The impromptu meeting for the arrival of the South Vietnamese envoy set the tone after some discussion. First, negotiations could be initiated with the South Vietnamese envoy on how to calm the war conflict. Second, the initiative in negotiations must be on the side of the Hai Han, and the peace that the South Vietnamese regime wanted could only be obtained in exchange for complete submission.

That evening, Nguyen Ching Gui was taken to Fort Shengli to meet with the negotiators of the Haihan side. However, what he didn't expect was that as soon as the negotiations began, Haihan's representative used a very tough attitude to force all the rhetoric he had prepared back into his stomach.

"Hue must abandon a means of military resistance and start peace talks with Thang Long on the reunification of Annam. The puppet emperor of Hue province must abdicate, and the Nguyen clan must hand over a single qiē power in their hands. In exchange, we can come forward on our behalf and make every effort to protect the personal and property safety of the Nguyen family. Tao Donglai didn't save any face for Ruan Jinggui, and as soon as he came up, he spread out all the conditions.

Although Ruan Jinggui had already been mentally prepared to be squeezed by his opponent, he couldn't help but blush at this time-of course, judging from his skin color, it was not obvious. Before leaving, the bottom line of the negotiations handed over to him by the imperial court was to "keep the national system", but the opponent obviously did not intend to give South Vietnam such treatment, and directly demanded that South Vietnam give up military confrontation and dissolve the imperial court, which was simply a humiliation to the millions of soldiers and civilians in South Vietnam!

Ruan Jinggui took a few deep breaths to calm down a little, and then he responded: "Every condition you put forward is aggressive, but in the next opinion, there is something debatable. ”

Ruan Jinggui looked at Tao Donglai and said in a deep voice: "The rebels of the Zheng clan in the north coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, which is an unrighteous act, and my Nguyen clan is based on Hue to assist the orthodoxy of the royal family, this is the right way! If you want to abdicate, it should also be the abdication of the Thang Long Mansion.

Tao Donglai shook his head disapprerovingly and said: "Thang Long Mansion or Hue Mansion, which side is the orthodoxy of the Annam royal family, this is not a matter of concern to us. Whether the Li clan is in the south or in the north, it is just a puppet used by the powerful ministers to control the government, even if you are courtiers, you probably don't regard the Li clan as the master of Annam anymore?"

Tao Donglai didn't wait for Ruan Jinggui to open his mouth to refute, and continued: "Your country has fought a civil war for so many years, with countless casualties and poor livelihoods, if it is never reunified, it will probably continue to fight for ten or twenty years, until one side completely admits defeat. Do you really have so many people in your country who like war? I don't think so. Since last year, we have taken in tens of thousands of Annan refugees, and we have never heard of anyone who wants to return to Annan to continue the war. ”

"Whether it is the descendants of the Li clan or someone else who rules the kingdom of Annam, I don't think the people of your country will care so much, they just want to live in peace. Of course, dignitaries like you may not care about the people's thoughts at all, but if you continue to fight, it will not do you any good. The war has been fought to this point, do you think there will be a chance to turn the tables?" Yan Chujie, who had been watching coldly, took over the conversation: "If you lose, you will definitely lose, but if you lose, you will lose your family, and if you lose, you can still save your capital, which are two different things." We are now giving you a chance to preserve your capital, and if you give up this opportunity, I am afraid that in the end it will be a result that no one wants to see. ”

"If you still have illusions about the Portuguese, I advise you to dispel such thoughts as soon as possible. The Portuguese envoy is now in Victory Harbor, if you want to meet, I can help you arrange, they have chosen to completely withdraw from the civil war in Annam, and they will not get involved in the internal affairs of Annam until the reunification of Annam. Tao Donglai tapped his fingers lightly on the table, stared at Ruan Jinggui and said, "I still have a sentence I want to give to the adults of Hue Province, what you can't get on the battlefield, don't expect to get it at the negotiation table." ”

The first negotiations between Nguyen Ching-Gui and Hai Han did not last long, and ended in less than half an hour. However, for Nguyen Ching Gui, this brief negotiation process made him live like a year, except for being able to condemn North Vietnam and Haihan from a moral point of view, Nguyen Jinggui basically could not come up with any substantive conditions to bargain with his opponent, which made him almost always in a rather passive position throughout his game.

