Chapter 1139 Penetration and Control
Compared with the previous combat environment in the south, the icy and snowy Liaodong is a completely different world for the Haihan Army. Although the Haihan Army undoubtedly has the advantage in terms of strength, the Ministry of National Defense believes that it is unreasonable to enter Liaodong in winter. This was a rather risky choice, so when we first made the plan, we never considered launching an offensive on the Liaodong Peninsula in the winter of the first year heading north.
However, dispatching the navy from Zhifu Port to assist the Dongjiang Zhenming Army in recovering the abandoned Changshan Islands was within Haihan's capabilities, and the risk was relatively small. After all, the strength of the Houjin Navy is relatively limited and it is difficult to pose a substantial threat to the Haihan Navy. After completing this wave of operations, most of the combat ships of the Haihan Navy had to go south before Zhifu Port froze, returned to Zhoushan, Zhejiang, for maintenance, and then headed north back to Zhifu Port to be stationed after the beginning of spring.
Before winter begins, another major event to be completed at the Zhifu Island base is the exploration and mining preparations for the Fushan copper mine. If things go well, it's not impossible to start mining copper this winter.
The day after Tian Yeyou and others arrived at Zhifu Island, good news came that the special operations battalion had defeated bandit forces in the inland mountainous area and captured the two bandit leaders of the Wanjia Army. This greatly accelerated Haihan's process of clearing the mountainous area in the southwest of Fushan County. The next day, Zhifu Island sent a company of army troops to land from the upper reaches of Jiahe River and go to the location of the Fushan Copper Mine to serve as a pioneer. Tian Yeyou rested for another day on Zhifu Island before landing and going ashore to carry out exploration missions in the area.
Considering that there may still be many stragglers from the Wanjia Army in the area, the headquarters specially assigned Morgan to accompany him, and asked Chen Yixin, who was recruiting immigrants in Fushan County, to meet him near the county seat, and then go to the location of the copper mine together.
The Fushan Copper Mine is located fifteen miles west of Fushan County, right on the edge of the mountainous area, which slightly reduces the difficulty of mining. If it is located in a mountainous area, both transporting ore and locating miners will be quite troublesome, and the start of construction will have to be postponed until after spring.
Tian Yeyou and Morgan took a boat from Zhifu Island to the temporary dock on the upper reaches of Jiahe River. After more than a month of development, this place has spontaneously become a riverside market outside the county town. Haihan sells some cheap daily necessities and farm tools here, and recruits immigrants who voluntarily leave the Ming Dynasty here for a long time. Some local people who have no money can also barter with vegetables, fruits, chickens, ducks and other agricultural products harvested at home. Some business-minded people have set up bamboo sheds next to the market to sell tea, snacks, etc., and start to make money by taking advantage of the increasing flow of people.
Because Chen Yixin hadn't arrived yet, Ge Yong, a naturalized cadre who is currently in charge here, took the two people to visit the market and introduced them to the business conditions here: "This place was originally managed by the military. , but the security situation near the county has improved recently, and security affairs have been taken over by the newly formed security team.”
The so-called security team is led by Haihan and consists of honest and reliable young men selected from locally recruited immigrants. After simple training, the military sends people as commanders to do some maintenance in this market. Order work. Considering that these people had only been in Haihan for a short period of time and were not reliable enough, they were not equipped with lethal weapons. Each person was only given a two-foot-long wooden stick as a self-defense device. Because the supplies on Zhifu Island are currently limited, the uniforms of these security officers are not uniform. They just wear a red cloth hoop of the same style on each arm, with the word "Public Security" written on it in yellow paint to identify them. the special status of these people.
Ge Yong continued: "In addition to the treatment of ordinary immigrants, these security guards can also receive one or two silver labor allowances per month, so they are quite active in their work. In the future, local police agencies and militia organizations will be established. Security officers with work experience will be given priority.”
If Haihan wants to take root in Fushan County and engage in mining, trade, immigration and other affairs, he must infiltrate and control the local officialdom and people, gradually establish a social order controlled by Haihan, and create and maintain the operation of this system. In addition to the military means of Haihan, a large number of unarmed personnel are also needed to implement various high-level plans and ideas.
