Chapter 1783: For the Country and the People
The prefectures and counties near the sea, including Ningbo Prefecture, are the main grain-producing areas in the Jiangnan region. It is indeed not difficult for Haihan to purchase hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain here. Moreover, after Haihan dispatched a fleet to blockade Hangzhou Bay at the beginning of the year before last, he has never had any conflicts with the local government. Therefore, neither the government nor the private sector are worried that Haihan's purpose of purchasing military rations is to take action against the local area. ——If the Haihan people really want to invade the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, they don’t need to bother buying military rations. It would be faster to just rob them.
Although they still had to go through the bidding process formally, the He brothers knew very well that since Zhoushan sent someone to deliver the notice, the job would probably be left to them. As for whether this is Shi Diwen's intention or the intention of his subordinates, it actually doesn't matter. Anyway, after the matter is completed, the He Brothers will still take out 10% of the income as a kickback and secretly hand it over to the person in charge of the matter. Quartermaster. They don't know and don't want to know how the money will be distributed within the Haihan military. As businessmen handling this matter, there is no benefit in knowing too much about such a sensitive matter.
However, this kind of thing is neither big nor small. Haihan's unabashed purchase of military rations on the market will definitely be noticed by the eyes and ears of the court. When the news reached the capital, the big shots in the court could not help but be startled and suspicious, guessing the real intention of Haihan's move.
Although Ming Dynasty had reached an agreement with Haihan on the normalization of relations between the two countries last year, which can be regarded as the formal establishment of diplomatic relations in an official sense, Ming Dynasty's fear of Haihan has not been completely eliminated. After all, from the South China Sea to Liaodong, Haihan occupied a lot of places on the Ming coastline, and after the two countries established diplomatic relations, they had no intention of returning these places to their original owners. In other words, if Haihan wanted to invade the Ming Dynasty from the coast, he basically didn't have to pick a date and could do it at any time.
Considering that Haihan had held back Hou Jin's march south for Ming Dynasty in Liaodong for the past two years, and now he still needs the advanced weapons provided by Haihan to enhance the combat effectiveness of his troops, Daming has always swallowed his anger in response to Haihan's various bad actions. Don't care about it. As long as Haihan does not openly declare war on the Ming Dynasty, he will admit the losses he suffered before. But if there is any trouble on the Haihan side, the court will inevitably worry that the ambitions of the Haihan people will explode and take action against the Ming Dynasty.
Sure enough, within a few days, as soon as the bidding process for the procurement of military rations was completed, hundreds of Jinyiwei from Nanjing rushed to Ningbo Prefecture, went directly to the He brothers' home, and asked Haihan whether there were any risks behind the procurement of military rations.
"Mr. Deng, this is a normal trade between the two countries. Not only is the Haihan transaction in cash, but the purchase price is not low. What are the risks in a transaction where everyone has both money and goods?" He Xiao was originally from the Yamen. With the support of the local magistrate behind him, he didn't have much scruples about the Jin Yiwei who came to visit. Of course, he knew what the "risk" the other party meant, but he was quite unhappy with this approach of coming directly to the door without informing him in advance, so naturally he wanted to control the other party's words.
The surname of the Jin Yiwei sent by Nanjing was Deng Mingqing. He had been in this industry for more than ten years. He had seen a lot of people from all walks of life, including some from the city. He Xiao’s answer was not as clear as a stick. And angry. He was able to find the He brothers directly after arriving in Ningbo. Naturally, he knew the identities and backgrounds of the two brothers. The purpose of visiting was not to accuse them, because he knew very well that the He brothers could confidently follow the Hai brothers. When the Han people do business, the big names involved behind it are not something they can shake.
Deng Qing said: "It seems that Master He has misunderstood. My visit this time is not to investigate people and handle cases, nor does I mean to cause trouble for you two. It is just my duty and I need to understand the intention of the Haihan people. If Master He can It’s convenient, I will definitely remember this friendship.”
He Xiaoneng worked as a staff member under the magistrate, so his brain was naturally easy to use, and he also heard the soft-yet-hard meaning in the other party's words - Deng Qing stated that he was not looking for trouble, and specifically emphasized that he would remember his actions. It's convenient, if you can remember gratitude, you will naturally remember grudges. Although He Xiao is not afraid that Deng Qing will cause trouble for him, if the Jinyiwei Yamen takes notice of him, it will not be a good thing after all, and there is no need to provoke such an enemy.
