Chapter 834 Lurker
Ningbo Mansion is located at the mouth of the Qiantang River and on the south bank of Hangzhou Bay. It is one of the oldest human settlements along the coast of Zhejiang. As early as 7,000 years ago, our ancestors had already created the splendid "Hemudu Culture" here. During the Kaiyuan period of Tang Dynasty, Mingzhou prefecture was established here, which laid the foundation for the development of more than a thousand years.
By the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, all coastal areas had implemented maritime bans, with the exception of Mingzhou, which continued to open to maritime trade. In the fourteenth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang adopted the suggestion of scholar Shan Zhongyou and changed the name of Mingzhou Prefecture to "Ningbo Prefecture" in order to avoid the taboo of the country's name. This name has been used ever since. In later generations, until the time travelers came here, this area still used the place name set by Ming Taizu.
Since it was the only foreign trade port in the Ming Dynasty for a long time, it became the most prosperous seaport city in the eastern part of the Ming Dynasty in the early Ming Dynasty. Of course, along with the merchant ships and wealth, there were pirates and Japanese pirates who caused headaches for the Ming court. Under the influence of huge interests, pirate gangs and trading ports actually coexisted in a deformed relationship, and became a cancer that was difficult to eradicate in the jurisdiction of Ningbo Prefecture.
However, later on, as other southeastern coastal ports openly or covertly opened up maritime trade, Ningbo lost most of its original irreplaceable advantages. The ports in Guangdong and Fujian also gradually began to be diverted within the region. Originally, they could only go to Ningbo. Maritime merchants who conducted trade. At this time, Ningbo Prefecture in Zhejiang Province has basically no big advantages in maritime trade compared to Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and other places in the south. The emergence of Haihan has brought more trading volume to Daming Sea Trade. , and because the local protection trend is prevalent here in Zhejiang, it has not had much direct impact on Ningbo Prefecture and other state capitals in Zhejiang.
However, compared to some prefectures and counties in inland areas, Ningbo Prefecture, with its geographical advantages and century-old accumulation, is still considered a quite wealthy area. Merchants engaged in maritime trade here earn as much as the Jianghuai salt merchants north of the Yangtze River. At least several large households in Ningbo Prefecture fit the four words "wealthy as a country". Of course, although these big business owners have some official background, their strength is still slightly different compared to Li Jifeng of Guangdong and Xu Xinsu of Fujian. After all, wealthy businessmen with private armed forces as backing are still an anomaly in the Ming Dynasty. Since their local roots are too deep, these two guys who have violated numerous bans have probably been reported numerous times by the Jin Yiwei and have been imprisoned in the sky prison to await execution by the Queen of Autumn.
Compared with the wealthy people with countless eyes staring at them, there are many small wealthy businessmen who are not so inconspicuous among the people. Many of them are not directly engaged in maritime trade, but the industries they are engaged in have driven the local consumption level. As a result, these people became wealthy businessmen with huge wealth.
Xu Ke is one of the many small local tycoons in Ningbo Prefecture. The industry he is engaged in relies on the sea to make a living, and his business is seafood trading. Xu Ke has about a dozen sea-going ships under his command, and he regularly goes out to sea for fishing at least once a month. Occasionally, he also helps other merchants to smuggle some goods ashore from nearby islands. In one year, he earns tens of thousands of taels of silver. It's guaranteed.
Xu Ke claims to be from Wenzhou, but in recent years he has rarely returned to Wenzhou to visit relatives, because it is said that most of his family members died in a plague in the early years, and those who survived were regarded as an ominous sign by the countryside. Xu Ke could only take his family's two fishing boats and settled in Ningbo. Xu Ke was only a young man in his early twenties when he first arrived in Ningbo. Several years have passed and now he has started a family and started a business in Ningbo.
In addition to occasionally leading a team to go fishing in person, Xu Ke usually stayed at his own manor in Xiangshan and didn't go out much. He didn't even go to the county town much. The nearby villagers only had an impression of Xu Ke as a reclusive and low-key wealthy man who did not do anything out of the ordinary in the countryside. When there are things like building bridges and paving roads, Xu Ke will take the initiative to donate 1,800 taels of silver. During the holidays, he will also distribute some daily necessities to the elderly in the countryside. In years of famine, he will also release some relief grains to help. The victims of the disaster can be regarded as squires with a good reputation in the local area.
