Chapter 1116: In Truth, It Was Human Trafficking

In ordinary peacetime, at most thirty percent of supplies would be "lost" in transit; factoring in all the various kickbacks along the way, by the time they reached Liaodong there'd still be around fifty percent left, and what actually reached the men on the ground might be twenty to thirty percent.

Now, with the Liaodong war zone in utter collapse, the chaos gave those handling the goods a golden chance to line their pockets. The normal rate of loss had already hit fifty-five percent, and the remaining forty-five percent of military supplies still got squeezed further. By the time it reached Pi Island, barely twenty-five percent remained — nowhere near enough to cover the consumption of Pi Island and the various Liaodong outposts.

What's more, deserters and refugees kept fleeing Liaodong and flocking to Pi Island and other locations, yet getting the quotas for grain and supplies increased was a thousand times harder. The more monks there were, the thinner the gruel — the situation grew more desperate by the day.

None of this was any secret. The standard rates for these squeeze-outs were public knowledge in Penglai, the seat of Dengzhou Prefecture, and the dire straits on Pi Island could be deduced by simple reasoning — not to mention that Zhang Kai was telling them everything he knew.

Liu Yong refused to let himself be boxed in by the other party's talk of "righteous duty" and kept things blunt and direct. On the other side, Mao Wenlong was momentarily speechless. After a brief silence, Mao Wenlong turned to look at Ying Tiexiong, who leaned in and whispered a few words. Though no one else could hear, they could all guess what was being said — nothing more than confirming the supplies aboard these ships.

Once they'd finished speaking, Mao Wenlong fixed his gaze on Liu Yong for a few more moments before finally opening his mouth: "Since Mister Liu knows the situation so clearly, this official can't think of anything the Dongjiang Garrison has left to sell. Ginseng, furs, and mountain goods are in short supply, and what this official can offer for trade is even less. I truly don't know how to trade with Mister Liu. However, if Mister Liu harbors any wild delusions or reckless proposals, you needn't voice them. This official and the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang are loyal to the Great Ming, fighting the Tatar scum to the death. We've already endured countless hardships, and we don't care if we have to suffer a few more!"

These words rang out with forceful conviction, brimming with righteous fervor. On the faces of the several Liaodong men — Mao Wenlong's guards, Zhang Kai, and even the two sea guides — there appeared expressions of the utmost fervent emotion.

Even Li Yuliang, standing beside Liu Yong, wore a look of stirred emotion, thinking that for such a righteous and loyal minister, giving him these five shiploads of supplies would be no great sacrifice. But the moment this thought crossed his mind, he hurriedly checked himself, warning himself to remember which side he stood on and never, ever forget where his loyalties lay.

"You people of the Dongjiang Garrison have plenty of things to sell — timber, people. All of these can be traded." Only then did Liu Yong state his purpose.

Hearing that there wasn't much business to be done in furs and ginseng, Yu Dajiang lost most of his interest. When the talk turned to people and timber, a flicker of disdain and reluctance even crossed his face.

But when Mao Wenlong heard this, he was first shocked, and then his shock turned to delighted surprise. It was Ying Tiexiong who couldn't help blurting out: "You want people? You mean women and children? To sell them like livestock? Have you no conscience at all!"

As he spoke, anger surfaced on Ying Tiexiong's face, and his voice gradually rose: "Those girls are all daughters of decent families! In peacetime, they were doted on like precious treasures, but the moment the Tatars came, disaster struck. Those who didn't escape were defiled; those who did escape had no good fate either, and now they're to be bought and sold like beasts! And for what? Wasn't it all so the people of Dongjiang could earn a mouthful of food, earn a blade to fight with? And now you people want to buy them—"

"Tiexiong, hold your tongue!" Mao Wenlong barked coldly. By now, Ying Tiexiong's voice had grown somewhat choked with emotion.

After this rebuke, Mao Wenlong turned to Liu Yong and said, "The large timber is easy enough to discuss. But as for the people — what exactly are your terms? I won't deceive you, Mister Liu: if it's truly the most outstanding beauties or the handsomest children you're after, there's no shortage of buyers in Joseon and the Great Ming who can pay top price — let alone just you!"

Liu Yong burst out laughing, then opened his mouth and stated his real demands...

Once Liu Yong had stated his true requirements, the deal was settled. The large timber was straightforward: around Pi Island and along the border between Joseon and Liaodong, towering ancient trees were plentiful. After felling, they could be sent straight down the mountain along log slides, then lashed into rafts on the Yalu River and towed by seagoing vessels to their destination.

Liu Yong had originally worried that the timber, once soaked in seawater, would be compromised for use. But experienced hands among the Yu family's sailors explained that freshly cut timber couldn't be used right away anyway — it usually needed to sit stacked in a lumber yard for a period. Seawater immersion could actually shorten that waiting time and was beneficial to the wood.

As for the matter of people, Liu Yong did not want anyone over forty-five years old, nor the disabled or gravely ill. All others he was willing to accept. If a person possessed a skilled trade, then he would even accept those in the first two categories.

For the Dongjiang Garrison, such terms were a godsend. The able-bodied commoners and soldiers who had fled from the Liaodong Garrison were, for the most part, nothing but a burden. Some could be kept on as soldier-recruits, but the vast majority had neither martial skill nor even courage. Many of the deserters were so broken in spirit and frozen with fear that they could no longer fight. Keeping these people in the Dongjiang Garrison meant a pure, wasteful drain on money, grain, and supplies — and yet they couldn't simply be abandoned. Watching the people around them starve to death day after day, or refusing to take in the common folk who had endured a thousand hardships to escape — either way, the garrison's morale would plummet, and there'd be no way to replenish troop numbers. It was a true dilemma.

