Chapter 1785 Joint Action
Although no evidence has been collected so far, He Xiao's intuition still believes that the purpose of Deng Qing's appearance in Ningbo is to be detrimental to himself. He gathered these people who did the dirty work together to prepare for the worst in advance. If Deng Qing didn't listen to the advice and still wanted to make a fuss about Haihan's purchase of grain, then he would have to do it. Be ruthless and cut off any bad signs first.
But He Xiao didn't know where Deng Qing would settle down. Although he sent people to track the opponent, the Jinyiwei were all professionals trained in espionage. He actually had no idea whether the people sent out could capture this target. of certainty. And if Deng Qing came to Ningbo with the purpose of causing trouble, it would be unlikely that he would act alone and would probably bring other people with him.
After He Xiao briefly explained the mission requirements, he asked these people to wait in this house and wait for further news before notifying them to dispatch.
That night, another guest visited He Zhai in a low-key manner, but this time it was not the one looking for trouble, but Lin Xing, the boss of the Sanlin Gang who was currently working for the Haihan people.
The three brothers Lin Xing, Lin Si, and Lin De of the Sanlin Gang were considered to be the first batch of maritime merchants from Zhejiang to join Haihan, and they also enjoyed the dividends of Haihan's local import and export trade. Now the three brothers spend half of their time in Ningbo, taking care of business for Haihan and handling some matters in contact with the local government. The reason why Lin Xing came to visit was because he was now the agent of Golden Shield Escort in Zhejiang. Today, He Li came to him to inform him about Jin Yiwei. There were some things that he had to discuss with He Xiao.
Golden Shield Transport is a relatively unique existence among the many official industries of Haihan. Because it carried some special functions when it was established, in addition to the southern merchants headed by Furifeng, the major shareholders also include Haihan military names. Among them, this is also one of the few industries that the military is directly involved in operating.
It is precisely because of this special shareholder that Golden Shield Escort's force value is several levels higher than that of escort agencies and carriage shops on the market. Even the flintlock rifles that have not yet begun to become popular among the Ming army's troops, Golden Shield Escort also has A certain amount of equipment, and a considerable proportion of its employees are veterans of the Haihan Army. In terms of personnel, equipment and training levels, the overall combat effectiveness of the Golden Shield Escort may be even better than that of the ordinary Ming army.
Because of this, most of the errands received by Golden Shield Escort are to escort valuables or important people, and the cost is high. However, because the scope of their activities is generally limited to Linhai prefectures and counties, and rarely goes deep into the interior, the government generally turns a blind eye and pretends not to know about their armed border crossings, so as not to bring trouble to themselves.
A few years ago, when the two countries did not formally establish diplomatic relations, most of the goods escorted by Jindun in the Ming Dynasty were smuggled high-value goods. Sometimes they would also perform some secret operations in the Ming Dynasty in the name of escorting goods. For some special tasks where it is not appropriate to dispatch troops, the existence of golden shield can indeed solve the problem.
As Haihan's activity area on the Daming coastline advances northward year by year, Golden Shield Shipping also expands its business scope to the north of the Fujian Strait. The three Lin brothers were originally local snakes in Ningbo, and their performance after joining Haihan was considered to be their best efforts. Shi Diwen slowly handed over some affairs including the arrangement of the Golden Shield escort business to them.
After Lin Xing took over the affairs of Jindun, he lived up to Shi Diwen's trust and gradually expanded his business scope from Ningbo Prefecture. Now, Jindun's escort team also undertakes business in Shaoxing Prefecture, Jiaxing Prefecture and other places. , not only has the operating income increased significantly, but also because the customers he comes into contact with are either rich or expensive, he has also expanded a lot of contacts.
Although Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo, has a personal relationship with Shi Diwen, who is in charge of Zhoushan, most of the matters between the two parties are handled by the people below, so Lin Xing and the He brothers are no strangers. Lin Xing heard that He Li said that there might be changes in the grain and grass purchase and that he needed the assistance of the Golden Shield. He did not dare to neglect it at the moment, so he came with him to see He Xiao to understand the specific situation.
