Chapter 474 Visit to the Inspection Department
Li Qingyang was originally observing the workers wearing colorful vests on the dock. After hearing Lin Nan's explanation, he immediately understood why the dock was so busy with people, but it still maintained an orderly operation, and there was no cargo. Common congestion at the terminal occurred during the transshipment process.
Li Qingyang asked: "These workers can obey unified commands, but are they all governed by the same guild?"
Lin Nan smiled and shook his head and said: "We don't have any non-governmental organizations such as guilds here. These workers belong to the Shengli Port Management Committee, and all their work arrangements are handled by the Management Committee. You can’t find those messy Jianghu organizations here.”
"There is no guild?" Li Qingyang was shocked at first when he heard this answer, but then he thought it was reasonable. Even the official institutions of the Ming Dynasty were gone under Haihan's rule, let alone organizations like guilds.
Thinking of this, Li Qingyang pretended to be casual and asked: "Since there is no guild, then surely there will be no officials from the Ming Dynasty here? I heard that thousands of immigrants arrive here every month, and there is no Ming government official here. These Don’t people find it strange? ”
"The Ming government? Of course there is. This is still a territory of the Ming Dynasty in name. How could there be no government?" Lin Nan deliberately emphasized the word "nominally" a little too hard, raised his finger and pointed to the west and said: "Look Have you gone to the yard with the flag on the pier over there? That’s where the Yulin Inspection Department is located, and there’s the yard of Yacheng Water Village next to it. Brother Li, would you like to go there and confirm it for yourself?”
Li Qingyang thought that the local government had indeed been colluding with the Haihan people for a long time. Even though they had permanent offices here, they actually sat back and watched the Haihan people do all kinds of illegal things in Sanya. Li Qingyang nodded and said: "If it's convenient, I'd like to take a look."
"Convenient, very convenient." Lin Nan was eager for Li Qingyang to see it, because this was one of the visiting objects prepared by the Security Department for Li Qingyang.
Hao Wanqing believes that in order to win over Li Qingyang, he must first try to influence his view of Haihan and reduce the guilt in his heart for betraying the Ming Dynasty. To do this, the best way is to let him see it with his own eyes. Seeing what kind of life the Ming officials who cooperated with Haihan lived gave him a general idea of his future life in Sanya.
The representatives in this regard are none other than Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping, who were the first to choose cooperation rather than confrontation. When they first interacted with Haihan, these two people were still at the grassroots level. Luo Shengdong was only a general manager, and Wei Ping was a small patrol inspector. But after more than two years, they have already had their positions. Not a small change.
Because Luo Shengdong had a higher starting point and a good cooperative attitude, and his father-in-law Zhang Qing was the current magistrate of Yazhou, the executive committee provided money and efforts to allow him to successfully complete the triple jump in the past two years. Now he is The commander of the Yacheng Water Village, the entire Ming Navy in the Qiongnan area was under his jurisdiction and command. Wei Ping's starting point was slightly lower. His official support was that his brother-in-law, who had served as Yazhou Tongzhi, had retired, so his promotion was not as smooth as Luo Shengdong's. However, he has now been promoted to deputy commander of the Yacheng Guard Army. Mr. Qian can be considered a senior local military attaché.
Of course, although the official ranks of these two people are already high, the real power in their hands has not increased much. The Yacheng Water Village and the Weisuo Army's garrison have long been taken over by the militia, and the people currently stationed in these two places Almost all the people were replaced by militia soldiers, the original navy and guard army were basically demobilized, and the vast majority chose to enter the Haihan social system to serve for the executive committee. In terms of income alone, working for the Executive Committee is much better than working for the imperial court. Working for three months is equivalent to one year. The choice is very simple.
Although almost all of their subordinates have been dismissed, this is not a problem for Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping. Without soldiers, they can gain more trust from the executive committee. In order to show their magnanimity, the two simply moved to Shengli Port to settle down for a long time. The flags of the Navy and the Inspection Department still fly on the coast of Victory Port every day, indicating to newly arrived outsiders that this is still the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
Lin Nan took Li Qingyang to the Yulin Inspection Department first. As soon as they entered the door, they saw five men kneeling in the yard, all with their hands tied behind their backs and their heads hanging down. Someone saw Lin Nan coming in and hurriedly greeted Wei Ping, who was sitting under the eaves drinking tea: "Master Wei, Mr. Lin is here!"
