Chapter 2181

The clerk who was in charge of receiving merchants in the store saw the two Haihan officers arriving hand in hand. He hurriedly came forward to greet them. After asking them their purpose, he took them to a private room in the back hall to sit down.

"Both of you, please wait a moment. I will go and inform the shopkeeper right now."

For a paramilitary organization like Golden Shield, the shopkeepers of each branch are basically veterans who have served as officers in the military. They have certain military command capabilities and can cooperate with local garrison to carry out various tasks.

This is a special task. The most important thing is that these people have relatively high loyalty to the Haihan Kingdom, so that they can be assured of controlling the special power of the Golden Shield.

Although the staffing of each branch may only be one or two hundred people, the shopkeeper has to be responsible for a lot of things. In addition to the apparent business projects, the shopkeeper also has to deal with people from all walks of life and select from them.

Useful information for Haihan. Haihan's two major intelligence agencies, the Security Department and the Military Intelligence Bureau, often send people to work in Jindunli to collect various intelligence on the Ming Dynasty by taking advantage of the opportunity of performing escort missions.

Because of this, although the shopkeepers in charge of operations in overseas colonies are civilians, most of them will still enjoy the treatment of officials to facilitate the handover of work with the military and intelligence agencies. Although Duan Tiancheng and Ji Yuanqing are military attaches, they are not self-reliant.

I was sitting in the Yamen to summon the local Golden Shield shopkeeper, but I took the initiative to visit him at home.

"You two have been waiting for a long time!" A dark-skinned middle-aged man pushed the door open and greeted the two of them with cupped hands and fists.

As soon as Duan Tiancheng and Ji Yuanqing saw the visitor, they both stood up and returned the greeting: "I've met Shopkeeper Yuan!"

Yuan Tao is the big boss in charge of Jindun's Zhoushan branch. All public business activities of Jindun in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as well as various secret cooperation with the Zhoushan authorities, are all coordinated and directed by Yuan Tao. Shi Diwen made the final decision.

In order to win over the Anhui salt merchants in Yangzhou, the Golden Shield Convoy had to step in and help the Huizhou salt merchants buy time. Of course, this matter must be clearly explained to Yuan Tao.

Yuan Tao joined the army earlier than these two people. He was already a member of the naval force before Haihan unified Hainan Island. However, during the battle when Haihan attacked Qiongzhou Fucheng, Yuan Tao because of

He failed to strictly abide by military orders and impulsively killed several officials from the Ming Dynasty whom the senior officials had planned to recruit. He was punished afterwards and retired from the army early.

Although the reason for his retirement was not particularly glorious, it could not conceal Yuan Tao's military exploits during his service. The senior management believed that he was a useful talent, so after retiring, Yuan Tao immediately changed his career to the Golden Shield escort and was sent overseas.

Work.

Compared with the strictly disciplined army, the working atmosphere of Golden Shield Escort is obviously much more relaxed, and the risks of operating outside are much smaller. After all, the opponents are no longer fully armed professional troops, but only small groups of bandits that occasionally appear.

They are just bandits. With the personnel composition and equipment level of Golden Shield, it is no problem to deal with such stragglers.

After Yuan Tao stayed at Jindun for two years, he gradually demonstrated his outstanding abilities in the process of executing tasks and successfully completed several more troublesome transactions. Then he got the opportunity for further training and returned to Sanya to learn business.

Expertise in operations and intelligence gathering.

With ability, qualifications and education, the next promotion will become a matter of course. Yuan Tao slowly climbed up from deputy team leader, captain, and steward. By the time he was transferred to Zhoushan a few years ago, he had already become a semicolon.

Shopkeeper.

After Haihan stationed in the Zhoushan Islands and cleared out various maritime armed forces in this area, there have been very few large-scale bandit activities along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. However, because Golden Shield Escort is an armed escort officially bound to Haihan, and

Yuan Tao's management is good, so the Zhoushan branch is still doing well. On average, he can receive a few businesses every month. Although the income is not necessarily huge, at least he can cover the basic expenses of the Zhoushan branch.

As for the need for treasury subsidies.

Of course, the official purpose of setting up an organization like Golden Shield is not to make money, but to use this organization to complete some tasks that are inconvenient for the government to do directly. Therefore, there have never been any requirements for the profitability of Golden Shield, and funds are insufficient.

There will also be special subsidies from the national treasury to ensure the normal operation of its daily operations.

