Chapter 875 Cleaning up after the war
According to intelligence collected before the start of the war, Wang Jialin's Zhoushan Boat Gang has the strongest economic strength in the Zhoushan Islands. Lin Xing, the leader of the Sanlin Gang, and Gomez, the captured leader of the Haisha Gang, also confirmed this. Therefore, the headquarters has relatively high expectations for the seizure after conquering the Zhoushan Ship Gang's territory, believing that the profits will be at least more generous than those from Shipu Port and Liuheng Island. But Wang Jialin and the Zhoushan Boat Gang obviously did not sit still and wait for death. Although they could not resist Haihan's step-by-step offensive, they cleverly moved their valuable belongings away in advance.
However, the militia army was very familiar with the process of recovering enemy property after the war. Without Qian Tiandun's order, someone had already begun to interrogate the prisoners and trace the whereabouts of the transferred property. The military is not the only one keeping an eye on this kind of guaranteed income. After all, these seizures have to be handed over to the Executive Committee in proportion and become part of Haihan's financial revenue. The Executive Committee also attaches great importance to this. This time, the general office directly under the Executive Committee and the Security Bureau will also accompany the army. The loot inventory team composed of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Finance and other relevant departments.
The two brothers Guan Yuan and Guan Ping, who had previously interrogated the prisoners of the Haisha Gang on Liuheng Island, were the special commissioners of the Ministry of Security in this inventory team. All seizures in war zones, including property and personnel, must first be registered by the inventory team, and they also have the right to participate in all related interrogations and recovery operations. This group is under the direct jurisdiction of the Executive Committee and has very wide authority. It can also be regarded as one of the means by which the Executive Committee controls the military.
It is a pity that most of the prisoners captured after the city was broken were low-level members of the Zhoushan Boat Gang, and they had no idea where the property in the boat gang was transported to and whereabouts. Although the headquarters can be sure that there must still be insiders among the prisoners, as many as thousands of new prisoners of war were captured on Zhoushan Island after the two days of operations, and it will take some time to identify the identities of these people.
Although the current situation can be regarded as Haihan defeating the Zhoushan Boat Gang, the area actually controlled on Zhoushan Island is still less than one-tenth. According to the information currently available, there are at least 20,000 to 30,000 people on the island who are directly or indirectly taking orders from the Zhoushan Boat Gang. What proportion of these people will choose to join Haihan, and how many will continue to take orders from Wang Jialin, and how many of them will continue to take orders from Wang Jialin. It is difficult to make a more accurate judgment. The command headquarters believes that it will take at least half a month to clear the coastal areas of the Zhoushan Islands alone.
Judging from the local population and the number of Haihan troops participating in the war, this time has been compressed very short. You must know that those people left by Shibazhi on Taiwan Island have not been dealt with until now, and Haihan is currently in The investment in Taiwan Island is much greater than that in Zhejiang.
Under this situation, it is unrealistic for the Haihan Militia to complete control of the entire Zhoushan Island in a short period of time. Fortunately, the natural harbors of Zhoushan Island are concentrated on the southern coast of the island, and the Executive Committee originally The chosen foothold was the Dinghai Bay area of Zhoushan. Now that the militia group has successfully occupied this area, it can be said that 80% of the mission of the Northern Expedition to Zhoushan, Zhejiang has been completed, and the remaining 20% are aftermath matters that need to be dealt with slowly.
The news that the Zhoushan Boat Gang was defeated and that the Haihan Militia was stationed on Zhoushan Island was not kept secret for long. It reached Ningbo Prefecture the day after the battle ended. This news caused even greater shock in Ningbo official circles than among the people, because too many stakeholders have been paying attention to the changes in the East China Sea recently.
When the Haihan people were fighting against the Haisha Gang on Liuheng Island, many people in Ningbo Prefecture believed that they would not easily challenge the authority of the Zhoushan Boat Gang in this area. The size of the Haisha Gang and the Zhoushan Boat Gang were also very different. The fact that the Haihan people defeated the Haisha Gang does not mean that they are strong enough to control this area. But the situation almost took a turn for the worse next. The Haihan people quickly advanced northward based on Liuheng Island. Before the onlookers could decide whether to stand in line or intervene, the Haihan people had already attacked Zhoushan Island, and then That's when the news of the Zhoushan Boat Gang's defeat came out.
