1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 484 Harsh Conditions

At this moment, Chen Lin could only complain secretly in his heart, regretting that he should not force himself to take this job.If General Liu Shen hadn't said that he would waive the three-month docking fee for the cargo ship under his name in the northern port, he would not have bothered to take on such a thankless task.He was not a member of the Ming military, he was just a middleman, and General Liu Shen could not give him much autonomy. He would not dare to speak up for things like this that need to be expressed on behalf of the Ming military, lest he say something wrong. The Haihan man surnamed You took advantage of his words, and when the time came to make a fuss, the Ming army would not come forward to support him.

But if there is no reply, will the Haihan people think that their proposal was rejected by the Daming Navy, and thus take some tougher measures?Chen Lin didn't dare to guess the possible consequences in this direction, because any deterioration of the situation would be a disaster for him.Of course he can't afford to offend the Haihan people, but if he goes back with unsatisfactory results, I'm afraid General Liu Can in Shuizhai won't take a good look at him.

In a dilemma, Chen Lin could only stammerly respond: "Boss You, I am not the one who can make decisions on this matter. If Boss You has any regulations, I would like to convey them to the military master of the Navy."

charter?You Yihan doesn't have any charter, and he hasn't even figured out which sea areas are controlled by the militia navy temporarily stationed here, and he is not sure whether the military's attitude towards this matter is to be conservative and low-key, or to take With a tough attitude, first give the Ming army a leg up.Making conditions for the Ming army might sound prestige, but You Yihan also knows that this is not an internet spam, and you don’t have to take responsibility for what you say, and a wrong word may lead to further military confrontation or even conflict.At that time, when the executive committee inquires and finds that the fuse is here, then the blame can only be carried on.

Chen Lin kicked the ball to You Yihan, which really baffled him.Both of them are amateurs in this aspect, and they don't have a clear negotiation bottom line to grasp. When it comes to this level, they have somehow fallen into a stalemate.The two stared at each other, not knowing how to proceed with this negotiation.

At this time, the savior finally came.A guard came in from outside the door, and whispered a few words in You Yihan's ear, and You Yihan nodded repeatedly: "Hurry up and ask him to come here!"

After a while, Chen Lin saw a young Haihan officer enter the room, and saluted You Yihan with a Haihan-style military salute.You Yihan hurriedly greeted him warmly to sit down, and then asked him to serve hot tea quickly.

"Major Chen, this Boss Chen is here to negotiate with us on behalf of the Ming army on the island." You Yihan introduced the two of them.The person You Yihan called "Major Chen" was Chen Yixin, a militia major who had just returned from a sea patrol.

Since there is no senior naval officer in the local area for the time being, Chen Yixin is temporarily in command of the navy currently stationed here.Although Chen Yixin's establishment in the army belongs to the army, in fact, during the one year of stationing at Wanshan Port, Chen Yixin was in charge of both the navy and land armies under the command of Wanshan Port. It can be said that he is familiar with the road, when the Military Commission appointed him to temporarily command the Hong Kong Island Garrison, he was also given the command of the Navy.

Among the militia garrisons on the mainland, only Xiao Liang and Yu Yao have higher command authority than Chen Yixin, but they spend most of their time in Guangzhou, and Chen Yixin is basically in charge of the troops stationed outside the Pearl River Estuary. In the area of ​​Panyu, Wanshan Port, and Hong Kong Island, Chen Yixin can be regarded as a military chief in the actual sense.

Regarding Chen Yixin's status and functions in the army, You Yihan had already figured it out when he came here, and it is obviously more appropriate for Chen Yixin to come forward to deal with the negotiations related to the Ming army—if it wasn't because he went to sea and did not return, You Yihan didn't need to deal with Chen Lin by himself.

Chen Yixin probably heard about the reason for Chen Lin's visit after getting off the boat, and immediately said: "Boss Chen, there is no hostile relationship between us and the Daming Navy. What we do is actually the same as that of the Navy. , It’s all for the sake of protecting the environment and the people. If the navy thinks they can do this well, then we can hand over this task to the navy. If they don’t have the ability and don’t want others to do it matter, then I think their attitude is very problematic, what do you think, Boss Chen?"

