After listening to He Xin's report, Lin Baiguang nodded and motioned for him to go out. Use a pencil to mark a symbol on your buckskin notebook.
On the waterway from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, most of the Ming army checkpoints and fortresses along the coast have reached "surrender" agreements with them. Even officers who were unwilling to openly surrender to Australia said that they would never block the Senate's path and "bring their own destruction."
On the eve of the storm, betrayal has become commonplace. The Battle of Guangzhou a few years ago broke the backbone of the Guangdong officers and soldiers - thus causing all the officers and soldiers in this area to "change their color after hearing the news."
Whether they believe or not that the Australians have the ability to "compete in the world", it is a fact that few people are willing to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty in the face of the Australians' advantage in "strong ships and artillery".
The more vested interests the court has, the less willing they are to be loyal to the court in the face of crisis. Lin Baiguang felt this most deeply while working as an enemy worker. These people have too much wealth and will try their best to avoid damage to their personal property when facing a crisis. The generals of Guan Ning's army, who were raised by the Ming Dynasty to obtain food and pay, were so fat that they completely lost the courage to fight for the imperial court.
Although the Ming army in Guangdong was not the Guan Ning army, the situation of the army was no different. The officers selected and devoured the rich according to their level and power, embezzled the military pay and exploited the soldiers. Apart from supporting his own soldiers and servants, he had no concern for the life and death of his subordinates. The army was extremely corrupt. Once the Fubo Army launches an attack, it will be a devastating situation.
But Lin Baiguang and the elders who are about to take over Guangdong also know very well that although the official army has been corrupted, it is still a local snake that has been operating for many years. Many of the soldiers are from the local guards. They were born and raised here and have a deep understanding of their hometown. Feelings. When a powerful enemy is advancing, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not resolutely "defend the country" for the purpose of "protecting the homeland." By the time of Yi Crow, the Eight Banners Green Camp had decayed and was vulnerable to the British attack. Only when the British army attacked Zhenjiang, the local Eight Banners garrison still tried their best to hold on.
It takes little effort to destroy enemy troops. However, when the war spreads, life and property will be greatly damaged. Secondly, the defeated troops scattered into the countryside and immediately turned into bandits, causing secondary damage to the countryside and aggravating the social security tasks after the Senate took over the power.
Therefore, the overall principle of the Military Control Commission's policy towards Guangdong's officers and soldiers is to try to adopt a "peaceful" model, strive for their original organizational structure's "surrender", and then gradually adapt and absorb it. Even the most unfit ones can be sent to Hainan Island to replenish the labor force.
"In terms of winning over them to surrender and accept the adaptation, it is best for them to be sincere. It doesn't matter if they are half-hearted." Wen Desi concluded at a meeting of the Military Control Council elders, "As long as he can accept the peaceful adaptation, he is willing to stay or not. Whether we run away or run away, we can leave it to ourselves. As for buying it with a little money, that's okay - buying a few hundreds or thousands of households is much cheaper than the military expenditures and soldiers' pensions consumed by fighting. As long as the army accepts reorganization, The rest is up to them.”
Under this general principle, Lin Baiguang directed the intelligence network to carry out vigorous activities, basically clearing the way for Fubo's army to enter Guangzhou. He was not worried that the official would go back on his word, and he arranged hidden stakes at key nodes. If the official regrets. Naturally, someone will come out to incite the soldiers. The soldiers had been in arrears with pay for years and were oppressed by their superiors. They had long been filled with resentment. It is easy to be provoked into "mutiny".
It is not difficult to enter Guangzhou, and even occupying the entire Guangdong will not take much effort. The little resistance of the Ming army can be regarded as air. But Guangdong is known as "the most prosperous fighting style in the world". The security war situation faced by the new Guangdong Region Government will be very complicated.
The reason why armed fighting became common in Guangdong in history is inseparable from the strong economic and mobilization power of the clan landlords who lived together. Especially in the Chaoshan area on the East Road, not only the clan power was stronger, but the social atmosphere was also better. Fight bravely. Whenever Guangdong encounters war, Chaozhou Lianyong is always the first to be mobilized by the local armed forces. It has become a common tactic for the officials of all dynasties to use Chaoshan people to balance the Cantonese people and divide and rule.
From this point of view, the real enemy Fubo Army has to deal with is not the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. Instead, they are Tuan Ding controlled by various rural sages distributed in the four townships.
Lin Baiguang had never been an official in Guangdong, but during the exchange and study period. I have often heard local officials in Guangdong say this. Many villages have reached a point where the government's administrative power cannot be enforced without the deployment of armed police. This is still the 21st century with unprecedented government control capabilities. Go forward to the 17th century when the current regime did not go to the countryside. Rural areas are basically countless independent small kingdoms. Without the bayonet support of the Fubo Army, the country sages would not buy it.
