Chapter 562 Visiting the people

With the same remuneration, familiarity with the work, and much easier work than working as laborers, these government servants were naturally happy and relaxed. As for monitoring the governor's daily speech and even daily behavior for Haihan, this matter was of no concern to them.

It seems that there is not much moral baggage. The sense of existence of these government servants has always been dependent on the strong. If there is no protection, then they are no different from ordinary people - just like they did hard labor on the construction site before.

Nowadays, ordinary people may not be able to see who is in control of the situation in Danzhou as clearly as people like them who once served in the government. The entire Ming Dynasty's ruling organization in Danzhou has been purged by the pirate army, and the Haihan people

After arriving, they did not try to restore the original model at all, but directly introduced the Haihan-style governance system-a new organization headed by the Management Committee. And it was no longer them, the three-class yamen servants, who assisted the Management Committee in exercising its governance power.

, replaced by the Haihan police and militia. It is no exaggeration to say that Ming's local influence is now more than an order of magnitude worse than that of Haihan. Even if the imperial court sends fifth-grade officials to Danzhou, it is difficult to change this place.

The situation does not help. No matter how capable the new Mr. Yan is, he cannot single-handedly fight against the rich and powerful Haihan.

"Follow the Haihan people and you will have food to eat." This sentence has not only become the consensus of the local people, but also those in the public sector have the same experience. Although the rules of the Haihan people are strict and many, the rewards given are corresponding.

The protection is indeed better than that of Ming Dynasty.

The most important thing is that what the people of Haihan are doing now are things that the Ming Dynasty officials were unable to complete or had never even imagined. However, the people of Haihan are realizing these ideas bit by bit in an orderly manner, starting from the middle and lower classes of society.

From the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, Haihan's governance and management capabilities are obviously much stronger than those of the local government of the Ming Dynasty. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, who is more reliable? The local people have a clear idea from the banditry last year.

know.

After several months, the imperial court did not send out a single tael of relief, nor did it send a single soldier to restore social order in Danzhou. In the end, only two polished commanders, one civil and one military, came to rebuild Danzhou.

Or are they just here to take advantage of the situation? Even if no one talks about this kind of thing publicly, people will naturally have opinions on this situation. Compared with what the Haihan people have been doing in Danzhou, which one is better and which is worse, as long as the people don’t

You can tell the difference even if you are blind.

After Yan Mingjun had breakfast, he put on his official uniform and went to the front yard. He saw that the government officials were bringing in table cases, plaques and other things that were originally used in the Danzhou government office lobby. The courtyard that Haihan prepared was originally the east courtyard.

There is also a small court hall in the factory building, but if you want to cram all the things like the government office lobby into it, the place will seem a bit cramped.

Seeing this, Yan Mingjun could only laugh at himself: "That's good, otherwise the place would be too big and the courtroom would look empty for you guys."

Although the office space has been arranged, ironically, there is no official business that needs to be handled by Yan Mingjun at the moment. Currently, military and political affairs within the jurisdiction of Danzhou are managed and coordinated by the Danzhou Provisional Management Committee. Yan Mingjun wants to

If he has something to do at hand, he can only wait for the Management Committee to transfer the official business that needs to be handled to him. Of course, judging from the attitude he showed at the reception banquet yesterday, the Management Committee will not be able to do anything in a short time.

He would definitely not take the initiative to fulfill his wish.

Yan Mingjun himself is not a person who lives leisurely, otherwise he would not have gone through so much trouble to find an alternate official position thousands of miles away. Not long after sitting in the temporary yamen, Yan Mingjun simply went back to the backyard to change into casual clothes, and then

The government officials were asked to disperse and rest, but the leader, He Qi, was the only one who stopped.

"He Qi, are you familiar with the local people?" Yan Mingjun planned to go out incognito for a private visit, but he still had to be accompanied by someone familiar with the situation, and in his opinion, He Qi was the only one around him for the time being.

It's a little bit more believable.

He Qi responded: "Sir, I am from Danzhou. If you want to go out to visit the people, I am willing to be your follower."

"That's very good." Yan Mingjun nodded and said, "Go and change your clothes and go out for a walk with me."

He Qi also changed into casual clothes, and then the two of them left the temporary yamen. Regarding how to deal with the various requests made by the new officials, the relevant departments in Haihan gave He Qi a simple training in advance. It was similar to a private visit incognito.

