1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 837 Temptation
Song Qing said with a mournful face: "Master Jun, how dare a villain take his own life for nothing! It's just that the thief in Yueqing Bay can do it quickly, and the villain really doesn't know. If he delays for a day or two, he will be mistaken for a villain by the military master and defected." , and then send someone to expose the villain's background, wouldn't it be a waste of all previous efforts?"

Gao Qiaonan didn't agree with him, and replied coldly: "I'll give you two days, if you don't see the boat outside Yueqing Bay by then, then it's a failure of your operation."

A failed prisoner naturally no longer has any use value for Hai Han, and Hai Han doesn't care about his life or death.As for how Song Qing could convince the pirates in Yueqing Bay to act as soon as possible, that was something he had to think about.

However, how to send this guy to Yueqing Bay as soon as possible without arousing the suspicion of local pirates is something that the Haihan military must consider.Gao Qiaonan asked: "If you are released, how will you get to Yueqing Bay?"

Song Qing replied: "The villain goes ashore nearby, and then goes to the nearby fishing village or town pier to hire a boat."

"Do the fishermen here dare to go to Yueqing Bay?" Gao Qiaonan couldn't help asking.

"Actually, more than half of these people captured by your army were also fishermen." Song Qing didn't dare to hide it, and told the secret.

The piracy business along the coast of Zhejiang is not all vicious thieves. At the same time, there are many people who are originally local fishermen. one of the reasons.In Song Qing's group of pirates, two-thirds of them are indeed local fishermen, and they will rob them when they get the chance while fishing. It's just that their luck is really bad this time, and they thought they encountered a big fat sheep Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a vicious wolf in sheep's clothing. Without any benefit, it fell under the hands of Haihan Army for no reason.

Until this time, Song Qing still hadn't figured out the true identities of the soldiers in front of him. The only thing he could be sure of was that the armed forces in front of him were definitely not the Ming army, because these people were from head to toe, no matter whether it was military uniforms, weapons, speech or actions. Habits, everywhere are very different from the Ming army he knows.Moreover, there is no such large-scale naval fleet near Wenzhou at all, and this group of people will never be the nearby garrison.

But Song Qing would never believe that this armed force was his own. Even Shibazhi, who was in the limelight in Fujian at that time, would definitely not be able to gather such an elite army.Of course, the group of pirates in Yueqing Bay must be far inferior to the armed forces in front of them in terms of strength. This group of pirates wants to lure their counterparts in Yueqing Bay to the sea, obviously just to catch them all in one go and prevent them from escaping into the mountains after hearing the news.

At this time, someone came to Gao Qiaonan's side and said something softly in his ear.Gao Qiaonan turned his head and said to Song Qing after listening, "I heard that you have another brother named Song Xian, right? It seems that we caught him this time too?"

Song Qing's face immediately changed slightly. He and his younger brother Song Xian took a boat to fight, and after being captured, the prisoners in the two boats were separated. He didn't know what Song Xian's current situation was.But the officer in front of him took the initiative to mention this matter, obviously he had confirmed Song Xian's identity among the prisoners on another ship.And he specifically mentioned this matter, probably not to appease himself.

Sure enough, Takahashi Minami then continued: "I thought it was not safe to just let you go out like this. Since you still have a younger brother here, it will be much easier to handle! You go and finish what we entrusted to you first." Things, as long as you lure out the pirates in Yueqing Bay, you and your brothers will naturally be set free afterwards!"

Song Qing was really lucky at first, and wanted to go ashore to get freedom after leaving here, but now Gao Qiaonan is threatening his brother, so he has to take a risk.Song Qing was also a smart person, and quickly responded: "Then Lord Lao Jun will take care of the villain's useless brother, and the villain will return within two days!"

"Very good!" Takahashi Nan wanted his attitude.Although Gao Qiaonan believes that there are too many uncontrollable variables in Qian Tiandun's hastily set plan, and sending people to lure the pirates in Yueqing Bay may not be successful, but since this is an order issued by Qian Tiandun, he will do his best. Do your best.

After Gao Qiaonan reported the situation to Qian Tiandun, he asked Song Qing to be sent ashore.It is still several miles away from Yueqing Bay, Song Qing didn't dare to delay after landing, took a few ingots of broken silver from Gao Qiaonan and rushed to a fishing village five miles away, found a familiar boatman, let him Send yourself to Maoyan Island at the entrance of Yueqing Bay, where there is someone he needs to contact.

