Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 151: Pi Island (Part )

"Are you saying that the two ships on the sea want to exchange food and some firearms for the Liaodong refugees on my Pi Island?"

In the meeting hall of the General's Mansion in Pi Island, Liu Xingji (Liu Xingzhi's third brother), the former assistant lieutenant general who was temporarily in charge of Dongjiang Town affairs, looked at Chen Guangfu, the left-hand guerrilla who came to report, with an uncertain expression and some doubt on his face.

"Hmm, that's right!" Chen Guangfu clasped his fists and replied, "According to Xue Wenjie, those two large ships belonged to foreign merchants who had settled overseas. Upon hearing that there were over a hundred thousand Liao people in Dongjiang Town and they were struggling to make a living, they came to Pi Island and wanted to exchange a thousand dan of grain for a thousand men."

"When did the price of human trafficking in our Ming Dynasty become so low?" Liu Xingji sneered. "Even in Liaodong, buying a half-grown child would cost three or five taels of silver, not to mention a young and strong man. ... Haha, a dan of grain in exchange for a person, how could it be so cheap? Although the north has been plagued by disasters and food prices have skyrocketed, a dan of grain is only worth one tael and five cents of silver at most, right?"

"What Commander Liu means is..." Commander-in-Chief Zhang Tao, who was sitting nearby, raised his eyelids and asked in surprise, "Why don't we exchange people with the foreign merchants from the sea?"

"Who knows if these foreign merchants are really exchanging food for people, or if they have other motives?" Liu Xingji glanced at him and said indifferently, "What if these two large ships are sent by the Jiannu to seize our Pi Island? That would be extremely dangerous!"

"Ha..." Zhang Tao sneered, "If the Jiannu really could command two such large ships, why would they come to our Pi Island under the pretext of exchanging food for men? They would be better off directly transporting thousands of armored soldiers and forcing an attack on our Pi Island. That would be much more straightforward!"

"Can the Jiannu capture our Pi Island with just a few thousand armored soldiers?" Liu Xingji glared at him. "If that's the case, then aren't the tens of thousands of soldiers on our island made of mud? ... Lieutenant General Zhang, don't try to boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige!"

"The Marshal went to Lushunkou to meet with the imperial envoy and has not returned yet. Pi Island is a crucial point of defense for Dongjiang Town and must not be lost. The two large ships that have arrived here are of unknown identities and origins. We must proceed with caution and remain calm, avoiding unnecessary complications!"

"Calm them down with tranquility?" Zhang Tao said calmly. "Then, may I ask, Lieutenant General Liu, how will we address the island's food shortage? Half a month ago, we discussed repatriating the thousands of Liao people on the island to Denglai, but Governor Sun Yuanhua refused. I wonder how we can address this issue now?"

"Could it be that, according to Commander-in-Chief Zhang's intention, we will sell the Liao people on the island to those foreign merchants, causing the people of our Ming Dynasty to be forced to flee overseas?" Liu Xingji asked in return.

"However, I must remind you, Lieutenant General Liu, that tens of thousands of Liao civilians on the island have been starving for a long time, including many family members of our Dongjiang Town officers and soldiers."

"If the Marshal fails to convince the imperial envoy at Port Arthur, I'm afraid Denglai won't be able to send food and wages for a while. It's hard to control people when they don't have enough to eat! If the food shortage affects so many soldiers, it might lead to something terrible."

"..." After hearing this, Liu Xingji's expression froze and he stared at him hatefully.

These Liaodong military generals have been dissatisfied ever since the fifth brother (Liu Xingzhi) killed Chen Jisheng and took control of the military affairs of Dongjiang Town. However, they were afraid of the powerful troops controlled by our brothers, so they had to bow their heads and temporarily submit to us.

When dealing with many military and civil affairs, he always creates obstacles, secretly creates obstacles, and makes some small calculations.

Now, Lao Wu went to Lushunkou to meet with the imperial envoy and has not returned yet. Although these generals did not dare to openly oppose his temporary military and political management of Pi Island, they kept making small moves in private, and were happy to see him get into one trouble after another, and chose to stand by and watch.

The island was indeed suffering from a severe food shortage. Shen Shikui came to find him every few days and kept warning him that if there was no more food input, the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians on the island would be in turmoil and would be impossible to suppress.

"Master Shen, what do you think?" Liu Xingji turned to look at Shen Shikui, who had been silent, and asked in a deep voice.

"Ah?..." Shen Shikui seemed to be distracted. Being called by Liu Xingji so suddenly, he looked at him in surprise. "General Liu, what's the matter?"

"Master Shen, I'm asking you, two large ships of unknown origin came to the sea, claiming that they want to exchange food for the Liao people of Pi Island. How do you think this matter should be handled?" Liu Xingji glared at him angrily and wanted to explode, but thinking of his relationship with Lao Wu, he suppressed the anger in his heart and asked patiently.

Shen Shikui, originally a resident of the Liaoyang Right Guard Left Commandery, was a local merchant in his early years. When the Jiannu invaded Liaodong, he lost his livelihood and became lost.

