Chapter 891: Serious and negative
Compared with Shaoxing Prefecture, which only has a few troop transport ships stationed, the navy stationed here in Ningbo Prefecture is slightly larger, with at least dozens of large and small ships used for combat. The main naval base in Ningbo is located outside Zhenhai City at the mouth of the Yongjiang River, and a small number of others are stationed at Guanhaiwei and Nanbian Changguowei. However, when the Haihan people entered Zhoushan, these navy ships basically did not go out. When they occasionally went to sea, they kept their routes and activities at a relatively large distance from Zhoushan Island to avoid unwarranted misunderstandings by the Haihan people.
This is not only due to the terrifying strength displayed by the Haihan Militia in several battles into the waters of the Zhoushan Islands, but also part of the credit is due to the secret front personnel who secretly persuaded the naval officers not to compete with Haihan. And this person who is in Cao's camp and whose heart is in the Han Dynasty is Xu Shaohua, the commander-in-chief of the navy stationed in Ningbo.
Xu Shaohua was also one of the people arranged by the Fujian Xu family to lurk in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Unlike Xu Ke, who changed his name before coming here, this was his real name. His blood relationship can only be regarded as a very distant relative of Xu Xinsu. It would take about four or five generations to connect him with the Fujian Xu family, so there is no need to change his name. The main reason why he was selected into the list made by Xu Xinsu was that he had practiced martial arts with Xu Xinsu's sons since he was a child, and he was considered a training partner. After arriving in Zhejiang, Xu Shaohua, who was only sixteen years old, joined the army according to the previous arrangements. Now he is only in his early twenties and is currently one of the youngest officers in the Zhejiang Navy.
When Xu Ke set off from Xiangshan south to Shipu to lead the Haihan fleet, Xu Shaohua also began to be active in the navy. Compared with the local garrison troops, the navy has a better understanding of the situation in the south, especially the Haihan people, because every year the ships from the Fujian military heading north to Nanjing or the Ministry of War in Beijing choose military docks in the coastal areas of Zhejiang to dock for supplies. Information exchanges between the ground and water divisions are also relatively frequent. Haihan, who is the biggest backer of the Fujian military, is naturally one of the main sources of discussion.
Both the Fo Langji and the Hongmao people, who are famous for their powerful maritime force, suffered heavy losses at his hands. The Southeast Sea Overlord Shibazhi was beaten and fled to Ryukyu. In addition, the Fujian military highly respected him and regarded him as an idol. , Haihan Fleet was famous before coming to Zhejiang. The Guards Army might not be able to figure out what the Haihan people were doing, but the navy was well aware of his deeds and had no intention of provoking this difficult-to-provoke god. Xu Shaohua played a role in the middle and exchanged a large sum of money for the neutrality promise of the local naval admiral without much effort. Therefore, the official document issued by Yu Pingfeng in the name of Zhejiang Dusi fell into disgrace when it came to the Navy stationed in Ningbo. Without the participation of the Navy, the Weisuo Army would not be able to swim to Zhoushan Island and meet the Haihan people on their own even if they wanted to make a move. Start a war.
As time passed, many things quietly changed. Haihan took advantage of the Zhejiang government's response and held an investment conference on Zhoushan Island, attracting a group of wealthy and powerful businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to join his trade camp. . Officers at all levels below Guanhaiwei's commander Huang Tao were also dragged into the water. Anyway, there was no need to do anything or say anything, the Haihan people had already sent ten thousand taels of silver, and there were no additional requirements. Huang Tao was naturally happy and free, and just like Yan Guowei, the commander of Chang Guowei, he happily accepted the silver in exchange. It’s a spectator. As for what the Zhejiang Dusi people want to do, that's up to them. Huang Tao is short-handed and doesn't intend to participate anyway.
Huang Tao was not too worried that the Haihan people would take advantage of the situation and come to the mainland to grab territory. If they really planned to do such a thing, they would probably have done it in Fuzhou and Guangzhou. Of course, if Huang Tao had been to Qiongzhou and seen the actual situation there, he probably wouldn't have such an opinion. That place is no longer a matter of grabbing control, but has actually been separated from the Ming Dynasty and has become Haihan's own territory. Haihan has captured Penghu and Taiwan Island on the other side of Fujian. It will take several years to slowly develop Taiwan Island alone, and there is no time to make plans for Fujian itself.
