Chapter 893 Follow the clues
In fact, Huang Tao was indeed right. This matter involved the three yamen of Zhejiang, namely, the Zhejiang Capital Command Department, the Punishment and Prosecution Department, and the Jinyiwei Department. The situation was quite complicated. When the three people visited, they didn't explain the cause and effect too clearly. Huang Tao and Wei Shan both believed that they suffered a lot of losses in the process of Zhoushan's change of ownership, so they were so jealous of Haihan and did not hesitate to resort to some measures. Unconventional means were also used to retaliate against Haihan.
Qian Tiandun listened silently and began to check various information in his mind that had been provided by the intelligence personnel of the Ministry of Security. Qian Tiandun had heard a little bit about Yu Pingfeng, the chief official of Zhejiang Province, because he was the main backer of the Zhoushan Boat Gang in the officialdom. Wang Jialin also confessed his interest disputes with this person after his arrest. The property seized by Haihan on Zhoushan Island and belonging to Lord Qian Shi were worth more than 50,000 taels of silver, and the filial piety sent by the Zhoushan Boat Gang every year was at least more than 10,000 taels of silver. As the saying goes, cutting off people's money is like killing their parents. With such hatred, and apparently there is nothing you can do against the Haihan people, you naturally have to think of some dirty tricks to exact revenge.
However, as to why the other two people were involved in this matter, Qian Tiandun believes that it is necessary to collect more information through the Ministry of Security. Anyway, Wang Jialin is still detained on Zhoushan Island and he can be interrogated at any time. If there is any interest between Guo Zheng and Liao Xun and the Zhoushan Boat Gang, they will find out if Wang Jialin is brought up and asked.
The remaining question is when, where and how this group plans to strike. Unfortunately, Wei Shan has clearly rejected the other party's invitation, otherwise Qian Tiandun really wants to arrange for him to join this group. An undercover agent is inside to provide more detailed intelligence.
Judging from the information provided by Wei Shan, Liao Xun, a member of the Jinyiwei family, collected information on some merchants who had obtained franchise rights through the Zhoushan Investment Promotion Association, and planned to target this group to intercept and kill them at sea. In fact, Qian Tiandun and the Security Department were mentally prepared for the Zhoushan Investment Promotion Association to be infiltrated by interested people to collect intelligence. This kind of thing cannot be completely banned, because those who go to the island to serve as spies may not be professionals like Jin Yiwei. The personnel are most likely ordinary people. It is impossible to find out the special missions of these people by just relying on cross-examination.
As for the reason why this group of people went to Shaoxing Prefecture to discuss with Wei Shan, Qian Tiandun believed that firstly, they could no longer trust the garrison in Ningbo Prefecture. After all, the attitude of the garrison here was clearly on Haihan's side. Secondly, because Ningbo is too close to Zhoushan, some ships must be dispatched to plunder at sea. There are often Haihan warships patrolling the waters around Zhoushan Island. It will be great fun if they are hit, so place the attack location. Within Hangzhou Bay, the chance of success will be much greater. Moreover, the Linshan Acropolis is located on the seaside. The goods and personnel intercepted after the incident can be disposed of through the special channel of the military. It is indeed much safer than finding a wild road on the East China Sea.
Qian Tiandun muttered: "Of course they came from Hangzhou because it was inconvenient to find people to do this in Hangzhou. Now the hope of Ningbo and Shaoxing has basically been cut off, so Jiaxing Prefecture is the only place left in Hangzhou Bay. ”
"Hainingwei!" Huang Tao and Wei Shan responded in unison.
There are only four prefectures in Zhejiang that are adjacent to Hangzhou Bay: Hangzhou Prefecture, Jiaxing Prefecture, Shaoxing Prefecture, and Ningbo Prefecture. Yu Pingfeng and others wanted to find local health stations, but they only found solutions from these places. . Hangzhou Prefecture is the administrative seat of Zhejiang, and the local garrison has made too much noise to do anything. However, the Ningbo garrison has changed its position, so the only places they can try are Linshan Guard of Shaoxing Prefecture and Haining Guard of Jiaxing Prefecture in the north.
Of course, in theory, they can still go to the Jinshan Guards in Songjiang Prefecture, but Songjiang Prefecture is no longer under the jurisdiction of Zhejiang, and the official identities of Yu Pingfeng and others may not be of much use there. Moreover, the Jinshan Guards are far away from each other and it is difficult to keep the news flowing. They are not suitable for this kind of maritime interception and killing operations that require the timeliness of intelligence.