And the various demands that the Haihan people thought they would make in advance, whether it was money, land, population, or other powers, the Haihan people did not even mention a word. Ruan Jinggui was relieved when he thought about it, after all, the court of Thang Long Mansion was obedient to the requirements of the Hai Han people, and when Annam was reunified, what the Hai Han people wanted, just put forward conditions directly to Thang Long Fu, why bargain with a regime that is about to fall?

The current situation was worse than Nguyen Ching Quy had predicted, and the Haihan people did not leave room for bargaining for this meeting, and his hard-nosed attitude made it difficult for him to use the negotiation strategy he had prepared. On the first night of his arrival in Sanya, the envoy Nguyen Ching-Gui suffered from insomnia.

It wasn't until dawn that Ruan Jinggui fell asleep in a daze, but his relaxed time did not last long, and the sharp brass whistle of the dock workers in the early morning quickly woke him up from his sleep. Ruan Jinggui turned over several times on the ** and couldn't fall asleep again, so he simply got up, packed up and prepared to go downstairs for breakfast.

"Lord Nguyen, this is the Portuguese Special Envoy, Mr. Enrique. As soon as he arrived downstairs, the staff of the inn introduced him to the Portuguese who were also enjoying breakfast here.

Ruan Jinggui didn't expect that the Haihan people said that "arranging a meeting" would be so early in the morning, so he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. Although Ruan Jinggui also knows some Portuguese, he subconsciously speaks Chinese as soon as he speaks, and Enrique is also a Chinese expert, and he is not barrier-free about hearing and speaking Chinese, so an Annan and a Portuguese use Chinese to communicate.

As the Council's special envoy to Sanya, Enrique was not very happy to meet with the South Vietnamese envoys, as it would be somewhat embarrassing for both sides. However, the Hai Han Executive Committee hoped that he would represent the Portuguese side and persuade the South Vietnamese court to give up resistance and achieve the peaceful reunification of Annam as much as possible. If such an outcome can be achieved, of course, the Portuguese side will also benefit, after all, the Indochina Peninsula is an important transit port in the South China Sea, and if Annam does not stop fighting in the country, the Portuguese will not be able to conduct trade activities on the Indochina Peninsula for a day. The reason why Portugal was able to reach an agreement with Haihan to turn enemies into friends, and the need for reunification in Annam was also a major consensus between the two sides, but the side supported by Portugal lost in this competition. Given that the official attitude is also inclined to let Annan truce as much as possible, Enrique can only reluctantly make a cameo as a lobbyist.

"Lord Ruan, Ling Zun has always been good?" Enrique is also well versed in the way of greeting East Asian countries, and as soon as he came up, he first got closer to greet his family. He had been to Hue several times and had a meeting with Nguyen Ching Gui's father, Lord Shangshu, a minister of the South Vietnamese court, but it was the first time he had contact with Nguyen Ching Gui, the heir of a partial house.

"My father is in good health, and I thank Mr. Enrique for his concern. Ruan Jinggui replied respectfully. Although Enrique was not familiar with him, he had heard of Enrique's name, who had been greeted by his father on the dock outside Hue the last time he came to Hue.

After a few polite words between the two, Enrique took the initiative to introduce the topic: "I heard that Lord Nguyen came to Sanya this time to negotiate peace with the Haihan people on behalf of Hue Province?"

