Chapter 850 Liuheng Island

The seemingly ordinary Shipu Port actually has such a function, but the Haihan military never thought of it when formulating the battle plan. The decision-makers, including the top military officials, only thought that Shipu was a fishing port and had no idea about it.

There is more hope. However, there are many harbors in the coastal areas of Zhejiang, and it is indeed impossible to say where such smuggling warehouses exist. And this creates a paradox - these maritime trades, which are completely operated by official personnel, are still

Can it be called smuggling?

After reporting to Qian Tiandun, Gao Qiaonan and his people successively cleared out a large amount of porcelain and other goods from the warehouses. A rough estimate showed that the value of the goods in these warehouses in the city was nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver.

Later, the soldiers found a batch of official silver from the bank of the official office of the city's garrison, totaling 6,600 taels. According to the accountant's account, most of the money was the military salary and daily expenses of the local garrison in the first half of the year.

A small part of what was needed was the personal property of the officers stored in the treasury.

The seizure at Shipu Station greatly exceeded the expectations of the coalition commanders. They originally thought that it would be good if they could extract two to three thousand taels of silver from this place. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a hidden cargo transit port. Even Xu Ke, the leading party,

After knowing the truth, he was shocked. He had come to Shipu at least two or three times a year in the past few years, but he never realized that such a big secret was hidden here. This is even the case in Shipu, and the prince under the rule of Na Chang Guowei

I'm afraid the situation at the two health centers in Xixi and Qiancang will not be much different.

He was not the only one who thought of this. Shi Diwen was already excited after hearing the report from his subordinates: "Old Qian, it seems that this trip to Zhejiang is going to dig out some gold mountains! I have to send a telegram back to Penghu to let him know.

Just send a few more cargo ships over there to bring in the loot!"

Qian Tiandun was not dazzled by this windfall. He shook his head and said: "We don't plan to go to war with the Ming Dynasty. Do we have to sweep these guard posts one by one? These cargo owners are all respectable people in Zhejiang.

, offended all these people, how can we do business here in the future?"

Shi Diwen didn't take it seriously and said: "If you offend us, just support a few more people. What we did in Qiongzhou can be copied here."

Qian Tiandun said: "What you said is correct, but it took us four or five years to straighten out various relationships in Hainan Island. Do you think the executive committee can have the patience to spend such a long time in Zhejiang?"

Shi Diwen argued: "Hainan Island is our own base camp. Of course, everything must be under our control. We don't plan to conquer Zhejiang right away, so we don't need to spend several years operating it.

People are interested in money, so as long as we make them aware of the benefits of cooperating with us, we won’t worry about them changing their attitude.”

"Even if some people change their original attitude, there will still be some people who are hostile to us because their interests are harmed." Qian Tiandun advised: "Although we are not afraid of anyone, there is no need to actively make enemies."

Shi Diwen thought for a while, and his attitude finally softened: "Then what should I do if I copy these goods now? Do I have to return them one by one?"

"How can you spit out the meat that you have eaten in your mouth!" Qian Tiandun shook his head and said: "Of course we can't return the meat that we have already received, otherwise the people below will think that we have any fear of the Zhejiang government. Let's seal them all first.

We will transport it back when the next batch of ships returns to Fujian."

At the same time, Ma Ling, Zhang Qian and others, under the "escort" of Haihan soldiers, showed up in the fishing villages around Shipusuo, asking the people not to panic because of the previous war - according to the official statement, this was the garrison's purpose to combat pirates

It was just a daily drill. As for the strange fleet that appeared in Shipu Port, it was the Haihan Militia Navy that came from Fujian specifically for this purpose.

This is also the first time that the coalition fleet has officially shown its flag since it entered Zhejiang. The reason for choosing this time is that Qian Tiandun and others considered that the coalition will set up here as an advance base, and at least in the short term, they will set up a garrison in Shipu.

, it is necessary to appease the emotions of the local people. Moreover, the large amount of goods found in Shipusuo City also proves that this is one of the transit ports for the smuggling trade in Ningbo Prefecture. There must be spies of pirate gangs among the fishermen living in the nearby area. Such a large area

It is impossible for the fleet to conceal its true identity for a long time. The only way that can be thought of that will have less psychological impact on the local people is that official personnel can come forward to prove that this is a government partner.

Ma Ling was really moved to tears by the arrangement of the Haihan people. He helped publicize it like this, which basically confirmed his collusion with Haihan. If his boss held him responsible afterwards, Ma Ling would have no chance to clear his name.