For this kind of behavior, Haihan's order to He Qi was to let him go, as long as he arranged for personnel to monitor him closely. Of course, since Lord Yan Ming pointed the finger at him, He Qi did not intend to give up the overtime pay.

Let others earn it.

Danzhou is the cultural center on Qiongzhou Island, and the city is quite lively. The damage caused by last year's war in the city was actually quite limited, and it was mainly concentrated in the government office area in the north of the city. However, when He Qi took Yan Mingjun there,

It is the commercial and cultural district in the south of the city. Not only does it not leave any traces of the war, but because of the strong intervention of Haihan Trading after the war, the market here has become more lively and prosperous than before the war.

Yan Mingjun randomly entered a few shops on the roadside and easily noticed that at least half of the items sold in these shops were produced by Haihan, and these items were obviously much cheaper than similar products produced by Daming.

The similar Haihan products that Yan Mingjun saw in Luodingzhou were also much lower. Of course, the reason is very simple. After all, the cost of transporting goods from Sanya to Danzhou is two completely different concepts from transporting goods to inland Guangdong.

.

However, these products, which are very competitive in price in inland Guangdong, are sold at lower prices here, so you can imagine how high their market share is. After visiting several stores, Yan Mingjun found that, like rice,

Daily necessities such as salt and coal seem to have been monopolized by Haihan goods. He is not just a stupid person who only knows how to gain advantage. After all, he is an official with experience in local governance. He is still sensitive to such monopolistic operations.

Spend.

Putting aside the complex economic principles, if Qiongzhou Island gradually breaks away from its dependence on the mainland in terms of material supply, how can the imperial court control this overseas enclave? It is obviously impossible to rely on military means. Qiongbei Capital

This is already the situation, not to mention that Qiongnan is the home base of the Haihan people. It is not practical to rely on people's support. There are tens of thousands of Li and Miao people on this island who are at odds with the Ming Dynasty. Now the situation in Danzhou

It seems that people's hearts are gradually deviating from the side of the Ming Dynasty, and the Haihan people have used various "tricks" to win over many fans. The only remaining method is simple administrative orders, but Yan Mingjun's own

The encounter has shown that this method has failed locally. He is now completely ignored and has no means of resistance.

After leaving the shop, Yan Mingjun asked He Qi: "I heard that there is also an official salt farm in Danzhou. Why is it that all the salt on the market is labeled as produced by Haihan?"

He Qi responded: "Back to Master Yan, the local salt farm stopped production two years ago. Since then, local vendors have only sold the refined salt produced by Haihan."

"Is the local salt farm unable to operate because the price is not as good as Haihan salt?" Yan Mingjun is also considered a smart person. Based on what he just saw, he deduced the correct answer.

He Qi said: "Your Majesty, this Haihan salt is nearly 30% cheaper than local salt and much finer. Naturally, the local salt dealers choose the cheaper ones. As time goes by, the salt farmers in the local salt fields have no income, and they naturally

They refused to continue working. The Haihan people paid another price and hired these salt farmers away and sent them to work in their own salt fields."

Yan Mingjun said: "The Salt Class Office is far away in Guangzhou, so it must be impossible to control the Haihan people's trafficking in illegal salt on Qiongzhou Island. However, the Haihan people set the price of salt so low, so how can they support so many salt households?"

He Qi thought that the Haihan people not only trafficked illicit salt on Qiongzhou Island, but also people in most places across the strait in Leizhou, Lianzhou, and Gaozhou were eating Haihan salt. Besides, the Haihan salt transport teams were all armed.

Escorts, the island's shipping, and even open smuggling under the banner of the Ming Dynasty Navy, what will happen to them even if the salt class is brought?

"Returning to Master Yan, although I have never been to the salt fields of the Haihan people, I heard that their salt fields are quite large. The ones that dry the salt are not the stone troughs used in the local salt fields. They are all large pools several feet square, and made

The salt method requires much less labor than the traditional salt-making method, and the salt produced is ten times better than that of the Ming Dynasty salt farmers. Therefore, the price is low but there is still a huge profit." He Xi's slander was returned, but he remained the same.

He answered Yan Mingjun's question according to what he knew.

"Then the same is true for rice, pig iron, and coal?" Yan Mingjun continued to ask.

He Qi responded: "It's as expected, sir."

