1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 373 Deadlocked Negotiations

Two tones were set after some discussion at the impromptu meeting for the arrival of the South Vietnamese envoy.First, negotiations with the South Vietnamese envoy on how to quell the war conflict could be initiated.Second, the initiative in the negotiation must be held by the Haihan side. The peace that the South Vietnamese regime wants can only be exchanged for complete surrender.

That night, Ruan Jinggui was taken to Fort Victory to meet with the negotiators of the Haihan side.But what he didn't expect was that the representative of Haihan used a very tough attitude to force back all the arguments he had prepared at the very beginning of the negotiation.

"The Hue government must give up all means of military resistance, and start peace talks with the Thang Long government on the unification of Annan as soon as possible. The false emperor of the Hue government must abdicate, and the Ruan family must hand over all power in their hands. In exchange, We can act on your behalf and do our best to protect the personal and property safety of the Ruan family." Tao Donglai didn't show any face to Ruan Jinggui, and laid out all the conditions as soon as he came up.

Although Ruan Jinggui had already been mentally prepared to be oppressed by his opponent, he still couldn't help blushing at this time - of course it was not obvious from his skin color.The bottom line of the negotiation given to him by the imperial court before departure was to "preserve the state system", but the opponent obviously did not intend to give Nanyue such treatment, and directly demanded that Nanyue give up military confrontation methods and disband the imperial court.
Ruan Jinggui took a few deep breaths to calm down a little, and then responded: "Every one of your conditions is aggressive, but from my point of view, there are things that are worth discussing."

Ruan Jinggui looked at Tao Donglai, and said in a deep voice: "The rebels of the Zheng family in the north coerced the emperor to order the princes. It was the one from Shenglong Mansion who abdicated, and I advise you not to help evildoers!"

Tao Donglai shook his head disapprovingly and said, "Where is the orthodoxy of the Annan royal family, Thang Long Mansion or Hue Mansion, this is not our concern. No matter whether the Li family is in the south or the north, it is only in the hands of powerful officials to control It’s just a puppet of the government, even if you are the courtiers, you probably don’t regard Li Shi as the master of Annan anymore, do you?”

Tao Donglai didn't wait for Ruan Jinggui to refute, and then continued: "Your country has fought civil wars for so many years, with countless casualties, and the people are in dire straits. If you still can't get reunification, you will probably continue to fight for ten or twenty years until Until one side completely admits defeat. Are there really so many people who like war in your country? I don’t think so. From last year to now, we have taken in tens of thousands of Annan refugees here, and we have never heard of anyone who wants to return Annan continued to fight."

"Whether it is the descendants of the Li family or someone else will rule the Annan Kingdom, I think the people of your country don't care that much. They just want to live in peace. Of course, dignitaries like you may not care at all. What the people think, but continuing to fight is actually not good for you. Do you think there will be a chance to turn the war to this point?” Yan Chujie, who had been watching coldly, took up the conversation: “If you lose, you will definitely lose. Losing, but losing your fortune, and losing your capital are two different things. We are giving you a chance to save your capital. If you give up this opportunity, it may end up with a result that no one wants to see."

"If you still have fantasies about the Portuguese, then I advise you to give up such thoughts as soon as possible. You should have heard this saying, right? The Portuguese envoy is now in Port Victory. If you want to meet , I can help you arrange, they have chosen to completely withdraw from the Annan civil war, and they will not get involved in Annan's domestic politics until the reunification of Annan is achieved." Tao Donglai lightly tapped his fingers on the table, staring at Ruan Jinggui He said: "I have one more sentence I want to send to all the adults in Hue Prefecture. If you can't get it on the battlefield, don't expect to get it on the negotiating table."

The first negotiation between Ruan Jinggui and Haihan didn't last too long, it ended in less than half an hour.However, for Ruan Jinggui, this short negotiation process made him feel like years. Apart from being able to condemn North Vietnam and Haihan from a moral point of view, Ruan Jinggui basically could not come up with any substantive conditions to bargain with his opponents. Let him be in a fairly passive position almost throughout the negotiation process.

And the various requests that the Haihan people thought they would make, whether it was money, land, population or other powers, the Haihan people didn't even mention a single word.Ruan Jinggui felt relieved when he thought about it. After all, the court of Shenglong Mansion was obedient to the demands of the Haihan people. When Annan was unified, the Haihan people could just ask Shenglong Mansion for whatever they wanted. regime bargaining?

The current situation was even worse than Ruan Jinggui had expected in advance. The Haihan people did not leave room for bargaining in this meeting, and their tough attitude made it difficult for him to display the set of negotiation strategies he had prepared.On the first night in Sanya, Special Envoy Ruan Jinggui suffered from insomnia.

It wasn't until dawn that Ruan Jinggui fell asleep in a daze, but his relaxing time didn't last long. The sharp copper whistle of the dock workers in the early morning woke him up from his sleep quickly.Ruan Jinggui turned over on the bed several times but couldn't fall asleep again, so he simply got up, packed up and went downstairs to have some breakfast.

