1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2175
On the premise of not revealing military secrets, Duan Tiancheng doesn't mind accepting some benefits from the outside world.During the arrest of Sun Feizhou, the leader of Shibazhi, in Ningbo earlier, Cui Hongfang distributed part of the money seized from Sun Feizhou's stronghold to Duan Tiancheng.

This kind of knowledgeable and interesting arrangement naturally won Duan Tiancheng's favor. Later, when Cui Hong ordered weapons from the Zhoushan authorities, Duan Tiancheng provided some valuable advice to Cui Hongfang, helping the commander in the numerous arms. During the order, he jumped in line and bought a hundred muskets produced by Haihan.

Such a move looks a lot like a reward after accepting bribes, but things are not as simple as they seem on the surface.Duan Tiancheng helped Cui Hongfang get the batch of muskets. In fact, Shi Diwen not only knew the inside story, but he was the one who nodded and approved the arrangement of order jumping in line.

Of course, it's not that Duan Tiancheng divided his profits with his boss, but that after he took the initiative to report the situation to his boss, Shi Diwen deliberately made such an arrangement, making Cui Hongfang think that he had successfully bought a Haihan Senior military officers, in order to reduce their wariness of Duan Tiancheng.

Although most of the garrison troops in the Ningbo prefecture had no intention of fighting against Hai Han, the Zhoushan authorities' defenses did not decrease much because of this, and they still did not relax their minds.And after establishing this kind of interest relationship, it will be easier for the Zhoushan authorities to exert influence on Dinghaiwei under the jurisdiction of Cui Hongfang.

Duan Tiancheng is actually a pawn that Shi Diwen laid out in the open. After Cui Hongfang's incident, the number of people who ask Duan Tiancheng to do things will definitely increase gradually. These things are often difficult to handle through normal channels, and there will inevitably be some unseen Duan Tiancheng can use his role to get in touch with these people with special requirements, learn their purpose, and then judge whether it needs to be reported to the Military Intelligence Bureau and Shi Diwen.

Duan Tiancheng's errand has money, meritorious deeds, and the risk is not too great. Moreover, he only needs to sit back and wait for the rabbit in his free time, and does not need to take the initiative to attack. It is indeed a good job that many people dream of.So when he heard Xuan Xiangming say that there was a salt merchant in Yangzhou who wanted to get to know him, he didn't intend to shirk at all, and he readily agreed.

Of course, before meeting with Ma Zhengping, Duan Tiancheng had already reported to the Military Intelligence Bureau in accordance with the working procedures, so as not to be unclear about the subsequent situation.

How could Ma Zhengping have expected that the other party would have so many ways, he just thought that he had won a good opportunity to get acquainted with the nobleman unintentionally.I want to find someone from the military to inquire about the tone, and this Major Duan is obviously a very suitable candidate.

Of course, with Ma Zhengping's experience, he wouldn't be in a hurry to reveal his real purpose. He would serve him with good wine and good food first, and then he would talk about it after setting up the atmosphere.And he is indeed very curious about the process of the Haihan Army's campaign against Hirado. It is rare to get to know such a person who participated in the whole process. Of course, he must try to listen to the description from the No. 1 perspective.

In this operation, the East China Sea Fleet was mainly responsible for attacking Hirado Port from the sea and dealing with the armed fleet of the Hirado Navy.However, because the main force of the Hirado Navy has been avoiding fighting, the East China Sea Fleet only wiped out a squadron that was used as cannon fodder.Moreover, due to the huge disparity in strength between the two armies at that time, the East China Sea Fleet only dispatched the flagship to solve the opponent, and it can be said that it did not take much effort.

Of course, Duan Tiancheng is not from the propaganda department, but he has seen the world and experienced the war, so he can describe the war scene vividly and vividly.Ma Zhengping, on the other hand, stood from the standpoint of an outsider, listening to Duan Tiancheng tell how the East China Sea Fleet defeated the opponent's armed fleet with two flagships, how it surrounded the local port from the sea, bombarded it for several days, and blasted all the buildings in the port to powder. I can't help the blood rushing, and I'm hooked.

Although what the person said in person is not as fancy and ups and downs as the storyteller in the teahouse, but it is more real and powerful. Even an ordinary person like Ma Zhengping who has never stepped into the battlefield can still learn from Duan Tiancheng. The destructive power of war is felt in the description.

