1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 832 The cautious Xu Xinsu
Shi Diwen thought in his heart, we just want to sell the weapons to the north now, but we just didn't start it for the time being because we were worried that they would fall into the hands of pirates.However, it is not convenient to say this clearly for the time being. He pondered for a while before asking again: "According to what you said, besides the pirates, there are officials colluding with the pirates, so it is difficult for us to start! Is there nothing we can use?" people?"

"It depends on what kind of effect you want to achieve." Xu Yuzhuo explained: "If you just want to clear the local waters and scare Xiao Xiao, then it's actually very simple, just send troops to fight all the way, and no one can stop you But if you want to get the approval of the Zhejiang government and do business in the local area in the future, it will be more troublesome. Because too many people are involved in it, if you want to clean up the local pirates, it will definitely hurt the interests of some people. Jealousy is inevitable."

Shi Diwen said: "What General Xu means is that all the senior officials of the local government are involved?"

Xu Yuzhuo hesitated for a moment before nodding his head, acquiescing to Shi Diwen's statement.For the local powerful people, pirates are really the most useful tool. All the work that cannot be put on the table can be handed over to the pirates, and all they need to do is control it behind the scenes and collect the money on time.Occasionally, a few officials who don't fit in will be quickly calculated and taken away by the upper and lower levels, and they will definitely not stay in the local area for long.

Shi Diwen said: "That's the next best thing. You don't need a big man, but a small man worthy of support is fine. General Xu, please don't worry too much. When we asked Mr. Xu to cooperate, it was not because we liked him at the time. It’s just that we think he is trustworthy and worthy of our resources to support him. As long as there is a suitable choice, we can also replicate this process in Zhejiang.”

When Hai Han got in touch with Xu Xinsu, he was just a low-level officer who had just spent a few thousand taels of silver to buy a commander-in-chief in the Fujian Navy.If Haihan hadn't put in a lot of effort to support him, he would have been killed by Shibazhi on the battlefield as early as 1628, and he would never have had the chance to climb all the way to Fujian General Soldier.Xu Xinsu's current status and power is indeed largely due to Haihan's continuous military assistance for several years. The Haihan people know this, and the Xu family members also know it well.

Shi Diwen took Xu Xinsu as an example, which is indeed very convincing. Since Haihan has the ability to lift a navy commander all the way to the position of a province's commander-in-chief, of course he can also try to support a navy commander in Zhejiang. Or a few local advocates.The big shots might be reluctant to cooperate with Hai Han because of various interests or favors that cannot be separated, but the people below may not all have the same heart, there will always be people with ambitions or other intentions, and take risks to fight for the position.What Hai Han needs now is to find someone like this to support him.

Xu Yuzhuo said: "I'm only responsible for military affairs, and I don't know much about the officialdom in Zhejiang. If I want to recommend candidates, it's really difficult!"

Seeing the disappointment on Shi Diwen's face, Xu Yuzhuo hastily said: "But my father has a special person in charge of this matter, and there are definitely candidates, but this matter still needs to be reported to my father, and he will make a decision. "

"Of course it should be. Master Xu has made up his mind, we errands are easy to handle!" Shi Diwen nodded in response.Haihan planned to take action against Zhejiang, and he would also communicate with Xu Xinsu. The reason why he came to Xu Yuzhuo first was to find out the attitude of the Fujian military.Now that Xu Yuzhuo has already put forward the conditions for a share of the pie on behalf of his family, then the follow-up details can be communicated and negotiated bit by bit.

Shi Diwen had heard Xu Yuzhuo describe the various situations in Zhejiang in detail before, but he had already thought that his family, or the Fujian military, must have secret intelligence agencies conducting related operations, but there was no chance to collect them. Use intelligence information.Perhaps the Xu family had already secretly trained some people in Zhejiang, but the time did not come and they did not dare to publicize it easily, or they themselves did not think about what they should do locally to win benefits for Fujian.

Although this matter ultimately depends on Xu Xinsu's attitude, Shi Diwen is not worried about it.He had dealt with Xu Xinsu two years ago, and he could feel the unconcealed ambition in the other party.If there is an opportunity to expand his power to surrounding provinces, he believes that Xu Xinsu will not miss such an opportunity.What's more, it was Haihan who proposed it on his own initiative this time, and there was no need for him, Xu Xinsu, to come forward directly, as long as the Fujian military cooperated appropriately.

