Chapter 2046

To the outside world, the most famous among the descendants of the Xu family are Xu Yuzhuo, the fourth son of the Xu Xinsu family, and his nephew Xu Jiaqi. These two commanded the land and sea armies loyal to Xu Xinsu respectively, and can be said to be the backbone of the Xu family.

Strength. Over the years, the Fujian Ming Army sent troops to participate in the military operations organized by Haihan, and most of them were led by the two of them.

Xu Yuxing, the third son of the Xu family, is not that famous. Although many people have heard of him, they don’t know what kind of business the third son of the Xu family is doing. Very few people know that he was originally assigned to

Among the descendants of the Xu family who received training in Sanya, in addition to the two current generals, Xu Yuxing also went there. However, the training he received was different. It was not the military disciplines learned by the other two, but by Xu Xinsu.

Intelligence subjects personally selected for him.

The reason for this arrangement was that Xu Xinsu had already realized the importance of intelligence warfare through her cooperation with Haihan, so she also planned to follow Haihan's approach and establish a specialized intelligence agency to assist her rule in Fujian. And this

Xu Xinsu was obviously worried if such a special institution was to be handed over to outsiders. After some consideration, he decided to hand over this important job to his third son, Xu Yuxing.

When Xu Xinsu decided on this candidate, in addition to safety considerations, another important point was that Xu Yuxing's own qualities were more suitable for this position. Xu Yuxing inherited one of Xu Xinsu's qualities as a businessman very well.

He showed his talent in mathematical calculations, and he had a calm temperament and did not like to compete with other brothers for favor. In Xu Xinsu's view, this was in line with the many requirements of the Haihan people for candidates.

The most important thing is that Xu Yuxing himself accepted this arrangement. You must know that after entering this industry, it is unlikely that he will have any glory. As the head of the intelligence system, he can only hide behind the scenes in a low-key manner, unable to

Standing in front of the stage and being admired like his brothers is not that easy for the ambitious men of the Xu family to accept.

In order to avoid suspicion, the intelligence agency established by Xu Xinsu did not even have a formal yamen. It was directly placed under the name of his personal guard. From now on, it can basically only exist in obscurity. If it were other people, it probably wouldn't be like this.

Accept the arrangement willingly.

So Xu Yuxing was appointed as the person in charge of this organization, and he went to Sanya to study for a period of time. In order to ensure the confidentiality of his identity, Xu Yuxing remained anonymous even during his studies abroad. Very few people in Sanya knew his true identity. After completing his studies, he returned

After arriving in Fujian, he rarely appeared in public. When asked by outsiders, the Xu family would only say that Mr. Xu was addicted to Taoism and did not like to go out. No one knew that Xu Yuxing secretly established an intelligence agency loyal to Xu Xinsu.

As for the main monitoring targets after the establishment of this agency, they were the two major espionage organizations, Jinyiwei and Dongchang. This is really ironic. A large part of the reason why the imperial court established these espionage agencies was to monitor local areas and local officials.

, and the main function of the intelligence agency under Xu Xinsu is to monitor the agencies sent by the imperial court to monitor itself. The intelligence agency loyal to local warlords and the imperial espionage organization monitor each other. This situation is probably unique in the entire Ming Dynasty.

However, Xu Xinsu didn't think there was anything wrong with doing this. Although he had no plans to separate himself as king yet, he didn't want anyone to spy on him beside his bed. Taking some countermeasures against the imperial espionage organization, in Xu Xinsu's opinion, was

It is an effective means to protect one's own interests, and this move can better connect with Haihan, and joint military operations between the two parties will proceed more smoothly in the future.

After waiting for about a stick of incense, Xu Yuxing arrived. He knew the Gong family, his father and his son, and Jin Ming, so there was no need for any introduction at the moment. Xu Xinsu said: "The adults from Haihan have important matters to discuss.

I specifically asked you to come over and have a good listen and see if there is anything I can do to help."

Xu Yuxing responded: "Then please explain the situation!"

Immediately, Jin Ming introduced the circumstances and investigation progress of several recent shooting cases related to Spaniards, and pointed out that the clues obtained so far have brought the direction of the investigation to Fujian, and local officials are required to provide assistance in the investigation.

