Chapter 1788: Putting things to rest
Before Deng Qing came to Ningbo this time, he really didn't expect that the Haihan people would act so unscrupulously. His status as a Jinyiwei did not have the proper deterrent effect at all. Instead, he lost one man in vain. Fortunately, Ningbo Mansion sent people in time to stop the Haihan people from continuing to commit crimes. Otherwise, Deng Qing would not be sure whether he could still save his life in the situation just now.
But as Jin Yiwei understood, the entire Ningbo Mansion and the Haihan people had been colluding for a long time, and they actually let the Haihan thugs leave without any intention of holding them accountable for the murder. Moreover, after the cavalry officer persuaded the Haihan people to leave, he immediately asked Deng Qing and others to leave Ningbo. It was obvious that he had deep hostility towards them.
Deng Qing even suspected that this farce was arranged by Ningbo Mansion and the Haihan people to set him up. Otherwise, how could he have just intercepted the grain transport convoy and the Haihan people with guns and ammunition arrived in time? Thinking about it again, it seemed that it was no coincidence that this group of cavalry appeared at the same time. Deng Qing felt more and more that he was being plotted by the other party. As for why the other party only killed one person and then let him go, Deng Qing believed that this was because the other party deliberately used this to warn himself and the big shots behind him, instead of having peace of mind to get things done.
With the current situation, can he still stay in Ningbo Mansion and carry out his mission? Deng Qing felt that this was unlikely. The cavalry team that came to rescue them had not left too far. They had been staring at Deng Qing and his group from a distance, apparently intending to continue to monitor them until they left the country. After what happened just now, it would be difficult for Deng Qing to cause trouble in Ningbo Mansion again, and the most reasonable choice was to leave here as soon as possible.
This group of Jin Yiwei was not the only one who was suffocating in his heart. In fact, Lin Xing, who seemed to have the upper hand just now, was still very unhappy. Although he had humiliated this group of Jin Yiwei in person, it was considered revenge for their seizure of Haihan's military rations. , but Lin Xing still couldn’t get the answer to the question he wanted to find out. He did not think that Jin Yiwei's coming to seize Haihan's military rations was an accident. The other party had approached brothers He Xiao and He Li beforehand, and deliberately pretended to be a businessman and came to Changxing Town in advance to make arrangements. It was obvious that he was well prepared.
Does a Jinyiwei Baihu have such courage and authority to handle this matter? Lin Xing was skeptical about this, and according to He Xiao, the Jin Yiwei stationed in Ningbo did not know that Nanjing sent people here. It was most likely because the person who planned the incident no longer trusted the Jin Yiwei here. Why would there be such a strange arrangement, and this is far beyond the scope of authority of a hundred-household officer.
Lin Xing believed that he was fully capable of finding out the truth of the matter. As long as the boss named Xu came just a few hours later, he would be able to force the Jin Yiwei to reveal the truth. It's a pity that the chess move was wrong. He couldn't figure out why Qu Yutong sent someone to stop him at this juncture. He didn't need the prefect to show up, and he could handle the matter properly. , but after letting this group of Jin Yiwei go, it would be more troublesome to pursue them further.
Lin Xing originally hoped that after completing this errand, he could return to Zhoushan Island to express his merits to Shi Diwen, but after being interrupted by the Ningbo Mansion, he could only return in vain.
Back in Ningbo City, Lin Xing first asked the people he brought out to return to the Golden Shield Escort Station. He then went to Haihan's office in the city, planning to send someone to invite He Xiao over and discuss the matter. How things should end. But when he arrived at the office, he was shocked to find that his boss Shi Diwen had appeared quietly.
"I just met with Magistrate Qu, and I have a general idea of the situation here. The current situation is basically within our control, so we don't have to worry too much about the Jin Yiwei." Shi Di explained the current situation to Lin Xing in simple and concise words. status.
Lin Xing responded: "Chief, I still have something unclear about my humble position. Since I know clearly that the group of Jin Yiwei came to Ningbo to cause trouble, why did Magistrate Qu let them leave safely? Could it be that the person behind this is not even Magistrate Qu?" A big shot who dares to offend?”
"You think it through quite clearly!" Shi Diwen said with a smile: "If he didn't have any scruples, I'm afraid he would be more ruthless than you!"
