Chapter 59

In the swaying carriage, Zhou Chong sat quietly, with a bundle of clothes prepared by Zhuo'er beside him. A few days ago, Zhou Chong's letter to Xie Lingyun received a quick response, and the other party arranged the ship in the shortest time possible. Even the carriage he was sitting in was arranged by the Xie family.

Regarding his trip to Shuangyu Port, Zhou Chong did not tell Aunt Wang and Zhuo'er. Instead, he lied to them, saying that Li Zheng and Zheng Jing had invited him to travel and visit friends, which would take a few days. Zhou Chong had often gone out with Li Zheng and others before, so Aunt Wang and Zhuo'er did not suspect anything. Additionally, Zhou Chong had already informed Li Zheng and others not to look for him these two days to avoid being exposed.

After the conversation with Xie Lingyun, Zhou Chong thought a lot over the next few days. Initially, his plan was simple: to accumulate his first pot of gold by writing books and then use his knowledge from the previous life to invent new things and become wealthy.

However, Xie Lingyun bluntly pointed out that his idea was too naive. If he followed his plan, no matter how many new inventions he made, they would ultimately benefit others. The reason was that he had very few people he could trust, and he could not solve the confidentiality issue.

In fact, this could not be entirely blamed on Zhou Chong. Although he had tried his best to adapt to the Ming Dynasty, the time was too short, and some of his thoughts still lingered in the future. He had not considered that he was in a society with very incomplete laws. In this era, there was no such thing as patent rights, and his new inventions would not be protected by law. Others might only need to spend a little money to buy the manufacturing methods from the workers he hired.

Understanding these points, Zhou Chong realized that besides money, he also needed a group of loyal subordinates. Otherwise, no matter how much he struggled, he would probably only manage to live a life of basic sustenance. If he encountered any trouble, he might not even find someone to help him.

Considering all this, Zhou Chong agreed to Xie Lingyun's proposal. Since there were people left by his stepfather in Shuangyu Port, although he did not know why they had not come to find him, these people could work for him now, just as they had worked for Zhou Hai. With these people, he would have the confidence to act.

The carriage carried Zhou Chong southward, quickly passing through the southern gate. Then the driver urged the horses to go east, and they soon arrived at a thousand-household post called Qingcun Zhongqian, commonly known as Qingcun Post, which belonged to Jinshan Guard and was an important coastal defense fortress.

According to the Ming military system, several prefectures set up a guard, and each guard had several thousand-household posts. A guard consisted of 5,600 people, divided into five thousand-household posts, and each thousand-household post was further divided into ten hundred-household posts. The Qingcun Post where Zhou Chong arrived was one of the five thousand-household posts under Jinshan Guard.

The maritime prohibition policy in the early Ming Dynasty was very strict. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang not only closed the three maritime trade offices in Quanzhou, Mingzhou, and Guangzhou but also banned the construction of ships with more than three masts. Later, the policy became even stricter, not only prohibiting merchant ships from going to sea but also banning fishing boats from going out. Moreover, the coastal residents were forced to move inland, causing countless people who lived by the sea to suffer and even rebel, leading to chaos in the coastal areas during the early Ming Dynasty.

Songjiang Prefecture was surrounded by the sea on two sides and was also a victim of the maritime prohibition. For example, the Qingcun Thousand-Household Post, which Zhou Chong visited, guarded a long stretch of coastline. During the maritime prohibition, no one was allowed to approach the coast.

However, over the years, the government had turned a blind eye to smuggling. The thousand-household official of Qingcun Post was not foolish. Seeing so many people involved in smuggling, he could not control it and eventually joined in, providing protection for the smugglers. As long as the smugglers paid a certain amount of money based on the size of their ships, they could freely come and go in the sea within the jurisdiction of the post.

Zhou Chong had heard about the situation at Qingcun Post from Xie Lingyun. Now, as the carriage arrived, he could not help but feel curious and opened the window to look outside.

To his surprise, what he saw was a scene similar to a village, with thatched-roof houses scattered among the trees, and occasionally the sounds of barking dogs and crowing roosters could be heard. The only sign that this was a Ming military post was a rammed-earth fortress in the center of the thatched roofs. Although it was much taller than the thatched houses, it was only about ten feet high. It looked like the real base of the post, but due to its age and lack of maintenance, it was already in ruins, covered with weeds and with several gaps washed out by rain, offering no real protection.

