Chapter 2005
He Huan insisted that Lu Kangtai send out the musketeers to deal with the Ningbo salt merchants by the canal. This was not just to safeguard the interests of the Shanxi salt merchants, or to express his attitude of continuing to crack down on Ningbo refined salt. One reason he would not take the initiative to say it out loud was that he was worried about Lu Kangtai and the armed force in his hands.
Although Lu Kangtai was one of his own and was a backbone of the Shanshan-Shaanxi salt merchants group, He Huan was still worried about him. The reason could be traced back to their ancestors. When Shanxi salt merchants entered Yangzhou to operate the salt industry, the three families of He, Lu, and Wang were the main ones at that time. However, it was not the He family that held the top position at that time, but the ancestors of Lu Kangtai.
It was not until this generation that He Huan showed outstanding ability at a young age and ran the family business successfully. The He family gradually surpassed the Lu family in terms of strength and took over Shanxi Salt from the previous generation of the Lu family. business meeting.
However, although the previous generation of the Lu family was not very good, resulting in the loss of power, Lu Kangtai, the head of this generation, is a powerful figure. He has become the head of the family at a young age, has taken over many of the Lu family's industries, and has traveled extensively abroad. , met many powerful people. The musketry team regarded as a secret weapon by the Shanshan-Shaanxi Salt Merchant Council was actually formed by Lu Kangtai's own connections. However, the Council was worried that such a powerful armed force would have many hidden dangers if controlled by one person. It was decided that the operating expenses of this team would be shared by each family. Fortunately, there was such a restrictive measure at the beginning, otherwise it would be difficult to mobilize this team now.
Lu Kangtai has money, brains and brains. Whether he will use this armed force to regain the top spot in Shanshan Salt Merchant in the future has always been a hidden worry buried deep in He Huan's heart. If possible, He Huan would like to take Lu Kangtai's Musketeers into public ownership, at least in name, from private property to public property, so as to limit Lu Kangtai's performance.
This is not an easy goal to achieve. Although the operating funds of the Musketeers are nominally contributed by various companies, in fact it is Lu Kangtai who runs this matter and provides weapons, equipment and personnel training to the Musketeers. The mysterious partner only trusts Lu Kangtai. The previous operations of the Musketeers were all planned and directed by Lu Kangtai. Therefore, if the establishment of the Musketeers was to be retained, He Huan could not kick Lu Kangtai out, but could only find a way to transfer the command power bit by bit. The ground was dug out of Lu Kangtai's hand.
It was based on this idea that He Huan realized that the present was an opportunity for the Shanshan and Shaanxi salt merchants to form collective pressure on Lu Kangtai, forcing him to direct the actions of the musketeers in accordance with the intentions of the council.
As for the risks mentioned by Lu Kangtai, He Huan still feels that he is making a fuss out of a molehill. All his judgments are based on some speculations without evidence. They are conclusive, but they sound more like they are deliberately avoiding fighting. He Huan believed that Lu Kangtai was playing his own tricks and trying to influence the council's decision-making. This was of course something he could not tolerate. Besides, Wang Yu's men were captured by mistake, which exposed the Shanshan Salt Merchant's position to the other party. If there was no follow-up action at this time, the other party would definitely regard it as a sign of weakness.
So in this atmosphere where He Huan took the lead in exerting pressure, Lu Kangtai could only bite the bullet and agreed to the request to dispatch the Musketeers. But the people present did not have a clear idea of how to act, let alone how to avoid government surveillance during the operation. When it comes to doing business, they are experts, but when it comes to carrying out paramilitary operations, these people are not good at it. It can even be said that they are basically laymen. Only Lu Kangtai is slightly more professional. So how to arrange the specific operation? In the end, he still has to be responsible.
"Give me three days to plan the action." Lu Kangtai said with a tired look. He didn't feel the pressure from within his own camp, but he also knew that if he didn't agree to these people's requests, his situation would be even more difficult. His original plan was to persuade He Huan and others to continue to wait and see, so as not to let the big backers behind the Ningbo salt merchants get the handle, but now it seems that no one will accept this low-key response - especially after Wang Yu sent people After looking for trouble, he hit a nail.
