However, the risk is still worth taking! When Lin Baiguang came to Nanri, he took the overseas route, and the one-way trip took more than six days. In ancient times, there were no telegraphs and telephones for instant communication. As soon as the fleet set off from Nanri, Zhu Cailao
All we could do was wait, and it would take at least fifteen days before we realized something was wrong.
Even if he found that the situation was wrong, he didn't know what the problem was: whether the ship was in danger and sank on the way, was robbed, or lost its way... The uncertainties of navigation made it difficult for him to make up his mind to deal with himself for a while. Lin Baiguang estimated that from then on,
Once the fleet sets sail, he will be safe for at least fifteen days.
Fifteen days can do a lot of things. Fifteen days are enough for Zhu Cai Lao to run out of food and be forced to launch an attack.
Thinking of this, he began to write this letter.
The content of the letter was very simple. It was nothing more than informing the executive committee of the agreement reached and writing down the conditions and requirements of both parties. At the same time, he informed Lingao that Mr. Zhu Cai would immediately use the loan to buy grain and ask for the grain to be sold as soon as the ship arrived.
The letter was written in a straightforward manner without any code words. In order to win the trust of Mr. Zhu Cai - he must have carefully checked it before letting the messenger take it away. Therefore, Lin Baiguang did not use any secret writing or code. He did not know the ancients'
How high is the steganography level? As for the password, although the other party may not be able to crack it, they will naturally be suspicious if they see it.
He believed that Ran Yao and others had enough wisdom to understand the meaning he conveyed in the letter. After writing, he dried the ink and put it in an envelope without writing any inscription. He handed it to the little pirate outside and asked him to hand it over to Lin.
High messenger.
If Zhu Cai Lao wants to study it, let him do it, Lin Baiguang smiled secretly in his heart.
At noon, Shi Shisi brought someone to deliver the meal. The meal was still as delicious as before. Lin Baiguang could not believe that this was food for an army that was about to run out of food: there were still four dishes: burnt cow scalp, boiled duck tongue,
Agarwood in clear soup and steamed abalone. Except for the seasoning, these dishes are slightly different from modern ones. Even if they are served in large modern restaurants, they will still be the same.
"It would be too wasteful for me to have such a good banquet by myself. There are food and wine, so why not drink with Brother Shi?"
"Okay," Shi Shishi was not a coy person, not to mention that this kind of food was almost completely unavailable on Nanri Island recently. Although he, a middle-level leader, had plenty of food, he was not so particular after all.
"I'm going to get some jars of good wine right now." Shi Shishi said and was about to go outside.
"Since we are drinking, it would be better if there are more people."
"Of course that's good, but -" He stared at the food and wine on the table with a hesitant look on his face.
Lin Baiguang smiled and said: "Nothing, Nanri Island is surrounded by sea, is it possible that we can't catch a few nets of fish and shrimps?" He took out a small piece of silver from his waist, there were always two taels, "Brother Shi, take it."
Go shopping and find a cook to cook it - I think the cook here is very skilled."
"Where do you need so many?" Shi Shishi refused to accept his money, "Just ask the boys to catch fish and shrimps. They are all from fishermen, so it's not easy to catch them. As for the cook, five cents is enough.
- I can afford it! I can’t hire a cook for the bosses, but I can still hire someone from the small kitchen.”
Shi Shishi refused to take the money and went to mind his own business. Lin Baiguang took matters into his own hands, opened the table with gestures, and took out dried meat, preserved fruits and other dry food suitable for drinking from his luggage.
About half an hour after arriving, Shi Shisi came with someone and added seven or eight dishes to the table, all of which were seafood. They were nothing more than razor clams, oysters, prawns, sea vegetables and the like, which are the most common on this island.
But the food.
"There are only these seafoods..." Shi Shishiyou wrote and rubbed his hands in embarrassment, "There is no place to look for a few eggs."
“Already very rich!”
"I've invited a few friends I've made in the past, and they also want to meet your brother!" Shi Shishi squinted his eyes and smiled, "Everyone wants to go to Lingao to eat Australian meat." He said.
Laughing loudly.
Lin Baiguang smiled and said: "What's so difficult about this? Wait until the matter here is settled. Come here, everything will be done by brothers!"
