1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1085
Although Feng Fei is a military officer, he is not stupid. He also realizes that the Haihan people are willing to take the initiative to take the lead in such a thankless task, and the purpose may not be pure.Judging from what Hao Wanqing said just now, Feng Fei believed that the Haihan people were just pretending to be disaster relief, and wanted to send refugees from Shandong to the south as cheap labor.This sounds like a disaster relief, but if you feel at ease, you will be suspected of human trafficking. If the Haihan people want to recruit a large number of refugees in an open way, they really need to establish a good relationship with the local government.

Of course, this is definitely a good thing for the coastal thousand households that are currently on the shoulders of the military and government.If some of the refugees in the states and counties can be cleared, it will be less difficult for the government to resume production.Naturally, the saved relief food and related expenses would not be returned to the imperial court, and several military leaders divided the accounts, and the money that flowed into their own pockets was still considerable.

"To help the refugees, the food needed is not a small amount. When the refugees hear the news, they will flock in from all states and counties. If you can't provide food, the situation may get out of control. Do you have a plan for dealing with it?" Feng Fei wanted to understand. After the pros and cons, he began to verify the feasibility with Hao Wanqing.

Hao Wanqing also understood Feng Fei's intentions, and immediately responded: "We came to Shandong this time, and we shipped nearly a million catties of grain, and there will be a fleet of ships from the south to transport grain continuously, enough to maintain local operations. After we start accepting refugees, we will also organize them to open up wasteland and grow food on Zhifu Island to meet some of their supply needs.”

As long as the sea route is not interrupted, Haihan's fleet can continue to transport the collected refugees to the south, and then transport food back from the south to attract more refugees.However, the sea transportation line Haihan relies on is relatively long, and the coast of Shandong will be frozen in winter, and there are still many uncontrollable accidental factors. It can only be said that this plan is indeed feasible in theory.

Feng Fei was secretly shocked when he heard that these Haihan people did not hesitate to transport so much food from the south at all costs. If the other party was not bragging, then the power of this action is really terrible.It can also be seen that the other party is bound to win this plan, and no matter whether he agrees with it or not, he will probably follow it. Otherwise, it would be impossible to transport the million catties of grain back to the south as it is.

Feng Fei asked: "Then when do you plan to start?"

"The sooner the better." Hao Wanqing replied: "If Mr. Feng thinks there is nothing wrong, then we will send people to various places to post notices and distribute leaflets as soon as possible, so that the people can know our arrangement and come to Zhifu Island to receive relief by themselves. "

Feng Fei thought about it, and then asked again: "I want to see your grain reserves, is it convenient?"

Hao Wanqing saw the other party's posture of not stalking the eagle if he didn't see the rabbit, so he immediately agreed.Haihan transported a lot of grain to the north this time. It is a bit bragging to say a million catties, but there must be hundreds of thousands of catties. Can fool Feng Fei.

Hao Wanqing immediately took Feng Fei to see the grain shipped from Haihan.The goods unloaded to the shore in the past two days were mainly building materials and munitions, but more than half of the food was still on board.After leaving the campsite and arriving at the pier, Hao Wanqing pointed to a row of sailboats neatly parked on the shore and said, "These are all grain ships. Master Feng can choose one at will. Let's get on board and have a look."

After seeing with his own eyes the cabin full of rice bags, Feng Fei finally believed Hao Wanqing's statement.Each of the cabins of these large ships contained tens of thousands of catties of grain, which proved that Hao Wanqing was not just talking.

Hao Wanqing was not finished yet, and took Feng Fei to see the planned immigrant camp, and introduced to him: "We will build a temporary residence here that can accommodate 5000 people, so as to facilitate the turnover of people who will be transported to the south. For the convenience of management, it is tentatively planned to be ten camps, with 500 people in each camp, and women will form separate camps..."

What is the concept of 5000 people?The full garrison of the Qishan Thousand Households is only more than 100 people, plus the family members of the Weisuo Army, and the villages and towns around the Qishan City, there may only be about 4000 people if they are fully occupied. Feng Fei was secretly speechless.In the past, the gentry in the Denglei area came forward to help refugees, but no one had ever built such a large-scale refugee camp. The reason is also very simple. First, there is not enough manpower to build a camp of this size. There are too many refugees, and no landlord can afford to support them.It is rumored that the Han people in China are as rich as an enemy country, and Feng Fei has not personally witnessed how terrifying this level of wealth is until today.

