1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 856 The Brothers of the Lin Family's Concerns

When Lin Xing went to Sanya two years ago, Haihan had already completed control of the entire Hainan Island, and all the local authorities of Daming had been abolished and revoked. The sky has changed, a large number of people have given up their status as citizens of Ming Dynasty and naturalized Haihan.When Lin Xingchu arrived there, he was also shocked by this situation. It was the first time he saw such a situation of magpies and doves occupying their nests under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. What surprised him most was not the strong force of the Haihan people, but the government of Guangdong and Guangxi. This turned a blind eye as if he had opened his eyes, so he let Haihan occupy Qiongzhou Island, and had no plans to send troops to suppress and crusade.

At that time, Lin Xing had already founded the Sanlin Gang with his two brothers on Liuheng Island. The purpose of going south to Sanya was to buy a batch of authentic Haihan goods and bring them back to Zhejiang for profit. After seeing how Haihan operates in the local area, Lin Xing has more ideas.

The military and financial resources and many advanced technologies possessed by Haihan are naturally not possessed by the Sanlin Gang, but some management methods and development ideas can be absorbed and imitated.For example, Haihan has taken some measures to build a regional trade center, such as building a port with complete supporting facilities, organizing the construction of trading institutions, controlling the pricing power of some commodities, etc., and the Sanlin Gang can also be slowly implemented in Zhejiang. .In addition, the Sanlin Gang's territory in Zhejiang has the addition of Shuangyu Port, a traditional sea market, and it is indeed expected to become an emerging trade center on the East China Sea in time.

The Haihan people can make their own guns and cannons, and build warships. The Sanlin Gang certainly does not have such strength, but they can gradually expand their own armed forces after they have enough financial resources.The three Lin brothers started out as pirates, and they also have their own views on how to form private armed forces. Although they are not comparable to the professional army built by the Haihan people, it is not difficult to gain a foothold in the powerful East China Sea.

In addition, another trick that Lin Xing learned from Haihan is to maintain a good relationship with the Ming government.Haihan had already quietly taken Qiongzhou Island from Daming, but he didn't break his face with the Guangdong and Guangxi government. The operation in the middle is undoubtedly extremely clever.Lin Xing stayed in Sanya and Guangzhou for a period of time, collecting information from various channels on how Haihan bought official figures and maintained his interests. Joints at all levels.At the end of the previous year, a new magistrate came to Ningbo, and the Sanlin Gang directly sent 20 taels of silver over there, but the other side accepted it silently. Since then, the Sanlin Gang has gained a powerful backer.

However, Lin Xing has seen the situation that Haihan managed in Qiongzhou Island, and he knows that the difference is too great. The Haihan people did not directly occupy the inland coastal areas of Guangdong. Just torn face.But their restraint in Guangdong and Guangxi does not mean that they will also save face for the government in Zhejiang. Judging from the fact that their fleet captured Shipu Port, Lin Xing thinks that the Haihan people probably did not take the Zhejiang government too seriously. , and will not worry about whether Da Ming will regard it as an invasion and start a war against it.

The youngest, Lin Si, said disapprovingly: "It is their business that the Hai Han people want to do things with Daming. Maybe we can fish in troubled waters and get some benefits. Why is my brother so sad?"

Lin Xing sighed: "Things are not as simple as you think! Since the Haihan people chose this time to go north to Zhejiang, they want to take root here with peace of mind. They started with maritime trade, and naturally they want to occupy the ground when they arrive in Zhejiang. The best and most convenient place, let me ask you, where is the place with the most merchants in Zhejiang? Where is the best terrain above the East China Sea?"

Lin Siruo responded with a sense of understanding: "Ningbo, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and Jiaxing are the places with the most merchants, and the best terrain above the East China Sea is Zhoushan... Could it be that the Haihan people have ideas about Zhoushan? "

Lin De interjected: "But the Haihan people have no foundation here, so if they take the initiative to step in, they may not be able to gain a firm foothold. On the contrary, they may offend the local officialdom and shopping malls. This risk is too great."

