Section 21 Foreign Policy Controversy

"That's easy to say." Yang Shixiang was a lot more settled, "I am relieved to have a brother here to preside over the overall situation." As I said just now, my brother found an opportunity to show his interests to Mr. Wen and Ma Gong. ”

"I must tell you." Liu San said. I didn't think so.

Yang Shixiang's Zhao'an theory is very marketable among the vested interest groups in Lingao, especially those who have the greatest benefits. Australians have brought them wealth that they could not have imagined in the past, but they are well aware of the risks behind this wealth. To fight against the potential possibility of the Ming Dynasty, they have trouble sleeping.

Compared with the simple gratitude of the destitute displaced people who were taken in to work as soldiers, the group that has benefited the most under the new regime is somewhat vacillating. In a secret investigation report, the State Administration of Political Security pointed out that the newly rich in Lingao have limited determination to defend the fruits of victory. Many people are afraid of their status and think that they are suspected of being "thieves".

The report goes on to point out that some people are even transferring some of their property and family members to the Ming ruling area outside Lingao, making plans to make the three caves of cunning rabbits.

Although the Ming Dynasty has a limited presence in the local area, after all, it has nearly three hundred years of prestige. Until the Crossing Group has not fully demonstrated its ability to safeguard the interests of the people, this sense of unease is prevalent among the emerging vested interests in Lingao. Zhao'an thought is very marketable in this group of people. Especially the new rich who are on the high ground. They relied on the opportunity of the arrival of the Crossing Group to make a profit and make a fortune, hoping that the rule of the Crossing Group would last forever, but they were afraid that the government's conquest would destroy all this. Therefore, he desperately hopes that the crossing group can recruit an "legitimate" status to keep his newly accumulated property.

To make this group of people follow the traversal with all their hearts, the traversal group still lacks an out-and-out victory to break their fear and superstition of the government.

Recently, more or less through various channels to express their hope through the group to take the initiative to find Zhao'an, there are more people. Yang Shixiang is also one of these people. Without crossing the group, there would be no Runshitang today, and Yang Shixiang is also more concerned about "how long the red flag can be fought". Not only because the interests of Runshitang and the Crossing Group collude more closely, but also because the market and raw materials of Runshitang all come from the mainland, once the Ming Dynasty and the Crossing Group move troops, it will become very difficult to do business regardless of who wins or loses.

The problem of Zhao'an has also been mentioned in the past within the group. They believe that the biggest advantage of Zhao'an is that they can get a relatively stable development time, which is still cost-effective compared to the cost of Zhao'an. But this opinion has not become the mainstream view.

Most of the elders thought that Zhao'an was purely asking for trouble, and the cost of favors was too great. Moreover, under the system of the Ming Dynasty, it is still unknown whether Zhao'an, which is conditional on separating Lingao, can be achieved. Even if you can recruit An, the benefits you get are limited. But there are quite a few constraints to be subjected to.

This time, Li Luoyou's sudden visit, the Foreign Intelligence Bureau analyzed that his motive was not only to do business, but also to find out about Lingao on behalf of the government or the Zheng family. The decision is war or peace.

This brings us to the crucial question of what kind of foreign policy the Lingao regime intends to adopt at this stage. Is it to help the Ming to resist the Qing Dynasty, or to help the Qing Dynasty to attack the Ming Dynasty? Of course, the ultimate goal of the patriarchs is the same: that is, to destroy the Ming and the Qing. But on the question of who to destroy first, the Senate was divided into two distinct factions. At a working meeting of the Standing Committee of the Senate shortly after the conclusion of the Second Plenary Session, a heated debate took place between the two sides.

The Fuming faction was represented by Liu Zheng of the long-range exploration team. Liu Zheng is an out-and-out emperor. Every time he met the Standing Committee of the Senate, he had to follow the example of old Cato and shout: "Shengjing still exists." With this hand, he became the leader of the emperor among the senators.

