Chapter 2202

At present, the official attitude of the Ming Dynasty towards Haihan is mostly related to the region where it is located. Needless to say, the coastal state capitals of Fujian and Guangzhou have long been penetrated by Haihan. Most local officials have close interests with Haihan.

There are also many people who interact with each other and even let their descendants secretly naturalize as Haihan citizens.

The Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions are bounded by the Yangtze River. The state capitals in the south have witnessed Haihan's powerful force in the past few years, so now most of them are making a fortune in silence and are unwilling to engage in open confrontation with Haihan. The Yangtze River is bounded by the Yangtze River.

Because the northern state capital is a little further away from Zhoushan and has less direct contact with Haihan, it is still more defensive. However, as long as Haihan does not raise troops to attack, it will not be stupid enough to actively seek trouble.

Most people think that the Haihan people are just a group of powerful armed maritime merchants, but the imperial court is already very aware of the military strength of the Haihan people. Now it is even more necessary for the Haihan army to hold back part of the main force of the Qing army in the Liaodong Peninsula, so there has been a secret order for a long time.

The Haihan people reduced restrictions and interference on their actions in coastal areas, and tried to avoid armed conflicts with Haihan people so as not to affect the situation in northern Xinjiang. Even in the areas controlled by Haihan people in Dengzhou, Shandong, the court turned a blind eye.

Yiyan acquiesced, and Quan was "lent" to Haihan for temporary use.

The current situation is nothing but merit. No local official is willing to cause trouble like Haihan. Although Gao Yongshou has some friendship with Lu Kangtai, he is far from willing to put himself in trouble for this friendship.

Dangerous place.

However, he usually took advantage of Lu Kangtai, so he made it very clear that neither Yangzhou Mansion nor the higher-level Yingtian Mansion would take the initiative to cause trouble for the Haihan people.

Lu Kangtai was a little disappointed when he heard such a reply, but he still wanted to try to persuade the other party to change his mind: "Master Gao, people of the Ming Dynasty do not speak secretly. If you can come forward to expel these Haihan people from Yangzhou, I am willing to donate

Ten thousand taels of silver as compensation for your hard work, Mr. Gao!"

Gao Yongshou smiled bitterly and said: "I really want the money, but I really can't do it. If I do what you want, then I won't be able to solve this problem with ten thousand taels of silver."

It’s done.”

Gao Yongshou can serve as the chief defense officer in Yangzhou. He is not just a money-making man. He has good vision and insight. Although Yangzhou is far away from Zhoushan, Gao Yongshou has some contacts with the generals of the guards in the southern state. I have heard of it before.

Several commanders discussed the military strength of the Han people across the sea.

In particular, he was particularly concerned about the incident when the Haihan army came to Hangzhou and caused the Zhejiang government to suffer a heavy loss. After that incident, there were dozens of civil and military officials, big and small, who were thrown out to take the blame.

With so many people, it was not easy to settle both the imperial court and Haihan. In this process, the amount of money the officials involved sent out to protect themselves was simply astronomical. A commander Gao Yongshou knew

, he gave him a full thirty thousand taels of silver and several job vacancies to secure his official position.

Since Gao Yongshou knew that Haihan could not afford to cause trouble, he would not be easily persuaded by the conditions given by Lu Kangtai. No matter how rich Lu Kangtai was, he would eventually encounter problems that could not be solved with money.

Lu Kangtai felt that his words were getting a little stiff, so he stopped decisively and asked the restaurant waiter to start the meal and lighten the atmosphere. The main purpose of inviting Gao Yongshou to dinner today was to test his attitude. It would be best if he could borrow this strength.

Okay, if that doesn't work, you can also inquire about the other party's tone and use it as a reference for what countermeasures to take next.

After drinking for three rounds, Gao Yongshou took the initiative to bring up the previous topic: "Boss Lu, you and I have been friends for a few years. I know that you are a proud and arrogant person who wants to do something in Yangzhou that no one has ever done before.

The government has always paid little attention to the disputes between you and the Anhui salt merchants, but if the Haihan people are involved, it will be more troublesome. How much trouble did you cause at the end of last year?

, you don’t need me to say it again, right?”

The incident mentioned by Gao Yongshou was the incident last year when Haihan sent armed personnel to sneak into Yangzhou and fought a bloody night on the canal with the Shanxi salt merchants. Although the Shanshan salt merchants tried their best to conceal it after the incident, they died that night.

With so many people involved, it was impossible to hide it from everyone, and it would not be difficult for the government to find out who was responsible.