Enrique's question made Ruan Jinggui feel a little embarrassed, admitting it is not, not admitting it is not, and he can only cough dryly at the moment and say: "There was some misunderstanding between Haihan and our dynasty before, and we should try to resolve it." ”

Enrique shook his head and said, "The Haihan people don't take the conflict between you as a misunderstanding, if you really want the Haihan people to stop their military operations, then it's best to meet their demands as much as possible." ”

"But the Haihan people asked our dynasty to give up resistance, and the emperor wanted to abdicate and let the rebels in the north come to power, how can this be done?" Ruan Jinggui shook his head again and again as he said: "If you meet the conditions of the Haihan, what is the difference between it and betraying the country?"

"The longer you delay, the less you can get for it. Regarding Nguyen Jinggui's insistence, Enrique could only persuade him sideways: "Now the Haihan people are willing to talk to you because they think that sending troops to attack Hue Province is a very troublesome matter." But if you bite to death and are unwilling to surrender, then in the end you should send troops, and the Haihan people will still send troops. When the soldiers come to the city, the conditions they will put forward may not be as simple as giving up resistance. ”

Although Enrique did not know the long-term planning of the Haihan Executive Committee for the Indochina Peninsula and even the wider region, he also knew that the Executive Committee's control of the Indochina Peninsula was inevitable, and the existence of a regime like South Vietnam was simply a stumbling block that had to be kicked away by the Executive Committee, and there was no possibility of continuing to exist.

Ruan Jinggui didn't want to argue with Enrique about this, so he changed his words and said: "I would like to ask Mr. Enrique, if I am willing to cede land, pay compensation, or give other favorable conditions, can the attitude of the Haihan side be relaxed?"

"Difficult. After thinking about it, Enrique quickly shook his head and said: "If you take Hue Province, the Haihan people can take it away, and if you want to bargain, you will also talk to the people in Thang Long Province, why waste time talking to you?"

Sure enough! Ruan Jinggui felt that the possibility of completing his task had decreased a few points. He originally felt that the conditions offered by the imperial court were a little unreliable, but now that even the Portuguese are commenting on it, there is really not much room for maneuvering.

"Then dare to ask, will your country participate in the next war again?" Now that he can meet with the Portuguese envoy, Ruan Jinggui can only be a dead horse doctor to see if it is possible to make the former partner change his mind.

However, the facts dealt him a heavy blow again, and Enrique shook his head decisively and refused: "We have no intention of participating in the armed conflict in Annan again." Of course, we will not assist the Haihan in the war against Hue, and we will remain neutral until the end of the civil war in Annam. But if you are willing to sit down and have peace talks, then Portugal will be happy to be a witness to the peace agreement that you can reach. ”

Enrique's remarks were basically the official attitude of Portugal, but there was one thing that did not correspond to the facts, that is, a 40-man artillery advisory group sent by Macao had arrived in Port Victory three days earlier and was currently stationed in the barracks area on the east bank of Port Lil. This advisory group was formed at the request of the Haihan people, and their duty was to train artillery for the Haihan militia at Shengli Port. According to the cooperation agreement signed by the two sides, the advisory group will provide artillery skills training services for the Hai Han militia for two years, and will not undertake any form of combat mission during this period, but the artillery they train is likely to appear on the battlefield in South Vietnam one day.

The mercenaries may also have servicemen who had served in South Vietnam, but that wasn't a big deal for the Portuguese. For centuries, Portuguese mercenaries had been fighting for their employers in various parts of the planet, and for them there was no political position to hold onto, and they obeyed the orders of whoever was the employer. The employment of Haihan people is undoubtedly a rare benefit in their careers, this place not only has a good living environment, Haihan people give high treatment, but also do not need to go to the battlefield to fight, just bring new soldiers in the barracks, this kind of good thing has never been encountered in the past. Enrique was almost certain that if the mercenaries lived here for ten days and half a month, they would probably completely forget about the poor and remote place in Macau.