When Wei Ping heard this, he stood up and came out to greet Lin Nan. Lin Nan did not introduce Li Qingyang's identity to Wei Ping. He pointed to a few people kneeling in the courtyard and asked, "What's going on?"
"Two ships arrived in the morning, and they were full of immigrants. These guys were among the immigrants and were planning to come to Sanya to make a fortune. Unexpectedly, we caught them out as soon as we got off the ship!" Wei Ping sneered: "In the past six months, there have been There are more and more people coming to Sanya with the idea of making a fortune. Our inspection department used to be a quiet yamen, but now we have work to do every day!”
The Executive Committee retained the presence of the Yulin Inspection Department in Shengli Port to let them do the dirty work. For new immigrants and other outsiders who have just arrived in Victory Port and are not familiar with the local situation, the authority of the Inspection Department is obviously higher than that of the Haihan police whom they have never had contact with before. The Inspection Department is responsible for handling the problems of new arrivals. In all kinds of disputes, it is obvious that the efficiency will be higher than that of the police. Of course, in fact, except for a few of Wei Ping's cronies who can be counted with one slap, everyone else in the Inspection Department is also part of the Police Department, but they usually wear the uniform of the Inspection Department at work.
Among the early immigrants, at best, some who disobeyed the arrangements would be arrested on the dock. But in recent years, as the Sanya area has become more prosperous, more and more people have come here with other intentions. There are many thieves, swindlers and even gangsters trying to enter Sanya.
However, the vast majority of these people will be exposed when they disembark from the ship, either because weapons, drugs and other hidden items in the packages are uncovered, or because the increasingly experienced immigration inspection personnel see something is wrong. Either he was self-righteous and refused to obey the management, and as a result he was directly suppressed by the Inspection Department.
The five guys caught today are said to be from the same group. In order to conceal their identities, they boarded two immigration ships respectively. However, contraband was found in the luggage when entering the country, and the items of the five people were exactly the same, so they were caught one by one by the inspection department personnel waiting nearby.
Lin Nan couldn't help but ask: "Then what do these five people do?"
"It's already been tried. They are all street liars, ready to come to Sanya to open underground casinos." Wei Ping said, while motioning to his men to present the evidence: "Master Lin, please take a look, this is what they were seized."
Li Qingyang followed up and took a look, and saw that there were several large bags of dice. Wei Ping took one at random, took out a short knife and cut it open, and saw a small piece of metal falling out.
"They are all lead-filled dice. Who would be a good person to take this thing across the ocean? So we immediately captured the people and notified the Ministry of Justice. It is estimated that someone will come to take them away soon." Wei Ping didn't feel complacent about this. This was indeed a very common situation among the people arrested by the Inspection Department on a daily basis. If he caught a gangster, he could show off his merits in front of Lin Nan, but just a few liars would not do it. Nothing to show off. Li Qingyang couldn't help but ask: "Since this is a person captured by the Inspection Department, why should he be handed over to Haihan for disposal?"
Wei Ping glanced at Li Qingyang and said: "I didn't ask for advice but this is..."
"Mr. Wei Qian, this is Mr. Li Qingyang Li, our specially appointed consultant who came from the mainland." Lin Nan's introduction was rather vague and did not reveal Li Qingyang's original identity.
However, Wei Ping has been dealing with Lin Nan here for more than a day or two. He naturally knows Lin Nan's identity. Since Li Qingyang is from the Security Department and is from the mainland, Wei Ping actually knows Li Qingyang's identity. I've already guessed a lot.
Of course, Wei Ping would not ask further about this. After quickly exchanging glances with Lin Nan, he nodded and said: "Since Mr. Li is new here, I might as well explain the reason."
"The local inspection department has only five people, but the number of ships arriving at the port every day ranges from six or seven to more than ten or twenty, and the number of new immigrants arriving every month is thousands. Just imagine, Can the Inspection Department handle it with just the manpower?" Wei Ping pointed to a four-story brick building next to him and said, "Did you see that building next to it? That's the Port Affairs Center, where the processing is. As for port affairs, the Inspection Department is only responsible for helping maintain order at the port. If we were to handle everything, we might not even have time to eat or sleep! ”
Li Qingyang said: "In that case, why not increase the manpower of the inspection department?"
