After the Zheng family and his son met, Zhao Xin made an excuse to leave, leaving the father and son and his subordinates to chat alone in the conference room on the second floor. Unexpectedly, when he walked to the main deck, he found the shrimp ball boy waiting there.
Zhao Xin walked under the awning, waved to Shrimp Ball Boy, and asked his "follower" A Miao to bring two glasses of juice.
"Shrimp ball boy, how old are you this year?"
"Sir, I'm sixteen this year." Shrimp Ball Boy sat down next to the chair in fear.
"Who else is at home?"
"Grandpa, grandma, dad, mom, two younger brothers, and three younger sisters."
What a guy! There are quite a lot of people here.
"Is your father working with Gang Leader Zheng?"
Shrimp Ball Boy nodded, took the cup handed over by A Miao, took a cautious sip, his eyes suddenly lit up, and then he drank half of the cup with a tilt of his neck.
"Haha, drink more if you like." Zhao Xin asked A Miao to pour another glass and bring some snacks. He continued to ask the shrimp balls: "Are you usually full?"
"Sir, what you said is that if you can have enough to eat, who would want to do this business?" Shrimp Ball Boy wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve nonchalantly, and said with a smile, "That's how the Dan family live."
Zhao Xin's heart moved and he said with a smile: "What does your father do?"
"I followed Brother Chang in the foreign trade for the first few years, and then I injured my leg, so I helped repair the boat." Seeing Zhao Xin's kind words, Shrimp Ball Boy relaxed a little. He turned his head and looked at the Thor, and said to Zhao Xin:
"Sir, your ship is made of iron from the inside out?"
"Yes. I have two boats like this, and the other one is several times bigger than this one."
"What?!" Shrimp Ball Boy jumped up from his chair when he heard this, and said loudly: "It's several times bigger than this boat?! That's not as big as Tanzi Mountain!"
Zhao Xin turned to look at the mountain peaks in the distance, shook his head and said, "It's longer than Tanzi Mountain."
"Mom! Master, are you a god?"
"Hahaha!" Zhao Xin said with a smile: "Shrimp ball boy, come with me to the north. In a few years, you may be able to drive such a big boat."
"Me? Master, you say I can do it too!" Shrimp Ball Boy was a little excited and giggled twice, but then his face dropped again. "But I can't leave. My family is pointing out that I am working with Brother No. 1 to earn money to support the family.
.”
"Bring them all with you. I have plenty of land and food over there. No one will be hungry."
Shrimp Ball Boy lowered his head and sat back on the chair, and whispered: "I, I have to listen to Brother Chang and Brother Yi. But, sir, you are a good man."
Zhao Xin lit a cigarette for himself and pushed the cream cake brought by A Miao to the shrimp ball boy: "Eat something. Whether you can come with me or not, just say this to you, I will treat you to a snack
.”
In the conference room on the Thor, Zheng Yizheng argued with his father.
"Abba, listen to me. These people are not mortals. The officers, soldiers and Westerners don't dare to let out a fart in front of them. They don't even dare to board the ship for inspection. Xiaoqi and I both saw it with our own eyes!"
"No! You are the eldest son of the Zheng family, and you have to inherit this family business. It's more than six thousand miles away! Isn't it a long way to the end of the world! After walking so far, your mother is not anxious to die! Besides,
What should we do about the marriage of the Xu family?" Zheng Lianchang slapped his hand on the conference table, firmly disagreeing with Zheng Yi's idea.
"Yes, Ah Yi, just listen to Brother Chang." One of Zheng Lianchang's men, a strong man in his forties, advised him.
"Brother Hai, why don't you understand?! We, the Dan family, can't live our whole lives as pirates and never make it to shore, right? There are so many brothers in the Red Gang, how many of them can read like my mother-in-law every day? But even my mother-in-law can do that.
Those who are eager to learn are destined to be pirates!"
When Zheng Lianchang heard this, he was furious: "Fart! Why did I send you to study in the first place? Guo Po is eager to learn, but if you hadn't robbed his whole family, why would he have a good life with you?"
Pirates?"
