Dragon Sea Empire

Life is full of surprises, and surprises are not always pleasant surprises.

During this period of time, Yin Feng's net worth increased greatly.Through this business with the Tomar, he made a total of nearly 300 taels of silver from commissions and his own investment. Recently, the Zeng family paid him 100 taels of silver as wages, and it is said that there are red envelopes for Chinese New Year.

Yazhou is not a treaty port. Even if it is a statutory port of Yuegang, Chinese merchants cannot directly buy and sell goods with overseas merchant ships, and have to trade indirectly through official dental banks.As soon as Yin Feng came to Yazhou in the Ming Dynasty, he committed the serious crime of smuggling goods without permission. However, not only did he not feel guilty, government officials like Zeng Qi encouraged and used him to do smuggling business.

When Yin Feng desperately went to find the Portuguese, he was more or less concerned about the court law—he knew the allusion of the Ming Dynasty's sea ban.But the development of things was unexpected and surprisingly smooth.Yin Feng was surprised, but also had lingering fears.In the remotest corners of the earth where the sky is high and the emperor is far away, the bureaucratic class, the local gentry, and the wealthy businessmen who colluded with them have all the power and resources here, and the laws of the court basically have no authority here.The attitude of Master Zhizhou is also very distinctive: he basically delegates common affairs to the masters and subordinates below, as long as they are not too excessive, he will not ask them at all. He only writes poems and lyrics every day, writes letters to distant friends, and occasionally visits The place is considerate of the people.The "Cheng Yi" given to him by Zeng Qi and other merchants will be accepted by his housekeeper, and he will never ask about it. It seems that in this way his integrity and self-discipline can be preserved.

Hainan's New Year's Eve has a very pleasant climate.This afternoon, Yin Feng walked out of the side door of the famous brand, went to the Zeng family's mansion next to the government office, and went to the dozens of banquets.But this time it was a private banquet of the Zeng family, so he had to go.

Today is not the day of the market, and it has been closed in recent years, every household is preparing for the New Year, and the streets in the city seem deserted.This small state city has a population of just over [-], and even the beggars are going home to prepare for the New Year.

Yin Feng was walking, crossing the streets and alleys, and suddenly his back felt cold involuntarily, as if he had returned to the day when the alley was attacked.He hurriedly turned the corner, wanting to walk back to the middle street where the school palace was relatively crowded with pedestrians.As soon as he turned around the alley, he found a man in black blocking the alley leading to the middle street. He was not tall, had fierce eyes, and held something like a short wooden stick in his hand.

Yin Feng turned sideways, leaned close to the eaves of the alley, and quickly looked left and right. There was only one person.It stands to reason that there should be one behind him, right?He was a little puzzled, and thought: Where is he hiding and waiting for me to turn around and go back!It seems that it can only fight with the previous one.

The man in black grinned and said hoarsely, "Don't look, I'm alone."

Yin Feng smiled wryly: "What's up, brother?"

"I need to hit you with a stick, I need to get back my face."

"Does it have something to do with me for you to regain your face?" Yin Feng almost laughed out loud, as long as it wasn't a sword or a short wooden stick, Yin Feng didn't panic, resisted or dodged the opponent's first blow, and leaned forward In hand-to-hand combat, Yin Feng is confident in throwing this guy who is two heads shorter than himself with judo kung fu.

The premise is that the opponent is not a martial arts master.However, Yin Feng did not believe that there would be so many martial arts masters.

This guy was vaguely the one who attacked him from the front that day.In this era, Yin Feng thinks that he has never offended anyone, and he doesn't understand why this guy is so persistent, and he has to deal with him again after 3 months.

"We have no grievances, why do you insist on hitting me?"

"A joke, how can there be no enmity! If it weren't for the connivance of the Fujianese and Lin officials, and the protection of Zhizhou, you would have been my prisoner long ago!!" The man in black said angrily, but he didn't approach, as if he didn't come The one who attacked Yin Feng came to quarrel.

Yin Feng was even more confused, unable to understand: "I don't know how and when I offended my brother?"

