Chapter 2097

Since ancient times, it has been a good job for the government to confiscate private property. Usually, the leading officials who perform such tasks will more or less intercept some benefits under various names and put them into their own pockets, so Cui Hongfang's approach is not surprising.

However, he was not too greedy. Since Duan Tiancheng took the initiative to give this benefit to himself, he also reciprocated and took out part of it to borrow flowers and offer it to the Buddha as a gift to Duan Tiancheng.

Duan Tiancheng's attention was not on this windfall, and he accepted it half-heartedly after a few polite words. As Cui Hongfang said, he led a team to Ningbo City to perform a mission, and his brothers must also be counting on it.

I can get some benefits from this job. But when I return to Zhoushan, I still have to report it to my superiors, so as not to be found guilty of this kind of thing in the future and affect my career.

Duan Tiancheng was more concerned about other things found here, such as weapons such as muskets, so that he could convince the other party that this place was indeed a very dangerous pirate stronghold. If there was nothing, then he had instructed Cui Hongfang to do that in advance.

Too much preparation will undoubtedly make you feel a little too nervous.

Fortunately, the search results of the dry goods store did not disappoint him in the end. He actually found a hidden compartment in the warehouse where the dry goods were stored, and found three muskets, several stainless steel waist knives, and a small amount of ammunition.

Although these weapons are not enough to cause big trouble, if the people in the dry goods store are prepared in advance, the Ming army may still suffer casualties during the arrest.

"These bold thieves really deserve death!"

After confirming these weapons, Sun Feizhou and others were proven guilty. Cui Hongfang looked stern, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Today, all the people who should be arrested were caught, and the required evidence was also found. Haihan

The officer seemed satisfied with the result, and the mission should have been successfully completed.

Among the people captured in the dry goods store, except for Sun Feizhou, the leader who used his identity as the shopkeeper, who had committed suicide by taking poison, several others were captured alive. However, two of them resisted during the arrest and were anxiously arrested.

The Ming army was directly chopped to the ground. The injuries were not serious, but for now, they could only simply bandage them. Whether they could survive it would depend on their fate.

According to the prior agreement between the two parties, all those captured alive will be taken away by the Haihan Army. The Haihan side will then notify the Ningbo government of the results of the interrogation. Duan Tiancheng will also bring all relevant important evidence back to Zhoushan Island.

, handed over to the Military Intelligence Bureau for further examination to determine whether the weapons found in Ningbo were of the same format as those in other places where the crime occurred.

Cui Hongfang and Duan Tian shared the stolen money, and then handed over the prisoners and evidence. Duan Tiancheng said goodbye to Cui Hongfang and left. He had to rush back to Zhoushan as soon as possible to resume his life.

"Master Cui has been of great help this time. When I have the opportunity next time, I will come to Ningbo to hold a banquet to thank Master Cui!" When Duan Tiancheng said goodbye, he expressed his gratitude to Cui Hongfang very politely.

"Mr. Duan, you're very polite. You must come to Ningbo City after this period of work. Come down and host us. Let's get closer and closer to each other!" Cui Hongfang sent the Buddha to the west, and even took the initiative to cover the expenses for the next meeting. He felt that this

The Haihan officer named Duan is relatively easy to deal with. Perhaps we can obtain some scarce resources from Haihan through this channel in the future.

Cui Hongfang's intention was not to purchase arms in batches from Haihan to strengthen his own army. After all, his relationship with Haihan was not yet familiar enough, and it would be rash to make such a request. He wanted to

Therefore, if we can establish some kind of direct trade relationship with the Zhoushan authorities in our own name, we should be able to gain a lot of benefits from it.

As for how to operate the business in the middle, he is not worried. In the past two years, he has been at the Yongjiangkou pier and witnessed the changes in the trade environment of Ningbo Prefecture. He has already seen 70% to 80% of them. Which Haihan products are hot-selling?

, Cui Hongfang basically knows which things are most profitable to sell to Haihan people, and he just waits for a suitable opportunity to enter the industry.

And with his status as the commander of the guards, many things will be easier to operate, and he can even directly use military resources to operate transactions. This practice is not uncommon in several prefectures in Linhai, Zhejiang, but only in Dinghai

Wei was right under the nose of the Ningbo Prefecture, so there were some little tricks that he couldn't do too obviously to avoid being jealous of the prefect.

