1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2213
In a certain courtyard in Yangzhou City, Lu Kangtai with red eyes was processing information reported from various places inside and outside the city.

Considering that his opponent would probably sneak into the city when the city gates just opened in the morning, Lu Kangtai had already deployed manpower at various city gates and water gates in Yangzhou City to monitor in advance, and he himself was also on the fifth watch. I got up early in the morning so that I could dispatch people to take action against suspicious objects as soon as possible.

However, there are too many vehicles, boats and pedestrians entering the city after the opening of the twelve city gates and four water gates in the morning, and it is impossible for Lu Kangtai's people to participate in the interrogation, so they can only monitor nearby. , this errand is not easy to do.

Of course, Lu Kangtai didn't have so many professional manpower, and the quality of the people assigned to the passages into the city was uneven. Many people didn't know how to distinguish suspicious targets, and they couldn't ask Lu Kangtai for instructions immediately. The information gathered here by Lu Kangtai is messy and complicated, making it difficult for him to filter out the truly valuable information.

Within half an hour after the water gates of various cities were opened, more than a dozen convoys and seven convoys entered the city, and more than a thousand people of all kinds scattered into the city.Moreover, with the passage of time, the flow of people entering the city continued to increase, and the personnel deployed by Lu Kangtai at various checkpoints would soon lose the ability to continuously monitor.

Lu Kangtai concluded in advance that if the top figures of the seven surnames wanted to enter the city, the most appropriate way was to hide in the convoy or fleet, so that they could bring a large number of guards into the city without being too ostentatious.But even if he had anticipated this, the preparations he had made were still insufficient. The manpower deployed at various checkpoints was simply not enough to follow up so many tracking objects at the same time, and the delay in information feedback prevented him from making timely decisions. Adjustment.

Lu Kangtai looked at the piles of paper messages sent back from everywhere on the table, and he felt a headache at the moment. The situation he needs to deal with now is far more complicated than he expected, and the capable manpower he can call is actually not enough. Only two or three hundred people must be carefully transferred to avoid problems.

If these people are scattered and dispatched without confirming the real target, then when it really needs to be done, he can't get these people to regroup quickly, and they may be defeated by the opponent one by one.

Fortunately, Lu Kangtai also stayed behind. Although it was difficult to find the other party's whereabouts during the process of entering the city, he knew that as long as the other party entered Yangzhou City, he would inevitably report to the Si Yamen of the Huaihe River Capital and transfer to the Salt Transport Envoy. Sooner or later, he will guard the Yamen Will wait until the other party automatically shows up.It's just that in that way, you can only wait for the other party to return and then look for an opportunity to attack, which reduces the chance by half in vain.

"Keep an eye on the Yamen of the Salt Transport Department. If there is any disturbance, report to me immediately!" Lu Kangtai had no choice but to let the personnel deployed at various checkpoints give up continuing to monitor, and instead concentrate all their forces on the opponent's destination .

The house where Lu Kangtai lives is very close to the Yamen of the Salt Transport Department, and the straight-line distance is less than a hundred feet away, so once the other party shows up near the Yamen, he can quickly get a report from the front, so as to make further arrangements for the existing personnel. Make transfers.

He was sure that after the official document was issued by the Yamen of the Salt Transport Department, the other party would definitely not be able to accept the serious consequences of shutting down all the properties under his name, and he would definitely enter the city within a day or two at the latest, and go to the Yamen to find a relationship to settle the matter Therefore, squatting at the Yamen is equivalent to guaranteeing the bottom line of this operation, at least not allowing the other party to come and go freely in Yangzhou City.

As for where to start, because it is impossible to predict the opponent's action route in and out of the city, Lu Kangtai can only delineate a few places as alternatives.Moreover, both the time and the environment are obviously limited, and it is difficult to conduct a preview before the official attack. Even if the enemy is unprepared, Lu Kangtai is actually not fully sure that he will succeed.

But Lu Kangtai has no choice. He can use fewer and fewer means now. If he doesn't step up to seize every opportunity to attack the opponent, the situation will only develop rapidly in a direction that is not conducive to his side.Although he still doesn't know Haihan's strategy for Yangzhou, he has already sensed that after Haihan's intervention, he probably won't leave any room for the Shanxi salt merchants to gain a foothold.

