Chapter 331: The Journey of Pacification (I)

On January 8, 1629, the "Qingde," a Fu ship carrying Yu Xianke, slowly berthed at the jetty in Xiamen Port.

The "Qingde" was a 400-liao Fu ship in eighty-percent-new condition, with a very sound hull. Since Yu Xianke planned to visit both Dayuan and Fuzhou on this voyage, he had to have a good ship.

That day, after finalizing the plan with Liu Xiang, he busied himself loading the Qingde with gold, silver, jewels, rare treasures, and various sundry goods, then selected a few pirates with decent appearances to serve as attendants before setting sail north.

As for Guangzhou to the south, Deputy Military Advisor Hu Shisi was put in charge of finding a contact there.

Yu Xianke had set out from Chaoshan ten days prior, but unexpectedly encountered a gale en route and was forced to delay for several days before arriving in Xiamen.

The Fu ship was not subjected to any inspection along the way, because ships traveling to Xiamen now had a fixed coastal route. All vessels on this route would ultimately be inspected at Xiamen Port, so the patrol boats of the Short-Haired Bandits often just brushed past them. Thus, the Qingde followed far behind a merchant ship and swaggered into Xiamen.

To a traditional Ming person like Yu Xianke, this time of year was just an ordinary day on the eve of the lunar new year. But for a certain power base, the spirit of the General Assembly had just been conveyed to the grassroots, and the entire nation was in an atmosphere of turning a new page, thriving and surging upward.

So when the Fu ship docked, what they saw was a scene even more prosperous than in days past.

The original Zhongzuo Wharf had by now been transformed beyond recognition: the dilapidated wooden jetty was nowhere to be found, replaced by several wide, long stone jetties extending deep into the seawater.

These jetties were all high-grade trapezoidal structures; neat, rectangular blocks of large rock were meticulously stacked into geometric shapes, with gray-white cement color showing in the gaps, allowing ships to berth on three sides and passengers to embark and disembark simultaneously.

Large cranes, belching black smoke and gleaming with a metallic sheen, were busily hoisting cargo from the ships' holds onto flatbed carts.

Accompanying the roar of machinery were the laborers, their arms bared in the cold northern monsoon wind, shouting work chants as they strained to push the carts.

Since the Qingde was not here to trade, it had little cargo to unload. When facing the several harbor officials in indigo, front-opening short jackets and training caps who boarded the ship to inspect, Yu Xianke openly revealed his identity and attempted to press silver into their hands. "I would trouble you to pass word to your superiors: an envoy sent by Shopkeeper Liu, Liu Xiang, has come to pay a visit."

Yu Xianke did this out of sheer necessity: ever since Li Kuiqi's disastrous defeat in the great battle and the Cao Clan's occupation of Xiamen, not long after, the semi-open "consulates" left by various shopkeepers in Fuzhou City had all suffered a devastating blow.

After verifying the Transmigrators' actual battle record, Xiong Wencan immediately ordered that this entire group in Fuzhou City be arrested on the capital charge of harboring bandits; all shop deeds were sealed, and all goods were confiscated by the authorities. Thus, the high officials and petty clerks in Fuzhou City managed to make another hefty profit — because the incident was so sudden, the silver from selling pirate flags of command in these shops hadn't even been moved.

This trend quickly spread throughout the entire Fujian territory: with the Cao Clan's troops holding the military line and Lao Xiong backing them on the civil side, these people, who had been so arrogant and flagrant they practically sat openly in their shops selling flags of command, were all rounded up overnight by local government offices everywhere and thrown into prison.

Now, half a year had passed, and the local authorities who had initially held a wait-and-see attitude discovered that Cao Jiangjun was truly no bluffer: even the smallest bands of pirates along the Fujian coast had been dragged in a net and exterminated. So, without further hesitation, the imprisoned lot were all dragged out and beheaded.

From this moment on, the pirates who had run rampant for years had their spines thoroughly broken. No one dared to claim to be a subordinate of this or that shopkeeper anymore; a climate of "Strike Hard" took hold across Fujian, and the pirates' onshore activities had all gone underground.

Under these circumstances, Yu Xianke had no need to contact the local covert agents: since he had to approach the Short-Haired Bandits anyway, why not do it openly and honorably?

So today, after revealing his identity, Yu Xianke proffered the silver.

However, the several "officials" before him provided a different customer experience: the leader, seeing the outstretched hand, smiled slightly and pushed Yu Xianke's hand back. "No need for silver, and I don't need to pass word for you either."

At this, the harbor official turned and pointed to the distant Zhongzuosuo City. "If it's official business, you may go into the city yourselves and request an audience with the General Daren."

Seeing Yu Xianke nod dumbly, the officials then conducted a routine inspection of the ship's hold, and during this time, they did not lay a finger on any of the valuables.

After the inspection, since the Qingde had no cargo to unload, the harbor official, having clarified the berthing duration, simply wrote out a bill for pilotage and berthing fees, then pointed them toward the payment point on shore.

Once finished, the leader even kindly pointed out the location of a local inn to the visitors, and then they left... There was no treating them as a formidable enemy, no threats or intimidation, as if the name "Liu Xiang" was just a common condiment, leaving Yu Xianke, clutching the bill, unable to recover his wits for a long while.

