Chapter 1688: Changing the soup without changing the medicine
After a place changes dynasties, a group of new people will naturally rise up, but the powerful families with deep roots here have a higher starting point in terms of connections, funds, experience and other aspects. If they want to continue to occupy the upper echelon of society under the new ruler, enjoy various social resources, and even form interest alliances with the new ruler, they will have more first-mover advantages than latecomers.
Francis used to be the leader of the armed forces in Manila. It is not an exaggeration to describe the power he had locally at that time as "one person is less than ten thousand people". The Ding family is the leader among the local Han families. These two families use The interest alliance built through marriage has proven in the past the feasibility of collusion between government and businessmen to make money. Nowadays, the people from Haihan are the rulers, but in their view, this is nothing more than changing their immediate boss. Whatever they did in the past, they can still follow the same pattern in the future. At most, they can make some adjustments based on Haihan's laws and regulations.
Although Francis had just regained his freedom from captivity, he had been a senior military attache in Manila for several years, and he still had an obsession with controlling power. Even though he knew that the position of director assigned to him by the Haihan people was just a false position, he still had an obsession with controlling power. Once he finds a chance to make a comeback, he still can't let go of his desire for power. It only took a few hours after Ding Feng came to give Francis the idea of starting over.
How to show one's strengths in front of the Haihan people without arousing the other party's resentment and alertness is a new topic that needs to be studied hard for Francis. Since the fight with the Haihan Army, he has been trying to figure out Haihan's intentions and tried to make tit-for-tat arrangements. After Cheng Po was arrested, he also silently observed the Haihan people's behavior during the interrogation process and tried his best to Understand the intentions of the other party's various actions, so as to accumulate the necessary information for yourself to get out of trouble.
Of course, Francis no longer needs to consider his personal safety. Since the Haihan people have appointed him to this position, at least no one will touch him easily during his term of office. So he could focus all his energy on this new topic and think about how he could make some achievements in the vacant position.
In terms of professional management capabilities in the field of civil affairs, Francis considers himself far inferior to Ge Yong, the second-in-command of the Western Management Bureau. However, Francis himself also has strengths, which is his familiarity with local people's conditions and the prestige he has gradually built up in the hearts of the people over the past few years. . Although the current position is only a false one, the public may not be able to understand the tricks involved. How to operate it depends on your concentration.
But how to seize the right opportunity to show his abilities, Francis has no good way. Although he has regained his freedom and been enabled by Haihan, the official has not equipped him with truly capable subordinates. The only person he can command in the entire Western Management Bureau is probably his son Francis Jr. Francis had no sources of information and no manpower at his disposal, so he could not grasp the latest trends of the Hispanic people in a timely manner, let alone seize the opportunity.
Ding Feng gave him a quite feasible idea, but the risk was relatively high. Ding Feng encouraged him to proactively create opportunities instead of passively waiting for opportunities to arise, trying to "arrange" an emergency incident in a Hispanic-populated area, and then Francis would take the initiative to quell the chaos, thus demonstrating his ability. and impact.
This idea is indeed feasible, but the degree of chaos is not easy to control. If the disturbance is small and the impact is not big enough, Francis may not need to come forward on behalf of the Western Management Bureau at all, and the local security police will handle it directly. If the commotion gets too big, the matter may come to the Provisional Management Committee, and then it will be the local garrison, not the Western Management Bureau, who will step in to deal with the trouble. In that case, the situation will inevitably be difficult to deal with.
After thinking about it for a while, Francis felt that it was still not safe enough. There were too many uncontrollable factors. Once it overturned, his current efforts would be in vain. After regaining his freedom, he didn't want to go back to being imprisoned. Instead of trying such a risky behavior with a low probability of success, he might as well just be a stable puppet official.
But Ding Feng quickly came up with more conditions, which was the Ding family's relationship with the security police. Needless to say, the person who can be called upon by Ding Feng is naturally Qin Huacheng, the second son of the Qin family who had previously received benefits to inquire about information for the Ding family. Qin Huacheng got a lot of benefits from the Ding family, but the matter was basically settled, especially the news that was sent to the Ding family before the opening ceremony of the Western Management Bureau, which allowed Ding Feng to advance the release of Francis. Being prepared saves you a lot of trouble.
