Chapter 895 Fishing Law Enforcement
While Gong Shiqi was inquiring about intelligence in Jiaxing, the Haihan Navy, under Shi Diwen's instruction, also began to dispatch ships to monitor the waters north of Zhoushan Island. This sea area was originally the next target for the militia army to clean up, but they did not take action for the time being due to lack of troops. However, if the command headquarters believes that there are targets that pose a threat to Zhoushan Island, it will still not hesitate to use force to strike.
Compared with dealing with the Ming Dynasty government, Haihan had no scruples in dealing with these maritime armed forces. At the beginning, the Haisha Gang and the Zhoushan Boat Gang fought at will, and they did not need to find any high-sounding reasons, as long as they were obstructing them. Haihan's pace of expansion will always be regarded as a stumbling block. The two largest forces in Zhoushan have already collapsed in the face of the strong ships and guns of the Haihan Militia. The fish that slipped through the net on Qushan Island can't even imagine how big a splash it will make. What Haihan is waiting for now is just a more concrete investigation result, so as to avoid the emergence of new fish that slipped through the net while removing the fish that slipped through the net.
On June 18, after staying in Jiaxing for five days, Gong Shiqi took the field team and set off back to Zhoushan. In the past five days, people from Hainingwei came to see him twice more, all for the purpose of investigating and confirming the sailing status of the Haihan fleet on Zhoushan Island. It seems that they are also very wary of the Haihan fleet and try their best to avoid the Haihan warships that may appear patrolling the East China Sea. However, this was a futile move in Gong Shiqi's opinion, because he had already sent people to stay in a small town near Hainingwei to monitor the departure of local military ships from the port. At the same time, Zhoushan was also notified to dispatch two speedboats to Jiaxing to wait. If there was any trouble, they would rush back to Zhoushan to call the police as soon as possible.
On June 20, things took a turn that no one expected. After a sailboat docked at Dinghai Port, the people on board claimed that they had important matters to report to Chief Haihan. When people from the military and security department arrived, they found that the person who came was actually the subject of surveillance by the military. Qushan Island The island owner Ma Teng.
Someone from the Ministry of Security who knew the inside story quickly informed Gong Qiqi, and then Qian Tiandun also got the news. Soon Gong Shiqi dispatched a covered carriage and went to the dock to take Ma Teng into Dinghai Fort. In order to confirm his identity, Gong Shiqi specially arranged for local people who knew Ma Teng to hide in the dark for identification. After confirming his identity, he conducted a careful body search before taking him to meet Qian Tiandun.
"I am Qian Tiandun, the person in charge here. You came to Zhoushan Island to see me. You must have something very important." Qian Tiandun looked at Ma Teng and asked leisurely.
"Sir Qian, I do have something important to tell you!" Ma Teng didn't waste any words. He knelt on the ground with a plop: "The day before yesterday, I received news that someone wanted to do harm to Haihan. I found out After learning about the situation, I rushed to Zhoushan to report the news! ”
Qian Tiandun thought that this was probably a ship sent by the navy to monitor Qushan Island and was discovered by Ma Teng. Seeing that the situation was not good, he decisively abandoned the original camp. However, Ma Teng was originally a suspect, and the information he knew may be more detailed than what the Ministry of Security currently had. Qian Tiandun did not criticize him at the moment, and only asked him to tell him the details first.
What Ma Teng said was indeed consistent with the investigation direction of the Ministry of Security. A few days ago, someone from Hainingwei conveyed to him the intention of Commander Ma Yue, asking him to prepare reliable manpower and ships, and prepare to rob Zhoushan in the East China Sea in the near future. Daming merchant ships sailing out of Dinghai Port. The message conveyed by the visitor was very clear, and it was to make Daming maritime merchants who cooperated with Haihan feel timid about the security situation in the East China Sea, and thus suspend or abandon commercial cooperation with Haihan.
Ma Yue has always been Qushan Island's backer, and the orders he issued to Qushan Island in the past have been relatively well implemented. However, what Ma Yue didn't expect was that Ma Teng, the owner of Qushan Island, would not be so obedient this time.
In fact, Ma Teng had participated in the East China Sea coalition organized by Wang Jialin long before Haihan attacked Zhoushan Island, and personally led his troops to Zhujiajian Island to fight Haihan. Of course, the result of that battle was something he would never forget. The elite fleet he finally organized was unable to fight back against the Haihan warship. The battle on land was even more disappointing. The coalition's weapons were not as good as their opponents. In the end, he finally managed to get in front of the opponent, but he couldn't even beat the opponent in hand-to-hand combat.