Zheng Yi couldn't help but blush after hearing this. That Guo Po is only sixteen years old this year. When his family went fishing last year, Zheng Yi robbed the boat and everyone, and forced them to become pirates; Guo Po's
The family had no choice but to become a pirate from a thief. However, because he loved reading since childhood, he was considered the most knowledgeable among the entire Red Gang.
At this time, another person behind Zheng Lianchang said: "Brother Chang, do you want to ask more about the details of Captain Zhao? He is so generous, spending more than five thousand taels of silver in one move, just to recruit a few brothers from the Dan family?"
Five thousand five hundred taels of silver, this is a lot of money. It is absolutely impossible to say that Zheng Lianchang is not moved. There are dozens of people, including family members, the total is only two to three hundred people. People are worthless these days.
, but the question is how much trouble there will be if he takes this money. This is what he is really worried about.
Several people discussed it for an hour, but there was still no good solution. The key to this matter was that they knew nothing about Zhao Xin. As Zheng Yi said, driving such a strange big ship would be like killing Westerners.
The government dare not mess with melons and vegetables, but they are polite to people like me. Why?
Without clarifying this issue, Zheng Lianchang would not dare to agree to Zhao Xin's conditions. If someone named Zhao, like the Portuguese, transported the Dan family to Nanyang and sold them as livestock, the reputation of the Red Flag Gang would be ruined!
"Captain Zhao, I, Zheng Yi, beg you to tell the truth. Who are you? Why don't people from the coastal defense department even dare to board the ship?"
More than an hour later, Zheng Lianchang and others saw Zhao Xin again. Zheng Yi ignored his father's obstruction and asked directly. Seeing his son being so stubborn, Zheng Lianchang's face turned red with anger, and he thought to himself, "You silly boy, why should I do this?"
Want you to tell the truth?!
"Gang Leader Zheng, I know that during the Nanming Dynasty, your Zheng family was headed by the King of Tang, right?" Zhao Xin also understood that he wanted to trick people into following him northward with just a few words. Why? With just a few thousand taels of silver?
What?
"It's true." Zheng Lianchang nodded solemnly.
"Then have you heard of King Zhao?"
Zheng Lianchang raised his head and thought about it, but he seemed to have no memory. In those days, there was a king here and a king there, and each had his own master in troubled times. Who could remember so many things?
"Well. Have you heard about the defeat of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty outside the Pass two years ago and last year?"
Of course Zheng Lianchang had heard about it, and he had just heard about it not long ago. There is no airtight wall in this world. Although the Qing court tried its best to conceal it, the news of the defeat of Fukang'an and Agui spread to Guangzhou last year.
It is said that when Fukang'an was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, with the temper of that uncle, he would definitely make enemies. At that time, Fukang'an's holy love was strong, and no one dared to disobey. But now that he has been defeated, he thinks about his mistakes at home, and the officials in Guangdong can't do anything to add insult to injury.
But the rumors still spread.
Zheng Lianchang had a hobby and often went to and from fireworks places. At this time, the most famous boat outside Guangzhou was the Yangbang prostitute boat from Jinghai Gate to Youlan Gate, which was euphemistically called the flower boat. Zheng Lianchang had a good friend there,
I went there once a few days ago. In this kind of place, officials and businessmen are mixed, and as long as you have money, you are the boss; so he also heard some news from the court and officialdom.
"You mean?" Zheng Lianchang looked at Zhao Xin with surprise on his face.
"That's right. So you know why the government is afraid of me?" As soon as Zhao Xin said this, the expressions of Zheng Lianchang and his son, including several of their subordinates, changed drastically.
The guy from Shrimp Ball Tsai was a straight man. Zhao Xin spoke politely to him, and the food and drinks were delicious, and he got a lot of things out of him during the conversation. According to Shrimp Ball Tsai, Zheng Lianchang’s father was the founder of the Zheng family in Xiangshan.
The descendant Zheng Jian was deeply influenced by Zheng Chenggong. At that time, Zheng Jian left a family motto: descendants must not help foreign enemies, must support the rebellion against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, and must not harm innocent people. The implication is that the Zheng family is the "robbers" of this sea.
