1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2173
As the center of the Ming Dynasty's salt industry, Yangzhou's market has long been divided up by two foreign salt merchant groups, the Shanxi-Shanxi salt merchants and the Huizhou salt merchants.And the interest struggle between the two factions around the salt industry is already well known in the local area.

Before Haihan salt appeared on the market in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Shanshan and Shanxi salt merchants had already occupied an advantageous position in this competition. The government backstage that the salt merchants are proud of has gradually changed their position and has become the umbrella of the Shanxi salt merchants.

Of course, Ma Zhengping and other Anhui salt merchants are also fighting hard, but the Shanxian salt merchants hold money in one hand and guns in the other, and they are backed by big figures in the government.If it wasn't for Haihan's strong intervention in the Yangzhou salt industry market, making Shanshan and Shanxi salt merchants have to turn around to deal with this powerful enemy, then the Huizhou salt merchants might really be completely squeezed out in the near future.

Haihan sent people to take action in Yangzhou to eliminate the musketeers under the command of the Shanshan salt merchants, which finally gave Ma Zhengping and others hope for a comeback, and joining forces with Haihan to fight against the old enemy seems to have become a more feasible choice .Ma Zhengping came to Zhoushan twice to discuss cooperation matters, precisely to draw Haihan into his camp—of course, whoever gets into whose camp may not be what he thought.

The premise of Haihan's cooperation is to allow Haihan salt to enter the salt market centered on Yangzhou and enter the mainland of Ming Dynasty through the distribution channels of Yangzhou salt merchants. That's why it was proposed to allow Huizhou salt merchants to purchase from Haihan in proportion Salt cooperation program.

However, salt merchants from Hui nationality are worried that this kind of operation will be reported by competitors. After all, selling private salt is unacceptable. In the past, private salt was produced in the territory of Ming Dynasty, and many stakeholders were involved, and no one would expose it. This layer of window paper.But if the source of the goods is changed to Haihan, then the opponent will have nothing to worry about. Once it is exposed, it will give the government a reason to do something. At that time, the Huizhou salt merchants will inevitably fall into a passive position.

Ma Zhengping didn't dare to say it directly, but Yang Yun had obviously thought of this, and directly pointed out the situation he was worried about.

"Which side the government stands on is just to see which side can pay more money. With Haihan Kingdom as your backing, why worry about financial resources?" Yang Yun said slowly: "Besides, whoever makes things difficult for you is the You are embarrassing me, Haihan Country, if someone wants to try the consequences, then we will not be polite!"

Ma Zhengping's heart trembled when he heard this, he knew that the Haihan people could do what they said, and if this matter was not carried out smoothly, there might be another bloody storm in Yangzhou City.Of course, Ma Zhengping first had to make sure that he was not the one who was unlucky.

From Haihan's point of view, Yang Yun's speech was naturally domineering and impeccable, but Ma Zhengping, as the party concerned, had to consider more factors.After all, it is their group of Huizhou salt merchants who work in Yangzhou, not the Haihan people who can solve problems by force.

The condition for agreeing to Yang Yun was just a matter of one sentence, but Ma Zhengping knew the troubles that might be caused by this, and the solution would not be as easy as Yang Yun said.

In terms of financial resources, Huizhou salt merchants are actually not bad, but the management of government contacts sometimes requires more than just spending money.In addition to spending money, the enemy has also been trying to marry the upper-class people since the reign of Tianqi, and subsidizing those famous literati. It took 20 years to slowly build a network of official contacts.Although the Anhui salt merchants also have similar practices, they are not as diligent as their counterparts, and the results are naturally much worse.

So after going back and forth, the Shanshan-Shanxi salt merchants gradually gained more support in the local officialdom by relying on their careful management of contacts, but the Anhui salt merchants wanted to change this situation, but they didn't just send more money out.Haihan people can use force to resolve the immediate conflict regardless of the consequences, but it is the Hui salt merchants who stay in Yangzhou to face the local government and take responsibility for it.

"Your Majesty Yang, it is really difficult for us to cooperate with your country unless I am here..." Ma Zhengping knew that the stakes in this matter could not be explained in one or two sentences, so he could only explain to Yang Yun that he had difficulty.

Yang Yun said: "If you have a problem, you must find a way to solve it. If you keep saying that you have difficulties, then I ask you, do you have a solution? If you want to cooperate with our country, you must show enough sincerity. If there is no risk No, do you think it’s your Huizhou salt merchant’s turn to be the partner?”

