1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2177
Ji Yuanqing was one of the commanders who led the secret operation against the armed salt merchants in Yangzhou last year and experienced the entire operation process. Therefore, when it comes to this topic, he is undoubtedly the most qualified to express his opinion.

Although the combat effectiveness of Haihan armed personnel is far superior to that of Yangzhou's civilian armed groups, the combat effectiveness of small groups of troops will be greatly reduced when fighting in an unfamiliar environment. This defect has been fully exposed in last year's operations.Although the personnel who participated in the operation at that time were selected from the army and the Ministry of Security, many people were still killed and injured in the battle. Therefore, in the post-war review, both the military and the Ministry of Security believed that this method of action was dangerous. The coefficient is too high to be used again.

Regarding the content of the resumption, Duan Tiancheng is also one of the insiders, so he is actually not optimistic about using last year's method to attack the Shanshan salt merchants in Yangzhou again.

But sending troops directly is by no means the best option at the moment.Whether it is due to diplomatic needs or to stabilize the trading environment in Zhoushan's surrounding areas, the Zhoushan authorities must try their best to avoid publicly dispatching troops to Yangzhou.Ji Yuanqing didn't need to explain this point, Duan Tiancheng knew the necessity of doing this very well.

The prosperity of Zhoushan is based on a safe and stable trading environment. Dinghai Port is just a trading port, relying on preferential policies and a sound market system to attract businessmen from all over the world to trade, and the main source of goods and sales markets are actually nearby It belongs to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions of Ming Dynasty.

If the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions are peaceful, the prosperity of Zhoushan will continue to develop. If there is social turmoil, it will directly affect the willingness of businessmen from various countries, especially the merchants of the Ming Dynasty to go to Zhoushan. This has been verified in the past few years.Therefore, for the Zhoushan authorities, maintaining regional stability is very important, and it is no longer easy to send troops to coerce the local government as it did a few years ago.

Although the Zhoushan authorities still hold military parades or maritime military exercises from time to time to show off their force, the direction of their propaganda has long since shifted from creating threats to protecting the trade environment, and the imaginary enemy has also changed from the Ming Dynasty in the early years to Armed pirate gangs that really only existed in fiction.

Making such a change is of course also to ensure the stability of the trade environment.This strategy was decided by Shi Diwen himself, and all departments including the East China Sea Fleet and the Ministry of Security had to implement it. Although Duan Tiancheng was not in the propaganda department, he knew the inside story, so sending troops to Yangzhou directly was not the best policy.

Ji Yuanqing said: "I don't think General Shi will agree to dispatching a special service team or a large army to Yangzhou. Although we have a long-term plan to control Yangzhou's salt industry, if Zhoushan's trade environment is to be affected by this, I'm afraid the latter is more important."

The implication of Ji Yuanqing's words is that he believes that the overall situation should be the most important thing at present, and radical means of force should not be used to solve the problem just to win over the Huizhou salt merchants.

Of course, Duan Tiancheng also agreed with his point of view, but the problem was that he had already received Ma Zhengping's benefits before, and he had both.Although it is not enough to sacrifice one's life for Ma Zhengping for such a little benefit, at least one has to help him fight for it.

"Perhaps we can adopt some compromise methods to help them." Duan Tiancheng said: "If the Huizhou salt merchants can wholeheartedly rely on us, it should bring us more benefits in the future."

Ji Yuanqing looked at Duan Tiancheng, and did not rush to respond to his suggestion.Upon seeing this, Duan Tiancheng said again: "Brother Ji, you are engaged in intelligence and security work, and you are an expert in this field. I think you must have other ways to solve Ma Zhengping's problem, right?"

Ji Yuanqing finally smiled and said, "It seems that Ma Zhengping has put a lot of effort into you."

Duan Tiancheng was found out by Ji Yuanqing, so there was no embarrassment, and he replied calmly: "Ma Zhengping has indeed given benefits, no matter whether the matter is successful or not, I will definitely have to tell him. Brother Ji, I don't ask you to do anything to the law. It's not suitable, but if you are willing to do this favor, I don't think Ma Zhengping would mind offering another favor."

Hearing what he said bluntly, Ji Yuanqing shook his head and said: "What should be done, you have to do it regardless of whether you get the benefits, and what you shouldn't do, you can't do it even with the huge benefits in front of you. The benefits are endless, But you must not miss the important affairs of the country for the benefit of the present, or you will ruin your bright future."

