This made the impatient Qiu Yizi very anxious, and he had to persuade the comprador to back down. After returning to Mingzhou, the comprador immediately sent a speedboat to Japan to request approval from the old ship owner Li Zhi, and the round trip would only take six or seven days. During this period, he began to organize a fleet himself, and Zhou Cijing's goods could also be transported to the port of Mingzhou. As soon as the reply from the old ship owner arrived, the goods would be loaded and set sail, so it would not take any time.
This approach actually involves some risks for the supplier, but with Qiu Yizi acting as a guarantor, Zhou Cijing felt more or less assured, and after careful consideration, he finally agreed.
The representatives of Zhou and Li were very happy to see that the deal was done. After a rough calculation, both sides could make a net profit of 100,000 taels of silver after deducting the tariff. Zhou Cijing's confidant followed the boss's intention and gave half of the profit - that is, 5,000 taels of silver - to Qiu Yizhi; Li Zhi should also do the same, but 5,000 taels of silver is not a small amount, and the Li family's comprador still cannot make the decision, and needs to report to the old ship owner Li Zhi for an application.
Qiu Yizhi knew the matter of tens of thousands of taels very well: given his kindness to the Li family, Li Zhi would definitely agree without hesitation. However, the Japanese pirates were making a lot of trouble, and the goods sent by Zhou Cijing might be in danger of being robbed by the Japanese - this made Qiu Yizhi a little worried.
After hearing this, Li Zhi's comprador finally took over as the master and promised with a pat on his chest: as long as the Li family's white whale flag is hoisted on the Zhou family's ship and car, the Japanese pirates will not dare to come and rob even if they have a hundred courage.
At this point, two of the most prominent businessmen in the Han Dynasty—Zhou Cijing and Li Zhi—were finally connected through the button of Qiu Yizi.
Qiu Yizi thought that from now on, the commission from these two families alone would be at least tens of thousands of taels of silver every month, and she was very happy. However, she remembered that the local militia had just been formed and had no suitable weapons, so she asked Li Zhi's comprador to find some fine Japanese swords and send someone to deliver them to Shanyin County when possible.
Privately buying and selling weapons is a treasonous crime in the Han Dynasty. If the superior officials are caught, they will be beheaded. This is a very risky business in the eyes of others, but it is a trivial matter in the eyes of Li Zhi's comprador who is used to smuggling business. The comprador thought about it, compared the number with Qiu Yizi, and agreed without hesitation.
At this point, this big deal had been done by Qiu Yizi. However, he was in need of money now and the business could not be delayed for a day or two, so he asked Zhao Fuyi not to stay in Shanyin County any longer and to follow the comprador left by Li Zhi back to Mingzhou to take charge of the intermediary affairs.
Qiu Yizi was still worried about Zhao Fuyi, and originally intended to send someone to be by his side, nominally to assist but actually to monitor him. However, he had no one around him who was literate and understood economics, so he asked Zhao Fuyi to leave his family behind and live in Shanyin County, actually holding him hostage here.
Zhao Fuyi was extremely afraid of Qiu Yizi, so of course he did not dare to object. He had to agree. After bidding farewell to his two children, he rushed to Mingzhou.
Although Li Zhi, the comprador, was irresponsible, he was quite efficient. As soon as he arrived in Mingzhou, he sent a small light speedboat to Japan to deliver a letter. He also collected more than 200 good swords from Japan and sent people to deliver them to Shanyin.
Qiu Yizi took the Japanese swords and saw that although these weapons were not as good as the Bohai swords in the hands of Zhao Chengxiao and others, their steel fire was much better than the swords in the hands of ordinary local military governors, so he distributed them.
At the same time, in order to train the two hundred militiamen under his command according to the standard of the old Youyan Road army, Qiu Yizi wrote a special letter to General Cui Nan stationed in Quzhou, requesting 100 sets of powerful crossbows and shields to be used to train crossbowmen and "Dangshiying" soldiers.