Compared with You Yihan's attitude, Chen Yixin's tone was more aggressive. This change of attitude and rhythm made Chen Lin very uncomfortable.Of course he didn't dare to openly agree with Chen Yixin's remarks, so he could only answer obliquely: "But the Daming Navy represents the imperial court after all..."

"Of course we recognize the authority of the imperial court. Otherwise, let the imperial court issue an imperial decree to explain that the defense of this sea area cannot involve civilian armed forces, then we will withdraw from here honestly." Chen Yixin's conditions , and the degree of difficulty is quite astonishing.

Today's imperial court is devastated by the wars in northern Xinjiang and the civil unrest in the Central Plains every day. Do the bigwigs in the court have time to think about whether civilian armed forces should be banned on the islands of southern Xinjiang?Even if Chen Lin didn't understand government affairs, he felt that the emperor, who was thousands of miles away, probably wouldn't care that a militia armed force in Xin'an County under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Prefecture surpassed the garrison. This probability may be even lower than that Liu Shen will send troops to wipe out the Haihan militia.

Chen Lin didn't dare to answer the question, so he could only try to bypass it: "The meaning of the navy is to represent the meaning of the imperial court..."

"Then the imperial court meant to let the pirates run rampant, and they didn't care about it?" Chen Yixin snorted coldly, "If the imperial court meant that, then there is no guarantee that the pirates will step on the door one day!"

Hearing this, Chen Lin felt a chill behind his back. No matter how rampant the pirates were, they hadn't sent troops to attack the Ming army's water village yet. However, it's hard to say whether the Haihan people would do such a thing when they were forced to do so. What they had Force is sufficient to support large-scale military operations in this sea area.What Chen Yixin said seemed to be a warning that the Haihan militia could turn into an unknown pirate at any time in order to achieve its own goals.

Chen Lin couldn't vomit bitterness in his stomach, he hesitated for a while before saying: "If you think the plan proposed by the navy division is inappropriate, then what feasible solution does the military master have?"

Chen Yixin said in a deep voice: "It's not difficult for the navy to coexist peacefully with us, as long as we agree to a few conditions, the navy will eat meat and drink alcohol on this island in the future, and we will give them corresponding benefits. "

Chen Yixin didn't intend to wait for Chen Lin to respond, so he raised three fingers and continued: "First, my Haihan's cargo ships, civilian ships, fishing boats or militia warships have the right of free navigation in the waters near the island, and the navy is not allowed to Interfering or intercepting our ships under any pretext."

"Second, without the permission of our side, naval ships are not allowed to enter the sea within ten miles of this harbor."

"Thirdly, the navy must not interfere with any trade, construction and immigration affairs of Haihan on this island." Chen Yixin paused and continued: "Accept these three conditions, and the Haihan militia and the Daming navy can live together peacefully in the local area in the future. , we can also promise that we will not take any actions to actively attack the Daming Navy.”

Chen Lin had heard Chen Yixin say the three conditions before he suddenly came back to his senses—this rhythm is not right, he came to offer conditions to the Haihan people, but at the end of the talk, it was the Haihan people who proposed three conditions. Such harsh conditions.

Regardless of Chen Lin's current mood, Chen Yixin said directly: "We are happy to maintain a peaceful or even cooperative relationship with the Daming Navy. We have already had successful experience in Yazhou. The relationship between the navy and us is very good. If the naval officers on the island have this wish, we can arrange for them to go to Yazhou to see how the local navy gets along with us. Of course, the resulting expenses It’s all on our side.”

Chen Lin has nothing more to say besides nodding his head.What Chen Yixin said clearly meant that the Yazhou Water Village had been surrendered. If the Daming Navy on the island felt dissatisfied, they could go to Yazhou to see their colleagues—if those people were really still alive as he said.

