Chapter 1186: What I experienced in Hangzhou
Lin Si has been serving Haihan for more than a year. Before coming to Hangzhou, he often accepted Haihan's political views. His understanding of the current political situation of the Ming Dynasty was even better than that of some officials. He also knew that Haihan's attitude towards the Ming Dynasty was not as full of awe as other neighboring small countries. Instead, it was obvious that he had a condescending and mysterious sense of superiority. At first, he thought this was the ignorance and arrogance of the Haihan people who had too little knowledge, but later he gradually discovered that it was not the Haihan people who were ignorant but himself.
The various advanced skills possessed by this group of overseas visitors are indeed unheard of. Whether it is doing business, fighting wars or governing local areas, they know everything, are precise in everything, and make every calculation without omissions. Although Lin Si himself was once a member of the armed smugglers who were not under the jurisdiction of the government, he had to admit that Haihan's business level on these offshore islands was much higher than that of him and his peers, and The relationship with the government is also much more harmonious. Lin Si initially surrendered to the opponent's force, but then his mentality gradually changed, and his attitude towards Haihan changed from being forced to obey orders to obeying from the heart.
One of the views that was instilled in Lin Si was that Haihan's various activities in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty were actually all intended to help the Ming Dynasty maintain its rule. Whether it was to eliminate pirates in the south, establish trade routes, or go to the north to rescue refugees and fight against the Northern invaders, the objective effects of these actions were indeed beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. Although Haihan unceremoniously took over some offshore islands for himself during this process, this was actually harmless in Lin Si's view - even when the Haihan people did not come, these islands were left to pirates and armed smugglers. Under the control of the government, it is also a place beyond the control of the government.
Perhaps due to the influence of his career, Lin Si spent a lot of time dealing with foreigners, and his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty was actually very limited. However, when Haihan instilled these political views, he always started from the perspective of worrying about the country and the people. Chang Linsi was also greatly affected. Therefore, when he and Pan Yan discussed these wars thousands of miles away, they would not be ignorant. His tone did not sound like a profit-oriented businessman, but rather like a bureaucrat within the system.
When Pan Yan chatted with him about these topics, there was no such situation as he had worried about before. On the contrary, the conversation was very speculative. He immediately said: "It's a pity that there are so few people in the world like Haihan who can see the current situation clearly. Even if There are people like this, but they are not as capable as the leaders of Haihan, who can conquer the four seas and destroy the enemy thousands of miles away."
Lin Si responded: "If Mr. Pan is serious, he can change his camp and join Haihan."
Pan Yan quickly waved his hand and said: "How can I be so virtuous and capable as to serve Haihan?"
"Since the chiefs are relieved to let you come to Hangzhou for research, this shows their trust and respect for you. Mr. Pan, don't think that everyone can get such treatment. You are still the first person to visit Fengsheng Rice Store one year after it opened. The foreign officers here." Lin Si clicked his tongue: "Even the military officers from the Xu family in Fujian stayed on Zhoushan Island when they came to Zhejiang. I didn't see any of them coming to Hangzhou to show their faces."
What is the origin of the "Fujian Xu Family"? Pan Yan heard Wang Tom mention it. Fujian Commander-in-Chief Xu Xinsu was said to be supported by Hai Han, and the Fujian military and Hai Han have always maintained a very close relationship. It is said that many senior officers of the Fujian Ming Army, especially front-line commanders of the navy, will receive training in the Haihan Army and learn advanced tactics. Many of the warship weapons of the Fujian Navy were purchased in bulk from Haihan. It can be said that they are quite dependent on Haihan in the military. From Pan Yan's perspective, this is very similar to the current situation in Dongjiang Town.
In fact, the direct officers of the Xu family in Fujian are not only trained at the Penghu base near Fujian, but some of them also go to Sanya and other places under Haihan's control for study tours. The relevant scope is not only the Haihan control area near the Ming Dynasty coastline, but now people are also visiting places such as the South China Sea. Of course, in addition to receiving training, the officers who went to these places also had the task of confirming new routes and transit ports for the maritime trade of the Xu family in Fujian, so as to open up trade routes from Fujian to Southeast Asia and even the West.
