Chapter 233: Officials and bandits are one family, the pirates' surprising background
Lingshan Island is located at the outermost edge of Lingshan Bay.
In Li Dingguo's previous life, this island was just a small or medium-sized island, but in this big world, it is a large island about three thousand miles long and six hundred miles wide.
It is difficult to find such a large island among inland lakes and rivers.
Lingshan Island runs from north to south. The island is mountainous and has very little flat land. There are cliffs everywhere, and most of the mountains are covered with virgin forests.
It has a very high terrain and is famous as the third highest island among all the islands belonging to the Ming Dynasty.
Lingshan Island has been famous for its beautiful scenery and detachment from the hustle and bustle since ancient times. It is listed as one of the eight scenic spots in Jiaozhou in the current dynasty and is picturesque.
Today, Lingshan Island, in addition to the thousands of fishermen who have lived on the island for hundreds of years, has become a paradise for a group of pirates.
These pirates were ordinary people at first. They were composed of people who could not survive on land and fled to Lingshan Island.
Nearly ten years ago, a large fleet suddenly arrived and occupied this island with powerful military force. They also spent a lot of manpower and material resources to build a large port fortress in the harbor here.
From then on, all the original people on the island became subordinates of this pirate force.
Those who dared to disobey had their bodies thrown into the sea.
"Little Stone, your sister has been favored by the eldest young master of the Jia family. From now on, she no longer needs to go out to catch fish. She can follow the eldest young master and enjoy delicious food and drinks every day. This is a blessing."
Near the harbor on the west side of Lingshan Island, on a deserted beach, Xiao Shitou and his sister were going to the beach, picking up scallops and prawns left behind after the tide receded. Then, they heard footsteps nearby, followed by an unpleasant voice.
"Bald head, stop bullying others by taking advantage of your power!"
"Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you are the running dog of the eldest young master of the Jia family?"
Little Stone turned around and glared at the man, cursing, "My sister will never enter the Jia family! Go tell the eldest young master of the Jia family to give up on this idea!"
He clenched his fists tightly, wishing he could punch this lackey of the eldest son of the Jia family to death with a few punches.
Although Xiao Shitou is not very old, only thirteen years old, he is very tall and strong.
He and his sister Liang Liping fled here by boat from land last year.
The rebellion led by Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and Li Jiuchen that broke out last year swept across most of the Qi and Lu regions, leaving tens of millions of homeless refugees.
At least millions of refugees and civilians died in that rebellion.
Little Shitou was separated from his parents during the escape, but fortunately he was still together with his sister. Later, he was lucky enough to board a large fleet and settle down on Lingshan Island.
This large fleet belongs to the pirate leader Jia Shuisheng mentioned by Baldy.
After living on the island for a year, Little Stone has realized that this group of pirates is not as simple as they seem.
I heard that this Jia family fleet was owned by the Ye family of Ye Xianggao, the most famous leader of the Donglin Party in Jiangnan. The Jia family fleet was only formed after a shopkeeper of the Ye family was ordered to go to sea to establish a base.
In fact, this pirate force is controlled by the Ye family, a wealthy family in Jiangnan.
The pirate leader, Jia Shuisheng, was nothing more than a lackey and steward of the Ye family.
Today, almost all the wealthy families in the southeastern coastal areas have sent out several fleets to sea and formed several pirate teams.
The fundamental reason for this situation is that in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty, with more and more white Hu people coming to do business with the Ming Dynasty over the past decade, white Hu people can be seen almost everywhere in the coastal areas.
Those white Hu people overseas did not seem to take money as money. They brought large ships full of gold, silver, jade and other precious stones to various places along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, and exchanged them for large ships full of exquisite porcelain, silk, cotton, tea and other luxury goods that were in urgent need of the Western world.
In the past ten years or so, the wealth of almost all the wealthy people in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty has at least doubled!
As the leader of the Donglin Party, who in the Ye family would dare not give some face to Ye Xianggao?
Even Lingshan Island, which has an excellent geographical location, is openly occupied by the Ye family.
This is the division of power among the wealthy families on the southeast coast, and everyone is aware of it.
These aristocratic families, wealthy merchants, and tycoons are all going out to sea to trade, making huge amounts of money from the white barbarians. Of course, it's good for both of us, and only when everyone is well, will it be truly good.
If it was another rich young man, it would be fine if he fell in love with my sister.
Jia Zhisong, the eldest son of the Jia family, is simply a scumbag.
He came to Lingshan Island in the past few years and lived a life like a local emperor. He was so happy that he didn't want to leave. I don't know how many decent women he harmed.
It would have been fine if they were just a nuisance, but Jia Zhisong, the eldest son of the Jia family, once he got tired of playing with people, he directly ordered the pair of Tibetan mastiffs he raised to tear these good women into pieces and eat them!
How could Xiao Shitou agree to let his sister enter the Jia family when there is such an inhumane, cruel and perverted young master?
"Humph! Little Stone, this is not up to you!"
The bald-head sneered disdainfully and said, "I still remember the time you beat me up three months ago!"
"Shame on you. If you don't agree today, do you see the two warriors guarding behind me?"
