Chapter 1169 Everyone has their own plans
When Shi Diwen first got married, he wasn't too picky about the other person's family background, because no matter what the woman's background was, to this group of well-informed time travellers, most of them were just country girls. , after you get married, you still have to spend time training her. Of course, it is always better to have a cultural background than to be purely illiterate. At least it will be relatively easier for both parties to communicate. And Shi Diwen's wife can be regarded as a well-educated lady, with a good appearance, and her personal hardware and software are quite good.
However, Shi Diwen's wife was from a commoner background, so naturally she had no say in his marrying a concubine. Shi Diwen only had to make his own decision. Fortunately, the other party is only the niece of Magistrate Qu. If she were his own daughter, the position of the wife's concubine would probably not be easy to coordinate, and the other party would definitely not be willing to be the second child. If Shi Diwen didn't want to be a betrayal, he would have no choice but to reject the marriage.
After hearing this, Wang Tom couldn't help but sigh: "When I received the telegram, I thought it was you who took the initiative and lured back the little girl from Qu Yu's family. After doing it for a long time, it turned out that someone forced it on you."< br>
Shi Diwen chuckled and said, "But I'm not at a disadvantage either. The woman gave me a lot of dowry, and there's a three-bedroom house in Ningbo!"
Wang Tom smiled and said: "Your status does not allow you to live in Ningbo city. If you accept this dowry, it is almost like confiscation."
Shi Diwen is currently the chief officer of Zhoushan. He plays a very important role in the military, political and business affairs, and his personal safety is also of paramount importance. Even if he wants to leave Dinghai Port to inspect nearby islands, he must first send a telegram to the Sanya base camp to apply for registration. Haihan's office in Guangzhou has not yet moved into Guangzhou after so many years. Considering the current environment in Zhejiang, it is unlikely that the Executive Committee will agree to his permanent residence in Ningbo.
With Haihan's current level of wealth, such a property with three courtyards would naturally not really attract the attention of an official of Shi Diwen's level, and would only be used as a talking point for joking. Besides, Qu Yutong's purpose was to keep his official position. Regardless of whether Shi Diwen would accept it or not, he wanted to show his sincerity by using a house as a dowry.
Shi Diwen couldn't see through the other party's little tricks, but since he had seen the right person, he wouldn't pay special attention to the dowry money and real estate. After all, these are all just for the sake of spectacle. The real focus is how to further consolidate the relationship between the two parties after the marriage, what kind of help Haihan can give Qu Yutong, and what kind of convenience Qu Yutong can provide Haihan.
Shi Diwen said seriously: "What Qu Yutong means is that he hopes that we can exert certain military pressure on the areas around Hangzhou Bay and make the three major yamen in Hangzhou nervous, so that he can have the opportunity to negotiate terms with the boss. , let him come forward to resolve the crisis.”
Tom Wang blinked, touched the beard stubble on his chin, and asked thoughtfully: "So you didn't send the telegram to urge me to come back for the wedding banquet?"
"If you want to drink, you can drink at any time. Why rush these days, right?" Shi Diwen did not deny his guess: "Think about it, if there is a banquet at this time, and Qu Yutong marries Qu Yutong with great fanfare, When my niece comes over, doesn’t it mean that all fools know that we and Qu Yu are wearing the same pair of pants? When the time comes, he wants us to cooperate with him and make a fuss about it. How can we fool people?”
Tom Wang sighed: "I thought we would come back to watch the fun, but in the end they urged us to come back and perform for others to watch.
In order to go north to Shandong, the Ministry of National Defense established a dual-flagship fleet commanded by Wang Tom, and transferred many ships from the south to supplement it, as the prototype of the future North Sea Fleet. However, most of the main combat ships of this fleet came from the East China Sea Fleet that was originally stationed in Zhoushan. After Wang Tom led the fleet north, Haihan's armed ships in Zhoushan were also greatly reduced, which was more than enough to perform daily vigilance and self-defense. , but to launch a large-scale military operation near Hangzhou Bay and have a deterrent effect on the Zhejiang government, these ships in Zhoushan are not enough.
Having said that, if just sending a few ships around Hangzhou Bay to show off their force can achieve the effect, then Qu Yutong doesn't need to resort to such a big move as marriage to win over Haihan. Qu Yutong also knew that this kind of action would not only be expensive, but also involve many things. If Haihan wanted to take action, he might have to mobilize troops from elsewhere to concentrate in Zhejiang. This kind of laborious and laborious thing would not give enough reason and sweetness. The shrewd Haihan people must be Won't accept it.
