Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 291 Bailing Island

The merchant ship "Shunping" slowly raised its sails, and the canvas swelled like a full moon in the strong northwest wind, making a "rustling" sound.

As the sails rose, the ship shook slightly, and then began to accelerate. The bow broke through the waves, splashing white water, and rushed towards the south.

In a moment, the outline of Pi Island gradually blurred at the stern of the ship, and finally turned into a faint gray shadow on the horizon, disappearing on the vast sea level.

"Shunping" belongs to Xinhua Second Shipping Company, which is mainly responsible for the transportation of materials and personnel in the Daming area.

Two years ago, the ship was purchased from the Guangzhou "Chen Liantai" shipyard, with a full load displacement of more than 400 tons.

The hull is made of solid teak. After some design modifications by the Xinhua people, the entire hull lines are smoother. Three masts are neatly arranged on the deck, and the sails flutter in the wind, which looks very imposing.

Although the Shunping was a merchant ship under the Xinhua flag, the captain and sailors were all hired from veterans of the Ming Dynasty.

The captain's surname is Li, and his given name is Dehai. He is an old sailor in his forties. His face is full of traces of weathering, but his eyes are bright and sharp, as if he can see through every change on the sea.

As the ship sailed into the vast ocean, the sailors on board became busy with their duties. Some were adjusting the sails, some were checking whether the cargo was tied securely in the cabin, and others were patrolling on the deck to ensure the safe sailing of the ship.

Most of these sailors are fishermen or boat people from the coastal areas. They have been living with the sea since childhood and have a natural sensitivity and proficiency in water work.

Although they often have to fight against wind and waves and face death, they receive generous salaries and sea allowances from their employers every month.

Therefore, although the work is hard and dangerous, and they are away from home all year round, the income is many times higher than farming or fishing on land before, which is enough to support their wives, children and the elderly at home.

Li Dehai narrowed his eyes, looked at the sky, then glanced down at the compass and said to a company manager beside him, "The wind direction is just right. At this speed, we will reach Bailing Island before dusk."

"After unloading all the food at Pi Island, our ship is almost half empty. That's a huge speed boost." Miao Xiangwen smiled with relief. "With smooth sailing, returning to Guangzhou shouldn't take more than a month, right?"

"If there's no delay, it won't take more than twenty days." Li Dehai thought for a moment and said optimistically, "Our trip took over three months. After we return to Guangzhou, we need to rest up and spend time with our family."

The cabin was filled with goods shipped from Kuniang Island and Pi Island, mainly furs, ginseng and some rare medicinal materials that are special products of Liaodong.

These goods were extremely popular in the south, especially among wealthy businessmen and officials in Jiangnan, Guangdong and Guangxi, who were eager to buy these treasures from the north.

The sea breeze was howling, the ship was rising and falling with the waves, and the sailors' low calls came from the deck.

Miao Xiangwen took a deep breath of the fishy sea breeze and secretly calculated the profit of this voyage.

He knew that as long as he arrived in Guangzhou safely, the income from this voyage would satisfy the manager who was temporarily in charge of the Guangzhou trading station, and his own "performance" and assessment would also be well evaluated.

After speeding all the way, the "Shunping" arrived at Bailing Island at around seven in the evening.

This small island was originally owned by North Korea, but the North Koreans did not station officials or troops on the island. It is only home to dozens of fishermen.

Last April, when the Xinhua people were transporting immigrants to Beiying Island, their fleet was hit by a storm and they took refuge on the island.

At that time, two Guang ships were seriously damaged and had to stay on the island temporarily after the storm.

Later, the Xinhua people discovered that the island was unmanaged and that the nearby waters were rich in fish, especially shrimp and crabs, making it a rare natural fishing ground.

In addition, the land on the island is fertile and easy to level, and the farming conditions are better than those on Pi Island and Kunniang Island, making it a good place for military farming.

Therefore, the new Chinese took the island for themselves without hesitation and used it as an important supply base for immigrant transit and transportation.

Of course, the new Chinese's occupation of this island also has potential political and military uses.

This place is less than 200 kilometers away from the Gyeonggi region of North Korea. From here, it only takes one or two days to reach the mouth of the Han River.

If we want to influence or attack North Korea in the future, it will be an excellent starting point.

In May of this year, Zhong Minghui, the head of the Liaohai region, dispatched an armed escort of over 40 people to the island. He then began extensive construction, erecting fortifications and fortifications, openly placing the island under Xinhua rule. During this time, North Korean officials, upon hearing the news, arrived by boat to investigate, but were uniformly turned away and prohibited from disembarking.

The North Koreans were so angry that they declared that they would mobilize the army and send out naval ships to expel the "pirates" who occupied the island.

However, in mid-July, when more than ten Xinhua immigrant ships were heading to Beiying Island, they deliberately took a detour and approached the Korean coast, causing several gunboats to directly expose the black muzzles of their guns in the portholes. Upon seeing this, local Korean officials immediately stopped their activities and kept silent.

Right now, our Kingdom of Korea is in a turbulent time, so it is better not to cause too much trouble.

