Guangzhou's Nancheng faces the Pearl River and is a docking place for maritime merchants and foreign ships. 【Full text reading】． In the Song Dynasty, Nancheng had become a commercial center and was protected by East and West Yanchi City. The Yuan Dynasty was destroyed by war. After the Ming Dynasty, commerce here prospered, but after the Tuolin mutiny, the residents in the south of the city were harmed, so the government built a new city based on the old site of Yanchi City. "Guangdong Tongzhi" states: "In the 42nd year of Jiajing, Wu Guifang, the censor of Jiazidu, rebelled against Tuolin and harassed the residents outside the city. He built the southwest corner tower and Wuyang Post, surrounding the southeast corner tower and the new city for defense. "
With the protection of the city wall, although New South City faces the Pearl River and the Hao River on three sides, it is the smallest among the three cities in Guangzhou. However, the maritime area, dock area, commercial area, and wealthy residential area are all concentrated here, making it the largest city in Guangzhou. Commercial and economic center.
At this time, there were several people standing on the Pearl River embankment outside Jinghai Gate in Nancheng, wearing raincoats and hats. He seemed to be patrolling something.
The haze is compact and the mist is hazy. There were about a dozen sailboats moored faintly on the river, and only their black outlines could be seen in the thick mist. Looking into the distance, you can see Shicui Island and White Goose Pond, hidden in the depths of the mist, as if they are connected to the sky.
"Damn it, where did the Australian sea ship come from?" One of the people inside spat and said angrily.
"Wang Wang, we have been looking for it for more than ten days. We have also looked at all kinds of ships along the river. There is no weird big ship."
The man who was called Prince Wang did not answer. He looked at him for a long time, silently. There are circles in the center of the river, and the old fish is blowing in the waves. Under the embankment, there are jagged rocks and turbid waves. Not far from them, a foreign ship was unloading its cargo, and a group of porters came down from the ship's side carrying the cargo to the dock.
"Brother Wang, I really don't understand. The master is so good at Zhongzuo, why do you want us to come here to find some Australian merchants? I have followed the master for many years, and I have traveled all over the world, but I have never heard of Lao Shizi's Australia! "
The king snorted coldly and scolded: "What are you talking about? Where is this place?! Don't you want your head?"
Everyone was silent after hearing this.
After a long while, I heard Mr. Wang say: "Although Australia is a place we have never stopped talking about, the things sold in the Gao family's shop on Haopan Street don't fall from the sky, right? Guangzhou City is currently in a state of flux. The city is crazy, who doesn’t know about Australia’s rare goods. Since such a wealthy business can be done by sea, how can we brothers not make a good fortune?" He smiled evilly, "This time we must find out this gang. Here are the details of the maritime business."
It turns out that these people are the subordinates of Zheng Zhilong, the "giant bandit" who is currently invading Fujian and shaking the two provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. At present, he and Li Kuiqi have gathered more than 30,000 people to occupy a series of important coastal islands and seaports in southern Fujian such as Zhongzuo, Gulangyu, Dadan, Lieyu, and Gaopu. They either rob merchant ships, seize people to report water, or break into the inland. , burning, killing, plundering, and has become a tyrant on the coastal waters of southern Fujian.
The group of people walked along the pier towards the city, and gradually saw an increase in pedestrians and vendors. After passing the Dragon King Temple, we saw the Jinghaimen Gate Tower. After entering the city, follow the road to Wuyangmen. The majestic and magnificent temple in front of you is the Tianfei Temple built during the Hongwu period. This is the transportation center of Nancheng. It is a place where people from all walks of life come and go in sedan chairs, mules and carts. Vendors gather together. The market is bustling with noisy people, continuous stalls, and a prosperous market.
The prince was obviously very careful. He only walked along the base of the wall, turned around, and walked into the alley. There was a small hotel at the base of the city. There was a half-hung bamboo curtain that was black and messy. A crowd of people walked into the store. There are several oil lamps hanging in the shop, making it very dim even during the day. The diners were noisy, and the floor was wet and slippery, filled with the strange smell of food, wine, oil, smoke, and sweat.
When Qitang saw someone coming in, he rushed up to greet the guests. Wang Tou'er asked for an empty seat in a single room and ordered some food and drinks. The curtain is not completely lowered, but is tied halfway up so that the brother sitting at the door can have a panoramic view of the entire store.
After waiting for a while, another person who looked like a street gangster walked into the door of the store. He was a middle-aged man with a white face and no beard. When the eyes of the two parties met, the newcomer came in and took a seat without saying anything, and everyone just ate and drank by themselves. When Mr. Wang saw that there was no plainclothes Kuaishou Fanzi in the store, he asked quietly: "What's the news about the brothers on Haopan Street?"
"After nearly half a month of following, there was nothing useful. I saw the goods in the Gaofu being picked up one by one and delivered to the shop. I didn't see any special goods coming in, nor did I see any weird people. .”
"What the hell!" The king had no intention of eating, staring at a hot plate of fragrant green onion and snake shreds. "How did you get so much goods in?" Could it be a trick? The Australian goods were not shipped from the Gao family, but they were just used to cover it up?