"Bah bah, don't pretend to be stupid, you won't be able to leave without giving me an explanation!!" He took a step forward and raised his stick high.Yin Feng quickly retreated sideways, always facing him in the direction of attack.This short savage moved very nimbly, approaching the range of the stick several times, but Yin Feng was not slow and could always avoid it.The man in black was very depressed. He didn't expect Yin Feng to look like a big, polite and polite man, but he was very flexible. No wonder he would suffer a lot from sneak attacks.

After going back and forth a few times, suddenly there were chaotic footsteps and noisy voices from the direction of the street corner, and a group of people walked into the alley.

The man in black immediately stopped and ran away. Before Yin Feng could react, he had already knocked over the group of people and ran out of the street.The crowd panicked for a while, were knocked apart, and uttered insults one after another.When Yin Feng chased him to the intersection, there was no one there.

He sighed bewilderedly, it was a farce.This person said that he had an enmity with him, but he only threatened him with a short wooden stick, it didn't seem like there was any mortal enmity. Yin Feng couldn't figure out why he persisted in attacking him.

When he arrived at Zeng Mansion, it was already late.

This time the Zeng family was a veritable family feast.Those who ate at the table were all members of the Zeng family, as well as the in-law Boss Li—Li Gong, and Boss Li's son, a fat boy in his teens.Zeng Yue also introduced to Yin Feng his son, who was only a hundred days old, who was also a fat boy, probably inherited the genes of the Li family's maternal line.

The only thing Yin Feng didn't know was a young man of medium build, with delicate features and a calm expression, who looked younger than Zeng Yue.

"This is the foster brother of my cousin Zeng Shan, Zeng Jingshan, whose name is Yueqi." Zeng Yue took the initiative to introduce.

It's really complicated, cousin's adopted brother, what's the relationship!Yin Feng saluted Zeng Jingshan, and Jingshan stood up to salute very respectfully. Yin Feng wanted to stand up too, but Zeng Qi held him down.Yin Feng looked at him puzzled, Zeng Qi coughed and said, "Young Master Yin, my nephew from Jingshan used to run a business in Fujian, so let's follow you to learn foreign trade now! You can treat him as your buddy , teach him well."

Yin Feng couldn't figure out what Zeng Qi meant by this move for a while, but now he can only give his hand and salute and agree to it.

Then Zeng Qi took the lead, everyone dipped their middle fingers into the cups, tapped three points on the table, and then raised their cups.Zeng Qi specially said "Please!" to Yin Feng. Watching Yin Feng wave the flag and drank the full glass of wine, he only smacked the glass with his lips. (Note: Point three points-this is an ancient folk custom, or use chopsticks to dip three points in wine. If it is rice wine, it is usually poured on the ground before drinking. The meaning of this custom is to express gratitude for the production of grains God of the Houtu.)

Zeng Jingshan specially stood up to toast Yin Feng, claiming that he would take Yin Feng as his teacher.

In the evening, when Yin Feng was chatting in Zeng Qi's study, he realized that Zeng Jingshan was the adopted son of Zeng Qi's elder brother, an orphan picked up by the Zeng family when they were doing business in the north.At that time, in the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong, families engaged in overseas trade often adopted adopted sons, and let the adopted sons engage in high-risk overseas trade, while the legitimate sons of the main house operated in China.

Yin Feng suddenly saw a few printed materials on Zeng Qi's desk, the first side was printed with a headline in large characters: "The Holy Majesty's royal family came to offer prisoners, and issued an edict to celebrate the whole world!" Yin Feng, who had worked as a journalist in his previous life, couldn't help being curious. It looks like a news lead from a newspaper.He picked up this printed matter, glanced at it, and immediately judged that it was "Dichao", the original newspaper of the Ming Dynasty.This kind of primitive newspaper was mainly edited, printed and published by some folk literati in Beijing. The main content was various memorials and decrees of the imperial court, the promotion and transfer of officials, and occasionally market rumors about the capital, etc.Other than the capital, there were also reprints in the south of the Yangtze River, so it was spread all over the country.

