In the past, the Shawan waterway next to Lijiazhuang was just a narrow channel for local fishermen to enter and exit the Pearl River, and the wharf by the river did not have any function of transshipment of goods. The residents of Lijiazhuang probably never imagined that one day it would become an important cargo distribution center in the waters of the Pearl River Estuary.

Since the Haihan militia defeated the Liukou besieging Lijiazhuang here in the early summer of last year, the Li clan, a large local landowner, has allocated an area along the river to Haihan for long-term use. Over the next six months, the Haihan people quickly built a large number of migrant camps here, and expanded the original small wharf into an inland port cargo wharf that could dock more than a dozen large sea ships at the same time.

After the completion of the Lijiazhuang Freight Terminal, the instructed "Fu Ruifeng" soon turned it into a tax haven under the nose of the Guangzhou government. The amount of goods loaded and unloaded from Lijiazhuang Wharf has expanded by six or seven times from three or four ships a month at the beginning. The freight fleet, mule and horse teams in and out of Lijiazhuang are flowing day and night to meet the freight throughput needs here. Rows of warehouses have been built on the banks of the river, and some merchants have opened shops, hotels, restaurants and other stores here, and there is a faint trend to catch up with the Pearl River wharf.

Li Qingyang saw the lively scene on the shore, and his mind was already a little overwhelmed. In his cognition, the Pearl River Wharf outside Guangzhou City should be regarded as the first commercial port in the Liangguang area, but he could not imagine that there is such a secret place only a few dozen miles away from the Pearl River Wharf - of course, according to the prosperous Cheng Dù seen in front of him, the existence of this wharf is probably not a secret.

Just as Li Qingyang's ship was sailing towards the dock, he saw that the cargo ship that his other companions were on was slowly sailing off shore, and it seemed that it had just finished loading the goods here. Several brocade guards looked at each other on the boat, and Li Qingyang noticed that their faces were a little nervous, but he couldn't see any clues. And on this occasion, there was no other means to transmit information, Li Qingyang could only watch the boat pass by and sail towards the Pearl River.

The ship slowly approached the dock, and the captain Song Sante ordered Li Qingyang to get off the ship with him to receive the inventory: "I heard that you are going to Sanya as a bookkeeper, so this matter of goods will also be one of your errands in the future, let's learn it today!"

Li Qingyang's mission was to figure out the operation of the Haihan people, and of course he would not refuse this invitation, so he disembarked with Song San and came to the dock to see how he handled the shipment of goods.

It was obviously not the first time Song San had come here to do business, and after going ashore, he found a shop on the shore with a sign of "Port Center" hanging at the door. Li Qingyang followed him into this shop, and saw that the area of this shop was really not small, there were three zhang of open rooms horizontally and vertically, and the middle was divided into two parts by a row of waist-high wooden counters, and then there were several wooden signs hanging above the counter, which were written "goods transfer", "personnel transportation", "currency exchange", "warehouse rental" and other contents, and each sign was lined up in a column.

Song San directly lined up at the end of the "cargo transshipment" team, and turned around to explain to Li Qingyang: "The goods to be transported by our ship are all sent from Zhaoqing Mansion, and they used to be directly sent to the Pearl River Wharf for loading, but now, they are all transported to Panyu to get on the ship." ”

Li Qingyang nodded and said, "Could it be that the journey from Zhaoqing to Panyu was not transported by the owner himself?"

Song Sanying said: "The big proprietor and Haihan have a joint stock of the 'Golden Shield Escort', which is responsible for the escort of goods, and the land transportation in the two Guangxi provinces is basically responsible for it. ”

"Then how will this cargo be handed over?" Li Qingyang continued to ask.

"The goods have been shipped here in advance, and now they should be in the terminal warehouse, and I just need to show them this bill of lading. Song San reached into his arms and took out a note to show Li Qingyang.

Li Qingyang quickly glanced at the contents of the note, and saw that the full names of the shipper and the carrier, the time limit for transportation, the content of the goods, and so on were written on it. After reading it, he couldn't help asking: "If these goods are lost or damaged in the middle, how can they be solved?"

