Chapter 434 Sense of Crisis

"Have you recognized the person?" Not far out of the port center, Xiao Liang stopped and asked a militiaman behind him.

"Report to the leader, that Li Qingyang is the leader. I saw it clearly and will not admit my mistake!" The militiaman stood at attention and said decisively. He was one of the members of the field team who followed Gong Qiqi on the surveillance mission in Guangzhou the day before.

Having seen the faces of these surveillance targets, He Xi specially sent him to Panyu, just to let him come here to recognize them.

However, in He Xi's plan, he did not intend to arrest them here, because Lijiazhuang is not only a cargo transfer terminal, but also the main transfer station for Haihan's large-scale immigration from the mainland, not far from the terminal.

The immigration camps have been home to thousands of immigrants for a long time. Most of these people have to seek refuge in Haihan for their livelihood. In the absence of a comprehensive understanding of Haihan, if an armed conflict breaks out here because of the arrest of Jinyiwei

, it is very likely that these immigrants will be frightened, and even have some misunderstandings about their future employers. In addition, there are waterways near Lijiazhuang, and it is possible that Jinyiwei spies escaped during the arrest process, and the few mobile troops are not enough.

We can set up an effective encirclement in the nearby area. If there are other spies nearby that have not been discovered in the preliminary investigation, it will be easy to arrest them publicly and alert them.

Xiao Liang took people to the port center to confirm the identity of the Jinyiwei spies. After the face-to-face confirmation, the next thing can be carried out according to the established procedures.

Li Qingyang was not aware of the fact that his identity was exposed at this time. After completing the delivery procedures with Song San, they returned to the dock together. Song San kindly told him: "When business is busy in the future, the shopkeeper will inevitably

I want you to do some picking up and ordering of goods. Remember the procedures just now so that you can get things done properly."

"What Third Brother Song said is true, I will definitely bear it in mind." Li Qingyang responded with cupped hands.

At this moment, he was not thinking about the accountant's responsibilities, but was worried about the arrangements for his actions after arriving in Sanya. From what he had seen so far, the Haihan people were very meticulous and organized in their work. This kind of person

I'm afraid it's hard to find any big loopholes in the area under my jurisdiction. After arriving in Sanya, the first thing I have to consider is probably not how to detect the enemy's situation, but to cover up my identity first and not reveal any clues.

Li Qingyang originally thought they would wait for a while, but he didn't expect that as soon as they arrived at the pier, the delivery team would follow. Li Qingyang couldn't help but praise: "This doesn't waste time at all!"

Song San responded: "The Haihan people have a clear saying that time is money. If it were at the Pearl River Terminal, it wouldn't be a big deal to be delayed for a few hours during loading, but here, after the cargo order is delivered to the warehouse, it will be a stick of incense.

If the goods are not shipped on time, the people at the warehouse will be punished."

"But I see that the dock is not so busy that we need to queue up to load and unload goods?" Li Qingyang asked doubtfully.

Song San explained: "This is because the timing of our ship's arrival is coincidental, and it happens to miss the busiest days around the first and fifteenth day of each month. However, this is the rule of the Haihan people, no matter when they are free or when they are busy.

, when did it come? The loading and unloading speed here is so fast. Think about it, for a big ship like ours, it takes about a day to a day and a half to load in Guangzhou, but it can be done in half a day here, which is a savings in a year.

It’s enough time to run back and forth a few times.”

"I see." Li Qingyang thought to himself that these Haihan people are indeed shrewd. They have even calculated such details. It is no wonder that their reputation has spread to the north of the Yangtze River in just a year or two. Sure enough, they still have some skills.

.

The ship he was on this time was mainly carrying tea and porcelain to Sanya. These goods had been packed before entering the warehouse. At this time, they only needed to be carried to the ship by laborers for loading. There were other people on the ship responsible for this.

Counting the goods, Li Qingyang had nothing to do, so he turned to look at another ship parked on the dock.

The appearance of this ship is different from any sailing ship that Li Qingyang has seen in the past. The hull is somewhat similar to the Guangzhou Fu Ship, but it is more narrow and long, and its size should have greatly exceeded the shipbuilding limit of 400 materials.

