The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 233: How are you? (1)

With the capture of Hetuala and the continued expansion of Kaiyuan's strength, the contradiction between Kaiyuan and the imperial court became the main contradiction.

Even if there had not been the infiltration of the East Factory spies, even if there had not been the assassination by the Liaoxi assassins, the conflict between Liu Zhaosun and Zu Dashou and the Ming Emperor would have happened sooner or later.

But no one expected that the showdown between Kaiyuan and the various parties would come so early.

~~~~~
A violent explosion woke Lu Tongzhi from his sweet dream.

At first, Mr. Lu thought it was thundering outside.

He lay in bed in a daze, then remembered that it was the dry and cold winter, not the hot summer with thunderstorms.

If Dou E had not been reborn, such a thrilling thunder would not have occurred.

There was only one Dou E in the previous dynasty, and she only lived in the mouths of storytellers in brothels and teahouses.

But there were many Dou E's in the Ming Dynasty.

Over the years, Mr. Lu had sold at least eight hundred women to brothels across the country.

Among these women, there must be someone who experienced something even more tragic than Dou E.

However, life and death are predestined, and wealth and honor are in the hands of God.

In Mr. Lu's opinion, selling the daughters of refugees to brothels is at least better than letting them freeze or starve to death.

Not long ago, the red-haired Yijin Ni Ge came to visit Lu's mansion, and the missionary accidentally mentioned the black triangle trade that was in full swing on the other side of the continent.

The red-haired barbarians set out from their home country loaded with salt, cloth, wine and other commodities, exchanged them for slaves in Africa, traveled along the so-called "Central Route" through the Atlantic Ocean, and exchanged them for plantation products such as sugar, tobacco and rice, as well as gold, silver and industrial raw materials in the Americas before returning home.

This way you can earn several times the profit.

After hearing this, Lu Tongzhi was greatly inspired and felt that compared with his European counterparts, he was nothing.

Inspired by the spirit of free trade, Lu Tongzhi decided to establish relations with the red-haired foreigners in Macau through Ginni Pavilion and began to get involved in trade with the Tang people.

According to Ginni, selling women to Macau as slaves to the Portuguese could earn more money than selling them to brothels in Jiangnan.

Although slaves were quite common in the late Ming Dynasty, selling Chinese citizens to foreigners was against Ming law.

At least the imperial court strictly prohibited it.

However, at this moment, Liu Zhaosun's rebellion is imminent and the capital is in danger. Who would care about the human trafficking in Tianjin?

What Lu Demin didn't know was that as the Portuguese colonists gradually gained a foothold in Macau and as European trade flourished in Southeast Asia, the free flow of this labor force in the southern part of the Ming Empire had become increasingly unstoppable.

At least, the Ming Dynasty could not stop it.

Local officials along the coast of Guangdong are deeply concerned about this issue.

In the 41st year of the Wanli reign, Zhang Minggang, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, erected a monument in Macau, engraved with five laws that the Portuguese in Macau must abide by. The second of them stipulated that the foreign chiefs (Portuguese) were not allowed to purchase "children of the Tang people."

However, driven by huge economic interests, morality and laws ultimately became powerless. Starting in the late Jiajing period, large numbers of coastal Chinese flocked to Macau every year to trade with the Portuguese or become their slaves. (See Note 1)

Lu Tongzhi pushed away his beautiful concubine who was still sleeping, put on a cloak, and his spherical body made the eight-step bed creak.

"I'm helping them find a way to make a living, which is also a benefit to the people."

He stood up, lit the candle on the table, lay down in front of the window, and looked outside through the gap.

Two months ago, a ship carrying southern goods belonging to Lu Tongzhi was robbed by pirates near Pi Island in Korea.

After reporting to the Ministry of War, there was no further news. Later, his cousin learned through his connections in the East Factory that he might have been kidnapped by Marquis Ping Liao.

He had no way to deal with Liu Zhaosun.

Lü Demin was the commander-in-chief of Tianjin Wei, a third-rank civil official. In terms of official position, he was two levels higher than Ping Liaohou.

In terms of strength, they are not even on the same level.

Thinking back to the past, he was robbed by this killer in Tianjin, and in Korea, he was even more out of reach.

As the New Year was approaching, Lu Tongzhi had to spend money to bribe the masters in the capital.

From the Pacification Office to the Six Ministries, from the Censorate to the Three Judicial Offices, and those greedy censors and imperial officials, none of them can be left out.

Lu Demin has absolute power in Zhangjiagang, but in fact his business depends on the care of these gentlemen.

Thinking about his goods being robbed by Liu Zhaosun, Mr. Lu lost his appetite and lost two kilograms in just one month.

An orange-red mushroom cloud rose in the dark night.

Lu Demin was shocked:
"The armory... the armory exploded?"

The explosion of tens of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder created a huge shock wave, which swept in like a storm, cleansing this sinful city.

Lu Tongzhi took a deep breath and secretly thanked himself for having moved the goods to the dock in time, otherwise he would have lost so much money this time! "Master! Master! It's bad!"

Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on the door. Lü Demin recognized the voice of Tong Laosan, the head servant, and quickly wrapped his cloak tightly around him, stepped aside through the crack of the door, and said impatiently:
"What are you yelling about? Tong Laosan, why are you back here when you're not guarding the cargo at the dock?"

Tong Laosan was trembling all over.

"Master! Our goods have been robbed again!"

Lu Demin grabbed the servant by the collar and found that there was still blood on his face.

"what?"

The head servant was out of breath, as if he had just escaped death.

"A group of Ming soldiers, they said they were sent by the Coast Guard to help the master transport the goods to Liaodong for sale!"

"Nonsense! Ding Bi is dead! I haven't done business with Liaodong for a long time! Are you blind or something? Can you believe what Yang Hao says? He's Liu Zhaosun's father-in-law! He's even more shameless than his son-in-law!"

Tong Lao San said quickly:
"Master, of course I know. After that, the group of people attacked me with knives. Fortunately, I ran away quickly, otherwise I would not have seen you."

At this time, the two concubines on the bed behind him were finally awakened. They asked the master in a coquettish voice what had happened. Lu Demin waved his hand impatiently from a distance.

"Go away, go back to sleep!"

Master Lu kicked the head servant over and pointed at his nose and cursed:
"Where's the goods?"

“They stole it!”

"You bastards, what are you holding here for nothing? You're just letting others snatch it away?! Do you know how much this batch of goods is worth? Even if I sell you all to the Jiaofang Bureau as pimps, it still wouldn't be enough!"

The more Lu Tongzhi spoke, the angrier he became. He went back to his room, picked up a whip from the table, and started beating Tong Lao San, cursing as he did so:

"I'll make sure you just hang out at brothels! I'll make you gamble every day!..."

After beating him for more than ten times, Lu Demin was exhausted and gasped for breath. He threw the whip into the yard.

Seeing that the master had vented his anger, the servant said anxiously:

"Master, we can't beat them. They have firearms and bows and arrows. They look like they're from Liaodong and they all speak with a Liaodong accent."

"Liaodong accent? Could it be that killer again? How many of them are there?"

The scene of being robbed by Liu Zhaosun two years ago immediately emerged in my mind.

Tong Laosan thought for a moment and said uncertainly:
"Maybe there were thirty or fifty of them. I fought my way out, but they didn't chase me much. They were busy setting up fortifications at the dock. It looks like there were quite a few of them. Oh, sir, the red-haired barbarian who came to our house last time was also captured by them. I saw with my own eyes a thug with a Shaanxi accent beating the red-haired barbarian."

Lü Demin was trembling all over, looking up at the still-burning Water Camp Arsenal at the west gate, his teeth chattering with rage. He didn't care about the life or death of the red-haired barbarian; his biggest concern now was the goods he had stored in Zhangjiagang.

He could earn tens of thousands of taels of silver by selling a few hundred boxes of tea and spices, which was equivalent to his annual income from human trafficking.

"It must be Liu Zhaosun's men! They've bullied me three times!"

"This killer is a born rebel. I should have killed him back in Tianjin. Now he's actually sent people to Tianjin to blow up the arsenal. It seems he's really going to rebel! I'll file a petition with the court to execute all nine generations of his clan!"

The servant was only wearing a single layer of clothing and was shivering outside the door. He looked at Lu Demin eagerly, wanting to go into the house to warm up.

"Master, what should we do now? Liu Zhaosun's men are still in Zhangjiagang. They will probably have to wait until daybreak before they can escape. At night, the ship cannot go out to sea."

Lu Tongzhi rolled his eyes, thought for a while, and ordered:

"Immediately send someone to notify Captain Fan of the Water Camp and have him mobilize his troops to surround Zhangjiagang. Don't let a single thief escape! You go to the garrison in person, pick some soldiers, and go to the dock together to kill all these thieves and avenge me! Also, send someone to my cousin's house and have him submit a petition overnight, saying that Liu Zhaosun has rebelled."

The servant stood there trembling, looking embarrassed.

"Master... Master, it's too cold outside. It's the middle of the night, and it's pitch black. Many people are asleep. I'm afraid they won't be able to get up. It's better to wait until daybreak..."

Lu Demin glared at him, took off his own cloak and put it on the head servant.

"When daybreak comes, the rebels will be gone!"

"Tong Lao San, put on my cloak and hurry up to get this shipment back. I'll reward you with a thousand taels of silver! Tell those guards that if anyone can't get up tonight, I'll make sure he can't get up for the rest of his life!"

The head servant was filled with gratitude after hearing this. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, there was a knock on the door in the courtyard outside.

The master and servant looked at each other in bewilderment. Who would come to visit in such a chaotic situation?

"Tian Ergeng, commander of the Imperial Guard, has come to Tianjin to pursue the rebels from the East Depot, following the Emperor's orders. I ask Co-Governor Lü to speak out!"

Notes:

1. The Confusion of Indulgence: Commerce and Culture in the Ming Dynasty by Bu Zhengmin (Canada)

(End of this chapter)