Chapter 559: The situation is stronger than the people
After all, Li Jin is currently the highest-ranking military general in Danzhou. However, as soon as he arrived, he was insulted by a local military attache who had colluded with the Haihan people. This really made him extremely angry. Seeing that his face was flushed and he looked like he was about to have an attack, Yan Mingjun quickly grabbed his arm and gently advised him: "Brother Li, if you argue with them now, you will only suffer a loss. You have to think about it in the long run." Ah!”
How could Li Jin not know this truth? Several soldiers around him had been injured and sent away, and he had no military power at his disposal. How could he still cause trouble in Danzhou single-handedly? At present, the situation in Danzhou is not clear yet, and there is indeed nothing to rely on when the riot breaks out. Just now he impulsively involved everyone around him, and Li Jin also knows that he will still be the one to suffer if the riot continues.
Depressed, they still had to go to Danzhou City. The two of them anxiously got into the carriage arranged by Zhang Xin and headed for Danzhou City, which was twenty miles away. On the way, both of them noticed that the official road leading from Danzhou Bay to Danzhou City was undergoing large-scale renovations. There were crowds of people next to the original loess official road, and the sound of stone cutting and chanting could be heard endlessly. Judging from the progress of the construction, it seemed that the original official road was being further widened. And this widening project does not seem to be as simple as repairs. It directly extends the original road to the side more than double.
Yan Mingjun asked the coachman: "Danzhou was hit by bandits a few months ago. I heard that the whole city was plundered by pirates. Where did the money come from to renovate the official roads?"
The driver responded: "Of course this is a favor from the leaders of Haihan. Is it possible that it is collected from the people?"
"Such a large project must be very expensive!" Yan Mingjun noticed that there were probably no less than a thousand workers on various construction sites along the way. With so many people, it was not even a daily expense for food and drink. It’s a small amount. This shows how much Haihan invested in Danzhou.
The coachman said: "The leaders of Haihan have always been willing to advocate building bridges and paving roads. Wherever they go, they will build roads... Well, sir, look at the slogan on the roadside in front!"
Yan Mingjun followed the hope of his riding whip and saw the slogan "If you want to be rich, build the road first" written in white paint on the outer wall of a house with mud walls by the road, each word was two feet square, separated by It is also very conspicuous from a distance.
The coachman continued: "The leaders have said that only when roads are opened can goods be transported easily, and money can be valuable only when it circulates. Silver placed in a cellar is no different from stones. The same is true for goods. Find a way to move it Only when goods are sold to places where there is demand can you make money. The faster they are transported, the faster you make money..."
Although what the coachman said was crude, there was some truth in it. Yan Mingjun is not a nerdy official with no practical knowledge. He also dealt with Haihan's caravan when he was in Luoding Prefecture. He had heard of Haihan's business philosophy before. It's just that Luoding Prefecture is located inland of Guangdong, and Haihan doesn't seem to be interested in investing too much money in building bridges and paving roads there. Of course, comparing the situation in Danzhou, it is likely that the Haihan people's criterion for evaluating whether to build local infrastructure is their degree of control over the place.
Yan Mingjun thought for a while and then asked: "Danzhou is not rich in products. If the Haihan people are so big in building and renovating official roads, are they afraid that there will not be much business to do and they will not be able to recover their capital?"
The coachman smiled and said: "Sir, you have just arrived and you don't know how the chiefs manage the place. When the chiefs were building roads in various parts of Qiongzhou, the government thought it was a loss-making business, but the adults couldn't understand. How much benefit will be gained after these roads are built? I don’t have the brains of the leaders, and I don’t know how to recover the cost in the future, but I will not believe it if the road construction will lose money.”
After hearing this, Yan Mingjun felt that something was wrong. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that the coachman was secretly mocking him for thinking he was smarter than the Haihan people, and he felt a little dumbfounded at the moment. However, he also knew that the Haihan people were indeed good at business. Otherwise, how could they have transformed from an overseas businessman who had just arrived three years ago to the richest and most powerful emerging force in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty. Judging from what we have seen so far, most of the places on Qiongzhou Island are probably already decided by the Haihan people. Their business capabilities are definitely far superior to those of the local government. It is indeed a bit redundant to worry about Haihan. .
