Chapter 65

The three major ports of Shuangyu Harbor include the West Port, which faces the mainland and is therefore tightly controlled by the smugglers of the Ming Dynasty. The South Port, which faces the West Port across the sea, is in a similar situation, with the smugglers of the Ming Dynasty still dominating, such as the Xie family, which has considerable influence in the South Port. However, there are already some Japanese and Korean forces in the South Port, though these forces are very small and almost negligible.

In comparison, the situation in the North Port, located at the outermost part of Shuangyu Harbor, is extremely complex. The North Port has the most advantageous geographical location and is the largest port in the entire Shuangyu Harbor. Here, not only do the Ming Dynasty merchants have influence, but the Japanese and Korean forces are also concentrated, with the most representative being the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce led by Zhou Hai's father, the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce, the largest Japanese force, and the Jeolla and Chungcheong Chambers of Commerce from Korea.

Among the various forces in the North Port, the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce and the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce are the most powerful. However, recently, the main fleet of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce set sail and encountered a maritime disaster, resulting in the entire fleet's destruction and the death of Zhou Hai, leaving the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce leaderless and quickly splitting into three factions.

At the second watch of the night, there was a heavily guarded residence on the southernmost side of the North Port. From the outside, it looked almost the same as the Xie family's residence in the South Port, except that the walls of this residence were built even higher and more solid, with guards everywhere, as if they were guarding against something.

In the main hall of the front courtyard of this large residence, the lights were bright, as if a gathering was taking place. However, if one entered the hall, they would find that there were only three people inside. In the center of the hall was a large chair, but it was empty. In front of the chair were two rows of seats, with three people sitting opposite each other.

On the right side of the chair sat a middle-aged woman in her forties, with a full moon-like face and a very attractive figure, exuding a mature allure. However, due to her long stay by the sea, her skin was slightly dark, and the fine lines around her eyes and lips, caused by the passage of time, made one feel the ruthlessness of time.

Opposite the mature woman were two men. The one at the head of the table was an old man in his fifties, thin and emaciated, wearing a blue cotton robe, with a hunched back. The one at the lower end was a middle-aged man of similar age to the mature woman, short but extremely strong, wearing a short jacket and black trousers, dressed like an ordinary sailor, with shoulders much wider than the average person and arms almost as thick as his thighs, looking like a hairless black gorilla.

These three were the only remaining managers of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce. The mature beauty was surnamed Lu, known as Third Lady, who previously managed the shipyard. The hunchbacked old man was surnamed Wu, but people generally called him Hunchback Grandpa or Hunchback Uncle, who managed the port revenue. The strong man was surnamed Sun and named Tong, who was originally a sailor and an excellent ship handler. He often sailed out to sea and escaped the disaster due to illness, now controlling the last few sea vessels of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce.

After Zhou Hai's death, Third Lady, Hunchback Uncle, and Sun Tong split the remaining assets of the chamber due to ideological and interest conflicts, and none of them were willing to submit to the others. Although they did not completely fall out, they did split the chamber's remaining assets. Third Lady, being a woman, did not plan to sail and thus only took the shipyard she managed. Hunchback Uncle, who controlled the port revenue, had a significant income, while Sun Tong had the most people under him. In the end, Hunchback Uncle gave up part of the port to Sun Tong in exchange for some of his people.

However, just as they were about to operate independently after dividing the chamber's assets, they encountered unprecedented trouble, forcing them to sit down and negotiate again.

"Third Lady, Hunchback Uncle, the bastards from the Jeolla Chamber of Commerce have given me an ultimatum. If I don't hand over the dozen berths I control within three days, they will attack my fleet. We even helped them before, and now they are ungrateful!" The middle-aged strong man, who looked like a black gorilla, said with a look of hatred, but then added with a hint of dejection, "With the few people I have, I am no match for the Koreans. How about you two?"

"Alas, my situation is similar. Ise Rikon from the Ise Chamber of Commerce has also approached me, demanding that I hand over all the port benefits I control, or they will use force," the hunchbacked old man sighed. In the past, the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce was so powerful that only the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce dared to challenge them in the entire North Port. But now, with Zhou Hai's death, the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce has been severely weakened, and all the former minor forces have risen up.

