Chapter 2378

Is the purpose of the series of control measures currently adopted by Haihan in Fushan County to protect the local area in troubled times, or to take advantage of the chaos to expand the control area beyond Fushan County, or even take over the entire Dengzhou? These possibilities actually have no significant impact on the officials in the county who have long been sidelined. They are now left with empty titles, no real power at all, and no ability to influence Haihan's decision-making. , the wisest thing to do is to protect yourself from being involved in the ensuing chaos.

Although Han Qin has no real power, he has been a head catcher in Fushan County for many years and has made many acquaintances with local people from all walks of life. It is not difficult to ask someone to send a letter to Majiazhuang outside the city without any effort. It's done.

After Ma Cai, the eldest son of the Ma family, read the secret letter sent from the county seat, he did not dare to make an immediate decision. Instead, he took the letter and went to Ma Dongqiang for instructions.

"The county magistrate asked us for help?" After listening to his son's story, Ma Dongqiang took the letter and read it again. He was still a little embarrassed and muttered: "Are they a little too nervous? The refugees haven't entered Dengzhou yet. Are you planning to run away early?"

Ma Cai said: "Perhaps these adults just want to take advantage of this opportunity to join Haihan legitimately."

Ma Dongqiang sneered and said: "These people don't stand up to appease the people. They only want to use Haihan's protection to protect themselves. No wonder Haihan has been unwilling to use them... I'm afraid it won't work to take refuge in Haihan at this juncture!"

Ma Dongqiang naturally saw clearly how Haihan treated the local officials in Fushan. After the county government officials were gradually eliminated, some of the original county government functions were even transferred to the Ma family. Haihan did not trust these officials. In addition to their status and position, the reason may also be that these people do not have a strong sense of responsibility and it is difficult to entrust them with important responsibilities.

However, Haihan did not make things difficult for them. On the contrary, he supported them to continue to invest in the business industry, which indirectly provided them with many benefits. Although these few had no hope of promotion in their official careers, their family fortunes have become much richer in the past few years. It can be said to be a blessing in disguise. Even if you resign and become idle from now on, you can still live the life of a rich man, and you will definitely not have to worry about your livelihood for the rest of your life.

Ma Cai heard that his father was not happy with what these people were doing, so he asked tentatively: "Will the boy stop this matter?"

Ma Dongqiang shook his head slightly and said: "They asked you for help. Presumably you owe them some favor, so why not take this opportunity to settle the matter. As for whether to let them go to the island, that is not something you and I can decide. You don't need to decide from it. There is no need to say good things for them, just leave everything to Haihan to make the decision. Remember, don’t be too smart and make an opinion on Haihan’s behalf!”

Ma Cai felt a slight trepidation in his heart and quickly bowed in agreement. He thought that with Chen Yixin as his brother-in-law as his backer, he usually had few scruples in doing things. Apart from his old father's lessons, it was also difficult for him to listen to other people's opinions. At this point After listening to Ma Dongqiang's warning, Ma Cai also realized that he had almost made a mistake just now.

After the father and son finished talking, Ma Cai took the letter sent by Han Qin and went to the temporary headquarters next to Majiazhuang to find Chen Yixin. The fate of these three people was left to Chen Yixin to make a decision.

Chen Yixin can be said to have been very busy in recent days. Meetings came one after another, and there were a lot of things that required his personal intervention and decision-making. Ma Cai waited outside the conference room for about half an hour before finally waiting for Chen Yixin.

Chen Yixin read the letter sent by the county at almost a glance and asked Ma Cai in a deep voice: "Are you sure it was written by Magistrate Zhang?"

Ma Cai quickly responded: "It is indeed Zhang Zhixian's handwriting that is correct."

Chen Yixin pondered for a moment and then told Ma Cai: "Then you go and make arrangements to bring these three people and their families out of the county... Do this at night, try not to make too much noise, and don't publicize it.

, so as not to affect the public sentiment."

As Ma Dongqiang judged, Chen Yixin did not have any special affection for these three people. The reason why he kept providing resources to support these three people was mainly to buy horse bones for a thousand gold, to show Haihan's goodwill to the outside world, and to show his love for Daming.

Special preferential treatment for officials. However, these three people have mediocre qualifications and unstable positions. In Chen Yixin's view, they have no value in making deep use of them. They are just using them to maintain the existing local government agencies, leaving Fushan County in theory still in a big position.

