1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 602 Intelligence Work
Ning Qi didn't have many opportunities to go on business trips after crossing, but he also heard foreign personnel talk about their experience in the Daming control area when they returned to Sanya to report on their work, and there was no shortage of this kind of hospitality that provided special services.It was obvious that Morgan had noticed the little girl waiting outside when he came just now, so he was in a hurry to leave—of course, it was more likely that the little girl arranged by the master to serve him had already arrived one step ahead, and this guy just wanted to rush back to eat Meat only.

Ning Qi doesn't have any obsession with moral cleanliness either. This is the general environment and social atmosphere of this era. Besides, most of the men who abandoned their previous comfortable life and traveled to this time and space are still looking for various enjoyments after success, which naturally includes This aspect of private life.Since Xu Xinsu had already arranged this kind of sideshow, Ning Qi didn't intend to refuse whether it was public or private.

The next morning, Ning Qi rarely slept until the sun was up.When I was in Sanya, my schedule was full of various jobs every day, and it was rare to have this kind of opportunity to sleep until I woke up naturally.

After Ning Qi washed up, he went to the front yard, and saw that Morgan was already enjoying breakfast in the flower hall.When Morgan saw Ning Qi come in, he immediately winked and asked, "It looks like you had a good rest last night!"

"You too!" Ning Qi replied tacitly.He asked the little girl last night, and it turned out that Xu Xinsu had assigned a bed-warming woman to each official of the Haihan Mission, and he had put a lot of thought into the reception measures.

Not long after breakfast, Haihan's office staff who lived in Zhangzhou came to report work.Sun Jin brought two naturalized people to the study, and then introduced them to Ning Qi and Morgan.

These two naturalized people are father and son. The father is Gong Ping and the son is Gong Shaoqi. They are old immigrants collected from Yacheng when the Crossing Group first landed.When Gong Ping was recruited, he was actually a prisoner in Yacheng Prison. He used to be the director of a county in Jiangxi. Although he was only a ninth-rank official, he was a civil servant in Ming Dynasty. Food and horses, taxation, household registration, patrolling and other affairs.But later, Gong Ping was also implicated because of his boss's embezzlement, and was sentenced to exile in Yazhou.And his son Gong Shaoqi was working as a head catcher in the county government at that time, so he was also implicated by accident.

Not long after the father and son of the Gong family arrived in Yacheng Prison, they caught up with Haihan and reached a deal with the prefect of Yazhou, allowing prisoners from Yacheng to work as cheap labor in Shengli Port, so they were also shipped to the sea in a daze. Han's construction site.The father and son both worked in the yamen, and both could read and write, so they quickly stood out from the ordinary prisoners and became foremen.Later, because of his good performance, after more than half a year of hard labor, he got the opportunity to join Haihan as a naturalized citizen.

The two fathers and sons combined, their own guilt, even after serving their sentence in Yacheng, they have no chance to return to official career, but they were really involved in the prosperous situation under Haihan's rule, so they simply gave up After abandoning everything in the past, he chose to join Haihan nationality to work for the heads of Haihan.

Because of his familiarity with the Ming Dynasty's official system, Gong Ping was quickly transferred to the foreign ministry.Gong Shaoqi, on the other hand, entered the police department and worked in his old profession for a period of time, and then was asked to leave by the newly established Ministry of Security to join the intelligence front.It has been more than a year since the two father and son were transferred to Fujian to take charge of Haihan affairs. When the mission entered the city yesterday, they had already had brief contact with Sun Jin.

Both of them can be regarded as "senior" naturalized citizens, so they didn't kneel down when they saw Ning Qi and others, but bowed deeply according to Haihan's rules, and then reported their job titles by themselves.

"Sit down and talk." Ning Qi didn't have any airs, and asked the two to sit down first before talking.

"About Shibazhi sending people to Zhangzhou for peace talks with the Fujian government, you were the first to collect it, right?" Ning Qi didn't waste time talking about other issues, and went straight to the point.After all, the main purpose of the Executive Committee sending a mission to Fujian with great fanfare is to resolve this matter.

"It's the first news that Quanzi got, so let Quanzi report this matter!" Gong Ping responded, and then handed over the conversation to his son Gong Shaoqi.

