1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1784 Stumbling Block

Although He Xiao is not afraid of Jinyiwei, he is still worried that the sudden appearance of hundreds of households will disrupt the current business.Most of the grain he asked He Li to buy is already on the way to Ningbo Mansion. If Jin Yiwei makes trouble and stops these grain transport teams on the road, delaying the major events of the Haihan people, then he will inevitably have to bear corresponding responsibilities .

He Xiao has been dealing with the Haihan people for more than two years, and he is quite familiar with the behavior style of the Haihan people.If you do things for them, you can make a lot of money if you do well, but if you get caught, the Haihan people are not easy to talk to.Ordinary business, if there is any accident and delay for a few days, it’s fine to say good things and lose some money, but this time, the Haihan military has designated the purchase of military rations, and my two brothers voted for this bid, which is equivalent to issuing a military order to the Haihan people. If there is a mistake, it is not a matter of losing money, maybe even his backer Qu Yutong will be affected by it.

And say hello to Haihan in advance, if something happens, you can blame it on the troublesome Jinyiwei Baihu. If there is a grievance and a debtor, the Haihan people want to pursue it afterwards, so naturally they should go to Deng Qing trouble.And based on what the Haihan people have done in the past, it is not surprising that some drastic measures will be taken because of this matter. After all, in their eyes, Jin Yiwei is not a very special person.

He Xiao handed over this matter to He Li, and hurried back to the magistrate's yamen. This matter can be big or small, and it must be safe to file a case with the boss.In case Deng Qing wants to make trouble again, the magistrate's yamen will not be passive.

"Jin Yiwei? Don't you usually give them a lot of money? Why are these people still not satisfied!" After hearing He Xiao's report, Qu Yutong couldn't help being a little angry: "If you have a dog for two years, you know how to shake it at the owner. It's too late, this group of people really don't know what to do... How much money are they planning to ask this time?"

"My lord, it's not the Jinyiwei stationed in Ningbo who came out this time, but a hundred households surnamed Deng from Nanjing." He Xiao quickly added: "It seems that he is not from the same place as the stationed here. When he came to me, They didn’t bring those local people with them either.”

"Oh? From Nanjing..." Hearing this, Qu Yutong naturally figured out the special meaning in it.If the Jinyiwei specially dispatched people from Nanjing to investigate Haihan's large purchase of military rations on the market, it is obviously worried about the manpower stationed in the local area, and the few Jinyiwei who were bought by them may not be there at all. I know there are people coming from Nanjing.

"Then what do you think his real purpose is?" Qu Yutong asked noncommittally.Jin Yiwei's investigation can be big or small. If it is really aimed at the Haihan people, then it doesn't matter if he is allowed to run into trouble. Even if he finds out something about the Haihan people, it is impossible to shake the current overall situation.Besides, the interests of many high-level people are involved behind the trade between the two countries. The beneficiaries in Zhejiang alone are far more than Qu Yutong. Even if Jin Yiwei holds privileges, it is impossible to offend local senior officials on a large scale.

What Qu Yutong was really worried about was that Jin Yiwei's move was Xiang Zhuang's sword dance, aimed at Pei Gong. He clearly wanted to investigate the Haihan people's purchase of military rations, but the real purpose was to make trouble for himself.

It's not that Qu Yutong has persecution paranoia or unfounded worries, but that the seat of Ningbo prefect sitting under his buttocks is really hot, and there are many people who covet it openly and secretly. I don't know how many people want to take this seat. sit by yourself.

The reason is of course very simple. Ningbo Mansion is now the place with the largest import and export trade volume on the Daming coastline north of the Fujian Strait, and the wealth that circulates here in a year is even much more than the income of the Daming treasury.Being a magistrate here is almost equivalent to being an official sitting on a golden mountain, and you can grab a lot of money by just stretching out your hand. Naturally, some people will miss Qu Yutong's official position.

