Chapter 2434
"Mr. He, do you think that I acted too hastily?"
In a moving carriage in Ningbo City, an old man over fifty years old said to the scribe kneeling next to him: "It is a rare opportunity to meet with high-ranking officials from Haihan this time. General Shi also said in his letter, If you miss it, you may not be able to wait until next time! After much thought, I still have to go to Zhoushan to feel at ease.”
The scribe responded: "Your Excellency has assessed the situation and made such a decision. There is no problem. I am just worried about my humble position. If the whereabouts of Your Excellency are discovered by interested people, rumors will be spread that are detrimental to Your Excellency."
The old man was waiting for a reply when the car trembled slightly and stopped. A follower's voice came from outside the car: "Master, we have arrived at the city gate!"
The old man waved his hand to the scribe and said: "You go and deal with the external matters first."
The scribe nodded slightly, lifted the curtain and got out of the car. It was getting late at this time and the city gate had been closed. Ordinary people would certainly not be able to get out at this time. However, after the scribe whispered to the captain guarding the gate, the captain ordered the soldiers to reopen the city gate and let the group of people out of the city quietly.
After leaving the city, the group walked north for about two or three miles and arrived at a pier on the bank of the Yongjiang River. There were already people here waiting with lanterns. When they saw a carriage arriving in the distance, they waved their lanterns to point the way.
After a while, the carriage stopped. After getting off the carriage, the old man and the scribe got off the gangplank and boarded a large ship docked here. The attendants quickly loaded their luggage onto the ship. Not long after, the sailors on the ship removed the gangplank, unmoored the sails, and slowly sailed away from the dock. The boat went downstream along the Yongjiang River and soon disappeared into the night.
"Where is the ship?"
Early the next morning, when the sky was dim, the old man woke up and asked about his current location. A personal attendant told him that he was passing Jintang Island off the coast of Ningbo.
The old man silently calculated the itinerary in his mind. From the place where he boarded the boat yesterday to the mouth of the Yongjiang River, there is about thirty miles of waterway. He can only travel by moonlight in the sky at night, and the speed cannot be too fast. It is not bad to get to the vicinity of Jintang Island after dawn. . When we arrived at Jintang Island, we were almost halfway through the journey. We could reach our destination at noon at most, which was basically the same time as we calculated.
"Go down and make the boat go as fast as possible, and try to get to Zhoushan before noon!" The old man obviously didn't want to waste too much time on the road, so he immediately ordered the boat to speed up.
Later, the scribe came to the old man's cabin and asked him: "Your Excellency just ordered the ship to speed up? It will inevitably be a little bumpy."
The old man's attitude was very firm: "It's okay to be bumpy, but things will change if you're late. We'd better try to arrive as early as possible."
The old man who was rushing to Zhoushan Island was Qu Yutong, the magistrate of Ningbo, and the scribe serving him beside him was his most trusted aide, He Xiao. These two people have a deep relationship with Haihan. Qu Yutong is even married to Shi Diwen, who guards Zhoushan. This is not the first time that they have gone to Zhoushan Island in private.
However, the situation of going to Zhoushan this time was somewhat special. Qu Yutong was rushing to meet with the big figures from Haihan who had recently arrived in Zhoushan to discuss cooperation matters between the two parties in the Ningbo area. The reason why he had to leave the city overnight to rush to Zhoushan was, on the one hand, to hide his whereabouts and avoid being noticed by the outside world. On the other hand, he also wanted to show that he attached great importance to this meeting and win Haihan's support in the meeting with a sincere attitude.
If it was a normal matter, Qu Yutong only needed to make an idea behind closed doors with Shi Diwen. However, after all, Shi Diwen was just a general stationed overseas by Haihan. After all, there were some things that he did not have the authority to decide, and this It was rare that a big figure from the Haihan Executive Committee passed by Zhoushan, and Shi Diwen hoped that Qu Yutong could come forward to negotiate so that the Executive Committee could agree with some of their plans for the Ningbo area.
This matter was related to Qu Yutong's future future. He did not dare to neglect it, so he waited for Shi Diwen's notice in Ningbo City. Yesterday, someone sent a letter to Qu Yutong's house, saying that the big shot had arrived and asking him to rush to Zhoushan Island to meet him as soon as possible. Qu Yutong knew that the Haihan people should have used a telegraph to send a message to Ningbo City. After calculating the approximate time required for the journey, he replied that the messenger would arrive in Zhoushan at noon the next day and asked him to inform Shi Diwen in advance.
