Chapter 839 Please enter the urn
Of course, Boss Zhu, who was already dead, would not come up with any more ideas. After listening to Song Qing's report, Gao Qiaonan smiled and said: "These thieves are much easier to deal with than I expected. Since they have posed themselves into the pit, Jump, then it would be unreasonable for us not to say hello.”
Gao Qiaonan was very interested. After he finished speaking, he patted Song Qing on the shoulder and said, "Well done! If we can catch all the thieves from the Yueqing Ship Gang this time, I will personally guarantee that your two brothers will be free." If you feel you can’t stay in Wenzhou, I can let you settle elsewhere and start over.”
"Thank you, Master Jun, for taking care of me. I will do my best!" Song Qing quickly bowed and responded. He took the risk to go to Yueqing Bay to work as a lobbyist, initially just so that he could escape, but later he added the life of his brother Song Xian, and now even his own future depends on this matter. I heard that working under the Haihan people would make a lot of money and lead a stable life, which should be much better than working as a pirate in Yueqing and doing the knife-edge business of licking blood.
"You should have a good rest tomorrow. Early the morning after tomorrow, I will send a boat to take you to meet the Yueqing Boat Gang." After finishing speaking, Gao Qiaonan prepared to leave.
Song Qing gritted her teeth and said boldly: "Master, before you take action, can you let me meet your family first?"
Takahashi Minami hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "Okay, I'll let you two brothers meet tonight. Remember, don't play any tricks with me!"
"Don't dare!" Song Qing responded repeatedly.
That night, Gao Qiaonan indeed sent someone to take Song Xian out of the temporary cell on a troop ship and bring him to meet Song Qing. After the two brothers met, they also shouted lucky. When their group of pirates attacked at sea, one-third of them were killed by the Haihan army, but the two brothers survived unharmed. Song Qing even I was really lucky to get a chance to escape safely.
However, after Song Xian was captured, except for a brief interrogation, he was detained in the warehouse at the bottom of the ship for the rest of the time. He did not know what was happening outside, let alone the origin of the armed force that captured them. After Song Qing told him what he had seen and heard in the past two days, Song Xian understood the current situation he was in.
"Brother, I heard that the Haihan people destroyed the Shibazhi last year and were very powerful. However, they have always been active in Fuzhou and Guangzhou. Why did they come to Wenzhou?" Song Xian was more careful and noticed Song Xian immediately. Qing's place of neglect.
Song Qing thought for a while and responded to Song Xian: "This Haihan people seem to have a deep hatred for the Yueqing Shipping Gang, and they want to kill them all. It seems to me that they came to Wenzhou specifically to deal with the Yueqing Shipping Gang."
"Brother, are they really just here to deal with the Yueqing Ship Gang? Do they need to use dozens of warships?" Song Xian had objections to this: "Although the Yueqing Ship Gang is stronger than us, it is just more people and more ships. That's all, how do you fight against the Haihan gunboat? You have seen the battle the day before, and you don't even have the chance to join in the fight. Moreover, the Haihan warship is very fast, and you can't escape if it gets bitten. With such a disparity in power, why did Haihan need to mobilize thousands of troops from Fujian to fight in Wenzhou? ”
Song Qing thought the same thing. When the Wenzhou government sent troops to encircle and suppress the Yueqing Ship Gang, they did not send out so many troops. The Haihan people had no station in Zhejiang. If they just wanted to deal with the Yueqing Ship Gang, why would they bother to mobilize seven or eight warships? It is enough to complete this task. But after much thought, he couldn't figure out why Haihan did this.
"Brother, the Haihan people's plan to deal with the Yueqing Boat Gang is probably just one of the purposes of their trip. Besides this, there are also bigger goals." Song Xian made a very bold inference.
Song Qing blinked and said, "Are they going to attack Wenzhou?"
Song Xian shook his head and said: "The Haihan people have always been on good terms with the Ming Dynasty and are unlikely to do such a thing. Besides, they have an excellent foundation in Fuzhou and Guangzhou. Even if they want to rebel, they should be in the south. Why come to Zhejiang?" Is there something going on in this unfamiliar place?”
Song Qing thought it reasonable: "Even if they can capture some places in Wenzhou, as long as they don't directly attack Wenzhou City, it will be difficult to obtain much supplies locally. They will still have to rely on transportation from Fujian. By then, as long as the Fujian government is slightly stuck, If we block their way out, we won’t be able to continue doing this!”
