Chapter 1994
Although Ji Yuanqing said that this was just a Yangzhou city defense map from more than ten years ago, Gong Qiqi was not a layman who knew nothing. He knew very well how troublesome it would be to get this thing from the Ming Dynasty officials.
The collection of urban defense information for important cities in the Ming Dynasty, especially large coastal cities, has never stopped since the establishment of intelligence agencies such as the Ministry of Security. It can even be traced back to Haihan's reconnaissance operation against Yacheng. However, the collection of intelligence on city defense conditions is generally fragmented information. After screening, sorting, and summarization, it becomes reference materials in the hands of intelligence agencies and the military. It is not easy for the Ministry of Security to really get the first-hand city defense deployment map. Gong Shiqi had been engaged in this work when he was performing field missions in the south, so it was difficult for the Ministry of Security to get the first-hand city defense deployment map. The city defense map is very interesting.
However, he did not have the temerity to ask Ji Yuanqing how the Military Intelligence Agency obtained such top-secret information. After all, it would be a great honor for someone to share this information, and it would be a bit overwhelming to ask for the channels through which this information was obtained to be announced. . Gong Shiqi was naturally not such an ignorant person, so he didn't ask any more questions at the moment. He pulled up a stool and sat down, and together with Ji Yuanqing, he and Ji Yuanqing studied the city defense deployment map many years ago.
This city defense map marks several city gates, urns, archery towers and other major city defense fortifications in Yangzhou City, as well as the directions of the main streets in the city, and the locations of several military camps and government offices inside and outside the city. The moat built using local waterways extending in all directions is definitely a highlight of Yangzhou's city defense.
Gong Shiqi was the first to give his opinion: "If the city defense can deploy some better-performing artillery, the place will be stable. However, with the military strength of the Ming Dynasty, it is probably just a symbolic installation of a few old-fashioned artillery. .”
Ji Yuanqing agreed: "The waterways here extend in all directions. Even if a strong enemy approaches the city, it will be difficult to form an encirclement. Unless the attacking force can far exceed the defenders and form a long-term siege, it may be difficult to break the city."
Of course, their view was not that the Haihan Army was the imaginary attacker. If the Haihan Army attacked the city, it would no longer matter whether the defenders were equipped with artillery. After all, a fortified city like Manila that was guarded by Spanish troops could not withstand the Haihan Army's offensive. It should not be particularly difficult for the Haihan Army to capture Yangzhou City. But if the armed forces of the same era attacked Yangzhou, it would probably take a lot of trouble.
In the original history, only eight years later, the Qing army really went south to attack Yangzhou City. At that time, the strength of the Qing army was ten times that of the defenders. They surrounded Yangzhou City. There were several red cannons in the army as siege weapons, and they were still in a state of strong morale after winning consecutive battles. It still took a full month. It took a long time to break through Yangzhou City guarded by Shi Kefa. And this situation coincides with Ji Yuanqing's views at this time.
Ji Yuanqing naturally does not have the superpower to foresee the future, and the judgments he makes are based on his own personal experience. However, his purpose in studying this city defense map was not to lead his army to break the city in the future, but to be as familiar with the situation of Yangzhou City as possible, so that if there was an emergency evacuation of Yangzhou City, he would at least be more confident. And this purpose does not need to be stated specifically, Gong Shiqi can understand it implicitly, and this tacit understanding will save a lot of trouble for both of them.
"Early tomorrow morning, brother Ji, please help me arrange the spare carriages and horses. They must be in place as soon as possible." Gong Shiqi paused and added: "Perhaps we need to prepare an extra fast boat in case we go by land. No, these two ships are being targeted again, so we have to find another way to leave this place.”
Ji Yuanqing nodded and said: "Tomorrow morning I will go see my local colleagues to finalize the car and horse arrangements. As for the spare clipper, I will also ask someone to look for it first."
Thinking about defeat before thinking about victory is not because Gong Qiqi is afraid of war, but rather to take preventive measures in the action links that may have loopholes and avoid unnecessary risks as much as possible. Of course, there is a possibility that the operation will fail. If it does get to that point, it will be their mission to bring these elites who participated in the operation safely back to Zhoushan. The Executive Committee, the Ministry of Security, and the military have not issued a kill order for this mission, so their lives are far more precious than the target anyway. When necessary, the first choice is to ensure the safety of our own personnel and withdraw to Zhoushan.
