Chapter 869 Useless Negotiations
He Xiao had not read the report Ma Ling submitted to Chang Guowei, and did not know the dispute between Shipu Guards and the Haihan people. However, seeing that Qian Tiandun was so confident, he could roughly deduce that Ma Qianhu was stationed in the army. Which side is it. He originally didn't believe that the Ming Dynasty's military was involved in this matter, but since the head of the military was on the island, he could meet and explore the truth.
Ma Ling originally had nothing to do on the island. The reason why he stayed here was that the Haihan people were worried about letting him return to Shipu Port and kept him under their noses under surveillance; on the other hand, they also wanted to find him a The reason for suppressing bandits is to avoid the call from his superiors, so he will not report to Changguo Guard for the time being. So he had nothing else to do these days besides watching the Haihan fleet coming and going at the dock. He rushed to the headquarters quickly after receiving the news.
He Xiao was an aide to the prefect of Ningbo, so he naturally knew about Ma Ling. However, Ma Ling had rarely dealt with the prefect Yan Guowei, but he did not recognize He Xiao, so Lin Xing was the one who introduced them. After sitting down, Qian Tiandun asked Ma Ling to tell He Xiao what happened again.
Regarding this set of rhetoric, Ma Ling has been thinking about it over and over again in the past few days. He has also tried his best to find ways to make up for some of the obvious loopholes in his words. What was said to He Xiao at this time was much richer than the official document submitted to Chang Guowei. Even Qian Tiandun nodded from time to time as a sign of approval for Ma Ling's performance.
After hearing Ma Ling's description, He Xiao had a relatively clearer understanding of the entire incident. Although he was still dubious about some of Ma Ling's remarks, there were a few things that were certain.
The first is that the Haisha Gang has indeed finished its game. Judging from the information learned so far, the Haihan people should be the masterminds, and the Sanlin Gang and Shipu Guards are just helping the Haihan people.
Second, the Haihan people had no intention of leaving Zhejiang after cleaning up the Haisha Gang, but planned to settle here.
Third, this matter is not over yet. The Haihan people believe that there are still accomplices from the Haisha Gang in the East China Sea. The Haihan people will not stop until all these accomplices are resolved. Although the Liuheng Island incident has caused a great disturbance, it may be just the beginning of a great change.
This kind of trouble is definitely a situation that the local government does not want to see. If the East China Sea is in chaos, Ningbo's maritime trade will be significantly affected. The entire Ningbo Prefecture has a population of hundreds of thousands who live by the sea. When the time comes, the government will have no way to suppress large-scale civil unrest.
But how to stop the Haihan people from continuing to act is a problem for He Xiao. Originally, he planned to use his official status to suppress the Haihan people, but after meeting, he discovered that the Haihan people actually did not have much fear of the Ming government, and they shied away the responsibility from the beginning, saying that he was only assisting the Ming military. Suppress bandits. If He Xiao wants the Haihan people to stop their actions, he must first deal with the military. And this so-called chief messenger Shipu Qianhu Ma Ling clearly looks like he is obeying the Haihan people. It seems that he is completely in the hands of the Haihan people. As a puppet, asking him to order a ban on the Haihan people from carrying out operations in the Zhoushan Islands is tantamount to playing the harp on an ox.
He Xiao didn't know how Chang Guowei and the Zhejiang Dusi above viewed the matter of Liuheng Island, so he didn't dare to criticize Ma Ling's actions at will. He pondered for a while before asking: "Is the suppression of bandits currently being coordinated by Shipu, or is it under the command of Chang Guowei?"
Regarding the issue of responsibility, Ma Ling had already thought about it in advance, and responded after hearing the words: "This matter is temporarily under my own responsibility, but it has been reported to the Changguo Guard. Presumably the commander of the guard, Lord Yan, has also informed the Zhejiang Dusi. After that, The Zhejiang Dusi should still give the orders on how to arrange it. If Mr. He has any questions, he can contact the Zhejiang Dusi.”
Ma Ling deceived He Xiao because of his civilian status, and could not directly ask the top military officials about these matters. If the Ningbo prefect wanted to know which level of the military organization was responsible for this matter, then only Qu Yutong could send an official document to him. Zhejiang Dusi Inquiry. After all this time, it will take at least several days to get the result. After the Ningbo government inquires about the situation, it will send He Xiao to Liuheng Island to negotiate. The Haihan people have taken at least a few more big islands. By dragging this here and there, for a month or two, they will definitely be able to reach the Haihan people in the end. desired result.
