Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 140 The Pirate Who Grabbed the Yellow Croaker

Ten days later, Fukang'an finally embarked on his way back to Beijing from the south.

When he came, counting himself as 360 four people, there were only fifty people left around him at this time; when he came, all the civil and military people in Jilin Ula city went out of the city to greet him, and when he went, he went quietly on the road, only explaining to Du Erjia.

"Sir, what else do you want?"

"Hey, don't mention the commander." Fu Kang'an gave a decadent wry smile, and then told Jilin General Du Erjia: "Remember, don't attack lightly! Send Fei Yaka and Kurkaqi mountain people to die Keep an eye on the Sila River, don't scare the snake! These people have planted land there, and they won't leave easily. The shipyard must build a big ship with strong firepower, and the Yaksa ship is too small; I will send someone there Guangdong asked the Englishmen for help."

"Master, will you come back?"

"Why don't you come back? Haigong's body hasn't fallen yet!" Thinking of Hai Lancha, Fukan'an's eyes instantly turned red.

From Ula City, Jilin to Shengjing, 820 miles; from Shengjing to Jingshi, more than 470 miles.Fukang'an hadn't ridden a horse for a long time, and his mental state was extremely poor. Three days later, when he arrived in Shengjing, he fell ill and developed a high fever.

At the same time, several special guests arrived on the Thunder God off the coast of Ishinomaki Port in the Sendai Domain.

It is said that after Katsuyama Densan and Murata Jiroemon came back from Nagasaki and reported Zhao Xin's plan to reduce the "trap debt" through Shibata Kakuzo, it caused an uproar among the retainers of the Sendai domain!
It has always been the samurai and the vassals who borrowed money from the merchants. When they could not repay the loan, the vassals or the shogunate, who were overwhelmed by the debt, could only issue an order to forcibly reduce the debt or pay interest. .

Now there are businessmen who propose to set up a "Stone Scroll Fund" and use one-third of each profit to help the vassals repay their debts. This is the first time in the world!
Although there was a donation from merchants in Yoshioka Station Town, the purpose of those merchants was only to reduce the heavy tax burden on horse breeding in Honcho, and the feudal clan still had to pay interest. (If you are interested, you can watch the movie "Your Highness, Give Some Interest!")
When Katsuyama Denzo and Murata Jiroemon were called to the secret room of Ninomaru in Aoba Castle, and after they revealed the whole plan, the old fox Endo Shouxin immediately smelled something different.

As an old man who has been in charge of the "Import and Exit Department" of the feudal clan for many years and has been in charge of finance, he knows these businessmen too well.

Sure enough, under his own questioning, Katsuyama Denzo and Murata Jiroemon finally faltered and mentioned that the idea of ​​this "fund" was proposed by Tang Yi.It sounds good, but what is Tang Yitu?

Since Shibata Juzo came back and told the story of Tang Yi's war against the Saga clan in detail, several important officials in the Sendai clan were frightened. Fortunately, the clan did not torture and persecute the drifters of the Tang boat.And the [-] shi of polished rice I bought from Tang Yi last time greatly alleviated the famine in the Sendai Domain.However, the financial crisis remains unresolved.

Several core family elders discussed continuously for several days, and finally decided to talk to Tang Yi first to see what the other party's purpose is.

Therefore, Zhao Xin could only ask Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang to wait.After transporting two batches of refugees to Beihai Town one after another, the negotiators from the Sendai Domain finally arrived.

"This is the representative of the head of the family, Mr. Date Toda Morimura." This Date Murakami is actually the ninth son of the Kakuda Ishikawa family, and the half-brother of the old Ishikawa Murakami, the writer of the Sendai Fan.Adopted to the Wakutani Date family since he was a child, and took over as the family governor.

"This is Shoushin Endo, old man from my house." The old fox came again.

"This is the representative of the old writer Ishikawamura, Ishikawamura Ren."

"This is the chief of Beihai Town, Mr. Zhao Xinzhao."

Zhao Xin very politely shook hands with the representatives sent by the Sendai Domain, and he didn't care if the islanders were comfortable or not.But for the strategy of the island country he planned, Zhao Xin still had to put on a smiling face.

"Your Excellency Shibata's clothes are new, right? They look very energetic."

"Thanks to Mr. Zhao, the Patriarch valued him so much, and I have been promoted to the post of head of the feudal clan." Shibata Juezang has been promoted from a small spy to a spy, with an annual salary of three hundred shi.However, his task is not to monitor the executive officers in various places, but to be in charge of connecting with Tang Yi.

After the people in the conference room exchanged some polite greetings, Endo Shouxin got straight to the point and raised his own questions directly.

"Master Zhao, what is the purpose of your 'Stone Scroll Fund'?"

Zhao Xin had expected that the other party would ask this question, and said with a smile: "Maintain the rule of your shogunate, protect the authority of generals and feudal lords, and promote peace in the island country."

