Chapter 1922

While Luo Shengdong was holding the reception banquet, a three-masted fortune ship slowly sailed into the Yinggehai Harbor. Due to the geographical environment, most of the transportation of materials and personnel between this area and the outside world relied on

Sea transportation is completed, so the number of ships entering and leaving the port every day generally remains in double digits, and merchant ships from foreign countries are not uncommon here.

After the staff at the dock guided the ship to dock, it was registered as usual. However, due to the conditions of this era, it is difficult to check the identity immediately, so it is only a symbolic management method. More

It is also for the convenience of management and statistics of port usage efficiency and cargo throughput.

The owner's surname is Xue, who claims to be from Fujian. However, he did not come here specifically to buy salt. He just saw that it was getting late and wanted to stop at the port here for a night to rest. This is of course a very normal reason. After all, the southwest corner of Hainan Island has a radius of

Within dozens of miles, only Yinggehai has better port conditions and complete living facilities. If you are willing to spend money, the restaurants and inns in the county can even provide as comfortable services as those in Sanya. Therefore, many ships

When passing through this sea area and not in a hurry, I will choose to use this place as a supply point.

In the past two years, the relationship between Haihan and Ming Dynasty has been improving day by day. Haihan officials have also slowly relaxed restrictions, allowing maritime merchants from Ming Dynasty to freely enter and exit Haihan's various trading ports. Due to the thousands of connections between Haihan and Ming Dynasty,

Inextricably linked, generally speaking, as long as you are Han Chinese or can speak Chinese relatively fluently, you will not face too many movement restrictions in Haihan.

The boat owner surnamed Xue walked around the pier and said he wanted to go to the county town for a good meal. He hired two carriages on the pier quite proudly and took a dozen crew members with him into the city. Before getting on the bus,

, he looked back at the pier. In addition to his own ship, there were also two conspicuous sailing ships docked there. The densely packed gun emplacement crenellations and gun windows on the side of one of the ships had already shown that

Its identity is that it is a warship belonging to the Haihan Navy.

After getting on the bus, Captain Xue told the coachman to go to the county town to find a lively place to eat. A follower next to him lowered his voice and asked: "Boss, why don't we go to the best place here, maybe we will bump into..."

Captain Xue shook his head and said: "When a big shot visits a small county town, there will inevitably be an official reception banquet. This meal should not be eaten outside. Find a restaurant with a lot of people in the city and see if you can get any news.

"

The floating population in Yinggehai is mainly sea visitors like Captain Xue, and most of them come here to do business related to the salt industry. There must be a lot of money in their pockets, and most of them are generous. Therefore, Yinggehai is

Although the place is not big, the service industry is quite developed, and there is everything you need to eat, drink and have fun. And places like this are often populated by people from all walks of life and have many information channels. As long as you find the right way and are willing to spend money, you can find out some local secrets that are not particularly confidential.

News can usually be obtained.

At this time, the reception banquet held for the Joseon Crown Prince and his entourage in the county government office was still going on, but the rhythm of the drinking fight had basically stopped, because the only ones still drinking were Luo Shengdong and Ding Xu.

, the two people could not tell the difference for a while, and the protagonist, the Korean, temporarily left the game, and finally chose to take the initiative to cease the war. At this time, Hong Jingwen, who was the first to be eliminated, had already sobered up a little, and returned to the game again.

Go to a chat group.

Luo Shengdong saw that Hong Jingwen had recovered a little, so he joked with him: "Brother Hong drank a lot today, won't it affect the business? Don't be unable to write the manuscript or pay the deadline, and let the superiors punish you with salary!"

Hong Jingwen waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter. The higher ups attach great importance to the publicity work for the Crown Prince's trip. I am not the only one responsible for it. I am not in such a hurry to hand over the things I am responsible for writing."

Zhang Qianzhi heard this and asked: "I heard that the publicity work had actually started before this departure?"

Hong Jingwen responded: "Yes, the superiors originally wanted to ask the Times to publish a special issue in these two days to report specifically on the Crown Prince's visit and inspection arrangements. However, there was not enough material, so it was canceled in the end. However, several Sanya officials were still instructed

The local tabloid was the first to warm up this matter, and it should have been published yesterday."