After He Xiao quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, he put on a different face and said: "It is official business, and He must cooperate with Lord Deng. I wonder what Lord Deng wants to know?"
Deng Qing said: "I have just asked you once, what are the intentions of the Haihan people in purchasing a large amount of grain and grass from eastern Zhejiang? Will it threaten the security of our country? Master He, this matter is of great importance, and you must not hide anything!"
He Xiao knows what to conceal and what not to conceal. Am I not clearer than you? The military information of the Haihan people is so secret, how can they tell outsiders? However, he also knew that if he didn't give a reasonable explanation, Deng Qing would probably not give up, and he would have to send this guy away after all.
He Xiao responded: "Master Deng, Haihan actually purchases large amounts of grain on the market every two years in the name of purchasing military grain. This is not a rare thing. If you have been paying attention to the trends in the grain market, I believe you should also be aware of it. This situation has happened. As for the whereabouts of this food, I don’t know much about it. It is a matter of military importance and I don’t dare to make random guesses.”
He Xiao's answer was very measured. He did not mention the role he played in Haihan's purchase of grain at all. He also vaguely pointed out that Deng Qing was making too much fuss about it. As for the purpose of Haihan's purchase of grain, he even found a high-sounding reason to say he didn't know.
Deng Qing frowned slightly, feeling that this person surnamed He was really slippery and couldn't find any useful words after going around and around. If this was the target of his arrest, he would have lost his temper and resorted to means. It's just that Ningbo Mansion is not a place where he can do whatever he wants. Even if he takes the He brothers now, he will never be able to take them out of Ningbo Mansion. On the contrary, he may get himself trapped in it, so no matter how aggrieved he is, he can only Suck it up.
The Jinyiwei Yamen has actually been aware of the subtle changes in Ningbo Prefecture in the past two years, and has even replaced two groups of Jinyiwei stationed in Ningbo. The reason is because Nanjing believes that the monitoring and intelligence collection work here is Very weak. Of course, there may be many factors causing this situation. In addition to the professional abilities of these people, the higher-ups are also worried that they may be bribed to some extent if they stay in Ningbo for too long.
This kind of bribery is not necessarily done by Haihan, but more likely by local vested interests in Ningbo. After all, the import and export trade volume reached between Ningbo and Haihan every year is huge, and most of the people involved are the upper class of society. If these When people notice that someone is blocking the way, they are most likely the ones who want to remove the stumbling block. Jin Yiwei wants to monitor local trends, so he will naturally become the target of bribery or attack by these people.
This time Deng Qing was sent to perform the task, partly because he was a new face in Ningbo. No one in the officialdom or the public knew him, so he could do things with less scruples. And he chose to collect information by publicly visiting relevant people, mainly to try to use his identity to shock these insiders. However, judging from the current dialogue, Master He, who works in the prefect's Yamen, obviously does not have much fear of the identity of "Jinyiwei", and the original plan does not seem to be working satisfactorily.
Deng Qing said: "As far as I know, this is not the first time that the trading firm run by the He family has traded grain with Haihan. The Haihan people publicly claimed that the grain they purchased was for military use. I wonder what Master He thinks of it?"
"What do I think?" He Xiao chuckled and replied: "If the Haihan people want to be detrimental to our Ming Dynasty, why should they openly say that the food they purchase is for military use? Since they said it, of course they want to show that they have no bad intentions. Master Deng, is this true?" Deng Qing snorted: "Even if the Haihan people don't have any bad intentions, stationing a large number of troops on Zhoushan Island will not be a good thing for our Ming Dynasty after all!"
He Xiao's face darkened slightly when he heard his unkind tone and said, "Master Deng's words are a bit biased. Haihan's purchase of military rations is probably for transportation to the north. On the Liaodong battlefield, we still have to rely on the Haihan army to stabilize the situation." Given the situation, thousands of people need to eat and drink, so we can’t fight on an empty stomach, right?”
The Liaodong War was a very difficult situation for the Ming Dynasty to handle. The Haihan Army entered Liaodong without the Ming's authorization. In theory, it was considered a military invasion. However, after the Haihan Army entered the area, it continued to fight with Hou Jin. In fact, It played the role of attracting firepower for Daming. If the Haihan army withdraws from Liaodong, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably have to face the Houjin Iron Cavalry's successive knocks. After weighing the pros and cons, the Ming court finally chose to remain silent against Haihan's wanton actions. At present, the Ming Dynasty is unable to take back Liaodong. Instead of letting the Jurchens occupy it, it is better to let the Haihan people occupy it first. After all, the Ming Dynasty still has room for negotiation with the Haihan people, but it can only fight to the death with the Jurchens.