This Maoyan Island is located in the middle of the sea area of ​​Yueqing Bay, also known as "Sea Mountain", with an area of ​​nearly five square kilometers, it is the second largest island in Yueqing Bay.Because the waterways extend in all directions, this place has been an important place for patrol and defense in all dynasties.In the 28th year of Ming Hongwu, in order to prevent Japanese pirates from invading, the imperial court moved the Puqi inspection department here.But now, more than 200 years later, the inspection department here has long been abandoned. Although there are still many residents on the island, the actual control of this place is in the hands of a group of pirates in Yueqing Bay.

This group of pirates called themselves the "Yueqing Ship Gang", led by two brothers surnamed Zheng, named Zheng Pingda and Zheng Pinger.But they are native Yueqing people, and they have nothing to do with Zheng Zhilong, the leader of the Fujian pirates, they are just colleagues with the same surname.

The Zheng brothers were also fishermen in their early years, but they were taken away by a group of pirates in the Zhoushan Islands, and they were forced to do bloody business for several years.Later, once the gang of pirates got into a fight in Ningbo Mansion, the Zheng brothers seized an opportunity to escape, and finally returned to their hometown safely after going through a lot of twists and turns.However, they did not live a stable life just like that. Their land, property and fishing boats had been seized and sold off, and they even lost their food.With no way to sue, the two brothers simply returned to their old business, killed the opponent who took over their family property with a knife, and then pulled a group of Kuhaha to riot in Yandang Town.

Of course, being an ordinary fisherman greatly limited the vision and ability of the Zheng brothers. All they could do was organize a group of people to plunder the sea, and they did not dare to attack the government for rebellion.And this kind of half-citizen half-bandit situation is everywhere along the coast of Zhejiang. Most of the time, the government will turn a blind eye and close its eyes. As long as they don't play the banner of rebellion, they will generally not use ruthless hands to kill these people.

The "Yueqing Boat Gang" had good luck after their debut. In the past two or three years, they have made several big deals, and quickly expanded the scale from the initial dozen or so members to hundreds of members.At this time, the Wenzhou government also realized that the malignant tumor of the "Yueqing Ship Gang" had affected the stability of the entire Wenzhou, and began to send troops to kill this group of pirates.However, the "Yueqing Ship Gang" has basically controlled the entire Yueqing Bay at this time. As soon as the naval fleet arrives at the mouth of Yueqing Bay, the pirates will be able to get the news at the first time and withdraw to the mountains in a calm manner. As far as Yandang Town, dozens of miles away, the pirates had already disappeared.

After doing this twice and three times, the Wenzhou government was tired—it cost tens of thousands of taels of silver every time a navy was dispatched. After working hard and mobilizing the crowd, every time it ended in nothing, and the bandit leader of the "Yueqing Ship Gang" could not be caught. Brother Zheng, the government is naturally unwilling to continue doing such a thankless task.

The Zheng brothers robbed a cargo of the Xu family in Fujian last year, and injured the lives of two Xu family members when they did it. This incident was later chased by Xu Xinsu to the Yueqing county government. The Zheng brothers didn't want to cause more trouble, so they He spent 1000 taels of silver to buy off the county magistrate who was about to leave his post, and directly returned the official documents sent by Fujian Province under the name of "there is no such person".From Xu Xinsu's point of view, this was deliberately hurting his face, so it's no wonder that he was so concerned about this matter. After a year later, he specifically told Xu Yuzhuo to find an opportunity to wipe out this band of pirates during this operation.

It is said that Song Qing hurriedly took a boat to Maoyan Island, and after getting off the boat, he went straight to a village on the island-the "Yueqing Boat Gang" had a stronghold there, and there were people on duty all year round.

It is said to be a stronghold, but it is actually a courtyard with three entrances.However, it is indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people to build a courtyard with high brick and stone walls on this kind of island. To transport these building materials from the mainland to the island, the freight required is not a small amount. .

Song Qing and his boss came here to meet the Zheng brothers before, so he knew this place.However, the boss who brought him here had already died in this naval battle, and was directly crushed to death by the broken mast falling down.But Song Qing didn't feel any sadness, on the contrary, he felt a little bit of rejoicing - if his boss didn't die, then Song Qing probably wouldn't be able to come to Yueqing Bay to be a lobbyist.

