Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 259 Rogue?

After the Zheng family's father and son met, Zhao Xin left with an excuse and asked them to chat alone with their subordinates in the conference room on the second floor.Unexpectedly, when I walked to the main deck, I found that Shrimp Ball was actually waiting there.

Zhao Xin walked under the awning, beckoned to Shrimp Ball Boy, and asked the "follower" A Miao to bring two glasses of juice.

"Shrimp ball boy, how old are you this year?"

"Master, I'm sixteen this year." Xia Qiuzi sat next to the chair in fear.

"Who else is in the family?"

"Grandfather and grandma, father and mother, two younger brothers, and three younger sisters."

Good guy!There are really many people.

"Is your father working with Chief Zheng?"

Shrimp Ball nodded, took the cup from A Miao, took a sip carefully, his eyes lit up immediately, and then he drank most of the cup with his neck raised.

"Hehe, drink more if you like." Zhao Xin asked A Miao to pour another glass and bring some snacks.On the other hand, he continued to ask the shrimp ball boy: "Are you usually full?"

"Master, what you said is that if you can eat enough, who would want to do this business." Xia Qiuzi wiped his mouth with his sleeve indifferently, and said with a smile: "The Dan family is like this, and their lives are cheap."

Zhao Xin's heart moved, and he smiled and said, "What does your father do?"

"In the first few years, I followed Brother Chang to make foreign noodles, but later I hurt my leg, so I helped repair the boat." Xia Qiuzi felt a little relaxed when he saw Zhao Xin speaking in a friendly manner.He turned his head and looked at the Thunder God, and said to Zhao Xin: "My lord, your ship is made of iron from the inside to the outside?"

"Yes. I have two such boats, and the other one is several times bigger than this one."

"What?!" Shrimp Ball jumped up from the chair as soon as he heard it, and said loudly, "How many times bigger than this boat?! It's not as big as Tanzai Mountain!"

Zhao Xin turned his head to look at the distant mountain, shook his head and said, "It's longer than Tanzai Mountain."

"Mother! Master, you are a fairy, aren't you?"

"Hahaha!" Zhao Xin said with a smile: "Shrimp Ball Boy, come with me to the north. In a few years, maybe you will be able to drive such a big boat."

"Me? Master, you can say that I can do it too!" Shrimp Ball Boy was a little excited and smirked twice, but then his face drooped again. "But I can't leave. My family members point out that I work with Brother Yi to earn money to support the family."

"Bring them all, I have plenty of land and food, no one will go hungry."

Xia Qiuzi sat back on the chair with his head down, and whispered: "I, I have to listen to Brother Chang and Brother Yi. But... you are a good man, master."

Zhao Xin lit a cigarette for himself, and pushed the cream cake brought by A Miao in front of Shrimp Ball Boy: "Eat something. Whether you can come with me or not, I'll just say this to you, I'll treat you to a snack .”

In the conference room on the Thor, Zheng Yizheng was arguing with his father.

"Father, listen to me. These people are not ordinary people. Officers, soldiers and Westerners dare not fart in front of them, and they dare not even board a boat for inspection. Xiaoqi and I have seen it with our own eyes!"

"No! You are the eldest son of the Zheng family, and you have to inherit the family business. It's a journey of more than 6000 miles! It's so far away! If you go so far, your mother will not die! Besides Xu What about the marriage at home?" Zheng Lianchang slapped the conference table, firmly disagreeing with Zheng Yi's idea.

"Yeah, Ah Yi, just listen to Brother Chang." Among Zheng Lianchang's subordinates, a strong man in his 40s persuaded him.

"Brother Hai, why don't you understand?! Our Dan family can't be pirates for the rest of our lives and can't go ashore. With so many brothers in the Red Gang, how many of them can read books every day like the mother-in-law? But even the mother-in-law is like that. Those who are eager to learn are not the same as the life of a pirate!"

