Chapter 405 Don’t Be Afraid, Mr. Zhang. Yuyan Comes From a Martial Arts Family, so It’s Normal for Her to Know some Kung Fu!
The maritime trade in the Central Plains has been booming since the Song Dynasty. The products of China were exported to foreign countries, and the profits could be ten times.
China's silk, tea, and porcelain are high-value trade items in any era. In the Song Dynasty, these trades were actively developed by the court to collect taxes, so the court became very rich, and the only thing worth praising was the economy.
After the Southern Song Dynasty was over, the Mongols took over China and were "lenient" to the local areas. The benefits of maritime trade were gradually monopolized by wealthy merchants and wealthy families in coastal areas.
Zheng He of the Yongle Dynasty sailed to the West and got a share of the maritime trade, but there were problems in the specific operation. The voyage to the West was made into a tribute, not to mention that he did not make much money, but also gave away a lot of money and silk, which... So the voyage to the West was stopped during the Chenghua Dynasty.
The official voyage to the West was stopped, but the private sector did not stop smuggling trade.
Although the Ming Dynasty law strictly prohibited private export trade, driven by interests, all laws were empty words.
Many wealthy people in the southeastern coast are now engaged in smuggling trade. In addition, as various problems frequently arise within the Ming Dynasty, the poor people with difficult lives, the military households who escaped from the guards, some gentry who failed in their official careers, and the impoverished scholars are all mixed in.
After a long time, several forces united to form a relatively large armed smuggling group, that is, the maritime merchant group.
Among these maritime merchant groups, one is a well-known gang in the southeast, the Giant Whale Gang. A gang specializing in shipping, it seems to have some relationship with the court.
Why does Xu Xin know so clearly? This is naturally because the Wang family can also be regarded as a member of the maritime merchant group. Yuyao is not too close to Ningbo, and he is too familiar with Ningbo Maritime Customs.
From the capital to Ningbo, it took only a dozen days to take a boat and change carriages all the way, and the team had arrived somewhere in Ningbo.
The sea breeze blew past, mixed with moist and warm air. Xu Xin sat in the carriage, looking at the distant coast. Watching a misty smoke drifting from afar, his eyes had a bit more murderous intent.
At the end of this road near the sea, there is a small town where fishermen live, but the town is not peaceful at the moment.
Puffs of black smoke rose up into the sky. This was not cooking smoke, but houses were burning. The bloody red flames dyed half of the sky red, and the scorching air was drifting in all directions.
When the sea breeze blew, it not only brought a burst of heat, but also a strong and pungent smell of blood. The fire "crackled" and the sound of houses collapsing was continuous.
In the sea breeze, there were also waves of foul language, shouting and scolding, mixed with the sound of metal clashing with swords and weapons, and shrill and helpless crying and howling.
"Lord Wang, what happened!"
A young man ran out of the carriage behind and ran to Xu Xin. His name was Zhang Heling, the younger brother of Empress Zhang, and the guy Xu Xin used as a shield.
"Pirates? How could it be such a coincidence!"
Xu Xin looked at the seashore in the distance and saw ships. The pirates who were wreaking havoc in the town were naturally the pirates who got off the ships, about a hundred people.
Pirates are a type of thieves unique to coastal areas. They are equipped with swords and guns, relying on speedboats to attack coastal towns, looting and burning, robbing gold and silver, and abducting women to vent their desires. As for the elderly, weak women, children, and strong men, they were all slaughtered.
Because the pirate team moved quickly, once the wealth and women were in hand, they immediately retreated to the ship. By the time the government arrived, it was often too late, leaving only corpses and ruins all over the ground.
Moreover, if there are large groups of pirates, they often gather dozens or hundreds of ships, and the number of pirates can reach thousands or even tens of thousands. They gather on the sea and roam along the coast for hundreds of miles. They even dare to attack the county city and fight against the government army head-on. They have reached the point of being rampant and lawless.
During the Ming Dynasty, the sea borders were not peaceful. Whether in the early days or in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Japanese pirates were a huge nuisance and a serious disaster. It was because the pirates were difficult to suppress and prevent that Zhu Yuanzhang chose the most convenient way, which was to ban the sea.
However, the means of banning the sea was just to tie up one's own hands and feet and abolish martial arts. It was not of any substantial use at all. The coastal areas were still in chaos. The pirates came and went freely, burning, killing and looting more, and gradually despised the court. The sea disaster became more and more serious.
Xu Xin was born in the Wang family of Yuyao in this life, and he knew the so-called secrets of pirates better than ordinary people. The pirates among the pirates are also divided into real Japanese and fake Japanese. The real Japanese are the real Japanese, while the fake Japanese are the Chinese people from all walks of life in the coastal areas who gather together for profit.
Among the pirates, about three out of ten are real Japanese and seven out of ten are fake Japanese. In this martial arts world with all kinds of killing skills, the pirates are more harmful than the Ming Dynasty without any supernatural power.
After all, a pirate who is diligent in martial arts can easily kill hundreds of civilians with a knife in his hand, which is naturally more harmful.
Xu Xin has always hated pirates. After the Yuyao Wang family developed under his layout, they also focused on attacking pirates in Ningbo. It is said that there will be no such bold guys to come to Ningbo to cross the border again, unless they come here on purpose.
The pirates from outside suddenly invaded Ningbo and happened to run into Xu Xin and Zhang Heling, nobles from the capital. This matter is abnormal no matter how you look at it. Most of them are "calculated" by some people in the court.
Xu Xin was not interested in these things, but he naturally hated these rampant pirates, so their fate was already doomed.
"My husband, let me take care of those beasts, okay!"
A soft and weak voice sounded, and the curtain of the carriage was opened, revealing a beautiful face like a weak little white flower. The eyes under the air bangs were so innocent, and the eyes looking at the pirates from afar were full of murderous intent.
"Yeah!"
When Xu Xin saw that it was Jiang Yuyan, it was okay. Her martial arts were all trained by Xu Xin himself. If it weren't for the influence brought by Xu Xin that suppressed her development, she would have drained Yao Yue, Lian Xing, Yan Nantian and other innate masters and jumped to the top of the world.
Now her skills are not weak, but what she lacks is the experience and means to fight the enemy, which is also Jiang Yuyan's shortcoming.
The Japanese side is the best at these, so Xu Xin brought a few beautiful concubines this time, ready to train them well on the way to help them grow.
After Jiang Yuyan got Xu Xin's consent, she got off the carriage and went to eliminate the pirates with the elite servants accompanying her.
This was Jiang Yuyan's first time killing people, and the victims were a group of rapists and plunderers, so the effect was naturally amazing. She completed the integration of her strength in the killing, and her kung fu reached a higher level.
"Wang, Lord Wang, you, your concubine..."
"Don't be afraid, Lord Zhang, Yuyan comes from a martial arts family, it's normal for her to know some kung fu! Don't worry, she hasn't reached the level of Cao Gonggong in the palace."
Zhang Heling, who was beside Xu Xin, was frightened. When he thought of how many times he had looked at other people's concubines and how much they looked, he felt a chill on his back. And this was also Xu Xin's warning to him, so that this guy would be honest.