Chapter 522 Lobbyist
It only took half a month from the time Wang Zunde ordered to notify Haihan to send troops to the moment the situation reversed and the militia army repelled the pirates and recovered the lost city on Qiongzhou Island. But for Wang Zunde, who had been waiting hard for the news, every day was like sitting on pins and needles. . If Qiongzhou Island is really captured by a group of pirates - even if it is only half of the island, Wang Zunde will not be able to shirk his responsibilities as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. When the time comes, it will be light to resign, and he may even be demoted and punished.
The militia's ability to regain lost ground in such a short period of time undoubtedly exceeded Wang Zunde's expectations. He originally only expected the Haihan people to assist in defense in Fucheng until the mainland side completed the mobilization of troops and rushed to reinforce. However, the build-up of troops in the mainland was not so smooth. As of two days ago, only 70% of the troops ordered by Wang Zunde were in place. The number of troops was less than 10,000, and only 50% of the required army supplies were in place.
With such preparations, Wang Zunde would not dare to order the army to go to Qiongzhou Island. The city there has been lost and the garrison has been dispersed. If reinforcements from the mainland are accidentally included, it will be difficult to report to the court again. Hiding the truth.
Wang Zunde was so excited that he couldn't help but stand up and said: "First send someone to Qiongzhou Island to verify whether the results of the battle are true... Wait a minute, don't the Haihan people have the ability to send messages across thousands of miles? Let them notify the Qiongzhou government and quickly tally the results and report them ! ”
"My lord..." Liu Qian said cautiously: "The Haihan people also have some suggestions, I hope your lord can adopt them."
"Tell me, but asking for an official position? After the results of the war are counted, I will write to the court and ask for credit. I dare not say it if it is too big. I can still do it by sealing a few thousand households." Wang Zunde twisted. Beard, said unhurriedly.
Qiongzhou Island has been in such chaos that the garrison has been dispersed to an unknown extent, but in the post-war reckoning, there must be some military generals who will take the blame. When the time comes, a few thousand households will be freed up to accommodate the military leaders of the Haihan people, which is also a matter of cleanup. Anyway, there are not a few civilian armed forces who have been randomly conferred on Qiongzhou Island in the past two hundred years during the Ming Dynasty. Almost every larger Li-Miao village has hereditary official positions. The imperial court will not lose a piece of meat if it gives a few more titles to the Haihan people. ——Maybe there will be an additional armed force that can be utilized.
Liu Qian had to remind him again: "Sir, those Haihan people... are not interested in official positions in our dynasty."
"Well..." Being reminded by Liu Qian, Wang Zunde also remembered that the Haihan people had declined the canonization from the Guangdong government a year ago. If they had planned to ask for an official to do it, they would have relented at that time and would not wait until now. when.
Wang Zunde pondered: "Is it because the cost of this battle is too high and they want to ask the court for some compensation? If they have this idea, they can take care of it in trade in the future."
The most that Wang Zunde can do is to reduce the various taxes that Haihan needs to pay to the government in the future, and provide some economic subsidies in disguise. As for asking the government to take money from the government treasury and support the civilian armed forces, that is definitely impossible.
Liu Qian hesitated and said: "In fact, the Haihan people don't care about money matters. This time, my lord ordered to mobilize troops and raise supplies in the province, and the Haihan people also donated five thousand taels of silver. I think the Haihan people spent money and did not care about it." Don’t be stingy, their requests are not directly related to money.”
"Then what do they want?" Wang Zunde was a little confused when he heard this. Firstly, he didn't want an official position, and secondly, he didn't want money. Aren't these Haihan people always known for their shrewdness, so why did they suddenly change their ways?
Liu Qian responded: "The Haihan people said that although they had recaptured several cities in these days, because the bandits were far more powerful than the militia, there were still many rogue bandits fleeing in the countryside, and the garrisons in Qiongzhou counties had been dispersed, so it was difficult to do anything for a while. . In addition, there are a large number of wounded soldiers in the Haihan Militia who need nearby medical treatment, so the Haihan people applied to garrison troops in various cities where bandits were encountered to deal with the aftermath. "
Wang Zunde thought for a while and felt that this was a reasonable request, so he nodded and said: "This is feasible, but they cannot station more than 200 troops in each city. The remaining personnel can be stationed outside the city to avoid unnecessary complications."
