1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 137 New Inspection ([-])

Although Wei Ping is a little ignorant, he is not a fool. He has a basic idea of ​​what the Haihan people are planning for doing this.

The Haihan people hope to buy these people sent by the Yazhou government with generous treatment. This kind of bribery does not require the inspection department to do something for the Haihan people. Don't do it, don't even go out of this demarcated yard.It is more accurate to say it is captive rather than captive.

From time to time, there are patrolling soldiers on the nearby wall, and there are also people on duty outside the small courtyard. In addition to the low fence and wall around the courtyard, it is clear that this place is specially designed by the Haihan people for the convenience of monitoring and inspecting the inspection department. .

Wei Ping suddenly remembered that Luo Shengdong had emphasized several times before that as long as he obeyed the arrangements of the Haihan people, it would not be difficult to make a small fortune.And the situation I encountered now seems to just confirm Luo Shengdong's words. If you do what the Haihan people say, you don't have to do anything when you stay in this yard. Even the three meals will be prepared and delivered. Being a comfortable uncle does not need to be exposed to the wind and sun, and you can still earn hundreds of taels of silver every year, which is indeed more than a hundred times better than working as an errand in a desolate place like Tianya Town in the past.

Wei Ping had never heard of this kind of treatment in the past, and it was really hard to resist the temptation of Haihan people offering 50 taels a month, but Wei Ping still felt uncomfortable. s arrangement?Is it great to have a few stinky money?
Wei Ping thought that just as he was about to have an attack here, Luo Shengdong gently tugged at his sleeve, and when he was distracted, he heard Ning Qi continue to say: "If inspector Wei thinks the conditions here are not suitable, then go back to the cliff Just go to the state, and we will never stop it. But if you want to stay here and live, you must follow our rules."

"What if I don't follow your rules?" Wei Ping couldn't hold back after all, and asked with a bit of anger.

"I won't do anything to you." Yan Chujie, who had been silent for a long time, finally opened his mouth: "But there have been pirates cruising around recently, and they might land here in two days. In order to protect the local people, Wei Xunjian led his men to fight Die from exhaustion, we will definitely send people to Yazhou to ask for credit for everyone."

threaten!This is simply an undisguised threat!Wei Ping was so angry that his lungs were going to explode, and was about to turn his face and deny anyone, but he saw Yan Chujie put the copper whistle hanging around his neck to his mouth and blew it, and immediately saw dozens of people appearing outside the fence. Soldiers in green clothes with matchlock guns surrounded the small courtyard.As soon as the leading officer gave an order, dozens of guns were aimed at the dozen or so people in the inspection department from several directions.

Seeing this, Wei Ping yelled: "I am Wei Ping, inspector of the Yulin Inspection Department, and the rioters should retreat quickly!"

Those soldiers were all numb, standing there without even the slightest reaction, as if they hadn't heard his roar at all.

"If you train your troops privately and don't follow the law, you won't be afraid that Daming will send troops to suppress you!" Wei Ping knew that he would not be able to leave here safely, so he simply tore his face, hoping to scare the opponent.

"It's useless." Luo Shengdong patted Wei Ping on the shoulder with sympathy on his face: "If I could scare them with just one mouth, I would have scared them to death several times already!"

Tao Donglai said slowly: "Wei Xunjian, why are you doing this? There is no righteousness in business. If you speak so stiffly, we won't be able to let you go back to Yazhou. How about it? You have two choices, one is to stay in this yard and do your Yulin inspection well, we will raise you well and well, and let you go back after a year or two."

"Then what is the second way?" Wei Ping asked unwillingly.

"The second way... You should have seen those hard workers on the pier just now, right? If you don't want to adopt the first way, then we have no choice but to make it difficult and send you to work on the construction site. Of course, in It’s not as comfortable as the inspection department there, if you don’t work hard enough, you’ll be punished with a whip!” Tao Donglai’s tone was very steady, as if he was saying a matter of course: “But this hard worker doesn’t need to Do it for the rest of your life, after a year or two, we will let you go back to Yazhou."

Tao Donglai looked at Wei Ping who was gritted his teeth in anger, and continued: "As for your subordinates, if you choose to enjoy the blessings, then they can all enjoy the blessings, and if you choose to do hard work, then they also have to go with you Two years of hard work!"

Wei Ping looked at the expressions of these people on the left and right. Most of them lowered their heads and did not dare to look at him, but no one stood up and said anything to support him.Wei Ping sighed, knowing the huge difference in conditions, if someone would support him to fight against the Haihan people, he would be really crazy.

"If I follow you, can I keep the 13 people in my group safe?" Wei Ping knew that there was no hope in fighting hard, so he had no choice but to give in.

