Chapter 832 Cautious Xu Xinsu
Shi Diwen thought to himself, we just want to sell the weapons to the north, but we are just worried that they will fall into the hands of pirates, so we haven't done it yet. However, it was not convenient to say this clearly for the time being. He pondered for a while before asking again: "According to what you said, in addition to pirates, there are also officials who collude with pirates, so it's hard for us to start! Isn't there nothing we can use? People?”
"It depends on what effect you want to achieve." Xu Yuzhuo explained: "If you just want to clear the local sea area and scare Xiaoxiao, it is actually very simple. Just send troops to fight all the way, and no one can stop you. . But if you want to get the approval of the Zhejiang government and do business there in the future, it will be more troublesome because there are too many people involved. If you want to eliminate the local pirates, you will definitely hurt the interests of some people and recruit people. Jealousy is inevitable.”
Shi Diwen said: "General Xu means that high-level local government officials are involved?"
Xu Yuzhuo hesitated before nodding, acquiescing to Shi Diwen's statement. For local powerful people, pirates are a very useful tool. All the work that cannot be done on the table can be left to the pirates, and you only need to control the situation behind the scenes and collect money on time. Occasionally, there are a few unsociable officials who will be quickly eliminated by the superiors and subordinates together, and they will definitely not stay in the local area for long.
Shi Diwen said: "Then we should settle for the next best thing. We don't need big names, just small people who are worthy of support. Please don't worry about it, General Xu. When we asked Master Xu to cooperate, it was not because we liked him at that time." It’s just that we think he is trustworthy and worthy of our investment in supporting him. As long as there is a suitable candidate, we can replicate this process in Zhejiang.”
When Haihan first contacted Xu Xinsu, he was just a low-level officer who had just spent several thousand taels of silver to buy a general military position in the Fujian Navy. If Haihan had not put in a lot of effort to support him, he would have been killed by Shiba Zhi on the battlefield as early as 1628, and there would have been no chance of him climbing all the way to the rank of Fujian General Soldier. Xu Xinsu's current position and power is indeed largely due to Haihan's continuous military assistance over the years. The Haihan people know this, and the Xu family members also know it.
Shi Diwen used Xu Xinsu as an example, which is indeed very convincing. Since Haihan has the ability to lift a navy commander all the way to the position of commander-in-chief of a province, of course he can also try to support a commander in Zhejiang. Or a few local spokespeople. The big shots may not be willing to cooperate with Haihan because of various inseparable interests or favors, but the people below may not all be of the same mind. There will always be some who have ambitions or other intentions and take risks to gain power. What Haihan needs now is to find support objects like this.
Xu Yuzhuo said: "I am only responsible for military affairs, and I don't know much about the official news in Zhejiang. It would be really difficult for me to recommend candidates!"
Seeing the disappointment on Shi Diwen's face, Xu Yuzhuo quickly added: "However, my father has a dedicated person in charge of this matter, and there must be candidates, but the matter still needs to be reported to my father for him to make a decision. ”
"Of course it should be. Mr. Xu has made up his mind. It's easier for us errand boys to do things!" Shi Diwen nodded. Haihan originally planned to communicate with Xu Xinsu about his plan to attack Zhejiang. The reason why he came to Xu Yuzhuo first was to explore the attitude of the Fujian military first. Now that Xu Yuzhuo has put forward the conditions for a share of the pie on behalf of his family, the subsequent details can be communicated and discussed bit by bit.
When Shi Diwen listened to Xu Yuzhuo's detailed description of the various situations in Zhejiang, he had already thought of his family, or the Fujian military. There must be secret intelligence agencies carrying out relevant operations, but he lacked an opportunity to collect them. Use intelligence information. Maybe the Xu family had secretly trained some people in Zhejiang, but the time had not come yet and they did not dare to publicize it easily, or they themselves had not thought about how to act locally to gain benefits for Fujian.
Although this matter ultimately depends on Xu Xinsu's attitude, Shi Diwen is not worried about it. He had dealt with Xu Xinsu two years ago, and he could feel the ambition that could not be hidden in the other person. If there was an opportunity to expand his power to surrounding provinces, he believed that Xu Xinsu would not miss such an opportunity. What's more, this time it was Haihan who proposed it on his own initiative. Xu Xinsu didn't need to come forward directly. All he needed was the appropriate cooperation from the Fujian military.
