Chapter 1105: The Sea Folk of Qingjiangpu

"Here, I am the only one qualified to set conditions. If you want anything realized, you had best do as I require. Only then can we continue this discussion," Zhao Jin said with a smile.

After speaking, he waved his hand, and the personal guards led Johann Adam Schall von Bell away. Schall did not struggle or show anger; he simply became somewhat dejected. Xu Housheng just shook his head and said quietly to Zhao Jin, "Brother-in-law, when you speak with the foreigners, your phrasing and wording always feel a bit odd."

Zhao Jin laughed dryly but did not address that remark. Instead, he said gravely, "Housheng, you must treat these foreigners as teachers. I don't mean you must revere them, but you must learn their skills. You must learn them, and the craftsmen and apprentice students of the Artisan Works Office and the Engineering Academy must learn them. How they learn will depend on your ability."

"Rest assured, Brother-in-law. Their techniques may not appear superior, but they are things we do not possess. I will certainly apply myself to learning them," Xu Housheng replied, equally solemn on this matter.

"... Right now, the Directorate of Ceremonial is keeping the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard on a very tight leash, making them ferret out our secret intelligence in Xuzhou and even try to buy off our core personnel in Xuzhou..." Liu Yong had returned to Xuzhou from Qingjiangpu, bringing back the results of the interrogations conducted there.

"... Rumors are circulating outside that our Zhao Character Camp has unearthed a silver mine at Jingshan, which is how we can sustain such a vast operation. The Depots and Guards want to ferret out the location of this silver mine. Even more viciously, they also want to dig up the ancestral graves of Big Brother's family, claiming the feng shui there is superb and that destroying it would weaken Big Brother's fortune..." As he recounted this, Liu Yong's face was full of indignation.

Digging up ancestral graves was the most vicious means of exterminating a family line, so it was no wonder Liu Yong felt this way. However, both this rumor and this scheme were utterly absurd and laughable. Zhao Jin merely laughed upon hearing them. Apart from these, Liu Yong also mentioned Wei Mugen's method: deploying tight security at critical points within the Zhao Character Camp system while applying routine measures everywhere else. This approach could not cover every single aspect, but it could ensure the security of all parts of the Zhao Character Camp to the greatest possible extent.

Zhao Jin, Wang Zhaojing, and Ruhui all agreed with this approach. The Zhao Character Camp was not yet an official government, and there was no reason for it to manage everything. The common people in the localities might not necessarily be grateful for such a situation; they might even harbor resentment. Once you tried to manage everything, every matter became your responsibility, and any slight mistake became your fault. But by standing aside, maintaining deterrence, and stepping in to help when trouble arose, you could instead earn their awe and respect.

"Big Brother, I wish to take Tian Ying, Tian Zhu, and the others to Dengzhou Prefecture, or perhaps follow the ships to various places in Liaodong to take a look around," Liu Yong made his request.

When Zhao Jin first arrived at He Family Village, he had formed a joint village defense alliance with the nine surrounding hamlets. Tian Ying had been one of the local strongmen from nearby. However, they were the earliest local powers to be absorbed by the Zhao Character Camp and had now become members of the camp, though they always remained on the periphery. As for Tian Zhu and his group, they had come from Yizhou and were still undergoing probation and assessment.

This was also an amusing anecdote within the Xuzhou Zhao Character Camp system. Although Tian Ying and Tian Zhu shared the same surname, their clans were completely unrelated. Yet after they made contact in Xuzhou, they found they got along remarkably well. They inevitably swore brotherhood and became sworn brothers, their friendship proving quite solid. However, anyone with a discerning mind could see that this was a means for peripheral figures within the Zhao Character Camp to band together for self-preservation.

When Liu Yong proposed these two men, he was not referring to them specifically, but rather generally to the local Xuzhou figures with seniority who were on the periphery, and the batch of people recruited around the time of the great chaos in Shandong. They were capable of doing things but had few opportunities to stand out. What made it even harder for them to endure was that now there were not even many opportunities to do things; they simply carried out their tasks in a routine, step-by-step manner.

"Don't take risks. Your life is very valuable. Whatever you need, this side will provide it for you." Faced with Liu Yong's drive, Zhao Jin no longer had the energy to scold him. However, Dengzhou Prefecture indeed needed the Internal Guard to establish roots there, and the matter of gathering refugees in Liaodong even more so required someone with decision-making authority to personally oversee it on site. If Liu Yong went there, Lei Cai, who was moving back and forth between Linqing and Jining, would probably also go. Then that area would no longer be so beyond their reach.

"Xiaoyong's idea is a good one. We have quite a few people here who want to do things but don't fit into the system. Going to Dengzhou Prefecture can provide them with experience and a test. It's just that the winds and waves at sea are strong; Xiaoyong, you absolutely must be cautious," Wang Zhaojing said, expressing considerable approval.

Liu Yong nodded and said in a muffled voice, "If, on this trip to Liaodong, we could have a few seagoing ships—even just one—belonging to our Zhao Character Camp, operated by the Cai family and our own household troops, it would be so much more convenient. Right now, although the Yu family is helping, there's always a layer of separation."

At this, Ruhui, who was sitting to the side, gave a cold laugh. "The Yu family's calculations are a bit too many. They say it takes three to five years to develop the skill, but we've sent people over for more than a year now, and they're still just doing odd jobs over there. Is navigating and handling a ship really harder than casting cannons and smelting iron? Or are they simply unwilling to let us use the ships?"

Ruhui's side was also constantly receiving relevant reports. The things he mentioned were not really comparable, but everyone understood his meaning. Zhao Jin slowly shook his head and said in a deep voice, "What you've said, I know, everyone knows, and I'm afraid the Yu family themselves know it too. But all our affairs on the sea depend entirely on the Yu family's help, and they have been working very diligently. Their holding back in this area is understandable, both in sentiment and in reason."

