1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 155 The Sea Merchant Repairing Fortresses
Another month later, the fleet led by Li Nai set off from Guangzhou Port.During this period, "Furuifeng" bought two more big ships and some other supplies for the Haihan people, and recruited a group of craftsmen and crew members that the other party specified.Li Jifeng hopes that by sending Li Nai to visit and providing these personnel and supplies, he will show enough goodwill to the Haihan people in Yazhou and lay a good foundation for the long-term cooperation between the two parties.

It was not the first time for Li Nai to go to sea by boat. When he went to Beijing to take the exam, he took a boat north from Guangzhou, landed in Hangzhou Bay, visited some local teachers and friends, and then went to the capital by land.However, being able to travel as the leader of a caravan this time is indeed a new experience for him. He has been thinking about how to communicate with the Haihan people after arriving in the place along the way.

According to shopkeeper Li from Yazhou, although these overseas visitors were dressed a little weirdly, it could be felt that they were all well-educated, and they spoke and behaved politely, not at all vulgar like those Western barbarians.But shopkeeper Li also mentioned that these people don't agree with many of Daming's rules. At a small scale, they can be regarded as informal, but at a high level, their words and deeds are somewhat lawless.

Li Nai didn't pay much attention to these details. If he was a law-abiding maritime merchant, would he have the guts to manufacture and sell private salt? "Furuifeng" can grow step by step in Guangzhou to today's scale, but not all of them are legal transactions-in fact, whoever is a master of maritime trade, who dares to say that his butt is clean?
For maritime merchants, the definition of breaking the law does not lie in what is written in the Ming Law, but in whether they are caught or not. As long as they are not caught by the government, it doesn't matter whether it is smuggling or tax evasion. It belongs to the category of "legal".If you want to make a lot of money from maritime trade, you must take this risk.

Perhaps it was because there was an important person named Li Nai in the fleet, and the relevant personnel did not want to take the risk of sailing into the open sea, so the fleet's route became more conservative.After leaving the Pearl River Estuary, the fleet headed west, passed through Yangjiang, Maoming, and Zhanjiang, and then went south along the Leizhou Peninsula. After crossing the Qiongzhou Strait, it stopped in Qiongzhou Fucheng for a day to replenish and rest, and then continued along Hainan. The east coast of the island detours all the way to the vicinity of Sanya.

Such a route is one-third farther than going straight to Hainan from the Pearl River Estuary. The fleet stopped and stopped all the way, and it took more than ten days to calculate to the place.

When the fleet passed by Xizhou Island in Yalong Bay, they encountered the "Haixun 01" ship, which was digging guano and preparing to return to the port. After a simple communication between the two parties, "Haixun 01" led the way , Leading the fleet to Victory Port.

"Third young master, the cape in front of you is Jinmu Cape. If you bypass this place, you will find the port of the Haihan people." The person who spoke was the person Li Jifeng sent to assist Li Nai this time, the deputy of the "Furuifeng" main cabinet. Steward He Qiang.He has worked in "Furuifeng" for many years, and has been promoted step by step from an errand boy. He is also one of the few people with a foreign surname among the top management personnel of "Furuifeng".Li Jifeng worried that the fledgling Li Nai would be fooled when he traded with the Haihan people, so he sent He Qiang to follow him, to help Li Nai feel the pulse at critical moments and provide some reference opinions.

He Qiang has been to Yazhou several times before, so he is familiar with this route, and continued to introduce: "The harbor where the Haihan people stayed was called Yulin in ancient times, and the name of Shengli Port was changed after they came here. Here, you Looking at the strait in front, the cape on the left is called Yulinjiao... But this place is too far away from Yazhou, sparsely populated, and is attacked by pirates every year, so it is not a good place. It is said that because there are not many people here To settle down, the Yazhou government has withdrawn the government office here a few years ago, and only a few dozen miles inland can some Li and Miao mountain people live. I really don’t know why those Haihan people chose such a desolate place. "

"According to what shopkeeper Li said, these Haihan people are extremely smart people, and they act after making decisions. There must be a reason for them to do so." Li Nai did not think things very simply. His opinion It's the same as Li Jifeng, these Haihan people are bold and cautious when doing things, but they are definitely not aimless chaos, and you must be more careful when dealing with them.

While the two were talking, a white sloop suddenly sprang out from the bay on the right.The hull of this ship was flat and flat, but its speed on the sea was astonishingly fast. It made an arc far away in front of their fleet, and then headed towards the sea to the west.

"This is the fast sailing boat of the Haihan people that shopkeeper Li said!" Seeing the legendary ship appearing in front of him, Li Nai immediately went to the side of the ship and looked around: "It is said that there are two such sailing boats, one named One is called 'Lightning' and the other is called 'Flying Speed', but we don't know which one we saw."

