Chapter 2049
With Xu Xinsu's influence in Fujian today, it is not an exaggeration to say that he has a monopoly on the local government. He often even obeys and disobeys some of the decrees from the imperial court, finding excuses not to listen to instructions or announcements. But this does not mean that he can completely ignore the existence of the Ming court, or wantonly suppress other court officials. Regardless of whether Xu Xinsu is willing or not, he still has to maintain some basic rules of the game in this feudal power system.
Unless Xu Xinsu one day divides the territory and raises a flag to rebel in Fujian, he will have to obey the Ming bureaucracy as a minister of the Ming Dynasty. Although many members of Xu Xinsu's family have now entered the officialdom, due to various restrictions, most of them can only hold relatively low official positions. Only joining the army as a military attache has a slightly better future, and you can lead troops even if your position is not high. After all, the Fujian Navy has almost become the private soldiers of the Xu family, and it is difficult for military attachés appointed by the court to join this special force.
But even if the Xu family is now in a situation where one person has achieved enlightenment, the number of people with the qualifications to be an official is still limited, and Xu Xinsu has not yet expanded to the extent of inserting cats and dogs into the officialdom. He knows that doing so will only destroy the Great Wall. It would have no other effect, so not all of his sons entered the officialdom. There are still hundreds of officials, big and small, loyal to the imperial court in Fujian. Xu Xinsu wants these people to keep quiet, either by using force to scare them or by giving them enough benefits.
Xu Xinsu has already controlled the military power in Fujian. This is something that everyone in Lingnan knows. The strength of the Ming army under Xu Xinsu far exceeds that of the neighboring provinces. In fact, there is no need to show off force to local officials anymore, so his priority in dealing with this issue is It's the latter.
Based on his own experience and the advice given by Haihan, Xu Xinsu came up with a solution. He tried to get these local officials to participate in industrial operations in various forms, tying their personal interests to Xu's industry. Although this method is not as effective as sending money directly, the long-term effect is excellent. Once people get on the ship, it will be difficult to get off.
This is the case for the commander Liao on the list. The Kowloon Shipping Company under his name is actually attached to the property of the Xu family. The Xu family built the ship and sold it to him at a low price, and the sailors and crew were hired by the Xu family with help. Come on, the trade routes, buying and selling channels, and even the settlement methods are all arranged by the Xu family. Master Liao only needs to send a trustworthy person to be the shopkeeper. In this way, the real owner doesn’t have to put too much thought into it, and he doesn’t have to worry about the money he pockets coming from the wrong way.
The reason why Mr. Liao is given such generous treatment is naturally because of his official position. It may be said that the commander is the real military commander of Fujian, but because of the existence of Xu Xinsu, this commander is actually a puppet, and Xu Xinsu, who holds the vague official position of "Fujian General Soldier", is the real control People with local military power. However, both commanders are official officials appointed by the imperial court and the Ministry of War. Xu Xinsu also needs cooperation from the other party in many areas. The existence of Kowloon Shipping Company is to allow the two parties who originally had conflicts of interest in power to have new common interests. It is an inconvenience. The solution to injury and anger.
Mr. Liao has been in office for five years, and at this time, the Kowloon Shipping Company is no longer the only business under this senior official's name. However, according to the information known to Xu Yuxing, the revenue earned by this Kowloon Shipping Company for Mr. Liao every year is still accounts for a significant portion of its revenue. And now it is discovered that this Kowloon shipping company secretly has business dealings with the Spanish. It seems that a considerable amount of the money that enters Mr. Liao's pocket every year comes from the Spanish colonial authorities in the Philippine Islands.
"How does the third young master usually deal with situations like this?" After Jin Ming heard Xu Yuxing introduce the situation of the Kowloon Boat Company, he did not make any rash suggestions, but first asked what the other party meant.
Xu Yuxing mused: "This person is not an ordinary person. Of course, it can be investigated, but it is not easy to do it. Although he may not have instigated this matter, if he wants to openly search for evidence at the Kowloon Shipyard, it will inevitably happen. It is suspected of being a slap in the face, and there will be some trouble in the future if you offend this person. If you want to take action, you must first ask my father.”
