1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 894
Due to the limited force of Haihan's northern expedition to Zhoushan, after occupying Zhoushan Island, it is difficult to continue to divide troops to attack Daishan, Qushan and other islands in the north.With the combat capabilities of the Haihan militia, it is not difficult to capture these places, but they have no troops to garrison them, and the remaining local armed forces already know how powerful Haihan is, so they will no longer confront them head-on. The Kaihai Han militia will come back after the offensive.The headquarters carried out two expulsion operations with little effect, and then gave up the idea of ​​​​eliminating them as soon as possible, and focused their energy on the construction of Dinghai Port in Zhoushan.After all, suppressing bandits can only bring short-term one-time benefits, but the completion of the trading port can make the area prosperous, and the long-term benefits obtained through commerce will be even more impressive.

Of course, Haihan decided that the small armed forces in the north were not strong enough to threaten the safety of Dinghai Port, so he allowed them to continue to survive. Ma Teng on Qushan Island was one of them.Ma Teng's site is a little far from Ningbo Mansion, and there is Zhoushan Island in the middle, so the destinations of his smuggling trade are mostly Shaoxing and Songjiang on the north coast of Hangzhou Bay.However, Haihan's current main trading area is still Ningbo, which is the closest to Zhoushan Island, so the conflict of interest in trade is not particularly obvious.

However, it has always been common for the armed forces in the East China Sea to do dirty work for the government's backers. Anyway, killing people and stealing goods at sea is also part of their livelihood.If the three people from the Hangzhou government go to the commander of the Haining Guard to lobby and persuade him to join the gang to participate in the operation, then it is indeed possible to use the power of Ma Teng on Qushan Island.As for whether Ma Teng has the guts to confront Hai Han, that's another matter.

Although Wang Jialin used to be the all-powerful overlord in the East China Sea, he was not very familiar with the situation in the officialdom in Zhejiang, and he was not clear about the relationship between the commanders of these guards. The distinction is not clear, and the information provided is actually of very limited value.It took Gong Shiqi less than an hour to get all the information he could get from him.

The prisoner's confession was of limited use, so Gong Shiqi could only lead the team to Jiaxing himself.Counting the time, it has been six or seven days since Yu Pingfeng and others went to find Wei Shan. If they really plan to go to Jiaxing to lobby the commander of Haining Guard, it will be decided by this time.If Hainingwei really wanted to make a move, there would be more or less advance signs.

After Gong Shiqi left the temporary prison, he immediately gathered his men and horses and prepared to leave for Jiaxing.Gong Shiqi's field team consisted of more than [-] people, half of them were old subordinates he brought over from Guangdong, and the other half were from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and were assigned to him before going north this time.It seems that there are a lot of people, but this is all the field personnel currently deployed by the Ministry of Security in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In theory, they are responsible for field operations in all areas north of Fujian. This is not an easy job.

The main task of the field team is to collect all kinds of intelligence in Daming, including but not limited to political, economic, military, cultural, etc. In addition, when necessary, it will also perform unconventional tasks such as tracking, surveillance, and even kidnapping and assassination.Carrying out these missions in Daming is very risky, because there is no way to get the direct support of Haihan's powerful armed forces, all they can rely on is their own professional skills and the strict organizational system of the Ministry of Security.

Gong Shiqi specially found a cargo ship that originally belonged to the Zhoushan Ship Gang from the pier, and then transferred a batch of southern cargoes from the warehouse on the island to load the ship, pretending to be a businessman from the south to Jiaxing Mansion.

The establishment of Jiaxing began in the Qin Dynasty, and it has been a prosperous and prosperous place since ancient times. It is one of the most important grain-producing areas in the eastern coastal area.By the Yuan Dynasty, the foreign trade of Zhapu, Ganpu, Qinglong and other ports gradually flourished, and the economy also caught up with the Suzhou and Hangzhou regions.During the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, the government was re-divided, and Jiaxing Prefecture had seven counties under its jurisdiction. Cotton cloth and silk began to be sold in the north and south. Silk from Wangjiangjing Town and Puyuan Town, and Weitang yarn from Jiashan were all very popular commodities.