Pooh! ! !The four negotiators of the Sendai Clan sitting across from each other cursed Zhao Xin in their hearts. This person actually had the face to say the word "peace".

Who bombarded more than 300 samurai of Honfan in Matsushima Town? !Who forced Ben Fan to sign the secret agreement? !And who ran to the place directly under the general's control—Nagasaki to blackmail? !Not to mention killing the Saga Domain army to the point of bloodshed!

Thinking of this, Endo Shouxin said with a serious face: "Don't talk about the scene. It sounds like a good thing to use one-third of the business profit to help the feudal vassals repay their debts. But Mr. Zhao, I'm facing you here." what is the benefit?"

"Everyone, how is the business of the various companies in the market?"

Shibata Juezang said, "Uh...to tell the truth, except for the rice shop, all the shops in the towns are not very good."

"That's because your taxes are too heavy! To tell you something you don't like to hear, how much does it cost each time you attend duty? If you don't have enough money, you have to increase taxes. Not to mention civilians, even businessmen can't bear it."

The young Ishikawa village listened to this, and couldn't help retorting: "It's the same in all feudal clans and Edo now! What can we do?"

Zhao Xin smiled and said: "That's why we need to increase taxation by stimulating consumption, instead of blindly increasing tax burdens. Merchants and commoners have all run away, and vassals owe a lot of debts. It can only be a vicious circle."

Mamoru Endo asked curiously: "Excuse me, what is stimulating consumption?"

This question is too big to explain in a few words.So Zhao Xin took out the whiteboard that he had prepared long ago, talked and drew, and gave an introductory class on market economy to the four present.

After more than an hour, Ishikawa Village Ren looked at the schematic diagram on the whiteboard and praised: "The feudal lords have reduced their debts, and having money in their hands can drive consumption; and consumption stimulates merchants and drives the market prosperity. Even if the tax burden is reduced , as long as the scale increases, the income will naturally increase..."

Endo Mamoru raised his hand and interrupted Ishikawa Cunren, saying: "Master Zhao, I understand what you mean. However, if this domain does this, we can't explain it to Edo! So the 'Ishinomaki Fund' It is a voluntary act of the merchant, and the Fanli will not get involved."

He changed the subject and continued: "This time, I hope to continue purchasing a batch of rice."

"Oh? How much?"

"One hundred thousand stones."

"Okay, pay with one hand and deliver with one hand."

Before getting off the ship, Endo Shouxin and the other three were taken by Deng Fei and Liu Sheng to visit the Thunder God.Shibata Juezang took advantage of this time and privately apologized to Zhao Xin.

Zhao Xin smiled and said, "Mr. Chaitian, it's okay to worry too much."

Early the next morning, Denzo Katsuyama and Jiroemon Murata, who had heard the news of the negotiations, came again. As soon as they met, they anxiously asked Zhao Xin, "My lord, what should we do? The clan disagrees!"

"It's okay, let's do it in private. Didn't the old man Endo say yesterday that this is a voluntary act of the businessman. He acquiesced!"

"Ah? It turned out to be like this!"

"The old guy is a ghost, he doesn't let go at all. But I can hear the meaning in his words, quietly enter the village, don't shoot!"

"Master Zhao! The two of us are on the same boat with you now, and our wealth and lives are all on it!"

"Don't worry, you each find two or three smart and powerful confidants and send them to Beihai Town for training for a period of time. A dozen or so people won't be able to get close."

After the two island country businessmen expressed their thanks, Zhao Xin said: "I have already made arrangements for the Ezo land, and you two can also send people to the Shazhou tribe to stand in front of them now. Remember what I said, don't bully the Ainu people !"

Two days later, two biancai boats loaded with a large amount of animals, animal skins and cigarettes were dragged behind the Thor and slowly left the sea off Ishinomaki Port.Katsuyama Densan was very reliable in his work. Not only did he help buy the ship, but he also secretly hired a group of sailors with a lot of money.

Fifteen days later, the Thunder God finally reached the ocean east of the Shengsi Islands.Once here, the Thor could no longer go west.

In the mid-Qing Dynasty, Chongming Island and its waters to the south, north, and west were usually divided into the Inner Ocean.Referring to the maps of later generations, it can be seen that the waters west of Liaojiaozui in Nantong at the mouth of the Yangtze River and the east end of Chongming Island (Shitui) are all included in the inner ocean, and the waters in the east are included in the outer ocean.The Shengsi Archipelago and its adjacent oceans are all included in the ocean.

Going west from the Shengsi Islands, you will encounter a large number of merchant ships traveling from south to north, Susong Town Navy patrolling the sea, and pirates!

From the late Qianlong Dynasty, especially after Yin Jishan, the governor of Liangjiang, left office, the military equipment of the Susong Township was slack, and the ships were rotten.

During this period, there were frequent robberies on the sea outside Jiangsu, not only the cargo of merchant ships, but even the catches of fishermen.In order to avoid going to sea to arrest pirates, the naval military attache in charge of overseas inspections often bribed the victim's family members with money, bribed the thief, and concealed the report from his superiors.

