Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1185 - 50: Toll Money!

As Han Yu and Xiao Yu steered the little 001, escorting a cargo ship newly delivered by the Cosco Shipyard to the main channel for the ship owner, Linghai Cargo 306 was slowly moving along the Xinghu-Shen Channel, surrounded by more than a dozen tugboats each weighing two to three hundred tons.

The Xinghu-Shen Channel is the major transportation artery for the northern Zhehai and southern Jiangnan areas. It starts in Xingchang County in Zhehai Province, passes through Hu Zhou in Zhehai, and enters Wujiang County in Guzhou City, Jiangnan Province, reaching the Huangpu River in East Sea City.

The stone and building materials used in East Sea, Guzhou, and Wuxi are basically transported from the Zhebei Mountain Area through the Xinghu-Shen Channel, and Zhebei's coal, oil, and other energy resources are mainly transported in this way as well.

This channel, over a hundred and seventy kilometers long, is known as the water artery of the East Sea, southern Jiangnan, and northern Zhehai Province, and is hailed as China's little Rhine River!

Jiangnan's winter is not as cold as the north; flowers bloom on both banks, ships pass by like weaving shuttles, but Old Han's heart felt icy cold.

Back when he operated small boats, he frequently navigated this route.

After changing ships, he mainly sailed on the Yangtze River and rarely came here.

Eventually, as he switched to a larger ship, this busy channel was only suitable for tugboats under five hundred tons, and due to the depth of the water, he never ran on this route again.

As an experienced ship captain, Han Zhengxian has heard from his peers many times that the port supervision in Guzhou's Wujiang County has been imposing fines heavily in the past few years.

It's not called port supervision anymore; they've changed the name to marine supervision.

However, this marine supervision is not the same as the daughter's marine supervision; they belong to the local marine supervision, formerly known as Wujiang County's Transportation Bureau Port and Navigation Supervision Station. They are governed by Wujiang County Transportation Bureau, not by the Ministry of Transport.

Who governs them isn't important; what matters is that they aren't like birds that pluck feathers as they fly by, but more like highway robbers, imposing fines on anyone passing by, whether or not there are violations.

Under normal circumstances, Friend Han would never engage in this business that not only risks running aground but might also incur fines.

There are mainly three reasons for taking this trip.

First, suitable cargo sources couldn't be found in the past few days.

Second, the East Sea cargo owner offered high freight rates, and after transporting the five hundred tons of coal to Xingchang Power Plant, he could load building materials to return to East Sea immediately, not worrying about having no cargo on the return trip.

Also, his own ship's paperwork is complete and the equipment is in perfect condition.

The daughter-in-law used to be the Port Director, and now she is the Safety Inspection Section Chief. Every time she boards the ship, she conducts thorough inspections inside and out!

The daughter-in-law's Transportation Department port supervision couldn't find faults, so what faults could a local port supervision find?

It turned out not to be the case, or rather, not all port supervisions are as unbiased as the daughter-in-law's. The port supervision in Wujiang is almost as vicious as water bandits; they only care about money!

Yesterday afternoon, as they entered Wujiang County from East Sea, they encountered a water inspection toll station shortly after.

Those port supervisions boarded the ship and immediately issued fines!

At first, they claimed overloading, but after checking the certificate and load line, they found Linghai Cargo 306 is certified for a thousand tons, yet it actually carried only five hundred tons of coal. They then nitpicked, saying it was speeding, and that sanitation fees weren't paid.

Arguing with them based on reason, they shockingly claimed they would detain the ship and its certificates, saying they didn't have time to deal with it now and that they would process it after New Year's Day.

This is an operating vessel, required to pay numerous fees each year, with so many fees it's dizzying. Plus, the ship was built on a bank loan, requiring monthly repayments. Even a day's detention is a day's loss, so who would dare wait?

Old Han bitterly regretted and, gritting his teeth, had the newly boarded daughter-in-law pay the fine, cluelessly paying eight hundred!

The more Old Han thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. After inquiring with a colleague last night, he learned that within Wujiang County's short 45-kilometer waterway, there were three inspection toll stations distributed in Budu, Pingwang, and Luxu, with Pingwang and Luxu stations only about 10 kilometers apart.

Even more maddening is that paying one fine doesn't mean smooth sailing; the two stations ahead might also impose fines.

To ensure smooth sailing, there's only one way: pre-pay a quarterly "overloading fine" to them.

Once paid, regardless of overloading or violation, as long as no waterway traffic accidents occur, they let you pass. Otherwise, they might detain the ship, dismantle the main engine, or even remove the rudder from the small ship or steering wheel from the large ship.

How much "overloading fine" to pre-pay isn't fixed; it depends on their mood and how good the relationship with them is.

If you're willing to give them gifts, treat them to meals, invite them to karaoke lounges, they'll show leniency. For two to three hundred ton ships, a quarterly overloading fine might only be one to two thousand. But if they're in a bad mood or the relationship isn't well managed, three to four thousand is needed.

His own ship isn't a small one. According to their standards, a quarterly "overloading fine" costs at least tens of thousands and requires hiring a scalper to slip them some benefits.

Old Han was infuriated and didn't want to pay this fee.

After completing this trip, he didn't want to take this route again, so why pay them a quarter's "passage fee"?

Because of this, Old Han, trying to avoid the next fine, anchored in the waterway for half a day, calculating the time and planning to charge through the inspection toll station while the inspectors were having lunch!

It turned out he's not the only one with this idea; many other ship owners who haven't pre-paid a quarter's "passage fee" thought the same thing.

The previously quiet waterway suddenly filled with ships.

