Chapter 1988
After Gong Shiqi read the case file prepared by Wan Fa, he was keenly aware of the omissions in it, so he asked Wan Fa about the matter while eating: "I just read the file, why is there no Jin Yiwei in it?" News? It’s impossible that Jin Yiwei doesn’t know about such a big thing, right?”
As the official spy intelligence agency of the Ming Dynasty, Jinyiwei has branches in almost every state capital. It would definitely be a huge dereliction of duty if it was completely unaware that civilian armed organizations were equipped with weapons that were far more powerful than the regular army. Gong Shiqi believed that it was impossible for Jin Yiwei to make such a low-level mistake. Even if he had not noticed it before, he should have launched an investigation into it after many shooting cases. What he was interested in was Jin Yiwei's attitude towards the shooting case, which had extremely important reference significance for what strategy Haihan should adopt to deal with the matter next.
There was no clear record of this information in the file, so he asked Wan Fa face to face. Gong Shiqi believed that this was not Wanfa's negligence, but that there must be some reasons that he did not know yet.
Wanfa put down the chopsticks in his hand and responded with a solemn expression: "This is also a strange situation at the moment. According to the information we have, the Jinyiwei Yamen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas have remained silent on several gun cases that have occurred. There is no intention to pursue it.”
Gong Shiqi was slightly stunned, then sneered: "It seems that the opponent's energy is not small, so that all the Jin Yiwei collectively pretended to be deaf and dumb!"
Wan Fa sighed: "Although there is no evidence, I think so too. It would cost a lot to make the Jinyiwei Yamen turn a blind eye to this."
Both of them have experience in dealing with Jinyiwei, and they have a relatively good understanding of this yamen's style. Jin Yiwei has great power, but because of this, many people in this yamen will use their power to seek benefits. If the instigator behind the shooting was really the Jianghuai salt merchant, then for Jin Yiwei, this would be a first-rate job.
As for whether Jin Yiwei raised the price in a condescending manner, or whether the instigator behind the scenes took the initiative to offer hush money, the Ministry of Security has not been able to collect specific information, but this does not prevent Gong Shiqi from making inferences about Jin Yiwei's silent reaction. To be honest, if Jin Yiwei didn't take this opportunity to make money, he wouldn't believe it.
"But not speaking out does not mean that Jin Yiwei knows nothing about these situations." Gong Shiqi changed the topic: "They chose to remain silent. It may be that they have received benefits from certain people, or they may feel that the situation is It’s all under control, there’s no need to rush to take action at this time.”
Wan Fa responded: "If Jin Yiwei doesn't use manpower to investigate, the information they have is probably not as good as ours. I have also managed to get in touch with two Jin Yiwei I know from Ningbo Prefecture before, and I feel that they are also familiar with the attack on the salt merchant." Wu Shui, if it’s not a show for me, then there’s something wrong with Jin Yiwei’s internal communication.”
What Wan Fa said is also true. In terms of the scale of the intelligence network, the Haihan Security Department is naturally unable to compare with the Ming Dynasty Jinyi Guards, but it also has some special advantages in some areas. For example, in an area like Ningbo Prefecture that has been riddled with infiltration by Haihan, and with the nearby Zhoushan Island garrison as a solid backing, the local Jinyiwei can only keep a low profile, even though Ningbo Prefecture is still their home field. He also didn’t dare to show off in front of Haihan’s colleagues.
Gong Shiqi said: "The attitude of Jinyiwei is unclear, so we should be more careful when we act. After all, we have had a rift with us in the past, and maybe they will add insult to injury at a critical moment. We must be on guard."
The "Liang Zi" mentioned by Gong Shiqi naturally refers to the killing of Liao Xun and others from the Hundreds of Jin Yiwei in Hangzhou three years ago. Although that case turned into an unsolved case in the end, and Jin Yiwei has not yet learned the truth, the other party can basically confirm that the "disappearance" of Liao Xun and others was actually caused by Haihan, and of course this account was also recorded On Haihan's head. If Jin Yiwei was given the opportunity to exact revenge on Haihan, the other party would probably not be merciful.