"Jinyiwei..." After listening to He Xiao's explanation, Lin Xing shook his head slightly and said, "You really know how to be on time! I heard from the chief that this purchase of military rations was the intention of Sanya. If something goes wrong in the process, , Don’t talk about you and me, I’m afraid everyone who handled this matter will be held accountable!”
"Really going to fight?" He Xiao couldn't help but ask after hearing his tone.
Lin Xingdao: "I don't know whether there will be a war this time, but the last time Chief Shi personally arranged the purchase of military rations was probably before the Liaodong campaign."
He Xiao said: "Since the matter is so important, it is even more important for us to work together. Let me put it bluntly, can shopkeeper Lin mobilize manpower to handle the convoy of grain that is being transported to Ningbo from other prefectures?"
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Lin Xing said in astonishment: "To deliver food? Didn't you invite me here because you wanted the Golden Shield to dispatch horses to deal with the Jin Yiwei?"
"It seems that there is no need for this at the moment. I have already sent people to keep an eye on the hundreds of Jinyiwei households. If the situation really goes wrong, I will be prepared. However, I have limited manpower and it is difficult to take care of the food shipped from various places to Ningbo. That’s why I need shopkeeper Lin’s help to make arrangements.”
He Xiao is not in a hurry to make the matter a big deal. If this matter can be solved by himself, then he does not want Haihan to get involved too much. After all, the identity of Jin Yiwei is still a bit sensitive. If Haihan is involved, it may make things worse. The situation is out of control. The reason why Jin Shield was asked to escort the grain transport convoy was, on the one hand, for safety reasons, and this job was originally for Haihan, so it would not be appropriate for the prefect to mobilize the Ming army to come forward. On the other hand, it was also to take this opportunity. Let Haihan get vaccinated first.
Lin Xing said with a smile: "I can take this job, but if I remember correctly, there is no Golden Shield escort part in this military ration purchase contract. Speaking of which, if Golden Shield troops are to be dispatched, there will be corresponding provisions. Cost, what did Master He say?”
He Xiao naturally took this into consideration when he came up with this idea. Although the cost of hiring Jindun was indeed expensive, he knew very well that this was a value-for-money service, even if the profit from this grain transaction was diluted or even Even if you don't make money, you still have to buy insurance in this way.
He Xiao responded: "There is nothing else to say. I just hope that shopkeeper Lin will give me a better discount for his own sake."
"This is easy to handle!" Lin Xing stretched out a hand and waved it: "We are on our own, 50% off! Master He, don't dislike it. I can take nothing from you, but the brothers who go on missions must collect some money, otherwise there is nothing we can do Crossover.”
"Then thank you, Shopkeeper Lin!" He Xiao cupped his hands to express his gratitude.
The discount price reported by Lin Xing was a little lower than what He Xiao expected, which also made him breathe a sigh of relief. If everything goes well and there are no other additional expenses along the way, then after bearing this expense, this food order will There is still money to be made. Lin Xing took the initiative and said: "If...I mean if, Master He encounters difficulties in handling the Jin Yiwei matter, please inform us in time. In addition to escorting goods, Golden Shield can also do many other things."< br>
He Xiao nodded and responded without changing his expression: "Thank you very much, Shopkeeper Lin, for your kindness. I hope the situation will not develop to that point."
He Xiao understood that Lin Xing's words meant that he was still worried about his ability to do things, but he did not dare to rebuff the other party's "good intentions". After all, every word he said here might be ignored later. It would all reach the ears of Mr. Shi on Zhoushan Island through Lin Xing. Of course, reporting the current situation to Haihan in this way was originally one of his purposes in asking He Li to find Lin Xing.
Shortly after Lin Xing left, the people sent by He Xiao to track down Deng Qing's whereabouts also returned. Sure enough, as He Xiao expected, Deng Qing did not come to Ningbo alone, but brought eight subordinates with him. However, Deng Qing and his group did not settle in the city. Instead, they lived in a town about five miles away from the city. They did not reveal their identity as official officials to the innkeeper, but all pretended to be merchants.
It is not unusual for Jin Yiwei to assume various professional identities during investigations, but it is a bit strange for Deng Qing and his group to live outside the city. He Xiao noticed that the town happened to be located on the official road from Shaoxing to Ningbo. This seemed to confirm what he had worried about before-Deng Qing might start with the food shipped from other places to provide this food. Trade creates trouble.
