Chapter 2178
What attitude should be adopted towards the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty? Should we use simple and crude force to forcibly occupy and incorporate them into the Haihan ruling area? Or should we gradually implement political, military, cultural and other aspects of infiltration and assimilation through trade channels, and use gentle and gentle methods? The method of transforming it into a stable raw material origin and commodity sales market has always been a controversial route issue within Haihan. The latter view has been increasingly recognized by more and more people in recent years, even the military is no exception.
In the long run, conquering the Central Plains and establishing a huge empire based on the East Asian continent is of course a common goal that the travelers have long recognized. But after coming to this world, they soon discovered that mastering black technology that transcended the times was not the only way to quickly achieve their goals.
It may not be difficult to establish a political power, after all, it does not require the permission of other countries, but how to govern a country and make it develop and grow rapidly is not an easy task. Conquering the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty by military means is no longer the most difficult task at this stage, but the governance issues after the capture and the diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty are issues that the rulers have to consider in advance.
The Ming Dynasty had been founded for more than two hundred years and had a mature and large bureaucracy to manage and maintain the operation of the entire country. This was a condition that Haihan, which had only been founded for only a few years, could not match. The number of naturalized officials trained by Haihan's own bureaucracy in this era was far less than the pace of colonial expansion, and the disadvantages caused by this were also obvious.
Due to the long-term shortage of qualified officials, many officials have to make do with employment issues. This has led to the implementation of most policies formulated by the executive committee, with large or small deviations, and the effects will naturally be large. Discounted.
The only department that has made significant progress in this regard is the military. Most people in the military have to rely on the continuous accumulation of military exploits and the improvement of military quality to obtain promotion opportunities. Naturalized officers with higher military ranks generally have relatively strong abilities. As for retired military personnel, because they have strong discipline and execution ability, a considerable number of them will transfer to other departments to serve as grassroots officials.
Although the foreign attitude of the Haihan military is relatively hawkish, advocating the use of force to resolve various international disputes, and using war to win more overseas colonial areas for Haihan, the military's attitude towards the Ming Dynasty has been inconsistent in recent years. I am becoming more cautious, for no other reason than my own interests.
Most of the areas occupied by Haihan along the coast of the Ming Dynasty were under military control due to their special nature. For example, places like Zhoushan Island in Zhejiang, Zhifu Island in Shandong, Jinzhou in Liaodong, etc., all have military generals serving as the highest officials. According to the current system, a considerable part of the revenue generated by these colonial areas must be used as military expenses. As for the gray benefits of local garrison personnel, there is no need to say more.
Due to comprehensive political and economic considerations, the Executive Committee was unwilling to easily launch military operations against the Ming Dynasty for the purpose of occupation. After the Ming Dynasty suffered a lot of losses overtly and covertly, the officials along the coast had long received secret orders from the imperial court to let the Ming Dynasty They tried their best to avoid provoking Haihan and leave any excuse for the other party to use force.
Although there will be benefits from fighting, it is a one-time deal after all, and the benefits are not sustainable, and it will also cause various troubles in the future, which may lead to more losses than gains. In comparison, the military is naturally more willing to maintain the current situation and slowly penetrate the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty by boiling frogs in warm water.
The Zhoushan area under Shi Diwen's rule is now the free trade port with the largest trading volume on the eastern coast of the Ming Dynasty. For him, maintaining the stability of the surrounding areas is the most beneficial condition for the future development of the Zhoushan colonial area, so he is also One of the supporters of peaceful coexistence.
Ningbo Prefecture, adjacent to Zhoushan, is undoubtedly one of the areas on the eastern coast of the Ming Dynasty that was most thoroughly penetrated by Haihan. From the prefect Qu Yutong, to local civil and military officials at all levels, to ordinary civilians, men, women, old and young, almost every Everyone has a direct or indirect interest relationship with Haihan.
Duan Tiancheng is based in Zhoushan, so he has visited Ningbo frequently. He has a relatively deep understanding of the local area, otherwise it would not have been his turn to go to Ningbo to capture the leader of Shiba Zhi, Sun Feizhou. Of course Duan Tiancheng has personal experience of how much influence Haihan has on the Ningbo area.