After eating, Gong Shiqi quickly returned to the study and continued to study the case files provided by Wanfa.
So far, there have been a total of seven attacks on salt transport teams, all of which were outside Ningbo Prefecture. Four of the attacks involved the use of muskets as weapons. The casualties in the salt transport team and the total loss of the escorted goods all occurred in these four incidents. In the other three attacks, the escorts successfully repelled the attackers without much loss.
Looking at the chronological order, several attacks that were repelled came first, followed by several attacks with muskets. It was obvious that there was a tendency for secret weapons to be used later because of unfavorable early actions. However, there is still a lack of clear evidence to prove that all seven attacks were carried out by the same group of people. However, both the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Bureau believe that these attacks are not independent incidents, but have unified planning and deployment.
Gong Shiqi read the file in one breath, then stood up to look at a five-foot-square map hanging on the wall, depicting the general situation of the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the several incidents had been marked with conspicuous red marks. The place where the shooting occurred.
The places where these crimes occurred have one obvious thing in common, that is, they are all located in the north of Hangzhou Bay. Except for one attack that took place in Huzhou Prefecture, the other attacks all took place in Jiangsu Province. But what is very subtle is that there has not been even a single attack in Huai'an Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture, the base camps of salt merchants. In Gong Shiqi's view, this seems to be a cover-up.
"Want to play tricks?" Gong Shiqi looked at the map and muttered to himself.
After a moment, his eyes suddenly shone with light: "Who are you playing with?" Haihan could choose to be neutral and not directly participate in the struggle for interests between Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchants, but if it was clear that Haihan would be involved in the battle, it would The Han Dynasty would no longer remain on the sidelines due to factors that they were afraid of. And if these Ming salt merchants think they can do whatever they want with a batch of muskets, then Gong Shiqi feels it is necessary to teach them how to behave. This does not even require Zhoushan Island to send out large-scale troops. The field operations team of the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Bureau should just Can solve problems.
Of course, this is based on the premise that the scale and combat effectiveness of the salt merchant's private armed forces are limited, otherwise Gong Shiqi is too trustworthy. Judging from the information described in the file, the attackers were armed with approximately ten to thirty muskets at the same time. The reason why there is such a large discrepancy in the number is mainly due to the inconsistent confessions of the parties involved. This is also reasonable. After all, when encountering an attack, it is impossible for everyone to stay calm enough to pay attention to the enemy's weapons and equipment. Many people hear gunshots or see their companions fall down after being shot. He had chosen to run away with his head in his hands, not daring to raise his head to see how many men and horses the enemy had. Therefore, there is no consensus on how many musketeers there are in this private armed force.
However, Gong Shiqi's view on this matter tends to be optimistic. He believes that the scale of the salt merchants' private armed forces must not be too large. After all, this kind of thing cannot be completely hidden from the eyes and ears of the local government. Although the Jin Yiwei did not speak out, but that It's because the situation is controllable. If these salt merchants make the situation too big, the Jinyi Guards and the garrison troops in various state capitals will no longer be able to remain blind.
Another point is that the training and combat level of these musketeers will be limited by the environment in which they live. The Haihan Army has officers with rich combat experience to train new recruits, and there are large and small combat opportunities to polish them. However, the military training that these civilian armed forces can receive is certainly not comparable to that of the regular army. As for the opportunities for actual combat, it is probably There are only tasks like attacking the salt transport team. To what level the musketeers trained in this way can reach, Gong Qiqi believes that at most they are equivalent to the Haihan militia.
Of course, he did not forget the main goal of his trip, which was to find out the source of these muskets. Gong Shiqi's plan is actually very simple and crude. First find the whereabouts of these musketeers, and then try to get them with the guns. When the witnesses and physical evidence are complete, things will be much easier to handle. If the Musketeers don't know where their weapons come from, that doesn't matter, as long as they know who their boss is. If the Musketeers can't answer the questions, I believe their boss will be able to give the answer.
Therefore, for Gong Shiqi, as long as the first step can be successfully completed, the subsequent investigation will be a matter of course. However, everything is difficult at the beginning. If you want to master these key information, it may not be enough to just rely on Zhoushan Island to find a way. After all, you have to get out first.
