1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2218
"These guys...are acting out of control!"

After all, Gao Yongshou who rushed to Yijiangmen was one step too late. When he went to the city wall to check the battle situation, the battle outside the city had already ended, leaving only the mess on the ground to show that there had been a fierce fight here just now.

As for who the two sides that caused the chaos outside the city were, although Gao Yongshou had never seen it in person, after listening to his subordinates' report on the battle situation, he could guess in his heart that they were pretty close.And the two sides who started the war started the battle at the gate of the city without any shyness. Obviously, they didn't listen to the warning of the city defense general, and this disregard also made him feel very angry.

Some people outside the city are moving the dead and wounded in the battle to the carriages, but this is obviously a bit deceptive. At least hundreds of people inside and outside the city have witnessed the battle just now. cover up.But as long as no one reports to the government afterwards, the government can pretend that nothing happened.

If Gao Yongshou ordered to go out of the city to arrest the criminals at this time, most of the participants could be caught, and it would not be difficult to follow the clues to find out who was behind the scenes.But Gao Yongshou had to consider far more issues than this, he hesitated for a moment, but decided not to rush into this matter.

"Don't open the Yijiang Gate today, and keep an eye on the outside of the city. If there is any situation, report to the officer immediately!" After Gao Yongshou gave the order, he left with a pale face without waiting for his subordinates to ask for instructions.

Gao Yongshou didn't care about what weapons were used in the battle outside the city, or how many casualties were caused. He knew that someone would be responsible for cleaning up the mess and dealing with the aftermath, so as to gradually eliminate the impact of the chaos.And if I want to order the arrest of the participants, it is tantamount to making things worse, which may have an impact on the richest businessman group in Yangzhou, and then affect all aspects of their interests. Gao Yongshou may not be able to bear the consequences in the future.

What Gao Yongshou needs to deal with right now is not to pursue the battle outside the city, but to ensure that this level of fighting will not break out in the city. If there is chaos in the city, then he, the city defense general There is no way to shirk responsibility.Therefore, he had to confirm immediately that whether it was Shanxi salt merchants or Huizhou salt merchants, their armed personnel had left Hangzhou City.

Gao Yongshou had previously heard reports from his subordinates that almost everyone on the side that had broken through the siege had a musket in their hands, and that they fought in a well-organized manner, looking more like an army than a militia. This is more difficult to deal with than the local salt merchants.If the Haihan people are determined to cause trouble in Yangzhou, then the incident may not be just a violent fight outside the city, and they must be carefully guarded against.

Meanwhile, Lu Kangtai outside the city was a hundred times more irritable than Gao Yongshou at this moment. The casualties of his subordinates were actually not too serious, at least much better than the result of the fight last year, but the goal of the battle was not achieved at all. .He would rather lose some more manpower than take Dai Yingda down.

But now that Dai Yingda retreated safely, the combat objectives he set before the war were not achieved at all, which means that all the resources invested before were wasted, and all these people died in vain today.

"All previous efforts are in vain!" Lu Kangtai couldn't help but secretly lamented his dissatisfaction.He didn't think there was anything wrong with the battle plan he had drawn up and the on-the-spot command. The biggest change was the intervention of the Haihan people.

Although Lu Kangtai also expected that if Dai Yingda entered the city, he would definitely bring some Haihan guards with him, but he did not expect that these Haihan people were so powerful that they completely disrupted his layout just by meeting them.

And after experiencing the battle at the scene today, Lu Kangtai also probably understood why the confrontation last year was defeated by the opponent's hands-the strength of his armed forces is indeed far behind that of the Haihan people, basically they are militiamen Contrast with that of the professional army.

Without Haihan's intervention, perhaps Lu Kangtai had already turned his advantage into victory and defeated his competitor.But besides lamenting the disadvantages of the fleeting years, Lu Kangtai seems to be unable to think of any countermeasures. After all, even the backstage that provided him with weapons and combat training has been wiped out by Haihan.

What happened in Yangzhou City today shows that the official connections that the Shanshan salt merchants have been carefully managing are not so reliable, and they may betray them for profit at critical moments.The military officer in particular who holds the military power is likely to stand aside and watch the rampant behavior of the Haihan people just because he is worried about getting burned.

