Ruan Jinggui stood at the bow of the boat, holding the side of the boat with both hands, staring blankly at the boundless sea in front of him. (Baidu search update is the fastest and most stable)-Shuhaha-He took the merchant ship "St. Mary" of the Grape People two days ago, and was about to go to Shengli Port, the old nest of the Haihan people, on behalf of the South Vietnamese court, to negotiate with the other side about the current war.

When the tide of battle is on the downside, acting as a messenger to the enemy for peace is simply a kind of torture. The officials of Hue Province have been arguing for a few days, but they are not willing to take the initiative to take on this task that requires them to carry their face in their pockets. In the end, pushing back and forth, this errand fell on Ruan Jinggui inexplicably.

Nguyen Ching Quai was not an official official of the South Vietnamese court, and if there was anything special about him, it was just that he had a Nguyen background - yes, yes, it was the Nguyen family, the real rulers of the current puppet regime in South Vietnam. However, because Nguyen Ching Gui was only a partial family, he did not receive much attention in the family since he was a child, and he was not able to 'mix' into the South Vietnamese officialdom after growing up, and finally could only rely on the influence of his family in South Vietnam to enter the business world and engage in commodity import and export trade.

Most of the lucrative industries in South Vietnam were monopolized by the Nguyen family, so Nguyen Ching Quy has always been doing quite well in this industry, and he also had many opportunities to 'deal' with Chinese businessmen, Portuguese merchants and other foreigners. Among the Nguyen family, Nguyen Ching Quy was one of the very few people who taught himself to master both Chinese and Portuguese, and it was Nguyen Ching Quy who was in the center of the negotiations for military cooperation between the Portuguese and the South Vietnamese court.

In view of the fact that South Vietnam currently lacked professional foreign "diplomatic personnel" and Nguyen Ching Gui had rich experience in "dealing" with the Han Chinese and the Portuguese, the important task of sending an envoy to sue for peace was "handed over" to him. If there was a chance to choose, Nguyen Jinggui would naturally not be willing to take on such a task that was very easy to take the blame, but the decline and fall of South Vietnam would also affect his future and fate, and the family also exerted great pressure on him, so finally Ruan Jinggui reluctantly agreed.

If you are a qiē shun lì, then you will be able to arrive at Victory Harbor today and meet your negotiating opponent. But in the face of this enemy, who is trying to destroy South Vietnam, how exactly should he maneuver and make them dispel their original intentions? Nguyen Ching Gui did not come up with an effective way to deal with this, and the bottom line given to him by the imperial court was very simple, that is, to do everything possible to 'sexually' preserve the "national system" -- as long as the Haihan people could cease hostilities and recognize Hue's right to rule over the South Vietnamese region, then the conditions put forward by the Haihan people could be agreed to as much as they could.

For the sake of this negotiation, the South Vietnamese court did not do nothing at all, but they still learned about the benefits that the Hai Han people had gained in exchange for supporting the North Vietnamese regime through various channels—a large amount of money, several seaside port areas that had been allocated to the Hai Han for long-term use, open trade and settlement rights, and a large number of people who were sent to the Hai Han area as a condition of 'exchange'.

A year ago, they would have laughed at the weakness of the North Vietnamese court, because the South Vietnamese had not paid such a great price for finding the Portuguese to cooperate. In addition to money, the special power given to the Portuguese by the South Vietnamese court was only to settle in trade and spread religion, and did not set aside exclusive areas for the Portuguese, let alone give a large number of people under its rule to the Portuguese as slaves.

However, things have developed to this point, and the Nanyue court can only sigh that every penny is worth what it takes, although the asking price of the Haihan people is high, but the return of Beiyue is obviously very good. In addition to the new army, which has now begun to take shape, the maritime trade, which was the most powerless in North Vietnam in the past and which South Vietnam was proud of, has also undergone a fundamental 'character' change. According to the information received by the South Vietnamese, there are now more than 30 large merchant ships between North Vietnam and Qiongzhou Island alone, and this change is obviously inseparable from the Haihan people. North Vietnam continuously sent rice, timber, 'medicine', minerals, and even people to the Hai-Han people's ruled areas, and the Hai-Han people responded with large quantities of arms and military instructors -- North Vietnam even sent an officer corps to the Hai-Han people's martial arts academy to learn how to use firearms to fight.