In fact, it is also illegal to circulate and copy the Dibao. The "Ming Huidian" clearly stipulates that "the person who inquires and listens to the news of the deputy seal according to the title will be visited by the imperial envoy of the Yamen and patrol the city, and beheaded for public display."However, Zeng Qi, the local official in Yazhou in the Ming Dynasty, placed such illegal publications on his desk without any scruples.

The residence newspaper that Yin Feng saw was published around May. It publicized the fact that Emperor Wanli participated in the prisoner offering ceremony after the victory of the Eastern Conquest of Korea, and published the full text of the emperor's edict: "The one who belongs to Dongyi The clown Ping Hideyoshi (Toyotomi Hideyoshi), ruthlessly subordinates, dares to make troubles... (North Korea) all the monarchs and ministers perish, the people are separated, and the police are in a hurry, please send troops to help....Yuxi! Our country is full of benevolence, and those who obey There is no help in all difficulties; righteousness and martial arts are vigorously promoted, and those who jump the beam will be killed even if they are strong."

"Oh, the mansion newspaper said that the Korean War has ended, and the monkey is dead." Yin Feng is not very clear about the exact time of this period of history. He only knows that it was the 26th year of Wanli. Now he finally knows that the war ended at the end of last year. , the official truce and the return of the troops to North Korea to offer up prisoners took place in May of this year.

His words made Zeng Qi puzzled for a moment, he blurted out and asked, "Do you know this is Di Bao? Monkey, what do you mean?"

Yin Feng gritted his teeth secretly, and shouted in his heart: "It's a gangster again!!"

As a son of a businessman who just returned from overseas, how did he know that Di Bao was an illegal publication that had a limited spread and was only circulated among the bureaucratic and gentry class?And monkeys! !I'm really stupid than a monkey, too many words will make mistakes! ! !

Zeng Qi is a shrewd bureaucrat, it is impossible to perfunctory.Yin Feng gritted his teeth secretly again, and said with a smile: "Before I returned to China, I was doing business in Malacca. There were many businessmen from China and Japan in the area. It is rumored that the nickname of Shirahira Hideyoshi in Japan is Monkey, which describes his small stature and wretched appearance."

"So there is such a saying, ha ha." Zeng Qi laughed: "I heard that the Japanese pirates are short, even their king is like this!"

Yin Feng was not interested in correcting his mistakes, and continued: "I saw the Di Bao at Master Zhizhou's place, and I heard the reason from Master Wan."

He thought to himself: It shouldn't be unusual for Zhizhou to see the mansion newspaper, so you wouldn't go to Master Zhizhou to inquire about it, would you?

From the second day on, Zeng Jingshan often appeared behind Yin Feng like a follower.It will be the New Year in a few days, and the streets and alleys will start to have the atmosphere of the New Year.

On this day, Zeng Yue went to Wanzhou to collect a sum of money, and he would not be able to return until two days later.Boss Li also went to Shuishizhai, Sanya Port to collect the arrears, leaving Yin Feng and Zeng Jingshan in charge of the good brand name firm.Yin Feng was still writing his overseas travel notes, and Zeng Jingshan was busy outside.

At noon, just after lunch, a servant of the Zeng family stumbled into the business, crying, "Second Young Master has been kidnapped!!"

Half an hour later, Yin Feng and other relevant personnel gathered in Zeng Qi's government office office, and Zeng Qi was still issuing orders to the small official: "Take my letter and go to Sanya Shuizhai quickly; you, go to Qianqian Tosohayashi-sama..."

He looked at Yin Feng, Zeng Jingshan, and Lin Songtao, a dark-skinned Cantonese official from Honzhou, and sighed, "What a disaster!!" He tapped a crumpled piece of paper on the desk.