Lin Xing's curiosity arose now, and he carefully asked Shi Diwen about the big shot who made Qu Yutong temporarily change his mind and let go of the Jin Yiwei who were causing trouble in Ningbo.
Shi Diwen said: "Just listen to it here, but don't spread it outside. This matter involves many aspects, and if it spreads, it will have a bad impact on Magistrate Qu."
Lin Xing quickly agreed. Being able to access such level of secrets was a sign of gaining the trust of his superiors.
Qu Yutong wanted to make use of Ningbo, a geomantic treasure land, to manage the situation. Of course, the relationship he had to maintain was not only with Haihan, but also with places in the Ming Dynasty that needed to pay tribute and burn incense. It is very rare that these interest relationships, which cost a lot of money to maintain, can play a role at critical moments. For example, this time Jin Yiwei came to Ningbo to cause trouble, someone secretly informed Qu Yutong. Although it was a little late, it was still enough for Qu Yutong to adjust the measures to deal with the incident in time and not complete the matter.
According to the information obtained by Qu Yutong, the Jinyiwei sent people to Ningbo to cause trouble on behalf of a Luo Qianhu from Nanjing. The purpose was to create conflicts between the prefect’s Yamen and the Haihan people, and then slowly Trying to remove Qu Yutong, who had lost the support of Haihan, from the position of Ningbo magistrate.
In fact, many competitors with similar plans have appeared in recent years. This is not the first time that Qu Yutong has encountered someone trying to trick him. However, most of the time, the opponents who appear are not strong enough. , not enough to make him feel afraid. But this time the Jin Yiwei's intervention was a little different. Qu Yutong didn't want the matter to get out of hand, so after confirming the news, he immediately sent a team of cavalry out of the city to stop the Golden Shield escort.
If he were just an ordinary member of the Imperial Guard Qianhu, Qu Yutong still wouldn't take it seriously. After all, how could a fifth-grade military attache compete with him, a fourth-grade civil servant who wanted money and people under his command? Arm wrestling? But it happened that the Qianhu who was targeting him this time had a slightly special status.
"This Qianhu is the nephew of Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Jinyiwei. Magistrate Qu is worried that there are motives from the capital behind this, so he doesn't want to do anything too extreme, lest he angers Luo Yangxing." Shi Diwen spoke in a few words. Find out the reasons behind the incident. Speaking of the commander who now controls the Jin Yiwei, it can be regarded as a family tradition. His father Luo Sigong served as the commander of the Jin Yiwei from Wanli to Tianqi. When Wei Zhongxian was in power, Luo Sigong was rejected by Wei Zhongxian and replaced by Tian Ergen. I sat there for three years. After Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, Wei Zhongxian quickly fell, and Tian Ergeng was kicked out for helping Wei Zhongxian eliminate dissidents and other crimes. Emperor Chongzhen appointed Luo Yangxing, who inherited his father's legacy, to inherit the position of commander of the Jinyiwei.
During Luo Yangxing's tenure, Jinyiwei actually caused trouble for Haihan and began dispatching intelligence personnel to the Sanya area many years ago. Li Qingyang, who now serves as the counterintelligence director in the Haihan Security Department, was captured when he came to Sanya. Later, he chose to join Haihan and continue to work in his old profession. The Haihan Security Department and the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty have been fighting openly and secretly for many years. However, generally speaking, Haihan has the upper hand. And as Haihan's national power has become stronger and stronger in recent years, the Jinyiwei is no longer willing to waste resources and resources. Manpower went to continue the battle with Haihan.
Luo Yangxing's nephew sent people to Ningbo to cause trouble. Whether this was his personal intention or whether it contained Luo Yangxing's instructions was not specified by the person who provided information to Qu Yutong. But Qu Yutong knew that his current position was secretly coveted by many people, so he had to prepare for the worst first. Therefore, when it comes to dealing with the issue of the Jinyiwei headed by Deng Qing, Qu Yutong overturned his previous idea of using Haihan's help to get rid of these people, and instead planned to leave room for them and just expel them out of the country.
Although his movements were slightly slower and Lin Xing had already killed one of the Jinyi guards, this did not affect Qu Yutong's intention to express his stance. It could even express another meaning - I can Let the Haihan people kill these Jin Yiwei, but I still chose to release them, and only symbolically killed one of them as a warning. If this Qianhu man named Luo was very knowledgeable, he would have stopped.
