Chapter 169: Transfer

Hu Xian, courtesy name Thorough, had thick brows, large eyes, broad shoulders, and a thick back; on his forehead was a mole the size of a fingertip. This man was the very first Beggar Sect leader to pledge allegiance to Zhou Tong, and afterward he had always been responsible for overseeing the refugees at Moyun Temple.

During his time at Moyun Temple, Comrade Hu Xian, in order to secure his position among the newly ascendant favorites, diligently disciplined the refugees, zealously flattered his superiors, and was utterly loyal to the Crossing Faction. Before anyone knew it, this fellow had already wormed his way into a very high position: Fleet Escort Supervisor.

The four medium-sized ships departing from Moyun Temple began "loading cargo" at 9 p. m. This era had no streetlights, only will-o'-the-wisps; three li beyond the city walls, it was already pitch-black, with no trace of human presence, relying solely on the starlight overhead for illumination.

The refugees, heads shaven and dressed in short jackets, were lined up in the darkness and escorted onto the ships. Everywhere stood temple guards armed with crossbows and night vision devices hanging from their chests. Whether the refugees were willing or not, the voyage toward the light had already begun at this moment, and it was irreversible.

By the time Moyun Temple's fleet had finished loading people and sailed downstream to the front of Tangzhuang, it was already past 10 p. m. Led by the Dog Eye, the earliest vessel purchased by the Transmigrators, four large seagoing ships had long since been moored in a line along the river. Storage battery lamps shone neatly from their decks, and under the guidance of the lights and walkie-talkies, the arriving ships slowly docked alongside the large vessels, pairing up two by two.

Wide ramp boards were lowered from the large ships — these were specially made stepped gangplanks, designed for easy climbing. The next moment, the hatches opened, and the people inside were released one after another from the pitch-black holds. The instant they emerged, these fellows were dazzled and blinded by the bright lamps overhead, but this was intentional: in the past, there had always been some "clever ones" who, upon exiting the hold, planned to jump overboard and escape. These people were either shot dead by crossbows or captured and given a savage beating. So now, the improved transfer process gave these people no chance at all.

Dizzy, disoriented, and unable to open their eyes, the fake monks were shoved onto the gangplank the moment they emerged from the hold. The shouted orders ringing in their ears triggered the training they had undergone for a period at Moyun Temple, and subconsciously they began climbing upward. Next, the boat hooks from above arrived, pulling them up from behind the shoulder, and in one smooth motion, the person was aboard the large ship.

The "cargo" transfer process, refined many times over, was short, lean, swift, and efficient — simple yet not simplistic. The crewmen now worked with tacit understanding, their procedure practiced and smooth. Each refugee climbing up from the bottom hold took less than a minute before returning once more to a pitch-black ship cabin.

Throughout the entire transfer process, Xiong Dao, positioned at the optimal observation point, spent most of his time using an infrared telescope to scan the pitch-black wilderness in the distance. His attention was mainly focused on outsiders, such as petty thieves who came to Tangzhuang to steal things. The fleet side was handled by the Commander, a Transmigrator, and Hu Xian — it did not require him to worry excessively.

After all 600 refugees had been transferred between ships, an hour and a half had passed. At this point, the four medium-sized ships began entering the river bend under the guidance of the lights, then slowly turned around and returned to Moyun Temple.

Everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief at this, each adjusting their state as they waited for the arrival of the second batch of "cargo."

Normally, on the night before the Sand Ship fleet set sail for Dayuan, Moyun Temple would always send over a varying number of refugees — sometimes one wave, sometimes two; this depended on the quantity of other miscellaneous goods on the sand ships.

And tonight was destined to be a sleepless night: the flood disaster arriving in July would create a vast number of famine victims around Hangjiahu, so currently, Hangzhou Station needed to increase the volume of refugee transport.

Including the refugees stranded inside Moyun Temple, as well as those able-bodied men from ruined temples and the night-soil collectors "stored" in Zhou Tong's hands — all of these people were on the list. Hangzhou Station needed to empty out all "resettlement posts" as much as possible before July arrived, to make room for newcomers.

