Chapter 2099
Before the troops go on an expedition, boosting morale through various National Day activities has proven to be a very effective measure. For the Zhoushan authorities, the next cross-sea combat mission is important, but as Haihan's most important colony on the eastern coast of the Ming Dynasty, the annual festival will still be held as usual.
However, since the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense have issued orders to prepare for war, the Zhoushan garrison has canceled all holiday arrangements. Even personnel on vacation must report back to the base as soon as possible. Therefore, Haihan in the Dinghaigang Port area has been Soldiers are not everywhere as usual, and only a small number of patrols to maintain law and order are still on duty.
However, there are many more armed patrol boats at sea than usual, maintaining channel order on the sea outside the military port area, and using signal flags to clearly require ships entering and leaving the port to stay away from the military port pier.
If they are foreign merchants who come in and out of Zhoushan Dinghai Port all year round, it is not difficult to think of what will happen next through such signs - similar measures will be taken every time before the Zhoushan garrison takes a relatively large action. If the Zhoushan authorities' large-scale purchase of military supplies on the market is a sign, then these signs at the military port are already informal official announcements to the outside world.
Everything indicates that the Haihan Army will take action in the near future. If this signal was placed two or three years ago, it would definitely arouse tension in the coastal states and even put the city of Hangzhou, four hundred miles away, into a state of panic. However, It's not so easy to cause chaos now. Some well-informed people pointed out that the target of the Haihan Army's operation this time was not the Ming Dynasty, but somewhere overseas. The merchants of the Ming Dynasty did not need to worry about the outbreak of war in coastal areas. Of course, it’s not certain whether they figured out this information themselves or whether Haihan officials deliberately used their influence to release it.
But at least the festive atmosphere on Zhoushan Island cannot be deceptive. In addition to the festive environment created by the port area's lights and colorful decorations, the Haihan Trading Department also held large-scale promotional activities as in previous years. Merchants who sign trade orders with Haihan and pay deposits during the event will receive strong limited-time discounts. This special event held during the Haihan National Day has basically replaced the spring trade fair in the early years and has become a business event that merchants from all over the world compete to participate in.
This year is no exception. Although there was some bad news before this, businessmen are still more concerned about whether they can get a larger share of trade from Zhoushan this year. Although there will be great discounts on trade orders during this period, they all know that Haihan goods are always in short supply, especially for some hot commodities that are limited in supply for a limited time. They have to go through bidding to get the supply, so they must arrive early. Here, understand the circulation situation in the market so that you can carry out subsequent operations.
In mid-March, all the inns on Zhoushan Island were already fully booked. A few powerful businessmen are not at all worried about buying real estate on Zhoushan Island, but those who cannot find a place to live will either have to live on a boat or set up a tent in a designated area, or they can only live in Ningbo and travel back and forth on the same day. Zhoushan Island. However, as long as it is profitable, these difficulties are not a big deal to the merchants. The trade negotiation activities only last for two or three days, and if you overcome them a little, you can earn thousands or tens of thousands of taels of silver.
By late March, various exhibitions and sales activities had begun on the island. These commercial activities are not necessarily organized by Haihan officials. Most of them are operated by businessmen from various countries to promote their products to potential customers. Most of the businessmen who come to Zhoushan during this season come with goods, so that they can make money from buying and selling without making a long trip, and strive to maximize the benefits of participating in this grand event.
Providing a platform environment for free transactions for businessmen from all over the world is also the brilliance of the Zhoushan authorities. With Haihan official providing inspection, settlement, delivery, warehousing, transportation and other services for these transactions, the trade environment is far better than that of the nearby Ming Dynasty. Businessmen are naturally happy to complete transactions on Zhoushan Island and will use it by the way. Haihan provides financial, logistics and other services that are ahead of this era. After they experience the superiority of Haihan's services, they will gradually become accustomed to the trade system formulated by Haihan, and then gradually integrate into the economic system dominated by Haihan.
Businessmen from various countries have made considerable profits from the system established by Haihan, but the transactions they completed here have also become part of this system, boosting Haihan's influence in the cross-border trade field in this region. Haihan has been using this routine to win over businessmen from all walks of life over the years, so he has become more and more proficient in the operation of each link.
