Chapter 853 Island Casino

There are not many commercial facilities at Cangdong'ao Wharf. In addition to a row of warehouses on the shore, there is only a hotel-restaurant shop. You can eat downstairs and live upstairs and in the courtyard behind. But the scale of this shop is quite large.

, the upper room in the backyard alone has five courtyards and a total of more than 40 rooms. The entire store can accommodate more than 300 people at the same time. According to Xu Ke, there is also a store of similar size at Tian'ao Wharf next to it.

, used to provide temporary accommodation for foreigners.

However, the prices in this bandit's den are not cheap. Xu Ke asked for two guest rooms and an upper room in the backyard, so he spent ten taels of silver to go out. Zhao Cheng picked up more than a hundred kilograms of fish, shells, shrimps and crabs from the boat and sent them over.

The kitchen was replaced with fresh water and seasonal vegetables needed on the ship, which actually saved Tishike a lot of money.

Zhao Bencheng wanted to take this opportunity to wander around the island. He never thought that the Haisha Gang was extremely fortified and only allowed outsiders to move in a small area near the dock. The road leading to the interior of the island was specially designed to

After setting up checkpoints, Zhao Cheng was stopped without any suspense. In desperation, he had no choice but to walk around the pier. The peninsula that separated the three harbors was all hilly. On the pier of Cangdong Ao

It is also impossible to see the situation in the other two harbors on the left and right sides.

Compared with ordinary fishing port towns, this place is indeed more prosperous. A rough estimate of the various merchant ships and cargo ships seen at the pier is as many as twenty or thirty. Although the sun is about to set, there are still several ships on the pier.

Busy loading and unloading of goods, you can also see foreign merchants and sailors who look obviously different from Ming people, swaggering on the dock. However, the harbor is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the area available for development near the sea is not large, which limits this to a certain extent.

The scale of local commercial development.

Zhao Cheng has been to many trading ports under Haihan's rule, and he is also a man who has seen the world. In comparison, the scale of business here is nothing. If we want to make an analogy, at most it is with Haihan's early operation at the Pearl River Estuary.

The developed Wanshan Port is almost complete. Of course, in terms of complete supporting facilities and institutions, this place is still incomparable to Wanshan Port. In addition to the most basic docks, warehouses, and hotels, Wanshan Port later also built specialized

Hotels and pubs, as well as offices of Haihan civil affairs, finance, health and other institutions have been set up on the island. Matters such as immigration, money exchanges, medical care and other matters can be handled on the island in a timely manner.

The Haihan militia's coastal defenses at Wanshan Port even defeated the pirate Liu Xiang's fleet in the early Pearl River Estuary War, laying the first contribution to Haihan's seizure of control of Guangdong waters. Later, although Wanshan Port

The trading functions of the port were gradually moved to the Hong Kong area occupied by Haihan in the later period, but the basic institutions of this place still remained. Some merchant ships heading from the Pearl River Estuary to Hainan Island would still choose this small port with complete facilities for transit supplies.

Compared with the shore defenses of Wanshan Port, Zhao Cheng believes that the defense strength here in Cangdong'ao can only be regarded as better than nothing, especially the shore defense firepower is almost zero, which is not enough to threaten the Haihan fleet. Only a few ships with the smallest tonnage are needed.

Exploration-class warships are enough to suppress the pirate armed forces here. However, the area of ​​Liuheng Island is larger than that of the Penghu Islands. If you want to destroy the pirate armed forces on the island, it is difficult to rely on the Haihan Army alone. You must attack both land and water.

OK.

After nightfall, except for the lights in this hotel, the entire port was plunged into darkness. Considering that the terrain here was completely unfamiliar and there was no reliable leader, Zhao Cheng finally gave up his plan to go out for reconnaissance at night.

.After all, it’s dark outside, and even if no one is on guard, no useful information can be found.

With nothing to do, Zhao Cheng simply went downstairs and listened to the sailors and crew members who were also stationed here drinking and chatting. These people came from various mountains and countries. Most of them were not pirates, but only served the smugglers who came here to trade.

Ordinary people, including Westerners with deep eyes, high noses, and loud tongues in Chinese.

After listening for a long time, 70% to 80% of the conversation was about complaining about the high consumption here, the poor food and drinks provided, and the lack of certain adult services on the island, which made these angry men who have been wandering at sea all year round very angry.