Dozens of ships suddenly raced to pass, causing a channel blockage. Looking ahead, it was all ships. Old Han, not wanting to cause a traffic accident, had no choice but to slow down the speed.

Han Shen, fearing collision with other ships, stood at the bow holding a bamboo pole.

Ji Xiaohong stood at the left side of the bow, nervously watching ahead.

It's mealtime, and Luo Yanfeng sat absentmindedly at the door of the living cabin, picking vegetables. From time to time, she poked her head out to look outside, silently praying that Wujiang's Port Supervision would be on holiday and not impose fines today.

They weren't the only ones nervous; the people on the boats ahead and behind were the same.

At this moment, a two-hundred-ton small boat caught up, but since the way ahead was blocked, it could only parallel Linghai Cargo 306 and move forward slowly.

The ship woman, worried about colliding like Han Shen, quickly ran to the left side of the ship and picked up a bamboo pole.

Seeing that the other side was a Zhehai ship, Luo Yanfeng couldn't help but ask in Linghai Mandarin, "Sis, has your family paid the overload fines?"

"Paid for the first half of the year, not for the second half."

"Why not?"

"There have been floods everywhere in the second half of the year, many docks were flooded. Either we can't get goods, or even if we can, there's no dock to unload. In July and August, our family only made one trip. The fees owed can't be reduced one bit, we're almost losing money, where would we get money to pay their overload fines?"

The July and August floods had greatly affected shipping.

Luo Yanfeng sighed silently and said with a frown, "We used to run this route often, it wasn't like this before, there weren't so many inspection stations before."

The ship woman on the small boat put down the bamboo pole and said angrily, "It started at the end of the year before last, mainly in this Wujiang section. East Sea Port Supervision is more regulated than here, and our Zhehai Port Supervision isn't as corrupt as they are. All they know is to impose fines; they aren't afraid of their children being born without an anus!"

"It seems this route can't be run anymore."

"Can't run, really can't run. Sister, after this trip, our family won't run this route anymore."

The ship woman on the small boat felt more uncomfortable the more she thought about it. Leaning on the helm roof, she began calculating, "Last month, our family ran a trip from Hu Zhou to Wuxi, the overload fines were terrifying. At Budu, we were fined six hundred, Pingwang fined five hundred, Fenshui Pier five hundred, Baodai Bridge four hundred yuan, Hengtang five hundred, Xushu Pass four hundred, Wangting five hundred yuan, Xin'an fined eight hundred.

They say pass five checkpoints to slay six generals; we've crossed eight checkpoints and got fined eight times, totaling four thousand two. Made a trip in vain, and still lost hundreds of bucks on fuel. I can't take this anymore. This is the last trip; once the cargo is unloaded, we're going home. We'll never run this route again, not even if we're beaten to death!"

A two-hundred-ton small boat gets fined four thousand two in one trip. If all the checkpoints hit a big boat like ours, how much would we be fined?

Luo Yanfeng was anxiously thinking when the captain of the small boat asked puzzledly, "Sister, why does such a big boat like yours run this route? It's much better on the Yangtze! There are many boats on the river, and the freight isn't high, but the Yangtze's Port Supervision is orderly. If you ran on the river, you'd save tens of thousands in fines a year with a boat like yours!"

"Our family hasn't found other goods temporarily. The coal boss who asked us to transport this shipload is an old friend for many years. We thought since we're idle, we might as well help out with one trip. Who could have expected Wujiang's Port Supervision to be so corrupt?"

"Here they come!"

"Who's coming?"

"Port Supervision is here! These bastards don't even rest on New Year's Day."

It's just like fearing something and having it come true.

Luo Yanfeng put the vegetables into the basket, stood up, and craned her neck to see. Shockingly, Port Supervision had really arrived, coming straight at their boat in a small motorboat.

Han Shen saw it too, put down the bamboo pole, ran along the side of the boat, held the cabin door, and anxiously asked, "Dad, what do we do?"

"This is never-ending!"

Old Han was furious, holding the steering wheel with clenched teeth, "You take the helm, I'm going to deal with them."

At this time, a broadcast sounded from the loudhorn of the Port Supervision's small motorboat.

"Attention, ships ahead, attention, ships ahead, all stop and drop anchor for inspection, all stop and drop anchor for inspection!"

"All ship owners please prepare your ship visa book, ship inspection certificate, ship ownership certificate, nationality certificate, safety inspection book, business transport certificate, water transport license, seaman's competence certificate, engine log..."

"Check my foot!"

Old Han cursed, opened the door, and dived into the living cabin to retrieve the briefcase given by his daughter-in-law.

This bag was issued by his superior at a meeting in Hanwu for Han Xiangning, bearing the print of the Ministry of Transport, Yangtze Port Supervision Bureau, and inside was stuffed with a pile of certificates.

...

Yang Sanwang, deputy director of the Luxu Maritime Office, had been enforcing the law on the river for several years and had never seen such a large ship as the Linghai Cargo 306.

He put down the loudspeaker microphone, signaling the driver to come alongside, and laughed with a few assistants, "Xiao Xu, Old Chen, I told you working overtime wasn't for nothing, and you didn't believe me. Look, we've caught a big fish!"

"I've never seen it before. Director Yang, they surely haven't paid the overload fines."

"Let's give it a proper inspection later."

...

PS: There have been a lot of nationwide reading activities these days, and several couldn't be avoided. Updates have been unstable, and I apologize to all my brothers and sisters here.

Fortunately, those unavoidable activities have ended. From tomorrow, updates will resume thrice daily. I earnestly ask for continued support from all brothers and sisters, and Old Zhuo now extends his gratitude.