Lin Xing shook his head and sighed, "Why don't you think about it, what kind of foundation do the Haihan people have in Fuguang and Guangxi? They not only stand firm, but they can also eat the government to death. Countless businessmen chase after them, but only five or six In a few years, they not only took Qiongzhou Island, but now they took Penghu in the Fujian Strait, and it is said that they also took a fancy to Dayuan Island. With their nature, they will take it into their pockets sooner or later. You said that if they want to What kind of foundation does Zhejiang need to start? They have money, soldiers and methods, so what will the government use to fight against them?"

Lin Si still asked with some doubts: "The government in Fuzhou and Guangxi may just accept too much money, so they turn a blind eye to the behavior of the Haihan people. If they really start a war, would this Ming Dynasty still fight?" But a bunch of overseas visitors?"

Lin Xingying said: "Third brother, the Shibazhi in Fujian was very prosperous a few years ago, how is the current situation? Zheng Zhilong has more than a thousand warships and tens of thousands of sailors. Isn't it powerful enough? Isn't it under the command of the Fujian Navy? The coalition forces with the Haihan people drove out of the Fujian Strait. When I went to Zhangzhou to do business last year, I was fortunate to have a drink and chat with the local navy. They said that when they attacked Penghu before, Shibazhi almost fought back when they encountered the main fleet of the Haihan people. They didn’t even have the strength to do so, and they died as many times as they came out, which made their hearts go cold. If they wanted to start a war with the Haihan people, these people would probably find an excuse to sneak out of the army immediately. Fujian Navy has cooperated with the Haihan people, yes The strength of the Haihan Fleet is also the most familiar, and all I have contacted are those who have experienced it before, so there should be no lies."

This made Lin Silinde speechless. Although they didn't really believe that the Haihan people were as powerful as they said in the legend, they were quite clear about the strength of Shibazhi and the navy of the Ming army.Since these two families can't survive a few rounds under the hands of the Hai Han people, if they face Hai Han, their situation must be far worse than theirs.Although the Haihan people may not come here just for their own family, but thinking about such a gap in strength, it is inevitable to be a little frustrating.

However, Lin Xing's next words wiped out the little luck in their hearts: "If the Haihan people want to settle in Zhoushan, the air route from Zhoushan to Fujian will definitely be cleaned up to ensure peace. If there is any Any private armed forces that do not have the same heart with them will definitely be cleaned up. We should plan early on how to deal with Haihan people if they come to our door."

Linde muttered, "Then what can we do? Either fight to the death, or simply join them."

"You and I, the three brothers, have worked hard for many years, and it's hard to get to where we are today. How can such a big business make it easier for outsiders?" Lin Si disagreed with Linde's latter choice.

"Although money is important, you have to spend your life. If Haihan really wants to eat the Zhoushan Islands with peace of mind, even if you have ten lives, you can't beat them!" Linde retorted: "Then Fuguang There are also many sea merchants who rely on Haihan to rely on Haihan, and they are doing business well, others can do it, why can't we do it?"

Lin Si sneered and said, "I'm afraid that if you want to seek refuge, the Haihan people may not be willing to ask for it. If you have a hot face and a cold butt, then it would be boring."

Lin De said angrily: "What do you mean? Am I, Lin De, a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death? There are thousands of mouths in this Shuangyu waterway, don't we all depend on you and my brother for food? Our words are trivial, and thousands of lives are lost. It’s a big deal, you can ask my elder brother, when the Haihan people attacked Penghu, how many people were lost in Shibazhi’s battle! If you want to fight, I will accompany you to fight, or you will die, am I afraid?”

After being scolded, Lin Si cupped her hands in embarrassment and said, "Second Brother, it's my brother who made a mistake! I'm just a little bit unwilling and have no other intentions, Second Brother, don't take it to heart!"

Lin Xing also persuaded: "You don't need to fight. Whether to fight or not, the initiative is not in our hands. Now we have to find a way to find out what the Haihan people think. If they don't let us In my eyes, that's a good thing, just be careful not to block their way in the future. But if you show hostility towards us, then you really have to plan early."

Lin De asked, "Brother, should we call the Haisha Gang in the south about this matter?"

Lin Xing thought for a while, then slowly shook his head and said, "Since we have all received the news, the Haisha Gang will naturally not know about it. We don't want to provoke Haihan here. If we disagree with the Haisha Gang, who should we listen to?" What? If they think the same as us, wouldn't we have to continue to compete face to face with them in the future?"

