1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 241 The Role of Wei Ping

Rao Wei Ping had already worn away a lot of edges and corners in the life of house arrest for several months, but this matter related to his future and destiny, Wei Ping couldn't help but questioned Ren Liang: "How can the executive committee make such an arrangement, but I can't believe it? "

As soon as Li Nai heard that it was going to be bad, he thought to himself that you are going to go to jail without comfort and want to continue playing, but don't forget the background of the person in front of you, a word can make you roll into a labor camp and wait for the coolies now.Li Nai hurriedly opened his mouth to persuade: "Wei inspector is careful!"

Ren Liang didn't take it seriously, and said with a smile: "Panic? Of course the executive committee has a purpose in this arrangement, and it has nothing to do with trust or not."

Wei Ping snorted softly, his face softened a little, and he thought it was not a matter of trust.However, Li Nai understood the meaning of Ren Liang's words - it has nothing to do with trust or not, that is to say, the executive committee did not intend to trust the inspection department and Wei Ping from the beginning to the end.

"What is the function of the Yulin Inspection Department? Do you remember what you told the executive committee?" Ren Liang asked Wei Ping, but before Wei Ping could answer, he went on to say, "Security and security are in charge of security. Jinganmin, so we can leave this matter to our security guards. If they can’t take care of it, we still have armed militiamen, so there’s no need to bother the brothers in the inspection department.”

Wei Ping gritted his teeth, but couldn't refute.Haihan security guards carrying rattan badges and carrying short wooden sticks can be seen everywhere in the port area, and now their clothes have changed from the original colorful shorts to soap-colored underwear, which is even more eye-catching.Although Wei Ping felt that the force value of these security guards was far inferior to his own, they had always been dispatched in groups, and they would not pay attention to fighting alone. In terms of overall combat power, it was indeed far beyond the inspection department.

What's more, Haihan's militia barracks is just across the harbor, and it only takes a few minutes to get there by boat, and the combat capabilities of the militiamen are no joke.Not only were all militiamen allotted Haihan guns uniformly, but it was said that they also had quite a few Haihan cannons——Wei Ping had seen Haihan cannons being loaded on the pier more than once, since the Haihan people dared to take this weapon out Selling while selling, it can only show that they have enough inventory on hand.It is said that Luo Shengdong, the general manager of the Navy, suffered a small loss at the hands of the Haihan people, but looking at Luo Shengdong's humble appearance in front of the Haihan people, Wei Ping always felt that he might have suffered more than a small loss.In any case, at least in Yazhou, or even the entire Qiongzhou Island, Wei Ping thinks that there is no armed force that can compete head-on with the Haihan militia.

"We moved the inspection department to the port, not for you to be responsible for the security of the port area, and the executive committee does not want the inspection department to intervene too much in local affairs." Ren Liang made it very clear this time: "The inspection department only needs to come forward when outsiders cause disputes. The security department is responsible for handling it, and the inspection department is responsible for the aftermath. The division of labor is as simple as that."

Although Wei Ping was still a little resentful, he really didn't have the courage to refuse the job of wiping his ass - if he dared to do this, I'm afraid he really wouldn't have the chance to walk out of the inspection department's courtyard again.

However, Wei Ping's city is not deep enough to hide his true emotions, and the feelings in his heart are basically expressed on his face immediately. Ren Liang sneered and said: "We pay more for the inspection department than the Yazhou government. There are many things, but there is much less to be done by the inspection department, so what else can you complain about?"

It's fine if Ren Liang didn't ask, but when he asked about this, Wei Ping's temper flared up again: "I'm an official appointed by the imperial court, and I'm under control everywhere in this place, so Luo Shengdong is just doing business by taking advantage of his position, why? But can he be treated courteously in Victory Harbor? Could it be that his seventh-rank official has a bigger head than mine, a ninth-rank official?"

Ren Liang couldn't help laughing when he heard the words: "I see! Are you jealous that Luo Shengdong earns more than you?"

