"Leaving today? I think it's better to wait before leaving, the post of prime minister Lao Wen should go and fight for it. Although you did not go to a nautical school, you gave lectures there, and you exchanged the most ideas with me about statecraft. Even though the two of us have different opinions on some issues, I still think that you are more suitable for the position of Imperial Prime Minister than Bo Jiao. Running a country is not the same as fighting a war, courage and loyalty are not enough, there must be enough political wisdom. ”

This time, Hong Tao didn't say anything strange, no matter how he said it, it was not a transfer of power under his own control, he could not care, but for these imperial officials, especially Wen Nan, it was difficult to deal with it. He didn't even have time to prepare and add points to himself, so he had to face the situation suddenly. Who wouldn't want to be prime minister? The right thing may seem like nothing to the common people, but if you really taste it, few people can not be addicted. It's like a unique product, you can't forget it if you taste it, this is also human nature, everyone is similar.

"If I could be followed by His Majesty as Minister of Foreign Affairs for a few more years, I might still have some confidence to try to lead the Imperial Government, but now that I am asked to do this position, I really don't have the confidence. Your Majesty, Nan thinks it's really ...... you to resign from your position at this moment" Wen Nan has always had a bitter face, not only looking unhappy, but even complaining. In the end, he held back and didn't blame Hong Tao for his irresponsible behavior.

"You mean I'm sloppy, impulsive, and willful, right? If I resign in five years, you might still say the same thing about me. People, you can't develop the habit of waiting for and relying on whom. When I first designed this system. Looks like I've talked to you about this. If this set of things can't be replaced by anyone who comes to power, then it will be my failure. Now I'm going to test whether it works or not, you should think. There will be no resentment. You're going to be in trouble at sea and drowned! Could it be that the empire can't live without me? In that case, I won't be able to close my eyes when I die, I've been working for nothing for more than ten years, don't you say? ”

Hong Tao has reached the pinnacle in harming people, in fact, he has also opened up the second pulse of Ren Du in persuading people, but he does not often show his true kung fu. Because he thinks that there is no need to talk much about reasonable people. You can figure it out with a little bit, and you don't have to persuade in vain. If you run into a foolish person, no amount of nonsense is in vain. The other party should drill the horns and still can't get out.

"In the past, His Majesty always said that he didn't want to be the emperor, and even if he did, maybe one day he would hang up his crown and go away and restore the ancient cicada system. At that time, Nan didn't believe it, not at all! This is something that many people will say. It's a pity that once you sit in that position, you will forget a lot of what you have said before. At the time of His Majesty's accession to the throne. Nan Geng confirmed what he thought in his heart, believing that His Majesty was no different from others in this regard. Now that Nan has changed, it has really changed, and it is indeed possible and capable of doing what His Majesty said, Your Majesty's lesson is not only for Wen Nan, but also for everyone. If Your Majesty really doesn't become an emperor one day, Nan wants to still think of himself as a student, and His Majesty is Nan's teacher for life. "Wen Nan doesn't have a beard anymore. This means that he is completely separated from Da Song, but when it comes to emotional excitement. I still can't help but touch my chin. Some of the habits that a person develops when they are young cannot be changed in a lifetime.

"Hey, hey, hey...... Then I look forward to the day when I can see my student become the Prime Minister of the Empire, which is your glory and the glory of your teacher. There is nothing wrong with being an official, but I am reluctant to do this errand because of some special reasons of my own. When you encounter people and things in the future, it's best not to take me as a yardstick to measure, it's not fair, and it's easy to cause errors in judgment for yourself. ”

"This time I went to the Great Song Dynasty to negotiate, and I gave you a suggestion, which is completely for the sake of the empire. Everyone wants to open the port, and this request cannot be said to be wrong, but I think it is a bit too early. Now that this matter has been decided, and it can't be changed, I wonder if I can make the empire as safe as possible. Territorial waters, this is the same concept as the region, the imperial ports can be opened, but it is best to demarcate the territorial waters of both sides clearly with the Great Song Dynasty. The Great Song Dynasty could not care about the sea frontier, because they had a vast land territory and enough strategic depth. And if the empire loses the protection of the sea frontier, Luzon alone will be very passive, full of loopholes, and it is impossible to prevent it. So when you go to the Great Song Dynasty to negotiate this time, while they haven't realized the importance of territorial waters, it's best to solve this issue together, the principle is, of course, ......"