Lu Kangtai didn't think he could continue to fight against Haihan, so the only turning point was to wipe out the seven major surnames first, and then use the market and channels he had in his hands to bargain with the Haihan people, so as to resolve the conflict with Haihan. conflict of interest among them.

As for the casualties in the fight last year, Lu Kangtai believed that Haihan people would not care too much about the past festivals because of the current interests. The key is to prove that they are stronger than the Huizhou salt merchants, and that Haihan is the only cooperation partner that Haihan can choose in Yangzhou.

On this point, in fact, some people think the same as him.In a carriage in the city, Dai Yingda was explaining the current situation to Lin Zhong.

"Our Huizhou salt merchants and Haihan Kingdom will cooperate for a long time, not only in the salt trade, but also in many other fields in the future. This will bring many long-term benefits to both of us... Lu Kangtai and his like You always only know how to sell salt, how can you understand these principles!" Dai Yingda explained, but at the same time he did not forget to step on his opponent.

Of course, only a small half of these scenes were for Lin Zhong, and more of the purpose was to express his heart to Yuan Tao who was standing next to him.Now that the Anhui salt merchant has bet almost all of his wealth on Haihan's side, he naturally wants to show Yuan Tao his firm attitude of cooperation at all times in order to win Haihan's support.

Now that we are talking about the topic of cooperation, Yuan Tao must of course say: "The cooperation in the salt industry is just the beginning. We will help Huizhou salt merchants improve their overall strength through personnel training. By the way, I heard Boss Dai's suggestion But brother Lin's only son is also among the trainees going to Zhoushan Island this time?"

Lin Zhong quickly responded: "The dog is only able to get this training opportunity because of the wrong love of the master. I hope he can live up to the expectations of the master and learn the real skills of your country in Zhoushan Island."

Yuan Tao nodded and said: "When this matter is over, I will contact Zhoushan to see if Brother Lin's only son needs to be taken care of, and let him arrange it."

Dai Yingda also continued: "After you go back, I will arrange a boat to take you to Zhoushan. Then I will ask Shopkeeper Yuan to help you arrange a meeting between your father and son."

Lin Zhong thanked him repeatedly. His son was selected as an elite and sent to Zhoushan. This was originally a favor from Dai Yingda to him.After all, this group of trainees are mainly members of the seven surnames, and there are very few children with other surnames. Those who can be among them are either excellent in skills or have a deep enough background, and his son was directly selected by Dai Yingda. It should be the latter.

Although Lin Zhong didn't quite know Yuan Tao's influence in Zhoushan, but seeing that Dai Yingda obeyed his words, it must be that what he said was not bragging, and now he was determined to complete the task and escort Dai Yingda out of the city safely belief.

Among the men Dai Yingda brought into the city were already familiar with the roads in the city. After Lin Zhong explained the route to him, he didn't have to keep an eye on him all the time.However, after a brief conversation with Dai Yingda and Yuan Tao, Lin Zhong still took the initiative to leave the carriage and sat next to the groom driving the carriage to ensure that the convoy was traveling on the route he had set.

The distance from Yijiangmen to the Yamen of the Salt Transport Department in the north of the city is actually not far away, but Lin Zhong considered that the other party might arrange an assassination attack on the way, so he took the initiative to bypass those affiliated to the Shanshan salt merchants in the city when planning the route. Industry, so as not to step into the trap set by the other party.In this way, although the risk is reduced a lot, the journey will inevitably be farther.

In fact, at this time, Lu Kangtai was feeling overwhelmed by the fragmented information collected from various places. Even if someone was following the convoy that Dai Yingda was in, since he could not determine its route, it was too late to arrange manpower to carry out the attack on the way up.

There was no trouble on the way, and the convoy arrived at the Yanyun Siyamen in the north of the city without any problems.But Dai Yingda and Yuan Tao discovered that this was the time when the yamen started to work. It seemed that Lin Zhong had already calculated the time spent on the way when planning the route, and rushed to the yamen in time, so that he didn't have to wait for the yamen. Open the door to work, and you will not have to wait in line because there are too many people coming to do business.

Dai Yingda would come here several times a year to go through the procedures related to the operation of the salt industry. He was quite familiar with this place. Now, the yamen servant who asked to go to the door first showed his identity and purpose of coming, and confirmed that the Salt Transport Envoy was free to meet him at this time. , it was Yuan Tao who gave the signal first, and then personally escorted him out of the car.

