Chapter 130: Suppressing Thieves

Shengshan Island.

"Tell your big boss that an old friend has come to visit!"

Yin Kainan said with a weary expression.

Ever since he suffered a defeat in South Tongzhou that day, he has lived a life of hiding.

The official masters of the Nanjing Six Ministries were ruthless, not only using the navy to hunt them down but also mobilizing the power of sea merchants to encircle and intercept them.

It got to the point where he didn't even dare to hang the Qunying Society flag, fearing that someone would see it and bring about a disaster.

If it weren't for the Jiangnan Navy being suddenly transferred away, giving him a chance to breathe, I'm afraid he would have been caught and beheaded for public display by now.

Witnessing the power of the government, Yin Kainan suddenly realized.

The imperial court's power at sea is weak, but that doesn't mean those official masters really can't do anything about them.

Wanting to engage in maritime trade is destined to involve dealing with the government.

Sea merchants, pirates—these two groups that seem to wander outside the imperial court are actually influenced by the imperial court.

Most sea merchant families are also members of the Southeast gentry group, just like the previous salt merchant group.

Doing business and being an official are not contradictory; only when family children become officials can business be done better.

No matter how low the presence of the Nanjing Six Ministries is, it is still a backup small imperial court and has considerable influence in officialdom.

The official masters of the Six Ministries have spoken, and sea merchant families have to give some face.

Using the lives of these pirates to exchange for a favor from these big shots is a huge profit no matter how you look at it.

"Who are you?"

"Our shopkeeper is someone you can see just because you want to!"

The young pirate leader said with disdain.

Judging people by their appearance exists everywhere.

Having been exposed to the wind and rain at sea for a long time, Yin Kainan's personal image had long been too sloppy to look at.

The 'Qunying Society's' dozen or so ships, after a series of great battles, only had the last two left.

Personnel had shrunk from the peak of 2,000 to less than 200 now.

Such strength, in the world of pirates, is already at the bottom.

Even if they go out to loot, they can only pick on lone merchant ships.

If they encounter a slightly larger sea merchant, who robs whom is an unknown.

If it weren't for Shengshan Island being a pirate lair for selling stolen goods, according to the rules of the sea, no one is allowed to take action in this sea area.

A weakling like the Qunying Society might be annexed by someone at any time.

"Go, hurry up and go."

"I am a fellow villager with your two bosses, and we have been old friends since our ancestors."

"If you delay the big event, you can't bear the consequences!"

Yin Kainan immediately scolded angrily.

The pirate world does not believe in humility; the more aggressive you are, the easier it is to gain respect.

Facing Yin Kainan, who was fully unleashing his aura, the young pirate leader took two steps back involuntarily.

The arrogant momentum just now disappeared instantly.

Deep in his heart, he already believed Yin Kainan's words by a few points.

If there was no reliance, coming to find his own boss so arrogantly would be courting death.

Theoretically, Shengshan Island forbids taking action, but someone taking the initiative to provoke is an exception.

"You wait here; after I go over to report, I'll see if the boss will see you."

Just as the young man finished speaking, a voice came from behind.

"What happened, why are you arguing here?"

Hearing this familiar voice, Yin Kainan's face was happy; he finally met the right person.

"Junior brother, do you still remember your elder brother?"

As soon as Yin Kainan opened his mouth, it immediately awakened Zhou Zijie's long-lost memories.

"You all guard the surroundings; within fifty steps, no one is allowed to approach!"

Zhou Zijie ordered immediately.

Both are people who have fallen to the ends of the earth, but everyone's situation is different.

The destruction of the Yin family was in an instant; there was no time to make any preparations in advance.

Yin Kainan being able to escape a disaster was purely due to luck.

The situation of the Zhou family was much better; after receiving the news of the Yin family's destruction, they arranged a way out.

Similarly, when fleeing overseas, the Zhou brothers not only brought dead soldiers from the clan but also several big ships prepared by the family.

All kinds of weapons were also available, and they also took over the team engaged in overseas trade from the family.

Relying on the old team to support, their entrepreneurship at sea was much smoother.

Without much effort, they gained a foothold at sea.

Compared to Yin Kainan, who was bent on revenge, the Zhou brothers were clearly much more Buddhist.

Even being pirates, they were not so keen.

The Shuangxiong Society is nominally pirates, but its main business is maritime trade, and robbery is just a part-time job.

Because they were wanted by the imperial court, they didn't dare to take goods from the land, and usually bought spoils from pirates.

Shengshan Island is one of their daily activity strongholds.

Trading in such a place for selling stolen goods requires paying protection fees to the backstage owner.

The profit of the Shuangxiong Society is not very high.

Fortunately, they often deal with pirates from all walks of life, and their popularity in the pirate world is very high.

Most pirates will give them face and generally won't move their fleets, which can be considered as gains and losses.

"After parting last time, I didn't expect to meet Brother Yin again in such an occasion!"

Zhou Zijie couldn't help but exclaim.

They once studied together at the Jiangnan Academy; how high-spirited they were then.

They thought they would pass the imperial examination smoothly, then enter officialdom, and show off their talents.

But heaven has unexpected storms; the Emperor wanted to carry out salt administration reform, and the Seven Great Families of Lianghuai stood on the opposite side of the imperial court.

One carelessness brought about a disaster.

"Yes!"

"No one thought we would meet here."

"The imperial court is really ruthless; one move cut off the century-old plans of several of our families."

"Thinking about it, it's ridiculous; for a little salt tax, we sacrificed the lives of the whole clan."

"If the ancestors knew about it under the spring, I'm afraid they would regret their intestines!"

Yin Kainan mocked himself.

Many things are useless to say; only after experiencing it personally will you know the severity.

