Chapter 236: All Worthy Men Gather (9)

Du Dewei finally understood what those barrels in the shipyard were for. Large numbers of wooden barrels were carried onto the deck, and workers with white gauze masks wrapped over their mouths and noses began spreading the lime from the barrels into every cabin.

In fact, among the eighteen ships, very few received this treatment: only the five largest ones. The rest, including those broken-down fishing ships, would all be sold off on the spot — they didn't even qualify for repairs.

So in the time that followed, Du Dewei first personally sailed all eighteen hard-earned vessels to Qingshi Great Pier, then watched with mixed emotions as they were auctioned off right there on the spot...

What shocked him was still to come: secondly, after inexplicably signing several more documents, Du Dewei received another sum of over forty thousand taels of silver as ship payment...

Looking at the clearly written depreciation and various auction fees on the documents, he once again fell into confusion. Finally, when he confirmed this wasn't some trick to lure the snake out of its hole and then slaughter the donkey, a certain someone gleefully took the silver and went to split the money with those shopkeepers.

Du Dewei's happiness lasted only one day, and then he grasped Confucius's famous saying: "When friends come from afar, one must not be careless." — Early the next morning, when he saw some ten broken-down ships sailing into Matsu Naval Fortress, an ominous premonition rose in his heart. Very quickly, the premonition proved true... A man with a broad face, large ears, and an honest, simple-looking face stood far off at the bow and shouted to him: "Dewei, your old brother has come to seek refuge with you!"

The post of Outer Garrison Commander, in later generations, was equivalent to a reserve Section Chief — a temporary position even lower than the Junior Ninth Rank; there was no official lower than this. Yet even so, the two newly appointed Outer Garrison Commanders still treasured this official post immensely. One must know, this position had been exchanged for the family fortunes they had accumulated over many years.

Therefore, although Du Dewei and Cao Hu each found the other an eyesore in their hearts, now that they had both donned official skins and become Garrison Commanders, some grudges had to be set aside for the time being.

With the arrival of Du Dewei and Cao Hu, during this period of July 1628, Mawu Water Camp successively accepted over ten scattered bands of pirates coming to surrender. These later arrivals were generally few in number — some with five or six ships, some with just one or two.

The Transmigrators naturally held a welcoming attitude toward these people.

The newly arrived manpower effectively reduced the difficulty of managing the previously surrendered personnel: mixing in sand is the most effective management method.

The treatment of the later arrivals was the same as that of the old-timers. The recruits were likewise divided up and reassigned; most of the ships were sold off, and a small portion that met the requirements would be purchased by the Crossing Faction. In short, every single ship would be converted into silver after depreciation and returned to the shopkeepers' hands. This was an established procedure — property rights over all goods and assets had to be clearly defined: private individuals were not permitted to hold any equity stake in military assets.

As for the path ahead, if any shopkeepers were unwilling to continue soldiering, they could also choose to go develop Dayuan, or be disbanded on the spot... Of course, such people were very few.

While the recruits were being "deceived" into Mawu Water Camp and isolated from the world, the outside world was becoming more and more eventful.

First, half a month after Xiong Wencan posted the proclamation, on August 7th, the Youguang sailed swaggeringly into the Min River Estuary under the gaze of countless onlookers.

With its white soft sails hoisted, streamlined hull, and a row of cannons mounted on the deck, the Youguang caused a sensation the moment it appeared. The large and small Chinese-style ships on the Min River all cried out in shock when they saw this strange ship glide past them at high speed.

Large numbers of busybodies soon steered small boats and followed behind the Youguang. Fortunately, the military forces around Fuzhou had all been notified in advance, so aside from some sensational scenes, no other incidents occurred.

The Youguang soon docked at the Official Dock at Fuzhou Nanmen, at the exact same spot where Zheng Zhilong had once moored his Fuchuan.

Next, large numbers of soldiers began pouring out from Nanmen, and then a certain Adviser Huang from the Grand Coordinator's Office stepped out from the crowd. After exchanging greetings with Zhang Dongdong, who had disembarked from the ship, the two walked arm in arm, intimately sharing an eight-man sedan chair as they swept off.

Meanwhile, the onlookers who had formed a sea of people around the dock quickly spread the first-hand information: the one who had come was the "great chieftain" Cao Chuan from Dayuan Island across the sea. This man had five thousand elite Monk Soldiers under his command, and this time, upon seeing the proclamation posted by Governor Xiong, he had come to discuss matters of Summon Pacification.

... Such precise information was naturally not something the onlookers could have known: the information spreaders mixed into the crowd had all been planted in advance by Fuzhou Station.

And so, Fuzhou City gained quite a bit more gossip that day: the beautiful sailing ship, the Monk Soldiers in short jackets with gleaming shaved heads, the Grand Coordinator's Office's massive mobilization — all these and more, too numerous to list.

And Zhang Dongdong's party, having finally stepped from the shadows into the light, was now at the Fuzhou Governor's Office, chatting and laughing merrily with the Grand Minister Governor, recounting their parting sentiments.

Thinking back, everyone had had a hard time of it.

Ever since his Imperial Audience Departure from Beijing until now, in the parlance of later generations, Xiong Wencan had only now achieved a phased result. Although Lao Xiong had always been pushed forward from behind by the Transmigrators, after all, he was the Governor, and all the steps taken by both sides ultimately required his endorsement and responsibility. So truth be told, Lao Xiong had been under considerable pressure all along.

