Chapter 2099

Before the troops go on an expedition, boosting morale through various National Day activities has proven to be a very effective measure. For the Zhoushan authorities, the next cross-sea combat mission is important, but as Haihan is on the eastern coast of the Ming Dynasty

In the most important colony, annual festivals will still be held as usual.

However, because the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense have issued orders to prepare for war, the Zhoushan garrison has canceled all holiday arrangements. Even those on leave must report back to the base as soon as possible. Therefore, Haihan in the Dinghaigang Port area has been

Soldiers are not everywhere as usual, and only a small number of patrols to maintain law and order are still on duty.

However, there are many more armed patrol boats at sea than usual, maintaining channel order on the sea outside the military port area, and using signal flags to clearly require ships entering and leaving the port to stay away from the military port pier.

If they are foreign merchants who come in and out of Zhoushan Dinghai Port all year round, it is not difficult to think of what will happen next through such signs - every time before the Zhoushan garrison takes a relatively large action, similar measures will be taken. If the Zhoushan authorities are

The large-scale purchase of military supplies on the market can be regarded as a sign, so these signs appearing in the military port are already informal official announcements in the eyes of the outside world.

Everything indicates that the Haihan Army will take action in the near future. If this signal was placed two or three years ago, it would definitely arouse tension in the coastal states and even put the city of Hangzhou, four hundred miles away, into a state of panic. However,

Now it is no longer so easy to cause chaos. Some well-informed people pointed out that the target of the Haihan Army's operation this time was not the Ming Dynasty, but somewhere overseas. The merchants of the Ming Dynasty did not need to worry about the outbreak of war in the coastal areas. Of course, these news are

They figured it out on their own, or it was deliberately used by Haihan officials with the help of their influence, so that's not necessarily the case.

But at least the festive atmosphere on Zhoushan Island cannot be deceiving. In addition to the festive environment created by the port area, the Haihan Trade Department also held large-scale promotional activities as in previous years. During the event, Haihan and Haihan

Merchants who sign trade orders and pay deposits in Haihan will receive strong limited-time discounts. This special event held during the National Day has basically replaced the spring trade fairs in the early years and has become a competition for merchants from all over the world.

A major business event in which everyone participates.

This year is no exception. Although there has been some bad news before, businessmen are still more concerned about whether they can obtain a larger trade share from Zhoushan this year. Although there will be great discounts on trade orders during this period,

But they all know that Haihan goods are always in short supply, especially some hot-selling goods with limited supply for a limited time. They have to go through bidding to get the supply, so they must get here early to understand the circulation situation in the market before proceeding.

operation.

In mid-March, all the inns on Zhoushan Island have been fully booked. A few powerful businessmen are not worried about buying real estate on Zhoushan Island, but those who can't find a place to live will have to live on the boat.

Or set up a tent in a designated area, or you have to live in Ningbo and travel to Zhoushan Island on the same day. However, as long as it is profitable, these difficulties are not a big deal to the businessmen, and the trade negotiation activities are just two.

In three days, with a little overcoming, you can earn thousands of taels of silver.

By late March, various exhibitions and sales activities had begun on the island. These commercial activities were not necessarily organized by Haihan officials. Most of them were operated by businessmen from various countries to promote their products to potential customers.

Products. Most of the businessmen who come to Zhoushan during this season come with goods, so they can make money from buying and selling without having to make a long trip. We strive to maximize the benefits of participating in this grand event.

Providing a free trading platform environment for merchants from all over the world is also the brilliance of the Zhoushan authorities. With Haihan officials providing inspection, settlement, delivery, warehousing, transportation and other service guarantees for these transactions, the trade environment is far better than that of recent times.

In the nearby Ming Dynasty, businessmen are naturally happy to complete transactions on Zhoushan Island, and by the way, they will use the financial, logistics and other advanced services provided by Haihan. Once they experience the superiority of these services of Haihan, they will slowly

Manchu became accustomed to the trade system established by Haihan, and then gradually integrated into the economic system dominated by Haihan.

Businessmen from various countries have made considerable profits from the system established by Haihan, but the transactions they completed here have also become part of this system, helping Haihan's influence in the cross-border trade field in this region.

Haihan has been using this routine to win over businessmen from all walks of life over the years, so the operation of each link has become more and more proficient.

