Chapter 1782 Taking the opportunity to make a fortune
Due to the large scale of this troop dispatch and the tight time limit, the military's logistics department did not have the luxury to start preparations several months in advance like the Battle of Manila. Therefore, it was somewhat stretched to complete the preparation of combat materials in Sanya alone. However, this kind of problem is not difficult for the experienced executive committee. After several telegrams were sent from Fort Victory, Hong Kong, Penghu, Zhoushan, Zhifu Island and other places followed suit and prepared food, clothing, quilts, and medicinal materials locally. , coal-burning, even civilian men who went out with the army, etc. This way, when the troops arrive at these places when they go north, they can complete the supply operations on the way, which is far more efficient than setting off after completing all the supplies in Sanya.
Although Li Xi has stated on behalf of North Korea that he will try his best to provide material supplies to the coalition forces entering North Korea, the Ministry of National Defense still dares not be careless and pins all sources of supplies on North Korea. According to the estimates of the Ministry of National Defense, the coalition forces will have to prepare the supplies they need for at least two months on their own. This will leave enough buffer time to raise supplies in the northern region, and any changes will not have a big impact.
Since Haihan has been conducting large and small military operations overseas all year round, in addition to having a certain number of garrisons, various colonies will also maintain varying amounts of combat materials for a long time to prepare for emergencies. However, almost all of the combat troops heading north this time are elite military personnel, so the Ministry of National Defense also requires various localities to check the quality of supplies to ensure that the performance of these troops on the battlefield will not be affected due to logistical problems.
Of course, the Ministry of National Defense will issue such an order, on the one hand, to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops, and on the other hand, because it collected a sum of money from the North Koreans before departure, and the funds are relatively sufficient. Although the money will not be pocketed until the Haihan Army arrives in North Korea, North Korea does not dare to turn its back and deny the debt. After all, if it wants to invite the Haihan Army to come to Korea, it must show something. Li Xi promised that the two thousand taels of gold were only the upfront cost. If troops were to be stationed in North Korea for long-term operations, this amount of money would be far from enough.
However, this arrangement of the Ministry of National Defense has invisibly brought benefits to the logistics departments of various places. As the saying goes, a cannon is worth a thousand taels of gold. It is not just the combat troops who attack cities and plunder territory on the front line who can make money through war. Departments that provide logistics support, as well as civilian suppliers that provide various military supplies, will also make a lot of money at this time. Of course, the easiest person to make money in this process is the quartermaster who handles these affairs. You can make a lot of money just by nodding your head.
The quartermaster does not need to deliberately lower the procurement standards. As long as he chooses a certain supplier that has shown promise in advance under the same conditions, rebates will naturally come into his pocket through hidden channels afterwards. This kind of operation is nothing new. It has been around since ancient times. As long as you control the procurement standards and don't let the things you buy overturn due to quality problems, generally no one will scrutinize the process of the military's designated suppliers. Details matter.
As the Haihan military system becomes increasingly perfect, the procurement of military supplies has also begun to evolve towards standardized operations. Bidding has become the prescribed process for the current military procurement of supplies. As long as the amount of purchased materials exceeds a certain amount, the selection of suppliers and the approval of purchase contracts must be completed through bidding procedures.
However, this does not mean that the bidding method has completely eliminated tricks. In fact, most military supplies procurement business has always been monopolized by a few related parties. After such a seemingly formal procedure, in fact, The choice of suppliers will not be much broadened. Of course, standards also have benefits. First of all, all procurement contents and managers will be recorded in detail. Once problems arise, they can be traced back to the source quickly. Secondly, with such a process of comparing goods and prices, managers and suppliers can Even if you want to make a profit from it, you won't go too far, at least you won't dare to use some inferior goods as new ones.
As long as things are done properly and without leaks, the managers and suppliers will profit from it, and the higher-ups will generally turn a blind eye and not pursue these details. But the premise is that there can't be any problems with the purchased materials, otherwise you will have to go to a military court afterwards.
