Chapter 1305 Danzhou Agricultural Products
Danzhou officials publicly arrested officials who leaked secrets at the banquet. Liu Shang believed that this was obviously meant to scare the monkeys, but he didn't know what kind of secrets these arrested officials had leaked, which made Zhang Xin and others set up a trap. The police gave him no way to escape, so he had no choice but to plead guilty in public and face the law. The clerk named Tan from the inspection team did not notice anything wrong with him along the way, nor did he realize that Zhang Qianzhi had been secretly monitoring this person. He even thought that Zhang Qianzhi was targeting him, and Liu Shang couldn't help but feel a little suspicious. How could there be such a serious misjudgment of my own professional abilities? Fortunately, he calmed down in the end. It would have been an injustice if he was frightened into revealing his identity by accident.
Liu Shang luckily escaped and gained a new understanding of Haihan's counter-espionage methods. He didn't think that he was safe because of the incompetence of the Haihan Security Department. He just hid his behavior well after coming to Haihan, leaving no clues for others to catch him. However, he also knows that slipping through the net this time does not mean that he will be safe from now on. Liao Yuan, who knows his true identity, is always a huge hidden danger. Even if he is not exposed, there is still the possibility of being implicated.
This hidden danger is like a poison that has been eaten but does not know when it will take effect. Liu Shang has trouble sleeping and eating. If he does not find a way to solve this problem, he is worried that he will not have a peaceful life in Sanya in the future.
Of course, Liu Shang also thought of some ruthless ideas to eradicate the problem, but he knew that with his skill, which was even difficult to kill a chicken, it would be extremely difficult to deal with Liao Yuan, who was tall and powerful and had practiced martial arts for many years. What's more, Liao Yuan has several equally capable men around him, and he is alone in Sanya. It is impossible to deal with them all at once. If you are not careful, you will get yourself involved, and then the gain will outweigh the loss.
"We still need to think about it in the long term!" Liu Shang sighed and could only put this thought aside for now. Judging from the purpose of lurking in Haihan, my situation is very good. Not only can I work with high-level officials in Haihan, but I can also have access to a lot of non-public information, which is far more valuable than the completely unavailable information collected in the past. Rumors confirming its authenticity. The only shortcoming is that Liu Shang himself is not knowledgeable enough and cannot understand the significance of a lot of information. It is really a waste of a great opportunity.
If nothing unexpected happens, Liu Shang is almost certain that he will get an employment notice from the government soon after returning to Sanya. Maybe in a few years, I will have the opportunity to work alone in Haihan Yamen. Wouldn't it be a hundred times easier to collect some key intelligence than it is now? It's just that the higher you climb in the future, the easier it will be to attract people's attention, and the risk of falling will also increase. The several Haihan officials who were previously arrested in the Nanhai Restaurant are the most striking warning. Maybe one of them has a real identity similar to his own, and is a Ming spy who has been lurking in Haihan for a long time.
While Liu Shang was lying in the guest house pretending to be sick and thinking wildly, the inspection team's local mission was not over yet. Yu Xiaobao wanted to sign for a batch of documents and materials that needed to be shipped back to Sanya on behalf of the executive committee. This handover point accepted The process also required the relevant responsible persons to be present and sign, so after the banquet, the inspection team followed Zhang Xin to the warehouse in the city without stopping.
In terms of materials, it is mainly the various taxes collected locally in the first half of the year, which need to be turned over to the national treasury in proportion. Although paper circulation certificates collectively known as Haihan coins have gradually replaced the circulation role of gold and silver in China, as a real hard currency, the wealth stored in the Haihan treasury is still mainly real gold and silver. The inspection team included staff from Haihan Bank. After the gold and silver were counted on site and the number was correct, the people in charge from both parties signed and pledged their signatures on the seal, and then sealed the box and transported it to the sailboat where the inspection team was riding for storage.
In addition, there are also some locally produced deeply processed products of cash crops, such as vegetable oil, edible spices, polished rice, canned fruits, etc. These things are not for Yu Xiaobao to take back to Sanya to give gifts as favors, but to be handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture, where experts will grade and price the agricultural products produced in Danzhou. This will directly affect the agricultural operation status of Danzhou area in the next year. It can be said that it is a very important part of the governance answer sheet handed over by the Danzhou Municipal Management Committee to Sanya. Therefore, Zhang Xin also pays special attention to this and personally reports to Yu Xiaobao and others explained the production status of these samples one by one.
