Chapter 1046: People’s support
On the day that Wang Tom's fleet set off from Sanya, Zhoushan had already received telegrams forwarded from the base camp through several bases on the southeast coast, so the corresponding preparations had been very sufficient. The fleet's anchorage, the camp area for relevant personnel, and the necessary living supplies and supporting facilities have all been prepared. Of course, the most important and indispensable reception banquet has also been prepared for Wang Tom and his party.
"Chief, this is Mr. Wei from Linshan Guard... This is Mr. Huang from Guanhai Guard... These three are the Lin brothers from Liuheng Island, and they are also the first local maritime merchants to join us..."
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The person who introduced the guests to Wang Tom and others was Yang Yun from the Ministry of Commerce. Because of his outstanding performance while working in the Penghu Office, Schneider was transferred to Zhoushan by Schneider last year to serve as the director of the newly established East China Sea Affairs Office of the Ministry of Commerce. Although this general affairs office is still under the jurisdiction of Fujian, as Haihan's control in the East China Sea region gradually strengthens and trade routes continue to expand, it will soon become an independent trade authority of the Ministry of Commerce in this region.
The investment promotion meeting held after Haihan occupied Zhoushan last year was hosted by Yang Yun. During the period, he successfully completed the operation of many investment projects, and his performance was recognized by Haihan's senior management. Based on Yang Yun's current performance and position, it is no surprise that in a few years he will be one of the best among the naturalized cadres under the Ministry of Commerce.
Yang Yunzai is usually in charge of all trade-related welcome and delivery matters in Zhoushan. He is more familiar with all aspects of local connections than Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen. Only he and Gong Shiqi from the Security Department know the true identities of these guests.
The guests from Linshan Guard and Guanhai Guard are naturally not ordinary people. Mr. Wei is the second son of Wei Shan, the commander of Linshan Guard, and Mr. Huang is the younger brother of Huang Tao, the commander of Guanhai Guard. As for the Lin family of Liuheng Island The brothers are the three leaders of the Sanlin Gang, an armed maritime merchant organization that defected to Haihan last year. These people are considered powerful people in Ningbo Prefecture, and they are also the target group that Haihan is currently making great efforts to win over to his camp locally.
The news these people received beforehand was that the commander-in-chief of the Haihan Kingdom Navy was about to visit Dinghai Port for inspection. According to Daming, he was almost an official on the same level as the Minister of War. For those who wanted to have a good relationship with Haihan, it was naturally necessary to come to Dinghaigang to join in the fun. However, seeing the huge scale of the Haihan fleet arriving at the dock just now made them feel a little uneasy. They didn't know whether the patrol of Haihan's Minister of War was such a grand event, or the Haihan people had other plans. We are planning to use force against Zhejiang.
If it is the latter possibility, then the purpose of Haihan's Minister of War coming all the way from the south to Zhejiang is not just to inspect the Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, but also to go to the front line to supervise the war. Although this possibility is unlikely, for Ningbo Prefecture, which is close to Zhoushan Island, it may turn into a disaster at any time. The people present also knew very well how powerful Haihan was. Once a war broke out, the garrison in Ningbo Prefecture would not be able to stop this group of wolf-like and tiger-like Haihan soldiers.
Among the guests here, the ones who have the closest relationship with Haihan are undoubtedly the three Lin brothers on Liuheng Island. If Lin Xing, the eldest of the three brothers, had not wisely chosen to join Haihan, they would probably have turned into the dust of history just like the Haisha Gang on Liuheng Island.
The nature of the Sanlin Gang is that of armed smugglers, and they will also appear as pirates when the time is right. However, after Haihan stationed in the Zhoushan Islands, the most important action was to fight against pirates of all kinds, so the Sanlin Gang naturally gave up this part-time job very wisely. , An Xin followed the Haihan people to engage in transnational trade. Although they are currently dominated by Haihan, they do not want Haihan to go to war with Ming Dynasty - it has nothing to do with nationality, it is purely for the sake of interests.
