1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1913 Before Departure
For Li Lu, as long as the funding problem can be resolved, everything else is fine.After going abroad and coming to the territory ruled by Haihan, Li Mo has already fully felt the gap in economic development between the two countries. The living conditions provided by Haihan along the way are even better than when he was in China.Although Li Luo really wanted to complete the inspection trip at the moment, if he had to bear the inspection expenses by himself, he would definitely not be able to spend money beyond this plan.

Of course, Li Lu also understands that it is impossible for the shrewd Haihan people to pay these conditions in vain. The other party actively gives him high-standard and generous treatment, which must be to get corresponding rewards in some way.As for what this kind of reward is, although Haihan has never mentioned it, Li Wei knows that it must have something to do with his identity-the Haihan people have tried their best to please themselves, and they should have taken a fancy to their qualifications to inherit the great rule.

But this is not a big deal. Li Luo has been dealing with the Haihan people for a long time, and he also knows that their habit is to treat everything as a transaction, even the exchanges between countries.Haihan received the money before sending troops to help North Korea fight the Qing Dynasty. Now spending money to please himself is of course hoping that he can receive enough returns from North Korea in the future.

Land, population, or products, what exactly is the return that Hai Han wants from North Korea, or a bigger goal than this, actually Li Wei doesn't care much.He cares more about what North Korea can learn from Hai Han, or whether his country can be more powerful in the future like other Hai Han allies after paying what Hai Han wants.

The Fujian Xu family can bypass the Ming court to decide on the garrison, establishment and personnel appointment and dismissal of the local army. An Nanguo, a country located in the South China Sea, has the ability to send troops to North Korea. This behavior makes Li Wei very envious. With Haihan's support, rising is the goal that is just around the corner.

At the moment, Li Lu doesn't expect to send troops overseas to conquer the Quartet. As long as his country can independently resist the invasion of foreign enemies, it will be thankful.Of course, it would be the best if it could be stronger and impose military retaliation on the surrounding enemy countries, preferably to completely eliminate them.

As for how to choose the destinations in the itinerary, Li Wei actually didn't have any idea. If Li Xi were to introduce all the destinations that Haihan had listed, it would take another day and a half.So he simply handed over the decision to Li Xi, at least Li Xi knew far better than himself.

"Confirm the itinerary as soon as possible, and don't delay too long." Li Mo paused and said, "Today should be the day when the Haihan Times is published, right? Does the embassy order this newspaper?"

Li Xi nodded and replied: "Of course the Times has been subscribed. However, the release date refers to the morning issue, and it will not be delivered to the embassy until noon. If the prince is anxious to learn about the news in the newspaper, you can go to the city to find it first." Sitting in a teahouse, where the storyteller is usually arranged to read the newspaper at the first time."

Go to a teahouse in the city to drink tea and listen to books?It sounded like he was enjoying himself, and Li Wei couldn't help being a little moved, but he thought of the episode of "The Rise of the South China Sea" that he hadn't finished, and felt that it would be better to read more books at this time. Anyway, he would be able to read newspapers by noon. In fact, there is no reason to be in a hurry at this moment.

In fact, Li Wei just wanted to see if there was any news about him in the new issue of Haihan Times, and if so, then let's see how Haihan officials commented on his arrival.In addition, he also wanted to see if there was any news from his own country in the newspaper. After leaving Seoul for so long, he had almost lost contact with the country, which made him worry about the situation in the country.

"Forget it, it's better to wait, anyway, it's almost noon." Li Luo got up and said, "I'll go to the study to read a book, and deliver the newspaper when it arrives."

As Li Lue said, the time spent reading books is indeed very fast. He felt that he hadn't turned a few pages before a servant sent today's new Haihan Times.

Li Luo spread out the newspaper, and sure enough, he soon saw the news related to himself on the front page - the son of the Joseon Dynasty came to Sanya, and the relationship between the two countries wrote a new chapter.