From the perspective of personnel flow, there will be basically no obstacles for Haihan nationals to enter Ningbo Prefecture. Public officials will even enjoy certain privileges in Ningbo. For example, if they commit something locally and are caught by the government, if With this level of status, the person concerned will usually be handed over privately to the Zhoushan authorities for handling - of course the "handling fee" is definitely not a small amount.
It is not unusual for Haihan merchants to do business in Ningbo. There are many wealthy Haihan merchants who buy real estate in Ningbo for the convenience of importing and exporting goods. They even raised the housing prices in the city for a time.
Compared with Zhoushan Island, the living environment in Ningbo is undoubtedly more complete. Making money in Zhoushan and spending money in Ningbo have also been the most popular activities of the emerging powerful people on Zhoushan Island in the past two years, even Duan Tiancheng is no exception. In his opinion, the catering and entertainment industry in Ningbo city is undoubtedly more developed than on the island. It is really a pleasant arrangement to go to Ningbo city to enjoy a life of fun and debauchery during vacation.
The intensive flow of people and trade between the two places has an impact on Ningbo that goes far beyond just fluctuations in housing prices. From a certain point on, banknotes issued by Haihan Bank have slowly been circulating in the Ningbo market, and the exchange rate for silver is based on the number issued by Haihan Bank on Zhoushan Island.
At the beginning, Haihan's banknotes used the gold and silver in Haihan's treasury as collateral to determine the circulation. However, Schneider was not an honest person. After promoting the circulation of banknotes in Haihan for two years, it began to increase. The actual circulation of banknotes. Relying on the strong economic and military strength as a guarantee, these banknotes can be used as real gold and silver in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. Some stores that are good at business even put out signboards at the door to attract the wealthy customers from Haihan. The store welcomes Haihan banknotes.
Although the Ming Dynasty had already issued "treasure banknotes" with similar functions, due to the poor paper quality at that time, and the fact that they could only be issued but not received, and the quantity was unlimited, the market was flooded with banknotes, and inflation would occur soon after the issuance. , the speed of depreciation is even faster than the speed of circulation, so the purchasing power and financial credit are far less than that of Haihan banknotes, a currency with a relatively mature issuance system.
The circulation of banknotes not only means the penetration of the financial system, but also reflects that Haihan's lifestyle and values are slowly affecting these areas. In addition, Haihan has been consciously guiding and publicizing this, which gradually formed a consciousness among the upper class of society that using Haihan banknotes symbolizes nobility, civilization, and even a status symbol.
Slowly driven by various means, Haihan's influence extended from trade to finance, and from finance to other wider fields. Various industrial products produced by Haihan, such as glass mirrors, matches, soaps, etc., have also begun to become part of the "life of the upper class".
The resulting rumors that "you can learn all kinds of priceless production secrets by studying in Haihan" continue to attract people full of curiosity and dreams of getting rich to choose to enter Haihan through Zhoushan. Although Haihan's propaganda for recruiting immigrants claimed that "freedom of coming and going", in fact, in order to learn these skills, you must first naturalize Haihan. Therefore, many people did not return to Daming after coming, but became part of Haihan. elements.
Of course, the propaganda strategies designed by the Zhoushan authorities to attract immigrants are far more than this. For example, in order to attract scholars from the Ming Dynasty to immigrate to Haihan, they are all real guns and empty official positions are provided to those who want to enter the official career but cannot get in. A chance for poor scholars to realize their dreams. Although these scholars may not all be suitable to be trained as officials, after being screened by Haihan, at the very least, they can be arranged to be teachers in a government-run school in a township, and they can also have a guarantee of public status.
Although Duan Tiancheng did not completely understand the specific effects of the various measures Haihan implemented against the Ming Dynasty, he could indeed feel that the social environment in Ningbo was slowly changing, and the atmosphere was more and more different from that in the areas under Haihan's rule. It looks more and more like it.
Shi Diwen previously mentioned that he hoped that the Yangzhou salt merchants could completely join the Haihan camp. Duan Tiancheng did not quite understand how this would be achieved, but Shi Diwen mentioned the changes in Ningbo and the role of local dignitaries in it. Duan Tiancheng came to his senses and realized that his boss hoped to transform Yangzhou Prefecture according to the Ningbo model by conquering the Yangzhou salt merchants.
"General, I feel that Ma Zhengping is also an extremely shrewd person. If we want him to surrender to us wholeheartedly and obey our instructions, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the time being." Although Duan Tiancheng accepted Ma Zhengping's benefits, , but in front of Shi Diwen, he did not dare to speak biasedly to outsiders, but honestly explained his feelings.