Of course, this meant taking a bit of a risk.

By the time the fleet arrived at Tangzhuang from Moyun Temple once more, it was already 3 a. m. deep in the night. This time was much later than usual — the ship decks had also been riskily packed full of "cargo" this time, these people grouped in tens, bound together with hemp rope.

This time it was much more troublesome. After the bound prisoners stumbled and staggered their way onto the sand ships, there was an added procedure of untying the hemp ropes. This not only wasted time but also increased the noise and chaos — one "clever one" finally found a gap and, with a fish-like leap from the starboard side, dove into the Tang River.

... There were always such imaginative people, who probably believed that the Transmigrators spent silver to painstakingly raise them up fat just to make human meat buns, and that today was the day they'd be put into the steamer. So they always sought an opportunity to jump into the river. Yet, before the guards armed with infrared crossbows and long prepared, these attempts were nothing — before the jumper even hit the water, he was pierced through mid-air by two carbon fiber crossbow bolts, dying at the bottom of the river without a single grunt.

The trick of killing a chicken to warn the monkeys was always effective, though it was not what the blade-wielders wished for. After this, the speed of the transfer crew suddenly quickened, and finally, as a sliver of fish-belly white appeared on the horizon, the last refugee was sent down into the hold.

"Phew..." The people who had toiled all night could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Last night's operation was the single largest transfer of people in the history of the Crossing fleet. A total of 1,400 refugees were stuffed into the ship holds. Inside the sand ships now, apart from a small portion of rice, there were only people — no other miscellaneous goods were loaded at all.

"You've worked hard, Lao Xiong, drinking the wind on the rooftop all night." Wang Bo, Commander of the Sand Ship Fleet and captain of the Dog Eye, stood at the bow at this moment and said cheerfully to Comrade Xiong Dao, who had come to see them off.

"I'll go back, lie down, and sleep. You all still have to take shifts sailing the ship — that's the real hard work!" Xiong Dao smiled and nodded, shaking Wang Bo's hand firmly: "Be careful on the journey, and take care all the way!"

"Take care!"

The revolutionary comrades parted ways with a wave of the hand. A few hours later, when the people coming out of Hangzhou City arrived at the Tangzhuang construction materials market, they would find that the four large sand ships moored in the river bend had quietly disappeared.

After Master Xiong had sent off the fleet, the great stone in his heart finally landed. Yawning, he went back to his room to catch up on sleep. Mm, blowing the cold wind all night truly was exhausting. By the time the Master got up, it was already lunchtime. The Dragon Phoenix Special Forces had already reverted to their Ming Merchant template... the Batman moment was over.

After lunch, Xiong Dao sat in his study, drinking tea while reviewing the work of this period: overall, the situation was quite good. The market had finally been standardized, and the large-scale population transfer last night had been experimentally successful. It was time to pick up the work that had been paused some time ago...

Thinking of this, Xiong Dao stood up, took a thick stack of letters and name cards from the bookshelf, and began to leaf through them carefully.

Previously, Xiong Dao had personally signed a contract with the Lin Family brothers, sea merchants. After that, the results of the Lin family transporting iron materials to Dayuan were very good, and both sides were quite satisfied. Originally, Xiong Dao had intended to press on, but who would have thought that afterward, one matter after another cropped up, forcing him to suspend the plan. Now that he had the time, he intended to pick up this unfinished lesson.

That very afternoon, a household staff member set out from Tangzhuang, delivering name cards to several households within Hangzhou City. Two days later, in the early morning, Master Xiong, accompanied by a few attendants, departed from Tangzhuang and entered the city.

Xiong Dao's party disembarked at Qingtai Gate, then hired a four-bearer sedan chair on the spot and headed straight for the Zhangzhou Guild Hall.

