1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 891
Compared with Shaoxing Mansion, which only stationed some troop carriers, the navy stationed here in Ningbo Mansion is slightly larger, at least there are dozens of ships, large and small, used for combat.The main station of the navy in Ningbo is located outside Zhenhai City at the mouth of the Yongjiang River, and a small number are stationed in Guanhaiwei and Changguowei in the south.However, during the period when the Haihan people entered Zhoushan, these navy ships basically did not dispatch, and occasionally went to sea to keep their routes and activities at a relatively large distance from Zhoushan Island, so as to avoid unreasonable misunderstandings by the Haihan people.

In addition to the terrifying strength displayed by the Haihan militia in several battles entering the waters of the Zhoushan Islands, part of the credit was due to the secret frontline personnel who secretly persuaded the sailor general not to contend with Haihan.And this person who is in Cao Ying and his heart is in Han is Xu Shaohua, the commander-in-chief of the Navy stationed in Ningbo.

Xu Shaohua is also one of the personnel arranged by the Fujian Xu family to lurk in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Unlike Xu Ke, who changed his name before coming here, this is his real name.His blood relationship can only be regarded as a very distant relative of Xu Xinsu, and it would take four or five generations to be connected with the Fujian Xu family, so there is no need to change his name at all.And the main reason why he was selected into the list made by Xu Xinsu was that he practiced martial arts with Xu Xinsu's sons since he was a child, and he was regarded as a companion for studying and training.After arriving in Zhejiang, Xu Shaohua, who was only 16 years old, joined the army according to the previous arrangements. He is only in his early twenties and is currently one of the youngest officers in the Zhejiang Navy.

When Xu Ke set off from Xiangshan and went south to Shipu to lead the Haihan fleet, Xu Shaohua also started activities in the navy.Compared with the garrison in the local guards, the navy has a better understanding of the situation in the south, especially the Haihan people, because every year the Fujian military ships going north to Nanjing or the Ministry of War in Beijing will choose military docks in the coastal areas of Zhejiang to stop for supplies. The exchange of information between ground and water divisions is also relatively frequent, and Haihan, who is the largest backer of the Fujian military, is naturally one of the main talking points.

Both the Fulang robot and the red-haired man, known for their powerful force at sea, have suffered a lot under his hands. Shibazhi, the overlord of the southeast sea, was beaten and fled to Ryukyu. In addition, the Fujian military respected him very much and regarded him as an idol. , Haihan Fleet was famous before coming to Zhejiang.The guards may not be able to figure out what is going on with the Haihan people, but the navy division has heard of their deeds, so they didn't want to provoke this difficult god.Xu Shaohua set up a bridge in the middle, Xu paid a lot of money, and without much effort, he exchanged the neutrality promise of the local naval officer.Therefore, the official document sent by Yu Pingfeng in the name of the capital of Zhejiang Province will be lost when it arrives at the naval division stationed in Ningbo. Without the participation of the naval division, even if the Weisuo army wants to get ahead, it is impossible for the Weisuo army to swim to Zhoushan Island to meet the Haihan people. Go to war.

With such a delay, many things changed silently. Haihan seized the gap in the Zhejiang government's response and held a business promotion meeting on Zhoushan Island, attracting a group of wealthy and powerful businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to join his trade camp .Guan Haiwei's officers at all levels below Huang Tao, the commander, were also dragged into the water one after another.Anyway, there is no need to do anything, no need to say anything, the Haihan people have already sent ten thousand taels of silver, and there are no additional requirements. Spectators.As for how the Zhejiang Dusi people want to make troubles, that's up to them. Huang Tao is short of manpower, so he doesn't plan to participate anyway.

Huang Tao wasn't too worried that the Haihan people would go onshore and grab territory. If they really planned to do this kind of thing, they probably would have started in Fuzhou and Guangxi a long time ago.Of course, if Huang Tao had been to Qiongzhou to see the actual situation there, he might not have such a view.That place is no longer a matter of grabbing control, but has been separated from the fact of Daming, and it has become Haihan's own territory.And Haihan took Penghu and Taiwan Island on the other side of Fujian. It will take several years to slowly develop the Taiwan Island alone, and there is no time to make the idea of ​​Fujian itself.