"Two adults, can you briefly introduce the situation of Hainingwei to me?" Qian Tiandun saw that the two men had already paved the road, so he followed the conversation and asked.
Haining Guard is in the north, Linshan Guard and Guanhai Guard are in the south. There is only a piece of Hangzhou Bay between them. They are quite close. They all belong to the same guard system, so they still have a certain understanding of each other. These two people had even told the story about the group in Hangzhou, so naturally they would no longer be coy about this kind of thing, and they readily told Qian Tiandun what they knew about the situation.
After the few people talked about business, Qian Tiandun ordered people to prepare a luncheon. Although this beach is uninhabited and there is no kitchen stove originally, with Haihan's financial and material resources, it is not difficult to move a mobile kitchen in advance. Banquets are definitely an extremely important part of Haihan’s diplomatic methods. The Haihan-style banquet combines Eastern and Western cooking methods and various spices, coupled with exquisite glass tableware, it is both delicious and classy. It is difficult for anyone to resist such an unusual attack.
Wei Shan and Huang Tao were no exception. Just seeing the table full of glasses, bowls and plates, their eyes lit up. The chopsticks they used were also made of ivory. Although the more expensive gold and silverware is not used as tableware, it has a special meaning. Legend has it that the Haihan people are extremely wealthy, and they also value enjoyment. The two of them have seen it today.
At the dinner table, Qian Tiandun no longer mentioned the previous things, but talked about various interesting anecdotes. Although he was not known for his eloquence, he had gained hundreds of years of experience, which was enough to deceive the two commanders.
After having enough wine and food, Qian Tiandun had the banquet removed and served some fruit desserts for digestion. Qian Tiandun warmly invited the two of them to visit Zhoushan Island when they are free. If there is time in the future, they can also go to Sanya in the south to see the real Haihan City. He knew very well that no matter how much he boasted about his own strength, it would not be as strong as the intuitive visual impact. There were so many officials from the Ming Dynasty who were willing to cooperate with Haihan, and even surrendered to Haihan. Who would not be convinced after witnessing Haihan's hard power with his own eyes? .
Before the two left, they finally saw the legendary Haihan ship on the beach. The large ship puffed out white smoke and passed over the sea south of Jintang Island at an incredible high speed. This was naturally Qian Tiandun's arrangement. In order to allow the guests to see clearly, the ship's route was also relatively close to the coast, and even the gun windows on the ship's side could be seen clearly.
The visual impact of the majesty-class warships is absolutely unprecedented in the Far East in this era. Even those European warships from thousands of miles away are still huge in tonnage compared to such giant ships built by Haihan. gap. Moreover, the unique steam-powered propulsion system allowed this kind of warship to travel at sea at a speed far exceeding that of other sailing ships of the same period. To those who did not know what was going on, this kind of ship was simply a sea monster.
Almost as soon as they saw the ship, Wei Shan and Huang Tao understood why Qianhu Ma Ling of Changguo Guard Shipusuo, who was the first to come into contact with the Haihan people, chose to cooperate with the Haihan people without hesitation. Normal people would probably lose the courage to resist when they see the appearance of this giant ship. If they were in the same situation, they probably wouldn't make any other choice.
"To be honest with you two adults, we are going to build a shipyard on Zhoushan Island next, and we will also build such large ships locally in the future." Qian Tiandun introduced to the two of them with a smile: "This kind of ship is used for maintenance The tranquility on the East China Sea is really suitable. What do you two adults think? ""Yes, yes, General Qian is right..." Huang Tao reluctantly agreed, but his expression was not very good. Of course he would not think that the ship happened to be passing by here. The Haihan people obviously wanted to demonstrate through such actions. But in the face of such a sea monster, even if you are dissatisfied, you can only hold it in. Who makes the Ming Dynasty navy not have large warships that can match it?
After seeing off the two resentful Ming officials, Qian Tiandun immediately returned to Zhoushan by boat. Although he appeared very relaxed in front of Wei and Huang, Qian Tiandun would not despise the situation they reported. At present, Haihan's layout in Zhejiang has just started. If it encounters targeted sabotage at this time, it is indeed very likely to affect the Zhejiang market that was finally opened.
Although the information provided by Wei and Huang was important, it was not detailed enough. There were many missing and incomplete details. At present, it could only be made up for by Haihan's own intelligence collection methods. In this regard, Qian Tiandun has full trust in the Haihan Security Department. In the more than two months since setting off from Fujian, the intelligence support work provided by the Security Department has never let the military down.
