Zhu Yuanzhang officially settled in the Hongqi Gang with 500 people on his side.
Because he brought two British warships and five hundred elites, and gained a reputation in Humen Town, he immediately took the third position in the Red Flag Gang.
Became the third in charge.
In front of him, in addition to the holy aunt Zheng Yisao, there was also a scholar in his forties, nicknamed Mr. Iron Pen Liu Quan.
After Zhu Yuanzhang's investigation, it was discovered that Mr. Tiebi's main task was to manage the smuggling business of the Red Flag Gang.
He controls several trade routes from Guangzhou, Fujian, and Zhejiang to Japan, Southeast Asia, etc. He is extremely powerful.
The Hongqi Gang has been able to survive in the cracks over the years and has maintained a scale of tens of thousands. It has a lot to do with the smuggling channels he has mastered and the continuous blood transfusions he has given to the Hongqi Gang.
To be honest, Zhu Yuanzhang was very interested in the inside story of these trade routes, but he knew that as a newcomer, it was best to do a good job in his own business first and "keep to himself" a little bit.
So on the fifth day after joining the Red Flag Gang, he took his three large ships and more than 20 small boats to sea.
"I bet that our third master will return home empty-handed today!" The pirate leader under Zheng Yisao looked at Zhu Yuanzhang's fleet going away and said with a smile.
"Son of a bitch, it's like no one can tell!"
"These people are really strong, but they are all novices. There are many roads on the sea, and sometimes they will get bruised and bloody!"
"Then let's make a bet on how many of them will die today. How about that?"
"Okay, I'll bet thirty, ten taels of silver!"
"I bet forty, thirty taels!"
"I bet a hundred, five... put my wife on top!"
"Get out of here, motherfucker!"
"Do you have a wife?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's current business is road robbery.
To be honest, this is a technical job, and those who dare to sail on the sea are hard-core. As a pirate, you must have the most basic vision to understand which ones are soft persimmons that can be robbed, and which ones can be threatened and collected tolls.
There are so many tough things that you can't even touch, and you have to take a detour when you see them.
This thing is all about eyesight.
As for eyesight, it really cannot be developed without long-term training.
This is also the reason why the pirate leaders are so unfavorable to Zhu Yuanzhang.
But to be honest, Zhu Yuanzhang is really not afraid
It's not because he developed a pair of flaming eyes as soon as he joined the pirate group, but because he has a problem...
Standing behind him were not just these five hundred people, but the entire Ming Empire.
When he went to sea for the first time, in order to ensure nothing went wrong, Lao Zhu directly brought over a large group of generals from the early Ming Dynasty.
These guys were almost going crazy in Nanjing because of the break from the war in the past two years.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang had already used the history of the late Ming Dynasty to hammer it down, some nobles only stayed honest for a few years before they started to tremble again, wanting to bully the market and do evil.
Lao Zhu saw all this.
Coincidentally, we also need strong manpower here. As soon as Lao Zhu thought about it, he would bring them all over and practice again!
There are three main warships in total, the first warship is captained by Chang Yuchun, the second warship is captained by Feng Sheng, and the third warship is captained by Deng Yu.
Lords like Tang Zongsheng, Lu Zhongheng, Zhou Dexing, Hua Yunlong, Geng Bingwen, Fei Ju, and Zhao Yong could only serve as captains of small boats.
As for juniors like Mu Ying, they can only lean back and barely act as a pioneer.
Such a luxurious lineup.
It doesn't matter if you are a tough guy or a tough guy, you will turn into a soft persimmon in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, no matter who you are, you will only be kneaded.
The difference is only in the intensity.
So after returning from the sea for the first time, when many pirate leaders were waiting at the pier with smiles on their faces, ready to watch Zhu Yuanzhang, the new third master, make a joke, they found that more than 20 ships, large and small, were all fully loaded.
"What the hell...what a ghost!" The group of people looked like they were ghosts for a hundred days, with expressions of disbelief on their faces.
"Haha, we are lucky too!"
"Everyone I encounter is a weak persimmon. Today is a good start. Brothers, don't look outside. Take whatever you can find useful!"
Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at the various goods being carried out and waved his hand proudly.
"Long live the Third Master!" Many pirate leaders cheered and swarmed forward.
The word "reserved" has never been in their dictionary.
"Brother Hongwu, your method of winning people's hearts is not very clever!" Saint Aunt Zheng Yisao came over and said with a smile.
"What? Aunt Saint is afraid?" Zhu Yuanzhang argued.
"Haha, I'm afraid, brother Hongwu, you won't be so lucky next time!" Sister-in-law Zheng said noncommittally.
"Don't worry, our luck has always been very good!" Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously.
Sister-in-law Zheng laughed it off.
She thought it was Zhu Yuanzhang's joke, but she didn't expect that he was serious.
In the next two months, Zhu Yuanzhang went to sea a total of eight times, and returned with a full load each time.
Once even pulled back a boat.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's words, the opponent was a Yankee merchant ship. Not only did they not pay tolls, they even dared to shoot and resist. As a last resort, Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to kill some of the ones he really didn't like, and then pulled them back together with the ship.
Sister-in-law Zheng: "...!"
"This person is indeed someone who dares to kill the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. He is really brave and courageous!"
"Um...Brother Hongwu, you should restrain yourself a little in the future. If you offend all the surrounding forces, you will be in trouble!" Sister-in-law Zheng felt that she had to give some advice to this person to prevent him from destroying Tiandu.
Poke it open.
"Don't worry, Holy Aunt!"
"We know very well that we only charge tolls for most merchant ships, and we are also responsible for patrol protection within our jurisdiction. If we encounter other pirates, we will still protect them, not all of them will be killed." Zhu Yuanzhang laughed.
road.
Sister-in-law Zheng was silent.
He seemed to see the shadows of his husband Zheng Yi and Zhang Baozai in Zhu Yuanzhang.
"This is a person who can achieve great things!" Zheng Yisao thought to herself.
Since you know what's going on, I won't say more.
However, you should not go to sea in the near future. I will retreat for a period of time, at least seven days, and at most half a month. During this time, you stay in the gang and handle the affairs of the gang for me.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he was surprised. He had only joined the gang two months ago, and yet Zheng Yisao dared to delegate power to him like this. She was really not afraid of occupying the magpie's nest and occupying her entire Hongqi Gang!
"Okay!" Although he sighed in his heart, Zhu Yuanzhang still agreed with a smile on his face.
Managing a gang is a piece of cake for him. He can manage a large country in an orderly manner. How can this small gang of ten thousand people still be difficult for him?