Chapter 856: The Lin Family's Brothers' Concerns
When Lin Xing went to Sanya two years ago, Haihan had completed the control of the entire Hainan Island, and all the local authorities of the Ming Dynasty were revoked and revoked, and only the nominal rule was retained, but in fact the sky had changed, and a large number of people gave up the identity of the Ming people and became naturalized Haihan. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 When Lin Xing first arrived in the local area, he was also shocked by this situation, it was the first time he saw such a situation under the Ming Dynasty, and what surprised him the most was not the strong force of the Haihan people, but the Liangguang government turned a blind eye to this, so the Haihan occupied Qiongzhou Island, and did not plan to send troops to suppress the crusade.
Lin Xing had already organized the Sanlin Gang with his two brothers on the side of Liuheng Island, and the purpose of going south to Sanya was just to personally go here to buy a batch of authentic Haihan goods back to Zhejiang for profit, but after seeing how Haihan operates locally, Lin Xing had more ideas.
The military and financial resources and many advanced technologies possessed by Haihan are naturally beyond the possession of the Sanlin Gang, but some business methods and development ideas can be absorbed and imitated. For example, some of Haihan's measures in building a regional trade center, such as building a port with complete supporting facilities, organizing the construction of trading institutions, and controlling the pricing power of some commodities, etc., can also be slowly implemented by the Sanlin Gang in Zhejiang. In addition, the Sanlin Gang has the addition of Shuangyu Port, a traditional seamarket, in Zhejiang, and it is indeed expected to become an emerging trade center in the East China Sea over time.
The Haihan people can build their own guns and cannons and build warships, and the Sanlin Gang definitely does not have such strength, but after having enough financial resources, they can gradually expand the scale of their own armed forces. The three Lin brothers started as pirates, and they also have their own set of opinions on how to form a private army, although it is not as good as the professional army built by the Haihan people, but it is not difficult to gain a foothold in the East China Sea, where there are many forces.
In addition, another trick that Lin Xing learned from Haihan's side was to maintain a good relationship with the Ming government. Haihan has quietly occupied Qiongzhou Island from the hands of the Ming Dynasty, but he has not broken his face with the Liangguang government, and the operation in this middle is undoubtedly extremely clever. Lin Xing stayed in Sanya and Guangzhou for a period of time, collecting information from various channels on how Haihan bought officialdom and maintained interest relations. At the end of the year before last, a new prefect came to Ningbo, and the Sanlin Gang directly sent 200,000 taels of silver to the past, which was accepted silently, and since then the Sanlin Gang has one more weighty backer.
However, Lin Xing has seen the situation of Haihan in Qiongzhou Island, and he knows that the difference is too big, and the Haihan people did not directly occupy the coastal inland of Guangdong, which is not necessarily because of their lack of strength, and their more concerns are just that they are unwilling to tear face with the Ming government. Judging from the fact that their fleet captured Shipu Port, Lin Xing thought that the Haihan people probably did not take the Zhejiang government too seriously, and they would not care whether the Ming would regard it as an invasion and start a war against it.
The old man Lin Si said disapprerovingly: "The Haihan people want to do it with Daming, that's their business, maybe we can fish in troubled waters to get some benefits, why is my brother sad?"
Lin Xing sighed: "How can things be as simple as you think! Since the Haihan people chose to go north to Zhejiang at this time, they are at ease to take root here." They started with maritime trade, and when they arrived in Zhejiang, they naturally wanted to occupy the best and most convenient place, and let me ask you, where is the place with the most maritime merchants in Zhejiang? Where is the best place in the East China Sea?"
Lin Si replied with understanding: "The area with the most maritime merchants is naturally Ningbo, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and Jiaxing, and the best terrain on the East China Sea is Zhoushan...... Could it be that the Haihan people have ideas about this area of Zhoushan?"
Lin De interjected: "But the Haihan people have no foundation here, and if they take the liberty of inserting a foot, they may not be able to gain a firm foothold, but may offend the local officialdom shopping mall, which is too risky." ”
Lin Xing shook his head and sighed: "Why don't you want to think about it, what foundation do the Haihan people have in Fuguang and Guangzhou? People not only stand firm, but also can eat the government to death, and countless businessmen are sought after, but in five or six years, not only have they occupied Qiongzhou Island, but now they have taken Penghu in the Fujian Strait, and it is said that they have also taken a fancy to Dayuan Island, and sooner or later they will also take it into their pockets with their nature." Do you think they need any foundation if they want to attack Zhejiang? People have money, soldiers, and means, so what can the government do to confront them?"