On this day, several new faces came from outside Xujiazhuang. After asking for directions twice near Zhuangzi, they found the not too inconspicuous front entrance of Xujiazhuang. The leader knocked on the door and said a few words to the gatekeeper, and then these people entered the village.
After Xu Ke read the letter in his hand several times, he said to the visitor: "Does the master have any other instructions?"
The visitor responded: "The villain just accepted the errand of delivering the letter. He doesn't know anything else. All the things the family wants to do are written in the letter."
Xu Ke nodded and said: "Okay, let me think about how to reply to the head of the family. Housekeeper, everyone who comes from home should go to rest first."
The "head of the family" mentioned by Xu Ke and the visitors was Xu Xinsu. Xu Ke was just a pseudonym. His original name was Xu Keqiang. He was the second son of Xu Xinsu's cousin. He grew up at sea since he was a child and became a captain on the ship at a young age. A good hand. Back then, Xu Xinsu arranged for people to lurk in Zhejiang, and he was the one selected. In order to prevent people from doubting his identity, Xu Xinsu specially packaged his life experience and even changed his name, which was almost equivalent to being reborn.
However, Xu Ke was able to gain a foothold in Ningbo, and the Xu family did give him a lot of support. The initial expenses for buying ships, land, and recruiting people in Ningbo basically came from funds provided by Fujian. And all he needs to do here in Ningbo is to act out his current identity and quietly accumulate strength. If one day his hometown in Fujian needs his help, Xu Ke will have to put everything aside and do his best for his family.
Of course, with the influence of the Xu family in Fujian today, almost no one can shake it. It is no longer the precarious situation it was when Xu Ke left Fujian a few years ago. Xu Ke has also gradually stabilized from the anxiety of the past few years. Not only has he married a wife and had children, bought land and real estate, but he has also begun to plan when to apply to the head of the family, Xu Xinsu, to return to the Xu clan.
Xu Ke, who is currently an ally and supporter of the Xu family, has also heard about the Haihan people in Ningbo. Various glassware made in Haihan have appeared on the market a few years ago, and even Xu Ke couldn't help but buy some for his home as a collection. However, Xu Ke did not have a relatively intuitive understanding of the military strength of the Haihan people. In the letters home regularly sent from Fujian, he always mentioned where the Haihan people fought and never failed to conquer cities and territories. By last year, even Shiba Zhi, who had almost forced the Xu family to despair, had been expelled from the Fujian Strait by the Haihan people. This time, the letter written by Xu Xinsu, sent by a specially sent messenger from his hometown in Fujian, also specifically stated that the Haihan people had already made the red-haired people and the Folangji people on the island of Taiwan docile, and the next step would probably be to head towards Zhejiang - —The Zhoushan Islands near Ningbo Prefecture are the primary target.
But if the Haihan people want to enter the Zhoushan Islands, they must face the local armed forces and the favoritism of the government. Although Xu Xinsu was extremely powerful in Fujian, he could not directly intervene in Zhejiang affairs. If you want to find someone who is familiar with the sea conditions around Ningbo Prefecture and can be fully trusted, it would naturally be someone like Xu Ke who was born in the Xu family. However, Xu Ke also knew that when Xu Xinsu arranged the lurkers, he was not the only one who stayed in Ningbo.
Xu Ke knew that there was another son of the Xu family working as a lurker in the Ningbo Navy. He was probably about the same age as himself and currently held the position of chief officer. However, although the two were in Ningbo together, they had no contact with each other, and he had never taken the initiative to inquire about each other's identity. Although the messenger may not know the situation, Xu Ke can roughly conclude that the Xu clan member in the Navy will also receive notification from the family. Because he and the lurker have two characteristics in common. The first is that they rely on the sea to make a living, and the second is that they both maintain some invisible relations with the pirates of the Zhoushan Islands. The head of the family, Xu Xinsu, does not require them to cooperate with Haihan in fighting, as long as they can provide sufficient intelligence to Haihan and provide necessary guidance during the war, but for the sake of safety, these two lines must be launched together.
