Chapter 554 Eating and taking
Similar methods of operation have been used many times on Hainan Island, and relevant departments have also summarized different methods for different types of officials. For example, Luo Shengdong's father-in-law Zhang Qing, the magistrate of Yazhou, initially just wanted to use the power of the Haihan people to win the seat of magistrate, and then provide some convenience to his son-in-law. However, as long as Haihan has taken advantage of it, it will be difficult to withdraw his hand. From initially helping the Haihan people obtain the land deeds in the Yulin area to later selling the entire Yazhou to Haihan, it only took a year or two in between. It’s just time.
It's hard to say that he didn't have the slightest loyalty to the court. After all, he was a scholar who received orthodox Confucian education and grew up. The concepts of being loyal to the emperor and patriotism are still very strong. However, even so, under Haihan's step-by-step bribery tactics, local officials who prided themselves on being full of integrity were dragged down one after another. Occasionally, there are one or two die-hards who are stubborn and stubborn, but they basically disappear from the public view due to various "accidents".
In areas where Haihan's influence had penetrated, only officials who were pro-Haihan were slowly left in the local officialdom, and the local population, land and other natural resources were smoothly taken over by Haihan. Of course, the disadvantage of this method is that the progress is too slow and cannot keep up with the rapid expansion needs of Hainan. That is why the Executive Committee approved the implementation of the "Paraphyry Plan" before this, in order to achieve actual control of the entire Hainan Island as soon as possible. .
Although the entire Hainan Island has been captured, the Executive Committee does not intend to publicly break up with the Ming Dynasty court before the foundation is stable. Therefore, the appointment of Ming Ming candidate officials to the island is also a step that must be compromised at this stage. However, the Executive Committee believes that there is not so much time and energy to slowly trick these newcomers, so there must be simpler and more effective ways to control them - such as house arrest, or more direct bribery.
If Yan Mingjun and Li Jin had not met Li Nai at Lijiazhuang Pier, who happened to be here for business, then they would probably have been placed under house arrest immediately after arriving in Danzhou. The local management committee would not have left any place for them to come in contact with each other. Government and military opportunities. But after Li Nai intervened in the matter, their fate changed unconsciously.
Xiao Liang, the military chief of Lijiazhuang, inspected the sentry post after the banquet and saw the registration record of Li Nai leading the two officials to leave the dock area and go to Lijiazhuang. He did not dare to neglect and immediately contacted Sha Xi, only to find out that Li Nai planned to give These two people "do ideological work." As an official, this kind of thing is happy to see it happen. The gradual cannibalization of the Ming Dynasty cannot be suppressed by killing like the wild boar skin that entered the customs in history. The most ideal thing is to gradually incorporate and transform the Ming Dynasty. The ruling institutional system, especially those who had served as local officials in the Ming Dynasty.
Even if these people's loyalty is limited, their stance is not that firm, and their abilities may not be that strong, their working experience in governing the local area is not comparable to that of the naturalized cadres trained by the Haihan Executive Committee at this stage. The advantage of naturalized civilian cadres is that they are obedient, but the disadvantages are also the same. Without the command of their superiors, it is difficult for them to make independent decisions. Especially in the ruling areas, for those who have no experience in being an official, it is a difficult time to take office. With his eyes darkened, he didn't know where to start.
This is just like military training. A soldier cannot grow into a general without the experience of war. Most of the naturalized cadres under the Executive Committee are still at the level of soldiers. There are still many problems in allowing them to independently manage a state or county. Even in the Qiongnan area where Haihan control is relatively high, there are still many places that are jointly managed by local governments and Haihan. Haihan is responsible for controlling the general direction of policies, and the local government is responsible for managing some civil affairs affairs. In Haihan's management After the institution is gradually improved, this part of the power transfer will be slowly carried out.
Under such circumstances, talents with governing experience are particularly valuable. The Executive Committee even hesitated to use civilian and military officers among Annan's prisoners. A large part of the reason was to alleviate the shortage of special human resources. Reduced generals like Wu Sen and the Ruan brothers were quickly appointed after choosing to surrender. As long as there is a chance to bring someone into their camp, the time travelers don't mind spending a little time and energy trying it. What's more, this time it was Li Nai's initiative and it didn't require much effort from Haihan's side. If he does it well, he will be treated as a bargain; if he does it poorly, no one will blame him.
