When the imperial court wanted to open up the Maritime Silk Road, the vast majority of merchants raised their hands in favor of it, because it was completely in line with their interests, but there were also a few merchants who were extremely unhappy because it hindered their interests. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

is also a businessman, why are some people happy and some worried? This involves a difference in interests.

This trade route is full of wealth, but also pirates are rampant, the vast majority of merchants who enter the seafaring trade and want to make a fortune will be exhausted by the pirates, and even do the business of companionship, so these merchants naturally hate the pirates, and the court goes south to maintain the safety of the waterway, which is completely in line with their interests, and they will naturally fully support it.

But there are also a few merchants who are very capable, and they buy off all the pirates in the shipping lanes through various connections, so that their cargo ships can sail all the way without worrying about the pirates' robbery, and they can even buy the goods of other merchants who have been robbed from the pirates at a lower price to make up for the loss of the pirates.

In order to win with the pirates, they even betrayed their peers, telling the pirates the goods of the merchant ships, the date of departure and the area when they would pass through, so that the pirates could rob them, and then they would naturally buy back these goods at a lower price and make a windfall.

The mutual benefit and win-win situation between these scum merchants and pirates has seriously hurt the vast majority of merchants who want to do business seriously, and has become a cancer of maritime trade.

That is to say, a small number of merchants in the Tang Dynasty are already half pirates, they are in cahoots with real pirates, seriously disrupting the sea trade routes, and even uniting against the Tang Dynasty.

These small number of scum merchants are even more hateful than the real pirates, their existence makes the activities of the pirates like a tiger, and they are the main culprits of the piracy rampant, just like the traitors of later generations, if there is no guidance of traitors, how can the Japanese kingdom of later generations run rampant in the land of China.

Ang Lee's trip to the south this time is not only for the pirates who have done a lot of evil, but also for these scum businessmen who are in cahoots with the pirates, and this will naturally make these scum businessmen shudder.

Especially after watching the exercises of the Heavenly Army and the ironclad artillery trucks, these scum merchants with ghosts in their hearts were all frightened, they all had correspondence with pirates, and even signed blood letters with pirates in order to prove their 'loyalty', once the pirate's lair was breached, these physical evidence fell into the hands of the imperial court, and their end came.

In a luxurious mansion in the city of Guangzhou, more than a dozen brightly dressed businessmen gathered in an airtight secret room with nervous expressions.

They were deliberating on a countermeasure, a foolproof way to survive the immediate crisis, and they could truly feel the seriousness of the situation this time, which they could not easily get through.

First of all, the force of the imperial court this time was far stronger than before, especially the exercises of advanced weapons such as the Celestial Army and ironclad artillery trucks, which gave them a great shock, making them feel that the pirates were powerless to resist at all.

Second, this time the commander was Ang Lee, a great official at the emperor's side, a legendary figure, not a magistrate in Guangzhou, and the fact that they did not seem to have been able to use bribery or assassination and intimidation did not seem to be effective, and this fact gave them a headache.

"Li Shilang personally led the elite soldiers and horses south, isn't this trying to force us to death?"

"I went to see it in person just now, Datang Elite is really unstoppable! With the little family background of the Black King and the White King, they can't resist it at all, if they really fight, they will be finished, and our affairs will be exposed. ”

"I also went to see it myself just now, fifty iron cars, unstoppable directly from the boat landing on the beach, rushing forward in one go, there are artillery on the car, where can manpower stop it, it is really terrible."

"What is this, I just went to see the Celestial Army drill, the machine bigger than the house flew directly into the sky like a bird, and after ten big birds flew over, the house and the scarecrow were all blown up, which is even more terrifying?"

"I heard that in addition to these two, there are more than 30 steam cannon ships in the imperial court, which run much faster than sailing ships, and are loaded with more than 1,000 cannons, and the hundreds of ships of the two kings can't fight together!"

"There are also six thousand soldiers and horses transferred by the Longwu Army, all of them are elite-equipped soldiers and horses, and their strength is very strong."

"If that's the case, we can't sit still!"