As the official in charge of commercial affairs of the Zhoushan Administrative Committee, Yang Yun has been no less busy than the local leaders these days. He receives an endless stream of visitors from all walks of life every day, most of whom come to Zhoushan Island to attend recent events. Activities businessman. Some came to get familiar with each other, some came to ask for help and wanted to find a place to live on the island, some came to seek business cooperation, and some came specifically to ask for information and wanted to know whether Haihan would send troops from Zhoushan to take action in the near future.
Naturally, Yang Yun couldn't easily deal with these various people with different purposes. Fortunately, he can now be regarded as an official of high status, so his salary is not bad, and he even gets supplements every day to ensure that he has enough energy to complete the heavy work at hand.
After sending away a group of businessmen, Yang Yun sat down and took a sip of the ginseng tea that his secretary had just brewed. He closed his eyes slightly to rest and review the content of his conversation with the southern businessmen just now. This ginseng tea was not bought with his own money. It was a personal gift given to him by a merchant from Shandong a few days ago. Although Yang Yun does not accept money, he usually does not refuse gifts such as souvenirs.
With his current status, it is normal for someone to come to his door to give him a gift. If he refuses blindly, it would be inhumane. The most important thing is that the boss Shi Diwen also acquiesces to the matter of receiving gifts and does not prohibit receiving gifts. After all, the purpose of becoming an official is to get promoted and make a fortune. Who doesn't want to enjoy the benefits of this special status.
Of course, this gift was not received in vain. After Yang Yun accepted the gift, it was logical that he relaxed some of the gift giver's requirements, but as long as it did not cause obvious damage to Haihan's interests, no one would pursue these details.
Yang Yun drank ginseng tea and ate a few snacks. After he regained his energy, he called his secretary in and asked, "How many visitors are there today?"
The secretary responded: "There are still three groups of people waiting outside."
Yang Yun sighed, nodded and said: "Then go and bring people in. Finish the conversation and rest early."
When the last group of people were received, the sky had already darkened, and it was actually beyond Yang Yun's working hours. However, Yang Yun read the invitation and realized that the status of the last visitor was somewhat special, so he could not send him back tomorrow.
The visitor was an old man in his fifties. After entering the room, he clasped his fists and bowed to introduce himself: "I have met Master Yang. I am Ma Zhengping, a native of Yangzhou."
Yang Yun nodded and said: "Boss Ma, please sit down and talk."
After the other party sat down, Yang Yun took the initiative to ask: "Is Boss Ma a salt merchant?"
"Small business makes adults laugh." Ma Zhengping responded humbly. Yang Yun smiled and said: "If I remember correctly, Boss Ma's family should be one of the seven surnames of Huizhou salt merchants in Yangzhou, right? Maybe it is a coincidence that Boss Ma has the same name as the current patriarch of the Ma family?" < br>
Yang Yun spends a lot of time meeting visitors from all walks of life every day, so he will naturally set certain thresholds to screen the visitors. Otherwise, cats and dogs will queue up to see him, and he will not be able to work normally. Although this man only wrote his name and place of origin on his greeting card, he also prepared a generous gift list that made Yang Yun look at him.
Yang Yun had some impression of the name Ma Zhengping, so he asked his secretary to check it out and got the answer. Then he remembered that when he was operating the Xiangshan Salt Farm, he had asked the Ministry of Security to collect relevant information on Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchants. At that time, the main figures in the two camps of Yangzhou salt merchants were also on the list provided by the Ministry of Security. Among them is Ma Zhengping.
Although the visitor's occupation was not stated in the invitation, Yang Yun believed that there was no other Ma Zhengping in Yangzhou who would come to Zhoushan to meet him with a heavy gift, so he boldly took the initiative to reveal the identity of the visitor.
The old man also smiled and acknowledged Yang Yun's identification: "Ma Zhengping, a common man, is exactly the person your Excellency mentioned. But the seven surnames are just a myth among the people and make you laugh."
Yang Yun roughly knew some reasons why Yangzhou salt merchants came to Zhoushan Island to ask for a meeting with him. In November last year, the Ministry of Security and the military conducted a joint operation. Gong Shiqi and Ji Yuanqing led a team to Yangzhou to investigate the musket case. Later, they successfully lured the snake out of the hole and fought fiercely with the private armed forces of the local salt merchants on the canal for a night. Shang Yuanqi was seriously injured. The opposing Anhui salt merchants were reaping the benefits of the fishermen, and after that night they began to gain the upper hand in the battle between local salt merchants.
