Chapter 1522: Profit and Loss
If he really wanted to implement methods regardless of cost, Haihan would not have no way to deal with these unsightly adobe fortresses, such as using mortars to launch gasoline bombs into the fortresses to conduct fire attacks. But the problem is that the Chushankeng oil field operated by Haihan in Taiwan has limited production capacity, and the industrial cost of refining gasoline from crude oil remains high. The occasional combat mission is okay, but if this method is used as a conventional attack method, it will burn The speed of money will far exceed the capacity of the executive committee. Qian Tiandun does not need to send a report to Sanya to apply, but he will not be able to pass the test with Bai Kesi, who is in charge of industry.
According to Bai Kesi, the crude oil produced by the Chusangkeng Oilfield has been planned for specific uses, and the various deep-processed products refined from it are strategic reserves that cannot be easily used. If the military wants to use these resources, it might be more practical to think of other ways.
Of course, Qian Tiandun also has some other alternative combat plans, but he does not intend to use them on the battlefield immediately. Taking advantage of this period of time, Geng Zhongming was conscientiously building the fortress and did not dare to send troops to put pressure on the isthmus defense line. Haihan just happened to mobilize his troops from the sea to go around the enemy's rear to cause trouble.
One of the advantages of the Haihan Army lies in its strong maneuverability. Using large-scale troop mobilization to disorient Houjin's defense focus is the next step of the battle agreed upon by Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom. No matter how powerful Geng Zhongming is, his troops can only defend one place, and the coastline of Houjin's occupied area extends far beyond the Jinzhou Isthmus. The Haihan fleet can poke a hole in the north with just a little effort. When the rear becomes chaotic, we'll see if Huang Taiji can stand Geng Zhongming's step-by-step, slow-paced tactics.
Although only a few senior officials in their respective camps knew about the alliance between Ming, North Korea, and Haihan, there is no airtight wall in the world. No matter how hard Haihan's military and security departments take precautions, there will eventually be Relevant news is spread through other channels. For example, although Hou Jin was temporarily unable to infiltrate the officialdom of Haihan, he had many eyes and ears deployed in Ming and North Korea. However, the intelligence control mechanisms of these two countries were not as strict as Haihan. Information related to the alliance The leakage is only a matter of time.
Of course, even if Hou Jin learned about the alliance of the three countries at this time, it would be too late to react. Even North Korea, which has the weakest military strength among the three countries, is not a weakling that can be defeated by the wind. If Hou Jin wants to organize a comprehensive offensive that can make the other party give up their alliance plans, at least tens of thousands of troops must be mobilized to participate in the battle. This end will be ready, at least for several months. At that time, the agreement on the alliance between the three countries had probably been signed long ago, and any further attack on North Korea would only lead to attacks from the other two countries.
That's all for the Ming Dynasty. Hou Jin was eager for the Ming army to leave the pass city and take the initiative to attack, but no one could ignore the existence of the Haihan army. If the attack on North Korea might provoke a retaliatory offensive from the Haihan army, no matter whether it was the frontline leaders Neither General Bing nor Huang Taiji, who was in charge of Shengjing City, wanted to see such a situation happen.
There is not much room for Hou Jin to make a comeback. If he threatens Ming and North Korea to terminate their alliance with Haihan, it will expose his guilty side and have the opposite effect. It is better to count on the domestic opposition of the two countries. After all, not everyone can benefit from such an alliance, and many people will even suffer from it. However, although these objective resistances exist, they are beyond the control of Houjin. Most of them can only wait and see how they change. However, for the people living in it, the impact of the Three Kingdoms Alliance led by Haihan cannot be ignored.
The team of the Minister of War, Kim Sang-hyun, returned to the capital in mid-June. One day after entering the city, news of the incident had already spread from the Ministry of War through some special channels. Three days later, the verified news was sent out of the capital and spread through private channels to the coastal areas south of the Yangtze River.