The salt industry is inherently profitable; the salt tax given to the imperial court is not as much as they squandered every year.

Even those salt merchants pushed to the front desk got more profits than the imperial court.

No one ever felt there was a problem, until Emperor Tianyuan overturned the table, and they realized how ridiculous they were wrong.

"In the family precepts of the ancestors, there is a rule of 'abstaining from greed'."

"Unfortunately, the descendants are unfilial and did not understand the meaning of the ancestors, which led to today's disaster."

"If we had seen the good and stopped, and withdrawn from the salt industry in advance, we wouldn't have fallen to this point today."

"Things have already happened; now saying anything is useless."

"Brother Yin's action in South Tongzhou really let out a bad breath for us."

"However, this kind of thing is enough to do once."

"Compared to the imperial court, our strength is too small, and direct confrontation is too irrational."

Zhou Zijie refused cryptically.

Although Yin Kainan has not yet stated his intention, he really doesn't want to get involved.

When fleeing from the clan, the elders in the family repeatedly told him to take the continuation of the family bloodline as the priority.

Revenge, this kind of thing that sees no hope, he won't do it.

"The imperial court is powerful; it is indeed not suitable for direct confrontation."

"Little brother suffered from being young and vigorous, which led to today's embarrassment."

"Brother Zhou, let's not speak in riddles; I came to you for help this time."

"The South Tongzhou matter is too big; those powerful people will not let me go, and now little brother doesn't even dare to show his head."

"Even entering Shengshan Island was at great risk."

"After such a big thing, the Southeast coast can't stay; little brother decided to leave here first."

"I know Brother Zhou has wide connections; I came here this time hoping you can help me buy a few ships."

Yin Kainan said frankly.

Initially, he really wanted to pull the Zhou brothers to do big things together.

After seeing Zhou Zijie, he knew there was no hope.

Although the strength in the hands of these two is not weak, they have no idea of taking revenge on the imperial court.

Relying on his own strength, if he doesn't take advantage of the Jiangnan Navy's main force being away to run away, it will be difficult to leave later.

"Buying ships is easy to say, but since Brother Yin needs it urgently, I'm afraid the price will be much more expensive!"

Zhou Zijie answered with a smile.

Letting him fight against the imperial court, he doesn't have the guts.

But secretly adding blockage, it can still be done.

What Yin Kainan is doing now is exactly what he wants to do but doesn't dare to do.

Providing some convenience can make his thoughts more accessible.

"Brother Zhou, rest assured, money is not a problem."

"Little brother brought 80,000 taels of silver this time, hoping to buy ten big sea ships."

"It's best to be thousand-ton level, eight-hundred-ton is also acceptable."

"Need to equip these ships with cannons, the more powerful the better."

"Weapons such as bird guns, hook-sickle guns, machetes, javelins, medicine crossbows, crossbow arrows, etc., also need to be purchased in a batch."

"If the money is not enough, little brother can think of ways to raise it again."

Yin Kainan put his posture very low.

For pirates, purchasing weapons and equipment has always been the most difficult.

Many times, it's not that you can buy it if you want to.

While sea merchant families allow pirates to run rampant, they are also trying to limit these pirates from growing bigger.

The most advanced ships have always been non-sale items.

The ship he wants to buy now, although it can't be counted as a non-sale item, is not something anyone can buy.

Especially someone like him who has committed a major case is regarded as an unstable element by all parties.

Not to mention going to buy a ship, I guess as soon as he showed his face, he would be sold by others.

"The control of large ships by major shipyards has always been very strict."

"Not only set a high price, but also audit the identity of the orderer."

"Don't hide it from Brother Zhou, I don't even have ten ships over a thousand tons under my command."

"If you really want it, then lower your expectations first."

"According to your budget, what kind of ship you can buy, that's what it is."

"If you really want to order a big ship, then queue up at the shipyard, at the earliest you have to wait two years."

"What I can buy are mostly spoils sold by pirates."

"These ships are partially damaged, but being able to drive them over proves that the main body of the ship is intact."

"Some ships are still 50-60% new; find someone to repair them, and they can still be used."

Zhou Zijie shook his head and said.

If it were the Zhou family before the destruction, they would have a separate shipyard, and solving this problem would naturally not be difficult.

Now it's different; wanting a ship depends entirely on buying, and you can only follow other people's rules.

Pirates, it's not bad to have a ship to use; where is the capital to be picky.

"Good!"

Yin Kainan agreed in one breath.

Need a ship urgently, no way.

Maritime trade is prosperous now, and the major shipyards are doing well; where are there any spot goods in their hands!

Yangzhou Camp.

Looking at the sea chart hanging on the wall, looking at the dense markings on it, Li Mu felt a headache.

Every place marked represents a pirate stronghold.

Almost every island that can live in people has inserted the pirate flag.

Roughly counted, the pirates large and small in Great Dayu add up to more than 800.

This is just what has been counted; how many have slipped through the net, no one knows.

After all, the survival cycle of pirate groups is generally not high.

Almost every day, pirate groups disappear, and new pirates continue to rise from the sea.

From the data, you know how dangerous it is to engage in maritime trade in this era.

No wonder the imperial court couldn't catch the Qunying Society for a long time.

With so many pirates covering, mixing in the pirate group, changing a new vest to go online at will, who knows they are the Qunying Society!

"Assistant Regional Commander, you have been staring at the sea chart recently; could it be that you want to send troops to encircle and suppress the sea thieves?"

Lan Linjie asked suspiciously.

In order to strike at pirates, since the establishment of Great Dayu, the navy has been sent many times to encircle and suppress pirates.

The effect in the early stage was very significant, and many pirates suffered a disaster.

With the decline of the imperial court, the situation was reversed.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 131 =====