Duan Tiancheng did not expect that Cui Hongfang had so many plans, and he only thought that he was being polite to him. Cui Hongfang sent someone to send Duan Tiancheng's team out of the city, while he stayed here to complete the follow-up finishing work. Although this place

The underground stronghold has been cracked, but the surrounding areas still need to be cleaned up and the handover with the government office is completed. The government officials will do some work to appease the people and investigate the outstanding clues.

It was inconvenient for Duan Tiancheng to spend the night in Ningbo Mansion while escorting the prisoners and evidence. After leaving the city, he took a boat to the Yongjiang River and returned to Zhoushan Island overnight. After he completed the handover with the Military Intelligence Bureau, the sky was already dark, but Duan Tiancheng was not in a hurry to go back.

Instead of resting, he went to Shi Diwen's mansion first, waiting for his boss to get up early, and then report to him as soon as possible.

Duan Tiancheng waited for more than an hour before Shi Diwen got up. Hearing that Duan Tiancheng had rushed back from Ningbo overnight, he immediately tidied up briefly and went out to see him.

"Coming back so early, you must have stayed up all night hungry. Let's eat something together first, and then we can talk about the mission after eating." Shi Diwen motioned to Duan Tiancheng, who was saluting him as a military salute, to sit down first. He believed that he would

Duan Tiancheng's ability and prior arrangements meant that this operation would not go wrong, so he was not in a hurry to understand the results of the operation, but first arranged for the other party to have breakfast with him.

Shi Diwen's breakfast cannot be said to be luxurious, but it is definitely not something that ordinary people can eat in the market. Because Shi Diwen lived in the West in his early years, his dining habits are still more Western-oriented. Bread, milk and jam are a must in the morning.

Supplies. However, this kind of breakfast is usually only prepared for him alone, so Duan Tiancheng cannot enjoy it. Shi Diwen asked the kitchen to cook him a large bowl of beef noodles and added two fried eggs.

At least it's enough.

After finishing breakfast, Shi Diwen's orderly brought him another pot of coffee as usual, and this time Duan Tiancheng was willing to share it.

"This is coffee produced in Wanning County, Hainan Island. Drink it to refresh yourself. You rushed back from Ningbo all night and stayed up all night. Just drink this to cheer up." Shi Diwen picked up a small spoon and poured it into the cup.

Stir it slowly, and give guidance to Duan Tiancheng who is a little at a loss: "If it feels bitter, put a sugar in it to neutralize it. But I like the taste to be bitter, you can control it yourself!"

Duan Tiancheng felt that these words seemed to mean something, and he quickly responded: "You can endure hardships even in humble positions!"

Shi Diwen smiled and did not respond to this positive statement. He knew that Duan Tiancheng was a smart young man and was good at figuring out other people's thoughts and intentions. Although this statement was obviously intended to flatter him, it was harmless. Under his command,

It is actually a good pleasure to have such smart people running errands for you.

For this mission of arresting people in Ningbo City, he did not make detailed arrangements to Duan Tiancheng beforehand. He just asked him to follow the information provided by the Military Intelligence Bureau and ask the Ningbo Government to cooperate with him to arrest the remaining members of the Eighteenth Zhi Party hiding in Ningbo City.

After being arrested, Duan Tiancheng took the initiative to discuss the specific action plan with Ding Haiwei and carry out the arrest mission. Shi Diwen also wanted to take this opportunity to test the young officer's ability to do things and see if he was worthy of the reward.

Higher position.

Coffee is a drink that has not spread in this era. Its cultivation and production are monopolized by the Arabs, and no one knows it in the East. Its introduction to Europe has only begun to take shape in recent years.

Coffee was among the cash crops introduced by the Han people after they traveled to this time and space. However, because there was no sales market for this thing, there were not many coffee trees planted in Wanning, Hainan, and the coffee beans produced were basically supplied to Haihan high-ranking officials.

Drinking this special drink has not yet become a trend among the upper class of Haihan society, and the vast majority of people still prefer traditional tea.

Duan Tiancheng had never drank coffee before. He imitated Shi Diwen and stirred it with a small spoon a few times. He smelled a unique aroma. Then he carefully picked up the cup and took a sip. Sure enough, there was a strong aroma immediately.

The bitter taste reverberated in his mouth, but it was not unbearable. Duan Tiancheng thought of the potion made from traditional Chinese medicine that he had taken when he was sick before, and it seemed to have a taste similar to this coffee.