Haihan did not intend to directly enter the county to control the county government and local officials. Such behavior would be tantamount to invasion and would only cause unnecessary trouble. Based on the operational experience in the south over the past few years, it is the wisest approach to establish a separate system outside of local government offices, implement local management on its own, and gradually evacuate the government in a peaceful manner.
A market was established on the river bank outside the county town to attract people and promote trade. At the same time, it was logical to start promoting Haihan's social management system and economic and trade system among the local people. Over time, after the Haihan colonial system develops to a certain scale locally, it will be able to gradually reduce its dependence on the south in terms of security defense, material supplies, and operational fund raising.
Tian Yeyou asked: "How is the current response of Fushan County Government to these measures of ours?"
"The reaction... was quite peaceful!" Ge Yong hesitated for a moment before responding: "In the first few days, there were police officers coming to patrol the city, but after we brought out the security team, they stopped coming. I guess I took the initiative to avoid it.”
Tian Yeyou heard other people talking about the situation in Fushan County on the island two days ago. There are currently only a small number of garrison troops and security personnel in the city. After seeing how the Wanjia Army was completely defeated by the Haihan Army, these people will be more afraid of Haihan. Things that make sense. Since Haihan has mobilized his own security team, he will naturally not welcome the Fushan County police officers to come over and point fingers. Ge Yong was hesitant just now. Tian Yeyou thought that this was probably not as peaceful as he said, and he was probably driving the other party back to the county seat directly.
However, these small things did not affect the overall situation, and Tian Yeyou did not continue to ask further questions. What he is more concerned about now is that more and more people are noticing them and starting to watch. Not only was their swarming appearance more attractive, Morgan, with his tall nose and dark eyes, was also one of the targets of people's onlookers.
Tian Yeyou smiled and said: "You came here at the right time. You see, everyone treats you as a star."
Morgan responded seriously: "It's not as exaggerated as you said. I don't think they will be too surprised by my appearance. After all, I also have a little bit of Latin ancestry, and my appearance is not much different from that of southern Europeans."
When Sun Yuanhua was the governor of Denglai, he organized a special force with more than 20 European soldiers. These foreign soldiers are basically Portuguese who were hired as military consultants and came to Dengzhou to train musketeers and artillery for them. During their stay in Dengzhou, many local people had seen these "Flangji people" . Therefore, although Morgan's appearance is obviously different from that of the Han people, he is not necessarily unfamiliar to the local people in Dengzhou.
The two walked around the market for a while, and Chen Yixin hurried over with the security team. After meeting, he confessed to the two of them: "I should have come here early in the morning to wait, but I was delayed because of some troubles. "Time, I've kept you waiting for a long time!" "What's the trouble? Do you need help?" Morgan asked eagerly upon hearing this. One of the reasons why he applied to go north to Shandong was because there might be more frequent combat operations here. When Chen Yixin said this, he immediately became interested.
Chen Yixin waved his hand and said: "It's not the kind of trouble you think... Oh, I can't explain a word or two, let's talk while walking!"
Morgan and Tian Yeyou gathered their men, and then left the market with Chen Yixin and headed west. On the way, Chen Yixin talked about a minor trouble he had encountered recently, which made the two of them a little stunned.
Chen Yixin has been stationed in Fushan County for some time. His jurisdiction is the area west of Jiahe, and Harugong is in charge of the east. And the work he is responsible for is not only public security, but also civil affairs. As a result, a squire family saw him as young and promising, so they had the courage to ask a matchmaker to find him, hoping to recruit him as their wife. After Chen Yixin politely declined through an intermediary, the squire's family still refused to give up, so they changed their approach and held a banquet to invite him to their home.
This squire also has some influence in the local area, and he also invited people from the local government to attend. Chen Yixin considered that he wanted to build a good relationship with the local dignitaries, so he attended the dinner yesterday. He drank a lot of wine during the dinner, so he Stayed one night at the squire's house. In the morning, I originally wanted to say goodbye and leave earlier, but the squire dragged me to have breakfast with him, so I was delayed.
