Chapter 595: The Treaty of Fuyuan (Part 1)

"Whose imperial edict are you acting on? Ha!"

Hearing the Annamese envoy's preemptive, aggressive questioning, Shao Qiang threw his head back and laughed. "A joke — why would I need an imperial edict?"

Zheng Chuntang was both shocked and furious. "A joke? When two nations go to war, how can a border general claim there's no edict?"

Shao Qiang smiled. "We call this a low-intensity regional conflict. How does it rise to the level of two nations going to war?"

The strange Chinese phrasing momentarily left Zheng Chuntang, a man thoroughly steeped in the Han classics, at a loss for words. Only after chewing it over a little did he grasp the meaning.

"Fine! So there truly is no imperial edict!" Immediately, this high official — whose build was tall and upright by Annamese standards — clasped his hands behind his back, planted his feet neither together nor wide apart, and wore the cold sneer of a man who had caught someone in bed with his wife. "Starting a border conflict without an imperial decree is a capital crime of rebellion punishable by clan extermination. Can your Earl bear that charge before His Majesty the Chongzhen Emperor?"

"Ah, you official, why can't you understand? Let me make it clearer for you."

Seated in the place of honor, Shao Qiang rubbed his nose helplessly. "The Loyal and Brave Count, Lord Cao, holds the substantive posts of Guangdong Vice Regional Commander and Zhangchao Regional Commander. All maritime territory of the Great Ming south of the Yangtze River falls under Lord Cao's jurisdiction. This Beibu Gulf, the mouth of the Red River — hmm, you call it the Gulf of Tonkin — and even the Siam Sea further south, have all, since ancient times, fallen within the authority of the Guangdong Vice Regional Commander."

Shao Qiang paused and added, "This is called the Nine-Dash Line. Hmm, you haven't read much, so I won't blame you for not having heard of it."

"Well then, since it falls within his jurisdiction," Shao Qiang continued guiding the other's line of thought, "for a conflict like the recent one, there's no need to request an edict for every single matter. Beijing and the borderlands are thousands of li apart. You say a border general started a border conflict without authorization; I say a border general has the authority to make discretionary decisions on the spot."

Zheng Chuntang was dumbstruck. The next moment, having figured it out, he dropped all pretense of poise, jumped to his feet, and began cursing furiously. "Specious quibbling! You barbarian troops destroyed our national capital, and you call this a conflict? And that so-called Nine-Dash Line — utter nonsense!"

The Annamese envoy's furious outburst was something certain people had anticipated. So when Shao Qiang saw the visitor spewing venomous words, he did not get angry. Instead, he smiled and placated him. "Brother, let us seek common ground while reserving differences. Everything can be discussed slowly. No need for such a temper."

Zheng Chuntang quickly calmed down. In fact, his earlier outburst had been a deliberate provocation, but seeing that the other party was unmoved, he knew his reckless probing tactic had failed. At the same time, his mood sank into dejection.

Before this, the civil and military elites in Shenglong Prefecture, prior to sending this envoy, had roughly figured out the mindset of these hostile guests: for two mutually unacquainted opposing sides, shooting first, shooting again, and then sitting down to talk definitely served the interests of the stronger party. After all, once the weaker party had tasted the other's power, it would give whatever was demanded, saving a great deal of trouble.

It was precisely based on this speculation that Zheng Chuntang, from the moment he arrived today, had latched tightly onto the point of "violating the imperial edict" and refused to let go.

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The moment the Annamese court, from top to bottom, learned that they could send an envoy to negotiate, the elites of this country knew that the time to pay the price had come — in all likelihood.

Although the situation was still far from clear, such an unprecedentedly massive and ferocious fleet must cost an astronomical sum every day. Just the refined iron cannonballs that had struck Shenglong Prefecture were no small expense.

In that case, no matter which faction of the Ming nation these intruders belonged to, since they had spent such a colossal amount on military expenses, they certainly had not bombarded Shenglong Prefecture because they had taken a wrong turn. The Annamese knew even with their toes that the other party must want something, and something of enormous value.

This could also be glimpsed from the reports previously sent by the local officials of Hongji.

So although they still did not know the exact intentions of these wolves and tigers, since they were wolves and tigers, they were simply out for blood and flesh. Wolves and tigers — the Annamese, having been accustomed to acting as wolves and tigers themselves during their relentless expansion across the Indochina Peninsula these years, understood the wolf-and-tiger mindset very well.

Then the question arose: how to respond?

Fighting was definitely out of the question. In recent days, everyone from the de facto ruler of the Later Le Dynasty, Qingdu King Zheng Zhuang, down to the soldiers guarding the gates of Shenglong Prefecture, had been terrified by this fleet that had descended from the sky.

The Annamese's traditional military methods were utterly useless against this invincible armada. As of today, half of Shenglong Prefecture within firing range had been destroyed by cannon fire. The ancient capital lay paralyzed, and the Zheng Clan faction that controlled northern Annam felt immense pressure.

Yet their opponent came and went freely, and judging by its leisurely demeanor, it could launch another offensive at any moment.

Faced with this utterly irrational, overwhelming power, the Annamese court quickly recognized reality and reached a tacit understanding: "Pacify."

In truth, it was merely a face-saving term for admitting defeat and suing for peace.

There was no other way. Since they could not "exterminate," what remained but to "pacify"?

The Annamese did not know that this helpless choice was, in fact, all too common in the historical course of another dimension. Countless backward agricultural nations had all their dignity smashed to pieces by industrialized cannonballs and endured every kind of humiliation.

Of course, although the Annamese now recognized reality, that did not mean they would surrender with their hands bound and give whatever was demanded. They would always put up layers of resistance.

