Chapter 867 Shifting Focus
Yan Guowei's response strategy is to remain unchanged in response to changes, in other words, to delay until the situation becomes clear. At present, he can only understand the general situation of Liuheng Island. He knows that the three groups of Haihan people, Shipu Suo, and Sanlin Gang have colluded together. But what is the specific situation and how the situation will develop next? For the time being, he It is difficult to make clear judgments, and we do not want to take the risk of taking responsibility when making decisions.
Although Zhejiang Dusi is the superior agency of Chang Guowei, Yan Guowei, the dignified commander of the guards, is not a little person who can be manipulated. At least in this three-acre land of Xiangshan County, what he says is definitely more effective than the official documents of Zhejiang Dusi . Unless Zhejiang Dusi comes to investigate and deal with it on his own, the official explanation for the Liuheng Island matter will still fall on Chang Guowei's side. Whether it is a private fight among the people or a bandit suppression by officers and soldiers, Yan Guowei does not want to rush to characterize this matter, because he has a vague hunch that the appearance of the Haihan people will not only bring trouble, but may also bring some potential benefits. . The Lin brothers from the Sanlin Gang and Ma Ling from the Shipu Institute are both followers of the trend. They can never get involved with the Haihan people for no reason. There must be some objective factors that prompted them to make such a choice. .
But Yan Guowei would not just sit around and wait. He ordered his men to go to Shipu Port and Xinshuangyu Port on Liuheng Island to inquire about the news. He also ordered Qiancang and Juexi guard posts to enter a state of war preparation. On the surface, he also sent an official document to Shipu, encouraging Ma Ling's approach and asking him to go to Chang Guowei as soon as possible to explain the specific situation. Yan Guowei knew that Ma Ling would probably not respond to the call, but it was necessary to show Chang Guowei's concern to Ma Ling in this way, lest these people continue to treat Chang Guowei as if they were nothing.
On April 28, Shinobu Motegi, the leader of the Sea Sand Gang who had been on the run on Liuheng Island for many days, and his men appeared in the northern part of the island. They were discovered by the stationed Sanlin Gang while searching for supplies, and were soon surrounded by hundreds of armed men in a civilian house. After a symbolic attempt to persuade them to surrender, the Sanlin Gang launched an attack. In the end, all 27 Shinobu Motegi and his men were killed. All their heads were cut off and put in boxes, and sent to the south of the island that same day. The coalition command reported the success.
"Lin Xing is a very prudent person." After Qian Tiandun ordered someone to examine the sent head, he was quite satisfied with the result. Although it took four days to eliminate this remnant bandit, this was an operation organized and completed by the Sanlin Gang on its own without the intervention of the coalition forces. It was considered a pass to achieve such a result. At least during this period, Motegi Shinobu The others did not cause any more trouble to the coalition forces on the island.
"General Qian, are these heads also sent to Changguowei?" Ma Ling was the person responsible for inspecting the heads. Although he was a little unwilling to hear Qian Tiandun's praise of Lin Xing, he still asked for instructions honestly.
A wave of heads harvested on Liuheng Island a few days ago was sent to Changguowei by boat yesterday. Unexpectedly, another wave of fresh heads were harvested today. This is also a means for the command to divert the attention of the outside world. After so many heads are sent to Changguo Guard, how the commander of the guard handles them will become the focus of public attention. Whether to report military exploits or to blame his subordinates for indiscriminate killings, this problem is left to Ma Ling's boss Yan Guowei.
"Send it, of course you have to send it!" Qian Tiandun ordered: "But this time don't just send the head. Later you go to the military supplies department to get 10,000 taels of silver, and send it to Changguowei together. See if your boss accepts it. Receive.”
"Based on my understanding, Master Yan will definitely collect the money even if he doesn't take these heads." Ma Ling responded. He could roughly figure out the intention of the Han people who went to the sea, which was to test Yan Guowei's attitude by throwing stones at people's heads and money.
The hundreds of heads sent for the first time were undoubtedly a warning to Yan Guowei not to easily intervene in the affairs of Liuheng Island. As for the second delivery of both heads and money, it depends on how Yan Guowei chooses. If Yan Guowei accepts the money, there will be room for negotiation on subsequent matters. If he is resolute and unwilling to cooperate with Haihan, then Haihan people will surely have other means to deal with him. But in the final analysis, Ma Ling still hopes that Yan Guowei will not be confused for a moment and provoke the great god Haihan. Otherwise, the Haihan people will attack Changguowei again in anger, and they will not be able to make up a story like Shipu Port to settle the matter.
