The Star slowly sailed into the dock of Jeju Island, which turned out to be a pirate lair. The pirates established a small town on the west side of the island.
The official offices of the Koreans and the main cities on the island are all in the east. Jeju Island is not small, with an area of 1,825 square kilometers. There are 34 affiliated islands including Niudao, Wudao, Brother Island, Chagui Island, Mosquito Island, and Tiger Island.
It is an island with Mount Halla standing at an altitude of 1,950 meters.
The government offices that can fully accommodate the Koreans and the pirates live in peace. One is in the north and the other is in the southeast, keeping a sufficient distance.
Jeju Island was the largest island in the Kingdom of Korea at this time, also called Tamna Island.
Jeju Island is located in the East China Sea, the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, 100 kilometers southwest of Jeollanam-do, across the Jeju Strait from the peninsula, and more than 90 kilometers north of the southern coast of South Korea. It straddles the gateway to the Korean Strait, and its geographical location is very important.
The pirates and the officers and soldiers did not interfere with each other. Everyone was in peace. The Korean officials and a small number of navy also pretended to be deaf and mute to the existence of the pirates, pretending not to see it.
The Joseon Dynasty is really too weak. In this marginal place, its strength is negligible.
This island was originally a horse breeding place for the Yuan Dynasty. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it became the property of the Ming Dynasty. The Koreans shamelessly took over the island, and the above table stated that it was managed by Zhu Yuanzhang on his behalf.
There were so many islands like the Ming Dynasty. Even the entire island of Sumatra was the old port of the Ming Dynasty. The Strait of Malacca belonged to the Ming Dynasty. A small place like Jeju Island is really nothing.
They didn't take it seriously. It's been more than two hundred years, but even now the Koreans don't dare to say that this island belongs to them, they just say that they manage it on behalf of the Celestial Empire.
During this period, the sailors attacked everywhere and defeated many groups of pirates in succession, and a large number of pirates had no choice but to surrender.
Yang Fan ordered all their family records to be moved here, and the pirates were reorganized to form a standard pirate group with 3,600 people. The supervisors were all sent by Yang Fan.
A battalion of musketeers was responsible for the garrison and controlling the pirates' family papers. Because they had the family papers in hand, they were all obedient.
Every hundred pirates were broken up and reorganized into a squadron. They elected their own officers. Every five squadrons were organized into a battalion. This pirate group had a total of six battalions, and all the battalion-level officers were sent by Yang Fan.
The candidate for the leader of the pirate group has been decided. Ruan Qingzhu, who used to be responsible for the security of Governor Wei, transferred Li Huaishu back to serve as the leader of the pirate group.
In fact, the life of pirates is very difficult. They often have one meal and no next meal.
This time I robbed a fat sheep and lived happily for more than ten days, but I may starve for more than ten days after that. These people only join pirates when they have no other choice. If there is a way out, who would be willing to do this?
They were caught by Yang Fan's people and moved here, and they had three full meals a day for the first time. They mainly ate fish at sea, but now they can actually eat food three times a day. They are so happy that they don't want it.
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Their wives and children have begun to gain weight and are no longer skinny. Now that they are driven away, they will not leave.
Lin Yueru stood on the corridor at the stern of the ship, looking at the crude port, the temporary wooden trestle, the shore covered with stones and clay, the simple houses made of wood, groups of children running around naked, and many ragged clothes.
woman doing laundry.
Because there is no salt to eat, the hair of young people turns gray. It is ironic that they guard the sea but cannot buy salt.
Lin Yueru suddenly sympathized with these thieves. They were really not living a human life.
Although when Yang Fan was happy or drank too much, he would tell them bedtime stories under the coquettishness of the little girl.
In Yang Fan's story, pirates are always a world of wealth, women, and glory. But Lin Yueru knows that real pirates are like this.
Lin Yueru made up her mind not to get off the ship. Her VIP cabin was very comfortable and she was determined not to live in these shabby houses on the shore.
She was very worried that there would be bed bugs in those houses.
Soon, Cao Wei, the commander of the Jeju Island base, came up to meet the second lady. The word commander was also brought by Yang Fan. Lin Yueru understood that this word probably meant a local governor.