So before Zheng Chuntang set out, the Annamese, pooling their collective wisdom, had still identified one weakness in their opponent: the lack of an imperial edict.

This information was deduced by combining documents sent from the Hongji direction with intelligence on the Cao Clan provided by Dutch advisors.

The logic behind attacking the opponent's lack of an imperial edict was simple: the only thing the weak can rely on is the system. To put it bluntly: the way for the poor to defeat a robber is to use the power of the authorities.

Thus, even though the Annam nation had always kept its doors shut and lived in isolation, even though the Annamese court had always viewed the Great Ming as wolves and tigers and guarded against it strictly, at this critical juncture, these people suddenly remembered that the Great Ming was their suzerain state.

Yes, the Annamese realized that only within the Great Ming's political framework was it possible, at a relatively small cost, to send this utterly brutal Regional Commander surnamed Cao packing.

Overnight, the Chongzhen Emperor once again became the bodhisattva emperor who rescues from suffering and delivers from calamity for the Annam nation. Please come and take back your mount that has descended to the mortal realm to wreak havoc.

This was the reason why Zheng Chuntang, from the moment he arrived today, had clung relentlessly to the matter of the court's imperial decree.

But Zheng Chuntang was disappointed.

Zheng Chuntang, tempered by court experience, easily judged from this Advisor Shao's expression, actions, and even tone that the other party did not care about the charge of "starting a border conflict without authorization."

This judgment made Zheng Chuntang secretly cry out in dismay.

However, having reached this point, no matter what he thought inwardly, his outward attitude still had to be tough. So the next moment, Zheng Chuntang continued according to plan. "Let me inform you all: the envoy sent by our subordinate state to pay tribute to the Great Chongzhen Emperor departed the Red River ten days ago."

After casting a cold glance around the room, pointedly scanning the cluster of officials and scholar-official types on his left, Zheng Chuntang said coldly, "Hmph, if you don't want others to know, don't do it. The fine deeds you have done in our Annam will see the light of day sooner or later!"

"Fine, fine, go tell the parent if you want!" Shao Qiang was rubbing his nose in exasperation for the second time today. He was truly speechless at the Annamese fixation on the matter of the court's edict.

"However, Sir Zheng, this brother still has some honest advice to offer." The next moment, after exchanging a glance with that group of scholar-officials, Shao Qiang added with a playful look, "The Emperor of the celestial court is not so easy to see. Beijing is strictly controlled. Your envoys had better be careful not to be treated as vagrants and escorted back to their place of origin."

Zheng Chuntang replied stiffly upon hearing this, "Hmph, you need not trouble yourself over that, Advisor."

At this point, Shao Qiang, who had originally intended to discuss serious matters all along, had more or less grasped the Annamese tactic. This irritated him somewhat; he felt he had been played. "So, aside from nonsense, does this Annamese official of yours have any intention of discussing serious business or not?"

After this questioning, Shao Qiang said fiercely, "Let me tell you, we went to all this trouble today as a courtesy to your Duke. If we don't make things clear today, then you needn't come again. In a few days, we'll meet at the royal palace in Shenglong Prefecture!"

The Annam strategy previously formulated by the transmigrators had always been phased: if the bombardment could not break the Annamese, the next step would certainly be to use the army to land and capture Shenglong Prefecture. Further down the line, assuming the Annamese still refused to yield under those circumstances, they would simply set Shenglong Prefecture ablaze, pat themselves on the back, and leave — only to return and burn it again after some time.

So Shao Qiang's words were no bluff. If they judged today that the Annamese showed no signs of softening, then the so-called negotiations would be terminated immediately and the bombardment would resume. The next time the fleet came, it would be loaded with Army and Pioneer Army soldiers brought from Hongji Port.

Seeing the previously amiable opponent suddenly reveal his true colors and even threaten to capture Shenglong Prefecture, reason and judgment told Zheng Chuntang that the other party was telling the truth. If he continued to stall and ramble, he would very likely be thrown off the ship immediately, and then he would have no way to report back.

So the next moment, Zheng Chuntang also swiftly changed his expression, reverting to the manner of a bureaucrat handling official business.

As of this moment, the channel of contact between the Cao and Zheng sides, previously established only through war, finally began to function.

And once both sides began negotiating in earnest, the rhythm became very fast.

After all, the reality was that one side was very strong and the other very weak, so this kind of one-sided so-called "negotiation" was actually more like a "notification meeting."

Notification of what?

"Here, everything on this paper represents my Earl's intentions — all good things, mainly aimed at good-neighborly friendship and mutual development toward prosperity. Sir Zheng, take a look first. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me. Then go back and have your Duke stamp his seal."

The next moment, Zheng Chuntang received a sheet of pure white, thin paper.

Written on the paper in standard regular script were the so-called "ideas" of the Earl.

These ideas included establishing a Shenglong Prefecture "Embassy District," a Hongji "Free Trade Zone," as well as "Three Ports Commerce," "Conventional Tariff," "Free Purchase of Agricultural Products," "Extraterritoriality," and a total of fifteen clauses of various kinds.

After reading for a while, Zheng Chuntang felt a little dizzy and weak in the knees, so he found a chair and sat down. A while later, after finishing all the clauses, he understood the gist of about seven or eight of them.

Setting aside the clauses he couldn't make sense of for the moment, just a few of the simplest and bluntest ones were enough to make Zheng Chuntang intend to perish together with these people before him: "May I ask, my lord, does this Embassy District mean a state within a state?"

"A million taels of silver in annual military subsidies to the Cao Clan? Annam's entire annual revenue does not even reach a million!"