1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 433
The Shawan waterway next to Lijiazhuang used to be just a narrow channel for local fishermen to enter and exit the Pearl River, and the wharf by the river can’t be said to have any function of transshipment of goods. Usually, it only docks a few fishing boats or small merchant ships. The volume is not even comparable to the Changhua Port, which has just started construction.The residents of Lijiazhuang probably never imagined that one day this place will become an important cargo distribution center in the waters of the Pearl River Estuary.

Since the Haihan militia defeated the rogues who besieged Lijiazhuang here in the early summer of last year, the local big landlords, the Li clan, allocated an area along the river to Haihan for long-term use.In the next six months, the Haihan people quickly built a large immigrant camp here, and expanded the original small wharf into an inland river port cargo wharf that can dock more than ten large sea-going ships at the same time.

After the Lijiazhuang Freight Wharf was completed, "Furuifeng" was instructed to quickly turn it into a tax haven under the nose of the Guangzhou government.The cargo loaded and unloaded from Lijiazhuang Wharf has increased by six or seven times from the initial three or four ships per month.And the freight convoys and mules and horses entering and leaving Lijiazhuang are constantly flowing day and night to meet the cargo handling needs here.Rows of warehouses have been built along the river bank, and some merchants have opened shops, hotels, restaurants and other stores here, and there is already a faint tendency to catch up with the Pearl River Wharf.

Seeing the bustling scene on the shore, Li Qingyang couldn't get his mind off of it.In his cognition, the Pearl River Wharf outside Guangzhou is regarded as the number one commercial port in Guangdong and Guangxi, but he never imagined that there is such a secret place only tens of miles away from the Pearl River Wharf—of course, according to the In terms of the level of prosperity seen, the existence of this pier is probably no longer a secret.

Just as the ship that Li Qingyang was on was sailing towards the pier, he saw that the cargo ship that his other companions were on was slowly leaving the shore, and it seemed that it had just finished loading the cargo here.Several brocade guards looked at each other on the boat, Li Qingyang noticed that their expressions were a little nervous, but he couldn't see any clues.And in this situation, there was no other way to convey information, Li Qingyang could only watch the boat pass by and head for the Pearl River.

The ship slowly approached the pier, and the captain Song Sante ordered Li Qingyang to disembark with him to receive and check the goods: "I heard that you are going to Sanya's tent, so this shipment will be one of your errands from now on." That’s it, let’s learn from it today!”

Li Qingyang's mission was to understand the operation of the Haihan people, so of course he would not refuse this invitation, so he got off the boat with Song San and came to the pier to see how he handles the shipment of goods.

It was obviously not the first time for Song San to come here to do business. After landing on the shore, he found a shop on the shore with the sign of "Port Affairs Center" hanging on the door.Li Qingyang followed him into the shop, and saw that the shop was quite large, with three-foot-long bays, and was divided into two parts by a row of waist-high wooden counters in the middle, and hanging above the counters Several wooden signs were written with contents such as "Cargo Transshipment", "Personnel Transport", "Currency Exchange", "Warehouse Rental", etc., and each sign had its own queue.

Song San was directly at the end of the "cargo transshipment" team, and turned around to explain to Li Qingyang: "The goods we want to transport on this ship are all sent from Zhaoqing Mansion. In the past, they were directly sent to the Pearl River Wharf for loading. But now, they are all transported to Panyu to board the ship."

Li Qingyang nodded and said, "Could it be that the journey from Zhaoqing to Panyu was not transported by the owner?"

Song Sanying said: "The Dadong family and Haihan have a joint venture 'Golden Shield Escort', which is responsible for the escort of goods. The land transportation in Guangdong and Guangxi is basically in charge of it."

"Then how will the goods be handed over?" Li Qingyang continued to ask.

"The goods have been shipped here in advance, and they should be in the dock warehouse now. I just need to show them this bill of lading." Song San reached into his arms, and took out a document to show Li Qingyang.

Li Qingyang quickly glanced at the contents of the document, and saw that it contained the full names of the consignor and carrier, the time limit for transportation, the contents of the goods, and so on.After reading it, he couldn't help asking: "If these goods are lost or damaged in the middle, how should we solve them?"