I had known that the big 'legs' of the Haihan people were so thick, how could there be a chance for those North Vietnamese guys to hug them! The high-ranking officials of South Vietnam beat their 'chests' and paused their feet, regretting that they had missed the opportunity. But since the purpose of the Haihan people helping North Vietnam is for this kind of practical interests, then South Vietnam also has the opportunity to buy the other side, which is nothing more than the price of it. And when it comes to their own life and death, whether it is money, land, population or other power, they can actually be used as a weight for 'trading'.

However, even if the Haihan people are willing to offer a series of "exchange" conditions for this face, will South Vietnam be safe and sound from now on? Ruan Jinggui feels that this kind of possibility is not very "sexual", he is not one of those civil officials in the court who can only boast about other things and does not know how to practice at all, what he relies on for a living is all kinds of business and trade, and to put it bluntly, it is the "exchange" of interests, so he is very sensitive to matters related to this aspect, and his views are very different from those of people in the officialdom. The Haihan people supported two hostile forces in South Vietnam, one in the south and one in the north, and tried every means to drive out the only ally in South Vietnam, and 'spent' so much work, I am afraid that it was not only to eliminate the small court of South Vietnam, but also had more attempts, could it be that South Vietnam could take out some benefits to make the Haihan people dispel their ambitions for the South Vietnamese region?

No matter what others think, Ruan Jinggui feels that the pattern of the Haihan people will not be as small as the officials think, and the process of going to Shengli Port to negotiate this time may not be too smooth.

In the afternoon of the same day, the sailing ship "St. Mary" finally sailed into the coastal area of Sanya, but just seven or eight nautical miles away from Haihan, a small sailing ship came to meet it, blocking the way of the "St. Mary".

After a brief shouting in the air, Ruan Jinggui learned that the identity of the other party was the "Sanya Water Garrison Brigade of the Haihan People's League", and after the other party learned of their intention to enter the port, he asked the "St. Mary" to follow him into the port.

In view of the special origin of the "St. Mary", the patrol ship did not guide it into Shengli Harbor, but took it directly to Sanya New Port, and notified the outposts on the island with a flag when it bypassed the Luhuitou Peninsula. By the time the two ships sailed into the narrow channel at the mouth of the two rivers, the Sanya Port Management Committee had already received the news from the militia outpost.

"There are Portuguese merchant ships coming into the port, and it seems that they are coming from South Vietnam. Qiu Yuan put down the phone and said to Yu Tiezhu, the militia platoon commander stationed in the port area: "Let's go, let's go to the dock and have a look! By the way, let someone go and inform the Portuguese at the State Guest House, maybe they need their assistance." ”

Yu Tiezhu stood up, put on his military hat without saying a word, and followed Qiu Yuan out of the office.

At this stage, all Portuguese merchant ships departing from Macao 'Gate' to Shengli Port must first register at Wanshan Port and declare the personnel, goods, etc. on board, so before the arrival of Portuguese merchant ships in Hong Kong, this side can get the news in advance through Guò radio. And there was no relevant news about the ship that arrived in Hong Kong today before that, so Qiu Yuan didn't ask, so he knew that the departure place of this ship was definitely not Ao'men'.

Seeing the neatly lined wharves along the shore and the large well-ordered warehouses on the shore, Nguyen Khanh Quy realized that the management level of this port has far surpassed that of Hoi An Port. Although Hoi An Port has been open for a long time than here, it has never built a cargo terminal of this scale, and seeing the large and small ships docked densely on the shore, Nguyen Jinggui finally believes that the rumor that the Haihan people are 'proficient' in maritime trade is not fiction.