What caught Li Qingyang's attention the most was the sail system on the ship. The mast was obviously much higher than that of an ordinary sailboat, and the sails used were not Chinese hard sails, but soft cloth sails similar to those of Western sailboats. Li Qingyang once worked on

I have seen Western sailing ships in Fuzhou, but the style of the soft sails and the sails on this ship seem to be different - the sails of Westerners are cut into sections and tied to the horizontal mast when furling, while the sails on this ship seem to be different.

The ship's sail is a large piece of sail, covered with several curved horizontal masts. I don't know how the ship's sails are operated.

"Brother Song San, what is the origin of this ship next to you?" Li Qingyang finally couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked Song San.

"This is a sailboat built by the Haihan people. They call it an exploration ship. This ship is here to transport immigrants and send them back to Sanya. Seeing that the sails are raised, it is estimated that it will leave soon." Song San

introduced.

Li Qingyang frowned and said, "Exploration ship? Then why are the sails and mast so strange?"

"This is what makes it so powerful! When running on the sea, this ship can travel twice as fast as our ship, and it can make excellent use of the wind regardless of whether it's tailwind or headwind. This ship travels from Guangzhou to Sanya.

It only takes four more days to arrive, but our boat will have to travel at least seven days." Song San said with envy.

"There is such a fast ship!" Li Qingyang couldn't help but be surprised. He had done some homework before coming, such as the distance from Guangzhou to Sanya and the time required for the voyage. He also knew it well. Song San said

The ship could actually arrive in three or four days, which completely exceeded his understanding of sailing ships.

"The Haihan people also have two faster boats. They are both white and flat, like an egg shell floating on the water." Song San couldn't help but show off his knowledge: "Those two boats are said to be

It was brought by the Haihan people from their country. It travels extremely fast on the sea, at least half as fast as this exploration ship. Unfortunately, it cannot be copied in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that the materials for building the ship cannot be found in the Ming Dynasty."

Li Qingyang said: "I heard that the Haihan people defeated a group of powerful pirates at the Pearl River Estuary last year. Could it be that they also used this kind of sailboat?"

Song San looked around, and then said cautiously: "You are asking the right person if you ask me. Last year, the Haihan Militia fought with the pirate Liu Xiang, and I, Song San, was the one who witnessed it!"

When Li Qingyang heard this, he immediately became interested and quickly asked more questions.

It turned out that Song San was working as a sailor on a cargo ship of "Fusheng" at that time. When the two sides fought, the ship he was on happened to be docked in Wanshan Port, so he was lucky enough to witness how the Haihan people used it on Wanshan Island.

The topography and fortifications of Wanshan Port trapped Liu Xiang's pirate fleet.

This can be regarded as one of the few wonderful experiences in Song San's life. He was immediately drooling when he talked about it. Li Qingyang was secretly frightened while listening to it. From Song San's description, at least several things can be confirmed.

First, the Haihan people have a large fleet of warships, and all of these warships are equipped with several artillery pieces. During sea battles, they mainly use long-range artillery fire to sink and damage enemy ships. Secondly, the Haihan people have thousands of ships.

The fort is privately built on the mountain island and has very powerful firepower output - if Song San is not bragging, the fort in Wanshan Port has at least more than ten artillery pieces. Third, Wanshan Port is a larger port than Lijiazhuang Wharf.

It is a large smuggling port. In addition to transshipping goods in and out of Guangzhou, there are also merchant ships from Huizhou Prefecture, Chaozhou Prefecture and even Fujian.

With the existence of Wanshan Port, these ships that were originally bound for Guangzhou or Qiongzhou can unload their cargo at Wanshan Port to complete the transaction. For these ship owners, firstly, they save a long voyage, and secondly,

In this way, the commercial taxes levied by the Shipping Department are avoided, and the direct or indirect benefits obtained every year will also be a large amount. Of course, there is no doubt that a considerable part of these benefits also enter the maritime industry.

In the pockets of the Han people.