Qian Tiandun called Gong Qiqi to his office, told him the general story of the matter, and then asked for his opinion.
Gong Shiqi thought for a while and then responded: "My subordinates think that we should take a two-pronged approach. One is to immediately interrogate Wang Jialin and others, and ask about his relationship with those Ming officials, as well as other people who have interests in the Zhoushan Ship Gang. Officials, maybe there were people in Hainingwei who profited from Zhoushan in the past. Secondly, they should take the initiative to go to Hangzhou Prefecture and Jiaxing Prefecture to find out information. Although Zhoushan is independent from the Ming Dynasty, it is also a self-enclosed place. In this small world, information is not as smooth as on the mainland, and some incomplete information can only be obtained through merchants, so the reference value is limited.”
Qian Tiandun said: "You are an expert in intelligence work. Since you have already thought about what to do, then implement it according to your ideas. I have only one request. After you find out the situation, don't alert the snake, and report the news as soon as possible. I hope I can lay out the situation for them before they take action, do you understand what I mean?”
Gong Shiqi responded: "The leader wants to invite you to enter the urn."
"That's right." Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "This kind of hidden danger should be eliminated as completely as possible, and at the same time, those who are secretly targeting us should correct their attitude as soon as possible."
Gong Shiqi has been working in the Ministry of Security for five or six years, so he naturally understands what Qian Tiandun means by "be more thorough" and "correct your attitude." As the leader who has been commanding the field team's operations all year round, Gong Shiqi is very happy to resume his old career in Zhejiang and do something better than squatting indoors to sort out intelligence.
After Gong Qianqiu left Qian Tiandun's office, he immediately went to a mountain col to the west of Dinghai Fort, where Wang Jialin and other leaders of the Zhoushan Boat Gang were imprisoned. Gong Qiyi now needed to extract more benefits from them Information about relevant parties. There was no time to delay this matter at the moment, and Gong Shiqi was in no mood to be patient with these criminals who were slowly grinding their tongues. Just in case, Gong Shiqi called two torture experts, Gong Ping and Gong Yuan, on standby. If anyone refused to cooperate, necessary coercive measures would be taken immediately.
However, Gong Shiqi's worries are obviously unnecessary. The heroes of the Jianghu have been passively accepting psychological offensives and brainwashing day and night since they were imprisoned. They have long realized that the situation is over. How can they still think about continuing to fight Haihan now? Many people are counting on Able to provide information in exchange for freedom. There are a few guys who wish they could list all the officials in the official circles they have known since childhood. Unfortunately, most of the officials they know are still low-ranking government servants, people who have dealt with officials at the county magistrate level or above. All very few.
The only people who can really come into contact with government figures are Wang Jialin and a few others. Moreover, due to their sensitive identities, they have very few opportunities to interact with officials face-to-face. Most of the time, they only maintain contact with their official backers through intermediaries or letters. Wang Jialin and Yu Pingfeng have been cooperating for several years, and the two parties only meet once every one or two years. In terms of conversation and exchange time, the total time spent together is not even as much as the time spent talking to Gong Shiqi, who is presiding over him. Much.
However, this interrogation was not fruitless. At least the reasons why Liao Xun and Guo Zheng were involved were clearly explained by Wang Jialin - these two people had also become shareholders under the introduction of Yu Pingfeng two years ago. Of course, it is also a dry stock that does not require any capital. If we use Haihan's terminology, it is technology investment.
However, the two of them don't just collect money and do nothing. One of them is in the Procuratorate and the other is in Jinyiwei. They can provide quite a lot of convenience to the Zhoushan Boat Gang. Although Wang Jialin has to give them a lot of money every year, Wang Jialin is also willing to spend money to buy these two insurances. If something happens on the shore, at least there are two people in the government who can come forward to protect him. Of course, now that he has been captured by the Haihan people, the Ming officials have no protective shield at all.
But as for Hainingwei, whom Gong Shiqi cared about, Wang Jialin claimed that he had no previous contacts. This is not because he has high vision and looks down on the local guards, but because there are armed forces supporting Haining Guard, and there is no need for the Zhoushan Boat Gang to join in the fun.
"Ma Teng, who is known as Mamianyu on Qushan Island in the north, is said to be related to Commander Ma of Haining Guard." Wang Jialin provided information that the Ministry of Security had not had before.
(End of chapter)