Chapter 306: Business on Kinmen Island

“Then I regret to inform you that, by order of the Senate, a trade embargo is currently in effect for the areas around Weitou Bay, including Xiamen, Kinmen, and Anping. All trade vessels are prohibited from entering this region. Seeing as you were unaware of this order, you will not be penalized this time. Please proceed to another port immediately. Otherwise, if you are intercepted a second time, your ship and cargo will be confiscated.” He looked at the sailing permit. “You have had your sailing permit for quite some time and have no record of misconduct. You should know the rules of the Senate.”

Liu Deshan could only nod in agreement. His hope of making a small fortune in Weitou Bay was dashed. However, transporting salt was something he was doing on the way. If he could do it, that was great; if not, it didn’t matter.

The officer of the patrol boat gave a few more instructions and returned to the deck of his vessel. The sailors on board were about to cast off the lines when an officer in a gray uniform emerged from the cabin. He whispered something in the ear of the Australian naval officer, who nodded, then re-boarded the Dongshanju and led them to the stern cabin.

“You may go to Weitou Bay to trade,” the officer said to the suspicious Liu Deshan and Chen Huamin. “However…”

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare…” Liu Deshan quickly protested. “I wouldn’t dare to violate the Senate’s decree…”

The officer smiled. “If I tell you to go, then go. What are you afraid of? It’s just that after you go, you must report what you have seen and heard to the Maritime Trade Bureau in Hong Kong on your return journey.”

Liu Deshan’s legs went weak. This was asking him to be a spy! He secretly cursed himself for being greedy for a small profit and coming up with the idea of selling salt and buying foreign goods in Xiamen. If the Zheng family found out about this, not only would his ship and cargo be lost, but his own life would be in danger, and it might even bring disaster to his cousin and the managers and sailors under him. That would truly be a great sin.

He was sweating profusely with anxiety, and his words became incoherent: “This, this, I’m not going… not going…”

“Not going?” the officer said. “That’s a pity. If you are willing to go, your sailing permit will be extended for twelve months for free, or upgraded to a Class A permit for free.”

Currently, the Dongshanju had a Class B permit, which only allowed it to sail and trade in various ports along the Chinese coast, at most to Tayouan, Kaohsiung, and Jeju Island. To go to Japan, Ryukyu, Manila, and other places, one had to apply for a Class A permit, and the usage fee was naturally much higher.

When Liu Deshan heard that he could get a free upgrade to a Class A permit, his spirits lifted immediately, and his speech became clear at once: “Since it is the Senate’s order, I will certainly serve with all my heart and will not shrink from death!”

Manager Liu, at his side, was secretly anxious. How could they get involved in such a thing as being a spy! He was about to speak up to refuse, but Chen Huamin pulled him back.

Seeing that the two had finished speaking, Chen Huamin asked, “If the Zheng family asks about the various deeds of the short-hair bandits…”

“Just say what you saw. No need to hide anything,” the officer said.

After watching the patrol boat sail away and head south, the Dongshanju hoisted its three main sails again and continued north.

Manager Liu complained incessantly in the cabin: How could they do such a thing? Liu Deshan also felt he had been a bit rash, but Chen Huamin was unconcerned:

“The Zheng family is now fragmented. It’s uncertain whether the situation in Weitou Bay can last until next year. We are going to do business, not to deliberately gather intelligence. We just need to listen and watch. The free upgrade is a small matter. If we help the Australians a little now, our sea trade business will be even better in the future.”

“That’s true. The Australians are the most practical in their dealings!” Liu Deshan nodded repeatedly. “Serving the Senate will definitely not be a loss.”

Manager Liu was still uneasy and consulted with Wang Chengdi. He instructed the crew and sailors to maintain strict secrecy.

The Dongshanju sailed north for more than two hours and finally arrived at Weitou Bay.

Chen Huamin stood by the side of the ship, staring blankly at Weitou Bay, speechless.

In the past, this place was bustling with ships coming and going, and sails could be seen everywhere. The various ports were a forest of masts. But now, all that was left was an empty expanse of sea. Apart from a few fishing boats still fishing, they had sailed for a long time without seeing a single large ship entering or leaving. There were no ships anchored by the shore either.

Wang Chengdi asked, “Boat… Captain, where should we drop anchor?”

This stumped Chen Huamin. In the past, ships engaged in coastal trade all sailed to Zhongzuosuo or Anping. But now the situation was completely different. He had learned from the Australian “Ship’s Paper” that the former Zheng family’s power in Weitou Bay was fragmented. Anping, Kinmen, Zhongzuosuo, and other places were each controlled by former Zheng family generals and relatives. They did not communicate with each other. Although they had not attacked each other at this critical moment, it was clear their relationship was not harmonious.

It was Liu Deshan who had a plan. He instructed them to sail directly to Kinmen Island; he was going to do business with Zheng Zhifeng.