But he could not refuse the Haihan people's request with righteousness, because all the hundreds of households under his command were imprisoned by the Haihan people, and they gave him a multiple-choice question with no alternative answers-either cooperate, or accept the consequences from the Baihan people.

Choose someone from the household to replace him.

Ma Ling didn't want to disappear in such an unexplained way, so he could only cooperate to save his life first. As for several colleagues who might betray him later, Ma Ling also asked the Haihan people to deal with them on their behalf, so that they would not appear in public again.

.

On April 15, all the temporary bases originally established on Beiyushan Island were transferred to Shipu Port. The coalition forces listed the eastern part of Shipu Port as a military control zone, prohibiting fishing boats from entering and exiting the port from this direction. All captured guardsmen were transferred to

A small island in the harbor was temporarily placed under house arrest, and Shipura Castle was naturally taken over by the coalition forces and became the location of the headquarters. The commanders planned to allow the soldiers who had been fighting for many days to repair briefly here and wait.

First wait for the supplies of combat materials shipped from Fujian, and then continue heading north.

At the combat readiness meeting held that day, in addition to the senior officers of the coalition forces, there were also two more people from outside the establishment. One was Xu Ke, a hidden stake deployed by the Fujian military in Xiangshan, and the other was a secret agent from last night.

After thinking clearly about the cause and effect, he decided to seek refuge with Haihan's Shipusuo Senhu Maling.

Of course, the coalition forces would not immediately give him 100% trust in Ma Ling's defection. After all, this guy is from the Zhejiang government and has no interaction with Haihan in the past. His decision to make such a choice is completely dictated by the situation.

A move that was forced to save his life. If the situation changes another day, it is difficult to guarantee whether this guy will go back on his word.

The purpose of convening this meeting is to prepare for the next stage of the war. Going further north from Xiangshan County, you have entered the waters of the Zhoushan Islands, which is also the area where pirate activities are said to be most frequent in the Middle East. And the first to bear the brunt is

Liuheng Island is located at the southern end of Zhoushan Islands.

This island with an area of ​​more than 100 square kilometers is the third largest island in Zhoushan. The island's terrain is high at both ends and low in the middle. It has a long deep-water coastline and a wide hinterland of the port, especially the Shuangyu Waterway between Fodu Island in the west.

, has always been a good port favored by maritime merchants. However, the person who provided the most information about this place was not Xu Ke, the leader, but the Portuguese, one of Haihan's current partners.

Liuheng Island was nearly a hundred years ago, during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, after Deng Xun, a Fujianese, escaped from the Fujian Jianchasi Prison, colluded with the Portuguese who had just been expelled from Guangdong by the Ming Dynasty at that time, and settled on Liuheng Island in Shuangyu Waterway.

A port was built on one side of Hengdao to set up a smuggling market, and this port was called Shuangyu Port. However, at this time, the Portuguese participation was not too strong. More than ten years later, the four Xu brothers introduced the Portuguese to Shuangyu Port on a large scale.

He established a nest in the island port and colluded with the great pirate king Zhi to attract Japanese pirates to the area.

By 1542, the 21st year of Jiajing reign in the Ming Dynasty, the number of Portuguese people living in Shuangyu Port for a long time had reached 1,200, the total number of people from various countries outside the Ming Dynasty exceeded 3,000, and the annual trade volume exceeded 3 million Portuguese dollars. Regarding this trade volume,

For a simple comparison, the annual salary of Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese navigator who discovered the Far East route at the same time, was 1,000 Portuguese dollars, and he was already known as the richest man in Portugal at that time.

In his book "Travels", the Portuguese Fernao Mendes Pinto recorded what he saw and heard when he went to Japan with the Jesuit missionaries and passed through Shuangyu Port. According to Pinto's

According to records, Shuangyu Port can accommodate hundreds of sea-going ships. The port is managed by Portuguese colonists. It has the positions of municipal officials, judges, town mayors and other government officials. It has a complete urban administrative structure, and has hospitals, churches,

Charity Hall and other public facilities. At that time, the Portuguese not only operated trade with the Ming Dynasty here, but also opened the door to re-export trade with Japan. Most of the trade here was exchanged with silver ingots from Japan as circulation items. Its wealth

In terms of its extent, it was ranked first among the Far Eastern colonies owned by the Portuguese at that time.