Although Song Xian had doubts, all the information he knew came from his brother's dictation, and all inferences came from his mind. In addition, his own vision was also limited. Where could he imagine that the target of the Haihan people was not just Wenzhou, but It is necessary to control key areas along the entire Zhejiang coastline. Of course, even if Gao Qiaonan tells them this answer, the Song brothers may not believe it. After all, such a big idea is really difficult to understand for people like them whose activity range is only a hundred miles around Yueqing.
The two brothers discussed it for a while, but still couldn't figure out what the Haihan people's purpose was. However, they all agreed on one thing. If they wanted to save their lives, they must make good use of this opportunity. But this matter can only be done by Song Qing alone, and Song Xian can only repeatedly tell his brother to be careful in everything.
The next day, Gao Qiaonan raised Song Qing alone and taught him how to contact the people of the Yueqing Boat Gang during the next day's operation, and how to lead them into the encirclement planned by the coalition forces. Song Qing knew that it was a matter of life and death for him, so he did not dare to be careless at all. He kept everything Gao Qiaonan said in his heart. In the afternoon, Qian Tiandun also took time to meet with Song Qing and revealed his true identity to him.
"Sure enough, he is from Haihan!" Song Qing finally confirmed his previous guess when he heard that the Haihan commander revealed his identity. However, Qian Tiandun did not explain the purpose of Haihan's trip to him. He only encouraged him to complete the task well and asked someone to take out one hundred taels of cash and reward him on the spot - of course, the silver must still be put away first. The Haihan people can't take it away until tomorrow's matter is over.
Although one hundred taels of silver was not a big sum, it gave Song Qing reassurance. The high-ranking officials of Haihan came out to express their attitude, so he did not have to worry about becoming a prisoner again after the war. But I definitely can’t continue this piracy business from now on.
The next day, Takahashi Nan ordered people to pack up the better of the two pirate ships captured a few days ago. All the sailors on the ship were replaced by soldiers from the Haihan Militia, and then Song Qing was allowed to board the ship. Song Qing calmed down when she saw the ship full of Haihan soldiers pretending to be pirates. If he went alone, he was still a little worried that he would be detained directly by the Yueqing Ship Gang, but with the Haihan people accompanying him, he felt more at ease. Song Qing watched from the deck as these Haihan soldiers piled rifles wrapped in oilcloth on both sides of the ship. Finally, they also moved two small cannons onto the ship. One was placed on the left and right sides of the ship, covered with oilcloth. Song Qing didn't dare to get closer and take a closer look, but looking at this posture, the Haihan people were obviously ready to take action, and they began to feel inexplicably nervous.
"Don't be nervous. When we enter the encirclement, our ship will accelerate away from the battlefield and will not participate in the battle. We bring these weapons on board just in case." Seeing Song Qing's nervous expression , the captain came over to comfort him and said: "There is no need to be nervous about such a small scene. When we fought against Shibazhi in Fujian last year, hundreds of ships participated in the battle, and the pirates were still submissive."
It wasn't that the captain was nosy, but Qian Tiandun and others specifically told him to pay attention to Song Qing's mood. If Song Qing acted too nervous when in contact with the Yueqing Shipping Gang, all previous efforts might be wasted.
Song Qing cupped her fists and responded: "Yes, thank you for the advice, Master Jun. I think the gangsters from the Boat Gang never expected this to happen. When the time comes, they will be caught off guard, and they will be able to succeed immediately."
After Song Qing's ship sailed out, Haihan's various ministries also began to get ready. However, they were much closer to the preset battle area than their opponents, so they would set off from Dongtou Island later.
As for the Yueqing Ship Gang, the three leaders decided to make this deal without any hesitation. One hundred thousand taels of silver is by no means a small sum for the Yueqing Boat Gang. Even if they only get a part of it, it will basically catch up with their annual harvest. As for how to discuss the share with Zhu Shanhai afterwards, the Zheng brothers and Nantie are not in a hurry. If Zhu Shanhai talks nicely, then it would be considered loyal to leave a few percent to the other party. If Zhu Shanhai must fight for it, Then there is no doubt that there will be a black man who eats everything in one pot.