As the official in charge of commercial affairs of the Zhoushan Administrative Committee, Yang Yun has been no less busy than the local leaders these days. He receives an endless stream of visitors from all walks of life every day, most of whom come to Zhoushan Island to attend recent events.

Businessmen at the event. Some came to get familiar with each other, some came to ask for help and wanted to find a place to live on the island, some came to seek business cooperation, and some came specifically to inquire about whether Haihan would send troops from Zhoushan in the near future.

actions.

Yang Yun naturally has no easy time dealing with these various people with different purposes. Fortunately, he can now be regarded as an official with status, so his treatment is not bad, and he even gets supplements every day to ensure that he has enough food.

Focus on completing the heavy work at hand.

After sending away a group of businessmen, Yang Yun sat down and took a sip of the ginseng tea that his secretary had just brewed. He closed his eyes slightly to rest, and reviewed the content of the conversation with the southern businessmen just now. This ginseng tea was not paid for by himself.

What he bought was a personal gift given to him by a merchant from Shandong a few days ago. Although Yang Yun did not accept money, he generally would not refuse gifts such as souvenirs.

With his current status, it is normal for someone to rush to his door to give gifts. If he refuses blindly, it will be unkind. The most important thing is that his boss Shi Diwen also acquiesces to the matter of accepting gifts and does not accept them.

There is no prohibition on accepting gifts. After all, the purpose of becoming an official is to get promoted and make a fortune. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy the benefits of this special status?

Of course, this gift was not received in vain. After Yang Yun accepted the gift, it was logical that he relaxed some of the gift giver's requirements, but as long as it did not cause obvious damage to Haihan's interests, no one would pursue it.

these details.

Yang Yun drank ginseng tea and ate a few snacks. After he regained his energy, he called his secretary in and asked, "How many visitors are there today?"

The secretary responded: "There are still three groups of people waiting outside."

Yang Yun sighed, nodded and said, "Then go and bring people in. Finish the conversation and rest early."

When the last group of people were received, the sky had already darkened, and it was actually beyond Yang Yun's working hours. However, Yang Yun read the invitation and realized that the identity of the last visitor was somewhat special, so he could not send him back tomorrow.

The visitor was an old man in his fifties. After entering the room, he clasped his fists and bowed to introduce himself: "I have met Master Yang. I am Ma Zhengping, a native of Yangzhou."

Yang Yun nodded and said, "Boss Ma, please sit down and talk."

After the other party sat down, Yang Yun took the initiative to ask: "Is Boss Ma a salt merchant?"

"Small business makes adults laugh." Ma Zhengping responded humbly.

Yang Yun smiled and said: "If I remember correctly, Boss Ma's family should be one of the seven surnames of Huizhou salt merchants in Yangzhou, right? Maybe it is a coincidence that Boss Ma has the same name as the current patriarch of the Ma family?"

Yang Yun spends a lot of time every day meeting visitors from all walks of life, so he will naturally set certain thresholds for screening the visitors. Otherwise, cats and dogs will queue up to see him, and he will not be able to work normally. And this

Although the brother's greeting note only included his name and place of origin, he also prepared a generous gift list that made Yang Yun's attention.

Yang Yun had some impression of the name Ma Zhengping, so he asked his secretary to look it up and got the answer. Then he remembered that when he was operating the Xiangshan Saltworks, he had asked the Ministry of Security to collect relevant information on Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchants. At that time, the Yangzhou salt merchants

The main figures in the two camps are also on the list provided by the Ministry of Security, including Ma Zhengping.

Although the visitor's occupation was not stated in the greeting card, Yang Yun believed that there was no other Ma Zhengping in Yangzhou who would come to Zhoushan to meet him with heavy gifts, so he boldly took the initiative to reveal the identity of the visitor.

The old man also smiled and acknowledged Yang Yun's identification: "Ma Zhengping, a common man, is exactly the person you mentioned. But the seven surnames are just a myth among the people and make you laugh."

Yang Yun roughly knew some of the reasons why Yangzhou salt merchants came to Zhoushan Island to ask for him. In November last year, the Ministry of Security and the military jointly launched a joint operation. Gong Shiqi and Ji Yuanqing led a team to Yangzhou to investigate the gun case, and later successfully lured the snake out of the hole.

