Marani, Luzon.

This bay is blessed with the sea, and is fed by a river, which gives it a fertile land, making it one of the richest in the country.

However, when the harvest was about to be harvested in May this year, the continuous heavy rains and sudden typhoons changed all that.

As far as the eye can see, the fields are flooded with rain, many crops have rotted before they are ripe, and the once prosperous town looks dead, with many houses collapsing and the streets filled with desolation.

A band of topless Luzon people gathered at the door of a well-to-do house to take shelter from the rain, where many women and children shivered, but they did not know whether they were cold or hungry, and many babies were crying in the woman's arms.

The people gathered here looked pitifully at the closed door, their black and white eyes full of anticipation, eager for the family to throw some food out as they had done the other day.

As time went on, the door of the house remained locked, and the cry of the baby in the woman's arms grew weaker and weaker, until at last there was no movement, but it was not known whether it had fallen asleep or died.

The sky was gray and inky, and the rain was still falling, and the raindrops were constantly falling from the sky, as if they were endless, so that people here could not see the slightest hope.

On rainy days, it is difficult for these displaced people to find dry wood, let alone make a fire to keep warm. In this harsh environment, they can only be constantly harvested by death.

The Luzon king's guards seemed busy, but they were constantly walking the town, carrying the starving or frozen bodies on stretchers and carrying them outside the town for burial.

Unlike the country known as the Philippines, Luzon at this time was in the most disaster-prone region of the world, and it was simply unable to cope with these natural disasters, which has been a practice that has been practiced for thousands of years.

Bodies were carried out of the town and dumped into the pit that had just been dug and hundreds more piled up today, but the soldiers were already numb.

At the same time, in the main hall of a royal palace modeled after the Han Dynasty, there is a scene of singing and dancing.

King Suleiman sat cross-legged in the main hall, with his courtiers below. But it is different from the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty, the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty have been screened by the imperial examination, and too many of these courtiers are sons inheriting their father's business.

"Let's talk about what to do in this disaster, right?"

Although Suleiman was canonized as the king of Luzon by the Ming Dynasty, he did not have much of the demeanor of a king, and first retreated from the several dancing girls performing in the hall, like a big chieftain, casually asking the courtiers below.

There was a group of civil and military officials sitting below, watching the dancers retreat, most of them looked unsatisfied. At this time, when they heard the king's question, they all turned their heads to look at Suleiman.

The retainer Yan Yi has Han Chinese ancestry, and he usually likes the culture of the Ming Dynasty, so he seems to have been waiting for a long time, and took the lead in proposing: "Country, we should follow the example of the Ming Dynasty and use the grain in the warehouse for disaster relief and distribute it to the people!" Only by making sure that the people ......"

"!" A blackbeard who was biting on a leg of mutton interrupted before Yan Yi could finish speaking.

It's just that this seemingly rude gesture doesn't seem to be taken seriously. Yan Yi is just a retainer, but this Blackbeard is a heroic commander and the most important general in Luzon.

Blackbeard swallowed the mutton in his mouth and asked loudly, "If we give all our food to those people, what will our soldiers do?" What about the gang in Lakandula? Besides, who knows how long this disaster will last, and the family will not panic when they have surplus food! ”

"That's right, our grain is related to the stability of Luzon, and we can't give it to such untouchables!" The others nodded, already agreeing with Blackbeard.

Yan Yizheng wanted to point out the stakes, but Suleiman had already taken the lead and said: "We can not give food, but we have to do something, right?" Like the homeless people gathered in front of your door, you must not turn a blind eye, and usually throw more food to them! I've heard that there are more than a dozen corpses in front of your house every day! ”

Hearing this, the courtiers exchanged glances, and finally understood what the king, who had always been stingy here, was thinking.

Yan Yi's mouth moved slightly, but in the end, there was no sound. He looked up at Suleiman, knowing that the king didn't really want to give out the food, but he just wanted the insensitive courtiers to be more generous.

"That's no problem, I'll let the house slaves throw more food on weekdays, and I won't let them all starve to death!" Blackbeard took another big bite of the lamb shank and said loudly, looking disapproving.