Seeing that Xu Yuxing was so fearful, Jin Ming was not sure whether what he said was true or false. He could only express his understanding: "In that case, let's put this Kowloon boat company aside for now. What is the situation of the other two companies on the list?"< br>
Xu Yuxing pointed to the second house on the list and said: "This Guangli Trading Company is an industry under the name of Mr. Huang, the magistrate of Zhangzhou. Mr. Huang has also had a relationship with my father for many years. Guangli Trading Company seems to be run by his eldest son. I am familiar with this person. I know him, you can talk to him first and understand the situation.”
Jin Ming understood the implication of Xu Yuxing's words. This company also had an official background, and they could not tamper with it. They had to communicate with the operator first. But the reasons given by Xu Yuxing didn't seem to be faulty. This was the property of the Zhangzhou prefect, and as far as he knew, Mr. Huang was indeed from Xu Xinsu's camp. This was probably the main reason why Xu Yuxing didn't want to offend him. .
Xu Yuxing didn't wait for Jin Ming to ask more questions, and pointed directly to the last one on the list: "The situation of this third family is a bit special...it is an industry owned by a commander of Jinyiwei."
"Jinyiwei?" Jin Ming couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly when he heard this answer. This was information that he had never mastered before. In terms of status alone, this Jin Yiwei is indeed more difficult to deal with than ordinary civil and military officials. Even if Xu Xinsu is not afraid of the existence of Jin Yiwei, she will definitely not take the initiative to provoke this yamen.
The Commander-in-Chief is a senior military attaché of the fourth rank. In the power structure of Jinyiwei, he is only ranked below the Commander-in-Chief and the Commander-in-Chief. He is also a high-ranking figure. However, no matter how high-ranking an official is, the salary he receives from the court is limited. If he wants to achieve financial freedom, he has to think of other ideas. In Fujian, the most profitable business is sea trade, so Mr. Qian also chose this profitable business as his second career.
Operating maritime trade with Jinyiwei's privileges will naturally enjoy many conveniences. At least the intelligence agency in charge of Xu Yuxing will not dare to easily investigate the operating conditions of its industry. In addition, with the title of Jinyiwei, there is no need to pay any transaction taxes to the government, and there is no need to worry about anyone daring to inspect when transporting prohibited items.
Jin Ming has been stationed in Fujian for a long time, but he will try his best to avoid dealing with Jin Yiwei. After all, his colleagues are enemies, not to mention the grievances between the Security Department and Jin Yiwei have been going on for several years, and it is impossible for the two sides to shake hands and talk happily. , once there is contact, it will be a life-or-death situation. And before that, he really didn't know that the business firm on the list was actually Jin Yiwei's property.
Jin Ming muttered: "Although there are difficulties, we still have to investigate what should be investigated! In my opinion, the suspicion of this Jin Yiwei is very high!"
Jin Ming thought very clearly that since even Xu Yuxing was afraid of this, no one would usually supervise the business operations of this business. If it weren't for the identification of these three lists, it would probably be difficult to have evidence to identify this company as a key suspect.
Xu Yuxing said: "Of course the investigation must continue, but how to proceed needs to be planned slowly. What your country wants to investigate is the matter of assisting the Spanish in smuggling weapons and equipment. Mr. Jin also said that the other party is very careful and is probably an expert. , if the investigation is alerted, the investigation may not be able to achieve its goal.”
Jin Ming said: "If there is indeed someone here that the Third Young Master does not want to offend, then you might as well leave it to us so that the Third Young Master can avoid suspicion." Xu Yuxing wanted to take his time to investigate the matter, but Jin Ming did not agree with this approach, because Sanya The message sent clearly mentioned that relevant parties are required to find out the case as soon as possible. Xu Yuxing could slowly spend time with the subject of the investigation, but he couldn't afford to wait. He had to report the results as soon as possible.
Xu Yuxing said: "Master Jin, what you said is wrong. You and I are allies, so we naturally stand in the same camp. How could Xu offend his own allies just because he doesn't want to offend others? Don't worry, since my father has agreed to this matter If you know how to take care of it, then you will take care of it to the end!”
Jin Ming said solemnly: "I was rude, third young master, don't blame me."