The news sent by Shi Diwen did not say that he could only go to Zhoushan alone, so Qu Yutong still brought his trusted staff member He Xiao with him, so that if he encountered any problems, he would have someone around him who could give advice.
Although the second half of the trip was a bit bumpy, we arrived at Zhoushan Dinghai Port relatively smoothly. Although Shi Diwen did not greet him personally, he arranged for his cronies Duan Tiancheng to bring a carriage to wait for Qu Yutong's arrival at the dock.
"Sir Qu, there are distinguished guests visiting General Shi's residence, so I cannot come here to pick you up in person. I hope you will forgive me." Duan Tiancheng was very aware of the personal relationship between Qu Yutong and Shi Diwen, so his attitude was very polite.
"It's okay, Major Duan will lead the way." Qu Yutong was not surprised by this. Since the important person visiting Zhoushan this time has a higher status than Shi Diwen, it makes sense for Shi Diwen to accompany him throughout the whole process. Just as the imperial court sent an imperial envoy to Ningbo for inspection, he would definitely follow him every step of the way. If Shi Diwen really came to the dock, then he would doubt whether the big shots coming to Zhoushan were as important as Shi Diwen claimed. Later in Shi Diwen's mansion, Qu Yutong finally met the nobleman who Shi Diwen had asked him to come to Zhoushan to meet.
"I have admired Mr. Tao's reputation for a long time. When I saw him today, he was indeed very majestic and impressive!" After listening to Shi Diwen's introduction, Qu Yutong immediately took the initiative to express his goodwill to Tao Donglai.
Qu Yutong certainly knew something about Tao Donglai's identity. He knew that this person's status in Haihan was extremely respected. Although the country of Haihan did not have a king and the executive committee was the highest authority, he was also a leader in the executive committee. From a certain perspective, He is almost equivalent to the uncrowned king of Haihan Kingdom.
But it is said that this person rarely leaves Sanya, the capital of Haihan. This time he actually appeared on Zhoushan Island. It is conceivable that he has an extremely important matter. Qu Yutong was able to get the opportunity to be interviewed. This was naturally because of Shi Diwen's influence. Light. Tao Donglai said a few polite words and then took the initiative to bring the conversation to the main topic: "Originally, I was in a hurry when I passed through Zhoushan, so I didn't arrange to meet with local officials, but General Shi suggested that I meet Mr. Qu to have a chat. I know Lord Qu has a relationship with General Shi, so he is not an outsider when it comes to talking about it. Lord Qu can speak openly about anything he has to say.”
Qu Yutong looked at Shi Diwen, and when he saw that his face was as usual, he responded: "Master Tao, I am the prefect of Ningbo. I have always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic. Everything I do is based on my duty, and I have no selfish motives."
It has been more than a year or two since Qu Yutong and Shi Diwen got together. Tao Donglai also knew a little bit about it, so naturally he didn't believe what the other party said, but on the surface he still had to give a few compliments to show that he loved him. There is no doubt about the quality.
Then I heard Qu Yutong continue: "In recent years, Ningbo Prefecture has relied on Dinghai Port, a geomantic treasure land, to operate a prosperous shipping business, the market is prosperous, and the lives of local people are better than before. But although the local development Yes, but it also made other state governments jealous, and they quietly reported to them that I was colluding with you at home and abroad for personal gain, and wanted to subjugate me so that I could take away my position as governor. It is difficult for people to defend themselves. Now they can only turn to your country to see if they can manage to preserve this hard-won situation. ”
When Tao Donglai heard this, he always felt that Qu Yutong's words were familiar. Then he thought about it. The coalition fleet passed by Zhoushan on its way north to North Korea the year before last. In order to get in touch with the troops and build momentum for Qu Yutong, who was in crisis at the time, he left Zhoushan. Shi Shunlu arranged a military exercise in Hangzhou Bay. He had discussed this matter with Shi Diwen before, and Shi Diwen had vaguely said that the effect of that military exercise had slowly faded, and it turned out that it was Qu Yutong.
Ningbo is adjacent to Zhoushan, and a considerable part of the goods traded at Dinghai Port are shipped from Ningbo. It is indeed Ningbo that benefits the most from the prosperity of Dinghai Port. As the prefect of Ningbo, Qu Yutong, even if he does not have to do anything, will A lot of oil and water flowed into his pocket. What's more, as long as a careful person pays a little attention, he will find that Qu Yutong's aide He Xiao's family runs many industries, which are obviously not the scale of wealth that a behind-the-scenes master can possess. It is not difficult to think that these are actually the prefect's industries, and their scale It is so big and valuable that it is not even much worse than those salt merchants in Yangzhou.