If these two parties were to fight, the maritime trade currently engaged in by the Sanlin Gang would be greatly affected. Moreover, most of the gang members were from the Ming Dynasty. Many of the Lin brothers' family members also settled in the Ming Dynasty. From their own standpoint, I'm afraid those who support Daming will still make up the majority of the Sanlin Gang. Of course, whether you have the guts to confront Haihan is another matter.
Lin Xing plucked up the courage and took the opportunity of toasting during the banquet to ask Wang Tom: "Chief, I saw the Haihan fleet at the dock today with sails like clouds. Could it be that there is another pirate gang in the coastal waters of Zhejiang, and the labor force is coming?" Conquest? ”
Hearing Lin Xing's fearful tone, Wang Tom had already guessed what he was thinking. He did not directly respond to his question at the moment, but asked instead: "Island Master Lin, since our Haihan Army stationed in Zhoushan, the nearby waters have What changes have occurred in the security situation? ”
Lin Xing responded honestly: "After the Haihan army arrived, they wiped out all the pirate gangs of all sizes nearby. Naturally, there will be a lot of peace on the sea."
"What about the business situation?"
"The leaders of Haihan are good at trade, and it is known all over the world. This trade is of course more prosperous than before. The number of merchants traveling to and from Zhoushan has at least doubled, and the Liuheng Island where the villain is located is also much more lively than in previous years."
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Wang Tom nodded and said: "Look, it's already obvious. The purpose of our Haihan coming here is not to mess up Zhejiang, but to create a peaceful and stable environment and bring everyone together to make a fortune through doing business." . For us, whoever wants to cause chaos in Zhejiang is going against us Haihan!”
While Wang Tom was speaking, not only did everyone here stop talking, but even the guests at the table next to him also fell silent to listen to the high-ranking Haihan official's comments on the current situation in Zhejiang. Although there has been no major action since Haihan pacified Zhoushan last year, the locals still remember Haihan's thunderous methods and have always been very afraid of this armed maritime merchant group from the south.
During this period, it is not that the Zhejiang government had not tried countermeasures, but they were all thunderous but not rainy. Not only did they not achieve any results, but a commander and several generals who led troops died inexplicably. Not only did the Haihan people not retreat from Zhoushan, but they expanded their business. Now, in addition to the state capitals of Ningbo, Shaoxing, Jiaxing, and Hangzhou near Zhoushan, there are also merchants from Suzhou, Yangzhou, Changzhou, Zhenjiang and other places in Jiangsu. They will also go out to the sea along the Yangtze River and go to Zhoushan to do business. The trading market operated by Haihan in Zhoushan is large in scale, has low fees, and has an intermediary and guarantee system officially provided by Haihan. Even settlement can be done through the Haihan Bank platform. Buyers and sellers do not have to worry about the safety of doing business here. question. It can be said that in the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, it is difficult to find another trade market that operates so professionally. Even Yingtianfu and Hangzhoufu, the traditional trade centers in the Jiangnan region, are difficult to compete with Zhoushan controlled by Haihan in many emerging business projects. compete.
This is a good thing for some businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but at the same time it will inevitably harm the interests of other people. Haihan's unique trading system had a very significant impact on traditional industries. It was not just industrial products that robbed the market of primary agricultural products and handicrafts. Even the Ming Dynasty's original financial system inevitably suffered from Haihan's influence. pressure.
In the past year alone, several banks in the coastal areas of Zhejiang have closed down because they could not compete with Haihan Bank. Compared with its peers in this era, Haihan Bank, which is managed by professionals such as Schneider, has huge advantages in terms of operation methods, financial means, capital flow, etc., and its victory is a reasonable result - of course, is there any business involved? It’s hard to say if the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Finance are trying to speed up the process. Theoretically, if Haihan Bank wanted to use financial means to deal with private banks with limited funds, Schneider could probably come up with dozens of different plans.
Some people think that Haihan has brought benefits, and if you want to make a fortune, you should follow Haihan; some people think that Haihan has tampered with his own cake, and if he does not drive away these overseas aliens, he will be squeezed out by them sooner or later; still others After seeing the ups and downs brought to the Zhejiang market after Haihan's arrival, I was worried that one day it would affect me, so I was in a wait-and-see state about the direction of the situation.