"Is this the kind of villain who is greedy for money!" Wei Ping refused to admit it.

Ren Liang thought for a while and said, "Have you ever thought about why Luo Shengdong received courtesy from us?"

"It's nothing more than being good at flattering and sycophanting!" Anyway, the person involved was not there, so Wei Ping simply angered Luo Shengdong without any scruples.

Ren Liang shook his head, turned to Li Nai and said, "What do you think, Mr. Li?"

Li Nai's view is indeed more objective than Wei Ping's: "In my humble opinion, the source of the courtesy Luo received is the benefits he can bring to the local area."

Ren Liang smiled and said, "Please continue."

"You chose this place to open a port and build a city. The advantage lies in the environment here. Not only does it have a good natural port, but the surrounding area is almost completely unowned. Sea transportation, it can be said that the sea is the lifeblood of your development!" Li Nai said slowly while sorting out his thoughts: "The general role of Luo Ba is that he can recruit ships from the Yazhou Water Village to serve You are responsible for part of the sea transportation needs. And with his identity, no one dares to check the goods on the warship, which can save you a lot of trouble in the export of goods."

Li Nai's words were considered very polite. The relationship between Hai Han and Luo Shengdong was clearly a smuggling business collusion between the government and businessmen. After he said it like this, it seemed very normal.Fortunately, these people are very clear about the inside story, so there is no need to tell the whole story.

"Inspector Wei, do you understand Mr. Li's meaning?" Ren Liang turned to Wei Ping and asked, "Don't ask what Haihan gave you, first ask what you can do for Haihan!"

Wei Ping was stunned and said: "What is it... what is it..."

He had thought about this question before, but he didn't think about it in depth.Wei Ping thought that as long as he could help the Haihan people deal with the troubles caused by some outsiders, it would be enough to get at least the same treatment as Luo Shengdong, but now it seems that this kind of thinking seems a bit taken for granted.

With the current capabilities of the Haihan people, they are already strong enough to deal with the troubles caused by outsiders on their own. The reason why they have to keep the inspection department and push it to the front is nothing more than to use the signboard of the Ming government to scare them. It's just outsiders who don't know the truth.But just like this, the actual benefits that the inspection department can bring to Haihan are actually very limited, and it is really incomparable with Luo Shengdong who comes to Shengli Port several times a month-he took thousands of dollars away at a time. For the price of two silver coins, many immigrants can be sent. This is not something that the inspection department can compare to preventing several sailors from fighting.

However, not everyone can do Luo Shengdong's errand. First of all, he must have the status of a naval officer, which has basically blocked the way for most people to enter this job.But Wei Ping has been staring at the port in Shengli Port for several months. He knows that the gap in the sea transportation capacity of the Haihan people cannot be filled by Luo Shengdong. Since Ren Liang made it so clear, then If I don't take the initiative to give it a try, I'm afraid I will miss this great opportunity.

"Could Mr. Ren point out a way for me?" Wei Ping thought about the key point, put away his previous attitude, and respectfully bowed his fists.

Ren Liang didn't rush to answer his question, but waved his hands and called Jiang San who was standing in the distance: "Jiang Kaishen, take Mr. Li to another place."

Li Nai understood that it was because Ren Liang had some things that he couldn't say in front of his face, so he said goodbye and left.

After Jiang San led Li Nai out for a certain distance, Ren Liang said to Wei Ping: "We do things fairly, how much benefit you can bring us, how much courtesy you can get from us, we will not let go of any An enemy, but will not treat any friend badly."

"Yes, yes, what Chief Ren said is right!" Wei Ping responded hastily.He has already realized that Ren Liang's dismissal of Li Nai is a signal, it must be that the Haihan people have some things they want to entrust to him to complete, and it is inconvenient for Li Nai, who is an outsider, to know about this matter-this is very likely to be himself A twist of fate.

Ren Liang stopped and looked at Wei Ping's expression carefully, and after confirming that he could no longer see the previous anger in his eyes, he said calmly: "Inspector Wei, what people in your family are on the cliff right now?" State?"