When Zheng Lianchang heard this, he was furious: "Fart! Why did I send you to study in the first place? Mrs. Guo is eager to learn, but if you didn't rob him of his family, he has a good life, but why should he do it with you?" Pirates?"

Zheng Yi couldn't help but blushed when he heard this.That Guo Podai is only 16 years old this year. When the family went fishing last year, they were robbed by Zheng Yilian's boat and the others, forcing him to become pirates; Guo Podai's family had no choice but to become pirates.However, because he liked reading since he was a child, he was considered the most knowledgeable in the entire Red Gang.

At this time, another person behind Zheng Lianchang said: "Brother Chang, do you want to ask about the details of this Captain Zhao? He is so generous, and he would spend more than 5000 taels of silver when he made a 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 tempted.Dozens of people, plus family members, there are only 500 people in total.People are worthless these days, but the question is how much trouble will be caused if the money is taken, and this is what he is really worried about.

Several people discussed for an hour, but there was still no good solution.The key to this matter is that they know nothing about Zhao Xin's details.Just like what Zheng Yi said, with such a strange big boat, beating Westerners is like chopping melons and cutting vegetables. The government dare not provoke them, but they are polite to people like themselves. Why?
Without clarifying this issue, Zheng Lianchang dared not agree to Zhao Xin's conditions at all.If Zhao, like the Portuguese, transported the Dan family to Nanyang and sold them as livestock, the reputation of the Red Flag Gang would be rotten!
"Captain Zhao, I, Zheng Yi, beg you to tell me frankly, who are you guys? Why don't people from Haiphong Tongzhi Yamen even dare to board the boat?"

After more than an hour, Zheng Lianchang and others saw Zhao Xin again.Regardless of his father's obstruction, Zheng Yi asked directly.Seeing his son's stubbornness, Zheng Lianchang's face flushed with anger, and he said to himself, silly boy, why should he ask you to confess? !

"Master Zheng, I know that in Nanming, your Zheng family was ruled by the king of Tang, right?" Zhao Xin also understood that he wanted to fool him into going north with him in a few words, why?Just a few thousand taels of silver?

"It is true." Zheng Lianchang nodded sullenly.

"Then have you heard of King Zhao?"

Zheng Lianchang raised his head and thought for a while, but he didn't seem to have any memories. In those years, there was one king on one side and another on the other side. In troubled times, each was their own master. Who can remember so many things.

"Hmm. Have you heard about the defeat of the Eight Banners of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties outside the customs the year before last and last year?"

Of course Zheng Lianchang had heard of it, and he had just heard of it not long ago.There is no impenetrable wall in this world. Although the Qing court tried its best to conceal it, the news of Fukang'an and Agui's defeat spread to Guangzhou last year.

It is said that when Fukang'an was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, with that uncle's temper, he would definitely make enemies.At that time, Fukang'an's family was in full swing, and no one dared to disobey him.But now that they are defeated at home and think about their mistakes, people in Guangdong official circles can't do it, but the rumors still spread.

And Zheng Lianchang has a hobby, often going to and from the place of fireworks.At this time, the most famous ones outside Guangzhou were the Yangbang prostitute boats from Jinghaimen to Youlanmen, euphemistically called flower boats.Zheng Lianchang has a friend there, and he even went there a few days ago.In this kind of place, officials and businessmen are mixed, as long as he has money, he is an uncle; so he has also heard some news from the court and the officialdom.

"You mean?" Zheng Lianchang looked at Zhao Xin with surprise.

"That's right. So you know why the government is afraid of me?" As soon as Zhao Xin said this, Zheng Lianchang and his son, including several subordinates, all changed their expressions.

That guy Shrimp Ball Boy is a straight-hearted guy, Zhao Xin spoke politely to him, and he was delicious and delicious, and a lot of things came out of his words.According to Xia Qiuzi, Zheng Lianchang's father, Zheng Jian, the founder of the Zheng family in Xiangshan, was deeply influenced by Zheng Chenggong. At that time, Zheng Jian left a family motto: descendants should not help foreign enemies, support the anti-Qing and restore the Ming Dynasty, and not harm innocent people, etc.The implication is that the Zheng family is the "Grand Thief" in this sea.