Ding Feng thinks that although Qin Huacheng is a little arrogant in his work, he still has credibility after all, and he can basically get things done properly after receiving the money. If he wanted to place one of his own people in the security police, in his opinion, Qin Huacheng, who was greedy for money, would undoubtedly be an excellent choice.
Qin Huacheng is also the leader of the security police detachment. He has certain autonomy in dispatching police to deal with various emergencies. If Hispanics are allowed to make some noise in his jurisdiction, then there is a good chance that the situation will be controllable. Create an opportunity for Francis to perform.
Of course, this still requires the cooperation of Qin Huacheng and the Spanish personnel. Francis felt that this plan was indeed more controllable after joining the security police associates, so he agreed with Ding Feng that he would contact the Hispanic personnel, and Ding Feng would go to the security police. As for what was needed in the middle Each of the two families is responsible for half of the money spent. Since Francis had just been released, the family couldn't come up with any cash, so the Ding family paid the money in advance and then picked up the bill later.
Ding Feng waited until the curfew ended the next morning before saying goodbye and leaving the city. Although he was very tired from overworking his mind and not getting a good rest the night before, he did not lie down to rest immediately after returning home. Instead, he asked someone to find Qin Huacheng, hoping that I can meet him as soon as possible.
Qin Huacheng was leading a patrol when he received the news from Ding Feng. He already knew the news about the listing of the Western Management Bureau yesterday and the return of Francis and his son together. He was somewhat thankful that he sent the news in time, otherwise the Ding family would probably think that he was not doing his job well. , not to mention the remuneration, maybe all the previously negotiated conditions for chartering discounts will have to be overturned. However, the Ding family came to find him again only one day later, but Qin Huacheng didn't quite understand the other party's intentions. Could it be that there is some unsettled issue between the Ding family and Francis and his son that he needs to mediate?
Qin Huacheng is not so arrogant as to think that he is qualified to participate in the mediation of the relationship between the two parties. His current official position as captain of the public security police detachment is okay to scare ordinary people, but it is not enough in front of powerful figures like the Ding family and Francis. Saw it. If the situation of these two families a few days ago was still worse than that of a plucked phoenix, then with Francis' high-profile comeback, they have returned to Manila's powerful class. Although Qin Huacheng was very unwilling, he had to admit that no matter how hard he tried, it was never as easy as these powerful people to get to the top.
Before the Haihan people came, these people controlled social resources in Manila. After the Haihan people came, it seemed that they just changed the soup without changing the medicine. These people were still in power, which made Qin Huacheng feel a little frustrated. He decided that no matter what kind of help the Ding family asked him for this time, he would have to give them a big mouth. At least to make his pockets bigger, he would be more confident in speaking and doing things in the future.
But later, when Qin Huacheng listened to Ding Feng's request, he still felt that he had greatly underestimated the ability of these two families to toss. Francis has only been out for a long time, and he plans to arrange such a scene to enhance his existence. He is really a restless master. The fact that these two families were able to formulate such a plan so quickly shows that their marriage is really based on a mutual affinity. With Qin Huacheng's current position, he is indeed capable of controlling the situation to a certain extent in accordance with the requirements of the Ding family, so as not to immediately alert the interim management committee, but also allowing the Western Management Bureau to send people to participate in a timely manner. But how big the risk is, Qin Huacheng can think of it himself without Ding Feng explaining. Once this matter is exposed, there will be no need to say more about the fate of Francis and others, and he will also be labeled as a criminal who is colluding with the Spanish, and will even drag the Qin family into the crime.
Qin Huacheng did not reject Ding Feng immediately, but just asked him: "Then, Mr. Ding, what conditions do you plan to offer this time?"
Ding Feng muttered: "I am willing to pay three thousand silver coins and entrust you to handle this matter."
