Chapter 2254

To say that the object that the Haihan Intelligence Department is most concerned about is not the powerful Western competitors, but the Ming Dynasty that is very close at hand.

The reason for this is also very simple. Although the Western colonists possess powerful force, they have no foundation in East Asia and will not pose much threat to Haihan in the short term.

The situation in the Ming Dynasty is relatively more complicated. Most of the territory and people of Haihan were stolen from the Ming Dynasty. Today, it is still one of Haihan's main raw material production areas, sales markets and sources of population. On the one hand, Haihan We must continue to obtain various resources from Ming Dynasty, and on the other hand, we must also try to assist Ming Dynasty in maintaining its political stability to ensure that our own interests are not harmed.

The internal and external troubles faced by the Ming Dynasty will have a significant impact on Haihan's interests. Therefore, collecting military and political intelligence about the Ming Dynasty has always been one of the important missions of the Haihan Security Department and the Military Intelligence Bureau. However, due to the places Haihan can obtain It is limited to coastal areas, and the intelligence department has extremely limited manpower. It is difficult to spread the network in the interior of the Ming Dynasty, so some intelligence needs to be provided through partners like Xu Xinsu.

The various decrees and notifications issued by the Ming Dynasty to the local governments, as well as the replacement of some senior officials, are all information that Haihan is interested in. After collecting and sorting this information, the agency headed by Xu Yuxing will also report it to Haihan. And Haihan will also provide the Fujian side with some information they need, such as information about the remnants of his mortal enemy Shiba Zhi.

This kind of information exchange between the two parties has been going on for several years, and they are relatively familiar with each other. Xu Yuxing and He Xi have not met much, but their understanding of each other is not low at all. Because of this, Xu Yuxing becomes even more uncomfortable. He was willing to reveal any flaws in front of the other party. Even in this relatively relaxed situation, the string in Xu Yuxing's mind still did not relax.

Xu Yuxing did not want to be in the limelight on such an occasion and expose himself to the public eye. He preferred to stand in an inconspicuous place and chat slowly with He Xi next to him.

From where Xu Yuxing stood, he could see most of the area in the banquet hall, and the object he wanted to focus on was the movements of the Ming Dynasty envoy Fei Cexian.

Although Xu Yuxing did not want to meet Fei Cexian, as an intelligence officer, of course he wanted to keep track of every move of the Ming envoys in Haihan as much as possible. One of the tasks of the Xu family's agency stationed in Sanya was to monitor Fei Cexian Xu Yuxing usually learned about Master Fei's situation through written reports submitted by his subordinates. This was a rare opportunity to observe the target in person, so he naturally would not miss it.

At this time, Fei Cexian was in his field of vision, but he was alone, with no one around him to talk to, and he looked quite lonely in this bustling banquet hall.

"This Master Fei... doesn't seem to be very popular here." Xu Yuxing said at a volume that He Xi could hear next to him. Although this had been mentioned many times in the reports submitted to him by his subordinates before that. , but he still hoped to get confirmation from He Xi.

He Xi replied expressionlessly: "Isn't this an obvious thing? Everyone has to choose a side. If it were you, which side would you choose?"

"Of course I choose your country." Xu Yuxing responded without hesitation.

Anyone with a discerning eye is well aware of the complicated relationship between Haihan and Ming Dynasty. If you want to maintain a good relationship with Haihan, you can't get too close to Ming officials on the surface, at least don't do it too obviously under the eyes of Haihan people.

Fei Cexian was just an envoy sent by the Ming Dynasty to Haihan, and he did not have much real power in his hands. There would not be much benefit in currying favor with him, but instead of getting too close, he might be misunderstood by the people of Haihan. So at such a banquet

Generally speaking, few people would take the initiative to talk to Fei Cexian. Even businessmen from the Ming Dynasty like Li Nai would keep their distance silently to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.

And Fei Cexian should be well aware of his situation. Although he is in an isolated environment, he does not show any signs of depression. Having been in Sanya for so long, he has long been accustomed to this, although such a situation will

It made Ming look very humiliated in diplomatic situations, but Fei Cexian's personal impact was actually very limited. His position was rich in money and had little to do, and he also enjoyed various privileges of a diplomat. In comparison, enduring this little trouble was not a problem at all.

.

