Chapter 185 Shipping Pilot Fuzhou

Chapter 185 Sea Transportation Pilot - Fuzhou

In the office of the Liangzhe Road Transportation Department.

Mei Zhi, the governor of Hangzhou, slowly said:

"We all have nothing to do with the Japanese pirates. As for whether we have any subordinates, we don't know."

"Over the years, we have racked our brains for the annual tax revenue set by the court. Everyone's life is not easy."

"Now that we have finally waited for the opportunity of sea transportation, we need to rely on the participation of the noble merchants in the prefectures."

"We have never colluded with the Japanese pirates, what about them? Even if we don't, the power of life and death is in the hands of Wei Shuai after all."

"If people panic and the prefectures miss this opportunity, then it will be difficult for the people, the noble merchants, and even more difficult for us as officials."

This is the most worrying thing for the governors in Liangzhe.

Money and money cannot all go into Wei Yuan's pocket.

But if the noble merchants in various places don't do that, who can guarantee that they can participate in the shipping business?

Even if they can participate, Wei Yuan will inevitably cause panic in the name of eradicating Japanese pirates.

How many people will dare to participate then?

Some poor states and prefectures even have to unite to sign a big contract with overseas countries.

If Wei Yuan comes to disrupt the situation, wouldn't the prosperity of various regions become a daydream?

Zhang Xia sighed: "When Wei Shuai passed through Hangzhou, I went to see him, but Wei Shuai refused on the grounds of marching."

"Although Fan Chunren is the Southeast Economic Envoy, he is just a puppet in the end."

"For the prosperity of Liangzhe, we can't avoid Wei Shuai."

"If he turns a blind eye, we can still have food. If he is determined to cleanse the world, I am afraid that many people will die in Liangzhe."

This is just as the King of Wu said. It depends on whether Wei Yuan, the man holding the pole, is willing to be distracted.

After hearing what Zhang Xia said, the governors of Liangzhe and other places also understood.

Even their immediate superiors now asked for self-protection and could hardly see Wei Yuan, let alone them?

Wei Yuan had soldiers in his hands and could control all the troops of the three southeastern prefectures. Not to mention Zhang Xia, a frontier official, even the King of Wu in Suzhou, what could he do?

Aren't they rushing to lick him?

Zhang Xia said again: "Tomorrow this official will set off to the Mingzhou Coastal Defense Camp to ask for an audience with Wei Shuai."

"If Wei Shuai doesn't see it, I will follow him all the time."

"If we don't talk to him, the issue of sea transportation will probably not have a good result."

Ever since the moment the court announced the opening of sea transportation.

The merchants of Shandong, Liangzhe, Fujian, and Lianghuai began to hoard a large amount of goods.

If these goods cannot be sold in time, there will be big problems everywhere.

And the only person who can solve the problem is now focusing on the court's coastal defense cause.

Civil officials and military officers have different thinking positions after all.

Even a frontier official like Zhang Xia has his eyes on the overall development of Liangzhe.

Wei Yuan is thinking about the future of the southeast. He cannot increase the local fiscal revenue for the sake of temporary interests. If a group of officials are promoted, it will be difficult for Wei Yuan to change the coastal defense cause.

His achievements are not in increasing tax revenue in various places. This is the responsibility of Fan Chunren, the Southeast Economic Envoy.

The situation of Liangzhe officials is similar to that of some areas in Fujian Road, Jiangnan Road, and Guangnan East Road.

They all want to visit the Southeast Pacification Envoy as soon as possible.

Quickly finalize some things.

What is the so-called Southeast Pacification Envoy? The court has no definition.

But Zhao Zhen's decree clearly stated that Wei Yuan should pacify the Japanese pirates.

In other words, as long as there are areas along the coast that involve Japanese pirates, they will be under the jurisdiction of Wei Yuan.

And Fan Chunren can also intervene in places where sea transportation is available.

The power of these two people is not small.

Therefore, many Beijing officials said that Wei Yuan was the "pillar of the southeast", which was not an exaggeration.

When he was there, the southeast would not be in chaos because of sea transportation.

If he was not there, sooner or later there would be chaos in various places because of sea transportation.

The next day.

Wei Yuan continued to go south to Taizhou, Wenzhou and other places to inspect the coastal defense of various places.

During this period, many local officials from Taizhou, Wenzhou and other places came to see Wei Yuan.

They threatened that if Wei Yuan did not see them, they would not leave.

Wei Yuan knew that once he broke the precedent of seeing the officials who came, he would not be able to rest during this journey, so he simply let them go.

Two days later, Wei Yuan arrived in Wenzhou on a fast horse and summoned the local commander of the Imperial City Division, Geng Tian.