After Sun Tong and Hunchback Uncle finished speaking, they both looked at Third Lady, who said with some anger, "You two are better off. At worst, you can give up the port benefits. But I encountered the lecherous Uesugi Koji, who proposed a marriage alliance. He not only wants to吞并我的船厂，还想占有我的身体。”

听到三娘的话，孙通和驼叔也气得拍了一下椅子。上泉洪二和伊势利康一样，都是仅次于足利商会的倭人势力。以前他们被南洋商会压制，加上与足利商会也有矛盾，所以一直对南洋商会毕恭毕敬。但现在商会刚一倒下，这群恶狼就立刻扑上来狠狠地咬了一口。

“三娘、驼叔，要不咱们向足利商会求救怎么样？虽然以前我们有过摩擦，但威胁我们的朝鲜人和倭人商会都与足利商会关系交恶，所谓敌人的敌人就是朋友，说不定对方愿意帮我们一把？”五大三粗的孙通率先开口道。不过他的话音刚落，立刻招来三娘和驼叔的白眼。

“孙通，你就不要再出馊主意了。现在我们面对的是三条饿狼，但若是向足利商会求救，无异于引来一头猛虎。我敢打赌，如果足利商会插手，虽然可以赶走伊势利康那三头饿狼，但最后我们三个肯定也会被这头猛虎吃得连渣都不剩。”三娘虽然是个妇人，但十分精明，对局势的把握也很准确。

“不错，我们南洋商会掌握着北港相当大的利益，现在商会倒了，我们三人手中的实力又都不足，这在别人眼中，几乎像是三个抱着金元宝的娃娃，早就让周边的那些商会流口水了。引来足利商会那样的外援，最后只能是前驱狼后进虎，根本就是自取灭亡！”驼叔这时也点头道。

看到三娘和驼叔都不同意自己的想法，孙通气得端起茶杯一饮而尽，说道：“动脑子我不行，我们三个现在已经成了一条绳上的蚂蚱，跑不了你也跑不了我。你们有什么想法就提出来，一切都还按以前商会的老规矩办。”

孙通不仅是个跑船的好手，同时也是南洋商会的一员猛将，以前多次参与与其他商会的火拼，可以说杀过人见过血，而且他手下的船工也是一批真正敢打敢杀的人。因此从武力上来说，三人中以他最强。不过他有个毛病，就是不喜欢动脑子，一切都喜欢用武力解决。若非这次逼迫他交出港口泊位的全罗商会实力是他的几倍，恐怕他早就带人杀到对方的老巢里了。

驼叔和三娘都知道孙通的毛病，因此也没指望他出什么主意。只见驼叔端起茶杯品了一口，然后开口道：“三娘，我们现在面临着生死存亡的关头，之前我们三个虽然有些争执，但大家相识多年，总有些情份在。现在遇到这种情况，我看我们最好还是抛弃之前的争执，再次团结起来。这样集合我们三家的人手，想必那些虎视眈眈的倭人和朝鲜人也不敢擅动。”

听到驼叔率先提出联合的建议，三娘也开口赞同道：“驼叔所言甚是。无论我们以前再怎么争，那也是我们商会内部的事。但现在那些倭人和朝鲜人却想趁机吞并我们。别的不说，商会里的产业可是周大哥和各位兄弟们辛辛苦苦打下来的。虽然周大哥现在不在了，但老娘我绝对不会平白让给那些卑鄙无耻的倭人和朝鲜人！”

三娘提到“周大哥”这三个字时，满是煞气的秀目中闪过一种难得的温柔，但随后想到周海已死，脸上又带上了几丝悲痛。

三娘的表情都被驼叔和孙通看在眼里，两人都是暗叹了口气。不过紧接着驼叔又想到一件事，于是再次开口道：“三娘，我们既然要联合在一起，肯定要有一个人做主，否则在关键时刻三人的意见不统一，那可是要命的。所以你看能不能派人去松江，把小东家……”

“不行！”还没等驼叔把话说完，就被三娘厉声打断，只见她秀眉倒立，像是一头护崽的母豹子，“周大哥在世时就已经说过，不希望家里的人参与商会的事，特别是少东家才华出众，小小年纪就已经考中了秀才，日后很可能考取功名，因此绝对不能因商会的事让他分心。这是老娘的底线，若是谁敢擅自作主去找少东家，那就别怪三娘我翻脸不认人！”

看到刚才还好好的三娘一下子就翻脸了，驼叔和孙通彼此对视一眼，脸上都露出几分苦笑。当初在周海刚出事时，他们就建议去找周重来主持商会的事，但三娘和周海的关系不一般，所谓爱屋及乌，她认为周重若能考取功名，远比商会的前途重要，因此禁止商会的人去找周重。驼叔和孙通提一次她就翻脸一次，最后他们也不敢再提，直到现在关乎到商会的生死存亡，驼叔才不得不硬着头皮提出来，没想到还是一样的结果。

“不好了，外面有人把我们包围了！”正当三娘他们三人正在商议该如何联合时，忽然一个守卫慌慌张张地跑进来，满脸都是惊骇之色。