So from now on, Lu Kangtai's goal has to be adjusted, facing up to the changes in the strength of competitors, from "how to deal with Huizhou salt merchants" to "how to deal with Huizhou salt merchants backed by Haihan".

Someone came down to report to him that among the dead and injured at the scene, there were eight passers-by who were innocently involved, and asked him for instructions on how to deal with it.

"How to deal with it? If you are dead, you will be taken away, if you are alive, you will be sent for treatment, if you can verify your identity, you will spend money to clean up the matter, and if you have no name, you will be dragged to a mass grave and buried. Do you want me to teach you one by one?" Lu Kangtai didn't have the mood to ask these trivial matters at this time, and responded impatiently.

Lu Kangtai was actually not worried about being held accountable by the government for the deaths and injuries of these innocent passers-by. He had a hundred ways to shirk responsibility, and he knew that the government would definitely stand by his side.After all, if things get serious, it will become an international conflict between Daming and Haihan, and the imperial court is not willing to have a conflict with Haihan. If these troubles happen, the local government will be responsible instead. His life is not as important as the overall situation.Spend some money, settle the relevant people, and stop the situation from further fermenting, which is the best way to deal with it at present.

Then another hand came down to report that it seemed that Yijiangmen would not be open for the time being.After Lu Kangtai heard this, he became more and more sure of his previous judgment. Even if the government knew the truth of this battle, they did not have the willingness to take the initiative to intervene. The fact that Yijiangmen was closed for a long time meant that the government deliberately gave him time to clean up the battlefield. .

Even though there will be a lot of rumors among the people afterwards, as long as there are no victims to report and no bigwigs take the initiative to intervene, then the parties involved and the government will tacitly pretend that nothing happened, so that everyone will be less troubled.

At this time, Dai Yingda and his party had safely arrived at the south bank of the canal. Dai Yingfan, who saw the signal flare at Daijiazhuang, also led dozens of young men to the riverside with knives and guns to meet them.However, the south of the canal is mostly the manors of Huizhou salt merchants, so it has always been regarded as their sphere of influence, and the Shanxi salt merchants dare not invade here easily.

The day before yesterday, Lu Kangtai's men crossed the river at night and tried to sneak attack on Daijiazhuang. This is already a rare bold move in recent years.But if they were to come to the south bank of the canal to make trouble during the day, then Lu Kangtai would have some scruples.And the all-night pursuit on the canal with Haihan last year caused Lu Kangtai to lose many capable sailors, so in today's interception of Dai Yingda, he didn't even specially arrange ships to stand by on the canal.

In order to prevent the opponent from setting up an ambush on the canal, Yuan Tao also made corresponding plans and arrangements, but in the end none of them came in handy.

After confirming the safety, Yuan Tao immediately asked about the casualties of his side.A total of eight people under Dai Yingda were injured, including Lin Zhong, and three died unfortunately, while Jin Dun had one death and four injuries.

Taking into account the strength and equipment of the opponent in the battle, as well as the combat environment at that time, Yuan Tao believed that the casualties of his own side were not serious, and the combat goal was achieved at a relatively small cost.

Dai Yingda paid much attention to Lin Zhong's injury, and confirmed that his injury was only a skin trauma and would not be life-threatening, so he asked someone to take Lin Zhong back to Dai's Village on a stretcher to recuperate.

This time, Dai Yingda was able to escape from Yangzhou City smoothly. Lin Zhong lived up to his expectations. The retreat route he planned played a very crucial role, avoiding all possible places in the city that might be set up by opponents. Withdrew from Yangzhou City in a obstructed manner.

Although Dai Yingda didn't say much, but judging from his concern for Lin Zhong, he must be rewarded afterwards.

After Dai Yingda returned to Daijiazhuang, in front of Yuan Tao, he called the clansman in charge of chores in the village to the study, and asked him to prepare high-quality coffins for the few people who died this time as soon as possible, and set up a mourning hall to handle the funeral properly .In addition, all casualties including Jindun's subordinates will receive generous pensions. Dai Yingda even immediately arranged a fast boat so that Yuan Tao can return the injured men and the bones of the dead to Zhoushan as soon as possible.

Although he knew that Dai Yingda made these arrangements in person to buy people's hearts, Yuan Tao was still very pleased with this kind of operation with high EQ.Whether it was due to the orders of his superiors or the employment relationship with the seven major surnames, he was certainly mentally prepared for casualties when he came to Yangzhou this time. Even if there were some bumps in the cooperation with the salt merchants, he would try his best to complete his task.