"Brother, do you mean to use Haihan to deal with the Haisha Gang?" Linde's reaction was extremely quick, and he immediately asked back.

Lin Xing nodded and said: "If Haihan's main fleet comes, it will be easy to destroy the Haisha gang. All we have to do is to make Haihan hostile to it. Don't think that big brother is acting cruelly, then Li After Luotou knew about this, he probably thought the same as me. Don't forget that the third head of the Haisha gang is Franji Gomez. And the style of doing things, I probably have heard of it.”

"I forgot that there is such a ghost!" Lin Si called out, "It's not too late, don't let the Haisha gang get ahead of you." He was still worried about Linde's "surrenderism" Ashamed, he changed his attitude in a blink of an eye. Even if he wanted to join Haihan, he didn't want to let his colleagues take the lead. This turnaround was indeed faster than turning over a book.

The Portuguese Gomez sits in the third place in the Haisha gang, relying on his special nationality.Gomez gathered a group of desperadoes from Europe, and bought a lot of firearms through his own channels, including the arquebus produced by Haihan a few years ago.In terms of armed forces, the Haisha Gang is indeed stronger than the Sanlin Gang.

Weapons are secondary. If Gomez uses his status to find someone to connect with the Shanghai Han people, and then make some shady deals, then maybe the Hai Han people will really hinder the face of their partners and give Gomez and him With such a little care from the Haisha Gang behind him, the unlucky ones may become the Sanlin Gang.

But what happened next baffled the three brothers again—the Haihan people were easy to find, in Shipu Port in the south, but the question was who was going to talk to them?
Among the three, the only one who has been to Sanya and dealt with Haihan people is the boss Lin Xing. It seems that no one can replace his role in this task.Although Lin Si and Lin De were not at ease about letting Lin Xing go to Shipu Port alone, the current situation seemed to not allow them to drag on slowly.Three or four days have passed since Haihan occupied Shipu Port until they received the news. No one knows when the Haihan people plan to take the next step. If they continue to delay, they are afraid that the situation will change unexpectedly.

On this day, Lin Xing took a few capable men and quietly left Liuheng Island by boat and headed south.Calculated from the time, his departure from Liuheng Island was only one day later than Zhao Cheng and Xu Ke's return to Shipu Port.At this time, the island rival Haisha Gang he was worried about had just received relevant news, and hadn't had time to react.

This Shipu Port is not far from Liuheng Island, and Lin Xing has been to this place many times - among the various goods confiscated by the coalition forces in Shipu City, some belong to the Sanlin Gang.Of course, Lin Xing also worried about the whereabouts of his own goods, but he no longer had much hope for it.

When the boat arrived at the waters near Tongtou Island, a few miles north of Shipu Port, Lin Xing had already discovered a uniquely shaped Haihan warship on the nearby sea. It seemed that the rumors that Shipu Port was completely blocked by the Haihan people were not fictional.When the boat sailed through the waterway between Tongtou Island and Niulanji Island and approached Shipu Port, the Haihan warship really quickly chased after it.

Lin Xing was afraid that there would be a misunderstanding on Haihan's side, so he asked the sailors to lower their sails and slow down. After the Haihan warship approached, he ordered someone to announce his intention loudly.The Haihan officer who commanded the warship did not expect that someone would come to visit, so he raised a flag to notify the lookout post on Dongmen Island, and then forwarded it to the command post in the port.Lin Xing waited at sea for about two sticks of incense, and the port sent back an order to let the warship guide Lin Xing's ship into the port.

Regarding the visit from Liuheng Island, several high-ranking officials in the headquarters were also a little surprised when they heard the news.At the moment when Liuheng Island was about to attack Liuheng Island, the other party actually came to the door by himself. Whether this was a coincidence or something hidden, the commanders in charge were a little confused.If the pirates on Liuheng Island were aware of the wind direction in advance, it would inevitably add some unpredictable variables to the next battle plan. Although it would not affect the final result, it was not what the commanders wanted to see.

While the headquarters sent a message to let the ships cruising outside the port bring the ship into the port, they ordered people to find Ma Ling—the person who came claimed to be Lin Xing, the head of the Sanlin Gang, so it was necessary to identify the talent OK.

(End of this chapter)