Chapter 597: The Treaty of Fuyuan (III)

The Annamese capitulation came as no surprise to the transmigrators. After all, history had long proven that backward native civilizations cannot withstand foreign invaders.

Nor can one really blame a certain power for throwing its weight around — you always squeeze the softest persimmon first.

If Annam's current national strength were at the level of the mighty Tang or flourishing Han, then certain people might have paused briefly before opening fire, calculating the costs and even the potential expense of a protracted war.

But the Annam of this time period was itself in a wretched era of military strongmen fighting among themselves. The country was decrepit, its people impoverished, its territory plagued by unending war year after year. When suddenly struck by a powerful external foe, its frame collapsed in an instant.

And for a local military strongman like the Zheng Clan, the foremost enemy he had to face was always his own kind — the Southern Ruan Clan.

As the saying goes, pacifying the outside is less urgent than pacifying the inside.

Thus, a mere day after bringing the treaty documents back, the Annam envoy mission once again boarded the Fuyuan. This time, the mission's size had increased. Leading the negotiations was now the Annam realm's current Grand Marshal, Li Sun.

Although Li Sun was the leading figure of the "saving the nation by circuitous means" faction, that did not mean he was willing to sell out his "nation's" interests.

Setting aside the fact that both sides were at a stage of drawn blades over "national enmity and family hatred," the Li family was also a political house of Shenglong Prefecture, its interests all bound up within Annam's borders, with absolutely no collusion with the Crossing Faction.

So it stood to reason that, like all negotiations, the first formal round of talks aboard the Fuyuan was filled with the smell of gunpowder from the very start.

This situation was entirely normal; after all, the incident had come suddenly and no one was prepared. Just as in later ages, it would probably take a period of mutual adjustment before a certain power could find a local proxy.

Li Sima raised objections to every single clause.

However, it was no use.

Any kind of negotiation is built on a foundation of equal strength between both sides. The moment one side's strength is insufficient, the terms will inevitably tilt in favor of the strong.

The negotiation now taking place aboard the Fuyuan was much the same as the one our Great Qing had aboard the Cornwallis back in the day. Once a native regime has been blasted onto the negotiating table by cannon fire, it is naturally a lamb to the slaughter, with no cards left to play.

As for the various tactics the Annamese employed — verbal attacks, arguing on principle, threats, sophistry, stalling, and other negotiating ploys — before the likes of Shao Qiang they were like a gentle breeze melting rain, utterly without effect.

Everything is decided by strength. Without strength, even the most exquisite performance is child's play. Men like Shao Qiang at this moment could not be bothered to engage the Annamese in righteous eloquence and peerless argument. They simply told the Annamese plainly: the ceasefire period for this engagement between the two warring sides is six double-hours. If no agreement is reached — heh heh, Li Sima, you understand.

Li Sima, that old bureaucrat, naturally understood.

And so the fancy tricks vanished, and the pace of the negotiations abruptly quickened.

Here, the advantage of the transmigrators' foreknowledge was demonstrated: strike first with military force, show your muscle, and you can save an enormous amount of time cost.

In the historical First Opium War, before the final agreement was signed, the Qing and British sides went through a full set of internationally standard procedures for turning hostile — including the destruction of opium at Humen, diplomatic exchanges, escalation of the situation, and the launching of war.

After this, there was a series of further battles including Guangdong, Taiwan, Ningbo, Zhenjiang, and Nanjing Xiaguan. In the end, the Great Qing could hold out no longer at Xiaguan.

The entire First Opium War, from Humen to Xiaguan, spanned a full two years, during which the Ming and Qing sides communicated and negotiated countless times — yet in the end, it was still the cannon that played the decisive role.

The transmigrators, who knew history, would not let themselves get bogged down in that set of slow procedures in this incident. That would be too great a waste of time; the Crossing Faction, changing with each passing day and aiming to stride across the globe, simply could not afford it.

There were still countless native powers to conquer later on; if just a North Annam took two years, the transmigrators would die of old age before ever lying on the beaches of Miami.

So certain people this time truly cast aside martial ethics and opened with an unprovoked bombardment of Shenglong Prefecture — in any case, sooner or later they would have to see who was stronger, so better I strike first; once you know how formidable I am, we can all save ourselves the trouble.

It's the seventeenth century, and there's no such thing as world public opinion, political correctness, human rights organizations, satellite surveillance, war correspondents, or paparazzi sneaking photos — I'll do whatever I damn well please, so what?

The facts proved the effect was outstanding. During the negotiations, the moment certain people showed signs of impatience and an attitude of "I'm busy today, let's talk another time," the Annamese immediately went soft, and disputed clauses were speedily approved.

It was less a negotiation and more a notification.

It is worth noting that throughout the entire process, there was also a third-party power that wore its heart out over the signing of the treaty and made an indelible contribution: the Dutch.

The Dutch were actually of one heart with the Annam court.

Previously, the North Annam Zheng Clan court had granted trade privileges to the Dutch in exchange for advanced, comprehensive Dutch military aid.

After the bombardment incident occurred, the Dutch Trading Post stationed in Shenglong Prefecture, like the Zheng Clan court, rapidly assessed the impact the war would have on its own interests.

The answer was obvious: monopoly is always the most profitable mode of commerce. And the transmigrators' intrusion had shattered the Dutch monopoly in North Annam, so the Dutch were certain to stand on the side of the natives, preserving as many native rights and interests as possible.

On this point, the Zheng Clan quickly reached a consensus with the Dutch, the two parties having something of the flavor of huddling together for warmth.

