Chapter 2402
How to achieve actual control of a certain area without going to war with the Ming Dynasty? Haihan has made various attempts over the years and has relatively rich practical experience in this. But in fact, as Chen Yixin said, it is not possible to gradually control the area through the penetration of trade activities, or even completely ignore the local government. All overt or covert means must be based on Haihan's strong military strength. Otherwise, no matter how good he is at management, Haihan will be nothing more than a fat sheep in the eyes of the government.
Haihan's success in Fushan County was first of all due to the existence of the Zhifu Island military base. It was after the establishment of this stronghold that Haihan was able to launch trading activities in Shandong. If Haihan now tries to expand the control area to the entire Dengzhou or even a larger area, it may be difficult to successfully achieve the goal by relying solely on trade activities.
However, in external propaganda, Haihan will never mention his use of military means to control these areas. Although Ma Dongqiang is Chen Yixin's father-in-law, when talking about these sensitive topics, Chen Yixin is still extremely cautious in his words, so as not to let others take advantage of him when his father-in-law conveys his intentions to others in the future.
Ma Dongqiang was not dazzled by this appointment. He knew very well why he was able to gain Chen Yixin's trust. This trust did not come from his outstanding abilities, but from the interest relationship between the two parties after the marriage. The father depends on the daughter. Received strong support from Haihan and enjoyed various special benefits. And the position of the person in charge of the Shanhai Society is of course another example of this kind of special treatment.
With Ma Dongqiang's ability, if he only focused on his own business, he could continue to expand his business scale with the support of Haihan, allowing the Ma family to gradually grow into one of the leading private businessmen in Shandong. But it is indeed a bit difficult for him to manage a chamber of commerce and deal with various local figures in Shandong to establish contacts.
If Chen Yixin insists on handing over this job to him, then if there is any business problem in the future, or the operation of Shanhaihui is not satisfactory, the responsibility will be placed on Ma Dongqiang.
"Son-in-law, do you want to reconsider this arrangement? You have not been in Shandong for a long time. If there is an emergency in the mountains and seas, it would be inconvenient for me to find someone to ask for instructions." Ma Dongqiang thought about it again and again, and expressed it tactfully. own worries.
Chen Yixin was very calm: "Father-in-law, don't worry. Minister Hao will take care of the affairs of Shanhaihui. If there are any difficult matters, he will handle them on your behalf."
Although Chen Yixin never made it clear who Hao Wanqing was, Ma Dongqiang had a rough idea over time. He knew that many of the things this man did were hidden from the light, but his authority was also quite large, and even Chen Yixin had to give in to him. point. It seems that the Shanhaihui is actually a cover for Hao Wanqing's convenience. Although Ma Dongqiang is the nominal president, when it comes to major events, the person who makes the decision may be Hao Wanqing behind the scenes.
But that's fine. With Hao Wanqing behind the scenes, Ma Dongqiang no longer has to worry about being unable to manage this business organization. If you shouldn't take matters into your own hands, just pretend you don't know. However, Chen Yixin has admitted that he will gradually launch actions against Dengzhou like he controlled Fushan County. The role of Shanhaihui is definitely more than just a chamber of commerce.
In Chen Yixin's plan, the formation of the Shanhaihui was an important piece for Haihan to expand his influence in Shandong. It was also a necessary condition for Haihan to expand his actual control area beyond Fushan County.
At present, Dengzhou Prefecture governs Ninghai Prefecture, Penglai County, Huang County, Fushan County, Qixia County, Zhaoyuan County, Laiyang County and Wendeng County. However, in terms of wealth, Fushan County has surpassed other regions in just a few years. A lot. During the Shandong turmoil this time, the place least affected by the refugee influx in Dengzhou was Fushan County, which had the largest influx of refugees.
Prosperity, stability, and a great development situation. These obvious characteristics are naturally due to Haihan operating behind the scenes. The good operation of Fushan County provides an excellent model for other surrounding areas, and will also slowly dispel people's suspicion of Haihan. Although it will take much longer to exert influence on other regions in a peaceful way than using military means, Haihan's current investment in the north does not have enough troops to occupy an area that is too vast. method is more suitable.
Of course, for areas with special resources, the methods Haihan will take will be more direct. For example, in the Zhaoyuan area where new mineral veins have been found, the local gold deposits are worthy of Haihan's use of some unconventional means. However, there are still a large number of refugees gathering in Zhaoyuan County. If you want to exploit local gold mines, you will have to wait until the local social order returns to normal.
