Chapter 1101 Exchange Conditions
After the Denglai Rebellion, although the rebels abandoned Dengzhou City and fled to the Northeast, many bandit armed groups emerged in the local area, and the security situation in Fushan County has not been fundamentally improved. For the wealthy gentry within the jurisdiction, there are only three options. One is to sell off their property and go south to seek refuge in the Jianghuai area, waiting for the situation to improve before trying to return to their hometown; the other is to form associations to protect themselves and organize militia groups to fight against the bandits; The family moved to the county seat and relied on the government to escape the chaos.
Nowadays, apart from the government officials and their families, these country gentry make up the majority of people living in Fushan County. As long as the Haihan people do not steal money, food and land, they are not sworn enemies. There is room for negotiation. The person who was previously sent as a government envoy to communicate with Haihan outside the city was actually a squire in the county. Under the pretext of relieving refugees, the Haihan people easily wiped out the main force of the Wanjia Army. How long will it take until such strength does not take the initiative to curry favor?
"Sir Zhang, the lives of the folks in this city are all in your hands. I hope you can consider the people and deal patiently with the Haihan people. Even if there are differences, they must be dealt with properly. Wait for your return. We will hold another banquet to celebrate the occasion." An elderly man, as a representative of the people in the city, tactfully expressed everyone's attitude to Zhang Pucheng.
Zhang Pucheng thought, why don't I want to reach a peace agreement with the Haihan people, but the initiative is not in his hands now. As the county magistrate, he is just a local official, not a local snake, and there is nothing he can do against this group of Haihan people who are like an army. However, the Haihan people have taken the initiative to express their willingness to cooperate, so Zhang Pucheng will naturally not refuse - if he refuses categorically, it may be regarded as a sign of hostility by the Haihan people, and the last example of a hostile attitude towards Haihan is very vivid. The land is in front of us. The corpse pit Haihan asked the prisoners of war to dig in the field outside the city yesterday can be seen clearly from the top of the county seat. This is no joke.
Zhang Pucheng's soft sedan didn't go far out of the city and arrived at the teahouse selected by Haihan. The Haihan Cavalry has cleared out the entire area near the teahouse. In the past two days, many refugees who originally lived outside the city have abandoned the slums and gone to the Haihan camp by the river, so this cleanup work did not cost too much. At that time, only a few refugees were driven outside the warning range to ensure that there would be no idlers around the meeting place.
Zhang Pucheng got off the sedan at the door of the teahouse. The first thing he saw were several dark-skinned men wearing gray cardigans and trousers. Looking at their attire, he recognized them as armed personnel from Haihan. They were at the top of the city two days ago. It already looks very familiar. There were two ragged locals among them. When they saw Zhang Pucheng getting off the sedan, they nodded towards the Haihan people. Zhang Pucheng thought for a moment and understood that the other party's arrangement was to let locals identify him to prevent anyone from impersonating him. The people from Haihan worked rough but meticulously, and they didn't even miss such details, which made Zhang Pucheng secretly be more careful.
Soon he saw Harugong, the leader of this group of Haihan people. Like the others, his complexion was very dark and his hair was as short as a monk's. However, the aura exuded by his body was obviously stronger than that of ordinary people. Zhang Pucheng used to When I went to Dengzhou City to meet the governor Sun Yuanhua, I also felt the aura of such a superior person. It was definitely not comparable to a local bully like Wanmeng who lacked background. And this dark complexion also confirms the Haihan people's claim that they are from the south. Zhang Pucheng himself was born in Jinan Prefecture. He had dealt with Fujian businessmen who came to Shandong to do business in the past. The other party's accent was very thick, and what he said was really perfect. I didn’t understand, and I couldn’t help but worry a little bit about whether the next negotiation could proceed smoothly.
But Harugong completely dispelled Zhang Pucheng's doubts as soon as he opened his mouth. He had a pure northern accent and was not what Zhang Pucheng was worried about. He didn't know that Harugong was actually from Mongolia, which was much further north than Shandong in terms of geographical location.
Although the negotiating partner was only a small county magistrate, Harugong was still very polite. After inviting Zhang Pucheng to take a seat, he served tea. Seeing that the other party was so particular, Zhang Pucheng relaxed a little from his nervousness.