Shi Diwen said: "In my opinion, Qu Yutong's idea is to perform a full set of acting. After we show off our strength, the Hangzhou government starts to get anxious, and he will stand up and be a good person, appease us, and finally put us down." The little girls in the family have all come up as peace terms. There is no merit but hard work. As long as the war that is about to break out is settled, no one will be able to say anything about his actions. "
"Oh, there are so many tricks in this city, and it's hard to calculate!" Wang Tom pretended to sigh before returning the topic to business: "Well, if Qu Yutong wants us to send troops to cause trouble, there must be some reason, right? It can’t be some bullshit reason like hearing that the imperial court is going to remove Qu Yutong and replace him with someone else, and we can’t stand it and just come out to defend our parents.”
"Of course the reason you mentioned is not valid." Shi Diwen shook his head and said: "But you don't have to worry. It's not difficult to find a reason to send troops. It's just to find a way to suffer some losses on the bright side, and then we There is reason to hold people responsible. People from the Security Department are already making preparations, waiting for you to bring the troops back from the north.”
Tom Wang still asked cautiously: "To what extent should the acting be performed? Have the Ministry of National Defense and the Executive Committee come up with specific guidance?"
"The main focus is on deterrence, but if there is a military confrontation, we can also strike as appropriate." Shi Diwen responded: "This is the original message from the telegram sent by Sanya the day before yesterday, and it comes from the opinions of the Executive Committee." Wang Tom pondered Said: "This is to let us not go too far and control the intensity, right? You must have been idle in the past few months. You must have made a plan, right? If you have any action plans, please come up with them for reference."
The area around Hangzhou Bay where the lower reaches of the Qiantang River enters the sea actually consists of four prefectures: Jiaxing Prefecture, Hangzhou Prefecture, Shaoxing Prefecture and Ningbo Prefecture, plus at most one Songjiang Prefecture north of Jiaxing, which belongs to Jiangsu. Among these state capitals, the one where Haihan has penetrated the most is undoubtedly Ningbo Prefecture, which is adjacent to the Zhoushan Islands. The civil and military officials in power have secretly joined Haihan's camp, but since they are putting on a show to show to the top officials of Zhejiang officialdom, then this The stage of the play can no longer be placed in Ningbo Prefecture, and can only be staged in the jurisdiction of several other prefectures.
Of course, to achieve the best effect, it is natural to directly attack the city, let the Haihan army enter the depths of Hangzhou Bay, and even block the waterway from Hangzhou from the sea, and send the army to land on the coastal areas. Let Zhejiang officials believe that an uncontrollable war may break out at any time, so that peace advocates like Qu Yutong can jump out and become the protagonist at critical moments. Of course, if the intensity of this drama is not well controlled and the senior officials in Zhejiang believe that war is inevitable and really go all out to fight Haihan, then the situation may be difficult to deal with. If nothing else, Qu Yutong, the prefect, will definitely not be able to continue his job by then.
There is still a lot of preparation work to be done before the official drama begins. For example, Haihan had to communicate well with Ningbo Prefecture first, so as not to cause panic in the local area when the troops were dispatched. The timing of Qu Yutong's appearance also needs to be grasped just right. If he appears early, he will steal the show, and may arouse the suspicion of his superiors. If he appears late, others may steal the show, which will be very embarrassing. Seizing this opportunity also requires the actions of Qu Yutong and Haihan to be synchronized.
The troops and ships required for this forceful deterrent operation are actually no less than launching a small-scale war, and there is indeed the possibility of a war breaking out during the process. Therefore, Haihan's preparations must be based on operations rather than exercises. standards to be implemented. The navy troops and ships that had just returned from the north needed a few days to rest, so after discussion, the two set the time for the operation to one month later to allow sufficient preparation time.