"That is the full responsibility of the carrier." Song San said calmly: "The carrier will pay as much as the difference. This is the rule of 'Golden Shield Escort'."

"Aren't they afraid of accidents? I heard that there have been a lot of bandits in Guangdong in recent years. If they encounter them, wouldn't they have to pay for it?" Li Qingyang asked puzzled.

"Bandits and bandits?" Song San sneered and said, "If they bump into the 'Golden Shield', the first thing they do is probably to turn around and run for their lives! Do you know the family background of the 'Golden Shield'? It's from Lijiazhuang The militia, and there are Haihan people behind it, so if you rob them, don't you think your life is too long?"

"Could it be that this 'Golden Shield' also has firecrackers and other weapons?" Li Qingyang already had some bad premonitions when he heard Song San's words.

"Yes, of course!" Song San sighed: "If you say that the armed force is strong, the armed guards of the 'Golden Shield Escort' are probably better than most of the guards. Last year, there were some strong men who didn't know how to attack them. , but after these people almost died under the armed guards, no one jumped out in the past six months."

"It's so powerful! Then it must be expensive to hire them?" Li Qingyang asked.

"What they escort are all valuable goods. Sometimes it's just boxes of cash. Of course, the fee can't be lowered. But the amount of money is second. The key is that they are reliable!" Song San said with a smile: "It's the same For the price, you can’t hire officers and soldiers to transport the goods for you, can you?”

Li Qingyang cursed secretly in his heart, but there was an expression of approval on his face.

At this moment, a few people came in from the door, Li Qingyang felt a chill behind him, he hurriedly looked back, and saw a group of young and strong men wearing gray cloth shorts and trousers, holding four-foot-long firecrackers in their hands.When Li Qingyang was at the contact point in Guangzhou, he had heard people talk about it. Judging by their attire, they were the legendary powerful Haihan militiamen.

Li Qingyang subconsciously began to reach out to his armpit, where his life-saving dagger was hidden. If these militiamen tried to harm him, he would not hesitate to fight with his life here - of course, in a pile of muzzles and bayonets Whether or not he can win is another matter.

Just when Li Qingyang's nerves were tense, the militiamen blocking the door gave way, and a young man with short hair stepped into the house.This man was dressed differently from the militiamen. He was dressed in dark green, with a one-inch-wide cowhide belt around his waist, and a pair of black leather boots with strange styles on his feet. The two strange black weapons looked a bit like firecrackers, but they were much smaller than the firecrackers Li Qingyang knew.

Although Li Qingyang had never seen a real Haihan person, at this moment he was 100% sure that the man in front of him was a genuine Haihan person.In addition to the well-known short hair of the Haihan people, what is more important is that Li Qingyang felt a kind of pressure from this person that he had never felt before. In the eyes, the people in this room are like ants.Moreover, Li Qingyang could feel a faint murderous aura from this person, there was no doubt that this person should be a soldier - at least he used to be.

The appearance of this person made Li Qingyang give up the idea of ​​making a move, because the other party didn't seem to notice his existence, and glanced directly over his face without stopping at all.

"Which owner's ship is the 'Fusheng' that just arrived at the pier?" The Haihan man finally opened his mouth, but what he asked made Li Qingyang nervous again.

"I report to Chief Xiao, it's a villain's boat." Song San responded quickly.As a person who has been to Lijiazhuang Wharf several times, Song San also recognizes the head of Haihan named Xiao Liang, and knows that he is the commander of the militia here, and he can basically be regarded as the most powerful person in the local area.Even if it is the big boss behind his own boss, he has to be respectful when he sees this master.

Xiao Liang turned his head and looked at Song Sandao: "Are you Song San? I remember that you used to be the boatman of the boat, but now you are the captain, that's fine!"

Song San was flattered and said: "Thank you, Chief Xiao, for your compliment. I don't know what's wrong with this boat?"

"No problem, your ship is going to load here and go south to Sanya, right?" Xiao Liang asked.

"That's right. I will set off immediately after loading the goods today. What orders does Chief Xiao have?" Song San replied respectfully.

