1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 994 Official Attitude
Luo Shengdong made his fortune by smuggling salt. In the past few years, he has purchased real estate in Sanya, Haikou, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and other places so that he can live there when he does business there.These houses are all equipped with housekeepers and servants. Transferring Butler Wang to Guangzhou, and then changing the local housekeeper Li to Sanya, this is probably the most appropriate way Luo Shengdong can think of.It's fine for Zhou Hengxing to forget about this in the future, but if one day he wants to come and ask about it again, Luo Shengdong has already dealt with it, at least he can explain it.

Luo Shengdong was exhausted all the way, and he was a little tired after dealing with these things. After letting Butler Wang step back, he looked through the accounts for a while and couldn't stand the drowsiness. He went back to his room and slept until dawn.

But early in the morning, a messenger came from Fort Victory, asking him to report to the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the morning, and Ning Qi would meet him sometime.Luo Shengdong didn't even care about breakfast now, so he hurriedly asked his servants to boil water, preparing to take a shower and change clothes before going out.It is not as difficult now as it was a few years earlier, and it is very difficult for Luo Shengdong to meet the big shots of the executive committee. He also has to report and schedule first, and wait until the big shots are free on their schedules.Moreover, the establishment of the Haihan Kingdom is imminent, and from now on these big figures will be like kings, and it will be even more difficult to get an audience.

This time, Luo Shengdong cherished the opportunity to meet the big shots of the executive committee on official business, even when he was soaking in the bathtub, he was thinking about how to communicate with Ning Qi later.Apart from business affairs, he naturally also had some personal plans, and wanted to take this opportunity to get Ning Qi's advice.

Luo Shengdong tidied up in a hurry, the servants had already hired a sedan chair and waited outside the door.Luo Shengdong walked to the door, turned his head and saw Steward Wang following behind him every step of the way, thought for a while and said, "Don't follow me today, and leave this place early as I ordered last night."

Steward Wang didn't say anything more after hearing this, knelt down tremblingly and kowtowed, and then ordered two servants to follow Luo Shengdong out.

When Luo Shengdong arrived outside the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there was no work here, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.It's okay for him to come earlier and wait a little longer, but if he came late and asked Ning Qi to wait for him, it would be a crime.

Luo Shengdong waited outside for more than half an hour, and finally someone came out and told him to go in.Luo Shengdong went into the office and saw Ning Qi was writing a book at his desk, so he didn't dare to make a sound, and stood obediently by the door waiting.After waiting for a long time, Ning Qi stopped what he was doing and greeted him: "General Luo is here! Sit, sit, why are you standing, sit down and talk!"

Luo Shengdong sat down on the chair in response, but only sat on half of his buttocks, and said humbly: "Just now I came in and saw that Chief Ning was busy, so I didn't dare to disturb him."

Ning Qi ordered someone to serve hot tea to Luo Shengdong, and only then did he get to the point: "I have read the secret letter you sent yesterday, and it has been done well. However, I still need to ask you about some details, so please invite me today. You come over and meet."

Luo Shengdong said: "This is a matter of my next assignment, I should try my best to complete it."

Ning Qi was quite satisfied with Luo Shengdong's humble attitude, nodded and asked, "Did he mention to you what he wrote in the letter when he went to Zhaoqing to have an interview with Mr. Xiong?"

Luo Shengdong didn't understand what he meant, but he answered honestly: "Lord Xiong said that day, all the adults in Haihan don't want to see another war in Lingnan. Deal with it, don't make trouble with Daming, and hurt the long-standing harmony."

Ning Qi pondered and said, "How do you understand Master Xiong's meaning?"

Luo Shengdong hurriedly replied: "I have limited knowledge, how dare I discuss military and state affairs indiscriminately!"

"It's okay, just talk according to your thinking, it's okay if you say something wrong." Ning Qi persuaded: "You are originally a member of Daming's officialdom, and you have met Mr. Xiong more than once, and you know him better than us , ask your feelings, and also to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings in the middle."

Luo Shengdong saw that Ning Qi's attitude did not seem to be fake, so he thought about it and replied: "I think that Mr. Xiong's meaning should be to hope that after Haihan establishes the country, don't rush to make too much publicity, especially the establishment of diplomatic relations with Ming Dynasty. It should be slowed down."

Ning Qi nodded and said: "From Mr. Xiong's point of view, this matter may embarrass him."