However, it is not an easy task to remove Qu Yutong from the prefect of Ningbo. First of all, Qu Yutong has played a significant role in maintaining the stability of Zhejiang. This is an objective fact generally recognized by Zhejiang officials. When the Haihan army approached the city of Hangzhou in 1635, when the war was about to break out, it was he who actively contacted the Haihan people in Ningbo, in exchange for valuable negotiating opportunities.Later, he married a high-ranking official of Haihan, which was equivalent to setting up a private communication channel between the two countries. This kind of personal advantage of communicating with high-level Haihan is even more difficult to replace.

Secondly, Qu Yutong also took great pains to maintain his current position, investing a lot of financial resources and energy, and even gave up the opportunity to be promoted for this reason.He could see very clearly that if he was transferred to Zhejiang Chengxuan to serve as the political envoy, and the magistrate of the fourth rank was promoted by half a level, he would probably participate in political positions from the left and right ranks of the third rank.If he was transferred to the capital, he might be able to increase his rank by half a level at a time, and enter the sixth department to become a third-rank servant.But for him, this is far less rewarding than staying in Ningbo as an official. The contact with the Haihan people has opened his horizons, and he no longer limits his future to higher official positions.

Qu Yutong has already found a good example, that is Xu Xinsu from Fujian. It only took ten years for him to climb from a small navy to the position of the general in Fujian. Of course, the chance is very good. Important, but even more important, is that Xu Xinsu successfully hugged Hai Han's thick leg, and has cooperated with Hai Han in these years, and the indispensable help from Hai Han in the process of ascending to the top.

Qu Yutong thought that his starting point was much higher than Xu Xinsu, a sea merchant who spent money to buy an official, and Zhejiang's economic foundation was far better than that of Lingnan area. Since Xu became the local emperor of Fujian in ten years, the successful Experience is in front of him, so he has no reason to lose to Xu, and he should do better and achieve greater achievements.

And the reality is developing in the direction that Qu Yutong conceived. After marrying Shi Diwen, Haihan's senior official stationed in Zhoushan, Qu Yutong received full trust and full support from Haihan. Accumulate wealth at a rapid rate.And after having enough money at hand, he can implement many means according to his will to increase his influence in Ningbo Mansion and even Zhejiang.Buying Jinyiwei spies stationed in Ningbo to turn a blind eye to various irregular operations here is just one of the affairs.

Although Qu Yutong's official position is still unchanged, in fact his influence is not limited to Ningbo Prefecture. When dealing with diplomatic issues related to Haihan, even the chief envoy of Zhejiang Province Wang Jihe commanded Liu Feng also often needs Qu Yutong's opinion as a reference for decision-making.But in Ningbo Mansion, Qu Yutong had indeed already had a little bit of an emperor's posture, almost to the point of following his words, so even his staff member He Xiao dared not back down to the Jinyiwei officers from outside.

Qu Yutong has the support from Haihan, and he has a relatively clear personal development plan, and he will not leave Ningbo voluntarily. It is naturally extremely difficult for others to ask him to make a place for him, at least on the surface.And Qu Yutong did not get carried away because of the current success, and has always been careful to guard against plots from the officialdom. Regarding the uninvited guest from Nanjing, one possibility that Qu Yutong thought of was that someone wanted to use this method to collect his black information. Materials, and then drive himself out of the seat of the prefect of Ningbo.

Qu Yutong trusted He Xiao very much, so he handed over a lot of property to his brothers to take care of it. However, He Xiao seemed to have a fierce attitude towards this Jinyiwei officer. Qu Yutong believed that there must be some reason for this. I want to hear what He Xiao thinks about this matter.

"My lord, if Jin Yiwei just wants to find out the purpose of Haihan people's purchase of military rations, there is no need to come to me openly. Find someone to cover up and go to Zhoushan. There must be much more information than I can get from me. So I think this The man's actions are intended to knock the mountains and shake the tiger, and find the master's handle from me. I was planning to deal with him for a while at the beginning, but after he mentioned the master, I realized that something was wrong, so I drove him away." He Xiao unhurriedly put forward his views.