Yang Yun's words were quite blunt, even though Ma Zhengping was mature and prudent, he couldn't help but feel a little hot when he was reprimanded in such a tone that was almost reprimanded.If it weren't for the fact that the Anhui salt merchants were not in a good position and asked for help from the Haihan people, he would probably have left in a hurry.

But Ma Zhengping couldn't lower his face to compete with Yang Yun, so he could only mutter and argue: "Master Yang, we are waiting for the salt merchants to make a living in Yangzhou. It's okay to offend our colleagues, but if we offend the government, then life will be difficult." Already!"

After listening to his justification, Yang Yun's attitude softened a little: "Boss Ma, we understand the difficulties you are facing and are ready to support you in solving these difficulties in various ways. The key is whether you have confidence in yourself, Go and defeat your competitors and the backers behind them! In the past, our country has encountered many officials and businessmen who were unwilling to cooperate in the south, but so what, those who acted as chariots were crushed to powder, and in the end these people could only Can make way in front of the general trend.”

Yang Yun is not bragging, Haihan has too many operational examples for reference in this regard, especially in Guangdong, Guangxi and the coastal areas of Zhejiang, almost every state capital will have some stubborn people trying to fight against Haihan, but no matter financial resources Or force, these local forces are far from Haihan, so they can only be defeated one by one.

Although Yangzhou salt merchants have outstanding financial resources, in the eyes of Haihan officials, they are just a group of relatively wealthy businessmen.Although some people obtained some muskets from overseas and formed private armed forces, which caused a little trouble for Haihan's salt business, it was impossible to prevent Haihan from extending its sales channels to the traditional sphere of influence of Yangzhou salt merchants.

Yang Yun roughly knew the inside story of the last time the military and the Security Bureau jointly sent people to Yangzhou to take an armed action. Although his side also suffered some casualties during the action, the result was undoubtedly Haihan's complete victory.Therefore, Yang Yun believes that if the conflict between the two salt merchant camps in Yangzhou becomes fierce, the Haihan military can also choose an opportunity to intervene again to help Huizhou salt merchants fight against competitors.

However, if the Huizhou salt merchants cannot bear even the slightest risk, then whether it is worthwhile to cooperate with them will have to be re-discussed.Although Yang Yun attached great importance to the development of the salt industry, he did not intend to make any concessions to the Daming salt merchants. If the Huizhou salt merchants could not meet the conditions he requested, then there seemed to be no need for this cooperation to continue.

Yang Yun had noticed that Ma Zhengping's attitude was still wavering, so he didn't want to waste any more time, so he took the initiative to end the conversation and asked Ma Zhengping to go back and think it through.However, the possibility of opening a business store has nothing to do with the cooperation that has not yet been negotiated. Yang Yun still promised that Ma Zhengping could continue to handle it according to the regulations, but Ma Zhengping couldn't help but feel a little hesitant in his heart. There seems to be no need for a business store.

After Ma Zhengping returned to his residence, he also felt that he had some problems with the way he handled the differences. The Haihan people undoubtedly hoped to promote cooperation as soon as possible, and then let Haihan salt enter the Yangzhou market through the sales channels of Huizhou salt merchants.If this partner is lost, the life of the Huizhou salt merchants will only become more and more difficult. They have to wait until they have to give it a go, and then there may not be Haihan as a big backer behind them.

However, with the trading volume required by the Haihan people, the Huizhou salt merchants have to face relatively large risks in their operations, unless they reduce the amount of salt put on the market after buying a sufficient amount of Haihan salt, so as to avoid triggering opponents’ attacks as much as possible. Suspect.

Doing so will inevitably increase a large amount of private salt stocks, thereby reducing the operating profits of Huizhou salt merchants, but this seems to be the only feasible solution at present.As long as the competitors can be defeated as soon as possible, then sooner or later, these inventories can be turned into silver and returned to the pocket.

It's just how to quickly defeat Yangzhou's opponents. It seems that Yang Yun did not give a specific plan, but only expressed his attitude of supporting Huizhou salt merchants.

And this is what Ma Zhengping is most worried about. If it is just commercial support, then at most, the purchase price can be pulled to a relatively low level, which is far from enough to defeat competitors.As for the ruthless means that Yang Yun verbally called, under what circumstances would he act, but there was no clear condition.