Wanfa chose to collect information through the investigation of the intelligence network and personal connections, while Gong Shiqifu decided to take action as soon as possible as soon as he arrived in Zhoushan. This can be said to be two completely different ideas, and it is also related to their respective work styles. Wanfa places more emphasis on strategy, planning, intelligence collection and compilation, while Gong Shiqi leads the team to perform various field tasks all year round, so his problem-solving methods are more direct and often more effective.
But this cannot be said to be better or worse. The several files collected and compiled by Wanfa also provided important reference for Gong Shiqi's decision-making. Although Gong Shiqi's method is direct and effective, the risks required will also increase exponentially. It can be said that the choices of the two have their own pros and cons.
When Gong Shiqi went south this time, he also brought a group of capable men, and even the weapons and equipment were shipped over by ship. However, if he wanted to take more radical measures, the manpower he brought alone should not be enough, and still It requires cooperation from Zhoushan. Moreover, according to the system of the Ministry of Security, Gong Shiqi was required to accept the jurisdiction and command of the local commander during the operation, so his action plan had to be reported to Shi Diwen first and could only be implemented after obtaining permission. But Shi Diwen was not on the island at this time, so he had to wait patiently.
When Gong Shiqi arrived at Zhoushan Island, Shi Diwen was in Ningbo city discussing with Qu Yu and other local officials how to deal with the current troubles. Of course, the people who are qualified to participate in this negotiation are basically Ningbo Salt Industry stakeholders, and the many recent attacks have more or less affected their vital interests. Therefore, Haihan’s position They also paid special attention to his attitude.
In fact, Shi Diwen had already met with a few senior officials such as Qu Yu and explained Haihan's attitude to them before, hoping that a decision could be made after the situation became clearer. However, not everyone can be as calm as Shi Diwen. Many officials make excuses to go to the prefect's Yamen almost every two or three days, hoping that Qu Yutong can come forward to persuade the Haihan people to intervene. Qu Yutong himself was actually a little uneasy, so he invited Shi Diwen to Ningbo City and asked him to personally answer the questions of these officials.
More than 80% of the trade carried out by Haihan in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas is through Ningbo Prefecture, and the local officials involved in the salt industry are basically close to Haihan. In addition to the salt industry, in daily life Trade, immigration, finance and other fields are also of great value to Haihan, so Shi Diwen had to pay attention to the attitudes of these people and had to go to Ningbo Mansion in person to appease people's hearts.
"Everyone, the matter is not as serious as you think. We have also used the power at hand to investigate the identities of these musketeers and where the weapons they used came from. But the investigation will take a certain amount of time, and considering that With the current diplomatic relations between the two countries, we cannot take radical military measures to solve the problem for the time being, so I hope you can be more patient and give us more time to find ways to properly handle the current situation..."
It is also difficult for Shi Diwen to persuade these officials whose interests have been harmed to be patient. He has said a lot of principles, but what they want to see is the result. As for the many issues Haihan needs to consider in this process, these officials may not really care.
At any rate, Shi Diwen drank several large cups of tea and finally convinced these officials that Haihan would try his best to resolve the matter before the end of the year. But before that, the salt produced at the two salt farms in Xiangshan and Shipu must first make some adjustments to the sales direction and suspend sales northward to the Jianghuai region to avoid continued conflicts of interest with local salt merchants.
This is still a bit disappointing for the officials. When they originally set the north as the main sales direction, they had the intention to defeat the Jianghuai salt merchants in the shortest possible time. As long as they can seize the salt market in the lower Jianghuai area, The next step is to control the local salt production, and then the business will grow bigger and bigger, allowing Ningbo salt merchants to slowly replace the old salt merchants.
Of course, the wish is beautiful, but the reality is not so easy to achieve. How can the Jianghuai salt merchants, who are extremely wealthy, be willing to hand over their industries to others? Even if your Ningbo salt merchants are backed by the government - there are not many behind them. What about the big shots who have some say in the court?
(End of chapter)