Chapter 434 Sense of Crisis
"Have you recognized the person?" Not far out of the port center, Xiao Liang stopped and asked a militiaman behind him.
"Report to the leader, that Li Qingyang is the leader. I can see clearly and will not admit my mistake!" The militiaman stood at attention and said decisively. He was one of the members of the field team who followed Gong Qiqi on the surveillance mission in Guangzhou the day before. He had seen the faces of these surveillance targets. He Xi sent him to Panyu specifically to let him come here to identify them. of.
However, in He Xi's plan, he did not intend to arrest them here, because Lijiazhuang is not only a cargo transfer terminal, but also the main transfer station for Haihan's large-scale immigration from the mainland, not far from the terminal. The migrant camps have long been home to thousands of migrants. Most of these people have to seek refuge in Haihan for their livelihood. In the absence of a comprehensive understanding of Haihan, if an armed conflict breaks out here because of the arrest of Jin Yiwei, it is very likely that these immigrants will be frightened, and even This leads to some misunderstandings about their future employers. In addition, the waterways around Lijiazhuang extend in all directions, so it is possible that the Jinyiwei spies escaped during the arrest, and the small number of mobile troops was not enough to set up an effective encirclement in this nearby area. If there are other spies nearby that have not been discovered in the preliminary investigation, it will be easy to arrest them publicly and alert them.
Xiao Liang took people to the port center to confirm the identity of the Jinyiwei spies. After face-to-face confirmation, the next steps can be carried out in accordance with the established procedures.
Li Qingyang was not aware of the fact that his identity was exposed at this time. After following Song San to complete the delivery procedures, they returned to the dock together. Song San also kindly told him: "When business is busy in the future, the shopkeeper will inevitably ask you to do some picking up and ordering of goods. Remember these procedures just now, so that things can be done properly."
"What Third Brother Song said is true, I will definitely bear it in mind." Li Qingyang responded with cupped hands.
At this moment, he was not thinking about the accountant's responsibilities, but was worried about the arrangements for his actions after arriving in Sanya. From what he has seen so far, the Haihan people are very meticulous and methodical in their work. It is unlikely that there will be any big loopholes in the area under the jurisdiction of such people. After I went to Sanya, the first thing I had to consider was probably not how to detect the enemy, but how to cover up my identity and not reveal any clues.
Li Qingyang originally thought it would take a while, but he didn't expect that as soon as they arrived at the dock, the delivery team would follow them. Li Qingyang couldn't help but praise: "This doesn't waste time at all!"
Song San responded: "The Haihan people have a clear saying that time is money. If it were at the Pearl River Terminal, it wouldn't be a problem to be delayed for a few hours during loading, but here, after the cargo order is delivered to the warehouse, a stick of incense will If the goods are not shipped on time, the people at the warehouse will be punished.”
"But I see that the dock is not so busy that we need to queue up to load and unload goods?" Li Qingyang asked doubtfully.
Song San explained: "This is because the timing of our ship's arrival is coincidental, just missing the busiest days around the first and fifteenth day of each month. However, this is the rule of the Haihan people. No matter when they are free or busy, , when it comes, the loading and unloading speed is so fast. Think about it, it takes about one to one and a half days to load a large ship like ours in Guangzhou, but it can be done in half a day here, which saves a year. That’s enough time for a few trips back and forth.”
"I see." Li Qingyang thought to himself that these Haihan people are indeed shrewd. They have even calculated such details. It is no wonder that their reputation has spread to the north of the Yangtze River only a year or two after they emerged. Sure enough, they still have some skills. .
The ship he was on this time was mainly carrying tea and porcelain to Sanya. These goods had been packed before entering the warehouse. At this time, they only needed to be carried to the ship by laborers for loading. There was another person on the ship who was responsible for counting the goods. Li Qingyang had nothing to do, so he turned to look at another ship parked on the dock.