The East China Sea Fleet's cross-sea expedition was able to encircle the opponent's port and easily clean up the opponent's armed fleet. If Duan Tiancheng hadn't intentionally exaggerated this, one can imagine how terrifying the East Sea Fleet's strength is.Combined with the various rumors of the East China Sea Fleet showing off its might in Hangzhou Bay in the past few years, Ma Zhengping naturally believes that if the opponent of the East China Sea Fleet is replaced by a state capital along the coast of the East China Sea of ​​Daming, the result may not be as good as that of Hirado across the sea. How much better.

"Master Duan, if you compare Hirado's army with our Ming army, what will it be?" Ma Zhengping was really curious, and couldn't help but want to hear Duan Tiancheng's opinion.

Duan Tiancheng said with a smile: "My country and Ming Dynasty are allies now, so of course such a war won't break out, Boss Ma doesn't need to worry. But if you want to compare, the Ming army is of course stronger."

After hearing his evaluation, Ma Zhengping felt a little more at ease.

In fact, the so-called alliance relationship between Haihan and Daming has only been established in the past one or two years, and it is far from reliable.A considerable part of the territory under Haihan's rule, including Zhoushan, was stolen from Daming, and Daming knew that he was invincible, so he could only swallow his anger.If it weren't for the powerful enemy of the Qing Dynasty in the north, Daming probably wouldn't have lowered his proud head and negotiated peace and alliance with Haihan.

As for the strength of the garrisons in the coastal prefectures of Ming Dynasty, Duan Tiancheng was also quite clear about the strength of the garrisons in these places. It was too common for the garrisons in these places to eat empty wages and drink soldiers' blood.If you really want to go to the battlefield, the garrisons in these places are probably no better than the Japanese.

The purpose of Duan Tiancheng's beautiful words was also to maintain Ma Zhengping's good opinion of him. This kind of speaking skill of judging the situation is also one of the training content of Haihan officers.

But Ma Zhengping thought about it again, the other party claimed that the Ming army was slightly better than the Japanese army, which means that the strength is still far behind Haihan!

Duan Tiancheng continued: "However, Da Ming doesn't need to worry about the safety of the coastline. From south to north, the coast of Da Ming is assisted by our navy to guard it. No one should dare to challenge us and launch an offensive against Da Ming from the sea."

Duan Tiancheng said this bluntly, he completely regarded the coastline of Daming as something in his pocket.Xuan Xiangming was probably used to his arguments, so he didn't react much, but Ma Zhengping couldn't help being startled, wondering whether this was the coastline of Daming, or the coastline of your Haihan country.

Haihan's so-called defense assistance is of course not a measure after obtaining Da Ming's consent, but simply an excuse for the large number of troops stationed near the coastline of Da Ming.Several key nodes and estuaries on the Daming coastline, such as Bohai Estuary, Hangzhou Bay, Fujian Strait, Pearl River Estuary... are all under the actual control of Haihan, and they regard the Daming Coast as their own territory.If any foreign forces wanted to invade Daming, they would have to go through Haihan first.

Of course, not many people in Ming Dynasty with normal brains would be grateful for this kind of "co-defense protection" provided by Haihan. Still think that Haihan's various actions along the coast of Daming are actually a disguised invasion.

Although Ma Zhengping's thinking was not that radical, he still found Duan Tiancheng's argument hard to accept, but right now he had something to ask for, and it was inconvenient for him to be too tough, so he could only suppress his rebuttals first.

Duan Tiancheng changed the subject and changed the topic to Ma Zhengping: "I heard that Boss Ma is a salt merchant in Yangzhou. Yangzhou is a good place for you!"

Ma Zhengping replied: "Actually, the old man is from Huizhou, but after staying in Yangzhou for most of his life, he can be regarded as half a Yangzhou native!"

Duan Tiancheng nodded slightly and said: "I have also heard that Hui nationality salt merchants are quite influential in Yangzhou. If there is a chance to visit Yangzhou in the future, I hope Boss Ma will take care of him!"

Ma Zhengping said: "If Mr. Duan wants to go to Yangzhou for fun, all you need to do is say hello, and Ma will send a boat from Yangzhou to pick you up and deliver him. All the expenses, food, clothing, housing and transportation during Mr. Duan's stay in Yangzhou will be paid for. It will also be borne by Ma, to ensure that Mr. Duan will have a comfortable time in Yangzhou."

Ma Zhengping showed the air of a local tyrant of the salt merchant, Duan Tiancheng nodded repeatedly, praised Ma Zhengping's hospitality, and said that when he was free, he must find a chance to go to Yangzhou.

Ma Zhengping saw that this flattering was in place, and felt that this opportunity must not be missed, so he took the initiative to say: "However, Yangzhou is not very peaceful for the time being. If Mr. Duan wants to come to play, it is best to say hello earlier, so that you can arrange guards in advance."

