Chapter 2173
As the salt industry center of the Ming Dynasty, Yangzhou's market has long been divided up by the two foreign salt merchant groups, Shanxi salt merchants and Huizhou salt merchants. The struggle for interests between these two factions over the salt industry is already well-known in the local area.
Before Haihan salt appeared on the market in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants had already occupied an advantageous position in this competition. This advantage did not only refer to market share, but all-round suppression, including the past that had allowed Huizhou to The government backstage, which the local salt merchants were proud of, has slowly changed its position and become the protective umbrella of Shanxi and Shaanxi salt merchants.
Of course Huizhou salt merchants like Ma Zhengping were also fighting hard, but the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants held money in one hand and a gun in the other, and they had the support of big figures in the government. Regardless of whether they were fighting civilly or with force, the Huizhou salt merchants were already struggling. If Haihan had not strongly intervened in the Yangzhou salt market, forcing the Shanxi and Shaanxi salt merchants to turn around and deal with this powerful enemy, then the Huizhou salt merchants might have been completely squeezed out in the near future.
Haihan sent people to take action in Yangzhou to eliminate the musketeers under the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants. This gave Ma Zhengping and others the hope of a comeback. Joining forces with Haihan to fight against their old enemy seemed to be a more feasible option. . Ma Zhengping came to Zhoushan twice to discuss cooperation matters precisely to draw Haihan into his own camp - of course, who actually entered whose camp may not be what he thought.
The premise of Haihan's cooperation is to allow Haihan salt to enter the salt market centered on Yangzhou and enter the mainland of Ming Dynasty through the distribution channels of Yangzhou salt merchants. Therefore, it was proposed to allow Huizhou salt merchants to purchase from Haihan in proportion. Salt cooperation program.
However, Huizhou salt merchants are worried that this operation will be reported by competitors. After all, selling illegal salt is impossible to do. In the past, illegal salt was produced in the Ming Dynasty, involving many interested parties, and no one would expose it. This layer of window paper. But if the source of goods is changed to Haihan, then the opponent will have nothing to fear. Once it is exposed, it will give the government a reason to take action. At that time, the Huizhou salt merchants will inevitably be in a passive situation.
Ma Zhengping didn't dare to say it directly, but Yang Yun had obviously thought of this and directly pointed out the situation that he was concerned about.
"Which side the government takes is just to see which side can provide more money. With our Haihan Kingdom as your backing, why worry about financial problems?" Yang Yun said slowly: "Besides, whoever makes things difficult for you is the one who will. In the country of Haihan, if anyone wants to try the consequences, we won’t be polite!”
Ma Zhengping felt his heart tremble when he heard this. He knew that the Haihan people could indeed do what they said. If this matter was not implemented smoothly, there might be another bloody storm in Yangzhou City. Of course, Ma Zhengping first had to make sure that the unlucky person would not be him.
From Haihan's point of view, Yang Yun's speech was naturally domineering and impeccable, but as a party involved, Ma Zhengping had to consider more factors. After all, it was their group of Anhui salt merchants who were doing things in Yangzhou, not the Haihan people who could solve the problem by force.
It only took one sentence to agree to Yang Yun's conditions, but Ma Zhengping knew that the trouble this might cause would not be solved as easily as Yang Yun said.
In terms of financial resources, Huizhou salt merchants are not bad at all, but managing government connections sometimes requires more than just spending money. In addition to spending money, the enemy also began to find ways to marry into upper-class figures and finance famous literati since the Tianqi years. It took ten or twenty years to slowly build an official network. Although Huizhou salt merchants had similar practices, they were not as careful as their opponents, and the results they achieved were naturally much worse.
So over time, the Shanshan-Shaanxi salt merchants gradually gained more support in local official circles by carefully managing their connections. However, if the Huizhou-based salt merchants wanted to change this situation, they could not just send more money out. The Haihan people could use force to resolve the conflict at hand regardless of the consequences, but it was the Hui salt merchants who stayed in Yangzhou to face the local officials and bear responsibility for this.
"Master Yang, I am unwilling to cooperate with your country. It is really difficult for us..." Ma Zhengping knew that the stakes in this matter could not be explained in one or two sentences, so he could only express to Yang Yun that he had Difficulties.
Yang Yundao: "If there is a problem, we must find a way to solve it. You keep saying that you have difficulties, so let me ask you, do you have a solution? If you want to cooperate with our country, you have to show enough sincerity. If there is no risk at all, No, do you think it’s your Huizhou salt merchant’s turn to be the partner?”
