Coming out of the front hall, Hua Bushi walked straight to the side courtyard, where Cao Muyun lived.
A few days ago, when the Guangdong Navy was away, Cao Muyun spent most of his time in the water village outside the bay. It was not until Shen Youlong led the navy ship to set sail that he returned to Weitian Tower.
Before Hua Bushi walked into the courtyard, Cao Muyun had already greeted him. Apparently he had been waiting in the courtyard for a long time. After the two greeted each other, Cao Muyun introduced Hua Bushi into the house.
Needless to say, this "Mr. Muyun"'s swordsmanship and martial arts skills are not inferior to those of others. They are all top choices. Moreover, he knows how to weigh the interests and harms in his behavior, knows how to adapt, and can do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. , as far as this section is concerned, it is quite similar to Hua Bushi, and only two people can become friends.
Sitting at the table in the room, Cao Muyun did not make much polite greetings, and immediately asked: "Brother Hua once promised to help my younger brother raise two million silver taels within one year to pay for the Kwantung Army of the imperial court." , now more than two months have passed, I wonder if Brother Hua can do anything."[
According to Hua Bushi's original plan, if he achieves a higher ranking in the "Purple Sky Conference", he can do ocean trading in Okura Port to earn silver. However, the "Purple Sky Conference" has not yet ended: the "Black Dragon Palace" Pirates came to besiege the island, all routes were blocked, port trade had long been suspended, and things had to be delayed.
When asked by Cao Muyun, the eldest young master did not answer, but said: "It turns out that Brother Cao has a method, and Hua Bushi is willing to hear his advice."
Cao Muyun also knew the current situation of Okura Island very well. Since he asked like this, Hua Bushi immediately guessed that he must have a solution.
Sure enough, Cao Muyun smiled slightly and said, "I do have a way, but I need Brother Hua's help to implement it."
He stood up as he spoke, took a stack of paper from the desk beside him, and handed it to Hua Bushi.
Hua Bushi took it in his hand and unfolded it on the table. He saw that the paper was two feet square, with many curved thin lines on it, all drawn with ink pens, and there were "southeast, northwestern" directions in the corners. logo.
This is a nautical chart, Hua Bushi can certainly see it, and in the middle of the chart, there is a wedge shape, which is obviously an island, with three small characters "Black Dragon Island" marked on it.
Cao Muyun said: "This chart is based on the confessions of pirates captured by navy ships in the recent battle. The 'Black Dragon Island' in the middle of the picture is the home base of the 'Black Dragon Palace' pirates."
Hua Bushi's expression changed, and he said, "Brother Cao is trying to get the idea of 'Black Dragon Palace'."
Cao Muyun said: "Yes, the pirates of the 'Black Dragon Palace' have been running rampant for many years and have done no evil. Now it is time for them to be full of evil."
The "Black Dragon Palace" is the king of pirates in the South China Sea. For many years, it has traveled across the sea and robbed many merchant ships. The wealth accumulated is probably no more than that of the pirate king Tuoba Qingtian who buried it on Whale Island in ancient times. The treasure they have is small. If we can break into their lair and seize the treasure they have looted over the years, it will certainly be easy to meet the two million silver taels urgently needed by the imperial court for military pay.
Hua Bushi could guess what Cao Muyun was thinking. He pondered for a moment and said, "Can the location of the pirate lair depicted on this chart be confirmed?"
Cao Muyun said: "I personally interrogated many pirates and they all made such confessions. This picture should not be wrong. However, there are still two things that are very difficult and difficult to solve. That's why I asked Brother Hua Come and help me make plans."
Hua Bushi said: "But I don't know which two things it is."
Cao Muyun said: "Although the Black Dragon Island in this picture is indeed a pirate lair, according to the captured pirates, most of the treasures looted from the 'Black Dragon Palace' are stored in a place called the 'Crystal Palace' It is a secret place. Where exactly this 'Crystal Palace' is located on the island, or is it somewhere else, and how to access it, all ordinary pirates know it. It is said that only the top three of the Black Dragon King and the 'Nine Dragon Sons' Know."
Hua Bushi said: "So, the three people headed by the Black Dragon King and 'Nine Dragons' are the real leaders of this group of pirates. Even if the Black Dragon Island is captured, if one of the four of them cannot be captured and asked to reveal the location of the 'Crystal Palace' , we won’t get the treasure either.”
Cao Muyun said: "That's exactly it."
During the naval battle the day before yesterday, Hua Bushi had already met Qiao Shuangchou, who ranked second among the "Nine Dragons". Although Yang Jiangyi and Sima Rulan finally won by chance together, it was not easy to capture such a master, let alone What's more, there is a Black Dragon King who is much stronger than Qiao Shuangchou.
Hua Bushi could only frown for a moment and speak in silence.[
Cao Muyun said: "This is only the first difficult thing. There is also the second difficult thing. According to the confessions of the pirates, the Dragon Palace tribe did not dispatch all the ships for the siege of the island. They had a total of nine giant ships. Only one shark ship was lost this time, and there are still eight ships left. There are also hundreds of other large and medium-sized warships such as the sea loach ship. They also have a convenient location on Heilong Island. Even if they are mobilized If all the navy ships in Guangdong go to attack the island, I'm afraid they won't have much chance of winning."
