Chapter 144 Pirate Group
Qin Huai had no idea what he was thinking and didn't hear her words at all. The two of them parted in front of Li Rusong's room, each with their own thoughts.
When Su Luo returned to the room, she found that Bi Hen had not come back yet. It was so late, and there had been another stalking incident. Su Luo was a little worried, so she went to find Qin Huai. Her original intention was to ask Qin Huai to send someone to Jintaixuan to check, but unexpectedly, Qin Huai was not in the room. Su Luo was a little confused. They had just broken up, so where did he go?
Su Luo asked the housekeeper to send someone to Jintaixuan, and walked back absentmindedly. When she came to her senses, she saw herself stopped in front of Li Rusong's room. Su Luo hesitated for a moment, but went in to ask. Li Rusong was waiting in front of the other courtyard. Obviously, he was not looking for Qin Huai, but for her. Why did he come to find her without Qin Huai's knowledge? Was it because Qin Huai deliberately made him misunderstand the reason at noon? Su Luo wanted to find out clearly. Even if she couldn't ask, at least she could ask for Yun Lang in advance, which was also good.
Su Luo stepped onto the stone steps and was about to push the door open when she heard a voice coming from inside the room. She put her ear close to it and it was Qin Huai's voice. It seemed that Qin Huai had also left and returned like her.
Su Luo had no intention of eavesdropping. He was just hesitating whether to go in or leave when he heard Qin Huai ask, "Even if you consider Liaodong, you don't necessarily have to have this Wufeng ship owner. With your Li's ability, it's easy to make some contributions to stabilize the court."
"Do you think I shouldn't keep an eye on Captain Wufeng?" It was Li Rusong's voice.
"That's right. Now that the factory guards have both intervened, you really shouldn't force them to snatch the person. Why don't you sit back and watch the fight? If either of them loses, they will inevitably cause trouble for the other. By then, they won't have time to deal with you."
Li Rusong was silent for a long time, while Su Luo was half confused. She had just learned about the Wufeng ship owner and the factory guards, so she understood it, but what about "stabilizing the court"? These words sounded so reactionary, could it be... No, no, Su Luo immediately denied her thoughts. She had read some profiles of Li Chengliang and Li Rusong, and she didn't remember that the Li family had rebelled. On the contrary, the father and son flattered the emperor very well. The old man lived to be ninety years old before he was buried. He was just a little corrupt, but he was still loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
"No, I have other reasons. The captain of the Wufeng ship must not fall into the hands of the guards." Li Rusong's voice was unusually firm, and Su Luo breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that his injuries were not particularly serious, otherwise he would not be so energetic.
"What's the reason?" Qin Huai asked quickly and urgently.
Li Rusong paused for a while, which made Su Luo anxious. She felt very tired as she lay by the door.
"Because the Wufeng ship captain who ran away is not the real Wufeng ship captain." Although Li Rusong lowered his voice, Su Luo still heard it.
"His name is Zhao He. He is the top figure under the Wufeng ship owner. Most of their fleet's smuggling activities with Japan are controlled by this man. He is particularly important to the Wufeng ship owner. If I can catch him, I believe the Wufeng ship owner will be happy to do business with me."
Qin Huai was shocked, "Not the Wufeng ship owner? But you said..."
"Zhao He did claim to be the Wufeng ship owner. I think he was trying to cover up the real ship owner because he came from Fujian, and according to previous intelligence, the real Wufeng ship owner was in Nanjing. I think he came to Luoyang this time to meet with the Wufeng ship owner, but somehow he leaked his whereabouts and was targeted by the factory guards. I absolutely cannot miss this opportunity again and must catch him."
"You said you wanted to do business with the Wufeng ship owner..."
Li Rusong smiled and said, "How much silver do you think he will pay if I sell Zhao He to him?"
Qin Huai was speechless for a long time, and finally said: "Before you said you had a way to pay, and you vowed to catch the Wufeng ship owner. Did you also have this idea?"