The other courtiers nodded their heads, indicating that they would do so.

Suleiman's purpose of walking has been achieved, that is, he picked up the wine glass in his hand, and followed the courtiers to continue drinking and having fun.

It was just a small episode, the dancers returned to the stage, and the hall re-entered the laughter. Although the sound of rain outside continued, it was already just a note.

Yan Yijiang looked at this lively venue, and saw that King Suleiman had already hugged Mei Ji to feed the wine, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

In previous years, he might not have made a suggestion for disaster relief. It was only with the development of trade with the Ming merchants that they leased the northern area to the United Merchant Group, so that they not only had a large amount of grain reserves and gold and silver treasures, but also had the strength to provide disaster relief.

After all, this country is different from the Ming Dynasty, which is a state of etiquette, but it ignores the life and death of the people under its rule. The king had no intention of providing relief, and so did his courtiers, so how could the country prosper?

In Union City, another rainstorm is pouring down. Heavy rain and strong winds from the east make this new city on the edge of the sea feel like it is above the waves.

The city's drainage system could no longer handle this amount of water, and the two main streets were flooded, and in many places the water was black and full of debris.

A few shirtless Luzon people ran to a restaurant, but when the owner saw it, he drove them away with sticks and did not allow them to enter. The big man led by scolded and scolded, but he didn't know what to scold, and the two sides seemed to be unhappy.

The sound of thunder, rain, invective, and the noise of the building gathered in the rain curtain, and the rain continued to fall from the eaves, and the water on the first floor of the store was already up to the calves.

Only above the second floor, the doors and windows are closed, but it is like a warm little world, where a group of merchants or sailors are eating and drinking, and it seems to be happy.

With this sudden typhoon and the war on Cebu Island, many Ming merchants who went to Nanyang to make money gathered in Union City, wanting to escape this natural disaster here.

In the midst of the boisterous crowd, a man with a scar on his face appeared at the top of the stairs, glanced around warily, and then slowly walked to a position and sat down.

"Guest officer, I don't know what to order?" Xiao Er walked over and asked enthusiastically.

The man with the scar didn't raise his head, but asked, "Do you have any baked cakes here?" ”

"Yes!" Xiao Er was slightly stunned, but still nodded seriously.

The scar man said lightly: "Bring me ten!" ”

The smile on Xiao Er's face froze for a moment, but he nodded and left.

When Xiao Er left, Scar Man still kept observing the situation on the second floor. But I saw that there was a lot of noise around me, especially on a wine table in the center that was making fists, and the sound of persuading wine and punching kept coming.

The scar man looked at no one and noticed this, but looked at the empty chair opposite and asked softly, "When are you going to do it?" ”

The sound was not loud, there was the sound of torrential rain outside, and there were bursts of noise like waves inside, and his words seemed to be just talking to himself, and the people around him were afraid that they could not hear clearly.

"The day after tomorrow!"

But after a while, a voice came, and the source of the sound was not the seat opposite, but a man wearing silk and satin behind him.

He was about forty years old, of medium height, very fair, and had a very kind face, and was sitting there drinking tea slowly.

"Guest officer, the baked cake you want has arrived!" Xiao Er came over with a baked cake and said enthusiastically.

The scar man reached out and took the baked cake sent by Xiao Er, put a slightly hot baked cake in his mouth, and carried the rest into his arms, and then gave a small piece of silver, and got up and left directly.

Xiao Er took the little silver and watched the scar man leave, but a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

"Xiao Er, clean up this plate and send me half a catty of fried beef!" The outsider, who was sitting at the next table, suddenly spoke, pointed to the dishes on the table, and ordered.

Xiao Er heard a guest greeting, and the strange thoughts that had just arisen immediately disappeared without a trace, especially when he saw that it was Gong Yuanwai, who was wealthy, he immediately responded: "Okay! ”

The streets are waterlogged deeply, and the Union City guards are digging drainage ditches to allow the water in the city to drain out of the city as quickly as possible, and in some places the water is already shallow.

