1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 993 Luo Shengdong's Family Law
Haihan has developed from a group of unknown overseas visitors all the way to a powerful force that is about to establish a country today. Luo Shengdong, as one of the few outsiders who has witnessed it, has witnessed the evolution of this force from scratch, from weak to strong.If it hadn't been for the Haihan people who appeared in Yazhou seven years ago, Luo Shengdong would probably still be working as a soldier in the water village in Yacheng now, and at most he could be promoted to the general.The step of taking refuge in Haihan has indeed fundamentally changed the trajectory of his life. Although his behavior is tantamount to treason to Daming, but in this world, who cares about this?In the official circles of Guangdong and Guangxi, there are a lot of officials lining up at any time to be recruited by the Haihan people. There are countless people who intend to use the energy of the Haihan people to get promoted and make a fortune.

In addition to the almost semi-public nature of private salt trafficking, Luo Shengdong also has another secret mission, which is to act as the spokesperson for Haihan in the official circles of Guangdong and Guangxi. In the process, he is also looking for someone who can be bought and wooed for Hai Han.In particular, those local officials with real power who can play a role in promoting Haihan's business and immigration are the key targets in Luo Shengdong's eyes.In the past few years, when Luo Shengdong was moving around, he couldn't help being reprimanded for eating people and rolling his eyes. Some people even reported to Dongchang and Jinyiwei that he was trying to plot against him. There are more and more people in the relationship.After all, today's Haihan is rich and powerful, and the pioneers who boarded this big ship are all developed, which will naturally attract many follow-up followers.

Before returning from the mainland this time, Luo Shengdong met several Guangdong officials one after another. It is worth mentioning that these officials are not generals in the army, but genuine local officials.Without exception, these people are jealous of the huge interests hidden in the trade between Haihan and Daming, and they want to try to get involved and get a share of the benefits.If it were other merchants, they might have sent money to their door long ago, but Haihan is now a big bully, and not everyone is qualified to enter the profit network led by him. Luo Shengdong's role in this process Yes, it is the role of a broker who acts as a gatekeeper for Hai Han.

Luo Shengdong has been working for Haihan for many years, and under the guidance of a group of time travelers, he has a relatively clear understanding of Haihan's employment standards.There are two kinds of Ming officials that Haihan is willing to accept. One is Luo Shengdong, who knows the current affairs and is willing to wholeheartedly rely on Haihan; It is to use the power of Haihan to get the opportunity to be promoted in the official career.

Luo Shengdong is someone who has experienced it, so he naturally knows that the benefits that the former can get are actually more substantial. His task is to find out the wishes of the Haihan people before they come forward to contact them in person, so as not to waste their expressions on their boss.Of course, when there is an option to retreat, the vast majority of people still prefer to choose the second method, which not only retains the official status of Daming, but also obtains practical benefits from Haihan.As for a Ming official like Luo Shengdong who has completely defected to Haihan, if the relationship between the two parties relapses in the future, he will have no way out.

Before leaving Guangdong, Luo Shengdong made a special trip to Zhaoqing and had a private meeting with Xiong Wencan, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.Xiong Wencan, who is currently in charge of the Lingnan power, is well aware of these developments in the official circles of Guangdong and Guangxi. However, the general situation in Haihan has already been established, and it is difficult for him to come up with effective ways to curb the current development direction of the situation.

Compared with financial strength and force, the government of Guangdong and Guangxi is not Haihan's opponent. The only thing that makes Xiong Wencan feel lucky is that Haihan's expansion ambitions in Daming seem to be temporarily limited to the Qiongzhou Strait and Fujian Strait, and there is no sign of planning to set foot on the mainland.As for the ownership of Qiongzhou Island, Xiong Wencan also knows that it is impossible for Haihan to spit out the meat he ate in his mouth. Now Haihan wants to use Qiongzhou Island as the place to establish his country. Apart from pretending to be deaf and dumb, Xiong Wencan In fact, there is no better way to deal with it.

The purpose of Xiong Wencan's secret meeting with Luo Shengdong this time is to clarify Haihan's development strategy after the founding of the country, especially the attitude towards Daming.Once Haihan's ambition breaks out, the Guangdong and Guangxi regions close to Qiongzhou Island will definitely bear the brunt of the flames of war. Although Xiong Wencan thinks this is unlikely, he has to guard against it.After all, Haihan launched a foreign war immediately after ending the anniversary celebrations for several years in the past.