Pan Yan thought to himself that no one from the Xu family had been here before, so it was indeed a special treatment, but he was from a special background and did not dare to speak nonsense. He also knew that Lin Si was from the Haihan Security Department, and he didn't know whether what the other party said was sincere or deliberately testing him. If he said something wrong, he would probably be reported to the police later, so it was better to be cautious.
Pan Yan's worry is not unreasonable. The content of his conversation with Lin Si will indeed be part of Lin Si's next work report. However, the outrageous remarks he was worried about were not that sensitive, and Haihan would not expect a former Ming army officer like him to completely change his original political stance in a short period of time. As long as he doesn't maliciously slander Haihan behind his back, or reveal some reactionary thoughts, it won't cause him any trouble.
Pan Yan did not dare to talk too deeply with Lin Si on this topic, so he excused himself from drinking and went back to his room to rest. Lin Si didn't force himself when he saw this. Pan Yan would probably stay in Hangzhou for a few more days anyway, and there were plenty of opportunities to talk, so he was not in a hurry at this moment.
Before Pan Yan came to Hangzhou, Wang Tom specially approved 200 taels of activity funds for him. Although it was not a big amount, he had nothing to spend money on and wanted to experience the customs of Hangzhou in just a few days. Favors are enough. Lin Si's usual job was mainly to welcome people and send them off, and he also knew the routines of reception work very well. He knew that one of the important things these soldiers must do after entering the city is to go to the Fengyue place to solve their physiological needs, so he gave Pan the next day. Yan pointed out several fun and interesting places. Lin Si originally intended to accompany him in person, but Pan Yan still declined his kindness - it would be too depressing to have someone follow him when he went to a brothel.
Lin Si didn't insist, but just told Pan Yan to be careful not to reveal his identity. If he encounters trouble that is difficult to solve, don't force himself to come forward. He just needs to pay someone to send a letter back to Mihang immediately, and they will try to solve it for him. question. Pan Yanxindao said that since I was kidnapped by the rebels and sent to Liaodong, I have been living with my tail between my legs. The edges have been smoothed off a long time ago. How can I take the initiative to stir up trouble in the brothel? I can just pay the money and leave when I am happy, and there should be no trouble. .
However, it is not suitable to go to places like brothels during the day, so Pan Yan arranged his daytime itinerary as a one-day trip in the city. Lin Si originally wanted to arrange a guide for him, but Pan Yan politely declined. He just wanted to walk around the city and didn't plan to go to a specific place. Hangzhou is known as the largest city in the south of the Yangtze River. Even the pre-war Dengzhou is far less prosperous. There are rows of commercial shops in the city, and pedestrians are walking around on the streets. Pan Yan is among them. It is hard to imagine that this city was still there just two days ago. under military blockade. The people in the city seemed to lack sufficient understanding of the crisis that had just passed. As he walked around, he listened to the topics discussed by the people around him, and no one was discussing the reasons why Haihan raised and withdrew his troops this time. It was as if this crisis was not a big deal. Nothing ever happened.
Of course, it is also possible that this is just the government's publicity work being done well, making the public think that the closure of the city a few days ago was just to arrest the real culprit of the Tongsheng Pier fire case, and that the Qiantang River was blocked outside the city. Foreign troops only cooperate with the government's arrangements. There are not many people who really know about the armed conflict in the eighth year of Chongzhen. However, Haihan controlled the intensity of the action after entering the confrontation, and also cooperated with the government's propaganda direction afterwards, and did not spread it among the people. Those rumors that are unfavorable to the government.
It would have been fine if it had been anyone else. Pan Yan had served in the war-torn areas of the north, so he naturally knew how powerful the government's tricks were to whitewash peace. People outside the battlefield are often deceived by the government and think that they are still in a peaceful age. Only when war has befallen them will they realize that this world is not as peaceful as the government says.
The people in Shandong did not know that the Liaodong Peninsula across the sea had been captured by Hou Jin. Only the occasional refugees from Liaodong who fled across the sea to Denglai would make them aware of the war in Liaodong. The people in the south also have no idea how much damage the Denglai Rebellion caused to Shandong, let alone that there are Ming troops like Dongjiang Town overseas struggling to survive. People like Haihan can It is almost impossible for people who control the overall information to exist among the people of the Ming Dynasty.
