1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 949 Preparations for the founding of the country
Haihan is about to usher in the seventh year after time travel. At this stage, in fact, everyone believes that the time to establish a country is basically ripe, and they can formally and publicly establish their own regime.As for Daming, who used to be Haihan's biggest scruple, now he is too busy to take care of himself due to internal and external troubles, so he can't care about Qiongzhou in the southern sea.Even if the Ming court convicts and sends troops to the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, there must still be policies and countermeasures at that time. After all, the Guangdong government is basically in place, and the officials who are hostile to Haihan and ignorant All have been eliminated or expelled under various names in the past few years.

Of course, the establishment of a country does not mean that it is finished by declaring a country name to the outside world, but a rather complicated system engineering. The functions of various departments need to be adjusted according to the new political system, and the time required is not enough for ten days and a half months. of.In fact, Haihan has been preparing for the day of the founding of the country since the day he crossed, and he is also waiting for a suitable time.

Now from Zhoushan in the north to Ambuna Island and Xingdao in the south, Haihan controls a sea area spanning more than 30 miles, with a population of more than [-] in the area under its rule, and has established trade and diplomatic relations with most of the surrounding countries. The most important thing is that the proportion of naturalized citizens under the rule and the aspirations of the people have also stabilized, and the conditions for the founding of the country have matured in all aspects.This time, Schneider personally went south to preside over the establishment of the South China Sea Trade Alliance. In addition to the role of commerce and trade, it was basically to prepare for the next announcement of the founding of the country.

There are still more than two months left before the anniversary of Haihan's crossing on April [-]st every year. The establishment of the South China Sea Trade Alliance is undoubtedly the icing on the cake for Haihan to announce the founding of the country at this time.At that time, it will be a milestone in Haihan's diplomatic career to invite many countries to Sanya to observe the ceremony.

On the day after signing the agreement, Schneider distributed invitations to Sanya to observe the ceremony to the guests present at the celebration reception.Except for the two envoys of Daming who looked slightly unnatural, the others got up and congratulated Schneider and the others.After all, from their point of view, Haihan's behavior has long been the demeanor of a regional power, and now such a ceremony of founding a country is going to be held again, probably just to make it more legitimate when dealing with Ming Dynasty in the future.

Countries like Champa and Annan are very supportive of Haihan's founding of the country.In the past few years, their cooperation with Haihan has deepened, but after all, there will still be some voices of opposition in the country. The main reason is that Haihan is not a country, and the cooperation agreements and covenants established by the two parties are not There is no practical effect to speak of.After the founding of Haihan, the diplomatic relations between the two sides can enter a normalized state, and cooperation in many fields will also be transferred from the current covert underground operations to the open.

Of course, countries like Portugal and the Netherlands, which are both enemies and friends, have a more complicated mentality after hearing the news.After the founding of Haihan, it means that they have another official opponent on the international stage, rather than the previous civilian armed forces.But this is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, with the name of the country, Haihan's handling of international relations will probably have to become normalized, and he can no longer play as he pleases.

And the one who feels the most embarrassing about this is probably Daming.Although it is a matter of time before Haihan establishes a nation, and the officials in Fuzhou and Guangxi are well aware of this, when this day comes, how to properly handle the official relationship between Daming and Haihan is indeed a very difficult task. Big problem.

Haihan's existing territory is centered on Daming Qiongzhou Island. It is really difficult for the officials in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions to explain to the court that the territory was occupied by Haihan for the establishment of the country.And if the imperial court does not agree with Hai Han's approach—this is almost a certain situation, then it will definitely use military means to try to solve this problem.Even if the officials in Fuguang and Guangxi do not cooperate with the above, it will be very difficult for Daming and Haihan to establish diplomatic relations normally based on the relationship between the two countries.

But given Haihan's current relationship with the government of Fuzhou and Guangxi, it is really hard to say no to the invitation to watch the ceremony.At present, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi has changed from Wang Zunde to Xiong Wencan, and the latter was the governor of Fujian before that, and he was very familiar with the Haihan people during his tenure.The position of governor of Fujian is temporarily vacant, but given the popularity of Xu Xinsu in the local area at this time, the possibility of taking over this position is very high. At present, all the joints that need to be arranged have been arranged in place, and they are waiting for the official appointment of the imperial court.