Sure enough, Duan Tiancheng frowned and said, "What's going on? Could it be that some people in the local area are dissatisfied with me, Hai Han Country?"

Ma Zhengping said: "Perhaps Master Duan has also heard about the fighting incident that happened in Yangzhou at the end of last year?"

Duan Tiancheng nodded and said: "I know what you are talking about, why is your opponent still unwilling to admit defeat after suffering so much?"

Ma Zhengping said with a wry smile: "Whoever admits defeat will lose completely. This is related to the big business of one million taels of snowflake silver every year. Who is willing to let go?"

The conflict of interest between the two major salt merchant groups in Yangzhou has long been made clear. There is no compromise at this level of conflict, only the winner takes all, and the loser is delisted.Although the Shanshan salt merchants suffered heavy losses in the fighting last year, they did not hurt the root cause. After the incident, they found that the Haihan people did not show up in Yangzhou directly, so they slowly resumed their old behavior.

Of course, the salt merchants from Shanshan and Shaanxi are afraid to make any more decisions about the table salt that is transported from Zhoushan to the surrounding areas of Yangzhou.

If I can't beat the Haihan people, I can't beat you?The Shanxi salt merchants have retargeted their old rivals, because they know very well that their opponents will not be unaware of the changes in the situation.If Haihan intends to win over the Huizhou salt merchants, it will inevitably lead to his own passiveness. The best way to deal with it is to attack the Huizhou salt merchants as much as possible and drive them out of Yangzhou before the situation gets out of control.

It was precisely because of the tight situation that Ma Zhengping rushed to Zhoushan after receiving the news of the return of the East China Sea Fleet, hoping to exchange for Haihan's support with a gesture of cooperation.However, the only official contact he can get with is Yang Yun, and the support Yang Yun can provide him is limited to the commercial field, which is far from enough for the situation faced by Huizhou salt merchants.

Ma Zhengping doesn't think that the commercial support provided by Haihan can help him defeat his competitors in the short term. It just imports more private salt into the Yangzhou market, and it is impossible to make the Shanxi salt merchants surrender.What he needs is stronger support from Haihan, including but not limited to force.

Duan Tiancheng said: "It seems that Boss Ma failed to take advantage of the opportunity last year to change the competition between you and your opponent."

Ma Zhengping said: "After fighting for several generations, a certain balance has actually been formed. If there is no external force to intervene, no matter how hard the fight is, the winner will not be decided soon."

Duan Tiancheng could hear the meaning behind his words, who else has the ability to intervene in Yangzhou's salt market, except Haihan?

Duan Tiancheng was not in a hurry to express his opinion, but invited Ma Zhengping to drink and eat food.Ma Zhengping also knew that there was no rush for this matter, and he didn't dare to urge Duan Tiancheng, so he could only be patient and be a good companion first.He also understood that if he didn't even enjoy eating and drinking, then he wouldn't even think about talking about any serious business.

Duan Tiancheng asked Xuan Xiangming to talk about the competition in the textile industry, and commented on it from time to time.Ma Zhengping listened carefully, but he thought that the operating conditions of the textile industry were quite different from those of the salt industry, and a simple analogy could not be made.Some measures that can be used in the textile industry are not feasible in the field of salt industry. After all, the salt industry is a special industry under the supervision of the government. Whether it is buying or selling, there will actually be many restrictions, even if it is a salt merchant who sells private salt. This well-known method cannot be used without restrictions.

After three rounds of wine and delicious food, Duan Tiancheng turned the topic back to Ma Zhengping: "Boss Ma, take my cousin as an example. He opened a shop in Zhoushan to do business with our country. Whether it's business or personal safety, , will be well protected. So I don’t think you need to worry too much about Yangzhou’s industry competition. As long as you and your partners cooperate with our country, your competitors will not be able to touch you. Our country will provide you with necessary support and support. help."

Ma Zhengping responded expectantly: "That also includes the use of force?"

Duan Tiancheng said: "That depends on whether it is necessary. What I must declare is that our country and Ming Dynasty are friendly allies. In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, it is not convenient for our country to use force within the territory of Ming Dynasty. Do you understand?" ?”

"Understand! Understood!" Ma Zhengping responded, but felt disapproving. Didn't Haihan Kingdom use force in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in recent years?Even the city of Hangzhou was attacked by the Haihan army in the past few years, so it’s embarrassing to say that it’s inconvenient?
(End of this chapter)