Hong Tao resigned, but he didn't really let go of the burden on his body, and what he was thinking about was whether his work could be successful and brilliant. Sometimes it was clearer to be a bystander, and last night he suddenly remembered an idea that could partially compensate for the loss caused by the opening of the Empire's ports, and now Wen Nan came to talk to him about it.

"Your Majesty, wait a minute, let me record it!" The more Wen Nan listened, the more colorful the expression on his face became, he really admired his teacher, although he didn't understand the thing of territorial waters too much, but just listening to the beginning, he already realized how important this thing was to the empire. Just listening to him doesn't think it's safe, he must record every word and take it back to ponder it.

"The principle is that the larger our territorial waters are, the better, and the smaller the other side, the better. In the territorial waters of the Empire, all foreign merchant ships could only sail according to designated routes, and the Empire had the right to inspect them at any time. If a warship of another country wants to enter the territorial waters of the Empire, it is an invasion, and the Empire has the right to attack it at any time without bearing all the consequences arising therefrom. Hong Tao slowed down his speech, and as he spoke, he watched Wen Nan use his leather bag as a table, writing it, and then gritted his teeth. Why do people temporarily find something to cushion and write a beautiful word, how to pose on the desk, but the result is still spider crawling!

"This territorial sea can not only be used for military defense, but also a good thing to contain the development of neighboring countries. The empire has many overseas territories, and its subjects are all on the seashore, and if they all demarcate the scope of their territorial waters, it is actually equivalent to blocking this sea area, especially the Strait of Malacca. It doesn't make much sense to only open ports, but the safety of shipping routes and sufficient supply ports are the top priorities. ”

"It's like a passage on land, it's useless for you to be allowed to enter the city of light, and it's useless to get through the road and have no place to rest. The Empire can continue to control maritime trade by controlling these territorial waters, and whoever is disobedient will be able to cut off their sea lanes reasonably and legally, without having to bear the responsibility of starting a war, especially if it is very beneficial to your diplomatic work, which is a very important bargaining chip. ”

"What if the Great Song Dynasty does not agree to carve out territorial waters in the Strait of Malacca that can block the passage of the Strait?" Wen Nan only cared about the record, and didn't have time to think carefully about the purpose of these things that Hong Tao said, but Cixi, who was listening attentively, immediately thought of a question.

"It's easy to do, leave a channel in the middle of the strait to be everyone's high seas, and it's over. The high seas are shared by everyone, and no one belongs. But don't forget, even our salmon-class merchant ships will have to be resupplied at least once if they want to be fully loaded with cargo from Guangzhou directly to the port of Kalamba. If the ports of Malacca, Penang, and Phuket all have their own territorial waters, they can reasonably and legally strangle the supply routes of merchant ships of hostile countries at any time. Without a supply port, the route would not have worked. Cixi's question doesn't need to be pondered by Hong Tao, and the law of the sea in later generations has given a standard answer. It's something that chicken thieves all over the world have been working together for hundreds of years, and Hong Tao doesn't think he can come up with a more perfect way.

"......" Cixi didn't speak, but directly stretched out a thumb, and then felt that it was not enough, so she threw the leather bag on the ground and stretched out the other one.

"Lao Wen, let me talk to Minister Ci alone." After talking to Wen Nan about going to the Great Song Dynasty to negotiate, Hong Tao directly issued an expulsion order, and the following words cannot be heard by others, and they are not completely official.

(To be continued.) )