In the negotiations that followed, the Dutch, serving in the dual roles of "special advisor" and "mediator," also exerted their full strength, desperately helping the pitiful natives defend their rights and interests.

The transmigrators, in this regard, gave the Dutch some face, to a degree.

For one thing, they took into account their faction's currently good foreign trade relations with the vast majority of European commercial powers. These foreign trade relations, in the Crossing Faction's long-term planning, were certain to be transformed into some kind of inter-state relations. One had to realize that Spain now possessed vast American territories, and the Dutch also had outposts across the globe — all of that could be discussed, could it not?

Besides, some matters could be handled without scruple behind closed doors, but with a third-party information channel present, it wasn't that interests were lost, but rather that the work couldn't be done so crudely. The transmigrators were also worried about some merchant's "Far East Memoir" appearing in the Dutch archives in the future.

And so, ultimately, just before the "temporary ceasefire period" expired, the treaty text, after much mediation from multiple parties, made its dazzling debut.

This final "Treaty of Fuyuan" still had fifteen main articles in its body. This treaty, with its smooth wording and gentle attitude, took the greatest possible care of the interests of the Ming, the Zheng, and the Dutch — it could be called a victorious treaty, a successful treaty.

The treaty stipulates: Effective immediately, the territory of Hengpu County (Hongji) in Annam shall be demarcated as a "Free Trade Zone" under the trusteeship of the Ming State. On all import and export activities of commodities and raw materials within the Free Trade Zone, neither the Annam State nor the Ming State shall levy any tax.

The treaty stipulates: Effective immediately, multiple Annam ports shall be permitted to host foreign merchant vessels for free trade.

The treaty stipulates: Effective immediately, one lane of residential lanes in the eastern suburbs of Shenglong Prefecture shall be allocated as an embassy district, with the Ming State and the trading posts of various nations to construct their own buildings at their own expense and handle their own security. (Note: The Ming State embassy district shall enjoy the right to station a garrison of no more than 00 men and extraterritoriality. Any Annam national who sets foot within the bounds of the embassy district unconditionally activates the political refuge clause. PS: See appendix for this clause.)

The treaty stipulates: Effective immediately, Ming merchants may freely purchase all types of Annam agricultural products. Tariff taxes arising between the two sides shall be set by an annual "Tariff Conference," and the Annam State has no right to unilaterally alter tariff rates.

The treaty stipulates: For this "conflict" between the two sides, the Annam State shall be responsible for compensating the Ming State military expenses in the amount of 00,000 taels of Kuping Silver in full. "Note: This military expense payment is permitted to be repaid in installments, and the Annam State is permitted to offset it through labor export, mineral products, agricultural products, and other forms."

The above are the key clauses that the transmigrators paid close attention to, those involving their own immediate interests.

The following several clauses are those that the Annamese and the Dutch paid attention to.

The treaty stipulates: The trade privileges previously enjoyed by Dutch merchants in the Annam State shall be retained. Matters concerning the future commercial status of Dutch merchants in the Free Trade Zone and the various Ming ports shall be discussed separately by the Ming and Dutch sides.

The treaty stipulates: The Ming power represented by the Cao Clan must, effective immediately, publicly issue a declaration recognizing the Later Le Dynasty as the legitimate orthodox regime of Annam, recognizing the Cao Bang Mo and the Southern Ruan as rebels, and pledging support for the continued rule of the Zheng Clan ruling faction represented by Qingdu King Zheng Zhuang.

The treaty stipulates: Effective immediately, the Northern Zheng Clan shall comprehensively accept Cao Clan military doctrinal guidance and military aid. The Ming and Zheng sides must cooperate closely and strive, within the next five years, to exterminate the Southern Ruan Clan.

The above covers the majority of the key contents of the Treaty of Fuyuan.

Among these, aside from some obvious clauses concerning commerce and trade, the several clauses the Crossing Faction cared about most were all signed as desired. Of course, what outsiders cared about was certainly what the Annamese painfully lost: once something like sovereignty is forfeited, a nation will quickly decline — it's just that sometimes it isn't very obvious.

But as the saying goes, everyone reckons their own accounts. On the surface, the Treaty of Fuyuan was truly not harsh. Apart from the existing commercial clauses and the Later Le Dynasty, which suffered a loss of substance, the ruling Zheng Clan, who cared most about real power, were privately fairly satisfied — the Ming people not only permitted the "indemnity" to be repaid over a long term, but also promised the most crucial thing: helping the Zheng Clan exterminate the disloyal elements in the south.

This last clause held immense appeal for the Annam Cao Cao, Zheng Zhuang, who had long coveted the imperial throne: once the Zheng Clan marched south and wiped out the Ruan Clan, this would accumulate enough political prestige. At that time, Zheng Zhuang could, just like the Cao Wei, hold a grand abdication ceremony and supplant the Later Le Dynasty in one stroke, establishing the Zheng Clan's own dynasty and completing the great enterprise the Zheng Clan had pursued for generations.

Now, it all depended on whether the Ming people could fulfill the promises in the treaty. If they could, then in Zheng Zhuang's view, a mere few ports plus some commercial interests could be given up — what thing could be more important than the great throne?

On this point, however, Zheng Zhuang was overthinking it: the transmigrators would definitely help him unify the entire territory of Annam with full force, and would absolutely not go back on their word.

After all, the transmigrators came from a later age; once something was written down in black and white, then the spirit of the contract must naturally be honored.

As for after unification... well, that was no longer within the scope of the treaty.