"That's the carrier's full responsibility. Song San said very calmly: "The carrier will pay as much as it is worse, and the rules of 'Golden Shield Escort' are like this." ”

"Aren't they afraid of any accidents? I heard that there have been quite a few bandits in Guangdong in recent years, and if they do, won't they have to pay for their blood?" asked Li Qingyang puzzled.

"Bandits and rogues?" Song San sneered and said, "If they bump into the 'Golden Shield Escort', the first thing they will probably do is to turn around and flee for their lives! Do you know what the family background of the 'Golden Shield Escort' is? It is the militia group of Lijiazhuang, and there are Haihan people behind them, isn't it because they think their lives are too long to rob them?"

"Could it be that this 'Golden Shield Escort' also has weapons like firecrackers?" Li Qingyang already had a bad premonition when he heard Song San say this.

"Yes, of course there is!" Song San sighed: "If the force is strong, the armed guards of this 'Golden Shield Escort' can probably beat most of the guards. Last year, there were some strongmen who were not long-sighted and planned to attack them, but after these people died almost under the hands of the armed guards, no one has jumped out in the last six months. ”

"It's so powerful! Then it must be expensive to hire them?" Li Qingyang asked.

"They escort valuable goods, sometimes just boxes of cash, of course, this cost is not low. But more money and less money is secondary, the key is that people can rely on it!" Song San smiled: "At the same price, you can't hire officials and soldiers to transport goods for you, right?"

Li Qingyang secretly cursed in his heart, but he showed an expression of approval on his face.

At this moment, a few people came in from the door, Li Qingyang felt a cold behind him, and quickly looked back, and saw that it was a team of capable young men wearing gray cloth shorts and trousers, and holding a four-foot-long firearm in their hands. When Li Qingyang was at the contact point in Guangzhou, he had heard people say that looking at this dress, they were the legendary and powerful Haihan militia soldiers.

Li Qingyang subconsciously began to reach under his armpit, where he hid the dagger he used to save his life, and if these militia soldiers tried to do something against him, then he would not hesitate to fight with his life here - of course, in front of a pile of guns and bayonets, whether he could fight was another matter.

Just when Li Qingyang's nerves were tense, the militia soldiers blocking the door moved left and right, and a young man with short hair stepped into the house. This person is different from the militia soldiers' attire, dressed in dark green clothes, with an inch-wide cowhide armed belt around his waist, a pair of lace-up black leather boots with a strange style on his feet, and two very strange black weapons inserted in his armpits, one on the left and one on the right, which looks a bit like a firecracker, but it is much smaller than the firecracker in Li Qingyang's cognition.

Although Li Qingyang had never seen a real Haihan person, at this moment he could be 100% sure that the man in front of him was a real Haihan person. In addition to the well-known short hair of the Haihan people, what is more important is that Li Qingyang feels a pressure that he has never felt from this person, that is, a sense of confidence from the inside out and a sense of looking down from above, as if in his eyes, the people in this house are like ants. And Li Qingyang could feel a faint murderous aura from this person, there was no doubt that this person's identity should be a soldier - at least it was.

The appearance of this person made Li Qingyang dispel the idea of making a move, because the other party didn't seem to notice his existence, and his eyes swept directly over his face without the slightest stop.

"Which boss's ship is the 'Fusheng' that just arrived on the dock?" the Haihan man finally spoke, but the content of his inquiry made Li Qingyang nervous again.

"Chief Yu Xiao, it's the villain's ship. Song San hurriedly responded. As a person who has been to Lijiazhuang Wharf several times, Song San also knows this Haihan chief named Xiao Liang, and knows that he is the commander of the militia here, and he can basically be regarded as the most powerful person in the local area. Even if it is the big proprietor behind his own boss, he has to be respectful when he sees this master.

Xiao Liang looked back at Song San and said, "You are Song San, right?" I remember that you used to be a shipwright with the ship, and now you are the captain, yes!"

Song San was flattered and said, "Thank you Chief Xiao for the compliment." I wonder what's wrong with this ship?"

"There's no problem, your ship is going to load cargo here and go south to Sanya, right?" Xiao Liang asked.

"That's right, we will set off immediately after loading the goods today, what do you have to tell Chief Xiao?" Song San replied respectfully.