, a night of fierce fighting with the private armed forces of the local salt merchants on the canal, which severely damaged the vitality of the Shanxi and Shaanxi salt merchants. The opposing Huizhou salt merchants took advantage of the fishermen and began to occupy the place where the local salt merchants fought after that night.

Advantage.

But the Huizhou salt merchants also understood that their advantage was only temporary. Their opponents were not short of money. It was only a matter of time before they could regain their strength. What's more terrible was that Shanxi salt merchants had channels to obtain batches of salt.

The standard musket, having this thing means that they can complete the comeback at any time, which makes the Huizhou salt merchants not dare to neglect at all.

After discussing with each family of the seven major surnames, they believed that the main reason why the Haihan people attacked the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants was not the competition in the salt business, but that the musketeers under the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants made Haihan feel threatened, so they took action.

Send troops to Yangzhou. In this way, buying muskets to arm themselves seems too risky, because it may also attract a military attack from Haihan, and they do not have the ability to train private armed forces that can defeat Haihan's army.

The safest way is to try to let the Haihan people continue to attack the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants. To this end, the Huizhou salt merchants can make certain concessions to Haihan in terms of salt industry management, and the two sides can even sit down and talk.

Discuss cooperation matters.

The Hui-born salt merchants sent such a signal to the Zhoushan authorities through some channels. Yang Yun received more than one person's intention to negotiate on behalf of the Hui-born salt merchants. However, Shi Diwen believed that Haihan had just finished his actions in Yangzhou, and the local situation

Unknown, if we sit down and start negotiations with Huizhou salt merchants at this time, it may not be an ideal time.

This view is also recognized by Yang Yun. He believes that the fight between the two groups of salt merchants in Yangzhou has objective benefits for the salt industry operated by Haihan. The more fierce the fight, the more likely it will be when Haihan intervenes.

The more chips they had, the more they could obey, so there was no progress in conveying the wishes of the Huizhou salt merchants to Yang Yun.

Seeing that a few months have passed, Haihan seems to have no intention of taking action against the Shanxi salt merchants again. This makes the Huizhou salt merchants a little anxious. If this drags on, the opponent will have a chance to breathe. After recovering his strength, he may finally

The first target to deal with was not the Haihan people, but themselves. After several discussions, they decided to send representatives to Zhoushan to discuss the matter directly with senior officials from Haihan.

Ma Zhengping was a well-known figure among Huizhou salt merchants, and his seniority was high enough, so he was elected as a representative. After he came to Ningbo, he found out without much effort that the official in charge of the salt industry in Zhoushan was Yang Yun.

.

Ma Zhengping knew that he did not have the connections or qualifications to go directly to see Shi Diwen, so he made Yang Yun his first choice. His choice was indeed the right one. Now all business-related matters in Zhoushan are in the hands of Yang Yun.

We can only talk to Yang Yun.

However, he did not expect that Yang Yun had already done his homework in advance and immediately revealed his identity. This made the pile of self-introductions he prepared completely come to nothing. But he believed that Yang Yun would not because of his

He immediately ended the conversation because of his identity. After all, the other party had already accepted all the gifts he sent here, so he had to give himself a chance to speak.

Yang Yundao: "Boss Ma made a special trip from Yangzhou. I wonder if you have any advice?"

Ma Zhengping responded quickly: "How dare you give me advice? I just have something to discuss with Mr. Yang, so I came to Zhoushan to ask for a meeting."

Yang Yundao: "Since Boss Ma is full of sincerity, let's talk about what happened."

Seeing that Yang Yun was looking tired, Ma Zhengping knew that he could not run in circles with the other party at this time, so he said straight to the point: "The grassroots are here on behalf of the Huizhou salt merchants in Yangzhou and want to discuss with Mr. Yang on the management of the salt industry.

A matter of cooperation.”

Yang Yun smiled and said: "I remember that the year before last, I had conveyed my willingness to cooperate to you through some business friends. I didn't expect that I had to wait for almost two years before I finally received a visit from Boss Ma. It seems that

You Yangzhou salt merchants must have too much business and look down on our small business in Haihan!"

When Yang Yun organized the development of the Xiangshan Salt Farm in 1636, he was contacting sales channels in the early stage. Naturally, the famous Yangzhou salt merchants were also one of Haihan's targets. However, at that time, the Yangzhou salt merchants were worried that foreign competitors would occupy their market share.

How could he be willing to discuss cooperation with Haihan?
Chapter completed!