A huge fleet, a strong militia, and the ability to carry out a large-scale immigration plan across thousands of miles, these conditions may not be able to be met even by the government, but the Haihan people have actually achieved it.Just then Na Takahashi Nan said that his master always dealt with officials at the level of the general soldier and prefect in the south, and it seems that what he said was indeed true.Feng Fei thinks that among the rich businessmen and gentry he has come into contact with, he has never seen such a financially powerful financial backer. Thinking about it, he is a little thankful that he didn't act arrogantly on the sandbar just now. God knows which official figures these Haihan people have made friends with in Shandong. When this local tyrant in the south started doing it, he might have to swallow it if his teeth were knocked out.

Before leaving, Hao Wanqing ordered someone to bring out a wooden box, saying it was a gift for Feng Fei.Feng Fei was still immersed in the shock of what he saw and heard at this time, but he didn't pay much attention to it.Hao Wanqing only sent him to the gate of the camp, and Gao Qiaonan accompanied him back to the blockade on the sandbar, sending him out of the area controlled by Haihan.

When Gao Qiaonan asked Feng Fei's subordinates to hand over the wooden box, Feng Fei remembered that there was still such a gift and asked his subordinates to put it away first.When Luo Biao came over to ask about the whereabouts of the missing soldiers, Feng Fei just shook his head and said, "Let's go back first."

Feng Fei didn't find any news about the missing soldiers from Hao Wanqing, and he couldn't use force, but judging from Hao Wanqing's attitude, the Haihan people obviously didn't want to tear themselves apart with the Ming army, and Feng Fei couldn't think of the Haihan people wanting to fight against the Ming army. The reason for attacking the Yantai Mountain Outpost - such a huge fleet is parked in Zhifu Bay, can it be invisible for a long time?Even if the Yantai Mountain Outpost is wiped out, the Qishan Station will soon find their traces.

Of course, Feng Fei didn't expect Haihan to attack Yantai Mountain. The main purpose was to seize the first 24 hours of security to complete the beachhead, set up a peripheral defense line, and ensure that subsequent material personnel could land smoothly. He had no intention of attacking the city.After the Haihan army achieved their goal, they withdrew the line of control and took away all the prisoners. Feng Fei went to Zhifu Island alone, and naturally it was impossible to find the whereabouts of his gang of subordinates.

Back in the city of Qishan, Feng Fei was not in a hurry to call a meeting with his subordinates to study countermeasures, but went into the study to check the gift Hao Wanqing gave him.After opening the box, one can see a set of glass tea sets wrapped in cotton and satin. The craftsmanship is extremely exquisite, and it can be worth at least a hundred taels of silver on the market.However, the size of this set of glass tea sets was far from that of the wooden box. Feng Fei knew that there was a trick in it, so he took out a few glass tea sets and put them on the desk. There is also a dark grid.Feng Fei took off the partition of the secret compartment, and saw the real gift—the silver ingots neatly stacked under the box.

20 taels and one ingot, five by five, were neatly placed on the lower layer of the box, stacked on two layers, exactly one thousand taels.Although it is not an astronomical figure, for Feng Fei personally, this is already a considerable sum.

With Feng Fei's own salary plus various seasonal subsidies, his annual legal income is only about 300 taels of silver. The army is in a state of collapse, and almost all the military expenditures of the imperial court are spent on the battlefields in the Northeast and Central Plains. For Shandong, which has become calm, it has not allocated sufficient money, not to mention post-war reconstruction, and even maintaining the existing The combat effectiveness of the garrison seemed stretched.

Feng Fei brushed his fingers lightly over the white silver taels, and he deepened his understanding of the generosity and sophistication of the Haihan people.Today was the first meeting between the two parties, but the other party's move was a thousand taels of silver, and he knew how to cover it up. Even the gift box was ready-made. Obviously, he was used to dealing with local officials in this way.During the previous discussion, Hao Wanqing said that there would be other rewards in the future, and he thought that this benefit fee would not be lost once it was collected. Feng Fei felt that it was necessary to maintain a friendly relationship with the Haihan people just for the economic benefits.

