Chapter 550 Alternate Official

When Liu Qian was in a dilemma, a fleet of official ships departing from the Pearl River Pier was going down the river. The first stop of this fleet carrying more than ten officials who were about to take office was at Panyu County, Guangzhou Prefecture.

Lijiazhuang Pier. According to the arrangements of the Haihan Garrison Office in Guangdong, the fleet will meet up with the Haihan armed ships coming to escort at Lijiazhuang, and then continue its journey south.

For the vast majority of passengers in this fleet, Haihan's surface armed forces have only heard of them in name, and have never seen the real ones. Everyone knows that Haihan's warships are just as capable as their militia.

It can even deal with enemies that are helpless against the Ming Dynasty navy. However, few people know how powerful the Haihan people's weapons are.

There is a waterway of more than 80 miles from the Pearl River Pier to the Lijiazhuang Pier. It will take at least half a day to get there by going down the river. If you are delayed on the way, you may have to rest locally for one night. You will be on the boat along the way.

While there was nothing to do, someone began to discuss how much armed force Haihan had in his hands.

Yan Mingjun is one of these curious people. He was originally a Fujian Juren during the Tianqi period. It took him nearly ten years to go from Qipin County Magistrate to Luoding Prefecture's prefectural magistrate. Such a speed of promotion is unprecedented in the officialdom.

It can be regarded as above average. Although it is not as good as those colleagues with status and background, there are not many people of the same age who can compare with him. He was born in the 26th year of Wanli, and he is only in his early thirties now. Many people

At this age, he is still holding the rank of seventh grade, but he is already a fellow magistrate of Zhili Prefecture.

However, Luoding Prefecture has both good and bad points. In the fifth year of Wanli reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, Longshui County was promoted to Zhili Prefecture. The place was small and had no economic foundation. It was difficult for the current officials to achieve any outstanding political achievements. But because

This is Zhili Prefecture. For the same position, the official rank is half a level higher. From the fifth-grade magistrate to Luoding Prefecture, it is the fifth-grade official. Yan Mingjun is just a deputy. He stayed in Luoding Prefecture for two years. At first, he wanted to slowly increase his tenure.

After finishing his career, he waited for the opportunity to be promoted step by step, but fate was so strange. He didn't have much ambition for an official career, but the opportunity happened to appear in front of him - after Qiongzhou Island was attacked by pirates, a large number of official positions were vacated, and he

His qualifications are just enough to meet the threshold of a candidate official.

After Yan Mingjun heard the news, his mind became active. If he could seize this opportunity, it would not be impossible for him to be promoted. Even if it was a horizontal transfer, at least this transfer would correct his position.

Now - the deputy position in Zhili Prefecture, it would be a matter of course for him to take up the full-time position in other states.

As for Qiongzhou Island being relatively remote, that is not a big problem in Yan Mingjun’s opinion. After a few years of serving his term, can’t he be transferred back to the mainland to serve? Besides, Qiongzhou Island is a place with high mountains and far distances, so it won’t be like in Luoding Prefecture.

Also under the jurisdiction of the Zhaoqing Prefecture, Yan Mingjun believed that he could also have the opportunity to truly display his governance talents and accumulate some political capital for his future promotion.

Of course, regarding the Haihan people who have emerged on Qiongzhou Island in recent years, Yan Mingjun is not as ignorant as he showed in front of Liu Qian. You must know that although there is no special office set up by Haihan people in Luoding Prefecture, there are many products in the local market.

There are a lot of products from Haihan, and large merchants such as "Furuifeng" and "Golden Shield" that cooperate closely with Haihan also have business operations in the jurisdiction of Luoding Prefecture. These merchants rely on Haihan

In addition to doing business in Luoding Prefecture, he also spreads Haihan culture in various ways. Even though Yan Mingjun has stayed in Luoding Prefecture in recent years and has never been out, he generally knows some rumors about the Haihan people.

It is a common consensus among the people that the Haihan people are rich, powerful, intelligent and courageous. However, from the standpoint of a court official like Yan Mingjun, he would have to add the evaluation of "restless" to the Haihan people.

When Haihan first extended his tentacles into Luoding Prefecture, he was also resisted by the local business community. However, those who opposed Haihan often could not persist for too long. Either they were defeated in the face of the unstoppable money offensive, or they were defeated.

They just died inexplicably or disappeared without a trace. Although the government also knew that these things were probably related to the Haihan people, there was often no real evidence, and it was impossible to attribute the crime to a specific target.