Although Haihan's actions in Dengzhou could not be hidden from Daming's eyes and ears, at present, Daming could no longer care about such trivial matters with Haihan. The Qing army's invasion spanned more than 2,000 miles between the capital and Shandong areas, and more than 60 towns and cities were captured. Hundreds of thousands of people and countless materials and money were taken captive, causing great damage to the warring areas. . However, in the half-year-long battle, the Ming army failed to achieve a decent victory, but lost tens of thousands of troops.
Although this war ended with the Qing army voluntarily retreating, the situation in the Ming Dynasty did not improve because of the enemy's retreat. Many places in Gyeonggi and Shandong became no man's land, and social production was completely stagnant, and the damaged National strength cannot be quickly restored in a short period of time.
And the number of people who left their homes and became refugees because of this war was even greater than those taken away by the Qing army. Due to lack of food and clothing during the winter escape, many people did not even survive until the end of the war. Even according to the most conservative estimates, the Ming Dynasty lost more than 400,000 people in this war.
In addition, due to the refugee influx, many places simply cannot afford the food supplies needed to relieve refugees, which has also led to the outbreak of various secondary disasters. In Dongchang Prefecture, Yanzhou Prefecture, Qingzhou Prefecture and other places around Jinan Prefecture alone, dozens of refugee riots of various sizes occurred, and there was even a farce in which thousands of refugees gathered to attack the county seat.
This may be caused by the peasant army forces from the Central Plains region secretly causing trouble, or perhaps the surviving rebels want to take advantage of the situation, but objectively, these areas have fallen into the second wave of chaos. The government has no way of judging who are real refugees and who are lurking rioters. Once they find something is wrong, they can only use rough methods to eliminate hidden dangers, but this often leads to more intense conflicts.
For such a big mess, the imperial court will definitely be held accountable afterwards, but the blame cannot be placed on the top decision-makers. The only way to do this is to blame local governments at all levels for their inability to resist the Qing Dynasty.
Originally, the person to take the blame should be Yang Sichang, the Minister of War who formulated the response strategy. However, Master Yang was not willing to take the blame himself, so he wrote a letter to the local government at all levels and the Ming army for five major crimes. The first is to defend the border and miss the opportunity, the second is to ruin the city, the third is to lose the vassal, the fourth is to lose the commander, and the fifth is to wait and see with troops. So after some clever attempts by him to shift blame, Chongzhen issued an order to deal with a large number of scapegoats.
These include Zheng Xizhao, the director of Ji Town, the lieutenant officer of the branch prison, Sun Maolin, the governor of Shuntian, Chen Zubao, the governor of Baoding, Zhang Qiping, the chief soldiers of Ji Town, Wu Guojun and Chen Guowei, the governor of Shandong, Ni Chong, and the chief soldiers of the assistance and suppression forces, Zu Kuan and Li A total of thirty-six officials were sentenced to death in the important town, as well as from the deputy generals down to the prefectures and counties, including Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong who wanted to set up a defense line in Dezhou to stop the Qing army. As for the number of officials who were demoted and reduced, the number was several times that, which can be described as a huge shock in the officialdom.
The only good thing is that Lu Xiangsheng, the Minister of War, who was unfortunately killed in this war in history, survived by luck. This objectively benefited from some of the weapons and equipment Haihan had provided to him earlier. Twenty of the artillery pieces helped Lu Xiangsheng defend Jiazhuang at the last moment and repelled the siege of the Qing army. It's just that there is Yang Sichang above him, so he will inevitably be accused of underestimating enemies and fearing war. If he hadn't had hundreds of Qing soldiers' heads to pay for his crime, then his position as Minister of War would probably have been demoted. .
So many officials were dealt with, but the real decision-makers in the court remained unscathed. This was equivalent to telling the world that it was local civil and military officials at all levels who lost the war, not the Ming Dynasty under the Zhu family.
The dozens of high-level official positions that were freed up in this breath naturally attracted the covetousness of many people. The intrigues and exchanges of interests surrounding these official positions prevented the entire court from paying attention to those who could have influenced the situation. On Haihan.
No one dared to mention in court why the Ming Dynasty did not ask Haihan for support in time when the Qing army invaded. If Haihan could send troops to fight in the Ming Dynasty like he did to rescue Korea, then relying on the deep defense belt in the Gyeonggi region might not be impossible. Block the Qing army in the mountainous area north of the capital.