Li Qingyang also discovered another fact, that is, wherever the Haihan people went, the territory they occupied was used for commerce, from the Guangdong Office outside Guangzhou, to the Lijiazhuang Wharf in Panyu County, and then to the Pearl River

Wanshan Port at the entrance of the city, and even the Sanya area on Qiongzhou Island, seem to have been transformed into prosperous business areas under the management of the Haihan people. It seems that the reputation of the Haihan people for being good at doing business and trade is really not just blown. But so

What made him uneasy was that the people of Haihan were so powerful in making money that they might have already become richer than the rest of the country. Building a commercial port and building a fort on an isolated island was not something ordinary wealthy businessmen could do.

to complete.

There are guns and artillery, an army and a navy, a population and a territory, and most importantly, a strong ability to make money. Such a force existed in the southern border of the Ming Dynasty and was completely out of the control of the government. However, the imperial court did not

They didn't realize the danger of its existence. If Nanzhen Fusi hadn't received some reporting information, in two or three years, the Haihan people would have a solid foundation and full wings. If they tried to touch them by then, I'm afraid

It is not an easy task. Thinking of this, Li Qingyang felt even more how important the task he was undertaking this time was to the imperial court. Based on the information he has learned so far, if it were written into a memorial and reported to the imperial court, it would probably be enough to cause the imperial court to

The hall was greatly shaken.

As he was talking, the boat docked next to him had slowly sailed away from the river bank and began to turn around in the middle of the river. Li Qingyang suddenly remembered something and asked Song San: "Brother Song, have there ever been soldiers from the Haihan Militia on a merchant ship in the past?"

matter?"

Song San was stunned for a while, then shook his head and said: "I have no recollection. This is the first time I have encountered them. Militia soldiers usually travel on warships, but during the war, there was a move to temporarily requisition civilian ships."

Li Qingyang pointed to the sailboat that was turning around and sailing towards the Pearl River and said: "That is the Haihan people's own boat. It set off before us and was faster. Why didn't the militia soldiers take that boat to Wanshan Port?"

"This..." Song San had obviously just realized this problem. He frowned in silence for a while, then shook his head and said, "I don't know why. Maybe this ship has no intention of docking at Wanshan Port."

This explanation obviously did not satisfy Li Qingyang, but only people like him who are engaged in special industries would probably notice such inconspicuous details. People like Song San would be happy if they had the opportunity to help the Haihan people.

I am already so excited that I will not carefully consider the rationality of it.

Li Qingyang vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't explain why. Due to professional sensitivity, he could feel that there was a crisis lurking somewhere. The wisest choice would be to immediately suspend the current actions and find out this kind of problem first.

The reason behind the uneasiness is to make next plans. But the environment he is in now does not allow him to freely make the choice to terminate the action. If he misses this opportunity, he will inevitably have to return to Guangzhou to repeat the previous step.

This is a taboo in this industry, and it is no less dangerous than continuing the action. Li Qingyang thought about it for a long time, and finally decided to continue and check the situation.

"When you get on the ship, you will follow. When you get to Wanshan Port, you will follow the orders of the local commander. Do you understand?" Xiao Liang was sitting in a room on the second floor of a shop next to the pier. From this position, he could just observe

He could see the movements of the ship Li Qingyang was on, but it was difficult for the other party to notice that he was under surveillance.

The subordinate who was sent to Panyu by He Xi immediately bowed his hands and said, "I obey!"

Xiao Liang frowned and said to the orderly next to him: "Teach him the rules of the army and don't show off your feet on the ship!"

Some of the field personnel under He Xi did not come from the Haihan military police system, but were recruited directly from Guangzhou. The subordinate he sent had never been trained in the militia, so there was inevitably a certain degree of insecurity in his behavior.

Xiao Liang was afraid that such details would ruin his business, so he quickly had someone take him out to practice the military etiquette of the militia.

During the nearly two hours of loading goods to the ship, Li Qingyang had been in a state of anxiety. However, what made him feel slightly relieved was that no strangers approached him during this period, and no militia soldiers were on the dock.

appeared, and he even had time to go to a restaurant on the dock with his companions for a meal. When settling the accounts, Li Qingyang remembered what Song San said, so he took out the circulation coupons that he had withdrawn in advance as salary to pay the bill. Sure enough,

The store accepted it without any objection. Li Qingyang also confirmed that this small piece of colorful paper could really be used as money in the area controlled by the Haihan people. It was a new experience for him.
Chapter completed!