His fleet never carried any cargo, but was always loaded with cannonballs. They drifted at sea all day, shooting down anyone they saw, without hesitation, until they were sunk. As for the cargo on merchant ships, they didn't even glance at it.
"What's this? You eat too, don't you?" This was the common greeting from all the maritime merchants to Lu Xuan. But it was useless. Lu Xuan declared, "I have more money than I can spend, I don't care about this little bit. I don't mean anything by it, I just want to beat you all up."
By the following spring, some people finally couldn't take it anymore. These maritime merchants, every time they went to sea, had to take enormous risks. They had to smooth things over with various intermediaries, offer all sorts of bribes, and risk their lives on a long voyage just to earn a modest income. Now, however, it was all pointless to risk it. Because the coastline of Liaodong was completely blocked, no ship could enter or leave normally.
They understood Lu Xuan's meaning, but they were unwilling to have their already meager profits taken away. But now there was nothing they could do.
They had considered concentrating hundreds of warships to annihilate Lu Xuan's fleet. But unfortunately, they didn't dare. Lu Xuan wasn't a pirate; he was a general commanding a large army. No matter how powerful they were at sea, their true strength lay on land. Unless they were determined to abandon their families and become full-time pirates, if they were to actually destroy Lu Xuan's fleet, tens of thousands of soldiers would likely raze their ancestral graves to the ground.
After much internal struggle, someone approached Lu Xuan.
"Sir, we earn our money through hard work, please give us a way to survive!" An old man in his sixties knelt before Lu Xuan, crying and sobbing. This made Lu Xuan extremely displeased, feeling like he was becoming more and more like the villain.
"Manager Qian, is it? Tell me, how have I not given you a way to survive?"
"The lord's fleet roams the seas, destroying merchant ships wherever it goes..."
"Oh...you mean this? What a coincidence, I've been holding a grudge about this too. This port in Liaodong is practically my territory, isn't it? Hundreds of businesses, tens of thousands of fishermen, they make their living from the sea, but it feels like it has nothing to do with me?"
"So this is for money?" Manager Qian immediately perked up.
"If I may be so bold as to ask, how much does Your Excellency wish to obtain?"
"This? If it's too little, I won't feel right, and if it's too much, I guess you guys won't be happy either, so how about... 30%?"
"Cough cough cough cough..." The old man couldn't catch his breath and almost passed out.
"My lord, we have to bribe officials and bribe officials before we can even get our hands on two or three tenths of what we need. Are you trying to kill us?" the old man cried out, as if he wanted to smash his head against Lu Xuanwu's door and die.
"Take care of everyone? That won't do. On my turf, you only need to take care of one person, and that is me!" Lu Xuan still spoke softly, but his words shocked the old man into a daze.
"..." The old man was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood what Lu Xuan meant. This general meant that from now on, all he needed to do was hand over 30% of the profits, and all other tributes were no longer required or allowed.
"This... sir, some high-ranking officials in the court hold shares in these businesses! I really..."
"The officials in the court won't send a fleet to bomb your merchant ships, but I will. The officials in the court won't send a fleet to protect your convoy, but I will. Manager Qian, tell me, between me and those officials in the court, who is more worth your bribery?"
………………
"Manager Qian, how is it? What did the General say?"
"Just tell him how many he wants?"
"Is this guy trying to hog all the food himself?"
As soon as Manager Qian stepped out of the Governor's Mansion, he was surrounded by a group of managers who were waiting outside. They all wanted to know the outcome. However, Old Man Qian glanced back at the Governor's Mansion thoughtfully, then quickly gave instructions to his servant.
"You set off now, rush back to your hometown tonight, and tell your second son to pack his things immediately and bring the whole family to Liaodong. Don't ask why, and there's no need to explain anything. Just say that's what I said. Anyone who dares to say a word against it will be kicked out of the house immediately."
The servant was startled, looked up at his master to make sure the other was serious, and then quickly ran away.
"Managers, please don't crowd around the General's mansion and disturb the lord. Let's go back and talk, let's go back and talk."
Handing over 30% of the profits might sound like an outrageous demand. But it's not. These maritime merchants, wanting to conduct business at sea, have to grease palms everywhere, and most of their profits end up in the hands of powerful figures in the imperial court. They themselves receive less than 30%. Simply put, most of these maritime merchants are front men.
Now, Lu Xuan has given them a chance. All the complicated relationships and procedures will be omitted. Hand over 30% of the profits, and the rest is all yours.