Later, by chance, he joined Mao Wenlong, who had just established the Dongjiang Town, and made some contributions together. He was also recommended by the Ministry of War and the Governor of Liaodong to be the commander of the Dongjiang Town. He was considered a veteran figure in the Dongjiang Town and was trusted by Mao Wenlong.

Of course, the reason why Mao Wenlong valued him so much was not only because he helped Dongjiang Town handle the most critical matters of money, grain and trade, but also because he had a daughter who was famous for her "stunning beauty" and was presented to Mao Wenlong as a concubine, making him "the most favored one at the time."

On many occasions, Mao Wenlong referred to Shen Shikui as "Master Shen," earning him the title of "Father-in-Law of the State" of Dongjiang Town, allowing him to dominate the island. In June of the second year of the Chongzhen reign (1629), Mao Wenlong was executed by Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Ji and Liao. His successor, General Chen Jisheng, not only inherited some of Mao Wenlong's political legacy but also took Shen Shikui's "stunningly beautiful" daughter from Mao Wenlong's mansion, taking her as a concubine without any disdain.

In April of this year, Liu Xingzhi rebelled, killed Chen Jisheng, took control of Dongjiang Town, and established himself in Pi Island. He originally wanted to take advantage of the situation to kill Shen Shikui.

However, he didn't expect that this guy quickly offered up the "beautiful" girl who escaped from Chen Jisheng's mansion, so that he could escape disaster, keep his life, and continue to be his "Master Shen".

Previously, the finances, grain, and trade (smuggling) of Dongjiang Town were all handled by Shen Shikui. Not long after Liu Xingzhi married his daughter, he continued to let him be in charge of these affairs, and he was considered the financial steward of the entire Dongjiang Town.

At this time, two large ships of foreign merchants came to Pi Island, intending to exchange food for Liao people. According to Liu Xingji's opinion, they would naturally exchange as much as they could.

It would not be a bad idea to even pack up and "sell" all the tens of thousands of Liao people on the island.

With so many mouths to feed on the island, the daily consumption is a huge number. With Dongjiang Town's weak economic foundation and material reserves, it is simply impossible to support so many people.

What was even more annoying was that after the fifth brother Liu Xingzhi killed Chen Jisheng in April, the supply of supplies from Denglai was immediately cut off, and "strict troops were stationed to guard Denglai", isolating the coastal defense and causing famine in the entire Dongjiang Town.

In May, in order to raise food and money, Liu Xingzhi led his troops to attack other islands in Dongjiang Town, but he failed to capture any of them and wasted a lot of money and food.

In desperation, Liu Xingzhi could only send the student Wang Shaoji to the capital to "apologize" to the court, claiming that the mutiny was caused by Chen Jisheng's harsh treatment of officers and soldiers, which led to the riot among the soldiers.

Liu Xingzhi turned the tide, "pacified" the mutiny, and stabilized the situation in Dongjiang Town. He was a great "meritorious official."

The imperial court probably did not want any unrest in Dongjiang Town, nor did it dare to force them too much. It was worried that if these soldiers defected to the Jiannu, it would cause major changes in the situation in Liaodong. So it reluctantly accepted Liu Xingzhi's "apology" memorial, appointed Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong and granted him the post of "deputy general in charge of Dongjiang Front Affairs", temporarily taking charge of the military and political affairs of Dongjiang Town, and also gave some wages to the Dongjiang soldiers as a sign of comfort.

However, in order to confirm whether Liu Xingzhi was still loyal to the court, on the first day of June, Zhou Wenyu and Liu Yinglong, the Ming court's plenipotentiary representatives for handling the mutiny, went to Xiaoping Island to meet with Liu Xingzhi. Then on the seventh day, they went to Lushunkou together to appease him again and agreed to work together to resist the invaders.

It is estimated that only after reaching an agreement with the imperial envoy, reporting to the capital, and then issuing an edict to Denglai, will it be possible to restore the supply of food and fodder.

Counting the days, the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians on the island will have to endure hardship for at least a month.

To be honest, Liu Xingji would be very welcome to anyone who could send some food.

You should know that before the fifth brother Liu Xingzhi went to Lushunkou to meet the imperial envoy, he had secretly sent people to Shenyang to collude with the Jiannu and communicate secretly in order to obtain some material assistance from them.

But at this moment, when Liu Xingzhi had not yet returned from the island, two large merchant ships of unknown origin suddenly arrived, and Liu Xingji could not help but mutter to himself.

Do they have any other purpose?
"General Liu..." Shen Shikui saw Liu Xingji looking at him with suspicion. After a moment's hesitation, he slowly said, "Whatever the purpose of these two ships, we must contact them and question them thoroughly. If they really want to exchange food for Liao people, it's not something we can't consider. ...How about I go and meet them?"

"..." Liu Xingji looked at him intently for a long while, then nodded slightly, "I'll let Liu Xingpei go with you to investigate their background.

"..." Shen Shikui looked at Liu Xingji deeply, without saying much, just bowed.

"Oh, yes. If those merchants can really exchange some firearms for us, we might as well give them some Liao people."

After hearing this, Zhang Tao couldn't help but curl his lips.

Damn it, whose food does this get?
(End of this chapter)