However, Chinese pirates, Portuguese colonists and Japanese pirates, who colluded with each other due to the huge profits from the smuggling trade, caused more and more serious harm to the eastern coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. Incidents of foreigners harming the people of the Ming Dynasty occurred from time to time. Jiajing 20

In the seventh year, Zhu Wan, the right deputy imperial censor of the capital, was appointed governor of Zhejiang and supervised the coastal defense and military affairs of Zhejiang and Fujian. He appointed Fujian capital commander Lu Bor and deputy envoy Wei Yigong to lead Liu Enzhi, Zhang Siwei, Zhang Han and other generals to assemble 480 warships.

, more than 6,000 people from the land and sea armies surrounded and suppressed the bandit nest in Shuangyu Port.

After several days of fierce fighting, the Ming army captured the bandit leaders Baldy Li, Ji Tianpo, Gu Liangyu and others, destroyed dozens of pirate armed sailing ships, and killed hundreds of enemies. The Portuguese Pinto's account in his writings was even more astonishing, saying that the Ming army

As many as 10,000 Christians were executed on the island, including 800 Portuguese, and the total value of property destroyed was 2.5 million Portuguese dollars.

After the war, Zhu Wan personally visited the island. He originally wanted to station troops for garrison, but in the end he chose to block the Shuangyu Pass with wood and rocks sunk into the sea, completely destroying the pirate port. In the next three months, Zhu Wan commanded the troops.

Continuous campaigns against Japanese pirates in Nanji Island, Panshiwei and other surrounding areas quelled the banditry that had lasted for twenty years in this area. However, Zhu Wan's actions greatly damaged the interests of the local gentry and some officials who were able to divide the spoils, and inevitably attracted

Hatred, the imperial censor Chen Jiude, Zhou Liang and others impeached Zhu Wan for "acting well and specializing in killing and provocation", and impeached Lu Borong and others for "party Wan is good at killing and should be punished". The confused Emperor Jiajing ordered Zhu Wan to be held accountable.

In the end, Zhu Wan committed suicide unjustly, and Lu Bo and others were dismissed from their posts and imprisoned, and were sentenced to death. Later, they were exonerated and reactivated because the Japanese pirates were rampant again.

After this battle, the Portuguese suffered heavy losses and had to leave Zhejiang for the coast of Fujian. They were expelled several times and moved around many places before finally settling in Macau. Before the fleet set off from Sanya, the Portuguese heard that Haihan was going to march.

Zhejiang also took the initiative to provide a lot of information. Of course, their purpose was also very clear, that is, they expected Haihan to return the favor after taking a base in Zhejiang, allowing them to re-extend their trade routes to Zhejiang.

From the late Wanli period to the Tianqi period, the eastern coastal defense gradually weakened, and this area once again became a paradise for adventurers. Although the earliest Shuangyu Port has been abandoned due to siltation, this island facing the exit of Xiangshan Harbor still remains

It attracted financial investors to invest in opening and building ports again. According to Xu Ke's description, there are currently two ports in the south and one north of the island that are engaged in smuggling trade all year round, and these two ports are also controlled by two groups of pirates.

These two groups may not be the most powerful pirate group in the entire Zhoushan Islands, but their financial resources are definitely the strongest. Xu Ke estimates that the annual smuggling transaction volume on Liuheng Island is at least one million taels of silver, which is comparable to

It competes with Penghu, which was previously controlled by Shibazhi.

Of course, to run such a large industry, it is definitely not possible to just rely on a group of pirates. There must be local gentry on the shore who arrange supply and marketing channels for them, and people in the government who provide shelter for these gray industries. What exactly will this network involve?

Xu Ke didn't know how many people were there.

"Ma Qianhu, do you have anything to add?" Qian Tiandun asked Ma Ling, who was stunned.

The briefing just now really calmed Ma Ling. He didn't know where the Haihan people collected so much information about Liuheng Island, a lot of which even he, a native of Zhejiang, didn't know much about.

I have said it before. But it can also be seen from this that the Haihan people have made very full preparations for this operation in Zhejiang. They have collected so much intelligence on the background information of Liuheng Island alone, so the battle plan will naturally not be bad.

Where to go.

Ma Ling came back to his senses and replied: "Reporting to the general, I am a small family with a humble position, and I usually have no contact with the big shots above. The goods coming in and out of Shipu Port are all under the orders of the commander of Chang Guowei.

That’s all. As for how to coordinate the arrangements in other places, I really don’t know.”

"Xiangshan is so close to Liuheng Island. You always know the situation of the two groups of pirates on the island, right?" Qian Tiandun did not let Ma Ling go and continued to ask him.
Chapter completed!