Of course, Yan Mingjun would not argue with the coachman. Since it was Haihan who arranged the carriage, then the coachman must also be working for Haihan. Maybe he has already obtained some naturalization certificate created by the Haihan people. , it is not surprising that his attitude would be biased towards Haihan. However, seeing that the coachman seemed to have nothing to hide, Yan Mingjun tried to get more words out of him.
"I heard that Danzhou City was attacked by pirates and the damage was quite serious. The Haihan people arranged so many workers to build roads outside the city. What was the situation in the city like?" Yan Mingjun said calmly. Continue to ask.
The coachman responded: "That is to say, a section of the wall outside the Yamen was blown down by the pirates' artillery. The rest was not serious. After the militia came, they simply tore down that section of the wall. Now the Danzhou governor The committee's office is located. There is not much ground needed to be built in the city now. Most of the local workers are concentrated on the construction site of Baimajing Pier and this official road. After this is completed, the renovation from Danzhou will probably continue. There are official roads in Lingao and Chengmai counties, and there is also an official road leading from Danzhou Bay to Changhua. It is said that ground is also being prepared.”
The more Jun Yan Ming listened, the more frightened he became. It was obvious that the Haihan people had no intention of defending the city. They did not strengthen the construction of city fortifications after taking control of Danzhou. Instead, they continued to build roads that radiated to the surrounding areas. He was a little bit disdainful of this routine. Understand. But one thing he had already thought of was that since the Haihan people had such a layout in Danzhou, the measures taken in other places on Qiongzhou Island should be similar to those here. If the Haihan people try to build a road network throughout the island, they will obviously run the entire Qiongzhou Island as their own backyard.
Although Yan Mingjun's guess was somewhat biased, it was not far from the truth. In the mid- and long-term plans of the Executive Committee, Hainan Island must not only build a road network around the island, but also realize road connectivity between counties, prefectures, and prefectures. At the same time, the construction of the wired telegraph network was carried out almost simultaneously with the advancement of road projects. Cable telegraph communication has been implemented in the Qiongnan area from Yacheng to Tielugang, and is gradually advancing northward from the east and west coastlines. In addition, the inspection work of the railway network around the island has also been included in the agenda of the Ministry of Construction.
About an hour later, the convoy finally arrived outside Danzhou City. Yan Mingjun saw from the car window that the soldiers on duty inside and outside the city gate were not the Ming army, but the Haihan militia in gray military uniforms. It was obvious that the city defense of Danzhou City was still controlled by the Haihan militia. It's no wonder that the local guard Qian Zong actually works as a town lion on the dock of Danzhou Bay instead of garrisoning the city defense - if he stays in Danzhou City, he probably won't have a place.
Just like at the dock, there were no welcoming crowds or any ceremony when entering the city. After a brief inspection by the guards at the city gate, the convoy drove directly into the city. Of course, after the previous encounters in Fucheng and Baimajing Pier, Yan Mingjun no longer felt disappointed in his heart. After the motorcade stopped, Yan Mingjun got out of the car and saw a building in the shape of a government office. However, the gate looked a little stingy and did not look like a state government office. What's more, the coachman on the road said that when the pirates attacked the city, they used artillery to blow down the gate and the surrounding wall of the state government. They have not been repaired so far, and this building does not seem to have been baptized by war.
During the hesitation, Zhang Xin came over and explained to him: "The original state government office is now the office of the Danzhou Management Committee. Because there was no time to repair it and the conditions were poor, we arranged for Mr. Yan to live here first and wait for it to be completed later. Then we can move to another place. This was originally the place of Dongchang, which was also regarded as the court's yamen. You can live safely in the back of Sanjin's courtyard, which means the place is a little smaller. Don't mind, Mr. Yan."
What can Yan Mingjun do? Could it be that you just walked away because the storefront was too small and you didn’t like it? Of course, we could only agree to it and let the servants carry the luggage inside. At least the Haihan people have arranged a courtyard. If they don't accept it, where will they find another suitable place to live in this situation? All we can do is face reality and accept Haihan's arrangement first. As for future plans, we can only take one step at a time.