Enrique knew very well that the Council would never agree to invest in the South Vietnamese region again, because the Portuguese armed men in Macao and South Vietnam were less than 800 people, and if these people were damaged on the battlefield in South Vietnam, it might take more than half a year for Macao to be replenished from the colonies of the Indian Peninsula, and half a year's defense window was unacceptable to the Council, who dared to guarantee that the ambitious Haihan people would not jump out and do something irrational during this period? Therefore, although letting go of the war situation in South Vietnam would cause some damage to its own interests, the council chose to withdraw from the war and maintain a neutral attitude compared to the more severe consequences.

However, if the South Vietnamese, North Vietnamese, and Hai Han were really willing to sit down and negotiate a settlement of the civil war, then the Council would be happy to intervene as an outsider arbiter in order to gain more benefits for Portugal in the region after the war.

Nguyen Ching Gui was not as optimistic as Enrique, and according to what he had, although there were some voices in the country who believed that they should no longer continue to confront the Haihan, it would be quite difficult for them to give up their existing power and surrender to the north without any resistance. Even if the Portuguese stood up to make peace, the high-ranking officials in the court were not necessarily willing to put down their shelves and admit their defeat.

The meeting between Nguyen Ching Quy and Enrique did not achieve good results in the end, and both sides almost failed to achieve their goals. Enrique failed to convince Ruan Jinggui to change his degree, and Ruan Jinggui did not get any substantial help from Enrique's side.

Enrique directly approached Tao Donglai afterwards and explained his judgment to him: "Mr. Tao, I think you need to start preparing for the next battle." ”

Tao Donglai said with a smile: "Are you so optimistic about the prospects of negotiations?"

"The Annanites are very stubborn, and they will not give up their interests lightly. Enrique paused for a moment, then added, "Of course, you too." ”

"No, we're not as stubborn as you describe. You see, we are willing to sit down and have a dialogue with you, with the people of Annan, and that's a flexible attitude. Tao Donglai did not agree with Enrique's evaluation: "The concept of foreign relations that we adhere to is win-win cooperation, whether it is the Ming Dynasty, the North Vietnamese court, you or the current Hue Province, we are happy to leave opportunities for cooperation and make a fortune together." ”

"With all due respect, I don't see any opportunity left by the Executive Committee for Hue Province from beginning to end. Enrique said sarcastically.

"It's also a good opportunity to live well. Tao Donglai responded unabashedly: "From the standpoint of hostile conflict, we can choose to let the South Vietnamese regime completely annihilate in the war, but now we are willing to give them another way, isn't this giving them a chance?"

Regarding Tao Donglai's statement, Enrique was stunned for a while, speechless, and responded after a long time: "You can fight, you have the final say." I only hope that you will remember the agreement between us and give us the power we deserve on the ground after the war. ”

"Of course. We're no longer enemies, and you don't have to be so careful about guarding against us. Tao Donglai said with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "After the war, we will give the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce the right to trade and settle on the coast of Annam as promised." ”

Although Tao Donglai's tone was very sincere, Enrique always thought that Tao Dong's words were a bit of a smiling meaning. However, there seems to be no better alternative to the current environment in which the Portuguese find themselves -- how can they continue to mingle in the South China Sea if they do not cooperate with the Haihan? Over the course of the following week, Nguyen Ching Gui had several more contacts with the Executive Committee, but the talks did not make much progress. Naturally, the Haihan side would not relax the conditions for South Vietnam, which was already in decline, and Nguyen Ching Gui, who was shouldering a heavy responsibility, also did not dare to agree to the "rude demands" of the Haihan people at will. After several rounds of consultations between the two sides, Nguyen Khang Gui finally reached a very simple temporary armistice agreement with the Executive Committee. South Vietnam would receive a 30-day grace period from this temporary armistice, during which the Ha Han Executive Committee pledged not to take any form of military action against the South Vietnamese region. The effect of this 30-day buffer period was to allow the small court of South Vietnam to consider whether to fight bloody battles to the end or surrender decisively.