If Liu Shang were around at this time, he would probably be amazed again by Haihan's management methods in agricultural projects. After these agricultural products are deeply processed and carefully packaged, their prices have doubled. Ordinary people should not find it too expensive. Due to limited deep processing capacity, most of these high-end goods are actually exported overseas, and the domestic supply to Haihan is not large. Moreover, it is a hot commodity in the markets of Haihan and other countries, and the target customer groups are also high-level society who are not sensitive to price, so there is not much problem in terms of sales.
Although Ming Dynasty also had an agricultural product processing industry, its commercial packaging methods were too primitive and backward compared to Haihan. Haihan's production, packaging, publicity, transportation, sales and other aspects are all arranged and planned by relevant national departments, using the power of the state to promote industrial progress. The effect is far beyond that of individuals in other countries in the Far East under the small-scale peasant economy. Operations are comparable. Although Haihan still imports a large amount of agricultural products from abroad every year, and the total import volume is much more than exports, almost all of the products purchased from abroad are primary products, while the products sold out are deeply processed products whose prices have increased several times. , this scissor difference has allowed Haihan to maintain considerable profits in the import and export trade of agricultural products.
Danzhou also holds an agricultural product exhibition every year, inviting merchants from surrounding countries to participate. However, the scale and influence of the agricultural product exhibition in Sanya are still not comparable to that of Sanya. Therefore, some high-end local products in Danzhou also need to send samples. to Sanya to facilitate operations by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce. Generally speaking, the relevant departments send people to Danzhou to inspect and accept this kind of errand. However, the inspection team is originally composed of people from various departments, so the tasks it shoulders are also varied, and the inspection, acceptance and transportation of agricultural products are naturally included among them.
After Zhang Xin finished the introduction, he changed the subject and said: "Everyone has worked hard all the way. I have also prepared gifts for everyone. We will send them to the ship together later. They are all our own people. Xiaobao, please don't refuse. .”
Yu Xiaobao smiled and said: "The chief has shown his kindness, so I will thank my colleagues first!"
Although it is taboo for officials to openly accept benefits, it varies from person to person. For example, if the chief sends some local specialties to his subordinates, no one will find it inappropriate. Yu Xiaobao has been among Haihan's senior executives all year round, so he can still grasp this degree, and he did not deliberately refuse Zhang Xin's arrangements. Of course, although Liu Shang was not present, the gifts were prepared directly for the head of the inspection team, and he also enjoyed one.
After the two parties handed over the supplies, Zhang Xin saw that it was still early for dinner, so he invited Yu Xiaobao to go out and hunt. Yu Xiaobao also knew that these things had to be transported to Danzhou Bay for shipment, and they would definitely not be finished in a while. He probably wouldn't be able to leave before dark today, so he might as well rest one night and wait until tomorrow to set off. He immediately accepted Zhang Xin's invitation, but some people in the inspection team didn't like hunting, so they arranged to return to their residence to rest first. Liu Shang couldn't help but feel a little anxious when his colleagues who came back said that although the mission was over, they would not leave until tomorrow. The longer he stayed outside, the greater the possibility that something would happen to Liao Yuan in Sanya. Every additional day It is to increase the risk you have to take by one point. But he also knows that opportunities like this one to join the inspection team and travel around the country will probably be rare in the future. If you stay in the team for one more day, you can collect a lot more valuable information, and the official connections you make along the way will also be gained. Maybe it will come in handy in the future.
With this conflicting mood, Liu Shang spent another night of anxiety. When he woke up the next day, the dark circles on his face still could not be eliminated. Yu Xiaobao looked at it and clicked his tongue, and forced Liu Shang to drink a large bowl of bitter Chinese medicine. Liu Shang had no choice but to hold his nose and drink it, thinking that he was getting rid of his illness and strengthening his health.
