Chapter 433 Interview in person
The Shawan waterway next to Lijiazhuang used to be just a narrow channel for local fishermen to enter and exit the Pearl River. The docks on the riverside could not be said to have any function of transshipping goods. They usually only docked a few fishing boats or small merchant ships. They were open to navigation. The volume is not even comparable to that of Changhua Port, which has just begun construction. The residents of Lijiazhuang probably never thought that one day this place would become an important cargo distribution center in the Pearl River Estuary.
Since the Haihan militia defeated the bandits who besieged Lijiazhuang here in the early summer of last year, the Li family, a large local landowner, allocated an area along the river to Haihan for long-term use. In the next six months, the Haihan people quickly built a large immigrant camp here and expanded the original small dock into an inland river port cargo terminal that can accommodate more than ten large sea-going ships at the same time.
After the Lijiazhuang cargo terminal was completed, "Fu Ruifeng" received the instructions and quickly turned it into a tax haven under the nose of the Guangzhou government. The number of goods loaded and unloaded from Lijiazhuang Wharf has increased six to seven times from three or four ships per month at the beginning. Freight fleets and mules and horses are flowing in and out of Lijiazhuang day and night to meet the freight handling needs here. A row of warehouses have been built along the river bank, and some businesses have opened shops, hotels, restaurants and other stores here. There is a faint trend of catching up with the Pearl River Wharf.
When Li Qingyang saw the lively scene on the shore, his mind was already a little lost. In his understanding, the Pearl River Wharf outside Guangzhou is regarded as the first commercial port in Guangdong and Guangxi, but he did not expect that there is such a secret place only dozens of miles away from the Pearl River Wharf - of course, looking at it in front of him Judging from the level of prosperity seen, the existence of this pier is probably no longer a secret.
Just as the ship Li Qingyang was sailing on was sailing towards the dock, he saw the cargo ship on which his other companions were sailing slowly away from the shore. It seemed that the shipment of goods had just been completed here. Several Jin Yiwei looked at each other from a distance on the boat. Li Qingyang noticed that their faces were a little nervous, but there was no clue. In this situation, there was no other way to convey the message. Li Qingyang could only watch the boat pass by and sail towards the Pearl River.
The ship slowly docked at the pier, and Captain Song San specially ordered Li Qingyang to disembark with him to receive the goods and count them: "I heard that you are going to Sanya's accounting office, so the matter of this little goods will also be one of your errands from now on." Okay, let’s learn from it today!”
Li Qingyang's mission was to understand how the Haihan people operated. Of course, he would not refuse this invitation, so he disembarked from the ship and went to the dock with Song San to see how he handled the shipment of goods.
It was obviously not the first time that Song San came here to do business. After landing, he found a shop on the shore with a "Port Service Center" sign hanging on the door. Li Qingyang followed him into the shop and saw that the shop was quite large, with three-foot-long bays in both directions. In the middle, there was a row of waist-high wooden counters dividing it into two parts, the inside and outside. There are several wooden signs with contents such as "Cargo Transshipment", "Personnel Transportation", "Currency Exchange", "Warehouse Rental" and so on. There is a queue under each sign.
Song San lined up directly at the end of the "cargo transshipment" team. He turned around and explained to Li Qingyang: "The goods our ship wants to transport are all sent from Zhaoqing Prefecture. In the past, they were sent directly to the Pearl River Wharf for loading. But now, they are all transported to Panyu and put on the ship.”
Li Qingyang nodded and said: "Is it possible that the journey from Zhaoqing to Panyu was not transported by the owner himself?"
Song San responded: "Dadong and Haihan have a joint venture called Golden Shield Escort, which is responsible for cargo escort. It is basically responsible for all land transportation within Guangdong and Guangxi."
"Then how to hand over this goods?" Li Qingyang continued to ask.
"The goods have been shipped here in advance and should be in the dock warehouse now. I just need to show them this bill of lading." Song San reached into his arms and took out a written receipt and showed it to Li Qingyang.
Li Qingyang quickly glanced at the contents of the document and saw that it contained the full names of the shipper and carrier, the transportation time limit, the contents of the goods, etc. After seeing it, he couldn't help but ask: "What should be done if these goods are lost or damaged during the journey?"