Haihan's current expansion speed is far ahead of the speed of cultivating bureaucrats. Even if it seizes a larger territory by force, it will be difficult to implement effective rule. Therefore, it is still implementing the development strategy formulated at the beginning of the crossing. Non-land rights are the main purpose.The Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas are the sales markets that the Executive Committee is extremely optimistic about. In addition, Zhoushan is very close to the mainland, so there is no need to forcibly land and establish a colony.On the contrary, the island is more in line with Haihan's consistent development philosophy. It can be used to attack, retreat and defend. If necessary, it can be used as a base to block the Hangzhou Bay and the Yangtze River estuary in the future, so there is no need to take the risk of offending Daming to snatch land. land.

Huang Tao, Yan Guowei and others do not have such a high level of strategic vision. What they see and feel is that the arrival of the Haihan people has brought them more practical benefits, and the Haihan people have a very good reputation in Fuzhou and Guangzhou. , even if they let them occupy Zhoushan, it is not necessarily a bad thing.Taking a step back, the Ming army in Zhejiang does not have enough troops to garrison the many islands in Zhoushan. It is better to let the Haihan people occupy this place to operate maritime trade than let the pirates and Japanese pirates occupy it to do evil.

Anyway, the Ningbo garrison relies on the mountains to eat the mountains, and the sea to eat the sea. The Haihan people have already said that they will have a share of the pie in the future, which is enough for the two commanders to reach a tacit understanding after several secret letters. Yang obeys Yang and violates.Since the official document only required the two guards to thoroughly investigate Haihan's armed issues, Huang Tao simply followed Yan Guowei's approach and said that the Haihan people were actually cooperating with the guards to fight against Zhoushan pirates.There are many heads, captives, and seizures to prove this matter. Even the leader of the boat gang, Wang Jialin, was captured by the Haihan people. It is even easier to find a few victims.The witnesses and material evidence of the case were complete, and after the report was submitted, it would be difficult for Zhejiang Dusi to overturn the case even if he wanted to intervene.

It involved two guards sending troops to suppress and kill. Such a big case has to be transferred to the procuratorate for trial. However, these smugglers and pirates in the East China Sea have too many and complicated relationships. Half a year later, I can figure out what's going on inside.By the time the yamen handles the matter in a messy manner, the matter of Haihan people's settlement in Zhoushan has long since been fixed.At that time, without any excuses from the Weisuo Army of Ningbo Mansion, Zhejiang Dusi will naturally give up those unrealistic ideas before.

However, in the secret letter sent to Huang Tao by Wei Shan, commander of the Linshan Guard, there was information that made Huang Tao more embarrassed.After much deliberation, he decided to ask Xu Shaohua to come and discuss.Xu Shaohua was the one who set up a bridge between Guan Haiwei and the navy back then, and Huang Tao also knew that this person had many paths, so it might be the safest way to disclose the information to him.

On the second day, Xu Shaohua came to the Acropolis to meet Huang Tao. It was not the first time that the two met. After exchanging pleasantries, Huang Tao introduced the topic: "I got the news yesterday that someone may be confronting Haihan at sea recently. It's unfavorable, Xu Ba always has to try to remind them of this matter."

Xu Shaohua was stunned and said: "At sea? Isn't this courting death? The Haihan ships are strong and powerful, and the pirates in the East China Sea are afraid to avoid them. Why are there people rushing to send me to the door?"

Huang Tao coughed dryly and said, "These people may not be dealing with the Haihan warships, but the Daming maritime merchants entering and leaving Zhoushan Island."

Xu Shaohua is also a smart person, and he suddenly realized when he heard this sentence: "This is an attempt to disrupt the trade routes, so that maritime merchants dare not go to Zhoushan Island to trade again, it is a ruthless move!"

The East China Sea has always been a paradise for adventurers. Even though Haihan has taken over the Zhoushan area, it has not wiped out all the islands. Daishan Island, Qushan Island, and Shengsi Island to the north of Zhoushan Island are still under control. outside.There are still many small groups of armed forces in these places, but they can no longer compete directly with Haihan.Although the Haihan militia is strong in battle, it has no way to deploy defenses in the entire Zhoushan waters. The loopholes mentioned by Huang Tao not only exist but are hard to guard against.After all, there are maritime merchants who come to Zhoushan to trade in the southeast and the north, and even if the Haihan fleet has ten times more ships, it will not be able to hoop Zhoushan into an iron barrel formation.

Once the maritime merchants who come to this transaction are attacked frequently, it will definitely affect the security mechanism and business reputation that Haihan has finally established.You must know that when the business promotion conference was held a few days ago, Qian Tiandun said in front of many maritime merchants that Dinghai Port would be the safest free trade port in the East China Sea.It's only been a few days, if accidents start at sea, it will really be a slap in the face.