However, Yuan Tao managed Zhoushan Branch to a slightly profitable level, which proved that his professional ability was indeed worthy of the position of Branch Manager. After the Xiangshan Salt Farm was put into operation, private salt was shipped to the north of Hangzhou Bay.

Almost all of them were handed over to Jindun for escort, which fully reflected Shi Diwen's trust in Yuan Tao.

It was just that Yuan Tao had underestimated the risks from the traditional salt merchants in Yangzhou at that time. During the transportation of salt, he was attacked several times in the wild by the salt merchants' musketeers. The loss of goods was small, but the loss of manpower made Yuan Tao

Tao couldn't bear it. Although he later took revenge, the relationship he created left a knot in Yuan Tao's heart that he couldn't get rid of.

After Ji Yuanqing succinctly explained his purpose, Yuan Tao agreed without hesitation: "Go to Yangzhou? Okay! I wanted to go with you last time when your Military Intelligence Agency went to Yangzhou, but it's a pity that you refused to take me with you, Mr. Ji."

Let’s play!”

Ji Yuanqing joined the army much later than Yuan Tao. Although Yuan Tao had retired, Ji Yuanqing could only act as a junior in front of him. He quickly explained: "Brother Yuan wrongly blamed me. The plan of action at that time was for General Shi to personally

The personnel participating in the operation are also designated by General Shi. I am just the officer leading the team, but I have no right to decide who to take with me and who not to take!"

Yuan Tao glared and said, "Then are you trying to pass the blame to General Shi?"

Ji Yuanqing quickly denied it: "I didn't mean to shirk the blame. I was just stating the facts... Whatever, Brother Yuan, if you want to blame me, just blame me. It's true that I didn't think carefully when I made the list of personnel."

Compared with offending Yuan Tao, the consequences of shifting the blame to his boss were of course more serious. Ji Yuanqing could only choose the lesser of two evils and admitted the "crime" that Yuan Tao had forced on her.

Duan Tiancheng secretly laughed when he heard this, and then he started to persuade: "Brother Yuan, don't embarrass Brother Ji, let's hurry up and discuss business matters!"

Yuan Tao has been in Zhoushan for several years and is actually quite familiar with these two people. His complaint just now was actually just a half-joke. Did he not know that the secret operation to Yangzhou at the end of last year was extremely dangerous?

They are all elites from the Ministry of Security and the Zhoushan garrison, but they still lost some manpower in the battle with the salt merchants' armed forces. Of course, veterans like him are unlikely to directly participate in special operations organized by the military.

I can use Ji Yuanqing to come to the door and complain.

But now he has the opportunity to lead a team to Yangzhou to perform a mission, which finally makes Yuan Tao feel proud. Although according to Ji Yuanqing, Jindun's mission is only to protect the personal safety of local Huizhou salt merchants, rather than directly participating in the salt merchants.

The fight between gangs was not for him to seek revenge, but Yuan Tao subconsciously believed that as long as he went to the local area, the opportunity for revenge that he had been waiting for for a long time might appear.

Ji Yuanqing now needs to confirm several things with Yuan Tao, one is the purpose of this operation, the other is the contact and cooperation with the local salt merchants, and the third is the personnel and materials that Jindun needs to mobilize.

"Nowadays, Huizhou salt merchants come to us and want to cooperate with us. On the one hand, it is because they are in a difficult situation in the competition and must find external support to maintain their position in Yangzhou. On the other hand, they also have the idea of ​​​​killing someone with a borrowed knife.

Encourage us to take action to destroy their competitors."

Ji Yuanqing analyzed: "But it is inconvenient for our country to send a large number of troops deep into the territory of the Ming Dynasty. You also know this situation, so the task of protecting Hui salt merchants can only be left to Jin Dun. But if they want to use Jin Dun to achieve other purposes, Yuan

Brother, remember not to be fooled!"

When talking about business, Yuan Tao also put aside his laughter and scolding, and listened seriously to Ji Yuanqing's analysis. Last year, he suffered a loss at the hands of armed salt merchants because of insufficient preparation. This time, he faced Yangzhou Salt again.

We must not make the same mistake again when fighting against Shang Dynasty. Whether the next operation goes smoothly or not will largely depend on the intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Bureau.

Yuan Tao said: "Although I have to guard against them borrowing knives to kill people, if the other party comes to bully me, then I will not hold back!"

"Just don't kill until you feel like you can't stop!" Ji Yuanqing also knew why this senior retired sadly after making meritorious deeds, and quickly reminded him.