Zhao Xin was dismissive of this. Such rhetoric has always been meant for outsiders. In fact, if the Zheng family really supported the anti-Qing and restoration of the Ming Dynasty, why didn't they take any action during the Taiwan Tiandihui uprising in history?
In Zhao Xin's view, the Guangdong pirates are not fighting for the poor and social justice at all. They are just a group of predators with dreams of getting rich and class transformation. Like Zheng Lianchang's red gang collecting tolls at Lei Yue Gate
, is a typical bandit style.
In the history of another time and space, the pirates at the Pearl River Estuary were most rampant during the Jiaqing period. When the government's maritime ban policy was effective and pirates could not gain a foothold, these people would plunder villages along the inland rivers, murder and arson, and commit all kinds of evil; they even dug graves and took out
Coffin blackmails victim.
In the 14th year of Jiaqing, Zheng Yi's successor Zhang Baozai led the Red Flag Gang and Guo Podai's Black Flag Gang, and they split up to attack and kill along the inland waterways several times. The "scholar" Guo Podai led the Black Flag Gang to separate for more than a month.
During the operation, a total of about 10,000 civilians, village warriors and soldiers were killed. After these people looted the village and set it on fire, they also hung the heads of more than 80 slain villagers on the big banyan tree at the head of the village.
What kind of thieves would do this?!
At this time, Zheng Lianchang was heard saying: "Captain Zhao, we have to think about this matter again, please give me a few days."
Zhao Xin knew that to deal with these people, both carrots and sticks were indispensable. What Zheng Lianchang lacked now was a stick! He turned his head and whispered a few words to a soldier behind him. The soldier nodded in understanding, turned around and went out.
"Gang Leader Zheng, I have already stated the conditions. Send the person I want, and the money will be yours. If you don't agree, you will stop hanging out in Lei Yue Mun in the future."
"Bang!" Zheng Lianchang slapped his hand on the table. He was so angry at Zhao Xin's domineering attitude. He said to Zhao Xin with an angry face: "Zhao, do you still follow the rules of the world?! Don't think you caught us.
I am afraid of you if you have more than 20 brothers! The Hongqi Gang has hundreds of ships, and thousands of brothers are not just for a living!"
"Haha, I'm so scared!" Zhao Xin rubbed his head twice, lit a cigarette and then said: "With those shabby wooden boats of yours, it's okay to just bully the people. The Marquis of the Qing Dynasty, Lieutenant General
, I have killed more than a dozen of the generals, and the bodies of tens of thousands of Qing troops we have beaten are scattered all over the field. I even captured Fukang'an! I respect your father as a subordinate of the surnamed master, so I am polite to you.
"
"What, you don't believe what I say?" Seeing Zheng Lianchang and others looking at each other angrily, Zhao Xin put out the cigarette he had taken two puffs on, walked to the window, and looked at the dozens of red flags parked not far away.
To help the ship, he took out the walkie-talkie and pressed the switch.
"Fire!"
At the same time, thousands of miles away in the Quanzhou Guild Hall in Zhapu, Zhejiang, Shen Jingdan, wearing a long green cloth gown, was sitting in the flower hall talking to a thin wealthy businessman. Below the two of them, there was a man in shorts. of middle-aged people.
"Lao Wu, this is Master Shen." The wealthy businessman introduced Shen Jingdan to the middle-aged man. "Master Shen is a good friend I met in Nagasaki. He has something urgent to go to Quanzhou this time. You are sailing early the day after tomorrow. Bar? "
"Yes." The middle-aged man known as "Lao Wu" was the head of the ship, and the wealthy businessman purchased the lucky ship. After hearing this, he quickly saluted Shen Jingdan, and Shen Jingdan also bowed politely. Handed over.
The bow of the boat said: "I wonder how many people are there in Mr. Shen and his entourage?"
Shen Jingdan said: "Twenty-seven people."
"So many?" The bowman was startled.
The wealthy businessman explained: "Mr. Shen is in a hurry to go to Guangzhou to pick up a batch of goods this time, so the trip is a bit hasty. You don't have to worry, Old Five."
"I see, then I'll let my men free up more places to live."
Shen Jingdan cupped his hands and said, "Thank you. Although Mr. Mei and I are friends, this time it's really bothering me, so I've prepared some tea money here to show my appreciation." After saying that, he handed over an envelope.