In the eyes of the outside world, Qu Yutong's greatest advantage was that he established a strong personal relationship through his marriage to the Haihan general who was based in Zhoushan, making the Haihan people willing to hand over many business resources to Qu Yutong. By relying on this, you can gain astonishing wealth in just a few years. It is impossible to say that no one is jealous, and naturally there will be people who want to replace it. As for marriage, if you, Qu Yutong, can send a pretty girl out, won't others do the same? Compared with doing business, this kind of link basically has no technical content.
Of course, it doesn't take only ambition to displace Qu Yutong. Qu Yutong is now rich and famous. He is supported by civil and military officials at all levels in Ningbo in front of the stage, and Shi Diwen from Zhoushan is behind the scenes. It is not that easy to find a reason to remove him from his post or transfer him to another place. . Someone in Hangzhou had this idea the year before last, but before they could succeed, the Haihan people held a shocking military exercise in Hangzhou Bay, and announced that only Qu Yutong would be recognized in Ningbo. This measure was taken forcefully. He persuaded the careerists who wanted to overthrow Qu Yutong at that time.
But now listening to Qu Yutong's words, it seems that this matter is not fully understood. Two years later, someone is eyeing his position as prefect again - or in other words, eyeing the huge economic benefits this position can bring. But this time Qu Yutong seemed unable to resist and had to turn to Haihan again.
There is no need to ask about Shi Diwen's position, he must be on Qu Yutong's side. Considering that Qu Yutong has contributed a lot to Zhoushan's smooth development in recent years, and has a considerable degree of tacit understanding in cooperation with Haihan, it is definitely a safer approach for Haihan to support him in continuing to serve.
While listening to Qu Yutong's explanation of the situation, Tao Donglai sorted out the stakes of the matter in his mind. After Qu Yutong finished speaking, he pondered for a while, and then asked: "Then the person who wants to harm you this time, with Were they the same people two years ago?”
Qu Yutong shook his head slightly and said: "Two years ago, the people who wanted to replace me were just people in the Zhejiang officialdom, but this time it is the big shots in the court who are behind it!"
"Oh? Someone in the court is also eyeing Ningbo? It seems that your business here is already well-known!" Tao Donglai was a little surprised when he heard the news, but he was not under any pressure and was in the same mood. Yu Tong made a few jokes.
Someone in the court would keep an eye on Qu Yutong's position. Of course, it is unlikely that they are jealous of his talents. After all, the prefect is only in the third rank, which is far behind the senior officials of the court. The only reasonable reason is that he is interested in the oil and water that Ningbo, a trading port, can bring, and plans to kick Qu Yutong out and keep the profits here for himself. If it is managed well, it is possible to steal 1.8 million taels of silver from Ningbo in a year.
Qu Yutong sighed: "Master Tao, don't be joking. If someone else really comes to take over Ningbo, I'm afraid Zhoushan's trade will also be affected. Don't be careless about this!"
Of course, Qu Yutong had nothing to do with Haihan. When he asked for help, he could only lower his profile, use reason and emotion, and try to make Tao Donglai realize his importance in this trading system. As Qu Yutong spoke, he also signaled Shi Diwen with his eyes, asking the other party to quickly say a few good words for him.
Shi Diwen coughed dryly and interjected: "Mr. Tao, at present, the import and export trade at Dinghai Port, especially the various commodities purchased in the Ming Dynasty, are mostly handled by commercial institutions under the name of Mr. Qu. Over the past few years, All aspects have been running smoothly, including payment settlement and other matters, which have also been implemented in accordance with domestic standards. If someone is replaced to take over the Ningbo Mansion, many matters will have to be dealt with again, which will delay a lot of time. Three to five months, or as long as a year and a half, there may be other unfavorable variables happening in the meantime. In my opinion, I think it is better to try my best to help Mr. Qu stay in Ningbo, so as to ensure the trade between our country and the Ming Dynasty. Continue to develop smoothly.”
Tao Donglai actually had a conclusion in his mind, but he still had to ask clearly first: "What are your plans now?"
Shi Diwen said: "The plan is to use the military exercise I mentioned to you before. Using this method to knock down the mountain and shake the tiger will show our country's attitude."
Tao Donglai said: "Are you sure that this method can suppress the big shots in the court? Also, having said all that, who is the big shot eyeing Master Qu's position? Can you give me a name directly?"< br>
Qu Yutong and Shi Diwen exchanged glances, and then confessed to Tao Donglai: "The person behind the scenes is the current Minister of the Ministry of War, Master of Dongge, Master Yang Sichang."
(End of chapter)