Chapter 18 Diplomatic Relations between Weak Nations
Koryo is the old county of Haidong. After the founding of the country, the king of Koryo also called himself the Emperor of Haidong, so people in the Central Plains used to call the Koryo Peninsula "Haidong".
Donghu was the superior state of Goryeo, and he did not dare to neglect his envoys. In the Xinxunya Room, three beautiful Goryeo dancers were dancing gracefully in long-sleeved dance skirts. They were slowly lowering their figures, showing off their waists.
Extreme flexibility. Those rough men, looking at the graceful curves of the tight legs under the skirt, were not affected by the graceful dancing posture. They thought in their minds that if they stripped off their clothes, making love in this posture would be enjoyable.
The charcoal fire in the brazier was burning brightly and sizzling slightly. Zuo Honglie, the Minister of Rites of Goryeo, came later. It was to accompany him attentively, but rather to prevent the special envoy of the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian from having too deep contact with the envoy from Donghu.
Fujian and Donghu, one in the south and the other in the north, with Korea sandwiched between them, so we really have to be careful.
Nah Xiongqi came on behalf of King Donghu Khan and sat behind the main case. Jin Chengyue and Qin Zitan, ministers of the Ministry of Rites, sat facing the case below, followed by Azige and other guests.
Before Jin Chengyue came, Qin Zitan told Nahe Xiongqi about the incident on Danluo Island in general. When Jin Chengyue came over, Nahe Xiongqi caught someone questioning him about the details of the incident on Danluo Island.
Jin Chengyue also had a grimace on his face, and He Xiongqi asked him, but he couldn't refuse to answer, so he was secretive, and a cold sweat broke out down his back.
At this time, Goryeo is no longer the Goryeo that dared to compete with the Donghu people and the Vietnamese for Liaodong a hundred years ago. It has long lost its ambition to expand its territory and open up frontiers. Goryeo is currently ruled by a young ruler, and the Prime Minister Zuo Jing is the father of the queen. Photo
Zuo Jing was in charge of the government. Four years ago, Zuo Jing was defeated by the Donghu people at the Qingchuan River, so he lost his courage. With the support of the Donghu people, he barely maintained his power in the country, and then he completely became the lackey of the Donghu people.
Weak countries have no diplomatic relations. When they vassalized the Yue Dynasty before, the Yue Dynasty still relied on the Celestial Dynasty's etiquette to pay tribute. Every year, tributes were paid in large sums. The exchange of tributes also opened up trade routes, which was a matter of mutual benefit.
The Donghu people are blood-sucking and flesh-eating monsters. Whenever envoys come, they come to drink the blood of the Koreans and cut their flesh.
In the past four years, not only the land and troops were cut off, but also grain, fodder, horses, and gold, silver, copper, and iron were extorted from them. In fact, nearly one hundred thousand Korean men and women were involved in the war between Donghu and Yue Dynasty.
The Donghu people used troops against the Yue Dynasty. In addition to killing, they also indulged in looting. Not only did the Korean people who were forced into the war not feel the pain, they also regarded it as a shortcut to get rich. Whenever the Donghu people went to both sides of the Qingchuan River to recruit troops, the Korean people would
Arms and horses were prepared, and those who responded were gathered.
The truly far-sighted Koreans knew that only the Donghu people could truly benefit from such a war. The Koreans had exhausted all their men on the front line of the Qingchuan River, and they wanted to take back the Qingchuan River from the Donghu people in the future.
It's extremely difficult.
Jin Chengyue really didn't know what undue demands the Donghu envoys would make to Goryeo when they came this time, so he felt uneasy.
The majestic gaze fell on the dancer's fair breasts, but he was thinking about other things.
When he came here, he not only asked the Koreans to agree to set up a large-scale water camp in Guannai County, but also obtained shipbuilding craftsmen from Korea and brought them back to Jinzhou (Dalian, the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula, less than two hundred miles away from the northern end of the Shandong Peninsula).
) to build a dock.