"As long as he is willing to collect money, it will be easy." Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "I will leave it to you to deal with the communication with Chang Guowei. Remember, you can make any arrangement that you think is unfavorable to you. Choose not to ignore it. If you work for us now, we will embarrass you. Do you understand?”
"I understand, I understand! Thank you General Qian for taking care of me!" Ma Ling responded hurriedly.
Although doing things for the Haihan people feels a bit humiliating, at least the Haihan people keep their word, and if they say they are covered, then they are really covered tightly, and there is no leakage. The official document from Chang Guowei asking Ma Ling to explain the situation was sent directly to Liuheng Island. After Qian Tiandun read it, he crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the wastebasket in front of Ma Ling, and said lightly, " Don't bother with it." This arrogance shocked Ma Ling so much that he didn't dare to say anything at the time - at least Yan Guowei would never dare to deal with the official document sent by Zhejiang Dusi in this way in front of him.
Of course, the Haihan people were not under the direct jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty government, so it was reasonable not to give them this face. But Ma Ling could clearly feel that the overseas Han people did not maintain enough respect for the Ming Dynasty like other overseas visitors, but always showed a condescending sense of superiority.
Ma Ling later discussed this issue privately with Lin Xing. Lin Xing's answer at the time was quite interesting: "Do you have as much money as the Haihan people? Can you beat the Haihan people with force? If you can't beat them, they will have a sense of superiority." Not for granted?”
Although Lin Xing's words have certain limitations, they are rough and rational, which to a certain extent also reflects the current strength comparison between the two sides. Although the Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, when it comes to a province, except that the population is definitely larger than that of the Haihan controlled area, most of the other comparable parameters are at a disadvantage, especially the economic and military aspects that depend on productivity and technological level. Han even has an absolute advantage. People outside the Haihan system, such as Ma Ling and Lin Xing, did not understand how such a situation came to be, but they had indeed felt Haihan's super strength in these aspects from their brief contact.
One of these two people is an armed smuggler and the other is a border guard officer. They both have their own opinions on how much money it will cost to build the fleet coming to Zhejiang. And at least one thing is that the two have reached a consensus - Zhejiang The government would never be able to build and maintain a combat fleet of the same size, let alone send it to fight in an unfamiliar environment thousands of miles away. The proficiency shown by the Haihan people in combat also shows that they are by no means nouveau riche who rely solely on sharp guns to fight, but are well-trained professional troops with clear combat objectives. The elite troops from the Ming Dynasty's capital camp might be able to fight with them, but it's hard to find any troops in Zhejiang that can match them.
It is difficult for the government and the army to match, let alone these chaotic civilian armed forces in the East China Sea. After Lin Xing witnessed the Haihan Militia's process of putting down the Haisha Gang, he was convinced that there would no longer be any force in the Zhoushan Islands that could stop Haihan. The only thing he was not sure about was how long it would take the Haihan Militia to put down the gang. Just a piece of sea area. Therefore, his advice to Ma Ling was to hold this thigh tightly and try to pull Chang Guowei into the water up and down when necessary.
Yan Guowei really didn't know whether to laugh or cry after receiving the pirate heads sent by Ma Ling. Of course, he could realize that this was Ma Ling's conscious attempt to shirk the blame and leave the official direction of the matter in his own hands. If Yan Guowei suppresses this matter and does not report it to the police, then the Zhejiang Metropolitan Police Department will certainly have to trouble Yan Guowei first in order to investigate the responsibility. If he reported his gains in the suppression of bandits, then Ma Ling would undoubtedly have made a great contribution, but the big shots in Dusi who had interests in the Haisha Gang would definitely put this account on his head, Yan Guowei.
Yan Guowei has another way out, which is to simply report Ma Ling to the superiors for killing Liang Liang and taking credit for the crime, putting all the relevant responsibilities on Ma Ling, and by the way, clearing up his involvement in the Liuheng Island incident. But there is a huge hidden danger in doing so, that is, Ma Ling will completely push Ma Ling to the side of the Haihan people and pit herself against Haihan. This is not a wise decision when the current situation is unclear. It's not that he is afraid that the Haihan people will raise troops to attack Chang Guowei, but it is currently unclear whether there are other hidden forces behind the combined efforts of the Haihan, Sanlin Gang and Shipu Institute. After all, there are almost no armed forces in the East China Sea. Everyone has a backer, and no one can say whether this Liuheng Island incident will be inspired by some big shot in the officialdom. Yan Guowei is about to retire and has no pursuit of further advancement. He only wants to wait until the end of his career in peace, so he will avoid risks as much as possible in advance.