Ma Zhengping, of course, wished that Haihan would directly send troops to Yangzhou to wipe out the Shanshan salt merchants, but this kind of behavior that might trigger a war between the two countries, I am afraid that Haihan would not do it easily just to win him over.Moreover, such a major event as the use of force is probably not something that a civil official in charge of trade like Yang Yun can have the final say on.

Although Ma Zhengping is not particularly familiar with Haihan's bureaucracy and power system, he at least knows that General Shi, who leads the troops in Zhoushan, has the final say. Just nod.However, Ma Zhengping only met General Shi at the military parade the last time he came to Zhoushan, and there was no friendship at all, and there was no suitable channel to reflect his interests to the other party.

Ma Zhengping felt that he should find a way to find the military attache of the Haihan military. Even if Shi Diwen himself could not be met, at least he had to find an officer with real power to find out whether the Haikou boasted by Yang Yun was really feasible or not. That's all.Otherwise, if I bite the bullet and become a distributor of Haihan, Haihan will not be able to help when something happens in Yangzhou, then I will be in big trouble.

Ma Zhengping called the subordinates who had stayed in Zhoushan to the room, and asked them if they had met senior military officials during this period of time.But his subordinates did not have the communication skills he expected, and failed to establish military contacts during this period.

Ma Zhengping thought about it for a long time. He remembered that when he came to Zhoushan last time, he met a Zhejiang businessman named Xuan Xiangming on the military parade viewing stand. They had a good conversation at that time. The other party seemed to have a shop on Zhoushan Island. Maybe he could Go and visit.

This is probably Ma Zhengping's only contact in Zhoushan Island besides Yang Yun. Although Xuan Xiangming's textile business is not directly related to his own salt business, he remembers that Xuan Xiangming is a very talkative person. Maybe he can Get some useful information from him, maybe you can get acquainted with other Haihan officials through him.

Anyway, nothing happened on Zhoushan Island, so Ma Zhengping decided to give it a try. Early the next morning, he sent his men out to inquire about the news about Xuan Xiangming. satin row.

Ma Zhengping didn't delay, and immediately took the initiative to visit the other party's shop.Xuan Xiangming also remembered that this Yangzhou salt merchant had met once, and he was very happy to receive him.

After the two sat down and exchanged pleasantries, Ma Zhengping took the initiative to bring the topic to a more serious matter: "Boss Xuan, I came here rashly today. I actually have something to ask for advice, and I hope that Boss Xuan will not hesitate to enlighten me."

Xuan Xiangming responded: "Boss Ma, you are being polite. I wonder if there is anything Xuan can do to help Boss Ma?"

Ma Zhengping said: "I heard that the Haihan army sent troops to Japan not long ago, is this true?"

Xuan Xiangming nodded and said: "General Shi led the East China Sea Fleet to expedition to Hirado, Japan. It is true, and I heard that this time the troops were not only dispatched to Zhoushan, but Haihan's garrison in the north also dispatched a large number of troops. I think The Hirado Port is only a tiny place, so how can it withstand the attack of the Haihan army, so the Haihan army won a complete victory, and captured thousands of people from the local area, and razed Hirado Port to the ground. After this battle, There is no Hirado Port in the world anymore!"

In fact, what Xuan Xiangming said was almost the same as what Ma Zhengping heard from his subordinates yesterday, but he continued to ask with a look of interest: "Then why did the Haihan army attack Hirado Port so cruelly? What is the reason?"

Xuan Xiangming said: "This is a long story. It is said that Haihan's former enemy in the south fled to Hirado to hide after the defeat, and was even protected by the local government. After regaining momentum, he secretly gave Haihan It caused a lot of trouble, and it probably drove the Haihan people into a hurry, so they simply sent troops to wipe out Hirado directly, which can be regarded as eradication!"

Ma Zhengping only knew that the muskets purchased by the Shanshan salt merchants were related to the Japanese, but he did not expect that there was such a deep connection with Haihan behind it. In this way, Haihan sent people to Yangzhou to suppress the Shanshan salt merchants. The musketeer team is not only because of the conflict of interests in the salt industry, it is very likely that it is directed at the Japanese forces behind the Shanshan salt merchants.

Ma Zhengping questioned again, and Xuan Xiangming was excited, so he also told him some of the battles he knew.Although these battle situations were not classified as military secrets, not many people in the market knew about them, at least Ma Zhengping's subordinates had not been able to inquire about them.

(End of this chapter)