Wei Ping was taken aback for a moment, but he still replied honestly: "My parents died young, and only my sister and brother depend on each other for life. Now only my sister and her family live in Yazhou."

"Your brother-in-law is the current co-prefect of Yazhou, isn't it?" Ren Liang didn't bother to go around slowly with him, and directly pointed out the meaning of the question: "What is your relationship with your brother-in-law?"

"It's true that it's wrong, but... what is the meaning of this?" Wei Ping didn't recall it for a moment.

"Does your words work against your brother-in-law?" Ren Liang had to ask the question more directly.

"My brother-in-law is very strict with others. If it is not necessary, I generally don't want to take the initiative to see him..." Wei Ping saw Ren Liang's face sinking, and quickly added: "But their husband and wife are very affectionate, my sister said Whatever, my brother-in-law will do it, and my elder sister begged for this post of inspector."

"Does it mean that your sister is in charge of your family?" After getting Wei Ping's affirmative look, Ren Liang finally revealed his real purpose: "Now there is one thing that needs your brother-in-law to express his opinion. If you can handle this matter, then you can enjoy the same treatment as Luo Shengdong!"

"Can you come and go freely?" Wei Ping didn't ask the content of the matter, but asked his own concerns first.

"can."

"Can I trade with you?"

"Okay, but the salt is useless, you can choose another line of work when the time comes."

"Then I will boldly agree first!" After receiving Ren Liang's promise, Wei Ping became more courageous: "But I don't know what you need to express to my brother-in-law, please explain to me, sir, and I will repair the book immediately and send it to you. Go back to Yazhou to persuade my sister."

"It's very simple. Isn't the high-ranking officials of Yazhou going to retire collectively next year? Zhizhou, your brother-in-law, Chief Qian of the guard, and the generals of the Shuizhai, it's time to step aside. The executive committee hopes that your brother-in-law can Express your position in advance and support Zhang Tongjuan to take over the position of governor of Yazhou." Ren Liang explained the inside story concisely, ignoring the complicated expression on Wei Ping's face.

This was what Luo Shengdong told Tao Donglai when he came to Shengli Port at the beginning of the month, but at that time Luo Shengdong's idea was to help several elders who were about to retire, let the Haihan people occupy the land of Fenghuang Town, and then Set aside a piece as a kickback for several elders.But because the Time Traveling Group was not in a hurry to develop the area beyond Phoenix Town, Tao Donglai rejected his suggestion.However, Tao Donglai did not let go of the important news that senior officials in Yazhou will retire collectively next year. Instead, he came up with a new plan-trying to push Luo Shengdong's old father-in-law to take over the position of magistrate, so that Further control the situation in the entire Yazhou area.

The difficulty of this plan is indeed not small, because it is quite a difficult task for the current crossing group to directly intervene in the interests of Daming's officialdom. this post.As the supreme chief executive of Yazhou, the position of knowing the state from the fifth grade requires an appointment letter from the Ministry of Officials, and the time-traveling group far away in Yazhou cannot interfere with the appointment of personnel in Beijing.But this plan is not impossible to realize, because of the special environment of Yazhou, local officials of this level almost all choose their successors from Qiongzhou Island, so the experience in the field and the recommendation of their superiors and colleagues are extremely important.

Luo Shengdong's old father-in-law has been a magistrate in Qiongzhou Island for more than ten years in terms of qualifications. He also slowly climbed up from the bottom step by step. Judgment, and has accumulated enough experience in civil politics.In terms of rank, it is now the sixth rank, and it is completely reasonable and legal to be promoted to Zhizhou from the fifth rank.If the joint recommendation of several outgoing magistrates can be added, then the competition conditions will be even more sufficient.

With Luo Shengdong's current influence, at least He Shen from Yazhou Shuizhai can cast a valuable vote, and it is very possible to persuade Mr. Qian from the guard to also stand on his side. People in the military attache system, of course, have to help their own people at this time.In this way, half of the four recommendation votes from the local military and political officials have been obtained, and there is a possibility of success.