This faction advocated assisting the Ming Dynasty within a certain range and obtaining benefits at the same time. In terms of specific policies, it included selling arms to the Ming Dynasty, contracting for transportation, and giving the Ming credit loan on the basis of the Ming Dynasty's willingness to provide collateral -- it was almost impossible to recover the loan and interest from the Ming Dynasty's financial situation; If necessary, use the navy to launch military operations in Liaodong to harass the Manchu regime and constantly weaken the enemy to relieve its pressure on the Ming Dynasty.

The purpose of aiding the Ming Dynasty, according to Liu Zheng's statement, is: first, to alleviate the suffering of the people in the Central Plains and minimize the sacrifices and losses of the Central Plains; Second, reduce the hostility of the Ming Dynasty and make it a temporary ally -- if not an ally, at least a trading partner. After all, Daming is the most important raw material, population supply and sales market for the group. Third, once the traversal group has landed on the mainland to establish its own political power, there is at least a basic social structure at its disposal, and there are intellectuals at its disposal rather than a blank slate.

Of course, this faction is actually made up of purpose. Many of them are Ming fans, and they clearly express their good feelings towards Daming, hoping to prolong their lives for Daming; Some people just hope that the people of the Central Plains will suffer less from the pain of the change of dynasties, so as to avoid the suffering of life and family ruin; There are also those who think that helping the Ming Dynasty is beneficial to the overall interests of the group.

On the other hand, there is a group of realist activists headed by Li Haiping of the Navy, who are thoroughly interested in the supremacy of interests and advocate that they can do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. There are adherents of "virus flow" who advocate indiscriminate virus attacks; There are advocates of "drug trafficking wins" and hope to sell opium and coca to Liaodong on a large scale; There are advocates of the "smashing and rebuilding theory" who believe that assistance should be provided to the Manchus to speed up the Manchu Qing's entry into the customs. Let the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Southern Ming Dynasty and the peasant army come to the Central Plains, and the Central Plains will become a white land, completely smashing the old social system and economic structure from top to bottom.

"The great leader said, clean the house so that you can entertain the guests." At the meeting of the Senate, Li Haiping unabashedly advocated the theory of smashing and rebuilding, "We will not be able to build a new society without smashing the old system." I think this task of smashing the old system and slashing and killing should be completely entrusted to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. ”

"In any case, we can't let the Tatars enter the customs and kill the people - one of the main purposes of our coming here is also to save Huaxia, and the rotten peach of the Ming Dynasty can also be picked afterwards." Ding Ding fiercely retorted Li Haiping's views at the Standing Committee, "You don't even have a minimum national identity, do you still have a little conscience?" ”

"We come from another time and space, and what national identity do we have with the natives? Will the people of Daming recognize us as Chinese? ”

"It's unbelievable that you're thinking like that." Ding Ding was so angry that he wanted to jump up, "You are not only a traitor, you are simply a national nihilist"

"Quiet, quiet," Wu Nanhai, who was temporarily presiding over the meeting, hurriedly hammered, "Don't engage in personal attacks." ”

"How do you seize the control of the local control of the clan squires of the Ming Dynasty, and what should you do if you still have the right to speak controlled by the Confucian scholars? If this point is not solved, no one will be able to save China from establishing a national political power, and it is rare that we will not carry out a bloodletting purge of society by transforming society, and our new system will be untenable, and it will not be long before we will return to the old road of traditional society. ”

Li Haiping did not care about the accusations of national nihilism, and he went on to point out that when the time was ripe, he would have a name for righteousness when the group waved its troops north. "Expelling the Tartars and restoring China", as long as the crossing group raises this flag, the name of the righteousness of the world will be accounted for, and whoever dares to resist the crossing group will be a traitor.

"Is the name of 'restoring China' comparable to 'anti-Qing and restoring the Ming Dynasty'? You must know that the Ming Dynasty is still very influential in this time and space, just look at how many people are under the banner of 'opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty' -- even the remnants of Li and Zhang have raised the banner of the Ming Dynasty."

