Chapter 64: The Crisis of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce
Shuangyu Port is the three major ports, of which the West Port faces the mainland, so it is tightly controlled by the smugglers of the Ming Dynasty. The situation in Nangang, which is across the sea from Xigang, is also similar, and it is still dominated by smugglers from the Ming Dynasty, for example, the Xie family's power in Nangang is quite large. However, there were already a few Japanese and Koreans in Nangang, but these forces were so small that they could almost be ignored.
In contrast, located in the outermost part of Shuangyu Port, the situation of Beigang is extremely complicated, the geographical location of Beigang is the most superior, and it is also the largest port in the whole Shuangyu Port, where there is not only the power of Ming merchants, but also the power of the Japanese and Koreans are also concentrated here, the most representative of which is the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce of Zhou Hai, the largest force of the Japanese people, the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce, and the Jeolla Chamber of Commerce, Chungcheong Chamber of Commerce, etc.
Among the large and small forces in Beigang, the most powerful ones are naturally the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce of Zhou Hai and the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce of the Japanese people, but some time ago, the main fleet of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce went to sea, and the shipwreck led to the annihilation of the entire fleet, and even Zhou Hai was buried at the bottom of the sea, which made the entire Nanyang Chamber of Commerce leaderless at once, and soon split into three parts.
At the second watch in the evening, there was a heavily guarded mansion on the southernmost side of Beigang, which was almost the same as the Xie family's mansion in Nangang from the outside, except that the courtyard wall of this mansion was built taller and stronger, and there were guards inside and outside, as if it was guarding against something.
The main hall in the front yard of the mansion was brightly lit, as if it were holding some kind of party, but if you entered the hall, you would find that there were only three people in the entire hall. I saw a tall chair in the middle of the hall, but the chair was empty, and on the two rows of chairs placed in front of the chair, three people sat opposite each other.
On the chair on the right sat a middle-aged woman in her forties, with a face like a full moon and a plump figure, with a general mature temptation all over her body. However, perhaps because of staying at the beach for many years, the skin looks a little dark, coupled with the erosion of time, the corners of the woman's eyes and lips have a few fine lines that cannot be checked, which makes people sigh the ruthlessness of the years.
Opposite the mature woman sat two men, the first of whom was an old man of fifty or sixty years of age, who was dry and thin, dressed in a blue cotton robe, with a high back, and turned out to be a hunchback.
The first one is a middle-aged man of the same age as a mature woman, I saw that the other party was not tall, but extremely strong, wearing a short coat on the upper body, a pair of black trousers below, looking like an ordinary boatman, the shoulders were much wider than ordinary people, and the two arms were almost as thick as the thighs, looking like a chimpanzee with no hair.
These three people are the only three remaining managers of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, among which the mature beauty surnamed Lu, generally known as Sanniang, used to manage the shipyard of the Chamber of Commerce. And the hunchbacked old man's surname is Wu, but most people are used to calling him the camel master or camel uncle, who manages the port income of the Chamber of Commerce. As for the strong man who spoke, his surname was Sun Mingtong, he used to be a boatman, he was a good hand at handling ships, and he often ran boats outside, and he was unable to go to sea due to illness last time, so he escaped, and now he has the most reluctant ships of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce in his hands.
After Zhou Hai's accident, Sanniang, Uncle Camel, and Sun Tong were three people because of the conflict of ideas and interests, and no one refused to obey anyone, so although the most reluctant did not completely tear their faces, but also to the point of splitting, the three of them divided the remaining industries of the Chamber of Commerce, of which Sanniang was just a woman, and had no intention of going to sea at all, so as long as he was in charge of the shipyard, and the port income controlled by Uncle Camel was very considerable, but Sun Tong's manpower was the most, so the most reluctant Uncle Camel took out part of the port in his hand, It was used to exchange some manpower from Sun Tong.
However, just when they finished dividing up the interests of the Chamber of Commerce and were ready to go it alone, they didn't expect that before they could open up the situation, they encountered unprecedented trouble, forcing them to sit together again to negotiate.
"Sanniang, Uncle Camel, those eight lambs of the Jeolla Chamber of Commerce have already given me the most embarrassing back-up, if I don't hand over the dozen berths in my hands within three days, they will be against my fleet opponents, we have helped them before, these inhuman white-eyed wolves!" I saw that the middle-aged strong man who looked like a chimpanzee looked hateful, but then he said with some frustration, "With the little people in my hands, they are definitely not the opponents of those North Koreans, how are you doing over there?" ”
"Alas, the situation on my side is similar, and Iselicou of the Ise Chamber of Commerce has also found me and asked me to hand over all the port interests in my hands, otherwise they are likely to use force." Uncle Camel, whose face was full of wrinkles, also sighed and said. At the beginning, their Nanyang Chamber of Commerce was so majestic, and only the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce dared to argue with them in the entire North Port, but now that Zhou Hai is dead, the strength of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce has been greatly damaged, and it turns out that those shrimp soldiers and crab generals have all jumped out.
After Sun Tong and Uncle Camel finished speaking, they then looked at Sanniang on the opposite side together, only to see that the other party was a little annoyed and said: "You guys are okay, it's a big deal to give up the port interests in your hands, but the old lady met the lustful Shangquan Hongji, and the other party actually asked for marriage, it seems that not only wants to swallow the old lady's shipyard, but also wants to occupy the old lady's body." ”
Hearing Sanniang's words, Sun Tong and Uncle Camel were also angry and slapped the chair, Kamizumi Hongji and that Iseri Kang are the same as the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce, they are second only to the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce, they were pressed by the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce before, and there are also conflicts with the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce from time to time, so they have always been respectful to the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, but now as soon as the Chamber of Commerce fell, this group of wolves immediately pounced on it and bit it hard.
