Chapter 1507 Mei Shilang’s little plan

The Ming court was not completely ignorant of the Haihan people's behavior in Shandong, which was like an invasion. Since the seventh year of Chongzhen, that is, in the second half of 1634, urgent memorials from Shandong have been sent to the capital, calling the Haihan Army

Invading from the sea, they occupied the Zhifu Island area near the sea in Fushan County, Dengzhou, and built houses and ports with plans to settle down for a long time.

At that time, the Ming court was troubled by the continuous aggression of the Jin army and the intensifying peasant uprising in the Central Plains. How could it bother to open a third battlefield and start a war with the Haihan people who were said to be extremely difficult to mess with. So the court's opinion was

It seems quite a bit like leaving it alone and letting the Shandong government decide what to do on its own, but the overall situation must be taken into consideration and the war in the Shandong Peninsula must not be rekindled.

After all, the imperial court also hoped that Shandong could recover from the previous Denglai Rebellion as soon as possible and support the imperial court with food, manpower and taxes to quell the other two wars. The Haihan people only occupied a small island near the sea in Dengzhou. What's the point?

What a fuss, are there not enough islands in the south occupied by the Haihan people? In the eyes of the adults in the imperial court, Fuguang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which also had coastal islands occupied by the Haihans, did not cause a big mess, except only the

Shandong is complaining endlessly, as if the sky is falling. It seems that there are some problems with the ability of this local official.

Of course, the government in Shandong was in trouble. Although the Haihan Army stationed in Fushan County was small in strength, its combat effectiveness was extremely strong. After one or two attempts by the local guards, the Haihan Army decisively gave up the confrontation. And the Haihan Army

The Han army was also able to free up its hands and wipe out all the bandits and bandits near Fushan County, as if they were the real owners of this place.

Although there have been stumbling blocks between the Shandong government and Haihan in the past two years, with occasional armed conflicts, generally speaking, no real war broke out, which can be regarded as worthy of the court's explanation. The Shandong government wanted

The plan to expel Haihan from the local area naturally failed to come true. Instead, Haihan gradually realized the de facto occupation in Fushan County and began to operate in a decent manner there. He did not regard these occupied areas as Ming Dynasty at all.

territory.

Governor Zhu Dadian of Shandong, Magistrate Chen Zhongsheng of Dengzhou, and Magistrate Zhang Pucheng of Fushan County, these three-level officials were naturally directly responsible for Haihan's public establishment of a control area in Shandong. But the problem was that the imperial court wanted to drive away the Haihan people but was unwilling to take any measures.

Military means made the situation uncontrollable, so their dereliction of duty was tolerated by the court. After all, the Haihan people only moved in Fushan County and showed no signs of a massive conquest of Shandong Prefecture. From this perspective, the court believed that

They can still be considered as meritorious, and their merits and demerits are offset, so they will not be held accountable for their failure to drive away the Haihan people.

However, it is one thing to forgive one's own people, and it is another thing to recognize Haihan's interests and power in Shandong. The two demands made by Hao Wanqing are things that Haihan must strive for, but for the Ming Dynasty

This is undoubtedly a condition for losing power and humiliating the country. Even if Mei Shilang wanted to get some benefits from Haihan, he would not dare to compromise on such a big issue of right and wrong.

"I am sorry that I cannot agree to the two conditions proposed by Mr. Hao." Mei Shilang's voice was not loud, but his tone was very firm: "The Ming Dynasty will not cede an inch of land to other countries. Everything on the Ming Dynasty's territory will naturally belong to it.

All owned by Ming Dynasty."

Hao Wanqing smiled and said: "Master Mei has misunderstood. Our country is not asking the Ming Dynasty to cede these areas in Fushan County that are actually controlled by our country. The land still belongs to the Ming Dynasty. What our country is asking for is the power to operate and govern. You see, we

It has been almost two years since we came to Shandong, but we still retain the Ming Dynasty’s administrative office and garrison in Fushan County. I think this is enough to show the goodwill of our country to peacefully coexist with the Ming Dynasty.”

The purpose of this meeting between Hao Wanqing and Mei Shengchuan was not to determine the ownership of Haihan's rights and interests in the Shandong-controlled area immediately, but to test the bottom line of the Ming court's policy. Of course, the Ministry of War, which they contacted for the first time,

Mei Shengchuan, the minister, must also be Hao Wanqing's test target. Haihan had no direct experience in dealing with senior Ming officials of this level before, so this time the person in charge of the security department came to meet with him in person, hoping to be able to negotiate with him during the meeting.