Pan Yan randomly found a popular restaurant in the city for dinner at noon. There happened to be a table of businessmen sitting next door, both from Hangzhou and from other places. The topic they were talking about happened to be related to Haihan. Pan Yan was interested. Unintentionally, I raised my ears and listened for a while.
However, the topic that the people at the table were talking about was not the Haihan Army's bold military action in Hangzhou Prefecture a few days ago, but the Zhejiang Chief Envoy's recent announcement of the opening of Haihan trade rights. Although notices have been posted about this matter, there has not been much discussion among the public. The reason is that most people are not aware of the immediate impact this matter will have on their lives, and naturally they will not care about it if it is insignificant. Someone cares. Even the Zhejiang government, which reviewed and announced this decision, might not have imagined that Haihan had made so many troubles in Hangzhou Bay, and his ultimate goal was to obtain this seemingly useless trade right.
However, there are still some people who, with their keen sense of smell and some special information channels, are aware of the positive impact this decision will have on local import and export trade in the future. For example, the Ming merchants at the table next to Pan Yan happened to fall into this category. Pan Yan listened for a while and realized that this group of businessmen were gathering here for the purpose of winning several agency franchises at the next investment conference.
These merchants do not seem to be big merchants and do not have enough financial resources to operate alone, so they plan to join forces and jointly contribute money to gain an advantage in the auction, and then distribute the operating income according to the proportion of the money contributed. This kind of business method is nothing new. There are many businesses in the north that use similar shareholding cooperation methods. But what surprised Pan Yan was that this group of businessmen had no experience in cooperating with Haihan before. Just because Haihan's business situation in the past year since he entered Zhejiang, as well as the trade decree promulgated by the Chief Envoy this time, made them think that this was a business opportunity that could not be lost, and they must try to get some benefits for themselves from it.
Pan Yan didn't particularly understand Haihan's efforts to obtain such a trade right. He thought it was a fuss over a molehill and the effect might not be immediate. After all, it was the result of military threats, and the people of the Ming Dynasty might be dissatisfied with it. And they have feelings of fear and disgust towards Haihan, which affects their enthusiasm for cooperation.
But now it seems that my thinking is too simple. These Ming merchants who have interests first do not care whether Haihan invaded Hangzhou with force before that. The most important thing is the profitable cross-border trade. Moreover, the effect of open trade rights goes far beyond the few Ming merchants in front of me. According to what they said, there are many businessmen in various states and counties who are eager to take action after hearing the news. Even small businesses who do not have the strength to compete for regional franchises , also began to look for opportunities, planning to find supply channels in advance, so that he could at least drink a few mouthfuls of soup even if he couldn't chew the bones.
After Pan Yan arrived in Zhoushan, he visited the local trading port operations and had a certain understanding of Haihan's development strategy of using business to promote military affairs and using military force to protect business. Haihan earns huge profits from trade with the Ming Dynasty every year, and a considerable part of it is used in the form of military expenditures to develop the military and manufacture warships and guns. Wang Tom once said to him jokingly that most of Haihan's funds for manufacturing weapons and training troops were produced through trade in the huge market of Ming Dynasty. From a certain point of view, it is not an exaggeration to say that Ming Dynasty is paying for Haihan to build an army. These armies, in turn, provided a strong guarantee for Haihan to continue to expand maritime trade routes and overseas markets. For example, this time it was able to force the Zhejiang government to open up trade rights. The decisive force was Haihan's proud army.
However, the citizens of the Ming Dynasty did not seem to be aware of this situation at all. The government only had a negative attitude towards Haihan's trading methods because its own interests were harmed, or they were worried that Haihan would take the opportunity to invade the Ming Dynasty. Few people realized that The hidden essence behind this trade relationship is actually one party's plunder of wealth from the other. Of course, based on Pan Yan's current position, he is not disgusted with Haihan's approach. Instead, he admires Haihan's senior management for being able to come up with this set of operating modes. And thankfully, although Haihan acted deliberately and unintentionally, at least he did not actually invade the territory of Ming Dynasty and massacre the citizens of Ming Dynasty. To a certain extent, he helped Ming Dynasty maintain its rule.
(End of chapter)