"Master Ruan, this is Mr. Enrique, the special envoy of Portugal." As soon as he arrived downstairs, the staff of the inn introduced him to the Portuguese who also had breakfast here.

Ruan Jinggui didn't expect the Haihan people to say "arrange a meeting" so early in the morning, so he hurried forward to greet him.Although Ruan Jinggui could speak some Portuguese, he subconsciously spoke Chinese when he opened his mouth, and Enrique was also a Chinese handyman, so there was no obstacle to listening to Chinese, so a person from Annan and a Portuguese started to use Chinese in this way. communicate with.

As the special envoy sent by the Council to the Sanya area, Enrique was actually not very happy to meet with the envoys from South Vietnam, because it would somewhat embarrass both parties.However, the Haihan Executive Committee hoped that he could represent the Portuguese side and persuade the South Vietnamese court to give up resistance and achieve a peaceful reunification of Annan as much as possible.If such a result can be achieved, Portugal will certainly benefit. After all, the Indochina Peninsula is an important transit port in the South China Sea region, and if there is no war in Annan, the Portuguese will not be able to conduct trade activities in the Indochina Peninsula with peace of mind.The reason why Portugal and Haihan reached an agreement to turn the enemy into a friend is that Annan's domestic unity must be achieved is also a major consensus between the two sides, but the side supported by Portugal lost in this competition.In view of the fact that the official attitude is also inclined to let Annan cease the war as soon as possible, Enrique can only reluctantly play the role of lobbyist.

"Lord Ruan, how is your father?" Enrique is also well versed in the greetings of East Asian countries.He has been to Hue Mansion several times, and met with Ruan Jinggui's father, Minister of the Ministry of Officials of the South Vietnamese court, but this is the first time he has come into contact with Ruan Jinggui, the heir of a partial house.

"My father is in good health, thank you Mr. Enrique for your concern." Ruan Jinggui replied respectfully.Although Enrique is not familiar with him, he has heard of Enrique's name - when he came to Hue last time, his father personally went to greet him on the pier outside Hue City.

After a few polite words between the two, Enrique took the initiative to introduce the topic: "I heard that Mr. Ruan came to Sanya this time to discuss peace with the Haihan people on behalf of Hue Prefecture?"

Enrique asked such a question, which made Ruan Jinggui feel a little embarrassed. It is not true to admit it, and it is not true to deny it. He could only cough dryly and said: "Before Hai Han and I had some misunderstandings, we should try to resolve them."

Enrique shook his head and said, "The Haihan people will not treat the conflict between you as a misunderstanding. If you really want the Haihan people to stop their military operations, you'd better meet their demands as much as possible."

"However, the people of Haihan asked us to give up our resistance and the emperor to abdicate, so that the rebels from the north can come to power. How can this be done?" Ruan Jinggui shook his head repeatedly as he said, "If I agree to Haihan's conditions, what does it mean to betray the country? the difference?"

"The longer you delay, the less conditions you can win." Regarding Ruan Jinggui's insistence, Enrique could only persuade him by insinuating: "The reason why the Hai Han people are willing to talk to you is because they think sending troops to attack Hue is a good idea. It’s a very troublesome matter. But if you are unwilling to surrender, you should send troops in the end, and the Haihan people will still send troops. When the soldiers approach the city, the conditions they will ask are probably not as simple as giving up resistance.”

Although Enrique didn't understand the long-term plan of the Haihan Executive Committee for the Indochina Peninsula and the wider region, he also knew that the Executive Committee's control over the Indochina Peninsula was bound to be won. The executive committee is simply a stumbling block that must be kicked away, and there is no possibility of continuing to exist.

Ruan Jinggui didn't want to argue with Enrique on this, so he changed the subject: "I would like to ask Mr. Enrique, if I wish to cede land, pay compensation, or give other favorable conditions, will Haihan's attitude be acceptable?" Loosened?"

"Difficult." After thinking for a while, Enrique quickly shook his head and said, "If you take down Hue Mansion, the Haihan people can take whatever you want. If you want to bargain, you have to talk to the people in Thang Long Mansion. Why waste time with you guys?" talk?"

Sure enough!Ruan Jinggui felt that the possibility of completing the task had decreased a bit.He originally felt that the conditions offered by the imperial court were a bit taken for granted and unreliable, but now that even the Portuguese commented in this way, there was really not much room for maneuver.

"Then I have the guts to ask, will your country participate in the next war?" Since he was able to meet the Portuguese envoy, Ruan Jinggui had no choice but to act as a living doctor, to see if it was possible to change his former partner's heart.

However, the facts once again dealt him a heavy blow. Enrique shook his head decisively and refused: "We have no intention of participating in the armed conflicts in Annan. Of course, we will not assist the Haihan people to fight against Hue Province. We will remain neutral until the end of the Annan civil war. But if you are willing to sit down and talk about peace, then Portugal will be happy to be a witness and broker a peace agreement that you can reach."

