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Chapter 14 Entering Tianjin

"Jin Wen is indeed a man of great decision-making and wisdom." Dong Shuheng said sincerely.

"Your Excellency, this is ridiculous." Liu Jinwen was always humble and polite in front of Dong Shuheng.

In fact, he had been secretly observing the governor of Liangjiang, who was also a salt merchant.

This young man has a special affinity that makes people feel very comfortable staying around him.

The way he looks at people is very clear, as if there is no distinction between high and low in his eyes.

No wonder he was able to gather so many people around him in such a short period of time, and within a year he grew from a salt merchant to a local force that could compete with the imperial court.

In the past, Liu Jinwen would have been slightly dissatisfied, but now faced with the huge gap in strength, he would only follow the opponent's footsteps more firmly.

"Jinwen, let me ask you a question, who do you think can truly control a place?" Dong Shuheng asked.

"Sir, is this stupid person a local power?" Liu Jinwen frowned and thought deeply.

"Jinwen, you only got half of the answer right, but it's good that you can realize that local officials are not the ones who really decide to control the place."

"On the surface, it is true that local forces, including landlords, gentry, and big businessmen, ultimately determine local power, but in essence, they only control local areas by controlling public opinion."

"The gentry controlled local public opinion and controlled the people at the bottom through local clan relations. The landlords controlled the local land, which I call the means of production. The common people had to borrow the landlord's means of production to carry out production, so there was a gap between them.

Dependence. Let’s talk about the big local businessmen. They control the circulation of goods and can control prices, which directly affects people’s lives.”

"So, this so-called local force also controls the place by influencing the people. Therefore, I think the people are the real force that controls the place and are the basis for ruling the place. This is probably what the so-called 'whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world' means.

."

"Thank you for your advice, sir. Wen Jin has learned a lesson!"

"Wen Jin, the reason I'm telling you this is because we need to determine Tianjin's future management model."

"This time I will suggest to the court that Tianjin be set up as a domestic free port. The so-called domestic free port means that domestic businessmen can freely come to Tianjin to trade. Tianjin's lika tariff will be cancelled. Local finances will be maintained by transaction stamp taxes. Of course, they may have to be paid every year.

Part of it is given to the imperial court. The corresponding imperial court will no longer appoint officials to Tianjin, and the local forces in Tianjin will manage Tianjin affairs on their own."

"In order to get the court to agree, we must first form a local management organization. I call it the Management Committee. This Management Committee is composed of a director and several members. I want you to be the director and member of this management committee.

You can let the gentry, merchants and landlords below recommend you. These committee members must have a certain reputation, otherwise they will not be able to convince the public..."

"Sir, this... the common people are worried that they can't do it well. Sir, why don't you send some consultants to us."

"I will send you a consultant, but you still have to manage it yourself. In the future, Tianjin will be the commercial center of the north. Most of the people here are businessmen. You are also a businessman. Businessmen all hope that the less government control, the better. As long as

Just ensure safety. In this way, it will be much easier to manage Tianjin."

"As for farmers in the countryside, when commerce develops and you collect more stamp duties, you can reduce agricultural taxes. In this way, farmers will be satisfied, and when commerce develops, farmers can also go to workshops and shops to find work and earn extra income.

."

"As for the landlords and gentry, they can also have more ways to make money."

"Isn't it great that everyone is happy?"

"Haha, sir, from your words, it really turns out that governing a big country is like cooking a small dish!" Liu Jinwen was really convinced this time, and Dong Shuheng clearly planned Tianjin's future in just a few words.

"Okay, you can go back. I won't go to Tianjin, but I will let the troops hold a city entry ceremony. Don't you have 3,000 soldiers on hand? Go back and organize them, I will send people to help you train. This

After 3,000 people, it will be the garrison of Tianjin."

Liu Jinwen knew that Dong Shuheng was setting up a stage for him. In this way, even if everyone in the management committee had the right to speak, he would always have the right to speak.

"Thank you for your training!" Liu Jinwen sincerely thanked Dong Shuheng. After being trained by Huai Haijun instructors, the combat effectiveness of Pu soldiers will definitely improve. Although this army will not completely listen to him in the future, in this Tianjin city, Pu soldiers

Bing is still closest to me.

Coupled with the status of Tianjin Free Trade Port, this area will inevitably develop rapidly in the future. It is foreseeable that Tianjin will become the commercial center of the north in the future.

In the Qing Dynasty, there were too many shackles on merchants. What they needed most was freedom, a free place to do business that could protect their safety.

Dong Shuheng was not going to show his face this time. If Xianfeng knew that he had arrived in Tianjin, there was no telling what trouble would happen.



"What, you said the Huai Navy has arrived in Tianjin?" In the Qianqing Palace, Xianfeng received the news that the Huai Navy was heading north.