"Mr. He is justified." Qu Yutong nodded slowly in agreement: "Since this hundred households clearly know that Mr. He is working for the official, but deliberately came to the door to knock around, I think it really has no good intentions... By the way, we have to beware of Jin Yiwei's tricks and stop the food convoy!"

He Xiao responded: "Don't worry, my lord, this matter has been arranged. I will ask He Li to contact Jindun escort, and someone will be sent there to meet the food transport team from other places. In addition, the Haihan people have also sent people to say hello, so as not to In case something happens that delays the food escort, let them blame us."

Qu Yu said: "Sir, it's still safe to do things... But those hundred households have to be watched. Since you dare to come forward to make trouble, then you can be a stumbling block with peace of mind. If he has any misbehavior, try to restrict him first." Take action, don't let him cause trouble. When necessary...you can make your own decisions without asking the official!"

He Xiao naturally understood what Qu Yutong meant by "deciding on his own". It can be described as "killing decisively".It's not that no one tried to break ground on Tai Sui's head before, but they either left Ningbo sadly, or disappeared. No one has ever taken advantage of the magistrate.He Xiao getting this authorization means that from now on, he can use all necessary means against those who threaten Qu Yutong's interests, even if the other party has the status of Jin Yiwei.

As the saying goes, money can make ghosts turn the millstone. If you want to measure Qu Yutong's current wealth, then probably the ghosts who grind the millstone for him can line up all the way from Ningbo City to the seaside.There are at least thousands of people serving him directly and indirectly inside and outside Ningbo City, and among them there are also some good hands who specialize in dirty work.

But these people are not heroes of the rivers and lakes, and Qu Yutong also despises the so-called folk masters of wild ways. First, these people are used to acting loosely, and their social relations are complicated. Keep secrets; secondly, the greatest ability of these people is to flatter each other, and those who are really skilled and reliable are almost all in the yamen or the army, and it is the right way to sell all their abilities to the emperor's family.

And it is He Xiao who organizes and manages these personnel for Qu Yutong. Although he does not need to do the dirty work himself, he basically makes and directs any action plan, and he always handles it neatly. No future troubles will be left, so Qu Yutong did not hesitate to instruct He Xiao this time to deal with that uninterested Jinyiwei Baihu.

After leaving Qu Yutong's study, He Xiao walked around the magistrate's yamen, then took a few people to leave together, and then went to the military camp in the north of the city, and there were a few more people when he left.The people he was looking for were either experienced headhunters or military experts, and one of the biggest things in common was that they had all received many benefits from Qu Yutong. To put it bluntly, these people were Qu Yutong. A group of eagle dogs raised in secret.

He Xiao took the group of people to a house in the city, and then explained the situation to them: "Someone came to my house today, intending to harm me. Next, I need you to keep an eye on this person. If he continues to seek Trouble, get rid of him as soon as possible!"

Someone asked: "Then I wonder if this person acted alone or with accomplices?"

He Xiao responded: "It's not clear at the moment. People have been sent to inquire, and we will know later. Before this matter is over, everyone should not go home, so as not to leak the news. After the matter is completed, all those who participated in the operation will get A reward of 500 taels of silver."

He Xiao is never stingy in this kind of thing, as long as the goal can be achieved, he won't mind rewarding those who do things with more money.On this point, he and his boss, Qu Yutong, did the same thing. Qu Yutong didn't even mention the cost at all. As long as He Xiao got things done, the cost would not be a problem at all.If this stumbling block is not dealt with in time, the losses in the future may not only be hundreds of taels of silver.

However, for these workers, 500 taels of silver is already a lot of money. If they can get 500 taels of silver by handling an unknown person for Mr. He, then they probably won't mind receiving this kind of money every day. Task.

However, there were still more prudent people who noticed that He Xiao had a large number of people, and immediately asked: "Master He, it must be a difficult idea to need so many brothers to act together?"

He Xiaodao: "I don't know if it will be pricked or not, and I don't care. If he has thorns on his body, then you will break off his thorns one by one!"

(End of this chapter)