The reason why it was sent to the south of the Yangtze River instead of the north bordering Houjin was because the people who delivered these messages did not care so much about the changes in the northern war situation that the Ming Dynasty would face in the future, and their interests lay in the south of the Yangtze River and not the north of the Great Wall. Although the alliance agreement led by Haihan appeared to be mainly for military purposes on the surface, it actually also included the establishment of diplomatic relations, trade and other aspects. Once the Ming Dynasty officially opens trade to Haihan, it will inevitably have a greater impact on the existing commercial system in coastal areas. Those large merchants who originally relied on monopolizing Haihan products through smuggling channels will face fierce market competition. Even a small number of related households that have obtained regional agency rights through investment promotion activities will still be more or less affected by the decree in this regard, and the profit level of cross-border trade is likely to see a significant decline.
Of course, before the imperial court officially announced it, even if this kind of news left Beijing, it would still only spread in a very small circle. Even officials at the state level may not have access to relevant information. And the people who had access to these secret information during this period were almost all the top figures of the stakeholders.
The news from the capital arrived in Hangzhou at the end of June, and was delivered to the residence of He Guanzhi, the prefect of Hangzhou, after nightfall by a messenger who looked like a merchant. He Guanzhi was also very shocked after confirming the content of the news. After sending the messenger, he immediately invited all the masters he hired to the study.
"Everyone, someone in the capital just now sent a secret report. After reading it, I felt very uneasy, so I invite you all to come over and discuss it together. However, this matter is very involved and may even affect the destiny of our country, the Ming Dynasty. You must take a solemn oath first. , please do not spread what is being discussed today out of this room, otherwise I will be punished for treason!”
He Guanzhi did not rush to announce the content of the news, but first gave a serious warning to his three masters, asking them to swear not to spread what they saw and heard today. He Guanzhi's description is not an exaggeration, and this caution is what it should be.
Seeing that their boss was so cautious, the three masters knew that the matter was serious, but it was definitely too late to back down at this time. They all swore a strong oath at the moment, saying that they would keep the secret and never let it out. He Guanzhi then cut everything off and informed them that Ming Dynasty was very likely to establish a transportation business with Haihan in the near future. As for why this matter arose and why the imperial court suddenly wanted to establish diplomatic relations with Haihan, He Guanzhi did not explain in detail. The situation in Liaodong is still a secret that is unknown to most people in this country. He Guanzhi does not want to expose too much secret information to his subordinates.
The three masters were named Li, Wang, and Dong. After hearing this, Master Li was the first to ask: "Sir, if the Ming Dynasty establishes diplomatic relations with Haihan and opens up trade, the situation in Jiangnan will definitely change! I don't know what you are worried about. , is it a weaving business in Hangzhou? ”
The weaving industry is one of the main industries of Hangzhou Prefecture. In the second year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court established the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau near Fengshan Gate in the south of Hangzhou. In the second year of Yongle, the office space of the Weaving Bureau was flooded and damp, so it was established again in the city. A new weaving bureau was built near Yongjinmen. This yamen was in charge of the admiral and weaving eunuch, who was responsible for weaving various clothing materials and making silk and imperial edicts, etc., for the royal family and the palace to hold sacrifices and award awards. In addition, because the Weaving Bureau was run by eunuchs, it also had secret privileges and could directly report to the emperor on money and grain, official management, camp affairs, anti-theft, quelling chaos, recommendations, participation, harvests, grain prices, and scholar activities. Wait, it's not an exaggeration to say it's half a secret service.
The high-end products supplied to the royal family in the capital are actually only a small part of the local fabric output. Tens of thousands of people in Hangzhou are engaged in textile and related upstream and downstream industries, and officials with certain powers are also willing to invest in this industry. , even the prefect He Guanzhi is no exception.
With the help of his family members, students, and connections, He Guanzhi invested in three weaving shops in Hangzhou, specializing in the production of high-end fabrics such as silk and brocade. Today, his main sales targets are Haihan people who have never known what it means to be short of money. . Yes, that's right. Although He Guanzhi was in a very passive situation due to the two fire cases in Hangzhou, and he was even humiliated in person by the Haihan army who came to the city. It can be said that he was a representative of local officials who were incompatible with the Haihan people. But in the end, he made a very realistic choice. After all, money is so attractive that it is difficult for him to refuse this kind of benefit that is within reach. After seeing how Wang Yuan, the general magistrate of Hangzhou, was making a lot of money by setting up two business houses, He Guanzhi followed suit and started a smuggling business.