The appearance of this ship is different from any sailing ship Li Qingyang has seen in the past. The hull is somewhat similar to the Guangzhou Fu Ship, but it is more narrow and long, and its size should have greatly exceeded the shipbuilding limit of 400 materials. What caught Li Qingyang's attention the most was the sail system on the ship. The mast was obviously much higher than that of an ordinary sailboat, and the sails used were not Chinese-style hard sails, but soft cloth sails similar to those of Western sailboats. Li Qingyang had seen Western sailing ships in Fuzhou, but the style of the soft sails and the sails on this ship seemed to be different - Western sails were made in sections, and were tied to the horizontal mast when furling. But the sail of this ship is a large piece, covered with several curved horizontal masts. It is not known how the sails of this ship are operated.
"Brother Song San, what is the origin of this ship next to you?" Li Qingyang finally couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked Song San.
"This is a sailboat built by the Haihan people. They call it an exploration ship. This ship is here to transport immigrants and send them back to Sanya. Seeing that the sails are raised, it is estimated that it will leave soon." Song San introduced.
Li Qingyang frowned and said: "Exploration ship? Then why are the sails and masts so strange?"
"That's what's so great about it! When running on the sea, this ship can travel twice as fast as our ship, and it can make excellent use of the wind regardless of whether it's tailwind or headwind. This ship travels from Guangzhou to Sanya. It only takes four more days, but our boat will take at least seven days to get there," Song San said with envy.
"There is such a fast ship!" Li Qingyang couldn't help but be surprised. He had done some homework before coming. For example, he knew the distance from Guangzhou to Sanya and the time required for the voyage. Song San said that the ship could actually arrive in three or four days, which completely exceeded his understanding of sailing ships.
"The Haihan people also have two faster boats. They are both white and flat, like an egg shell floating on the water." Song San couldn't help but show off his knowledge: "Those two boats are said to be It was brought by the Haihan people from their country. It travels extremely fast on the sea, at least half as fast as this exploration ship. Unfortunately, it cannot be copied in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that the materials for building the ship cannot be found in the Ming Dynasty. "
Li Qingyang said: "I heard that the Haihan people defeated a group of very powerful pirates at the Pearl River Estuary last year. Could it be that they also used this kind of sailboat?" Song San looked around and then said cautiously: "You ask me that. That’s right, last year the Haihan Militia fought with the pirate Liu Xiang, and I, Song San, was the one who witnessed it!”
When Li Qingyang heard this, he immediately became interested and quickly asked more questions.
It turned out that Song San was working as a sailor on a cargo ship of "Fusheng" at that time. When the two sides fought, the ship he was on happened to be docked in Wanshan Port, so he was lucky enough to witness how the Haihan people used it on Wanshan Island. The topography and fortifications of Wanshan Port trapped Liu Xiang's pirate fleet.
This can be regarded as one of the few wonderful experiences in Song San's life. He was immediately salivating when he talked about it. Li Qingyang was secretly frightened while listening. From Song San's description, at least several things can be determined.
First, the Haihan people have a large fleet of warships, and all of these warships are equipped with several artillery pieces. During sea battles, they mainly use long-range artillery fire to sink and damage enemy ships. Second, the Haihan people built a fort privately on Wanshan Island and had very powerful firepower output - if Song San was not bragging, the fort in Wanshan Port had at least ten or more artillery pieces. Third, Wanshan Port is a larger smuggling port than Lijiazhuang Wharf. In addition to transshipping goods in and out of Guangzhou, there are also more merchant ships from Huizhou Prefecture, Chaozhou Prefecture and even Fujian.
With the existence of Wanshan Port, these ships that were originally bound for Guangzhou or Qiongzhou can unload their cargo at Wanshan Port nearby to complete the transaction. For these ship owners, on the one hand, they save a long voyage, and on the other hand, they avoid the commercial taxes levied by the Municipal Shipping Department, and the direct or indirect benefits they obtain every year will also be huge. Small amount. Of course, there is no doubt that a considerable part of these profits also went into the pockets of the Haihan people.
