1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1045 Agents

The high-end goods that Tom Wang brought out were not sold in the market, but a special edition specially used as social gifts. Only the upper-class people in various countries who are familiar with Hai Han can receive gifts.The price mentioned by Tom Wang is only for reference, but in fact, there is no place to buy such high-end goods with silver. Although the portion is small, the significance of being delivered by Tom Wang is extraordinary.Although Ma Ling is only from a thousand households, he welcomes and sends him all the year round, and has full experience in the officialdom. He knows how great a favor it is to receive such a personal gift from his superiors. This small box of snuff is far better than Wang Tom's verbal compliments to him were more practical.

Wang Tom said: "Since Ma Qianhu thinks snuff is a good thing, why not try to help us sell it in the area around Sanmen Bay! Of course, I won't let Ma Qianhu be busy, and sell it through your side For the goods, we will give a certain percentage of commission as hard work, what does Ma Qianhu think?"

This Ma Ling is indeed a person who has worked hard and done his homework. He is no stranger to Haihan's trading system. Hearing the words, he asked: "Did the humble job become a local agent distributor?"

Wang Tom laughed and said: "It seems that you know a lot! That's good, it saves you the trouble of explaining to you. You are right, you can understand it in this way, but I want to add one thing, become our After acting as a distributor, the benefits can be shared, but the risks must also be shared, do you understand what I mean?"

Ma Ling was overjoyed, and quickly stood up and bowed in response: "I understand, thank you, Chief, for your advice!"

During the year when Haihan occupied Shipu, the number of maritime merchants passing through here from south to north was at least several times higher than in the past, and Ma Ling was able to learn from the side about Haihan's various means of trade, as well as the Ming dynasty's trade system. The group of people with the most lucrative income on one side are Ming businessmen called "agents and distributors" by Haihan.

Haihan's sales channels in Daming are spread and maintained through this group of agents and distributors, and because Haihan's products are always in short supply in the Daming market, and the profits from handling them are also very rich, for agents at the state level In other words, as long as the channels are spread out in the early stage, you will basically be sitting at home and counting money later.Moreover, Haihan will provide a complete set of operation plans for how to price and how to operate. If necessary, Haihan can also obtain financial assistance from Haihan, and even provide military protection.

Haihan's management method has already had relatively mature operating experience in Fuguang. After entering Zhejiang, it is just a slight modification of some details according to the local conditions.There are profit seekers everywhere, and there will always be some bold people who will take the initiative to try to cooperate with Haihan. Once someone tastes the sweetness, the subsequent promotion will be easier.

In fact, Ma Ling has long been envious of this business, but he knows that as a general, it is difficult to gain the full trust of the Haihan people, and he does not dare to mention this in front of Qian Tiandun and others.I didn't expect that the pie would fall from the sky. Tom Wang, who met for the first time, actually gave him such a big gift. Compared with the few snuff bottles made of Lantian jade that he gave just now, they were really not expensive gifts.If he could get the agent of this snuff, he might earn back hundreds of snuff bottles in a year.

About how to obtain the qualifications of this agent, Ma Ling only knows one thing and does not know the other. In addition to the businessmen who obtained the agency right through open channels at the Zhoushan Merchants Conference last year, there is another group of people who are also very familiar with Haihan. Those who are willing to recruit into their own trading system are the officials in active service of Ming Dynasty, to be precise, they are military officers with many special authority.

The various conveniences of military officers in the smuggling trade are far beyond the comparison of ordinary businessmen. Luo Shengdong and Xu Xinsu are two successful examples.In the early days of Luo Shengdong's salt trade in Haihan, he took advantage of his position and used the warships in Yacheng Shuizhai to transport private salt to various states and counties on Hainan Island for sale. Occupied the local market, but the people in the Salt Division had nothing to do with him. This military position played a key role.

And Xu Xinsu, who was originally a sea smuggler, used his military power to monopolize the sea trade in Fujian, which is much more powerful than Luo Shengdong. In the early days, almost all the goods sent by Haihan to Fujian were made by various firms under Xu's name. Even in the Zhejiang region to the north of Fujian, the Haihan goods on the market come from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian under the control of Xu Xinsu.