It's a remote and desolate island, of little use. Just let the pirates occupy it as long as they don't invade coastal towns.

It's really pitiful to say that during the Imjin War, our Kingdom of Joseon still had a combat-capable navy that was not only able to fight against the Japanese pirates, but also able to cooperate with the Qing Dynasty's official army to attack the Japanese pirates' flanks, playing a vital role in recovering the kingdom's territory.

But times have changed. As time passed, the military of the entire Kingdom of Korea gradually declined. Not only were the garrisons in various regions extremely weak and unable to withstand a battle, but even the five guards of the imperial army and the imperial guards were decadent and only had a superficial appearance.

During the Dingmao Rebellion (the Later Jin invasion of Korea in 1627), the Jiannu army, with more than cavalry, penetrated half of Korea. The more than Korean troops collapsed at the first blow and were completely vulnerable.

The Korean navy was even more useless and almost became a tool for official transportation.

Not to mention naval battles and attacks, even sailing a slightly longer distance at sea would be impossible.

After these "pirates" occupied Baengnyeong Island, they did not invade and commit violence in the coastal areas. Instead, they would occasionally sail to the shore to secretly trade with the Koreans.

They would sell cotton cloth, tea, ironware, and handicrafts produced in the Ming Dynasty, and then exchange them for rice, oil, livestock, medicinal materials, furs and other supplies from the Koreans. The relationship between the two sides was very harmonious.

When local North Korean officials heard about this, they did not interfere too much, for fear of causing trouble and getting into trouble.

It is reported that every few months, many large ships would travel back and forth from the island, heading north and south, causing Korean officials to become suspicious and order the garrisons stationed in counties and prefectures to be on high alert and not give the pirates any opportunity to take advantage.

"Recently, the North Koreans mentioned that there's been a bandit uprising along the coast of their northwestern Hamgyong Province." A colony official who had come to greet the Sunpyong ship casually discussed the situation in North Korea after exchanging pleasantries. "It seems the commotion is quite serious. The bandits have killed hundreds of North Korean troops who came to quell the uprising, and they've even captured a county town."

"Haha, I didn't expect the Koreans to be so useless. Their dignified army was actually defeated by a bunch of bandits."

"If the North Koreans weren't so useless, how could we dare occupy these small islands?" Miao Xiangwen smiled and said nonchalantly, "However, Marshal Zhong has instructed you to defend the islands and not to clash with the North Koreans for the time being, so as not to disrupt the security situation here and affect our immigration and material transportation."

"We save money." The colony manager smiled and said, "Now, we do business with the North Koreans in an orderly manner and will never fight with them."

"I'm just thinking, the Koreans' armaments are so dilapidated that they can't even deal with some looting bandits. If the Jiannu invade Korea again, their entire court will probably choose to kneel down and surrender. If Korea is conquered and controlled by the Jiannu, then our islands will be in danger."

"Hey, Mr. Chen, I haven't seen you for a long time. I didn't expect that you have become more open-minded and understand the principle of "lips and teeth are cold when the lips are gone." Miao Xiangwen joked with a smile.

"Look at what you're saying." Chen Da grinned and laughed. "After all, I've been with Marshal Zhong for two or three years and served as the captain of the colonization team. I've been taught by him, so I should have learned something, right? But compared to you, you're all General Meng's top students, all of you can read and do math, while I'm just a rough guy."

"Okay, I won't talk any more with you. I've been on the boat all day, I need to go into the village and rest up." Miao Xiangwen waved his hand and said, "You should also quickly have people unload the remaining food on the boat tonight. Don't delay it until tomorrow and delay our journey."

"Don't worry, we will definitely unload the goods for you." As he said this, he waved his hand and called a group of young and strong immigrants to come forward to unload the goods.

"...A large-scale bandit incident has occurred in the northwestern coastal area of ​​Hamgyong Province, North Korea." Miao Xiangwen muttered as he walked. "I need to write this down and try to get it to Ku Niang Island to inform Marshal Zhong. Alas, I don't know if these bandits will cause any disturbance in the situation in North Korea."

"By the way, where do these bandits come from?" Miao Xiangwen stopped and turned to ask Chen Da.

Chen Da frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "I heard from the Koreans that these bandits might be pirates who fled from the Ming Dynasty. Oh, some people say they are local refugees and deserters, or Han Chinese who escaped from the Jiannu territory. ...Alas, no one can tell for sure anyway."

"These bandits gathered along the coast of Hamgyong Province, robbing merchant ships and coastal villages, causing widespread chaos. North Korean troops attempted to encircle and suppress them several times but were unsuccessful, resulting in the loss of many soldiers and generals."

Miao Xiangwen nodded slightly, waved his hand and said, "Okay, I'll make a note of this. I'm going to rest first. You guys should also rest early after unloading the cargo."

Chen Da nodded, watched Miao Xiangwen leave, and turned around to continue directing the immigrants to unload.

As the night deepened, the sea breeze continued to howl. The lights on Bailing Island flickered in the darkness, like faint stars, illuminating this small island occupied by the new Chinese.
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(End of this chapter)