Chapter 1152 Northern Commercial Route

The meeting between Wang Tom and Shen Shikui lasted for more than an hour. During this period, with Shen Shikui's consent, Haihan sent several more cooks to the island, laid out various household items, and cooked a lunch for the two of them.

.Another soldier specially brought a table of Eight Immortals to the island, and set up a banquet in a serious manner. The two parties had been talking happily before, and Shen Shikui did not doubt that he was there, and even asked Shen Zhixiang to join the banquet.

Of course, you can’t have food without wine. What Wang Tom brought was the aged Nuerhong produced in Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang. Although the alcohol content of the rice wine is not high, it is really strong. After a few glasses of wine, the atmosphere at the dinner gradually warmed up.

Get networked.

"I usually eat these seafood in Pi Dao, but there are not so many ways to prepare the dishes." Shen Shikui praised the cooking skills of Wang Tom's chef while eating.

Although he is the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town and has the status of a local emperor on this island, due to the extreme lack of supplies on the island, the actual living conditions are actually very difficult, and the meat he can eat basically comes from the sea.

However, the only seasonings on this island are free sea salt, and even oil, soy sauce and vinegar are in short supply, not to mention the various spices commonly used in Haihan cooking dishes, so naturally they can't produce any special taste.

Wang Tom smiled and said: "Now the sea route from Dongjiang Town to Zhejiang is open. In the future, various southern products will be transported to the north one after another. There will be many good things that Mr. Shen can enjoy in the future. Besides, Liaodong is rich in products.

Mr. Shen has also done business before, and if maritime trade is re-established in the north, the living standards of the soldiers and civilians in Dongjiang Town will definitely improve a lot compared to now."

Shen Shikui said: "I heard that Haihan is good at navigation and trade. Today, it turns out that it is well-deserved! I must have planned to control the maritime trade routes in the Bohai and Yellow Sea before entering Dengzhou?"

Shen Shikui has lived in the north for a long time. Even if he has not had much dealings with Haihan before, judging from the two locations chosen by the other party on the northern coast, he can also see that Haihan has a big plan. This is Zhifu Island on the north coast of Dengzhou

With Lushunkou at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula, the line between the south and the north happened to be at the junction of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea. He would definitely not believe it was a coincidence. The only reasonable explanation was that the Haihan people had planned this long ago.

This layout is designed to control the navigation rights of this sea area and then control the maritime trade in surrounding coastal areas.

Shen Shikui still has a say in how lucrative maritime trade can be. Part of the reason why he gave up business and joined the army was because he was married to Mao Wenlong, so it was not difficult to get an official position; the other main reason was that he wanted to

Using his military identity as a cover, he engaged in maritime transnational smuggling trade in the Bohai and Yellow Sea waters. The warships in Dongjiang Town can travel between Liaodong, North Korea and the Ming Dynasty unimpeded without having to pay commercial taxes to any party, and the profits are quite considerable.

Before Kong Youde defected to Liaodong, even some tribes under the control of Hou Jin were also the objects of smuggling trade in Dongjiang Town - various animal skins and medicinal materials produced in the mountains of Liaodong were in high demand in the Ming Dynasty and could be sold at good prices.

goods.

For a long period of time, Dongjiang Town, which did not receive much support from the Ming Dynasty, could only rely on smuggling trade as an important part of its fiscal revenue. Shen Shikui, who was responsible for operating these projects, gradually entered Dongjiang.

Among the top officials in the town, he is much more sensitive than Shen Zhixiang to the competitive pressure brought about by the emergence of the Haihan people. At the same time, he is also more worried about whether the future situation will involve competition within the existing business scope or cooperation between the two companies.

Business grows.

Wang Tom understood Shen Shikui's implication and immediately responded: "Don't worry, Mr. Shen, we have always emphasized that everyone can make a fortune together, and we don't have the habit of eating alone. Since it is stated that it is cooperation, we will share the division of labor and rights with you one by one.

Explain clearly. Which local products will be purchased from you, and which southern goods will be sold locally by you. These conditions can be slowly negotiated. If Dongjiang Town plans to send its own fleet south, we can also provide navigation and escort along the way to help.

Organize procurement at the place of production. If Mr. Shen still feels uneasy, you can send someone to follow our fleet south to the coastal prefectures of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou to inquire about our business reputation."