Now that the general direction has been agreed, Shi Diwen is not in a hurry, but Xu Yuzhuo didn't want to waste time, so he edited a book in front of Shi Diwen, and then asked someone to send it back to Zhangzhou immediately.Xu Yuzhuo thought that after Shi Diwen arrived in Penghu, he transferred to Zhangzhou non-stop. Obviously, Haihan was more eager about this matter. Shi Diwen didn't say anything, but he couldn't pretend that he didn't understand.

The waterway from Zhongzuo to Zhangzhou City was less than a hundred miles away, so the messenger sent by Xu Yuzhuo set off by boat, and arrived at the wharf outside Zhangzhou City at dawn the next day.There was no delay after disembarking, and he directly used the token to call the special carriage on the pier for emergency matters.There is no need to check before arriving at the city gate. The guards at the city gate will open the city gate and let them pass when they see the car.When Xu Xinsu got up early in the morning and went to exercise in the yard, the messenger delivered Xu Yuzhuo's letter.

"The people of Haihan finally can't hold back anymore!" Xu Xinsu went back to the study and read the letter, feeling good for a while.

As an official, if Xu Xinsu wants to be promoted again, he can only go to the capital, and he does not intend to let go of his career in Fujian and go to the Ministry of War to become a clay sculpture Bodhisattva, so in the past year, someone from the Ministry of War has sent a letter to solicit him. He said that his body was not used to the northern climate, and he was unwilling to be transferred to the north.After all, here in Fujian, he can do whatever he says, earns millions of dollars through various trades every year, and can achieve everything he wants. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the emperor of Tu.

However, the current scale of the Xu family's sea trade is far from reaching Xu Xinsu's own goal.He believes that his family's sea trade business seems to have a bright future, but in fact it is extremely restricted. Except for the direct sailing to Hainan Island controlled by Haihan, the trade environment in the south and north, and the adjacent areas are not ideal.

The vast majority of the sea trade in Guangdong is controlled by the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce headed by "Furuifeng". It can be regarded as a friendship of colleagues, but Xu's sea trade business in Guangdong is still subject to many restrictions.Of course, there is nothing to say about this. When Guangdong businessmen arrive in Fujian, they also have to abide by the various rules set by the Xu family. Everyone is just each other.

As for the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas in the north, the situation is even far worse than that of Guangdong. At least the competition in Guangdong is fierce, but with Haihan in charge of the situation, the maritime merchants in Fuzhou and Guangxi will never tear themselves apart because of competition. There are many opportunities for cooperation and investment.On the Jiangsu and Zhejiang side, it is much more difficult to get a foot in the door, and you have to be on guard all the time, maybe someone will use the pirates to trip you up one day.

The situation in the south is actually good. Xu Xinsu’s main trading partner is Haihan. The direct route from Fujian to Hainan is similar to that to Manila, Luzon in the past, and the trade volume with Haihan is at least that of the Spaniards in the past. More than ten times.At the same time, with the help of Hainan Island, a trade transfer station, Xu Xinsu was able to open up trade channels from Fujian to Annan, Champa and other Indochina Peninsula regions. The trade volume has doubled many times compared to a few years ago.

As for the north side, apart from the daily need to be cautious, Xu Xinsu's biggest headache is actually that the air route leading to the north is stuck at this location.The Haihan people occupied the island of Taiwan, and a large number of immigrants were needed to move into the area for development. Xu Xinsu was very interested in participating in this matter.However, the cost of recruiting immigrants from Fujian is too high, and it is far less cost-effective than transporting cheap Central Plains refugees back from the north one by one. The more people are transported back, the faster the development of plantations on Taiwan Island will be. quick.However, the Zhoushan Islands were stuck in the middle of the shipping route, which greatly increased the cost of population transportation and the navigation risk of the fleet, which made Xu Xinsu feel a lot of resentment.

A few days ago, news came back from Penghu that after the Haihan people opened their ports in southern Taiwan, they continued to fight non-stop with the Frang Robots occupying the north, and in less than 20 days, they had completely expelled the Frang Robots from Taiwan. Island, which means that this large island, which is about one-third the size of Fujian, has completely fallen under Haihan's control.

