Chapter 2067
Most of the commercial institutions seized so far are deployed in areas controlled by Haihan, and almost every one of them possesses a certain number of standard weapons. The hostility of the masterminds towards Haihan is obvious. But for Haihan, hostility from the outside is not unusual. Over the years, there have been countless people who have regarded Haihan as opponents due to various conflicts of interest, and there have been many forces that can be regarded as enemies.
But those who are qualified to confront Haihan are certainly not too weak, and generally choose to resolve disputes with Haihan through war, a faster-effective method. Of course, Haihan's impressive record over the years has also had the effect of dissuading him from retreating. Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly rare for the forces that dare to break up with Haihan to start a war.
The current practice of slowly spreading out over a large geographical area requires a large investment of money and manpower and a long period of time to achieve the expected goals, and the risks to be endured during this period are very high. big. Prior to this, the infiltration methods implemented by other countries' intelligence agencies against Haihan were far from such detailed deployment. If such an opponent is called an enemy, then the degree of hatred is considerable.
He Xi said: "Although we have not identified the real mastermind yet, based on the evidence and clues we have so far, we can rule out many suspects."
The Spaniards are one of the main participants in this series of events, but judging from the various intelligence currently available, the Spaniards are only participants, not the masterminds who planned and operated the entire plan.
The involvement of Jin Yiwei in the Ming Dynasty is more like a stupid thing done by a small group of local people on impulse, because except for Fujian, investigations in other places have found no evidence related to Jin Yiwei, and there is no sign that Jin Yiwei was involved in the change. Involved in large-scale arms smuggling incidents.
Of course, the relationship between the Qing Dynasty and Haihan could be regarded as mortal enemies, but with their backward and primitive navigation capabilities, it was almost impossible to establish relations with the Spaniards in the South China Sea, let alone place spies in the trading ports controlled by the Ming Dynasty and Haihan. . Even if the Qing Dynasty took the initiative to claim responsibility for this series of events, it would be difficult to convince Haihan that it had such capabilities.
In addition to these three main competitors, are there any other opponents who have always been at odds with Haihan? If these three companies are excluded from the suspect list, who else has the ability and motivation to do these things? To the senior executive committee officials present, this seemed to be an unsolvable dead end.
Tao Donglai said: "But the companies most likely to oppose us seem to be the easiest ones to be excluded. So who is the real mastermind? It is impossible for a group of people to appear out of thin air and select us. As a goal, make so many deployments?”
He Xi was silent for a moment before responding: "If all possible options have been eliminated, then the truth of the matter is probably those situations that we think are impossible. Of course I don't mean that this time the opponent fell from the sky. , but we ignored certain clues intentionally or unintentionally, and perhaps the real mastermind was not included in our suspicions at all. ”
Tao Donglai said: "You seem to have discovered more situations? Then tell us about it. For us, everything is possible. After all, it is extremely unreasonable for us to appear in this time and space. . Many things have deviated from the original historical trajectory, and the future development will exceed our expectations, so any situation is possible.”
Yan Chujie also agreed: "Mr. Tao is right, our judgment of the situation can no longer be based solely on historical facts and previous experience, because every move we make affects and changes the world, and there are many situations we don't understand going on. If it hadn't been for what happened in the past few months, we wouldn't have realized that there are still such opponents secretly watching our every move, quietly waiting for the opportunity to attack us. Lao He, no matter you. Whatever is discovered, the Executive Committee will definitely support the Ministry of Security to continue the investigation!”
He Xi said: "It's not as serious as you said... Let's put it this way, if we go through the clues we have already grasped, we can actually find the root cause of the problems that have not yet been solved."
"First of all, we can use the current investigation progress to mark the characteristics of the mastermind behind the scenes. For example, he has rich navigation experience, has a good understanding of the environment of the southeastern waters of the Ming Dynasty and the South China Sea, is familiar with how to operate transnational trade, and has a lot of experience. It has strong organizational capabilities and a strict organizational structure, and its members are mainly Han people... These are some of the characteristics that I can think of for the time being, and you can add your own."
"We can then think carefully about who could meet the conditions listed above, especially those whom we would subconsciously think are impossible."
