Lu Ming

Chapter 170 Conflict between the enemy and us
"It's fine if it's raw silk. In recent years, the Xie family has traded with a large gang of officials. I'm afraid they don't have much goods to trade with the officials."

After Xie Chushui said this, Xiong Dao couldn't help raising his eyebrows, and the next moment he smiled all over his face: "It's okay, it's okay, Dayuan Island is barren right now, just a handful of hemp rope, a bundle of It’s good that the porcelain bowl can be transported, don’t pick and choose, haha.” At this point, Master Xiong raised his head and laughed loudly.

At this time, Xie Fuqing also laughed awkwardly together, and by the way cast a stern glance at the clan nephew.After the two parties exchanged some polite words, Mr. Xiong got up to say goodbye, and Mrs. Xie hurriedly got up to see them off.A group of people happily came to the door of the guild hall. Master Xiong said goodbye to the experienced Xie Fuqing and Xie Chushui who was inexplicably hostile to him, and returned to the sedan chair.

"Quishui, you haven't been in Hangzhou for long, and you haven't figured out the territory yet, so how can you say that kind of nonsense in front of this person?!" After seeing off the guests, just returned to the private room, Xie Fuqing glared Xie Chushui asked.

Xie Shuhui listened to the family uncle's questioning, and there was a sarcastic smile on Hei's face: "Fourth uncle, you still don't know some news. This group of people sold raw silk to the Japanese on Dayuan Island. They violated Zheng Yiguan's crimes." Bogey, I'm afraid time is running out, Fourth Uncle doesn't need to care about it."

After Xie Fuqing blinked his eyes and thought about it, he leaned on the back of the chair and sat down. Then he stared at Xie Chushui's eyes and asked slowly, "Why didn't Zheng Yiguan suppress this generation early?"

"Fourth Uncle, as you know, the Zheng family has been using Tongshan as their camp recently, dealing with the officers and soldiers, so they can't spare any time."

"Well, when Mrs. Zheng was free earlier, why didn't she go to Da Yuan to copy the red-haired man's lair?"

"Oh, it's probably because the red-haired man has a sharp gun."

"How did the red-haired man go to Dayuan Island? Don't you know. You took two boats to Penghu to help you. How could you not know?"

Xie Fuqing paused at this point, then frowned and continued: "How many people are there in the officer's army and the Zheng family? How many people are there for Hongmao? If Zheng has a way, can he send Hongmao to the senior officials? "

"Perhaps you heard someone's ecstasy soup. You really thought that Xiong Dao and his gang had succeeded in a surprise attack on the officials? The corpses of red-haired men were scattered all over the field, and the city wall burst. How can this be a sneak attack?" Xie Fuqing said here , with a helpless face: "That group of people are big bugs! Mrs. Zheng knows it all too well. If an official really has that ability, he has already leveled up with a senior official, and he still needs to stay in Tongshan to enjoy the wind?!"

At this time, Xie Fuqing became more and more angry and frightened.With the experience of a 40-year-old sea merchant, he was keenly aware of a little bit of risk just now. After further analysis, Xie Fuqing has completely figured out one thing: this reckless nephew of his family took the people from Dayuan Island As a chicken and a dog, he stood in line for Xie's family with just one sentence.
There seemed to be an inexplicable burnt smell wafting through the tip of his nose. Xie Fuqing was walking up and down the room irritably at this moment—for some reason, he always had a bad premonition: "I don't know some news? Damn! Then The second shopkeeper of Tangzhuang is a sworn brother of the leader of the Hangzhou Beggar Clan, and has eight thousand brothers under him, how many of these news do you know?".

Looking back at the nephew who opened his mouth wide, Xie Fuqing stopped talking and asked directly: "Is the cargo ready?"

"It's ready." Xie Shushui nodded.

"I'll write a letter to the head of the family right now. When you get the letter, go to Zhapu, and return to Zhangzhou with the old Shisan's boat the next day."

"Old Thirteen?" Xie Chushui asked in surprise, "Old Thirteen's boat is not ready yet?"

Xie Fuqing didn't want to say anything more to this brain-dead nephew, so he took the pen and ink on the desk beside him and started writing letters on the spot.After finishing writing, the envelope was sealed with sealing paint, and Xie Fuqing handed the letter to his nephew: "Whether it's old or not, I still have the final say on Jiangnan's affairs. You go now, and at the latest the day after tomorrow, you will have the final say." The reason for returning to the same boat with the old thirteen is in the letter, and the Patriarch has his own explanation after reading it."

Just when Xie Chushui picked up the letter and opened the door of the private room, Xie Fuqing turned his back to him and added coldly: "Shuishui, you must remember that your surname is Xie, not Zheng. Don't misunderstand what you said, so that you can't get it wrong." Wrong power!"

Seeing Xie Chushui walk out the door with a lot of worries, Xie Fuqing's bronzed face was still covered with frost. He got up and went back to the small courtyard rented by the head of the club. After thinking for a long time, he went back to the main room to write a letter Come.

The content of the letter this time is very detailed. After Xie Fuqing finished writing, he sealed it and called the leader outside the door to come into the house: "Shitou, take this letter, and I will pay you another 20 taels of silver. You can send it to me tomorrow morning." To go to Zhapu, don’t take your own boat, just take another boat, return home as soon as possible, and hand over the letter to the elder.”

"Stone understands."

After sending the messenger away, Xie Fuqing called another long follower and ordered him to take his name badge to Tangzhuang to post a post, and after a set time, he would return to visit Master Xiong.

