1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 830 Obscure Conditions

Xu Yuzhuo and Xu Jiaqi are equals in the family, and they both serve in the Fujian Army, so they have a good personal relationship.Shi Diwen also knew that although Xu Yuzhuo's tone was complaining, he didn't mean it seriously, so he explained with a smile: "I also just arrived in Penghu yesterday, and I left here today after a night's rest. How could your cousin have time to talk to you?" report."

Shi Diwen's trip to Zhangzhou was indeed not a pre-planned itinerary. After he had an interview with Qian Tiandun in Penghu, he came here on the spur of the moment to find out the news.If it is a formal official visit, it must be informed in advance through the Ming army. However, Shi Diwen does not want to make this kind of meeting too official, and he does not want to waste time on unnecessary visits. In terms of the process, I came directly to Zhongzuo Institute.All Xu Jiaqi can do is to send people to come with the boat, so as to save Shi Diwen and his party from checking their identities when they enter the port in Zhangzhou.

Although Shi Diwen came suddenly, Xu Yuzhuo still prepared a reception banquet for him in the shortest possible time.Shi Diwen was not in a hurry to bring up serious matters on such occasions, so he settled down to talk about old feelings with Xu Yuzhuo and other Ming army officers, and had a good drink together.In the end, Xu Yuzhuo arranged for two women to serve Shi Diwen to bed very knowledgeably and wittily.

Shi Diwen traveled all the way for many days, and went on a business trip after arriving in Penghu without taking a good rest. His body was already exhausted, so he slept until noon the next day.After getting up and washing up, Xu Yuzhuo came to invite him to have lunch.

"It's okay to eat, but don't drink alcohol. After drinking last night, I'm still dizzy." Shi Diwen knew that Xu Yuzhuo is a person who loves alcohol and happiness. Three meals can be drunk in one meal.Although I came here to meet Xu Yuzhuo in my personal name, I actually had a lot of business to discuss, and Shi Diwen didn't want this kind of drinking party to interfere with my business.

Shi Diwen insisted on not drinking, but Xu Yuzhuo would not force him to persuade him.After lunch, Xu Yuzhuo ordered people to remove the banquet and replace it with hot tea, and then began to talk about serious matters with Shi Diwen: "General Shi's sudden arrival this time must have other missions besides visiting old friends. body?"

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "You and I are old friends, and I won't hide it from you. This time I was transferred to Penghu to take over the fleet stationed in Penghu and Taiwan. I may stay here in Fujian for a while. It's over."

Xu Yuzhuo said: "That's good. From now on, in Zhongzuo, Zhangzhou City, when General Shi is coming, I promise to let General Shi eat and have fun, and everything goes well!"

Shi Diwen smiled and waved his hands and said: "Being an official in the Haihan Militia is not as leisurely as your Ming army. I have two or three days to take up the official post, so I came to Zhangzhou to visit old friends. After taking office If you get busy, you probably won't have time!"

Although Xu Yuzhuo likes to eat, drink and have fun, he is not stupid at all, and immediately heard Shi Diwen's subtext: "Your army...do you want to take action?"

Shi Diwen sighed and said, "You can't move. You know that we have recently acquired Taiwan Island. If we want to develop this big island, we won't be able to expand our business if we don't get 8 or 3000 people there. Such a large population Where did it come from? Now it is not expected that some of the immigrants brought back from the north will be diverted. But if two or three thousand people are transported to the island every month, how long will it take to meet the requirements of the Executive Committee?"

Xu Yuzhuo blinked thoughtfully and said, "Then what does the executive committee mean, that they plan to roll up their sleeves?"

"That's the only way!" Shi Diwen said: "The number of immigrants transported back by dozens of boats from Fujian to the north alone every month can't meet the requirements of the Executive Committee, so the Executive Committee hopes to Let the Ministry of Shipping open up an immigration route to the north, put a hundred or so large ships in, and transport immigrants to the south."

"Your sea transportation capacity, I am convinced, but if you want to organize such a large fleet to show off, there may be a lot of inconvenience..." Xu Yuzhuo said while choosing his words, trying not to offend Shi Diwen: " Not every local government is as willing to cooperate with you as the local government."