In a handwritten letter, Xu Xinsu asked Xu Ke to write an introduction to the Zhoushan Islands pirate gang as soon as possible and express his attitude towards this matter. After writing the letter, the messenger immediately took him back to Fujian to discuss with the Haihan people. Next round of discussions.
Although Xu Ke's main business is fishing, he is also quite familiar with the pirates of Zhoushan Islands. Xu Ke paid more than ten thousand taels of silver in so-called fees to the pirates of the Zhoushan Islands every year. He knew who would take the bulk of the money and which families would divide the rest. Every year when he leads his team out to sea, he often takes the initiative to go to some local pirate dens and visit the pirate leaders he knows.
Although this scene seems ridiculous when you think about it, what is actually even more ridiculous is the situation of the navy. With the wealth of Ningbo Mansion, it could not afford to raise a decent naval fleet, and among the navy's establishment, there were quite a few people who secretly colluded or had friendships with pirates. When it comes to the specific distribution of pirate forces, Xu Ke believes that his colleague in the Navy probably knows the situation better than he does.
Although he already has a family and business in Ningbo, Xu Ke still has to abide by the original agreement and work hard for the family after receiving a personal letter from the head of the family. However, he did not inform his family of his decision and ordered someone to guard the door of the study while he began to write a secret letter.
After Xu Ke's secret letter was written, it was picked up by the messenger on the same day and sent to Penghu overnight. The voyage from Xiangshan to Penghu is about five hundred nautical miles, and it takes a lot of time to get back and forth.
As Xu Ke expected, the two secret letters sent from Ningbo a few days later arrived at the Penghu base almost immediately. However, Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen were not in a hurry to open and read it. After all, the letter was stamped with a special wax seal of the Xu family, so it was not easy to fake it. Qian Tiandun immediately ordered someone to invite Xu Xinsu to come over and study the secrets of the letter together. A few days after Xu Xinsu sent the messenger, she left her station and came to Penghu. While waiting for news, she constantly verified Haihan's attitude.
"You actually drew a map, you're so thoughtful!" Xu Xinsu immediately praised it after opening the envelope.
Although this map is far less accurate than the military map used by Haihan himself, it is commendable that all the main figures of the pirate gang are marked on it. Just slowly compare it with the map drawn by Haihan himself to get an accurate and practical combat map.
The main content of the letter is a brief introduction to the various local pirate gangs. Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen carefully compared the two revelation letters and found that although the two narrative methods were different, the key points mentioned The objects and related information are basically consistent, indicating that their authenticity is indeed good.
"General Qian, does the news sent back by Xu Jiaerlang meet your needs?" Xu Xinsu's tone was quite complacent. After all, when he was interviewing Shi Diwen a few days ago, he boasted about Haikou, saying that as long as he was transferred It is not a problem for the lurker guards around him to obtain detailed information about the Zhoushan Islands.
"Convinced, convinced in capital letters!" Qian Tiandun responded smoothly, regardless of whether Xu Xinsu knew what "capital letters" meant. If Haihan were allowed to collect this information on his own, it would not be possible to achieve the current results even in ten days and a half. Now in the two informant letters, 80% of the pirate gangs have been revealed as targets, and Qian Tiandun has to admit that the lurker team led by Xu Xinsu is indeed capable.
"General Qian, what's next?" Xu Xinsu heard Qian Tiandun's tone that he really appreciated the plan, and immediately followed the stick.
"We will send people to Fujian and talk to them in person again. At the same time, the combat staff will also receive this document, and they will be responsible for formulating a specific combat plan." Qian Tiandun explained patiently: "Master Xu, I think you We can start to help prepare combat supplies. After the troop mobilization is completed, we will prepare to launch the offensive.”
According to the prior agreement between the two parties, the Haihan side will serve as the main combat force in the Zhejiang Sea Area, while Xu Xinsu will be responsible for the operation of the local supply system. However, the preparations this time were quite low-key, and Qian Tiandun did not want the pirates to flee. If possible, he would even give the pirates an extra day and a half to prepare before proceeding.
Xu Xinsu responded: "I will personally handle the matter of material preparation. General Qian can rest assured. However, can you explain how many troops you will invest this time and how many battles you expect to fight?"
Qian Tiandun said: "It's hard to say how many battles we will fight. Maybe our Haihan army will arrive and the defenders will surrender directly. It's hard to say."
(End of chapter)