Chapter 1456 The interests of Dongjiang Town
Unlike Sha Xi, who is confident, Shen Zhixiang has been as restless as an ant on a hot pot in recent days. He had high hopes when he came from Pidao, holding his breath to earn a performance in front of General Haihan, and finally got such an opportunity. But the situation he encountered on the battlefield was more difficult than he had imagined, and the Haihan military was obviously not satisfied with the performance of the Pidao Army. After that battle, the Pidao Army was adjusted to Among non-main forces, try to avoid contact with the Hou Jin Army in field battles.
Shen Zhixiang was naturally not comfortable with such an arrangement, but he had no better plan. After all, Haihan had given him a chance to perform, but Pidaojun failed to take advantage of it. Later, the Haihan Army transferred the main force away, leaving the Pidao Army to perform a feint attack outside Jijiabao. Although Shen Zhixiang couldn't laugh or cry, he still followed Haihan's deployment honestly, and his subsequent performance finally convinced Haihan. The general's mood improved a little, and he handed over Jijiabao to the Pidao Army to guard.
But this arrangement was only of a transitional nature. Shen Zhixiang soon discovered that Haihan's handing over Jijiabao to him was just a cover, while Haihan's army actively advanced the front line to a few miles north of the isthmus defense line, allowing Jin The Hou Jin army stationed in Zhoucheng did not dare to go south to cause trouble. Jijiabao became a logistics center. Shen Zhixiang's daily tasks changed from supervising operations to counting various combat materials and grain, and organizing migrant workers to build bastions on the city defense site.
Although Shen Zhixiang would not show resistance to such a task on the outside, it was difficult to fully accept it in his heart. His wish is to fight side by side with Haihan's elite on the battlefield, prove the strength of his troops in the battle with the Hou Jin Army, and then win Haihan's respect and more military assistance. But if the current situation continues to develop, let alone winning respect, it will be good if he can not be looked down upon by General Haihan.
Shen Zhixiang knew that the future development of Dongjiang Town depended on the performance of the Pidao Army in Liaodong. Therefore, even if he realized that he was starting to sit on the bench, he still handled everything carefully and tried to provide frontline command. He left a good impression on the Haihan generals at the Ministry. It wasn't until Qian Tiandun told him that all the merits of this war would be attributed to Dongjiang Town and reported to the Ming court, that he finally felt a little relieved.
To put it bluntly and harshly, this move at least proves that Dongjiang Town is still of great use value to Haihan, and Haihan is also willing to believe that Dongjiang Town can play a certain role in bridging the relationship between the two countries. Shen Zhixiang has been dealing with Haihan for a long time, and has gradually become familiar with Haihan's military style. As long as Qian Tiandun speaks out about this matter, there is still hope that it will be successful in the future.
On this day, Shen Zhixiang received another notice from the headquarters saying that Qian Tiandun wanted to summon him. Shen Zhixiang quickly put down everything he was doing and rushed to the headquarters with only four soldiers.
When Shen Zhixiang arrived at the place, he saw a middle-aged man in the room that he did not recognize. Judging by his dress and demeanor, he should be an authentic "Haihan man" rather than a naturalized citizen. He also knew that people from Haihan like Qian Tiandun were either rich or noble in Haihan country, so he quickly clasped his fists in greeting.
"General Shen, let me introduce you." Qian Tiandun, as the host, took on the task of introducing him: "This is Bai Kesibai, the executive committee member of the Haihan Executive Committee. Lao Bai, this is the young man from Dongjiang Town. Lord Shen Zhixiang, General Xiao Shen”
Shen Zhixiang has been dealing with Haihan for so long, and of course he has heard that Haihan's highest authority is not the cabinet or the emperor, but a nine-member organization called the "Executive Committee", but its functions are similar to the Ming Dynasty's cabinet. , are the highest authority institutions that maintain the operation of the country. And the nine people who determine the development direction of Haihan Kingdom are probably no less powerful than the kings of small countries.
Shen Zhixiang had never imagined that he could meet people from the executive committee in a place like Liaodong. It would be as unbelievable as if the Ming Dynasty's cabinet bachelor came to this place in person, but Qian Tiandun, as Haihan's boss in Liaodong, The highest military commander would definitely not joke about such a thing. Shen Zhixiang gritted his teeth and knelt down directly, saying: "The last general, Shen Zhixiang, has met Lord Bai!"