However, Harugong is a military attache after all. After the hot tea was served, he waved his men to leave and went directly to the topic: "I asked Master Zhang to go out to the city to meet today. I want to inform you about the current situation and discuss it later." Let’s see if there is any possibility of cooperation.”
Harugong paused, and then said: "I believe Mr. Zhang should have already known about our battle with the Wanjia Army outside the city yesterday. We have captured more than a thousand prisoners of war from the bandit army, including the bandit leader Wan Meng. After interrogation, it is basically confirmed that this is the main force of the Wanjia Army. Although there are still a few people at large, they are no longer a threat and are unlikely to threaten the safety of the people of Fushan County in the near future. If you don’t understand anything, you can go to our camp to verify with your own eyes the status of the captured bandit prisoners.”
Zhang Pucheng had to work up the courage even to go out of the city to negotiate. Now he did not dare to try to go to the Haihan camp to find out what was going on. He laughed and said: "You have come all the way from the south to perform this righteous act. It is really a tribute to the people of the Ming Dynasty." Fortunately! But these bandits in the fish and meat village should be handed over to the government. I wonder what Leader Ha’s intention is?”
Haru Gong smiled and said: "It's okay to hand over all these prisoners of war to the Fushan County government, but Mr. Zhang, you have to think clearly, can your county hold so many prisoners?"
"This..." Zhang Pucheng couldn't help but was speechless for a moment, so he had to change his words: "Many ordinary gangsters were coerced into collaborating with them, but the leaders and leaders of the Wanjia Army have all been doing evil in the local area for many years. Those who are guilty should be made to obey the law.”
Harugong said: "We have come all the way to Shandong, but we are not here for this group of bandits. There are many more important things waiting for us to deal with, so it is okay to hand these people over to the government. But we are doing Merchants who buy and sell are all about mutual benefit and reciprocity. We provide convenience to Fushan County, and we also hope that Mr. Zhang can give us some convenience. ”
The Haihan people would put forward some exchange conditions during the negotiation. Zhang Pucheng had already expected this. He nodded and said: "Chief Ha, you might as well talk about it first. If it does not violate national laws and is advantageous, I will make the decision and agree."< br>
Harugong said: "As we all know, the purpose of our coming here is to help the local people who have become homeless due to the war in the past two years and provide them with basic living conditions and jobs that can sustain their livelihood. But We are outsiders, and the local people have little understanding and trust of us, so we hope that the county magistrate can give us some help so that we can better organize rescue.”
Zhang Pucheng said: "How can this county provide help?"
"It's very simple. We only need the county government to issue an official document to endorse our actions in Fushan County and let the people believe that our rescue methods are real and reliable." Harugong put forward a condition lightly. How to gain the trust of people in a strange area is also a topic that Haihan must face in his immigration work. Based on the experience gained in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places in the past few years, it is undoubtedly the most effective method for local governments to endorse immigration activities. In this era when information means are still very primitive, what the people know is Reliable information mainly comes from various announcements from the government. Even if it is just a notice with a few hundred words, as long as it is stamped with the official seal, its effect will far exceed the various promotional materials printed by Haihan himself.
After Haihan came to Fushan County, he quickly recruited hundreds of immigrants, but these people basically came for the survival rations provided by Haihan just to survive rather than out of trust. In addition to these people who are struggling on the line of life and death and have to make a choice, there are also many people who do not trust Haihan and are not very willing to immigrate. If Haihan wants to mobilize these people under his command, he must first find a way Gain their trust. Endorsement from the local government is undoubtedly the most useful method.
Zhang Pucheng's face changed slightly and he said: "This... I'm afraid it's not appropriate, right? If anything goes wrong, I will bear all the responsibility!"
Zhang Pucheng was not fooled by Harugong's high-sounding statement. He knew very well what the meaning of the official endorsement was. There was no benefit in just being responsible, so he was not willing to agree easily.