Mao Wenlong and the few men who had boarded the ship with him had never imagined that these refugees, these people as worthless as chicken ribs, could actually be exchanged for supplies. And that timber, whose prices had always been driven ruthlessly low, could actually fetch a fair price. This was truly an unexpected delight.

Next, Liu Yong demonstrated his sincerity. If Pi Island could provide one hundred households right now — married couples both alive and well, children and elderly welcome to come along — these one hundred households could trade for half the cargo on these five ships. But this was a one-time rate, not the price going forward; the surplus was to be considered a welcoming gift.

When Mao Wenlong and his men disembarked, their faces still bore a mix of delighted surprise and bewilderment. They simply couldn't fathom why Liu Yong wanted to conduct this kind of trade. They knew the price of timber in the interior of the Great Ming, but the merchants who plied these routes had no interest in buying such bulky, heavy goods. For the same cargo space, loading up on ginseng, furs, and mountain goods was where the real killing was made. As for people — and not even beautiful women or children at that — they truly had no idea why.

Though they didn't understand, since someone wanted them and was offering real, tangible grain, supplies, and even weapons in return, of course Pi Island would agree. They could strengthen and replenish their own ranks while shedding a burdensome encumbrance — this was a good deal that killed several birds with one stone.

It was just that this watertight, short-statured Mister Liu was a bit fussy in his methods. Pi Island had sampans, and the ships had sampans too, but the ferrying of people and the unloading of cargo could only be done by three small boats going back and forth. Just shuttling the goods and the people took a full two days.

At the sight of the supplies piling up on the dock berths, the entire Pi Island, from top to bottom, erupted in jubilation. And the one hundred households boarding the ships were also utterly overjoyed. Pi Island might offer shelter, but how could it compare to the peace and safety of life inside the Great Ming's borders?

These one hundred Liaodong refugee households numbered over four hundred people in total. Some brought children, some were just husband and wife. Only three households had more than ten members, with both young and old accounted for.

The reality was brutal. The Liaodong Garrison territory was vast and sparsely populated, and escaping from the Jianzhou Jurchens was exceedingly difficult. The elderly with limited mobility either couldn't flee at all or died along the way. Just like the famine years back in Shandong, the young and strong had the best chance of survival.

The three households with both young and old, however, were somewhat different from the other refugees. They were dressed decently, looked well enough, and even had servants attending them. When Mao Wenlong had these three households board the ships, he even made a point of speaking to Liu Yong, asking that they be treated well — but Liu Yong paid him no mind.

These three households had originally been meant to travel on the same ship as Liu Yong, but they were sent off to other vessels instead.

Just as Liu Yong's fleet was setting sail once more, word came from Pi Island: the Jianzhou Jurchen forces besieging Lüshun and Jinzhou had likely withdrawn. Threatened on their flank by troops sortied from Pi Island, their position had become untenable, and they'd had no choice but to retreat.

Originally, Zhang Kai was supposed to return to Lüshun, but he had received orders from Mao Wenlong to accompany Liu Yong as he left. Whether this was a reward for Zhang Kai's meritorious service, or an attempt to place a trusted man in Liu Yong's camp, was unclear. Zhang Kai himself felt both reluctance and excitement at this decision. Liu Yong and his men treated Zhang Kai quite well, deliberately keeping him close. Moreover, after the one hundred households had boarded, they had Zhang Kai visit every single ship and look over every single household.

In times like these, there was no such thing as strict segregation of the sexes to worry about. Zhang Kai looked over every man, woman, and child, and then Liu Yong began to chat and ask questions. Zhang Kai, for his part, was completely unguarded.

Among these one hundred households, a dozen or so had close ties to Mao Wenlong. As for those three prominent households, they had official connections back in the interior. They had fled from Liaodong under the protection of their household servants and retainers the entire way, and on Pi Island they had been treated like people above the common herd.

Beyond these were the relatives of those close to Mao Wenlong, and the rest were relatively well-off figures among the refugees. But even for them, getting aboard these ships had required emptying their pockets of everything they had.

"So, when you add it all up, Mao Wenlong made two fortunes from this affair — one from trading with us, and another by squeezing the people on his island. And on top of that, he's earned himself no small amount of gratitude and favors." Once the ships were underway, Liu Yong offered this assessment to Li Yuliang.

Li Yuliang clearly had trouble accepting Liu Yong's description. He knew his place, though, and after hesitating a moment, he spoke up: "Brother Yong, Mao Wenlong holds Pi Island with his lone army. Even if it's for the court, that kind of loyalty and righteousness is still worthy of admiration."

Liu Yong glanced at Li Yuliang with a smile, then looked out over the sea and said, "Righteous duty is righteous duty. Business is business. Mao Wenlong isn't too particular about his methods. He doesn't care about the refugee commoners on Pi Island — all he thinks about is how to hold on and how to counterattack. That's what matters most to him. But that doesn't mean he isn't loyal and righteous."

Li Yuliang nodded, half understanding. He knew Liu Yong was looking out for him, teaching him without holding anything back. Liu Yong continued, "It's just that his loyalty and righteousness are his own. To us, it's simply business."

The rest of the voyage went smoothly. But when they were still a day's sea journey from Dengzhou Prefecture, Liu Yong, Yu Dajiang, and a few others conferred and decided to drop anchor at an uninhabited island. The others went ashore for a brief rest, while one ship was emptied and sent ahead to Penglai, the seat of Dengzhou Prefecture.

When that ship returned, it brought with it four seagoing vessels loaded with replenishment supplies. Then the one hundred households were once again broken up and redistributed among all the ships, and they continued sailing south.

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