In view of the sweetness he had tasted in this aspect in the past, after entering Zhejiang, Haihan naturally used the military officers of the Ming Dynasty as one of the means to promote the trade system.Guanhaiwei and Changguowei in Ningbo, which are the closest to Zhoushan, have naturally become the focus of development. Commander Yan Guowei of Changguowei, Commander Huang Tao of Guanhaiwei, and the power holders of various subordinate Qianhu offices have more or less accepted the benefits of Haihan. Haihan has also been screening those who are suitable for long-term support.

Although Yan Guowei and Huang Tao have more power in their hands, one is approaching the threshold of retirement, and his time in the officialdom is running out, while the other is slippery, and after collecting money, he just pretends to be deaf and dumb, and has not deeply participated in it. The plan to go to Haihan trade.Among the thousand households below, it seems that only the first and only Shipu, the Qianhu Ma Ling, which was captured by Haihan, has the potential to be cultivated.

Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen believed that Ma Ling showed a high degree of cooperation when Haihan attacked the Zhoushan Islands and fought against the local pirate gangs. Moreover, Ma Ling currently makes his home in Shipu, so Haihan is also convenient for him. Take control.However, Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen had limited interest in recruiting Daming officials to run errands for the Ministry of Commerce. Apart from mentioning this matter in the report to the headquarters, they did not have much follow-up action.Most of their energy was spent on studying the current situation and geography in the north, and Ma Ling was only routinely summoned to Zhoushan every other month to inquire about the situation.

One of the reasons for Wang Tom and Hao Wanqing to stay in Shipu Port this time is to see the performance of Ma Ling, a thousand households in Shipu Institute, and give him better opportunities for development if he passes the interview.However, Ma Ling's conversational performance during the short period of more than half a day in receiving them has obviously exceeded the passing line in their minds. Wang Tom and Hao Wanqing both think that this person can be given a chance to see the aftermath.

Haihan snuff is still a relatively new product in the Zhejiang market for the time being, and the sales channels in many areas have not yet been rolled out. Tom Wang asked Ma Ling to be responsible for the sale of snuff in the area near Sanmen Bay, and he wanted to use this to test him. Ability.If this person can seize the opportunity like Luo Shengdong and quickly open up the local market, then he can add a little more burden to him in the future.But if it is unusable, then honestly, Chang Guowei will be a soldier who eats nothing.

After staying in Shipu for a day, the Haihan Fleet headed north. Before leaving, Wang Tom left behind four exploration-class warships as the main armed force to guard the sea here.Of course, relying on only four ships to guard the Shipu Waterway, which is dozens of miles deep, is still somewhat difficult. Fortunately, the sea area here has been repeatedly cleared and suppressed many times, and there is not much concern about public security.The purpose of staying here is more to monitor the movements of the Ming army in Sanmen Bay and its surrounding areas.Ma Ling's attitude was as respectful as always, and he rushed to the pier early to see him off.

From Shipu Port to Zhoushan Dinghai Port, the voyage is only about [-] to [-] nautical miles. If the majestic warship is powered by steam power, it will only take half a day to reach the destination.However, because of the huge fleet and the fact that there were many civilian ships following behind, Wang Tom did not order to speed up, and continued to slowly head north at a speed of about five knots.

At noon, the fleet passed through the strait between Liuheng Island and Fodu Island. Chen Yixin told Wang Tom and Hao Wanqing how the Haihan army attacked the Shanghai Sand Gang on Liuheng Island last year.Although the two of them had read the relevant report before they came, the specific details were not as vivid and clear as Chen Yixin's, and they both listened with great interest.

Wang Tom sighed after listening: "The people Xu Xinsu placed here played a big role in being able to take Liuheng Island smoothly at that time."

Chen Yixin said: "I have to say that Xu Xinsu is really scheming. A few years ago, he arranged for the Xu family's children to lurk in Zhejiang. Now there are only two who have shown up, but I don't know how many people have not shown up."

Hearing this, Tom Wang turned to Hao Wanqing and said, "Minister Hao, there should be many intelligence personnel lurking here in Haihan, right?"

Hao Wanqing shook his head and said, "Well... I have no comment."

Chen Yixin said: "Right now, we are all our own people, Minister Hao, you are still playing with our sense of mystery!"