Upon hearing this, Duan Tiancheng clasped his fists and bowed in response: "Thank you Brother Ji for your reminder, I will definitely keep it in mind."

Seeing Duan Tiancheng's correct attitude, Ji Yuanqing continued: "There are ways, but the effect cannot be as immediate as if we did it ourselves."

Duan Tiancheng quickly responded: "I would like to hear the details."

"It's very simple, let go of the ban, provide military aid to Ma Zhengping and the others, sell them weapons, help them train armed personnel, and let them solve the problem by themselves."

Ji Yuanqing's tone was very calm, without any emotion.But when Duan Tiancheng heard this idea, he couldn't help being surprised.

Haihan's export of weapons has extremely strict regulations, and it is not possible for anyone to come to the door with money to make a deal.Even for a super vip user like Xu Xinsu, he still has to order according to the sales list provided by Haihan, and he doesn't buy whatever he wants.Although the Yangzhou salt merchants are so rich that they can even buy weapons and equipment from Haihan Kingdom on the black market at high prices, if they want to place orders directly with Haihan, at least they have not yet obtained the corresponding qualifications.

Duan Tiancheng said: "This...I'm afraid General Shi has to make the decision in person, right?"

"Of course." Ji Yuanqing nodded and said, "The export of weapons and equipment in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions must be personally approved by General Shi. Before you introduced the muskets bought by Cui Hongfang, the commander of Dinghaiwei, the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of Security. After going through a double review, and then submit it to General Shi for approval. If you want to sell weapons to salt merchants, you will probably have to go through this process. In addition, the approval of military aid will be more complicated, and I believe you understand the reason."

Duan Tiancheng nodded, expressing his understanding of what Ji Yuanqing was referring to.

Haihan's military assistance is a packaged export, and the sale of weapons and equipment is only a part of it. The provision of targeted military training is a more advanced project. Generally speaking, only a very small number of partners who have a very close relationship with Haihan can have this award.

For example, in the Fuguang area in the south, many powerful and wealthy businessmen have ordered scattered matchlock guns from Haihan for guarding homes or escorting valuable goods, but among them, there are only a handful of buyers who can obtain military training qualifications. number.The vast majority of buyers just learned how to shoot according to the instructions, and Haihan didn't teach any techniques and tactics that had anything to do with the military.

As for the current situation faced by Huizhou salt merchants like Ma Zhengping, it is true that selling them a batch of weapons can no longer solve the problem. Even if they have muskets, they may not be able to do better than competitors who have mastered musket tactics earlier.

Unless, Haihan can provide them with basic military training, teach their people some basic tactics, so that they can organize themselves to carry out armed confrontation with their opponents.

And this will involve more detailed issues, such as sending people to Yangzhou to organize training, or asking the salt merchants to pull the team to Zhoushan for training, how to ensure that these people are reliable, and will not beat Haihan in the future Creating trouble.Will the existence of these personnel cause Ming to misjudge the direction of the situation, or even affect the diplomatic relations between the two countries.These are issues that Haihan must consider before taking any measures. If something goes wrong in any link, it may cause Zhoushan a lot of trouble.

If it involves military training, it is impossible to buy and sell with one hammer like a simple arms transaction. The whole transaction cycle will be lengthened and the corresponding risks will increase accordingly.Even if Shi Diwen intends to help the Huizhou salt merchants, he must first carefully consider the possible impact.

"In my opinion, we should report this matter tomorrow to see what General Shi means." After explaining the stakes, Ji Yuanqing suggested to Duan Tiancheng not to advocate without authorization, but to follow the normal procedures.

At this time, Duan Tiancheng also understood that he could not handle this matter alone, so he could only agree to Ji Yuanqing's suggestion.

"By the way, you'd better write a written material in advance. General Shi is busy these days, so he may not have time to listen to your report slowly." Ji Yuanqing reminded kindly.

"Thank you Brother Ji for reminding me." Duan Tiancheng knew that Ji Yuanqing could only do this, so he got up and left immediately.