"Xu Xinsu!" Ning Qi immediately responded with an answer that sounded really impossible, but as soon as he said it, he denied the answer: "Of course this is impossible. If Xu Xinsu planned this, then He won’t set his own table in Zhangzhou.”
A series of investigation progress after obtaining information from Cebu actually originated from the investigation conducted by Xu Xinsu in Zhangzhou. If Xu Yuxing, the third eldest son of the Xu family, had not discovered the dirty tricks of Jinfahao and Zhengfuji during the investigation, This will not involve many commercial institutions that were subsequently seized in various places. It was definitely impossible for Xu Xinsu to shoot herself in the foot, so Ning Qi's inference was certainly not valid.
But other than that, Xu Xinsu almost meets all the characteristics and conditions proposed by He Xi. In this regard, he has far exceeded the Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty and Spanish people. It is no wonder that Ning Qi thought of him at the first time.
He Xi nodded and said: "Mr. Ning can immediately think of Xu Xinsu, and he does react very quickly. Considering Xu Xinsu's position and the relationship with our country, of course he will not be the mastermind behind the scenes, but we can deduce it from Xu Xinsu. I wonder who else can have similar conditions to Xu Xinsu.”
Tao Donglai said in a deep voice: "For a person like Xu Xinsu, anyone who has similar conditions to him is either his partner or his competitor."
Xu Xinsu is the interest spokesperson supported by Haihan. The two parties have established a relationship of mutual trust based on years of cooperation, and each has reaped huge benefits. Xu Xinsu went from being almost driven out to death and became the local emperor of Fujian. As a result, Haihan was able to implement comprehensive military, economic, and cultural exports to Fujian and obtained considerable profits from trade.
Although there is a huge difference in strength between the two parties, Haihan has always been Xu Xinsu's main trading partner and military ally so far. It is difficult for such a cooperative relationship to be destroyed by external forces. As for Xu Xinsu’s competitors, there are basically no such figures in Fujian at present. Whether they are governors, chief envoys, inspectors, or commanders, their actual influence in Fujian is not comparable to that of him, the "Fujian General Soldier" Titles work. Not to mention private businessmen, without the backing of Haihan, it is basically impossible for another Xu Xinsu to rise rapidly through this route.
"When it comes to partners, it must be our country. As for competitors... Xu Xinsu has had no rivals for several years, right?" Yan Chujie immediately responded to Tao Donglai's view: "Since Shiba Zhi is gone, how can he have anything else?" Competitors..."
Yan Chujie's voice suddenly became softer as he spoke, and the expression on his face became a little confused: "If Shibazhi is still there, it seems to meet the characteristics and conditions listed by Lao He just now!"
When Xu Xinsu got involved with Haihan, he had yet to make a fortune. At that time, the real overlord of the Fujian waters was the civilian armed organization Shibazhi, composed of 18 pirate merchants headed by Zheng Zhilong. At its peak, it had tens of thousands of followers. There are more than 3,000 ships of various classes, and even the Ming army and the Dutch colonists can't do anything about them. If Haihan had not appeared, then Shibazhi would have been the most powerful maritime armed force on the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty during this period.
But the emergence of Haihan changed the trajectory of history. At that time, Xu Xinsu was forced to buy an official position in the Fujian Navy under the oppression of Zheng Zhilong in order to seek asylum from the Ming Dynasty officials. But the effect of this method was not ideal. If Haihan had not provided military assistance to Xu Xinsu, he would have died at the hands of Zheng Zhilong as he did in history. Xu Xinsu, who rose rapidly after that, became the vanguard of the attack on the Eighteen Zhi. Following Haihan, he continued to suppress the Eighteenzhi. In 1633, he and Haihan sent troops to wipe out the remnants of the Eighteenzhi who had retreated to Miyako Island east of Taiwan. .
The strength of Shibazhi before Xu Xinsu's rise could fully meet the main characteristics listed by He Xi. But because this force had been personally wiped out by Haihan four or five years ago, no one had ever associated the series of arms smuggling cases with it before.
"To be precise, there is probably no other force that fits these characteristics better than Shiba Zhi." He Xi nodded and confirmed Yan Chujie's view.
"But wasn't Shibazhi already wiped out back then?" Ning Qi asked puzzledly.