"That's not a problem. Whether the Ming Dynasty died in the Manchu Qing Dynasty or Li Chuang, the official propaganda of Lingao should be 'Ming loses its virtue, and the virtuous can replace it'. Then use the theory of destiny and the theory of the cycle of five virtues. That's pretty much it. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, people from all walks of life still carried the name of the Great Song Dynasty. ”

“…… By then, we have cleared all potential opposition by the hands of the Manchus, and our arrival will mean salvation for the suffering people. Wouldn't it be more than one stone to kill one stone without dirty hands to remove the resistance to social reform and win the hearts of the people? ”

However, there are also differences among the smashing and reconstruction theorists themselves, and the focus of the disagreement is who will be the sledgehammer, some people support the Manchu Qing, and some people think that it is better to let Li Zicheng do it than let the barbarians do it, anyway, in terms of the degree of destruction, the two sides are half a pound and eight taels. When it comes to this issue, zuihou often raises the issue of "national righteousness". So Li Haiping, the leader of the smashing faction, got a hat of a "traitor".

Some of Li Haiping's remarks, such as "let the Tartars help us kill all the scholars, so that we don't have to kill them," and "to destroy the old system and the old society is to rely on indiscriminate killing," and so on, made him a common enemy of the emperor and the whole world, if it weren't for the timely rescue of his naval colleagues, and the experience of serving as a commander in Changhua Fort made him physically strong, he would have almost been beaten at the gate of the Senate. From then on, Li Haiping had to bring a throwing stick every time he returned to Lingao.

The two factions debated for hours at the meeting, as both factions were sufficiently represented in the Standing Committee of the Senate. In the end, no faction was able to obtain a decisive majority.

Since no one at the Standing Committee could convince anyone, the Senate finally adopted a policy of external guidance that was generally acceptable to all parties: "Maintaining glorious isolation under the equilibrium of the mainland."

At the heart of this policy are "equal opportunities", "non-interference" and "isolation". The specific measures are: the crossing group will use all means to protect its own interests from infringement; use all means to expand the zone of control of the Transit Group when necessary; Do not give up the opportunity to obtain benefits from both sides: develop trade relations with both sides at the same time, develop coastal trade routes, and stimulate the flow of bulk goods; Large-scale export of commodities, imports of raw materials and population. For the time being, we will not interfere in the course of the war between the two sides, and we will not take actions that will seriously affect the balance of the two sides.

The only shili to be eliminated in this guiding policy is the maritime heroes represented by Zheng Zhilong. There is no room for others to snore on the side of the couch -- without the establishment of sea control over China's coastal areas, there will be no large-scale coastal trade between the Planning Institute, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Navy.

The seemingly muddy plan proposed by the Planning Institute actually embodied the thinking of the bureaucrats of the Executive Committee - "balance".

At this stage, the strategy of traversing the crowd is to climb the technology tree as quickly as possible and accumulate liliang. Under this overall goal, the Crossing Group will not only effectively govern the entire territory of Hainan, but also expand to Vietnam, Taiwan and other coastal points, and establish sea supremacy along the coast of China. In the case of Liliang, which crosses the group, it cannot be carried out in multiple strategic directions, and the mainland policy can only be based on balance. Let the Ming and the Manchus be helpless, and it is the ideal state to attack and contain each other.

If it helped Daming excessively. Once the situation of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong is stabilized, it is inevitable that they will have to deal with the crossing people who have seized Qiongzhou; On the contrary, if the strength of the Manchu Qing became too strong, causing it to enter the customs ahead of schedule, and Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's Liliang had not yet developed, the Manchu Qing Dynasty directly sat on the throne and controlled the mainland in advance to establish political power, and the crossing group would cause a great obstacle to the mainland strategy in the future.

At a working meeting of the Executive Committee, Wen Desi made it clear that it is not advisable to help the Qing or the Ming. And it is especially undesirable to help Ming.

