1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2254
To say that the object of Haihan's intelligence department's most attention is not the powerful Western competitors, but Daming, who is close at hand.

The reason for this is also very simple. Although the western colonists have powerful military power, they have no foundation in East Asia after all, and they will not pose too much threat to Haihan in the short term.

The situation in Daming is relatively more complicated. Most of Haihan's territory and citizens are stolen from Daming, and it is still one of Haihan's main raw material production areas, sales markets and population sources.On the one hand, Haihan must continue to obtain various resources from Daming, and on the other hand, he must also try to assist Daming to maintain its political stability, so as to ensure that his own interests are not damaged.

The internal and external troubles faced by Ming Dynasty will have a significant impact on Haihan's interests, so collecting military and political intelligence on Daming has always been one of the important missions of Haihan Security Department and Military Intelligence Bureau.However, since Haihan's access is limited to the coastal areas, and the intelligence department has extremely limited manpower, it is difficult to spread the network in the inland of Ming Dynasty, so part of the information still needs to be provided by partners like Xu Xinsu.

The various edicts and announcements issued by the Ming court to the localities, as well as the replacement of some senior officials, are all information that Haihan is interested in.After collecting and sorting out the information, Xu Yuxing's agency will also report to Haihan.And Haihan will also provide Fujian with some information they need, such as information about the remnants of Shibazhi, his deadly rival.

This kind of information exchange between the two parties has been going on for several years, and they are quite familiar with each other. Xu Yuxing and He Xi don't meet often, but the degree of mutual understanding is not low at all.It was also because of this that Xu Yuxing was even more reluctant to show any flaws in front of the other party. Even in the current occasion where the atmosphere was relatively relaxed, the string in Xu Yuxing's mind still did not relax.

Xu Yuxing didn't want to show off on this occasion and expose himself to the public eye. He preferred to stand in an inconspicuous place and chat slowly with He Xi next to him.

From where Xu Yuxing was standing, he could see most of the banquet hall, and what he wanted to focus on was the movements of the Ming envoy Fei Cexian. ,

Although Xu Yuxing didn't want to meet Fei Cexian face to face, as an intelligence officer, he certainly wanted to know as much as possible about the Ming envoy's every move in Haihan.One of the tasks of the Xu family's agency stationed in Sanya is to monitor Fei Cexian's daily actions.And Xu Yuxing usually learned about the situation of Lord Fei through the written reports submitted by his subordinates. This time he had a rare opportunity to observe the target in person, so naturally he would not miss it.

At this moment, Fei Cexian was in his field of vision, but he was standing alone, and there was no one around him to talk to him. He seemed quite lonely in this lively banquet hall.

"This Mr. Fei... doesn't seem very popular here." Xu Yuxing said in a volume that He Xi could just hear next to him.Although this point was mentioned many times in the report submitted to him by his subordinates before this, he still hoped to get confirmation from He Xi.

He Xi responded blankly: "Isn't this obvious? Everyone has to choose a side. If it were you, which side would you choose?"

"Of course I choose your country." Xu Yuxing replied without hesitation.

Anyone with a discerning eye is well aware of the complicated relationship between Haihan and Daming. If they want to maintain a good relationship with Haihan, they must not get too close to the officials of Daming on the surface, at least not to make it too obvious under the eyes of Haihan people.

Fei Cexian was just an envoy sent by Ming Dynasty to Haihan, and he didn't have much real power in his hands, so it wouldn't do much good to flatter him, but instead of getting too close, he might be misunderstood by the Haihan people.Therefore, at such banquets, few people would take the initiative to talk to Fei Cexian. Even Li Nai, a businessman from Daming, would keep a distance from him in silence, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.

And Fei Cexian should also be well aware of his situation. Although he was in an isolated environment, he didn't show any signs of depression.Having been in Sanya for so long, he has long been accustomed to this. Although this situation will make Daming look very embarrassed in diplomatic situations, Fei Cexian's personal impact is actually very limited.He has a lot of money and little work, and he also enjoys all the privileges of a diplomat. In comparison, it is not a problem to endure this little trouble.