"Since you eliminated the Japanese pirates in Haizhou, the Japanese pirates in the southeastern coastal areas have basically spread out. Some of them hid in the vast ocean, and some hid in the mountains."

"The situation in Yongjia County is the same. However, among the people I have dispersed, I have found many hidden bases of Japanese pirates. Preliminary estimates show that there are about two to three hundred Japanese pirates."

Wenzhou was called "Yongjia County" at that time.

In "Do You Know?", Minglan later received an imperial decree, which was "Lady of Yongjia County".

After hearing Geng Tian's report, Wei Yuan ordered Xie Wu,

"You will temporarily take over the coastal defense affairs of Yongjia County and remove the remaining cancers here one by one."

"For the time being, spare the lives of the leaders and force them to confess those who have had affairs with them."

"How many troops do you want?"

Xie Wu, standing aside, responded in a deep voice: "Report to General Wei, one thousand people are enough."

Wei Yuan said: "I will give you two thousand people, and with the city defense and coastal defense forces of Yongjia County, there will be almost four thousand, which is enough."

It's not that one thousand is not enough. If you can fight a rich war, there is no need to use it poorly.

Afterwards, Wei Yuan and Yang Huairen continued to inspect the coastal defense of Yongjia County.

Today the sky is gloomy, and the sea breeze is blowing, which is slightly cool.

Wei Yuan and Yang Huairen walked on the seashore, surrounded by soldiers from the Manjia Camp deploying defenses.

Yang Huairen said: "The remaining Japanese pirates left in the local area are easy to deal with, but the Japanese pirates hiding in the vast ocean are unknown. When will the ships built by the Ministry of Revenue and the Military Equipment Bureau arrive in Liangzhe?" Wei Yuan said: "It will take about one or two days. Even if the ships arrive, I will not let the soldiers go to the sea to find the enemy." Yang Huairen frowned and said: "What's the use of the ships?" Wei Yuan said: "Let the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works build ships so that the navy can be built more smoothly in the future." "Five or six out of ten soldiers of the Danglu Army are not good at sailing. Even if they are, they will be nervous when they go to the sea." "By then, the advantages of the Danglu Army will be gone. I don't want the trip to the southeast to cause the new army to lose soldiers and generals." Yang Huairen suddenly realized, "That's why General Wei wants to actively transform the coastal defenses of various places?" Wei Yuan said: "Yes and no, the Japanese pirates are endless. We can kill a group, but we may not be able to keep killing them. Sooner or later, we will have to return to the capital."

"After we leave, what should we do if the Japanese pirates come back? Without coastal defense, every time Japanese pirates breed, the court will have to send a large army to encircle and suppress them."

"After a while, the court will be dragged down sooner or later."

Yang Huairen asked, "What does Wei Shuai want to do?"

Wei Yuan said, "Yongjia County is an important town, but you can see that most of the bunkers set up in this area are already shaky, and the watchtowers and beacon towers are useless."

"The Japanese pirates have landed here and are still in an uninhabited area. The situation in other areas is roughly the same."

"The so-called strengthening of coastal defense is nothing more than three strategies: defending the near sea, consolidating the coast, and strictly guarding the city."

"Establishing a navy is already imminent."

Two days later.

Wei Yuan arrived in Fuzhou.

Fuzhou, also known as Rongcheng.

Fuzhou in this era has entered an era of relatively prosperous economy and culture.

It is also an important place for imperial examinations and Confucianism.

There are many clans in Fujian Road, and most of the Jinshi are from Fuzhou clans.

The news of Wei Yuan's arrival in Fuzhou spread like wildfire.

There are seven famous clans in Fuzhou, headed by the four major families of Lin, Wu, Cai, and Liu.

On that day, the elders of the major clans, the governor of Fuzhou, the commander of the Fujian Road Transportation Bureau, Cai Xiang, and the civil and military officials of Fujian Road all came to the Fuzhou Coastal Defense Camp to pay homage to Wei Yuan.

It must be said that Fuzhou's coastal defense is the most complete coastal defense Wei Yuan has seen so far.

This is due to the fact that the major clans in Fuzhou are united in fighting against the Japanese pirates.

These clans are well versed in Confucian teachings. Unlike merchants from all over the country, they only believe in one thing and never compromise with the Japanese pirates.

The famous merchants in Fuzhou all come from major clans.

Therefore, Fuzhou was the least affected by the Japanese pirates.

Since Fuzhou's coastal defense was quite complete, Wei Yuan made an exception and personally met with the elders of the major clans in Fuzhou and Cai Xiang, the Fujian Road Transport Commissioner, and asked them about their feelings in fighting the Japanese pirates.