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "I know a little about the situation you mentioned. Some people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang don't want to see us appear there, right? We also sent many people to inquire about the news before. , but almost all of them came back after touching their noses."

Xu Yuzhuo replied: "Everything here is due to interests. General Shi is a sensible person, and I will not hide it from you, so I will tell you about the way in the middle. If you go to the local area to negotiate trade, immigration and other matters by yourself, then Naturally, the people who were originally engaged in these businesses could no longer make money from it. If they couldn't make money, the masters behind them would be unhappy. There are also people with good hands and eyes among them, and they will try to block you at the door Besides, it’s still a trivial matter if you get caught in the nose, if you really plan to intervene on your own, you may encounter even more drastic means.”

Although Xu Yuzhuo didn't name them, he basically explained the actual situation in the north.In fact, a small amount of industrial products exported by Haihan have been transshipped and flowed into the Jiangsu and Zhejiang markets since 1628. However, after so many years, Haihan’s official commercial territory is still limited to Fujian Province, and the most prosperous Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas in the Ming Dynasty have always been There is no opening.This is not simply due to the ineffectiveness of the Ministry of Commerce. The resistance they encountered in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was far greater than that of Guangdong and Fujian. The main reason is that the upper-level people who control the local market think that Haihan gives too little profit margin to the agents, which is far less profitable than the rich profits they made from Fujian in the past when they set their own prices.

Originally, this situation could be resolved through commercial negotiations, but perhaps Jiangsu and Zhejiang did not have a clear and intuitive understanding of Haihan's strength, but instead treated them as ordinary foreign merchants and put on a * *** Shangguo's airs are not willing to start negotiations with Haihan on market issues.Although there were some people who wanted to emulate the cooperation model of Xu Xinsu, Li Jifeng and Haihan from Fujian and Guangzhou provinces, they finally gave up such an attempt due to off-court pressure.

It would be easy to deal with similar situations in Fuguang and Guangxi provinces. After all, Haihan has armed forces stationed in these two provinces. If necessary, they can come to an armed parade to show off their muscles and deter those country bumpkins who don't know Mount Tai.However, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas are outside Haihan's sphere of influence. Although the Executive Committee is dissatisfied with the local situation, it is powerless to resolve it through strong means.Although the Fujian government has various interests with Haihan, officials including Xu Xinsu will not offend colleagues in neighboring provinces for Haihan. intervene directly.

However, after Haihan captured Taiwan and completely controlled the Fujian Strait, the Executive Committee no longer sat idly by.There is a huge shortage of manpower needed to develop Taiwan, forcing the Executive Committee to once again put on the agenda the expansion of immigrants from the north.However, if Haihan wants to establish a transit base in the outer seas of Zhejiang and open up the sea lanes to Shandong, it is impossible to bypass the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Hearing Xu Yuzhuo's tone, Shi Diwen was clearly saying that the local forces in Jiangsu and Zhejiang might take tough measures against Haihan's intervention, so he asked with a smile, "Did the drastic measures that General Xu mentioned come from the official or the government?" folk?"

Xu Yuzhuo hesitated for a moment before responding: "Maybe both are related, it's just to see which side is more convenient to make a move."

Shi Diwen continued to ask: "How do the navy in Jiangsu and Zhejiang compare with the Fujian navy?"

Xu Yuzhuo replied: "A few years ago, when my father first joined the Navy, his strength might still be on par, but now, I'm afraid they have been separated by dozens of streets. Although Jiangsu and Zhejiang are rich, but The expenditure for the army has always been very limited, especially for the navy. Most of them are old ships from the Wanli period. At most, there are only a few Franc cannons or copper hairpins on board, which cannot be compared with the gunboats you built. of."

Shi Diwen pretended to be enlightened and said: "It's true, otherwise, how could the pirates near Zhoushan be banned repeatedly. This should be because the navy in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is not strong enough!"

Xu Yuzhuo sighed and said, "It's not just lack of power... To tell you the truth, some people in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang navy colluded with pirates to seek ill-gotten gains. Whenever the government sent troops to kill pirates, they would notify them in advance. Let them avoid the sharp edge. When the officers and soldiers withdraw, they will come back again, so they will be banned repeatedly."

