1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 554
Operations like this have been used many times on Hainan Island, and relevant departments have also summed up different methods for different types of officials.For example, Luo Shengdong's father-in-law, Yazhou Zhizhou Zhang Qing, at first just wanted to follow the Haihan people's efforts to win the Zhizhou seat, and then give some convenience to his son-in-law.However, as long as you take advantage of Haihan, it will be difficult to withdraw your hand. From helping the Haihan people to win the land deed in Yulin area at the beginning, to selling the entire Yazhou to Haihan, in fact, it took only a year or two. It's just time.

It's hard to say that he doesn't have the slightest loyalty to the imperial court. After all, he is also a scholar who has been educated by orthodox Confucianism. The concept of loyalty to the monarch and patriotism is still very strong.However, even so, under Haihan's step-by-step tactics of bribery and wooing, the local officials who boasted that they were full of integrity were dragged into the water one by one.Occasionally, there are one or two diehards who don't get into the oil and salt, and basically disappear from the public's view because of various "accidents".

In the areas infiltrated by Haihan forces, only officials who were pro-Haihan were left in the local officialdom, and the local population, land and other natural resources were smoothly taken by Haihan for themselves.Of course, the disadvantage of this method is that the progress is too slow to keep up with the rapid expansion of Shanghai Han. That's why the executive committee approved the implementation of the "Liaoyuan Plan" before this, with the purpose of realizing the actual control of the entire Hainan Island as soon as possible. .

Although the entire Hainan Island has been captured, the Executive Committee does not intend to openly break up with the Ming court before the foundation is stabilized. Therefore, it is also a link that must be compromised at this stage to zoom in on alternate officials of the Ming Dynasty to go to the island to take up their posts.But the executive committee thinks that there is not so much time and energy to slowly trick these newcomers, so there must be simpler and more effective ways to control them—such as house arrest, or more direct bribery.

If Yan Mingjun and Li Jin hadn't met Li Nai who happened to be here on business at the Lijiazhuang Wharf, then they would have been placed under house arrest immediately after arriving in Danzhou, and the local management committee would not have left them any contact place. Government and military opportunities.But after Li Nai intervened in this matter, their fate changed unknowingly.

Xiao Liang, the chief military officer of Lijiazhuang, inspected the sentry post after the banquet, and saw the registration record of Li Nai leading the two officials to leave the wharf area for Lijiazhuang. These two "do ideological work".As an official, this kind of thing is happy to see it come to fruition. The gradual encroachment of Daming cannot be suppressed by killing and killing as in the past when wild boar skins entered the customs. The most ideal is to gradually incorporate and transform Daming. The system of ruling institutions, especially those who once served as local officials in Daming.

Even if these people's loyalty is limited, their positions are not so firm, and their abilities may not be very strong, but the work experience in this ruling place is not comparable to the naturalized cadres trained by the Haihan Executive Committee at this stage.The advantage of the naturalized civilian cadres is that they are obedient, but the same is true for their disadvantages. Without the command of their superiors, it is difficult for them to make any independent decisions, especially for those who have no official experience. His eyes were darkened, and he didn't know where to start.

This is the same as training soldiers. If a soldier wants to grow into a general, he cannot go through the experience of war.Most of the naturalized civilian cadres under the executive committee are still at the soldier level, and there are still many problems in allowing them to independently manage a state and a county.Even in the Qiongnan area where Haihan has a relatively high degree of control, there are still many places that are jointly managed by the local government and Haihan. Haihan is responsible for controlling the general direction of policies, and the local government is responsible for managing some civil affairs. After the organization is gradually improved, this part of the power transfer will be carried out slowly.

Under such circumstances, talents with governance experience are extremely precious.At the beginning, the Executive Committee even did not hesitate to use the civilian and military generals among Annan's captives. A large part of the reason was to alleviate the shortage of special human resources.Surrendered generals like Wu Sen and the Ruan brothers were quickly appointed after they chose to surrender.As long as it is someone who can have a chance to be drawn into their camp, the traversers don't mind spending a little time and energy trying it out, not to mention that this time it was Li Nai's initiative, and Haihan didn't need much effort.If it's done well, it's considered a cheap one, and if it's not done well, no one will blame him.