Liu Qian responded and continued: "The Haihan people have another request, which is for your Excellency to issue a notice in the name of the court so that the local militia can have the authority to deal with pirate remnants and spies and act as an agent for local government affairs."
"Are there many pirate spies?" Wang Zunde did not rush to express his attitude, but asked a question first.
Liu Qian replied: "According to reports from the Haihan people, more than 200 people were arrested in Fucheng alone. If they had not arrived in time, I am afraid that the insiders would have taken advantage of the loophole to open the city gate and let the thieves into the city!
"The thieves are so rampant!" Wang Zunde couldn't help but sigh.
"The government offices in Danzhou, Lingao, Chengmai and other places are said to have been destroyed in the war. Huang Zhizhou of Danzhou committed suicide when the city was destroyed, and officials in Lingao, Chengmai and other places also died. They were all kidnapped by bandits and their whereabouts are currently unknown. The government and military affairs in these places are currently being managed by the Haihan people. As for the specific official vacancies, it will take some time to report the detailed results." Liu Qian said. The Haihan people prepared words for him and persuaded Wang Zunde step by step.
This time when the Haihan people sent a report on the war situation, they did not come empty-handed. Liu Qian added two thousand taels of silver to Haihan's bank account out of thin air. The condition was that he could persuade Wang Zunde to agree to what Haihan proposed next. some conditions. Although Liu Qian had noticed the Haihan people's unscrupulous intention of paying for him to be a lobbyist, he had already received thousands of taels of silver and the Haihan people promised that there would be a lot of money in the future. Liu Qian really couldn't resist this. lure.
What's more, the Haihan people also gave him a way out. If Wang Zunde was angry with him in the future because of what happened before, Haihan would save his whole family and go to Qiongzhou Island to accept Haihan's asylum.
Liu Qian still knows a lot of people in Guangdong who have accepted Haihan's protection, and they are all from prominent and prominent families in the province. And Haihan's protection was not just lip service. When Lijiazhuang in Panyu was besieged by the rogue army, even the government troops did not dare to send troops to rescue them. In the end, it was the Haihan people who sent troops to rescue the siege. The reason was that the Li family had long been included in the Haihan army. Under the protection of the Han Dynasty. After that, the protection of the Haihan people was like a spell, attracting many insecure wealthy families to join the Haihan trade network. With both money to take and a way out, Liu Qian really couldn't find a reason to reject the Haihan people. So he took the check and once again acted as a lobbyist.
Liu Qian originally thought that the words used by the Haihan people might not have much effect, but He Xi told him that the key to this was that the information held by the two sides was completely unequal. Now everything in Qiongzhou Island is under Haihan's control, and the only source of information the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi can get is from Haihan. All official information channels between Qiongzhou Island and the mainland have been blocked by Haihan. It will be at least a month or two until private channels slowly spread the situation on Qiongzhou Island to the mainland. During this time, It was enough for Haihan to complete his plan.
In other words, the information Wang Zunde can learn now is only what Haihan wants him to know, and the decision he can make based on this information will be difficult to escape from the direction that is beneficial to Haihan. At best, it is beneficial. The degree is just different.
After Liu Qian said this, Wang Zunde was really anxious: "If there is no one in the local government to take charge of government affairs, it is absolutely impossible. You quickly draw up the documents and ask the city to send personnel to the counties to handle it temporarily. Haihan Someone can be sent to assist. In addition, let the Haihan people quickly count the casualties of the officials, so that they can quickly report to the court and allocate manpower to make up for the shortfall."
He Xi couldn't help laughing after reading the official document issued by the Governor's Mansion: "This is much smoother than what we originally planned! Wang Zunde didn't have any suspicion at all, and he was still urging us to get things done quickly!"< br>
Malik, who was sitting next to him, responded: "Wang Zunde can't help it. This is probably the only thing he can do now. If he wants to know the truth, he has to go to Qiongzhou Island to see it in person. If he really dares to go, then we Just take over Guangdong!”