Now that the general direction had been agreed upon, Shi Diwen was not in a hurry. However, Xu Yuzhuo did not want to waste time, so he revised a letter in front of Shi Diwen and then asked someone to send it back to Zhangzhou immediately. Xu Yuzhuo thought that Shi Diwen immediately transferred to Zhangzhou after arriving in Penghu. It was obvious that Haihan was more anxious about this matter. Shi Diwen didn't say anything, but he couldn't pretend not to understand.
The waterway from Zhongzuo to Zhangzhou City is less than a hundred miles. The messenger sent by Xu Yuzhuo set off by boat and arrived at the dock outside Zhangzhou City at dawn the next day. There was no delay after getting off the ship, and he directly used the token to call the carriage specially used for emergency matters on the dock. There is no need to check when arriving at the city gate. The defenders at the city gate will open the gate to let the car pass. When Xu Xinsu got up early in the morning and went to the yard to exercise, the messenger delivered Xu Yuzhuo's letter.
"Haihan people finally couldn't hold it any longer!" Xu Xinsu returned to the study and read the letter, feeling very good for a while.
As an official, Xu Xinsu had no choice but to go to the capital if he wanted to be promoted. However, he did not intend to let go of his career in Fujian and become a clay Buddha in the Ministry of War. Therefore, in the past year, someone from the Ministry of War sent a letter to solicit him. He said that his body was not adapted to the northern climate and he was unwilling to be transferred to the north. After all, here in Fujian, he can follow his words and make millions of dollars in money through various trades every year. Everything he wants can be realized. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a local emperor.
However, the Xu family's current maritime trade scale is far from reaching Xu Xinsu's own goals. He believes that his family's sea trade business seems to be prosperous, but in fact it is extremely restricted. Except for Hainan Island, which is directly controlled by seafarers, the trading environment in neighboring areas to the south and north is not ideal.
The vast majority of sea trade in Guangdong is controlled by the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce headed by "Fu Ruifeng". Although the business firm under Xu's name is also one of the thirteen shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa", it is closely related to the large merchants in Guangdong. It can be regarded as a friendship between colleagues, but Xu's sea trade business in Guangdong is still subject to many restrictions. Of course, there is nothing to say about this. When Guangdong businessmen arrive in Fujian, they also have to abide by the various rules set by the Xu family, and everyone is just treating each other.
As for the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas in the north, the situation is even far worse than that of Guangdong. At least the competition in Guangdong is fierce, but with Haihan presiding over the situation, the maritime merchants in Fujian and Guangzhou will never face each other because of competition. On the contrary, There are many opportunities for cooperative investment. It is much more difficult for Jiangsu and Zhejiang to get involved, and they have to be on guard at all times, as they might one day be taken advantage of by pirates. The situation in the south is actually not bad. Xu Xinsu's current main trading partner is Haihan. The direct route from Fujian to Hainan is similar to the one to Manila City in Luzon Island in the past. The trade volume with Haihan is at least as high as that with the Spanish in the past. More than ten times. At the same time, with the help of Hainan Island as a trade transfer station, Xu Xinsu was able to open up trade channels from Fujian to Annan, Champa and other Indochina Peninsula regions. The trade volume has increased many times compared to a few years ago.
In addition to daily caution in the north, Xu Xinsu's biggest headache is actually that the route to the north is stuck at this location. The Haihan people occupied the island of Taiwan and needed a large number of immigrants to move to the area for development. Xu Xinsu was very interested in participating in this matter. However, the cost of recruiting immigrants from Fujian is too high, and it is far less cost-effective than transporting cheap refugees from the Central Plains back boat by boat from the north. The more people are transported back, the faster the development of plantations on Taiwan Island will be. quick. However, the Zhoushan Islands were stuck in the middle of the shipping route, which greatly increased the cost of population transportation and the navigation risks of the fleet, which made Xu Xinsu feel quite resentful.
News came back from Penghu a few days ago that after the Haihan people opened a port in southern Taiwan, they went to war non-stop with the Folangji people who occupied the north. In less than twenty days, they had completely driven out the Folangji people. Taiwan Island, which means that this large island with an area of about one-third of Fujian has completely fallen under Haihan's control.
