1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3810

During Yue Shizong's third year in Hangzhou, he had been cautious in maintaining diplomatic relations with Hai Han, and the year was relatively peaceful, with no military conflict breaking out between the two countries. However, the many messages he received in Hangzhou indicated that Hai Han had not stopped its expansion.

On the contrary, the expansion of Hai Han’s territory seems to be even faster than in previous years, it’s just that the direction has temporarily shifted overseas.

Almost every issue of newspapers such as the Hai Han Times would publish reports on various developments in overseas regions. Yue Shizong even spent a large amount of money to make a world map that was said to be used internally by Hai Han officials, in order to compare the news in the newspapers and mark the current territory of Hai Han.

As his vision broadened, Yue Shizong's psychological pressure grew, for he discovered that Hai Han's actual control had long surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty. The reason why he no longer made the Ming Dynasty his primary target was probably because he believed that the Ming Dynasty was already a vulnerable opponent and there was no need to rush to annex this neighbor.

It has to be said that Yue Shizong's judgment is indeed very close to the views of the Hai Han top leaders. However, the Hai Han top leaders are not in a hurry, but he has to feel extremely anxious about this.

Yue Shizong had no way of judging when the sword hanging over the head of the Ming Dynasty would fall. The only thing he was sure of was that Hai Han would not allow the Ming Dynasty to continue to exist in a secluded corner.

This is not to say that Hai Han and the Ming Dynasty have any irreconcilable feud, but that the process of Hai Han's development and growth will inevitably lead to the destruction of the Ming Dynasty.

Yue Shizong mentioned his views more than once in his reports to the court: "...Hai Han's development path requires sending a large number of people to factories, construction sites, farms and overseas colonies to generate revenue. The main source of Hai Han's population comes from the continuous encroachment on Ming. In the long run, only by completely annexing Ming can Hai Han's demand for population growth be met."

However, Yue Shizong was unable to come up with a solution to this contradiction. He could only suggest that the court must carefully consider control measures on the cross-border movement of population.

If Hai Han was too strict, it would not be able to obtain enough immigrants from Ming, and it would inevitably launch a new round of offensives to seize more people. If it was too loose, it might lead to a large population loss, causing Ming's own labor force to decrease rapidly.

For the Ming Dynasty, it can only maneuver back and forth among these seemingly contradictory control measures and try its best to maintain a certain delicate balance with Hai Han in order to gain more buffer time.

As for whether this buffer time should be used to deploy defenses or to recruit and train more troops, although Yue Shizong wanted to ask about it, that was not something he, an official from the Ministry of Rites, could worry about.

There are 365 days in a year, and Yue Shizong probably spends 360 of them racking his brains on how to ease relations between the two countries and maintain peace.

During the three-day New Year's Eve holiday, all industries in Hai Han, including the government, were closed for a break. Yue Shizong no longer had to run around between various government offices and finally had a few days to relax.

This year, he specially brought his family to Hangzhou in advance to spend these rare holidays together and finally enjoy the long-lost family happiness.

Since being appointed as the ambassador to Hangzhou, Yue Shizong rarely had the opportunity to meet his family, because if a diplomat like him who was stationed in an "enemy country" took his family with him, it would easily lead to the risk of rebellion. If Yue Shizong wanted to visit his family, he could only take time to return to the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, his bringing his family to Hangzhou this time was not an open arrangement, but a secret activity, and Hai Han's intelligence agency also made a special entry channel to avoid being noticed by the Ming Dynasty. This was the connections and reputation that Yue Shizong had accumulated in Hangzhou for three years. If it were someone else, if they wanted Hai Han officials to help them like this, there would definitely be some exchange conditions. But in Yue Shizong's case, there were no other additional conditions, and it was purely a favor in exchange for help.

This also made Yue Shizong feel quite proud when facing his family. After all, even looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, there were only a few people who could do things so beautifully.

Mrs. Yue also noticed her husband's excitement when he talked about this matter, and couldn't help asking: "My husband is so proud, is it possible that meeting us is more difficult than your official business in Hangzhou?"

Yue Shizong smiled and said, "Public is public, private is private, how can we confuse the two? But if we really want to talk about how difficult it is, if we treat this as a public matter, it will probably never be accomplished. It is easier to get Hai Han to cease fire with the imperial court than to get you to Hangzhou. Only if we treat this as a private matter can we get you to come."

Madam Yue asked, "If the court knew you made such an arrangement, wouldn't they blame you?"

Yue Shizong said proudly: "The court can blame my husband for many things, not just this one... But if my husband is dismissed and investigated, I won't be able to find a suitable candidate to take over the position of ambassador to Hangzhou for a while."

Yue Shizong's confidence was not blind. During his three years in Hangzhou, he visited various government offices of Hai Han almost every day, and got to know four-digit officials of all ranks. It was with his unremitting efforts that he was able to build his own network of contacts and persuade Hai Han's top brass not to use force against Ming easily.

Even if the Ming Dynasty sent a prince or other royal relative to replace Yue Shizong, without his connections in the Hai Han high-level officials, it would not be easy for him to get the job of diplomat seamlessly.

Madam Yue sighed and said, "That's true, but if the two countries go to war again one day, the court will look for someone to take responsibility, and they might still push you to the front to take the blame."

Yue Shizong also knew that what his wife said made sense, so he could only helplessly respond: "It's fine for me to take responsibility, but I don't want to implicate you. I brought you out of the country in the hope of avoiding this situation."

Madam Yue was surprised and asked, "Does my husband want us to stay in Hai Han for a long time?"

Yue Shizong nodded and said, "To be honest, Madam, I have been thinking about how the situation will change in the future. After thinking about it, I really can't think of any way for the Ming Dynasty to defeat the enemy. It is only a matter of time before the war breaks out again. Even if the court does not punish me, the place where you live may be swept by the war and even fall into a desperate situation. I brought you here this time just to let you live in a safe environment."

Madam Yue said, "Has the situation deteriorated to such an extent? If we had known this, why would we have moved away from Huzhou a few years ago?"

Yue Shizong sighed, "How could we have known what would happen today a few years ago! Moreover, if we had not moved our family away from Huzhou, how could we have been appreciated by the court and have the job we have now!"

Yue Shizong moved his family out of the Hai Han occupied area for safety, which was regarded as a patriotic act by the court, so he was promoted to the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites and appointed as ambassador to Hangzhou. However, today, the situation has changed drastically, and he is trying to move his family from the Ming Dynasty to Hai Han again, and the reason is still the same.