Chapter 837 Temptation
Song Qing said with a mournful face: "Master, how dare you do this with your own life! I just don't know how quickly the thieves in Yueqing Bay can take action. If I delay for a day or two, I will be mistaken by the military master for defecting." , if you send someone to expose the villain again, wouldn’t that mean all your previous efforts have been wasted?”
Gao Qiaonan did not take his advice and responded coldly: "I'll give you two days. If you don't see the ship outside Yueqing Bay, then you will consider your action to have failed."
A captive who has failed will naturally no longer have any use value to Haihan, and Haihan will not care about his life or death. As for how Song Qing can persuade the pirates in Yueqing Bay to take action as soon as possible, that is something he must use his brain to consider.
But how to send this guy to Yueqing Bay as soon as possible without arousing the suspicion of local pirates is what the Haihan military must consider. Gao Qiaonan asked: "If I let you go, how will you get to Yueqing Bay?"
Song Qing responded: "The villain can go ashore nearby, and then go to the nearby fishing village or town dock to hire a boat."
"Do the fishermen here dare to go to Yueqing Bay?" Gao Qiaonan couldn't help but ask.
"Actually, most of the people your army captured before were also fishermen." Song Qing did not dare to hide it, and revealed the secret in one sentence.
Not all those who engage in piracy along the coast of Zhejiang are ruthless thieves. At the same time, there are also many people who are originally local fishermen. They usually make a living by fishing. When they pick up weapons at sea, they become pirates. This is why the government has repeatedly banned pirates. One of the reasons. Among Song Qing's group of pirates, two-thirds of them were indeed local fishermen. They would also rob someone when they had the chance to do so while fishing. But this time, they were really unlucky. They thought they had encountered a big fat sheep. They came out in full force, but unexpectedly it turned out to be a vicious wolf in sheep's clothing. They didn't get any benefits, and they were inexplicably defeated by the Haihan Army.
Until this moment, Song Qing had not figured out the true identity of the soldiers in front of him. The only thing he could be sure of was that the armed forces in front of him were definitely not the Ming army, because these people were from head to toe, no matter their uniforms, weapons, words or deeds. Their habits were completely different from the Ming army he knew. Moreover, there is no such large naval fleet near Wenzhou, and this group of people is definitely not a nearby garrison.
But Song Qing definitely didn't believe that this armed force was his peers. Even the Shiba Zhi, which was in the limelight in Fujian for a while, would definitely not be able to assemble such an elite army. Of course, the strength of the group of pirates in Yueqing Bay is definitely far inferior to that of the armed forces in front of them. This group of people wanted to lure their counterparts in Yueqing Bay to sea, obviously just to catch them all and prevent them from escaping into the mountains after hearing the news.
At this time, someone came to Gao Qiaonan and whispered a few words. After hearing this, Gao Qiaonan turned his head and said to Song Qing: "I heard that you have a brother named Song Xian, right? It seems that we caught him this time too?"
Song Qing's face immediately changed color slightly. He and his younger brother Song Xian took a separate ship to go to war. After being captured, the prisoners in the two ships were held separately. He did not know what Song Xian's current condition was. But the officer in front of him took the initiative to mention this matter, and he had obviously confirmed Song Xian's identity among the prisoners on the other ship. And he mentioned this matter specifically, probably not to appease himself.
Sure enough, Takahashi Minami then continued: "I originally thought it was a bit unsafe to let you out like this. Now that you have a younger brother here, things will be much easier to handle! You go first and finish what we gave you. As long as you lure the pirates out of Yueqing Bay, you and your two brothers will be freed afterwards!"
Song Qing was really lucky and wanted to escape and get freedom first after leaving here, but now that Gao Qiaonan was threatening him with his brother, he had to take the risk. Song Qing is also a smart person, and quickly responded: "Then Mr. Lao will take care of the villain's useless brother. The villain will return within two days!"
"Very good!" Takahashi Minami wanted this attitude from him. Although Gao Qiaonan believes that there are too many uncontrollable variables in Qian Tiandun's hastily decided plan, and sending people to lure the pirates in Yueqing Bay may not be successful, but since this is an order issued by Qian Tiandun, he will do his best Try your best to complete it.