Cao Wei was born as a servant. He is the commander of the base and is not the same thing as the pirate group. Each is his own. He is mainly responsible for managing the port, dock, warehouse, stevedores, and the garrison.
He sent many jewelry as gifts.
After he came here, these pirates bribed him a lot, and he accepted them all, otherwise they would not feel at ease.
But he registered all these gifts in front of the supervisor and put them in the base's safe. He didn't dare to take any of them himself, because he knew that the master liked honest subordinates.
Lin Yueru was very happy. As long as she is a woman, there is no one who does not like jewelry.
He talked to them for a while and gave them a few bottles of red wine as a return gift. He politely declined the invitation that they had already packed up the official office and welcomed the lady and her entourage to stay.
The pirates' lair is not short of gold, silver and jewelry, but what they lack is cloth, food, and medicine. It's funny, the pirates are really starving with gold, silver and jewelry.
Because of the mainland's blockade and the navy's siege, they have been in a dilemma of scarce supplies.
After many people got sick, they died quickly due to lack of medical treatment.
Many people even starved to death while holding gold and silver.
The mortality rate of pirate women's children is frighteningly high. Children are also prone to die due to malnutrition. Coupled with various disasters such as typhoons and heavy rains, the average life span of pirates is very low, far less than that of residents in the mainland.
After they moved here, they at least had a fixed residence and would no longer be wandering around.
After all, people have a stable mind. After they moved here, they quickly fell in love with this stable life.
Yang Fan established a management organization here, brought in 30 recruited doctors, and established a school that could accommodate a thousand students. It provided free medical care and education.
Shops and banks were opened in the central square of the town. There were also hospitals, schools, hotels and government offices.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! There are all kinds of supplies in the store. They no longer need to risk their lives and run to the shore in disguise to buy supplies.
It's just that this store doesn't accept gold, silver, jewelry, or copper coins.
The store only accepts one kind of banknotes, which are the soft girl coin practice coupons that Yang Fan got from modern times.
It is exactly the same as the soft sister coin used in modern times, except that the words "Exercise Voucher" are printed diagonally on it. In modern times, this thing is used by banks and accountants to count money. The state does not control it and you can buy it at will.
However, in the late Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to imitate.
This is Yang Fan's test of using banknotes, starting with this pirate town. After all, banknotes are a big problem, and if something goes wrong, it won't end well.
Try it out on these pirates' territory first, after all, the impact will be very small.
At first, these pirates who were recruited found that after arriving here, not only were they not sent as coolies to mine, nor were their wives and children sold, but they were given salaries, cloth, and food.
They had heard that many of those who had been arrested were sent to Diaoyutai Island to dig up guano.
It's just that the salary is not copper coins, but scraps of paper.
The Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes had been completely abandoned by the people by the end of the Ming Dynasty. Due to excessive issuance, these coins devalued to the point where those who heard them were sad and those who saw them shed tears.
This thing is just like the pay stub of later generations. It looks angry and is too thin to wipe the buttocks.
But they soon discovered that this thing should never be used to wipe their butts.
Because all kinds of goods in the store can be purchased with this small piece of paper, and only with this piece of paper. If you spend all the paper money, you need to take the gold and silver stored at home to the bank and exchange them for paper money before purchasing. .
In this way, the pirates slowly accepted paper money because it could be exchanged for real things. On the contrary, on this island, gold and silver could not be converted into commodities needed by the family. Moreover, the value of paper money was very strong and the credit was very strong. I never bought it. It has not depreciated in value and is easy to carry. It is not only safe but also provides interest when stored in a bank.
Yang Fan recruited these pirates in order to use them to do dirty work.
Overseas trade in the Ming Dynasty was basically monopolized by civilian officials. They controlled the production of raw silk, silk fabrics, porcelain, and tea, and organized armed smuggling groups behind the scenes.
Yang Fan is also in the system, so it's not easy to deal with them directly.
So we recruited and armed these pirates, gave them equipment, and let them rob any merchant ships on the East Asian sea. Anyway, the Ming Dynasty banned the sea, so there were no ships on the sea that needed the protection of the Ming Dynasty law.
From now on, Jeju Island will be known as the central stronghold of pirates in Northeast Asia. Yang Fan sells stolen goods to them. In the future, any goods transported not by Yang Fan's merchant ships will face robbery by pirates.