Bai Kesi nodded slightly, thinking that this guy was quite a smart guy. He stood up and helped Shen Zhixiang up, and said to him in a friendly manner: "General Shen is one of our own, so there is no need to pay such a big courtesy. Come on, sit down and talk!"< br>
Seeing Bai Kesi's kind attitude, Shen Zhixiang felt a little relieved and sat down according to Bai Kesi's wishes. Qian Tiandun asked someone to serve Shen Zhixiang another cup of hot tea, and then said: "I invite you here today mainly because I want to discuss with you the return of the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town to Liaodong."
Shen Zhixiang was shocked when he heard this, and thought that he had finally waited. Moving back to Liaodong was a plan that Shen's uncle and nephew had already thought of when they were determined to take Haihan as their mainstay. However, this matter must rely heavily on Haihan to realize it. Not only must they drive away the Hou Jin army entrenched in Lushun, but they must also let Haihan be defeated. Only if Haihan is willing to let the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town move back. The first step has already been achieved in the spring offensive, and now we are waiting for the second step. It's just that Shen Zhixiang always thought that this matter would be handled by Haihan's military with full authority, but he didn't expect that Haihan would send an executive committee member to Liaodong to handle this matter. However, this also shows that Haihan treats this matter with caution, which makes Shen Zhixiang feel more relieved. After all, if Haihan wants to get rid of this matter, he will never let a big man like Bai Kesi come across thousands of miles of sea. Liaodong discussed this matter with Dongjiang Town.
Of course, what Shen Zhixiang didn't know was that discussing the relocation of the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town was just one of the many tasks of Bai Kesi's trip north to Liaodong, and he did not come here specifically for this matter. However, now that the spring offensive has come to an end, Qian Tiandun invited Shen Zhixiang here while Bai Kesi was not too busy in the past two days, intending to discuss and finalize the implementation plan for the relocation of Dongjiang Town.
Shen Zhixiang responded cautiously: "General Qian and Mr. Bai, when I came here this time, my uncle told me that the matter of moving Dongjiang Town back to Liaodong will be subject to your country's arrangements. So I hope you will make it clear that I will comply with it." Yes.”
Shen Zhixiang took the initiative to lower his posture, which immediately gained Bai Kesi's favor. He had come into contact with many Ming officials of all kinds, but there were very few who had such a humble attitude as Shen Zhixiang. Even if the vast majority of Ming officials had been bribed by Haihan in private, or even took refuge in Haihan in disguise, they would still put on airs publicly. Very few of them would kneel down when they first met like Shen Zhixiang.
Bai Kesi originally thought that if Dongjiang Town made too many detailed requirements for the relocation, it would have to be hammered in person. However, he did not expect that Shen Zhixiang did not ask Haihan's plan at all and immediately agreed. It seemed that I am not worried at all that Haihan will change his attitude on this matter.
Bai Kesi and Qian Tiandun exchanged glances, and then said to Shen Zhixiang: "General Shen, let me introduce our plan to you first. If you have any opinions, you can put them forward and we can discuss it together. Let's talk about it. It is also a good thing for the benefit of the people, and we also want to promote its implementation as soon as possible." Shen Zhixiang responded respectfully: "I would like to hear the details."
At that moment, Bai Kesi took out a book, looked through the contents, and began to introduce Haihan's immigration plan to Shen Zhixiang.
Haihan set aside a piece of land of about three square kilometers for Dongjiang Town on the coastal plain near the Bohai Bay, thirty miles northwest of Lushun, as a temporary base for the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town to move back to Liaodong. At present, the total population of Dongjiang Town stationed on islands such as Phi Island is about just over 10,000. Although it will be slightly crowded here, the living conditions are definitely much better than those on Phi Island. After all, there is at least arable land here for growing food, but the salt-alkali land all over the mountains and plains on Pi Island is an insurmountable obstacle to survival.
The Haihan Ministry of Agriculture has prepared corresponding food crop planting plans for Dongjiang Town, and will continue to provide Dongjiang Town with the food it needs to survive in the early stages to smoothly survive the shortage period in the first few months. Although it may not all be white rice and flour, it can at least ensure that the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town can survive without worries.
When Bai Kesi said this, he stopped and asked Shen Zhixiang: "Does General Shen have any questions?"
In fact, Shen Zhixiang has been making small calculations in his mind. When the Haihan people arrived, they first talked about the food problem. It seemed that they were thinking of the soldiers and people of Dongjiang Town, but Shen Zhixiang had a different taste in his ears. He always felt that the other party was taking advantage of this. Knock yourself out. The soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town are moving back to Liaodong. Food supply is indeed a big problem that cannot be avoided. With more than 10,000 people, they need to consume a lot of food every day, and Haihan is the only stable food source they currently have. Source, as long as you use some means to suppress Dongjiang Town, it will easily cause fluctuations in public sentiment.