If Haihan wants to establish diplomatic relations with Ming Dynasty after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the occupation of Qiongzhou Island will be completely hidden from the imperial court, and Ming Dynasty’s foreign strategy has always been to fight for every inch of land—although whether it can win or not is another matter However, it is obviously impossible for Daming to cut such a large piece of land without saying a word.

Xiong Wencan has lived in Lingnan for a long time, so he has a better understanding of Haihan's strength. He also knows that Qiongzhou Island is difficult to take back from Haihan's hands by force, and it is even more impossible to prevent Haihan from establishing a country. The only way is to acquiesce to what Haihan did. But if it is not reported to the court, it will count as long as it can be delayed.Reasonably speaking, it is impossible to hide this kind of matter from the imperial court, and the news will reach the imperial palace in the capital sooner or later.With Emperor Chongzhen's style of handling affairs, it is unlikely that he would accept aliens occupying his own land to establish a political power. Once he learns about this, in addition to holding the Guangdong and Guangxi officials accountable, he will probably try to use force to solve the problem.

Of course, this is a situation that Xiong Wencan does not want to see. Fortunately, Haihan has been operating in Guangdong and Guangxi for many years, and the officialdom has basically penetrated from top to bottom. It is unlikely that Haihan's occupation of Qiongzhou Island will be reflected through official channels. If the official circles of Guangdong and Guangxi can be united, there is still a possibility to carry the matter down.After all, the capital is thousands of miles away, so it is difficult to know the specific events that happened on Qiongzhou Island, and it is impossible to investigate and deal with local officials based on some unconfirmed folk rumors.If it is really necessary to pursue local responsibilities, officials in the major cities of the Guangdong and Guangxi regions may be charged with beheadings. There may be injustice if they are all killed, but if they kill half of them, they will definitely slip through the net. It will force officials in Guangdong and Guangxi to band together to resist pressure from the imperial court.

Of course, it is not enough to rely on Xiong Wencan's efforts alone in this matter, and Haihan needs to take the initiative to cooperate. The most important point is that Haihan should not be too high-profile, and take the initiative to send people to the capital to apply for the establishment of diplomatic relations with Daming. Covering the sky with one hand is no match for Haihan himself being a demon.But Xiong Wencan couldn't be too clear in the letter, so as not to fall into the trap, so the letter was full of polite words, but there was not much substance. After reading the letter, Ning Qi could only send Luo Shengdong to ask for clarification.Fortunately, Luo Shengdong didn't know the contents of the letter, otherwise he would probably feel worthless for his painstaking efforts in carefully escorting the secret letter back.

Ning Qi continued: "The matter of Jianguo is already on the line, and it has to be announced. This matter can be discussed without further discussion. I don't think Mr. Xiong expressed any objection to this. However, the matter of handling the relationship with Daming needs to be considered again. .”

Luo Shengdong was surprised and said: "Chief, you need to think twice about this matter! If the imperial court knows the situation in the south, it may be difficult to do good. It will only increase the loss of life, and it is not a good thing for Haihan!"

Although Luo Shengdong didn't care about his official position in Daming anymore, he didn't want to see a war between Daming and Haihan. The reason was simple. Let alone a war broke out, even if the two sides announced a breakdown in their relationship, his private salt business might It will be difficult to maintain.When the time comes to lose the function of a salt merchant, Luo Shengdong is very worried about whether he can still find an individual job in Haihan. After all, Haihan is now more and more inclined to use personnel trained by itself, and personnel from Ming Dynasty officials It is difficult to gain the trust of the Executive Committee.

For an official like Luo Shengdong who doesn't have much advanced culture and is not good at leading soldiers and fighting, it seems unlikely that he has any other good way out other than using his official position to run errands for Haihan as a smuggler.After losing this private salt business, is it possible to become a human trafficker in Nanyang in the future?Therefore, from a personal point of view, Luo Shengdong very much agrees with Xiong Wencan's approach, and strives to block the influence of Haihan's founding of the country from the people as much as possible, and not to rise to the level of the court.

Ning Qi said: "Don't worry, listen to me first. Haihan and Daming get along very well, and we have no intention of invading Daming, but as a country, we still hope to be recognized by Daming. I also understand Lord Xiong What are you worried about, but regarding the ownership of the sovereignty of Qiongzhou Island, I think we can properly resolve it with Daming through consultations, and I believe that the imperial court will definitely have certain demands, which Haihan can satisfy in exchange."

