthy merchants and gentry in the country. The reason why they wanted to strengthen their armed forces at all costs was precisely because they imitated the practices of the Xu family in Fujian. Only when the military strength was strong enough could they be able to neither listen to instructions nor listen to propaganda, and stay in place safely.

Became a wealthy warlord.

However, Haihan's arms business has always been a seller's market, and there are often some political conditions attached to the transactions. Even if the buyer has money, he may not be able to buy the weapons and equipment he wants. That's why this group of people will appear on this occasion today.

Shi Diwen came to the platform to win favor, so that he might be able to gain some friendship share in the upcoming arms purchase.

Li Bo naturally also noticed that almost all of the people introduced to him by Shi Diwen were local military attachés from Zhejiang. Seeing that he had reached the end of the line of guests, Li Bo finally saw a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar.

"This is Mr. He Xiao."

What surprised Li Pu a little was that Shi Diwen did not introduce this person's official position, since he was not an official of the imperial court. But for this person to be qualified to stand with these military attachés, Li Pu still felt that there must be something special about his identity.

.

Sure enough, Shi Diwen continued to introduce: "Mr. He is a close aide of Mr. Qu, the prefect of Ningbo. Generally, Mr. He comes forward when it is inconvenient for Mr. Qu."

Li Ming understood now. It turned out that this was the master who represented the Ningbo magistrate. No wonder the other military attaches were not surprised by his presence. The fact that the prefect could send someone to participate in today's banquet has already shown his attitude, and Li Ming also

I don’t expect to see the top leaders of the local government of the Ming Dynasty on the land of the Haihan people.

He Xiao bowed his hands and said: "He has met the Crown Prince, and I would like to say hello to the Crown Prince on behalf of the magistrate!"

He Xiao's words made it very clear, and there was no need for Li Bo to second guess his position. Li Bo immediately responded: "Your Majesty, the prefect is interested, and I would like to ask Mr. He to also convey my regards to the prince."

Because Li Pu's identity is relatively sensitive, apart from He Xiao, there are no other civilians on the guest list for today's banquet. They are all officials from the Ming and Haihan countries, as well as envoys from other countries. Li Pu thought of his father before going abroad.

As expected, at this first stop, he really felt the pressure of being a symbol of North Korea abroad. Although he occasionally listened to political discussions at home and accompanied Li Zhu to meet with foreign envoys, he had never interacted with so many foreign envoys alone.

During the meeting with the officials, I couldn't help but feel a little nervous at the moment, and I didn't even dare to speak.

However, Shi Diwen was afraid that everyone would not know the purpose of Li Bo's visit. After sitting at the table, he loudly explained to everyone: "The Crown Prince of Joseon is going south to visit Sanya, the capital of our country, and will stay in Sanya for cultural exchanges with our country in the future.

The Crown Prince’s visit also symbolizes the profound friendship between our country and North Korea, so as the Crown Prince’s first stop when he enters Haihan, Zhoushan will be the first place to greet the Crown Prince! Everyone, let us toast the Crown Prince with a toast!”

Li Bo quickly raised his glass and stood up to greet everyone in return. He did not expect that this senior official from Haihan would publicize his study abroad in such a high-profile manner to other countries. It was not convenient to explain the ins and outs to these people at the moment, so he had to drink the glass of wine first.

Shi Diwen's plan is very clear, which is to use the opportunity of Li Bo to study in Haihan to promote Haihan's international status to other countries - you can see clearly that all the princes of Joseon have gone to study in Haihan, which has fully demonstrated that North Korea

position, Haihan’s camp has gained another member.

As for how the Ming officials felt about this, in fact, after North Korea confirmed the arrangement for the crown prince to study abroad, Shi Diwen had already communicated with Qu Yutong and asked him, as a Ming official, his opinion on North Korea's move.

.

Qu Yutong's explanation at that time was very practical: "It's going to rain, my mother is getting married, and North Korea wants to change its master, so who can stop it? Now the imperial court doesn't even send envoys to North Korea, even if it's right.

If you are dissatisfied with North Korea's choice, there is no place to lose your temper. Can North Korea's sins be cured?"

As for the attitude of a local official towards this matter, Qu Yutong also said very straightforwardly: "It has no impact on us, so just treat it as a fun. If it can bring benefits to the area under my jurisdiction, then why not support it?"

?”

Is Li Bo's study abroad beneficial to the coastal states of Zhejiang? Maybe it is a little bit. Although Haihan also has Shandong and Liaodong ruling areas in the north, if the purpose is trade, then Zhoushan Dinghai Port is under Haihan's rule

The closest trading port to North Korea. Li Bo's study in Haihan will definitely promote the trade between Haihan and North Korea. The number of merchant ships traveling between Dinghai Port and North Korea will gradually increase, and Ningbo Prefecture is the state closest to Dinghai Port.