Zhang Qianzhi said thoughtfully: "If you announce the prince's inspection in advance, it will actually be unfriendly to security work!"

Hong Jingwen said nonchalantly: "Brother Zhang, you must be worrying too much! North Korea has no enemies in the South China Sea, so who would be interested in the visiting Crown Prince of North Korea? Besides, there are troops following this trip around the island. Who doesn't have the foresight to dare to jump?

If you come out to cause trouble, wouldn't you be asking for your own death?"

Before Zhang Qianzhi could speak, Luo Shengdong rushed in and responded: "Actually, no matter where this prince goes, the local area will arrange additional security measures. After all, no one wants to have anything happen to their own territory... Since Brother Zhang

I think it might cause a hidden danger, so after dinner I’ll...forget it, someone’s here!”

Luo Shengdong immediately called his adjutant and asked him to immediately gather his personal guards to be responsible for the safety of Li Bo and his party during their inspection in Yinggehai. Of course, the leading role in the security work must be left to the entourage from Sanya.

All the troops and local armed personnel needed to do was attack. Luo Shengdong actually didn’t think there would be any danger in Li Bo’s trip. His actions were mainly to show his positive attitude to Zhang Qianzhi and others, so as not to be thought that he was against

The safety of VIP guests is not taken seriously enough.

The local armed forces in Yinggehai are mainly two army companies stationed here. In addition, there are two company-level militia members. Most of the members are wounded veterans who have retired from the Haihan Army, or local young adults who have been naturalized.

.The militia trains twice a month and will be used as a reserve force in emergency situations.

In addition, there is a small-scale private armed force under the name of Luo Shengdong. Back then, Luo Shengdong was doing private salt business under the banner of Yacheng Navy. After making money, he secretly organized a group of people.

Train him as his own private army just in case of emergencies. After all, he was doing a business that involved losing his head. If he didn't have a group of reliable people around him, he would be extremely irresponsible to himself.

Luo Shengdong himself is a person with a strong desire for survival, otherwise he would not have chosen to demote Haihan. During the years when he was doing private salt business, he was also thinking about Haihan's training methods, and then he secretly spent

He spent a lot of money to train an army. However, he also knew that private training under Haihan was a taboo, so he took the initiative to report the matter to Haihan officials in the name of "private guard" very early. At that time,

Haihan also needed his special status to open up channels for the salt business, so he acquiesced to this sideline operation.

But later, when Luo Shengdong made enough money and wanted to give up business and join politics and enter Haihan officialdom, this private armed force became an obstacle. In the end, after some bargaining, Haihan executives were grateful for his merits in running the salt industry for many years, so they decided to

He is allowed to retain a private armed force of no more than 20 people, and all of them must not have any criminal record, are not allowed to use force at will, and must be registered with the military.

Although there are many restrictions, Luo Shengdong was able to maintain a private armed guard in the end, and there are advantages to having fewer people. With the same investment, he can have better individual equipment. Although Luo Shengdong's private guard

In terms of equipment, it is far from comparable to the Haihan regular army, but it is basically the best model that can be purchased from official channels. Luo Shengdong also pays out of his own pocket every year to invite retired officers from the Ace Army to guide training, and indeed uses real gold.

A small elite force smashed out of silver.

Zhang Qianzhi had also heard a little bit about this private armed force under the name of Luo Shengdong. After all, it was rare for such naturalized local officials to have private security forces in Haihan official circles.

Of course, Luo Shengdong is definitely not the only one in the Haihan officialdom who wants to own a private armed force, but raising an army is extremely expensive. Raising an elite force is not the same thing as hiring twenty servants or long-term workers. Being able to have such financial resources is still a waste of money.

There are indeed very few officials who can gain the trust of Haihan's senior officials.

Previously, after receiving Li Bo and his entourage at the dock, those who served as armed escorts were half the local garrison and the other half were accompanying armed personnel commanded by Gai Liangcai. There were dozens of people on both sides. In fact, it was already enough to protect one or two important figures.

