Wu Ke stepped forward and kicked the two corpses lying on the roadside, killing them both with one knife, cleanly.

Looking at the tight-fitting black-clad swordsmen around him, Wu Ke nodded with satisfaction.

"Expand the circle a little more and be careful they have other checkpoints!"

"Yes!" The man in black bowed and saluted, turned around and disappeared into the jungle.

Wu Ke took a deep breath, barely taking a breath when he came back from Yingzhou, and hurried to Quanzhou again to start setting up the net.

It has been almost a year since the relevant information was collected last year and the arrangements were made until today.

Zhiqiuyuan has invested a lot of manpower and material resources, and there must be no mistakes.

So for the final blow, he came personally and directed it personally.

The officers and soldiers who participated in this operation were recruited by Zheng Zeshi.

Zheng Zeshi, a former great merchant and pirate, is now a popular figure in Fujian. Not only does he own the largest sea trading fleet, his second son Zheng Zhihu also controls the only ocean-going fleet in the Song Dynasty.

The largest warship weighs 10,000 pieces and carries thousands of people. It is a real giant on the sea.

Zheng Zeshi served as the training envoy of the Fujian Road Regiment.

Originally, the old Zheng Zeshi did not want to hold public office anymore, but Xiao Cheng still needed someone he could trust on the road to Fujian and Zhejiang.

It has prestige and can gather some people. In Fujian, apart from Zheng Zeshi, there is really no one else.

The position of team trainer depends on who holds this position.

For some people, it is just a temporary job to support themselves in retirement.

But for others, it is a scalable and promising position.

Zheng Zeshi certainly belongs to the latter.

His subordinates actually have an extremely powerful army of civilians, and the brave men among them are basically his former subordinates of the Zheng family.

In the past, they had another name, called private armies.

Now, they still don't receive royal salary, but they can gather and train openly every year.

This kind of people's strength was reported to the imperial court. Except for weapons such as large crossbows and armors, they had all kinds of applications.

As long as you have money, you can do whatever you want within the limits allowed by the rules.

Regarding the current imperial troops in Fujian and Zhejiang, Wu Ke was absolutely worried about allowing them to carry out this mission.

If they really had to be used, the news would have already reached the other party's ears before the army even left the camp.

Once a person is alerted and the other party becomes a frightened bird, it will be really difficult to catch them with both the person and the loot in the future.

You must know that the power behind these people is also extremely powerful, making the chief minister even fearful.

Although the Minzhuang sent by Zheng Zeshi only had 500 people, Wu Ke was extremely satisfied with the ability and execution displayed along the way, and at the same time he was impressed by Zheng Zhilong who led the team.

For a long time, everyone is more familiar with Zheng Zeshi's second son Zheng Zhihu, the commander of the Song Dynasty's ocean-going navy, and now he can truly be regarded as the king of the sea.

In comparison, Zheng Zhilong is unknown.

Almost everyone thought that Zheng Zhilong's ability was far inferior to Zheng Zhihu's. Now it seems that Zheng Zhilong, who was left behind by Zheng Zeshi to look after the family, has a better overall ability than Zheng Zhihu.

Five hundred people, plus more than a hundred experts from Zhiqiuyuan's action team mobilized by Wu Ke, are the entire strength of this operation.

"Chu Zhen Bay is surrounded by mountains on three sides and is surrounded by steep cliffs. Only one side faces the sea. It seems to be a natural harbor, but in fact it is densely covered with underwater reefs. It is absolutely impossible for people who are not extremely familiar with hydrological conditions to combine more than three hundred materials.

A large ship came in. This place used to be abandoned, and they should have just started using it this year." Zheng Zhilong said: "After receiving your report, Shaoqing, I sent someone to check, and I was really shocked. Short

In a short period of time, they have managed this place like this."

"As long as you have money, what can't be done?" Wu Xiaoxiao said. "Brother Zheng, did you often do this before?"

Zheng Zhilong laughed: "Of course. Although the tax at the Shipping Department is not high, it is still a large amount of money over the years. In addition, it has to be managed up and down, which is higher than the tax. Furthermore, there are many things that are not allowed to be exported.

Or imported things, so we can only avoid them. But with a scale like theirs, the Zheng family just can’t match it.”

"Of course!" Wu Ke said leisurely: "Although you were considered rich in the past, you could only be regarded as a businessman after all. And who are the people behind these people? How can a small amount of money satisfy their appetite?"

"This time, I will turn them upside down and check the account further. Haha, it will be interesting to see!" Zheng Zhilong was somewhat gloating about his misfortune. It seems that he, the eldest son of Zheng, has suffered from these people a lot over the years.

of anger.

Of course, when it comes to going to sea, the Zheng family fleet is the only one, and they are the king of the sea, but you still have to return to the shore. Once ashore, aren't you at the mercy of others?

"There is only one road, and there is a small fishing village next to it. This small fishing village is a cover, but it is actually a place where they temporarily store their goods." Zheng Zhilong said: "If the road is blocked, they will not be able to escape."

"Don't be careless. There will definitely be a fierce fight later. I'll leave the dock to you. I'll go to the small fishing village." Wu Kedao: "I think some important accounts can be found somewhere. I'll take people first.

Sneak in, wait until I launch the attack, and then start attacking from your side."

"Understood!" Zheng Zhilong said.

Wu Xiaoxiao said: "We have spent a lot of money this time, attacking from both land and water, leaving them with no way to go to heaven and no way to enter the earth. With an income of millions of dollars every year, these people have really dark hearts."