The next day, Duan Tiancheng, who had dark circles under his eyes, came to the headquarters again early in the morning, and went to see Shi Diwen.He rushed early and waited at the headquarters before Shi Diwen's working time to ensure that he could be interviewed.Even if he didn't have the opportunity to report in detail, at least he could submit the report that he drove out overnight.

"For this sake, I'm worthy of yesterday's meal!" Duan Tiancheng raised his hand to cover his mouth, blocking his yawning.In order to catch up with this report, he only slept for a short time last night, so he was unavoidably tired at this time.

When Shi Diwen arrived at the office, he saw Duan Tiancheng standing at the door saluting him, so he asked, "What's the matter?"

"I have to report to the general if I have something to do!"

"Then go inside and talk about it." Shi Diwen said, "I have to go out to do some errands later... I'll give you 5 minutes."

It's not that Shi Diwen is so busy that his feet don't touch the ground, but limiting the reporting time of his subordinates can effectively filter out some unnutritious slobber and flattery, so that his precious time can be better used.

Duan Tiancheng didn't dare to be negligent, and after entering the room, he roughly explained how he met and discussed with Ma Zhengping yesterday, even the details of Ma Zhengping's gift at the end, and then went back to the headquarters at night to find the Military Intelligence Bureau The reporting situation is also mentioned.

"What is the attitude of the Military Intelligence Bureau regarding the Yangzhou salt merchant?" Shi Diwen asked curiously.

Duan Tiancheng didn't dare to hide it, so he relayed Ji Yuanqing's opinion last night.

After listening, Shi Diwen nodded slowly and said, "Ji Yuanqing is still cautious in handling things, that's right! Did Ma Zhengping make any specific requests?"

Duan Tiancheng replied: "There are no specific requirements, but I only said that we hope that we can take measures to suppress their competitors, otherwise they may face an increasingly difficult situation."

Shi Diwen said: "Did Ma Zhengping explain that they are willing to do something for this, or what conditions will they use in exchange for our help?"

Duan Tiancheng said: "According to what he said, he had already met Yang Yun before meeting with me, and the Commerce Department asked them to buy more than [-]% of their sales of salt from my country in the future. Ma Zhengping probably thinks this is These are the conditions of cooperation we requested. However, I have already told him that this is only the basic condition of cooperation and does not include military assistance.”

Shi Diwen said with a smile: "This salt merchant is really good at counting. If he wants to exchange this for our military aid, how is that possible? If he has such an elm head, then send him back to Yangzhou as soon as possible. There is nothing to talk about." .”

Duan Tiancheng said: "What the general said is that Ma Zhengping later said that he can pay, and the price is negotiable. But the humble officer knows that he has no right to represent the Zhoushan colonial area to negotiate specific conditions with him, so he didn't give him a positive answer."

Shi Diwen said slowly: "Cooperating with them in business is to help them make money, as if we have taken advantage of it unilaterally... There are too many people who want to get military aid from our country. How can anyone refuse to pay? The truth of wanting to harvest! Take money to buy... Can I, Hai Han, send him this little money?"

Hearing this, Duan Tiancheng has already roughly understood Shi Diwen's attitude - military aid can be discussed, but the other party must come up with more sincere conditions, just spending money can't get what they want thing.

But Duan Tiancheng was also a little puzzled at the same time, the reason why the salt merchants were able to fall into Shi Diwen's eyes, wasn't it because of their incomparable wealth?Now that the other party has expressed his willingness to follow Haihan's wishes in terms of price, what conditions are needed to impress Shi Diwen?
Shi Diwen revealed the answer himself: "I know you may not understand what other salt merchants can use for us besides their business and wealth. In fact, apart from these conditions, there are some things that are invisible and intangible, such as their social influence. Just imagine, if even these most powerful businessmen have joined us and become the spokespersons of our interests, what kind of impact will it have on the local area?"

Duan Tiancheng said: "The humble position is dull, so I ask the general to give me some advice."

Shi Diwen sighed and said: "What is good at the top must be good at the bottom. These upper-level figures can effectively drive the social atmosphere, allowing our country's commodities, culture, lifestyle, and values ​​to slowly penetrate into the local society. When the social atmosphere tends to imitate our country, it will be much less difficult whether it is doing business, attracting immigrants, or promoting various systems of our country. Regarding this change, you should be able to learn from the neighboring Ningbo Prefecture Observe!"

(End of this chapter)