Before Yan Guowei could think about it properly, Ma Ling's men sent a second batch of heads, including the head of the bandit leader Motegi Shinobu. Yan Guowei has also met Motegi Shinobu several times. This Japanese Japanese has an expressionless face all day long. He doesn't know whether it's because he was born with facial paralysis or because the whole world owes him money. He seems to be difficult to deal with. He didn't expect that he would be killed in the sea this time. In the hands of Han people.
Yan Guowei didn't know that when Haihan attacked Liuheng Island, Motegi Shinobu escaped from the encirclement. He thought that the head was deliberately sent in two parts, and the 10,000 taels of silver sent with the head this time were Yan Guowei thought about it for a long time.
What Yan Guowei was thinking about was not whether to accept the money, but how to explain what happened on Liuheng Island to the Zhejiang Capital Commander's Office after accepting the money. He thought for a long time but still couldn't make up his mind, and finally had to ask his staff, Mr. Zhang, to help with the details.
Master Zhang was also a sensible person. After hearing the whole story, he asked directly: "Your Excellency, you want to accept this money, but you are worried that you won't be able to explain it to your superiors?"
Yan Guowei nodded silently, agreeing with Master Zhang's guess.
Master Zhang thought for a while and said: "Why do you need to worry about this matter? As for what is said in the official document handed over by Ma Qianhu, I can just copy it. Or simply send Ma Qianhu's official document directly to Hangzhou, and the above You can think whatever you like. This matter was not instigated by your Majesty and Chang Guowei was not involved. It was all done by Ma Qianhu alone."
"How to deal with the head?" Yan Guowei thought it made sense and asked again.
"The head is indeed a difficult problem, so I leave it to the adults of the Capital Command and Envoy Department to handle it." Master Zhang explained: "They think it is war merit, that is merit, and they think it is killing a good person and taking merit, that is merit. Mistake. But regardless of merit or demerit, it is all done by Ma Qianhu. There is no need for you to take credit or take the blame for others.”
Yan Guowei hesitated and said: "I am afraid that this statement will not be convincing to the people in Dusi."
Master Zhang said: "If you don't believe it, then that's because there is something wrong with Ma Qianhu's words, and it has nothing to do with you. Didn't the Dusi want to summon Ma Qianhu? Then let's tell the truth. The person who did not abide by the military order is Ma Qianhu, isn't it? Your Excellency!”
"But if this happens, I will inevitably be hated by others!" Yan Guowei was still hesitant.
"Sir, as a commander, the most you can do is resign next year. Even if someone has a grudge against you, what will happen?" Master Zhang was so anxious that he was about to knock on the table: "The hater can still rob the money. Can’t leave? ”
Yan Guowei thought about it and realized that it was true. Money didn't matter in these messy things. Even if someone in Dusi hated him for this, there would be no time for the other party to slowly find an opportunity to target him. As soon as I get these ten thousand taels of silver, I can build a yard with three acres of land in my hometown and buy hundreds of acres of land. When the time comes, it won't matter whether a horse kills a cow or a cow kills a horse in the East China Sea. Mr. Yan is enjoying peace and happiness in the countryside.
"I'll do as you say. Write an official letter to the Zhejiang Dusi. They want to come to inspect the head, so they send someone to inspect it. If they want to find Ma Ling, let them send someone to the East China Sea to find it. I'll take it. With this amount of money, you can't offend either of them, just pretend to be deaf and dumb." Yan Guowei made up his mind and gave the order to Master Zhang. At the end, he generously rewarded Master Zhang with twenty taels of silver for his contribution to the plan. .
Yan Guowei kicked the ball back to Zhejiang Dusi as soon as he signed the official document. Although the stakeholders in Dusili were extremely dissatisfied with Chang Guowei's attitude, they had no effective way to change the status quo. They could only send people to Ningbo to investigate the truth of the matter.
While the Ming army was still wrangling internally, the Ningbo government had already begun private activities. The Sanlin Gang acted as a go-between and arranged for the prefect's staff to go to the island to meet secretly with the Haihan people to discuss a solution to the matter.
(End of chapter)