Chapter 2654

The only thing that pleased the young officials was that compared to the kimchi dishes that filled half the table when they were hosted by An Wenbo in Jeju Island, the quality of this state banquet was much higher. The King of North Korea did not insist on using shabby Korean food.

To entertain them in a traditional Chinese style, the familiar Haihan flavor became the protagonist of the banquet, and you could even choose several famous wines produced in Haihan to accompany the meal.

Of course, it is not appropriate to indulge in heavy drinking in this kind of diplomatic occasion. The young officials only toasted a few glasses of wine symbolically, trying to keep their heads clear and waiting for Li Zhi to introduce the topic.

After drinking for three rounds, Li Zhiping withdrew from the banquet hall's Sizhu team and other people. Seeing this, everyone knew that Li Zhi was about to talk about business, so they silently put down their chopsticks and sat upright.

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "Two months ago, your country sent a message informing that it would arrange a mission to visit our country. Taking this opportunity, the two sides can also discuss some issues of common concern and maintain the long-term relationship between our two countries."

We have maintained good relations since then. I have ordered all the government offices in the imperial court to make relevant preparations, and talks can begin tomorrow."

After Li Zhen stood up, he introduced to Haihan officials the lineup of North Koreans participating in the talks, including civil and military officials from Uijeongbu, Si Xianfu, Si Jian Yuan, Liu Cao Yamen, Fifth Military Camp, Nei Santing and other yamen.

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In addition, or considering the principle of level reciprocity, Li Zhen will not personally participate in specific talks, but appoints the young crown prince Li Bai as the person in charge of the talks on the North Korean side.

This young prince should be a little younger than people like Haihan. Although he looks quite stable, it seems that he has never heard of him independently participating in foreign affairs activities before. I think the purpose of Li Zhen's arrangement is

It is planned that the crown prince will start to establish external influence.

However, there are many important issues involved in the negotiations. The person who is really at the helm of this process will certainly not be the crown prince Li Bai, but the current leader Park Hong-yeop.

The status of the chief minister in the Joseon court was equivalent to that of the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty. Cui Mingji, who launched a palace coup in the early years to overthrow the former king Li Zhu, was the chief minister of the parliament at that time. After Li Shi ascended the throne, he deposed Cui Mingji and promoted him.

He appointed his old rival Kim Sang-hun to take over the post of political leader, and arranged for his close confidant Park Hong-yeop to serve as Kim Sang-hun's deputy.

Pu Hongye was one of the few civil servants who followed Li Zhen to study in Sanya. Later, he followed him back to Seoul to seize power.

The road to promotion was paved for him.

Kim Sang-heon was already very old, and Li Zhi's purpose of using him was more to stabilize the government, so he did not stay in the leadership position for a few years, and retired and returned to his hometown when he reached his seventies. However, Park Hong-ye was still in the government.

Since he was too junior in seniority, trying to straighten him up would inevitably lead to criticism, so the position of leader of the council had been vacant after Kim Sang-hun left office. It was not until Kim Sang-hun passed away a few years ago that Li Zhi naturally straightened Park Hong-yeop up.

In fact, before Kim Sang-heon retired, Park Hong-yeop was already a powerful figure in the DPRK. Over the years, he has been conscientiously assisting Li Zhen and handling many difficult affairs, thus gaining Li Zhen's full trust.

The talks with the Haehan delegation included many issues closely related to the future development of North Korea, and it was necessary for a senior official like him who understood the situation in various fields of North Korea to be present.

But to be serious, the lineup of the Haihan Mission is undoubtedly more important. There are six people in the second generation of Chuan Dynasty who have a distinguished family background, and there is also Zhu Zian, who has a background in the Ming Dynasty royal family. And Fu Li is the representative of North Korea.

Haihan officials, who know the country’s situation best, naturally have to participate in the whole process as consultants.

After the routine reception banquet was over, everyone in the envoy said goodbye and left the palace, arriving at the residence prepared for them by Fu Li.

As Fu Li said before, there is not much difference between Seoul and Haihan in domestic cities. This is reflected in the living environment. All daily necessities here are from Haihan, and the rooms are equipped with hot water bathrooms.

They were no different from any official guesthouse they had stayed in in other big cities in the country. Even the service staff who served them all had Haihan accents.

Of course, the cost of building such a guest house that replicates the domestic environment in a foreign country must be very staggering. During the period of opening to the outside world, not many people will be able to afford the fees here.

Fu Li did not arrange for them to stay and call it a day. Instead, he called everyone together and held an impromptu meeting. The content was of course the diplomatic talks that would start the next day.

"According to prior arrangements, the mission's activities during its stay in Seoul were divided into three parts. The first was talks with North Korean officials to discuss some issues that had been formulated. The second was exchange activities with local people, including those held in the name of the mission.

Banquets, public open days of the fleet, and some cultural activities. The third is the rotation of personnel stationed in North Korea and the handover of work."

Fu Li briefly listed the various tasks of the mission, and then asked Shi Chengwu and others to explain the mission's preparations on these matters.

Zhu Zian wanted to avoid suspicion, but Shi Chengwu asked him to stay and observe, and give a summary of the meeting. Zhu Zian was already curious about the mission's mission, so he stopped refusing at the moment.

The key task of the mission's visit to North Korea is, of course, to discuss matters with North Korean officials. Haihan has some new requirements for the current trade, culture, immigration and other fields between the two countries, and requires North Korea's cooperation. Of course.

The benefits are not exclusive to Haihan, the North Koreans will also get some of the conditions they have always wanted to achieve.

For example, North Korea has wanted the smelting industry in the Taedong River Basin many years ago to expand production scale and upgrade technology so that the local area can produce higher-quality steel instead of just cheap pig iron. This time the Haihan mission will

It brings good news to the North Koreans. In the future, the Taedong River will produce high-quality steel, and the production capacity will soon be expanded to more than ten times the current level.

Of course, such technical support is not given in vain. More than 70% of the steel for the expanded production will be supplied to Haihan at cost price, and the remaining part will be left to North Korea to decide its own use.

The main reason for such an arrangement is that Haihan's capital relocation plan will require a large amount of steel, and Haihan's smelting center is located in the remote Changhua County of Hainan Island. The voyage to Hangzhou Bay is several times farther than that of North Korea.

Considering the transportation cost, relevant departments believe that it is more cost-effective to obtain steel from North Korea.

Of course, the premise is to upgrade the coal-iron complex located downstream of the Datong River to ensure that there is sufficient local steel production capacity to supply the Hangzhou area.
Chapter completed!