Chapter 562: Visiting the People
Receiving the same remuneration, doing familiar work and much easier than being a laborer, these government servants were naturally happy to take it easy. As for monitoring Lord Zhizhou's daily speech and even his daily behavior on Haihan's behalf, they do not see much moral baggage in this matter. The sense of existence of these government servants has always been dependent on the strong. Without protection, they would be no different from ordinary people - just like they were working as laborers on the construction site.
Nowadays, ordinary people may not be able to see who is in control of the situation in Danzhou as clearly as people like them who once served in the government. The entire Ming Dynasty's ruling organization in Danzhou had been purged by the pirate army. After the Haihan people came, they did not try to restore the original model at all. Instead, they directly introduced the Haihan-style governance system-a new organization headed by the Management Committee. And those who assisted the management committee in exercising its power of governance were no longer the three-class yamen servants, but the Haihan police and militia. It is no exaggeration to say that Ming's local influence is now more than an order of magnitude worse than Haihan's. Even if the imperial court sends a fifth-grade official to Danzhou, it will not be able to change the situation here. No matter how capable the new Mr. Yan is, he will not be able to fight against the rich and powerful Haihan on his own.
"Follow the Haihan people and you will have food to eat." This sentence has not only become the consensus of the local people, but also those in the public sector have the same experience. Although the rules of the Haihan people are strict and numerous, the rewards and corresponding protections are indeed better than those of the Ming Dynasty.
The most important thing is that what the Haihan people are doing now are things that the Ming Dynasty officials were unable to complete or had never even imagined. However, the Haihan people are realizing these ideas bit by bit in an orderly manner, starting from the middle and lower classes of society. From the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, Haihan's governance and management capabilities are obviously much stronger than those of the local officials of the Ming Dynasty. As for who is more reliable, Haihan or Daming, the local people already have a clear understanding from the banditry last year.
After several months, the imperial court did not send out a single tael of relief, nor did it send a single soldier to restore social order in Danzhou. In the end, only two polished commanders, one civil and one military, came to rebuild Danzhou. Or are you just here to take advantage of the occasion? Even if no one talks about this kind of thing publicly, people will naturally have opinions on this situation. Compared with what the Haihan people have been doing in Danzhou, people can tell which one is better and which one is worse as long as they are not blind.
After Yan Mingjun had breakfast, he put on his official uniform and went to the front yard, where he saw the government officials bringing in table cases, plaques and other things originally used in the Danzhou government office lobby. The courtyard prepared by Haihan was originally used by the East Factory, and it also had a small court hall. However, if the state government lobby and other things were to be crammed into it, the place would seem a bit cramped.
When Yan Mingjun saw this, he could only laugh at himself: "That's good, otherwise the place would be too big, and you guys would look empty standing in the courtroom."
Although the office space has been arranged, ironically, there is no official business that Yan Mingjun needs to handle at the moment. At present, the military and political affairs within the jurisdiction of Danzhou are managed and coordinated by the Danzhou Provisional Management Committee. If Yan Mingjun wants to have something to do, he can only wait for the management committee to transfer the official business that needs to be handled to him. Of course, judging from the attitude he showed at the reception banquet yesterday, the Management Committee will definitely not take the initiative to fulfill his wish in a short period of time.
Yan Mingjun himself is not a person who lives idle, otherwise he would not have gone to great lengths to find an alternate official position thousands of miles away. Not long after sitting in the temporary yamen, Yan Mingjun simply went back to the backyard and changed into casual clothes. Then he asked the yamen servants to disperse and rest, but he only called the leader He Qi.
"He Qi, are you familiar with the local people?" Yan Mingjun planned to go out incognito for a private visit, but he still had to be accompanied by someone familiar with the situation, and in his opinion, He Qi was the only one around him for the time being. It's a little bit more believable.
He Qi responded: "My lord, I am from Danzhou. If you want to go out to visit the people, I am willing to be your follower."
"That's very good." Yan Mingjun nodded and said, "Go and change your clothes and go out for a walk with me."
He Qi also changed into casual clothes, and then the two of them left the temporary yamen. Regarding how to respond to the various requirements put forward by the new officials, the relevant departments of Haihan conducted simple training for He Qi in advance. Similar to the behavior of incognito private visits, Haihan's order to He Qi was to let him go, as long as he arranged for personnel to monitor him closely. Of course, since Mr. Yan Ming pointed the finger at himself, He Qi did not intend to let others earn the overtime pay.