Get more valuable information.

Hao Wanqing will not be stingy about leaving some room for maneuver to the other party. For Haihan, the ownership of the land is actually just a name. Just like Hainan Island has been in the hands of Haihan for several years, but he has never formally requested ownership from the Guangdong and Guangxi officials.

At present, what the Executive Committee pays more attention to is actual control. As for whether Ming recognizes or not recognizes the sovereignty of these occupied areas, what does it matter? It is more conducive to Haihan to let Ming retain a little face. Trade,

Immigration, projects with real benefits, are the conditions that Haihan really cares about.

But does Mei Shengchuan really not understand the truth at all? That's not necessarily the case. In addition to the white money and the continuous victory reports, Dongjiang Town sent to the capital, there are also many things related to Haihan

The content of the intelligence. Haihan has occupied many places in the Ming Dynasty over the years, and how they use this method to strengthen their own strength is not unknown to the big shots in the capital.

At least Mei Shengchuan is very aware of what the Haihan people have done in Shandong in the past two years, opening and building ports, occupying land for mining, and trading and immigration. The hidden meaning behind these measures is much more technical than the simple and crude robbery of Hou Jin.

The means seemed peaceful, but it was under this situation that the Haihan people turned these controlled areas into a state within a state bit by bit, but the Ming Dynasty could not come up with any effective countermeasures. After all, money and silk

It touches people's hearts. Once pulled into Haihan's interest system, it will be difficult for officials or civilians to get out of it.

However, Umeikawa did not expect that the Haihan people would take the initiative to give in on territorial sovereignty. He originally thought that the conditions required by the other party would definitely include the cession of all existing occupied areas to the Haihan people. However, the other party was so generous.

Taking a step back was indeed a bit beyond his expectation.

"We can talk about trade and business, but the governance of the place, which is originally our Ming territory, should naturally be left to our government." Mei Shengchuan was not satisfied with this, and continued to point out the inaccuracies in Hao Wanqing's words.

place. Like the other party, he also approached this meeting with the idea of ​​testing the bottom line.

Hao Wanqing spread his hands and indicated that he had no intention of arguing with Mei Shengchuan on this issue: "I have just said that we have retained the local government and the garrison. As for whether they can perform their original functions of governing the local area, that is not our country's

Responsibility."

The implication of Hao Wanqing's words is that you don't want to blame the leaky houses in the Ming Dynasty. The government agencies are reserved for you. These people can't exercise their authority, so how can they blame us. Of course, the local government in the Ming Dynasty cannot perform their functions.

Hao Wanqing would definitely not admit any connection with the military pressure exerted by the Haihan garrison.

The irony is that as the Minister of War, Mei Shengchuan certainly knows the reason, but if he takes the initiative to bring it up on such an occasion, he will undoubtedly be humiliating himself - who told you that the Ming army cannot take the responsibility, and the local garrison has no power?

This method ensures the government's dominance. Therefore, Mei Shengchuan could not speak out to expose Hao Wanqing's shirk of responsibility, so he could only hold his nose and accept the mistake.

And Hao Wanqing has gotten the information he wants to know from this - business and trade can be discussed, which means that the ports, towns, infrastructure facilities, and mines developed and built locally by Haihan will all have great opportunities.

Obtained official permission from the Ming Dynasty officials. As for the movement of the population, with the resolution of the trade problem, this will be solved naturally.

After the meeting between the two lasted for more than an hour, it was already time for dinner. Haihan has always had a tradition of negotiating at the dinner table, and this time was no exception. Hao Wanqing ordered someone to prepare a sumptuous banquet early in the morning for the secret arrival.

The visiting senior officials of the Ming Dynasty greeted him. However, the location of the banquet was very particular. It was not placed in the officers' dining room in Zhifu Port, but on the rooftop of the small building of the Zhifu Island Management Committee.

A pergola was set up on the rooftop, and from here you can have an unobstructed view of Zhifu Port. There are merchant ships and fishing boats loading and unloading goods at the port pier, a sailing warship undergoing repairs in the dock, and the place on the hill across the bay that originally belonged to the local area.

The guard posts of the Guard Army now display the flags of Hai and Han, which can be seen clearly with the naked eye.