"This is the warrior guard I was given by the eldest young master of the Jia family. From now on, I will be collecting beauties for him!" "Your sister is so beautiful. If she doesn't want to live in the Jia Mansion and enjoy happiness, does she want to marry those peasants?"
"Lai Youlu! Meng Jian! Go and capture that bitch Liang Liping and bring her back for the young master to examine her!"
The bald-headed man smiled grimly, waved at the two warrior servants of the Jia family behind him, and said impatiently.
Although this little Shitou is tall and strong, and is willing to fight to the death, he is just a reckless man. How can he be a match for the warrior servants of the Jia family?
Not to mention, these two servants named Lai Youlu and Meng Jian are close confidants of Young Master Jia. It is said that they have reached the second peak of martial arts. Killing a reckless and unscrupulous person like Xiao Shitou is as easy as crushing an ant.
Baldyhead remembered that three months ago, when he wanted to tease Xiao Shitou's sister Liang Liping, he was severely beaten by him. Today is the day for him to take revenge.
Just when Baldy was feeling smug, a figure suddenly emerged from the dense forest not far behind him.
The spear in his hand flashed a few times, piercing a bloody hole in the throat and between the eyebrows of the bald man and the two Jia servants who were striding forward with sinister smiles behind him.
"Woo..."
Baldy never dreamed that he would be tragically stabbed to death just a few days after relying on the towering tree of the Jia family!
He fell to the ground with his eyes wide open, dying with his eyes open.
"what……"
"Thank you, benefactor, for saving my sister and I's lives."
Little Shitou had a narrow escape from death. He looked at the bodies of the three men, including Baldy, with lingering fear, then looked up and said to the person who came.
"You're welcome."
Li Dingguo, who had just arrived, waved his hand calmly at the burly young man named Xiao Shitou and said, "I came to this island to do some business. I saw the lackeys of the eldest young master of the Jia family bullying others, and I couldn't stand it, so I took the opportunity to get rid of this harm for the people."
Li Dingguo arrived near Lingshanwei City in Jiaozhou Bay this morning. He let the golden eagle hunt in the nearby mountains and forests. He successfully connected with two local military intelligence personnel through the military intelligence personnel's contact code.
According to the latest intelligence, the place where the Later Jin Tartars in the north conducted goods trading with the white Hu people was not in Jiaozhou Bay, but on Lingshan Island in the south of Jiaozhou Bay.
He used the coastal area map provided by the military intelligence personnel and arrived at the huge Lingshan Island riding a golden eagle.
Li Dingguo let the golden eagle land in a remote forest and told it to hide its tracks while hunting.
He then went to the coast, hoping to find someone to inquire about the situation there, and happened to come across a scene of a woman being kidnapped.
After hearing some of the details of the incident nearby, he decided to take action immediately to eliminate the harm to the people.
"My benefactor, this is just a piece of cake for you, but for us siblings, it is an absolute life-saving grace."
Liang Liping, who was trembling behind Xiao Shitou, finally calmed down at this time, walked out from behind her brother, bowed to Li Dingguo, and said softly, "Benefactor, what do you want to do in this Lingshan Island?"
"As long as we know the situation, we will never hide it."
Although Liang Liping was thin, she had an extraordinary mind. After realizing that this was Li Dingguo's first time on Lingshan Island, she spoke frankly.
"Well, I'm welcome to do that."
Li Dingguo nodded and said, "This big island seems to have a lot of people and buildings. There is a very nice dock nearby with all kinds of facilities. There are also several treasure ships docked at the dock. What kind of force is entrenched here?"
After the golden eagle arrived over the large island covered with mountains and hills, Li Dingguo looked around the entire island and found that there were several treasure ships docked at a large pier.
According to intelligence provided by the military intelligence personnel, the fleet of the white Hu people and the fleet of the Later Jin Tartar will arrive one after another tonight or tomorrow.
It is absolutely impossible that both parties chose this island as the trading location and it has nothing to do with the force that occupies Lingshan Island.
The most urgent task is to first find out the general situation of this force entrenched in Lingshan Island so that we can have a clear idea of it.
"My benefactor, I understand this question."
Liang Liping was naturally very clear about this simple question and said to Li Dingguo, "My sister and I were forced to leave our homeland and flee last year because of the rebellion. We accidentally came to this Lingshan Island with a large group of refugees."
"The forces entrenched here are ostensibly a group of pirates, but in reality they are from the Ye family of Fuqing, Fuzhou Prefecture. The leader of the pirates, Jia Shuisheng, is said to be a former steward of the Ye family."
"This Fuqing Ye family is not simple. I heard that they are the relatives of Ye Xianggao, the leader of the Donglin Party."
"Even refugees like us from the coastal areas have heard that the current Donglin Party is the most powerful in the world. The Fuqing Ye family is the family of the Donglin Party leader Ye Xianggao, so they must be difficult to mess with."
"It is said that Jia Shuisheng, the pirate leader of Lingshan Island, came to occupy Lingshan Island a few years ago on the orders of his master, and spent a lot of manpower and material resources to transform it into a port fortress town..."
Liang Liping spoke eloquently and gave the general situation of this pirate force.
When Li Dingguo heard this, his face became solemn, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and murderous aura emanated from his body.
(End of this chapter)