As the cultural center of Qiongzhou Island, Danzhou is quite lively in the city. The damage caused by last year's war in the city was actually quite limited, and was mainly concentrated in the government office area in the north of the city. However, He Qi took Yan Mingjun to the business district and cultural district in the south of the city. Not only did there not be any traces of the war, but it was because of the strong intervention of Haihan Trading after the war that the market here became It was more lively and prosperous than before the war.
Yan Mingjun casually entered a few shops on the roadside, and easily noticed that at least half of the items sold in these shops were produced by Haihan, and these items were obviously much cheaper than similar products produced by Daming. The similar Haihan products that Yan Mingjun saw in Luoding Prefecture were also much lower. Of course, this reason is very simple. After all, the cost of transporting goods from Sanya to Danzhou is two completely different concepts from transporting goods to inland Guangdong.
However, these products, which are extremely price-competitive in inland Guangdong, are sold at lower prices here, so you can imagine how high their market share is. After Yan Mingjun visited several stores, he found that daily necessities such as rice, salt, and coal seemed to have been monopolized by Haihan goods. He is not just a stupid person who only wants to take advantage of others. After all, he is an official with experience in local governance. He still has a certain sensitivity to such monopolistic management.
Putting aside the complicated economic principles, if Qiongzhou Island gradually breaks away from its dependence on the mainland in terms of material supply, how can the imperial court control this overseas enclave? It is obviously impossible to rely on military means. Qiongbei is already in this situation, not to mention Qiongnan is the home base of the Haihan people. It is not practical to rely on the people's support. There are tens of thousands of Li and Miao people on this island who are at odds with the Ming Dynasty. Now judging from the situation in Danzhou, the people's support seems to be gradually drifting away from the Ming Dynasty. However, the Haihan people have used various methods to support the Ming Dynasty. Various "tricks" have attracted many fans. The only remaining method is simple administrative orders. However, Yan Mingjun's own experience has shown that this method has failed locally. He is now completely ignored, and he does not even have the means to resist.
After leaving the shop, Yan Mingjun asked He Qi: "I heard that there is also an official salt farm in Danzhou. Why are all the salts on the market labeled as produced by Haihan?"
He Qi responded: "Returning to Mr. Yan, the local salt farm stopped production two years ago. Since then, local vendors have only sold the refined salt produced by Haihan."
"Is the local salt farm unable to operate because the price is not as good as Haihan salt?" Yan Mingjun is also considered a smart person. Based on what he just saw, he deduced the correct answer.
He Qi said: "Your Majesty, this Haihan salt is nearly 30% cheaper than local salt, and it is much finer. Naturally, local salt merchants choose the cheaper ones. As time goes by, the salt farmers in the local salt fields lose their income, and naturally They refused to continue working. The Haihan people offered to hire these salt farmers away and send them to work in their own salt fields. ”
Yan Mingjun said: "The Salt Class Office is far away in Guangzhou, so it must not be able to control the Haihan people's trafficking in illegal salt on Qiongzhou Island. However, the Haihan people set the price of salt so low, so how can they support so many salt households?"< br>
He Qi was aware that the Haihan people were not only selling illicit salt on Qiongzhou Island, but people in most places across the strait in Leizhou, Lianzhou, and Gaozhou were also eating Haihan salt. Besides, the Haihan people's salt transportation teams are all armed escorts, and the island's shipping is even openly smuggling under the banner of the Ming Dynasty Navy. So what will happen to them even if the salt class is brought?
"Sir Yan, although I have never been to the salt fields of the Haihan people, I have heard that their salt fields are quite large. The ones that dry the salt are not the stone troughs used in the local salt fields. They are all large pools several feet square, and made of The salt method requires much less labor than the traditional salt production method, and the salt produced is ten times better than that of the Ming Dynasty salt farmers. Therefore, the price is low but there is still a huge profit." He Xi slandered, but he still stayed the same. He answered Yan Mingjun's question according to what he knew. "Then the same is true for rice, pig iron, and coal?" Yan Mingjun continued to ask.
He Qi responded: "It's as expected, sir."