More than enough. But with the addition of this private army who is familiar with the local situation, it doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Zhang Qianzhi understood that Luo Shengdong was also using this to express his feelings, but he would not expose this mystery in public. After all, Luo Shengdong's move was also a good intention, so he made corresponding arrangements. But for the superiors who had already arranged for the crown prince of Joseon to

After the inspection arrangements were announced, even without a detailed itinerary, Zhang Qianzhi still vaguely felt that it was inappropriate to do so. However, he also knew that some things should not be discussed casually in front of others, so after Luo Shengdong made adjustments to the security measures, he

I dropped this topic very wisely.

At this time, Li Pu and Li Xi also came back. Gai Liangcai returned to the house quietly after a moment of delay. After sitting down, he made eye contact with Zhang Qianzhi and nodded slightly to indicate.

Zhang Qianzhi felt that although Gai Liangcai got this job through some special means, he seemed to live up to his name, his professional quality was good, and he looked very stable, so there should be no omissions.

He originally wanted to wait until the banquet was over to talk to Gai Liang alone about security matters, but after Luo Shengdong sent additional manpower just now, Zhang Qianzhi felt that this was not necessary for the time being.

After the guests and hosts had a good time, Luo Shengdong arranged to send Li Bo and his party to the Yingbin Hotel to rest. Yes, that's right, although Yinggehai is only a small county town, it also has a high-standard reception organization because of its relatively developed economy.

It's just that the scale is much smaller. There are only two courtyards in the northwest of the county. But it is enough to accommodate Li Bo and his party. The Koreans live in one courtyard and the accompanying Haihan officials live in another courtyard. It is just right.

It can be arranged.

Li Bo only drank a little token of the wine during the banquet, and by the time the banquet ended, he was basically no longer drunk, so when he came out, he noticed that there seemed to be more armed guards inside and outside the county government office than when he came, and he couldn't help but

Some sighed, thinking that the Haihan people were very meticulous in their work, and even sent extra guards at night.

Naturally, no one would clarify Li Mu's misunderstanding to him right away. Instead, Luo Shengdong stepped a few steps faster and took the initiative to walk up to Gai Liangcai and whisper a few words, probably to explain to him about the dispatch of additional guards. Gai Liangcai

Liangcai's expression remained unchanged as before. After hearing this, he nodded slightly, indicating that he recognized Luo Shengdong's deployment.

This time, Gai Liangcai was basically responsible for the security of Li Bo's entourage. Until a higher-ranking officer came forward, the local security forces had to obey his call. However, the commander of the local garrison was only a lieutenant.

Gai Liangcai is currently the highest-ranking officer in the Yinggehai area. Even Luo Shengdong's private armed forces must obey his orders according to Haihan military regulations. So after Luo Shengdong adjusted the security measures

You have to report it to him to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

The road from the county government office to the guest house is still the main road that runs through the county from north to south, so when the convoy of this group passed through the city in the night, there was really a lot of movement. However, there were basically no other cars on the road at this time.

There are horses, so the traffic speed is much faster than before from the port to the county government.

"That's an official box-style carriage specially used to transport dignitaries... There are four of them, and there are riders on both sides. It should be them."

There was someone sitting on the street-facing seat on the second floor of a certain restaurant in the city who had been watching the movement on the street. When he saw the motorcade appearing, he immediately informed Captain Xue, who was still drinking alone next to him.

Captain Xue put down his wine glass, stood up and walked to the railing. He happened to see the motorcade slowly disappearing at the end of the long street. He then ordered in a deep voice: "Go and find out what's special about that direction."

Although it was already dark, there were still many customers in the restaurant, and there were sedans and carriages waiting for business outside the gate. It was not difficult to inquire about the local situation. He did not wait long before he received the information sent back by his subordinates.

: "Boss, it is said that the northwest direction is the local guest house. I think they live there. Do you want to send someone over to check it out?"

Captain Xue thought for a while, and finally shook his head and said: "We don't have any locals here, so don't act rashly, and I saw that the convoy was heavily guarded just now. I guess the Haihan people don't want anything to happen to the Joseon Crown Prince... By the way, the locals

The county magistrate seems to have been a military attaché of the Ming Dynasty?"

After receiving the affirmative information, Captain Xue nodded slightly and said: "It's no wonder that I am a military attache. Maybe these guards just want to show off and make the Koreans feel proud... Okay, that's it for today.

Until then, we’ll make plans tomorrow.”

The group quickly paid for their meal and left the restaurant, disappearing into the night.
Chapter completed!