As for whether a local salt merchant would show up tomorrow, the two agreed that it was very likely. Even if they didn't show up, they would definitely ask their subordinates to come over and test it out. The place where they parked their ships was actually very close to the dock where the local salt merchants shipped goods. In addition, someone who was interested must be keeping an eye on the whereabouts of their two ships. The other party probably would not let them safely ship goods outside Yangzhou city.
However, in this bustling place along the canal outside the south gate, the other party should be unlikely to openly attack. The previous attacks had all occurred in areas outside Yangzhou. They believed that the instigators behind these attacks were likely to avoid attacking on their own territory, so they came directly to Yangzhou to block the door, which might really make the other party feel taboo. , Don’t dare to be violent at the door of your home.
But there is always a risk in everything, and no one can guarantee whether someone will take the risk and send a group of desperadoes to capture these two ships, so it is still necessary to make preparations in advance.
During their operation, the two departments dispatched a total of nearly thirty combatants, in addition to several technicians and more than twenty sailors from the navy, totaling fifty or sixty people. Armed with dozens of people, and relying on the two salt-carrying ships with specially reinforced hulls as bunkers, they can deal with at least ten times more enemies - the specific situation depends on the opponent's combat effectiveness. If it is a civilian armed organization that only uses cold weapons, then the strength comparison coefficient is estimated to be even larger.
But they don't want to start a direct battle with their opponents outside Yangzhou City. Even if such a battle can easily defeat the opponent, they will have to leave the place as soon as possible after the battle. In the end, it will not be conducive to the investigation they need to conduct. Work.
Moreover, in the action plan formulated by Gong Shiqi, fighting was not the first choice. They hoped to take advantage of the conflict of interests between different camps of Yangzhou salt merchants to differentiate them. Gong Shiqi believes that not all salt merchants will choose to use force to deal with the entry of foreign salt. After all, there should be some people who choose to protect their own interests through negotiation and cooperation out of long-term considerations.
Of course, this is just Gong Shiqi's unilateral idea for the time being. Whether it can be realized depends on the future direction of the situation. But Gong Shiqi is quite confident about this, and there should be a clearer signal soon after dawn.
The two of them discussed it until late at night, and then they took a break. Gong Shiqi didn't go back to the hotel on shore, and slept all night on the boat. He moves around all year round and is extremely adaptable to the environment. Whether he lives on the boat or on the shore this night does not have much impact on him.
In fact, I didn't sleep for too long, and the sky began to turn white. The people staying at the hotel returned to the dock very early, even earlier than Ji Yuanqing who had to leave early in the morning. However, this was not because Ji Yuanqing was just sleeping. He had actually gotten up and packed up. However, the local manpower arranged by the Military Intelligence Bureau lived in the city. He could only go into the city to find people after the city gate opened in the early morning. Gong Shiqi also appeared on the deck before Ji Yuanqing set off. After the two briefly exchanged a few words, Ji Yuanqing led several of his men into the city.
After another hour or so, the sky finally slowly became brighter, and the sailors who got up early to prepare for departure on the riverbank dock, the migrant workers who came to pick up work when there were few people, the fishermen who had caught the first batch of fish in the morning, and the fishermen who had started to Businessmen discussing business transactions gradually made the place lively.
Gong Shiqi was sitting on the side of the boat, eating breakfast and observing the people coming and going on the pier. He couldn't help but be a little surprised at the prosperity of this place. Although I had heard before coming here that the shipping industry based on the canal was very developed, and with the blessing of the salt industry, Yangzhou City had always been the trade center of the Jianghuai region, but seeing the prosperity here with my own eyes still made me sad. Gong Shiqi immediately thought of the scene in Sanya.
Although the size of the port here is far less than that of Sanya, the prosperity of the dock area is indeed comparable. However, since the piers here are built on the edge of the canal, which is not very wide, the docking space left for ships is very limited. In order to accommodate more ships, the only way is to extend the pier infinitely along the river bank. Go out until the entire river bank is turned into a small dock connected to each other.