Gong Shaoqi said: "Returning to the head of Ning, I noticed at the beginning of last month that Shibazhi's several places in Zhangzhou city suddenly became active. At that time, I thought they were going to do something in the city, so I Intensified surveillance, and found that they had secretly picked up a few people from Yuegang into the city, and one of them was an aide under Zheng Zhilong's subordinates. The humble staff later learned through the eyeliner in the Zhangzhou government that Shibazhi's I have entrusted people from the government to lobby Xu Xinsu for peace talks. After hearing the news, I immediately wrote a report and ordered people to send it back to Zhennan Port by speedboat."

"Well done." Ning Qi first affirmed Gong Shaoqi's performance, and then raised his own doubts: "Shibazhi arranged a spy in Zhangzhou City, can this be hidden from Xu Xinsu's eyes?"

Gong Shaoqi said: "Xu Xinsu naturally knows about things that are known to low-level officials. However, although there are constant battles between Shibazhi and Xu Xinsu, the two sides still keep some information channels in private. This is probably also the relationship between them. A tacit agreement."

"Why did Xu Xinsu do this?" Morgan, who was listening, asked inexplicably.

"Xu Xinsu has a lot of business dealings with the Dutch. Although the two years have been greatly affected by the war, he still manages to transport a large amount of raw silk and porcelain to Dayuan Island every year. Shibazhi is also involved in this matter. , Although they will block the merchant ships in Fujian, they still dare not do anything with the goods purchased by the Dutch." Gong Shaoqi immediately explained.

"So these underground news channels are the balance point between Xu Xinsu, Shibazhi and the Dutchman?" Ning Qi understood a lot after listening.

Xu Xinsu and Shibazhi have been arguing endlessly on the surface, but in private, both of them have trade relations with the Dutch East India Company, a big customer, and the East India Company pays more attention to actual interests than to support One of them, so the three families maintained a very subtle tacit understanding.

"Eighteen Zhi also buys a lot of supplies from the mainland every year. Most of the goods and ships they plunder from the sea have to find a way to sell them back to the mainland. Even if Xu Xinsu doesn't do these businesses, other companies will do them, so if you really want to Speaking of which, there is actually a business relationship between Shibazhi and Xu Xinsu, but neither side will admit to this relationship." Gong Ping also added on the side.

"Doing business while fighting a war, these people really think about it!" Ning Qi couldn't help sighing after hearing this.It seems that the situation in Fujian is more complicated than the executive committee expected. There is not only a life-and-death military struggle between the two warring parties, but there are also mutually beneficial trade exchanges.

"Then is there any news about the progress of their contact?" Ning Qi returned to the topic after listening to the background information introduced by the Gong family and his son.

Gong Shaoqi responded: "According to what I know, Shibazhi's envoys have had contact with the Xu family at least two or three times, but their negotiations are all one-on-one meetings, and there is no one else except the person involved. I know the content of the negotiations, so I have no way to find out the progress. However, judging from the daily situation of the troops stationed in Zhangzhou City, the truce agreement between the two sides should not have been reached. During the execution, the navy on the Zhangjiang River has never lifted its alert."

"From last month to this month, it seems that there should be some key interests between them and there is no way to reach a compromise." Ning Qi speculated.

"If there is a truce, then Shibazhi will definitely demand the right to go to the coast of Fujian to conduct commercial transactions, otherwise it will be difficult for them to obtain more practical benefits from the truce." Gong Ping opened his mouth to express his opinion: "Xu Xinsu Today’s status is achieved by monopolizing most of Fujian’s maritime trade business, and we will definitely not let others get involved easily. The negotiations between the two parties have not made progress, and it is estimated that they are stuck in this link.”

"It makes sense." Ning Qi nodded to confirm Gong Ping's opinion: "Then we still have time to do Xu Xinsu's work again, to help him stabilize his integrity."

After listening to the intelligence work report, Ning Qi also asked Gong Ping about the local political situation and business exchanges.The trade between Haihan and Fujian is basically based on Xu Xinsu's control of Fujian's sea power, so the political changes here are also one of the key concerns of the Executive Committee.

