Chapter 1085: Bribery

Although Feng Fei is a military attache, he is not stupid. He also realizes that the Haihan people are willing to take the initiative to take the lead in doing such a thankless task, and the purpose may not be simple. Judging from what Hao Wanqing just said, Feng Fei believes that the Haihan people are just pretending to provide disaster relief.

In the name of relief, refugees from Shandong must be packed up and sent to the south to serve as cheap labor. This is called disaster relief. If An Xin finds fault, it is suspected of human trafficking. If the Haihan people want to recruit a large number of refugees in an open way, then they must

Just build a good relationship with the local government.

Of course, this is definitely a good thing for the thousands of households along the coast that are currently shouldered by the military and government. If we can really clear out some of the refugees in various states and counties, it will also make it less difficult for the government to organize and restore production. And save a lot of money.

The relief grain and related expenses will naturally not be returned to the court. Several military leaders will divide the accounts, and the money flowing into their own pockets is still considerable.

"To rescue refugees, the amount of food needed is not small. When the refugees hear the news, they will flock from various states and counties. If you can't come up with food, the situation may get out of control. Do you have a plan to deal with it?" Feng Fei wanted to understand.

After discussing the pros and cons, I began to verify the feasibility with Hao Wanqing.

Hao Wanqing also understood Feng Fei's intention and immediately responded: "When we came to Shandong this time, we transported nearly one million kilograms of grain. In the future, there will be a fleet of ships continuously transporting grain from the south, which is enough to maintain local operations. etc.

After we start accepting refugees, we will also organize them to open up wasteland and grow food on Zhifu Island to meet part of their supply needs."

As long as the sea route is not interrupted, Haihan's fleet can continue to transport the refugees to the south, and then transport food back from the south to recruit more refugees. However, the sea transportation line that Haihan relies on has a long voyage, and the coast of Shandong is far from the

It will freeze in winter, and there are many uncontrollable unexpected factors. I can only say that this plan is indeed feasible in theory.

Feng Fei was secretly shocked when he heard that these Haihan people had transported so much food from the south regardless of the cost. If the other party was not bragging, then this power of action was really terrible. This also shows that the other party is very powerful in this plan.

It must be done. Regardless of whether you agree with it or not, you will probably do it. Otherwise, why would you have to transport these millions of kilograms of grain back to the south intact?

Feng Fei asked: "Then when do you plan to start?"

"The sooner the better." Hao Wanqing responded: "If Mr. Feng thinks there is no problem, then we will send people to various places to post notices and distribute leaflets as soon as possible so that people can know our arrangements and come to Zhifu Island to receive relief on their own.

"

Feng Fei thought about it for a while before asking again: "I would like to see your food reserves. Is it inconvenient?"

Hao Wanqing saw that the other party was showing off his attitude, so he immediately agreed. Haihan brought a lot of food from the north this time. Saying a million kilograms is indeed a bit of a boast, but hundreds of thousands kilograms are definitely there.

, even if you have to calculate it bit by bit, it cannot be completed in a short while, and you can definitely fool Feng Fei.

At that moment, Hao Wanqing took Feng Fei to see the food shipped by Haihan. The goods unloaded on the shore in the past two days were mainly building materials and munitions, but more than half of the food was still on the ship. After leaving the camp and arriving at the dock, Hao Wanqing

Pointing to a row of sailboats parked neatly on the shore, he said: "These are all grain-carrying ships. Mr. Feng can nominate any one for us to get on board and take a look."

After seeing with his own eyes the cabins of the ships filled with local rice bags, Feng Fei finally believed Hao Wanqing's statement. The cabins of these large ships each contained tens of thousands of kilograms of grain, which proved that Hao Wanqing was not just talking.

Hao Wanqing was not done yet. He took Feng Fei to see the planned immigration camp and introduced to him: "We are going to build temporary residences here that can accommodate 5,000 people to facilitate the turnover of people who will be transported to the south.

.In order to facilitate management, it is temporarily planned to be divided into ten camps, each with 500 people, and women can form separate camps..."

What is the concept of five thousand people? There are only more than 1,100 garrison troops in Qishan Qianhusuo, plus the family members of the guards and the villages and towns around Qishansuo City, there may be only about 4,000 people in this sea.

Feng Fei was secretly stunned by the scale of the Han people's efforts. In the past, the gentry in the Denglai area came forward to rescue refugees, but no one had ever built such a large-scale refugee camp. The reasons were also very simple. First, they did not have enough manpower.