"Hermione, didn't you say that the Huaihai navy was in the south and did not go north, so how could it suddenly arrive in Tianjin? Did they fly here?"

Originally Seng Gelinqin repelled the bandits, but Shengbao went north again and surrounded the bandits in Tongzhou again. This incident comforted Xianfeng a lot.

Now he heard that Huai Haijun had arrived in Tianjin, and his heart suddenly lifted.

"Report to your majesty, the Huai navy went north on a warship of the Nanyang Navy. We don't have a surveillance force at sea, so we missed it. It's all the slave's fault."

"However, Your Majesty, the Huai Navy should have set out before you issued the decree. They probably didn't know the decree. As long as you send someone to explain it, I think they will go back."

Hermione also gave Xianfeng a rare suggestion this time. He felt that if this matter could not be solved, then his head would really not be saved.

"Hurry up and summon the Minister of Military and Aircraft to come to discuss the matter. Hermione, go down and reflect on it and see if you, a slave, can still do what you want."

In the city of Tianjin, the Huaihai navy lined up in four neat columns and was entering the city in an orderly manner.

Liu Jinwen was very efficient in his work. After returning to the city, he immediately organized all the gentry, wealthy merchants and wealthy merchants in the city.

Everyone had lost their backbone. If the Huai Army entered the city, they might be captured. Now Liu Jinwen actually got in touch with the Huai Army, which made everyone feel like they had grasped a life-saving straw.

The first thing Liu Jinwen did was to collect money. These people cared about food but not fighting, so as not to let them shed any blood, it gave them an advantage.

So Liu Jinwen soon collected one million taels of silver, which was really not too much for so many wealthy businessmen and gentry in Tianjin.

After the money was sent, Liu Jinwen told them that a management committee would be established and Tianjin people would manage Tianjin. Everyone thought that Liu Jinwen had obtained this with money. Therefore, the management committee was quickly organized.

Liu Jinwen's troops were also pulled out to cooperate with the Huaihai Navy's vanguard troops entering the city to maintain law and order in the city.

The Administrative Committee's notice for people's peace has also been posted. From today on, Liu Jinwen will be the talker of Tianjin City.

The next city entry ceremony was to let the people of Tianjin and the gentry and wealthy businessmen see the military appearance and might of the Huai Navy.

The first to enter the city were three infantry regiments. The cavalry companies of the infantry regiments led the way on tall horses, and the infantry behind them carried rifles and followed at a neat pace.

The soldiers of the Huaihai Navy were brave and high-spirited, which made the gentry and people of Tianjin shine. Everyone had never seen such a neat army. Whether they were the officers and soldiers of the imperial court or the long-haired bandit soldiers, they all looked like beggars.

Except for the guards of the imperial city, no one is willing to spend money to give soldiers a handsome outfit. With this money, they might as well buy muskets and artillery.

Huai Haijun's equipment is also different from others. They are all the same rifles with bright bayonets on them.

Viewed from front to back, it looks like a forest.

The last to enter the city was the artillery, short-barreled 50mm howitzers and long-barreled 75mm cannons. The cannons were mounted on two-wheeled artillery carts. Each cannon was pulled forward by two packhorses, and the artillerymen followed the cannons.

On both sides of the car, they lined up in two columns and moved forward.

After seeing this, the gentry and merchants in the city were all convinced. Thinking about what Magistrate Li said just now on the city tower, how ridiculous it was.

Even one hundred thousand Qing troops or one hundred thousand Changmao could not defeat such an army and such equipment.

After entering the city, Huai Haijun passed directly through the city and camped in the north of Tianjin City, without staying in Tianjin City.

The gentry and businessmen in Tianjin were quite surprised. The people all praised each other. They had never seen such an army before. It was really true that Qiu had no fault!

The only impact of this Huai navy on the city was to capture the prefect and county magistrate. The other thing was to pass through the city, which opened the eyes of the attackers.

Although the cannons pulled by packhorses did not look as big as the imperial cannons, their smooth barrels were much easier to use than the cumbersome and bumpy cannons of the imperial court.

The businessmen imagined that if there was such an army to protect the city of Tianjin, they would be willing to pay double the tax.

As the army passed by, Liu Jinwen finally saw the strength of the Huai Navy.

Of his three thousand troops, maybe a few hundred men could be wiped out. Liu Jinwen looked more carefully and saw that the rifles carried by those soldiers were something he had never seen before. The lightweight artillery was also something he had never seen before.

This shows that Dong Shuheng has his own source of weapons. I remembered that Dong Shuheng mentioned that he would send people to help him train the three thousand soldiers.

Liu Jinwen was thinking about what he should do to buy a batch of equipment from Dong Shuheng. If he could arm his three thousand men like Huai Haijun, then even if Huai Haijun didn't look after him, he wouldn't be afraid that the imperial court would come to settle accounts with him.

Already.

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