If we pursue this matter, it will be a slap in Chongzhen's face, because it was Emperor Chongzhen who originally vetoed the request for foreign aid. But in fact, in the half-year-long battle, the Ming army fought one of the few decent battles, and almost all participating troops used weapons produced by Haihan to a greater or lesser extent.
In particular, Lu Xiangsheng's troops, who were lucky enough to escape the siege of the Qing army in Julujiazhuang, were equipped with 20 Haihan artillery pieces and 400 muskets produced by Haihan, and they performed very well in the battle with the Qing army. The Qing army, which had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength, finally had to give up the siege of Jiazhuang.
Although such achievements were not publicly commended by the court after the war, how could those who experienced it like Lu Xiangsheng not know the secret of repelling the Qing army? Therefore, after the Qing army retreated, he also wrote to the court, suggesting that the Ministry of War contact Haihan, purchase Haihan weapons in large quantities, and hire Haihan officers to train the Ming army to practice more advanced firearms tactics.
However, Yang Sichang, Minister of War, clearly opposed Lu Xiangsheng's proposal. His reason was that although Haihan was a nominal military ally, he now openly occupied many territories of the Ming Dynasty and had no intention of returning control of these areas to the Ming Dynasty. . In addition, Haihan also had ulterior motives to coerce traditional Ming vassal states such as Annan and Korea. To separate these small countries from the Ming vassal system would really undermine the authority of the Kingdom of Heaven.
As for the Haihan weapons that Lu Xiangsheng has been strongly recommending, Yang Sichang also claimed that it is completely possible for the Ordnance Bureau, Staff Bureau, Gunpowder Bureau and other departments of the Ministry of Industry to imitate Haihan guns without having to pay back under the tight military budget. Lu Xiangsheng spent a huge amount of money to purchase Haihan weapons, and Lu Xiangsheng insisted on purchasing the weapons produced by Haihan, probably because he wanted to reap benefits from them.
When Chongzhen thought about it, it seemed that this was indeed the case. Now that the national treasury was empty, if he wanted to buy expensive Haihan weapons, he would probably have to impose additional taxes on the private sector. But since these weapons can be imitated, why should I buy them at high prices? As for whether Lu Xiangsheng's suggestion came from the bottom of his heart or for personal gain, Chongzhen didn't bother to ponder the truth. He just hoped that the Ming Dynasty's border defense troops could be equipped with better weapons as soon as possible to block the evil neighbors in the north from the border. Only then can we have time to recuperate and restore our national strength.
Both Chongzhen and Yang Sichang were ignorant of military technology, and they had never been to the battlefield in person to see the combat power of Haihan weapons. Everything they knew came from various written and oral reports. It would be damning if they could make accurate judgments. . What's more, Yang Sichang was very selfish and wanted to suppress Lu Xiangsheng to prevent him from displacing his position after he gained military exploits. How could he let the court use resources to improve the combat effectiveness of Lu Xiangsheng's troops?
Therefore, under such circumstances, Lu Xiangsheng's proposal failed to gain the attention of the court at all. On the contrary, Yang Sichang's plan to increase recruitment and training was approved by Chongzhen without much trouble.
Yang Sichang suggested that Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, Yansui, Ningxia, Gansu, Guyuan, Lintao, Liaodong, Jizhen, and the towns of Baoding, Jifu, Shandong, and Hebei should train elite troops separately from the general towns, governors, and general soldiers in the east and west. Respond immediately upon hearing the alarm. As for the required military expenditure, it can be obtained through increasing private taxes.
Therefore, where the Liao and Suppression rates were originally levied, now another training rate has to be added. For this purpose, the whole country has to collect an additional 7.3 million taels of silver from the people, and the several additional war taxes are counted together. , as high as 16.7 million taels. This has made countless families who were already very poor even worse. Especially in areas with frequent peasant army activities in the Central Plains, more people will be forced to join the rebel ranks because they cannot afford these wages.
Of course, these long-term disadvantages have not yet emerged, and only a very few knowledgeable people will realize the consequences of squeezing the people in this way. However, the view in the court was to stop the Qing army's annual invasion at all costs, and then gradually resolve internal conflicts, so no one could convince Chongzhen to prioritize the harm caused by these measures.
(End of chapter)