This complete defeat not only defeated the East China Sea Allied Forces, but also caused Haihan to encounter almost no decent resistance when he attacked Zhoushan Island, and successfully advanced westward from Shenjiamen Fishing Port to Dinghai Fort. When the Haihan Army bombarded Dinghai Fort, Ma Teng had already led his men back to Qushan Island. He knew in his heart that the Haihan Army was invincible, so he no longer wanted to be cannon fodder for the Zhoushan Gang. But asking him to take the initiative to ask for surrender from the Haihan people felt that he had been wronged too much. After the Haihan army captured Zhoushan, they did not continue to expand northward. Ma Teng was also happy to stop and planned to see how the situation changed before taking the next step. decision.
When Haihan held an investment meeting on Zhoushan Island, Ma Teng actually wanted to attend, because he knew that after the Haihan people took over Zhoushan, the general environment of this place would definitely change. If they could not join like the Sanlin Gang, In the trading system dominated by Haihan, sooner or later it will become the target of Haihan's attack. The situation of Qushan Island is far inferior to that of Zhoushan Island during the Wang Jialin period, and it does not have enough strength to compete with Haihan. In fact, surrender is the wisest choice. But Ma Teng was worried that his personal and property safety would not be guaranteed, so he missed another good opportunity.
By the time Haihan's investment meeting was over, people from Hangzhou had already approached Hainingwei to lobby Ma Yue. Ma Teng was still waiting to see the situation, and Hainingwei had already sent him an order. Ma Teng felt bad after receiving this order. His understanding of Haihan was much more intuitive than that of the Hainingwei commander. He thought that Ma Yue didn't know life and death yet dared to provoke the Haihan people. It didn't matter if he wanted to die but still wanted to drag people into the water. This was You are simply forcing me to commit suicide by jumping into the sea!
Ma Teng was not willing to become a victim of Ming officials seeking personal gain, and just when he was hesitant, Haihan warships were found in the waters around Qushan Island for two days in a row. For Ma Teng, who was already uneasy, it was like A reminder of life. If the Haihan people had discovered Hainingwei's plot, then his chess piece would have been swept off the chessboard by Haihan before he even started to move.
Ma Teng had already made two mistakes before. If he made a third mistake, he really doubted whether he would be lucky enough to save his life. He didn't have the courage to take any more risks. Between a desperate move and taking the initiative to surrender, he chose the latter this time.
Ma Teng was afraid that his subordinates might still have something arranged by Ma Yue, so he didn't dare to say anything. He quietly boarded a ship that regularly went to the mainland to buy food and went to sea. After sailing for a while, he showed up and asked the captain to change direction and sail to Zhoushan Dinghai Port. He has thought clearly that now the Haihan people have the final say in the East China Sea, and this situation can no longer be reversed by sneak attacks on a few merchant ships. If he wants to save his life and continue to make a living in the East China Sea, there is no way Bypass Haihan. Rather than being dragged to the end and being blamed for everything, it would be better to put down the airs and take the initiative to make friends early, and use Ma Yue's plan as a pledge of honor in exchange for the trust of the Haihan people.
When Ma Teng was halfway through speaking, Shi Diwen, who had received the news, also arrived. Together with Gong Shiqi from the Security Department, the three of them listened to Ma Teng's confession.
According to Ma Teng, in fact Hainingwei's plan is just a rough operational framework. Hainingwei will provide the time, location and target of the operation, and Ma Teng's people will be responsible for taking action at sea. However, due to the It is difficult to effectively guarantee the speed and timeliness of information transmission. In addition, considering Haihan's maritime patrol, it is impossible to dispatch a large number of ships. This almost squatting method may not be able to accurately intercept the intended target ship at sea, even if it encounters it. It may not be possible to succeed reliably.
Even Ma Teng believes that this action plan has many loopholes. Any problem at any point may lead to the failure of the action. Once Haihan realizes that this is a premeditated behavior, the perpetrator can be traced quickly. .
It has to be said that the planning and execution capabilities of these opponents in the Ming government are far behind. Even if Haihan is unprepared, such a plan will hardly cause Haihan much trouble. Although those Ming officials may have done a lot of preparation work for this, in Haihan's view, it was more like an armchair move. There was no detailed action plan, no reliable confidentiality measures, and no command system and emergency response plans. If this can make the Zhoushan authorities unable to deal with it, then the senior officials leading the team should resign early and return to Sanya to rest on their laurels and enjoy a comfortable life.