Zheng Zhilong smiled and said nothing. The Zheng family had done this before, so of course they knew the profits were huge. If the profits were not several times higher, who would take this risk?

In Chulan Bay, three large ships with thousands of materials are like three-headed monsters, lying quietly on the water. The lights on the ships are brightly lit, and you can clearly see that dozens of small boats are busy on the big ship.

Running between the docks, ants moved the goods down on one ship, while the other two ships were loading things up.

Although a dock has been built, large ships carrying thousands of materials are still unable to get close to each other and can only be transferred.

One advantage here is that as long as you don't climb the steep peaks on three sides, you will never discover that such a secret exists here.

The mountains here are high and the forests are dense. Who would climb to the top of the mountain without any trouble?

If there is a person who really wants to go up there to enjoy the sea view, he will most likely be killed by a checkpoint arranged in advance, and then his body will be destroyed and no trace will be left, and the person will disappear from the world.

Even such a base is not used all the time. Once there is any disturbance, it will be abandoned immediately. Anyway, the coastline is so long, it is not difficult to find a hidden place.

They have only used Chulan Bay for less than a year.

In the middle of the small fishing village, in an ordinary-looking thatched house, two people were sitting opposite each other, toasting to drink.

The cold wind was biting, and even if a brazier was lit in the house, it would not add much warmth to the house.

These two people are both famous and important people outside.

One is Yao Song, the master of He Mingyi, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and the other, with a greater background, is a member of Si Junchao's family who is currently assisting Si Junchao. His surname is Si Mingyi, and he is Si Junchao's cousin who has not yet entered the fifth server.

"Speaking of which, this cotton is really good!" Yao Song wrapped the cotton robe tightly around him, "It's much warmer than fur when you wear it! It's just that the price is too expensive. I heard that the imperial court is preparing to select some.

Large-scale cultivation in local areas. Nowadays, cotton underwear is all the rage in Jiangning."

"Anyway, it's impossible to plant it on a large scale in the south of our Yangtze River!" the host laughed and said: "If there is a place, we would rather grow mulberry, raise silkworms, spin yarn and weave silk. I'm afraid it's not that easy to grow. I guess it will be available by then.

It must be Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan and other places that will support the chief minister's stinky feet!"

"If it really takes off, it will be a good business at the current price."

"With large-scale planting, it is impossible to maintain the current price." The host said: "Besides, now our silk can be used as money. This cotton is really grown, will it write off our share of silk? Everyone

Since everyone is wearing cotton, won’t the price of our silk be going down?”

"So, Cisuke doesn't support it anymore?"

"Of course!" the host said matter-of-factly. "Xiao Erlang has a lot of tricks. When the supply of cotton was temporarily unavailable, he actually asked that sycophant Li Ge to set up a workshop to raise chickens and ducks on a large scale. Those

Chickens and ducks are really pitiful. They are fixed in small cells and eat and sleep."

"I've heard of this too. It's said that it kills two birds with one stone. Chicken and duck meat can be made into jerky and dry food. It can also be put into the market to stabilize the meat price. Even the feathers of chicken and duck are used to make winter clothes.

?”

"Exactly! Xiao Erlang also gave it a name for the down jacket, saying it is light and warm. The first batch has come out this year, and Xiao Erlang even wore one himself to spread the word, but according to his brother,

It smells like chicken, duck feces and urine, it’s terrible, it’s terrible!”

Both of them burst out laughing, raised their glasses, clinked their glasses, and drank it all, appearing to be overjoyed.

"Anyway, Xiao Erlang is always doing things, but without the support of my brothers and the others, he can't accomplish anything." The master of ceremonies said proudly.

"But this time, the war he planned was a complete victory. With this plan, Cifu was originally opposed to the imperial court rashly starting a war. Now that he has won, Cifu will inevitably become very passive." Yao Song frowned.

"So, Yu Teng, this unlucky guy, has to die!" The master of ceremonies shook his head and said: "Yu Teng was too careless. The evidence was taken so hard that my brother couldn't save him even if he wanted to, so he had to throw him out.

Go, the position of Jiangning magistrate was taken away by Na Tian Chou."

"Will Xiao Erlang be satisfied?"

"What else does he want?" the host sneered.

"My governor said that we have to be more careful next time." Yao Song said: "I heard that a lot of the silk we went out this time was inferior quality products that were exchanged for high-quality products that the state government will hand over to the court. Is there really nothing going on?"

"This is the last trip of the year, and of course we have to make a big deal!" said the master of ceremonies: "And the household department is in our hands, and everything has been arranged from top to bottom. Governor He can rest assured."

"That's good!" Yao Song nodded, "Governor He just thinks that with Xiao Erlang's domineering attitude, this time he only wanted a position as the prefect of Jiangning despite the momentum of a great victory. His appetite seems a bit too small and does not suit this person.

I always want to take advantage of my situation, brother, you have to remind me to be careful."

"Don't worry!" The master of ceremonies waved his hand and said: "Don't look at Xiao Erlang looking like flowers and brocades now. He is just relying on having an army in his hands. But an army still needs food, drink, salary, pensions, rewards, and money.

Where does it come from? Xiao Erlang wants to do this and that, so where does the money come from? From Guizhou Road, Yunnan Road or Guangdong and Guangxi?"

Yao Song couldn't help laughing: "These places send troops, but if they have to pay, it will inevitably make things difficult for them. It is already quite good if it can not hold back and make the rule stable. Most of the expenses of the imperial court
To be continued...