In addition to the salary from the court, Fei Cexian will also receive monthly "office expenses" from Haihan. The amount is much larger than the salary he received from the court, but the Haihan people have not asked him anything.

Required as a condition of exchange. Of course, Fei Cexian understands that the money is not given for free, so many times when encountering some trivial matters that can be argued about or not, Fei Cexian often chooses to deal with them in a way that reduces major issues to small ones and tries to avoid them.

A head-on conflict with Haihan officials.

Of course, except for Haihan, other countries are not the ones Fei Cexian would be scrupulous about. Especially countries like North Korea, which are jumping around, Fei Cexian despises them. Before

A few days ago, he had a verbal dispute with the Crown Prince of Joseon in the library, which was very unpleasant. However, in Sanya, it was impossible to ask the Haihan people to come forward to uphold justice. That would only bring trouble to oneself. Although Fei Cexian was dissatisfied, he also

I can only bear this breath.

And now he saw Li Zhi standing with several high-ranking officials from Haihan and talking loudly, which made him feel very uncomfortable. North Korea is so poor that it needs force but not force, and only financial resources but not financial resources. How can it enjoy such high treatment?

Just because they would beg for mercy from the Haihan people?

Of course, such thoughts are just lingering in Fei Cexian's mind. It is impossible for him to find fault with Li Xie on this occasion. He can only force himself to shift his attention to other places. Don't pay attention to these things that will make him feel

Unpleasant character.

Fei Cexian suddenly remembered something. He heard that Fujian had also sent people to participate in this martial arts competition, but it seemed that no one from the Xu family had shown up. Even on this very formal diplomatic occasion today, there was still no one.

I saw the generals named Xu who usually came to Sanya on behalf of Xu Xinsu.

After all, Fei Cexian was not from an intelligence background, and he still had too few sources of information. At this time, he didn’t even know that someone else had come to Fujian this time. Moreover, when he was quietly looking for his target, he didn’t expect that he had become

As the target of the other party's surveillance, Xu Yuxing even had the time to make him a topic of conversation and make some mild jokes with the senior officials from Haihan next to him.

"It seems that Mr. Fei doesn't know your existence, otherwise he would have come to talk to you long ago. After all, there are only two of you two Ming officials here." He Xi said to Xu Yuxing half-jokingly.

Xu Yuxing smiled and said: "Master He, do you think I can find a common topic with Master Fei?"

He Xi responded: "Why not? You are officials in the same dynasty, so you must have a lot of official experience to exchange."

Xu Yuxing shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that Master Fei will turn his back on me immediately after learning of my identity."

He Xi said: "That shouldn't be the case. Mr. Fei has met with members of your family before, and there was no conflict. At most, he just looked ugly."

"I'm afraid it will be in front of you, so I don't dare to have any conflicts." Of course Xu Yuxing also knew these situations, and he revealed the secret with one word.

Now that all the military power in Fujian is in the hands of Xu Xinsu, the local civil servants either obey his orders or are completely ignored. The imperial court has lost actual control over the situation in Fujian. Although it still belongs to the Ming Dynasty in name, in fact Xu Xinsu is in Fujian

His influence was no less than that of establishing a small court on his own. The mere act of privately forming an alliance and establishing diplomatic relations with Haihan was not tolerated by the Ming Dynasty.

Fei Cexian was a diplomat of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, he would not have a good look when meeting people from the Xu family in Fujian. Xu Yuxing did not want to bring trouble on himself, so no matter how He Xi tried to tease him, he still insisted on his position and refused to go.

Get into this trouble.

Xu Yuxing was worried that He Xi was still obsessed with this matter, so he simply changed the subject on his own initiative: "I heard that the young prince of Annan Kingdom has been asking around about my affairs these days?"

He Xi glanced sideways at Xu Yuxing's expression to make sure that his words were not filled with too many personal emotions, and then responded in a low voice: "Zheng Zha wants to get to know you. He hopes that we can arrange a meeting."

"Let's get to know each other? I heard from my fourth son that this young prince is not a simple character!" Xu Yuxing said half of the words, but did not mention what Xu Yuzhuo, his fourth son, said about Zheng Zao's deeds.

He Xi smiled and said: "You don't have to show weakness in front of me, right? After all, you are also a big shot in charge of Fujian's military affairs. You have never seen anything before, so you won't be afraid of this young prince Annan, right?"

