1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 557

"You..." The fat official pointed at the Haihan officer, so angry that he didn't know how to refute.

The Haihan officer continued to say expressionlessly: "It's okay if you don't want to be inspected, we will send you back to Guangzhou by boat immediately."

"You rascal, aren't you afraid of being punished by the court!" The fat official still clamored sternly and refused to admit defeat.

The officer's face became gloomy: "My lord, I think you probably haven't figured out the current situation of Qiongzhou Island. If you want to spend your term of office on the island safely, you'd better control your mouth first. Beware of misfortune coming out of your mouth!"

After the warning, the officer ordered the soldiers on standby: "Search this ship carefully, and don't let go of anything suspicious! If anyone obstructs it, they will be treated as private pirates!"

This little episode did not cause much controversy. After receiving a stern warning, the official who tried to make trouble quickly stopped talking.Because he also remembered that Liu Qian had warned them before they set off from Guangzhou that they must not conflict with the Haihan militia members after they arrived in Qiongzhou, because few of these militiamen were Han Chinese, and they did not have much awe of the imperial court. , let alone what the Ming law is.After the chaos in Qiongzhou, the imperial court no longer had much actual control over the local area. Once it clashed with these militias, the situation would be difficult to control.And with the temperament of the Haihan people, they would probably choose to protect their shortcomings instead of maintaining the dignity of the court.

After completing the inspection and registration procedures required by the Haihan people, the officials were finally allowed to land.All the officials were gathered together, and then a Haihan man stepped onto a simple wooden platform built from cargo boxes to address them.

"My lords, welcome to Qiongzhou. I am Qiu Yuan, the director of Qiongbei regional affairs appointed by the Haihan Executive Committee. Before your arrival, I will be responsible for coordinating the restoration of order and the reconstruction of management institutions in the entire Qiongbei region after the war. I hope everyone After taking office, your lord can cooperate with our arrangements and work with us to restore the social order in northern Qiongzhou as soon as possible and stabilize the people's hearts."

Qiu Yuan paused, and then said: "The adults who take over here in Qiongzhou Fucheng, please go to the Yamen with our guides to go through the handover procedures later. The adults who take over in other states and counties can choose to go by land or sea. Someone will register for you, and we will be responsible for arranging the itinerary on the road. If there is anything you don’t understand, you can consult the reception staff around you.”

After Qiu Yuan finished his brief speech, he left on his own, leaving behind a group of Ming officials who looked at each other in blank dismay.What they originally thought was that even if there was no welcome ceremony, at least a reception banquet should be arranged. After all, when they stopped at Lijiazhuang and Wanshan Port on the way, the local Haihan person in charge even arranged a simple banquet to welcome them. However, when it came to the ground, the only little preferential treatment was cancelled. This kind of gap made the officials feel a little unacceptable for a while.

"The future will be difficult!" Yan Mingjun stood at the back of the crowd and sighed in a low voice.

Li Jin next to him heard it clearly, turned his head and asked, "Why did brother Yan say that?"

"When they were in Lijiazhuang and Wanshan Port, the Haihan people still had to take into account the eyes of others, but when they arrived in Qiongzhou, they had nothing to worry about." Yan Mingjun said with a wry smile: "In other words, They don't need to take special care of our feelings now."

"We are officials of Ming Dynasty, and they dare not do anything to us." Although Li Jin somewhat agreed with Yan Mingjun's opinion, he still bit his tongue and refused to let go.

"Da Ming... I'm afraid that Da Ming has long since lost his place in the eyes of these people!" Yan Mingjun was agitated for a while, but he still didn't say this, lest others would overhear him.

Soon, staff members came to lead the way and took away several officials who were going to take over the official positions in Fucheng.The rest of the people have to register one by one and arrange their next itinerary.

The only officials who took over in Danzhou this time were Yan Mingjun and Li Jin, and the person who was in charge of registering them was a dark-skinned half-child, who looked about sixteen or seventeen.Yan Mingjun asked curiously: "Are you from Li or Miao?"

The boy stopped the pen in his hand, looked up at Yan Mingjun, and replied coldly: "I am a Haihan of Annan origin!"