"Where's the Gao family's hotel on the dock?"
"I've asked about it too," he shook his head. "The rules in the Gao family shop are very strict, and you can't find out anything at all. After asking for many days, the brothers found out that the steward of the hotel had a lover who left the door ajar, and it took some time. I just got some news from that woman." He stopped talking and started drinking alone.
Wang Tou knew that the social rat on the ground was taking the opportunity to extort money again, so he cursed in his heart and just said: "The money is easy to talk about, what did you find out?"
"The manager said that Australian goods are never collected in the warehouse. They all come out of the private warehouse of the house. There are not many goods every time, only a few boxes of goods. But each item is worth a lot of money." The middle-aged man said He looked up, with greed in his eyes.
"How often does it arrive?"
"I'm not sure, it's usually around ten days."
This shows that the goods did come out of the high house, but how did they get in? The Gao family is not on the seaside, and boats cannot enter. Did it fall from the sky?
"Have you ever inspected the things that the Gao family brought into the house?"
"I asked the foot-traveling old man to help me with this matter. He asked for a lot of money..."
"Easy to say." Wang Tou'er said this, but he touched the short knife in his sleeve.
"He asked for ten taels of silver," the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and looked at Mr. Wang, testing his reaction. Wang Tou had a dumb smile on his face and didn't answer. He glanced at the people around him, all of whom were sneering. The man suddenly remembered who was sitting in front of him and quickly answered, "Flying Foot Lao San ordered people to secretly check the things brought in by the Gao family. There is indeed something strange!"
"Oh? The goods were brought in?"
"No, it's just that the things being shipped in and out are a little weird."
They hired people on the road and privately inspected the bulk goods shipped in and out of Gaozhai in the past month. The things shipped in used to be mainly porcelain and ironware, and the goods shipped out were roughly the same. But this month is different. In addition to these, a lot of musk, dragon's incense, and red sandalwood were brought in. The strangest thing is that they have never been shipped out. It seems that as soon as they entered, they disappeared.
After checking for a long time, I still couldn't figure out where it came from. Prince Wang sighed in disappointment. Since these foxes and mice on the ground can't find out anything, I'm afraid it will be even harder to find out on their own.
He took out more than ten yuan of foreign money and beat him. Everyone in the group found it unbelievable. They had sneaked into Guangzhou city for a month and spent countless twists and turns. Even though they knew roughly where these maritime merchants settled, they still had no idea where their ships were anchored and how their goods were transported. Now, all we can do is wait for the return of the people who were sent to sneak into Gao's house a few days ago.
After waiting for a long time, the two people who were planning to sneak into the high house yesterday came back. One of them had a bruise on his face. Wang Tou saw that his expression was changing and he knew something was wrong.
"There are gates on the back streets over there, so it's inconvenient to go in. We went up to the city wall and went around in a circle. We lurked on it for a few days before we noticed something strange." These two people were famous snitches on the road before they went there. , because they committed a life-threatening lawsuit and were arrested by the sea, they went to join the pirates. This time they were brought to Guangzhou to take risks, and the Zheng family promised a large sum of money.
On the city wall, they observed the people and cargo going in and out of the back door of the high-rise house, and found that they all came out from the backyard of another house. So I managed to get into the yard to have a look, and saw the Australian maritime merchant.
"There are four people in total, all wearing the clothes of this dynasty, but Kun is like a monk."
Knowing that there was something fishy about this courtyard, I inspected it for two more days and found that it was originally the secret residence of the Gao family and is now the Australian Maritime Business Hotel. All goods are carried from this secret house to the Gao family, and the Gao family also carries goods to the secret house.
So the problem circled around again, and we still couldn't find where the goods of this group of maritime merchants were shipped from.
"I wanted to listen to what they had to say, but it's a pity!" said the man with bruises on his face. "There was a Lianjiazi among them. He was discovered just as he was about to get closer. He threw rocks fast and hard."
"I think we won't stop doing it." Someone inside whispered, "Let's take out the quilt. We can arrest the Gao family's manager Yan or even Gao Ji himself, and we can't ask questions about everything." Chu!"
Wang Tou snorted: "Catch him? Which of the merchants on Haopan Street is easy to mess with? Not to mention their hands and eyes, even if the mansion has a nursing staff, they can give you enough to drink a pot."
"Then arrest one of the sea merchants." The man chuckled, "Even if we don't offend the Gao family, offending these unfounded sea merchants is not a problem, right? I heard from Brother He that there is only one practitioner here. Son, and there are no guards from the Gao family. Even if he is covered in iron, how many nails can he drive? Let’s gather a few more skilled brothers, go in, tie one up, and take him to the boat. Not to mention the one from Australia. You have to make it clear that he came from the Kunlun Mountains. Besides," he smiled greedily, "If you want to release people, why don't you get some good things out of them?"
When everyone heard this, they cheered loudly. They all looked at Wang Tou. Wang Tou thought this might be a solution. It's not a big deal to kidnap a maritime trader, and Gao Ji doesn't necessarily get angry about it, and he can still make some moves in the future.
Thinking of this, several people started planning.