Of course, He Guanzhi also understood that the Haihan people had selected the three weaving companies they controlled as procurement targets. They mainly wanted to maintain a good relationship with themselves as local officials, so they were willing to pay. Even if the goods sold from these weaving shops are not entirely produced by them, but are just a resale business with a one-time price added, the Haihan people will not feel bad because they paid 20 to 30% more money. hesitated. Haihan paid a high price not only for these fabrics, but also for the various conveniences He Guanzhi provided in terms of trade and immigration.
After the fire at the Hangzhou dock in early 1635, Haihan sent troops to Hangzhou Bay and forced the Zhejiang government to sign an armistice agreement, gaining Zhejiang's locally recognized trade rights. However, this trade right was not really recognized by the court, and there was no measure to pay taxes to the local government, so it was actually just a smuggling trade recognized by the local government. But now that the imperial court has decided to establish diplomatic relations with Haihan and open up the trade rights of Haihan merchants to some coastal states in the Ming Dynasty, the nature of this situation is different.
In the past, because He Guanzhi held special privileges, only his weaving shop had the right to export certain high-end fabrics. Therefore, in addition to the element of profit transfer, Haihan people could only buy certain permitted fabrics from his weaving shop. Special fabrics for export. In the future, when trade rights are opened up, the people of Haihan can buy goods from anyone they want, but they may not necessarily place all their orders here. Master Li was the person in charge of this matter at the beginning. Naturally, he immediately thought that the weaving business under his employer's name might be affected by the imperial decree.
He Guanzhidao: "Currently, only about 40% of the fabrics sold to the Haihan people are produced by our own weaving industry, and the other 60% are collected from other weaving houses at low prices and sold at high prices. Since then, the imperial court has liberalized trade rights, and this approach is afraid It’s not easy to use. Haihan people are extremely smart. Once they find that other sources of goods can be freely sold, they will inevitably switch to other places to order.”
Master Li said: "It doesn't matter. After all, the government has the final say on matters in this place. When the time comes, your Excellency will issue an order and limit the sales authority of these fabrics to our own weaving industry. Who dares to say otherwise?" Word?”
Next to him, Mr. Wang objected loudly: "No! If you let me go against the imperial decree, wouldn't this give others an excuse? Wang Tongxuan has been eyeing your position for a long time. If he gets caught, he will go to Bu The envoy made a complaint.”
Although the general judge Wang Yuan was the third-in-command of Hangzhou Prefecture, and he was separated from He Guan by Zeng Sheng, the prefect, but it was said that Wang Yuan had a somewhat oblique relationship with Zhejiang Chief Minister Wang Ji, so if he was allowed to After catching the handle, the chief envoy stepped forward to give him a push, and it was not impossible to seize the seat of Hangzhou prefect.
He Guanzhidao: "Wang Tongpan and the Haihan people have a history of secret communication. If there is a conflict between me and Wang Tongpan, the Haihan people might add fuel to the fire and replace them with Wang Tongpan, who is closer to them." My position. Mr. Wang is right, this matter must be handled carefully and not be allowed to lie."
Master Dong, who had been silent until now, spoke up at this time: "Sir, there have been rumors recently that Wang Tongpan is also planning to find someone to co-open a weaving business. He thinks he is interested in the huge profits and is ready to get involved. .”
He Guanzhi snorted coldly and said: "If he didn't have the support of Haihan behind him, he would have lost all his money in starting a weaving business! Do you have any way to stop him first?"
Master Li said: "If it is a private method, it is to find people to find bad luck in the business under his name, and to cause trouble every three days to make it impossible for him to do it. But Wang Tong's job is to arrest all kinds of people. Bandits, who control the prison, will be asking for trouble if they use this old trick.”
He Guanzhi said: "Stop being too pretentious and get to the point."
Master Li quickly responded: "I don't dare because of my humble position. I personally think that in order to completely solve Wang Tongpan's matter, we must first try to break the Haihan people's trust in him. If the Haihan people think that he is unreliable, then things will be easier to handle."
He Guanzhi said: "It's easier said than done. Do you have a detailed plan for this? If you can handle this well, I will guarantee that you will be released as a county magistrate next year!"
Master Li's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he quickly responded: "I am willing to try my best!"
(End of chapter)