Of course, Shi Diwen came to Ningbo not specifically to deal with such a "little matter", but to say hello to Qu Yutong, because soon there will be a large force going north to pass through Zhejiang, and there may even be some in Dingbo. The harbor rested for a few days. The whereabouts of these troops were military secrets, and Shi Diwen couldn't just send someone over to say hello and be done with it, so he chose to come to Ningbo in person and explain the situation to Qu Yutong, lest the local government discover that there were suddenly a large number of Haihan. The army arrived in Zhoushan, so unnecessary misunderstandings occurred.
Compared with the combat mission that Haihan Army is about to go north to carry out, this small disturbance in Ningbo is really nothing. Even if the Jinyiwei really withholds all the food from outside Ningbo, it will not actually affect Haihan. had too great an impact on the battle plan. Whether it is the procurement of food or other military supplies, Haihan has a backup plan, but it will take more time to adjust.
Of course, Shi Diwen would not ignore the impact of this incident. After all, the little actions of these Jin Yiwei had made Qu Yutong a little uneasy. Whether it was public or private, Shi Diwen could not sit back and watch. This has more negative consequences. Therefore, after meeting Qu Yutong, he was not in a hurry to return to Zhoushan Island, but stayed in Ningbo City to wait for follow-up news.
Shi Diwen didn't think there was anything wrong with the fact that Lin Xing brought the men of Golden Shield Escort to find Jin Yiwei to bring bad luck. He handed over the management of Golden Shield Escort in Zhejiang to Lin Xing, so he naturally believed that Lin Xing's judgment in dealing with emergencies. Of course, there are certain restrictions on the actions that Lin Xing can currently direct and the manpower he can mobilize. If it is a more important task, Shi Diwen will still leave it to professionals from the Ministry of Security or the military to handle it.
This is mainly because Lin Xing has not received relatively advanced military training, and Shi Diwen is still somewhat uneasy about his lack of experience in commanding large-scale or highly professional operations. However, this time Lin Xing took people to clean up Jin Yiwei and was able to stop in time afterwards. Shi Diwen was basically satisfied with his performance, so he was still in the mood to share with him the ins and outs behind the incident.
When Lin Xing heard that this matter might involve the commander of the Jin Yiwei, he was secretly a little frightened. If the Jin Yiwei Baihu whom he dealt with before was still a visible and tangible target, then the commander of the Jin Yiwei was probably a legend. The characters in it. However, since the main target of this Jinyiwei is the prefect Qu Yutong, it means that this is an internal strife in the Ming Dynasty officialdom. Haihan is not the primary target, but it may become a prop for officials to fight for power.
Although Lin Xing was a Han Chinese born in the Ming Dynasty, the three brothers had been begging for food at sea since childhood and had never been involved in officialdom. They did not have a deep understanding of the things within the Ming Dynasty's system. Since the boss has not indicated that he will continue to wade through this muddy water, there is no need for him to regret the previous half-measured action.
Shi Diwen continued: "Prefect Qu wants to calm down the matter. If Jin Yiwei stops here, then for his sake, let it go. But if something similar happens next time, and the article has been done to us, If anyone wants to make a fuss about the military supplies we purchased in the near future, they will be treated as hostile acts."
Lin Xing quickly bowed his head and agreed, thinking that his boss was worthy of being a general leading troops in war, but he was not as indecisive as Magistrate Qu, who was afraid of losing lives. If this situation still happens, even if the prefect's Yamen sends someone to dissuade him again, he will probably have to kill him first and report later.
"The army from Sanya will arrive in Zhoushan in a few days. Before then, the procurement of various military supplies must be completed. Which items need to be escorted by Jindun? You should make arrangements early and don't delay the business. ." Shi Diwen warned again.
Lin Xing responded: "Chief, please rest assured that I have communicated with all parties regarding the delivery of various military supplies and there will be no delays due to transportation issues."
Regarding the military supplies purchased locally in Zhejiang this time, Lin Xing had already read the list. In fact, it was not difficult to guess the size of the troops dispatched by Haihan from the list. He has been on duty in Haihan for several years, and he can tell at a glance that this scale of troop defense change is not an ordinary one. If they are just passing through Zhejiang, then war will probably break out in the north in the near future.
(End of chapter)