"That's the full responsibility of the carrier." Song San said calmly: "The carrier will compensate the amount of the difference. This is the rule of 'Golden Shield'."
"Aren't they afraid of something happening? I heard that there have been a lot of bandits and bandits in Guangdong in recent years. If they encounter one, won't they have to lose their money?" Li Qingyang asked in confusion.
"Bandits and rogues?" Song San sneered: "If they bump into the 'Golden Shield', the first thing they will probably do is turn around and run for their lives! Do you know what the 'Golden Shield''s family background is? It's from Lijiazhuang. There is a militia group, and there are Haihan people behind them, so don’t you think your life will be too long if you rob them?”
"Could this 'Golden Shield' also have weapons like fire guns?" Li Qingyang already had a bad feeling after hearing what Song San said.
"Yes, of course!" Song San sighed: "If we talk about strong force, the armed guards of this 'Golden Shield' can probably defeat most of the guards. Last year, there were some short-sighted strongmen who planned to attack them. , but after most of these people died at the hands of armed guards, no one has jumped out in the past six months.”
"It's so powerful! Then it must be expensive to hire them?" Li Qingyang asked.
"What they escort are all valuable goods, sometimes just boxes of cash. Of course, the cost is not low. But the second is more money and less money. The key is that they are reliable!" Song San said with a smile: "It's the same At such a price, you can’t hire officers and soldiers to transport the goods for you, right?”
Li Qingyang cursed secretly in his heart, but there was an expression of approval on his face.
At this moment, several people came in from the door. Li Qingyang felt a cold feeling behind his back. He quickly looked back and saw a group of capable young men wearing gray cloth shorts and trousers, holding four-foot-long blazing guns in their hands. When Li Qingyang was at the contact point in Guangzhou, he heard someone say that looking at their attire, they were the legendary Haihan militia soldiers with powerful combat capabilities.
Li Qingyang subconsciously began to reach for his armpit, where the dagger he used to save his life was hidden. If these militia soldiers tried to harm him, then he would not hesitate to fight with his life - of course there were a bunch of muzzles and bayonets. In front of him, whether he can survive is another matter.
Just when Li Qingyang was nervous, the militia soldiers blocking the door gave way, and a young man with short hair stepped into the house. This man is dressed differently from the militia soldiers. He is dressed in dark green clothes, with an inch-wide cowhide armed belt tied around his waist. On his feet are a pair of strange-style lace-up black leather boots, with two lace-up boots on the left and right under his armpits. Two very strange black weapons, which looked a bit like firecrackers, but were much smaller than the firecrackers Li Qingyang knew.
Although Li Qingyang has never seen a real Haihan person, at this moment he can be 100% sure that the man in front of him is a genuine Haihan person. In addition to Haihan's well-known short hair, what's more important is that Li Qingyang felt a pressure he had never felt before from this person. It was a sense of self-confidence from the inside out and a sense of overlooking from above, as if he was under his In his eyes, everyone in this house is like ants. Moreover, Li Qingyang could feel a faint murderous aura from this man. There was no doubt that this man should be a soldier - at least he once was.
The appearance of this person made Li Qingyang give up the idea of taking action, because the other person didn't seem to notice his presence, and his eyes swept over his face without stopping at all.
"Which boss owns the 'Fusheng' that just arrived at the dock?" The Haihan man finally spoke, but the content of his inquiry made Li Qingyang nervous again.
"Commander Xiao, this is a villain's ship." Song San responded quickly. As someone who has been to Lijiazhuang Pier several times, Song San also recognizes the Haihan leader named Xiao Liang. He knows that he is the commander of the militia here and can basically be regarded as the most powerful person in the local area. Even if he is the big boss behind his own boss, he must be respectful when meeting him. Xiao Liang turned around and looked at Song San and said: "Are you Song San? I remember that you used to be a boatman on a ship, but now you are the captain, okay!"
Song San was flattered and said: "Thank you, Chief Xiao, for the compliment. I wonder what's wrong with this ship?"
"No problem. Your ship is going to be loaded here and then go south to Sanya, right?" Xiao Liang asked.