After Gao Qiaonan reported the situation to Qian Tiandun, he had Song Qing sent ashore. This place is still several miles away from Yueqing Bay. Song Qing did not dare to delay after landing. He took a few pieces of broken silver given by Gao Qiaonan and rushed to a fishing village five miles away. He found a familiar boatman and asked him to Send himself to Maocao Island at the entrance of Yueqing Bay, where there is someone he needs to contact.
Maogou Island is located in the middle of the Yueqing Bay, also known as "Sea Mountain". It covers an area of nearly five square kilometers and is the second largest island in Yueqing Bay. Because waterways extend in all directions, this place has been an important patrol area in all dynasties. In the 28th year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty, in order to prevent Japanese pirates from invading, the imperial court moved the Puqi Inspection Department here. But now, more than two hundred years later, the inspection department station here has long been abandoned. Although there are still many residents on the island, the actual control of the place is in the hands of a group of pirates in Yueqing Bay.
This group of pirates called themselves the "Yueqing Ship Gang" and were led by two brothers named Zheng Pingda and Zheng Pinger. However, they were natives of Yueqing and had nothing to do with Zheng Zhilong, the great pirate leader in Fujian. They were just traveling together and having the same surname.
The Zheng brothers were also fishermen in their early years. Later, they were kidnapped by a group of pirates in the Zhoushan Islands and forced to work in the knife-edge business for several years. Later, this group of pirates had a fight with others in Ningbo Mansion. The Zheng brothers took an opportunity to escape and finally returned to their hometown safely after many twists and turns. However, they did not live a stable life. The family's land, property and fishing boats had been seized and sold off, and there was no one left to eat. With no way to sue, the two brothers simply returned to their old business, killing the enemies who had occupied their property, and then led a group of Kuhaha to start a rebellion in Yandang Town.
Of course, being ordinary fishermen limited the Zheng brothers' vision and abilities. All they could do was organize a group of people to go out to sea to plunder, and they did not dare to actually attack the government in rebellion. This kind of half-people, half-bandit situation is everywhere along the coast of Zhejiang, and the government turns a blind eye most of the time. As long as they don't raise the banner of rebellion, they generally won't ruthlessly kill these people.
The "Yueqing Boat Gang" had good luck after their debut. They made several big deals in two or three years and quickly expanded their scale from a dozen people to hundreds of people. They already had the appearance of being the number one gangster in Wenzhou. At this time, the Wenzhou government also realized that the cancer of the "Yueqing Ship Gang" had affected the stability of the entire Wenzhou, and began to send troops to kill this group of pirates. However, the "Yueqing Ship Gang" had basically controlled the entire Yueqing Bay at this time. As soon as the navy's fleet arrived at the mouth of Yueqing Bay, the pirates could get the news as soon as possible and calmly retreated to the mountains to wait for the navy. By the time they reached Yandang Town, dozens of miles away, the pirates had already retreated.
After doing this two or three times, the Wenzhou government was tired - every time it dispatched the navy, it cost tens of thousands of taels of silver. After mobilizing the troops and mobilizing the masses, every time it ended in vain, and the leader of the "Yueqing Boat Gang" could not be caught. Zheng brothers, the government is naturally unwilling to continue doing such a thankless job.
Last year, the Zheng brothers robbed a shipment of goods belonging to the Xu family in Fujian, and injured two people in the Xu family during the attack. Later, Xu Xinsu chased the matter to the Yueqing County Government Office. The Zheng brothers did not want to cause more trouble, so they He spent a thousand taels of silver to bribe the county magistrate who was about to step down, and directly returned the official investigation documents sent by Fujian in the name of "no such person was found". In Xu Xinsu's view, this was simply a deliberate attempt to damage his face, so it was no wonder that he was brooding over this matter. A year later, he specifically told Xu Yuzhuo to find an opportunity to kill this group of pirates during this operation.
It is said that Song Qing hurriedly took a boat to Maogu Island. After getting off the boat, he rushed directly to a village on the island - the "Yueqing Boat Gang" has a stronghold there and is manned all year round. Although it is said to be a stronghold, it is actually a courtyard with three entrances. However, it is indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people to build a courtyard with high masonry walls on such an island. To transport these building materials to the island from the mainland, the freight required is no longer a small amount. .
Song Qing had come here with his boss to meet the Zheng brothers before, so he knew about this place. However, the boss who brought him here had already died in this naval battle. The broken mast fell and was directly killed. But Song Qing didn't feel any sadness. On the contrary, he felt a little bit lucky - if his boss had not died, then it would probably not be Song Qing's job to be a lobbyist in Yueqing Bay.
