Chapter 2377
One of the necessary means to implement military control is to tighten the supply channels of daily necessities to prevent people from hoarding goods during wartime and disrupting social order with scarce necessities. Of course, doing so will affect the interests of some merchants, but right now there is no time to communicate with these merchants one by one. Under the control of relevant measures, even the Ma family's industry is not immune, and it also has to seal up its inventory and close its doors. Go out of business.
In order to avoid triggering widespread panic among the people, Liu Shang's old bank came in handy at this time. By posting notices and making public publicity, he asked publicity officers to explain to the local people the recent implementation of the measures in Fushan County. The reasons for military control, as well as the various safeguards Haihan will provide to the people, are to appease the people.
In fact, it is no secret that the Qing army invaded Shandong. The powerful people who fled to Fushan County to escape the war in the past few days have brought the news to the local area, so the people are not too concerned about the news announced by the Haihan government. Surprised, I just didn't expect that the war in Jinan Mansion would affect me so quickly.
As for the local county government, there is not much sense of existence now. Local government orders are formulated and implemented by Haihan, and even legal provisions are gradually being changed from Ming law to Haihan law. In such a general environment, people actually don't care too much about the county government's attitude towards the current situation.
The county magistrate Zhang Pucheng seldom appears in public anymore, because there are not many official affairs in Fushan County that require him to handle. Even when people in the county file lawsuits, most of them now go to the Haihan Court in Majiazhuang to file petitions. Not many people will come to this unattended county government office to take care of business.
However, Zhang Pucheng did not feel particularly disappointed. Although Haihan had actually occupied most of Fushan County, continuing to be a local official here meant that there was no hope of promotion in the official career, but he could still give it a try to get rich. Now he not only receives the salary from the court, but also collects the "office expenses" paid by Haihan on a monthly basis. The benefits provided by the latter are even much greater than the salary.
In addition, through the arrangement of the Haihan people, Zhang Pucheng used money to buy a group of pack horses and handed them over to the Ma family's carriage and horse racing company for management. In addition, he was also one of the shareholders of the shipping company under the Ma family's name. The gray income that such a secretly involved transaction can bring to him far exceeds the two salaries he receives openly. Even if he resigns and retires in the future, these investments will continue to bring him long-term returns.
Of course, these benefits are not free. After Zhang Pucheng received the money, he had to comply with Haihan's wishes and try his best to cooperate with Haihan's various arrangements to reduce the influence of the Ming government in the local area. To put it simply, you don't do anything, don't care about anything, just enjoy the happiness in the name of the county magistrate.
Fushan County Council has evolved all the way to the current situation. Of course, he is not the only one who has taken advantage of Haihan. Boss Huang Qu and head catcher Han Qin have also become Haihan's tools like him.
The three of them now live the same leisurely life. After reporting to the county office every day, they sit together drinking tea and chatting. At the end of the month, I look at the accounts sent by the Haihan people and collect the monthly dividends. These days are completely different from those before the Haihan people came.
However, with Chen Yixin's sudden return to Fushan County, the local situation changed greatly in just a few days. Haihan soldiers who had not been seen for a long time appeared all over Fushan County, whether in the county seat, Majiazhuang or Zhifu Port has entered a state of military control that has not been seen for a long time. Even these nominal parent officials can no longer leave the county at will based on their status.
"Haihan people have ordered martial law in the entire county. Is this really to receive refugees, or...is there another agenda?"
Zhang Pucheng placed the written notice he had just received on his desk and motioned Huang Qu and Han Qin to take a look at what was written on it.
Huang Qu said: "You mean that the Haihan people might take advantage of this opportunity to fish in troubled waters and make a bigger splash in Dengzhou?"
Zhang Pucheng said: "It's been the fifth year since the Haihan people came to Fushan County. With their way of doing things, how can they be willing to control only this county? In my opinion, they just don't want to go to war with the Ming Dynasty, otherwise they would have been It’s time to expand the territory! At present, the garrisons from all over Shandong are being transferred to fight the Qing army. The Haihan people can find any excuse to transfer the army. Who else in Dengzhou Prefecture can stop them? "
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Zhang Pucheng's words are indeed reasonable. After Haihan came to Fushan County, he did not deliberately hide his ambitions. He built roads and ports, started mining and immigrated, and ran the place as his own territory. He did not let the Dengzhou government go. in the eyes. Moreover, in Jinzhou across the Bohai Sea, the Haihan people also occupied it as soon as they said it. However, they have not taken action in Dengzhou in the past few years. It seems that the only reason that makes sense is that they do not want to go to war with the Ming Dynasty.