After Feng Fei put away all the silver and glass tea sets, he called together a few hundred households under his command, and gave them a general account of what he had seen and heard in the Haihan camp.Of course, in the description, the part about Hai Han giving gifts was naturally omitted, and even if his subordinates saw the wooden box he brought back, they would not be so ignorant to ask what was in the box.

Luo Biao had observed the fleet of the Haihan people in Yantai Mountain yesterday, and he was the first to express his opinion: "My lord, since these Haihan people said they came to relieve refugees, why are they equipped with so many prohibited weapons? Firecrackers and cannons Can these weapons be kept privately by the people? My lord, from the humble opinion, even if we want to cooperate with the Haihan people to relieve refugees, we should let them hand over these weapons to the government first, and let us take the lead in this matter."

Feng Fei snorted and said, "You treat those Haihan people as good men and women, and if you ask them to hand in their weapons, they will be obedient? You forgot how we were stopped before, and they looked like they were about to use force. Like an honest person? You don’t even think about it, why they can buy so many guns and artillery!”

Luo Biao asked in surprise, "Could it be that...you bought it from the army?"

"Can you think of other possibilities?" Feng Fei said with a gloomy face: "Not to mention this strange mountain, it is very difficult for Dengzhou Wei to get so many firecrackers and artillery. This Haihan is in the south. Probably because of his skillful means, so many firearms can be obtained from the army. Do you know what Takahashi Minami told me? In the south, even the commander-in-chief and the prefect have to make an appointment to see his master. If it is not bragging, then It is indeed someone we cannot afford to offend."

From the moment Feng Fei saw the weapons equipped by Haihan's troops, he never considered the possibility of Haihan making weapons by himself. He had a deep-rooted concept in his mind that the best weapons must come from the Ministry of War, like firecrackers and cannons. This kind of standard weapon, civilians should not have this kind of technical ability.As for Haihan's ability to obtain so many weapons, there are two necessary conditions. One is considerable financial resources, and the other is a wild enough way to buy so many prohibited weapons from the Ming army.

Since the Haihan people had a way to get the Ming army's equipment, and dared to show it in front of him in broad daylight, Feng Fei believed that this confidence was not only due to the amazing financial resources of the Haihan people, but more likely came from their presence in the Ming army. The influence of Ming Dynasty officials.Hao Wanqing did not mention the officials that Haihan made friends with in the southern officialdom, and Feng Fei did not dare to ask more, because according to his judgment, the officials Hao Wanqing had contacted in the south were of a much higher level than his level, and he would probably be confused if he asked. It's boring to ask yourself, it's better not to ask, everyone can still discuss friendship as peers.

Even Hao Wanqing did not expect this kind of misunderstanding.He did prepare a speech to deal with Feng Fei's question about weapons and equipment, but the other party didn't ask at all. Hao Wanqing thought it was the previous display of force that frightened the other party, but he didn't expect that it was because of Feng Fei's understanding of these weapons. The origin has been misunderstood.

But in this way, Haihan will save a lot of trouble, and this judgment is made by Feng Fei himself, not Hao Wanqing's words. If Haihan doesn't take the initiative to tell the truth in the future, Feng Fei will probably It is difficult to actively change such thoughts.

For Feng Fei's words, the officers under him are not newcomers, so they naturally understand the weight of this matter.It is nothing new to resell some ordnance and weapons from the army to the civilian population as a means of profit.In the military, it is possible to report losses to the superiors in terms of depreciation, loss, etc., and then sell these "scrap products" quietly, but all the inscriptions engraved on the weapons have to be worn off, so as not to be traced to the source of the weapons.

But this kind of business is usually not too big, and it is not bad if you can sell some firecrackers sporadically, and heavy weapons such as artillery, in Feng Fei's cognition, absolutely cannot be sold privately, no matter whether you dare to sell them or not. The ones who dare to buy are not the ones that a small family like him can offend. It is the most sensible way to deal with it by staying out of the matter and not talking too much.

Feng Fei continued: "If the Haihan people want to recruit refugees, let them do it. They like to make trouble, so let them do it. Your and my responsibility is to guard this strange mountain city. Irrelevant things, we It’s better to have as little contact as possible.”

(End of this chapter)