"You can do it, young man!" Tian Yeyou praised after hearing this: "What a beautiful blessing that comes to your door! How is the girl? Are you satisfied with it?"
Chen Yixin shook his head and said: "I have no idea about this, so I didn't ask to meet the other girl. I think this kind of thing is not appropriate, so it's better not to get involved."
"What are you worried about? Are you afraid that your father-in-law will seek personal gain through your relationship in the future?" Tian Yeyou asked with a smile.
"Brother Tian, please stop making fun of me. My father-in-law has nothing to say about my father-in-law..." Chen Yixin paused, then nodded and admitted Tian Yeyou's guess: "If you marry a local powerful person, it will be equivalent to I have become their protection. If they do something bad outside under my name, I will still have to deal with it. Think about it, why did this squire take the initiative to marry his daughter to me? Haihan’s strength, and the power in my hands, I don’t want to be used as a tool by others because of this relationship!”
Tian Yeyou said: "Actually, it's not as serious as you think. Let's take myself as an example. My father-in-law was originally a wealthy businessman in Lianzhou Prefecture. After getting married, he became Haihan's business partner. Every year, he casually Giving him some resources would be enough for him to make a living. The gentry of the Ming Dynasty took the initiative to marry us, just to gain benefits from the help we can provide, but why didn't we realize our penetration into the Ming Dynasty through this relationship? Control? Although I don’t know the specific situation of the family you met, but if the conditions are right, there is no need to deliberately exclude this kind of thing. After all, you are already old enough to get married, and it is a good thing to start a family early. "
Tian Yeyou is the first person among the time-travelers to marry the people of this time and space. While he was stationed at Black Earth Port, he married the daughter of a maritime merchant from Lianzhou Prefecture. Now he has a pair of children, which can be regarded as a time-travel family. A representative figure of happiness. He has a much clearer view than Chen Yixin on intermarriage with the Ming Dynasty gentry and rich merchants. After traveling through time and space, even if the first generation digests it internally and does not intermarry with the natives, the second generation will inevitably inevitably do so sooner or later. They will marry the natives. The privileged class and vested interests formed by this are also inevitable products. Even if Chen Yixin is very repulsive now, he will inevitably face such a situation in the future.
Chen Yixin smiled bitterly and said: "I am new here and I am not familiar with the local situation. How dare I agree to such a big thing casually. If this squire hadn't been very cooperative with our arrival before, I wouldn't even have gone to eat."
Morgan asked curiously: "If according to Lao Tian's statement, this family should want to achieve some purpose through marriage, did they explain it to you when you went to the banquet?"
Chen Yixin said: "The other party didn't say it very directly, but he mentioned a few words intentionally or unintentionally, probably to test my attitude. From my understanding, he hopes to get our protection, and also wants to use our momentum. , annexing land in Fushan County ”
Morgan asked: "I can understand seeking protection, but what is the rationale for annexing land?"
Chen Yixin said: "It's very simple. A large number of people in Fushan County died or fled during the war. Therefore, there are currently many unowned lands in the county that are in a state of neglect. This squire hopes that we will come forward to negotiate with the county government and use a relatively low-cost solution." We will acquire these lands at a reasonable price and then transfer them to him. Of course, we can cooperate with him to jointly develop these lands.”
"Is there such an operation?" Morgan rarely dealt with Ming Dynasty officials outside and didn't know much about Ming Dynasty's land policy. He couldn't help but be a little surprised when he heard such an answer: "If we can reach a deal with the county government, then we can directly collect the money." Wouldn’t it be better if we developed it under our own name, why don’t we transfer it to him?”
"In Daming, we are all foreigners just like you." Chen Yixin explained: "If the local government sells the ownership of a large amount of land to a group of foreigners, do you think the county magistrate will be in trouble? The squire will know our plan. , so I took the initiative to propose a solution that looked like taking off your pants and farting.”
(End of chapter)