But not starting a war does not mean that Haihan has no interest in Dengzhou. Zhang Pucheng has dealt with the Haihan people for several years and naturally knows that they are not good men and women. They have extremely strong desires for land and population. Once the Haihan people find a suitable opportunity, They certainly won't be polite.
While talking, Han Qin had already read the notice sent by Haihan, and then Zhang Pucheng said: "Two adults, if Haihan plans to occupy Dengzhou, then our job may really come to an end!"< br>
Huang Qu frowned and said, "How can I say this?"
Han Qin said: "Master Huang, why did the Haihan people occupy Fushan County and let us stay in the county and continue to work as errands? They just kept us to calm the people's hearts. But if they take over the entire Dengzhou, then Fushan County will still belong to them." Is it important? What’s the point of keeping you and me?”
"What Han Captou said is not unreasonable." Zhang Pucheng also agreed with Han Qin's view: "In fact, we should all know that it is only a matter of time that we lose our official position and resign. The best thing to do now is to make plans for the future as early as possible. Things.”
Huang Qu said: "Could we also follow the example of the people who were naturalized as Haihan and leave Dengzhou to settle in Haihan Kingdom?"
Zhang Pucheng said: "Why not? I heard that the Haihan Kingdom has a lot of territory in the South China Sea, and it is vast and sparsely populated. As long as you have a little property, you can become a big landowner when you go there, and you will have no worries about food and clothing from now on. Although we are now I live a leisurely life, but I still feel worried if there is any disturbance. Wouldn’t it be nice to just settle down in Haihan and become a rich man who doesn’t care about the world? ”
Huang Qu smiled and said: "From what Mr. Zhang said, he must have been planning this way out for a long time!"
Zhang Pucheng said sternly: "A great chaos is imminent, so there is nothing wrong with finding a way out for yourself early!"
Huang Qu said: "However, the status of the war in Jinan Prefecture is unclear at this time. Haihan issued this notice saying that the whole of Shandong is about to usher in an unprecedented chaos. This is a bit sensational and deliberately creates a tense atmosphere!"
"It's hard to say." Han Qin shook his head and said, "I have a distant relative from Jinan Prefecture who just brought his family to Fushan County a few days ago. Now he has rented a yard outside the county to live. According to him, this time There were tens of thousands of Qing troops who invaded Shandong, and it seemed that they wanted to capture several big cities before leaving. The imperial court deployed two lines of defense in Dezhou and along the Yellow River, but they could not stop the Qing troops. It is said that most of them were in Jinan. It can't be defended anymore." Zhang Pucheng added: "If Jinan Mansion is lost, it will be a big mess!"
If the city of Jinan cannot be defended if it is as strong as Jinan, can other cities in Shandong block the Qing army's offensive? The answer is obviously no. And these foreign dignitaries who have recently poured into Fushan County are definitely not fools. The information they have already indicates that the Ming Dynasty is unable to save the war in Shandong, so these people will rush to such a far place to avoid the war.
If Jinan City and other big cities were to fall one after another, then the situation predicted by Haihan would most likely happen in Shandong. By then, even Fushan County under the protection of Haihan may not be a safe place. Even if the Qing army does not come to kill them, the large influx of refugees and rebels may turn this place into a hell on earth.
The three people here have personally experienced the Denglai Rebellion that year, and naturally know how terrible refugees and rebels are. Even Huang Qu, who had been questioning Haihan's approach, turned very ugly at this time, as if he was thinking of some scenes he had seen back then.
If the situation of the Denglai Rebellion reappears, they would definitely rather be overseas than go through this muddy water again.
Zhang Pucheng continued: "The Haihan people are reluctant to part with local industries, so they will definitely mobilize troops to protect Fushan County. Chen Yixin hurried back to take charge of the overall situation, which should be for this purpose."
Although they usually do not leave the county, the measures taken by Chen Yixin after returning to Fushan County and the speeches he made in public have reached their ears through various channels. Now that I think about this information carefully, it turns out that it is exactly what Zhang Pucheng said.