Li Qingyang also discovered another fact, that is, wherever the Haihan people went, the territory they occupied was used for commerce, from the Guangdong Office outside Guangzhou, to the Lijiazhuang Wharf in Panyu County, and then to the Pearl River The Wanshan Port at the entrance and even the Sanya area on Qiongzhou Island seem to have become prosperous business areas under the management of the Haihan people. It seems that the reputation of the Haihan people for being good at doing business is not just blown. But what made him uneasy was that the Haihan people's ability to make money was so strong that they might have already been as wealthy as the country - building a commercial port and forts on an isolated island overseas was not something ordinary wealthy businessmen would do. Have the ability to accomplish it.
There are guns and artillery, an army and a navy, a population and a territory, and most importantly, a strong ability to make money. Such a force existed in the southern border of the Ming Dynasty and was completely out of the control of the government. However, the imperial court did not Didn't realize the dangers of its existence. If Nanzhen Fusi had not received some reporting information, in two or three years, the Haihan people would have a solid foundation and full wings, and it would probably not be easy to move them by then. Thinking of this, Li Qingyang felt even more how important this task was to the court. Based on the information he has learned so far, if it were written into a memorial and reported to the court, it would probably be enough to cause a big shock in the court.
The boat docked next to where he was speaking had slowly sailed away from the river bank and began to turn around in the middle of the river. Li Qingyang suddenly remembered something and asked Song San: "Brother Song San, have there been any incidents of Haihan militiamen boarding merchant ships in the past?"
Song San was stunned for a while, then shook his head and said: "I have no impression. This is the first time I have encountered them. Militia soldiers usually travel on warships, but during the war, there was a move to temporarily requisition civilian ships."
Li Qingyang pointed to the sailboat that was turning around and sailing towards the Pearl River and said: "That is the Haihan people's own ship. It set off before us and was faster. Why didn't the militia soldiers take that ship to Wanshan Port?"< br>
"This..." Song San had obviously just realized this problem. He frowned in silence for a while, then shook his head and said, "I don't know why. Maybe this ship has no intention of docking at Wanshan Port."
This explanation obviously did not satisfy Li Qingyang, but only people like him who were engaged in special industries would probably notice such inconspicuous details. People like Song San were so excited to have the opportunity to help the Haihan people that they would not carefully consider the rationality of it.
Li Qingyang vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't explain why. Due to his professional sensitivity, he could sense that there was a hint of crisis lurking somewhere. The wisest choice would be to immediately suspend his current actions and find out the reason behind this sense of uneasiness before making next plans. But the environment he is in now does not allow him to freely make the choice to terminate the operation. If he misses this opportunity, he will inevitably have to return to Guangzhou to repeat the previous experience. This kind of repeated facial recognition in one place is The big taboo in this business is that it is no less dangerous than continuing the action. Li Qingyang thought about it for a long time, and finally decided to continue to check the situation.
"When you get on the ship, you will follow. When you get to Wanshan Port, you will follow the orders of the local commander. Do you understand?" Xiao Liang was sitting in a room on the second floor of a shop next to the pier. From this position, he could observe He could see the movements of the ship Li Qingyang was on, but it was difficult for the other party to notice that he was under surveillance.
The subordinate who was sent to Panyu by He Xi immediately bowed his hands and said: "I obey my orders!"
Xiao Liang frowned and said to the orderly next to him: "Teach him the rules of the army. Don't show your feet on the ship!"
Some of the field personnel under He Xi did not come from the Haihan military police system, but were recruited directly from Guangzhou. This subordinate had never been trained in the militia, so there was inevitably a certain degree of insecurity in his behavior. Jianghu habits. Xiao Liang was afraid that such details would ruin his business, so he quickly asked someone to take him out to practice the military etiquette of the militia.
During the nearly two hours of loading goods onto the ship, Li Qingyang had been in a state of anxiety. However, what gave him some peace of mind was that no strangers approached him during this period, and no militiamen appeared on the dock. He even had time to have a meal with his companions at a restaurant on the dock. When settling the accounts, Li Qingyang remembered what Song San said, so he took out the circulation coupons that he had withdrawn in advance as salary to pay the bill. Sure enough, the store accepted it without any objection. Li Qingyang also confirmed that this small piece of colorful paper could really be used as silver in the area controlled by the Haihan people. It was a new experience for him.
(End of chapter)