1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2434
"Mr. He, do you think that this officer is acting too hastily?"

In a moving carriage in Ningbo City, an old man over fifty years old said to the scribe sitting next to him, "It is really a rare opportunity to meet the senior officials of Haihan this time. General Shi also said in his letter, If you miss it, you may not be able to wait for the next time! After thinking about it, I still have to go to Zhoushan to feel at ease."

The scribe replied: "Your Excellency judges the situation, and it is not a problem to make such a decision. I am just worried that if someone with a heart finds out about your whereabouts, there will be rumors that are not good for you."

Just as the old man was about to answer, the car stopped slightly with a slight jolt, and the voice of an attendant came from outside the car: "Master, we have arrived at the city gate!"

The old man waved to the scribe and said, "Go and deal with the outside affairs first."

Scribe nodded slightly, opened the curtain and got out of the car.It was getting late at this time, and the city gate was closed, and ordinary people would definitely not be able to get out at this time.However, after the scribe whispered something to the gate guard captain, the captain commanded the soldiers to reopen the city gate and let the group of people out of the city without making a sound.

After leaving the city, the group walked north for about two or three miles, and they came to a wharf on the bank of the Yongjiang River.There were already people waiting here with lanterns, and when they saw a carriage arriving from a distance, they shook the lanterns to point out the direction.

After the carriage stopped, the old man and the scribe got off the carriage and directly boarded a large boat docked here via the gangway, and the attendants quickly loaded their luggage onto the boat.Not long after, the sailors on board removed the gangplank, unmoored and hoisted the sails, and slowly sailed away from the pier.The ship went downstream along the Yongjiang River, and soon disappeared into the night.

"Where is the boat?"

Early the next morning, the sky was twilight, and when the old man woke up, he asked about his current location.Someone told him that he was passing Jintang Island off the coast of Ningbo.

The old man silently calculated the itinerary. From the place where he boarded the boat yesterday to the estuary of the Yongjiang River, there is about [-] miles of waterway. At night, he can only travel by the moonlight in the sky. The speed should not be too fast. It is not bad to arrive near Jintang Island after dawn. up.When we arrived at Jintang Island, the itinerary was almost half completed, and we could arrive at the destination at noon at most, which was basically the same as the time we calculated.

"Order, let the boat go as fast as possible, and try to get to Zhoushan before noon!" The old man obviously didn't want to spend too much time on the road, so he immediately ordered to speed up the boat.

Later, the scribe came to the old man's cabin and asked him: "My lord just ordered to speed up the ship? It will inevitably be a little bumpy."

The old man's attitude is very firm: "It's okay to be bumpy, and things will change later. Let's try to arrive as early as possible."

The old man who rushed to Zhoushan Island was Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo, and the scribe who served him was his most trusted aide, He Xiao.These two people have a deep relationship with Haihan, and Qu Yutong is even married to Shi Diwen, who guards Zhoushan. It is not the first time that they went to Zhoushan Island in private.

However, the situation of going to Zhoushan this time is a bit special, Qu Yutong is rushing to meet with the Haihan who arrived in Zhoushan recently, and discuss the cooperation between the two parties in Ningbo area.The reason why he had to go out of the city overnight to Zhoushan was, on the one hand, to hide his whereabouts and avoid being noticed by the outside world, and on the other hand, he wanted to show that he attached great importance to this meeting, and to win Haihan's support during the meeting with a sincere attitude.

If it is a general matter, Qu Yutong only needs to close the door with Shi Diwen to make an idea, but after all, Shi Diwen is only a general stationed overseas by Haihan, after all, he does not have the authority to make decisions on some matters, and this It was a rare occasion when a prominent member of the Haihan executive committee passed by Zhoushan, so Shi Diwen hoped that Qu Yutong could come forward to negotiate, so that the executive committee could agree with their plans for the Ningbo area.

This matter was related to Qu Yutong's future and destiny, so he dared not neglect it, so he waited for Shi Diwen's notice in Ningbo City.Someone sent a letter to Qu Yutong's residence yesterday, saying that the important person has arrived, and asked him to go to Zhoushan Island to meet as soon as possible.Qu Yutong knew that the Haihan people should have sent messages to Ningbo City by telegram, and after calculating the approximate time needed on the way, he replied that the messenger would arrive in Zhoushan at noon the next day and asked him to inform Shi Diwen in advance.