"Big Brother, the income from Clam Harbor is enormous. They use the great market of Qingjiangpu and commercial goods to summon the wind and rain across the ocean, and they even reap huge profits from the Huai salt at Haizhou. Having gained so many benefits, what sentiment or reason do they have?" Wang Zhaojing said in a muffled voice.

Zhao Jin shook his head again and said, "We get a share of all these great profits. Moreover, their foundation is in Jiangnan. Once their sand ships are at sea, we have no way to deal with them. If it really came to a dispute, what means would we have?"

Having spoken to this point, everyone understood the stakes and the pros and cons, but they also understood Zhao Jin's stance and attitude. Yet this was precisely the situation. Importing and selling gunpowder, gathering and transporting refugees from Liaodong, even recruiting foreign technicians and gathering intelligence on the ocean—all of it required the Yu family to carry out. The Zhao Character Camp currently could find no other substitute.

The Yu family's support for the Zhao Character Camp could already be described as all-out. Therefore, the slight selfishness they harbored could not be brought up openly by anyone.

"In the final analysis, it's because we don't have our own fleet of seagoing ships. And this maritime power is a self-contained world; we actually can't find a way to get a foothold in it," Wang Zhaojing sighed. At that moment, Liu Yong interjected, "Qingjiangpu sees a multitude of people coming from south and north. There are bound to be men from the sea merchants and sea lords. We can keep an eye out and inquire about this."

"That is a method, but it's also like searching for a needle in the sea. Speaking of which, why has that Li Laohai vanished without a trace?" Ruhui said in a muffled voice.

At the mention of Li Laohai, the few people in the room fell silent for a moment, then couldn't help but reveal wry smiles. Zhao Jin sighed with emotion and said, "The older the ginger, the spicier it is. Originally, it was a situation where he was begging us; now, it's turned into him holding the initiative."

At the several water-landing docks along the canal bank in Qingjiangpu, the Zhao Character Camp had no shortage of eyes and ears placed both openly and covertly. Apart from the resident agents of the Internal Guard and the patrolmen, the clerks of various goods yards and shipping companies also counted as Xuzhou's informants, relying on such news to earn reward money. Any traveling merchant or passerby who seemed the slightest bit off would immediately be marked.

Seven people disembarked from a ship there. Anyone familiar with the area could immediately tell that the ship was a seagoing vessel from Jiangnan, of small tonnage, the kind that traveled both at sea and on the river. The men coming off the ship were clearly people who made their living on the water year-round. Judging by their skin tone and manner, these men were not from rivers or lakes, but sea dogs from the open ocean. Moreover, these seven men had dark, swarthy skin and wore only ordinary coarse cloth, yet each was sturdy and strong, and the short blades they carried were no cheap goods. At a glance, this looked like the trusted personal guard of some sea lord, or perhaps even a sea lord himself had come.

Perhaps accustomed to running rampant on the ocean and along the coast, apart from the one-armed man in his forties who was relatively composed, the other six young men were all extremely brash and swaggering. News traveled quickly. The resident agents the patrolmen and Internal Guard had placed here had long since arrived, disguised as inn touts soliciting customers, smiling as they approached to probe.

"This place is quite rich. One good raid and we'd have a fine time," someone said with a laugh. His companions joined in with raucous laughter. At first, the agents could not understand a word they were saying. By chance, one person could tell it was a dialect from the Min region and immediately found a clerk from a nearby Fujian shop, instructing him only to listen in silence. The very first sentence he heard was this.

Everyone, of course, understood the meaning of those words. The eyes and ears immediately became vigilant. The news was rapidly passed outward. If these men made any suspicious move, they would be arrested on the street; killing them on the spot was not out of the question either.

"I never imagined there could be such a bustling, prosperous place under heaven. When our ship was coming in, did you see the banks? Those are all the great mansions of wealthy families. And the waterway here is wide; as long as the wind is right, even our family's big ships can enter. Then we'd truly have a fine time." As the man in front spoke and his companions echoed him, the clerk following them turned pale.

Fortunately, the surveillance arranged by the Internal Guard and patrolmen was quite good. At any moment, someone would brush past the clerk, inquire about the meaning of these men's words, and then go to a spot not far away to compile the information. This way, the relevant personnel wouldn't be exposed, and they could continue tailing them.

"What nonsense are you lot spouting? How many times have I told you, the shore is not the sea. If you get caught by the wind here, even spending silver won't get you out. Besides, do you think Qingjiangpu is so easy to enter and leave? If we really made a move, they could just block the river right here. How would we get out?" The one-armed middle-aged man up front grew impatient and turned his head to rebuke them.

"Seventh Uncle, if it comes to it, we'll just fight our way out by force. The brothers of our family aren't even afraid of government troops. What are people raised in this peaceful place worth?"

"That's just your shallow thinking. What qualifications do we sea folk have to look down on those on land? Every time we went ashore, didn't we always let the Wokou lead the charge? Have you ever charged at the front? You've never seen the Xuzhou troops. They are truly first-rate elite soldiers. We can't beat them. Even those death-defying Wokou are no match for them," the one-armed middle-aged man said very gravely.

"Uncle Hai, are they really that formidable? But we don't see anything here. Yuegang and Macau both have forts. Why don't we see any here? With such a juicy piece of meat just sitting here, has no one ever come to take a bite?" another person asked.

Thanks to the four old friends "User Baishui Xunze, Qi Sanwen, User Pobai, Fengzhong Longwang" for their tips. Thank you everyone for your subscriptions and monthly tickets. Thank you all for your support.