The military's call for weapons was a big deal, especially when it came to special equipment like this. Although the officer guarding the arsenal was from the old Youyan Dao army and knew the origin of Qiu Yizhi, the "righteous prince", he did not dare to act on his own. After receiving the letter, he immediately turned it over to General Cui Nan.
At this time, Cui Nan received the imperial edict from Emperor Zheng Rong and had left Quzhou. He chose to set up a headquarters in Hangzhou to preside over the anti-Japanese war in Jiangnan.
Three or four days had passed by the time Qiu Yizi's letter reached him.
Cui Nan knew Qiu Yi's identity, and was also aware of his position on the side of Emperor Zheng Rong. He approved it without thinking and sent someone directly to the Quzhou camp to retrieve the equipment and send it to Shanyin County.
It is also said that the current emperor Zheng Rong has two capable generals under his command, one is the left general Cui Nan and the other is the right general Wei Hu. Cui Nan was born in the infantry, taciturn, and good at attacking; Wei Hu was born in a military family, eloquent, and skilled in defense. When they were in Youyan Road, these two followed Zheng Rong to the north to attack the Turks, and made great military exploits. They also made new contributions in the campaign against the rebellion, and have achieved the top rank among military generals, only below Dai Luanxiang, the "world's number one general".
These two famous generals now lead an army each, one guarding Jiangnan and the other guarding Yunnan and Guizhou. Their goal is to block Zheng Gui, the King of Lingnan, who has always been rebellious, in a corner of Lingnan, and then deal with him when the time is right.
However, at that time, the Japanese pirates in Jiangnan Road were causing chaos, and the Jiangnan Road Jiedushi Army was unable to suppress the rebellion. Cui Nan followed the imperial order and took command of the suppression of the rebellion nearby.
However, if the general Wei Hu, who was good at defense, was in command, he would be able to guard the entire southeastern coast like an iron barrel, first cutting off the invasion routes of the Japanese pirates, and then calmly dealing with the Japanese pirates who had already penetrated deep into the south of the Yangtze River.
However, Cui Nan was good at attacking, and he could always defeat the Japanese pirates no matter how many or few they were. However, he was not good at taking every step carefully, and he could not withdraw all the troops from Quzhou. The number of Japanese pirates increased as he fought more and more, and his troops gradually fell into a state of exhaustion and growing tired with each battle.
Cui Nan had just approved Qiu Yizhi's request to receive equipment when a war report came in: a large group of Japanese pirates, totaling about 3,000 people, were driven north by Lingnan King Zheng Gui and were about to enter Jiangnan Province. They must be suppressed in time. Another war report said: the scattered Japanese pirates who had infiltrated the hinterland of Jiangnan had also gathered together, with a number of more than 500 people, and were gradually heading towards Nanjing.
Neither of these two pieces of military intelligence could be ignored, but the two places were far apart. Cui Nan knew that he had limited troops. If he divided them into two, it would be difficult to gain an absolute advantage over the invading Japanese pirates. Even if he could win, it would be a bloody battle.
Although Cui Nan was skilled in attack, he was very cautious in employing his troops and would not take action without careful consideration.
He thought over and over again, and weighed the pros and cons - the Japanese pirates at the border with Lingnan Road were numerous and powerful, and the area was full of mountains and hills. If they were not surrounded and annihilated in the first place, the Japanese pirates would probably infiltrate into Jiangnan in large numbers. Nanjing City was the center of the Han Dynasty in the south, known as the "secondary capital". If it was invaded by the Japanese pirates, the whole world would be shocked, and it could not be taken lightly.
Cui Nan thought for a long time and finally made up his mind: the Japanese pirates from Lingnan were the main force, and in order to prevent the King of Lingnan from taking advantage of the chaos to cause other troubles, he had to lead the army himself and wipe them out completely with a quick and decisive move.
As for Nanjing, Cui Nan suddenly had an idea. He called the military clerk and dictated an order himself.
