1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2699
Seeking common ground while reserving differences is easier said than done.The only thing that is certain at the moment is that the interests of the three parties participating in the talks are different, and they all hope to win more benefits for themselves in the trade relationship.

As the main beneficiary of the Asahi-Japanese trade, the Tsushima Clan’s means of profit mainly came from the trade privileges inherited for generations. Changing the status quo would be tantamount to shaking the foundation of the Zong clan.And Zong Xiongtai, as a person with vested interests, cannot easily compromise with the other two parties.Especially the North Koreans who have gradually straightened their backs in recent years, if they make concessions to them in trade disputes, it may trigger a series of chain reactions that Zongxiong is too unwilling to see.

But Busan has a good natural port, but due to historical reasons, most of the trade with Japan must be handed over to the Tsushima clan, which is tantamount to giving a lot of profits to the Zong family for nothing.It’s okay in the past when trade was underdeveloped, but now Busan Port has become one of the most important international ports in this region, and the scale of trade continues to increase. The wealth that flows into Tsushima every year is even more than that of Busan. The status quo will naturally feel very unwilling.

Wen Zhihong regarded the Haihan Mission as a support and an umbrella, while Zong Xiongtai tried every means to cut the relationship between Haihan and North Korea, trying to turn the three-party talks into two one-on-one situations to solve the problem separately.But at this time, the Haihan Mission, which played a leading role in the talks, was not as ambitious as the other two.

The temporary tripartite meeting held in Busan was not included in the mission’s scheduled tasks. It was only accepted by the local government as one of the conditions in exchange for Haihan’s establishment of a special zone in Busan.Of course, this matter is not harmful to Haihan. After studying the situation, the mission actually had the intention of beating a rabbit.It is of course best to reap some benefits, even if the negotiation fails in the end, Haihan will not have any actual losses, at most it will be a few more days of delay in Busan.

Tao Hongfang is well aware of the careful thinking of the Busan government. He wanted to get back the tax money lost from Haihan because of the establishment of a special zone from Tsushima Fan in another way.Whether Busan and Tsushima can negotiate a new trade agreement will have little impact on Haihan's commercial interests. Even if they fail to reach an agreement, it will not prevent the implementation of the special zone plan.

As for the attitude towards Ma Fan, it is also unlikely to affect Haihan's trade activities in this area, and Tao Hongfang is sure that Zongxiong who is sitting opposite is also very clear about this.

When the Haihan Army attacked the Hirado Domain, the Tsushima Domain was one of the bystanders closest to the battlefield. Even though the jurisdiction was only a few dozen miles away from Hirado Island, they did not dare to send troops to rescue the Tagawa clan in Hirado.And now the Haihan Fleet stationed in Sasebo conducts cruise training in the Korean Strait at least once or twice a year, and its route will also pass through the waters under the jurisdiction of the Tsushima Fan. That's right, the Haihan fleet can appear outside Asu Bay in a very short time.

Therefore, in the face of the Haihan merchant ships passing on both sides of the Korean Strait, Tsushima Fan has always been indifferent.Whether there is a so-called regional trade agreement will not affect the trading activities of Haihan merchants in this region at all.

But Tao Hongfang would be happy to see it succeed if he could use this to stir up a fight between Japan and Japan.

The feud between North Korea and Japan has a long history, and it will be fought every 60 years or so. The last large-scale war between the two countries was only more than [-] years ago.However, Haihan has never planned to let the two countries live in complete peace. It is in Haihan's best interest to maintain a certain degree of confrontation between Japan and Japan.

The interests of the three parties are different, and each has its own calculations. Under such circumstances, it is naturally difficult to reach a consensus.After talking for a while, the three parties still talked with each other, and they were not on the same channel at all.

Among the people present, only Zhu Zian could observe the three-party talks from a completely outside perspective.

Zhu Zian actually didn't quite understand why the mission wasted time wading through this muddy water.In his opinion, the Tsushima domain does not have much use value, and there is no condition for bargaining with Haihan. Haihan can completely ignore its existence and let the merchants engage in transnational trade between Japan and Japan.Haihan eats the share of the Tsushima Fan, and the other party does not dare to make mistakes, so why bother to negotiate an agreement with the Tsushima Fan to limit himself.

But after listening for a while, Zhu Zian gradually understood the intention of the mission.This is not to put pressure on the Tsushima Fan on behalf of the North Koreans, it is clearly a fire in the middle, so that the conflict of interest between the Busan government and the Tsushima Fan is fully exposed.

However, Tao Hongfang and others grasped the scale very well, they just said some innocuous words, leaving the main battlefield to the Asahi and Japan to perform.

One side threatens to raise tariffs, and the other side will limit the scale of trade. If you want to close shops, I will stop cargo flights.Although both sides have some means of intimidating each other, they obviously lack the determination to implement them.After all, once the trade stops, the economic losses that will be caused are incalculable, and the consequences are not something the two of them can afford.

Moreover, Wen Zhihong and Zong Xiongtai are not stupid. They also know that once the two countries start a trade war and impose sanctions on each other, the only beneficiaries are the unrestricted Haihan people.So even though they were blushing, they were unwilling to advance the situation to the point of tearing their faces apart.

It was nearly noon, and the talks still hadn't made any progress.Zong Xiongtai took the initiative to suspend the meeting temporarily and continue the discussion after lunch.

However, Zong Xiongtai did not intend to treat them well as a landlord, and only provided basic lunch to the participants, and did not intend to accompany them.

But this was just what Wen Zhihong wanted. Seeing that he couldn't make any progress, he could take advantage of the intermission to communicate with the Haihan Mission and discuss countermeasures.

"My lords, this Zongxiong is too stubborn and stubborn. I believe that if we want to achieve results in the negotiation, we must use strong medicine to achieve results!"

Wen Zhihong knew that he was unable to persuade Zongxiong to compromise too much, so he could only turn to the Haihan Mission for help again.He also saw that these young officials from Haihan did not give full play to Zong Xiongtai in the morning meeting, and did not put enough pressure on Zong Xiongtai. If they want to make things happen, Haihan people have to put in more effort than just show up.

Tao Hongfang pretended not to understand and asked, "What does Mr. Wen mean by using strong medicine?"

Although Wen Zhihong knew the truth that nonsense should not be said, but the matter has come to this point, how can he give up halfway, and said through gritted teeth: "You should tell Mrs. Zong Xiong, if you insist on not giving in, your country will not rule out using military means to resolve trade disputes!"

(End of this chapter)