Zhejiang Zhoushan Dinghai Port is not the largest among Haihan's overseas colonies, and it is not even ranked among the top three. However, its geographical location is close to the most prosperous Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in the Ming Dynasty. The maritime import and export trade is extremely developed, and there are even some sights. Well-informed businessmen of the Ming Dynasty called this place "Little Sanya", meaning that the market prosperity here was comparable to that of the capital of Haihan. In terms of trade volume alone, this place is definitely the champion among Haihan overseas colonies.
Since Zhoushan is close to the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, it is more convenient to raise food and grass. The Ministry of National Defense assigned the Zhoushan authorities to prepare military food for the troops heading north. Two hundred thousand kilograms of rice alone must be prepared. In addition, food, oil, wine, meat, livestock, poultry, fruits and vegetables, etc. A certain amount should be enough to consume the combat troops for two months. This is only the first batch of procurement lists. If the war in the north becomes stalemate, or North Korea's logistics support is not ideal enough, then a large amount of military supplies will definitely be purchased from Zhejiang in the future.
Of course, such an errand does not require Zhoushan's top leader Shi Diwen to do it himself. He will give the order and people from the garrison's munitions office will run up and down to contact the source of goods, organize bidding, and arrange the delivery of goods. What he really needs to do personally is to review the material procurement contract and then sign it for the financial department to allocate funds.
It wasn't that Shi Diwen was too powerful to care about such trivial matters, but that he was really too busy. Since Zhoushan was brought under the rule of Haihan in 1633, he has monopolized military and political power. Although other high-ranking officials from Haihan occasionally stayed here during this period, they could at most take charge of some affairs for him, but no one has ever taken over the management of civil affairs and commercial affairs from him. This made Shi Diwen, although he was a general in charge of the Ministry of National Defense, have stayed in Zhoushan for three years and had completely become a local administrator.
It is not that the Executive Committee has not considered allocating manpower here to liberate Shi Diwen from the tedious civil affairs affairs, but this matter has not been going smoothly. Although there are hundreds of people in the time-travel team, most of them are good at technology. Let alone managing a city, there are only a few people who have served as village and town cadres. It's okay to be an official in Sanya's government, but to be a local official in a ruling area far away from Sanya is often beyond your capabilities. Moreover, many people may not be willing to stay away from the comfort of Sanya for a long time and travel thousands of miles away. Addicted to officialdom abroad.
People who truly have the ability to govern local areas have basically emerged in the past ten years and have been assigned to govern in various places. Nowadays, most places are a carrot and a pit. Transferring a position will cause a chain reaction, and the executive committee also has difficulty in arranging it.
There are also some personnel who, although capable enough to do the job, cannot escape the position they hold, such as Cai Jinmei under Schneider, Cai Hongzhan and Liu Shanxia from the Ministry of Construction, Wu Zhuo and Meng He from the Ministry of Information Industry, These people all have certain project management capabilities, and it is not too difficult to transform into local officials. However, their original positions are too professional and no one can replace them after they leave, so they can only give up.
After going back and forth like this, Shi Diwen took root in Zhoushan, and even married Qu Yutong, the magistrate of Ningbo. His relationship with the local government in Zhejiang became even closer. The commanders of the Coast Guard and thousands of households also called him brothers and were extremely close. Shi Diwen's connections in Zhejiang would be difficult for another official to reach the same level within three to five to seven years. They are also one of the guarantees for Haihan's trade scale in Zhejiang to increase year by year. Considering that Zhoushan, a trade window and strategic location, needs to be stable for a long time, the Executive Committee will not let Shi Diwen change his position easily.
Similar to several other areas under the control of Haihan on the Ming Dynasty coast, the merchants with the largest transactions with Haihan often have official backgrounds. For example, the trading firm in Ningbo contracted the supply of military supplies to the Zhoushan garrison. Its main owner was He Li, the younger brother of Qu Yutong's aide He Xiao. Of course, the trade between the He brothers and Haihan is not just about military supplies. In fact, many goods entering and leaving the Ningbo port, including shipping, are more or less handled by them.
To be able to achieve this level, the energy of the two brothers alone is definitely not enough, so a considerable part of the income earned through these channels has to be handed over to the pocket of the prefect Qu Yutong. To put it bluntly, the two brothers are actually the traders of the prefect, and Haihan has Shi Diwen to protect their business, so the operation is naturally smooth.