"It turns out that the general relies on drinking medicine to maintain his energy..." Duan Tiancheng turned this thought in his mind, and suddenly realized that this idea was really disrespectful, and quickly changed his mind to think about it: "This thing is actually the same as

It’s the same as tea, but I don’t know what kind of medicinal materials are ground into powder and brewed.”

"How does it taste?" Shi Diwen asked with interest. He has also tried to promote this special drink to people around him, but it seems to be unpopular so far. Even his wife tasted it twice.

After this time, I also felt that this "potion" was really not good to drink.

Duan Tiancheng responded: "I can't say it tastes good, but it's not bad either. Although it's a bit bitter in the mouth, it's quite mild after entering the throat. I think it should be similar to tea."

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "Your feeling is almost right. The effect of this coffee is indeed similar to that of tea. If you feel you are used to it and report to work in the future, I will have someone make you a cup as well."

It's not that Shi Diwen was reluctant to give some coffee to his subordinates to try, but he drank hand-ground coffee. For this reason, he also spent time to personally conduct technical training for the orderlies. If he directly gave coffee beans to Duan Tiancheng, it would be a waste of money.

, so he simply asked Duan Tiancheng to come to his place to drink.

Duan Tiancheng was astute and quickly responded: "I'll thank the general for this humble post!"

For an officer of his level, building a good relationship with local officials like Shi Diwen may save several years of struggle. In addition to performance at work, he must do what he likes.

This is a very important method. If you often have similar opportunities to chat with your boss, let alone drinking this coffee, even if you really drink medicine, he will not mind it.

Shi Diwen then brought the topic back to business: "Did things go smoothly when we went to Ningbo this time?"

Duan Tiancheng quickly put down the cup in his hand and responded seriously: "Report to the general, after I arrived in Ningbo, I have arranged for Cui Hongfang, the commander of Dinghai Guard, to contact me. This person is a bit of a philistine, but his ability is not bad. According to the regulations of I

It was recommended that detailed and thorough pre-war deployments be made, and the command operations were relatively organized. We successfully captured the dry goods store, basically without encountering any resistance, and there were no casualties among the Ming troops participating in the operation.

None of the thieves escaped. However, the leader of the thieves, Sun Feizhou, noticed that something was wrong and committed suicide by taking poison before being arrested. Although the accompanying military doctors tried their best to save him, they still could not bring him back from the hell gate."

Shi Diwen didn't know Sun Feizhou's identity and role in the Eighteen Zhiyu Party. He only regarded him as the person in charge of this stronghold in Ningbo City, so he didn't care much about his life and death. He nodded and asked:

"Did you find anything from that place?"

Duan Tiancheng said: "Several muskets and other weapons were found in the warehouse. Bizhong has brought them back to the Military Intelligence Bureau. In addition, some gold and silver property was copied. Cui Hongfang also forcibly gave some to Bizhong."

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "Follow the military rules, register and hand over half of your property yourself, and you can arrange the rest by yourself!"

The Haihan Army has always handled the property seized in combat operations relatively loosely, leaving more benefits to the personnel involved in the operation, in order to stimulate the combatants' desire to fight. Since Duan Tiancheng took the initiative to declare, Shi Diwen

I didn’t ask for the detailed number.

Duan Tiancheng quickly thanked Shi Diwen. He remembered something again and took out the "South China Sea Customs Chronicles" found in the study from his arms and handed it to Shi Diwen.

"General, this is a book I found in the study of the thief leader Sun Feizhou. There are many annotations in the book. I thought the general might be interested, so I brought this book back."

Shi Diwen nodded and immediately looked through it. Of course, his education level and vision were much higher than Duan Tiancheng's. He soon realized that the commentator's ideas had many unique features, and he had a lot of unique insights into the situation in East Asia and Haihan.

His expansion intentions were relatively clear, even more so than most of the Ming officials he had come into contact with.

It is obviously impossible for the shopkeeper of a dry goods shop in Ningbo city to have such far-sighted insights. Even if his true identity is a member of the Eighteen Zhiyu Party, he is definitely a rare talent. Such a person would actually stay in Ningbo city to fight.

Managing a dry goods store is something Shi Diwen really doesn't understand. To put it bluntly, it shouldn't be too difficult even if you have the ability to govern a state and a prefecture. It seems that the Eighteen Chiyu Party is really not a big deal.

Know how to use people.
Chapter completed!