"Since Boss Chen has no other objections, let's see off the guests!" Chen Yixin sat down for a while, then finished the meeting with Chen Lin, and soon served tea to see off the guests.

Chen Lin had no choice but to say goodbye and leave. As for whether Liu Shen would be furious or choose to hold back after these three conditions were brought back, this was something Chen Lin could not predict.He only hoped that Liu Can will not vent all his anger on him when he was disappointed.

"Oh, by the way, there is one additional condition that I forgot to mention." Just as Chen Lin was distracted, Chen Yixin stopped him again: "I heard that you are a businessman passing the message in the middle? Then you give the navy General Liu Shen brought a message, saying that we will only recognize you in the matter of spreading the word in the middle, and there is no need to send another person to avoid trouble."

"Ah?" Chen Lin responded, but he didn't come back to his senses. It wasn't until he left the house that he suddenly realized that the Haihan people were saving their lives!If General Liu Shen really planned to seek his own bad luck, Chen Yixin's words would have saved his life.Chen Lin couldn't help but secretly began to wonder whether the timber business he was engaged in should also learn from others to establish a relationship with the Haihan people. He heard that the Haihan people are going to build a large port here and build many commercial warehouses. , the amount of wood needed should not be small...

Chen Lin left with a full stomach, and Chen Yixin had the time to pick up the teacup and pour down a big gulp, and finally wiped his mouth and said, "Brother You, dealing with Daming is not easy, is it?"

"It's really not easy!" Although You Yihan was completely relaxed at this time, he was still a little apprehensive when he recalled the uneasiness he had when dealing with Chen Lin before: "Fortunately, you came back in time, if you delay for a while, I really don't know how to deal with this guy! I don't dare to talk too much, I don't dare to stand up for you about your military affairs.",

Chen Yixin waved his hand and said, "Brother You, it doesn't matter if you talk harshly, as long as you grasp the general direction. In the long run, what the Executive Committee wants is the entire Hong Kong Island, not the corner we occupy now. Sooner or later, the Shuizhai matter will be resolved. If the Ming army refuses to admit defeat and must choose to fight against us, then it must be resolved by force in the end. Of course, I personally don’t think they can have this determination, so I just said When raising conditions, simply don’t leave them any room.”

"Will this push them too hard and have a counterproductive effect?" You Yihan was still a little uneasy about this.

"The chances are very small." Chen Yixin seemed very confident about this: "If they choose to take a tough attitude, then in the end it will be nothing more than an excuse for us to clean them up. I guess they are also very clear about this. The most important thing is They have been choosing to escape in the past few years, and now they should have no courage to stand up and fight. Although the conditions I mentioned sound a bit excessive, they will not have any impact on their current situation. It's still the same as before we came, and maybe they will get an extra benefit from us, what reason do you think they have to refuse?"

"It sounds reasonable. You are a professional. I believe you." Although You Yihan himself was a little uncertain, but seeing Chen Yixin's firm attitude, he chose to believe in his decision.

Although Chen Yixin is nearly ten years younger than You Yihan, Chen Yixin is an expert in military-related fields, and although You Yihan is the chief executive of the local government, he still has to follow the opinions of professionals on such diplomatic matters.

"By the way, when you set off, you said that it would take a day or two to come back. Why did you come back so soon?" You Yihan thought that the timing of Chen Yixin's return was indeed a coincidence, so he asked casually.

"Not far out to sea, I found that the weather was not right. It seemed that there was going to be a strong wind, so I quickly turned the bow and came back. I asked a few old boatmen. Looking at the weather, it is estimated that there will be strong winds within two or three days. I have sent telegrams to Wanshan Port, Panyu, and Guangzhou to remind them to pay attention to the weather." Chen Yixin explained.

"Great wind?" You Yihan's mind immediately recalled the situation when the typhoon passed through Sanya two years ago. At that time, various living facilities were still under construction, and the typhoon caused a lot of damage.The current local situation is very similar to Victory Port two years ago. If the wind blows here one day, it will really be a big trouble.

(End of this chapter)