Naturally, no one believes the Haihan people's claim of "assisting the government in suppressing bandits." The background of the Zhoushan Boat Gang is clear to anyone with a discerning eye, and the statement of "suppressing bandits" will not be officially recognized. Except for the Shipu Health Office under Chang Guowei, which for some unknown reason clearly sided with Haihan, no other agency in the officialdom of Ningbo Prefecture had made any form of statement. Originally, everyone was waiting for the situation to become clear before choosing a position, but now that the situation has become clear, everyone has discovered that there is no position to choose from.
The life and death of Wang Jialin, the leader of the Zhoushan Boat Gang, was uncertain, and the so-called "East China Sea Alliance Army" he organized was in disarray. Even if people in the official circles wanted to find someone to stand up to the Haihan people, there seemed to be no suitable candidates for a while. It’s impossible to just roll back your own sleeves and end up in opposition to the Haihan people’s behavior, right?
It is not difficult to accuse Haihan of "concealing ordnance secretly and causing trouble at sea", but the key is what benefits can be obtained by offending Haihan? Even if Wang Jialin is not dead, the pirates and smuggling gangs in the East China Sea headed by the Zhoushan Ship Gang are already gone. Now no one in the East China Sea can stand up to deal with the Haihan people. The Ningbo garrison has also been strangely standing still and openly opposing the Haihan people. This situation has made many people hesitant and afraid to express their opinions easily.
This is not just an issue of local security, but also involves the control of the maritime trade market with an annual transaction volume of millions of taels of silver. In the past few years, this market in the Zhoushan Islands has been divided up by the spokesmen and puppets of various yamen. Countless people have obtained their own interests more or less from it. The change of control is very likely to mean As a result, they will lose this benefit. This is one of the reasons why local forces did not welcome the giant Haihan to enter the Zhejiang market earlier, because no one was sure that they could control this monster that had already swallowed up the sea trade markets in Fuzhou and Guangzhou and introduce it into Zhejiang's market. The consequences are very likely to lead to fire.
But now the beast has broken in and kicked off the stage those who used to perform on it. No one knows how long the secret planning behind this big move has been, and how much money has been spent on it. Although Haihan has not yet issued a formal declaration, everyone is convinced that their visit to Zhejiang this time is not just about taking the stage. Just show off and leave. This free market in the East China Sea will probably change hands from this time on.
It's not that no one has thought about driving away this uninvited guest, but the problem now is that all the available people on the table are already running away to death. Those who want to drive away Haihan have no one to use, and those in charge of the military power have been standing still. , which gave Haihan enough time to slowly digest the area he had just eaten.
Just when most people were still in a wait-and-see state, Haihan finally spoke. The powerful figures in various yamen in Ningbo Prefecture, the local wealthy families, and well-known gentry all received invitations from Haihan people through various channels on the same day.
The content on the invitation is very simple. It is that Haihan will hold an investment conference on the island on April 21st, which is May 28th in the Haihan calendar, and invites the parties involved to visit Zhoushan Island to participate in the meeting. Considering that the identities of some parties are relatively sensitive and it is inconvenient to attend directly, they can also appoint an agent to go. As for the contents of the investment promotion, the post did not elaborate in detail, only mentioning that "this investment promotion will involve the exclusive ownership of more than 90 kinds of Haihan products in seven major categories in Zhejiang."
The Haihan Investment Promotion Association is no stranger to the business people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. They have heard of Haihan's business methods in Fuguang in the south. There are large agents in each province and second-level agents in each prefecture. Further down there are exclusive distributors. Given the tight demand for Haihan products in the market, as long as you can get an agent at the state level, you can basically just sit at home and collect cash.
But this business method has a drawback for businessmen, that is, the pricing power of goods is completely in the hands of Haihan people. Both agents and distributors have to comply with the so-called "market guide price" set by Haihan people. This is not a game rule that is willing to be accepted by people who want to sell in-demand goods at sky-high prices. Therefore, in the past, smugglers in Zhejiang would rather be out of stock for a long time than let Haihan's official sales channels be spread in Zhejiang, because This means that their days of easy profiteering are coming to an end.