After Li Nai accepted the management position of "Golden Shield Escort", he also traveled to many places in Guangdong and Guangxi. Judging from his experience in contacting local officials at all levels, this is why Yan Mingjun and Li Jin are interested in Haihan. Obviously, you can even see part of Li Nai's mentality when he first met the Haihan people from them.That's why Li Nai was willing to spend his private time to make friends with these two alternate officials.

The three of them kept chatting until late at night before ending the meeting with unfinished business.Li Nai personally took the two to the arranged guest room and instructed them how to use the self-supplied bathroom equipment in the bathroom in the house.The two of them were naturally very curious about this novel thing that hot water would flow from the copper faucet when the switch was turned. Even the ceramic toilet placed in the corner couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Li Nai said: "The Haihan people are very clean, and they almost have to take a shower after work every day, so they designed this convenient hot water supply facility. Not only do they do this to themselves, but they also require regular baths for ordinary people. There are large public bathrooms near the residences. If you have the opportunity to go to Sanya, you will find that the cleanliness of the local people is far better than that of the city people on the mainland. It’s just that some people still call Haihan a barbarian. It's ridiculous."

Li Nai is not bragging for Hai Han. Most of the people who settled in Sanya are naturalized people. Daily necessities such as soap have been popularized and promoted along with public bathhouses. It is much higher than the people in the area under the Ming Dynasty.Except for those engaged in manual labor, people walking on the streets of Sanya can often smell the aroma of plants and trees brought by various soaps.

Speaking of this, Li Nai pointed to the toilet in the corner of the bathroom and said: "The Haihan people have extremely high requirements for cleanliness. They believe that the root cause of people suffering from various diseases often lies in the cleanliness of the environment. Therefore, they This self-flushing toilet was specially made to keep the bedroom clean."

Yan Mingjun asked: "This thing is good, but it needs to be connected to the water supply and sewer pipes. The cost is probably not low, and ordinary people probably can't afford it?"

Li Nai replied: "This set costs hundreds of taels of silver, and ordinary people can't afford it."

Li Jin was very interested in seeing it, and planned to ask how to buy this thing, but when he heard Li Nai quoted the price, he immediately swallowed his words.Although the things are good, such a set of devices is enough to buy hundreds of old-fashioned toilets. Li Jin suddenly felt that the occasional filth in the bedroom was not a big deal.

"Tomorrow morning, there will be servants to wake you up and eat, and you two can wash up and rest early." Li Nai saw that the servants had brought clean face towels, horsehair toothbrushes, tooth powder and other toiletries, He took the initiative to say goodbye.

Li Nai originally arranged a bedroom for them respectively, but Li Jin is a restless person, so he continued to stay in Yan Mingjun's room.Yan Mingjun didn't take it seriously, picked up the hot tea that was just delivered and poured out two cups, after Li Nai left with his servants, Yan Mingjun said: "In terms of the luxury of this mansion, it is far better than the ones I have visited in the past. Among the several adults who have lived here, even the wealthy businessmen from Fujian rarely have the style of the Li family."

"That's not it!" Li Jin also agreed deeply: "Aside from other things, look at this oil lamp, it must be worth at least ten taels of silver, right?"

The oil lamp mentioned by Li Jin, in fact, the most important change is to add a glass cover to the outside of the traditional oil lamp.However, Haihan has a special process design link here, and the lower part of the oil is also made of glass material, and a small mechanism is made in the middle part to fix the wick, and the length of the wick can be easily adjusted by twisting. From the perspective of this era, this oil lamp naturally looks extremely delicate.

"The door and window oil lamp, the four treasures of the study, the Haihan people can spend so much time on these small things, it's no wonder that the products they produce can sell well in Ming Dynasty." Yan Mingjun sighed: "With their ability to make money, they should be able to establish a country with me in Ming Dynasty. Shen Wansan, who was very rich at that time, was compared with one another."

"Shen Wansan is just a businessman, and these Haihan people are not just businessmen." Li Jin did not lose his mind, and still clearly remembered his identity: "They made their own weapons, set up private militias, and trained troops. If you count them down, they are all actions that can be punished!"