While they were talking, four or five more people came in one after another, all different in height, fat and thin. Shi Shishi introduced them one by one. They were all "shopkeepers" of each unit, as well as small bosses in Zhucai Lao Zhongjun. Everyone had met Li each
Take a seat.
Shi Shisi asked someone to bring in several jars of wine.
"This is the real Lanling wine I got from a ship a few years ago." Shi Shishi was so excited that he smashed the mud seal, lifted it up and poured wine for everyone one by one.
After some persuasion and three rounds of drinks, everyone started chatting and chatting, just talking about some new things about the Australians in Lingao. As expected, these people were extremely interested in the AV that Shi Shishi watched in Lingao.
Lin Baiguang learned from their mouths that Mr. Zhu Cai had long been interested in the Crossing Group. When Goujiazhuang was annihilated, Mr. Zhu Cai once thought of sending his entire army to Lingao, but he was only interested in the "giant ship" of the Crossing Group.
He didn't take action out of fear, and instead sent Shi Shishi to go "fishing". Later, Zhu Cailao got into a melee with Liu Xiang, and he didn't care.
It was really dangerous! Lin Baiguang wanted the iron ships that were not his own to have enough deterrence. Coupled with the chaos on the southeast coast, if Mr. Zhu Cai really launched an entire army to attack, the crossing group, which was not yet stable at the time, would not be able to
The group was destroyed, but heavy losses were inevitable.
After drinking too much, I started talking nonsense.
"It's true that there are people in the court who like to be officials." Shi Shishi showed an indignant look on his face.
"Oh? Has anyone offended Brother Shi?"
"Humph, originally I was the one to go to Lingao to buy food. I've already gone there twice, and I'm familiar with the road. I also know the rules there. I have to change the second-rate He Xin! It's not because he is
The cousin of the little wife of the shopkeeper’s brother-in-law!”
Lin Baiguang was confused about this complicated relationship for a while, but he understood the meaning. The "good job" of going to Lingao to buy goods was snatched away by someone using his connections.
"Forget it, I have a backer, but who can match our hard-earned background?"
"Mom! If I had known that, I wouldn't have talked about what happened in Lingao! Or just say hell on earth and wouldn't have robbed me." Apparently, Shi Shishi was still thinking about all the "adventures" he had in Lingao.
From his mouth, Lin Baiguang knew that the ships going to Lingao were twelve large ships under the direct control of Zhucai Lao. The smallest one had five or six hundred materials, and the largest one had two thousand materials - these Zhucai always went to Lingao."
Eat the big ones" ah.
"Brother Shi, don't worry about it. There will be many opportunities to go to Lingao in the future."
"He Xin, this little bastard, is just a relative. If he doesn't go to war, the good thing is for him to get involved. These royal relatives who rely on women to sell their sex are not good things!"
"Forget it, this world is not like this." A leader named Lin Dan drank a bowl, "We are drinking and eating meat here, and the kids below are drinking salt water with fish bones. Do you think they are them?"
willing?"
"We drink and eat meat here with swords and guns, just like you," Shi Shishi pointed at a fat man next to him, "Old Hu built the ship with his own money, and the whole family came to invest. They all have capital.
What kind of money does He Xin have, relying on women's stuff?"
Everyone laughed wildly, and then someone laughed: "Maybe a person's 'capital' is that much longer than yours..."
Lin Baiguang found that the topic of "sex" always aroused heated discussions among everyone.
Shi Shishi was indignant and poured out the many grievances in his heart: "We work hard in the war, but they are the first to share the money..."
"Brother Shi, be careful what you say! Be careful what you say!" Lin Baiguang liked this reaction very much, but what happened to Xiao Shu yesterday made him wary - who knows if Shi Shishi was deliberately being pretentious? Even if not, inside and outside the tent,
There might be a few spies paying attention to his every move.
Shi Shishi was still drunk and wanted to curse, but when someone stopped him, the fat man surnamed Hu drank a bowl of wine and sighed: "Our gang is getting worse every year. Think about the two fleets in the north and south,
Traveling across Fujian and Guangdong, the scenery is so majestic! Now we are forced to live on this small island, and we are still in a dilemma!"