"There is no way to govern it if it is occupied." He Xi smiled and shook his head and said: "In the area occupied this time, the county seat has a leadership team of at least three people, the prefecture city has more than five people, and Qiu Yuan brought a working group to the prefectural city. It is said that he has overall control over the construction planning of the entire Qiongbei area. In one fell swoop, dozens of people were separated from the base camp, and it was only Qiongzhou Island. If he wanted to occupy Guangdong, he would have to leave many places to himself. , can the executive committee let go of this? ”
"What you said makes sense." Maliko nodded and agreed with He Xi's view: "Although we have trained a lot of naturalized civilian cadres, most of them can only act according to the rules, and there are still too few people who can stand alone. Last time I went back to Sanya for a meeting, Mr. Tao and I also discussed this issue of cadre reserve. He believed that it would take at least two to three years to consolidate our rule in Qiongzhou Island and complete the reserve of grassroots naturalized cadres before we can continue. Expand outward.”
"It's good to be able to complete these steps in two or three years." He Xi calculated: "After conquering Qiongbei, how to turn all the more than 200,000 people on the island into naturalized citizens will be a headache for the Executive Committee It’s not easy to say it’s difficult, but it’s not easy either. It will definitely not be completed in a short time.”
"It's not our turn to have a headache for the time being. Let's take care of the things at hand first. Send a telegram to the base camp and tell them the news." Maliko stood up and said, "At this time, I also have to go out for some fun. ”
Malico's so-called release is also part of the follow-up plan. Such a big thing happened on Qiongzhou Island. Several prefectures and counties were invaded, the local government was destroyed, and a large number of officials were missing. Guangdong officials would definitely not sit idly by and ignore this situation. When the situation calms down, Guangdong will definitely select a group of officials to fill the vacant positions on Qiongzhou Island. As for who will be sent, this will definitely have a direct impact on Haihan's rule on Qiongzhou Island. Therefore, the Guangdong Office will not sit back and let the opportunity pass. Instead, it will take the initiative and let Malik come forward to communicate with some selected large households. Blowing the wind allows the officials behind them to start moving early and seize the opportunity.
The people selected by the Guangdong Office in advance are naturally vested interests closely related to Haihan's interests. Even if these people are transferred to Qiongzhou Island to fill vacancies in the imperial staff, Haihan will not be able to control them if they want to. It's easier.
And just as He Xi had expected, the base camp did not feel much relieved after receiving the telegram from the General Office of the People's Republic of China. Instead, the Executive Committee held meetings for two consecutive nights to discuss the next strategy in the Qiongbei area. .
In fact, the general direction has been determined long before the operation, which is nothing more than to control the military and political power and gradually absorb the local people into the Haihan system. Of course, these tasks were already underway before the attack on Qiongbei, and now they are just making the under-the-table methods public to speed up the promotion of the Haihan system.
But even if the big goals are the same, there will still be a lot of differences. For example, whether the cities in Qiongbei should maintain the existing social system or immediately start promoting Haihan's system locally, there are still differences. opinions exist.
Those in favor believe that we should strike while the iron is hot and complete the local power transfer as soon as possible while the people's hearts are turning towards Haihan, so that the people can begin to adapt to Haihan's social system as soon as possible. Opponents believe that too hasty operation methods will make the people uneasy and may even provoke civil unrest - especially considering that there are a large number of landlords in Qiongbei area, and they have rashly implemented the Haihan system of public land ownership there. , you will definitely encounter a lot of pressure. Although the Haihan militia troops were stationed in the north and could easily deal with ordinary landlord armed forces, the Executive Committee was unwilling to engage in large-scale armed suppression in the areas it had already gained control of.
After final discussion, the system promotion in Qiongbei still needs to be carried out in two steps. First, build Haihan's civil administration institutions in various cities to achieve actual control over the local area and eliminate those unstable people and forces that are obviously hostile to Haihan. The second step is to implement Haihan's social system, economic and financial system, etc. locally. As for the land issue, which is of great concern to everyone, the executive committee believes that it is not advisable to forcefully promote it immediately. At least it must wait until Haihan's rule in the Qiongbei area is stabilized before making any plans. Taking into account the actual situation that may arise during the transfer of power, this buffer period is tentatively set at half a year.
The military's view of this is that this is a compromise between the radicals and the moderates in the Executive Committee. However, as a natural member of the radicals, the military is breathing a rare sigh of relief this time - this buffer period should be able to Save them a lot of trouble.
(End of chapter)