While Zhao Shouzheng and Zeng Yiben were fighting, Xu Wei finally got in touch with Lin Daoquan through Penghu. Accompanied by Tang Baolu, he boarded a red-headed boat with a big flag with the word "Lin" on it and arrived at Xiawei City in Chaoyang County.
Looking at the Xiawei City with its strong fortifications and trenches, Tang Baolu could not help but sigh with emotion: "Who would have thought that this was just a small village a few years ago, and in the blink of an eye it has become a place larger and more prosperous than the county town."
What he said was not empty talk. One could see convoys of cars going in and out of the city gate, countless ships moored at the docks outside the city, and sails dotted all over the bay. It looked a lot more lively than Chaoyang County.
"If we had known that we could come and go freely here, why would we have gone through all this trouble? It would have been much easier if we just went directly to their place." He was worried about the situation in Chaozhou, and couldn't help but have some opinions about Xu Wei's step-by-step pace of doing things.
"Haha, boy, are you teaching me how to do things?" Xu Wei, wearing frog-shaped sunglasses and smoking a water pipe with enjoyment, said vaguely.
"I absolutely wouldn't dare to do that. Don't be angry, old sir. I was anxious and said something without thinking." Tang Baolu hurriedly explained.
"It doesn't matter. If you don't have a temper, you can be called a young man?" Xu Wei smiled graciously.
"You are the one who understands us young people..." Tang Baolu thanked him profusely, but Xu Wenchang changed the subject and said:
"Just don't take your anger out on me, or I'll break all three of your legs."
"Uh..." Tang Baolu was suddenly speechless. This strange old man is really hard to figure out.
"If it were a legendary novel, in this plot, Xu Wenchang would go to Lin's camp alone and use his eloquence to persuade Lin Daoqian to bow down and be loyal to the court from then on..." Then Xu Wei said calmly:
"Unfortunately, in reality, if he really did that, he would probably die before he even saw Lin Daoqian."
"Yes..." Tang Baolu wiped the sweat off his forehead and didn't dare to say anything more.
"Boy, for your father's sake, I'll give you some advice. You'd better remember it." Xu Wenchang took two puffs and blew out a string of smoke rings.
"I am very grateful and am all ears." Tang Baolu hurriedly bowed his head and listened.
"The most important thing to do is to plan before you act. The more urgent the matter, the calmer you have to be. You should always think about how to accomplish the task, not just rush to do it." Xu Wei glanced at him and said, "Besides, you are overseas, and it is even more unacceptable to put yourself in danger. You should 'know that it is impossible and not do it'. If you don't want your father to die young, remember these eight words I gave you."
"Knowing it's impossible and not doing it?" Tang Baolu was a little disapproving, thinking that wouldn't that be like being a turtle? But on the surface, he still obediently agreed.
Xu Wei knew that he didn't listen, but everyone has their own destiny, and it would be useless to talk too much. So he ignored him and turned his thoughts to the Xiawei City Lord Lin Daoqian while smoking.
~~
Speaking of Lin Daoqian, he was once a famous sea lord who was as famous as Zeng Yiben. He was definitely more well-known in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty than Zhao Hao. His name was definitely among the top in the number of times it appeared in the official documents of the court.
The story of this man's rise to fame is quite similar to that of Song Jiang, the timely rain in "Water Margin". Lin Daoqian was originally a clerk in Chenghai County, Chaozhou Prefecture, and a local civil servant with a formal establishment.
As mentioned before, the position of scribes does not sound impressive, but it is actually equivalent to the powerful director or section chief of a key department in a county in later generations. It is easy to make money in the county, and the network of people is extensive, so life is actually very comfortable.
Like Song Gongming, Lin Daoquan also loves making friends and has friends from all walks of life.
Chenghai County is close to the sea, and the people go to sea to make a living. The big families in the county are almost semi-openly engaged in smuggling. Lin Daoqian naturally made friends with many big people in the underworld, and informed them of the situation to avoid crackdowns by the government.
It was actually a common practice for officials along the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong to work for the imperial court while using their power to participate in smuggling to make profits.
But there is a saying that if you walk too much at night, you will eventually meet a ghost. If you often walk by the river, your shoes will get wet. Moreover, Lin Daoqian was walking by the sea, so his pants would get wet.
In the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, the court shifted its focus to the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong. Famous anti-Japanese generals such as Tan Lun, Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, and Zhang Yuanxun went south one after another, and the government also re-enforced the maritime ban to crack down on smuggling.
Lin Daoqian was young and ignorant, and he still committed crimes against the wind, and informed the sea lord Wu Ping. As a result, he was reported and the province directly ordered his arrest. He fled to the sea in a hurry and joined Wu Ping's team, and began his vigorous pirate career.
He worked with Wu Ping for a few years and gained quite a reputation. Later, Wu Ping, in line with the principle of not putting all eggs in one basket, asked him to go out and open a branch base.
Lin Daoqian first gathered people in Nanwan, Chenghai County, his hometown. When he first opened, he had only a few dozen people and a dozen guns. However, he quickly grew stronger because of his loyalty, intelligence, decisiveness, and ruthlessness. In addition, the government troops were fully focused on dealing with Wu Ping and other big bosses and had no time to pay attention to small roles like him.
However, he really became famous in the 42nd year of the Jiajing reign, nine years ago. In March of that year, he suddenly led more than 50 warships from Nan'ao Island, Wu Ping's old nest, to attack Zhao'an in Fujian, plundered the county town, and then quickly retreated to Chaozhou, leaving Yu Dayou, the general of Fujian, who came to rescue him after hearing the news, helpless.