Xu Yuxing waved his hand and said: "Compared to the young prince who will inherit Annan's rule sooner or later, I am not a big shot. Sir, don't be ridiculous."

He Xi responded: "What? Do you really need to have the title of prince to be considered a big shot? Then maybe in a few years, Mr. Xu will be crowned king by the court."

Xu Yuxing's face changed slightly and he said: "Master He, don't make fun of this kind of thing. The walls have ears at the moment."

He Xi responded calmly: "Who can tell what will happen in the future? Just wait and see!"

There were more than a dozen kings with different surnames in the history of the Ming Dynasty. Many meritorious ministers were ennobled at the beginning of the founding of the country and during the Zhengtong years, so it was not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty to grant kings to ministers. Now Xu Xinsu is extremely powerful in Fujian, and the imperial court has great influence on Fujian.

There is no good way to deal with the situation, so we can only pretend to be deaf and mute and maintain the status quo.

But if the current trend continues, even if Xu Xinsu can hold his temper, will his successor be willing to continue to bear the title of Fujian General Soldier after he gives up and goes west? Once he wants to split the territory and claim the king himself, then

It is difficult for the imperial court to have any effective means to prevent the changes in Fujian. If a civil war against Fujian is to be fought, it will probably be much more difficult than the peasant army in the Central Plains.

The imperial court had already tried to promote Xu Xinsu to a noble position, hoping to transfer him to the capital. It even hinted that even if he wanted to be the Minister of War or other positions, it was not unnecessarily negotiable. However, Xu Xinsu remained unmoved and stayed in Fujian Bu.

He was willing to relocate and run the local area like an iron barrel, with military and political power firmly in his own hands.

If there is any trick that the court can use to stabilize Xu Xinsu, then the only trick left is to seal the king. This trick may not be 100% effective, but morally it can at least temporarily restrain Xu Xinsu, making him unable to continue.

Become the king by establishing your own business.

Xu Xinsu understands the reason for this, but he will not take the initiative to make such a request to the court. Haihan also understands that he will not add fuel to the flames to promote this matter. Of course, the Ming court understands better, but there are too many factors to take into account.

, even if Chongzhen had such a plan, there would still be various conflicts of interest that would hinder the implementation of this matter.

Perhaps at some point in the future, the imperial court will choose the lesser of two evils and choose to confer a kingship to stabilize Xu Xinsu and the interest groups behind her, so as to avoid the emergence of another unmanageable state within a state in Fujian.

But no one can accurately predict whether or when this situation will happen. Even the Haihan people, who know everything and know everything, cannot predict this matter, because this is no longer what they know.

The history of knowledge.

From Haihan's point of view, He Xi hopes that Fujian can continue to form its own system under the rule of the Xu family, so that Haihan can have a large channel to exchange various resources with the Ming Dynasty. But at the same time, he does not want to see Fujian lose control of the Ming Dynasty.

If it becomes independent, it will affect Haihan's interests on the southeast coast.

Based on this stance, it might be the most ideal situation for the Ming court to grant Xu Xinsu the title of king with a different surname, and then both parties continue to maintain a superficial relationship between monarch and minister.

Although Xu Yuxing may not be Xu Xinsu's chosen heir to the family business, when the time comes for one person to ascend to heaven, as Xu Xinsu's son, it is probably reasonable for him to be granted a title. It's just that Xu Yuxing's temperament of not liking to appear in public, even if

Even if the court granted him a title, it probably wouldn't change his mind.

However, the intelligence agencies in Xu Yuxing's hands will have a great influence on the future direction of Fujian, so He Xi is also trying every means to test his attitude and wants to see what Xu Yuxing thinks of Fujian's future development direction.

Xu Yuxing said slowly: "What the imperial court plans to do is the imperial court's business. I, the Xu family, cannot interfere with the imperial court's decision. But whether I can be crowned king or not, it cannot affect my Xu family's status in Fujian, let alone harm my Xu family."

interests! If it is inconsistent with this, then my Xu family must put our own interests first... What do you think, Mr. He?"

He Xi nodded slightly and said: "It's reasonable and reasonable. I personally agree with Mr. Xu's idea. But for now, I think it's better for Fujian to maintain the status quo. This way, everyone will be happy for the Xu family, the Ming Dynasty, and our country.

.”

"I hope so." Xu Yuxing responded noncommittally.
Chapter completed!