"Three days? We don't have the patience to wait for three days." He Huan shook his head again and rejected Lu Kangtai's suggestion: "At most, prepare for one day tomorrow, and do it the day after tomorrow!"
"There is only one day to prepare, this is too hasty!" Lu Kangtai sighed: "This is done outside Yangzhou City, under the eyes of the government, and you have to greet all parties. Just doing this takes one day. Not enough.”
"This matter can be done by others. You are only responsible for preparing for the Musket Team's operation." He Huan did not force others to do anything, saying that he could share part of the preparation work for him. If we understand it from another angle, it actually means that He Huan rejected his request to postpone the action in disguise.
Lu Kangtai knew that the situation was developing out of control, but his influence was limited and his words were obviously not very useful. Looking at the fanatical state of the people present, they all wished they could give Ningbo Salt Merchant a gift at their doorstep. Even the pot is served. But here he was the only one who saw how the group of Ningbo salt merchants easily defeated Wang Yu's men near the dock. Others had problems with their judgment of the strength of the Ningbo salt merchants.
"Since this is the decision of the council, I will obey it. Then I will resign first and go back to prepare relevant matters." Lu Kangtai was not in the mood to argue with these people at the moment. Since he could not avoid this, he would just Can find ways to increase the certainty of success.
The next day, after hearing the news, more people came to buy salt than the previous day. Compared with the salt on the market in Yangzhou, the salt shipped from Ningbo is of higher quality and cheaper, which is quite attractive to ordinary people who value affordable prices. Of course, no one thought about how outsiders would bring salt to Yangzhou for sale, but since the local government and salt merchants did not come forward to obstruct it, it means that the salt can be bought home with confidence.
Gong Shiqi and Ji Yuanqing actually found it a bit strange. The local salt merchants did not try to drive away or block the people who came to buy salt by the canal, and the government did not come forward to find trouble. This made all the countermeasures they had prepared in advance failed. null.
"It seems that we have misjudged our previous response to the local salt merchants. At least not everyone is unwilling to accept us." Gong Shiqi said: "Maybe some people are eager for us to disturb the muddy waters of Yangzhou."< br>
Ji Yuanqing responded: "I heard that the Huizhou salt merchants were very comfortable following the official route. It seems that at least the Huizhou salt merchants were merciful to us."
"Maybe they are showing mercy, or maybe they want to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between tigers." Gong Shiqi reminded: "Their lack of action does not mean they have good intentions towards us. Maybe they just want to use us to attack their competitors."< br>
Ji Yuanqing said: "Brother Gong is right. The information that the man recruited last night seems to be in line with the current situation." The prisoner they captured yesterday finally couldn't resist the psychological attack and spoke. They recruited him because he was suffering. The salt merchant Wang Yu sent people here to cause trouble. But obviously, both Wang Yu and the gangster leader seriously underestimated the strength of Gong Shiqi and his group, which led to the tragedy of overturning as soon as they met.
However, no matter how many hints and clichés Gong Shiqi and Ji Yuanqing tried, this person did not bring out any news related to muskets. He only heard that muskets were used in several salt merchant mergers that occurred in nearby state capitals, but The specific situation is probably not clear to the two of them yet.
Either this person is too low-level and has no access to information related to the Musketeers, or his master has no direct connection with the Musketeers. In their opinion, the latter is more likely, because since this person can be entrusted with the important task of leading the team to make trouble, it means that he is at least Wang Yu's trusted confidant, but this person has no idea about the situation of the Musketeers. I have no idea, obviously I have no contact with relevant information.
The only truly valuable information is that Wang Yu belongs to the Shanshan-Shaanxi salt merchant camp. Although the Musketeers seemed unlikely to be Wang Yu's subordinates, the party that took the initiative to take force measures was obviously more suspected to be related to the previous attack, so the Shanshan Salt Merchant naturally became a subordinate. Became the number one suspect.
