The Blade-Wielding Legend

Chapter 1615 - 820: A Sudden Challenge

At Jinmen Port, everyone had heard from the bow about smuggling.

In fact, since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, smuggling activities in the Divine State have begun to emerge.

Although the Song Dynasty did not prohibit private merchants from engaging in foreign trade and even encouraged it, it prohibited the export of certain goods.

The main items were Copper Coin utensil, and gold and silver.

And Copper Coin utensil were favored by barbarians and transporting them was profitable.

Thus, many people disregarded the court’s prohibitions and continuously smuggled these items out to sea.

At that time, the craziest place for smuggling was Quanzhou Bay.

Participants included Quanzhou people, outsiders, Divine Land people, and Foreign Merchants.

Quite a few court officials secretly supported it, and the Yuan Dynasty was no different.

By the time of the Great Xuan Dynasty, it was another sight.

In the early days of the dynasty, some remnants of the previous dynasty fled overseas, under the guise of traders, secretly collecting materials, planning to restore the country.

The Great Xuan conducted suppression while implementing a blockade until the threat was eliminated.

After the sea was opened, it was yet another sight...

Thinking of this, Li Yan’s gaze swept over the Dan Family stilt houses that looked like boats, half hovering over the water on the shore.

The fishing nets drying on the mudflats were in tatters, and several shirtless Damen men paused their work, silently gazing at the fast ship with an official ship style.

In their eyes was none of the reverence fishermen usually reserve for official ships, only vigilance and undisguised distance, as if watching a group of invaders.

"These Dan Family folks, their gaze could devour you," Sha Lifei muttered softly, arms crossed, clearly feeling the hostility.

At that moment, the old bowman completed the transaction and had his mates load the items onto the deck, just in time to hear Sha Lifei’s remark.

He sighed, lowered his voice, and said, "Don’t blame them, the things from a few years ago... hurt too deeply."

He was referring to the rebellion a few years ago when the Damen rose against the excessive exploitation by the government, though brutally suppressed, the resentment was evidently not gone.

"Set sail!"

The old bowman first ordered the ship to set sail and then said quietly, "The sea nowadays is even more unstable, pirates make life uneasy, even making a living through honest fishing is hard, with taxes from the court and levies from the garrison, life grows bitterer each day."

Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard, appearing thoughtful: "When making a livelihood becomes difficult, resentment naturally arises. Just now, I saw that what they had piled in their ships included not only fish catches."

"The Daoist has sharp eyes."

The bowman looked around meaningfully, saying, "This business of smuggling has now become a lifeline for the Dan Family, and... a knife in the hands of others."

"There’s a long story behind this, it goes back to the ’opening of the sea’."

"Since the Long Qing opening, the court allowed trade at Moon Harbor, Divine State silks, porcelain, tea... shipped out become mountains of gold and seas of silver! Those large Chambers of Commerce in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong, relying on sturdy ships and powerful ammunition, along with the court-issued ’ship permit’, almost monopolize the sea routes, earning heaps!"

"But this juicy profit, how could Westerners not want their share? The Red-haired Barbarian, Franks, their eyes turn red!"

"Foreign merchants wish to bypass Moon Harbor to directly collect cheap goods or to bring their Western goods here to sell at high prices. Can the Divine State’s Chambers of Commerce agree? If this opening happens, their exclusive business is gone."

"Thus, these powerful merchants, who extend to the sky, band together, urging the court to impose heavy taxes on foreign merchants, setting layers of prohibitions, barring trade without a Moon Harbor ’ship permit.’"

"To put it plainly, it’s about using the court’s knife to seal off the sea route, allowing them to continue feasting exclusively."

Saying this, he turned to look at those silent figures atop ship houses in the distance. "Danmen are different, they pay no mind to government prohibitions. Now, foreign merchants secretly come to offer high prices for guidance, unloading, hiding..."

"As long as the money is right, they dare to do anything."

Sha Lifei was shocked, "Does the government not care?"

"Care?"

The old bowman chuckled, "They eagerly wish this!"

"These Damen are like a pile of dry seaweed, seemingly inconspicuous, yet if ignited can burn fiercely! The lessons from the past are not far, the government officials dare not force them too hard?"

"As long as these Damen don’t cause major troubles, don’t make too much fuss and hurt the dignity of the government, or affect the core interests of those large Chambers of Commerce... The local Inspection Guard Station would rather stay idle, feigning deafness and muteness."

"After all... ’In too clear waters, there are no fish!’ Stability is better than anything else. Besides, the smuggling tax silver doesn’t fall into their own pockets, there’s no reason to provoke a group of reckless ’sea ghosts’ for this..."

The fast ship gradually moved away, the outline of Tunmen Ao disappeared into the sea fog.

Only after they were completely gone did a head emerge from the sea, quickly swimming towards the ship house direction.

The Damen sent to monitor, had held their breath underwater for a whole hour!

.........

The Sea Falcon Fast Ship passed through the Pearl River Estuary, slowly entering the Lion Sea.

Peering into the distance, the outline of the Lingnan land appeared in the thin mist.

Upon entering Zhujiang River, the scenery was vastly different.

The river suddenly widened, boats and rafts were densely dotted, far beyond what inland rivers could compare.

The towering navigation towers first caught the eye.

A brick tower with eight corners and nine layers on the east bank rose from the ground, its flying eaves and Architrave piercing the sky, it was the newly built Pazhou Tower.

Farther away, another tower with a similar form, the Lotus Tower, could be vaguely seen.

These two tall towers are not only Fengshui landmarks guarding the gates but also majestic lighthouses guiding thousands of vessels and ships into Guangzhou Port, symbolizing the literary fortune and sea power of the Great Xuan Southern Border.

In the waterways, barges laden with Foshan ironware, Shunde silk, Jingdezhen porcelain, Guang Ship, and Fuchuan with deep drafts interwoven with Western merchant ships bearing various foreign flags, masts like forests, sails shadowing the sun.

On both sides of the riverbanks, stretched endlessly were crisscrossing dikes and farmland.