"After all, it's Zheng Zhilong, the rebellious guy, who broke the rules! If I want to catch him, I have to cut him into pieces and feed him to the dogs!"
"Hmph, you think Li Kuiqi doesn't want to do it, and the big shopkeeper doesn't want to do it? But now he is a guerrilla, an official of the imperial court."
"What's the point of guerrillas? I've beaten officials and generals to death, so I'm afraid they'll rebel."
"He has many men and ships," Lin Dan said, "and he also has a lot of money." He said strangely, "I didn't understand that when Li Kuiqi broke up with him last year, didn't most of his men, horses and ships go to Li Kuiqi?
Have you left? How come it has become so powerful in less than a year?"
"The imperial court supports him. I heard that Governor Xiong Wencan bought him cannons and built ships, which greatly increased his strength."
"Xiong Wenhuan, an old guy, wants to kill people with a borrowed knife."
"Isn't Zheng Zhilong the same thing? He just wants to use the power of the government to kill everyone like us. From now on, he will do all the business on the sea." Lin Dan sighed, "The big shopkeeper is not his opponent.
.”
Fatty Hu said: "Come on, let's have a drink. Anyway, I'm getting along for now. If things really get worse, I'll raise the sail and run away with the whole family. At worst, I'll go to Nanyang to find a way to survive."
Everyone was silent for a while, feeling that their future was in doubt. At this time, someone whispered: "Have you heard? Black Flag's fourth son is going to run away."
"Which one is right?" Everyone was surprised. The fourth person in Black Flag is not an ordinary shopkeeper, but the backbone of a big gang. If he wants to run away, isn't it a sign that the tree is about to fall?
"It looks like everyone has gone back to the boat. No one is on the shore."
"If it really doesn't work anymore, I'll just run away. It's a good life!"
"Everyone, please go to Lingao when the time comes." Shi Shishi suddenly said this. Lin Baiguang was shocked. In his opinion, these words were too straightforward and had the meaning of tempting him to be deceived.
"Yes, after hearing you speak so well about Lingao, I also want to go." Someone responded.
"You have to be our introducer then." Fatty Hu said with a sincere face.
"I can't say it, I can't say it." Lin Baiguang responded carefully, "The situation of the big shopkeeper has not reached this point yet. Everyone can rest assured that as long as we deal with it in the past few months, maybe the situation will get better - the big shopkeeper
Haven't we already sent a ship to Lingao to transport grain and gunpowder? If it were unfortunate that everyone would be displaced, there would always be something for everyone to eat when they come to Lingao." He smiled, "But for now, everyone has to work together to tide over the difficulties.
Yes. If the big tree is really going to fall, it’s not a good thing for monkeys like us."
"Shopkeeper Lin is right," Lin Dan said, "It's better to be experienced than to be a stranger. Maybe in a few days, it will be time to change things."
"I'm afraid if we work together, those who usually eat the most fruit will want to fall off the tree."
Xu Cheng, who had been silent until now, spoke up. His face had turned red and he seemed to have been holding it in for a long time. He was a small leader of the Chinese army. It turned out that he kept his head down and drank without saying a word.
"You probably don't know," Xu Cheng said loudly, "the fourth wife's brother has recently sent several boatloads of things out, and I don't know where they were sent... and the brother of the second shopkeeper Wang is also missing...
There are many fewer soft iron boxes that were originally stored in the old camp!"
Xu Cheng lowered his head and stammered: "I have seen through it all. Brotherly loyalty and moral justice are all bullshit. Money is real. I have been following the big boss for more than ten years, and I can't even take the lead when it comes to playing with women."
The team is all the remnants of the family - but their relatives, sects, and slaves have become leaders one by one, and women and goods are shipped home one by one!"
"You drank too much, stop drinking." Several people's expressions became unnatural, and they quickly supported him to stop him from talking nonsense. Shi Shishi quickly went outside the tent to take a look, and saw that there were only a few confidants he had brought with him outside.
I felt a little relieved when I was on guard duty.
"Look carefully, someone is here to send a message!" After saying that, he went back into the tent, where several people had already stuffed food into Xu Chengyi's mouth.
"Well, Brother Xu made a mistake while drunk, made a mistake..."
"It's okay, it's okay, I didn't hear anything." Lin Baiguang smiled knowingly.