The scar man left the restaurant and walked towards the west gate of the city with a few people.

A guard found a copper coin in the crack of the blue brick, so he found a bamboo branch and pried it out, happily put the copper coin in his arms, but raised his head but was slightly stunned.

It was when he was stunned, but the scar man walked to the entrance of the alley and turned directly into the alley.

"Ah Shuai, go back to dinner!"

Not far away, a middle-aged man greeted him.

The guard named Ah Shuai looked back at the captain who had already walked away, and then looked up at the alleyway, and he got up and walked towards the alley.

Wrong!

As soon as he walked into the alley for more than ten meters, Ah Shuai suddenly remembered that this alley was not a residential area at all, but an area used to store sundries.

It was at this moment that the scarred man slowly turned around and removed the hat from his head, revealing the clear scar on his forehead and a cruel smile on his face.

Ah Shuai's eyes widened hard, and his heart even raised his voice.

In the midst of this Luzon island, a group of pirates called the Sea Ghost Seven appeared. Not only do they loot merchant ships, but they also slaughter all the people on board, making them the most vicious of pirates.

The Combined Fleet originally wanted to eradicate the pirates, but they encountered a series of disasters that forced them to suspend this plan. But I never expected that this Sea Ghost Seven would appear here.

Burst!

Ah Shuai is trying to shout, to pass on the news, to resolve the crisis in United City. But he was stabbed in the back, which made his eyes darken.

The pirate who suddenly appeared pulled out his knife, threw Ah Shuai's body into the debris next to him, covered it with a rotten bamboo mat, and then said cautiously: "Big boss, we have to get out of here as soon as possible!" ”

Although the United City sent a fleet to Cebu Island, the number of troops in the city has been greatly reduced, but if the other side detects, they are afraid that they will also be planted here.

Sea Ghost Seven nodded slightly, and then walked towards the West City Gate again. After this connection, not only did he confirm that Gong Yuanwai really helped him, but he also had a deeper understanding of the city.

When he had gone out of the city, he looked back and looked greedily at the city. If he returned, he would no longer be a sailor of a maritime merchant, but the notorious sea pirate Sea Ghost Seven.

East of the city, the lord's mansion.

Chen Zhixiao and Weng Huasong were drinking tea, and their brows furrowed slightly, worried about food.

But people are not as good as heaven, I thought that when the new rice was on the market in May, the new rice would be transferred from Guangdong or Siam. It's just that as soon as this typhoon blew, there was no way for the grain ships to come to Guangdong.

Nowadays, the rice in this United City is almost exhausted. If there is no more rice and grain from Guangdong, then the hearts of their joint escort team will be scattered, and there will even be riots.

"Miss, you really shouldn't take in those natives!" Weng Huasong took a sip of hot tea, but sighed secretly.

Although he is also a reader, he is different from those pedantic readers. In this period of food shortage, he did not advocate the way of Confucius and Mencius, and preferred to save food rather than use it to help these foreign refugees.

"That day, the eldest lady said that she would open the city gate and let them in, but you didn't say anything!" Chen Zhixiao pinched the lid of the tea and splashed the tea lightly, raised his eyes to look at him and turned over the old accounts.

Weng Huasong actually felt a little pity at that time, and naturally he would not admit it at this time, and directly pushed the responsibility to Hu Niu and said: "Because I know, even if I said it at the time, it would be useless!" ”

"It's useless to say it now!" Chen Zhixiao took a sip of tea and looked very determined.

After all these years of getting along, he naturally knows what kind of character Tiger Niu is. The natives brought their families and brought them in, and there were many women, children, and children, and it was impossible for Hu Niu to agree to drive these people out of the city.

"But we have to try, or we ...... Ahem, in this situation, I can't afford to support those people at all! Weng Huasong raised his eyes and looked at Chen Zhixiao, looking meaningful.

It was at this moment that a young girl walked in from outside, as if she had just helped unclog the drainage in the city, and her whole body looked wet and dirty, but the whole person seemed to be in good spirits.