Although Luo Shengdong didn't mention Wei Ping's family background at the time, he was brought up by someone with a heart when discussing the matter in the Executive Committee—if Wei Ping is dealt with, there is hope for his brother-in-law's vote If he can get three out of four votes, then the possibility of Luo Shengdong's father-in-law becoming the leader will increase a lot.

Although doing so still can't directly affect the final appointment, the executive committee believes that it is necessary to do everything that should be done as fully as possible, and it may not be necessary to pay much in exchange for benefits from the Traversing Group to get Wei Ping settled.In addition, Wei Ping's recent performance seemed to be pretty good, so the Executive Committee decided to give him a chance and delegated this task to Ren Liang of the Port Management Committee. In terms of relationship, it belongs to the management committee of the port area.

That's right, the current Executive Committee is so capricious. Although the establishment of the Inspection Department belongs to Daming, the Executive Committee believes that the people in the Inspection Department are now completely supported by the finances of the Traveling Group. They should accept the leadership of the executive committee and work for the time-traveling group.As for their identities, of course it is impossible to be directly listed as naturalized people, but at least they can be adjusted from the "hostile" level to the "usable" level, saving some human resources for the military and police department.As for this decision, no matter whether it is the Yazhou government or the Yulin Inspection Department, I believe there will be no voice of opposition.

Wei Ping's psychology is a bit complicated. On the one hand, he really wants to regain his freedom, and like Luo Shengdong, he can get the courtesy of the Haihan people, cooperate with the Haihan people to do some business, and earn money happily; For this matter, I need to convince my brother-in-law Tongzhi who has a straight face all day long and will be reprimanded loudly if I make a slight mistake, and I can't help but want to retreat.And once Luo Shengdong's father-in-law takes the position, wouldn't Luo Shengdong be able to take advantage of both ends?But I talked too much just now, and the cowhide has already been blown out, and it is definitely impossible to get it back now.

Wei Ping sighed, and asked tentatively, "I don't know if you have a time limit for this?"

"Write the recommendation letter within 30 days, so that it can be sent to the Ministry of Officials before the Chinese New Year, just in time for the Ministry of Officials to select officials after the Chinese New Year." It is also crystal clear.

"Is... the time a little tight?" Wei Ping tentatively asked timidly.

"If time is not tight, do you think we will need to ask you to do this?" Ren Liang said slightly mockingly: "If it takes a year or two more, we will buy Yazhou even if we buy it with money. , why bother!"

Although Ren Liang's bragging is a bit big, it also explains to a certain extent the status quo of the transformation of power between Shengli Port and Yazhou.Wei Ping lived here for a few months and witnessed the development speed of Shengli Port. As long as there are no major changes, this place will definitely be more prosperous than Yazhou within a year or two.Wei Ping doesn't know how rich the Haihan people are, but they can turn tens of millions of catties of iron into iron boats and throw them on the shore as a sight to see. This kind of local tyrant method may not find a second home in the whole of Ming Dynasty. .To buy Yazhou with silver, perhaps it is really not bragging.

Ren Liang saw that Wei Ping was still hesitating, so he urged: "After the matter is completed, you can also buy a few boats and run the sea freight. The income is much higher than if you stay in Shengli Port... I know what you are afraid of. Turn around and say hello to Luo Shengdong from the executive committee, and then you can go out under the banner of the Yazhou water village. You have helped Luo Shengdong a lot, and he must thank you."

Wei Ping's eyes lit up when he heard the words, this is much more affordable than the inspector's relocation, and getting two boats to transport some Haihan products to the north will definitely make more money than maintaining law and order in Shengli Port.

Having made up his mind, Wei Ping took a deep breath and said, "Since the executive committee values ​​this subordinate so much, then respect is worse than obedience, and I will do my best! Chief Ren, don't forget today's promise!"

(End of this chapter)