This mode of operation is not unusual among the local officials of the Ming Dynasty that Haihan came into contact with. Generally speaking, the most direct and effective way to open a coastal state to trade is to make local administrative officials the beneficiaries of trade. Few people can resist such a huge temptation to tie their personal interests to trade between the two countries.
Ningbo Prefecture, which was a crisis-ridden frontier when Haihan first arrived, was transformed into a trade hotspot with close access to buildings, first-come-first-serve. This period took less than a year. In the following period, the money earned by the He brothers had already increased. It has exceeded their previous wealth several times. As for the prefect Qu Yutong, even if he retires immediately, his wealth is probably enough to buy an island off the coast of Ningbo Prefecture and become the owner of the island for retirement.
Of course, no one can have too much money, especially with such unique operating conditions, the He brothers will not easily give up the opportunity to make money to others. So after they received the latest military supplies bidding notice from Zhoushan, the brothers immediately started studying the content.
Although winning Haihan's order is a sure thing, they also know that the military supplies purchased by Haihan are very demanding. If they want to pass off inferior goods, they will probably not be able to deliver bad ones, and the pricing cannot be too outrageous, otherwise they will submit the goods. Going to Shi Diwen will also be rejected. In addition, these materials are not provided directly by them, but they have to organize their own sources of goods. During the period, personnel costs, surface and land freight, damage to goods, etc. are also included in the cost.
"Two hundred thousand kilograms of rice... Tsk, tsk, Haihan is probably going to take action somewhere again!" He Li looked at the number on the order and couldn't help but start to guess.
He Xiao also agreed with this: "I remember that the Haihan Army sent troops to attack Liaodong two years ago. At that time, hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain were ordered from Zhejiang. Later I heard that part of it was shipped to relieve the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town. It was considered a deliberate move. ”
He Li smiled and said: "The benefits given by Haihan are not in vain. Didn't all the people in Dongjiang Town move back to Jinzhou from Pi Island last year? It seems that this group of people have no intention of listening to the imperial court's orders anymore. An Xin wants to I have taken refuge with the Haihan people.”
"This is understandable. After all, the Haihan people are given food and shelter, so what can the court give them?" He Xiao's speech was quite bold, that is, he said it in his own home. If someone with a heart heard this, he would inevitably There is a suspicion of disobedience.
Regarding the situation in Liaodong, although the Ming court did not issue an official notification, in fact many well-informed people in the Ming Dynasty learned about Haihan's movements in Liaodong through some special channels. After the defeat of the Haihan army, the Jin Dynasty captured Jinzhou. The soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town, which was isolated overseas, defected to the Haihan people. North Korea, the vassal state most loyal to the Ming Dynasty, chose to form an alliance with the Haihan people. One by one, these events had a profound impact on the upper class of the Ming Dynasty. People have had a big impact.
Although the He brothers are from the Ming Dynasty and their elder brother He Xiao is still working in the government, they have made a fortune from Hai Han in the past two years and they no longer have much ill feelings towards Hai Han. On the contrary, they have learned more about the outside world through long-term contacts. Information, and gradually recognized some of Haihan’s values. Haihan was willing to send troops to Liaodong to fight the Jurchens. No matter what the purpose was, it objectively alleviated the external military pressure on the Ming Dynasty and accomplished what the court wanted to do but was unable to do. As for the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town choosing to defect to Haihan, this was purely for survival considerations, and there was nothing to say. Even the imperial court could only suffer this dumb loss silently, instead of classifying Dongjiang Town as a rebel.
It has been more than a year since the Zhoushan authorities last purchased a large amount of grain and grass, and the appearance of this order immediately reminded them of the offensive launched by Haihan in Liaodong last spring. After all, the purchase volume on the order has far exceeded the needs of the Zhoushan garrison. This can only mean that a large number of troops will be stationed in Zhoushan in the near future, or will pass through here to go north.
"Two hundred thousand kilograms is not too much. We have more than ten days to pay the grain. If we raise some locally and buy some grain back from Jiaxing and Shaoxing, we should be able to get the amount they need soon. " He Li is not as concerned about politics as his brother. He is more concerned about completing the order as soon as possible and pocketing the money.
(End of chapter)