Jin Ming apologized, but he was a little disapproving in his heart. He thought that Xu Yuxing exaggerated the difficulty of the investigation when he explained the situation of the three investigation targets, and seemed to be evading it. However, he didn't want to be too tough on Xu Yuxing. After all, he was asking for help from the other party at the moment. If he was responsible for the investigation, it would probably be difficult for him to catch clues and clues as quickly as the other party. So he had no choice but to use words to force the other party to express his position, so that Xu Yuxing would not keep talking in circles with him.
Xu Yuxing said: "I will give an order to have these three places under surveillance first. As for how to conduct the subsequent investigation, please wait a moment, Mr. Jin. I will go and show this list to my father first, and then get the regulations." Come out.”
"It's easy to talk about, then it's hard work for the third young master." Jin Ming had no other way to think of at this time, but to follow Xu Yuxing's idea first. He only hoped that Xu Xinsu could act tougher at this time and not try to avoid the problem or delay time like Xu Yuxing.
It was already lunch time when Jin Ming saw Xu Yuxing again, but the news that Xu Yuxing brought back made him happier than the sumptuous lunch. Xu Xinsu said that he fully supported their investigation work and that he would explain the matter to the commander, Mr. Liao, and the prefect, Mr. Huang. .
As for the Jin Yiwei side, since the commander Qian was not in Fujian at the moment and could not communicate with him about this matter, Xu Xinsu allowed them to take action first, and if anything happened in the future, he would take over the matter. Of course, Xu Xinsu also asked them to try not to make the matter a big deal unless necessary, let alone conflict with them or have other more serious consequences.
Objectively speaking, it is rare for Xu Xinsu to give such support. Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty officialdom, there are probably not many people who dare to offend Jin Yiwei for the affairs of foreigners. Although Jin Ming had criticized Xu Yuxing's attitude before, now that he knew Xu Xinsu's attitude, he had nothing to say.
Jin Ming asked: "If we come directly to investigate their accounts and inventory, do we need to prepare for conflicts?"
Xu Yuxing nodded and said: "This preparation must be done. I may be able to control the situation with the first two families, but it will definitely not be easy for Jin Yiwei."
"Speaking of which, we can't have a three-pronged approach." Jin Ming said with some regret. If action against these three targets cannot be taken at the same time, the possibility of leaks will be greatly increased, which will give the subject of the investigation time to transfer or destroy certain key evidence.
Xu Yuxing shook his head when he heard this and said: "If I don't come forward, it may be difficult for my people to handle the matter smoothly. Mr. Jin, I must remind you again that these three investigation targets all have strong backgrounds. It is not easy to get them to cooperate with us honestly. All we can do is to shorten the time interval between taking action on these three goals. Complete confidentiality is unlikely to be achieved. ”
Xu Yuxing was well aware of Jin Ming's concerns, but he believed that the Haihan people's demands were too high and he did not fully consider the difficulties in handling the matter. Moreover, if this matter spreads, it may have a negative impact on Xu Xinsu's reputation. After all, the companies investigated are all competitors of the industry under Xu Xinsu's name. Outsiders would not know that these business organizations are actually licensed by Xu Xinsu to exist.
Xu Xinsu is willing to investigate the matter at the request of the Haihan people. In Xu Yuxing's view, this attitude is more to take care of the feelings of the Haihan people, rather than because these people's business with the Spaniards will harm the situation in Fujian. He personally directs the investigation. Work is already enough to give Haihan people face. If they don't explain the importance of this clearly, Haihan people may make even more embarrassing demands for themselves later.
Jin Ming could tell that Xu Yuxing's tone was not so polite, and he took the initiative to give in: "It has been agreed before that the third young master will be responsible for directing all relevant investigation operations. How to proceed appropriately is up to the third young master. Have the final say.”
Seeing that the other party's attitude had softened, Xu Yuxing's expression brightened and he said, "Master Jin, you're too polite. Let's mobilize the manpower to make an action plan today, and we'll take action early tomorrow morning!"
According to the prior agreement, only Jin Ming from the Haihan side would follow up on the entire investigation, so no other Haihan intelligence officers would be involved in the relevant operations, and all the people under Xu Yuxing would be the main force.
Compared with the establishment of Haihan's Security Department, Xu Xinsu's intelligence department is mainly composed of his personal guards. However, because such an establishment does not have a few intelligence collation and analysis personnel, it is even stronger than Haihan in performing field tasks. Some, and when there is insufficient manpower, you can also directly allocate manpower from the guards to supplement.
(End of chapter)