1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2657
Shi Chengwu's words are actually not difficult to understand, because Zhu Zian has already discovered that the names on the invitations he wrote on the way can be matched one by one with the North Korean officials who participated in the negotiations today.

Why did the Haihan mission invite these people to a banquet? Although it was not clearly stated in the invitation card, the purpose has been clearly revealed at this time.These officials negotiated with the Haihan Mission on the stage, and went to the banquet in their private capacity offstage. Even though Zhu Zian was still a layman in foreign affairs, he could roughly imagine the connection.

Sure enough, the meeting ended early on the second day, but after the two parties bid farewell to Gyeongbokgung Palace, they soon met again at the Haihan residence.Except for His Highness the Crown Prince and Park Hongye, who was in charge of the political affairs, almost all other North Korean officials who participated in the negotiations were present at the dinner.

At this time, Zhu Zian really admired Hai Han's methods. It is not surprising that he entertained the other party's officials during foreign affairs activities, but the guest list provided by Shi Chengwu was determined a few days in advance, which means that Hai Han had already mastered it at that time. The lineup of officials on the North Korean side participating in the negotiations has formulated a corresponding strategy.

Under such circumstances, North Korea will have no chance of winning the negotiations. It is no wonder that Shi Chengwu and others are not in a hurry about the negotiation process.

Sure enough, after these North Korean officials arrived at the scene, their attitudes were completely different from those on the negotiating table. They were all smiling, chatting and laughing with the officials of the Haihan Mission.As for why they were so relaxed, Zhu Zian quickly found the answer.

Shi Chengwu made a promise to these North Korean officials that after the new cooperation agreement is reached, they will all receive a certain percentage of the income from their respective industries in charge, and they will also receive all-round support from Haihan in the future.

This so-called support is not just a favor, but also includes the future of these officials.They can buy property in the area under Haihan's rule, and send their family members to Haihan to settle down or study abroad, which is equivalent to leaving a way for them. Even if they lose power in the future, they can still guarantee their prosperity and wealth for the rest of their lives.

What these North Korean officials have to do is to make a certain degree of concessions in the negotiations and sign a cooperation agreement under the conditions dominated by Haihan.

Zhu Zi'an witnessed the whole process, and he knew where the benefits these officials would get came from.Just such a blatant private meeting with the Haihan Mission, isn't he afraid of being reported to the king?

After the banquet, Zhu Zian took the initiative to ask Shi Chengwu about this festival.Shi Chengwu said with a smile: "Since you can think of this question, these officials are not fools, so of course they would not risk their lives. If they dare to come, it means that they have obtained tacit approval."

Zhu Zian was surprised: "Your Excellency, you mean that the king acquiesced in their doing this? This...how does this benefit the king?"

Shi Chengwu explained: "The industries involved in our negotiations are all operated by the government, and of course the profits go to the treasury. But the treasury is not owned by the royal family. The difference is the reason."

It dawned on Zhu Zian that the vested interests were not just the officials who mingled with the mission just now, but the princes and even the king who were behind them were all members of this group.It's just that they have special identities, and Zhu Zian didn't realize it at the first time.

It is perfectly normal for the operating profits of official industries to be included in the national treasury. Whether it is official salaries or royal family expenses, they are all allocated through the national treasury.Although the king is the king of a country, there is no reason to use the treasury as a private treasury, and the amount allocated by the treasury is well-documented and clear accounts, which will inevitably impose many restrictions on the use of money by the royal family.

Then the question arises, how can the source of funding for the royal family be increased without going through the treasury, an open channel that countless people are staring at?Of course, the answer couldn't be simpler, that is, to let part of the tax or official industry operating income not be included in the national treasury, but directly go into the pocket of the royal family.

However, due to various reasons, it is probably inconvenient for the royal family to directly make such a request to Haihan, so some unusual situations will arise during the process of negotiating cooperation terms.And Haihan knows this well, as long as the North Korean side is willing to agree to the terms of cooperation, it doesn't matter if they give more benefits.

The North Korean side is also very clear about the final direction of the negotiations. The cooperation agreement must be signed. On the premise of confirming this result, the most important thing is of course to win more benefits for itself.On this point, the North Korean monarch and ministers have apparently reached a certain tacit agreement.

Zhu Zian thought of His Royal Highness who participated in the talks. The reason why the king appointed him to participate was probably not only to supervise the battle, but also to ensure that the royal family could obtain due benefits from the negotiation process.

Everyone got what they wanted from the negotiations, which seemed to be a happy ending. It is no wonder that North Korea has been very happy to cooperate with Haihan in the past 20 years, and has abandoned Daming, the former suzerain country, without looking back.

After all, apart from conferring the title of king, Daming seems to have nothing to offer North Korea any practical benefits.Serving such a suzerain country, of course, is not as beneficial as holding Haihan's thigh.

Shi Chengwu asked suddenly: "If you stood in the position of the king of Joseon, what would you do?"

Zhu Zian was silent for a while before responding: "The choice of the subordinates should be the same as that of the North Koreans. In such a situation, it seems that there is a choice, but in fact it is not. If we do not cooperate, the throne may not be stable."

Shi Chengwu smiled and nodded, "You can see clearly."

Almost all the officials involved in the negotiations went to the banquet, which shows that there are no clean people in these yamen of the Korean court. If the king wants to suppress this momentum, it will undoubtedly cut off many people's money.In North Korea, a country with a tradition of palace coups, the instability of the throne is a very dangerous situation. Li Yan is unwilling to take such a risk, so he can only choose to follow the trend.

After this evening's banquet, Zhu Zian also roughly understood the wonderful cooperative relationship between the two countries.No matter which field it starts from, North Korea is powerless to resist Haihan, and can only try its best to gain more benefits from cooperation.And Haihan is obviously already familiar with how to control the situation, and can fully mobilize and use North Korea's various resources for his own use.

However, Zhu Zian felt that the role he played during this period seemed to be far from meeting expectations, and North Korea did not respond in any way to his special guest from the Ming imperial family.Of course, this may be due to North Korea's scruples about the feelings of the Haihan Mission, and they dare not have too much contact with him, but Zhu Zian himself feels that it is actually because the Ming royal family does not seem to have that much influence on North Korea.

(End of this chapter)