"Of course, I repeat, we don't want to hurt you, as long as you obey the arrangement and live a good life here. We don't want outsiders to interfere in the affairs here, including the Ming government." Tao Dong came to see him obey Once he became soft, he no longer threatened him with words.

"Our inspection department is fine, but what about their errands?" Wei Ping pointed to the two officials: "They are here to measure the cultivated land. How do they do things here?"

Tao Donglai glanced back at Schneider, and Schneider seemed to have been prepared for this, and said, "There is no need to bother with the measurement, we will measure the land ourselves. As for the registration book... you can write it casually." One hundred acres will do.”

One hundred acres?Wei Ping felt the deep malice in these words. Where thousands of people live, the arable land is only [-] mu?Although I don't read much, I didn't let you fool me like this!
Wei Ping hadn't changed his mind about this thought before he heard Schneider continue to say, "Don't think about the food tax. We don't have enough food here, so we can't pay the Ming court any more."

Schneider blocked this errand with a few words. Although Wei Ping was dissatisfied, he had already lost the courage to fight under the aim of dozens of firecrackers.What's more, even if he wants to fight, the people under him may not be willing to help him, maybe they will be pushed over by the people around him before they can draw out the waist knife.These people are willing to follow Wei Ping to this Victory Port, but they are all for money. It is impossible for anyone to fight with this group of Haihan people who are equipped with firearms. Will choose to turn against him instead of the Haihan people.

Then some soldiers stepped forward to take away the weapons they were carrying, and even checked the luggage carefully, taking away almost all the metal utensils, but none of the money these people carried with them was touched.

Tao Donglai finally pointed to the gate of the courtyard and said, "The scope of your activities is within this courtyard. You cannot go down the river casually, climb over this fence, or leave this courtyard gate without permission. If you find the above behaviors once, you will be warned, and if you find them twice, you will be punished." Send them directly to the construction site to do hard work."

Ning Qi added: "If you have family letters or belongings that need to be brought back to Yazhou, you can inform our sentinel. We have ships going to Yazhou regularly, and we will help you to deliver them to your home. Someone will organize you to take a bath the next day, as well as toilets." It must be poured in the designated place, and it must not be poured into the river!"

After listening to these admonitions with a livid face, Wei Ping watched the group of people walk out of the yard one by one.Luo Shengdong walked last, lowered his voice and said: "Inspector Wei, be more honest, they won't lock you up for too long when they see your attitude is good, so just do it yourself!"

After advising Wei Ping, Luo Shengdong hurriedly followed the team, and he had to hand over the cargo on the ship to Schneider and Ning Qi.This time he transported a total of 88 prisoners from Yazhou for hard labor. In addition, there were some goods purchased by the office in Yazhou and entrusted to him to send back to Shengli Port.The last time I took a batch of salt to Lingshui, Wanzhou, and Wenchang, the sales were very good, and the ship almost sold it immediately when it arrived there. The cheap refined salt produced by the Han people was sold to these places as much as possible.Luo Shengdong heard from Schneider last time that this kind of behavior is called "seizing the market". As long as consumption habits can be formed in the local area, the salt industry market in these places can be firmly controlled in the future.

The inspection department and the group didn't get over their anxiety. As soon as the executive committee members left, they immediately started discussing how to escape from here.

When asked about Wei Ping's place, Wei Ping just sneered and said, "Escape? Where are you going? There are sentry posts in the front, back, left, and right sides of this yard. We will be spotted if we make a slight movement. When the copper whistle on the sentry's neck blows, We have nothing to hide."

"Maybe we can sneak into the mountains at night, or go to the pier to grab a boat." Someone suggested.

"There are people living here in a radius of dozens of miles. If we go into the mountains, we might have to hide for a few days. What should we eat?" Someone immediately retorted.

"It's useless to steal the boat. We don't even have a boatman among us." Soon someone also refuted another way of escape.

"Why don't we wait a few days to see? Anyway, the leader of Haihan also said that as long as we don't make trouble, our lives won't be hurt." Some timid people began to suggest another option.

"Yeah, the Haihan people also said that they will pay double our original salary, and what's the 'office expenses' every month. Of course, the inspector Wei will get the most of this money, but we can also drink some Soup!" Some people who have a more detailed understanding of the policy just now have begun to wonder how much money they can get.

After discussing for a while, the group of people still didn't come to a unified conclusion, but it seemed that running away was not feasible, so they stayed and waited and watched the situation, which of course became their only choice.Standing in front of the fence, Wei Ping looked at the bustling crowd on the pier in the distance, but he was thinking about another thing—these Haihan people spent so much money, how did they get their money?To build a port and build a fort here, and to support thousands of hired workers, how did they do it?
(End of this chapter)