Zhang Xin had other official duties today, so he didn't come to see them off, but he still arranged a few carriages for them to take them from the guest house to Baimajing Pier in Danzhou Bay. After a group of people boarded the ship, the captain counted the people on the ship, then unmoored, raised the sail, and slowly left the port. Accompanying them were an expedition-class warship and a troop transport ship, also headed for Haikou City. Liu Shang was curious and asked Yu Xiaobao, only to find out that this was a unit that participated in the previous military exercise and was now returning to its original station.
Liu Shang did not continue to ask any more, but he already understood that the all-steam warship battle fleet seen in the Japanese military exercise was probably drawn by Haihan from the garrisons in various places, and it was not that such a fleet actually existed. The fixed organization of the fleet. This kind of arrangement is naturally made for visitors from all over the world to make them misjudge Haihan's naval strength and create fear.
Of course, the prerequisite for doing this is to have a sufficient number of steam warships. Although the fleet is a temporary formation, judging from what Liu Shang has seen and heard, the combat effectiveness of this temporary fleet is enough to deal with any maritime force in the surrounding area. Armed. In particular, the steam ironclad ship that came and went like the wind left a very deep impression on Liu Shang. If he were a naval general, he would probably pray not to encounter such a terrifying ship on the battlefield. Battleship. Liu Shang even believed that even Haihan's own active navy might not be able to defeat this single-handed armored warship.
He mentioned his idea to Yu Xiaobao and wanted to hear what Yu Xiaobao thought about it. After hearing this, Yu Xiaobao smiled and responded: "It's not as simple as you think. Fighting on the sea cannot be invincible just by relying on strong ships and guns. The most important thing is people. The people who control these weapons on the battlefield. Those who command the soldiers to execute combat orders are the key. Advanced warships and weapons only make it easier for us to win.”
Liu Shang still doesn't quite agree with this: "Director Yu is right, but the villain thinks that this armored battleship is extremely fast and its cannons are extremely accurate. Who else can stop it on this battlefield?"
Yu Xiaobao said: "You only saw that this ship ran fast and shot accurately, but you never thought about why it had such an advantage. This ship needs a steam engine to maintain a high speed, and the steam engine uses a lot of coal. and fresh water are consumables, and there is a limit to how much supplies can be carried on the ship. Let me give you an example. If you can't defeat this ship, you can go around it and attack its supply ship. As long as the supplies are cut off, it will be alone. How long can a boat stay at sea? ”
Liu Shang made sense when he thought about it. When the Haihan fleet went to sea, the number of supply transport ships was almost one to one with the number of combat ships, which shows that it is extremely dependent on material supplies. Although the steam battleship is powerful, its endurance is indeed limited. If the logistics supply is cut off, it will not be much different from an ordinary sail battleship. This combat plan can be written down and reported later, which may help the Ming army.
Before Liu Shang could understand the details of the matter, he heard Yu Xiaobao continue: "Of course, the example I gave is only based on the combat level of our navy. Even warships from other countries may not be able to If we can catch up with our navy's supply ship, that armored ship can just break into the opponent's fleet and destroy the flagship, and the battle won't have to continue."
Liu Shang had just had a little hope in his heart, and then he was poured cold water on his heart by Yu Xiaobao. Yes, if it were the Ming Dynasty Navy that faced the enemy, I'm afraid there would be no ship that could stop the ironclad ship. If it were rushed close by, the flagship would be damaged and sunk with a few cannons, and the fleet would be without command. , how can we continue to fight this battle?
He remembered what Yu Xiaobao said just now and asked with some reluctance: "Director Yu, you just said that the main thing in fighting a war depends on the person. Wouldn't it be true if the opponent is changed to another country?"
Yu Xiaobao said: "If the strength of the combatants is enough to make up for the gap in weapon performance, then of course it depends on the person; but if one of the parties, such as our country, has such an advantage in weapon performance that the quality of individual soldiers can be ignored When conditions such as , morale, and command ability are met, there will indeed be no suspense about the outcome, no matter who it is.”
This answer is really arrogant! Although Liu Shang was dissatisfied, he had to admit that there was some truth in what Yu Xiaobao said. He has also studied the battle cases of the past few years. Most of the time, the Haihan Army defeated more with less when fighting abroad. The advanced weapons installed in the army can be said to be an important reason for its invincibility.
(End of chapter)