Dragon Sea Empire

Lin Xiao came to Jiangnan this time, in addition to training new troops for the imperial court, he also had the task of inspecting the formation of the security team of the Jiangnan Town Guard Mansion, and at the same time investigating the reorganization of the domestic intelligence agency.

Since Huaxing joint accounts and banks in various provinces in China have been seized by the government one after another, many companies' business is through the agents of those Zhejiang merchants and Fujian merchants who partnered with Zhonghua companies. It was falling apart and had to be rearranged.

In the inner hall of the Jiangnan Township Mansion in Zhenjiang, Lin Xiao proposed to go to Zhejiang to investigate the new military affairs in person. Mai Xiaoliu persuaded: "Brother Lin, you don't have to go when you are old. I will go to Zhejiang for the trip. You I sent some people from the Ministry of Military Intelligence to me, and I brought a few people from the domestic bureau of the Ministry of Military Intelligence. It will not be a problem, you still have to be busy with the layout of the country..."

Lin Xiao shook his head: "No, I'd better go there in person, I'm more familiar with the government situation,..."

Chen Zhongji also said: "Brother Lin, let Brother Mai go. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, the directors of the business affairs departments of all provinces will come to Zhenjiang. Don't you want to discuss with them?"

Lin Xiao insisted: "Brother Mai has been in Nanyang for a long time, and he is not familiar with the situation in the mainland. I have to go there in person to rest assured,"

Mai Xiaoliu said: "Luo Qing, the chief soldier of Zhejiang, is in Hangzhou. He must know about the training of the new army. Anyway, when I came to Jiangnan this time, I brought Luo Qing's nephew with me. He will lead the way. He will never be born. Unexpected,"

Xu Hongji was also present, and he also persuaded Lin Xiao: "Didn't the prince ask you to inspect the security teams in various states and counties? You are going to Zhejiang, so..."

Lin Xiao continued to shake his head: "What the prince wants to know most now is the inside story of the court's new army training. I must go there in person."

Xu Hongji noticed that Lin Xiao seemed to be a little excited, and his heart moved, and he sat aside with a smile and said nothing.

Mai Xiaoliu didn't understand why Lin Xiao insisted on going to Zhejiang by himself. Although he and Lin Xiao came from Yazhou, Hainan, they had always held prejudices against this former Yazhou catcher. He also responded with a clear sneer.

Chen Zhongji sighed secretly from the bottom of his heart: he had a better understanding of the internal situation of the company, and he was also more familiar with Lin Xiao, so he immediately understood why Lin Xiao did this.

Originally, the Ministry of Military Intelligence was only responsible for intelligence work outside the Ming Dynasty's ruled areas such as Nanyang. Regarding the government-ruled areas of the Ming Dynasty, the person in charge was Mai Xiaoliu, who was transferred from Nanyang. Lin Xiao’s Business Intelligence Department was originally in charge of inland intelligence. The forces of the Military Intelligence Department invaded Lin Xiao's sphere of influence.

Lin Xiao is smart and flexible, but he has a strong sense of utilitarianism. When Yin Feng became the queen, he clearly felt that his status had become more and more ordinary compared to those generals who kept winning victories on the battlefield. In the early days of the establishment of Zhonghua Company, Lin Xiao’s power position was very important. However, the company’s permanent administrative and judicial institutions are becoming more and more formalized. Xiao's company's security department and business intelligence department are increasingly marginalized, and even the responsibilities of the investigation department of the security department under his jurisdiction to investigate internal corruption and malfeasance are gradually being taken over by the independent auditors set up by the financial audit department and local government councils.

Therefore, Lin Xiao was instinctively worried about his future status in Yin Feng's new dynasty, so he was eager to make some contributions.

Chen Zhongji roughly guessed Lin Xiao's psychology. When he was with Yin Feng, he got along well with Lin Xiao, and Lin Xiao also took good care of him. Out of years of friendship, Chen Zhongji decided to help Lin Xiao.

"Well, Brother Mai will be accompanied by Luo Qing's nephew when he goes to Zhejiang. As far as I know, Xu Guangqi's new army's salary and armaments are all sent from the Ministry of War in Nanjing. Why don't Brother Lin go to Nanjing? Use the eyeliner that our army put up before the withdrawal to find out the situation. It only takes one day to go to Nanjing, and there are many ships on the river. Our Chinese army has gunboats patrolling Yanziji, and it is very convenient to respond," Chen Zhongji faced Lin Xiao Said.

Lin Xiao lowered his head and thought about it, and felt that he seemed a little too stubborn, so he decided to step down the steps, nodded and said: "Okay, it's good to divide the troops into two groups..."

……

Mai Xiaoliu dressed up as a housekeeper, followed Luo Qing's nephew Luo Xiaoming, and entered Hangzhou city with a group of housekeepers. Mai Xiaoliu followed Yin Feng to Hangzhou 17 years ago, when Yin Feng was still there Smuggling business at sea. At this time, Hangzhou is still a beautiful place in the southeast. It is prosperous and beautiful. War and sea ban have not affected it at all. The coast of Zhejiang is controlled by the Chinese army. Hangzhou is very prosperous, and Hangzhou is the commercial and trade center of the whole province.

Mai Xiaoliu quickly got in touch with the business intelligence department of the Zhonghua Company in Hangzhou, and then sneaked into the mansion of Zhejiang General Luo Qing as a servant. According to the rumors from the servants in the mansion, Master Luo was not in the mansion, but I went to Yuyao and other places to inspect military affairs.