"What do you think?" Qian Tiandun asked Shi Diwen and Gong Qiqi for their opinions after listening. Shi Diwen shrugged and said: "I didn't expect it to be like this. It seems that the energy we put into this crappy thing is a bit redundant."
Gong Shiqi was more cautious: "This is just what his family said. We still need to verify the information we found from Jiaxing. In addition to the line of Qushan Island, Hainingwei may have other arrangements, so we must Defense.”
Qian Tiandun did not express his position immediately, but turned to Ma Teng and asked: "What is your personal relationship with Ma Yue, the commander of Haining Guard?"
Ma Teng was a little stunned, but he still responded honestly: "Both Ma Yue and the villain were born in Tongxiang, Jiaxing. If calculated according to the seniority in the countryside, Ma Yue can be regarded as the uncle of the villain."
"Oh, no wonder you guys got together." Qian Tiandun's question also verified the doubts about the relationship between the two in Wang Jialin's confession.
Ma Teng didn't know what was going on, and quickly defended: "The villain and Ma Yue are only related in the name of relatives, but there is no family relationship. It is just a purely financial relationship. Please be careful! Then Ma Yue agreed to seize five dollars after he succeeded. The five-cent account is obviously for the money!”
Qian Tiandun couldn't laugh or cry when he heard this. He waved his hand and asked someone to take Ma Teng down first. Then he said to Shi Gong and the others: "Although the opponent's strength is limited, this matter still needs to be settled steadily. On the one hand, it is Eliminate hidden dangers, and on the other hand, use it as an example to warn Zhejiang officials.”
Shi Diwen said: "The Haining Guards are easy to deal with. As long as they dare to reach out, we will kill them at sea! But what about those troublemakers in Hangzhou Prefecture? Just let them go around inciting others to cause trouble with us?" < br>
Qian Tiandun turned to look at Gong Shiqi. It was obvious that the military was not in a position to punish the current officials of the Ming Dynasty. If they really wanted to take action, they would have to use a special department like the Ministry of Security.
Although Gong Shiqi felt that this matter was quite difficult and difficult to handle, he knew that the two chiefs attached great importance to this matter, so he still cupped his fists and responded: "I am willing to try my best, but I don't know to what extent it is appropriate." , please give instructions from the chief.”
The three officials currently involved in this matter in Hangzhou Prefecture are not ordinary small bureaucrats. Yu Pingfeng and Guo Zheng both serve in the provincial agencies of the Ming Dynasty. Although Liao Xun is only a hundred households, Jin Yiwei is a privileged department. , His energy cannot be measured simply by his official position. And it is still unclear whether there are other people giving orders hidden behind these three people. Of course, the most critical point is that Hangzhou is still a completely unfamiliar area to Haihan. Due to its geographical location, it has higher risks than places like Ningbo and Jiaxing. Once something happens, ships may not be able to leave Qiantang. River.
Qian Tiandun hesitated for a moment before saying: "It's better to put this matter aside for now and finish the matter of Hainingwei before we talk about it."
"What should I do about this Ma Teng?" Shi Diwen asked.
"Ma Teng still has usable value." Gong Shiqi continued: "Ma Teng knows much better than us about the situation of the islands north of Zhoushan. If he provides us with information, the process of cleaning up the islands in the north will be easier. Quite a bit. In addition, we also need him to keep in touch with Hainingwei to lure the snake out of its hole."
The three of them made a brief summary. Gong Shiqi was in charge of Ma Teng's side, and Shi Diwen commanded the navy to prepare for war. As long as Hainingwei took action, they would be lured to Zhoushan to take advantage of him. However, it seemed that Hainingwei's intention was to use Ma Teng's people as cannon fodder, and Gong Shiqi had to devise a plan to get Ma Yue to die in person.
A few days later, Ma Teng followed Haihan's plan and sent his confidants to Hainingwei to deliver a message, saying that he had found out that two merchant ships would leave Zhoushan Island and go north to Yangzhou in the near future, with more than 200,000 taels of silver on board. of goods. However, it is said that there are armed guards on the two ships. Ma Teng said that he was short of manpower and hoped that Ma Yue could help. After succeeding, one should capture all 50-50 coins.
In order to make the news more realistic, the Ministry of Security also sent people to release the news at Jiaxing Zhapu Port and Kanpu Port two days in advance, saying that wealthy businessmen from Yangzhou had recently been shopping in Zhoushan, loading a ship full of Haihan goods, and the price was very high. Magnificent. Hainingwei's side verified it and found that the news was indeed true. They agreed on a time and place with the messenger sent by Ma Teng, and prepared to take action together in the East China Sea.
(End of chapter)