1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3886

Upon hearing this, Zhao Mingyu was startled and immediately thought of what Zhao Gan had said earlier: that the old manor lord had unfortunately died under the swords of the fleeing Ming soldiers.

Regarding the fate of Zhao Family Village, Shi Chengwu's statement may indeed be correct. After these defeated soldiers left the battlefield, they ruthlessly attacked their own people for their own selfish reasons, which is truly unforgivable.

However, according to this logic, the military actions carried out by the Ming army under the banner of defending the country were not so righteous, and Zhao Mingyu naturally would not admit to the other party's accusations.

Zhao Mingyu solemnly said, "The indiscriminate killing of innocent people by routed soldiers is merely an isolated phenomenon during the chaos of war. These people have violated military and national laws, and after the war, they should be severely punished according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty without any leniency!"

Shi Chengwu smiled and said, "If we wait for your country to deal with these defeated soldiers, it will probably be a long time. To be honest, Lord Zhao, when I led my troops to Zhao Family Village, after hearing about the tragedy that had occurred, I sent troops to wipe out the Ming army's defeated soldiers in the surrounding area and captured the people who had slaughtered the civilians in Zhao Family Village."

Zhao Mingyu said, "In times of war and chaos, the people you catch may not necessarily be the perpetrators."

The implication is that Shi Chengwu simply grabbed some defeated soldiers to fill the ranks, using this as an excuse to criticize the Ming Dynasty.

Shi Chengwu said, "We anticipated your country's reaction, so after bringing the people back, we organized the people of Zhao Family Village to identify them, and all the relevant people who were arrested gave their statements, confessing to the previous atrocities. With witnesses and physical evidence, if Lord Zhao would like to see them, I can arrange it immediately."

Zhao Mingyu coughed lightly and said, "The matter of the defeated soldiers committing violence in Zhao Family Village is an internal affair of our country, and how to handle it can be discussed later. The most urgent task is to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible to avoid further bloodshed and harm to more innocent people!"

Zhao Mingyu knew that if he continued to dwell on the issue of the defeated soldiers' violence, his side would only become more passive, so he had to quickly get the negotiations back on track.

The ceasefire plan proposed by Zhao Mingyu on behalf of the Jiangxi government consists of two phases. The first phase is that the armies of both countries immediately cease their offensive attacks on each other, withdraw from the combat zone, and must not prevent the other side from obtaining the necessary supplies for survival from the outside world.

Secondly, the two countries need to organize higher-level negotiations to determine the ownership of the disputed areas in Jiangxi. Before that, the two countries should continue to maintain a ceasefire and resolve the dispute through negotiations.

Of course, there are many details for each stage, which need to be discussed and agreed upon by both countries before they can be implemented together.

In terms of the ceasefire negotiation process, Zhao Mingyu's proposal was fairly standard and without any major flaws. However, the problem now lies in the fact that the situation on the battlefield is not evenly matched, but rather a clear division between the strong and the weak.

The Ming Dynasty had suffered a crushing defeat on the Jiangxi battlefield, with only two or three prefectures remaining unconquered by the Haihan. Forget about organizing a counterattack to reclaim lost territory; even holding onto the few remaining cities was extremely difficult, and the capital, Nanchang, was in imminent danger.

If the war continues, it's only a matter of time before the Ming Dynasty loses the entire Jiangxi province. Under such a passive situation, the ceasefire proposal put forward by Zhao Mingyu on behalf of the Ming Dynasty seems rather weak. Therefore, when Zhao Mingyu's negotiating team presented their ceasefire proposal, the response was quite lukewarm.

Shi Chengwu bluntly pointed out the biggest problem with the ceasefire plan: "Lord Zhao, I would like to ask, when your country formulated this plan, did you consider your own situation? If your country is already in a hopeless situation, what conditions do you intend to offer in exchange for our army's ceasefire? This plan doesn't mention it at all!"

Zhao Mingyu said, "Since General Shi is willing to arrange this meeting and give both sides the opportunity to sit down and talk, it means that your side also has a need for a ceasefire. I think the general direction of both sides is consistent, it's just that the specific conditions still need to be discussed."

Shi Chengwu raised a finger and gently waved it, refuting Zhao Mingyu's statement: "Lord Zhao, you are mistaken. Although both sides have a need for a ceasefire, our purposes are completely different. You want to keep the Ming Dynasty in the last remaining area of ​​control in Jiangxi so that you can appear to have lost less completely."

"However, as the victor in the war, our country is only considering ceasefire negotiations to avoid further unnecessary casualties. But there is a prerequisite for a ceasefire: the entire territory of Jiangxi must be ceded to our country, and the Ming Dynasty must completely relinquish its jurisdiction over Jiangxi. Only if your country can do this will we discuss the matter of a ceasefire."

"Only if your country admits defeat can we discuss a ceasefire; otherwise, this war will continue. My suggestion is that you immediately cease resistance and voluntarily relinquish Nanchang. This way, both sides can maintain their dignity, and your safety can be effectively guaranteed."

Although Zhao Mingyu had anticipated being belittled to his face before the negotiations, given that this was supposedly a ceasefire negotiation but was actually a peace offer initiated by the Ming Dynasty, he still couldn't help but feel embarrassed when the moment actually arrived. In his decades of official service, when had he ever been so openly humiliated?
Given the current situation, the Ming Dynasty, as the defender, indeed has few valuable exchange options, so it's no wonder the other side is so arrogant.

Zhao Mingyu was secretly lamenting his situation. If he could really persuade those brutes in Nanchang to surrender, why would he have gone through all that trouble to organize a team to negotiate with the Haihan people?

Regardless of Shi Chengwu's attitude, Zhao Mingyu could not simply abandon the negotiations and leave. He was well aware of his mission: he had to reach some kind of agreement with Haihan. Otherwise, if he returned to Nanchang without any substantial results, his personal prestige would suffer further damage.

At that time, the generals in charge of troops in the city will be even less likely to obey his orders, which may further worsen the already precarious situation in Nanchang.

The first consultation between the two sides did not yield any beneficial results. The huge differences on the method of ceasefire made it difficult for Zhao Mingyu and Shi Chengwu to reach an agreement.

However, both sides were well prepared for this, so despite expending a lot of energy in the heated debate, neither gave up on the negotiations. Instead, they entered a short period of rest to prepare their strategies for the next stage of the negotiations.

The accommodations arranged for Zhao Mingyu and his party were the same as when he had come before, a row of side rooms in the old manor house.

However, when Zhao Mingyu saw the conspicuous red and blue flag standing on the roof of the room, he could only smile wryly. The accompanying officials, unable to bear it, cursed a few times in annoyance.

Zhao Mingyu knew, of course, that this was Shi Chengwu's deliberate act of defiance, but the place had changed beyond recognition and was no longer within the reach of the Ming government. He could only silently endure the actions of the Haihan Army.