1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2471
Xu Xinsu's ruling method in Fujian is basically the traditional routine of the family, and the Xu family has indeed emerged a lot of capable people in recent years, so they can completely empty the court and replace it with the rule of Fujian.

Of course, such a situation is possible because almost all the outstanding young members of the Xu family have studied abroad in Haihan, and the skills they have learned are all used in practice.This group has a relatively high degree of acceptance and recognition of the concept of Haihan. It is actually not too difficult to persuade these people to merge the Fujian area into Haihan in the future.On the contrary, Xu Xinsu, who is on the sick bed, still has some obsessions about this, worrying that after Haihan annexes Fujian, the family's status and interests in the local area will be affected, and it will be difficult to maintain its current glory.

The Haihan executive committee proposed to Xu Xinsu that after Fujian was merged into Haihan, the existing family property and business of the Xu family would be preserved, and the current local civil and military officials of the Xu family would also become Haihan in the form of voluntary transfers. official.

All the soldiers and horses under the Xu family will obtain the official designation and establishment of the Haihan Army after reorganization, but the command system will not undergo major changes. Senior officials such as Xu Yuxing, Xu Yuzhuo, Xu Jiaqi, Dong Shangyi and others will continue to serve as their respective The commanders of the troops retain their military command over Fujian.But in the future, the conscription, training, installation, transfer, personnel appointment and combat operations of these troops must accept the unified arrangement of the Haihan Ministry of Defense.

The strength of the Xu family army must be regarded as a first-class strong army in the Ming Dynasty, but more than half of the strength of this armed force relies on the various advanced armaments and tactics provided by Haihan. Xu Xinsu also understands that if he does not agree to Haihan's request, then It is very likely that Xu Jiajun will lose Haihan's support in this case, and his combat power will inevitably be greatly reduced by then.Of course, the most important point is that he is very clear that the Xu family's army is not strong enough to challenge the Haihan army. If Haihan is determined to use force to annex Fujian, then the Xu family may not be able to use negotiation methods to protect their own interests. up.

So after half a month of negotiations, Xu Xinsu agreed in principle to the Haihan executive committee's proposal to hand over the ruling power of the Fujian region to Haihan.Of course, this process cannot be completed overnight. Fujian has eight prefectures and one prefecture under its jurisdiction, dozens of large and small cities, and a population of more than three million. It is not easy to complete a comprehensive handover.Especially in the handover work involving key affairs such as government affairs, accounts, and military affairs, there will still be a large number of detailed issues that need to be resolved slowly through negotiation between the two parties.

In September, Haihan informed Daming through official channels that in order to ensure social stability in Fujian, Haihan would temporarily take over local military and political affairs on his behalf.Of course, this is just a more euphemistic statement, which is no stranger to Chongzhen. Previously, Haihan used similar rhetoric when it annexed the Liaodong Peninsula, the Shandong Peninsula, and the Guangdong and Guangxi regions in the south.

When Chongzhen saw this diplomatic document, he naturally understood that Haihan was going to bring Fujian under his rule.Although he was very angry about this, he also knew that it would be difficult for Daming to intervene in this matter.Xu Xinsu has been the local emperor in Fujian for more than ten years, and the imperial court has long lost control over Fujian.

It is not that Chongzhen has not considered using force to regain Fujian in these years, but the problem is that the Xu family army is strong and strong, and has been fighting overseas with the Haihan army all year round, and has very rich combat experience. There is no Ming army around Fujian that can confront it head-on.What's more, behind Xu Xinsu is Haihan people. If he mobilizes troops against Fujian, Chongzhen is also very worried that it will provide Haihan with an excuse for military intervention in Ming Dynasty's internal affairs.

In addition, there were constant internal and external troubles in the Ming Dynasty, and there were more urgent crises to be dealt with than those in Fujian. Chongzhen was unwilling to take the initiative to detonate this time bomb, so he just sat and watched Xu Xinsu operate in Fujian with his eyes closed, and never took any action. more aggressive means of intervention.

After procrastinating for more than ten years, it finally developed into a situation that Chongzhen did not want to see.He also knew that after Haihan took Fujian, it would be impossible for Da Ming to regain this area through negotiations, but with Da Ming's current strength, it would be difficult to challenge Haihan by military means, so he could only watch helplessly. everything happens.

After the two parties reached an agreement, Xu Xinsu immediately summoned the backbone of the family and conveyed his decision to them.He knew that time was running out, and if he didn't start arranging the transition immediately, then after his death, if his family had different opinions on the matter of merging into Haihan, he might cause catastrophe.

Xu Xinsu did not hide his illness, so the arrangement he made was basically a deathbed request. The family members respected him, but few people openly opposed such an arrangement.

In September, Xu Xinsu died of illness in Zhangzhou City.Ning Qi, who arrived in Zhangzhou ahead of schedule, attended Xu Xinsu's funeral on behalf of Haihan, and spoke highly of Xu Xinsu's achievements in governing Fujian.

Objectively speaking, after Xu Xinsu came to power, the social environment in Fujian has indeed been stabilized a lot. Not only has the pirate armed forces headed by Shibazhi been cleaned up, but it has also opened up foreign trade routes, which has raised the scale of Fujian's foreign trade by several levels. .

In this period, disasters and man-made disasters will continue, and the economy can be good and the society stable, which is the condition that many places in the country can't wait for.Moreover, the additional Liao, Lian, and Suppressive salaries that the Ming court sent to the localities were all ineffective in Fujian. Therefore, the tax burden of the people in Fujian was much lighter than that in other places in the country, and their living standards were naturally better.Therefore, when Xu Xinsu was in power, a large number of people moved from the inland to Fujian, which indirectly brought a lot of wealth and labor to the local area.

In the past ten years or so, there has been a lot of chaos in the country, but Fujian has developed rapidly. Although it is not as good as the area under the Haihan rule, it is already one of the best places in Daming.Therefore, Xu Xinsu has a very high prestige in Fujian, and most people from all walks of life in Fujian expressed their understanding and support for his arrangement to merge Fujian into Haihan before his death.

Of course, there will still be a very small number of rotten Confucian scholars who insist that Ming Dynasty is the orthodox dynasty, and Fujian should return to the rule of Ming Dynasty instead of seeking refuge with foreign countries.However, those who hold such arguments are a minority after all, and they are simply powerless to resist the rolling wheels of history.

Perhaps because he didn't want to spoil the social atmosphere in Fujian, Ning Qi didn't let the Xu family punish these dissidents, but just expelled them from Fujian.Since these people think that Daming is better, let them settle in the area under the rule of Ming, and experience for themselves which side has the better environment.

(End of this chapter)