Although Yan Mingjun had expected it, he was still a little frustrated when he heard He Qi's answer. These commodities needed for people's livelihood are all controlled by Haihan. If Ming wants to regain local control, it cannot be solved by simple administrative or military means. Otherwise, even if Danzhou is taken back, there will still be chaos among the people if the local area does not have enough supplies of daily necessities.
Yan Mingjun shook his head and had no interest in visiting the shops anymore. He turned around and walked to a teahouse, intending to take a rest. The waiter saw that Yan Mingjun was not dressed like a commoner and had an entourage with him, so he invited the two of them to the private seats on the second floor. Yan Mingjun didn't have any airs, so He Qi also sat down.
The seats were separated by screens. After the waiter served hot tea and cakes, Yan Mingjun heard people at the next table talking about the appointment of a new official, and he immediately pricked up his ears.
Then I heard one of them say: "This time the imperial court has sent two new adults to Danzhou to take up their posts. It seems that the imperial court still has no intention of abandoning this place."
Another slightly thicker voice responded: "What the court plans to do is no longer the focus. How the situation in Danzhou will turn out in the future depends on what the Haihan people want."
The man asked before: "Brother Zheng, do you have any inside information?"
The man called Brother Zheng said: "Yesterday, my father also went to attend the reception banquet for the two new adults. After he came back, he briefly talked about the situation at that time. From now on, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will not be able to make the final decision in Danzhou."< br>
"How do you say this?"
"The two adults who came to Danzhou to take over this time came without money and soldiers. When they got here, they wanted to take over the power from the Haihan people. What would you do if you were a Haihan person? Management Committee Director Zhang was not polite at all and rejected the new Master Yan's request on the spot. No one at the three tables stood up to speak for the new Zhizhou. My father said that if Master Yan hadn't surrendered immediately, it would have been difficult. Director Zhang will fall out with him on the spot. In that case, it will take two or three months before the next governor is sent."
This statement was immediately approved by others: "Brother Zheng is right. I think Mr. Xue, who was a Tongzhi of Danzhou, refused to cooperate with the Haihan Management Committee. He also said that Haihan would be elected by himself. The leader was brought to justice, but he disappeared from Danzhou City within a few days. The Haihan people said that he had colluded with pirates and fled privately, but I didn't believe it."
"Be careful what you say! Under the rule of Haihan, such words are not allowed to be spoken carelessly!" Someone immediately stopped the loudmouth who spoke freely.
The people at the table were talking excitedly, but Yan Mingjun on the other side of the screen was sweating coldly. The degree of lawlessness of the Hai Han people in Danzhou has exceeded his imagination. Fortunately, he did not tell the truth on that occasion yesterday, otherwise the people who came to the door early this morning were probably not the government officials who had returned to work, but the Hai Han people who came to arrest him. Militia?
Yan Mingjun suppressed his displeasure and continued to listen. The table next door talked about almost all local current affairs, but more than half of them were related to the Haihan people, and he learned a lot from this.
Yan Mingjun listened for about half an hour before confirming the identity of the people at the next table. Almost all of them were local second-generation officials and rich second-generation people. Most of these people were in awe of Haihan, and some were disgusted with it, but the degree was not strong. This is also because their family has various interests entangled with Haihan, and it is difficult to tell the pros and cons of Haihan's arrival for them.
But these people have a very consistent attitude on one thing, that is, they must not offend the Haihan people easily, because whether it is themselves or the family background behind them, they must act based on the faces of the Haihan people. Their family interests are also closely related to Haihan. In this regard, Ming's influence once again lagged far behind Haihan.
Later, the conversation of these people gradually deviated to the trivial matters of life. Yan Mingjun was no longer interested in listening anymore and asked He Qi to settle the bill. The two of them left the teahouse and walked slowly towards the south gate. Not far away, someone shouted from behind: "Brother Yan!"
Yan Mingjun turned around and saw Li Jinzheng, who was also in casual clothes, striding over: "I also said that I would go find you for dinner, but your family said that you came out and asked me to find you easily!"
Yan Mingjun said: "Brother Li, what do you want from me?"
"Go and have a look over there." Li Jin pointed to the south gate: "I have asked about it. The barracks of the Danzhou garrison used to be under the south gate. I just happened to have a look at it when I have nothing to do."
(End of chapter)