"You must not sit still, anyway, if the matter is revealed, it is death, it is better to kill Li Shilang without doing anything, so that the imperial court will not go south to open up the route in a short time."

"You're going to assassinate Li Shilang, is that really going to work? I heard that this person is strong in martial arts, and there are many guards around him, how can it be so easy. ”

"Can you think of anything better?"

"There is no better way, only by killing Li Shilang can the current crisis be alleviated."

"Hey, the old man has lived for so long, or is it the first time he has encountered such a tricky thing? It's not impossible to assassinate, but it must be guaranteed to be successful, and the court must not be allowed to find out that we did it, otherwise, we will all be destroyed. ”

Just when everyone was anxious, a shriveled old man sighed, but the words he said convinced everyone.

"Zhang Weng is right, we can't be reckless, we must analyze the problem calmly, and we must not be frightened by the posture set up by the imperial court."

A young man looked at the shriveled old man with a respectful expression.

This shriveled old man has been mixed at sea for more than 30 years, he is an old man, and most of the pirates along the way know him, and even worship him, so that his business can be prosperous, while many of his peers are struggling to survive, and in order to expand his power and monopolize trade, he gathered a group of obedient and interesting peers, and took them to make a fortune together, thus forming a group of dead friends, so that he naturally became the leader of this group of dead parties, and all the scum businessmen were all following his own eyes.

The old man surnamed Zhang had nasolabial folds on his face, he thought for a long time, looked at the more than ten people in the room, and sneered at the corner of his mouth: "It's all those guys who don't know whether to live or die, and they have nothing to do to go to the capital to complain, and I don't know what means they have used to make the imperial court pay attention to the maritime trade routes, and they also have a good reputation as the Maritime Silk Road." ”

"These damn guys just see us get rich, how good it is to do their business, and they have to wade into the troubled waters of maritime trade."

"That is, we must teach these unruly guys a good lesson and let them go to the capital to complain."

"It's better to kill a few people to relieve the hatred in our hearts."

The shriveled old man was furious and scolded: "You know what else you know besides killing, a bunch of waste." ”

Seeing that everyone didn't speak, the shriveled old man continued: "I, Zhang Batian, have lived for decades, and I haven't seen any battles, when a storm was set off on the sea and the big ships were blown into the sky, didn't Lao Tzu still live well?" When encountering things, you must be calm, don't always think about fighting and killing, you must salute first and then soldier, and find out the situation. ”

"Zhang Weng, what do you say now, we all support you."

A young businessman asked impatiently.

The shriveled old man Zhang Batian pondered for a moment and said, "I'm going to see Li Shilang." ”

"Zhang Weng, what are you going to see him for, he led his troops south this time, and he is dealing with us and the black and white king?"

"Yes! If he has anything to see, it is better not to see. ”

Zhang Batian shook his head and said: "What do you know, I don't know how to get to the bottom, how can I know Li Shilang's thoughts, if I can persuade Li Shilang with my three-inch tongue, maybe he will go home." ”

"Zhang Weng, is it really possible?"

"Okay, you guys go and hand over a post, I'll visit tomorrow morning."

Zhang Batian gave an order, and waved his hand, asking everyone to take a rest first and eat some fruit to relax.

"Brother Zhang, if we can't convince Li Shilang, what should we do next?"

An old man, who was also old, looked at Zhang Batian and asked.

"There are many ways, let's take it step by step! The big living people can't be suffocated by urine! ”

Zhang Batian said confidently.

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At the training ground not far from the port, more than 30 steam gunboats began to bombard the floating targets in the distance, which was the beginning of their training, in order to show the strong strength of the Tang naval army.

Li An is on the shore, with a high-powered telescope, confidently observing everything in front of him, the power of the steam gunboat is indeed very great, but training is also extremely important, if the soldiers can't hit the target, the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced, and when facing pirates, the chance of victory will become smaller.

You must know that these more than 30 steam ships are the key to naval warfare and the maintenance of sea supremacy, if they cannot quickly and effectively fight pirates, the space army motherships and landing ships will become useless.