There was another reason Lao Xiong was especially happy today: the memorial reporting that the court's great enemy Zheng Zhilong and other sea bandits had "died fighting each other" had already been sent back to Beijing. In it, Lao Xiong had employed various Spring and Autumn Style brushstrokes to subtly hint at his own merit in sowing discord — it counted as a phased report to fulfill his duty.

And now, after finishing his discussion with Zhang Dongdong, Lao Xiong could roll up his sleeves and officially get to work, completely unfurling the grand curtain on pacifying the seas and exterminating the pirates. So the Governor's mood at this moment was still quite stirred.

Ten days later, on August 17th, in the Fuzhou Outer Sea, the drama of Dayuan's Cao Chuan accepting the Recruitment and Amnesty of Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan was about to unfold.

Over one hundred and fifty ships of various types gathered on the sea surface, forming a dense, dark mass of vessels — an imposing and overwhelming sight.

Leading this fleet formation were naturally those under the Crossing Faction's banner: a destroyer squadron headed by the "Youguang" and its sister ship the "Zhengfeng." The main fleet also included six "Taijiang"-class escort ships — after the 400-ton Youguang entered service, the 150-ton Taijiang returned to their original classification: escort ships.

Behind this main fleet of eight motor-sailing gunboats came a large group of Fuchuan vessels led by the motor-sailing Fuchuan "Dog Eye" and "Yuan Dou." These two Fuchuan, the earliest purchased by the Transmigrators, were now completely changed: the ones inheriting these two glorious ship names were hybrid new ships produced by Taijiang Shipyard.

These hybrid ships had both Chinese-style rigid sails for catching the wind and European-style hulls with better seaworthiness, and the entire ship's lines had also been improved — they were excellent transport ship models.

Today's operation, for the Crossing Faction, could be described as a full-scale mobilization. Due to the need to put on an impressive display, all 150 ships included not only warships but also every merchant ship the Crossing Faction had purchased or built since occupying Dayuan, and the recently surrendered pirate ships were all incorporated into the formation as well.

Additionally, at the very rear of the formation, there were five Western-style sailing ships.

This special squadron was a Dutch fleet led by the Navy training ship "Chengfeng," a motor-sailing training vessel. To avoid being too shocking, the tonnage of these Dutch ships was generally modest, all around 200 tons — today's main objective was to leave Lao Xiong and the people of Fuzhou with a fine impression of "all worthy men gathering, coming to pledge allegiance from all directions"; too many Red Hairs would easily distract from the theme.

Yet even so, Mr. Hans Putmans, standing at this moment on the "Heerenveen" and constantly observing his surroundings through a telescope, was already beside himself with excitement.

One must know, apart from those damned Portuguese who could enter and leave Guangzhou City on a limited basis during the trade season, no merchants from other powerful forces like the Dutch and the British had yet obtained authorization to enter this ancient city. So Putmans, having received the Transmigrators' promise, was very excited — today he was about to make history.

At exactly 6 a. m., the same hour when Xiong Wencan had seen off Zheng Zhilong, the vast and mighty fleet began to move. Taking the lead were naturally the gunboat units, followed by the Fuchuan fleet, with the European-style ships bringing up the rear.

To accommodate the slower main body of the fleet, the gunboats slowed their speed after entering the Min River. Today, the Min River was exceptionally quiet — the authorities had issued orders the day before, prohibiting all vessel traffic within the Min River Estuary this morning.

The main force arrived punctually at Fuzhou Nanmen Dock at exactly 7 a. m.

A similar script began to play out once more: the Governor mobilized all his troops and went to Nanmen to welcome the ten-thousand-strong pirate fleet coming to surrender.

Unlike the time with Zheng Zhilong, Fuzhou City today did not prohibit civilian movement. However, the Nanmen Dock at this moment had long been cleared out; large numbers of Governor's Standard Battalion Elite Soldiers had tightly surrounded the dock area, and the crowds who had come to watch the excitement were all cordoned off.

But this level of blockade could not stop the enthusiasm of the onlookers: at this moment in Fuzhou City, the top of the Nanmen tower was already densely packed with spectators, and the Garrison Commander Ding guarding the tower had surely made a tidy extra fortune today.

Seeing the fleet enter the harbor from afar, the eight-man sedan chair resting inside the city gate immediately proceeded toward the dock. And not long after "Cao Chuan's" vessel, the Youguang, docked, Lao Xiong's sedan chair also arrived at the dock almost simultaneously.

Next, Comrade "Cao Chuan," dressed entirely in a white robe, first descended steadily from the ship, while Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan, wearing a bright red official robe, simultaneously stepped out from his sedan chair.

The perfect entrance sequence and movement speed of these two drama queens both illustrated the most fundamental hierarchy and propriety of officialdom and expressed Xiong Wencan's broad-minded eagerness to seek talent — truly masterful acting.

In the next moment, the white-robed man strode forward a few quick steps, and under the gaze of thousands upon thousands of eyes, cupped his fists, dropped to both knees, and shouted loudly: "Spare me, brave hero!"... No, wrong — shouted loudly: "Cao Chuan pays respects to the Governor!"

At that very same moment, the crewmen on the hundred-plus ships also simultaneously performed a forked-hand salute and shouted in unison: "Paying respects to the Governor!"

And Xiong Wencan quickly stepped forward, bent down, and helped a certain Cao to his feet.

At the same moment, those rhythm-stirrers who had long been planted among the onlookers raised both arms and began to cheer.

And the onlookers, impressed without fully understanding, naturally began cheering at the same time as well... For a moment, the scene was as fervent as a tidal wave, like the launch day of a real estate development.