"My previous idea was to let him redeem himself, so that I could set the price. But Zhao He has been arrested, and the Wufeng ship owner must be hiding even deeper. It will not be easy to catch him again. Fortunately, there is Zhao He, and Yun Lang, the young man. I really have to thank him."
Qin Huai asked again: "You came to Luo'er today just to find out Yun Lang's whereabouts?"
Su Luo was stunned. Was that the case? He was waiting at the gate of the villa just to get clues about Yun Lang from her?
Li Rusong's eyes unconsciously swept towards the door, hesitating for a while, and said nothing. Qin Huai's face was very bad, "She didn't know where he was, and today she asked me to help find out his whereabouts."
"No, I didn't look for her because of Yunlang, but for something else." Li Rusong suddenly said this, and then he looked annoyed, "I... I want to take a break."
Qin Huai didn't stay for long. He opened the door and came out. There was no one at the door.
Su Luo did not listen to Li Rusong's final answer. If the answer was yes, she would understand. After all, it seemed that Yun Lang was indeed the main point of entry for arresting people. If the answer was no, if he did not come for Yun Lang 's matter, then Su Luo was unwilling to guess his true purpose. After all, his previous performance had already explained everything. She did not have time to play the game of playing hard to get with others.
Qin Huai found Su Luo in the small garden of the villa. At that time, she was wondering about something.
"What did Captain Wufeng's fleet smuggle in Japan?"
Qin Huai took a breath and uttered two words: "Firearm."
Su Luo was greatly surprised. "Firearms? Where did they get the firearms?"
"I changed it." Qin Huai seemed to have some knowledge of these things. "The name of Wufeng Shipowner originated from a Japanese pirate group during the Jiajing period. The leader of the group was named Wang Zhi, with the courtesy name Wufeng. He was born into a merchant family... Do you know what 'not a single piece of board can go to sea' means?"
Su Luo thought about it and said, "It means literally, right?"
Qin Huai nodded, "This is the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban. No one is allowed to engage in maritime trade."
Su Luo had nothing to say about this ban. Zheng He's seven voyages to the West were such an achievement, but a maritime ban could be implemented under the ruler's sleepwalking decision.
“Why is there such a ban?”
Qin Huai did not comment much on the government order, but just said: "I am afraid there will be too many disasters at sea."
"It's conceivable that Boss Wang must have ignored the ban?"
Qin Huai smiled, "Not bad."
After making good money for several years, Wang Zhi was no longer satisfied with the limited Southeast Asian market and turned his attention to the more profitable Japanese market.
Japan at that time was in the Warring States Period... Oh no, the "modern" period is still the Warring States Period, which would last until 1615, when it ended at the hands of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Tokugawa Shogunate era began.
Because of the long years of war in Japan, only swords and spears could not meet the offensive and defensive needs of the Japanese people. At that time, Wang Zhi had a very afraid that Wang Zhi would not accept them, so the price was extremely cheap. Later, Wang Zhi shipped the firearms to Japan and sold them at a high price, which was much more profitable than selling daily necessities such as towels and toothbrushes.
At that time, Japanese pirates were rampant on the sea, and smuggling was not so easy to do. It was not uncommon for people to be robbed by Japanese pirates. But what did Wang Zhi transport? Guns! There were actually people who robbed guns? In anger, Wang Zhi established his own pirate company, which was originally just for his own escort. Later, he thought that it was better for me to rob you than for you to rob me. Guns were the hard truth, so Wang Zhi transformed himself from a smuggler to one of the biggest Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty, and became the leader of the four major pirates at that time.
Because he was a wanted criminal by the government, Wang Zhi did not dare to land, but it was not a good idea to always float on the sea, so he chose another place for himself. Isn't the Ming Dynasty going to arrest me? I will go to Japan. So Wang Zhi led his pirate group straight to Okinawa Island, Japan. In fact, this was already an informal occupation, because Wang Zhi named the territory he occupied on the island, called "Song State". At that time, the Japanese lords and daimyo did not object. On the contrary, sometimes they gave gifts to this rich and armed uncle, for fear of offending him, because none of the Japanese armed forces at that time was Wang Zhi's opponent.
