A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 348: Pirates

The only thing of concern on the inland waterway was the various checkpoints.

If the Imperial Court issued a sea arrest warrant, these checkpoints would become insurmountable, like a series of knives cutting off all hopes of escape for the pirates.

Due to Pei Xiaolou’s and the Commandery Prince’s intervention, neither the Imperial Court nor the Daoist Order had ordered the arrest of Wei Wugui, so he was still considered a free man without a criminal record.

As Qi Xuansu and Xu Kou spoke, a customs checkpoint came into view, where passing ships had to pay commercial taxes. The checkpoint was manned by police officers, Green Phoenix Guards, and Black Robes conducting inspections on passing ships based on various arrest warrants.

The Green Phoenix Guard had a few responsibilities: monitoring local areas; collecting intelligence; tracking certain foreign visitors with sensitive identities; apprehending members of secret societies, bandits, and pirates; and solving special cases, such as corruption of local officials, disrepair of river embankments, embezzlement of tax money, and serial murders.

Regular civilian crimes such as theft, robbery, adultery, murder, and fights were the responsibility of the local Provincial Surveillance Commission. In fact, there were only a few major cases for the Green Phoenix Guard to deal with. Most of the cases were ordinary crimes involving commoners.

There would not be much of an overlap between the duties of the Green Phoenix Guard and the Provincial Surveillance Commission. After all, the Green Phoenix Guard was the Emperor’s personal guard, so the cabinet could not interfere, whereas the Provincial Surveillance Commission was under the Ministry of Justice, which followed the orders of the cabinet.

However, the Green Phoenix Guard and the local officials would sometimes jointly handle major cases, with the Green Phoenix Guard taking the lead. During this period, police officers who were roped in to assist the Green Phoenix Guard would be temporarily given the identity and power of the Green Phoenix Guard, allowed to wear the green robes and arrest wanted individuals across borders.

Generally speaking, with the same rank and qualifications, the treatment of the Green Phoenix Guard was much better. That was why many police officers aspired to be transferred to the Green Phoenix Guard. At times, the Green Phoenix Guard would poach some experienced police officers. However, the Green Phoenix Guard still preferred the Black Robes over police officers.

As such, a considerable number of Green Phoenix Guards were retirees from the army. The Black Robes who wanted to be more involved in court affairs would regard transferring to the Green Phoenix Guard as a stepping stone.

In the previous dynasty, there were clear distinctions between civil and military officials. However, after the Daoist Order defeated the Confucian School, they abolished many rules established by the Confucians. They deliberately downplayed the difference between civil and military affairs and promoted generals as ministers.

There was a clear superiority complex between the Green Phoenix Guard and the police officers. However, there was not much distinction in status between the Green Phoenix Guard and the Black Robes, with a frequent exchange of talents between the two organizations.

The Black Robes did not have to obey the orders of the Green Phoenix Guard, but they often assisted the Green Phoenix Guard in dealing with some difficult enemies. Usually, the Green Phoenix Guard would collect intelligence and determine the target before reaching out for the Black Robes’ support. The Black Robes would then assist with heavy artillery and their well-trained cavalry to destroy the enemy. Thus, both organizations had a long-standing relationship with seamless cooperation.

Therefore, it was common to see police officers, the Green Phoenix Guard, and the Black Robes working together. If a secret society was involved, then the Daoist priests and Spirit Guards would join in the handling of the case.

As such, many opportunities arose from these joint operations. That was why some people transferred from the Imperial Court to the Daoist Order, and vice versa. Xu Kou was an example of this change in allegiance.

At this time, the Green Phoenix Guard was conducting an inspection at the customs checkpoint. There were Black Robes with firearms standing guard on the shore. After the ironclad ship docked, the Green Phoenix Guard and police officers boarded the ship to comb through the passengers.

Soon, they approached Qi Xuansu and Xu Kou. When the assistant major of the Green Phoenix Guard noticed Qi Xuansu’s Divine Dragon Pistol, he became vigilant, as if he were facing a formidable enemy. He only relaxed after the two men showed their Black Robes badge and Tiangang Hall’s insignia, respectively.