It seems that people here in Zhucai Lao have become greatly unstable. Vested interest groups are stealing crazily and are ready to leave this sinking ship at any time - this is also the inevitable result of this type of traditional family-style feudal enterprise group.
"Ahem, now, alas, it's true." Shi Shishi didn't know how to word it.
"It's okay, let's continue drinking. Just talk about romance, just talk about romance."
It has been twelve days since the fleet that Zhu Cai Lao sent to Lingao left Nanri Island.
These days, Mr. Zhu Cai no longer summons him. In his opinion, Lin Baiguang's usefulness as a messenger has ended. He is now nothing more than a collateral.
Under Shi Shishi's introduction, Lin Baiguang became familiar with many leaders in the fleet. In addition to drinking every day, he also gambled - he brought a lot of money with him to fund activities. Lin Baiguang used the playing cards he brought to teach everyone how to gamble.
Blackjack, this novel card game immediately became a popular gambling game because of its simplicity and excitement.
Because gambling was not convenient in Zhongjun Village, he would go to Shi Shishi's camp every day, drink, gamble, and watch the little pirates boxing and wrestling.
Xiaoshu was still sent to his tent to serve him every night. Lin Baiguang naturally would not be pretentious, and would change his tricks every night, and his screams could be heard for miles.
Gambling, playing with women and drinking together, everyone just thinks that Lin Baiguang is a sensual person, and will not associate his frequent drinking with the bosses with other things. This is also a trick for him to protect himself.
However, he strictly adheres to this point and never shows even the slightest hint of solicitation in any place. However, many people ask him about Lingao's situation and strength. At this time, there are already people who are hopeless for the future. Taking advantage of the night
A small group escaped from the group with the ship.
It seems that when there is chaos, as long as he grasps the situation in time and pulls away hundreds of ships, there will be no problem. Lin Baiguang made a calculation.
However, in history, Zheng Zhilong and the Ming army's fleet pursued them straight to Nanri Island, and defeated Zhu Cai Lao there. How he could save his life in the melee was still a question - if he died on Nanri Island,
Isn’t it wrong to be among the rebels?
He thought about this every night. He was alone and unarmed, how could he deal with it? He thought that he could only get to Shi Shishi's boat before then. Shi Shishi, an old sea dog, always had the ability to escape.
But another threat began to slowly come to him. The fleet going to Lingao did not return on time as he expected. After waiting for a few days, Zhu Cailao became restless, but he didn't know what the problem was.
. He began to be suspicious of Lin Baiguang's purpose, but he heard that he drank and gambled all day long, and played with women very vigorously at night. He didn't seem to have any evil intentions.
"Damn it, what the hell is going on!"
Suddenly, Lin Baiguang could no longer leave the Zhongjun camp. Although food and women continued to be provided, and Shi Shishi often visited him, he was effectively under house arrest. This was the first sign of danger. Lin Baiguang knew what was going to happen.
Just these few days.
Zhu Cai has been waiting for a long time for food and wages, and he will definitely follow the historical practice and launch an entire army to attack Min'an - this is foreseeable.
What is unforeseeable is what attitude he will have towards the long absence of the grain-buying fleet. Will he just cut him off before setting off to fight?
Lin Baiguang had no choice but to wait resignedly. He felt that the problem was not big.
On the evening of the thirteenth day, Mr. Zhu Cai and the main leaders were discussing matters in the central military tent. At this time, they heard the sound of a clapper and couldn't help but be startled.
"What happened?!" he asked sharply. It wasn't the sound of enemy cannons, but the banging of the clapper meant that an emergency incident had occurred.
Not long after, someone came to report that another group of ships had left the group.
"It's Black Flag's ship!"
The leaders suddenly became commotion. This Black Flag Lao Si was not a small gang, but a medium-sized gangster with six large ships and twenty small boats. He had been under Zhu Cai Lao's flag for more than ten years. He suddenly weighed anchor and left. It was obviously against his will.
I have lost confidence in my future.
"Big shopkeeper! I'm going to chase him back right away!"
"Forget it! You can't stay when someone leaves." Elder Zhu Cai's face turned livid. "We are all brothers. If you try to stop him, there will be a sword fight. Let outsiders see the joke. Let him go, and we will keep him in the future.