I was unhappy. Zhao Cheng smiled and thought that what sailors who go to sea miss is nothing more than eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. The food here is average, the drinks are not that good, the prices are high, and there are no other entertainment activities, so it’s no wonder that these

The sailors complained.

After listening for a long time, there was no valuable information. Zhao Cheng was about to summon a few of his men to go back to the room to discuss arrangements for tomorrow when he saw Xu Ke and the seventh brother coming out of a private room arm in arm. Xu Ke also glanced at

When he saw Zhao Cheng, he waved to him to come over.

"Seventh brother said he wanted to take me to a good place to play. Old Zhao, come with me!" After Zhao Cheng approached, Xu Ke lowered his voice and said to him, and a strong smell of alcohol poured into Zhao Cheng.

Zhao Cheng nodded without asking any further questions, then turned around and gestured to his men, instructing them to go back to their rooms on their own.

Brother Qi led the two of them through the atrium and into the courtyard at the back, twisting and turning into a small independent courtyard. There was a banquet table in the main room, and seven or eight young and strong men were eating, drinking and chatting.

When they saw Brother Qi bringing people in, they just nodded and said no hello. Brother Qi and Xu and Zhao walked straight past the banquet table, and there was a door behind the screen.

Brother Qi pushed the door open and went in. There was a short corridor, about four feet wide, with another door at the end. Zhao Cheng looked at the uncarved natural mountain wall above his head and asked casually: "

Is this in the mountains?"

Brother Qi looked back at him, nodded and said, "This is a cave, and it is also the most interesting place on Liuheng Island."

The three of them entered the door at the other end of the corridor, and sure enough, they immediately stepped into a different space. The cave was about three feet high, with several trays hanging from the ceiling on iron chains, and thick tallow candles were lit inside.

The terrain in the cave is flat and very open. There are forty or fifty large tables, and there are several floor-standing candlesticks next to each table. Zhao Cheng noticed that the glass cover covering the candlesticks looked very familiar, and it was actually an item produced by Haihan. Above

Hundreds of people were shouting around these tables, all playing gambling games like pai gow and dice.

Brother Qi introduced: "If you two want to play, just call the waiters in red and tell them how big the game is. They will take you to the appropriate table to play, and you can also give them the money to exchange for chips.

, you just need to sit and play. If you are tired or hungry, you can also call them, and they will take you to eat and rest, so that you can regain your energy before continuing to play."

Zhao Cheng pretended to hesitate and said: "I don't know where I am, but I don't have much cash with me!"

Brother Qi waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter. If Brother Zhao wants to borrow money, we can borrow it here. As long as he pays it back before leaving the island, no interest is required. With the credit of the boss, I can help you guarantee five hundred taels of silver."

No problem."

Xu Ke pretended to be angry: "Brother Qi, so my credit is only worth five hundred taels of silver?"

Brother Qi laughed and said: "Okay, okay, it's my fault, one thousand taels! Brother, your credit is worth one thousand taels, that's good, right?"

Of course, Zhao Cheng would not hesitate to borrow a thousand taels of silver for gambling, so he only said fifty taels, while Xu Ke borrowed two hundred taels himself. Seventh Brother raised his hand to make a gesture, and immediately there was someone in red.

The waiter came over to listen to his instructions, and after a while he brought out two hundred and fifty taels of chips. I don't know what kind of wood the chips were made of. They were light and tough. The amount was engraved on them, starting from one coin of silver.

There were fifty taels of silver in them. Zhao Cheng turned the chips over, and the word "Haisha" was engraved on the back. The production was quite neat, and it was much more presentable than ordinary underground gambling houses.

Brother Qi saw that the two of them had divided the chips, so he said goodbye: "You two brothers are playing slowly. Brother, I still have business to do, so I have to take a step first. If you are tired and plan to leave, the passage just now can only be entered but not exited."

, you need to ask the waiter to take you out. I wish you both good luck and win a lot of money!"

As soon as the seventh brother left, Zhao Cheng gave Xu Ke a warning. The two of them separated first and found a random gambling table to play for a while. After realizing that no one was paying attention to them, they got back together and had a brief exchange.

Sentence. Neither of them thought that there was such a place on this island. Although Xu Ke had been here a few times, he never stayed here for too long. He only had a nod of acquaintance with the little pirate leader here. This was the first time.

Once I tricked the other party by eating and drinking, I unexpectedly got an unexpected reward.