Several people responded one after another:

"I heard that General Wei said in Haizhou that killing Japanese pirates would be rewarded with silver money. I and several clan elders have already done this. The military and civilians are united, and the problem of Japanese pirates will naturally be solved."

"Fuzhou's coastal defense is all thanks to the major clans. Many people in Fuzhou live by the sea. Therefore, Fuzhou is very serious about dealing with the problem of Japanese pirates."

"Most of the officers and soldiers of Fuzhou's coastal defense come from major clans. They are heroes who are not afraid of Japanese pirates and dare to fight with blood. Their relatives can receive a large pension after their death."

"As long as you swear to fight the Japanese pirates, With the determination to never reconcile, the Japanese pirates will naturally not affect Fuzhou at all. "

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Hearing them say so much, Wei Yuan couldn't help but sigh and praise:

"If the prefectures along the southeast coast were like Fuzhou, the Japanese pirates would not be able to thrive."

Afterwards, they told the purpose of this trip,

"There are no Japanese pirates in Fuzhou, and even if there are, they are just some small shrimps. Now that the court has opened up sea transportation, will Wei Shuai take the lead in officially opening up sea transportation in Fuzhou?"

"Wei Shuai, the people of Fuzhou are ready. As long as Wei Shuai sends an army, Fuzhou's sea transportation will be worry-free."

"General Wei, we worked together to supervise the construction of 60 warships before you and the Danglu Army came. The largest of them is 100 feet high. Your army will be so frightened by these warships."

"In addition to the warships we built, there are more than 100 intact warships in Fuzhou, which can be inspected by General Wei at any time."

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Hearing this, Wei Yuan looked at Cai Xiang curiously.

The latter explained: "Fuzhou is an important town in Fujian Road. Before this, I urged the military and civilians of Fujian to work together to build warships to resist the Japanese pirates."

Wei Yuan praised again: "Fuzhou can be a model for the coastal prefectures."

Cai Xiang smiled and bowed, saying: "It is a blessing for the people of Fuzhou to be praised by General Wei."

Wei Yuan said: "If the situation in Fuzhou is really as you said, then the first batch of transactions with overseas countries should start from Fuzhou."

Cai Xiang looked very happy, "In this case, we thank General Wei."

After this incident, it can be predicted that in the near future, Fuzhou's strategic affairs will surpass Suzhou and Hangzhou!

Regarding the pilot of the first batch of sea transportation, it is no wonder that Wei Yuan must be cautious.

As a frontier official in the southeast, his words and deeds will affect the people of the entire southeast.

"Has Lord Fan Chunren ever been to Fuzhou?"

Wei Yuan asked.

Cai Xiang responded, "I came here seven days ago, and Lord Fan also said that Fuzhou can take the lead in opening sea transportation."

While speaking, he noticed Wei Yuan's expression, and seeing that he was calm as usual, he continued:

"I think whether Fuzhou can open sea transportation depends mainly on your opinion, General Wei."

"All the clan merchants in Fuzhou will be grateful to General Wei."

How to be grateful, of course, cannot be openly discussed.

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "No problem."

"However, if sea transportation is opened, it is a bit inappropriate for only Fuzhou clans to send merchant ships to sea."

"For other regions, the customs duties can be exempted if possible, or reduced if possible."

The so-called customs duties refer to merchants from other places who come to Fuzhou to do business and go to sea through the Fuzhou regional docks.

If the profit is small, after review by the Fuzhou government, this batch of taxes will be fully refunded, or part of it will be refunded to some merchants in other places.

On the contrary, if the profit is very high, it will not be refunded.

Cai Xiang thought for a moment and said bluntly: "Please rest assured, General Wei. I can guarantee that some of the caravans that General Wei pays special attention to will be treated the same as the caravans in Fuzhou."

Hearing this, Wei Yuan looked at Cai Xiang more and more favorably.

"In this case, let's settle this matter for the time being."

"After I finish dealing with some things, I will meet with Lord Fan and let Fuzhou take the lead in opening sea transportation."

"I believe your majesty is also waiting for such good news."

The last sentence was to tell Cai Xiang.

Once Fuzhou is really in order, he will personally report to the emperor and praise Cai Xiang's achievements in governing Fujian Road.

By then, Cai Xiang will no longer have to serve as an official in Fujian Road. It is only a matter of time for him to become a senior official in Beijing.

Cai Xiang said ecstatically: "Thank you General Wei for your cultivation. Please rest assured, General Wei. I will follow your lead and complete the anti-Japanese and coastal defense affairs of Fujian Road."

The implication is that during your time in the southeast, I will only listen to you.

As for Fan Chunren, let him be the "auspicious symbol" (mascot) of the southeast.