But Shen Zhixiang was forced by the situation and could not say anything about Haihan's arrangement. After all, if someone was willing to provide food, it would be a great gift, and Dongjiang Town had no bargaining capital at all. Therefore, instead of raising unnecessary opinions, it is better to be more cheerful and accept Haihan's arrangement. Shen Zhixiang quickly weighed the importance, shook his head and replied: "The soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town are very grateful to your country for their help, so they will follow your country's arrangements. Mr. Bai, please continue."
Seeing that he was well-informed and knowledgeable, Bai Kesi felt a little more favorable, and immediately continued to introduce the relevant arrangements. Under the premise that the military has decided not to recruit the Pidao Army for the time being, the most important aspect of Haihan's resettlement of the soldiers and civilians in Dongjiang Town is whether these people must fully accept Haihan's administrative and judicial jurisdiction.
In the past, Dongjiang Town relied on the General Military Office to take the lead, but in the future, when they live in Haihan's territory, and the General Military Office takes control of the power, it will inevitably cause a lot of inconvenience to Haihan, and he is absolutely unwilling to see his own control. There are also other uncontrolled armed forces present in the area.
Bai Kesi designed a solution for this, and resettled the military and civilians in Dongjiang Town separately. Dongjiang Town troops have been deployed to the front line of the Jinzhou Isthmus for a long time, while military families have arranged to settle in the planned area. The troops are militarily under the direct jurisdiction and mobilization of Haihan's military, while the military stations in the rear are under the administrative and judicial jurisdiction of Haihan.
The benefits of this are obvious. By separating the military and civilians in Dongjiang Town, the troops serving on the front line are concerned about their families in the rear and are less likely to have second thoughts; while the military dependents placed in the rear do not have the support of the army nearby, and the food supply will be at sea for a period of time. If Han is in control, trouble will not happen so easily. As for the disadvantages, it may make some people who currently have military power in Dongjiang Town unhappy. After all, they are taking orders under Haihan, but they can no longer act on their own as before, and they will not listen to anyone's orders.
After hearing Bai Kesi's plan, Shen Zhixiang couldn't help but secretly admire the Haihan people's plan. Although this arrangement split the military and civilians of Dongjiang Town, it still nominally preserved the establishment of Dongjiang Town and reduced the possibility of accidents to a minimum. At the very least, this is undoubtedly an extremely clever arrangement. Shen Zhixiang thought for a while, and it seemed that he could not come up with any more reasonable resettlement plan that would be approved by Haihan.
"As for the livelihood issues of ordinary people in Dongjiang Town, we also have corresponding arrangements. In addition to farming and growing grain, our current projects on the front line and Lushun also require the participation of a large number of civilians, and the labor will be converted into a corresponding amount of grain as compensation. Those who are willing to work for us for a long time can also receive stable economic remuneration." Seeing that Shen Zhixiang had no doubts, Bai Kesi continued to introduce his plan: "When the resettlement area stabilizes, we will gradually introduce education, medical care, postal services, transportation, etc. institutions so that the soldiers and civilians in Dongjiang Town can enjoy the treatment of Haihan citizens. As long as the General Military Administration is willing to cooperate with our country, these visions will become a reality in the near future. ”
Shen Zhixiang silently pondered what Bai Kesi said, thinking that the last sentence is the real point. Everything is easy to say if we cooperate. If we don't cooperate, the vision will probably be just a vision, and there will be no possibility of it becoming a reality.
However, the plan mentioned by Haihan is indeed very feasible. Putting aside basic measures such as farming and growing grain, he had witnessed Haihan's influence on the local area in Zhoushan when he went south to Zhejiang with Haihan's fleet. In terms of operation, the supporting social service institutions are indeed quite complete, and the economic and cultural system is also obviously different from that of the Ming Dynasty. Shen Zhixiang couldn't tell whether this kind of reinvention was good or bad, but as far as Dongjiang Town's current situation was concerned, there seemed to be no room for criticism.
If Bai Kesi's wishes are not followed, Dongjiang Town's relocation will probably have to be put on hold for the time being and negotiations will begin again. This delay does not matter to Haihan, but to Dongjiang Town it is a matter of life and death. Not to mention that Haihan cut off the food supply channels, even if he deliberately delayed the delivery of food for a few days, it would be difficult for the families on Phi Island who were waiting for rice to cook. For the overall benefit of Dongjiang Town, Shen Zhixiang must reach relevant agreements as soon as possible.
(End of chapter)