Enrique's remarks are basically Portugal's official attitude, but there is one thing that is not in line with the facts, that is, a 40-member artillery advisory team sent by Macau has arrived in Victory Port three days ago. It is stationed in the military barracks on the east bank of Victory Harbor.This advisory group was formed at the request of the Haihan people, and their duty was to train artillery for the Haihan militia in Victory Port.According to the cooperation agreement signed by the two parties, the advisory team will provide artillery skills training services for the Haihan Militia within two years, and will not undertake any form of combat missions during this period, but the artillery they have trained is very likely Someday it will appear on the battlefields of South Vietnam.

There may be soldiers who have served in South Vietnam in this mercenary team, but this is not a big problem for the Portuguese.Since centuries ago, Portuguese mercenaries have fought for their employers in various parts of the world. For them, there are no political positions to be held. Whoever is the employer, they follow orders.The employment of the Haihan people is undoubtedly a rare benefit in their careers. This place not only has a good living environment, but the Haihan people give them high treatment, and they don’t need to go to the battlefield to fight. They only need to bring recruits in the barracks. This is a good thing But never encountered before.Enrique was almost sure that as long as the group of mercenaries stayed here for ten days and a half a month, they would probably completely forget about that remote place in Macau.

Enrique is very clear that the council will never agree to invest in armed forces in South Vietnam, because there are less than 800 Portuguese armed personnel in Macau and South Vietnam. If these people are lost in the South Vietnam battlefield, Macau may take half a year It takes more than that time to get replenishment from the colonies on the Indian Peninsula, and the half-year defense window is unacceptable to the Council. Who can guarantee that the ambitious Haihan people will not jump out during this period to make some losses? sensible thing?Therefore, although letting go of the war in South Vietnam would cause certain losses to its own interests, compared with more serious consequences, the council still chose to withdraw from the war and maintain a neutral attitude.

However, if South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and Haihan are really willing to sit down and resolve the civil war through negotiations, then the council would be more than happy to step in and play the role of an outside arbitrator in order to win a better outcome for Portugal after the war. many benefits.

Ruan Jinggui is not as optimistic as Enrique. According to what he knows, although there are some voices in the country who believe that they should not continue to confront the Haihan people, but if they really want them to give up all their existing power and surrender to the north without any resistance , I am afraid it is also quite difficult.Even if the Portuguese stand up to make peace, the senior officials in the court may not be willing to put down their airs and admit their failure.

The meeting between Ruan Jinggui and Enrique did not achieve good results in the end, and both parties almost failed to achieve their goals.Enrique failed to persuade Ruan Jinggui to change his attitude, and Ruan Jinggui did not get any substantial help from Enrique.

Enrique found Tao Donglai directly afterwards and clarified his judgment to him: "President Tao, I think you need to start preparing for the next battle."

Tao Donglai smiled and said, "Are you so pessimistic about the prospects of the negotiation?"

"Annan people are very stubborn, they will not give up their own interests easily." Enrique paused, and then added: "Of course, you are too."

"No, we are not as stubborn as you describe. You see, we are willing to sit down and have a dialogue with you and the Annan people. This is a flexible attitude." Tao Donglai disagreed with Enrique's evaluation: "The concept of foreign relations we adhere to is win-win cooperation. Whether it is the Ming Dynasty, the North Vietnamese court, you or the current Hue Province, we are willing to reserve opportunities for cooperation and make a fortune together."

"With all due respect, I didn't see any opportunities left by the Executive Committee for Hue Province from the beginning to the end." Enrique said sarcastically.

"It is also a good opportunity to live well." Tao Donglai responded unabashedly: "From the standpoint of hostile conflicts, we can choose to let the South Vietnamese regime be completely destroyed in the war, but now we are willing to Give them another way, doesn't that give them a chance?"

Regarding Tao Donglai's statement, Enrique was stunned for a moment and was speechless. After a long time, he responded: "You can fight, you have the final say. I only hope that you can remember the agreement between us. Give us the power we deserve locally.”

"Of course. We are no longer the enemy. You don't have to be so cautious about guarding against us." Tao Donglai said with a smile: "After the war, we will give the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce trade along the Annan coast as we promised. the right to settle."

Although Tao Donglai's tone was very sincere, Enrique always thought that Tao Dong was a little smirking when he said these words.However, for the current environment of the Portuguese, it seems that there is no other better choice - if you don't cooperate with the Haihan people, how can you continue to mix in the South China Sea?
In the following week, Ruan Jinggui had several contacts with the Executive Committee, but the talks did not make much progress.Naturally, Haihan would not relax the conditions for the declining South Vietnam, and Ruan Jinggui, who had a heavy responsibility, also did not dare to agree to the "rude request" of the Haihan people.After several rounds of negotiations between the two sides, Ruan Jinggui finally reached a very simple temporary truce agreement with the Executive Committee.

South Vietnam will get a 30-day buffer period from this temporary armistice agreement, and the Haihan Executive Committee promised not to take any form of military action against South Vietnam during this period.And the function of this 30-day buffer period is to let the small court of South Vietnam think clearly whether it is a bloody battle or a decisive surrender.

(End of this chapter)