"It can't be cured." Yan Mingjun shook his head and said, "From Yazhou to Qiongzhou Mansion and then to the Admiral's Mansion in Guangdong and Guangxi, the Haihan people have official documents issued by the government offices at all levels, proving that the militia groups they formed are reasonable and legal, and they have not followed suit. How can you punish the government for doing the right thing? Not to mention making weapons privately, you also heard that Haihan man surnamed Ma said on the pier today that the Fujian generals came here in person The purpose of visiting them is to buy firecrackers and cannons from them. Even the government and the army buy weapons from them, who can go and seize them?"

Li Jin smiled wryly and said: "The Haihan militia is much more powerful than the local garrison. Who can command them? Brother Yan, if you are from Haihan and have such a strong army in your hands, you will still obey the orders of the local government Dispatch?"

"I'm afraid I've stopped paying attention to the government a long time ago!" Yan Mingjun replied with a wry smile.

Now, he has gradually discovered that the true face of the Haihan people seems to be somewhat different from what he expected, and the local situation of Qiongzhou Island may not be as he expected, a governance environment that can flex its muscles.The power of Haihan alone is probably beyond his control.

As for Li Jin's prospects, Yan Mingjun was even more pessimistic. He heard that the local garrison in Danzhou didn't even have an establishment, and now the local defense was all in charge of the Haihan militia.Of course, the Haihan people would not be so kind to give him the command of the army they had built with their own money. Li was a polished general when he entered, and he had no soldiers at all.Of course, he would not say this in front of Li Jin, but Li Jin spent a lot of money to get the position of Danzhou Counselor, which in Yan Mingjun's opinion is actually not worth it.At that time, even if the local guards are reorganized, the Haihan people will definitely take advantage of the situation. It is really hard to say how much power Li Jin will have.

The two chatted for a while, feeling drowsy, so they took a shower and rested.

It was bright the next day, and the two woke up to the knock on the door of Li's servants. After opening the door, the servants delivered an exquisite breakfast in a food box, including seafood porridge, siu mai, shrimp dumplings, barbecued pork buns, etc. Wait.

After the two finished their meal, Li Nai came, and there was someone behind him holding a stack of large and small wooden boxes.Li Nai explained: "This big wooden box contains a commemorative set of Haihan glass stationery set in the first year of Chongzhen. It is limited to 99 sets. I bought two sets at the time. The extra set was given to Brother Yan. Already!"

"How can this happen!" Yan Mingjun hurriedly got up and declined a few words.

Li Nai said with a smile: "Brother Yan and I were admitted in the same year. It is a rare fate. This time we met, I feel that we have known each other so late. Brother Yan will not refuse these small gifts. I will go to Danzhou in the future." , I must visit the door to disturb you!"

Yan Mingjun quickly responded: "Brother Li is too polite!"

"Brother Yan and Lord Li each have a share of these two wooden boxes. If you have any kindness, you two must accept it." After speaking, Li Nai handed the two smaller wooden boxes to them: "When we arrive in Danzhou After that, if there is any inconvenience at hand, you can send someone to the local 'Furuifeng' to find the shopkeeper, and I will greet you in advance."

Although Li Nai didn't specify what was in the box, Yan Mingjun had already guessed the general idea.The shape of this wooden box is almost exactly the same as the one Maliko sent out on the pier yesterday, and it feels empty in the hand. It is conceivable that the contents inside are extremely light, and most of them are things like bank notes.This trip to Lijiazhuang, eating and taking, really made Yan Mingjun feel a little embarrassed.

Li Nai also seemed to see Yan Mingjun's thoughts, and said with a smile: "Brother Yan, don't think there is anything wrong with this, I just think I can get along with you two, and I just want to make friends with you two."

Seeing that Yan Mingjun seemed to want to refuse, Li Nai said with a straight face: "If the two adults look down on the next commoner, then it will be taken as an offense!"

"Brother Li, where did you say that!" Yan Mingjun didn't want to offend Li Nai for this, and quickly expressed his willingness to accept this gift.

(End of this chapter)