Xiao Liang said: "It's not a big deal, there is a group of militia on my side who want to go to Wanshan Port and want to find a boat to send it over." I just saw your boat docking, so I came over and asked......"

"Please leave this matter to the villain!" Song San didn't wait for Xiao Liang to finish speaking, so he quickly took over the conversation: "The villain must send all the military masters to Wanshan Port properly!"

"This won't delay your trip, will it?" Xiao Liang asked with concern.

"No, no, not at all!" Song San waved his hand again and again: "It just so happens that the villain's ship is also going to Wanshan Port to load some goods sent from Fujian, just by the way." ”

"Well, that's fine, I'll leave that to you! I'll let my men wait on the docks. Xiao Liang was about to leave, but his eyes stayed on Li Qingyang: "This friend is a little blind, is it the first time you have come here?"

"In Xia Li Qingyang, he went to Sanya with Song Sange to do business. Li Qingyang did not use a pseudonym, and it is impossible for anyone in this kind of place to know him as a Jinyi Wei Baihu from Nanjing.

"This Mr. Li is the newly invited account man of the villain's proprietor, and it is the first time to go to Sanya. Song San also introduced beside him.

"It turned out to be a newcomer!" Xiao Liang nodded meaningfully and said, "Then have you given the newcomer a good introduction to the situation on our side?"

"Of course, the villain is not idle today, and has been promoting the Haihan chiefs to him...... Politics...... Policy, yes, it's policy!" Song San hurriedly responded.

"Oh, then I don't know what this Mr. Li thinks of us Haihan people now?" Xiao Liang's eyes fell straight on Li Qingyang's face.

Li Qingyang only felt that his scalp was numb, as if he was being targeted by a fierce beast, and all the resistance he could make seemed to be no match for the power exerted by the person in front of him.

"I'm just listening to Brother Song briefly talk about some of the people's feelings in Sanya, but I haven't witnessed it with my own eyes, so I can't talk about any opinions, and I ask Chief Xiao to forgive me!" Li Qingyang forcibly stabilized his mind and replied without humility or arrogance.

Xiao Liang smiled and said, "It's okay, you will have a lot of time to slowly get acquainted with Sanya and get to know us." If there is fate, we will have the opportunity to meet again. After saying that, he nodded to Song San, then turned around and walked out of the door. And this group of armed militia soldiers also immediately gathered the team and followed.

"Chief Xiao is very interested in you!" Song Sanmu saw Xiao Liang's figure disappear outside the door, and then turned to Li Qingyang and said, "As far as I know, Chief Xiao rarely takes the initiative to talk to newcomers. ”

"Is it? This is probably also the edge of the eye!" Li Qingyang replied with a smile, but he felt that he was already soaked in cold sweat behind his back. He didn't know if this Haihan man surnamed Xiao had seen any flaws in himself, but the rumors that all Haihan people were extremely shrewd didn't seem to be boasting, although he was also an old Jianghu, he almost couldn't hold his feelings in front of him, no wonder the local Jinyi guards and officials in Qiongzhou would be controlled by these Haihan people.

Song San handed over the shipping documents, and after the clerk checked that they were correct, they stamped a seal on the documents, and then tore off a stub and returned it to Song San: "Take this to the warehouse area to pick up the goods!"

Song San and Li Qingyang walked out of the port center, hurried to the nearby warehouse area, and handed over the documents to the staff here.

"Alright, go to the dock and wait, and arrange for someone to load your ship immediately. The staff stamped it again, then tore off a stub from the note and handed the rest back to Song San.

Li Qingyang asked puzzledly: "Why do you need to change the seal everywhere and tear off a piece?"

"This is the Haihan people's means of doing things, there are two functions, one is that if there is a problem with the goods, you will know in which link it is; second, at the end of each month, the Haihan people count the local cargo throughput, just check the stubs of the shipping documents to be clear. Song San patiently explained to Li Qingyang.

"Sure enough, it's a good means. Li Qingyang is also a smart person, and when he heard Song San say this, he already understood the subtlety. The application of this small means can also show that the shrewdness of the Haihan people is everywhere.