Chapter 67: The Sea Yaksha’s Spies
That night.
Santa Ana Officer’s Restaurant.
All the officers of the entire sea bandit gang sat around the table, the atmosphere particularly oppressive.
After a moment of silence, Lei Sanxiang was the first to speak and break the silence: “Goddamn it! I say we just grab that Huang guy, torture him hard, bet he spills it!”
Chen Jiao scolded: “Don’t talk nonsense. Huang Hetai is a Fifth Rank Garrison Commander. We can’t touch him unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Zheng Zhilong said: “Could it be that we have Li Kuiqi’s people here?”
“Stinky brat, what do you mean?” Lei Sanxiang slapped the table.
Zheng Zhilong hurriedly explained: “I mean those islanders. After all, there are more than three thousand people, and merchants come to the island every day to do business. It’s easy for Li Kuiqi to plant spies.”
Chen Jiao said: “Those merchants are questioned and inspected every day before landing on the island. No anomalies have been seen. Moreover, merchants on the island can’t scout the movements of Fuchuan Ships at sea.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
After a moment, Zheng Zhilong suddenly said: “Right! That merchant, the household that sold the ship to us!”
Chen Jiao’s eyes lit up: “I almost forgot about that. Ships are the tools sea merchants use to make a living. They won’t sell them easily. This person sold so readily. Maybe there’s a problem.”
Lei Sanxiang slapped his thigh and stood up: “I’ll go grab him right now!”
“It’s not him.” Lin Qian slowly shook his head.
Lei Sanxiang sighed and sat down.
The merchant household that sold the ship is surnamed Hu. Their family does Chaozhou Silk business. Thinking that selling to Franks would be more profitable, they got hot-headed and had people build a Fuchuan Ship.
After it was built, they realized the shipping business runs deep waters: lightly lose all capital, heavily go bankrupt. Plus, getting the ship’s manifest is troublesome.
Therefore, after the ship was built, they didn’t dare sail it, were reluctant to sell at a loss, and could only keep it docked in the port. The ship’s bottom was almost rotted from soaking.
If not for meeting Lin Qian, this ship would have sooner or later sunk in the port.
Before buying the ship, Lin Qian had people thoroughly investigate that Hu-surnamed merchant and dug up everything on him.
After the incident, Lin Qian’s first suspect was him. He has already sent Bai Qing to lead people to his manor for surveillance, but it’s probably futile.
Lin Qian explained the ins and outs. The brothers all felt somewhat deflated.
Lin Qian called a crew member to bring out Longjing Tea and brew it for everyone.
The tea bowl was placed on the table. Lei Sanxiang pushed it away with one hand and gruffly said: “I can’t drink it! That Li-headed turtle bastard only plays dirty! If he has the guts, come out and fight fair and square. See if I don’t smash his dog head!”
Chen Jiao stepped on his foot under the table.
“Elder Brother, why did you step on me?” Lei Sanxiang looked innocent.
“Say less!”
Lin Qian toyed with the cup lid with his fingers, sorting out his thoughts in his mind.
Right now, they needed to solve two problems.
First, where was Li Kuiqi’s lair?
Only by knowing the location could they discuss next steps for revenge or rescue.
Second, what method did Li Kuiqi use to precisely plunder Fuchuan Ships?
If it was marks or signals, that would be manageable.
But if it was really as Zheng Zhilong said, with spies on the island, they couldn’t achieve much without removing them.
The scene from the night of meeting Li Kuiqi flashed through Lin Qian’s mind like a movie.
He recalled the sea chart Li Kuiqi had taken out. It roughly depicted the coastlines of Fujian-Guangdong provinces and surrounding islands.
Lin Qian vaguely remembered the chart grew more precise closer to Nan’ao Island, gradually blurring west of Pearl River Estuary and north of Haitan Island.
Evidently, Li Kuiqi’s activity area was in this region, most likely on some island near Nan’ao Island.
So Li Kuiqi had hoped Lin Qian would take people off the island, to avoid being implicated in the Imperial Court’s suppression.
But memory was limited. He had no ability to mentally compare Li Kuiqi’s sea chart with later maps.