With He Xiao's identity, even if he knew that Ma Ling was talking in circles, he couldn't get angry at him. So he could only turn his attention to Qian Tiandun again: "Boss Qian, it is certainly a righteous act to assist the government in suppressing bandits, but this place is under the jurisdiction of Ningbo Prefecture, and your actions should comply with the orders of Ningbo Prefecture. If chaos is caused by suppressing bandits, If you lose the place, then your original intention of sending troops will be lost. What does Boss Qian think?”
"It will not be us who mess up the place, but our opponents." Qian Tiandun said unhurriedly: "We will only bring countless wealth and a safe and orderly trade environment to Ningbo Prefecture. This will The point has been well proven in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian. If Mr. He doesn’t know about it, we can always arrange a boat to take you to the south to experience it.”
Of course, it was impossible for He Xiao to have the leisure to go to the south to investigate at this time. The task he shouldered was to try to figure out the intentions of the Haihan people and restrict their actions as much as possible, instead of being led by the nose by the Haihan people. Qian Tiandun kept going around and refused to respond directly. He Xiao had no choice but to speak more directly: "Boss Qian, I believe you also know who I am here to represent. Regarding your current practices, My adults don’t like it very much. Ningbo Prefecture is not Guangzhou, nor is it Zhangzhou. There are rules here. If you don’t respect the rules here because you think you are powerful, you will be taught a lesson!”
"Lessons? Who will come? Is it your family or the Ningbo garrison?" Qian Tiandun said it back without hesitation, slowly raised his hand and raised two fingers: "We usually only deal with two kinds of people, one is One is a partner, the other is an enemy. So far, all opponents who have tried to be hostile to us and cause us trouble have failed. We are not afraid of any opponent. If you don't believe in evil, you are welcome to give it a try. "< br>
He Xiao didn't expect Qian Tiandun to have such a tough attitude and such a arrogant tone. He was at a loss for words and didn't know how to refute. He really wanted to say that he would send troops to Liuheng Island someday to take in the traitor like you, but looking at Ma Ling opposite, who looked like he was watching a good show with a smile but not a smile, he could only swallow these words back - Jun Fang might have already collaborated with the Haihan people. If the harsh words were brought out first, wouldn't it be a big joke if the military didn't cooperate with the Ningbo government? When Qian Tiandun saw that He Xiao was dumbfounded, he said kindly: "Simple, simple way to ask for money. Isn't what your family is worried about, is that you will get less money in the future? I will give you one now. We promise that as long as your family is willing to cooperate with us, the money you will receive every year will not only be small, but also increase. If you want to take a further step in your career, we will also cooperate and help your family achieve some political achievements, and if necessary. We can help pay for the joint. We have money, it depends on whether your family has the ability to come and get it.”
This is simply blatant bribery! He Xiao could only make this comment on Qian Tiandun's remarks. Although the Sanlin Gang would give money to Qu Yutong in the past, they would never say it publicly, let alone have such a condescending attitude. He Xiao wanted to scold him for being rich, but the Haihan people seemed to be a step ahead of the Ming Dynasty in everything. They wanted money and soldiers, so scolding him like this would not have any other effect besides making him look poor. .
"If your adults are not interested in Haihan's money, that's okay. I think there will always be people in the huge Ningbo Prefecture who are interested. Whoever cooperates with us, we will help him rise to power. Since we can take Mr. Xu from Fujian Send the general to the position of commander-in-chief of a province. Of course, you can also support a prefect in Zhejiang. If one hundred thousand taels is not enough, just two hundred thousand taels. If it is not enough, continue to add more until the person in this position becomes us. As long as the goal can be achieved, the money will be well spent." Qian Tiandun looked at He Xiao with a mocking look on his face and said, "I just don't know if your family will have the confidence to confront us."< br>
He Xiao was angry, but he also knew that what Qian Tiandun said was not all lies. It was rumored that the Chinese in Hainan were as rich as the enemy, and with their arrogant and straightforward acting style, what else could they not do? ? His master, Qu Yutong, was not a native of Zhejiang. If the Haihan people really planned to support local officials separately, then Qu Yutong, as a visitor from a foreign land, would indeed be easily at a disadvantage. Haihan's money may not be able to bring up lower-level officials quickly, but it is not difficult to do something in Ningbo to get Qu Yutong away.