Hao Wanqing argued: "It's not that I am playing with mysticism, but that the intelligence work in the Zhejiang area was arranged by Minister He before. What I know is only the general situation, and the specific personnel deployment, I have to wait until Zhoushan listens to the report. just got it."

Wang Tom said: "I heard that the person in charge of intelligence work in Zhejiang is He Xi's subordinate?"

"Gong Shiqi, He Xi's number one subordinate, was the former head of the Guangdong Field Service Team." Hao Wanqing had nothing to hide about this, and explained to the two: "Gong Shiqi has been working since He Xi came to the Guangzhou Office." Following him, there is no doubt about his loyalty, and his ability is not bad, at least he has never failed to perform tasks in Guangdong. He Xi transferred him to Zhejiang to take care of himself, and he also wanted to gradually cultivate him."

Wang Tom smiled and said, "As a result, the Cheng Dapeng you cultivated in the south is now under He Xi's command, and the Gong Shiqi brought out by He Xi is working under your command? The personnel arrangement of your security department is a bit interesting."

Cheng Dapeng was a spy from the Ministry of Security who was besieged together with the Dutch in the Battle of Batavia in 1632. During that battle, he collected a lot of first-hand information for Haihan, especially the Dutch and Matalan. A lot of news from both sides of the war is a vacancy that has not been recorded in detail in the Haihan University database.Afterwards, Haihan exerted all kinds of pressure and coercion on the East India Company, relying on the information sent back to Sanya by Cheng Dapeng, so that Haihan's senior management clearly knew the embarrassment of the East India Company after the war. The Dutch were suppressed decisively, in exchange for Haihan's many interests in Taiwan and the South China Sea.

After that, Cheng Dapeng became the head of the Ministry of Security in the South China Sea, and he also played a certain role in promoting the East India Company to join the South China Sea Trade Alliance led by Haihan.His experience of sharing hardships with the high-level personnel of the East India Company allowed him to make some suggestions to the Dutch without suspicion, such as choosing wisely to compromise rather than be tough with Haihan, so as to avoid the contradiction between the two sides from intensifying and turning into another war. Devastating battle.

Later, the East India Company Governor Van Dimen’s inspection of Hainan Island also fully proved that Cheng Dapeng’s suggestion was correct. In terms of war potential, the East India Company was indeed unable to confront Haihan, which had become a climate. This made Cheng Dapeng more and more trusted by the company's senior management.Of course, if the Dutch knew his true identity, they would have to burn down Cheng Dapeng and his grain store in Batavia even at the risk of going to war with Haihan .

Hao Wanqing has been in charge of South China Sea intelligence affairs in Sanya all year round. Cheng Dapeng is undoubtedly one of the most valuable intelligence personnel under his command. However, Hao Wanqing went north to take charge of Ming-related affairs. Except for a very small number of relatives, the intelligence agencies in various places did not make corresponding personnel adjustments. It has been completed, but it is bound to need a short period of adaptation to adjust the existing institutions and work arrangements.

Hao Wanqing said that he was not aware of the deployment of the Ministry of Security in Zhejiang, and it was indeed not an excuse.The work in Zhejiang has always been in charge of Gong Shiqi. Although there are regular reports sent back to Sanya, Hao Wanqing also knows that there must still be many discrepancies between the report and the actual situation, so many things will have to wait until he witnesses it with his own eyes in Zhejiang. To make judgments and decisions.

The huge fleet did not arrive at Dinghai Port, Zhoushan until the evening of the same day. Apart from the local military chiefs Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen, there were also many naturalized cadres and special rushers who greeted Wang Tom and others on the pier. Some of the wealthy businessmen and dignitaries of Ming Dynasty who came to join in the fun came by boat from Ningbo after receiving the news two days ago.

The relationship between Qian Tiandun and the members of the North American Gang was mostly limited to colleagues, and the meeting between the two parties was just a polite greeting. However, Shi Diwen was much more excited when he saw his partners in the North American Gang, and immediately gave Tom Wang a Remember bear hugs.The last time the two met was more than a year ago, and this reunion in a different place can be regarded as a reunion between brothers after a long absence.

(End of this chapter)