Under the Meiji, this would make Ming Dynasty look better.

Nowadays, chaos in Shandong is imminent. It is reasonable for these people to find a safe place to avoid this chaos when they heard the bad news outside. Although Zhang Pucheng only said in the letter that he wanted to send his family and belongings to Zhifu Island.

But Chen Yixin couldn't understand his little ninety-nine, so he simply helped them. Although Zhifu Island is not large, it will not be unable to accommodate these three families.

However, if the people knew that these officials had escaped secretly, some bad rumors would inevitably arise, so Chen Yixin specially told Ma Cai to arrange for him to move the three people in a quiet time to avoid making a big noise.

Causing panic among the people.

Ma Cai responded understandingly, and when he was about to say goodbye, Chen Yixin stopped him again: "The county has implemented controls. You can go in, but they can't get out. Even if they get out, they can't get to the island. I wrote a warrant to

You, when the time comes, take them out of the city and onto the island with a warrant."

Ma Cai thought the same thing. Normally, you can move around anywhere in Fushan County except Zhifu Island. But now that military control has been implemented, even if he is Chen Yixin's brother-in-law, he still can't pretend to be Chen Yixin with his face.

The pass shows that you must have a warrant from Chen Yixin before you can do anything.

After Ma Cai got the warrant, he also sent a confidant into the city to go to the county government office to inform Han Qin of the progress here, and asked them to go home early and pack their soft luggage. They would arrange to leave the city tonight, and there would be a carriage by then.

When they arrive at home, they don’t need to prepare their own carriages and horses.

"The eldest young master of the Ma family can be relied upon to get things done so quickly!" After receiving the news, Han Qin immediately went to Zhang Pucheng and Huang Qu to report the good news.

Zhang and Huang were also very happy. They originally thought that it would take two or three days for a reply, but they did not expect that this horse was so efficient. They sent the letter in the morning and got a reply in the afternoon, and in the evening

I got my work done and didn't waste any time at all.

"It's not too late, let's go home and pack our luggage!" Since he can leave tonight, Zhang Pucheng doesn't have the heart to drink tea. There are so many valuables at home that need to be packed away, so he has to hurry up.

The other two people had the same thought and immediately went home to pack their things.

When Ma Cai delivered the letter, he also specifically warned them not to make it public. Naturally, these three people understood this. When they returned home, they closed their doors, refused visitors, and asked their families to quickly pack up their belongings. They originally also had private carriages, but

Two days ago, Haihan announced that all the carriages and horses in the county would be requisitioned. They were not spared, as Haihan's army came and requisitioned them all. Fortunately, Macai thought carefully and arranged transportation for them, otherwise they would have to carry them manually.

If you're lucky, you probably won't be able to take a few things with you.

But they didn't know how much the carriage arranged by Ma Cai could carry. In order to avoid suffering a loss, they tried their best to pack up all the belongings in the house and put them in the yard. They would take as much as they could move. If they really couldn't transport that much, they didn't know.

, and then consider getting rid of some bulky, bulky and worthless things.

Among them, Zhang Pucheng, the county magistrate, had the clearest idea. He was already tired of his career as a nominal magistrate, and had long had the idea of ​​abandoning his official position and joining Haihan. If Haihan wanted to take the opportunity to cause trouble and expand his influence in Shandong,

If the scope of control is reduced, the need for the existence of the Fushan County Government will be further reduced. At that time, Haihan may not be willing to spend money to support "idlers" like them. Rather than being kicked away by Haihan at that time, it is better to be more proactive and

Fight for better conditions.

If things continue to develop in this direction, then he may not return to the county town and continue to be this clay Buddha. Zhang Pucheng took all the belongings from his residence that were buried in the ground, hidden on the beams, and stuffed in the bottom of the rice vat.

I came out and was ready to leave completely.

Of course, it is also possible that the situation is far less serious than what the outside world has publicized. After a while, the storm subsides, and everyone has to go back to their separate ways and continue to accompany the Haihan people to perform this peace drama. Therefore, Zhang Pucheng did not explain his plans to his family and prepared to go to Zhifu Island.

Then adapt accordingly according to the situation.

After working as errands in Fushan County for several years, these three people have indeed accumulated a lot of property. It is not an easy task to pack it all up and prepare to transport it away in one day. It is not until night that the horses come into the city with their carriages and horses to pick them up.