"According to our investigation, the group behind the scenes is very difficult to deal with. Not only do they collude with the Spanish to smuggle arms and equipment, but they also intentionally support armed forces from various countries to fight against our country. This is absolutely intolerable to our country.

Matter." Jin Ming stated his position very seriously: "If they have business in Fujian, then we can take this opportunity to dig out the true identity of this group of people!"

Xu Yuxing asked: "How does your country need us to assist in the investigation?"

Jin Ming said: "According to the clues we have, there are businessmen here shipping goods for the Spaniards and purchasing Ming Dynasty specialties. I think if we investigate in this direction, it should not be difficult to find the target. But if we start this matter

The investigation will inevitably cause a lot of inconveniences, so I hope Mr. Xu and the Third Young Master can help. Of course, we will also participate in the entire investigation process and provide the required information for the investigation as much as possible."

Jin Ming's words were high-sounding, but it was impossible to tell that he actually wanted to use this investigation task to gain some credit.

The expression on Xu Yuxing's face did not change, but there was a very brief exchange of eyes with Xu Xinsu, and then he responded: "According to what Mr. Jin just said, the person who acted as a middleman for the Spanish should be active in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou.

, maybe there are also shops and warehouses. However, Mr. Jin needs to know that there are at least thousands of merchants in these two places engaged in this kind of cross-border trade, and it is not something that can be done in a short time to find out the clues."

Xu Yuxing explained the difficulties before agreeing, which sounded somewhat evasive to Jin Ming. However, this was actually within his expectation. If the other party immediately patted his chest and confirmed that he would take over the matter as soon as he heard it, then

He may not yet be able to confidently and boldly entrust this task to the other party.

And as Jin Ming mentioned to the Gong family and his son before coming to the Xu family, more than half of the most profitable import and export trade in Fujian is directly or indirectly controlled by the Xu family. It is impossible to say that the target Haihan wants to investigate is also related to the Xu family.

The family is inextricably linked, and it will not look good when the time comes to investigate and investigate. Jin Ming can think of this situation, and the Xu family can naturally think of it. Naturally, they must try to find out as much as possible before the investigation begins.

Eliminate hidden dangers.

Buying more time now will give the Xu family more initiative. As for the statement that there are thousands of employees, it is just to find more justified reasons for this. Even if there are really so many businessmen here

In this business, at least half of them are working for the Xu family. Xu Yuxing only needs to ask the shopkeepers of several large trading firms under the Xu family's name, and it is not difficult to know which firms in Zhangzhou are selling local products shipped from Nanyang. In this way,

By making a list again, the scope of investigation will naturally be greatly reduced.

Of course, Jin Ming would not go out of his way to teach Xu Yuxing how to be a good person. These superficial investigative methods did not require him to talk at all, and Xu Yuxing would definitely know them too. Speaking out would make the other party think that he was exerting pressure to investigate the case.

Jin Ming immediately responded: "This matter is indeed tricky, otherwise there would be no need to trouble Third Young Master. However, with Third Young Master's familiarity with the local area, I believe he will not disappoint me and others."

Although Jin Ming's main job is intelligence analysis, trying to figure out other people's thoughts is also a basic skill of an intelligence officer, and his ability in this area is pretty good. He anticipated the other party's general plan, and gave Xu Yuxing a few words of advice.

Make the other party feel bad and continue to shirk.

Sure enough, Xu Yuxing stopped emphasizing the difficulty after hearing this. After all, it is not a small responsibility to disappoint the most important ally. Even if Jin Ming may just say it casually, Xu Yuxing must deal with this matter with full vigor.

As for Jin Ming's suggestion that Haihan would also participate in the entire investigation process, this did not make Xu Yuxing think there was any problem. In his opinion, this was natural, but it would be unavoidable if the investigation work was dictated by Haihan people.

It was a bit ugly. So he still carefully confirmed the relevant arrangements with Jin Ming: "Then this investigation will be led by Mr. Jin?"

Jin Ming shook his head and said: "This matter requires relying on the power and information channels of the Third Young Master. The investigation will naturally be led by the Third Young Master."