Although Yan Mingjun had expected it, he was still a little frustrated when he heard He Qi's answer. These commodities needed for people's livelihood were all controlled by Haihan. It would take more than simple administrative means for Ming Dynasty to regain local control.

Or it can be solved by military means. Otherwise, even if Danzhou is taken back, there will be chaos among the people if there is not enough supply of living materials locally.

Yan Mingjun shook his head and had no interest in visiting the shops anymore. He turned around and walked to a teahouse, intending to take a rest. Seeing that Yan Mingjun was not dressed like a commoner and accompanied by his entourage, the waiter invited the two of them to the second floor seating area. Yan Ming

You didn't have any airs, so He Qi also took a seat.

The seats were separated by screens. After the waiter served hot tea and cakes, Yan Mingjun heard people at the next table talking about the appointment of a new official, and he immediately pricked up his ears.

Then I heard one of them say: "This time the imperial court has sent two new adults to Danzhou to take up their posts. It seems that the imperial court still has no intention of abandoning this place."

Another, slightly thicker voice responded: "What the imperial court plans to do is no longer the focus. How the situation in Danzhou will turn out in the future depends on what the Haihan people want."

The man asked before: "Brother Zheng, do you have any inside information?"

The man known as Brother Zheng said: "Yesterday, my father also went to attend the reception banquet for the two new adults. After he came back, he briefly talked about the situation at that time. From now on, the Ming Dynasty will probably not be able to make the final decision in Danzhou."

"How do you say this?"

"The two adults who came to Danzhou to take over this time came without money and soldiers. When they got here, they wanted to take over the power from the Haihan people. What would you do if you were a Haihan people? Management Committee

Director Zhang was not polite at all and rejected the request of the new Mr. Yan on the spot. No one from the three tables present stood up to speak for the new magistrate. My father said that if Mr. Yan had not immediately surrendered, it would have been difficult.

Director Zhang is going to fall out with him on the spot. In that case, I'm afraid it will have to wait two or three months before the next magistrate is sent over."

This statement was immediately approved by others: "Brother Zheng is right. I think Mr. Xue, the Tongzhi of Danzhou, refused to cooperate with the Haihan Management Committee and said he wanted to elect Haihan himself."

The leader was brought to justice, but he disappeared from Danzhou City within a few days. The Haihan people said that he colluded with pirates and fled privately, but I don't believe it."

"Be careful! Under the rule of Haihan, such words are not allowed to be spoken casually!" Someone immediately stopped this big talker from the side.

The people at the table were talking excitedly, but Yan Mingjun on the other side of the screen was sweating coldly. The degree of lawlessness of the Haihan people in Danzhou has exceeded his imagination. Fortunately, he did not say anything to death on that occasion yesterday, otherwise today

The people who came to the door early in the morning were probably not the government officials who had returned to work, but the Haihan militiamen who came to arrest him, right?

Yan Mingjun suppressed his displeasure and continued to listen. The table next door talked about almost all local current affairs, but more than half of them were related to the Haihan people, and he learned a lot from this.

After listening for about half an hour, Yan Mingjun determined the identity of the people at the next table. They were almost all local second-generation officials and rich second-generation people. Most of these people were in awe of Haihan, and some were disgusted with it, but the degree was not strong.

This is also because their family has various interest entanglements with Haihan, and it is difficult to tell the pros and cons of Haihan's arrival for them.

But these people have a very consistent attitude on one thing, that is, they must not offend the Haihan people easily, because both themselves and the family background behind them must act based on the faces of the Haihan people. Their family interests also

It is closely related to Haihan. In this aspect, Ming's influence once again lags far behind Haihan.

Later, the conversation of these people gradually deviated to the trivial matters of life. Yan Mingjun was no longer interested in listening anymore and asked He Qi to pay the bill. The two of them left the teahouse and walked slowly towards the south gate. They didn't walk far.

Someone from far behind shouted, "Brother Yan!"

Yan Mingjun turned around and saw Li Jinzheng, who was also in casual clothes, striding over: "I also said I would go find you for dinner, but your family said you were out and asked me to find you easily!"

Yan Mingjun said: "Brother Li, what do you want from me?"

"Go and have a look over there." Li Jin pointed to the South Gate: "I have inquired about it. The barracks of the Danzhou garrison used to be under the south gate. I just had nothing to do and went to take a look."
Chapter completed!