According to the suggestion made by his local subordinates, Gong Shiqi set his destination at Zhapu Port in Jiaxing, which is also the closest trading port in Jiaxing Prefecture to Zhoushan Island. arrival.Zhapu Port is about 60 miles east of the Acropolis of Haining. Gong Shiqi thought that he should be able to get some news about Haining.

After the ship arrived at the local area, Gong Shiqi took a few of his subordinates to wander around the town on the shore under the pretext of discussing business.Although it was the first time for them to come to this place, relying on their past experience, they quickly inquired about the location of a teahouse in Zhapu Town with relatively concentrated information.It is said that about [-]% of the local transactions are negotiated in this teahouse. Merchants who come here for trade will basically use this place as the first stop after landing.

After Gong Shiqi arrived at this place, he realized that it was not so much a teahouse, but more like a trading market. The two-story teahouse was almost full, and there were even extra seats under the eaves on the street.What attracts so many tea drinkers is not because there is any great tea here, but because most of the silk fabric buyers and sellers in the seven counties of Jiaxing Prefecture are concentrated here. .The subordinate who was pretending to be an entourage stopped a passing Xiao Er and stuffed him with a piece of silver, and then arranged a table for them at the corner of the first floor.Although the location was not ideal, it was enough for Gong Shiqi.

Gong Shiqi didn't dislike the noise and disorder here, on the contrary, it was this kind of place that made him really feel like a fish in water.There are at least thirty or forty businessmen from other places upstairs and downstairs in this teahouse, and no one will pay special attention to his existence.And in the conversations of these businessmen traveling from south to north, there will always be some inadvertently revealed intelligence information.Perhaps the person who said it will not realize the value of this information, but for those who are interested, the meaning is different.

Gong Shiqi had already carefully considered how to attack on the way from Zhoushan Island to Jiaxing. He was a senior intelligence officer who had been personally trained by He Xi, and his thinking was more flexible. Instead of taking hostile action against Haihan", the question was "If the Haining Guard were to take action, then what would they do".

Gong Shiqi put himself in the position of his opponent to think about this issue, and he came to the conclusion that the local garrison must first collect relevant information through various channels and methods. Which ones can be moved and which ones cannot, how many troops of the Haihan people on Zhoushan Island are deployed near Hangzhou Bay, how often they sail, whether civilian ships will be boarded and inspected at sea, etc.Most of the questions related to Haihan will only be known to those who have been to Zhoushan Island. If Haining Guard directly summons these insiders, it will inevitably cause widespread suspicion, and it is very likely that the news will be leaked in advance.The best way is to choose a public information exchange place, monitor it, and then sort out the collected information to select useful parts.

Zhapu Port is the closest port to Zhoushan Island in Jiaxing Prefecture. Most of the local businessmen who go to Zhoushan to trade with Haihan will start from this port. The information about Haihan can be collected here is probably the most and the most comprehensive.If the person in charge of Haining Guard had brains, he probably wouldn't miss this window to understand Haihan.And what Gong Shiqi expected was to find Hainingwei's spies here.

This matter sounds difficult, but Gong Shiqi has his own way of distinguishing.First of all, the nature of the interception of civilian merchant ships by the government and military organization is very bad. Even if Haining Guard wants to participate, it must strictly keep it secret. The information they want to inquire about is too targeted, and it is unlikely that such an important task will be handed over to outsiders. Go up, otherwise, if you are a little careless, you will startle the snake, and all previous efforts will be wasted.

If the person who came to inquire about the news was from the military, even if the other party was pretending to be a businessman, it would be difficult to pretend to be decent.Acting skills, even if they are talented, still need to be tempered the day after tomorrow, and what Gong Shiqi is secretly observing is whether anyone here is exposed because of poor acting skills.

But it didn't take long for Gong Shiqi to realize that he was a little too smart.His opponent obviously didn't think about so many scruples, and he didn't seem to be worried about leaking the news, because he had already seen several Ming soldiers walking into the teahouse surrounded by an officer wearing a general uniform.