Cui Nan's clerk was a local scholar from Jiangnan. He was very fast at writing. While listening to Cui Nan's words, he wrote an order: "Shanyin County Magistrate Qiu Yizhi, lead the army to Nanjing to suppress the bandits immediately. You must rely on the strong city to defend it and do not attack rashly. Wait until I return triumphantly, and then join forces to attack. Anyone who disobeys the military order will be executed without mercy!"
Cui Nan took the military order, which was still wet with ink, and took a look at it. Without a second thought, he tore it up and threw it away. He asked the clerk to draft a new military order according to his original words:
"Please ask Lord Qiu of Shanyin County to lead the army to Nanjing to resist the Japanese pirates. You can do whatever you like. I suggest you use the high walls of Nanjing as a support, defend first and then attack. After I have wiped out the stubborn bandits, I will hunt with you at the foot of the city."
The clerk handed the re-drafted document to Cui Nan, but he looked at the powerful general with a puzzled look and asked, "General Cui, military orders are always clear and strict. Why do you have to write them so politely? The general just stretched out his hand and crushed a small county magistrate like an ant."
“Bullshit! What do you know?” Cui Nan cursed immediately, “Seal it as is and send it to Shanyin County.”
Cui Nan was a man of few words, but when he spoke he was very decisive, so the clerk had no choice but to do as he was told.
Cui Nan always used an express horse that could travel 600 miles per hour to deliver military orders, so this extremely polite order was delivered to Qiu Yizi in just one day.
At this time, the militiamen under Qiu Yi could only practice some basic martial arts because they did not have all their special equipment.
In particular, Qiu Yizhi specially invited Yuchi Jiming to create a set of sword techniques suitable for ordinary soldiers. Yuchi Jiming's martial arts are known for their elegance and flexibility, and the sword techniques she created at the beginning are also like this, which seem to be more fancy than practical.
Qiu Yizi was also a man who had seen the world. After watching it a few times, he knew that this set of swordsmanship was not suitable for widespread promotion in the army, so he asked Yuchi Jiming to modify it.
Yuchi Jiming was already losing interest in this matter, and when he heard Qiu Yizi was dissatisfied with the sword skills he had worked so hard to create, he got angry and simply dropped the job.
Wu Ruofei was very sweet-mouthed and persuaded Yuchi Jiming to come back. So Yuchi Jiming no longer used any fancy moves, but only slightly modified their Yuchi family's entry-level boxing skills, turning them into a simple swordsmanship, and then completed the task.
However, unexpectedly, this straightforward sword technique was extremely effective. Not only was the power of the moves considerable, but it was also very easy to learn, so that Qiu Yizhi's newly recruited soldiers could master it without much effort.
In addition, Lin Shuhan also showed rare patience and started with the "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Names" and "Thousand Character Classic", together with the two hundred newly recruited militiamen and Qiu Yizi's original eighteen personal soldiers, and taught them to read and write from the beginning.
These new and old soldiers were all illiterate peasants. Teaching them to recognize three words was more difficult than asking them to carry a jar of water.
However, Lin Shuhan was extremely strict. Anyone who did not know enough Chinese characters for the day would not only be spanked, but also be kept after school to make up for the missed lessons until they knew enough. But if they were kept after school, they would miss their rest and practice time. Shortening their nap was a small matter, but if they were late for practice, the leader Zhao Chengxiao would not care what the reason was and would just pull them up and spank them again.
Many soldiers were tired of being beaten with two boards and wanted to leave the team several times, but Qiu Yizhi's salary was generous, and they would not be able to earn this money after leaving the military camp. They had no choice but to support themselves for the sake of money.
With this combination of soft and hard tactics, the originally disorganized mob became quite combat-ready in less than half a month.
Therefore, when Qiu Yizhi received the military order, he was also quite excited, thinking: "The giant shields and powerful crossbows that I transferred from Cui Nan have not arrived yet, so naturally I can't use the special tactics of the old Youyan army, and the army is not yet a real army. However, after these days of hard training, the combat effectiveness of these two hundred people is also incomparable to the past. Maybe it's just right to test the edge of the Japanese pirates?" (To be continued)