Harugong said: "Master Zhang, in less than two years, Zhifu Bay under the jurisdiction of Fushan County will become the most prosperous port in the entire Dengzhou Prefecture, and your county will follow suit. By then, if you are still here as the county magistrate , even if you do nothing, we will find a way to make some political achievements for you and send you to a higher position, such as Dengzhou Governor, or find a position in the Shandong Chengxuan Political Envoy Department. Cooperate with us and we will send you to a higher position with greater power. The deal I want to negotiate with you is that simple.”
Zhang Pucheng said: "Given the current situation in Fushan County, how can you believe this? If something happens in the past two years, you just slap your butt and go back to the south. I have no place to hide!"< br>
Haru smiled respectfully and said: "Don't worry, as long as you cooperate with us, we will guarantee you a way out. If necessary, we can arrange for you to go to the south, give you a house and land, and become a country squire who has no worries about food and drink."
Zhang Pucheng said angrily: "How can I be such a person!"
Haru Gong said: "I was just joking with you, sir. Now that we are here, we will not leave again. As for whether we have the ability to turn Zhifu Bay into a prosperous port, words are unfounded, seeing is believing, Master Zhang and I will know the truth after I go to Zhifu Island.”
Zhang Pucheng thought to himself, "I can't even go to the camp by the river, so how can I set foot on Zhifu Island? You are bent on deceiving me to stay away from the county. I'm afraid your motives are not pure. He shook his head and rejected Harugong." proposal.
Unlike other generals who often perform missions overseas, Harugong has more experience in contact with Ming officials, so after the words were deadlocked, he didn't know how to come back. He thought this was because Zhang Pucheng felt that the expected income was not stable enough, so he refused to agree to the conditions he proposed. He immediately changed his explanation and said: "Sir Zhang, I am a rough man and my way of speaking is relatively direct. If there is any offense, Please forgive me. If Mr. Zhang thinks that the results after two years are too slow, then we also have a more direct way of return, such as cash. If Mr. Zhang is willing, he can directly offer a price. The amount is negotiable. ”
Zhang Pucheng couldn't help but feel a little excited when he heard this condition. Haihan people had previously donated 500 taels of silver in the name of refugee relief. He and Huang Qu divided the money between 200 taels each, and planned to keep the remaining 100 taels to buy food. It was distributed to the refugees outside the city, but judging from the behavior of the Haihan people in the past two days, they must be willing to circle away all the people outside the city before they would be willing to accept it. This one hundred taels of silver can probably be saved. However, Zhang Pucheng himself was a little unsure about the appropriate price for the county government's endorsement, and he didn't know whether the Haihan people had any other intentions in Fushan County besides recruiting organized immigrants.
Zhang Pucheng pondered for a long time before speaking: "Chief Ha, please tell me, apart from recruiting immigrants, do you have any other plans in Fushan County?"
Harugong heard Zhang Pucheng's tone relaxed, and immediately said: "Mr. Zhang, let me tell you this, the recruitment of immigrants is not only in Fushan County, but also in the entire Dengzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture. In some cases, we may need to recruit from Qingzhou Prefecture, Jinan Prefecture and other places farther west. We have hundreds of thousands of hectares of land in the south, and the labor force required cannot be met by hundreds of thousands. What we are currently doing in Fushan County is just that. It's just the beginning. Recruiting these refugees to go to the south will not only give them a bowl of food, but also solve the difficulties of the local government. This is something that is beneficial to both parties. As for building a port on Zhifu Island and sending cavalry everywhere to promote it, These are actually for the purpose of organizing immigration.”
Harugong kept silent about Haihan's plans for military expansion and commercial, cultural, and financial promotion, and only focused on the topic of immigration. He also wanted to avoid as much as possible extraneous matters and arouse Zhang Pucheng's vigilance. The large number of refugees in the Denglai area has caused serious harm to local security, and at the moment, there is probably no better way to handle immigration than Haihan. Zhang Pucheng thought about it and felt that if he just endorsed the other party's immigration action, he could try to use more tactful expressions to reduce the government's responsibilities and risks. Of course, the most important thing is to negotiate a price that is acceptable to both parties.
"Then if I am willing to help, what price will you pay to thank me?" After Zhang Pucheng made a decision in his mind, he decisively asked the question he was most concerned about.
(End of chapter)