"When we came here two years ago, there were many refugees on the beach. As long as we promised to give them a bite of food, they would climb onto our boat regardless, and then we would send them wherever we wanted." Hao Wanqing

While pouring wine for Mei Shengchuan, he talked about what he saw when he first arrived in Shandong without any scruples: "There are no hungry people or bandits in Fushan County now. Everyone has food to eat. The public security is much better than it was two years ago."

Times. People from other nearby state capitals who cannot survive will come here to seek a livelihood. It is no exaggeration to say that now more than half of the people in this place rely on us to support them."

Mei Shengchuan wanted to refute Hao Wanqing's statement, but he also knew that it was useless to talk to the Haihan people. They simply would not accept this trick. These Haihan people were good at calculation and considered everything based on actual interests, and the facts

It’s just that the effectiveness of governance here is better than that of the local government. Mei Shengchuan could only say angrily: "After all, this is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the people here are the people of the Ming Dynasty. Some of your country's practices are suspected of overstepping.

."

Hao Wanqing said: "What Lord Mei said is right, but the people don't think so. They just want to live well. The Ming Dynasty cannot give them safe shelter, food, clothing and rice, but Haihan can. If Lord Mei thinks what I say,

It’s not true. You can take the time to visit the local people later and see if they think it’s better to be a Ming person or a Haihan person.”

No matter how much Mei Shengchuan could bear it, he couldn't help but feel a little angry when he heard this. He snorted coldly and said: "These ignorant commoners are short-sighted and only see petty profits in front of them. How do they know how important the identity of the citizens of the Ming Dynasty is!"

Hao Wanqing said with a smile: "The common people don't have much knowledge. Of course, whoever feeds them will be judged as good. But we are different. We need to consider more things for our country and strive for more benefits. Mr. Mei is doing everything.

For the sake of Ming Dynasty, I also admire you very much. But negotiation is negotiation, eating is eating, and when there is good wine and good food, there is no need to say those words that make the scenery look bad. Lord Mei, I toast you!"

Hao Wanqing tried a few words, but seeing that Mei Shengchuan was quite sensitive to the topic of people's desires, he decisively stopped the conversation and blocked the other person's mouth with food and wine to divert his attention. However, Mei Shengchuan stretched out his hand to avoid hitting the smiling man.

Since Hao Wanqing stopped talking, he could not continue to have an attack. He silently raised his glass and drank a cup with Hao Wanqing.

Of course, Hao Wanqing would not really keep quiet about business. After eating a few mouthfuls of food, he changed a new topic: "Master Mei, please look at the pier closest to us in the south. The two ships docked are heading south.

A special cargo ship for transporting copper ingots. Several ships parked at the dock next to it are all from Zhejiang. They will leave for Liaodong tomorrow to deliver supplies there. There is also the big ship with black sails.

Merchant ships from Fujian specialize in trafficking southern goods to Shandong and sell them to the outside world through our market in Fushan County. Currently, there are nearly a hundred merchant ships entering and leaving the port here every month. Mr. Mei works in the Ministry of War, maybe

I don’t have a precise understanding of this, so let me briefly describe it. The value of goods entering and leaving Zhifu Port every month is probably more than 300,000 taels of silver. Calculated throughout the year, there are about 4 to 5 million taels of goods.

In and out from here.”

Mei Shengchuan was a little confused after listening to the first half. He didn't know what Hao Wanqing wanted to express, but after listening to the second half, he had a vague understanding. This port doesn't look big, but he didn't expect that the scale of operations is really quite big.

.Hao Wanqing informed himself of these situations, in addition to bragging about Haihan's business capabilities, he probably also had other purposes.

Sure enough, Hao Wanqing changed the subject and said: "Master Mei may wonder how there are so many bold businessmen who dare to come here to borrow the port we built to do maritime trade. In fact, the reason is very simple, because there may be many people behind these merchant ships.

At least they all have official backgrounds. The shipowner or even the entire shipping company may be the property of a certain adult in a certain state in the south. And we are also happy to cooperate with Ming officials in this kind of trade. On the one hand, everyone is a person of status.

, the credibility is relatively guaranteed, and on the other hand, Ming officials can indeed provide us with a lot of conveniences, so it will be easier for everyone to make money together."

Hao Wanqing's words were quite explicit. Mei Shengchuan was not a fool, and he naturally understood that the other party was making it clear to him that if he had the intention of making money, then Haihan could provide such an opportunity.
Chapter completed!