Xu Ke called a red-clothed waiter and asked a few questions. The casino in this cave is open day and night. You can come and gamble at any time without worrying about being unattended. If you want to play more, the casino can also arrange corresponding gambling games for you. You can enter

The people here are basically certified regular customers. It is the first time for strangers to Liuheng Island. It is impossible to enter this place without someone. As for ordinary sailors, it is true that they cannot afford the gambling here.

, if you are not lucky, your monthly income will be gone in a few seconds, so this place is not even open to this type of low-income people.

The two of them had heavy responsibilities and were not in the mood to gamble and have fun here. They were debating whether to continue visiting here or go back to rest, when they saw another group of people coming in at the entrance. Xu Ke glanced at it and lowered his voice and said: "This is where we started.

The bandit leader Li Luotou."

When Zhao Cheng heard this, he pretended to be casual and turned his head to look around, and saw a bald man in his forties patrolling the field surrounded by seven or eight people. From time to time, people would clasp their fists and bow to him to say hello, but Li Luotou didn't have any airs at all.

One by one they responded with a smile.

Zhao Cheng secretly noted down his appearance, and planned to ask his soldiers responsible for depicting the terrain to draw the appearance of the bandit leader Li Luotou after leaving here tomorrow.

Then Li Luotou turned to Xu Ke, and the two of them also bowed their hands and greeted Li Luotou. Li Luotou was very considerate. Seeing that they were strangers, he took the initiative to ask, and Xu Ke introduced himself.

After revealing his identity, he also said that he was brought in by someone so as not to arouse suspicion.

After hearing this, Li Luotou did not doubt the identity of the two people, but immediately ordered: "Come here, take twenty taels of silver chips and give them to these two new friends!"

Although these twenty taels of silver are not a big amount, Li Luotou's move has an excellent effect in winning people's hearts. If Xu and Zhao hadn't been on a mission, they might have been really sympathetic to his "goodwill".

I am grateful. Of course, Xu and Zhao are not newcomers to society, so they naturally understand that Li Luotou's gesture of goodwill is certainly one of the purposes, and probably not many people can take out the chips given away.

Anyway, it’s something that costs no money. How can you be willing to try your luck on the gambling table if you don’t use it? Maybe you won’t be convinced after losing, and you will continue to throw money into it. This move may seem generous, but in fact it is fishing. If you are greedy for money,

Most people will fall into gambling situations and find it difficult to extricate themselves.

After Li Luotou patrolled the place, he did not stay any longer and quickly left with his men. Together, Xu and Zhao continued to play for a while, then pretended to be tired and asked the waiter to take the rest.

He took the chips to settle the account, and then left the secret casino in the cave. After calculating, the absent-minded Xu Ke lost more than thirty taels of silver, while Zhao Cheng was lucky, winning seven or eight taels, plus Li Luo gave away

I got twenty taels of chips, but I didn’t lose much.

The two were taken out of the casino through another passage, and when they came out, they were in a warehouse on the dock. Looking at the silent port outside, it was hard to believe that there was actually a bustling casino hidden in this place.

On the way back to their residence, Zhao Cheng asked: "Boss Xu, have you noticed that there are other entrances and exits in the cave?"

Xu Ke nodded and said: "The cave seems to run east-west, just between Cangdong Ao and Tian Ao to the east. I think there is most likely a passage leading to the east, and people who can disembark at the dock there can also

Enter this casino through the passage in the mountain."

Zhao Chengdao: "I think so too. Looking at the size of this casino, the daily income is only three to four thousand taels of silver. Over time, this income is really quite a lot. It was previously estimated that the Haisha Gang's territory would earn 3,000 to 4,000 taels of silver per day.

The income of one million taels seems to be underestimated now. The income of this casino alone is this amount every year."

Xu Kedao: "With so much cash flowing into the island, the Haisha Gang may not be able to spend the money quickly. If the coalition forces capture this place, they will have to search carefully. There must be a secret bank to store this money."

silver."

Zhao Cheng remembered that after wiping out the Yueqing Boat Gang in Wenzhou's Yueqing Bay, Xu Yuzhuo sent people to Yandang Town to raid the gang's bank account, so he chose to tell Xu Ke. After hearing this, Xu Ke also sighed: "That Yueqing Fishing Port

The pirates in the small town have so much savings. The Haisha Gang has been entrenched on Liuheng Island for many years, and the money stored in it must be even richer. The coalition forces may be able to make a big fortune this time!"
Chapter completed!