In addition to the salary from the imperial court, Fei Cexian will also receive a monthly "office fee" from Haihan, which is much larger than the salary he received from the imperial court, but the Haihan people have not asked him anything Asked in exchange.Of course, Fei Cexian understands that the money is not given in vain, so when encountering some small matters that can be disputed, Fei Cexian often chooses to deal with them in a way that makes the big things small, and tries to avoid conflicts with Haihan officials. Head-on collision.

Of course, apart from Haihan, those other countries are not objects that Fei Cexian would have any scruples about.Especially for a country like North Korea that is jumping left and right, Fei Cexian despises it very much.A few days ago, he had a verbal argument with the Prince of Korea in the library, which was very unpleasant, but in Sanya, it is impossible to ask the Haihan people to come forward to uphold justice, that would only lead to self-defeating.Although Fei Cexian was dissatisfied, he could only hold back his anger.

And now he saw Li Yan standing with several high-ranking Haihan officials and talking loudly, which made him feel very uncomfortable.North Korea is poor and white. It needs military power but no military power, and financial resources but no financial resources. How can it enjoy such high treatment?Could it be that they begged for mercy from the Haihan people?
Of course, this kind of thinking is just spinning in Fei Cexian's mind. It is impossible for him to find fault with Li Yan on this occasion. He can only force himself to shift his attention to other places. unhappy character.

Fei Cexian suddenly remembered something. He heard that Fujian had also sent people to participate in this martial arts competition, but it seemed that no one from the Xu family showed up. I saw the military generals surnamed Xu who used to represent Xu Xinsu in Sanya.

After all, Fei Cexian didn't come from intelligence work, and there were still too few sources of information. He didn't even know that Fujian had replaced someone else at this time.And when he was quietly looking for the target, he didn't expect that he had already become the target of the other party's surveillance. Xu Yuxing even took the time to make him a topic, and made a few jokes with the high-ranking official Haihan next to him.

"It seems that Mr. Fei doesn't know about your existence, otherwise he would have come to talk to you long ago. After all, there are only the two of you as officials of the Ming Dynasty here." He Xi half-jokingly said to Xu Yuxing.

Xu Yuxing smiled and said, "Master He thinks I can find a common topic with Master Fei?"

He Xi replied: "Why not? You are officials in the same dynasty, so you must have a lot of official experience to share."

Xu Yuxing shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that Lord Fei will turn his face and deny him immediately after he finds out who I am."

He Xi said: "That shouldn't be the case. Mr. Fei has met with your family members before, and there was no conflict. At most, his face is ugly."

"I'm afraid it's in front of you, so I don't dare to have any conflicts." Of course Xu Yuxing also knew about these situations, and explained the truth with one word.

Now all the military power in Fujian is held by Xu Xinsu, and the local civil servants either obey his orders or are completely emptied out. The imperial court has lost actual control over the situation in Fujian.Although it still belongs to Ming Dynasty in name, in fact Xu Xinsu's influence in Fujian is no less than that of establishing a small imperial court on his own. Just forming an alliance with Haihan and establishing diplomatic relations without permission is not tolerated by Ming Dynasty.

Fei Cexian was a diplomat of Ming Dynasty, so when he met people from the Xu family in Fujian, he naturally wouldn't have a good face.Xu Yuxing didn't want to make fun of himself, so no matter how He Xi teased him, he still insisted on his position and refused to cause this trouble.

Xu Yuxing was worried that He Xi would be holding on to this matter, so he took the initiative to change the subject: "I heard that the little prince of An Nanguo has been asking about my subordinates for the past few days?"

He Xi glanced sideways at Xu Yuxing's expression, confirmed that his words did not contain too much personal emotion, and then responded in a low voice: "Zheng Zuo wants to get to know you, and he hopes we can arrange a meeting."

"Get acquainted? I heard from my fourth son that this little prince is not a simple character!" Xu Yuxing half-spoken, but didn't mention what the fourth son Xu Yuzhuo actually said about Zheng Zuo's deeds.

He Xi smiled and said: "You don't need to deliberately show weakness in front of me, right? After all, you are also a big man in charge of Fujian's military situation. You haven't seen any scenes before, so you won't be afraid of this young Prince Annan, right?"