In the battles in Yannan, the Jiangdong left army used boats to maneuver quickly along the coast, which impressed Nahe Xiongqi deeply. It was common for soldiers to take advantage of the boats to travel two to three hundred miles at night when the sails were raised and the wind was raised. The cavalry galloped two hundred miles at night on horseback.
How much combat power is left?
From then on, Nahe Xiongqi wanted to have a water camp in Donghu.
The navy was not the commander of Donghu, and there were no shipbuilders in the territory. People who were good at sailing were also rare, and there were generals who were even better at managing the navy. As the newly defeated general, Na He Xiongqi's voice to propose building a water camp was really weak.
What made the Donghu people turn their attention to the sea were the many grain ships heading to the Tianjin Sea along the west coast of the Liaodong Peninsula.
As the tug-of-war between Yan and North deepened, the princes and ministers of Donghu also gradually realized the significance of the Tianjin-Sea Grain Road to the Southern Dynasties in maintaining the Yanbei defense line. However, to cut off the Tianjin-Sea Grain Road, it was necessary to build water camps and warships. Donghu needed to build water camps.
, only with the help of the Korean people.
Goryeo is an old county in the east of the sea. It is surrounded by the sea on three sides. It has traditional shipbuilding and fishing industries. The surrounding archipelago terrain is easy to hide pirates. Goryeo also has naval forces in coastal counties all year round to prevent pirates from invading the mainland. Shannan County is the most popular.
, not only to guard against pirates, but also to guard against the Fuso vassal states across the strait.
At present, the biggest shortcoming of Goryeo's navy is that it is too dispersed. The navy's power is not centralized enough and is controlled by the counties below. The navy in the capital of Hanyang is only a thousand men, which is too weak.
The Goryeo naval force mainly focused on preventing pirates and lacked large ships. Ships above three feet were considered big ships. However, there were almost no ships under five feet in the sea area to transport grains in the west of the Liaodong Peninsula. Those grain-carrying ships
The warships escorted by the team were mostly strong ships over ten feet tall.
Nahe Xiongqi came here this time to urge the Koryo people to concentrate all domestic naval forces in Hanyang Mansion in Guannei County, urge the Koryo people to build larger and stronger warships, and urge the Koryo people to build a batch of large and sturdy sea ships for Donghu.
, urged the Koreans to train a navy for Donghu, provide shipbuilders for Donghu, and prepare to build Shuiyingwu Port in Jinzhou Prefecture.
In order to achieve this goal, Nah Xiongqi and Azig sent to Goryeo to negotiate, which was only on the one hand. On the other hand, the British Prince Ye Jiduo led more than 40,000 elite troops to the cities north of the Qingchuan River to carry out military operations against Goryeo.
threats.
In addition, after several plunders, King Donghu had a lot of gold and silver in his treasury, and asked the Korean people to help build the water camp. Nahe Xiongqi also brought three to five million taels of silver this time, and wanted to reward Korea.
Three to five million taels of silver is a lot less, but a lot more.
It is not unimaginable to build an elite water camp of about 10,000 people from scratch and spend a million taels of silver to build a dock, a port, and a camp.
Think about the shipbuilding factory affiliated to the Huaidong Army Division, which invested nearly 600,000 taels of silver. The Sun, Zhou and other clans, as well as Chongzhou, invested almost all the profits from the Jinhai grain road, and it was only in just two years that
Over time, the current scale of shipbuilding was formed.
But three and a half million taels of silver were enough to bribe officials in Goryeo.
Although Nahe Xiongqi was a general who commanded the army, he was not reckless in his dealings and was familiar with political affairs, so he personally appointed Yezier Khan as the envoy. He knew in his heart that it was easy to coerce the Goryeo monarchs and ministers into submission, but he also had to calm down.
Only the domestic opposition in Goryeo can allow this matter to proceed smoothly.
Before Nahe Xiongqi came to Hanyang, he didn't know about the war on Danluo Island. Knowing about it now is a perfect excuse to promote the purpose of this trip.