In order to enhance the combat effectiveness of the steam gunboats, he transferred half of the 6,000 soldiers and horses under Li Feiyu's command to 30 gunboats, each with an average of 100 soldiers, to prevent the pirate boats from approaching to fight in the middle of a naval battle.

The other 3,000 soldiers and horses will take 10 large sea ships and be ready for landing operations at any time.

"Li Shilang, when will you go south, do you have a specific date?"

A local official in Guangzhou asked respectfully.

"There is no specific date, but the soldiers still need to train, and they will not be able to set off until at least two months later."

Ang Lee's words were a lie, he didn't want people to know his exact plan, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to achieve the mission of raiding the pirate's lair.

"Li Shilang, the assassin has asked me to wait for the other courtyard to be prepared, and Li Shilang will go back to rest early."

Another junior said politely.

The Assassin of Guangzhou was originally accompanied by him, but the lord of a state had a lot of government affairs to deal with, and Li An sent away all the main officials, leaving some deputies and small officials to accompany him.

"Okay, lead the way."

Li An doesn't plan to live in a cabin, or it is most comfortable to live on the ground, and in addition, you don't have to guess to know, the local officials will definitely send some stunning beauties over for Li Ang to enjoy.

"Li Shilang, this is here, covering an area of fifty acres, it is the best house in the whole Guangzhou."

The servant brought Li An into the house.

"There are a lot of beauties!"

At a glance, Li An saw thirty or fifty young women, who were busy performing their duties, and their clothes were divided into several categories, representing different grades.

The almost ones are doing rough work, the beautifully dressed ones are responsible for dancing to relieve Ang Lee's boredom, and the sexier ones are those who accompany the wine to warm the bed, everything is prepared in an orderly manner, so that Ang Lee has a comfortable feeling as soon as he enters the door.

Seeing a smile on the corner of Li An's mouth, very satisfied with the house and layout, the little official was happy and happy, and hurriedly said that it should be, and described how his own assassin history admired Li An.

"Yes, very good, go back and tell the assassin Shi, the official is very satisfied, go back!"

Ang Lee clapped his hands and asked the beauties to dance first, appreciate and appreciate to adjust their mood.

"Li Shilang, there is a merchant leader who calls himself Zhang Batian who has sent a message of worship, and he wants to come to visit early tomorrow morning, is he free?"

The janitor asked, handing over the prayer post.

"What kind of person is this, I haven't heard of it."

Li An asked curiously.

"Li Shilang, this man is a local merchant leader, he also does overseas trade, and he does it best, his fleet rarely encounters pirates, and he earns a lot of money."

The little official opened his mouth and introduced.

"It seems that he is a very powerful character, but he can hide from the invasion of pirates, isn't it simple? I'll see you when I'm free. ”

Li An responded happily, he had two views on this person in his heart, one was positive, that this person was extremely familiar with the sea routes and pirates, so that he could use his experience to deceive pirates and save his ships and goods, and the other view was naturally that he suspected that this person was colluding with pirates.

Only these two circumstances will cause his fleet to rarely encounter pirates, otherwise, it is impossible with the discipline of probability, he cannot be so lucky every time, there is definitely a deep reason.

"Li Shilang, there is a group of businessmen outside the door asking to see you."

The janitor strode over.

"Merchant? Let them in. ”

Ang Lee is also idle, and it is also good to sit and chat with businessmen.

Soon, dozens of merchants poured in, and the vast crowd was very spectacular.

"Li Shilang."

"You're welcome, you don't have to say anything."

Ang Lee looked very elegant.

The merchants first complimented and thanked them, but did not say anything substantial.

After a long time, he tentatively asked how determined the court was, whether it was ready to fight the pirates and make a show, or fight the pirates to the end, and swear not to give up if the pirates were not destroyed.

Li An knew that these businessmen still had doubts about the imperial court, businessmen were cunning, or there was not much word profiteer, these guys usually have a treacherous side in life, so they didn't dare to believe absolutely in anything.