Although Xu Shaohua is not directly under Haihan, Haihan's success or failure in the local area is also closely related to his future, so he is naturally very concerned about this matter.Although the information provided by Huang Tao was valuable, it lacked details. Of course, Xu Shaohua would not stop there, and asked him for details immediately.

Huang Tao responded: "Actually, this matter was sent by a certain lord from Shaoxing Mansion, but this lord had some losses in Zhoushan before, so..."

When Huang Tao said this, he dragged his voice for a long time and didn't continue. Xu Shaohua knew it and said right away: "If the news is true, the loss is easy to say. The bosses of Haihan may not have anything else, but they have money. I will compensate them. That’s the case with a lord. If this lord wants to discuss a deal with the Haihan people, I can also contact you in the middle and arrange a meeting time.”

Huang Tao said: "It would be the best if we can discuss it face to face. I also want to have a meeting with the Haihan people."

Although Huang Tao had reached an agreement with Haihan, the two parties had not actually met directly. Everything was led by Xu Shaohua and others.After reading the secret letter sent by Wei Shan yesterday, Huang Tao thought that he could use this valuable information to negotiate a deal with the Haihan people.After all, the deals concluded at the Zhoushan Merchants Conference are not a secret, and Huang Tao is also very envious of those businessmen. Even if he can't get benefits like franchise rights from the Haihan people, at least he has to increase the incense fee that will be handed over to him in the future one up.

As for the intention of Wei Shan, the Commander of the Linshan Guard, he had expressed it very clearly in the secret letter. He hoped that Huang Tao could help build a springboard, and on the condition of intelligence, he could also enter the profit network led by the Haihan people.Huang Tao was not hesitant to drag one of his colleagues into the water, anyway, the more people got on Haihan's boat, the harder it would be for the higher-ups to liquidate them.The jurisdictions of Linshanwei and Guanhaiwei are adjacent, so if something really happens, there should be a way out.The other two commanders came forward together, and when negotiating conditions with the Haihan people, they could have more confidence.

Xu Shaohua pondered for a while, then nodded his head and said: "Since Mr. Huang also has this intention, I will send someone to Zhoushan to contact the Haihan people as soon as possible, and see how they respond. It may take a day or two at the earliest, and at the end of three or five days, there will be an answer." .”

Xu Shaohua went to see Huang Tao in the morning, and the news had already been sent to the headquarters on Zhoushan Island in the evening. The string that had been loosened by the officers because of Wang Jialin's arrest was tightened again.

"These days are indeed too peaceful, and it feels normal to have something happen." Shi Diwen looked very relaxed: "Am I a bit perverted like this?"

Qian Tiandun didn't answer his question: "The official who provided the information is from Shaoxing, and he contacted us through Huang Tao. He is probably also a member of the guard system."

"It's a pity that this information is too vague. There is no time and no specific location. This is just an idea, and there is no evidence to prove the truth of this news." Shi Diwen tapped the table with his knuckles and said: "Yes Impossible, this is to trick us into meeting, and then set up an ambush to arrest people?"

"This problem is easy to solve. When we decide on a place, we can choose a place that is relatively beneficial to us, such as Jintang Island." Qian Tiandun didn't care much about this: "Let Gao Qiaonan go to the meeting place a day or two in advance Just clear the field. The key is how much useful information the other party can give us, and whether we can prevent the situation they claim in advance.”

"Then you plan to meet them?" Shi Diwen asked.

"I think it's good to meet each other. We have been in Zhejiang for a while. Among the Ming officials who have really dealt with them, the highest rank is Qianhu Ma Ling from the Shipu Guard. This time there is at least one guard commander. "Qian Tiandun explained: "If we want to settle down here, we still have to deal with the local government. Getting to know a few more Ming officials may come in handy in the future. They don't want to follow the path of the prefect Qu Yutong. Contacting us obviously doesn’t want to spread the news, so it’s safer to have a face-to-face interview.”

"Then what do you think their purpose is?" Shi Diwen continued to ask.

"Zhejiang Dusi issued a letter to the Ningbo Guard. Instead of following through, Huang Tao stood by our side. He must form a faction to protect himself. In addition, he probably wanted to take this opportunity to ask us for some conditions, such as asking us to get a Franchise rights and the like." Qian Tiandun didn't need to think too much, he had already figured out some clues.

(End of this chapter)