After all, these three organizations were essentially one and the same due to their camaraderie, especially among the lower levels.

Xu Kou offered the assistant major a stick of paper-wrapped tobacco, which was imported from the West. He asked, “Why such a big commotion—even alerting the Black Robes?”

The assistant major accepted the cigarette and sniffed it. He lowered his voice slightly. “I’ll be honest with you guys since we’re brothers. There’s been a Wokou[1] attack.”

Qi Xuansu was in disbelief. “Our navy is renowned all over the world, comparable to the Western fleets. How can mere pirates cause such havoc?”

“On paper, they are Wokou, but in fact, they are pirates from the Central Plains who hired many Wa[2] wanderers to act as thugs and accomplices. They usually roam the sea and rob merchant ships. This time, they were surrounded by our navy like fish in a net. With nowhere to run, they fled inland. But our Black Robes defeated most of them as soon as they landed. The rest dispersed amidst the chaos and went into hiding.”

The assistant major took out a flame stick and lit his cigarette before he continued, “These pirates aren’t easy to identify like the Colored Eye People. They look similar to us, so they can easily blend in with crowds, making it difficult to distinguish them. That’s why we have no choice but to use this dumb method to slowly weed them out. I don’t know how long it’ll take.”

Qi Xuansu and Xu Kou exchanged glances and understood what happened in an instant.

This was initially the Black Robes’ job, but these pirates had blended into the crowd, so the Black Robes could not distinguish them and requested assistance from the Green Phoenix Guard and the local police force. The police officers were experienced and familiar with the local situation, so it was only a matter of time before they found these pirates.

At this moment, there was a loud noise from a cargo ship in front that was also docked for inspection.

A shirtless man jumped into the canal. Immediately afterward, the Black Robes stood on the wooden crates and fired countless bullets into the water down below.

The sound of gunfire was intense.

After a while, a puddle of blood diffused in the river.

Then the Green Phoenix Guard shot out several crossbow bolts with ropes and a net attached on the end to fish out the injured man.

“Brother, it looks like your wait today isn’t in vain,” Xu Kou said with a smile.

The assistant major also smiled. “Well, I suppose catching any fish is better than returning empty-handed. If we don’t catch anyone, it will be difficult to explain it to the higher-ups.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “Speaking of which, how long do you have to keep this up?”

“They say that there is a big fish among this group of pirates. But we have yet to catch them. We can wrap up as long as we catch that big fish.” The assistant major exhaled a puff of smoke, feeling much better than before.

Qi Xuansu nodded.

It seemed like this group of pirates was not simple, as they were able to break through a naval siege and flee inland, some of them slipping through the Black Robes as well.

This was clearly not something ordinary pirates were capable of.

The reason why the navy targeted this group of pirates was not just to suppress them, but because there was an important figure among them.

The Great Xuan Dynasty had 19 states, with 12 Chief Admirals, 36 Garrison Chief Military Officers, and nearly a hundred Deputy Chief Military Officers. Among them, there were 9 Chief Admirals on land, and 3 Chief Admirals in charge of the three navies. The Beihai Navy, Donghai Navy, and Nanhai Navy were controlled by the Governors of Liaodong, Jingji, and Jiangnan, respectively.

Luzhou happened to be located at the junction of the Donghai Navy and the Nanhai Navy. The Donghai Navy was inextricably linked to the Li family of the Taiping Sect because the predecessor of the Donghai Navy was the Li family’s fleet. The Nanhai Navy was inextricably linked to the Cihang lineage of the Zhengyi Sect, as its predecessor was the Cihang lineage’s fleet.

This time, Qi Xuansu wondered if this operation to suppress the pirates was carried out by the Donghai Navy or the Nanhai Navy. It also made Qi Xuansu wonder if the annihilation of this group of pirates was related to the recent case with the Yanqing Merchant’s Association.

1. Japanese pirates of East Asian ancestry that plagued the coastlines of the East China Sea. ☜

2. 倭, an ancient name referring to modern-day Japan and Japanese people. ☜