If building a camp of this size really attracts so many refugees, no landowner can afford to support it. It is rumored that the Han people in China are as wealthy as the rest of the country. Feng Fei has not personally witnessed the extent of this wealth until today.

horrible.

A large fleet, a strong militia force, and the ability to carry out a large-scale immigration plan across thousands of miles. Even the government may not be able to meet these conditions, but the Haihan people have actually achieved it. Just now Na Gaoqiaonan said that his master is here

In the south, they mostly deal with officials at the level of commander-in-chief and prefect, so it seems that what they say is indeed true. Feng Fei admits that among the wealthy businessmen and gentry he has come into contact with, he has never seen a financial backer with such powerful financial resources. Think about it.

I'm somewhat glad that I didn't act out of temper on the sandbank just now. God knows what big officials these Haihan people have made friends with in Shandong. If they get involved with this southern tycoon, they might have their teeth knocked out and have to swallow them.

Before leaving, Hao Wanqing ordered someone to bring out another wooden box, saying it was a gift for Feng Fei. Feng Fei was still immersed in the shock of what he saw and heard, so he didn't pay much attention to it. Hao Wanqing only said that it was a gift for Feng Fei.

After being delivered to the gate of the camp, Gao Qiaonan still accompanied him back to the blockade on the sandbank and sent him out of the area controlled by Haihan.

When Gao Qiaonan asked someone to hand over the wooden box to Feng Fei's men, Feng Fei remembered that there was such a gift and asked his men to put it away first. Luo Biao came over to ask about the whereabouts of the missing soldiers, but Feng Fei just shook his head and said: "First

Let’s talk about it when we get back.”

Feng Fei didn't get any information about the missing soldiers from Hao Wanqing, and he couldn't use force. But judging from the attitude shown by Hao Wanqing, it was obvious that the Haihan people didn't want to break up with the Ming army, and Feng Fei couldn't think of anything the Haihan people wanted to do.

The reason for attacking the Yantai Mountain Outpost - With such a huge fleet parked in Zhifu Bay, how could it remain invisible for a long time? Even if the Yantai Mountain Outpost was destroyed, Qishan Station would quickly discover their traces.

Feng Fei certainly didn't expect that Haihan's main purpose of attacking Yantai Mountain was to seize the first 24 hours of safety to seize the beachhead, set up a peripheral defense line, and ensure that subsequent supplies and personnel could land smoothly. Haihan had no intention of attacking the city.

After the Han army achieved their goal, they withdrew the line of control and took away all the prisoners. Feng Fei went to Zhifu Island alone, so it was naturally impossible to find the whereabouts of his men.

Returning to Qishansuo City, Feng Fei did not rush to convene a meeting with his men to study countermeasures. Instead, he went to the study to check the gift Hao Wanqing gave him. After opening the box, he saw a set of glass tea sets wrapped in cotton and satin.

The production process is extremely exquisite, and it is worth at least a hundred taels of silver on the market. However, the size of this set of glass tea sets is far different from the wooden box. Feng Fei knew that there was a way, so he took out a few pieces of glassware and put them away.

He went to the desk and removed the shatterproof cotton satin at the bottom. Sure enough, there was a hidden compartment underneath. Feng Fei removed the hidden compartment partition and saw the real gift - silver ingots neatly stacked under the box.

.

Twenty-two ingots, five by five, were placed neatly on the lower level of the box, numbered two levels, exactly one thousand taels. Although it is not an astronomical number, for Feng Fei personally, this is already a large amount of money.

Feng Fei's own salary plus various seasonal subsidies, his annual legal income was only about three hundred taels of silver. Before the civil war, he could make some money by eating his salary, but the Denglai Rebellion destroyed the entire Shandong health system.

They were all on the verge of collapse, and almost all of the imperial court's military expenditures were spent on the battlefields in the Northeast and Central Plains. Shandong, which had become calm, did not allocate sufficient money, let alone post-war reconstruction, not even to maintain the current status quo.

The combat effectiveness of the garrison seems to be stretched thin.

Feng Fei's fingers lightly brushed against the white silver taels, and he deepened his understanding of the generosity and sophistication of the Haihan people. Today was the first time the two parties met, but the other party's move was just a thousand taels of silver, and he also knew how to cover it up.