Wei Ping glared and said, "It's free to increase the establishment? Who will pay for it? One additional person will cost one hundred taels of silver a year. The dock is several miles long. How many more people do you think will be enough?"
Li Qingyang opened his mouth to answer, but was speechless for a moment. It doesn't sound like a big amount, but in a place like Yazhou, it's probably not easy to add 1,800 taels of silver to the government's budget. Li Qingyang said angrily: "Then those people from the Inspection Department..."
"These people are from the Haihan Ministry of Justice. They are just helping here in the official uniform of the Inspection Department." Wei Ping did not hide this, and directly told the truth: "These people who committed crimes will be responsible for their crimes." The Ministry of Justice will punish them. Haihan has very complete laws and regulations. Mr. Li does not have to worry about them going unpunished.”
Li Qingyang shook his head and said: "As a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, if someone breaks the law on the land of the Ming Dynasty, shouldn't the judgment be based on the laws of the Ming Dynasty?"
Wei Ping said patiently: "This is the place of the Haihan Executive Committee, and everything must be done in accordance with the regulations of the Executive Committee."
"Mr. Wei Qian, do you still remember that you are an official of the imperial court?" When Li Qingyang heard this, he forgot his current identity and couldn't help scolding him.
Wei Ping sneered and said: "Remember, if I hadn't been the official of the imperial court, I would have been feeding the fishes by now. Now this official position was obtained with the help of the executive committee, and the money that comes into the account every month is also the result of the executive committee. Given by the committee, if I take off this official uniform, I will have to carry big bags on the pier like everyone else. How could I not remember my identity? Mr. Li, it is best to live in Sanya. Just follow the rules here!”
Li Qingyang snorted and disagreed with Wei Ping's statement.
Seeing that the atmosphere was tense, Lin Nan smoothed things over and said, "Master Wei, when you first arrived at Victory Port, your temper was not much better than Mr. Li's."
When Lin Nan mentioned the past, Wei Ping couldn't help but sigh: "That's true. Back then, I, Wei Ping, was thinking that I could not live up to the position that the imperial court had given me as a minor official, and even planned to die to serve the country! Fortunately, I didn’t act impulsively at that time, otherwise it would have been too late!”
After Wei Ping finished speaking, he hugged his fists and apologized to Li Qingyang: "Mr. Li, I just spoke a little impulsively, please don't mind. When I first came here, it was more difficult for me to accept the rules here than it was for you. Your mentality at this moment , I can understand it to some extent. After you live here for two or three months, your ideas will definitely change. Isn’t it that everyone is working hard in this world to live a stable and prosperous life? If we can live a stable and comfortable life, who has the final say in this place, so what does it matter?”
Li Qingyang still couldn't help but answered: "This place is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, so naturally the imperial court has the final say!"
Wei Ping shook his head and said: "There is a difference. Although this place is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the tens of thousands of people here do not rely on the imperial court to support them. I am a native of Yazhou. Three years ago, this place was a deserted beach, not to mention the port. There are not even a few permanent residents. Now there are tens of thousands of residents in Sanya, and the port prosperity is close to that of Guangzhou. This situation is not the result of the imperial court, but was built little by little by the Haihan Executive Committee. I am lucky to have witnessed this process with my own eyes. I have nothing to say except admiration for the ability of the Haihan Executive Committee. If the imperial court had such ability, Yazhou would no longer be a place of exile for prisoners, but a place of exile. Elysium! ”
Li Qingyang wanted to scold him for being treasonous, but thinking about it, it would be in vain. Lin Nan was still here. If he showed too obvious emotions, it would definitely lead to a disadvantageous situation in the future. So Li Qingyang swallowed his words hard and did not continue to argue with Wei Ping.
Lin Nan has been silently observing Li Qingyang's emotions. As the person in charge of Li Qingyang, he must make a reasonable assessment of Li Qingyang's ideological status in order to provide reference for his future appointment. Judging from the current situation, although Li Qingyang cannot accept Haihan's degree of control over the local area, he does not show complete disgust. It is more of a conflict of ideas. In Lin Nan's view, this deviation can be resolved through various It will be corrected gradually through means.
(End of chapter)