Luo Shengdong didn't really understand what Ning Qi meant after listening to it. He actually didn't like the rhetoric of these officials who used their accents to play around in circles. Both Xiong Wencan and Ning Qi were like this. They didn't say what they wanted to say directly, they always beat around the bush. Expressing it made him very troublesome.He didn't dare to guess at such words. If he misunderstood, he would be asking for trouble.

Seeing his confused face, Ning Qi knew that what he said was probably not understood by the other party, so he asked him another way: "Do you know the situation in Ming Dynasty in the past two years?"

Luo Shengdong replied: "The various newspapers published here in Sanya have never been out of issue, and I have read them all carefully. In the past two years of Ming Dynasty... it is true that there are many internal and external troubles, and the court is also very difficult to deal with." He said In fact, there is still a sentence on his lips that he didn't say - if Da Ming hadn't been too busy to take care of himself, how could it be so easy for Hai Han to develop in the south without any resistance.

In 1633, the peasant army was in chaos in Hebei, Henan, and Sichuan provinces. The officials and garrisons in Daming were busy chasing and intercepting these rebellious troops. Many provinces, including Fuguang, mobilized troops to participate in the encirclement and suppression, but the effect was not satisfactory.At the same time, Houjin captured Daming's last stronghold in Liaodong, Lushun, outside the customs. The generals who led the army for Houjin were Kong Youde and others who had previously defected from Denglai across the sea to the northeast.

At the beginning of 1634, the peasant army captured Kuizhou, Sichuan. After being blocked by the chieftain Qin Liangyu's army, they returned to Shaanxi from Yangping Pass, the pass between Sichuan and Shaanxi.However, the troops led by Zhang Xianzhong went out of Wuguan from Henan and Shangluoxi to enter Hannan, and joined the peasant army returning from Sichuan, which made the official army's killing operations useless again.And in the coming April, there will be a large-scale famine in the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, where there has been no rain for more than half a year, and it will be another chaos that the government cannot contain.The increasingly powerful Hou Jin army will not be idle this year, and will invade the Xuanfu and Datong areas many times in the second half of the year, making Ming's military strength in the north even more stretched.

Daming failed to find a complete solution to the peasant army that was making trouble at home and the Houjin that was coveting abroad.Under such circumstances, the Guangdong officialdom headed by Xiong Wencan dared to boldly try to conceal the current situation of Qiongzhou Island and Haihan, because these officials also knew very well that the imperial court could not pay too much attention to the south at present, even if Knowing that Haihan is acting in some irregular manner here, it is difficult to take effective measures.

Regarding the international and domestic situation facing Ming Dynasty, there will be irregular reports in several paper media published in Sanya.These press releases are basically from Haihan's database and adapted from historical records.Although the fate of many people in Fuzhou and Guangxi has been changed because of the appearance of Haihan, the impact on the mainland and the north is not obvious. History is still developing along the original track, so these are adapted from historical facts. The press release can basically get seven or eight points, and the timeliness is much higher than the imperial court's residence newspaper.

Although Luo Shengdong is not very educated, he still has political sensitivity. He has ordered a copy of all the official paper media published in Sanya, and he pays the most attention to the domestic news of Daming and the various news published by Haihan. The New Deal, and Haihan's press releases often commented on the wars that took place in Ming Dynasty. Of course, the angle was mostly critical, so as to demonstrate the stability and prosperity under Haihan's rule.Therefore, Luo Shengdong also has a relatively clear understanding of the situation in the Ming Dynasty in the past two years.

Ning Qi nodded and continued: "The current situation in Daming is like a house on fire. It is already difficult to put out the fire with one's own strength. Someone needs to help pass the water basin to put out the fire."

Luo Shengdong recalled it now: "What Chief Ning means... Haihan provides... military aid to Daming?"

Ning Qi responded with a smile: "Do you think this is feasible?"

Regarding Haihan's military aid to Daming, Luo Shengdong is actually no stranger. From Haihan sending troops to Panyu County, Guangzhou to suppress bandits, and later assisting the Fujian military against Shibazhi, the number of times Haihan provided military aid to Daming And the scale has been showing a trend of increasing year by year.And even most of Haihan's existing territories were taken from Daming with this high-sounding excuse.Thinking back when Haihan sent troops into Qiongbei, it was under the slogan of suppressing bandits—of course, Luo Shengdong still had a clue about the origin of the pirates who suddenly invaded Qiongbei and were so powerful.

(End of this chapter)