"Sanniang, Uncle Camel, how about we ask the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce for help, although we have had friction before, but the North Koreans and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce who threaten us have a bad relationship with the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce, the so-called enemy of the enemy is a friend, maybe the other party is willing to help us?" Sun Tong, who was five big and three thick, took the lead in speaking. However, as soon as his words fell, he immediately attracted the eyes of Sanniang and Uncle Huo.
"Sun Tong, don't make any more bad ideas, now we are facing three hungry wolves, but if you ask the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce for help, it is tantamount to attracting a tiger, I bet that if the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce intervenes, although the three hungry wolves of Iselicon can be driven away by the most relenting rear, but the last three of us will definitely be attracted by this tiger to eat not even the slag." Although Sanniang is a woman, she is very shrewd and has a precise grasp of the situation.
"Yes, our Nanyang Chamber of Commerce has a considerable interest in Beigang, and now that the Chamber of Commerce has fallen, the strength in the hands of the three of us is insufficient, in the eyes of others, it is almost like three dolls holding gold ingots, which has long made the surrounding chambers of commerce drool, attracting foreign aid like the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce, and the most reluctant can only be the wolf in the front and the tiger in the back, which is simply self-destruction!" Uncle Camel also nodded at this time.
Seeing that Sanniang and Uncle Camel disagreed with their ideas, Sun Tong picked up the teacup and drank it all and said: "I can't use my brains, the three of us have now become grasshoppers on a rope, you can't run away and you can't run me, if you have any ideas, just put them forward, and everything is still done according to the old rules of the previous Chamber of Commerce." ”
Sun Tong is not only a good runner of the boat, but also a member of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, he has participated in the fight with other chambers of commerce many times before, it can be said that he has killed people and seen blood, and the boatmen under him are also a group of people who really dare to fight and kill, so in terms of force, he is the strongest among the three, but he has a problem, that is, he doesn't like to use his brain, everything likes to be solved by force, if it weren't for the strength of the Jeolla Chamber of Commerce that forced him to hand over the port berth this time is several times that of him, I'm afraid he would have led people to kill the other party's lair.
Uncle Camel and Sanniang both knew about Sun Tong's problems, so they didn't expect him to come up with any ideas. I saw Uncle Camel take a sip of the teacup, and then said: "Sanniang, we are now facing a life-and-death crisis, although the three of us had some disputes before, but we have known each other for many years, there is always some affection, and now in this situation, I think we had better abandon the previous disputes and unite again, so as to gather the manpower of our three families, presumably those Japanese and North Koreans who are eyeing each other will not dare to move." ”
Hearing Uncle Camel take the lead in proposing a joint proposal, Sanniang also opened her mouth to agree: "What Uncle Camel said is very true, no matter how much we fought before, it is also an internal matter of our Chamber of Commerce, but now those Japanese and Koreans want to take the opportunity to annex us, not to mention anything else, the industry in the Chamber of Commerce is the hard work of Brother Zhou and the brothers, although Brother Zhou is no longer here, but I will never give it to those despicable and shameless Japanese and Koreans!" ”
When Sanniang mentioned the words 'Brother Zhou', a rare tenderness flashed in her eyes full of evil, but then she thought that Zhou Hai was dead, and her face was filled with a trace of grief.
Sanniang's expression was seen by Uncle Camel and Sun Tong, and both of them sighed secretly. But then Uncle Camel thought of one more thing, so he spoke again: "Sanniang, since we want to unite together, there must be one person in charge, otherwise the opinions of the three of them are not consistent at the critical moment, it will be fatal, so see if you can send someone to Songjiang to ...... the little owner."
"No way!" Before Uncle Camel finished speaking, he was interrupted by Sanniang, only to see her eyebrows upside down, like a female leopard protecting cubs, "Brother Zhou has already said when he was alive that he doesn't want the people in his family to participate in the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, especially the young owner's outstanding talent, he has already been admitted to Xiucai at a young age, and he is likely to gain fame in the future, so he must not be distracted by the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, this is the bottom line of the old lady, if anyone dares to go to the Shaodong family without permission, then don't blame Sanniang for turning my face and not recognizing people!" ”
Seeing that Sanniang, who was still good just now, turned her face all of a sudden, Uncle Camel and Sun Tong glanced at each other, with a little wry smile on their faces, when Zhou Hai just had an accident, they suggested going to Zhou Chong to preside over the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, but the relationship between Sanniang and Zhou Hai is not ordinary, the so-called love house and Wu, she thinks that if Zhou Chong can get fame, it is far more important than the future of the Chamber of Commerce, so it is forbidden for people from the Chamber of Commerce to find Zhou Chong, and Uncle Camel and Sun Tong mentioned it once, she turned her face once, and they didn't dare to mention it again. It was not until now that it was a matter of life and death for the Chamber of Commerce, that Uncle Camel had to bring it up, but he didn't expect the same result.
"No...... Oh no, there's someone out there surrounding us! Just as Sanniang and the three of them were discussing how to unite, suddenly a guard ran in in a panic, with a look of horror on his face.