When they arrived, these three families had not yet finished confiscating the goods. Ma Cai had no choice but to give them an extra half an hour to load the items they wanted to take away into the truck as soon as possible.

The property of the head catcher Han Qin was not as large as the other two. He was the first to clean up the family. He even had time to find Ma Cai and ask him how he planned to explain the whereabouts of the three people. Even though the presence of the county government is extremely low now

, but the sudden collective disappearance of the county’s civil and military officials and police officers will definitely attract the attention of interested people.

Ma Cai replied angrily: "How can you explain it? We can only spread the word that you, Mr. Han, have followed Mr. Huang to Dengzhou to reinforce the city defense. As for Mr. Zhang, I will trouble him to get seriously ill. Tomorrow I will

I will arrange for people to stay at your three homes first, so that the family will not lose any vitality and arouse suspicion."

Han Qin raised his hands and praised: "Young Master Ma has thought carefully! I will allow Han to repay this kindness in the future!"

Ma Cai's tone was very impatient, but Han Qin didn't dare to argue with him. Today's young master Ma is not only a wealthy local squire, but also has an identity that cannot be ignored. He is the brother-in-law of General Haihan. He is going to Zhifu Island now.

To avoid the chaos of the war, he had to rely on Ma Cai's help. Moreover, Ma Cai arranged everything in detail. Even if Ma Cai's attitude was not so comfortable, Han Qin was still grateful.

At midnight, the other two families finally finished cleaning up. Ma Cai asked the three families to get into the covered carriages, then left the city from the north gate of the county and headed north along the newly built official road to Zhifu Island.

.

Zhang Pucheng looked out from the gap in the car hood and could also see the lights on the east coast. He knew that was the port area of ​​Zhifu Port, and there was no night curfew there. At least before the declaration of military control, the port area

The night has always been lively. But with such a big incident happening in Shandong this time, it is difficult for Zhang Pucheng to have a definite answer at the moment to how much impact Zhifu Port will be affected in the future, and whether it will be able to return to the busy scene again.

Zhang Pucheng looked away from outside the car, wanting to see the expressions of his two companions at this time, but there were no lights inside the car, and the moonlight outside was blocked by the hood, so he couldn't see anything.

In order to facilitate the command, Ma Cai also rode in the same carriage with the three of them, but he was obviously not interested in chatting with the three of them on the way. He didn't say a word since he got in the carriage and set off. The three of them didn't know whether he was showing off or it was his schedule.

He was asked to be silent, so he could only remain silent along with Ma Cai.

About one mile away from Zhifu Island, we reached the checkpoint to enter Zhifu Island. When the Haihan Fleet first occupied Zhifu Island, they built a large number of fortifications on the narrow sandbar connecting the mainland and Zhifu Island, with a depth of several meters.

Ten feet. A few years later, those temporary fortifications have been transformed into stronger semi-permanent fortifications, leaving only a road in the middle that is more than two feet wide as a land passage into and out of the island.

Their convoy was stopped when it arrived at the checkpoint. The horse got out of the car, took out Chen Yixin's warrant and went through the formalities, and was quickly released.

Ma Cai returned to the car, knowing that the three of them were waiting for him to bring back the results, so he immediately warned: "From now on, we will reach the Zhifu Island base. There is an important military area in front of us. The three adults must not poke their heads into the car."

Look outside to avoid misunderstanding."

When the three of them heard his warning, they breathed a sigh of relief. This time they left the county and their destination was Zhifu Island where Haihan was stationed. However, before they actually set foot on the island, they were not sure whether they could get shelter from the Haihan people.

. And Ma Cai’s warning was just a reassurance for them.

In fact, Zhang Pucheng had been invited to Zhifu Island more than once. When he and Haihan were discussing how to coexist peacefully in Fushan County, it was Chen Yixin who invited him to the island to meet. However, at that time, he was representing the Ming Dynasty officials.

, but now he came here as a refugee seeking asylum. Even if the Haihan people had actually taken him to visit the facilities on the island before, now he could only follow the arrangement and sit in the carriage honestly, not daring to

Make a spying action.

After passing that checkpoint and proceeding about two miles, the convoy stopped again. Ma then asked them to wait in the car and got off the car to go through the handover procedures.
Chapter completed!