The boxes for giving gifts are all ready-made, and it is obvious that he is used to using this kind of method to deal with local officials. During the previous discussion, Hao Wanqing said that there will be other rewards in the future. I guess this benefit fee is not collected all at once and then lost.

In view of this economic gain, Feng Fei felt that it was necessary to maintain friendly relations with the Haihan people.

After Feng Fei put away all the silver and glass tea sets, he summoned several of his subordinates and told them roughly what he had seen and heard in the Haihan camp. Of course, Haihan was omitted from the description.

Not to mention the gift-giving aspect, even if his subordinates saw the wooden box he brought back, they would not be so ignorant as to find out what was in the box.

Luo Biao observed the Haihan fleet in Yantai Mountain yesterday and was the first to express his opinion: "Sir, since these Haihan people said they came to rescue refugees, why are they equipped with so many prohibited weapons? Firecrackers and artillery

, how can these weapons be kept privately among the people? My lord, out of humble opinion, even if we want to cooperate with the Haihan people to rescue refugees, we should let them hand over these weapons to the government first, and let us take the lead in this matter."

Feng Fei snorted and said: "Do you think those Haihan people are good men and women, and they will be obedient if you ask them to hand in their weapons? You forgot how we were stopped before. They looked like they were about to use force.

Do you look like an honest person? Don’t think carefully about why they can buy so many muskets and artillery!"

Luo Biao was surprised: "Could it be that... I bought it from the army?"

"Can you think of other possibilities?" Feng Fei said with a gloomy face: "Not to mention this Qishansuo, even if the Dengzhou guards want to get so many firecrackers and artillery, it is not easy. The Haihan people are in the south.

It is probably because of his extraordinary skills that he was able to get so many firearms from the army. Do you know what Takahashi Minami said to me? In the Southern Company, the commander-in-chief, the prefect had to make an appointment to see his master. If he was not bragging, then

It is indeed someone we cannot afford to offend."

From the moment Feng Fei saw the weapons equipped by Haihan's troops, he never considered the possibility of Haihan making his own weapons. The deep-rooted concept in his mind was that the best weapons must come from the Ministry of War, such as firecrackers and artillery.

This kind of standard weapon should not be available to the people. However, Haihan was able to obtain so many weapons. There are two necessary conditions. First, he must have considerable financial resources, and second, he must have a wild enough path to get from the Ming Dynasty.

The military purchases so many prohibited weapons.

Since the Haihan people had a way to obtain Ming army equipment and dared to display it in front of them in broad daylight, Feng Fei believed that this confidence came not only from the Haihan people's amazing financial resources, but more likely from their presence in the country.

The influence of the Ming Dynasty officialdom. Hao Wanqing did not mention the officials Haihan made friends with in the southern officialdom, and Feng Fei did not dare to ask more, because according to his judgment, the officials Hao Wanqing contacted in the south were much higher than his level.

If you ask, you will probably get yourself into trouble. It is better not to ask, and everyone can still talk to each other as equals.

Even Hao Wanqing did not expect this kind of misunderstanding. He did prepare some words to deal with Feng Fei's questions about weapons and equipment, but the other party did not ask at all. Hao Wanqing thought it was a previous show of force.

It shocked the other party, and they never expected that it was because Feng Fei had misunderstood the origin of these weapons.

However, this saves Haihan a lot of trouble, and this judgment is made by Feng Fei on his own, not by Hao Wanqing's verbal guidance. If Haihan does not take the initiative to tell the truth in the future, Feng Fei will probably

It is difficult to actively change such an idea.

For Feng Fei's words, these officers under him are not newcomers, so they naturally understand the weight of this matter. It is not a new thing for the army to resell some ordnance and weapons to the civilians as a means of making profits. The military has always

You can report the damage to your superiors in terms of depreciation, loss, etc., and then sell these "scrap products" quietly. However, all the inscriptions on the weapons must be worn away to avoid being traced to the origin of the weapons.

But this kind of business usually doesn't go too big. It's good if you can sell some firecrackers here and there. However, in Feng Fei's knowledge, heavy weapons such as artillery can never be sold privately, no matter who dares to sell them.

Whether he is someone who dares to buy or not, he is not a person that a small Qianhu can offend. Staying out of the matter and not talking too much is the wisest way to deal with it.

Feng Fei continued: "If the Haihan people want to recruit refugees, let them do it. If they like to cause trouble, let them do it. Your and my responsibility is to guard this strange mountain city. We have nothing to do with it.

It’s better to have as little involvement as possible.”
Chapter completed!