After Li Nai accepted the management position of "Golden Shield Escort", he personally visited many places in Guangdong and Guangxi. Judging from his experience in contact with local officials at all levels, Yan Mingjun and Li Jin were interested in Haihan. It's obvious that you can even see part of Li Nai's mentality when he first met the Haihan people in them. Therefore, Li Nai was willing to spend his personal time to make friends with these two alternate officials.
The three of them talked until late into the night before ending the meeting with unfinished business. Li Nai personally took the two to the arranged guest room and showed them how to use the self-watering bathroom facilities in the bathroom. The two of them were naturally fascinated by this new gadget that made hot water flow out of the copper faucet when the switch was turned. Even the ceramic toilet placed in the corner couldn't help but look at it a few more times.
Li Nai said: "The Haihan people are extremely clean and take a bath almost every day after work, so they designed this convenient hot water supply facility. Not only do they do this for themselves, they also require regular bathing for ordinary people. Everyone There are large public bathrooms near the settlements. If you have the opportunity to go to Sanya, you will find that the local people are much neater than the city people on the mainland. However, some people still call Haihan barbarians. Really ridiculous.”
Li Nai is not bragging for Haihan. Most of the people who have settled in the Sanya area are naturalized citizens. Daily necessities such as soap have long been popularized and promoted along with public bathhouses. The frequency of bathing among the locals can be Much higher than the people in areas under Ming Dynasty. Except for those engaged in manual labor, what people walking on the streets of Sanya can often smell is the aroma of vegetation from various soaps.
Having said this, Li Nai pointed to the toilet in the corner of the bathroom and said: "Haihan people have extremely high requirements for cleanliness. They believe that the reason why people suffer from various diseases often lies in the cleanliness of the environment. Therefore, they This kind of automatic flushing toilet was specially built to keep the bedroom clean. ”
Yan Mingjun asked: "Although this thing is good, it requires pipelines to connect water supply and sewerage. The cost is probably not low. Ordinary people may not be able to afford it, right?"
Li Nai responded: "A set of this thing costs hundreds of taels of silver, so ordinary people cannot afford it."
Li Jin was quite interested at first and planned to ask how to buy this thing. When Li Nai quoted the price, he immediately swallowed his words. Although the things were good, such a set of devices was enough to buy hundreds of old-fashioned toilets. Li Jin suddenly felt that it was not a big deal to occasionally have a little filthy air in the bedroom.
"Tomorrow morning, a servant will come to wake you two up to have a meal. Later, you two can wash up and rest early." Li Nai saw that the servant had brought clean washcloths, horsehair toothbrushes, tooth powder and other toiletries. He took the initiative to say goodbye.
Li Nai originally arranged a bedroom for them, but Li Jin was a restless person and continued to stay in Yan Mingjun's room. Yan Mingjun didn't take it seriously. He picked up the hot tea that had just been delivered and poured two cups out. After Li Nai left with his servants, Yan Mingjun said: "In terms of the luxury of this house, it is far better than the ones I went to in the past. Among the few adults I have met, even the wealthy businessmen from Fujian, there are few who are as dignified as the Li family.”
"That's not true!" Li Jin also agreed with deep understanding: "If nothing else, look at this oil lamp. It must be worth at least ten taels of silver, right?"
In fact, the main change of the oil lamp Li Jin mentioned is to add a glass cover to the outside of the traditional oil lamp. However, Haihan has a special process design link. The oil-filled part below is also made of glass, and a small mechanism is made in the middle part to fix the wick. The length of the wick can be easily adjusted by twisting it. From the perspective of this era, this oil lamp naturally appears to be extremely exquisite. "Doors, windows, oil lamps, and the four treasures of the study. The Haihan people can spend so much thought on these small things. It's no wonder that the products they produce are selling well in the Ming Dynasty." Yan Mingjun sighed: "With their ability to make money, they can compete with me in the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Shen Wansan, a wealthy man at that time, competed with one another.”