Regarding this matter, Luo Shengdong had already probed the Haihan people in Sanya, Guangzhou and other places, and he was basically sure that Haihan had no plans to use force against Daming after the founding of the country, so the reassurance given to Xiong Wencan was still very stable.What the Haihan people wanted were the resources, manpower and markets of Guangdong and Guangxi, but they didn't show any particular interest in occupying this area. Moreover, Luo Shengdong knew that the Haihan people had a special affection for Daming, although there was often a hint of love in their words. Condescending contempt, but has maintained close contacts with Daming, and actively avoiding possible conflicts.

If Haihan didn't take the initiative to maintain such restraint, Luo Shengdong believed that when Qiongbei fell into Haihan's control two or three years ago, the country could have been established.The reason for the delay for such a long time is probably not because of Haihan's lack of strength, but to allow enough time to deal with the official relationship with Daming, so as to avoid the relationship with Daming breaking down and falling into a state of war at the beginning of the founding of the country.

After getting Luo Shengdong's affirmative answer, Xiong Wencan wrote a letter and asked him to bring it to the Haihan Executive Committee.From Xiong Wencan's position, it is definitely impossible to admit that Haihan's founding of the country is effective, and he will not send people to Sanya to observe the ceremony, but it is necessary to express the attitude of the Ming government on this matter, so there must be a person who both parties can trust To act as a communication channel, and Luo Shengdong played the role of a messenger in it.

Although Luo Shengdong didn't know the specific content of Xiong Wencan's letter, he could tell from the course of the meeting that the other party had acquiesced in Haihan's founding of the country, and he didn't want to start a war because of it—this was consistent with Haihan's attitude .Bringing this letter back to Sanya and handing it over to the executive committee was considered a meritorious service for Luo Shengdong.

Before returning to Sanya, Luo Shengdong sent a telegram back to Sanya from Guangzhou, informing his family of his return time.The journey to the south was smooth and smooth, and the voyage calculation was very accurate, but he never thought that his servant would almost cause trouble on the pier.As soon as he got the boat, he saw Zhou Hengxing and the bewildered butler behind him. He also knew that he definitely couldn't afford to let Zhou Hengxing come to greet him at the pier. There must be some reason why the other party appeared here waiting for him.

Although he didn't know what happened, Luo Shengdong greeted Zhou Hengxing very skillfully first: "Chief Zhou, long time no see, how have you been?"

Zhou Hengxing smiled and said, "Mr. Luo, are you coming back from Guangzhou?"

Luo Shengdong replied: "Looking back at the chief, the villain did not disgrace his business trip to Guangdong this time. He has brought back a secret letter. I will go to Shengli Fort to submit it to the executive committee later."

"Oh, since you have something to do, let's do it quickly. Your butler has even prepared the sedan chair for you." Zhou Hengxing pointed to the sedan chair not far away: "I've been waiting for you here for a long time!"

When Luo Shengdong heard that Zhou Hengxing's tone was a bit wrong, he didn't dare to answer his words, so he glared at the butler and said, "What's going on?"

Steward Wang tremblingly stepped forward and said: "The villain has packed up this sedan chair today and asked them to wait here. Unexpectedly, these bearers would like to pick up other jobs halfway because they are jealous of others. They were not very popular, so they scolded them a few words...these words were a bit inappropriate, and the chief just happened to pass by here, so there was some misunderstanding..."

Luo Shengdong did not wait for the steward to finish speaking, he bowed deeply and said: "Sir, I am incapable of disciplining you, I am laughing at you!"

With Zhou Hengxing's status, he would naturally not make a small report on such an occasion. Since Luo Shengdong already knew about this matter, he would not ask any further questions.Whether Luo Shengdong pursues it or not, and how to deal with it, is Luo Shengdong's family business, and Zhou Hengxing will definitely not waste his time on such trivial matters.After Luo Shengdong finished speaking, he just nodded lightly, indicating that this matter can be exposed.

Luo Shengdong glared at the butler again, then bid farewell to Zhou Hengxing, turned around and got on the sedan chair.The bearers were too frightened to make a sound, so they hurriedly got up and left.Steward Wang hurriedly bowed to Zhou Hengxing, and trotted along the way.

The sedan chair didn't go far, Luo Shengdong issued an order in the sedan chair: "Go directly to the train station."

Steward Wang asked for instructions outside the sedan chair: "Master, why don't you go home first?"

