Listening to what Hua Bushi said, Cao Duiyun looked gloomy and speechless, Hai Hongzhu pouted and kept silent, Zhu Hong is also a simple person, not good at talking, and silent.

The eldest young master paused for a moment, and seeing that no one answered, he chuckled and said, "You don't say anything, don't you want to settle down here, and you don't want to go back to the mainland?"

Cao Duyun responded at this time: "If you can return to the mainland, Cao Duyun can't ask for it, Brother Hua has something to say, please say it." ”

Hua Bushi said: "Although it is not impossible to return to the mainland, it is not so easy. The storm may not cease for a month, and even if the storm passes, ships from Middle-earth will have to sail to the island for ten months, so it seems that we will have to stay on the island for at least two months. ”

Hearing this, Cao Duyun's brows tightened. If the poisonous wounds on his body were not treated in time, it would be difficult to live for more than three months, and he originally planned to return to the mainland after returning to the mainland, so he immediately rushed back to Beijing to find the imperial doctor in the palace to try to cure the poison. However, if the storm does not stop for a month, and the ships on the mainland come and go back to this island and delay for a while, I am afraid that even if they can return to the mainland, they will die of poison before they reach the capital division.

Hai Hongzhu was a little unconvinced, and said: "It only took us six or seven days to get to Wanyi Island by boat, how can it take so long to return to the mainland here?

Hua Bushi said: "I asked clearly, the aborigines of this island are called 'Biluo Island', but the Han people call it 'Okura Island', which is located at the southernmost tip of the South China Sea, about 1,200 miles away from Borneo, and 2,300 miles away from the Guangdong border of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Hearing this, Hai Hongzhu's eyes widened, and her small mouth was open and almost closed.

"Wanyi Island" is located in the middle of the Qizhou Ocean, about 700 miles away from Guangdong, according to this calculation, that hurricane thunderstorm swept the four of them out of more than 1,000 miles in a few days, and drifted to the southernmost tip of the ocean.

Cao Duyun asked, "Since this place is so far away from the Middle-earth Continent, how can such a big city exist? And in the past, on the mainland, I have never heard of such a big city on the sea. ”

Hua Bushi said: "We would never have heard of this city before, just because the people who knew about this city on the Middle-earth continent were only a very small number of big merchants who specialized in ocean trade along the coast of Fujian, Guangdong, and Zhejiang, and this was a violation of the laws of the Ming Dynasty, so they would not spread it to the outside world." ”

Cao Duyun realized, and said: "It turns out that this city is a stronghold built on the ocean by illegal merchants who are trafficking and smuggling in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Hua Bushi said: "It's okay for Cao Gongzi to say that. Although this island is still within the territorial waters of the Ming Dynasty, this city was not built by the Ming Dynasty government, and is not under the jurisdiction of the government, and the guards and soldiers in the city are not official soldiers, so it can naturally be regarded as illegal. ”

He paused slightly, and then said, "However, if you want to say that this is a stronghold, the scale is really not small. According to the shopkeeper Sun, there were warehouses in the city, and there were hundreds of merchants engaged in ocean trade. In addition to the Ming Dynasty from China, many came from Borneo, India, Persia, and even Portugal, Spain and other Western countries. The population of this city is more than 30,000, and many of them have migrated from Middle-earth to settle here, and the grandfather came to this island with his wife and children eight years ago. And there is no shortage of all kinds of shops, inns, restaurants, casinos, and brothels in this city. ”

There are 30,000 people living in the city, which is not only not small, but can be compared to a medium-sized city in the Ming Dynasty. And it is a miracle that such a big city can be built on this wild island in the open ocean.

Cao Duyun said: "Brother Hua can ask the shopkeeper Sun, who built this city?"

Hua Bushi said: "Speaking of the city lord of this city, you and I know each other, it is that Mr. Ma Da, Sima Chafeng." ”

Hearing this, Cao Duyun was a little stunned, and then lowered his head and said nothing. Just because the person who killed Mr. Martha in Nanquan Village was this "Duyun Gongzi".

This city was built by Sima Zhufeng, and it must be the general altar of "Wanjin Hall". If the news of the murder spreads, I am afraid that when this city is neutral, someone will come to him for revenge, but now that Cao Duyun's martial arts have been lost, he has no power to resist.

Hua Bushi could see Cao Duyun's thoughts, and said with a slight smile: "Brother Cao, you can rest assured, the people in this city don't know about Sima Zhufeng's death, as long as we don't say it, I don't think anyone will come to trouble Brother Cao for the time being." ”

Cao Duyun's face changed, and then he said, "Thank you Brother Hua for hiding it for your younger brother." ”

Hua Bushi waved his hand and said, "But that Mr. Sima can build such a huge city, and his courage is really admirable." ”

Sima Zhufeng was born in Shaolin, and was one of the eight elite disciples of the "Shaolin School" who passed the trial of the eighteen bronze formations of the 'Muren Lane' in the past 20 years, and was also a famous swordsman who crossed the Jiangnan with the 36-way 'White Ape Sword Technique'. Fifteen years ago, Sima Zhufeng disappeared from the rivers and lakes and did not know what to do, but four or five years ago, as the head of the "Wanjintang", he appeared in the port trading houses along the coast, and has turned into a wealthy man with thousands of dollars.