The government will inevitably be close to the water and the first to get the moon, and get many benefits from it.

For Qu Yutong personally, the commercial and shipping companies he actually controls can take the opportunity to carry out business targeting North Korea, and the earlier they enter the market, the more first-mover advantages they will have. In terms of implementation, the first group to enter Seoul to acquire real estate after the war was prepared.

Among the merchants of the Ming Dynasty who settled there, there was a shipping company controlled by He Xiao's brother He Li, and the big boss behind this shipping company was none other than Qu Yutong himself.

North Korea's change of suzerain state was indeed disloyal to the Ming Dynasty, but it was just a matter of face. It is not certain that it caused any actual losses to the Ming Dynasty. At least the Ming Dynasty would not spend money and send troops to rescue this country every now and then.

The younger brother, who is weak in military force, no longer needs to bear the huge losses caused by the war in order to maintain this vassal state.

For Ming officials like Qu Yutong who have connections and means, North Korea's change in political stance is actually a good opportunity to make a fortune. They can easily follow Haihan into the North Korean market and obtain considerable profits from it. And if

Having the opportunity to establish a personal relationship with the heir to the North Korean throne may bring benefits that are unimaginable in the future. Therefore, although Qu Yutong did not come to Zhoushan Island to meet with Li Bo in person to avoid suspicion, he still sent He

Xiao, as his own representative, expressed goodwill to the Joseon Crown Prince.

As a newbie in diplomacy, Li Ming may not be aware of the secrets involved at the moment, but one thing is certain, that is, these Ming officials do not seem to have any ill feelings towards him, or in other words, they are not as dissatisfied with his identity as he expected.

So sensitive. On the contrary, people kept coming over to toast him, and then ask a few questions about the current situation of North Korea, especially trade information. Almost everyone was very interested.

Li Pu didn't quite understand why these generals were so interested in the buying and selling of goods in the North Korean market, but it was expected that this kind of thing would not involve state secrets. He basically told it frankly and did not show off.

The airs of an aristocrat.

Li Shu's attitude easily won the favor of the Ming Dynasty military attachés present. Their purpose of approaching Li Shu was simple, just to see if they could find opportunities to make money. They couldn't compare to Qu Yutong, who had a close relationship with Li Shu.

Officials with high-level marriage relationships in Haihan could easily obtain first-hand inside information, so they could only look for opportunities to collect information. As for Li Bo's identity, he was undoubtedly an extremely rare source of intelligence, so everyone naturally flocked to it.

, hoping to get more information about the North Korean market from him.

Li Bo has been living in the court for more than 20 years. After becoming the prince, he was deliberately controlled by his father. He kept a certain distance from the ministers and was indeed relatively immature in diplomacy. These Ming military attaches praised him.

After a while, when he got drunk, he forgot about the word caution in words and deeds, and chatted and laughed with these military attachés.

The North Korean students who came with Li Bo were just accompanying the guests. Among them, there were only military attaches and no civilian officials, and the military attaches were all low-level officers. They were not even qualified to come forward to toast Haihan and Ming officials.

It was not enough, so I could only sit at the outermost edge and watch this diplomatic event while eating.

Before the banquet ended, Li Pu was so drunk that he had to be carried back to his residence on a wicker chair. When he woke up due to thirst in the middle of the night, he could not remember the experience between the time he sat at the table and before he became drunk.

. The last scene he remembered was that seven or eight military attaches from the Ming Dynasty gathered around him, saying that they had the opportunity to go to North Korea to see the local customs and customs.

Li Bo couldn't help but snorted coldly when he thought of this scene. In the past few years, North Korea had repeatedly requested military assistance from the Ming Dynasty, hoping that they could send troops to help them resist the Hou Jin Dynasty in the north. However, Ming Dynasty's response disappointed them again and again, except for Pi.

The soldiers and horses of Dongjiang Town on the island continued to fight and never sent a single soldier to North Korea. In the end, the soldiers and horses of Dongjiang Town were abandoned by the Ming Dynasty. In order to protect themselves, they had to leave North Korea and join Haihan, and then moved there.

Jinzhou. As a last resort, North Korea changed the target of its request for help to Haihan, and received a response quickly.

Nowadays, these Ming officers are shamelessly claiming to go to North Korea for sightseeing, but North Korea has been begging the Ming Dynasty for so long before, but why has no one led troops to North Korea?

Li Bo did not understand how serious the internal and external troubles faced by the Ming Dynasty were. It was no longer possible to send troops to North Korea to help the war like during the Wanli period. He only knew that it was the Haihan people who saved North Korea in the end, but it was the former suzerainty that stood aside and watched the crisis in North Korea.

Daming.
Chapter completed!