Yang Yun's words were quite rude. Even though Ma Zhengping was mature and prudent, he couldn't help but feel a little hot when he was scolded in such a tone that was almost reprimanding. If the Huizhou salt merchants were not in a disadvantageous situation now and had to seek help from the Haihan people, he would probably have left in a hurry.
But Ma Zhengping couldn't lose face and argue with Yang Yun, so he could only mutter and defend: "Sir Yang, we and other salt merchants have to make a living in Yangzhou after all. It's okay to offend our colleagues, but if we offend the government, life will be difficult. ”
After listening to his explanation, Yang Yun's attitude softened slightly: "Boss Ma, we can understand the difficulties you are facing, and we are ready to support you in solving these difficulties in various ways. The key is whether you have confidence in yourself, Go and defeat your competitors and the backers behind them! Our country has encountered many officials and businessmen in the south who were unwilling to cooperate, but so what, the mantises who acted as drivers were all crushed into powder, and in the end these people were nothing but Able to make a way in front of the general trend. ”
Yang Yun is not bragging. Haihan has too many operational examples for reference in this regard, especially in Guangdong, Guangxi and the coastal areas of Zhejiang. There will be some stubborn people in almost every state capital trying to confront Haihan, but regardless of financial resources Or in terms of force, these local forces are too far behind Haihan, so they can only be defeated one by one.
Although the Yangzhou salt merchants had outstanding financial resources, in the eyes of Haihan officials, they were just a group of relatively wealthy businessmen. Although some people obtained some muskets from overseas and formed private armed forces, which caused a little trouble for Haihan's salt business, it was impossible to prevent Haihan from extending his sales channels to the traditional sphere of influence of Yangzhou salt merchants.
Yang Yun roughly knew the inside story of the last time the military and security bureau jointly sent people to Yangzhou to take forceful action. Although his side also suffered some casualties during the action, the result was undoubtedly a complete victory for Haihan. Therefore, Yang Yun believes that if the conflict between the two salt merchant camps in Yangzhou becomes fierce, the Haihan military can also choose the opportunity to intervene again to help Hui salt merchants attack their competitors.
But if Huizhou salt merchants cannot bear even the slightest risk, then whether it is worth cooperating with them needs to be reevaluated. Although Yang Yun attaches great importance to the development of the salt industry, he has no intention of making any concessions to the Ming salt merchants. If the Hui salt merchants cannot meet the conditions he requires, then there seems to be no need to continue this cooperation.
Yang Yun had noticed that Ma Zhengping's attitude was still somewhat wavering, so he didn't want to waste any more time and took the initiative to end the conversation and let Ma Zhengping go back and think it over first. However, the matter of opening a business store has nothing to do with the cooperation matters that have not yet been negotiated. Yang Yun still promised Ma Zhengping that he could continue to handle it according to the rules, but Ma Zhengping himself couldn't help but feel hesitant. If the cooperation could not be reached, then he would set up a store on Zhoushan Island. There doesn't seem to be much need for a store.
After Ma Zhengping returned to his residence, he also felt that there was something wrong with the way he handled the differences. The Haihan people undoubtedly hoped to promote cooperation as soon as possible, and then let Haihan salt enter the Yangzhou market through the sales channels of Huizhou salt merchants. If they lose this partner, the life of the Huizhou salt merchants will only become more and more difficult. They will have to wait until they have no choice but to give it a try. By then, they may not have a big backer like Haihan behind them. However, with the transaction volume required by the Haihan people, Huizhou salt merchants have to face relatively large risks in their operations. Unless they buy enough Haihan salt, they can reduce the amount of salt put on the market and try to avoid triggering rivals. Suspect.
Doing so will inevitably increase a large amount of private salt inventory, thereby reducing the operating profits of Huizhou salt merchants, but this seems to be the only feasible solution at present. As long as we can defeat our competitors as soon as possible, sooner or later these inventories will turn into money and return to our pockets.
Just how to quickly defeat Yangzhou's opponents, it seems that Yang Yun did not give a specific plan, but only expressed his attitude of supporting Huizhou salt merchants.
This is what Ma Zhengping is most worried about. If it is just commercial support, then at most the purchase price can be brought to a relatively low level, which is far from enough to defeat competitors. As for Yang Yun's verbally described ruthless methods, there is no clear condition under which circumstances he will take action.