The place where the two ships of Gong Shiqi docked was less than half a mile away from the local salt industry wharf. However, the salt wharf there was only open to local salt merchants and agents from other places who came to buy salt. It was not considered at all. There have been situations like Gong Qiqi’s case of transporting salt to Yangzhou for sale.
Gong Shiqi had no intention of going to the Salt Wharf to ask for trouble. He knew that it would be impossible for the two salt ships to dock and unload, so he specially found a place that was closer. In this way, the actions he made here should soon reach the ears of local salt merchants.
Gong Shiqi's method was very simple, that is, he asked people to hang a huge sign on the side of the ship - high-quality refined salt, low-quality price. Each word is scrawled in white paint on a two-foot-square board. It stands out against the dark background of the ship's side and can be seen from a long distance away.
Then he sent a few smart men to the dock and prepared several large packages of "samples". If anyone was curious and came to find out, the samples would be given to them for inspection and tasting.
Because the production process of the salt produced by Haihan's salt factory is more exquisite, the purity of the salt is better than the ordinary salt sold in the Ming Dynasty. Ordinary people can immediately notice this quality difference by comparing it with the real thing. . In order to seize the market, Haihan Salt adopted a low-price dumping strategy in new sales areas. It first occupied the market and defeated its competitors, and then slowly raised the price to normal levels.
Although this sales routine is simple, it has been tried and tested because of its simplicity, and Ming Dynasty does not have a good way to deal with it. The production cost of Haihan salt is low, which leaves more room for middlemen and local governments to operate. Therefore, it often appears on the market as official salt and it is difficult to ban it. In recent years, the official salt fields in Fuzhou and Guangzhou in the south have either closed down directly or been merged by Haihan and then shipped through backdoor sales. The two salt fields in Ningbo have followed the latter path. Let the salt produced obtain the status of official salt.
Yangzhou salt merchants have no choice but to resist Ningbo salt. They cannot monopolize the sales of Ningbo salt, and the quality of salt produced along the Jianghuai coast is not as good as Ningbo salt, not to mention that Ningbo salt is still low-priced. If they do not resist, they will The sales volume of the salt on hand will definitely be greatly reduced. Fortunately, the actions they took in the early stage were relatively effective. So far, large quantities of Ningbo salt have not been sold in Jianghuai market.
In this place where people were coming and going, people soon noticed the eye-catching sign hanging on the side of the ship. They were surprised by this widely advertised method of selling salt, and slowly gathered around to see what was going on. Upon seeing this, several men pretending to be waiters immediately called to the onlookers and asked them to come forward to identify the difference between refined salt and ordinary table salt.
"This is fine sea salt made with precision. It has less impurities and a good salty taste. One pound of fine salt can be used as one and a half pounds of coarse salt. The price is cheaper than the coarse salt on the market. Except for our Donghaiji, other places can You can’t buy good quality salt so cheaply!”
"Both wholesale and retail are available. The minimum price is half a catty. The more you buy, the cheaper it is. If you want to buy in large quantities, please come to the ship to negotiate with our boss face to face. We guarantee your satisfaction!"
Selling salt out of Yangzhou City Gate in such a wild way naturally quickly attracted the attention of interested people. The Salt Merchant Wharf was very close at hand, and soon several groups of people came to watch. These people did not make any trouble, but after watching for a while, they joined forces to drive the onlookers aside.
A man in his forties with a mustache clasped his hands behind his back, walked to the front unsteadily, and said to the salt sellers: "You are really capable of selling salt here..." Who is your boss? Come out and meet us!”
These guys had already expected the current situation. One of them stepped forward and said with a fist in his hand: "This master, my boss is waiting for you on the ship at this time. Please come on board and meet me by yourself."
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"This is not a small show!" Hearing this, the mustached man squinted his eyes slightly and looked up at the two sailboats docked on the shore: "It seems that he is well prepared, okay! Then I will get on the boat and take a look. Today What kind of extraordinary person has come to Yangzhou City!”
(End of chapter)