"Things are difficult to handle." Lin Baiguang looked at his notebook silently. Simple and crude mass killing, with heads rolling in, is naturally the easiest and most effective method, but if you kill too much, there will be many sequelae. If it is not handled properly, it will fall into the quagmire of public security war. Especially when they are currently short of troops and cadres...
At the work conference, it was proposed to "combine leniency with severity." It is easy to say but difficult to implement.
"Chief, this is the proof of the message." His secretary came over and handed over a large-format paper roll. He unfolded the scroll, and on it was "Discussing Zhu Mingxi" printed in beautiful Song fonts. On the slightly yellowed white scroll, the black fonts had clear strokes and were very beautiful.
This statement, which symbolizes a declaration of war, was deliberated by the Great Library, which invited several elders who were proficient in ancient Chinese. Originally, I wanted to ask Liu Dalin, the Jinshi master, to "rectify it", but later I thought about not irritating him, in case this happened to them. The role models who have worked so hard to establish themselves commit suicide in a moment of distraction, and all their previous efforts have been in vain.
"Has the manuscript been proofread?" he asked.
"All three schools have done it."
"Print five hundred copies first." Lin Baiguang ordered and signed the "Printing Permit."
"Yes, Chief."
This is the main station of the Guangzhou Information Station. The intelligence station is now located in Guangzhou World. Lin Baiguang and his troops stayed up all night here to direct secret activities in Guangdong Province. The current focus is to prepare for the takeover of Guangzhou.
A secret printing factory was set up here a few months ago, and various printing plates were shipped here from Lingao to start printing various documents, forms, leaflets, pamphlets, notices and certificates that the military control committees at all levels need to use. In the warehouse, various "occupation" printed materials are piled up. Even the new banknotes "Silver Dollar Reserve Certificates" to be issued were shipped in dozens of boxes. According to the plan, after the occupation of the Pearl River Delta is completed, the new currency system will be fully implemented.
Prior to this, Delong had begun to gradually withdraw grain circulation coupons from the Guangdong market. Of course, there are not many such banknotes circulating in the market. They are mainly used in small quantities in Guangzhou, and they are mainly used by several companies under Ziji's name, so the work of withdrawing them is not difficult.
Economic work is the first priority after the takeover. The quality of public security is closely related to the economic environment. Issuing new currency and implementing the new currency system are the top priorities after the Senate regime took over Guangdong.
In the past, the Senate ruled only Hainan Island. The currency circulation circle was very small, and the circulation of commodities was under strict control. The relationship between circulation notes and silver was controlled through a compulsory foreign exchange settlement system. After the silver was imported, it had to be exchanged for circulation notes. Circulation in the market, and circulation certificates do not have the ability to make external payments. The profits made by foreign merchants in Hainan Island were either consumed by purchasing local goods or converted into silver.
Once they occupy Guangdong, they will occupy China's second largest commodity market in the 17th century, far exceeding Hainan in both the total volume and scope of commodity circulation. Continuing to use the system of grain circulation vouchers can no longer meet economic needs. The use of a new monetary system has officially been put on the agenda.
The new monetary system adopted a silver standard system. This is a decision made taking into account the local indigenous usage habits, acceptance capabilities and commodity circulation needs. Silver is a precious metal widely recognized by indigenous people. Unlike paper currency, which requires a lot of time and energy to promote and publicize. The stock of silver itself is large, and currency materials are abundant. With the level of metallurgy and mechanical processing mastered by the Senate, it is easy to produce silver coins with low silver content, but with beautiful appearance and "genuine" appearance. The seigniorage revenue gained simply by collecting weighed silver from the market and recoining it was considerable.
Caijingkou proposed that the benefits of promoting silver coins are not limited to this. Through the issuance of silver coins, token coupons can also be issued, which is the issuance of so-called "silver dollar reserve coupons." With physical silver dollars as an endorsement, banknotes will be more easily accepted, preparing for the future to be completely transformed into credit currency and banknotes to be fully circulated.
Hundreds of kilometers away from Guangzhou, an intense technical meeting is being held in Lingao. Although most of the veterans in the field of mechanical processing and metallurgy were present, there were also several veterans in finance and economics who made generous speeches.
The meeting they are holding is discussing the long-delayed issue of a new currency.
In Lingao, the only consensus on currency discussions was that a new currency system must be adopted to replace the current grain circulation coupons. In addition, there were extensive debates on whether to adopt a precious metal standard and the material of the coins. It is roughly divided into three factions: one faction advocates the adoption of a silver standard system and the issuance of silver coins; the other faction insists on the abolition of coinage and the adoption of a credit currency circulation system of pure paper money; the last faction advocates the use of base metals to issue coins - the so-called "mithril". group". However, this faction has declined because the metallurgical industry cannot produce stainless steel and industrially smelted aluminum. (To be continued.)