"Danluoluo was under the jurisdiction of Goryeo, and Huaidong intervened. Regardless of morality, he attacked Haiyang/Navy Army, invaded Goryeo territory, and trapped the county governor and four thousand generals to die on the island. What did the Lord of Goryeo want to do?
"Na Hexiong Qi Weng asked Jin Chengyue, Minister of Rites, in a loud voice.
Jin Chengyue felt bitter in his heart. It would not be a good thing for the Donghu envoys to get involved in anything, so he had to say: "The Ministry of Rites cannot ask about the use of troops, but the lower officials really don't know how to answer the envoys..."
"The Minister of Rites arranged it. I want to see the Left Prime Minister tomorrow," Na He Xiongqi said again, "The Minister of Rites is not a romantic person, why do you stay to disturb our interest?" The implication is that he wants to drive Jin Chengyue away.
.
Jin Chengyue had no time to resent Na He Xiongqi's rudeness, so he resigned and left. A weak country with no diplomatic relations would always blackmail Donghu. In order to quell domestic grievances, the Minister of Rites, who was responsible for direct negotiations with the envoys, often became the scapegoat.
sheep.
Jin Chengyue really didn't know if when Dong Hu's envoys left this time, he would become a scapegoat to quell domestic anger and be imprisoned.
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When Jin Chengyue left, Na He Xiongqi waved the three beautiful Korean dancers to leave.
Everyone knows that these dancers and the official prostitutes in the post house are Korean spies. How can they be allowed to be present when the matter is being discussed?
"There were naval battles between Zhejiang, Fujian and Huaidong in the East China Sea." Nahe Xiongqi looked at Qin Zitan. Such a person was not very famous, but he could serve as a special envoy and cross the sea to Korea on behalf of the She family. He was definitely not a simple person. "Huai
Xiong Qi would like to ask Mr. Qin about the reality of the Dongshui Army..."
Having good relations with Donghu is in line with the strategy of "diplomating far away and attacking near". Even if Donghu breaks through Yanbei's defense line, Shandong still has the Liang family, and Huaidong is actually the current common enemy of the two families.
Qin Zitan briefly thought about his thoughts and said: "The rise of Huaidong in the past two or three years is not accidental. Your army suffered a slight setback in Yannan. Upon closer inspection, there was no other way but Huaidong borrowed water to camp warships, maneuvered along the coast, and transferred them.
It was easy, especially better than the cavalry. The Fujian division fought with Huaidong and rushed across the East China Sea. The defeat was also because the warships were not as strong as Huaidong. The strength of the Huaidong navy was due to the fact that the ships were as strong as rocks and the second was that the ships were as strong as rocks.
The ship is as fast as a galloping horse, and the three-dimensional ship is as big as walking on flat ground. To sum up, Huaidong's warships are particularly convenient for traveling on wind and waves. This is something that others cannot match. Fundamentally, Huaidong's warships are as fast as galloping horses.
Pay attention to naval battles, and set your sights on the sea. No one else can do as well..."
"The She family is in the current situation because it benefits from the sea. It is much more deeply rooted than Huaidong. How can it be inferior to Huaidong in fighting at sea?" Na He Xiongqi asked doubtfully.
Na He Xiongqi is already a veteran Donghu general who is diligent in thinking, but from land to sea, the combat mode has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the strategic thoughts and the fundamental interests of the struggle are also completely different. Na He Xiongqi was inspired by the idea of horse-mounted combat on land.
As a result, I couldn't see the reality of the Huaidong navy, so I really can't blame him.
Although Na He Xiongqi's understanding was not profound, other generals from Donghu were not as good as him; otherwise, King Donghu Khan would not have chosen him to do this.
In addition to the generals of the Huaidong Military Division who were deeply influenced by Lin Fu, how many people in the world could deeply understand the importance of sea control?
If anything, Qin Zitan is the leader among them. He also suffered a lot in the long-term game and battle with Lin Fu before he reached the current depth of understanding.
Regarding Na He Xiongqi's question, Qin Zitan hesitated for a moment, not knowing whether to tell the truth.