"Shen Wansan is just a businessman. These Haihan people are not just businessmen." Li Jin did not lose his mind and still clearly remembered his identity: "They make their own weapons, set up private militia, organize and train the army, etc. If you want to count them down, they are all punishable behaviors!”
"It can't be cured." Yan Mingjun shook his head and said: "From Yazhou to Qiongzhou Prefecture to the Admiral's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Haihan people have official documents issued by yamen at all levels, proving that the militia they formed is reasonable and legal, and they have not followed How can you punish the government for doing the right thing? Not to mention making weapons privately. You heard what the Haihan man surnamed Ma said on the dock today, and the Fujian General Soldier came over in person. The purpose of visiting them is to buy guns and cannons from them. Even the government and the army are buying weapons from them. Who can seize them? "
Li Jin smiled bitterly and said: "This Haihan militia is much more powerful than the local garrison. Who can command them? Brother Yan, if you were a Haihan and had such a strong army in your hands, would you still listen to the instructions of the local government?" Dispatch? ”
"I'm afraid that I have stopped paying attention to the government a long time ago!" Yan Mingjun responded with a wry smile.
Now, he has gradually discovered that the true face of the Haihan people seems to be somewhat different from what he expected, and the local situation on Qiongzhou Island may not be as good as he expected, with a governance environment in which to flex his muscles. Haihan's power alone is probably beyond his control.
As for Li Jin's prospects, Yan Mingjun is even less optimistic. He heard that the local garrison in Danzhou has been depleted, and the local defense is now entirely handled by the Haihan Militia. Of course, the Haihan people would not be so kind as to give him command of the army they had spent money to build. When Li entered, he was just a bare general, with no soldiers at all. Of course, he would not say this in front of Li Jin, but Li Jin spent a lot of money to get the position of Danzhou General, which was actually very worthless in Yan Mingjun's opinion. Even if the local guard army is reorganized by then, the Haihan people will definitely take advantage of the situation and get involved. It's hard to say how much say Li Jin will have.
The two chatted for a while, feeling sleepy, and then they washed up and rested.
At dawn the next day, the two of them woke up to a knock on the door from a servant of the Li family. After opening the door, the servant served an exquisite breakfast in a food box, including seafood porridge, siomai, shrimp dumplings, barbecued pork buns, etc. wait.
After the two of them finished their meal, Li Nai came, with someone behind him holding a stack of large and small wooden boxes. Li Nai explained: "This large wooden box contains a Haihan glass stationery commemorative set from the first year of Chongzhen. It was limited to ninety-nine sets. I bought two sets at that time, and the extra set was given to me. Brother Yan! ”
"How can this be done!" Yan Mingjun quickly stood up and declined a few words.
Li Nai smiled and said: "Brother Yan and I passed the national examination in the same year. It is a rare fate. This time we met, I feel that we have known each other for a long time. Brother Yan will not refuse these small gifts. I will go to Danzhou in the future. , I will definitely come to your door to bother you!”
Yan Mingjun responded quickly: "Brother Li is so polite!"
"Brother Yan and Mr. Li each have a share of these two wooden boxes. You two must accept your kindness." After speaking, Li Nai handed over two smaller wooden boxes to them: "When we arrived in Danzhou After that, if you have any inconvenience, you can send someone to the local 'Furuifeng' to find the shopkeeper, and I will say hello in advance."
Although Li Nai didn't say clearly what was in the box, Yan Mingjun had already made a rough guess. The appearance of this wooden box is almost exactly the same as the one delivered by Maliko at the dock yesterday, and it feels empty in the hand. It is conceivable that the things inside are very light, most of them are things like banknotes. This trip to Lijiazhuang was full of food and drinks, which really made Yan Mingjun feel a little embarrassed.
Li Nai seemed to have noticed Yan Mingjun's thoughts and said with a smile: "Brother Yan, don't think there is anything wrong with this. I just think I can talk to you two and want to make friends with you."
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Seeing that Yan Mingjun still wanted to refuse, Li Nai said with a straight face: "If the two adults look down on the next civilian, then it will be considered an offense!"
"Brother Li, where do you start with this!" Yan Mingjun didn't want to offend Li Nai for this, and quickly expressed his willingness to accept the gift.
(End of chapter)