After all, Shen Shikui was an old man. Although the recipe of Tom Wang's bowl of ecstasy soup was good, he did not lose his mind because of it. Tom Wang said a lot of nice things, but he did not deny Shen Shikui's question just now, which was equivalent to acquiescence.

His guess is that Haihan indeed intends to use force to control the maritime trade routes in the Yellow and Bohai Sea areas, and use this to obtain huge trade benefits in the long term. Of course, there is still room in Wang Tom's words, which means that as long as the Dongjiang River

If the town is willing to cooperate, then it can continue to do business within the trading system controlled by Haihan, and even expand the scope of trade to the far south.

A few years ago, Shen Shikui would have scorned Wang Tom's proposal. Overseas barbarians would dare to point fingers at the Ming Dynasty's army. They were simply lawless. Dongjiang Town had not even surrendered to a powerful enemy like Hou Jin.

How could he bow his head in front of a group of outsiders? But today is different from the past. Dongjiang Town is so weak that it cannot even protect itself. Without Haihan's help, Shen Shikui will probably have to make sacrifices to obtain survival resources this winter.

A difficult decision was made, either to directly invade North Korea and rob it, or to surrender to Jin Dynasty. For Shen Shikui, these two choices were contrary to the concept of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism that he had always adhered to in his heart.

The intentions of the Haihan people are indeed not too friendly to Ming Dynasty, but at least their interests are currently consistent with Ming Dynasty. Although cooperation with them may cause Ming Dynasty to lose control of this sea area, at least they have made Dongjiang available out of thin air.

The town has an opportunity to regain its strength and regain the territory of Liaodong. Of course, having said that, at the moment when the Dengzhou Navy and the Dongjiang Town Navy have been exhausted, talking about sea control is empty talk. In this sea area,

The strongest maritime armed force now is undoubtedly the Haihan fleet.

There is no need for Wang Tom to explain this. Shen Shikui can now confirm it with the naked eye - on the sea about two miles away from the desert island, the warships of the Haihan Fleet are stationed there silently, with densely packed sails and huge ships.

The terrifying fighting power of this fleet has been fully demonstrated by itself. Previously, he had heard Pan Yan say how unreasonable the Haihan Fleet's combat methods were, but he could only do this after seeing the true face of this fleet with his own eyes.

Real feeling.

After Shen Zhixiang returned from his inspection trip to Zhifu Island, he once told him that the Haihan people had controlled most of the sea areas south of the Yangtze River Estuary. After Shen Shikui saw the fleet in front of him, he realized that this kind of thing was really not just a rumor. If

If the Haihan people have a few more fleets like this, they can indeed control a considerable sea area.

As a general of the Ming Dynasty guarding the border, it stands to reason that even if he does not resort to force to expel ambitious outsiders like Hai Han, he must be careful and vigilant. However, the current situation in Dongjiang Town must rely on Hai Han's help.

To make a comeback, Shen Shikui knew this very well, so even if he was not able to accept the ambitions of the Haihan people, he could only pinch his nose and acquiesce to this arrangement.

"That being the case, I have to thank you for taking care of me from now on!" Shen Shikui put down his chopsticks and raised his wine glass, and said in a sincere tone: "Today, Dongjiang Town and Haihan Kingdom formed an alliance on Pi Island to conspire for great things!"

Tom Wang clinked glasses with Shen Shikui with a smile and said, "I wish us a happy cooperation!"

All the work that should be done in the early stage has basically been done. This time he came to Phidao to meet with Shen Shikui and won over him. Tom Wang expected it. Although Shen Shikui still has doubts about the prospects of cooperation between the two parties, given time, he will

After tasting the sweetness of this kind of cooperation, Wang Tom believed that Dongjiang Town would slowly change its stance and become a vassal of Haihan, just like those Ming troops in the south who cooperated with Haihan.

In the next day, several Haihan sailboats docked at the pier on the coast of Phi Island, and the island residents unloaded the food and various daily necessities on board to the shore. These genuine aids also made the local people appreciate this sailboat.

The fleet with the red and blue flags slightly reduced their vigilance. Although Haihan had sent assistance here by sea before, the cargo fleet at that time did not have so many large warships accompanying it. These Haihan warships

After the news that they would become Dongjiang Town's military allies spread on the island, the pessimistic and desperate atmosphere that had previously permeated Pi Island also improved significantly.