At that time, land and Dingkou were the core resources. Every battle was fought for land and Dingkou. Therefore, the main focus of running the army was cavalry and infantry. There were many rivers and lakes in the south, so there were water camps to coordinate operations. The focus was still on "land.
"Dingkou" on.
The core purpose of the She family abandoning the land and taking to the sea was to open a channel for landing in eastern Zhejiang from the sea. Once they established a foothold in eastern Zhejiang, the focus of military expansion would immediately shift to land.
In the past year, the She family has controlled a land that stretches thousands of miles and has a hundred thousand elite infantry. Although its navy still maintains a strength of 20,000 troops, its investment in building warships and building fortresses on islands is not as good as before. several years.
More civilian ships were collected from eastern Zhejiang and incorporated into Shuiying. Where could there be a large-scale shipbuilding yard in Huaidong to build strong and fast warships specifically for Shuiying?
In the past year, Zhejiang's water camp's long-sea navigation capabilities have not been enhanced, but have been weakened. They have focused more on the defense of offshore waters and the mouths of rivers and lakes.
In comparison, after two years of development, Huaidong was able to organize an army of ten thousand people to march eastward across the sea.
Qin Zitan felt deeply saddened by the gap between them.
But there is no way. Even after the She family integrates northern Fujian and southern Zhejiang, the resources it can utilize are limited.
The strategic focus of the She family has shifted to the land. In the south, they must deal with the remnants of Yu Wangao, in the north, they must deal with Dong Yuan in northern Zhejiang, Jiangdong County soldiers in Zhengzhou, Jiangxi County soldiers, and finally the defense line built by Huaidong on the Shengsi Islands.
The She family invested nearly 3 million taels of silver in military expenditures in the past year, and Shuiying accounted for about 20%, about 600,000 taels.
The 20,000 navy soldiers spent 400,000 taels of silver on food, pay, armor, and equipment. Only 200,000 taels of silver were left to repair the warships.
The navy needed a large number of warships and had little money, so it could only build cheap warships that could carry more soldiers per unit capacity.
Don't look at the fact that the Huaidong Military Division has expanded its infantry at an extremely rapid rate in the past year, but the focus of its resource investment is still on the water camp. Huaidong's investment in the Guanyintan Shipyard last year alone reached a jaw-dropping level.
The Guanyintan Shipyard under the Huaidong Army Division was now able to build six large sea-going ships with a load capacity of more than 5,000 stone at the same time, and could build eighteen ships a year. After the She family took over the shipyard in Mingzhou Prefecture, , only two large sea-going ships can be built at a time, and the shipbuilding cycle is longer than that of Huaidong, with only four ships a year.
To talk about the gap between the two companies in the development of navy, nothing is more intuitive than this...
Why can Huaidong invest so much resources in the navy? In the final analysis, Huaidong's current fundamental interests lie in the sea.
Qin Zitan is not yet able to accurately estimate how much benefit the Jinhai Grain Road will bring to Huaidong, but it will definitely not be less. Maintaining the smooth operation of the Jinhai Grain Road is the most fundamental driving force for Huaidong to develop its navy.
In addition, the profits from maritime trade routes are endless, which is also an important driving force for Huaidong to develop its navy.
Although the imperial court has always banned sea trade, in the early years of Jin'an, there were always private traders crossing the sea to Liuzhou to sell goods and make profits. Qin Zitan knew a thing or two about the benefits of maritime trade routes.
In the later period, the Fuso Domain was at war and pirates were breeding, which made going to sea extremely risky, and the scale of maritime trade dropped sharply.
Lin Fu led his army across the sea this time, and his intention to intimidate was even more obvious. Once the Huaidong Military Division is given the opportunity to use Danluo Island as the core, straighten out the maritime trade routes in the Haidong region, and expand the scale of sea trade, Huaidong will be able to start from There is a steady flow of huge profits.
Qin Zitan thought for a moment and felt that if the Donghu people did not have a deep understanding of the maritime navy, they would not make every effort to restrict Huaidong's development on the sea, so he summarized his years of experience in the development of Shuiying, naval battles, and competition for maritime interests. I share my many fundamental insights with you.