Of course, Haihan and their agents are not fools. They usually deal with the government in advance. Yan Mingjun himself has received money many times, so he naturally turns a blind eye to such things.

Shao Hui will seriously investigate. Regarding these conflicts of interests among the people, the government's attitude is naturally that it is better to do less than to do more. If you can still get money for doing less, why not do it?

After the chaos in Qiongzhou Island, the Haihan militia temporarily took over the government affairs and defense arrangements in Qiongbei. Yan Mingjun also heard about it early. He never thought that the Haihan people would control the management of these areas, but thought that since they have

With the presence of the Haihan Militia, the security of these places should be better protected in the future. After several twists and turns, he also took Liu Qian's route, and then spent nearly three thousand taels of silver to open up the joints - which was almost already

It was all his personal savings.

After Liu Qian collected the money, he sent someone to reply to him half a month later, saying that the matter had been completed and he just needed to wait patiently for the official transfer order. Yan Mingjun waited and waited, and finally he was expected to transfer him to Qiongzhou Mansion.

An official document about being appointed as the magistrate of Danzhou. It took him several days to pack up, take his wife, children, and a few servants, and rush east from Luodingzhou to Guangzhou. He stayed in Guangzhou for two days, and the luggage was delivered to him yesterday.

A merchant ship that was previously entrusted to "Furuifeng" for employment.

In fact, the real ownership of this ship is the Haihan Shipping Department, but to the outside world, it still borrows the name of a private shipping company to operate the ship. After "Furuifeng" reported the situation to the Guangdong Office, Malik made a special

A boat has been arranged for us, and the price is far more favorable than the same-class sea-going boats on the market.

This 400-year-old sea-going ship had enough cabins, so Yan Mingjun also invited another alternate official to go with the ship. This man's name was Li Jin. He was a fellow Fujianese like Yan Mingjun, but he was a military attaché. He was previously in Luoding Prefecture.

He was a member of the Thousand Households in Nanxiang, and this time he also went to Danzhou to take over the position of local general.

When they were officials in Luodingzhou, they had some friendship because of their fellow villagers. This time they went to Qiongzhou Island to take office together, so they simply took the same boat. Li Jin was one year older than Yan Mingjun, but his wife died of illness early in his life.

Marrying again, I have no children, so I feel comfortable being alone. This time I went to Qiongzhou Island with four soldiers and one servant from my hometown, occupying two cabins on the ship, but the living conditions on the ship will not be compromised because of this.

become crowded.

After the fleet left the Pearl River Pier, Yan Mingjun ordered people to boil water and make tea. Then he and Li Jin sat on the deck, sipping tea and chatting while watching the river scenery along the way.

"Brother Li can stand out from many competitors this time. It's really gratifying!" Yan Mingjun said: "It is said that there are only two places for participating generals this time, and Brother Li won one of them without saying a word.

, I really admire Yan."

Li Jin waved his hands and said: "Brother, you and I are not outsiders, and Li has nothing to hide from you. What's so gratifying about this and that? It's not just money that clears the way, and we use money to do things! To tell you the truth, for this participation

My family has already sold out the general position. If I can’t get it, I’ll have to live in the dirt for the next fucking year!”

Yan Mingjun asked: "The position of military general shouldn't be too expensive, right?"

Li Jin's eyes widened and he said: "It's almost four thousand taels of silver, and it's not expensive! How much money does it cost me to be a thousand households per month? All my savings since I started wearing this skin have basically been poured into it this time!"

"Such a high price!" Yan Mingjun was also shocked by what Li Jin said. If what he said is true, then Li Jin's purchase of this post of general was actually more expensive than the price he paid for the post of governor. This is obviously a bit unfair.

Too reasonable.

Yan Mingjun shook his head and said: "Either you didn't find the right person, or the person you found tricked you! The price... is really a bit high!"

Li Jin disagreed and said: "High? The price may be higher than that of a civil servant. But the problem is that there is no other way to get the official position this time. Only Master Liu can operate it. Whatever he says is what it is.

, no counter-offer, just a few thousand taels of silver to buy peace of mind!"

"Ah...it turns out that you were also organized by Master Liu." Only then did Yan Mingjun realize that Li Jin's path was the same as his own, but he still couldn't understand the price: "But why is the price for military attaches higher than that for civil servants?"

?This is contrary to common sense!”

"The situation on Qiongzhou Island is quite special." Li Jin explained: "I specifically asked someone for advice on this matter. The garrison on Qiongzhou Island receives tribute from the Haihan people every year, which is called 'office funds'. This amount is paid monthly.