Yuan Tao nodded solemnly and said: "Of course. If he makes another mistake, Yuan will have no choice but to resign and go back to the south to farm."

Yuan Tao was forced to retire from the military because of his mistakes. This is something that Yuan Tao has never been able to let go of. If he had a chance to do it again, he would definitely not take the initiative to violate military orders again.

Yuan Tao may not fully understand why the higher-ups arranged such a complicated plan instead of directly sending troops to attack the salt merchants' lair, but since this is an order, it must be carried out resolutely. Although he has taken off his military uniform for several years

, but he has always held himself to the standards of a soldier, and always reminded himself not to make the same mistakes again.

Ji Yuanqing continued: "The person who came to the island to negotiate with us this time is a salt merchant named Ma Zhengping. I will arrange for you to meet later. He will contact you for the specific arrangements after arriving in Yangzhou."

Duan Tiancheng added: "This person is generous and will not treat Jin Dun's brothers badly. If Brother Yuan has any requests, I believe he will try his best to satisfy them."

Yuan Tao smiled and said: "Are you reminding me not to let go of the blackmail that I can get?"

Duan Tiancheng responded seriously: "I never meant this. Brother Yuan understands that something went wrong. You can't blame me."

Of course, Jin Dun could not pay for this task at his own expense. Instead, he accepted Ma Zhengping's employment and went to Yangzhou in such a reasonable way. As for the specific cost, of course it was Yuan Tao who had to negotiate with Ma Zhengping, and Duan Tiancheng gave him this

Tip, Yuan Tao can roughly grasp the level of the bid.

Regarding the personnel and materials to be dispatched for this operation, it is up to Yuan Tao to make specific requirements.

"Golden Shield Zhoushan branch currently has 227 employees. Excluding 33 clerical, clerical and other internal staff, the remaining 194 people including me can participate in field operations. However, there are currently two

Two teams are performing tasks in Ningbo Prefecture and Shaoxing Prefecture respectively, and more than ten people have been transferred to Shandong to support the local branch, so the number of people currently available for the task is about... one hundred and thirty people." Yuan Tao first pulled the trigger.

He counted on his fingers the number of manpower currently available.

"That should be enough. After all, you are not going to fight, but just to express our attitude to the local salt merchants. With more than a hundred people, an infantry company, I think the local civilian armed forces will not be able to challenge you." Duan Tiancheng said to Jin Dun.

I am quite confident in my strength.

Yuan Tao also nodded in agreement: "If this still fails to suppress the evil, then we can only send out regular troops."

"Are there any requirements for equipment and materials?" Duan Tiancheng asked.

Yuan Tao said: "Every man must have a rifle, and he must bring 10% of the spare guns. After all, we don't know how long we will be stationed on this trip. It will be very troublesome if something goes wrong with the guns. Bring more just in case."

Just in case, there are also grenades equipped by the army, can you apply for some? I saw it last time at the training ground, and it seems to have good lethality."

Duan Tiancheng shook his head slightly and said: "Hand grenades must receive special training, otherwise there will be great risks in using them in battle, and they may cause more damage to themselves... None of the brothers in Jindun have any training experience or actual combat use.

With experience, it’s better not to force yourself.”

Yuan Tao was not discouraged even after being rejected, and instead came up with another idea: "Then let's get a few more revolvers! Maybe there will be a need to personally protect important people in public places, and it would be more convenient to carry a short gun.

"

Duan Tiancheng and Ji Yuanqing exchanged glances, nodded and said, "You can have this. You can write it down on the equipment list later, and I'll take it back to General Shi for approval."

"There don't seem to be any other special needs. Anyway, when you arrive in Yangzhou, your food, clothing, housing and transportation will be all provided by your employer. You shouldn't have to worry about daily necessities. Just bring some marching rations that can be easily stored." Yuan Tao thought for a while and felt that it should be fine.

There are material requirements.

"There seems to be a batch of idle army equipment in the munitions warehouse, including backpacks, shoes, belts, daggers and the like. How about applying for it on your behalf?"

"Okay!" Yuan Tao would not refuse such a good thing and agreed immediately.

"That's it, you should make preparations here first, and arrange for you to meet Ma Zhengping later." Duan Tiancheng felt that the matter was almost done, so he motioned to Ji Yuanqing to stand up and leave.

Yuan Tao sent them outside the gate, cupped his fists and said: "If this errand can be successful, when I come back from Yangzhou, Yuan will invite you two to have a good time in Ningbo city!"

"Okay, let's wait for your triumphant return!"
Chapter completed!