lcionline Chapter 217 South Australia Island
Chapter 217 South Australia Island
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With the plan to launch a surprise attack on Zhongzuosuo Port finalized in Nanyuan, Zhou Guoxin, a centurion of the Guangzhou Imperial Guard, had a new mission. This time, instead of raiding local tyrants in Guangzhou, he was to travel to Fujian to gather intelligence on Zheng Zhilong, one of the Five Tiger Guerrilla Generals.
In the past, Zhou Guoxin would have refused such a long and dangerous mission. However, after experiencing the case of the Imperial Inspector Gao Shunqin's collusion with bandits, he tasted the sweetness of working for Liu Ye, and his enthusiasm for work greatly increased—not for official duties to the court, but for doing private work for the Qiongzhou camp. Bringing down an Imperial Inspector brought him and his subordinates a windfall. If the target had been the incredibly wealthy Zheng Zhilong, wouldn't he have earned enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life, retire honorably, and enjoy a peaceful old age?
Standing in the Nanyuan Council Hall, receiving a summons from Liu Ye, Zhou Guoxin couldn't help but express his enthusiasm for his work: "Should we follow the same path, find something on Zheng Zhilong, and send him to the capital to be executed at the execution ground? That way, the Zheng family's wealth..." Just thinking about Zheng Zhilong's legendary wealth, which was said to be comparable to that of a country, almost made Zhou Guoxin drool.
Liu Ye shook his head: "Commander Zhou, your mindset is dangerous. Who is Zheng Zhilong? He is the biggest pirate leader in the entire Ming Dynasty, with thousands of warships and more than 100,000 followers! Even if you catch him red-handed, do you think he will obediently surrender like the powerless Inspector Gao?"
Zhou Guoxin's words had sobered him up considerably. In recent years, it had become the norm in officialdom that unarmed civil officials were easy to deal with, while military officials with military power were much more troublesome. Take, for example, this very military commander before him; he killed Jinyiwei without batting an eye, and had he ever taken the imperial court seriously?
He put aside his petty thoughts of the money and cautiously asked, "What should I do?"
"It's simple. Go to Zhongzuo immediately and contact the Jinyiwei in Fujian. No matter what method you use, you have to get information out of them. I need to know Zheng Zhilong's exact whereabouts in advance. Can you do that?"
Zhou Guoxin pondered for a moment. This wasn't difficult. He could simply use the pretext of investigating a case to ask his colleagues in Fujian for help in gathering information. A guerrilla general's trip wasn't like an emperor's incognito visit; knowing his exact whereabouts beforehand wasn't hard. The only problem was that asking for help always involved food and drink—a few meals at restaurants and visits to brothels. Who should pay for that? Logically, since it was for the Qiongzhou camp, the Embroidered Uniform Guard couldn't be responsible for the expenses, as their relationship was confidential and couldn't be made public. But if it wasn't from the official funds, should he foot the bill himself?
He hesitated before replying, "General, the matter is not difficult. The various Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) are closely connected, and it is common for them to exchange information for solving cases. However..."
A more pedantic scholar might not have understood the source of Zhou Guoxin's hesitation, but Liu Ye, having seen all sorts of shady dealings in the workplace, knew that officialdom and the workplace were not so different. He immediately saw through Zhou Guoxin's ulterior motives and chuckled, "A dignified commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard should broaden his horizons and not fixate on these petty gains. Here's what we'll do: you go and handle the matter with peace of mind. Whatever expenses you need, I'll cover them temporarily. If you do a good job, I'll reimburse you for everything; if you don't, you'll have to cover the rest yourself!"
There's no way this small matter can't be handled well; the idea of covering the losses myself is just a joke. Zhou Guoxin felt a little embarrassed and said awkwardly, "Not at all, it's just a small amount of money; there's no need to take it from the Qiongzhou camp's account..." But in his heart, he had made up his mind that he would just pay for it himself. Anyway, he had squeezed a lot out of Gao Shunqin, so he wouldn't be short of money. If he followed such a domineering and tyrannical Qiongzhou camp in the future, would he be afraid of not having opportunities to make money?
“Very good. You will travel to Fujian today on the ‘Voyage’. Our fleet will follow and wait for your news on Nan’ao Island.”
Operation Tiger Fight officially began. The Yangming, carrying Zhou Guoxin, Liu Heizi, and others, headed first to Fujian, followed by a fleet of eight Wuyi-class warships led by Gao Jie. Because of the gravity of the matter, Liu Ye, worried about the situation, also accompanied the fleet to Fujian.
Under Li Fei's guidance, the fleet arrived at Nan'ao Island, located off the coast of Shantou, six days later.
Nan'ao Island is located at the junction of Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan provinces. In the past, it was the largest and only island county in Guangdong Province. It is 160 nautical miles southeast of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 97 nautical miles northeast of Xiamen, and 180 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong, situated at the center of these three major port cities and bordering the main international shipping routes of the Western Pacific. Its geographical location is extremely advantageous. Since ancient times, Nan'ao has been an essential anchorage and transshipment point for trade along the southeast coast, and by the mid-Ming Dynasty, it already had the title of "maritime trading hub."
As they passed Changshan Bay on the western side of the island, Gao Jie observed a fortified position there, forming a triangular shape with the mainland. Various sizes of bronze cannons could be vaguely seen on the walls. Li Fei explained, "This is the only Changshanwei Fort on Nan'ao Island, under the jurisdiction of the Nan'ao Deputy Commander. It's been in disrepair for years now, and we don't even know if these cannons can still fire..."
Having witnessed the might of the Ya Niang Xie Fort at Humen, Gao Jie had lost any remaining fear of Ming Dynasty coastal defense forts. If even a fort at the treacherous terrain of Humen could be so easily breached, this remote island was even less likely to fare any better. While ordering the fleet to ignore the Changshanwei Fort and proceed directly through, he asked Li Fei, "Which harbor on this island is more suitable for large ships to anchor?"
Li Fei replied, "In terms of the openness of the harbor and the convenience of resupply, there are only Shen'ao Bay and Qing'ao Bay on the entire Nan'ao Island. However, Qing'ao Bay is a shallow bay, and large ships with heavy drafts are prone to running aground, so we can only go to Qing'ao Bay."
"Then let's go to Qing'ao Bay, as you mentioned. Is there any need to think about it?"
"Things aren't that simple. Qing'ao Bay is the location of the deputy commander of Nan'ao..."
Upon hearing this, Gao Jie turned to Liu Ye: "General, this is something you need to consider. From a technical standpoint, our fleet must be anchored in a deep-water port. 500-ton warships have a relatively deep draft, and if they run aground in a shallow-water port, it would be a very troublesome situation..."
Liu Ye thought for a moment and said, "Didn't Li Fei say that as long as we give them some benefits, the officers and soldiers on the island will ignore the passing ships? Since we need to dock at a deep-water port, let's go to Qing'ao Bay."
Li Fei explained helplessly, "It's true that the officers and soldiers on the island only care about money, but that's only for small merchant ships, and they're anchored in other small ports. For such a large fleet like ours to be anchored right under the noses of the officers and soldiers, they'd have to be dead to remain indifferent—we need to come up with some excuses and countermeasures first."