The Zhangzhou Guild Hall was located on the street at the mouth of Chunyou Bridge, not far from Qingtai Gate. Master Xiong's party did not take long to arrive at the guild hall's entrance. Shortly after an attendant went in to announce them, two merchants dressed in red Zhangzhou silk came out from the guild hall to welcome them.

The two sides first exchanged a few pleasantries, after which Master Xiong ordered his attendants to carry the four-color ceremonial gifts, and everyone entered the guild hall together. The Zhangzhou Guild Hall covered a considerable area; inside, functional buildings such as the flower hall, wine rooms, guest rooms, and assembly halls were all well-equipped. After Master Xiong's party entered, they opened a private room, and the three sat down as tea was served.

Both of these merchants were surnamed Xie. The one with a bronze complexion, in his forties, was called Xie Fuqing. The other, in his thirties with a dark face and hard brows, was called Xie Chushui.

The Xie Clan were Zhangzhou sea merchants, wealthy and powerful. Their fleet was both pirate and merchant, and the scale of their business was far larger than that of the Lin Family brothers who had previously gone to Dayuan. The Xie Family Head presiding in Zhangzhou was named Xie Fubei. Of the two currently at the Shang Hall, the older one, Xie Fuqing, was effectively the manager of the Xie Family's Jiangnan branch company, of the same generation as the Family Head. The dark-faced one beside him, Xie Chushui, was the Family Head's "adopted son."

"Adopted son" meant "foster son."

During the Ming and Qing periods, Fujian sea merchants had a custom of recognizing adopted sons. Sea merchants would buy boys from poor families as contract sons, raise them up, and then send them out to sea — this was a very common situation.

"Only recently did I learn that it is actually Master Xiong's Great Gang that occupies Dayuan Island. I have eyes but failed to see; today, meeting a true hero, I offer my belated respect!" As soon as both sides were seated, Xie Fuqing, his face wreathed in smiles, cupped his hands and said to Master Xiong.

"It seems the news has finally reached Hangzhou." Xiong Dao was not surprised on his end: "Not at all, not at all. We brothers merely exploited a gap in the 'Red-Haired Barbarians'' lax defenses and succeeded in a sneak attack — hardly worthy of the title 'hero.'"

With this exchange of pleasantries, the atmosphere in the private room immediately shifted slightly: their respective identities were now laid bare — both sides were agents of sea merchant (pirate) groups stationed in Hangzhou.

Now that they understood each other's identities, the polite formalities could be dispensed with: "May I ask what purpose brings you here today, brother?" Xie Fuqing asked with a serious expression.

Seeing that they had reached the main topic, Xiong Dao nodded and said: "Currently, Dayuan Island lacks a thriving population. I have heard that the Xie Family has a ship due to return home soon. Might I ask if your esteemed vessel would be willing to make a detour to Dayuan for a visit? Heh heh, a delay of a few days, and then bringing some exotic goods from Dayuan Island back to Zhangzhou — I imagine your master would also be amenable."

"Haha, brother, you certainly drive a shrewd bargain." Xie Fuqing tilted his head back and laughed at this: "To be frank with Master Xiong, this ship of goods for the Xie Family must catch the tail end of the north wind to go to Luzon. The contract was settled last year, and it truly is inconvenient to make another trip to Dayuan."

"Oh... I see. Then it was indeed presumptuous of me. My apologies, my apologies." Hearing this, Xiong Dao knew he could not press the matter: it was already the end of the north wind season. If the Xie Family's ship was hurrying to Manila, then time was indeed very tight. If they detoured to Dayuan mid-way, they would likely encounter headwinds and delay the voyage.

Having figured this out, Xiong Dao could only say: "In that case, please convey to your Family Head that Dayuan welcomes the Xie Family ships to come and trade in the future." After saying this, he planned to exchange a few more pleasantries and then take his leave.

However, Xie Chushui, who had been sitting to the side, now spoke a sentence that made Xiong Dao raise an eyebrow: "If it's raw silk or the like, forget it. The Xie Family has been trading heavily with the Yiguan Gang in recent years, and I'm afraid we have no surplus goods to trade at Dayuan."