Gong Ping replied: "Xu Xinsu has achieved many victories with our assistance in recent years, and has been promoted to the Fujian General Army. He is currently considered a very influential figure in Fujian official circles. Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan thinks highly of him. Zhangzhou and Quanzhou Xu Xinsu can be said to cover the sky with one hand, and his words are more effective than the magistrate. With his umbrella, my Haihan's trade in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou has developed relatively smoothly, and Haihan Bank has also begun to gradually promote vouchers here. Although it is not as convenient as Qiongzhou Island, the business firm under the name of the Xu family is also assisting us in this matter, and in another one or two years, it should achieve good results."

After Ning Qi listened to the work report of the Gong family father and son, he encouraged them and asked Sun Jin to lead them out.

Morgan shook his head and said: "I really don't understand, Xu Xinsu and Shibazhi have been fighting for several years, why do they still make deals in private? They are enemies!"

Ning Qi said with a smile: "You Americans' political wisdom is too low. You probably won't be able to figure it out if you think about it for two or three months. You just need to understand one thing, no matter war or peace, it's all about profit after all. The same goes for Shibazhi and Xu Xinsu."

Morgan shrugged and said, "I don't know where your sense of superiority comes from. I'm a Haihan just like you now. If you laugh at me, you're laughing at yourself."

Ning Qi laughed dumbly and said: "Your brain is turning very fast now! Okay, okay, it's my fault, I promise I won't laugh at you again."

Not long after the Gong family father and son left, Xu Xinsu sent someone over to ask Ning Qi to come over to talk to him.After all, yesterday's banquet was not a formal negotiation occasion, and today's private meeting is the time for a direct confrontation.Because we were going to talk about the arrangement of the joint military exercise today, Morgan also went with him. He did not forget to have a Glock 18 automatic pistol in each armpit.

After Xu Xinsu sat down with the two of them, he took the initiative to ask, "Did you two rest well last night?"

"Very good, Mr. Xu has a heart." Ning Qi replied without changing his expression.

"That's the best. If there is any inconvenience, tell the supervisor and let the people below handle it. The old man has already told the subordinates that as long as it is a request from the mission, they must try their best to meet it." Xu Xinsu said with a smile .

After Ning Qi thanked him again, he began to introduce the main topic: "This time the executive committee sent us to visit Fujian. In addition to increasing mutual trust and cooperation between the two parties, there is another task, which is to teach the Fujian navy some combat skills and tactics at sea."

Xu Xinsu said happily: "I don't know how to arrange this course? How big is the venue? Can low-level officers be accommodated?"

"Master Xu, don't panic, listen to me first." Ning Qi continued: "We don't plan to explain the theory in class this time, but plan to use military exercises to give the soldiers of the Fujian Navy the opportunity Watch and learn from there.”

"A military exercise?" Xu Xinsu repeated.He is no stranger to military drills. The Ming army also has big drills every six months, but the drills of the Ming army are different from Haihan's combat drills. Most of them are just gathering together to practice combat formations, and rarely designed like Haihan. Practice in actual combat scenarios.The reason is also very simple. It costs money to pull tens of thousands of troops into the wild or even at sea for large-scale drills, and it is also quite troublesome to organize. However, the number of military exercises is far less than that of the Shanghai Han Militia.

It's not that Xu Xinsu was reluctant to spend the money, it's just that the Haihan militia did not have an organized military presence in Fujian, and only a few officers could go to Sanya to observe it.And observation and actual participation are two completely different concepts. Xu Xinsu is also a person who has led the army, so he naturally understands this truth.Now that the Haihan Mission offered to arrange a military exercise in Fujian, Xu Xinsu was overjoyed, but he did not forget to think about the purpose of the Haihan people.

Xu Xinsu knew that Haihan people were very shrewd businessmen, and every action had a purpose, and it was impossible to give herself this benefit in vain.Considering the current situation in Fujian, it is not difficult for Xu Xinsu to connect Ning Qi's proposal with the truce and peace talks.Comparing the two sides, military exercises are not only useless to the truce but also cost money, but the role of this matter in strengthening Fujian's military power cannot be ignored.

(End of this chapter)