The news sent by Shi Diwen did not say that he could only go to Zhoushan alone, so Qu Yutong still brought his confidant and aide, He Xiao, so that in case of any problems, there would be someone with an idea by his side.

Although the second half of the trip was a bit bumpy, it still arrived at Zhoushan Dinghai Port relatively smoothly.Although Shi Diwen never greeted him personally, he arranged for his confidant Duan Tiancheng to wait for Qu Yutong on the pier with a carriage.

"Master Qu, there are distinguished guests visiting General Shi's mansion, so I can't come here to pick you up in person, please forgive me." Duan Tiancheng is very aware of the personal relationship between Qu Yutong and Shi Diwen, so his attitude is very polite.

"It's okay, Major Laoduan will lead the way." Qu Yutong was not surprised by this, since the status of the important person who visited Zhoushan this time was higher than that of Shi Diwen, it was reasonable for Shi Diwen to accompany him all the way.Just like the imperial court sent imperial envoys to Ningbo to inspect, I will definitely follow them every step of the way.If Shi Diwen really came to the pier, then he would wonder whether the important person who came to Zhoushan was as important as Shi Diwen claimed.Later in Shi Diwen's mansion, Qu Yutong finally met the nobleman whom Shi Diwen insisted that he come to Zhoushan to meet.

"Master Tao's prestige, I have admired for a long time, when I saw him today, he is really imposing, like a dragon and a phoenix!" After listening to Shi Diwen's introduction, Qu Yutong immediately took the initiative to show his affection to Tao Donglai.

Of course, Qu Yutong knew something about Tao Donglai's identity.He knew that this person had an extremely respected status in Haihan. Although Haihan Kingdom did not have a king and the executive committee was the highest authority, this person was also the leader of the executive committee. From a certain point of view, He is almost equivalent to the uncrowned king of Haihan Kingdom.

But it is said that this man will rarely leave Sanya, the capital of Haihan, and this time he actually appeared on Zhoushan Island. It is conceivable that he has an extremely important responsibility. Qu Yutong was able to get the opportunity to meet, which is naturally due to Shi Diwen. Light.

Tao Donglai said a few polite words, and then took the initiative to bring the conversation to the main topic: "Originally this trip was in a hurry when I passed by Zhoushan, so I didn't arrange to meet with local officials, but General Shi suggested that I meet and chat with Mr. Qu. I know Master Qu's relationship with General Shi is not an outsider, so Master Qu can speak up if he has anything to say."

Qu Yutong looked at Shi Diwen, and saw that the other side looked normal, so he responded: "Lord Tao, I am the prefect of Ningbo. I have always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic. Everything I do is my duty, and I have no selfishness."

It has not been a year or two since Qu Yutong and Shi Diwen got together, and Tao Donglai knew a little about it, so naturally he didn't believe the other party's words, but he still had to compliment him on the surface to show that he loved him. There is no doubt about it.

Then I heard Qu Yutong continue to say: "In the past few years, relying on Dinghai Port, a treasure land of geomantic omen, Ningbo Prefecture has flourished in shipping business, the market is prosperous, and the lives of the local people are better than before. But although the local That's right, but it also caused the jealousy of other state capitals, and quietly reported to them that this official has colluded with your country and abroad for personal gain, and wants to join this official so that he can take away the prefect. It is difficult for people to defend themselves, and now they can only ask your country for help to see if they can manage to save this hard-won situation."

When Tao Donglai heard this, he always felt that Qu Yutong's rhetoric was familiar. Then he thought about it, the year before last, the coalition fleet passed by Zhoushan on its way north to North Korea. Shi Shunlu arranged a military exercise in Hangzhou Bay.He had talked about this with Shi Diwen before, and Shi Diwen vaguely said that the effect of the military exercise had gradually faded, and it turned out that it fell on Qu Yutong.

Ningbo is adjacent to Zhoushan, and a considerable part of the goods completed in Dinghai Port are shipped from Ningbo. Because of the prosperity of Dinghai Port, it is indeed Ningbo that benefits the most. As the prefect of Ningbo, Qu Yutong, even if he doesn’t have to do anything, he will A lot of oil and water flowed into his pockets.What's more, as long as someone pays attention, he will find that Qu Yutong's aide He Xiao's family has many properties, obviously not the scale of wealth that a master behind the scenes can own. It is not difficult to think that these are actually the property of the prefect. It is so big and of high value that it is not even much worse than those salt merchants in Yangzhou.