Or paid on an annual basis, which is said to be more than the amount of free money. Positions like generals are available for two to three thousand taels per year. Moreover, the Haihan people will also arrange some ways to make money for the local garrison, such as reselling the Haihan institute.

The glassware, refined salt and other products produced are also very profitable. Every officer who has been transferred back from Qiongzhou Island in the past two years is not fat. Everyone says that the Haihan people are generous. Brother Yan, you are a civil servant.

, I don’t know how rich the fortune is here. If I hadn’t been decisive and quick this time, this position would probably have been taken by someone else.”

"I see..." This is indeed the first time Yan Mingjun has heard that something like this happened on Qiongzhou Island. These Haihan people are so willing to spend money on Qiongzhou Island, and they don't know what kind of situation they have turned the place into. This

Anyone who has been to Yazhou in the past two years is full of praise for Haihan's business conditions there. It seems that the money of the Haihan people has indeed enriched the entire civil and military officials of Qiongzhou Island.

Li Jin continued: "Not only that, a fellow man from Fujian came to Luoding Prefecture to find me a few days ago. According to him, the General Soldier in Fujian sends at least a group of officers every year to learn various advanced tactics and weapons from the Haihan people.

The operational skills are used to deal with the pirates entrenched in Penghu and Dajuan. Moreover, Haihan also sent people to Fujian to help them train the army. The garrison in Guangdong and Guangxi is relatively slow and knows nothing except cashiers. "

Yan Mingjun smiled and said: "Brother Li, aren't you also planning to go to Qiongzhou Island to collect money?"

Li Jin sighed: "Of course I have to collect money, but I really want to see what kind of skills these Haihan people have, so that the Fujian general soldiers can ask them for help."

"It's not just the Fujian General Soldiers!" At this point, Yan Mingjun also remembered some rumors he had heard: "I heard that in the Annan Civil War two years ago, it was the Haihan people who sent their militia across the sea to join the war to help the people in the north.

The small court put down the civil strife. According to the merchants who came back from Annan, Hoi An, the largest port in the south of Annan, and Hue, the most powerful city, were both defeated by the Haihan militia. Even if Annan's national power is weak, think about it.

The combat strength of the Han militia in this sea should be on par with our Ming army."

Li Jin shook his head and said: "I'm not saying this to be discouraging, but the combat power of the Haihan Militia is probably still higher than that of our army. I heard that 70% of the Haihan Militia are musketeers and artillerymen, and there are hundreds of shield soldiers and spearmen.

There are few, which shows that the firearms are far more reliable than those used by our army. I heard that the governor bought a batch of artillery from Haihan six months ago. After the test firing, he was very happy and immediately ordered people to send them to the north. That place in Foshan

Cannons are made every year, but I have never heard of a cannon made in any year that can make the governor so excited."

"If I, the Ming Dynasty, can acquire this Haihan art of forging cannons..." Yan Mingjun shook his head mid-sentence: "The Haihan people are so shrewd in business, and they will definitely not sell such secret skills to my Ming Dynasty. If they sell it,

Secret skill, how will they sell cannons to the Ming Dynasty’s army in the future?”

"The Haihan people know how to make artillery and blunderbuss, and they also know how to train troops. The most important thing is that they are also good at making money. If this group of people can't think of rebelling that day, it will be a big trouble!" Li Jin frowned.

: "After I go to Danzhou, if I can find out the shortcomings of the Haihan Militia, I must report it to the court to prevent changes in the future."

Yan Mingjun responded: "Brother Li is loyal and loyal, and I admire him! But Danzhou is now under the control of the Haihan people, so Brother Li still needs to be more careful. The Haihan people are not honest people, they are very courageous.

!”

"Thank you for the reminder, brother." Li Jin added: "I heard from the Haihan man named Ma earlier that they specially sent warships to escort this time south. Do you really think that our Ming Navy has no one? Master Liu doesn't know what to do.

It was arranged, how could we find someone from Haihan to do this?"

"Brother Li doesn't know. Although there is a navy stationed at the Pearl River Estuary, its combat power is far inferior to that of the Haihan people. After the accident of the navy in Qiongzhou, the Guangdong navy has not dared to go south to operate near the Qiongzhou Strait. Master Liu has no choice.

, and then contacted the Haihan people." Yan Mingjun had specifically asked Liu Qian about this before, so he knew the whole story relatively well.
Chapter completed!