But this was just a guess. In order to avoid exposing their whereabouts, the people sent to track Deng Qing did not try to get close to this group of people, so it was difficult to accurately judge their next course of action. But for He Xiao, he must first prepare for the worst and consider how to resolve the worst situation.
"Nine people..." He Xiao secretly calculated the manpower he had summoned, and found that his preparation seemed a bit insufficient. Although these people under him are all good players, they may not be able to gain an upper hand against Jin Yiwei one on one, let alone defeat Deng Qing's group in one go. Moreover, He Xiao is also worried about whether there will be people brought by Deng Qing hiding in the dark and only showing up to provide support when taking action.
"Is it true that the prophecy came true so quickly? Do you really want to ask the Golden Shield to come forward to solve the problem?" He Xiao knew that the methods he could use might not be able to completely solve the problem, and might even cause a lot of losses at the hands of Deng Qing. Manpower, there was some hesitation at the moment.
But He Li has already seen the stakes of this matter very clearly: "Brother, if you can't get the result you want according to your idea, then you might as well consider what kind of result you need to get first, and then look at the result. What means should be used to achieve it?”
What He Xiao wanted was to completely get rid of the trouble caused by Deng Qing. It would be best if he could make this person disappear from the world, but he knew that he probably couldn't do it. Can the Haihan people do it? The answer should be yes, but He Xiao still felt that it was inappropriate to leave this matter entirely to the Haihan people.
That night, He Xiao couldn't sleep, which made his dislike of Jin Yiwei reach a new level. It wasn't until the morning that he finally made a decision. It would be safer to leave professional matters to professionals, or to ask Golden Shield to handle it. However, in order to save face, he asked both parties to take joint action.
Lin Xing was not surprised when he received the news. No matter what purpose Jin Yiwei had in investigating this grain purchase, this behavior had obviously touched Haihan's interests. And Haihan never had much patience for this kind of situation, so he would just get rid of it.
The scale of operation of Golden Shield Escort in Zhejiang is actually not very large. There are less than 300 employees here in total. If they receive a few more businesses at the same time, they will be overwhelmed. But now in order to solve He Xiao's worries, Lin Xing plans to rearrange his manpower, especially those who have retired from the army, and need to be transferred to the front line to perform this task.
One day later, two caravans stationed in this small town called Changxing. There are only about two hundred households in this town, and most of them are farmers. If it were not located on the official road, it would be a stretch to call it a town. There are only two inns in the town, and both have the same name as the town. They are called "Dachangxing" and "Little Changxing" by the locals because of their scale of operation.
According to the intelligence, Deng Qing and his group lived in the "Little Changxing Inn", but there was no room for the two new caravans to stay here at the same time, so they had to stay in two inns respectively. Among them, Lin Xing personally led the team and checked into the Xiaochangxing Inn to monitor Deng Qing and his group nearby.
He Xiao did not show up directly in the local area, but he still organized the group of good people he had gathered and then handed them over to Lin Xing for command.
Lin Xing was not as eager as He Xiao. Before taking action, he still wanted to take the opportunity to find out the behavior of this group of people and whether there were any accomplices hiding in the dark.
But it was not the temporary combination put together by these two families that took action first, but Deng Qing's group who were under surveillance. The grain transport convoy from Shaoxing Prefecture entered the territory of Ningbo Prefecture via Shangyu and Yuyao, and Deng Qing and his group planned to intercept this batch of grain and grass in Changxing Town. Deng Qing was able to accurately grasp the itinerary of the grain transport convoy, and it was obvious that someone in the local area was selling him information.
However, Deng Qing probably didn't expect that the mantis stalks the cicada with the oriole behind. The better informed he is, the more dangerous he will be, and the more aggressive Haihan's tactics will be to deal with him.
"I don't care what the origins of Deng Qing and his men are. He has now threatened our country's interests, so we must show something."
As for the expression, Lin Xing didn't say any more nonsense, because news came from outside the town that Deng Qing and his group blocked the grain transport convoy on the official road. Rush over at this time, just in time to wait for the opportunity.
(End of chapter)