Xu Yuxing waved his hand and said, "Compared to the little prince who will inherit Annan's rule sooner or later, I'm not a big shot. Sir, don't be joking."

He Xi responded: "What? Do you really need to have the title of prince to be considered a big man? Then maybe in a few years, Mr. Xu will be crowned king by the court."

Xu Yuxing's face changed slightly and said: "Master He, don't make jokes about this kind of thing. The wall has ears."

He Xi responded lightly: "Who can tell what will happen in the future? Let's take your time and watch!"

In the history of Ming Dynasty, there were more than a dozen kings with different surnames. At the beginning of the founding of the country and during the Zhengtong period, many meritorious ministers were entrusted, so it is not uncommon to confer kings on ministers.Now Xu Xinsu is very powerful in Fujian, and the imperial court has no good countermeasures for the situation in Fujian, so it can only pretend to be deaf and dumb to maintain the status quo.

But if the current trend continues, even if Xu Xinsu can bear his temper, when he lets go, will the successor be willing to continue to be the Fujian general?Once it wants to divide the territory and claim the king by itself, it will be difficult for the imperial court to have any effective means to prevent Fujian from changing the sky.If a civil war against Fujian is to be waged against rebellion, the difficulty may be much higher than that of the peasant army in the Central Plains.

The imperial court has already tried the way to promote Xu Xinsu to a noble position, hoping to transfer him to the capital, and even hinted that even if he wants to be the Minister of the Ministry of War or other positions, it is not impossible to discuss, but Xu Xinsu has never been moved, and will stay in Fujian. Ken moved his nest, managed the local area like an iron bucket, and held all the military and political power firmly in his own hands.

If the imperial court had not used any tricks to stabilize Xu Xinsu, then the only thing left was to seal the king.This trick may not be 100% effective, but it can at least temporarily restrain Xu Xinsu from a moral point of view, so that he can no longer become king by standing on his own.

Xu Xinsu understood the reason for this, but he would not take the initiative to make such a request to the court.Haihan also understands that he will not contribute to this matter.Of course the Ming court knew better, but there were too many factors to take into account. Even if Chongzhen had such a plan, there would still be various conflicts of interest that hindered the implementation of this matter.

Perhaps at some point in the future, the imperial court will choose the lesser of two evils, and will still choose to secure Xu Xinsu and the interest groups behind him in the way of crowning the king, so as to avoid another unmanageable state within a state in Fujian.

But whether this will happen, and when it will happen, no one can accurately predict.Even the Haihan people, who know everything and know everything, cannot predict this event, because this is no longer the history they know.

From Haihan's standpoint, He Xi hopes that Fujian can continue to form its own system under the Xu family's rule, so that Haihan can have a large channel to exchange various resources with Daming.But at the same time, he didn't want to see Fujian becoming independent from Ming Dynasty, which would affect Haihan's interests in the southeast coast.

Based on such a standpoint, perhaps the most ideal situation would be for the Ming court to grant Xu Xinsu a king with a different surname, and then the two parties would continue to maintain the superficial relationship between monarch and minister.

Although Xu Yuxing may not be Xu Xinsu's chosen heir to the family business, but when the time comes, he will ascend to heaven alone. As Xu Xinsu's son, it is probably reasonable for him to be named a marquis.It's just that Xu Yuxing doesn't like to show his face, even if the imperial court grants him a title, it probably won't make him change his mind.

However, the intelligence agencies in Xu Yuxing's hands will have a great influence on the future situation in Fujian, so He Xi is also trying to test his attitude, wanting to see what Xu Yuxing thinks about Fujian's future development direction.

Xu Yuxing said slowly: "What the court plans to do is the court's business, and my Xu family can't interfere with the court's decision. However, whether to be crowned king or not will not affect my Xu family's status in Fujian, let alone damage my Xu family's decision." interests! If it is not in line with this, then my Xu family must put my own interests first... What do you think, Mr. He?"

He Xi nodded slightly and said: "It is reasonable, I personally agree with Master Xu's thoughts. But for now, I think it is better for Fujian to maintain the status quo, so that everyone is happy for the Xu family, Daming, and our country .”

"I hope so." Xu Yuxing responded noncommittally.

(End of this chapter)