Song Qing came to the door, adjusted her clothes a little, and then stepped forward to call the door. Not long after, someone opened the door and came out to check. Song Qing quickly reported his name and finally asked: "I don't know which master is on duty here. I have something important to report. Please let me know."
Song Qing waited at the door for a while, and then the gatekeeper came out and called him: "Follow me!"
Song Qing was taken to the flower hall and sat down. After a while, a middle-aged man in black came out. Song Qing recognized this man. He was Nan Tie, the third-ranking leader of the "Yueqing Boat Gang". Seeing this, he stood up quickly and said : "The villain Song Qing has met the third master!"
"I've seen you before. Are you Zhu Shanhai's master?" After Nantie saw Song Qing, he recognized his identity: "You accompanied Zhu Shanhai to Maogou Island last time, right?"
"The third master has a good memory, and the villain is working with Boss Zhu." Song Qing responded quickly: "But Boss Zhu is busy at the moment and it is inconvenient to come to visit the brothers of the Yueqing Boat Gang, so he sent the villain here. ”
Nantie didn't take it seriously at all, nodded and said: "You said you have something important to report, so let's hear it."
Song Qing collected her thoughts and said: "A few days ago, Boss Zhu got news in Wenzhou City, saying that there was a big deal that was going to the sea from Wenzhou to Hangzhou in the north. Boss Zhu got interested and inquired carefully. I found that I couldn’t afford this deal on my own, so I wanted to ask my brothers from the boat gang if they were interested in doing a joint venture.”
Nantie asked calmly: "Brother Song, can you tell me how big a deal it is?"
Song Qing slowly stretched out his palms and gestured in front of Nantie: "It is said that there is this number!"
"One hundred thousand?" Nantie immediately sat up straight and confirmed to Song Qing again: "You mean this transaction is worth one hundred thousand taels of silver?"
"That's true." Song Qing nodded and said, "If it weren't for the price, Boss Zhu wouldn't be so anxious and asked the villain to ask the boat gang brothers to take action within two days, otherwise it will be too late."
"With such a big deal, why didn't my shipping gang's spies in Wenzhou City send back any news?" Nantie didn't take the bait directly, but said to himself somewhat suspiciously.
Before Song Qing was released, Gao Qiaonan had already told him several possible situations and how he should respond to avoid suspicion. Now he happened to encounter one of them. Song Qing then followed Gao Qiaonan's instructions and said: "Third Master, the owner of this item has done a very good job of keeping it secret. We are the only family in Wenzhou that has received the news. How do you think this news came about? Boss Zhu's cousin He works on the owner's ship. This is a personal message. If everyone knows it, it will be worthless."
"What you said makes some sense..." Nantie responded, twirling the beard on his chin: "If the goods are really worth one hundred thousand, then it would be a good deal to join forces to make this deal. But, Mingren won't say. Secretly, if you and I join forces, we must make it clear first how we will distribute it.”
When Song Qing heard his answer, he knew that the fish had taken the bait, and immediately replied: "The information on this matter is all provided by us, so naturally we need to share more. Boss Zhu takes care of the boat gang brothers and is willing to donate 30% of the proceeds to the boat gang. Thank you for your hard work.”
"Thirty percent?" Nantie immediately shook his head and said: "If there is less than five percent, don't talk about joining forces. Although you have provided information, the ones who have to contribute are mainly our shipping gang. This thirty-seven ratio is too unreasonable. I think it is still five percent." Five is suitable.”
Now that the bargaining had begun, Song Qing finally felt a lot more relaxed, and immediately argued: "How to distribute the profits afterwards should also look at the value of this batch of goods. On weekdays, the boat gang brothers can get thousands of taels from a single trip. Is it a good harvest? Even if the sale is divided into 30%, it will still be about 30,000 taels. Let’s consider it again.”
Nan Tiexin said that it is precisely because the total price is high that he has to hold on to this share. You are so poor and pedantic. If a 30% to 70% share is offered here, when the Zheng brothers find out, they will probably think that they have gained some benefit from it.
At present, Nantie did not relent and continued to bargain with Song Qing. The two of them talked until their mouths were dry. At the end, Song Qing asked: "We might as well let go of this share first. How long will it take for you to send troops? If you are slow, this fleet will cross the boundary and it will be difficult to pursue it!"< br>
(End of chapter)