Because the matter involves Haihan, the Yangzhou government of course cannot hold the Haihan people responsible. They can only ask the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants to do their best to provide post-mortem compensation and not let the family members of the deceased make trouble in the Yamen. To put it bluntly, the government must do it in order to cover up the peace.

The matter was kept under wraps, and as the Shanxi-Shaanxi salt merchants were involved, they had no choice but to pay to calm the situation.

Moreover, the payment was not enough. The Yangzhou government was worried that the Shanshan Salt merchants would escalate the situation in order to retaliate, so they strictly ordered them not to cause trouble in Yangzhou anymore and to stop all acts of violence by their men in Yangzhou. This is why after the incident, the Shanshan Salt merchants

The main reason why Shang completely kept silent and blocked information from the outside world.

Lu Kangtai put down his chopsticks and replied: "Thanks to Mr. Gao's care at that time, he prevented us from a lot of trouble. However, the feud between us and the Haihan people will never be revealed. If there is a chance in the future, we will eventually have to deal with

They settled the score!"

Gao Yongshou said slowly: "If the time for revenge mentioned by Boss Lu refers to now, then it is probably not a good time. Let me put it bluntly, the prefect does not want Haihan people to have trouble in Yangzhou, let alone cause trouble.

Bigger trouble."

Lu Kangtai said: "What's the bigger trouble? The prefect is afraid that Haihan will send troops to attack Yangzhou, right?"

"Who is not afraid?" Gao Yongshou frankly admitted Lu Kangtai's guess: "The Haihan people conduct exercises in Hangzhou Bay every year, and the scale is getting bigger year by year, and they also invite officials from surrounding prefectures to observe. Although the prefect himself

He has never been there, but he sent his subordinates to go and see it. It is said that Haihan's fleet stationed in Zhoushan is much more powerful than the navy on the Yangtze River. If they really provoke the Haihan people to come to Yangzhou, who can stop them? It's you.

Or me?"

Lu Kangtai remained silent. He probably knew Haihan's strength far better than Gao Yongshou. After all, the other party came from hearsay, while he had fought against Haihan's armed personnel with real swords and guns. He

Of course, he knows the terrifying aspects of Haihan better than Gao Yongshou, but he will definitely not be willing to give up and let the Haihan people come to his door.

But it is obvious that the senior officials of Yangzhou government, who usually take a lot of benefits from themselves, do not want another murder case related to Haihan to occur locally. At this time, Gao Yongshou's warning can also be understood as a warning from the official. If Lu Kangtai is stubborn

If you insist on taking action, you will obviously not be able to get the support of the government afterwards.

Lu Kangtai was also disappointed that the government's attitude was so weak. He had never expected to win the government's support, but as long as he could keep the government indifferent to the actions he was about to take, he could follow his own

I wanted to go all out and do something big. But now it seems that this matter is much more troublesome than I expected, and I need to make another plan.

During the dinner, Lu Kangtai repeatedly tested Gao Yongshou many times, but the other party did not give up his answer at all. It was obvious that he had been fully prepared for this meeting. Lu Kangtai knew that there was no hope, and he did not mention it again later.

, just kept urging me to drink.

Before leaving after the meal, Lu Kangtai took out a banknote and handed it to Gao Yongshou. The other party was willing to come out to eat the meal and gave him some warnings. Lu Kangtai must express this, so that he can

Maintain this friendship for a long time. Otherwise, if you ask Gao Yongshou for help in the future, the other party may not be as easy to talk to as now.

Perhaps it was this expression that touched Gao Yongshou. After they walked out of Qingfeng Building, Gao Yongshou stopped him and said a few more words: "Boss Lu, you are not the only one making an issue about the Haihan people now. The Dai family made a fuss about it a few days ago."

Someone quietly went into the city to visit the prefect. As far as I know, they went to work as lobbyists for the Haihan people. Don’t be surprised if Yangzhou lets the Haihan people come in to do business in the future."

Lu Kangtai said coldly: "Is it possible that the prefect is dissatisfied with the fact that the benefits we usually send are too few?"

Gao Yongshou shook his head and said: "You are mistaken. If you don't give too little, who would think that you can get too many benefits? If you fight with the Haihan people, you will only cause trouble for the government. They cooperate with the Haihan people.

, can bring practical benefits to the government, which one do you think the government is more willing to see?"

Gao Yongshou may have spoken the truth while drunk, or he may have hated iron but not steel. In short, these words shocked Lu Kangtai.