Xu Xinsu still had some idea of why the Haihan people wanted to take Taiwan Island. As early as more than two years ago, the Haihan people had implicitly expressed their interest in Taiwan Island to him. At that time, Xu Xinsu wanted to expel the Shibazhi from the Fujian Strait as soon as possible. For this reason, even Penghu could be handed over to Haihan's control, not to mention Taiwan Island, which was not under the rule of the Ming Dynasty in the first place. If the Haihan people want to take over this wild island, in addition to setting up plantations, they must also use it as a springboard to expand their sphere of influence eastward and northward. In recent months, the Haihan people first went south to build a port in Kaohsiung, and then went north to expel the Folangji people. This series of actions is obviously intended to bring Taiwan Island and its surrounding waters under their own control, and then continue to do so in this way. The way continues to expand outward.
The Haihan people wanted to expand their sphere of influence northward, which was also one of Xu Xinsu's goals. The interests of both parties coincided. Xu Xinsu was actually waiting for Haihan to take the initiative to discuss the matter with him, but he didn't expect it to come so quickly.
"Give me the order to go to sea today and inspect the Zhongzuo Station!" Xu Xinsu made a decision quickly. He knew how much information his son had. Xu Yuzhuo was definitely unable to discuss the specific operational details with the Haihan people. He, the person in charge, had to come forward to discuss the details with the Haihan people. Shi Diwen came to Fujian twice the year before and last, and Xu Xinsu met with him both times. She also knew that Shi Diwen had a high status in the Haihan Army, so it was not a loss of status for her to take the initiative to go from Zhangzhou to see him. .
Xu Xinsu's inspection out of the city would not be as simple and convenient as Xu Yuzhuo's sending a messenger. Just preparing his guard of honor, gathering his entourage and personal guards, and mobilizing relevant ships took more than an hour, and this was already considered an extremely fast move. It's time. By the time Xu Xinsu left the city and boarded the ship, it was almost noon. Although the fleet he patrolled was not too large, it still had six ships. The flagship was an exploration-class warship purchased from Haihan, and there were also three Fu ships, a troop transport ship and a supply and rescue ship. , the sailors and soldiers plus the entourage totaled about four hundred people.
However, the fleet went out to sea by going downstream, and this journey was much faster than when the messenger came. When the sun set that day, the outline of Gulangyu Island could already be seen by the ship at the front.
Shi Diwen did not expect that Xu Xinsu would come so quickly. After talking to Xu Yuzhuo yesterday, the official rushed over today. This efficiency is indeed much higher than that of the Ming Dynasty bureaucrats in this era. At the same time, it can be seen that Xu Xinsu has a deep love for Hai Han's suggestions are very interesting, which can be regarded as good news.
Xu Xinsu is a very pragmatic person. After arriving at the official residence in the city, she only asked the kitchen to prepare a table of simple wine and food, and asked all the servants to retreat, leaving only the Xu family father and son and Shi Diwen present. After Xu Xinsu and Shi Diwen sat down and toasted each other, he took the initiative to bring up the topic: "General Shi, if my understanding is correct, Haihan's preparation to go north this time is the intention of the executive committee, right?"< br>
Xu Xinsu can be regarded as a Ming official who has a deep understanding of Haihan's power system. He knows that Haihan's highest authority is the Executive Committee. Now that he wants to take serious action with Zhejiang, he must confirm that this is indeed from the Haihan Executive Committee. The decision was not made by the Haihan military itself.
"Don't worry, Sir Xu. The matters I came to discuss with you this time have all been discussed and approved by the Executive Committee." Shi Diwen calmly took out a document and put it in front of Xu Xinsu. : "This is the authorization letter from the Executive Committee. Please take a look at it."
Xu Xinsu picked it up and scanned the contents. When she saw that the signature was stamped with Haihan's unique round carrot seal, she said with a smile: "This matter is of great importance, so we must be cautious. Please forgive me, General Shi."
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"Master Xu is mature and prudent, so he should check the authorization letter." Shi Diwen thought to himself. Fortunately, Yan Chujie was more cautious before setting off from Sanya, and went to the executive committee to get an authorization letter. He was afraid that Xu Xinsu, an old fox, would be suspicious. , it really came in handy here.
Xu Xinsu said: "It's not that I'm suspicious and can't trust General Shi. It's because this matter may require the use of some hidden stakes that I have deployed deeply in Zhejiang. Once the identities of these people are exposed, it will be difficult to continue to stay there in the future. There are many things at stake. I have to be careful about a person’s future and destiny.”
(End of chapter)