These people went straight to the second floor, and soon some people came down from the second floor, it is said that they were kicked out to make room for the military men.Not long after, a soldier came down from upstairs and asked if anyone came from Zhoushan Island. The boss upstairs wanted to buy some Haihan goods, and the price was negotiable.I don't know if the merchants were worried about repudiating the boss or causing other troubles. After he asked twice, there were very few responses. It seemed that everyone was not interested in this matter.

The little soldier snorted coldly and said: "They are all shameless! When the time comes, it will be found that there are Haihan goods on board, and the ship and the goods will be detained together. Don't come to Haining Guard and cry on your knees!"

Gong Shiqi felt confident that no one would recognize him here, so he immediately got up and said, "I just came from Zhoushan, what kind of Haihan goods do you need? Maybe there will be some on the disembarkation ship."

The little soldier didn't respond to his question, so he beckoned him to go upstairs.Gong Shiqi made a gesture so that several of his subordinates did not have to follow him, and followed the soldier up to the second floor alone.

The side of the second floor facing the street has been vacated, and only this one sits on the railing, while the other subordinates stand far away.Gong Shiqi walked over slowly and cupped his hands and said, "I'm down to Gong Shi, a sea merchant from Guangdong, I've met you sir!"

The boss didn't have much airs, so he invited him to sit down and talk.After asking Mr. Gong a few words about what kind of Haihan goods were loaded on Gong Shiqi's ship, he began to ask about the situation on Zhoushan Island, as if he was more interested in the local operations of the Haihan people.

Gong Shiqi came here with a purpose in the first place, so he naturally became vigilant when he heard these questions. However, one of the two parties knew Haihan very well, and the other only knew half of it. Jiaxing Mansion probably couldn't find another person who could understand the situation in Zhoushan like him.Of course, he would not reveal all the information he knew, how to play the role of a maritime merchant who passed by Zhoushan and bought some goods locally, Gong Shiqi also grasped his sense of propriety.

"How long will Boss Gong plan to stay in Jiaxing this time? Do you have a place to live?" After talking for a while, the boss suddenly asked an irrelevant question.

Gong Shiqi couldn't figure out the other party's intentions, so he could only respond cautiously: "I just arrived in Zhapu today, and I haven't found a place to live yet, so I'll probably find a hotel nearby to stay. As for how many days to stay, it depends on the business going well. or not."

The general manager nodded and said: "When you go to the Jixiang Inn on the north street, I will tell you that the general manager of Hainingwei asked you to come. You can stay here and I can ask you later."

Gong Shiqi pretended to be afraid and said: "My lord, I am just a businessman, and I have not violated the laws of the country. If Zhoushan Island is not allowed to go, then I will not go there after I go!" The silver is on the table.

The boss coughed dryly, and with a flick of his hand on the table, the silver ingot disappeared without a trace: "Don't be afraid, I'm not going to punish you, but there may be some things I need to ask you for clarification. What I asked just now, Don't mention it to others, remember!"

"Yes, yes, I remember, my lord, please don't worry!" Gong Shiqi stood up and retreated tremblingly. When he reached the stairs, his feet gave way and he almost fell. The soldiers beside him laughed out loud.

Gong Shiqi walked downstairs slowly while holding on to the railing, his face had returned to normal.The officers of Haining Guard actually used this semi-open method to collect information on Haihan in the market, which was something he had never thought of before coming here.But that's good, it saves a lot of trouble, otherwise, if we really have to rely on reconnaissance methods to collect information bit by bit, it is absolutely impossible to discover the movements of the Haining Weiming Army so quickly.

Gong Shiqi did not leave in a hurry, but continued to sit downstairs and wait and see.After chatting with the local businessman at the next table, he realized that this Wang Bazong had come here for the third consecutive day to do the same thing.There were not many new businessmen today, so only Gong Shiqi responded. It is said that more people went upstairs to interview Mr. Wang two days ago.

This at least shows that Hai Ningwei is collecting Hai Han's information in a targeted manner, and it's not just a whim of a certain person.Although it can't prove that Hai Ningwei has obvious hostility towards Hai Han, Gong Shiqi's intuition has already told him that things may be developing in a bad direction.Of course, this is not necessarily a bad thing for the Zhoushan Command, which is determined to set a trap to lure out the hidden hostile forces and wipe them out.

(End of this chapter)