Xiong Dao Xiong, who has gone far, does not know about Lao Xie's operation in the guild hall.To tell the truth, Master Xiong had already forgotten about Xie's uncle and nephew after he left the hall.
Things that do not belong to the scope of my work, remember to do so in detail?
From the moment Xie Shushui revealed that Xie's family was Zheng's raw silk supplier, the nature of this matter has risen from a conflict among the people to a conflict between the enemy and ourselves.And conflicts between the enemy and ourselves are not under the control of Xiong Dao, but under the control of Lu Cheng.

In the Ming Dynasty, the silk weaving industry in Fujian was well developed, especially in Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and other places where trade flourished. The silk fabrics produced by folk handicraftsmen were quite famous.

However, the silk weaving industry and the mulberry cocoon industry are two different things. In fact, Fujian does not produce silk.

Due to geographical and climatic reasons, the mulberry cocoon industry in Fujian is very underdeveloped. "Bamin Tongzhi" said: "The sericulture here is poor, and there are many people who produce it. The yarn and silk that the people need to weave are all funded by Wu Hang."

The same record is also found in "Xinghua Fuzhi": "The local silkworm leaves are thin, and the silk is mostly decayed. The yarn and silk woven by the people are all invested in Wuzhong."

In other words, Fujian is actually a trade model with two ends: while importing large quantities of Jiangnan raw silk from Wu County, Suzhou, and exporting finished silk and raw silk through the local processing industry.

For silk, Huzhou head silk is used as the top silk, followed by Zhe silkworm. There are plain weaving, flower weaving, cloud weaving, and gold thread weaving.
Yarn, lake silk is also used, good ones include plain yarn, floral yarn, gold thread yarn
Silk cloth, using lake silk, few weavers today
that's all.

Including the raw silk that Zheng Zhilong trafficked to Japan every year, including the raw silk that the Dutch bought from Lao Zheng, 9% of these goods came from the same place: Wu County, Suzhou, the world's largest silk wholesale market in the 17th century.

Cutting off the enemy's financial resources and attacking the opponent's transportation lines are the most basic operations among hostile forces.Zheng Zhilong, handsome guy Zheng Zhilong, who has long been listed as the number one enemy of the crossing regime in 1628, I’m afraid this will not be known. As early as the establishment of Hangzhou Station, it was already one of the key tasks in the plan to attack his raw silk transportation channels from the root. up.

Well, this is called stepping on the iron shoes and finding no place: Facing the vast number of large and small sea merchants, the Hangzhou station could not spare the energy to investigate who is the supplier of the Zheng family. I did not expect to jump out of one today.
Later that day, a radio wave was sent from Tangzhuang to Moyun Temple.

Not long after, Moyun Temple also sent out two radio waves, one of which was destined for Da Yuan, and the other penetrated into the depths of the void, and its destination was unknown.

In the afternoon of the second day, the private port outside Zhapu Town.

Zhapu is located on the north shore of Hangzhou Bay, surrounded by mountains and sea, with a superior geographical location, and it is the only place to enter Hangzhou Bay.

The sharp-bottomed blessing boats sailing from Fujian generally do not go deep into Hangzhou Bay-the hydrological situation is complicated and there is a danger of being stranded.Therefore, Zhapu, Jinshan and other places at the mouth of Hangzhou Bay became the berths of some Fujian and Guangdong merchant ships.

The two lucky boats belonging to Xie's family are currently moored in a private port called Niutou Harbor outside Zhapu Town.

After setting off from Hangzhou yesterday, Xie Chushui drove non-stop in a small boat, and arrived at Zhapu Town, more than 50 miles away, in half a day.The captain of the same family, Xie Shisan, did not dare to neglect after being notified at that time. He randomly brought in some groceries from Zhapu Town early this morning to fill up the rest of the cabin. The two ships of the Xie family are now ready to go. to hit the road.

When the sailors on the ship were bored basking in the sun, two servants walked in from the private port, followed by a man who looked like a domestic servant.

These three dear friends walked along the various ships of various sizes in the harbor all the way, and they came to the Xie family's boat in a short time.

"Is the head of the gang here? Come out and answer!" After climbing onto the boat from the springboard, the yamen servant shouted in a local dialect.

Xie Chushui and Xie 13, who were talking in the stern cabin, heard the sound and came out of the cabin. Seeing that they were two servants from Zhapu County, they hurried forward to salute: "Then you are the ship's leader. Dare I ask what you two servants do?"

All in all, these Fujian and Guangdong ship merchants in the private port and the Zhapu county government belong to the well water and do not violate the river water. On weekdays, the ship merchants paid their filial piety in time, and the county government turned a blind eye to this place.

When the guard saw the Lord coming out, he stepped aside, raised his thumb and pointed behind his shoulder: "An errand with a letter from home."

A young man with a round face, a green coat and a soft hat who looked like a servant came out from behind the guard.

"I'm from Master Lu's family in Donghu Town, and I have a letter to take to Zhangzhou Mansion. I just found out that your ship is going to Fujian, so what?" the young man stopped talking with a smile on his face.

When Xie Chushui heard this, he knew the whole story, and immediately laughed: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say, it's a common thing to send home letters, it's a trivial matter, just follow me."

Although I don't know who this master of Lao Shizi Donghu Lu is, Xie Shushui knows that if he can work as an officer in Zhapu County to inquire and deliver letters, this master must be a local rich man, and this cannot be wrong.

Thank someone in a very good mood. At this time, I have decided not to charge the courier fee. Maybe I can have a relationship in the future, right?

When the young man came to the cockpit, he opened the bag that he had been carrying on his back, revealing a thick black lacquered wooden box, some letters, and two pairs of new shoes with satin muslin soles.

(End of this chapter)