Before this, Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen who were guarding this place rarely made such public statements to the outside world. Even local leading parties like the Lin brothers who were attached to Haihan did not understand Haihan's true intentions. , I just have a mentality of surrendering to the strong. Although I have doubts, I can only keep them in my heart, and I have never received a reasonable official answer. The arrival of Tom Wang may be because his position sounds more authoritative, and his interpretation of the current situation naturally sounds more representative of Haihan's official attitude to everyone.
Wang Tom continued: "You are all smart people who are willing to share wealth and wealth with Haihan. We also welcome partners who sincerely cooperate with you. What I can assure you is that the purpose of all Haihan armed forces stationed in Zhoushan is It’s all to protect the safety of the nearby area, not to have any bad intentions against Daming. Haihan’s interests are consistent with those of everyone here. I hope everyone can clearly understand this.”
Lin Xing responded quickly: "Of course we understand the chief's good intentions. But I dare to ask one more question, will the troops who came to Zhoushan this time be stationed here for a long time in the future?"
Tom Wang smiled and said: "Island Master Lin is still worried about something, why not just say it?"
Lin Xing responded: "The villain thinks that Haihan's good intentions may not be understood by everyone. This increase of troops in Zhoushan will inevitably arouse suspicion from outsiders. If the chief can publicly post notices in Ningbo Mansion, he will inform the people of his painstaking efforts. , presumably it will not cause rumors and turmoil in the outside world.”
"Rumors and turmoil?" Wang Tom smiled slightly and said: "What Island Master Lin is worried about is the Hangzhou government's view on this matter, right?"
Seeing Lin Xing's expression change slightly, Wang Tom knew that his concerns were reflected in his words, so he continued: "I think there are many of you here who are worried about the same thing as Island Master Lin, right? Then I I will take this opportunity today to say a few more words. I hope that after listening to this, you can put down this ideological burden and do business with us with peace of mind in the future.”
Now everyone put down their chopsticks and focused their attention on Tom Wang. If Tom Wang just said some superficial words, then what he wants to say next may be the truly weighty content.
Wang Tom said solemnly: "The first thing Haihan did when he arrived in Zhejiang was to defeat a group of civilian armed gangs that bullied the market and committed evil. These people claimed to be maritime merchants, but they were doing illegal activities. Every year, they extracted money from maritime trade. The profits gained are as much as one million taels of silver. Of course, these people cannot take all this money. I know there are some shady transactions behind the scenes, and some people here also know that they are aware of it. Their interests have been harmed, so they want to put this account on Haihan. The abacus is good, but they may not understand one thing, and that is the huge gap in strength between them and Haihan! "
"In the past few years, there have been many people who have tried to go against Haihan, including bandits and pirates from the Ming Dynasty, as well as Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish people from the West. Of course, there are also some Ming Dynasty officials who made wrong calculations. Although they They also thought of many ways to deal with Haihan, but in the end they all ended in failure. Those who now choose to fight against Haihan don't know what kind of setbacks their forerunners have experienced, and they think they are creating a stumbling block in the dark. , using some small tricks, Haihan can make Haihan bow his head. For such stubborn people, Haihan's only response is to knock them down with his fists and step on them a few times, so that they will not be left again. A chance to get up!”
When Tom Wang got excited, he stood up and walked to the window, pointed outside and said: "Everyone has seen the fleet docked at the port outside. On the one hand, it is to protect the maritime tranquility of this area, and on the other hand, it is also to deter those who Restless young people! I hope these people can realize who their opponents are and don’t think that it will be okay if they stay in Hangzhou. Sanya is four thousand miles away from Zhoushan, and we can come across the sea. Zhoushan Island is far away from Hangzhou. It’s only four hundred miles away, we can go anytime we want!”
Wang Tom slowly walked back to his seat: "Of course, I am not declaring war on anyone by saying this, but just to express Haihan's attitude. If there are always people in Zhejiang who are against Haihan, then we can only The garrison size in Zhoushan has been maintained for a long time to protect the trade market here from being destroyed by some people's ignorance of current affairs. Haihan welcomes friends, but is not afraid of any challenges. If anyone wants to test Haihan's background. If there is a limit, then I have to say that when you reach the limit, you have to bear the consequences!”
(End of chapter)