Lin Si still asked with some suspicion: "Then the government of Fuguang and Guangzhou may just accept too much money, so they will turn a blind eye to the actions of the Haihan people, if there is really a war, will this Ming Dynasty not be able to defeat a group of overseas visitors?"
Lin Xingying said: "Third brother, the Eighteen Zhi in Fujian were still very beautiful a few years ago, what is the current situation? Zheng Zhilong has more than 1,000 warships and tens of thousands of sailors, which is powerful enough, right? It is not that the combined forces of the Fujian Navy Division and the Haihan people have been driven out of the Fujian Strait. When I went to Zhangzhou last year to run errands, I had the pleasure of drinking and chatting with a group of local sailors, and they said that when they fought Penghu before, the main fleet of the Haihan people encountered by Shibazhi and almost didn't even have the strength to fight back. If there is a war with the Haihans, these people will probably find an excuse to slip out of the army immediately. The Fujian Navy Division has cooperated with the Haihan people a lot, and has the best understanding of the strength of the Haihan fleet. ”
Although they didn't believe that the Haihan people were really as powerful as the legend, they were still relatively clear about the strength of the Eighteen Zhi and the Ming Army's sailors. Since these two families have not been able to go for a few rounds under the hands of the Haihan, if they face the Haihan, the situation will definitely be far inferior to them. Although the Haihan people are not necessarily coming for their own home, it is inevitable that people will be a little frustrated when they think about such a difference in strength.
However, Lin Xing's next words also washed away this little luck in their hearts: "If the Haihan people want to settle in Zhoushan, the route from Zhoushan to Fujian will definitely be cleaned up to keep the peace." If there are any private armed forces who are not of the same mind as them, they will inevitably be cleaned up. We have to plan early, if the Haihan people come to the door, how to deal with it. ”
Linde muttered, "Then what else can be done? Either fight to the death, or simply join them." ”
"You and I have worked hard for many years, and it is not easy to get to today's situation, how can the big family business be cheaper for outsiders?" Lin Si disagreed with Lin De's latter choice.
"Although money is important, you have to have your own life to spend it, if Haihan really wants to eat this Zhoushan Islands with peace of mind, even if you have ten lives, you can't fight them!" Lin De retorted: "There are also many maritime merchants in Fuguang and Guangzhou, who have taken refuge in Haihan, and they have done the same business well, others can do it, why can't we do it?"
Lin Si sneered: "I'm afraid that you have the heart to take refuge, but the Haihan people may not be willing to ask for it, and if you have a hot face and a cold butt, it will be boring." ”
Lin De said angrily: "What do you mean by this? How can I, Lin De, be greedy for life and afraid of death? There are thousands of mouths in this Shuangyu waterway, don't they all rely on you and my brother for food? We are small in one sentence, but thousands of lives are big in one sentence, you ask the eldest brother, when the Haihan people attacked Penghu, how many people were in that battle! If you want to fight, I will accompany you to fight, and if you die, I am still afraid?"
Lin Si was scolded, but he arched his hand embarrassedly and said: "Second brother, it's my brother who said it wrong! I'm just a little unwilling, and I don't have any other intentions, second brother don't want to go to my heart!"
Lin Xing also persuaded: "You don't have to fight, whether you fight or not, this initiative is not in our hands." Now we have to find a way to find out the meaning of the Haihan people first. If they don't take us seriously, that's a good thing, just be careful not to get in their way. But if you show hostility towards us, you really have to plan ahead. ”
Linde asked, "Big brother, do you want to call the Haisha Gang in the south for this matter?"
Lin Xing thought about it, slowly shook his head and said, "Since we have all gotten the news, the Haisha Gang will naturally not be ignorant. We don't want to provoke Haihan, if we disagree with the Haisha Gang, who are we going to listen to? If they think the same way as us, then won't we continue to compete with them door to door in the future?"
"Big brother, what do you mean, using Haihan to deal with the Haisha Gang?" Linde reacted extremely quickly, and immediately asked rhetorically.