Xiao Liangdao: "It's nothing serious. I have a group of militiamen going to Wanshan Port, and I want to find a ship to drop by. I happened to see your ship docking just now, so I came here to ask..."

"Please leave this matter to the villain!" Song San didn't wait for Xiao Liang to finish speaking, and quickly took over the conversation: "The villain will definitely send all the military masters to Wanshan Port properly!"

"Won't this delay your schedule?" Xiao Liang asked with concern.

"No, no, not at all!" Song San waved his hands repeatedly and said, "It just so happens that the villain's ship is going to Wanshan Port to load some goods from Fujian, so it's just on the way."

"Well, that's good, I'll leave this matter to you! I'll let my people wait on the pier later." Xiao Liang was about to leave, but his eyes stayed on Li Qingyang: "This friend is a bit unfamiliar. Ah, is this your first time here?"

"I'm Li Qingyang, I went to Sanya with Song Sange on business." Li Qingyang didn't use a pseudonym, and it was impossible for someone in this kind of place to know him, a Jinyiwei Baihu from Nanjing.

"This Mr. Li is the accountant recently invited by the owner of the villain, and it is the first time to go to Sanya." Song San also introduced by the side.

"So it's a newcomer!" Xiao Liang nodded meaningfully and said, "Then, have you introduced our situation to the newcomer?"

"Of course, the villain has not been idle today, and has been promoting the...political...policies of the Haihan chiefs to him, yes, it is the policy!" Song San responded quickly.

"Oh? Then I don't know what this Mr. Li thinks of us Haihan people now?" Xiao Liang's eyes fell directly on Li Qingyang's face.

Li Qingyang only felt his scalp go numb, as if he was being watched by a ferocious beast, and the resistance he could make seemed to be no match for the power exerted by the person in front of him.

"I just heard Sanya Song's brief talk about the people's sentiments in Sanya. I haven't witnessed it with my own eyes, so I don't have any opinions. Please forgive me, Chief Xiao!" Li Qingyang forcibly stabilized his mind, and replied neither humble nor overbearing.

Xiao Liang smiled and said: "It's okay, you will have a lot of time to get to know Sanya slowly and get to know us. If there is fate, we will have a chance to meet again." After finishing speaking, he nodded to Song San, then turned and left the door.And this team of militiamen with live ammunition also immediately gathered the team and followed them out.

"Chief Xiao is very interested in you!" Song San watched Xiao Liang disappear outside the door, then turned to Li Qingyang and said, "As far as I know, Chief Xiao rarely initiates conversations with newcomers."

"Really? It's probably because of the eye too!" Li Qingyang responded with a forced smile, but his back felt drenched in cold sweat.He didn't know if this Haihan man surnamed Xiao saw any flaws in himself, but the rumor that everyone in Haihan was extremely shrewd seemed not to be bragging. Unable to control his emotions, it is no wonder that the local Jinyiwei and the government in Qiongzhou are controlled by these Haihan people.

During the conversation, the turn of the team had already arrived at Song San. Song San handed over the shipping receipt. After checking that it was correct, the clerk stamped a seal on the receipt, then tore off a stub, and returned it to Song San: "Take this to Pick up in the warehouse area!"

Song San and Li Qingyang left the port center, hurried to the nearby warehouse area, and handed the receipt to the staff here.

"Okay, wait on the pier, and arrange for someone to ship the goods to your ship immediately." The staff stamped again, then tore off a stub from the paper, and handed the rest back to Song three.

Li Qingyang asked in confusion: "Why do you need to change the seal everywhere and tear off a section?"

"This is the Haihan people's way of doing things. It has two functions. First, if there is a problem with the goods, you can find out where the problem happened. Second, at the end of each month, the Haihan people count the local cargo throughput. You need to check the stubs of the shipping documents to find out." Song San patiently explained to Li Qingyang.

"Sure enough." Li Qingyang is also a smart person, after hearing what Song San said, he already understood the beauty of it.The use of such a small method can also be seen that the shrewdness of the Haihan people is everywhere.

(End of this chapter)