Qu Yutong's biggest advantage, from the outside world's point of view, is nothing more than relying on his marriage with the Haihan general who is based in Zhoushan, thus establishing a strong personal relationship, so that the Haihan people are willing to hand over many commercial resources to Qu Yutong.It is impossible to say that no one is envious of people who can obtain shocking wealth in just a few years by relying on this, and naturally there will be people who want to replace it.As for things like marriage, if you, Qu Yutong, can send a pretty girl out, wouldn't others do the same?Compared with doing business, this link basically has no technical content.

Of course, it is not enough to be ambitious if you want to replace Qu Yutong.Qu Yutong is now rich and prestigious, with the support of civil and military officials at all levels in Ningbo in front of the stage, and Shi Diwen from Zhoushan behind the scenes. It is not so easy to find a reason to dismiss him or transfer him to another place .The year before last, someone in Hangzhou City had this idea, but before they succeeded, the Haihan people held a shocking military exercise in Hangzhou Bay, and said that only Qu Yutong was recognized in Ningbo, and this measure was forced Dissuaded the careerists who wanted to get rid of Qu Yutong at that time.

But now, listening to what Qu Yutong said, it seems that this matter has not been fully understood. Two years later, someone else is eyeing his prefect position—or the huge economic benefits that this position can bring.But this time Qu Yutong still seemed powerless to resist, so he had to turn to Haihan again.

There is no need to ask Shi Diwen's position, he must be on Qu Yutong's side.Considering that Qu Yutong has contributed a lot to the smooth development of Zhoushan in the past few years, and has cooperated with Haihan to a certain degree, it is definitely a safer way for Haihan to support him to stay in office.

Tao Donglai listened to Qu Yutong's explanation of the situation, and at the same time sorted out the interests of the matter in his heart. After Qu Yutong finished speaking, he pondered for a while, and then asked: "Then the person who wants to harm you this time, with Was it the same group two years ago?"

Qu Yutong shook his head slightly and said: "Two years ago, it was only the figures in the officialdom in Zhejiang who wanted to replace me, but this time it is the big figures in the court who are behind the scenes!"

"Oh? Someone in the court is also eyeing Ningbo? It seems that your business here is already well-known!" Tao Donglai was a little surprised when he heard the news, but he didn't have any pressure, and he still had the same mood as the song. Yu Tong made a few jokes.

Some people in the court would stare at Qu Yutong's position. Of course, it is unlikely that they are jealous of his talent. After all, the highest magistrate is only from the third rank, which is far behind the court officials.The only plausible reason is that they are interested in the lucrative water that Ningbo, a trade port, intends to get rid of Qu Yutong and take the profits here as their own.If it is managed well, it is possible to scrape away 80 million taels of silver from Ningbo in a year.

Qu Yutong sighed: "Lord Tao, don't be joking. If someone else comes to take over Ningbo, I'm afraid Zhoushan's trade will also be affected. Don't be careless about this matter!"

Of course, Qu Yutong had nothing to do with Haihan, so he could only lower his figure when he asked for help, and tried to make Tao Donglai realize his importance in this trading system.While talking, Qu Yutong also gestured to Shi Diwen with his eyes, asking the other party to quickly say something nice for him.

Shi Diwen interjected with a dry cough: "President Tao, most of the import and export trade in Dinghai Port, especially the various commodities purchased in Daming territory, are handled by commercial organizations under Mr. Qu's name. All aspects have been running smoothly, including matters such as payment settlement, which have been implemented in accordance with domestic standards. If someone is replaced to take over the Ningbo Mansion, many matters will have to be re-negotiated, which will delay a lot of time, at least Three to five months, or a year or so at most, maybe there will be other unfavorable variables in the middle. In my opinion, I think it is better to assist Mr. Qu to stay in Ningbo as much as possible, so as to ensure the trade between our country and Ming Dynasty Continue to grow well.”

In fact, Tao Donglai already had a rough conclusion in his mind, but he had to ask clearly first: "Then what are your plans now?"

Shi Diwen said: "Well, it's the military exercise I mentioned to you before. Using this method to shake mountains and shake tigers shows our country's attitude."

Tao Donglai said: "Then are you sure that this method can suppress the big shots in the court? Also, after talking so much, who is the big shot who is eyeing Master Qu's position? Can you give me a name directly?"

Qu Yutong and Shi Diwen exchanged glances, and then confessed to Tao Donglai: "The mastermind behind the scenes is the current minister of the Ministry of War, a scholar of Dongge University, and Master Yang Sichang."

(End of this chapter)