The situation Xu Yuzhuo said was consistent with the information Hai Han had collected before, but when Shi Diwen continued to ask for details, Xu Yuzhuo refused to talk about specific people, and only warned Shi Diwen: "This The pirates in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are actually similar to those in Fujian. Many people are usually fishermen, but they may become pirates when they go to sea. Close. The reason why they did not form a local separatist force like Shibazhi is that they lacked a leading figure like Zheng Zhilong. But it is really not easy to completely wipe out the local pirates. If you plan to use Solving problems by force may not necessarily achieve good results."

"Then what good advice does General Xu have?" Shi Diwen thought to himself. The questions Xu Yuzhuo said coincided with Qian Tiandun's worries, and Hai Han, as an outsider, really couldn't find anything comparable to his strength. There is a better way to solve it.Even knowing that there will be various problems, if there is no other way, the military can only bite the bullet.

Xu Yuzhuo was silent for a long time this time, and Shi Diwen didn't urge him, knowing that he might have some important matters to weigh carefully, so he held the teacup and slowly sipped the tea in silence.

After a long time, Xu Yuzhuo said: "Actually, my father also had a lot of business contacts in Zhejiang in the early years, but after he entered the officialdom, it was inconvenient for him to deal with some matters in person... Over the past few years, many businesses have gradually stagnated. , or being taken over by the locals, it's a pity..."

Shi Diwen frowned. Although he could understand every word Xu Yuzhuo said, he didn't quite understand what the words meant.But since Xu Yuzhuo opened his mouth, he still decided to continue listening patiently.

Then I heard Xu Yuzhuo continue to say: "My father's wish for the past two years, besides defeating Shibazhi, is to restore the previous business scale, so that the Xu family can expand the sea trade to every sea area in Ming Dynasty! It's just that my father As an official appointed by the imperial court, many things cannot be controlled by oneself, which is very troublesome. If you want to realize this wish, you need to rely on external help..."

Shi Diwen finally came to his senses when he heard this, he dared to feel that Xu Yuzhuo had made such a big detour, he was changing ways to make conditions with himself.Having said so much, in fact, to put it simply, it is necessary for Haihan to take the Xu family along in the plan to go north, so that the Xu family's business network can also expand northward along with it.

Xu Xinsu, who is a high-ranking official in Fujian, is still like this. Shi Diwen believes that this also reflects from the side that the market in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is indeed not easy to enter. Obviously, the local powerful people do not want a business with strong capital like Xu to enter, because it is extremely difficult. It may affect their vested interests.Xu's is the largest agent of Haihan in Fujian. If it enters the Jiangsu and Zhejiang markets, all the merchants who distribute Haihan products in the local area will not have to do so.Although almost all Haihan products sold in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are transshipped from Fuguang and Guangxi provinces, the local marketing channels and market pricing are controlled by powerful local people. Going there, I can only be anxious about such a situation.

As for what Xu Yuzhuo said about restoring the previous business scale, Shi Diwen didn't take it too seriously. Xu Xinsu was also an armed smuggler in his early years, and his business was between legal and illegal, and even the pirate business was somewhat Touched a little bit.If he hadn't acted quickly and bought an official position in the Fujian government, if Zheng Zhilong had taken the lead, maybe the great pirate who did evil in the Fujian Strait would have been replaced by Xu Xinsu instead of Shibazhi.Shi Diwen really doesn't believe how many legal businesses and industries Xu Xinsu had in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the past.

Xu Xinsu wanted to enter the market in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but the local tyrants refused to let go of it, and he couldn't use his official status to suppress these people, but if the Haihan people who are fearless and fearless want to make a move, then he can indeed choose the opportunity to catch this It's a tailwind.After all, Xu Xinsu and his henchmen are very clear about the strength of the Haihan people. As long as they can help the Haihan people achieve their desired goals, Xu's business can follow Haihan's footsteps and expand northward. For the Xu family, it is worth taking a risk to do it.

(End of this chapter)