However, Gong Shiqi and Ji Yuanqing had already appeared in Yangzhou and did not dare to leave the dock easily to go to the city to conduct investigations. They could only leave it to several intelligence officers who had arrived in Yangzhou in the early stage to secretly collect relevant information, and what they could do They were waiting patiently at the dock for progress in intelligence collection, and at the same time waiting for the local salt merchants to take further action.
They know very well that this wait is not indefinite, but they are betting that the local salt merchants will lose their temper and eventually use their big killer weapon. As long as they can make that musketeer team show up, their mission will be more than half completed. Wang Yu's action gave them hope. Apparently some people were beginning to lose their composure and were waiting for the other party's actions to escalate.
But just like the calm before the storm, everything turned out to be uneventful at the end of the day. Not to mention the Musketeers, even the lobbyists who came to ask them to leave Yangzhou were gone. This abnormal situation made them even more cautious, thinking that the time when their opponents would launch an attack was getting closer.
After dark that day, as expected, the surrounding docks gradually disappeared from sight, and even the ships moored on the shore left without making a sound. For a long distance, they were the only two cargo ships left alone. The ground rests on the shore. The vendors who were selling all kinds of food near the pier two days ago were completely gone today.
"It looks like it's tonight." Gong Shiqi was most alert to this change in the atmosphere and had already noticed the unusual surroundings.
"Okay, tonight's business is tonight. Let's handle this matter as soon as possible and let's leave Yangzhou as soon as possible." Ji Yuanqing also hopes to settle the affairs in Yangzhou quickly. The current situation where the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light is indeed a bit uncomfortable. ”
In order to welcome the arrival of the "guests", they readjusted their defense deployment and further shrank the tent circle used as fortifications toward the river to reduce the defense area. And a rapidly deployable accordion-type barbed wire was strung up between the tents. The barbed wire used by the army was specially coated with a layer of black paint. Without enough lighting, this thing would be almost invisible after dark. It has excellent defensive effect against enemies charging at night. If the opponent tries to rely on the large number of people to rush to close combat, the barbed wire fence can have a certain blocking effect, allowing the people on the river bank to safely withdraw to the boat.
The personnel responsible for serving as musketeers also received weapons and ammunition after dinner and entered a state of preparation for war. Some of them built the first line of defense with tents and barbed wire on the river bank, while others stayed on the boat and used the ship's side as fortifications to build the second line of defense. The height difference between the two lines of defense is just enough to form a three-dimensional firepower network, which is basically a simplified version of an amphibious beachhead defense position.
If measured by military standards, this team has less than two platoons of personnel. Building such a defensive position relying on two cargo ships will inevitably have many weaknesses. However, considering the strength of the opponent, It is just a private armed force supported by salt merchants. Its combat effectiveness cannot be compared with that of the regular army. This kind of deployment is basically enough.
In commanding this kind of positional warfare, Ji Yuanqing is definitely more professional than Gong Shiqi as a soldier. Moreover, he is a veteran who retired from the front-line combat troops. He is very familiar with Haihan's best positional warfare tactics and is also very knowledgeable in setting up defense lines. Gong Shiqi also followed the instructions and learned some very practical methods.
"If we really exchange fire with the other party tonight, then we will have to leave overnight." Gong Shiqi said: "I have asked the dispatcher to contact our warship and ask them to arrive near Wusongkou tomorrow to meet us. ”
Ji Yuanqing said: "If we can make a quick decision and resolve this matter before dawn, then we still have a good chance of getting out safely. After all, they don't have a telegram and can't notify the downstream to try to stop us."
What they were worried about was not that the salt merchants would organize fleets to pursue them after the fight, but that the Ming army would dispatch naval warships to intercept them. There are no heavy weapons such as artillery on these two ships, and there are tens of thousands of kilograms of unsold salt. If they want to escape and fight at the same time, they are likely to get into a hard fight. So if something happens tonight as they expected, they have to leave before the Ming army in the city receives the news and reacts. To be precise, they have to leave before the Yangzhou City gate opens in the morning.
"One or two hours should be enough to resolve the battle. Maybe then we will have time to interrogate the prisoners again - if we can catch them alive." Gong Shiqi seemed confident about the battle that might follow.
(End of chapter)