Zhao Xin dismissed this, and such rhetoric has always been said for outsiders.In fact, if the Zheng family really supported anti-Qing and restoring Ming Dynasty, why didn’t they take action during the Taiwan Tiandihui uprising in history?
In Zhao Xin's view, 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 conversion.For example, Zheng Lianchang's Red Gang collected tolls in Leiyumen, which is a typical bandit style.

In the history of another time and space, the pirates in the Pearl River Estuary were the most rampant during the Jiaqing period. When the government’s sea ban policy was effective and the pirates could not gain a foothold, these people plundered villages along the inland river, murdered and set fire, and committed all kinds of crimes; they even dug graves and took out The coffin blackmails the victim.

In the 14th year of Jiaqing, Zheng Yi's successor Zhang Baozai led the Red Flag Gang and Guo Po's Black Flag Gang to attack and kill along the inland waterway several times. "Scholar" Guo Po led the Black Flag Gang to kill about 80 civilians, townspeople, and soldiers in separate operations for more than a month.After these people looted the village and set fire to it, they hung the heads of more than [-] killed villagers on the big banyan tree at the head of the village.
May I ask which grand rogue would do this? !

At this time, Zheng Lianchang said: "Captain Zhao, we have to think about this matter again, please allow me a few days."

Zhao Xin knows that to deal with these people, carrots and sticks are indispensable.What Zheng Lianchang lacks right now is a good meal!He turned his head and whispered something to a soldier behind him, the soldier nodded in understanding, turned around and went out.

"Boss Zheng, I've already said the conditions. Sending the person I want here will cost you a penny. If you don't agree, you will stop messing around in Liyumen in the future."

"Bang!" Zheng Lianchang slapped the table, he was pissed off by Zhao Xin's domineering, Zhao Xin said with an angry look on his face: "My surname is Zhao, do you still respect the rules of the world?! Don't think you arrested us I’m afraid of you if you have more than 20 brothers! Hongqi helps hundreds of boats, and thousands of brothers are not just for nothing!”

"Hehe, I'm so scared!" Zhao Xin snorted twice, lit a cigarette, and said, "It's okay to bully the common people with your shabby wooden boats. The princes and lieutenants of the Qing Dynasty , I have killed more than a dozen generals, and tens of thousands of Qing soldiers were killed by us all over the field. I even caught Fukang'an! I respect your father as a subordinate of the surname Guo, so I am polite to you. "

"Why, don't you believe what I say?" Seeing Zheng Lianchang and others glaring at each other, Zhao Xin put out the cigarette he had smoked twice, walked to the window, and looked at the dozens of red flags parked not far away. To help Haichuan, he took out the walkie-talkie and pressed the switch.

"Fire!"

At the same time, Shen Jingdan, who was thousands of miles away in the Zhapu Quanzhou Guild Hall in Zhejiang, was wearing a long blue cloth gown and was sitting in the flower hall talking to a skinny wealthy businessman.Underneath the two is a middle-aged man in a bunt suit.

"Fifth, 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 an urgent matter to go to Quanzhou this time. Are you going to sail early the morning after tomorrow?"

"Yes." The middle-aged man called "Old Five" was the bow of the boat, and the lucky boat he drove was bought by this wealthy businessman. Hearing this, he quickly saluted Shen Jingdan, and Shen Jingdan bowed his hands politely.

The bow of the boat said: "I don't know how many people are there in Master Shen and his entourage?"

Shen Jingdan said: "27 people."

"So many?" The bow was taken aback.

The wealthy businessman explained: "Master Shen is in a hurry to pick up a batch of goods in Guangzhou this time, so the schedule is a bit rushed. You don't have to worry about it, fifth."