It was written on the paper: "You, the rich man of the Zeng family, know that Zeng Yue, the second son of the big house of your Zeng family, is here. Just because you are rich and unkind, and everyone hates you, we are here to ask you for 500 taels of silver and 100 shi of wheat. , Miscellaneous grains 100 shi. Within three days and within five days, I will collect all the money and food and send them to the southeast of Yulingang for delivery. If you are late, your house will be burned, everyone will be killed, and no chickens or dogs will be left behind! "At the end there is a signature: "Li Mao", all the characters are very scribbled, and it took Yin Feng a lot of effort to recognize it.

"Li Mao? Who is this?" Although Yin Feng is familiar with the history of Japanese pirates, he doesn't know much about local pirates in Hainan Island. After all, compared with the great pirates of the Jiajing period, the influence of local pirates such as Li Mao is much weaker. Except for the local chronicles of Hainan, there are no records in general history books.

"The local bandits in Hainan during the Jiajing period and the early years of Wanli were wiped out by the court more than 20 years ago. Li Mao, Chen Liangde and other bandits have already been beheaded for public display." This is Lin Limu introducing the situation: "I guess this The next time must be Li Mao and Chen Liangde's remnant party..." At this point, he looked at Yin Feng, then at the state judge Zeng Qi, hesitant to speak.

"Hehe, no matter what, the most important thing is to keep the talents first!" Zeng Qi took over the conversation and said, "The most urgent thing is to have someone go to Yulingang."

Local pirates?Many of the pirates at that time were both merchants and pirates. Since they lived on this island, it is very likely that they had some business problems with the Zeng family, the largest merchant in Yazhou, right?Yin Feng thought about it, and immediately understood the embarrassing situation of the Zeng family in this matter, and the matter of ransom must not be made public.

He immediately said: "I'll go. The pirates are targeting the Zeng family. The Zeng family's people may go to increase their hostages. But these pirates should be just asking for money, so it will be fine for me to go."

……

Zeng Jingshan wanted to follow Yin Feng desperately, but helplessly Yin Feng took him, ten carts and dozens of coolies to the trading place two days later.

They arrived at noon, and the reefs stood tall on the beach, which was not suitable for sea boats to dock. They did not see any large ships passing by, only some small fishing boats were operating on the sea.

Yin Feng still brought the revolver this time, loaded with gunpowder and bullets---the gunpowder was taken out from the Yazhou arsenal, and the bullets were homemade lead bullets.Except for the fishermen who led the way, the coolies pushing carts were all dressed up as servants of the Zeng family, without any weapons.

Everyone waited boringly on the reef by the sea for a whole afternoon, without a clue.Yin Feng calmed down and looked at the blue sea in front of him without making a sound.Zeng Jingshan was in a hurry: "Master Yin, the pirate probably won't come, the sky is getting dark."

The fishing boats on the sea have all returned to their voyages, and a few seabirds are flying on the vast sea.The sun gradually fell to the edge of the sea level, reflecting half of the sea red.

Yin Feng stood up and asked the fishermen leading the way: "How far is the nearest village?"

"Two miles away, there are about 2 families in Fandi Village."

"Tonight, let's go there to rest. The gang of kidnapped pirates should come to us." Yin Feng said.

He reckoned that the pirates kidnapped people for money, and with the power of the Zeng family in the area, the pirates must be relatively secretive.Before coming here, after inquiring along the way, the fishermen by the sea did not even know that there were pirates attacking.Of course, it is also possible that these fishermen and pirates are related, and they are not reporting it.

In this case, you can only play by ear.

Yin Feng was woken up that night by the noise of fighting.He and Zeng Jingshan live in the ancestral hall in the village, and the rest of the staff can only sleep outside in a cart.At this time, the whole village was boiling, and it seemed that countless people were fighting again.Fandi Village is close to the sea, on a gentle slope facing the sea, and the sea can be clearly seen from the stone steps of the ancestral hall.

Tonight, the moon is high and the wind is clear, the stars are dotted, and under the dim light of the sky, two Fuchuan-type two-masted sailboats can be seen on the dark sea at this moment.At the same time, there were at least a hundred torches flickering around the village, and people's shadows swayed in places full of voices.

The pirates are coming! !