1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3881

In terms of the purpose of the negotiations between the two countries, the demands put forward by Meng Jinfeng on behalf of the Ming Dynasty were legitimate and reasonable. However, he clearly lacked relevant experience in participating in ceasefire negotiations and was unaware of the nature of this special negotiation and Haihan's consistent style—this was not a place for reasoning, but rather a place where whoever had the stronger fist could have the final say.

When Haihan holds the initiative, he never makes any concessions in negotiations.

Ultimately, what the Ming Dynasty couldn't obtain on the battlefield, it couldn't expect to obtain at the negotiating table. Therefore, Meng Jinfeng's request for a ceasefire was completely ignored by Tao Donglai and Ning Qi.

Instead, the two high-ranking officials of Haihan made a request to Meng Jinfeng: the Ming Dynasty should order the Jiangxi government to give up resistance and actively cooperate with the Haihan army's actions. In this way, the Haihan army could not only ensure local peace, but also ensure that the local government and the Ming army could leave the country safely on a voluntary basis.

After hearing Haihan's demands, Meng Jinfeng was so angry he felt like vomiting blood. These were not terms for a ceasefire; they were clearly a disguised way for the Ming Dynasty to cede Jiangxi.

Even if the imperial court was willing to make certain concessions in the negotiations, it was not prepared to cede the entire territory of Jiangxi as a condition for a ceasefire. If Meng Jinfeng agreed to such a demand, he would likely be accused of "treason and collusion with the enemy" and arrested as soon as he returned to the capital.

The two sides had too great a difference in terms of the ceasefire conditions, so the two meetings between Meng Jinfeng and the high-ranking officials of Haihan made virtually no progress and were simply two rebuffs.

At this moment, Meng Jinfeng seemed to understand Yue Shizong's choice even more. Why would such an experienced diplomat prefer to feign illness and resign rather than undertake the task of negotiating with Haihan? It turned out there were many intractable problems involved. Perhaps if he stayed in this position for a while longer, he would inevitably have similar thoughts to Yue Shizong.

It seems that the situation is indeed developing just as Yue Shizong predicted. No matter what efforts the Ming Dynasty makes, Haihan will not initiate ceasefire negotiations at this time. The unilateral efforts of diplomatic officials are futile, and they can only patiently wait for the situation to change.

According to Yue Shizong's prediction, the military operations of the Haihan Army in Jiangxi will continue until Haihan decides it is necessary to stop and consolidate its gains. Only then will ceasefire negotiations between the two countries be put back on the agenda.

But by then, it's hard to predict how many places in Jiangxi will still belong to the Ming Dynasty.

The progress of releasing battle reports to the public in Hangzhou was only five to seven days slower than that on the Jiangxi front, which was considered relatively fast for that era. Therefore, even an official from an enemy state like Meng Jinfeng could learn about the battle situation in Jiangxi from the publicly available reports in the newspapers—much faster than the battle reports sent by his own court through diplomatic mail.

The published battle reports clearly stated the dates, durations, and enemy casualties of each city captured by Haihan, as well as the heroic figures who emerged during the battles. Based on this information, Meng Jinfeng was almost certain that the battle was continuing its one-sided affair without any suspense, and it seemed only a matter of time before the Ming Dynasty lost Jiangxi.

Under these circumstances, there was naturally not a single anti-war voice in Hangzhou's public discourse. Surrounded by reports of victory, the people overwhelmingly supported the Haihan Army's actions. Ordinary people didn't consider the fundamental reasons for launching this round of war. Since the Ming Dynasty was powerless to resist and the Haihan Army had the opportunity to take Jiangxi in one fell swoop, who would consider a ceasefire at such a time?
Meng Jinfeng was unwilling to give up, so he tried a roundabout way to save the country by contacting ambassadors of other countries, hoping to use the influence of the Ming Dynasty to get other countries to take sides and speak out against Haihan's military actions.

However, he soon realized that his thinking was somewhat naive. More than twenty countries had established diplomatic missions in Hangzhou, but without exception, all of them, those with greater influence, were all allies of Haihan.

Countries with some power, such as Annam, Korea, and Portugal, all directly declined Meng Jinfeng's request for a visit, not even giving him a chance to meet. Clearly, the diplomats of these countries were well aware of the current situation, and none of them wanted to risk being misunderstood by Haihan by receiving a Ming Dynasty diplomat.

Countries like Annam and Korea, which were once tributary states of the Ming Dynasty but later switched allegiance to the Han Dynasty, were particularly sensitive to this. They were eager to join forces with the Han Dynasty to attack the Ming Dynasty in order to prove their loyalty to their suzerain state. How could they possibly make a low-level mistake at this critical juncture and side with the Ming Dynasty?

Although Portugal had a fairly good relationship with the Ming Dynasty in the past, and even provided military assistance to the Ming Dynasty at one point, the world situation has changed drastically now, and the Portuguese do not want to offend the Ming Dynasty for such a matter.

Moreover, from Portugal's perspective, they actually hoped that the Ming Dynasty and the Han Dynasty would fight each other more fiercely. While it's hard to say how much this would weaken the Han Dynasty, it would at least temporarily draw the Han Dynasty's attention to the Ming Dynasty, reducing its military investment overseas. This would essentially reduce the competitive pressure Portugal currently faces in many regions.

Meng Jinfeng had very little experience dealing with these countries and hadn't expected there to be so many intricacies involved. He simply attributed his inability to meet and hold talks with the ambassadors of these countries to his lack of ability and connections.

It wasn't until several days later, when he went to Shangtianzhu Temple to consult Yue Shizong, that Yue revealed these inside stories to him. He was dumbfounded and realized that his secrets had long been seen through by his counterparts from other countries, which made him somewhat discouraged.

Yue Shizong laughed and said, "Lord Meng has little experience in diplomatic affairs. It is inevitable that he will suffer some setbacks when he is suddenly entrusted with an important task by the court. However, this is not Lord Meng's fault, but rather the situation at the time. Even if I were to visit the embassies of these countries, I would certainly receive the same treatment."

Meng Jinfeng shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Lord Yue, you are too kind. If it were you, you would never make such a fool of yourself, because you would never do something so self-defeating."

Yue Shizong said, "I just spent more time in Hangzhou and had more opportunities to deal with other countries. In fact, I have encountered far more setbacks than Lord Meng. What I just said was just my experience accumulated from those setbacks."

Meng Jinfeng sighed, "In that case, we can't count on those relatively weak countries in the surrounding area at all."

Yue Shizong said, "In short, please remember, Lord Meng, that the Great Ming has no other country to rely on now, and no one will take the initiative to provide assistance to the Great Ming. All problems must be solved by ourselves. It is already a stroke of luck that these countries did not join Haihan in sending troops to attack the Great Ming."