"Three thousand is too little." Qin Huacheng immediately shook his head and refused: "I can't handle this matter alone. I have to deal with the Western Management Bureau to cover the lid for you. If you don't pay attention, you may get into trouble. Go in. Besides, Lord Francis’ future is only worth three thousand silver coins?”
Ding Feng nodded and said: "If you are right, then just add five hundred more."
Qin Huacheng laughed angrily and said: "Mr. Ding, now you are asking me to do something as much as you want. If you only want to take this amount, that's fine. Then I will do it according to this amount. What's wrong with that?" OK, don’t come and ask for the money back!”
After some bargaining, Qin Huacheng and Ding Feng finally agreed on five thousand silver coins as the price of this cooperation. But in addition to ensuring that the situation develops in the direction designed by Ding Feng, Qin Huacheng also has to ensure that there will be no sequelae, so that the interim management committee will come back to investigate the causes and consequences afterwards.
Qin Huacheng actually didn't quite understand why the two families spent so much money on a show. He didn't know that Francis was a pure puppet in the Western Management Bureau, and Ding Feng would not tell him such a thing, let alone It will let him know that the purpose of this scene is actually to increase Francis' presence behind the interim management meeting, so that the Haihan people can give him some real power tasks.
On the other hand, it was much easier for Francis to find Hispanics to serve as the troublemakers. Although he now has no subordinates to dispatch, there are actually many Spanish people living in Manila who were once his subordinates. It is not a big deal to select some reliable people from among these people to implement the plan. Too difficult.
Considering that these people may be punished by the Western Management Bureau for causing trouble, and may even be imprisoned, Francis can only provide them with certain financial compensation for the time being. However, the price given here was not as straightforward as Ding Feng's. They only gave each person a hundred silver coins per head, which was regarded as the sealing fee and settling-in fee. Despite this, more than ten people still signed up to participate in the task issued by Francis.
It is also a troublesome matter for these Hispanic personnel to gather in the Manila Port area outside the city. At this time, although the city gates of Manila were no longer completely blocked during the day, Hispanics were allowed to enter and exit the city, but they were subject to interrogation. Francis was very worried that if someone among them showed his weakness because of nervousness and let the Haihan military follow suit, everything would be over.
Fortunately, it went smoothly. The group of "perpetrators" hired by Francis came to the port area. They first found a restaurant to eat and drank a lot of meat and vegetables. When paying the bill, they had a conflict with the store, and then " The perpetrator" followed the prepared plan and started a fight in the restaurant, smashing the tables, chairs and dishes to pieces.
Qin Huacheng, who "happened" to lead a patrol nearby, rushed to the scene as soon as possible. Then he discovered that the troublemakers were more than ten Hispanic people, so he immediately reported the matter to the newly established Western Management Bureau Yamen. Since the two parties had agreed on the arrest and imprisonment in advance, after Qin Huacheng arrived at the scene, the Hispanic people in the restaurant took the initiative to stop causing trouble and waited for the next move.
Ge Yong, deputy director of the Western Management Bureau, was in a meeting to arrange work when he received the news. Francis also "happened" to be beside him. He immediately volunteered and said: "How about I go over and deal with this little trouble?" ? The troublemakers are all young Hispanics. I think some of them should be people I know, or people who know me. It might be better for me to handle it than for others. ”
Ge Yong agreed with Francis' statement. He also believed that the behavior of Hispanic personnel making trouble after drinking was not serious, but out of the need to maintain social order, the situation must be calmed down as soon as possible. But Ge Yong was also hesitant as to whether Francis should be allowed to step forward to handle the matter. He knew that the intention of the superiors in appointing Francis as director was to keep the Spaniard as the mascot of the Western Bureau of Management, but the enthusiasm shown by Francis on the second day of taking office clearly showed that he was unwilling to accept the current treatment.
Ge Yong wanted to ask the interim management committee for instructions, but Francis advised him not to make a fuss, lest he be looked down upon by his superiors. If such a small trouble has to be reported to the interim management committee, then the Western Management Bureau will be too useless.
(End of chapter)