If Xu Xinsu succeeds in assuming power, then the highest power holders in Fuzhou and Guangxi are all officials who have a good relationship with Haihan, and they are well aware of the serious consequences of Daming's feud with Haihan, so it is unlikely that Haihan will be defeated at this time His face made him unable to get off the stage.Even if Xiong Wencan and Xu Xinsu will not go to Sanya to observe the ceremony in person, at least they will send representatives—just like they came to Ambuna Island to participate in the talks this time.

The person who represented Xiong Wencan to Ambuna Island was named Xiong Xin. It is said that he also had some personal relationship with Xiong Wencan, and he was one of his cronies and staff who had followed him for many years.Xiong Xin and Dong Yanyun from Fujian used to have business contacts, so they were old acquaintances, so the two asked Schneider and Yan Chujie to meet in private, and wanted to communicate about Haihan Jianguo in advance.Otherwise, no official Ming officials from these two places will come forward to participate in Haihan's founding ceremony, and the Haihan people may be misunderstood because of this.

After listening to Xiong Xin tactfully expressing their concerns, Schneider comforted him with a smile: "Don't worry, Mr. Xiong. We have already thought about the concerns of Mr. Xiong and Mr. Xu. In fact, the matter of Haihan's founding of the country, as long as the influence Just control the scope to the south of Daming, we are not going to deal with the Ming court right now, I believe that Emperor Chongzhen and the adults in the court don't have time to take care of Haihan."

Xiong Dao said, "I'm afraid that the matter of the founding of the country cannot be hidden from the imperial court. It may take more than a month at the earliest, or three or five months later. The news will eventually spread to the north."

Schneider said: "This is easy to handle. If the imperial court issues a document to consult, as long as the officials in Fuzhou and Guangxi do not recognize it, it will be fine. If you can, you can delay it. Anyway, the capital is far away, and it takes a month or two for the official document to go back and forth. Wait for the capital to delay it." We can’t help but send someone over to investigate, and we’ll figure out how to deal with it.”

Xiong Xinxin said that it is a long-term solution for you to take one step at a time, and it would be troublesome if my lord lost his black hat, but he didn't dare to say it so bluntly, he could only persuade: "Although the court can't help you , but many adults in Fuzhou and Guangxi who have good friends with Haihan will be punished for this, so... after all, it is not good? In my opinion, it is better to come up with a surefire plan first, which can not only make your side build the country smoothly, but also Wouldn’t it be better if you could explain something to the court?”

Schneider said with a smile: "If Mr. Xiong has any plan you have considered, you might as well talk about it first. If it works, we can also refer to it."

Xiong Xin saw that Schneider's face was still relaxed, and he didn't look like he was angry, so he tentatively said: "If you can postpone the time for the founding of the country for a year or two... maybe many things can be handled better."

"This is Mr. Xiong's method?" Yan Chujie couldn't help but said: "After a year or two, Mr. Xiong may have gone to Beijing to become an official. It's none of his business. The accident happened after he left office, but it seems that he was particularly skillful during his tenure, right?"

Xiong Xin quickly denied it: "I have absolutely no such intentions! Lord Yan, don't misunderstand!"

Yan Chujie said sternly: "I'll tell you the truth about the founding of the country. We have already started preparing for the founding of the country from the day we landed in Sanya. But we are not rebellious thieves, and we will not occupy a few hills and be so arrogant that we will become kings for ourselves." , what we are going to do, I believe you have all seen it over the years. If it is purely for the purpose of establishing a political power and becoming the emperor of the land, we have had countless opportunities in the past few years, but we have not implemented this until today. Because we think the time is ripe. We have already predicted the attitude of the Ming court, but this does not change our established plan. Of course, what Mr. Xiong just said is true, so we should work together , to eliminate the trouble as invisible as possible.”

Xiong Xin and Dong Yanyun trembled when they heard it. Although they had known Hai Han's plan for a long time, it was another thing to actually hear Yan Chujie, one of the leaders of Hai Han, say it personally.But judging from Yan Chujie's tone, it seems that this matter is not completely hopeless.They also know that the Haihan people are good at planning major events, and it took several years to manage the current situation, which also shows their high strategy.

Xiong Xin stood up and gave Yan Chujie a deep bow, "I just made a slip of the tongue just now, and I would like to ask Mr. Yan for advice!"