However, the attitude of the seven surnames is obviously much better than he expected. Not only did they give Jindun full trust and cooperation in the deployment of defense plans and personnel dispatch, but they also made many humane arrangements, which provided a comparative advantage for Jindun's troops. good living conditions.Being able to get enough respect from the salt merchant made Yuan Tao and his brothers work harder during the mission.

"Boss Dai really has a heart! I thanked the brothers first!" Since Dai Yingda took the initiative to express something, Yuan Tao would not turn a blind eye. Seeing that the other party had finished giving orders and everyone else had already exited the study, he immediately stepped forward to thank him with fists in his hands. through his arrangement.

Dai Yingda said: "Treasurer Yuan is out! Now that I have been through difficulties with the brothers of Jindun several times in succession, I have not treated you as outsiders for a long time. Since the brothers have been born and died for my seven surnames, of course I can't treat my brothers badly." Ladies and gentlemen! Shopkeeper Yuan, I have one more matter, I don’t know if I should say it or not!”

Yuan Tao said: "Boss Dai, but it's okay to say!"

Dai Yingda said: "I think it's a great fortune to be able to make friends with such a talented person as shopkeeper Yuan. If shopkeeper Yuan doesn't dislike me as a businessman, Dai wants to become brothers with shopkeeper Yuan!"

Yuan Tao didn't expect Dai Yingda to make such a request, and he didn't know whether to decline or agree.He doesn't have any ill feeling towards Dai Yingda, and he can even be regarded as relatively close, but the relationship seems to have not yet reached the level of asking for help.

Seeing Yuan Tao's hesitant expression, Dai Yingda said again: "My request is indeed a bit high-handed, making it difficult for Shopkeeper Yuan! But if I can sworn obeisance to Shopkeeper Yuan, the seven major surnames in Yangzhou will be the support of Shopkeeper Yuan in the future. Boss, if shopkeeper Yuan has any needs in the future, the seven surnames will contribute money and efforts, absolutely!"

Dai Yingda's words have been very explicit, Yuan Tao is not dull, he naturally understands what Dai Yingda is up to after hearing the string song.

Of course, what Dai Yingda was interested in was not only Yuan Tao's ability, but more importantly, the powerful status of the treasurer of the Golden Shield branch. There were hundreds of military personnel at his disposal, and they were able to perform various combat tasks. It's a small army.

In the future, the seven surnames will form militia groups on their own. If they can establish a relationship with Jindun and communicate with each other, it will definitely have many benefits in strengthening their own strength.Moreover, with the influence of the seven major surnames in Yangzhou, and simply based on their own children, they opened a branch of Jindun in Yangzhou. Wouldn't it be possible to legally support a group of full-time armed personnel?

Of course, the premise of doing this must be the approval and support of Haihan, and the role Yuan Tao can play in this process will definitely be very important.Dai Yingda believes that if he can get the support of Yuan Tao, then the cooperation with Haihan in this field may be possible.

Of course, this kind of support will not be unilateral. Dai Yingda's statement is to reassure Yuan Tao that the resources and financial resources owned by the seven surnames can also support him to obtain a higher status and power in Haihan. It was impossible for Thao not to be tempted.

During his stay in Yangzhou, he has personally experienced the amazing financial resources of these salt merchants. Although money may not be everything, how many problems in the world cannot be solved by money?If the Yangzhou salt merchants are willing to provide him with support behind the scenes, then the business volume of the Zhoushan branch will definitely increase greatly, thereby winning more attention from the high-level for Yuantao, and the hope of promotion will also increase a lot.

Although there are still many uncertain factors, this kind of cooperation based on special interpersonal relationships can indeed achieve a win-win effect. Yuan Tao, who is aware of this, can't help admiring that Dai Yingda is really clever and scheming, and he will not let go of anyone who is against him. Favorable conditions.

Yuan Tao replied: "What's high and not high? Boss Dai's words are too outlandish. I have never thought of this before! It's just that I'm a martial artist, and now I'm a Haihan nationality. If we become brothers, I'm afraid it will bring a lot of inconvenience to Boss Dai."

(End of this chapter)