Naturally, these people who made a fortune by smuggling Haihan products in the past did not accept the offer, because the first thing the Haihan people would harm when they came in was their interests. But just because they themselves don't accept the offer doesn't guarantee that others won't either. The market price of Haihan products in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang markets has long made many people jealous, but they've just never been able to get in. Nowadays, Haihan people come to the door to recruit new customers. Anyone who can reach the threshold will probably give it a try. Even if you don’t receive an invitation from the Haihan people, there will still be people trying to establish connections to find out how to get the qualifications to go to the island to participate in the investment fair. This trend does not mean that an adult in the yamen says “no”. Can be terminated or reversed. Although the arrival of the Haihan people has inevitably caused economic losses to many people, when greater benefits appear in front of them, the vast majority of people will not live with money. No matter how many people die in the East China Sea, they are just some people running errands. As long as the power is still in their hands, they can naturally make back the lost money.
At this time, in the study of Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo, several local gentry who had good relations with him were asking Qu Yutong for his opinion on this matter. They all knew that there were people in the East China Sea working for Magistrate Qu. Qu Yutong might know more about the Haihan people than they did.
"Have you all received invitations from the Haihan people?" Qu Yutong saw that these people were visiting at the same time, and he had already guessed in his mind. In fact, before the official invitation was sent, Haihan informed his subordinate He Xiao through the Sanlin Gang about the content of the invitation, and it was more detailed than the text version. The information he had was indeed consistent with these people. There are differences.
"I'll be honest with you, Lord Qu. That's exactly what happened. After I received the invitation, I didn't dare to make my own decisions, so we specially made an appointment to ask for Master Qu's instructions." One of the middle-aged men named Wenbo responded. He ran a boat shop in Ningbo Prefecture. After Qu Yutong came to Ningbo Prefecture to take office, he started to join this line. In the past two years, he also cooperated with the Sanlin Gang to make a small fortune.
"Then what do you think? Let's talk about it first and let's think about it together." Qu Yutong did not rush to give his opinion, but let these people express their attitude first. He also wanted to take this opportunity to see his subordinates. What do these people think of Haihan?
A few people exchanged glances with each other, and Wenbo responded: "Then I will give you some ideas. If there are any mistakes, please correct me."
Qu Yutong nodded slightly and motioned for him to continue.
Wenbo continued: "I am a businessman, and all I care about is the actual income. In the past, the Haihan goods shipped from the south were scarce and expensive, so that's it. More than 80% of them were controlled by the Zhoushan shipping gang. , Wang Jialin eats meat, and others can only drink soup. This is really unfair. Now that the Haihan people are here, they have a chance to change this situation."
Qu Yutong smiled and said: "Then the way the Haihan people said, isn't it better to change someone to monopolize these businesses?"
"Sir, if we can exchange this, we have a chance!" Wenbo quickly added: "I would like to ask, who else in this Ningbo Prefecture has higher prestige than you, sir?"
Qu Yutong pretended to be angry and said: "I am an official of the imperial court, how can I participate in this business affairs?"
Wenbo said: "Don't be upset, sir. There is no need for your Majesty to personally come forward in this matter. Just ask Mr. He to go to Zhoushan with a few of us. No matter how much money the franchise costs, as long as we have the money, Mr. He can do it." Just witness it.”
The "Mr. He" mentioned by Wenbo naturally refers to Qu Yutong's subordinate He Xiao, although he did not know that He Xiao had gone to Liuheng Island a few days ago and met with the Haihan people, and even accepted him money, but there is no doubt that He Xiao is Qu Yutong's first choice confidant for overseas assignments. If they were to be invited to Zhoushan Island to contact the Haihan people, they would have to have a confidant of Qu Yutong to go with them, and He Xiao was the only candidate. Wenbo asked him to be a witness, which meant that after the matter was completed, Qu Yutong's future profits would be counted as his share - he would not need to pay, just get the dividends from the shares.
Qu Yutong did not comment, but looked at the other people and asked: "What do you think?"
"I think what Boss Wen said is feasible. I should at least go and see the situation and not let others take the lead." "The Haihan people are also businessmen. Since they are businessmen, just talk about business with them. There is no need to go to war. "Haihan people always do what they say, and I doubt they will deceive us."
Everyone was talking about it, but they all had the same opinion.
(End of chapter)