He Qiang, who claims to be well-informed, also opened his mouth in surprise at this time, seeing the fast boat passing the sea at an astonishing speed, he could only murmur in his mouth: "So fast... so fast ship ..."

"Uncle He, in your opinion, how long will it take for this ship to go to Guangzhou?" Li Nai asked with interest.

He Qiang made some calculations in his mind before saying: "The route we came here seems to be a detour. If we go straight to Qiongzhou Island from the Pearl River Estuary, we can reach here in six to seven days, but at the speed of the ship, I'm afraid it will arrive in two days at most! I have seen the fast boats of the Frangji and the red-haired people, and they have nothing in common with this boat, and their speed is far inferior to this boat."

"Since the Haihan people have this kind of fast boat, why did they ask us to buy a second-hand sea boat from Guangzhou?" Li Nai frowned.

"There may be several reasons. For example, the sea cargo volume of the Haihan people is very large, and this ship is fast. However, the hull is flat and the loading capacity must be limited, which probably cannot meet their requirements. And the construction of this kind of ship may be very fast. Difficulty, as the Haihan people only have these two ships on hand, it can be seen." He Qiang boldly guessed.His conjectures were basically on the point. Haihan people bought ships because of insufficient capacity, and the materials and technology required for the construction of catamaran fast sailing ships were not available now.

The fleet slowly sailed into the strait next to Yulinjiao, and after passing here, it officially entered the Victory Port.He Qiang, who was looking around, suddenly turned pale, and said in astonishment: "Third Young Master, look at the coast on the right... what is that?"

Li Nai turned his head and saw a row of low buildings made of stones on the sloping land along the bank. Many migrant workers were picking up stones and shouting slogans to construct there. It seemed that it was an unfinished project.Looking at the part that has been built, there are very obvious crenels, which look a bit like a city wall.

Li Nai shook his head and said, "Why do these Haihan people build a city wall by the sea?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he himself realized that something was wrong.Sure enough, He Qiang responded tremblingly: "Third Young Master, that's not a city wall, it's a fort!"

"Fortress?" Li Nai was also taken aback: "Uncle He, did you really see clearly that it was a fortress?"

"When Humen renovated the fort two years ago, the shopkeeper pledged a cannon. At that time, the magistrate met the Guangzhou gentry who pledged the donation on the fort. I have seen the fort in Humen, which generally looks like this. You see, every place surrounded by battlements is the place where artillery will be placed in the future!" He Qiang was also somewhat knowledgeable, and explained to Li Nai in a low voice.

At this time, the place where the boat was sailing was less than [-] meters away from the coast, and the situation on the slopes of the shore could be clearly seen. When He Qiang said this, Li Nai also understood that the place surrounded by arc-shaped battlements , Isn't it just like a fort?

This time Li Nai's face also changed. Building a fort is not a joke. If it is true that the Haihan people built the fort here, it means at least three things: first, this place is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Ming army, otherwise It is absolutely impossible for the Ming army to watch outsiders build such military facilities here.Second, the Haihan people have cannons in their hands, and they are most likely not the kind of short-barreled and thick-bodied earth cannons that maritime merchants usually equip on ships, which can only hit some stones and iron nails, but the real Hongyi cannons that fire shells!Third, even if the Maritime Chamber equips the ship with some anti-pirate weapons, no Maritime Chamber will build a fort in the port. The Haihan people will do this, and their purpose and motivation are very doubtful.

Li Nai thought for a while, then forced a smile and said: "Uncle He, maybe we think too much, since even we who are far away in Guangzhou know about the existence of Haihan people, of course the Yazhou government has known about it for a long time, maybe The government has already restored the government office here, and the fort was built under the auspices of the Yazhou garrison."

He Qiang sighed with hatred: "Third young master, if such a simple thing, how could I not have thought of it? I have been to Yazhou several times, and there has never been a fort built there. When I went there last year, There is not a single cannon on the city wall there, only a few Fran cannons that can't hit far! If you really want to build a fort to guard the coastal port, it should be built in Yazhou, not this place!"

Now Li Nai couldn't think of any reason to explain the situation before him, but when he sailed into the harbor, he saw two navy Cangshan ships with "Ming" flags on the top of the masts. Heading out to sea.The costumes, weapons and military flags of the soldiers on the deck are all clearly visible, and they are indeed the sailors of the Ming army in the Yazhou water village.

The two looked at each other, feeling that the situation here was extremely strange.He Qiang said with a puzzled look on his face: "Could it be... I really thought wrong?"

(End of this chapter)