"That's right. We will set off immediately after loading the goods today. Do you have any instructions, Chief Xiao?" Song San responded respectfully.
Xiao Liang said: "It's nothing serious. I have a group of militiamen here who are going to Wanshan Port and want to find a ship to send them there. I happened to see your ship docking just now, so I came to ask..."
"Please leave this matter to the villain!" Song San didn't wait for Xiao Liang to finish speaking, and quickly took over: "The villain will definitely send all the military masters to Wanshan Port properly!"
"This won't delay your schedule, right?" Xiao Liang asked with concern.
"No, no, not at all!" Song San waved his hands repeatedly: "It just so happens that the villain's ship is also going to Wanshan Port to load some goods from Fujian. It's just a way."
"Well, that's good, I'll leave this matter to you! I'll ask my people to wait at the dock later." Xiao Liang was about to leave, but his eyes stayed on Li Qingyang: "This friend is a bit unfamiliar. Ah, this is your first time here?”
"Li Qingyang, I went to Sanya with Third Brother Song to do business." Li Qingyang did not use a pseudonym, and it was impossible for anyone to know him in a place like this, a member of the Jin Yiwei family from Nanjing.
"This Mr. Li is the newly hired accountant by the villain proprietor. It's his first time going to Sanya." Song San also introduced him next to him.
"It turns out they are newcomers!" Xiao Liang nodded meaningfully: "Then have you introduced the situation here to the newcomers?"
"Of course, the villain is not idle today. He has been promoting to him the... policies of Haihan leaders, yes, that's the policy!" Song San quickly responded.
"Oh? Then I wonder what Mr. Li thinks of us Haihan people now?" Xiao Liang's eyes fell directly on Li Qingyang's face.
Li Qingyang felt his scalp go numb, as if he was being stared at by a ferocious beast, and any resistance he could make seemed to be no match for the power exerted by the man in front of him.
"I just heard Brother Song briefly talk about the people's sentiments in Sanya. I haven't witnessed it with my own eyes, so I can't comment on it. Please forgive me, Chief Xiao!" Li Qingyang forced himself to calm down and replied in a neither humble nor overbearing tone.
Xiao Liang smiled and said: "It's okay, you will have a lot of time to get familiar with Sanya and get to know us. If there is fate, we will have the opportunity to meet again." After saying that, he nodded to Song San and turned around to go out. At the door. And this group of armed militia soldiers immediately gathered their troops and followed them out.
"Chief Xiao is very interested in you!" Song San watched Xiao Liang disappear outside the door, then turned to Li Qingyang and said: "As far as I know, Chief Xiao rarely takes the initiative to talk to newcomers."< br>
"Really? This is probably because of the eyesight!" Li Qingyang responded with a forced smile, but his back felt wet with cold sweat. He didn't know if the Haihan man named Xiao saw any flaws in himself, but the rumor that all the Haihan men were extremely shrewd didn't seem to be a boast. Although he was considered a veteran, he was almost in front of him. Unable to control their emotions, it is no wonder that the local Jinyi guards and officials in Qiongzhou were controlled by these Haihan people.
While they were talking, the team had already arrived at Song San's place. Song San handed over the shipping documents. After the clerk verified that they were correct, they stamped a seal on the documents, then tore off a stub and returned it to Song San: "Take this. Pick up goods in the warehouse area! ”
Song San and Li Qingyang left the port center and hurried to the nearby warehouse area, handing the documents to the staff here.
"Okay, just wait at the dock. We will arrange for someone to load the goods to your ship right away." The staff stamped another stamp, then tore off a stub from the receipt and handed the remaining part back to Song three.
Li Qingyang asked in confusion: "Why do you need to change the seal and tear off a section everywhere?"
"This is the Haihan people's way of doing things. It has two functions. First, if there is a problem with the goods, you can find out at which link the problem occurred; second, at the end of each month, the Haihan people count the local cargo throughput and only You need to check the stub of the shipping document to find out clearly," Song San patiently explained to Li Qingyang.
"Sure enough, it's a good trick." Li Qingyang is also a smart man. After listening to Song San's words, he already understood the beauty of it. The application of this small means can also show that the Haihan people are shrewd everywhere.
(End of chapter)