When he opened the bow of the boat, he saw that it was a two hundred tael silver note issued by a local bank in Zhapu and was cashable on sight. He immediately beamed and even said that they were all members of the same family, so there was no need to be so polite. All that needed to be said had been said. After that, the bow of the ship immediately saluted and said goodbye. Before leaving, he said to Shen Jingdan: "Mr. Shen, the day after tomorrow we will start sailing at Yin Zheng early in the morning and set sail at the beginning of Mao. Don't be too late."
The "needle to the sea" mentioned in the bow of the ship refers to the sacrificial ceremony that must be held before sailing. The blessings in the sacrificial ceremony must be reported to various gods, ranging from Xuanyuan Huangdi to the little gods guarding the compass. All ten people must be mentioned, and they must also explain where the ship comes from, what time it departs, who is the crew, who are the passengers, etc., so that good winds and water will arrive in an instant and the journey will be safe.
The reason why Shen Jingdan and his party docked in Zhapu, Zhejiang is because the people under Lu Shoushan were not familiar with the shipping routes. These days, the needle maps are treasures for the bows of ships in various places. Everyone is in charge of the north and south shipping routes, and no one will take it easy. Rumor has it that the Caobang boatmen under Lu Shoushan were familiar with the northern Jiangsu route and the route to Jeju Island, but they had no idea about the route south of the Yangtze River. If they dared to sail the boat all the way to Zhapu, they would already be running the risk of hitting the rocks and sinking the ship. .
As a businessman who has been engaged in maritime trade for a long time, Shen Jingdan knew this very well, so after arriving at Zhapu, he decided to change ships. It is said that if he went ashore and took the land route, it would cost a thousand yuan just to take the post road in Fujian Province. Moreover, there are many mountainous roads in Fujian, and it is not possible to travel quickly on horseback. What they can do now is to change boats to Quanzhou, and then take a boat from Quanzhou to Guangzhou. If everything goes well, including waiting on the way, it will take more than ten days to arrive. We can go to Guangzhou.
After Shen Jingdan finished talking, he returned to the inn from the Quanzhou Guild Hall and informed Lu Shoushan and others.
In the inn, Shen Xuan, who had just taken off her male disguise, was accompanied by Chen Jishan's sister Chen Erya, who looked worried. After Chen Erya took off her clothes, her face was also sallow. The boat trip could give her a While the two were talking, Shen Jingdan knocked on the door and came in, saying to Shen Xuan: "The boat has been found and will set off early the next morning. You can relax. He has calmly weathered strong winds and waves before. This time Nothing will happen this time."
Shen Xuan said: "Dad, I'm always in a state of anxiety and can't rest for a moment. Something must have happened to him."
Shen Jingdan coughed, and Shen Xuan understood and said to Chen Erya: "Sister, go and rest yourself. Since we are leaving the day after, you should rest for two days and recuperate."
Chen Erya was still feeling seasick, so she said, "Then I'll go back to the house and smoke a cigarette. If you need anything, just call me."
In this era, most of the qualified young women smoked, mainly to relieve their boredom. Originally, Shen Xuan also smoked, but Zhao Xin didn't like it, so she stopped smoking.
After Chen Erya went out, Shen Jingdan closed the door and asked Shen Xuan in a low voice: "Has there been any change in that jade in the past few days?"
Shen Xuan didn't speak, just shook her head.
Shen Jingdan stroked his forehead and said slowly: "I am very tired from traveling thousands of miles all the way. You should rest early. I hope he will be a good person."
Ancient navigation routes were all managed separately. Generally, no one would drive a sea ship from the north to the South China Sea. For example, Shen Jingdan and his friends had to take three ships on their journey. From northern Jiangsu to Zhapu, from Zhapu to Quanzhou, and from Quanzhou to Quanzhou. Near Guangzhou, each has its own pin map, which is a secret that is not passed down from the bows of various places. The details include which time to go, high tide or low tide, where are the rocks, small islands, etc. In addition, domestic sea-going ships were not allowed in the early and mid-Qing Dynasty. Those transporting goods to Guangzhou must take land routes to prevent smuggling.