But the Huizhou salt merchants also understood that their advantage was only temporary. Their opponents were not short of money. It was only a matter of time before they could regain their strength. What's more terrible was that Shanxi salt merchants had channels to obtain batches of salt. The standard musket, having this thing means that they can complete the comeback at any time, which makes the Huizhou salt merchants not dare to neglect at all.
After discussing with each family of the seven major surnames, they believed that the main reason why the Haihan people attacked the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants was not the competition in the salt business, but that the musketeers under the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants made Haihan feel threatened, so they took action. Send troops to Yangzhou. In this way, it would be too risky to purchase muskets to arm themselves, because it may also lead to a military attack by Haihan, and they do not have the ability to train private armed forces that can defeat Haihan's army.
The safest way is to try to get the Haihan people to continue to attack the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants. To this end, the Huizhou salt merchants can make certain concessions to Haihan in terms of salt industry management, and the two sides can even sit down and talk. Discuss cooperation matters.
The Huizhou salt merchants sent such a signal to the Zhoushan authorities through some channels. Yang Yun received more than one person's intention to negotiate on behalf of the Huizhou salt merchants. However, Shi Diwen believed that Haihan had just finished his operations in Yangzhou, and the local situation was unclear. If he sat down and started negotiations with Huizhou salt merchants at this time, it might not be an ideal time.
This view is also recognized by Yang Yun. He believes that the fight between the two groups of salt merchants in Yangzhou has objective benefits for the salt industry operated by Haihan. The more fierce the fight, the more likely it will be when Haihan intervenes. The more chips they had, the more they could obey, so there was no progress in conveying the wishes of the Huizhou salt merchants to Yang Yun.
Seeing that a few months have passed, Haihan seems to have no intention of taking action against the Shanxi salt merchants again. This makes the Huizhou salt merchants a little anxious. If this drags on, the opponent will have a chance to breathe. After regaining his strength, I am afraid that he will finally The target that must be dealt with first is not the Haihan people, but himself. After several discussions, they decided to send representatives to Zhoushan to discuss the matter directly with senior officials from Haihan.
Ma Zhengping was a prominent figure among Huizhou salt merchants, and he was senior enough, so he was elected as a representative. After he came to Ningbo, it didn't take much effort to find out that the official in charge of salt industry affairs in Zhoushan government was Yang Yun.
Ma Zhengping knew that he did not have the means or qualifications to go directly to see Shi Diwen, so he made Yang Jian his first choice. His choice was indeed the right one. Now all business-related matters in Zhoushan are in the hands of Yang Yun. This matter can only be discussed with Yang Yun.
However, he did not expect that Yang Yun had already done his homework in advance and revealed his identity directly as soon as he came up. This made the pile of self-introductions he prepared completely come to nothing. But he believed that Yang Yun would not end the conversation immediately because of his identity. After all, the other party had already accepted all the gifts he sent here, so he had to give himself a chance to speak.
Yang Yundao: "Boss Ma made a special trip from Yangzhou. Do you have any advice?"
Ma Zhengping responded quickly: "How dare you give me advice? I just want to discuss something with Mr. Yang, so I came to Zhoushan to ask for a meeting."
Yang Yundao: "Since Boss Ma is full of sincerity, let's talk about what happened."
Ma Zhengping saw that Yang Yun looked tired, and knew that he could not run in circles with the other party at this time, so he said straight to the point: "The grass people are here on behalf of the Huizhou salt merchants in Yangzhou, and they want to discuss with Mr. Yang on the management of the salt industry. A matter of cooperation.”
Yang Yun smiled and said: "I remember that the year before last, I had conveyed my willingness to cooperate to you through some business friends. I didn't expect that I had to wait for almost two years before I finally received a visit from Boss Ma. It seems that You Yangzhou salt merchants must have too much business and look down on our small business in Haihan!”
When Yang Yun organized the development of the Xiangshan Salt Farm in 1636, he contacted sales channels in the early stage. The famous Yangzhou salt merchant was naturally one of Haihan's targets. However, at that time, Yangzhou salt merchants were worried that foreign competitors would squeeze their market share, so they would not be willing to discuss cooperation with Haihan.
(End of chapter)