The word count of this report is not too many, and it only occupies about one-fifth of the front page.However, the wording of the article gave a very high evaluation of Li Wei's visit. He believed that the fact that North Korea sent its son to Haihan to visit and study was based on the high importance and trust in the relationship between the two countries, and this move is very important for promoting the current cooperation between the two countries. Relationships will play a huge role.

Although it was obvious at a glance that it was some scene talk, it still greatly satisfied Li Min's vanity.The front-page report in the Haihan Times is enough to prove how much the authorities attach importance to his visit.

The other news on the front page has basically nothing to do with North Korea. They are all about the harvest of autumn grain in a certain place in Haihan, the opening of a new shipping line at a certain port, and there are no reports about war.It seems that after the two large-scale overseas combat operations this year, Haihan does not plan to use force for the time being.

Li Luo flipped through the content again, but there was still no content related to North Korea, but he saw a lot of news about Haihan's other allies.For example, with the assistance of Haihan prospectors, An Nanguo discovered a considerable amount of iron ore in a certain place in China, and it is expected to start mining as soon as next year.Of course, Haihan will also participate in the mining and operation of this mine, and at that time, part of the mine's revenue will be assigned to Haihan.

Li Lu couldn't help but think of the iron mine on the south bank of the Datong River Estuary, which is also one of the cooperative development projects agreed by the two countries.If all goes well, the mining time should be earlier than this iron mine in Annan.But what I don’t know is that in order to obtain a loan from Haihan Bank to overcome the financial difficulties, North Korea is already renegotiating with Haihan the proportion of this iron mine, hoping to use it as collateral to exchange economic benefits from Haihan. assistance.

Another piece of news is related to Portugal. Since Portugal contributed a lot in this year's battle in Manila, the Haihan Executive Committee also specially approved the establishment of Portugal in the town of Rosario in Manila Bay, which is close to the Cavite Peninsula. Exclusive colonial area.Of course, this colonial area only allows the Portuguese to live and engage in various jobs in the area, and the ownership of the land is still in the hands of Haihan.

According to the news in the newspaper, the Portuguese built an inland wharf at the estuary of a river near Rosario Town, and successively opened three routes from Malacca to Manila, Hoi An to Manila, and Macau to Manila.

Li Wei knew the location of Macau. When he went south from Hong Kong, officials from Haihan explained the situation in Macau to him, but he had no idea of ​​where the cities of Hoi An and Malacca were.As for the significance of the opening of these three routes to the Portuguese, Li Luo was even more ignorant.

In fact, the vast majority of people who read this news will not realize the significance of the Portuguese's move, only those few who have traveled to and from the South China Sea all the year round and have a good understanding of the geographical sea conditions and international relations in this area Only people will understand how much effort the Portuguese have made to gain such a foothold on the east side of the South China Sea.

The Portuguese settled in Malacca more than 100 years ago and entered the South China Sea and East Asia through this sea passage, but their settlements have always been limited to the mainland coast, and the battle for territory in the South China Sea has always been ruled out. Suppressed by Spain and the Netherlands, they have fought several times over the past century, but they have not been able to occupy a stable colony on the east and southeast of the South China Sea.

When Haihan launched the Battle of Manila, the Portuguese realized that this was an excellent opportunity to gain a foothold in the eastern part of the South China Sea, and decisively sent an armed fleet to participate in the war.As long as he can help the Haihan people drive the Spaniards out of this area, he will have a chance to settle in this area.

The post-war results also verified the Portuguese's judgment. The Spaniards were defeated and completely withdrew from Luzon Island.However, Haihan's maritime capacity in this area is not too much, and Portugal can just fill in this gap.Although the territory granted to Portugal by Haihan is not very ideal, and there are many restrictions, but this is Portugal's best chance to settle in this area so far, and they will not be picky about it.

In fact, after obtaining this land, the Portuguese immediately started immigration and construction. It took only a few months to build an inland wharf locally, with basic shipping capabilities.Although the three routes established subsequently led to Portugal’s own ports, they also revitalized the shipping industry in Manila to a certain extent. Haihan officials are also happy to see the results.