He Xiao adjusted his breathing and tried to calm down. He knew that the opponent he encountered this time was a rare strong man in his career. If he did not deal with it carefully, it would be a small matter to lose face, but it would be a big thing to affect Qu Yutong's career prospects. Judging from the situation discussed so far, although the attitude of the Haihan people is unreasonable and arrogant, at least they did not quarrel with each other as soon as they came up. Moreover, Qian Tiandun clearly proposed that he could exchange money for official support from Ningbo Prefecture. This was actually an offer. conditions. As for whether to accept such conditions, after all, the matter was so important that He Xiao did not dare to make a decision for Qu Yutong.
Silver is a good thing, and He Xiao also knows that his master has always been interested in making money, but the prerequisite for others to give him money is to let Qu Yutong meet some of their requirements. If Qu Yutong can't do it, then give it to him. No amount of money is in vain. Although the Haihan people are famous for being nouveau riche, they are also very shrewd businessmen and cannot give away their money for free. The exchange conditions they want to achieve are probably the basis for cooperation between the two parties.
"I wonder what your conditions are? Boss Qian, can you tell me first?" He Xiao tried his best to keep his tone calm.
"Our conditions are very simple." Qian Tiandun was prepared for this and immediately came one by one: "First, allow Haihan merchants and goods to enter Ningbo Prefecture for normal transactions. Second, allow the Haihan militia to attack the Zhoushan Islands Fight against and integrate pirate gangs and civilian armed forces in the sea area. Third, do not interfere with Haihan’s daily operations in the Zhoushan Islands.”
"That's all?" He Xiao was a little surprised. He originally thought that Qian Tiandun would make some unreasonable demands, such as asking Qu Yutong to endorse their smuggling trade and legalize it. Or they could open up a special port, settlement area, etc. for the Haihan people in Ningbo Prefecture. The only one of these three that is a bit difficult to deal with is the second one, but if the Haihan people act quickly enough, Ningbo Mansion can barely manage to suppress the news.
"We don't need much help from Ningbo officials now, as long as they don't get in the way." Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "As long as we solve the local power division in Zhoushan Islands, the sea trade volume here can at least increase by two. Three times, it will have many benefits for us and the local people in Ningbo. Your adults no longer have to worry about pirates and smugglers fighting in the East China Sea due to uneven distribution of spoils, and they no longer have to fight for the pirates that pile up on the desk every year. The case is troublesome. Once we take control of this area, everything will be peaceful.”
He Xiao couldn't find anything wrong with Qian Tiandun's words, but he always felt that the three conditions proposed by Qian Tiandun were some kind of ambush, which always made him feel uneasy. He Xiao's feeling was actually correct. Qian Tiandun's three seemingly normal requests did indeed contain some hidden tricks.
The first condition is that as long as Haihan's business system can gain access to Ningbo Prefecture, advanced business models will soon be used to change Ningbo's business form, driving local Ningbo and more Zhejiang businessmen to enter Haihan's business and trade. in the system. And when the interests of these people become closely related to Haihan, the local opposition to Haihan will naturally gradually die away.
The purpose of the second condition is actually to find an officially recognized reason for the legal existence of the Haihan Militia in the Zhoushan Islands, so that the Haihan Militia can openly station in the Zhoushan Islands and quickly dismember and annex other armed forces in the area.
The third condition is to lay the groundwork for Haihan to develop the Zhoushan Islands as a colony. In the future, Haihan will open and build a port in Zhoushan and immigrate to farmland. These can be said to be the normal scope of business. Within a few years, these places can be peacefully turned into territories actually occupied by Haihan.
Qian Tiandun's little tricks can't be said to be very clever, but as He Xiao, who doesn't know Haihan's strength well enough, it's hard to see through the sinister intentions behind these conditions. Because it was really hard for him to imagine that the Haihan people could eliminate many forces in the Zhoushan Islands in a short period of time, and quickly separate this area from the Ming Dynasty in future operations and turn it into Haihan's own territory.
(End of chapter)