But for Haihan, there is good news coming to his door at this time of the year. According to historical records, during the first month of the eighth year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui, Luo Rucai, Ge Liyan, King Zuojin, King Gaishi, Shetaotian, King Hengtian, Hun Shiwan, Guotianxing, Nine Dragons, Thirteen peasant armies including King Shuntian captured Xingyang, Henan, and on the 15th day of the first lunar month, they captured Fengyang, the central capital of the Ming Dynasty, which was the hometown of Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
After the peasant army captured Fengyang, they immediately destroyed the imperial mausoleum, burned the Longxing Temple where Zhu Yuanzhang had been a monk, and killed thousands of Ming troops who stayed in Zhongdu. Such rampant behavior can be said to have shaken the foundation of the Zhu family's control of the world. Naturally, the Ming court would not react to this. At that time, it mobilized more than 70,000 elite troops from surrounding provinces to fight in Henan, and appointed Hong Chengchou as the leader of the five provinces. Governor Zhu Dadian, governor of Shandong, served as his deputy, and the two of them led the operation to encircle and suppress the peasant army.
However, this battle will not end within a period of time, and the impact will also affect several provinces. Even the Fuguang area, which is far in the south and is thousands of miles away from the Henan battlefield, will also have to pay additional taxes. He collected taxes and symbolically dispatched thousands of troops to Henan to help suppress bandits. If nothing else goes wrong, Zhejiang will soon receive an order from the court to organize troops to enter Henan via Anhui to participate in the battle. At this time, Zhejiang cannot afford any more troubles. If it becomes difficult to clean up, Qu Yutong, the prefect, will not only be dismissed.
The peasant army dug up the Zhu family's ancestral graves in Fengyang. This incident was even more serious than the Jin army's annual conquests southward. After all, what the wild boar skins took away was only the population and wealth, and it did not seem to directly affect the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. . In contrast, some of Haihan's upcoming actions in Zhejiang will not cause much backlash. Both the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense believe that the Zhejiang government will choose to compromise under internal and external pressure. After all, at this stage of the Ming Dynasty It is to concentrate the country's armed forces to clean up the peasant army in the Central Plains, but Haihan's actions are at least within the scope of a negotiated solution. As long as they do not attack Zhejiang and seize territory, the government will try to find a solution through negotiations. conflict.
More than ten days later, at Tongsheng Wharf on the north bank of the Qiantang River in Hangzhou Prefecture, a fleet with the flag "Shi" slowly docked. The laborers on the dock swarmed forward, waiting for the ship owner to hire them. These workers who have been here all year round know that this fleet with the stone flag is actually the fleet of the Haihan people in Zhoushan, but the two-color flag of the Haihan people is too ostentatious, so in order to facilitate access to and from the Qiantang River, they use this A substitute. The Haihan people have always been generous. The price for hiring laborers is at least 10% more than the market price, and the settlement is quick. Therefore, they have become the most popular employer among local laborers in a short period of time.
However, Haihan people generally do not deal directly with the laborers. Only the foreman who leads the team is qualified to go on the ship to negotiate the price with the Haihan boss. The laborers can only wait patiently on the shore for the results. This fleet of three sailboats looks like they have a deep draft on their sides, so they may be carrying a lot of cargo, which will be a huge burden on the laborers.
"Make way, everyone, make way, Mr. Gu is here!" With a burst of shouting, a path separated from the crowd. Several thick-shouldered and round-waisted men in black pushed all those who were blocking the way to the side and cleared the way. Create a path to allow a middle-aged man following behind to pass smoothly.
This middle-aged man known as "Master Gu" is named Gu Minghui. He is actually one of the contractors at Tongsheng Wharf. However, it is said that he has an official background, so the best areas and the most lucrative jobs on the wharf often go to He took them all, and the Haihan business was one of them. Seeing Gu Hui's appearance, some laborers knew that most of the fleet's work was again taken over by him, so they could only spit on the ground, then turned around and left angrily.
Gu Hui made a grand appearance in front of the workers at the dock, but after boarding the ship along the gangplank, he immediately put on a humble face: "Master Lin, long time no see, you are so handsome! ”
The person known as Lin Daguanren is Linde from the Sanlin Gang of Liuheng Island. After the Sanlin Gang completely surrendered to Haihan, the three brothers also successively obtained appointments under the Haihan system. For example, Linde is now There is a "Deputy Director" position in the Shipping Department under the Zhoushan Management Committee. Although he does not have any real power, the various conveniences gained from this can bring real economic benefits. Linde used to often go to Hangzhou Prefecture to do some buying and selling. After joining the new master, he still engaged in related matters. He comes to Tongsheng Pier on average once a month, so he is quite familiar with the local snakes on the pier.
(End of chapter)