Of course, there is another reason that everyone understands, but no one will say: If the Ming Dynasty wants to force Haihan to withdraw from Liaodong, it will probably only ask for trouble, because at present, the Bohai Sea area to the north of the Ming Dynasty is almost impossible to pull out. A decent armed fleet cannot threaten the Haihan Army stationed in Liaodong. Originally there was a Dongjiang Zhen Ming army with a small number of combat ships, but now it has semi-openly defected to the Haihan people, and it is unlikely that they will return to the Ming rule.
Precisely because the Haihan army in Liaodong held back Houjin's march south for the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty turned a blind eye to Haihan's material purchases in Shandong, Zhejiang and other places in the past two years, and did not forcibly block trade. aisle. Of course, the decision-makers of Ming Dynasty may not necessarily have any good intentions towards Haihan. They made such a choice just in the hope that both sides would suffer losses in Liaodong.
However, I knew that Daming would not dare to relax the surveillance of Haihan's movements at all. Otherwise, if one day the Haihan people got out of their mind and made a move against Daming, it would be better to be prepared than to be unprepared. Therefore, even though Haihan's grain procurement in Zhejiang was conducted openly, Jinyiwei Yamen still had to do its due diligence to find out the purpose of Haihan's move.
Although Deng Qing had anticipated the resistance he would encounter during the investigation, he still felt a little angry after being rebuffed by He Xiao over and over again. Jinyiwei is the emperor's personal army, a first-class privileged yamen. How can he be so angry? He couldn't help but reply: "Master He, be careful what you say, it is related to the dignity of the country. Don't think that you can talk nonsense because you have the support of the prefect behind you." Nonsense! If the Haihan people behave badly, be careful not to drag down your family as well!”
He Xiao did not accept his threat at all, and said with disdain: "Master Deng, you are so loud! Since you are so powerful, why not go directly to Zhoushan Island to capture a few of the high-ranking officials from Haihan, and escort them back to the Jinyiwei Yamen for detailed investigation? Do you want to know? ”
"You..."
"My prefect, in order to maintain peace, worked hard to deal with the Haihan people repeatedly, so that Zhejiang has peace today. Master Deng is threatening me both inside and outside his words. He probably wants to use me as a handle to punish the prefect. ? It’s a pity that Mr. Qu devoted himself to serving the country and the people, but he was regarded as an enemy by you and others! ”
"I..."
"You don't have to quibble. Let me ask you, where were you when the Haihan army blocked the Qiantang River two years ago? Have you ever done anything to save the crisis? That time, if Magistrate Qu hadn't risked his life to negotiate with senior Haihan officials and persuade them Withdraw the troops and make a truce, I am afraid that the city of Hangzhou will fall into the flames of war! Now you actually want to frame Master Qu with a crime, how disgusting is it!”
He Xiao was so eloquent that he didn't give Deng Qing a chance to speak again. His barrage of attacks made Deng Qing's face so gloomy that it almost dripped with water. If he hadn't been on a mission, he would have wanted to take down He Xiao right away and take him back to the Yamen to teach him a lesson. Then he would use the method of breaking bones and tendons to see if He Xiao could still be so spit-baked. Talking nonsense.
"We don't agree with each other. I have nothing to say to Lord He. If there are no other matters, Lord He, please come back!" After He Xiao finished his operation, he simply issued an order to expel Deng Qing.
Deng Qing knew that he and He Xiao could no longer have a good conversation, so he stood up and left with a cold snort, not even bothering to say hello.
After Deng Qing left, He Li, who had been watching from the side, gave his brother a thumbs up and praised him: "Big brother is so awesome. He has trained those hundreds of households so hard that they can't talk back!"
He Xiao sighed and said: "Actually, I didn't want to say it so harshly at the beginning, but this guy really doesn't know what to do. He insists on making me angry. Why bother! Check, check, there is nothing to find out. Jin Yiwei used to be in Ningbo We have gotten a lot of money, and we have always gotten along well with each other. If he talks nicely, don't I know what to do? Forget it, please send someone to come and let the Haihan people know. "Yes."
(End of chapter)