In order to escort Shen and Huang to a smooth landing, Zhao Xin and the others decided to park the Thunder God in the bay on the north side of Huaniao Island on the east side of the Shengsi Islands.And Zhao Xin himself will lead a platoon of soldiers with Wu Siyu to escort Shen and Huang to Shanghai with the boat.

Flower and Bird Island is two hundred miles away from Chongming Island in a straight line. It is named because it is long from east to west and looks like a seagull.

Historically, until the late Qing Dynasty, with the opening of Shanghai, Ningbo and the inland ports of the Yangtze River, and the busy shipping routes in the Pacific Ocean.Huaniao Island, which is the only place where the route must pass, was finally funded by the United Kingdom, and a lighthouse was built in 1870 because there are so many islands and reefs nearby.

Liu Sheng and Deng Fei are very familiar with the islands and reefs near Huaniao Island because they have traveled to and from this route many times in another time and space.When the Thunder God slowly sailed into the harbor of Huaniao Island, several dilapidated sand boats docked on the shore appeared in Zhao Xin's field of vision, and dozens of wooden houses were also faintly discernible on the farther shore.

"Pirates!" Shen Jingdan blurted out.

Zhao Xin asked in surprise: "Boss Shen, are you sure they are pirates?"

Shen Jingdan quickly explained: "Lord Zhao, the imperial court has issued an order that people are not allowed to live in overseas islands. Not only are they not allowed to build huts here, they are not even allowed to set nets for fishing."

Well, Zhao Xin turned to Jiuzang beside him and said, "Ask the soldiers to get on the deck and get ready!"

In a wooden house on Huaniao Island, the pirate Xu Dayong is reprimanding several of his subordinates.

"Mom! You say you guys, what's wrong with robbing, you have to grab the fish!"

"Brother, this time we snatched several thousand catties of rhubarb in Sanjiaosha!"

With a sound of "snap!", Xu Da slapped his subordinates on the face and cursed angrily, "You fucking don't chew old rice from tomorrow, I let you eat salted fish every day! I can't kill you!"

He was so angry that he sat back on the chair, pointed to a group of his men in front of him and said, "You don't want to grab so many cargo ships, grab the fucking [-] catties of fish, and even kill people! This will make me mess up in the future!"

Wang Changsheng, the second head of the family at the side, persuaded: "Boss, you can't blame them for this matter. Who asked that kid from the Zhou family to use the knife? We even hurt a brother."

Xu Dayong said: "Then what do you think we should do? Seven thousand catties of rhubarb, if we don't deal with it right away, it will fucking stink in two days!"

Er Dangjia said: "Let everyone hurry up and salt some. I will go to Sansha today and ask the people from the Shachuan Gang. They harvested the fish."

A few people were talking when they saw a subordinate running in panting.

"Big brother, big brother, it's not good!"

Xu Dayong was still angry, and cursed angrily: "Straighten your fucking tongue! If you stammer like this again, I will choke you to death with a fish!"

When he scolded like this, the subordinate who reported the letter became more nervous, and his speech became more and more awkward. "There is a big ship coming from the sea!"

"Big ship? Could it be damaged by wind and waves?"

Thinking of this, Xu Dayong turned around and picked up a Yanling Saber from the shelf, and said excitedly to everyone in the room: "It's going to be a big deal! Everyone copy it!"

After over an hour...

The knife in Xu Dayong's hand was gone, and his legs gave way, and he fell to his knees on the ground with a "thump".

"Grandpa! Please spare the villain! The villain just drank a few cups of horse urine to get lost and offended Grandpa Tianwei!"

At this time, Zhao Xin was sitting on the grand master's chair in the house, squinting at the bearded pirate in front of him; around Xu Dayong, seven or eight soldiers from Beihai Town pointed their guns at him.

On the sea outside the house, two dilapidated sand boats were set on fire by the anti-aircraft guns on the Thor; a dozen pirates fell into a pool of blood on the beach.

"My lord, I caught another one!" Jiu Cang walked in with a small pirate under his guard.Pushing and kneeling beside Xu Dayong.

Xu Da squinted and saw that it was over, and Wang Changsheng, the second master, did not run away.

After a while, Wu Siyu came in and sat down beside Zhao Xin.

"How about it?"

"A bunch of poor ghosts! We found a hundred taels of silver and a boatload of yellow croakers!"

Zhao Xin laughed, turned his head to look at the two pirate leaders kneeling on the ground in front of him, and jokingly said, "It's amazing to be a pirate and do what you two do."

"Yes, sir, please spare the little ones! The little ones can't survive anymore, so I went to sea to do some small business."

"Yeah, the villain doesn't dare anymore!"

Zhao Xin waved to Jiuzang and said, "Take them down and lock them up first, and we'll talk about them later."

(End of this chapter)