Manager Qian immediately realized the problem. The profit distribution among maritime merchants had always been the result of fierce competition among countless forces in the imperial court. For Lu Xuan to break these rules, he would need to wage war against all those forces. Only one type of person would do such a thing.
Not just Manager Qian, but most of the maritime merchants felt the same way when they received this news. They felt a mix of excitement and fear. They were afraid that if things went wrong, they might lose everything and their entire families; they were excited because if it succeeded, it would be true wealth and power.
On this day, countless people couldn't sleep.
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Chapter 156 A Tragic Injustice: Liu Daxia? (Please Subscribe)
The shipyard was finally built. Who knew how many people Zhao Jingzhong had conveniently buried in the shipyard's foundations during the process? However, with the cooperation of Lu Xuan's naval operations, many maritime merchants eventually backed down. There was no other way; Lu Xuan had to lay his hands on the sword and the silver. If the resistance continued, that general would likely cause a bloodbath.
However, even after the shipyard was built, the craftsmen couldn't meet Lu Xuan's needs. Lu Xuan wanted the most advanced warships of the era. He knew that before long, the Ming Dynasty would have to compete with European powers for maritime supremacy. At that time, if the warships were inferior, his martial arts skills would be useless at sea.
Lu Xuan once again began spending lavishly, recruiting shipbuilding craftsmen at high prices. However, due to the limited flow of information in that era, this matter couldn't be implemented in a day or two. Currently, the shipyard could only build the old-style Fujian-style ships.
The Fujian-style warships of the Ming Dynasty were enormous, some as tall as buildings, and could accommodate hundreds of people and dozens of cannons. However, their maneuverability was extremely poor, making them mere targets in actual naval battles.
Even the ships Lu Xuan built could only be used as merchant ships. In fact, the treasure ships of Zheng He's era in the early Ming Dynasty already possessed the functions of both ocean-going vessels and warships. They were perfectly capable warships. However, the frustrating thing is that before the Ming Dynasty even fell, the nautical charts had already disappeared. It is said that Zheng He's treasure ship blueprints, logbooks, and sea route charts filled more than a dozen boxes. But now they are all gone.
This matter has been the subject of much debate in later generations. One of the more common accounts is that Liu Daxia burned the nautical charts because they were a waste of resources and manpower and had to be destroyed, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would perish because of them.
This claim remained quite popular for a long time. Then the internet rose to prominence, and a problem arose. It's impossible that there's only one version of events. If some say it was burned, then others must say it wasn't. Many people began citing sources and historical precedents, claiming that the nautical chart incident had absolutely nothing to do with Liu Daxia.
Later, a post on Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website) claimed that Liu Daxia had been wronged throughout history (the one on Zhihu was probably a repost, not the original, and it's unclear if it still exists). The post cited numerous sources and, through historical records of the Ming Dynasty, concluded that Liu Daxia had never even come into contact with nautical charts. This matter had absolutely nothing to do with him.
For a long time, both viewpoints have had their supporters, and neither has been able to convince the other.
However, Lu Xuan did know a little about this matter. In his previous life, as an online writer, he had consulted a lot of random and unreliable information. This matter happened to be one of them.
Modern people's knowledge of Liu Daxia burning the nautical charts mostly comes from the book "A History of Chinese Transportation to Southeast Asia." This book was published during the War of Resistance against Japan and was written by a late Qing Dynasty scholar named Feng Chengjun.
Note that this Feng Chengjun is not some feudal scholar; he was a student who studied in Europe. He studied law in France and later worked as a lecturer at Peking University. Therefore, the book's credibility is somewhat guaranteed.
However, there are actually many records of this event before this. The earliest ones are as follows.
Northwest of the present city is the Treasure Shipyard. In March of the third year of the Yongle reign, the emperor ordered the eunuch Zheng He and others to bestow gifts upon Calicut, Malacca, and other countries… At that time, it was unknown what the customs and local products of the foreign peoples they visited were like; old records were kept in the Ministry of War's Office of Military Affairs. During the Chenghua reign, the emperor ordered an inquiry into the stories of the voyages to the Western Ocean. Liu Zhongxuan, the Duke of Daxia, was a court official. He took the records and burned them, believing that they must contain many fantastical and bizarre accounts, far beyond what the eye could see and hear.
The above passage is quoted from "Guest's Miscellaneous Remarks," written by Gu Qiyuan, a person from the Wanli period. This passage has always been the most important evidence for the "Liu Daxia burning books theory."
This is probably the closest record to that event, so it has always been used as evidence. However, later, someone found a different account in another book.