"It turns out that you immigrated from Annan." Yan Mingjun nodded and said: "I see that your handwriting looks good, but it was taught by Haihan people?"

The young man replied: "Exactly."

"However, there are many problems with your handwriting. It lacks strokes, and many of the words have incorrect structures..." Yan Mingjun was born in Juren, and his knowledge is naturally not bad. With a glance, he found that there are many problems in the words written by this young man. .

"This is Haihan script, easy to learn, easy to recognize and easy to write. Haihan's schools are all learning this new script." The young man saw that Yan Mingjun's conversation was considered polite, so he patiently explained a sentence to him.

Hearing this, Yan Mingjun's face became gloomy again: "Then the local students don't plan to take the imperial examination anymore?"

The young man replied: "The imperial examination? What's the use of it?"

"You can become a high official if you win the imperial examination!" Li Jin next to him couldn't bear to listen, so he couldn't help but interjected.

"Like the two adults?" The young man looked at the two of them, with an uncontrollable smile on the corner of his mouth: "It doesn't matter if the high officials don't do it, I'd be happier working with the chiefs."

Li Jin's face also sank: "Are you looking down on us?"

The young man shook his head and said: "That's not true. Anyway, the two of you are going to work for the executive committee when you get to the locality. Why do you have to make such a clear distinction? An official in Ming Dynasty is just a status, which is of no use to me."

"Serve for the Executive Committee?" Yan Mingjun noticed this sentence: "We are officials ordered by the imperial court, how could we work for the Haihan Executive Committee!"

The young man waved his hand and said, "I won't argue with you two on this issue. You will understand when you arrive in Danzhou. This is your letter of introduction and itinerary. You two chose to go by boat. You can go to the pier with your letter of introduction. Take the shuttle boat we arranged and leave in the afternoon, and arrive at Baimajing Wharf in Danzhou tomorrow morning. As for the luggage of the two of you and your entourage, someone will deliver it to the boat for you later. When you arrive at the local area, there will be someone responsible for receiving you .”

Yan Mingjun took the two papers with wet ink from the young man, and saw that the seal stamped by the signing place was not the Qiongzhou government office, but the round seal of the "Qiongzhou Fucheng Temporary Management Committee". Pentagram pattern.The seal was obviously stamped on a blank document first, and the boy just filled in their names and destinations on the stamped document.

"Steering boat?" Yan Mingjun frowned and said, "Can't you prepare another boat for us?"

The young man replied: "The boat is arranged free of charge. You can also hire your own boat. However, due to the crackdown on pirates recently, the Qiongzhou Strait has been closed to sailing. There are very few boats that are allowed to go to sea. If you want to hire a boat, it may be difficult for this trip It will cost hundreds of taels of silver..."

"Forget it, how about going by land?" Li Jin interrupted without waiting for him to finish speaking.Hundreds of taels of silver is not a small amount for him. Although he also received two big red envelopes when he came to the post, he couldn't get back his investment in buying this position. Of course, he must save money now. save.

The young man shook his head and said, "It's more than 200 miles from Fucheng to Danzhou, and you can only go there by yourself. I personally don't recommend the two adults to make this choice."

"Just hire a few carriages for us." Yan Mingjun said: "The land route will not be blocked, so it won't cost much to go this way, right?"

"It's not a matter of money. The two adults probably have seen that Haikou Port is being renovated and the silt accumulated in the berths of the port is being dredged. In addition, a new port is still being built ten miles west of here. Not to mention horse-drawn carriages near Fucheng, even cattle They are all requisitioned to pull carts on these two construction sites, and even if the two adults are willing to pay a high price, they will not be able to hire a car right now." The young man explained patiently: "Two adults, don't worry, this boat is also my ship. Although the formal ships registered under the name of the Han Shipping Department are not as good as the special passenger ships, it is not enough for the two to sleep in the cargo hold. After taking this letter of introduction, the person in charge of the ship will naturally arrange for the two and their entourage everything."

When the two left the registration office, they were still a little confused.But there is one thing they are all aware of, that is, Haihan's control over the Qiongbei region has exceeded their expectations before they came here.If the young man hadn't lied, then the Haihan people not only have the ability to confiscate cattle, horses and livestock near Fucheng, organize and build large-scale projects here, but also have put all the shipping industry on the Qiongbei coastline under their own management.

