1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3817

Yue Shizong met Zhang Wuye, whose real name was Zhang Yingdong, at a banquet three years ago. At that time, he only thought that the other party was a street tycoon who operated in the gray area and did some not very shady business.

One of Yue Shizong's missions in Hangzhou is to collect all kinds of intelligence. He needs to contact all kinds of people, and it is naturally necessary to make friends with people like Zhang Wuye.

After Master Zhang Wu knew Yue Shizong's identity, he took the initiative to ask him to transport some "personal belongings" between Hai Han and the Ming Dynasty, which was actually smuggling.

Because of Yue Shizong's diplomatic status, these things do not have to pay taxes to the governments of the two countries, and Zhang Wuye is also willing to pay some fees to Yue Shizong for this.

This kind of thing does not require Yue Shizong to come forward in person, as long as the embassy issues a written certificate and Zhang Wuye takes it to handle it himself. Zhang Wuye is also very straightforward in settling the bill and will not make any additional requests to Yue Shizong, which greatly reduces the risks faced by Yue Shizong.

At most, Yue Shizong would just spend some time writing a few words and stamping a few times, and he would be able to earn a considerable amount of extra income every month. It was really hard to refuse such a good thing.

After a few interactions, the two sides established a personal relationship and would occasionally meet up for dinner and drinks and chat about local anecdotes in Hangzhou.

Once, after drinking, Master Zhang Wu boasted to Yue Shizong that he had come into contact with many officials and wealthy businessmen from the Ming Dynasty in recent years, and had helped these people transfer their property and families to Hai Han. If Yue Shizong had any needs in this regard, he could do it for him and only charge a very low fee because of their relationship.

Yue Shizong didn't take it seriously at the time and thought he was joking.

After another year of contact, Yue Shizong also got to know several of Zhang Wuye's "clients" and gradually understood how Zhang Wuye transported people and property between the two countries.

At this time, he had actually realized that Master Zhang Wu's behavior was no longer something an ordinary person could do. His identity was probably not just a simple street character. There must be some special government offices in Hai Han providing him with protection, and it was even possible that he was a member of these government offices.

The benefits of the cooperation provided by Master Zhang Wu were probably not so simple in nature, but since the other party never made any other requests, Yue Shizong was happy to pretend not to know and just take the money.

However, Hai Han later tore up the armistice agreement in the direction of Nanjing and sent troops to annex Jiangpu and Liuhe counties on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Yue Shizong also realized that the armistice agreement, which was signed only after the Ming Dynasty made huge concessions, had no binding force on Hai Han.

If things continued to develop in this way, Yue Shizong's family in the Ming Dynasty would sooner or later be dragged into the war between the two countries. The longer he stayed in Hai Han, the more he realized that the Ming Dynasty was powerless to recover, and he gradually began to think about moving his family to Hai Han to settle down.

In the end, Yue Shizong took the initiative to find Zhang Wuye, hoping that he could arrange for his family to secretly settle in Hangzhou.

Master Zhang Wu readily agreed, as if he had expected that Yue Shizong would ask him for help one day. The subsequent implementation process was also very smooth. In just over a month, Master Zhang Wu sent all of Yue Shizong's relatives to Hangzhou.

As for the various properties and fields that the Yue family left behind in the Ming Dynasty, Uncle Zhang Wu also expressed his willingness to liquidate them for Yue Shizong. After deducting the fees, the remaining portion would be handed over to Yue Shizong, which would be enough for their family to purchase property in Hangzhou.

Everything was going in the direction that Yue Shizong had planned, until Huo Jingxing showed up and all his luck turned into nothing. Yue Shizong then realized that although the theoretical risk was small enough to be negligible, as long as it happened, the probability of it happening to him was 100%.

In order to solve the trouble caused by Huo Jingxing, Yue Shizong could only seek help from Zhang Wuye to see if they could provide "after-sales service".

Sure enough, the other party did not disappoint him. After listening to the whole story, he did not shirk his responsibility and said that he would help him solve the problem. However, this matter was obviously beyond the ability of Master Zhang Wu, and he frankly admitted that he also needed to ask for instructions from his superiors - this was the first time that Yue Shizong had heard Master Zhang Wu say such a thing since he met him.

This seemed to prove some of Yue Shizong's previous judgments, that Zhang Wuye was backed by the Hai Han government. But at this critical moment, Yue Shizong only wanted to solve the Jinyiwei's troubles. As for whether Zhang Wuye was a member of the Hai Han government, it was no longer so important.

While waiting for Master Zhang Wu, Yue Shizong carefully kept an eye on his surroundings to see if anyone was watching him.

He judged that Huo Jingxing would definitely monitor his whereabouts when he went out, so when he went out to the restaurant early in the morning to meet Mr. Zhang Wu, it was very likely that there were Jinyiwei people nearby at this time.

But with his eyesight, he really couldn't tell who was sent by Huo Jingxing. He just felt that every face was very suspicious, which made him feel even more uneasy.

He began to worry that when Master Zhang Wu returned, he would bring a Hai Han official with him, which might alert the Jinyiwei. If Huo Jingxing disappeared in the vast crowd and waited for an opportunity to attack him or his family, he would have no peace of mind in the future.

Just as I was daydreaming, Uncle Zhang Wu finally came back.

Seeing that Zhang Wuye came back alone, Yue Shizong was relieved, but also felt a little disappointed. He was worried that Zhang Wuye had failed to ask for help and failed to bring in reinforcements, so he came back alone.

Uncle Zhang Wu walked straight to Yue Shizong's table and sat down. Without saying a word, he poured himself a cup of tea to moisten his throat. Seeing the beads of sweat on his forehead, it seemed that he had been rushing all the way and had not stopped to rest.

Yue Shizong couldn't help himself and asked in a low voice, "Master Zhang Wu, is there any result?"

Master Zhang Wu put down his teacup, chuckled and said, "Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission! After my persistent requests, the higher-ups finally agreed to help Master Yue this time!"

Yue Shizong quickly bowed and said, "Thank you very much, Master Zhang Wu! I just don't know how to properly handle this matter?"

Master Zhang Wu said, "My boss will come to meet Master Yue later to discuss the details."

Yue Shizong said, "There are many people here, and I am afraid that the Jinyiwei are following me. Maybe they are lurking around you and me. I am afraid it is inconvenient to meet and discuss things here."

Master Zhang Wu said, "Don't worry, sir. My boss will clear this place before he comes."

Yue Shizong said in surprise: "Clearing the area might alert the enemy. If we let these people escape, it will be difficult to find them again!"

Master Zhang Wu laughed and said, "Stirring up the grass and alerting the snake? The clearing here is different from other places. Naturally, we have to strike the grass and the snake together! Lord Yue, rest assured that your meeting with my boss will never leak out."

Yue Shizong said: "If a fight breaks out later...should I avoid it?"

Master Zhang Wu said, "Just sit here and watch the show, so that Master Yue can see our methods!"