Why did the Haihan people take over the island of Taiwan? Xu Xinsu still had a clue in his mind.As early as more than two years ago, the Haihan people had implicitly expressed their interest in Taiwan Island to him.At that time, Xu Xinsu wanted to expel Shibazhi from the Fujian Strait as soon as possible. For this reason, even Penghu could be handed over to Haihan, let alone Taiwan Island, which was not under the rule of Ming Dynasty.And the Haihan people want to take over this wild island. Apart from building plantations, they must also plan to use it as a springboard to expand their sphere of influence eastward and northward.In recent months, the Haihan people first went south to build a port in the Kaohsiung enclosure, and then went north to expel the Frangji people. This series of actions is obviously intended to bring Taiwan Island and its surrounding waters into their own control, and then continue with such a Way to continue to expand outward.

The people of Haihan wanted to expand their sphere of influence to the north, which was also one of Xu Xinsu's goals. The interests of the two sides coincided. Xu Xinsu was actually waiting for Haihan to discuss this matter with him, but he didn't expect it to come so soon.

"Pass down the order, go to sea today, and go to Zhongzuo Office for inspection!" Xu Xinsu quickly made a decision.He knew how much information his son had, and Xu Yuzhuo must be powerless to discuss the details of the operation with the Haihan people. He had to be the person in charge to discuss the details with the Haihan people.Shi Diwen came to Fujian twice last year, and Xu Xinsu had met with him. He also knew that Shi Diwen's status in the Haihan Army was not low. It was not a matter of losing his reputation to meet him from Zhangzhou on his own initiative. .

It would not be as simple and convenient for Xu Xinsu to go out of the city to inspect the city as Xu Yuzhuo sent a messenger. It took more than an hour just to prepare his guard of honor, assemble his entourage and private guards, and mobilize the relevant ships, and this was considered extremely fast. it's time.By the time Xu Xinsu left the city and boarded the boat, it was almost noon.Although the fleet he patrolled is not too large, there are still six ships. The flagship is an exploration-class warship purchased from Haihan, and there are also three blessing ships, a troop carrier and a supply and rescue ship. , Sailor soldiers plus entourage, there are a total of four hundred people.

However, the fleet sailed downstream, and the voyage was much faster than when the messenger arrived. When the sun went down that day, the front boat could already see the outline of Gulangyu Island.

Shi Diwen didn't expect Xu Xinsu to come so fast. After talking with Xu Yuzhuo yesterday, the boss rushed over today. This efficiency is indeed much higher than that of Ming bureaucrats in this era. Han's suggestion is very interesting, which can be regarded as good news.

Xu Xinsu is a very pragmatic person. When he arrived at the official residence in the city, he only asked the kitchen to prepare a table of simple food and drink, and made all the servants retreat, leaving only Xu's father and son and Shi Diwen present.After Xu Xinsu and Shi Diwen toasted each other for a round of wine after taking their seats, he took the initiative to bring up the topic: "General Shi, if the old man's understanding is correct, this time Haihan is going north, is it the meaning of the executive committee?"

Xu Xinsu can be regarded as a Ming official who has a deep understanding of Haihan's power system. He knows that Haihan's highest authority is the Executive Committee, and now he wants to get serious with Zhejiang. decision, rather than the Haihan military making their own claims.

"Master Xu, don't worry, the matters I have come to discuss with you this time have been discussed and approved by the executive committee and approved for implementation." Shi Diwen calmly took out a document and put it in front of Xu Xinsu : "This is the letter of authorization from the Executive Committee, please read it, Mr. Xu."

Xu Xinsu picked it up and scanned the content roughly. Seeing that Haihan's unique round radish stamp was stamped on the inscription, he said with a smile: "This matter is of great importance, so we must be more cautious. Please forgive me, General Shi."

"Mr. Xu is mature and prudent. It is also necessary to check the power of attorney." Shi Diwen thought to himself. Fortunately, Yan Chujie was more careful before leaving Sanya, and went to the executive committee to get a power of attorney. What he was afraid of was that the old fox Xu Xinsu was suspicious. , It really came in handy here.

Xu Xinsu said: "It's not that I'm suspicious but can't trust General Shi, it's because I may need to use some hidden stakes that I have deployed very deeply in Zhejiang. Once these people's identities are exposed, it will be difficult for them to stay there in the future. It's a lot to do The future and fate of people, the old man also has to be more careful."

(End of this chapter)