Huang Qu said solemnly: "Even if the Haihan people can't protect the entire Fushan County, if they retreat to Zhifu Island when the situation is bad, they won't be able to attack it even if they have thousands of troops. But we can't leave if we stay in the county. Once chaos breaks out, we can’t do anything about it!”
Zhang Pucheng chuckled and said: "With Mr. Huang guarding the county seat, there should be no worries about safety."
Huang Qu snorted when he heard this, but did not answer the question.
The few armed personnel in Fushan County had been mobilized to Dengzhou a few days ago. As the commander-in-chief, Huang Qu was supposed to lead the team, but Huang Qu said he was ill at home and declined the task. As for why Huang Qu refused to leave, Zhang Pucheng believed that it was because Huang Qu already knew that the situation on the front line was not good and did not want to put himself in danger.
It's normal for Huang Qu to make such a choice. They all have a lot of money now, and they no longer need to fight for fame. It is smart to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. However, the reason why Zhang Pucheng looked down on Huang Qu a little was that while he was taking the benefits given by Haihan, he questioned that Haihan's actions would mess up the situation in Shandong, and at the same time he was evading his responsibilities as a Ming official. So when it comes to this juncture, Zhang Pucheng poked Huang Qu's weakness lightly.
Han Qin's status in the Yamen was one level lower than that of both of them. At this time, he could only come out to smooth things over: "Two adults, since this county is no longer safe, why don't we take the initiative to contact the Haihan people and temporarily We can move to Zhifu Island and wait until we have passed this point to decide whether to stay in the county and continue to run the county government, or to immigrate to Haihan Country to become a rich man. We can discuss it later!"
Han Qin had actually understood what Zhang and Huang meant a long time ago, and he didn't have much resistance to joining Haihan. After all, he was just a worthless head catcher. The worst he could do was give up his iron job. Just pat your butt and leave. However, Zhang and Huang are serious court officials, so they naturally have to be more scrupulous about what they say and do. Such "treasonous and unethical" remarks can only be made clear by him.
Zhang Pucheng was still pretending to consider: "Would it be inappropriate if we did this? Besides, it would not be easy to discuss with the Haihan people, and it might even cause them to misunderstand..."
Seeing this, Han Qin could only take the whole blame: "Sir, don't worry about this matter, leave it to me. It just so happens that the eldest young master of the Ma family still owes me a favor, so I can ask him to go to Haihan people on his behalf." Make a request.”
Now that the road has been paved, Zhang Pucheng and Huang Qu naturally no longer shirk, so they let Han Qin take over the matter.
However, Han Qin was not such an easy character to get along with. He immediately said: "Now that the whole county is under martial law, we can't leave the county, so we can only entrust this matter to the eldest son of the Ma family in a letter. I am not good at writing, so I can only Could you please ask Mr. Zhang to write the explanation? ”
Of course, Zhang Pucheng would not dare to leave it to his master's staff to handle such a big matter if he really had to rely on letters. However, he knew that Han Qin had many contacts and there must be other ways to send the message out of the city. This was just a deliberate attempt to drag himself into trouble.
Zhang Pucheng refused to do anything and immediately responded: "Okay, then I will draft the letter and ask Mr. Huang to sign it as well, so that the people of Haihan will not believe it."
Huang Qu didn't respond. After thinking about it silently for a while, he nodded heavily to express his approval of the plan. The chaos is approaching, and at this time, there is no other thing to care about. It is more important to try to save one's life and family property. Looking at the entire Fushan County, the safest place is Zhifu Island where Haihan is stationed. As long as you go there, you no longer have to worry about the threat of refugee insurgents.
At that moment, Zhang Pucheng wrote a letter briefly explaining the three people's plans. Of course, he did not directly state in the letter that he would move to Zhifu Island for a temporary stay. Instead, he tactfully stated that he hoped to send his family and belongings to the island and accept the protection of the Haihan Army. He believed that with the Haihan people's ability to deal with things, they would naturally be able to understand what their true intentions were.
After reading the content, Huang Qu and Han Qin also expressed their approval of Zhang Pucheng's approach, and immediately signed and stamped the letter together to show that the three of them were united.
(End of chapter)