He had always thought that his side had managed very well in terms of official connections. Even if the local officials were unwilling to support him in this matter, they would not stand on the opposite side. It would certainly be very difficult for Huizhou salt merchants to win over these officials.

But the actual situation seemed to be much worse than he expected. The disadvantages of Huizhou salt merchants in this regard did not seem to be as great as he thought, and the government's attitude did not seem to be as firm as he thought.

Although Lu Kangtai is a very stubborn person, he also understands that what Gao Yongshou said is actually true. These officials are all very practical people, and they will prefer whichever side provides the most benefits. In the past, of course, it was Shanshan Salt

Shang Geng was willing to spend a lot of money to develop these official connections, but after Haihan intervened, the situation seemed to have quietly changed.

Haihan's financial resources and trouble-making ability were both second-to-none. Of course, the local government hoped that the former would be the one Haihan brought to the local area. The Huizhou salt merchants also took this as an opportunity to leverage their original inclinations.

These connections between Shanxi and Shaanxi salt merchants have actually pushed Lu Kangtai and others into a dead end.

Lu Kangtai did not go home, but went straight to He Huan's home. At the same time, he notified Wang Yu and rushed over. All the decisions of Shanxi Salt Merchant have been basically decided by their three families. This time the situation is very urgent.

Lu Kangtai also had to discuss the next response strategy with the owners of the other two families.

"The opponent has started activities for the Haihan people with the prefect? ​​This is not good!" He Huan was also greatly surprised when he heard the news brought by Lu Kangtai, and he immediately realized the danger.

"Maybe it's not just the prefect. I suspect that General Gao has also taken advantage of the enemy, but he just can't tell me clearly." Lu Kangtai analyzed with a gloomy face: "Otherwise, how could he know that Dai Lao'er sent someone to go there?

We're lobbying the prefect. Fortunately, he probably hasn't completely betrayed us, otherwise there's no need to persuade me to stop. We just have to wait for us to take action and then find another reason to cause trouble, and we'll probably have to walk around with nothing to eat!"

Wang Yu said: "The government doesn't want us to provoke the Haihan people. This may be the result of the Dai family sending people to lobby. But if we do nothing, we can only watch the seven major surnames collude with the Haihan people.

It’s getting harder and harder to liquidate them!”

"This is exactly the reason." Lu Kangtai took over and said: "Not only will it become more difficult to liquidate our opponents, but our own space will also continue to be compressed. It is impossible for us and the seven surnames to coexist peacefully.

, with the support of Haihan, they will definitely intensify their efforts to deal with us. If they do nothing because of the government’s attitude, then they are just sitting back and waiting for death!"

"Kangtai, what do you think?" He Huan asked.

Lu Kangtai said: "I think we should follow our previous plan, hit the snake seven inches, first attack Daijiazhuang and take down the Dai family. The seven surnames will be in chaos! Then it will be easier to clean up one by one.

.”

"But the government's attitude has already wavered, and we have to consider whether doing this will attract blame from the government." Wang Yu reminded.

Lu Kangtai said: "Although the government's attitude has wavered, it is just a wavering. They will not give up cooperation with us so easily. Just imagine if the Huizhou salt merchants are liquidated by us, then they will no longer be able to pay tribute to the government.

At that time, we will be the largest financial sponsor in the local area, and we will be qualified to negotiate new conditions with the government!"

"But now that the Dai family has invited the Haihan people to come back to help, Daijiazhuang is probably not so easy to move! Kangtai, have you carefully calculated how sure you are of attacking Daijiazhuang now?" He Huan said about Lu Kangtai

I still have concerns about my plan.

Lu Kangtai said: "Now it is not a question of how many people there are, but if we continue to stand still, the situation will only become more and more unfavorable to us! My people found out the news and said that the seven surnames secretly sent a group of people to Zhoushan

They were trained in the Haihan Army. When these people come back from training, the Seven Major Surnames will definitely use them as the backbone to form the strongest militia in Yangzhou Prefecture. By then, with the strength we have, we can still fight.

Pass them?"

Lu Kangtai paused and then said: "You two, the Hirado clan is gone. I heard that the Haihan people burned down Hirado Castle and Hirado Port. We probably won't be able to buy anything from Hirado in the future."

We have to add muskets, so it is impossible for our musketeers to expand any more. If we don’t take action early while there are still available soldiers, and wait until the opponent’s musketeers are formed, we may have to be passively beaten!”
Chapter completed!