Cao Muyun paused and then said: "But I think, if we can bring together the power of the imperial navy and Okura Castle ships, there may be some hope of victory."
After hearing this, Hua Bushi understood the reason why Cao Muyun had called him today.
Cao Muyun once killed Sima Zhufeng and formed a big feud with "Wanjintang". Although Sima Rulan said that day that she would not seek revenge against Cao Muyun for the time being, and would wait until she became successful in martial arts before fighting Cao Muyun alone. A fight to the death, but if Cao Muyun now wants to persuade "Wanjintang" to send troops to attack Black Dragon Island, neither the two elders of "Wanjintang" nor Sima Rulan will give up.
The relationship between Sima Rulan and Hua Bushi is extraordinary. Of course Cao Muyun is also very aware that now, I am afraid that only the young master's intervention can promote the cooperation between the two parties.
Hua Bushi lowered his head and thought for a while, and said: "The 'Black Dragon Palace' pirates will not be reconciled to their failure in attacking Okura City this time. After they regain their strength in the future, they will probably make some moves, which will eventually be a big problem for Okura City. , Miss Lan'er is a smart and sensible person, I can probably accomplish this if I try to persuade her and Brother Cao to join forces to attack Black Dragon Island."
He stared at the chart on the table and said: "But in my opinion, even if Brother Cao mobilizes the navy ships in Guangdong and joins forces with the 'Wanjintang', it may not be that easy to capture the Black Dragon Island." ."
Cao Muyun said: "Brother Hua, why did you say this?"
Hua Bushi said: "In the battle outside the bay a few days ago, the opponent set up the 'Five Dragon Formation' and trapped all the ships in the Guangdong Navy and Okura Castle in the formation. Fortunately, Peng Sanjia's Jinyu Fortunately, Miss Lan'er and the disciples of Wanjintang fought hard and managed to destroy the first ship before breaking through the opponent's formation. This kind of luck cannot happen again. Besides, If the Black Dragon King had been on that giant shark ship that day, I am afraid that not only would we not have been able to break the formation, but all the ships of the Guangdong Navy and Okura Castle would have been engulfed in the opponent's formation."
Cao Muyun recalled the situation that day and said: "It turns out that the pirate formation was suddenly in chaos that day because the first ship was destroyed. Did Brother Hua really think that the Black Dragon King was so powerful?"
Hua Bushi said: "The person in charge on the other side's first ship that day was a Japanese warrior named Qiao Shuangchou. He was only ranked second among the 'Nine Dragon Sons'. His sword skills were already superb. If it weren't for my sister and Miss Lan'er used Shaolin's unique skills to jointly attack. Even if Brother Cao or my father took action, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to defeat this person. The Black Dragon King is the leader of the 'Black Dragon Palace', and his martial arts is probably even stronger than Qiao Shuangchou's. I think To win, I think we still have people who can do it."
Cao Muyun knew that although this "evil dog master" was skilled in martial arts, his vision was extremely high. Since he had made a Tathagata judgment, he was sure to be right.
However, he was still unwilling to do so and said: "In a sea battle, personal martial arts does not determine everything. As long as we gather enough ships, we will not be able to defeat this group of pirates."
Hua Bushi said: "What Brother Cao said is true. In a battle at sea, the strength of the ship and the power of artillery are the most important, followed by personal martial arts. However, Brother Cao has also seen the power of the 'Five Dragon Formation'. Mr. Peng Sanye used to do it that day." It has been said that in order to break the formation, one must rush into the center of the formation with a ship and sink the opponent's lead ship. Therefore, it is necessary to have ships that can compete with the giant shark ships. Now the Guangdong Navy and The total number of ships in Okura Castle is no less than that of the 'Black Dragon Palace', but none of the ships has the size and firepower to compete with the giant shark ship, so there is still no possibility of breaking the formation."
The giant shark ship is forty feet long, and the deck is four to five feet above the water. The outside of the hull is covered with iron armor, which is very solid. The sides of the ship are equipped with more than ten rows of heavy guns, at least seventy or eighty. The whole ship is simply like It's like a castle on the sea.
The navy of the Ming Dynasty also had many giant ships, but that was a long time ago. With the continuous decline of military strength, most of the giant ships that were too expensive to maintain were abandoned. Today, the three largest The mast gunboat is also much smaller than the giant shark.
And even if Cao Muyun could manage to find a ship similar in size to the giant shark from the navy, the firepower, speed, steering flexibility and solidity of the hull of those ancient warships would still be far inferior to the giant shark. ship.
You must know that the navigation industry has developed extremely fast. Shipbuilding technology has improved a lot in the past few decades. The giant shark is a later-built warship, and the artillery installed on the ship is also the latest red barbarian cannon. The ancient warships cannot match it. It's a matter of course.
Hearing Hua Bushi's words, Cao Muyun also frowned and remained silent for a while. After a while, he said: "In this way, we have to make long-term plans to defeat the pirates of the Black Dragon Palace. Already."