Haihan's current expansion speed is far ahead of the speed of cultivating bureaucrats. Even if it uses force to seize a larger territory, it will be difficult to implement effective rule. Therefore, it is still implementing the development strategy formulated at the beginning of the time travel to control sea power. Non-land rights are the main purpose. The Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas are extremely promising markets for the Executive Committee. In addition, Zhoushan is very close to the mainland, so there is no need to force a landing to establish a colony. On the contrary, the island is more in line with Haihan's consistent development philosophy. It can be advanced, attacked, retreated and defended. If necessary in the future, it can be used as a base to block Hangzhou Bay and the Yangtze River estuary. There is no need to risk offending the Ming Dynasty to grab land. land.
Huang Tao, Yan Guowei and others do not have such a high degree of strategic vision. What they see and feel is that the arrival of the Haihan people has brought them more practical benefits, and the Haihan people have an excellent reputation in Fuzhou and Guangdong. , even if they occupy Zhoushan, it is not necessarily a bad thing. To put it bluntly, the Zhejiang Ming Army currently does not have enough troops to garrison the many islands in Zhoushan. It is much better to let the Haihan people take over the place to engage in maritime trade than to let the pirates and Japanese pirates take over and do evil.
Anyway, the Ningbo garrison relies on the mountains and the sea to live on. The Haihan people have already promised to have a piece of the pie for themselves in the future. That is enough for the two commanders to reach a tacit understanding after exchanging secret letters several times. They will follow the instructions of the Zhejiang Dusi. Yang Feng Yang violates. Since the official document only requires the two guards to thoroughly investigate the armed issue of Haihan, Huang Tao simply followed Yan Guowei's approach and said that the Haihan people were actually cooperating with the guards to fight against Zhoushan pirates. There are many heads, prisoners, and seizures to prove this. Even Wang Jialin, the leader of the boat gang, was caught by the Haihan people. It is even easier to find a few victims. The case has complete witnesses and material evidence. After the case is reported, it will be difficult for Zhejiang Dusi to overturn the case even if it wants to intervene.
It involved two guardsmen dispatching troops to kill. When such a big case has reached this stage, it will be transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department for trial. However, the relationships between smugglers and pirates in the East China Sea are too many and complicated, and it will not last for a year. It took me half a year to sort out the clues inside. By the time the Yamen has settled this matter, the matter of the Haihan people settling down in Zhoushan will have been settled for a long time. When the time comes, there will be no need for the Ningbo Prefecture's guards to make excuses, and Zhejiang Dusi will naturally give up those unrealistic ideas.
But the secret letter sent by Linshan Guard Commander Wei Shan to Huang Tao contained information that made Huang Tao more embarrassed. After much thought, he decided to ask Xu Shaohua to come over for discussion. The person who made the connection between Guanhaiwei and the navy was Xu Shaohua. Huang Tao also knew that this person had many ways to go, so disclosing the information to him might be the safest way.
The next day, Xu Shaohua came to the Acropolis and met Huang Tao. This was not the first time that the two of them had interacted. After a few words of greeting, Huang Tao got to the point: "I received news yesterday that someone may attack Haihan at sea recently. Unfortunately, we must try to remind them about this.”
Xu Shaohua said in astonishment: "At sea? Isn't this looking for death? The Haihan ship has strong guns and powerful guns, and pirates in the East China Sea are afraid to avoid it. Why are there people rushing to send him to his door?"
Huang Tao coughed dryly and said: "What these people have to deal with may not be the Haihan warships, but the Ming maritime merchants entering and exiting Zhoushan Island."
Xu Shaohua is also a smart man. When he heard this sentence, he suddenly realized: "This is to disrupt the trade routes and make maritime merchants afraid to trade with Zhoushan Island. It is a cruel move!"
The East China Sea has always been a paradise for adventurers. Even though Haihan has taken over the Zhoushan area, it has not cleared all the islands. Daishan Island, Qushan Island, Shengsi Island and other places north of Zhoushan Island are still under control. outside. There are still many small armed forces in these places, but they can no longer compete head-on with Haihan. Although the Haihan militia has strong combat capabilities, it is unable to deploy defenses in the entire Zhoushan sea area. The loopholes Huang Tao mentioned not only exist but are also difficult to prevent. After all, merchants came to Zhoushan to trade from the southeast and northwest. Even if the Haihan fleet had ten times more ships, it would not be able to form an iron barrel formation in Zhoushan.
Once the maritime merchants who come here to trade are frequently attacked, it will inevitably affect the security mechanism and business reputation that Haihan has finally established. You must know that when the investment promotion meeting was held a few days ago, Qian Tiandun said in front of many maritime merchants that Dinghai Port would be built into the safest free trade port in the East China Sea. It has only been a few days, and if things start to happen at sea, it will really be a slap in the face.