"It's not okay if the Ming Dynasty is not chaotic. No chaos is not enough to justify entering the mainland. and the Ming Dynasty in another time and space engaged in national identity, tsk. I am in favor of agreeing with us, but we have to be recognized by others, not the other way around, some comrades' brains are confused, don't get Zuihou to cross the army into the Ming Dynasty's barrier -- because 'national hatred' has beaten all the people around the Ming Dynasty, and then left a self-righteous Ming Dynasty, completely unable to enter the Ming Dynasty -- do you plan to break into the Ming Dynasty by yourself to engage in modernization? Will the Confucian scholars, landlords, and old bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty, who were protected by our mighty force, be grateful to us and obedient? People are full of people who only shave half of their hair, but you want to uproot them, who is more hated? ”

Ma Qianzhuan rarely supported Chairman Wen's view on this issue: "If we do not completely liquidate the old system, we will be left with endless troubles. In particular, the liquidation of the old ideology must be thorough. ”

"But chaos has to be chaotic. Like Li Haiping, who openly supported the Manchu Qing Dynasty to fight the Ming Dynasty, it was tantamount to taking off his pants and going up to do it directly. Comrades, sometimes we still have to pay attention to the image, how can we educate the next generation after it is too ugly? ”

"It is dangerous to get involved in continental affairs now," said Wude, "and until the first five years are completed, I am opposed to any form of involvement in continental affairs - except trade." Our way out is in the south."

What Wu De advocated was the "theory of southward expansion". It is proposed that the crossing group should not rush to join the ranks of the mainland, but control the periphery, do business with all parties, and obtain the maximum benefits. The focus of the development of the Crossing Group should shift to Southeast Asia. Establish colonies to exploit the region's abundant natural resources.

"We have limited human resources, and putting them on the mainland, even if it is just to manage and control a Guangdong, will involve a lot of our energy. It is impossible to control a large area and population. Instead of plunging into the whirlpool of the Central Plains now, it is better to go to Southeast Asia, which is vast and sparsely populated and rich in resources. Wu De then said cryptically, "And we have plenty of discretion in our actions in Southeast Asia." ”

The southward expansion theory and the "continental equilibrium policy" are mutually reinforcing—maintaining an equilibrium pattern of fighting each other on the mainland, and taking advantage of this gap to put the main liliang on the trade routes from Southeast Asia to India. This line can provide most of the industrialized resources other than the population. Silver and grain obtained through trade in exchange for the population of the continent. On the one hand, improve the level of human resources. On the one hand, the surplus of a large amount of silver caused inflation, which put another straw on the Ming Dynasty.

"At the same time, our practice of absorbing a large number of displaced people will greatly reduce the degree of civil strife in the Ming Dynasty. The peasant army, which was originally on fire everywhere, probably would not have expanded to 100,000 or 100,000 at once. "A few more straws were removed in comparison." Approximate profit and loss are comparable. ”

The population obtained from the mainland can meet the demand for labor and soldiers in Lingao, and can use the colonization of Southeast Asia to establish colonies. The colony was not only the fortress of the Lingao regime in Southeast Asia, but also the blood vessel that absorbed the resources of Southeast Asia. With colonies, the Lingao regime would have strong control over the main resource areas without having to rely on the snort of the local king.

Based on this guiding strategy and judging its intentions, the Executive Committee's guidance on Liu's work was to demonstrate as much as possible the powerful military and industrial capabilities of Lingao. Dress yourself up as a hard fruit full of thorns, dispel the ambitions of the government or Zheng Zhilong, and at the same time try to win over Li Luoyou as much as possible, trying to make him a business partner of the crossing group.

As for the British, the Quark, the Ministry of Commerce thought that they could establish trade relations with the British in India through him, and now they had opened up the trade with the Portuguese through Li Huamei, and with Quark, they could open up the trade route to Surat.

Surat is not yet able to provide any products that are urgently needed by the public, and the establishment of this trade route is first to prevent Li Huamei's monopoly on India, and secondly, both Surat and Goa are trade transit points from Asia to Europe, which has a certain window value.

"There are other uses for the British." "In a way," said Ude, "their thirst for wealth far exceeded that of the gold-loving Spaniards, and they outperformed all Europeans in their unscrupulous incorruptibility." This is something we can make the most of. A lot of dirty work can be done for them. ”