According to Chu Yiyi's inference that day, this Jiangnan swordsman must have obtained the "Panlong Jue" and found the treasure buried by the pirate king Tuoba Qingtian on the Whale Swallowing Island, so that he could get rich. But Chu Yiyi didn't expect that Sima Chafeng's wealth would come from ocean trade.

The Ming court promulgated a "ban on the sea", prohibiting the construction of large ships, and the ocean-going trade at various ports was also listed as illegal, but the demand of Western countries for the trade of goods between Middle-earth could not be changed. Tea, raw silk, silk, porcelain and other goods produced in China were very popular among the upper class of the European countries, and merchants flocked to them, and the spices, linens, clocks, and even muskets shipped from the West were sold in various realms of the Ming Dynasty, which was also extremely profitable. Especially in the past ten years, with the advent of the Age of Discovery in the West, the art of shipbuilding has advanced by leaps and bounds, and it is not difficult for merchant ships from European countries to bypass the Cape of Good Hope and cross the Indian Ocean to the waters of the Ming Dynasty.

But the biggest obstacle to trade was that these large European merchant ships were restricted by the laws of the Ming Dynasty from entering the ports along the coast of Middle-earth.

Relatively speaking, after the promulgation of the "sea ban", the shipyard workshops of the Ming Dynasty in China were strictly forbidden to manufacture sailing ships with more than two masts, and the shipbuilding skills did not improve, and they still stayed at the level of Zheng He's voyage to the West two hundred years ago, or even worse, and now there is a clear gap with the shipbuilding industry in the West. It is certainly not possible for China's small and medium-sized merchant ships to sail to Europe, even if it is not easy to cross the Indian Ocean to reach the Arab region of the Middle East.

Therefore, in the middle of the South China Sea, there is such a transit place as Okura Castle that can trade freely, so that the merchant ships of the Middle-earth continent can dock here and trade with the ocean-going ships from the Western countries, which is very attractive to both Chinese merchants and seafaring trading companies from Western countries.

This is the reason why Okura Castle has been able to grow to such a scale in 15 years. A large number of goods of merchant ships from Chinese and Western countries were transported to this city for storage in order to trade and distribute, and this city was called "Dacang", which is indeed famous.

In fact, in essence, it was precisely because the Ming court was unruly and short-sighted, ignoring the great value of ocean trade, that Okura Castle, a maritime mall outside the jurisdiction of the imperial court, was so prosperous. The Ming Dynasty also issued a decree to forcibly evict the residents of coastal villages in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, and they were not allowed to live dozens of miles near the coast, which caused hundreds of people to be displaced and miserable. However, Okura Castle was able to migrate from the mainland and gather more than 30,000 residents in just over a decade, and live and work in peace and contentment in the city on this deserted island, which can be described as a stark contrast.

Hua Bushi just got it from Shopkeeper Sun, and he explained in detail about Okura City and various situations, and did not say any comments, but this eldest young master was already proficient in business transactions, and Cao Duyun was also an extraordinary person, so there was no need to say it, and they also felt something in their hearts.

However, Hai Hongzhu has no city in his chest, and he has a pair of big eyes, only surprised by the scale of this big city on the sea, but he doesn't think about other things.

After listening to the situation in Okura Castle, Cao Duyun pondered for a while, and then asked about other situations on the island.

Hua Bushi said: "This island is roughly a horseshoe shape, and the highest volcano in the center is called 'Red Flame Peak', which we also saw when we took a boat to the island. Okura Castle was built on the eastern side of Akako Peak, and apart from the flatter eastern side, the rest of the island is covered with rugged mountains and rainforests, among which are dozens of indigenous tribes, whom the people of the city call 'clansmen'. According to the shopkeeper of Nasun, there are some tribes who often trade with the inhabitants of the city, usually exchanging the grain, vegetables and other things they grow for daily necessities. ”

Cao Duyun said: "I don't know where the port on this island is, and whether there are big ocean-going ships moored?"

He had this question, and he was thinking about the idea of returning to the mainland by boat in the storm at sea, if there was an ocean-going sailing ship moored in the port of this island, as long as he promised a lot of money, maybe he could say that the owner of the ship would take the risk to sail, no matter what, it was better than waiting for a time in vain on the island until Zuihou died of poison.

Hua Bushi said: "The younger brother asked Shopkeeper Sun, the harbor is on the east side of this island, and this Okura City is integrated, as for whether there are big ships docked in the port, Shopkeeper Sun does not know, I have to wait for myself to go to see the details." ”

Cao Duyun nodded and said, "Thank you Brother Hua for telling me, tomorrow Cao Duyun will go to the port to inspect one or two to see if he can find a ship that can travel." ”