The two took their family members with them, followed the instructions in the letter of introduction, and found Pier A and No. [-] where the liner ship was berthing.Li Jin yelled from afar: "It's that ship!"

A large three-foot-long wooden sign was hung on the side of a lucky ship, with the words "Fucheng—Danzhou" written in ink on it. No. 27", and the remark on the letter of introduction is also correct.

After the ship boss checked the letter of introduction, he let them board the ship, and arranged the only four cabins on the ship for them and the group, and soon someone brought their luggage to the ship.Yan Mingjun Gu Kongzi chatted with the boss of the boat for a few words, only to find out that he was originally a disaster victim who escaped from Xin'an County, Guangzhou Prefecture two years ago.Because he was a fisherman before, he was also assigned to work at sea after he came here, but he stopped fishing and started shipping.

Yan Mingjun asked: "It is said that the Haihan people have managed a big situation in Yazhou. What kind of situation is it? Can you tell me about it?"

The boss of the boat replied: "The villain is stupid. He has not been to many places, and he can't describe them, but Sanya is indeed a good place. Compared with this prefecture, it is much more prosperous. The people live and work in peace and contentment. There is no need to worry about natural disasters and man-made disasters. As long as there is persistence With the committee in place, there is nothing that cannot be resolved.”

"There is no government office in the local area?" Li Jin didn't feel right when he heard this, so he immediately interrupted and asked.

"Yes, the yamen in Yacheng are still there, and Sanya also has the offices of the Inspection Department and the Navy, but they don't care much about it, they just show it to the outside world." The boss of the boat laughed and said: "Two It’s a blessing for a lord to come to Qiongzhou to be an official!”

Yan Mingjun asked puzzledly, "How do you say that?"

"Being an official in Qiongzhou, you don't have to do anything. The executive committee can manage the local area in an orderly manner, and you don't need adults to worry about it..." The boat boss said nonchalantly.

Both of them were heartbroken when they heard this.There is no doubt that in some places on Qiongzhou Island, the functions of the government have been completely emptied by the Haihan people. It is not the Ming government that is in power, but the Haihan Executive Committee, which came from behind.But it goes without saying that it is difficult for the local government to have a good response to this change. Whether it is economical, military or governance capabilities, the Haihan people seem to be much stronger.And once they use their usual method of opening the way with bank notes, how many officials can resist this temptation?At least the two of them couldn't resist, and they both accepted the money from the Haihan people in Guangzhou.

"My lords, don't think there's anything wrong with this. The villain sees that the adults in Yacheng are having a good time. The royal court pays a lot of money, and Haihan will send them a special fee. I don’t have to worry about local government affairs, I don’t know how relaxed and comfortable!” The boss of the boat sighed: “Several adults bought real estate in Sanya and moved from Yacheng to Sanya to settle down. How comfortable and comfortable they are!”

"Don't you think that...not the government but the executive committee is managing the place, is there anything wrong with this?" Yan Mingjun still couldn't help but want to make sure again.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" The boss of the boat sneered and said, "When the government was in power, there was a disaster in the local area and no one cared about it. The villain mortgaged all the house and fishing boat in exchange for enough money to support the family. Monthly food. The life-saving rations were all eaten, but the government still didn’t recruit them, so they had to flee to survive. Since the villain arrived in Haihan, he has never lived a day without food and clothing. Let children go to school for free, do you think the government can give such a life to the villain?"

"But Haihan people are not orthodox..." Yan Mingjun was about to persuade a few words, but the boss of the boat interrupted him by shaking his head: "It's not orthodox, the villain doesn't understand, and doesn't need to understand, the villain only knows, follow The chiefs of Haihan are working, they have no worries about food and clothing, their income is stable, and their lives are getting better day by day, this is better than the orthodoxy who is hungry?"

"You are heresy!" Yan Mingjun also felt that he did not know how to refute him, so he had to classify it forcefully.

Chuan Lao Dao: "It doesn't matter what adults think, whether it is good or not, we ordinary people naturally have steelyards in our hearts."

(End of this chapter)