Yan Mingjun also felt a hint of regret at this time, why he impulsively grabbed the official position of this candidate magistrate. Although Luoding Prefecture had little political achievements and few opportunities for promotion, it was at least safe and sound. It took a lot of effort and money to get to Danzhou, but obviously the situation here was far from what I had originally expected. Any ambitious plans now seemed to be unrealistic dreams.
Li Jin followed him into the yard and walked around, then asked impatiently: "Director Zhang, where is my destination?"
"It's very close, just across the street." Zhang Xin explained while leading the way: "The courtyard opposite also has three entrances. It is about the same size as here. It is suitable for both office and residence. The place has been cleaned and you can move in immediately. ”
Li Jin had already paid attention to the surrounding environment before entering the courtyard. After hearing this, he asked: "The courtyard opposite used to be a Yamen, right?"
"Yes, it used to be the Yamen of Jinyiwei." Zhang Xin smiled at Li Jin and said: "After all, Jinyiwei and Dongchang have a close relationship, so their Yamen in Danzhou are across the street from each other, you know."< br>
Of course, Jinyiwei and Dongchang are not like-minded partners. They are enemies. The two yamen have many close or overlapping functions. Most of the time, they are competitors with conflicts of interest. This kind of relationship is also true in Danzhou. No exceptions. The doors of the offices of these two rival yamen are facing each other, and there is quite a bit of a rivalry between them. However, during the pirate army's occupation, these two yamen were completely cleaned up as a matter of course. The people who once worked in these two yamen and survived are basically digging coal in the mines of Annan.
"What about the two yamen in the future?" Yan Mingjun asked tentatively.
"If the Guangdong government wants to send someone over to supplement, then we will just arrange another place at that time, and the two adults can live there with peace of mind. In addition, for the official handover, someone will come to handle the formalities with you tomorrow, so you two don't have to be too anxious." Zhang Xin cupped his fists and said: "I still have things to do. I will invite you two to a banquet later. See you later!"
Li Jin was alone and didn't have much luggage, but four of his soldiers were beaten and sent to the hospital. Now there was no one to help him carry his luggage, so Yan Mingjun asked his servants to carry Li Jin's luggage into the car. Enter the house.
Although the courtyard with three entrances is not large in area, the function is quite complete despite its small size and all the internal organs. The first entrance is the court hall where official business is handled, and the second entrance is the study room and the warehouse where various materials are stored. The third entrance is where people live. As for the place where prisoners are imprisoned and executed, it is not here, but in the Danzhou Prison outside the east gate of the city. This is purely an office location. The structure of the courtyard arranged for Li Jin is basically the same. It can be said that Haihan did not deliberately set them off in terms of living in them.
However, Li Jin was still a little uncomfortable in his heart and said, "Brother Yan, the yamen that we should be in charge of has been occupied by some Haihan people's management committee, and the real owner has been squeezed into this shabby position. It’s so annoying!”
"The situation is stronger than the people!" A sentence that Liu Qian said before setting off from Guangzhou suddenly popped into Yan Mingjun's mind.
Although they were orthodox court officials who came to Qiongzhou Island on behalf of the Ming Dynasty to manage this place, the aura and status they carried were of little use in this place. The Haihan people did give them a certain amount of respect and basic preferential treatment, but it seemed that they did not regard them as their immediate superiors, but as two clay Bodhisattvas who came here to enjoy the incense. Although both of them felt angry and unhappy about this, they were indeed powerless to change this situation. Now, except for a few servants brought by Lord Yan Ming, they don't even have anyone locally who can command them. Yan Mingjun really couldn't imagine how the Haihan people would hand over work to them tomorrow.
"It's better to pack your things and settle down first. After meeting the Haihan people in the evening, we can test their tone." Yan Mingjun had no better way to deal with it at this time. They came from Guangzhou and had almost no contact with them. People outside Haihan’s circle. Now I can only hope that at the reception banquet in the evening, I will get to know some local gentry who aspire to the Ming Dynasty, and then see if I can learn more about the situation.
(End of chapter)