Song Qing came to the gate, straightened her clothes a little, and then called for the door.Not long after, someone opened the door and came out to check, Song Qing hurriedly reported his name, and finally asked: "I don't know which master is on duty here, the villain has something important to report, please report."

Song Qing waited at the door for a while, then the gatekeeper came out and called him: "Come with me!"

Song Qing was taken to the flower hall to take a seat, and a middle-aged man in black came out after a while. Song Qing also recognized this man. He was Nantie, the third leader of the "Yueqing Boat Gang". Seeing this, she quickly got up and said : "Villain Song Qing, I have met the third master!"

"I've seen you before. Are you Zhu Shanhai's master?" Nantie recognized Song Qing after seeing him: "Last time you accompanied Zhu Shanhai to Maoyan Island, right?"

"The third master has a good memory, and the villain is following Boss Zhu to do things." Song Qing quickly responded: "But Boss Zhu has something to do at this time, and it is inconvenient to come to visit the brothers of the Yueqing Ship Gang, so he sent the villain over. "

Nan Tie didn't take it seriously, nodded and said: "You said you have something important to report, so let's listen to it."

Song Qing straightened out his thoughts, and said, "A few days ago, Boss Zhu got a message in Wenzhou City, saying that there was a big business going out of Wenzhou to Hangzhou in the north. Boss Zhu thought about it, and inquired carefully. I found that this business cannot be supported by my own family alone, so I want to ask the brothers of the boat gang if they are interested in joining hands to make a deal."

Nan Tie asked calmly: "Brother Song, can you tell me how big the deal is?"

Song Qing slowly stretched out both palms, and gestured in front of Nantie: "It is said that there is such a number!"

"One hundred thousand?" Nan Tie immediately sat up straight, and confirmed to Song Qing again: "You mean this transaction is worth 10 taels of silver?"

"That's true." Song Qing nodded and said, "If it wasn't for the priceless price, Boss Zhu wouldn't be so anxious that the villain must ask the boat to help the brother within two days, otherwise it will be too late."

"It's such a big deal, why didn't the spies of our ship gang in Wenzhou City report back?" Nantie didn't bite the hook directly, and said to himself suspiciously.

Before Song Qing was released, Gao Qiaonan had already told him several possible situations and how to answer them to avoid suspicion, and now he happened to encounter one of them.Song Qing followed Takahashi Nanjiao's advice and said, "Third Master, the owner of this money has kept it very secret, and we are the only ones in Wenzhou who have heard about it. How do you think this news came about? Boss Zhu's cousin He was working on the owner’s boat, this is the news from his own mouth, there can be no falsehood. If everyone knows, then the news will be worthless.”

"What you said makes sense..." Nantie replied, twirling his beard on his chin, "If it's really worth a hundred thousand yuan, then it would be a good deal to join hands with you. But, Ming people don't say Whispering words, you and I have joined hands, how to distribute this after we win, we have to explain clearly first."

Hearing his answer, Song Qing knew that the fish had been hooked, and immediately replied: "All the information about this matter is provided by us, so naturally we should share more. Boss Zhu takes care of the brothers of the Chuan Gang, and is willing to donate [-]% of what he got to the Chuan Gang Everyone pays for your hard work."

"Thirty percent?" Nantie immediately shook his head and said, "Don't talk about joining forces if there is less than five percent. Although you have provided information, it is mainly our boat gang that needs to contribute. This three-to-seven ratio is too unreasonable. I think it is still five percent." Five is appropriate."

Now that bargaining has begun, Song Qing's mood has finally relaxed a lot, and he argued immediately: "How to distribute the proceeds afterwards, we should also look at the value of this batch of goods. On weekdays, the brothers of the ship gang can get several thousand taels. It’s already considered a good harvest, right? Even if the sale is divided into 3%, it’s still about [-] taels, let’s think about it again!”

Nan Tiexindao has to hold on to the share precisely because the total price is high, you are so poor and pedantic.If there is a [-]-[-] split here, when the Zheng brothers know about it, they may think that they have cut something out of it.

At present, Nantie didn't let go, and continued to bargain with Song Qing.The two talked dry, and finally Song Qing asked: "You might as well let go of this share first, how long will it take for your side to send troops? If it is slow, this fleet will cross the boundary, and it will be difficult to chase after it!"

(End of this chapter)