So today, although Wang Zhi is labeled a traitor because he did rob the Ming Dynasty's coast and kill Ming compatriots, it is extremely rare to see a traitor who is so arrogant as to occupy other people's territory.
"Is this the predecessor of today's Captain Wufeng and his fleet?" Su Luo really regretted that he didn't travel through time a few decades earlier. It must have been a great thing to be able to set foot on the land of the island country.
Qin Huai nodded slightly. "After Wang Zhi had been rampant on the sea for more than 20 years, he was finally recruited by Hu Zongxian, the governor of Zhejiang. Hu Zongxian's original intention was to use Wang Zhi to contain the Japanese pirates on the sea, so that the coastal defense of the Ming Dynasty could have a respite. But unfortunately, because Wang Zhi acted recklessly on land and ignored the government, he was caught by an imperial censor named Wang Bengu and beheaded in public. Governor Hu's efforts went to waste. Without the Wufeng ship owner in charge at sea, the Japanese pirates were rampant again. Wang Zhi's adopted son Mao Haifeng and others also confronted the court fiercely. To this day, the Wufeng ship owner has been passed down for several generations, and the court still has not been able to capture them in one fell swoop."
Su Luo was really sighing. Such a powerful Japanese pirate was killed by a stupid censor. The governor surnamed Hu must have been so angry that he died.
"I don't know what the relationship between Yun Lang and them is." Su Luo was extremely worried. "They are a group of traitors . If I mix with them, won't I become a traitor too?"
"They..." Qin Huai hesitated, "Since the new ship owner took over the fleet, they have stopped robbing and looting. The money from smuggling arms is enough."
"Hmm?" Su Luo was a little surprised that Qin Huai would say that, but she still snorted, "They are all Japanese pirates anyway. If they don't rob, there will be other Japanese pirates who will. It's really disappointing. Chinese people rob Chinese people. Why don't they rob the Japanese if they have the guts!"
"It's not that we don't want to rob, but after robbing the arms, we have nowhere to sell them, which is equivalent to cutting off our own source of income. Besides, the current Wufeng Group is no longer as strong as before, and there are several other forces eyeing it covetously. We can't be careless at all."
"Eh?" Su Luo was surprised that Qin Huai knew so much, but Qin Huai's face changed, "I... was just guessing."
Su Luo nodded, not quite understanding, and then thought of what Li Rusong had said, and couldn't help asking: "If Li Rusong caught that man, would he really sell him to the Wufeng ship owner?"
Qin Huai was not at all surprised that Su Luo knew about this. Su Luo explained himself, "I just heard you talking at the door."
Qin Huai pondered for a long time and sighed, "I don't know, no one can stop Zimao from doing what he wants to do, but this matter... is still inappropriate."
"Of course it's not right!" Su Luo gritted his teeth in hatred, "That little traitor is crazy about money!"
Qin Huai was stunned for a moment before he realized that Su Luo was talking about Li Rusong, "He just... needs money too much."
"You need money so you do business with the Japanese pirates? Then what's the difference between him and Wang Zhi who went to sea against the law?" Su Luo looked at him with contempt, "If I had known he was this kind of person, I would have regretted getting to know him."
Su Luo was angry when she heard someone calling her. She turned around and saw that it was Bi Hen who came back and was anxious to report to her about the fashion show. After all the trouble today, Su Luo almost forgot that she still had a business to take care of. Despising traitors was important, but making money was also very important, and she still had something to tell Bi Hen. Waving to Qin Huai, Su Luo took Bi Hen back to the room. Qin Huai stood alone under the moon, quietly looking up at the moon covered by clouds again, and a faint sigh escaped from his mouth, "Regret... Did you know each other..."