Luo Qing has officially replaced Shen Yourong as the commander-in-chief of Zhejiang since the anti-sea ban war. The rise in power and status has made him more cautious. His previous behaviors of using his power to go out to sea for trade and plunder maritime merchants' property have been restrained, and there is nothing he can do. : The coast of Zhejiang is full of warships of the Chinese Army, and his personal dealings with the Chinese company in private are limited to the share dividends at the end of each year.

However, Luo Xiaoming was personally sent by him to study at the Chinese Military Academy in Taiwan, and now Luo Xiaoming is in charge of all the secret contacts with the Zhonghua Company.

Mai Xiaoliu worked as a servant in the Luo Mansion for several days, and followed Luo Xiaoming to and from the various officials and gentry's homes, waiting patiently.

Three days later, Luo Xiaoming found Mai Xiaoliu in his room at night, blew out the oil lamp, and said in a low voice, "Brother Mai, my uncle has returned home, but many of his staff and masters are newcomers, so it is inconvenient to meet you. "

Mai Xiaoliu had already expected this kind of situation, he didn't express anything at all, and asked directly: "Have you asked about training the new army?"

"After asking, my uncle replied: This matter was handled by Xu Guangqi alone. Although the drill was in Zhejiang, the place where the new army was trained was not in Hangzhou, but in Yuyao. Moreover, this army was directly under the command of Xiong Tingbi, the Nanjing economic strategy, and the imperial envoy. Xu Guangqi is supervising the drills, and although my uncle is the chief soldier of Zhejiang, he has nothing to do with it."

Mai Xiaoliu had already made up for relevant courses according to the situation of the domestic government. He understood that this situation was very abnormal compared to the Ming Dynasty government. He said to Luo Xiaoming: "I hope you will take more care of this matter, this is some expense subsidy, you take it first..."

Luo Xiaoming declined, saying, "I'm a military cadet and a student of the ship owner. I should do what he wants to investigate,"

Mai Xiaoliu smiled slightly, and handed over the silver ticket: "This is your activity fund. The owner of the ship wants to know the source of funds for the new army, and whether the cannons in Macau have been transported to Zhejiang. These things are not easy to do. , using the money of the General Military Mansion to do things, the noise is too big to attract people's suspicion, so don't refuse, just take it, anyway, this is not money for you personally, it is money for you to do things, "

Luo Xiaoming then accepted the bank note: "So I will accept it. Regarding the source of the salary for training the new army, my uncle has already discovered some clues when he went to Yuyao. He went to Yuyao at the request of Master Xu Guangqi to mobilize Soldiers from the battalions in Zhejiang went to Yuyao to select soldiers from the new army. The new army barracks outside Yuyao County has been built, and the money, materials, and personnel for building the barracks were all paid by Xie’s family in Yuyao.”

Mai Xiaoliu was silent for a moment, and suddenly realized: "By the way, the captain once had a question: why did the new army train in Zhejiang instead of Nanzhili? This may have something to do with the source of the military salary."

"Yes, I also find it strange. Yuyao is located in a plain and water town, and Siming Mountain to the south is not a dangerous place. Why did the new army barracks be set up there? Now that I think about it, it may have something to do with the Xie family in Yuyao."

"The Xie family used to sell goods to the Japanese country privately, but now the sea routes are all monopolized by my Chinese company. They probably want to use the new army to break the blockade of the Xie family's business route by the Chinese army. But, in this case, shouldn't they build warships? huh?" Mai Xiaoliu suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly said: "Brother Luo, you spend some time, and then check the formation and types of the new army to see if there is any navy army."

……

Xu Guangqi has been trying to train the new army for several years. Ever since he saw the power of the Chinese army in the outskirts of Tianjin, he wanted to completely reform the military system of the Ming Dynasty.

With the help of missionaries, the gunners of the new cannons and Francophones are about to arrive at the new army barracks these days. He is busy mobilizing new army soldiers to open roads around the barracks, clear the ground and dig drainage ditches. Yuyao is really not suitable for training a The place where the infantry was supported was surrounded by water networks, farmland, and densely populated. The problem was that the imperial court insisted that the new army drill in Zhejiang, but the governor of Zhejiang told him that only Yuyao could set aside such a large area to build a military camp.

He drove away all the civilian husbands sent by the local officials and gentry families such as the Xie family. The excuse was to keep the secrets of the military camp. It was Yao Zongwen who dealt with the household affairs of the new army's food and salary specially assigned by the imperial court. Xu Guangqi even used the name of an important military affairs place to prevent local officials from entering the barracks.

However, Xu Guangqi can prohibit others from entering the barracks, but he can’t keep the newly recruited soldiers from coming out. Most of the more than 1000 soldiers in the new army barracks are recruited from various places. This so-called secrecy work is completely a leaky umbrella in front of the all-pervasive intelligence department of the Chinese Army. Luo Xiaoming bought a few of his former subordinates who had just been selected into the new army and asked them to inquire about the news.

These old subordinates of the Luo family are all junior officers of the newly established new army. They quickly found out that the western-style cannons had arrived in the past few days. Moreover, a clerk of the old battalion of the new army who was in charge of logistics was bribed. , revealed a piece of news: "The new army's food and salaries are said to be allocated by the Ministry of War in Nanjing, but in fact they are all supplied by officials, gentry and wealthy businessmen such as the Xie family and the Huang family in Yuyao. These wealthy businessmen are responsible for delivering the monthly salary and grain. of,"

……