Shi Diwen nodded and said: "These Yangzhou salt merchants are all from business families, and they are all as smart as ghosts. When dealing with us, they must have been thinking about the pros and cons in their hearts. It doesn't matter. If they like to calculate, let them calculate slowly. Anyway, the situation is one-sided now, and it is not us who are about to be ruined. They should know very well who will be unlucky in the end. "
Duan Tiancheng responded: "Do you want to reply to Ma Zhengping?"
"You can convey my thoughts to Ma Zhengping later, but you don't have to be too straightforward. We will not force him to make a decision on which path to choose."
Shi Diwen seemed to have a very open mind on this issue, but perhaps he was determined by the Yangzhou Salt Merchant and was not in a hurry to win this round of confrontation. Upon seeing this, Duan Tianzheng left his written report and said goodbye.
Duan Tiancheng did not rush back to the camp to rest, but went straight to the port area, found his cousin Xuan Xiangming, and asked him to make an appointment with Ma Zhengping on his behalf.
"Is this what Boss Ma asked you to do? Then he has to thank you properly!" Xuan Xiangming thought that Duan Tiancheng wanted to see Ma Zhengping because he wanted to give him a positive answer.
Duan Tiancheng shook his head and said: "His matter is too big to handle, so I want to explain the current situation to him. By the way, there is no need to eat for this meeting. Let's find a quiet place to talk. ”
Xuan Xiangming said: "Then do I still want to go?"
"No need." Duan Tiancheng hesitated for a moment and then made a decision: "It is more convenient for me to meet him alone."
That evening, Duan Tiancheng met Ma Zhengping again at Yuelai Inn.
"Master Duan wanted to find a quiet place to talk. After thinking about it, I found that this place is the quietest and there are no outsiders walking around. I asked them to wait outside for all the idle people waiting."
Ma Zhengping made an appointment to meet Duan Tiancheng at the inn where he was staying. When he checked in, he directly booked the largest and most luxurious courtyard here. Therefore, except for the guy who brought tea and water and cleaned the room every day, no other outsiders would come in or out. To say quiet is indeed quiet enough.
Although Duan Tiancheng had made it clear in advance that he would not eat, Ma Zhengping still ordered people to carefully prepare a rich variety of refreshments. Duan Tiancheng didn't say anything, but he still secretly admired this man for being really good at managing connections.
"Boss Ma, everyone is very busy, so I won't talk nonsense. Early this morning, I went to the headquarters and conveyed your message to General Shi."
Ma Zhengping quickly handed over his hands and thanked him: "Thank you, Mr. Duan, for your trouble! I wonder if General Shi is willing to do this?"
Ma Zhengping knew that if Duan Tiancheng was so active, the benefits he had given him should be enough. Otherwise, it would be possible to delay it for a few days and wait for him to take the initiative to send the second gift. Of course he knew that Shi Diwen needed to make a decision on the attitude of the Zhoushan authorities towards Yangzhou salt merchants, but the problem was that he could not reach this big shot. He could only build bridges and pave the way by getting to know senior officers like Duan Tiancheng. But he did not expect that the other party was very understanding and took the initiative. He conveyed his request to Shi Diwen.
Duan Tiancheng said: "Yesterday, I said that it is inconvenient for our country to use military force in the territory of Ming Dynasty, so as not to affect the normal relations between the two countries. Today I asked General Shi for instructions, and the general also meant the same. It is impossible for our country to directly send troops to Yangzhou to interfere with the salt merchants." ”
Ma Zhengping was immediately disappointed and said: "Master Duan, didn't you plead for me? If General Shi refuses to help, then how can anyone in Yangzhou cooperate with your country in the future?"
Duan Tiancheng said: "Don't worry, Boss Ma. There are no other ways to resolve this matter. In my opinion, it mainly depends on how sincere your cooperation is."
Ma Zhengping said anxiously: "I am very sincere, hasn't Mr. Duan felt it yet?"
Duan Tiancheng said: "Of course I feel it, otherwise I wouldn't prepare all night and go to General Shi early in the morning to negotiate for you. But for such a big matter, just because I feel Boss Ma's sincerity is not enough. Far away!”
(End of chapter)