Zheng Zhifeng was still the most powerful figure in the Zheng family, much stronger than the Zheng Cai and Zheng Lian brothers, and even stronger than Zheng Sen. However, Zheng Sen had the backing of the government, and the Zheng Lian and Zheng Cai brothers occupied Xiamen Island and controlled the mouth of the Jiulong River, which gave them relatively easy access to various goods supplied from the inland. In contrast, Zheng Zhifeng, who only controlled Greater and Lesser Kinmen Islands, had considerable difficulty in obtaining goods. The various factions in Weitou Bay, in order to expand their sources of income and suppress their rivals, although they had not blocked each other’s trade routes, had set up checkpoints on the main transportation routes in the areas they controlled, levying a lijin tax on goods that were merely passing through and not being traded with them.

Fujian has many mountains and little land, and the roads that can accommodate bulk cargo are limited. With his land transportation routes blocked, Zheng Zhifeng’s trade commodity costs were much higher than others’.

Since his own strength was currently limited, and the Australians were eyeing him from the outside, it was not a good policy to resort to arms against each other. Zheng Zhifeng turned his main focus for obtaining goods to coastal trade. To this end, he did not hesitate to send people to various places to publicize that he was willing to pay high prices to attract shipowners engaged in coastal trade to sail to Kinmen.

As the Dongshanju got closer and closer to Kinmen, the desolate and depressed atmosphere in Weitou Bay became more and more obvious. The small islands they passed, which used to be inhabited, were now all in ruins. The houses were just charred remains of walls, and the piers were almost all burned down, leaving only rows of burnt wooden stakes standing alone in the undulating sea.

The tragic state of Liaoluo Bay was even more shocking. This was originally the main anchorage for the Zheng family’s fleet. It had suffered the main attack of the fleet during the Battle of Weitou Bay. The fire had burned for 48 hours before it was extinguished, and the hundreds of large and small ships anchored here were all burned down. Although nearly half a year had passed, the wreckage of burned and sunken ships could still be seen on the shore, charred and twisted beyond number.

Witnessing the scene before them, the few of them couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe: this was truly devastating.

While they were sighing, a small boat flying Zheng Zhifeng’s flag had already sailed out from one side of the island to pilot them to their berth. The Dongshanju lowered most of its sails and followed at low speed until it anchored next to the newly built pier.

It was clear that the pier was newly built. Both the houses and the pier were hastily constructed. Zheng Zhifeng had re-fortified and rebuilt Greater and Lesser Kinmen Islands. Liaoluo Bay, with too many sunken ships, was inconvenient to clean up and was simply abandoned.

The pier had an air of everything waiting to be rebuilt. Bricks, tiles, and wood were piled high, and a row of warehouses was under construction. Workers came and went, creating a lively scene that added a bit of life to the desolate bay.

However, there were not many ships in the harbor, only about ten or so were anchored. Most of them were not flying the Zheng family’s flag. In a casual chat with a Zheng family leader who came on board, they learned that to prevent a surprise attack from the Australians, most of Zheng Zhifeng’s ships were anchored in the northern waters of Greater Kinmen Island. Only foreign merchant ships were allowed to anchor here.

“There aren’t many merchant ships coming…” Chen Huamin said deliberately.

“There used to be quite a few, but recently the short-hairs have been blockading the sea. It’s good if one out of ten can get in,” the leader said with a grimacing face. “You didn’t encounter the short-hair patrol boats?”

“We did, but we said we were going to Shanghai to do business, so they left.”

“That’s lucky,” the leader said. “If you can come to Kinmen, you can make a small fortune. Just this salt alone is enough to make a profit!”

After the war between the Australians and the Zheng family, the original salt trade had completely stopped. Coupled with the recent naval blockade, the southern Fujian region, which was originally a salt-deficient area and relied on imports from other places, saw its salt prices skyrocket.

The salt price offered by Zheng Zhifeng was quite good. Liu Deshan had brought in salt from the Haibei salt fields controlled by the Australians, which was originally cheap “private salt” that did not pay official taxes. Selling it here, the gross profit was an astonishing 400%. Although the unit price of salt was low and the profit was limited, it was enough to cover the expenses of this trip. The rest of the business would be pure profit.

Liu Deshan’s smile stretched from ear to ear: this trip was really worth it! He immediately said a cartload of nice things. In addition to the usual benefits for the leader, he also gave red envelopes to all the relevant people at the pier: the “weigher,” the “tallyman,” the “warehouse keeper”…

After selling the salt, the Zheng family leader inspected the cargo on the Dongshanju. But when he saw the various goods loaded on the ship, the leader couldn’t help but show a look of disappointment: the main cargo on the ship was sugar. Fujian was originally a sugar-producing region, and Zheng Zhifeng had a large stock of sugar, so he was not lacking.

When Liu Deshan learned of this, he immediately offered to buy the Fujian sugar here. The leader was overjoyed and immediately said he was willing to give a favorable price. The sugar on Kinmen Island was mainly coarse goods like brown sugar, yellow sugar, and black sugar. There was a limited amount of fine goods like white sugar and rock sugar, but the price was not cheap. The average price of coarse sugar was about the same as the lowest grade of Leizhou white sugar from the Australians. White sugar and rock sugar were much more expensive, and the quality was far inferior to the Leizhou sugar sold by the Australians.

But even at this price, it was still profitable to transport it to Jiangnan. At the very least, they could make a profit by selling it to the red-haired barbarians in Tayouan. Since the salt on the Dongshanju had been sold, using the hold space to transport extra sugar was a convenient matter.