In order to ensure that they can secure this deal, the Yueqing Shipping Gang went out in full force this time, with a dozen ships carrying three to four hundred people to go to sea. The two parties had previously agreed to meet on the sea near Xiaowushan Island at the mouth of Yueqing Bay at noon that day. However, as the time was approaching and the ship that had agreed to lead the way had not yet appeared, Nantie became a little anxious.
"This guy surnamed Song said he would arrive before noon, but he hasn't appeared yet!" Nantie put his hand on his forehead and complained while looking at the sea in the distance: "If we miss the time, I will make sure he looks good!"
"Don't panic. Since they took the initiative to come to us, there shouldn't be any changes. Let's wait and see." Zheng Pingda consoled him. However, he didn't have much confidence in saying this. If Zhu Shanhai thought that the Yueqing Shipping Gang was too open-minded and unwilling to cooperate and chose to go it alone, then he probably wouldn't be waiting for the other party's people today.
After about a stick of incense, a ship in front sent a signal back, saying that people from Zhu Shanhai were coming. Nantie quickly ran to the bow of the ship and looked around, and sure enough he saw a lucky ship coming from the south, with a Zhuzi flag spread out on the mast. It was indeed Zhu Shanhai's person.
"This guy Zhu Shanhai knows what's interesting! I'll give him a share when this is over." Nantie cursed and muttered to himself, completely forgetting that the initiator of this matter was not the Yueqing Boat Gang, they just followed the thugs and helped.
After the ship approached, Nantie and others could see clearly that it was Song Qing who had come to discuss with them two days ago, standing at the bow of the ship, and they were completely relieved. Nantie shouted at the top of his lungs: "Brother Song, can this business still be done?"
Song Qing responded loudly: "It can be done, it can be done! Just do as we agreed before. Your gang's boat will follow the villain's boat. When they get to the place, the villain will raise the flag, and your gang's boats will each find a place to hide. That’s it.”
Before Nantie could ask a few more questions, Song Qing's boat ahead had already begun to turn around and head south. Nantie cursed a few times secretly, but quickly ordered his men's boats to follow. The two parties had only agreed on how to take action, but Song Qing had never given a clear answer as to when and where to take action. The Yueqing Boat Gang naturally understands that the other party is trying to prevent them from taking advantage of others, so now they can only follow the guide boat obediently.
Forty miles south from Yueqing Bay is the outlet of Wenzhou's Oujiang River. The place Haihan chose to take action was twenty miles east of the seaport. There are two islands, one large and one small, juxtaposed from north to south, called Damen Island and Xiaomen Island. There is a channel about one or two miles wide and more than ten miles long between the two islands, and the coast of Damen Island to the south is There are several natural harbors, making it easy to hide. The coalition's battle plan is to introduce the Yueqing Boat Gang here, and then send ships to block both ends, so that they can catch the turtle in the jar.
Song Qing led the Yueqing Boat Gang's fleet all the way south. It wasn't until they entered the narrow channel between Damen Island and Xiaomen Island that the Zheng brothers felt something was wrong - passing through here is the estuary of the Oujiang River. Is it possible? To block the target at the mouth of Oujiang River?
The Zheng brothers were about to discuss it when they suddenly heard a cannon sound coming from the sea in the distance. After careful identification, it came from behind. When they looked at the stern of the ship, they were frightened. I saw a dozen sailboats suddenly pouring out of the sea to the east, the smallest of which was more than twice the size of my own ship. Among them was a large sailboat that was shaped like a hill and was chasing my own fleet from behind.
Although I don’t know the origin of this sudden fleet, it is obviously not a good person. Looking at this posture, my own fleet may not be able to compete. Moreover, the water here is narrow, and small boats will suffer a lot in close combat. The Zheng brothers They can only order to rush west first. As long as they rush out of this channel, they can choose to escape north or south. Although the enemy has many ships by then, they may not be able to intercept their own ships at sea.
Nantie looked forward and saw that Song Qing's boat was rushing forward without any regard for what was happening behind it. Nan Tiexin said that Song Qing was indeed afraid of trouble, but he just didn't know if the fleet that suddenly appeared had anything to do with him. A fleet of this size has never appeared in Wenzhou itself. Nantie can basically be sure that this group of people is definitely not a local force, and they are definitely not members of the navy.
When the Yueqing Boat Gang and others were in panic, a few sail shadows appeared on the sea to the west. A fleet sailed out from south to north, blocking the western exit of the channel. Now anyone who is not blind can see who the two fleets in the east and one in the west are heading for.
(End of chapter)