"The Shibazhi is indeed gone. After Wang Tom captured Miyako Island, he specially asked his troops to clear it back and forth on the island several times to confirm that there was no fish that slipped through the net." Yan Chujie answered Ning Qi with certainty. question, but he immediately changed the subject and said: "Although Shiba Zhi is gone, many people related to Shiba Zhi must still be alive. As for why they did not continue to hunt these people, firstly, they wiped out Shiba Zhi's The strategic goal has been achieved, and there is actually little meaning in pursuing some personal targets. Secondly, we did not have the conditions to eradicate the roots at that time. After attacking Miyako Island in September, we immediately took the fleet to the South China Sea and organized a joint fleet to patrol various places in the South China Sea. Show your muscles. If you have a good memory, you should still remember that we formed the South China Sea Trade Alliance on Ampurna Island at the end of that year.”
Shortly after the Battle of Miyakojima in 1633, Yan Chujie personally led the naval fleet into the South China Sea, formed a joint fleet with Annan and other allies, and went all the way south along the Indochina Peninsula to the Port of Batavia on Java Island. Under the Dutch colonial authorities A show of force was shown at the door of the house.
At the end of that year, Haihan completed two major things in the South China Sea. One was to station troops and establish a base in Singdao to control the key waterway of the Strait of Malacca; the second thing was to sign relevant agreements with multiple countries on Ampurna Island. The agreement to form the South China Sea Trade Alliance included these countries into the trading system led by Haihan.
Either of these two events is of far greater significance than the battle that took place on Miyako Island. At that time, the Shibashiba who retreated to Miyakojima were actually only the remnants of the force. Everyone in Haihan believed that the victory of this war was a given. After the war, it was only regarded as the final completion of the task of eliminating the Shibashiba. At that time, It did not attract much domestic attention. Later, through various propaganda methods, the domestic people learned about the course and significance of the Battle of Miyakojima.
After that, Haihan and Xu Xinsu both made a tacit understanding and rarely mentioned anything about Shiba Zhi again. Xu Xinsu made her fortune step by step by stepping on Shibazhi. In fact, there were many operations that were not suitable for public disclosure. It was essentially a bloody history of power transition, and there was no need to show it off anymore. The name Shiba Shiba was completely wiped out with the Battle of Miyakojima, and no one would travel around the world with this brand name anymore.
But the statement given by Yan Chujie at this time seemed to make everyone's conclusion slightly looser. Ning Qi asked: "Lao Yan, can you explain in more detail about the situation of Shiba Zhi?"
Yan Chujie explained patiently: "To put it simply, it was indeed the main force of Shibazhi who retreated to Miyako Island at that time, but in addition to Miyako Island, there were also members of Shibazhi who fled to other places scatteredly. Such as Southeast Asia and Japan.”
He Xi added: "Zheng Zhilong frequently traveled between Japan and the Ming Dynasty in his early years to engage in trade activities, and had a very close relationship with the Hirado domain. He also married a Japanese wife in Hirado at that time. Zheng Zhilong's eldest son, who is also the eldest son of all of us, The one who knows was born in Hirado.”
Zheng Zhilong's eldest son Zheng Sen later changed his name to Chenggong. However, due to the appearance of the Haihan people in this time and space, his destiny changed dramatically. Wang Tom originally intended to let Zheng and his son go, but Xu Xinsu was worried about the consequences, so he still managed to kill them secretly.
However, the outside world did not know the inside story of this matter. Although the Haihan Executive Committee knew that the matter was related to Xu Xinsu, after all, he was one of their own, and the officials did not want to publicize it. They did not investigate this matter in depth. Later, they just regarded it as Zheng Sen's misfortune. Died in the battle between Haihan and Shibazhi.
But Zheng Zhilong did have a certain career foundation and personal connections in Japan, so after Shibazhi suffered repeated defeats, some people fled to Japan under Zheng Zhilong's arrangement. But these people were not the top leaders of Shibazhi, and the Ministry of Security did not invest more energy in tracing them after the war.
Ning Qi thought for a while, then suddenly said: "Wait a minute, what is the name of the wife Zheng Zhilong married in Japan?"
(End of chapter)