"So that's the case, then I will ask my subordinates to make room for more."

Shen Jingdan cupped his hands and said, "Thank you. Although Master Mei and I are friends, but this time it's really bothering me. I've prepared some money for tea here as a token of my appreciation." After speaking, he handed over an envelope.

When the bow of the boat was opened, he saw that it was a 200 tael silver bill, which was issued by a local bank in Zhapu for cashing at sight.All that should be said has been said, the bow of the boat immediately saluted and said goodbye, before leaving, he said to Shen Jingdan: "Master Shen, the day after tomorrow morning, Yin is going to open the sea and start the boat, so don't be too late."

The "open ocean and needle" in the mouth of this boat refers to the sacrificial ceremony that will be held before sailing. All ten must be mentioned, and they must also explain where the ship arrives, when it departs, who the crew is, who the passengers are, etc., so that the good wind and water will arrive in no time and the journey will be safe.

The reason why Shen Jingdan and his party docked in Zhapu, Zhejiang was because the people under Lu Shoushan were not familiar with the route.This year's moon needle map is the treasure of the bows of the ships everywhere. Everyone is in charge of the north-south sea route, and no one will easily spread it to the outside world.The Caobang boatmen under Lu Shoushan were very familiar with the northern Subei route and the route to Jeju Island, but they didn’t know the route south of the Yangtze River at all. They dared to drive the boat all the way to Zhapu, and they already risked hitting the rocks and sinking the ship.

As a businessman who had been engaged in maritime trade for a long time, Shen Jingdan knew this well, so after arriving in Zhapu, he decided to change ships.It is said that if you go ashore by land, the post road in Fujian Province alone will be more than 1000 miles. Moreover, there are many mountainous roads in Fujian, and riding a horse is not fast.What they can do now is to change the ship to Quanzhou first, and then take a boat from Quanzhou to Guangzhou.If everything goes well, counting the waiting in the middle, we will be able to arrive in Guangzhou in a dozen days.

After Shen Jingdan finished talking, he returned to the inn from the Quanzhou Guild Hall and notified Lu Shoushan and others.

In the inn, Shen Xuan, who just took off the man's disguise, was accompanied by Chen Jishan's younger sister, Chen Erya, with a worried face.And Chen Erya's face was sallow after washing and dressing up. The boat trip made her vomit badly.While the two were talking, Shen Jingdan knocked on the door and came in, and said to Shen Xuan: "The boat has been found, and it will set off early in the morning, so you can rest assured, he has calmly weathered the storms and waves before, and this time he will be fine. "

Shen Xuan said: "Daddy, my heart is always in a state of turmoil, and I can't live in peace for a moment. Something must have happened to him."

Shen Jingdan coughed, Shen Xuan understood, and said to Erya Chen: "Sister, go and rest by yourself. Since we will leave tomorrow, you can take a good rest for two days and recuperate."

Chen Erya was still seasick at the moment, so she said, "Then I'll go back to the room and smoke a cigarette, if you need anything, just call me."

Most qualified young women in this era smoke, mainly to relieve 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: "How has the jade changed in these few days?"

Shen Xuan didn't speak, just shook his head.

Shen Jingdan caressed his forehead and said slowly: "I have traveled thousands of miles all this way, and I am very tired. You should also rest early. I hope he will be blessed."

　In ancient times, each navigation route was managed separately, and generally no one would sail a ship from the north to the South China Sea.For example, Shen Jingdan and the others have to take three boats on this journey.North Jiangsu to Zhapu, Zhapu to Quanzhou, Quanzhou to near Guangzhou.Each has its own needle map, which belongs to the secrets that are not passed on by the bows of various places.Among them, it is detailed when to go, high tide or low tide, where are there reefs, small islands, etc.In addition, in the early and mid-Qing Dynasty, domestic ships were not allowed to transport goods to Guangzhou, and they had to go by land to prevent smuggling.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)