Xu Yuxing relaxed a little after hearing this. He was actually a little worried that Haihan intended to use this matter to intervene in local affairs. In the cooperative relationship between the two parties, it was tacitly accepted that Haihan could not take the initiative to interfere in local affairs in Fujian. Only in this way could he

Ensure Xu Xinsu’s influence and ruling foundation in Fujian.

Xu Yuxing is not sure whether Haihan will be satisfied with such a tacit understanding. If Haihan wants to find a reason such as investigating a case to interfere with the distribution of trade-related interests in Fujian, thereby affecting the Xu family's share in the local economic and trade field,

That would be difficult to deal with. But since the other party took the initiative to give him the initiative to investigate the case, it means that he should be worrying too much.

The two briefly discussed how to communicate information and coordinate actions next, and the matter was basically finalized.

After the three people from Haihan finished talking about the matter and left, only the Xu family's father and son were left in the study. Only then did Xu Xinsu ask: "Do you think they have another purpose behind this matter?"

Xu Yuxing mused: "My son initially thought that they might want to use this to take action on the local import and export business, but judging from what Mr. Jin said, it didn't look like an excuse. I heard that this matter was involved.

Shenguang, Liaodong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Manila, and Haihan are all conducting investigations. It seems that the Haihan people are really eager to find out who is helping the Spaniards resell weapons."

Xu Xinsu said: "There are actually only a hundred or so merchants selling Nanyang goods in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou. You first make a list of our own businesses, and call all the relevant people to ask and see if there are any.

It’s a small, unruly move. It’s better for us to catch the person ourselves than to let the Haihan people get the hang of it, do you understand what I mean?”

Xu Yuxing responded: "My child understands!"

There is a rule in transnational trade: the farther away the goods are, the rarer the goods are, and the profits from trafficking the goods are higher. This is also the main reason why Western colonists crossed thousands of miles of sea territory to transport Eastern specialties back to Europe for sale.

In the same way, for cross-border trade with Fujian as the destination, the farther away from Fujian, the higher the value of the goods and the more considerable the profits of the transaction. In recent years, many goods produced in the West have been favored for being cheaper and better.

Due to the impact of Haihan industrial products, sales have been much lower than before, but there are still some local specialties produced in the colonies that still have a certain market in the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, Spain will ship a large amount of silver from the Americas every year to purchase various commodities from the Ming Dynasty.

The strong purchasing power also makes it difficult for merchants to refuse.

Therefore, before the outbreak of the Manila War last year, there were also many products from the Philippine Islands on the market in Fujian. These spices, gems and other products from distant foreign countries had quite good sales in the prosperous areas of the Ming Dynasty, and the profits were naturally very high.

rich.

A considerable part of such lucrative trade is indeed controlled by the Xu family. Until the war with the Spanish last year, Fujian merchant ships were still trading in Manila. During peak times, Fujian merchant ships came to Manila on this route.

, there are at least fifty ships, and at least half of them are working for the Xu family, and their annual turnover can be hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Although the trade route from Fujian to Manila remained after the war, the trade objects were changed from the Spaniards to the Haihan people. Since the local social order has not been fully restored, the production capacity of many local products has declined sharply, and Fujian has not

Dare to skip Haihan and go directly to the Spaniards, so the scale of trade has shrunk a lot compared to before the war, and it is no longer as profitable as before.

But it is inevitable that some of them will take risks for the sake of money and continue to trade in areas ruled by the Spanish. After all, their bids for Ming products are much higher than the standards of the Haihan people, and the rewards from a trip are far greater.

Far back in the past, Manila was under the rule of the Han people. These products shipped back to Fujian from the Philippine Islands were often sold in the Fujian market under the name of "purchased from the Manila area".

It is precisely because of this that neither Xu Xinsu nor Xu Yuxing mentioned that their business firm was definitely not involved in this unruly business method when they were talking to Jin Ming and others. At one time, they even suspected that the Haihan people had obtained some information.

, deliberately beating himself up in the name of investigating the case.

Even if Jin Ming's attitude has dispelled their suspicion, out of caution, they have to try to avoid being caught by the Haihan people. If there are some unclean places, they have to clean them first. As for the Xu family

Whether someone is secretly selling arms for the Spanish, we can only find out after an investigation.
Chapter completed!