Before the arrival of the Haihan people, Shen Shikui announced that thousands of people would be sent back to settle in the Changshan Islands in the near future. However, the soldiers and civilians on the island were not optimistic about this arrangement because Shang Kexi, who originally guarded the area, defected to Liaodong and surrendered last year.

Hou Jin, no one can tell when he will return to the Changshan Islands under the official title of Hou Jin. However, the arrival of the Haihan people added an insurance to this plan. This fleet is obviously better than what Shang Kexi took away.

Those shabby wooden boats are much more reliable.

Of course, if people like Pi Dao learned that the Haihan Fleet would leave after sending them to Changshan Islands, instead of staying there to protect them, they might not feel so relaxed. At least in this winter, Changshan Islands

The residents still need to organize their own defense. Considering that the current combat capability of Dongjiang Town is very low, in addition to the most basic defensive measures, all they can do is to pray that Hou Jin will not be so desperate in the cold winter.

time to organize a cross-sea expedition.

In the next two days, the island began to organize manpower to go to the Changshan Islands. Dongjiang Town believed that it would need to transport about 5,000 people to the local area to ensure that there would be enough labor to rebuild the life and military facilities on the island, and organized it quickly after the beginning of spring.

Spring plowing. However, even if all the ships in Pi Island are dispatched, plus the existing transportation capacity of the Haihan fleet, it is impossible to deliver so many people to the local area at once. After calculation, it will take at least three trips to complete this somewhat arduous task.

However, Tom Wang did not want to waste too much time on this unskilled task. He hoped to spare time and go to Jinzhou Bay and Lushunkou on the east coast of the Liaodong Peninsula to see

Is there any new change in Hou Jin's local maritime military deployment?

After negotiation between the two parties, it was decided that the Haihan fleet would help with the first trip, and then Dongjiang Town would complete the subsequent transportation itself. Fortunately, the two places are not too far apart, and a round trip only takes more than 200 nautical miles. Based on the existing sailing ships in Dongjiang Town,

With such a speed, it can take about three days to make a round trip. Even if it is the ant moving method, half a month is enough to transport people.

The person who got the task of guarding the Changshan Islands was naturally Shen Shikui's nephew Shen Zhixiang. Shen Shikui had no children, so he always treated Shen Zhixiang as his son. Given the opportunity to cultivate his descendants, he naturally promoted talents and did not shy away from relatives.

Shen Zhixiang accepted this assignment. Although the Haihan people also made it clear that they would not launch military operations against the Liaodong Peninsula until spring, the troops stationed in the Changshan Islands closest to the Liaodong Peninsula would definitely be cooperating with their actions. If nothing else, Shen Zhixiang

At that time, you can easily earn a share of military glory.

Shen Zhixiang was already familiar with Wang Tom and others when he went to Zhifu Island for inspection a few days ago. This time, the fleets of both parties set off from Pi Island together. He also boarded the flagship of the Haihan fleet directly without any hesitation and met with Wang Tom.

Leave on the same boat.

"This time we were able to successfully negotiate with Mr. Shen, thanks to General Shen's efforts. Someone came and brought the things up." Wang Tom received Shen Zhixiang in the captain's cabin, and then ordered someone to carry a box: "

I would like to express my gratitude, General Shen, please don’t dislike me.”

The box contained white silver ingots, twenty-two ingots, a total of fifty ingots. After seeing it, Shen Zhixiang closed the lid of the box and said with a smile: "General Wang is so polite. This is originally within the lower limit."

Why do you need to give these vulgar things as gifts!"

Wang Tom said: "These are just small amounts of money. As long as General Shen cooperates with us, prosperity and wealth will not be a problem in the future. We can give you things that Ming Dynasty cannot give you."

Shen Zhixiang pretended to refuse and said: "Isn't this not good? I am also a general of the Ming army after all. How can I do anything to disgrace the court?"

Wang Tom said: "I don't want you to betray the Ming Dynasty, I just hope you can do more things for us. If we gain a foothold in Liaodong, it will only benefit the Ming Dynasty without any harm. The same is true for you. You

If you want military merit, there will be many Houjin heads for you to receive the merit from now on. If you want to make a fortune, we will also pave the way for you to become the richest man in the army in Dongjiang Town. Our strength and sincerity have been fully demonstrated.

, General Xiao Shen, whether you are willing to take this Yangguan Avenue depends on your own choice."
Chapter completed!