"Go to Victory Fort first." After Luo Shengdong finished speaking, he fell silent.Steward Wang didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he quickly asked the bearers to turn around and go to the train station.It is more than ten miles away from Fort Victory. It would be too slow to go there by sedan chair, so it is naturally more convenient to take the train.

When we got off the sedan chair outside the train station, Luo Shengdong ordered: "I've waited for a long time, and the bearer's wages will be paid more!"

Several bearers thanked them repeatedly when they heard this.Steward Wang knew that this matter might not be settled yet, so he quickly took out the circulation coupons, doubled the price agreed in advance, and then hurried to the ticket office to buy two seat tickets.After arriving outside Victory Fort along the way, Luo Shengdong told the housekeeper to wait outside, and verified his identity to the guard, and then the staff inside took him in.

It was not the first time for Luo Shengdong to enter Victory Fort, so he was familiar with these procedures. However, Ning Qi, who was supposed to hand over the matter to him, was in a meeting and had no time to meet him, so he just called a secretary out to talk to him. contact.Although Luo Shengdong really wanted to hand in the secret letter from Xiong Wencan, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, to Ning Qi, but he was worried that he would offend Ning Qi's subordinates if he refused to hand in the letter. Don't forget to seize this opportunity to show your merits: "When I go to Zhaoqing Mansion, I follow the order of the executive committee, and I carefully hide my whereabouts back and forth, so as not to let the outside world know."

The secretary nodded and said: "Mr. Luo has worked hard all the way, so let's go back to rest earlier. Today's chief executive's meeting is estimated to take a long time, and there are other schedules in the future. I'm afraid I won't have time to meet you."

Luo Shengdong hurriedly said: "The person I met on the way to Zhaoqing Mansion here, I have something to tell the chief, and I have to report it face to face."

The secretary couldn't see Luo Shengdong's careful thinking, so he persuaded: "Mr. Luo, you go back and rest first. When the chief's schedule is free, I will naturally notify you to come again."

Luo Shengdong was a little disappointed when he saw that he couldn't talk to the other party, so he had to say goodbye and leave.After exiting Shengli Castle, the steward of the king came to meet him, Luo Shengdong ordered in a bad voice: "Go back to the house!"

At that moment, the two of them took the train back from Fort Shengli to downtown Sanya. Luo Shengdong bought a riverside villa here two years ago, and spent nearly 3 yuan on decoration and interior decoration. It is one of the best grades in the human zone.He spent a lot of money to buy property here not just to make a facade, but to move his wife and children to settle here.His two sons, one is five years old and the other is three years old, have completed the formalities for enrolling in school here.

Luo Shengdong has already made up his mind to let his two sons study in a school run by Hai Han people instead of a traditional private school.After Haihan's founding of the country this time, the future employment will definitely be more inclined to the talents cultivated by himself, instead of recruiting from Ming Dynasty like now.Even if you just want the next generation to be a rich man who doesn't care about politics under Haihan's rule, you have to follow Haihan's social system as much as possible, so that they can get used to the system from an early age.

After seeing his wife and children at home, Luo Shengdong called Butler Wang into the study, and only then asked him about what happened at the pier earlier.Steward Wang didn't dare to hide anything, so he could only tell the truth.

After hearing this, Luo Shengdong pondered for a moment before opening his mouth and said, "Go and pack your personal belongings later..."

Butler Wang fell to his knees before Luo Shengdong could finish his sentence: "Master, the villain just made a slip of the tongue for a while, and he has already complained to Chief Zhou. Don't you want to dismiss the villain!"

Luo Shengdong said: "My lord, I don't want to fire you. It's actually not a big deal. It's just that you said such inappropriate words in front of the chief. How would the chief think about it? He must think that I, Luo Shengdong, are like this every day. No one! If I don’t deal with you, the chief will inevitably get the impression of covering up and indulging when he thinks about it in the future. You have been with me for several years, taking care of my family for me. There is no credit but hard work. How can I dismiss you because of this? ? Get up and talk."

Steward Wang wiped the cold sweat from his brow and stood up.He originally thought that he would lose his livelihood because of this, so it seems that his master still has affection.

Luo Shengdong said: "But if you continue to stay here, the chief may have a bad opinion of the master, so you still have to leave. You set off for Guangzhou today, and bring back Li Sangui who is guarding the mansion there. You just stay in Guangzhou, don't go back to Sanya in recent years."

(End of this chapter)