Of course Ma Zhengping would like Haihan to directly send troops to Yangzhou to wipe out the Shanshan salt merchants, but this kind of behavior may trigger a war between the two countries, and I am afraid Haihan will not do it easily just to win over him. Moreover, such a major matter as the use of force is probably not something that civil servants like Yang Yun who are in charge of trade can have the final say.
Although Ma Zhengping didn't know much about Haihan's bureaucracy and power system, he at least knew that General Shi, who led the troops in Zhoushan, had the final say. If Haihan wanted to use troops in the Ming Dynasty, it would definitely have to be this general. Just nod. But Ma Zhengping had only met General Shi at the military parade when he came to Zhoushan last time. There was no friendship at all. There was no suitable channel to express his interests to the other party at the moment.
Ma Zhengping felt that he should find a way to find the military attaché of Haihan. Even if he couldn't meet Shi Diwen himself, he should at least find an officer with real power to find out whether the Haikou that Yang Yun boasted was really feasible or just talk. That’s all. Otherwise, if he bites the bullet and becomes Haihan's distributor, and Haihan is unable to help if something goes wrong in Yangzhou, he will be in big trouble.
Ma Zhengping called his subordinates who had stayed in Zhoushan into the room and asked them if they had met senior military officials during this period. However, his subordinates did not have the communication skills he expected and failed to establish military connections during this period.
Ma Zhengping thought about it for a long time and remembered that the last time he came to Zhoushan, he met a Zhejiang businessman named Xuan Xiangming on the military parade viewing platform. Go and visit.
This is probably Ma Zhengping's only connection in Zhoushan Island besides Yang Yun. Although the textile business that Xuan Xiangming is engaged in is not directly related to his salt business, he remembers that Xuan Xiangming is a very talkative person, and maybe he can Obtain some useful information from him, and maybe get to know other Haihan officials through him.
Anyway, there was nothing going on on Zhoushan Island, so Ma Zhengping decided to give it a try. Early the next morning, he sent his men out to find out about Xuan Xiangming. It didn't take long for him to hear back, and he found out that Xuan Xiangming had opened a business on the island. of satin row.
Ma Zhengping didn't waste any time and immediately took the initiative to visit the other party's shop. Xuan Xiangming also remembered this Yangzhou salt merchant, whom he had met once, and received him happily.
After the two sat down and exchanged pleasantries, Ma Zhengping took the initiative to bring the topic down to business: "Boss Xuan, I came to visit you rashly today. Actually, I have something to ask, and I hope that Boss Xuan will not hesitate to enlighten me."
Xuan Xiangming responded: "Boss Ma is very polite. I wonder if there is anything Xuan can do to help Boss Ma?"
Ma Zhengping said: "I heard that the Haihan Army sent troops to Japan not long ago. Is this true?"
Xuan Xiangming nodded and said: "General Shi personally led the East China Sea Fleet to expedition to Hirado, Japan. This is indeed true. And I heard that this time the troops were not only sent to Zhoushan, but Haihan's garrison in the north also sent a large number of troops. I think. The Hirado Port was only a small area, so it could not withstand the attack of the Kaihan army. Therefore, the Kaihan army won a complete victory and captured thousands of local people. After this battle, Hirado Port was razed to the ground. There is no more Hirado Port in the world!”
In fact, what Xuan Xiangming said was almost the same as what Ma Zhengping heard from his subordinates yesterday, but he still pretended to be very interested and continued to ask: "Why did the Haihan Army do such a cruel thing to Hirado Port?" Why? ”
Xuan Xiangming said: "This is a long story. It is said that Haihan's former enemies in the south fled to Hirado to hide after their defeat, and they also received protection from the local government. After regaining power, they secretly gave Haihan It caused a lot of trouble and probably made the Haihan people anxious, so they simply sent out troops to destroy Hirado directly, which can be regarded as eradicating the root of the problem!"
Ma Zhengping only knew that the muskets purchased by the Shanshan Salt Merchant were related to the Japanese, but he did not expect that there was such a deep connection with Haihan. In this case, Haihan had previously sent people to Yangzhou to suppress the Shanshan Salt Merchant. The Musketeers were not only motivated by conflicts of interest in the salt industry, they were probably directed at the Japanese forces behind the Shanshan salt merchants.
Ma Zhengping asked some more questions, and Xuan Xiangming became excited and told him some of the battle experiences he knew. Although these battle conditions are not considered military secrets, not many people in the market know about them. At least Ma Zhengping's men have not been able to find out this information.
(End of chapter)