Seeing the dilapidated post, Zhou Chong thought of the soldiers he had seen guarding the city in Songjiang Prefecture and sighed. The Ming Dynasty had only been in power for half its duration, yet the military system was already in such disarray. How could such forces defend the country?

The carriage continued forward, but soon encountered a checkpoint set up by the post. Vehicles wanting to pass had to pay a toll, but the driver only showed a plaque from the Xie family, and the guards immediately let them through with a fawning smile, not daring to stop them.

After passing the checkpoint, the carriage traveled southeast for a short distance and reached the boundary of Hangzhou Bay. Once out of Hangzhou Bay, they would enter the Zhoushan Archipelago, and Shuangyu Port was at the southern end of the archipelago.

As soon as they reached the coast, Zhou Chong was stunned by the scene before him. A bustling port lay before him, with ships of all sizes anchored on the sea, relying on wooden piers for loading and unloading heavy cargo by laborers.

In addition to the laborers and smuggling ships, there were also many vendors gathered at the port, selling all kinds of goods to the sailors coming off the ships. The hawking voices rose and fell, and if one did not know that this was a smuggling port, they might have thought it was just a regular market.

"Master Zhou, the dozen berths on the eastern side of the port belong to our Xie family. You can go directly there, and someone will guide you to the ship!" The driver stopped the carriage and pointed to the eastern side of the port. The port was very busy, with long lines of cargo wagons waiting to reach the dock. If the driver tried to drive the carriage up, it would take a long time, so it was better for Zhou Chong to walk.

Zhou Chong looked at the line of wagons, got out of the carriage, thanked the driver, and walked onto the port dock. He first looked at the various ships on the sea, most of which were three-masted Fuchuan, but they were generally small, with lengths mostly under ten zhang. Compared to the large treasure ships of Zheng He's voyages, which were over forty zhang long, these were much smaller.

As he walked, Zhou Chong observed the ships and noticed that the laborers at the port were already using some simple machinery, such as pulleys made from wooden frames, which saved time and effort. Many merchants used these simple tools to load and unload their goods.

However, because Zhou Chong was so focused on the port, he did not notice the path ahead and accidentally bumped into someone. The person let out a "Ouch" and stepped back a few paces.

This drew Zhou Chong's attention back. Seeing that he had bumped into someone, he immediately apologized, "Sorry, did I hurt you?"

Only then did Zhou Chong see the person he had bumped into. The person was thin and small, wearing a large, tattered cotton robe and a dogskin hat. His messy hair hung down from the hat, covering most of his face. Even the exposed part of his face was dirty, making it hard to see his true appearance.

The person, who had been walking normally, was suddenly bumped by Zhou Chong and became angry. He was about to scold him but stopped when he saw Zhou Chong's appearance. He quickly covered his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then turned and quickly left.

"Strange," Zhou Chong muttered to himself, but he did not pay much attention. He patted the dirt off his clothes and continued walking for about a hundred meters, finally reaching the Xie family's berths. Compared to the areas he had just passed, this area was much cleaner and wider. The loading and unloading of goods on the merchant ships were directed by specialists, making everything orderly. It was clear that the Xie family had a stronger edge over other merchants in their smuggling operations.

As soon as Zhou Chong arrived, he saw a tall, muscular man with a bald head and a scar on his face walking towards him. He had seen this man before; he was the one who had driven the carriage when Xie Lingyun first visited the Zhou residence. The man walked up to Zhou Chong and said in a deep voice, "Master Zhou, please follow me. The young miss is waiting for you on the ship!"

"Miss?" Zhou Chong was taken aback and then asked, "Is Miss Xie going to Shuangyu Port with me?"

Hearing Zhou Chong's question, the bald man did not even turn his head and replied, "The young miss is delivering a batch of goods to Shuangyu Port. Taking you along is just a coincidence."

Hearing the man's ungracious response, Zhou Chong felt a bit annoyed. However, seeing the man's size and the aura of menace he exuded, he wisely chose to keep quiet and followed the man towards a large seafaring ship.

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