The "Sainte-Marie" sailed into the Lin'chun River under the guidance of the patrol boat in front, and after sailing upstream for a while, it saw two other Portuguese flag sailing boats docked at a pier on the shore. This wharf was the place where the two sides signed a trade exchange agreement, and the special "gate" was allocated to the Portuguese merchant ships to dock, which was also to facilitate the control of the personnel of the Portuguese merchant ships - a hotel and a special warehouse were built on this wharf, and the perimeter was fenced with a wooden fence and guarded by special personnel. With the exception of those who have special access permits, most Portuguese sailors are restricted to the area within the wooden fence.

Of course, there were also Portuguese clerks on the wharf, and after the ship docked, the clerks on the wharf boarded the ship to register the personnel and cargo on board, and then reported to the management of the Haihan side. However, the clerk came down again less than a minute after he got on the ship -- the ship was carrying an envoy from South Vietnam, and he did not dare to make the decision to conceal such a matter, so he hurried down to inform the Haihan side.

"South Vietnam sent an envoy?" Qiu Yuan had just arrived at the dock and was also taken aback when he heard the news. However, he did not hesitate because of this, and immediately asked the person to inform the executive committee.

"How many people?" Qiu Yuan asked casually.

"As soon as I sent someone into the ship to see it, there were two people, one of the master and one of the servants. Yu Tiezhu replied in a deep voice: "I have also checked my belongings, but I have not found anything like a weapon." ”

"They wouldn't be stupid enough to send someone to assassinate them, that would not help the negotiations. Qiu Yuan could faintly guess a little bit of the intention of the South Vietnamese envoy's trip, if South Vietnam dared to use any extraordinary means at this time, then wait for the country to be destroyed directly.

Soon Qiu Yuan met the envoy sent by South Vietnam, a South Asian race with a "color" that marked "sex", was not tall, and his face should be in his thirties, and his eyes showed a bit of cleverness.

"Nguyen Ching Gui, the special envoy of the Lower Annam Kingdom, has come here to meet with the Haihan Executive Committee. Ruan Jinggui's Chinese is quite good, at least there is no need for Qiu Yuan to find a translator temporarily.

"I am Qiu Yuan, the person in charge of the Sanya Port Management Committee, and welcome to you. Although the other party was an envoy from a hostile force, Qiu Yuan still did enough work on the scene more politely.

Qiu Yuan couldn't understand what kind of official position the "head of the management committee" was, but looking at the row of Haihan militiamen with loaded guns behind him, he could guess that the status of the person in front of him in the local area would not be too low, and he hurriedly responded to a few words at the moment.

Qiu Yuan was working in a public institution before the crossing, and he still knew some rules in the system, so he did not discuss the topic of politics with the other party without authorization, but took him to the dock hotel and opened an upper room for him to settle down first. As for the other party's proposal to "visit the Haihan Executive Committee", Qiu Yuan just lightly asked him to wait here for the notice.

Nguyen Ching Gui's room is on the second floor of the hotel, and from here, you can clearly see the busy scene on the downstream pier when you open the window and look out. The tall wooden hanger on the wharf is constantly loading and unloading goods under the "operation" of laborers, and due to the use of "advanced" pulley system, the transfer efficiency of goods is much higher than that of traditional pure manual handling, and the goods weighing thousands of pounds can be easily moved by only one or two people.

The secondary transportation task is a large number of four-wheeled flatbed trucks, which have both human and oxen as traction power, pulling goods back and forth on the wharf. Ruan Jinggui himself is engaged in import and export trade, and when he saw such a scene, he naturally began to silently calculate the throughput capacity of the goods.

But it didn't take long for Nguyen Ching Gui to give up on this calculation, because the efficiency of cargo transshipment on the wharf had far exceeded his realization, and the goods loaded and unloaded in this place in an hour could take a whole day to complete in Hoi An Port. As an insider, Nguyen Ching Quy is well aware that the efficiency of cargo transshipment can directly affect profits, and the Haihan people's performance in this regard is obviously not comparable to that of South Vietnam's maritime trade ports.

This discovery was a bit frustrating for Nguyen Ching Gui, because it meant that if the Haihan were to set up a port in South Vietnam, they might not need the help of the South Vietnamese authorities at all, which would most likely be a drag on their legs. And if they can only provide land to the Haihan people, how much can this kind of thing that is already at their fingertips be 'tempting' and 'confusing' for them?