Lin Qian recalled Zheng Zhilong’s home was in Fujian, so he asked: “Yiguan brother, you’re from Fujian. Have you heard Li Kuiqi’s name?”
Zheng Zhilong: “My home is in Nan’an County, Quanzhou Prefecture. Li Kuiqi’s name is known to almost everyone in Quanzhou. Rumors say he has over a thousand warships and over ten thousand soldiers. They also say he’s the incarnation of a sea yaksha or a son of the Sea Dragon King. All street gossip.”
Lin Qian pressed: “With such fame, hasn’t the government ever arrested him?”
Zheng Zhilong sneered: “The government? Elder Brother, you’ve seen the combat power of the Southeast Navy Garrisons. Which sea bandit fears them?
Not to mention big sea bandits like Li Kuiqi—even small fries like Yuan Jin and Li Zhong in surrounding seas don’t take the navy seriously.
If sea bandits don’t come ashore to plunder, the government is already thankful to heaven. Let alone arresting them at sea.”
Chen Jiao added: “That’s the reason. Sea bandits are just roving bandits, not rebels. They’re usually at sea and don’t affect the county magistrate’s position. The government is naturally too lazy to bother.
Chen Jiao is a veteran sea bandit of over twenty years. He’s followed countless helmsmen, ship masters, leaders, and ship owners. Seventy percent died in infighting, thirty percent perished in storms. None died in a county jail.
This is also why veteran sea bandits like Li Kuiqi dare not occupy Nan’ao Island.
After all, there’s still a garrison commander on the island. If they really kill him, it’s rebellion.
The Great Ming Imperial Court basically turns a blind eye to sea bandits; but for rebellion, its eyes are like lightning, and the law shows no mercy.
And the Great Ming Imperial Court’s navy isn’t entirely corrupt officials drawing empty pay, crooked officials, and good-for-nothings.
Whenever there are one or two fierce men who temporarily train soldiers for a few years, they can sweep the Southeast sea surface.
Such fierce men emerge endlessly in the Great Ming. Not speaking of distant ones, right now Fujian has Shen Yourong. Yu Dayou’s son Yu Zigao barely counts as half. Together, that’s one and a half fierce men.
Lin Qian racked his brain to recall historical records on Li Kuiqi. After thinking long, he only remembered a few scattered phrases.
It seemed Li Kuiqi later became Zheng Zhilong’s sworn brother. The two, along with over a dozen others, formed a political alliance called “Eighteen Zhi.”
A few years after swearing brotherhood, Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the government, then killed off his former good brothers one by one.
If not for swearing brotherhood with Zheng Zhilong and dying under his blade, these small roles wouldn’t even have their names in history books.
And now, such a small role—who takes up space with just three characters in history books—had caused Lin Qian huge trouble.
Lin Qian picked up the tea and took a sip.
Then a flash of inspiration struck his mind. That night meeting Li Kuiqi, there had seemed to be such a scene.
At the time, both sides were already at daggers drawn when suddenly Li Kuiqi’s subordinate entered the room and reported Santa Ana’s movements.
Lin Qian had then thought it was just an ordinary tailing spy.
Now it seemed not so simple.
Combining the distances, Santa Ana’s sailing speed, and the time needed to send a message.
After Santa Ana hoisted sail, less than half an incense stick later, Li Kuiqi knew the news.
Such rapid information transmission meant at least two spies: one watching the galleon, one watching the first spy.
The two spies used sound, smoke, or similar methods for long-distance signaling.
Thus, the first spy was either on Guo Lao Mountain’s ridge or on the sea surface.
Considering Li Kuiqi’s subordinates were mostly Tanka People and could track and plunder Fuchuan Ships.
His spies should be on the sea surface and definitely very concealed. Otherwise, Chen Jiao, Zheng Zhilong, and the others would have noticed early.
At this thought, Lin Qian’s gaze sharpened.
Seeing his expression, everyone knew he had an idea and held their breath in anticipation.
Lin Qian said gravely: “Tomorrow morning, Third Brother and Yiguan brother pack your gear, bring water and dry rations, and assemble on shore.”
Lei Sanxiang asked: “Go ashore for what?”
“Climb the mountain!”