Those who can understand this news will immediately think of the lack of local shipping capacity in Manila, and may find business opportunities from it.However, Li Luo definitely couldn't see the meaning behind this. He thought it was Haihan's reward for Portugal's contribution to the war.

But Li Xi was not so leisurely. He knew that time was of the essence, and he didn't even have time for lunch, so he hurriedly drew up the itinerary for the inspection, and then came to report to Li Min.After receiving an affirmative answer from Li Lu, he had to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confirm the relevant arrangements with Song Yongan.After all the busy work here and there, the day is almost over.

"Lord Li is very efficient in handling things, so it's settled so soon!" Song Yong'an didn't expect Li Xi to finish talking in the morning and come to hand in the plan in the afternoon. It seems that the North Koreans are far more eager for this matter than own expectations.

Li Xi responded: "I also know that Mr. Song is busy with official duties, so it's not good to delay Mr. Song's time for this matter."

Song Yongan took a general look at the destination of Li Xi's planned itinerary, and found that there was basically nothing wrong with it. He estimated it and said to Li Xi: "If the schedule is more generous, then this trip should take about fifteen days, Mr. Li How do you feel?"

This time is not much different from Li Xi's own estimate. He nodded and said, "Your Majesty also agrees with this plan. There is no problem with the time."

"Okay, then I will hold a meeting to arrange this matter immediately, and tomorrow I will send the itinerary to the embassy for the prince and Lord Li to review." Song Yongan immediately gave a clear response.

"Master Song is here!" Li Xi got up and left immediately without delaying Song Yongan's working time.

After Li Xi left, Song Yongan immediately notified the relevant departments and sent people to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confirm the itinerary of the son of Joseon.

First of all, a high-grade passenger ship in good condition is necessary, and the Ministry of Communications has special ships, which can be used with the next transfer order.Taking into account security and diplomatic etiquette, it is probably necessary to send a warship to serve as an escort mission.There are many large and small ports that can provide supplies during the round-the-island voyage, so there is no need to bring a supply ship with this scale of travel.As for the transportation after landing, it can only be guaranteed by various local governments, but this is not a problem. These candidate areas that have been officially listed as inspection destinations have special four-wheeled carriages for picking up and dropping off VIPs.

The second is the issue of accompanying personnel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must send officials to accompany him, so it goes without saying.The transportation department does not need to send another person. The captain of this special passenger ship has an official position and can handle various transportation-related matters on the way.If armed warships are to be sent as escorts, then the military will also need to deploy some manpower to accompany them throughout the journey.In addition, the civil affairs department may also need to send doctors and chefs to accompany them in case of emergency.

As for whether the Ministry of Security will send personnel to participate, this will not be confirmed until the Ministry of Foreign Affairs communicates with it.The task of this kind of visit and investigation is generally relatively leisurely, and with military escorts, the Ministry of Security does not necessarily send people to accompany them all the way every time.If the Ministry of Security felt that it was unnecessary, it would not be surprising not to participate in this mission.

After roughly estimating the number of people and the itinerary in this way, Song Yongan will calculate the approximate cost based on previous standards, and then submit an application to the superior.However, for this kind of application, he directly sends the budget to the superior's desk, so the approval is very fast, and there is no need to wait for several days for confirmation like other expenses.

Song Yongan was busy until after dark before basically confirming the itinerary with various departments.However, the Ministry of Security has not given a clear answer. Song Yongan thinks that this may be due to the lack of interest of the Ministry of Security, and does not plan to send people to accompany him.He read the copied itinerary plan again, then got up and sent the plan and the related expense budget to Ning Qi's office.But Ning Qi had already gone back to rest after get off work at this time, so he probably had to wait until tomorrow morning to get the approval.

Of course, this will not exceed the one-day time limit Song Yongan promised to the North Koreans, as long as the final arrangement is reported to the North Koreans tomorrow afternoon.Moreover, this plan will not be implemented until Ning Qi's approval. In fact, various departments are already preparing to determine the accompanying personnel separately, and they can start from Sanya the day after tomorrow at the earliest.

(End of this chapter)