Later, he took advantage of the fact that Fujian soldiers could not fight across provinces, and jumped back and forth between the two provinces, growing stronger and stronger. Until the imperial court made up its mind to eradicate the Nan'ao Island pirates led by Wu Ping, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang were sent to jointly suppress them, and tens of thousands of troops were raised to capture Nan'ao Island.
It is worth mentioning that in the unprecedentedly fierce battle of Nan'ao, the brave and combative Yu Long and Qi Hu encountered a strong enemy. Wu Ping's subordinates fought to the death and refused to surrender until the last moment, even if they had to jump off a cliff and into the sea to commit suicide.
The fighting spirit they displayed was very impressive, but unfortunately they encountered the invincible Qi and Yu armies, who were at their peak, and were ultimately defeated, with more than 15,000 of them killed. Wu Ping escaped only under the protection of more than 700 people including Zeng Yiben and Lin Daoqian.
After that battle, the saying "Yu Long Qi Hu, killing people like dirt" was spread in the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong...
~~
Xu Wei knew that the reason why the pirates would rather die than surrender was actually because of the imperial court's betrayal and luring Wang Zhi to his death!
From then on, the imperial court's credit was bankrupt by the pirates, who would rather fight to the death than repeat Wang Zhi's mistakes.
However, after that battle, the strength of the Fujian and Guangdong pirates was greatly reduced. The government troops also imitated the action in Shuangyu and used stones and sunken ships to block Nan'ao Island at great cost, completely cutting off their hope of returning to Nan'ao.
Lin Daoquan had no choice but to retreat to Taiwan with his remaining troops to recuperate.
However, the imperial court's military attack could only treat the symptoms but not the root cause, and did not change the breeding ground for smuggling and piracy at all. As a result, Lin Daoqian quickly grew stronger again and divided the sphere of influence vacated by Wu Ping with Zeng Yiben.
In the first year of the Longqing reign, Lin Daoqian led more than 200 warships and returned to his hometown in a mighty force. He quickly captured Chenghai County, set up a camp and a port, and responded to Zeng Yiben who invaded Guangzhou City.
For a time, the Guangdong officialdom was in an uproar. Zeng Yiben had attacked Baietan several times, causing the provincial capital to sound the alarm frequently. Now Lin Daoqian had come back again, attacking from both sides, who could bear this?
In desperation, the former Guangdong governor decided to try to recruit Lin Daoqian, who had a relatively minor record, to remove a thorn in his side. He then ordered him to deal with Zeng Yiben, who was even more troublesome.
Lin Daoquan agreed to accept the amnesty, but asked to retain his troops, obey orders rather than announcements, and allocate part of Chenghai County to himself as his territory.
Especially the one about retaining the troops in an organized manner, he absolutely would not allow it to be discussed. After witnessing the court's repeated betrayals, Lin Daoqian knew that only by holding on to the gun at all times could he ensure his own safety.
The provincial government was desperate and tried all means to save the situation. Although it knew that this would only bring trouble, it still basically agreed to his conditions. As a result, Lin Daoqian became an official appointed by the court, and his troops were retained as a whole, transforming from pirates into government troops.
However, Chenghai County was the gateway to the prefecture and was too important to be given to him. The court therefore ordered him to move his division to Xiawei, Chaoyang County.
Because Xiawei Ben is close to many islands, pirates often appear there and the people are also very fierce. Most of them switch back and forth between the three professions of fishermen, pirates, and sailors.
The imperial court can’t do anything about it anyway, so it’s better to leave it to Lin Daoquan and let them fight each other.
Unexpectedly, when Lin Daoqian arrived at Xiawei, he easily dealt with the local troublemakers and trained them into soldiers, which immediately greatly increased his strength.
Then he fought against the nearby pirates under the banner of the government army, which really earned face for the province. But in fact, he was just taking the opportunity to eliminate dissidents and consolidate his own territory.
Lin Daoqian was very clear-headed. He knew that the imperial court recruited him purely to free up their hands to deal with Zeng Yiben. Once Zeng Yiben was finished, he would come back to deal with him and would not care about his current status.
Once a pirate, you can never wash it off for life, this is a lesson he has long remembered. Therefore, Lin Daoqian never had any illusions about the court. On the one hand, he secretly communicated with Zeng Yiben and covered for each other, and on the other hand, he made full use of this rare legal and peaceful period to desperately develop and grow.
Tang Baolu told Xu Wei that among all the sea masters, Lin Daoqian was the most aggressive in recruiting people. He even adopted the "pyramid selling" method mentioned by the young master to quickly recruit people.
"The people of Xiawei are prone to thieves, and now they have been coerced by him. In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of his men, Lin Daoqian also adopted a method of recruiting with rewards. He announced that for every person recruited, he would reward his men with two taels of silver, and for every ten people recruited, he would reward them with three taels of gold, and all the recruited people would be under the command of the recruiter. Who can resist such a big move? It is said that the number of able-bodied men who surrender to him is hundreds every day. Now the number of soldiers under his command must not exceed 50,000, right?"
"Interesting." At this time, the red-headed boat approached the dock. Xu Wei pushed up his sunglasses, stepped off the boat with the help of Tang Baolu, and said, "Let's go and meet this hero who occupies a corner of the world."