Although Xu Shaohua is not directly under Haihan, Haihan's success or failure in the local area is closely related to his future prospects, so he is naturally very concerned about this matter. Although the information provided by Huang Tao was valuable, it lacked details. Of course Xu Shaohua would not stop there and immediately asked him for details. Huang Tao responded: "Actually, this matter was sent by an adult from Shaoxing Prefecture, but this adult had some losses in Zhoushan before, so..."
When Huang Tao said this, he protracted his tone and did not continue. Xu Shaohua was also aware of the situation and immediately said: "If the news is true, the loss will be easy to say. The bosses of Haihan may not have anything else, but they have money. Compensation to this person That's it. If this gentleman wants to discuss a deal with the Haihan people, I can contact you and arrange a meeting time."
Huang Tao said: "It would be best if we could discuss it face to face. I also want to meet with the Haihan people for a while."
Although Huang Tao had reached an agreement with Haihan, the two parties did not actually meet directly. Everything was led by Xu Shaohua and others. After reading the secret message sent by Wei Shan yesterday, Huang Tao thought that he could use this valuable information to discuss a deal with the Haihan people. After all, the deals reached at the Zhoushan Investment Promotion Fair are no secret, and Huang Tao is also very envious of those businessmen. Even if he cannot get benefits such as franchise rights from the Haihan people, he will at least have to increase the incense fees that will be handed over to him in the future. A rise.
As for Linshan Guard Commander Wei Shan's intention, he had expressed it very clearly in the secret letter. He hoped that Huang Tao could help build a springboard, and on the condition of intelligence, he could also enter the network of interests led by the Haihan people. Huang Tao did not hesitate to drag one more colleague into the water. Anyway, the more people who boarded Haihan's boat, the harder it would be for the superiors to deal with them. The jurisdictions of Linshan Guard and Guanhai Guard are adjacent to each other. If something happens, it would be nice to have a response and escape route. The other two commanders came forward together to have more confidence when negotiating conditions with the Haihan people.
Xu Shaohua pondered for a moment, then nodded and said: "Since Mr. Huang also has this intention, I will send someone to Zhoushan to contact the Haihan people as soon as possible to see how they respond. It may take one or two days as soon as possible, or three to five days as slow as possible. There will be a reply. .”
Xu Shaohua went to see Huang Tao in the morning, and the news was sent to the headquarters on Zhoushan Island in the evening. The string that had been loosened by the officers because of Wang Jialin's arrest was tightened again.
"It's really been too peaceful these days. If something happens, it feels normal." Shi Diwen looked very relaxed: "Am I a little abnormal like this?"
Qian Tiandun did not answer his question: "The official who provided the information is from Shaoxing, and he contacted us through Huang Tao. He is probably also someone from the health system."
"Unfortunately, this information is too vague. There is no time and no specific location. It is just an idea. There is no evidence to prove whether the news is true or false." Shi Diwen tapped the table with his knuckles and said, "Yes. It’s impossible. Are you trying to trick us into meeting and then set up an ambush to arrest us?”
"This problem is easy to solve. When we decide on a place, we can choose a place that is relatively beneficial to us, such as Jintang Island." Qian Tiandun didn't care much about this: "Ask Gao Qiaonan to go to the meeting place one or two days in advance. Just clear the place. The key is how much useful information the other party can give us to prevent the situation they claim to occur in advance."
"Then are you planning to meet them?" Shi Diwen asked.
"I think it would be good to meet. We have been in Zhejiang for a while. Among the Ming officials we have really dealt with, the highest-ranking one is Qianhu Ma Ling of Shipu Guard Station. This time there is at least one guard commander. "Qian Tiandun explained: "If we want to settle down here, we still have to deal with the local government. Getting to know a few more Ming officials may come in handy in the future. They don't want to follow the path of prefect Qu Yutong. When you contact us, you obviously don’t want to spread the news, so it’s safer to have an interview.”
"Then what do you think their purpose is?" Shi Diwen continued to ask.
"The Zhejiang Dusi sent a letter to the Ningbo Guard. Instead of obeying the order, Huang Tao stood on our side. He must form a gang to protect himself. In addition, he probably wanted to take this opportunity to ask for some conditions from us, such as asking us to get a Franchise and the like." Qian Tiandun already had some clues without thinking too much.
(End of chapter)