Marveling inwardly at the Cao Clan's effective governance, Yu Xianke ordered men to carry the goods and gifts. After giving a few instructions to the shipmaster remaining on board, he led his attendants ashore.

After descending the jetty, these men, who were thoroughly familiar with this place, momentarily lost their bearings.

The muddy coastline from their memory had long since been replaced by gleaming cement roads and rows of long, strip-shaped brick buildings. Gazing into the distance, one could also see the Island Ring Road, extending bit by bit under constant construction.

The dock was bustling with people and a steady stream of cart wheels. Merchants, laborers, horse-drawn carriages, and sedan chairs flowed in an endless stream, yet it was paradoxically clean and tidy, giving Yu Xianke and his party, here for the "first time," a strange, uncanny feeling.

Leading his attendants, Yu Xianke walked slowly along the street in the direction the officials had indicated, all the while observing covertly. Before long, he actually managed to discern some of the logic behind it.

He discovered that pedestrian and vehicular traffic on the street was separated by speed.

Pedestrians on foot like him had to walk on the red-brick pavement, elevated by one step, on either side of the street. Below the adjacent steps were slow-moving things like sedan chairs and carrying poles, and further toward the middle of the street was the express lane for fast-moving vehicles like horse-drawn carts and pushcarts.

The broad street surface was painted with white lines by someone unknown, dividing it into left and right lanes — there were constables in red-and-yellow vests, carrying short clubs, patrolling the middle of the street. Any pedestrian or vehicle failing to keep to the right would be chased back by the constables.

Furthermore, at regular intervals along the road, there were trash bins and street sweepers cleaning up at all times. The filth, chaos, and squalor of traditional docks — the thieves, beggars, and the lingering stench of rot — were absent here.

"Advancing and halting with rules and evidence, orderly governance — it seems this Cao Jiangjun is a man of grand vision." After figuring out the traffic rules here, Yu Xianke nodded to himself in admiration, his estimation of the Great Cao Jiangjun rising another notch.

The planning of Xiamen Port was far ahead of its time. The dock area not only had well-equipped roads, residences, warehouses, and various mechanical equipment, but also had its various functional zones planned out in advance, following practices common in later generations. For instance, the fish dock and cold storage, which smelled unpleasant, were situated far from the commercial district.

After walking about half a li along the sidewalk, Yu Xianke and his party reached the commercial district.

Being a commercial district, the architectural style was naturally somewhat better than the office area they had just passed: the office area was uniformly warehouses and two-story long strip buildings, with rigid lines and colors. Apart from the large panes of glass in the windows and the beautiful cement floors, there was nothing much to look at.

The commercial district was different. Though the street-facing shopfronts were also two-story brick-and-concrete buildings, the merchants from various regions who had bought these plots were no paupers, so there were all sorts of glazed tiles, flying eaves at every corner, and exquisite interior decorations... The entire commercial street was decked out no differently from those faux-antique streets of later generations, a blend of ancient and modern, full of antique charm and rich in character.

Yu Xianke and his men quickly secured rooms at a high-end inn in the commercial district. After enjoying a much-lauded hot-water bath and an odorless toilet, Yu Xianke specifically invited the inn's shopkeeper over, brought out silver, and verified what the dock official had said earlier.

Seeing the silver, the inn shopkeeper naturally held nothing back; besides, many of the guests staying there were originally in town for various official matters. So the shopkeeper very familiarly told Yu Xianke: to see Cao Jiangjun, there was no need to pull strings; he could just go to Zhongzuosuo City tomorrow to register and make an appointment.

Only upon hearing this did Yu Xianke set his mind at ease.

Early the next morning, he took his attendants and some gifts, hired a horse-drawn carriage, and followed the lone cement road leading to Zhongzuosuo City, soon arriving before the city.

The previous city was built of stone. Now, the outer walls of Zhongzuosuo City had been renovated; not only were they faced with brick and coated with a layer of cement, but watchtowers and machine gun nests had also been set up at the four corners, clearly presenting the posture of a vital military zone.

Naturally, there was a squad of guards before the city gate.

After announcing his purpose, Yu Xianke watched a Vice Lord, wearing a strange great peaked cap and a hand cannon tucked at his waist, turn and enter a wooden hut. Not long after, he was permitted to enter the city — his attendants, the carriage, and even the gifts were all stopped at the city gate.

Following a soldier through the city gate, Yu Xianke couldn't help but freeze again: the interior of the city had completely changed its appearance.

All the buildings he was familiar with had been demolished, replaced by the same red-brick two-story buildings and cement pavement seen outside. Moreover, the Dun Tai, rumored to house the "Radar God," stood in one corner of the city, and Yu Xianke indeed saw a silver pot ceaselessly rotating atop an iron tower.

The next moment, the massed soldiers training on the parade ground shouted a slogan; the enormous, uniform sound made Yu Xianke hurriedly lower his head. Silently, he followed the soldier to a building beside the city gate.

After being frisked by the guard at the door, Yu Xianke was allowed into the building and took a seat in a room resembling a reception chamber.

After a while, a tall man with fair skin, dressed in a blue shirt, walked in from outside.