Yan Chujie said: "I can't give you advice, but the procrastination formula that Mr. Shi said just now is not casually said to fool the two of you, but has a basis. According to our speculation, the internal and external troubles of Ming Dynasty will be further intensified this year. In addition to the chaos, there will be a large-scale famine in the Central Plains, and the external trouble is Houjin in the north. Xuanfu and Datong will be attacked, and the Ming army will probably suffer a lot. Under this situation, the court's attention The power will definitely be concentrated in the north. As for the lace news such as Haihan Liguo coming out of the south, it will attract extremely limited attention. As long as it can be delayed for a year or so, we will naturally have a way to deal with you The court and the emperor."

The seventh year of Chongzhen was undoubtedly a year in which the situation continued to deteriorate for the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of the year, the peasant army invaded Hubei and Hannan, and the famine in Shanxi and Shaanxi that began in April aggravated the civil strife. A large number of refugees without food and clothing In order to save his life and join the peasant army, the Ming general's habit of killing good men and taking meritorious deeds played a role in fueling the flames.

In order to unify Monan Mongolia this year, Huang Taiji, the ruler of the Jin Dynasty, organized a second army to conquer Harbin in the west. When he returned to the northeast in the second half of the year, he went to the grass valley in the Xuanda area and broke through many cities on the border of the Ming Dynasty. The damage caused cannot be counted.

Daming has now entered a situation of pressing the gourd and floating the ladle, and it is completely unable to completely solve the troubles at home and abroad. The army is exhausted, the income of the imperial court has dropped sharply, and the people in the densely populated northern region are struggling to survive.Only the southeast coastal areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fuguang, etc. still live a relatively peaceful life.Of course, if the Haihan Armed Forces hadn't settled civil unrest in Guangdong and Guangxi, coastal pirates, and foreign Western colonial forces in the past few years, these areas may not necessarily have the current tranquility.

Under the current situation of Daming, if Chongzhen can still free up his hands to deal with Haihan in the south, then Yan Chujie can only applaud him.Of course, this possibility is not great, because Qiongzhou Island in the hearts of the Ming court is just a southern barbarian place used by exiled prisoners, not a treasure land in the South China Sea that contains endless wealth. The group of people in the court, including Chongzhen, simply I don't know what Qiongzhou Island looks like, and my knowledge of it only comes from official documents and the descriptions of some officials who went to Beijing to report their duties.As long as Chongzhen is not crazy, he will not focus his main energy on the ownership of Qiongzhou Island and the rebellion of "overseas foreign countries" such as Haihan. At most, he will order the government of Guangdong and Guangxi to deal with it.

As long as the imperial court does not send important figures to the south to supervise the war, Hai Han and Xiong Wencan can discuss a hundred ways to delay the time and continue to drag this ambiguous diplomatic situation.After procrastinating for a year or two, Hai Han freed up his hands and could slowly negotiate terms with Daming who was on the verge of survival.It has only been more than two years since Hou Jin Da Khan Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor and attacked the Ming Dynasty. At that time, it seems that the Ming Dynasty will not have a better way to defend against the enemy except to ask Haihan for help.

Of course, it is impossible for Yan Chujie to explain these historical facts to Xiong Xin and Dong Yanyun right now.We can only go to the end first, as for whether the officials behind them believe this kind of rhetoric, in fact, Hai Han doesn't care too much.Anyway, if the Ming army wants to use force against Haihan, it will definitely not be able to move. If you want to cut off the business exchanges between the two sides, it will actually cut off the officials' own sources of income. Naturally, it is also an unpopular measure and it is difficult to implement it.

Dong Yanyun said: "If this is the case, then we can perfunctory the court first."

Xiong Xinxin said that you and your master are far away in Fujian, and Qiongzhou is not a territory of Fujian, so there is no need to worry, but my job is in Guangdong and Guangxi, and I am the person in charge of dealing with Haihan. There must be Lao Tzu among the group of people.Xiong Xin was furious, but judging by the attitude of the Haihan people, he didn't seem to take it very seriously. He could only lament in his heart that Daming was about to end, but on the surface he had to be polite to the Haihan people, lest he offend them.These people have now occupied the entire Qiongzhou Island, parts of the Leizhou Peninsula and some islands in the mouth of the Pearl River. If they are offended, they may really do something as radical as attacking Guangzhou.

(End of this chapter)