Lin Xing nodded and said, "If Haihan's main fleet comes, it will be easy to destroy the Haisha Gang, and all we have to do is to make Haihan hostile to it." You don't have to think that the eldest brother is acting ruthlessly, then after Li Luotou knows about this, I'm afraid he thinks the same as me. Don't forget, the third leader of the Haisha Gang is Gomez, a Franco, and his people have always had dealings with Haihan, and they have probably heard of Haihan's strength and style of doing things. ”
"I forgot that there are still such ghosts!" Lin Si shouted: "Then without further ado, don't let the Haisha Gang take the lead." He was still ashamed of Linde's "capitulationism" just now, and he changed his attitude in a blink of an eye, even if he wanted to take refuge in Haihan, he didn't want to let his peers take the lead, and the speed of turning his face was indeed faster than turning a book.
The Portuguese Gomez occupies the third position in the Haisha Gang, thanks to his special nationality status. Gomez gathered a group of outlaws from Europe and purchased a number of firearms through his own channels, including arquebuses produced by Haihan in the early years. In terms of the level of armament, the Haisha Gang is indeed stronger than the Sanlin Gang.
Weapons are secondary, if Gomez uses his identity to find someone to match up with the Shanghai Han people, and then make a little shady deal, then maybe the Haihan people will really hinder the face of their partners and give Gomez and the Haisha Gang behind him a little care, and then the unlucky ones may become the Sanlin Gang.
But what happened next stumped the three brothers - the Haihan people were easy to find, in the south of Shipu Harbor, but the question was who was going to talk to them?
The only one of the three who has ever been to Sanya to deal with the Haihan people is the boss Lin Xing, and no one seems to be able to replace his role in this task. Although Lin Si and Lin De were not too worried about letting Lin Xing go to Shipu Port alone, the current situation did not seem to allow them to slowly grind down. Three or four days have passed between the time the Haihan occupied Shipu Port and the time they received the news, and no one knows when the Haihan people plan to make their next move, and if they continue to drag on, they are afraid that the situation will change unpredictably.
On this day, Lin Xing took a few of his right-hand men and quietly left Liuheng Island by boat and headed south. In terms of time, he set off from Liuheng Island only one day later than Zhao Cheng and Xu Ke returned to Shipu Port. At this time, the Haisha Gang, the opponent he was worried about, had just received relevant news and had not had time to react.
This Shipu port is not far from Liuheng Island, and Lin Xing has also been to this place many times - among the various goods confiscated by the coalition forces in Shipu City, there are also part of the Sanlin Gang. Of course, Lin Xing also remembered the whereabouts of his goods, but he didn't have much hope for it.
When the ship arrived in the waters near Tongtou Island a few miles north of Shipu Port, Lin Xing had already discovered that there were unique Haihan warships on the nearby sea, and it seemed that the rumor that Shipu Port was completely blocked by the Haihan people was not fictional. When the ship sailed through the waterway between Tongtou Island and Niulanji Island and approached Shipu Port, the Haihan warship really chased after it quickly.
Lin Xing was afraid that there would be a misunderstanding on Haihan's side, so he asked the sailors to lower their sails and slow down, and only after the Haihan warship approached, he ordered the people to make their intentions clear. The Haihan officer who commanded the warship did not expect that someone would come to visit, so he raised a flag to notify the lookout post on Dongmen Island, and then forwarded it to the command in the port. Lin Xing waited for about two incense sticks at sea, and the port had already sent back an order to let this warship guide Lin Xing's ship into the port.
For the visit from Liuheng Island, several high-ranking officials of the command headquarters were also a little stunned after hearing the news. At this juncture when he was about to do something to Liuheng Island, the other party actually came to the door by himself, whether this was a coincidence or something else, which made several commanders in charge a little confused. If the pirates on Liuheng Island are allowed to perceive the direction of the wind in advance, it will inevitably add some unpredictable variables to the next battle plan, although it will not affect the final result, but it is not the situation that the commanders want to see.
While the command sent a message to the ships cruising outside the harbor to bring the ship into the port, it also ordered someone to find Ma Ling - the person who came claimed to be Lin Xing, the big boss of the Sanlin Gang, naturally needed to recognize the talent.