As soon as Dai Yingda came down, the guards who had received the signal and were waiting outside surrounded several layers inside and outside.The innermost layer is Yuan Tao and Dai Yingda's four armed guards, guarding him.Surrounding these people were more than a dozen guards of Golden Shield, carefully watching the surrounding environment.There are also some people who have stayed in the carriages of the carriages and have not shown up, but they are also on their own guard. Once there is a change in the surroundings, these carriages will immediately stick out a number of muzzles and turn them into deadly firepower points.

It was only ten feet away from the place where the convoy stopped to the gate of the Yanyun Division, but Yuan Tao was careful to let the guards try to block Dai Yingda's figure to avoid a surprise attack.He knew that the opponent still had some musketeers under his command. Although the chances of attacking at the gate of the yamen were extremely small, there was no guarantee that the opponent would take the risk.So he had to make sure that when Dai Yingda was exposed, no one nearby could hit him directly with a musket.

Dai Yingda was quite relaxed, and said to Yuan Tao calmly: "I am familiar with Mr. Salt Transport Envoy, and I am sure that the measures he took before were just asking for money. We just need to talk about it face to face." , there will be no trouble, as long as the joints here are opened, the opponent will not be able to come back for a second time in a short time."

Dai Yingda didn't know how much the salt transport envoy had received from the opponent, but he knew that the price he was going to offer today was out of pocket, and it would definitely be higher than the opponent.Since the Salt Transport Envoy waded into this muddy water for money, Dai Yingda will make him give up his principles again for money today.

Dai Yingda walked to the door, turned to Yuan Tao and said, "You don't need to go in, Master Yuan, please watch the outside for me."

Yuan Tao nodded and said, "Be careful! If there is any risk, remember to blow the whistle."

Yuan Tao had already prepared for the worst, that is, the Salt Transport Department teamed up with the Shanxi salt merchants to take the common goal of getting rid of the seven surnames.So Yuan Tao gave him a copper whistle, which would be blown immediately in case of crisis, and Yuan Tao could try to rescue him by force, and then leave the city nearby to escape Yangzhou.

However, this kind of worry seems to be superfluous. The Salt Transportation Department rarely takes the initiative to stand in line. This time it is an extremely rare action to temporarily seal the industry of Huizhou salt merchants, but it has not taken any arrests against the people with the seven surnames. arrest and detention measures.Unless the Shanshan salt merchants have already gained an overwhelming advantage in the competition, and the salt transport department can participate in dividing up the family property of the seven surnames as long as they fall into trouble, then perhaps they will directly arrest Dai Yingda.

After Dai Yingda entered the yamen, Yuan Tao focused on the street outside the yamen.In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he asked Lin Zhong to stay in the car and not show up.Although no one has approached the convoy parked on the street for the time being, Yuan Tao knows that there must be a lot of people on the other side who have been keeping an eye on the Salt Transport Office, and the news of Dai Yingda's appearance will soon reach the other party's decision makers In the ear, it shouldn't take long for trouble to come to the door.

In fact, when Dai Yingda entered the Yamen, the news reached Lu Kangtai later.As for where this convoy came from, Lu Kangtai did not find any connection from the information he had previously obtained.He thought that it was either because the monitoring personnel at various city gates were ineffective and missed the convoy and did not track it, or it was because the other party broke up and entered the city, and then pieced together a convoy in the city to catch up. To the Salt Transport Division.

Of course, Lu Kangtai really didn't expect that this team actually escaped after entering the city.His people were still staring at the thousands of miles of carriages and horses, but they didn't know that the convoy had quietly gone to the Yanyun Division in the north.

But right now Lu Kangtai didn't have time to think about how Dai Yingda got here. Since the other party had already appeared in the Salt Transportation Department, there wasn't much time left for him to act.

"Quickly notify all people in the city to gather near the Salt Transport Division!" Lu Kangtai immediately issued an order.

Since the other party showed up outside the yamen openly, it seemed that he was sure that he would not dare to do anything there, but as the saying goes, Lu Kangtai thought in the opposite direction, and simply put the place where he did it near the Yanyun Division.He thinks that he has a large number of people, and as long as he can eliminate the opponent in a short time, he can clean up the battlefield as soon as possible after the action, calm the situation, and avoid making things too big.

(End of this chapter)