Ruan Jinggui couldn't help but remember the dense fortifications on the shore when he first went to the Guò Fjord, and if there were any ill-intentioned ships trying to break in, he was afraid that in that slow section, he would be blown into a pile of broken wood by the artillery on the shore. And there are still die-hard factions in the country who do not know whether they are alive or dead, clamoring to send a fleet to raid the Haihan lair and take military revenge for the destruction of Hoi An City. I wonder what kind of expressions those who are clamoring for a bloody battle to fight to the end will have when they see the fortifications here?

Suddenly, there was a whistle roaring in the distance, pulling Ruan Jinggui back from his chaotic thoughts. He looked into the distance, and saw that there was a strange thing with white smoke and a black body, divided into several sections, and the total length of the front and back was more than ten or twenty zhang. Before he could see clearly, he saw that the thing had slowly begun to move towards the east, and it was getting faster and faster, and thick white smoke was rising from the top, and it was galloping towards the east like a galloping horse.

"This ...... What the hell is this!" Ruan Jinggui's feet went limp, and he almost fell to the ground.

Before leaving, among the news heard by the Nanyue Imperial Court through various channels, there were also some contents that sounded very mysterious, such as the Haihan people used millions of catties of 'fine' iron to build an iron boat as big as a hill, and there was also news that the Haihan people had a big iron dragon that snorted white smoke and traveled like the wind and could carry 10,000 catties. What a big iron dragon and a big iron ship, this kind of myth and legend can only bluff those foolish people who don't understand anything, Ruan Jinggui does not believe that these rumors will have real evidence.

However, the scene in front of him slapped Ruan Jinggui greatly, and what he saw just now was not the legendary Great Iron Dragon? The Haihan people had mastered such a profound spell, no wonder they would be invincible on the battlefield! If they put this kind of big iron dragon into use on the battlefield, let alone resist, I am afraid that many people would be scared to death.

The members of the Executive Committee did not know that the local steam locomotive had given a blow to the South Vietnamese envoy who had just arrived in Hong Kong, and after receiving the report from the new port of Sanya, they were discussing what attitude should be taken to deal with the South Vietnamese request.

"Judging from the information we have received recently, life in South Vietnam is very difficult. There is no doubt that South Vietnam sent an envoy to us to ask for peace. Tao Donglai looked at everyone present: "What do you think?"

"First of all, we must determine a bottom line, which is to remove the South Vietnamese regime and reunify Annam. Yan Chujie immediately took over the conversation: "After the reunification of Annam, we can confidently and boldly open up new port bases in the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula, which is the stage we must go through to expand our influence in the South China Sea." If South Vietnam wants to negotiate peace with us, then the bottom line conditions must be in accordance with our wishes. ”

"If they all have to step down in the end, then what's the difference between discussing it now and not talking about it?" Yue Zhiyun asked.

"Of course there is a difference. Yan Chujie explained: "If we want to unite North Vietnam and Champa to send troops to attack South Vietnam, it will definitely be able to be defeated, but the casualties and damage caused in the middle are actually meaningless, and it will take a few months to fight this battle at the earliest. ”

"It's rare that you, a warmonger, have a time when you advocate a peaceful settlement!" Ning Qi couldn't help but mock Yan Chujie: "I have to go out and see which way the sun plans to set today." There was a burst of good-natured laughter in the room, but Yan Chujie didn't care about it: "Clausewitz said in "On War" that war is just a continuation of another means of politics, war is only a means, and politics is the goal. Our aim was not to kill all the South Vietnamese, but to establish a stronghold in several key areas of the South Vietnamese domination zone and to form a substantial control force. The two previous battles we waged against South Vietnam were aimed at achieving this goal, and now if we can achieve this goal without fighting, then I don't think there is any need to continue to force the war. Tao Donglai nodded approvingly: "I think Lao Yan is right, on the South Vietnam issue, we don't have to be entangled in which means to use to achieve the goal, which one is more effective at this stage, we will use which." ”