The strange ending made Liu Xiang think about riding her sister.

After that, the shopkeeper Liu, who did not believe in evil, organized people to go north many times. From one or two camouflaged fishing boats to a fleet of several large boats, from day to night, from the west end of the strait to the east end of the strait, in short, Shopkeeper Liu scientifically used the elimination method to test the reaction ability of the Cao family's soldiers and horses in an all-round way.

The outcome was devastating: except for a small number of camouflaged fishing boats that were able to get through the customs in a fool's way, all the other ships that did not follow the course to Xiamen would be intercepted in the strait, regardless of time and place, day or night.

Fortunately, now the cannon fodder has also learned to behave: as long as you see the shadow of the sail in the distance, you will immediately show the white flag, and you will not be able to run away, and you will be shot.

This situation made Liu Xiang's heart sad: if he wanted a large number of ships to break through, what would he do if he mixed one or two fishing boats?

Fight and can't fight, break through and encounter such intensive patrols by Cao Jun Liu Xiang has no concept of radar, but this does not prevent him from recognizing the situation. As a result, the plan to "do business" along the coast of Fujian was completely bankrupt.

In this case, Liu Xiang could only temporarily stop thinking about the idea of Fujian, and "do business" off the coast of Guangzhou with peace of mind.

In ancient times, the transmission of information was very slow, and by the time the arrival was tossed back and forth, half a year had passed.

At this time, Liu Xiang had to lead his troops back to the Chaoshan area to rest and recuperate: the big gang had already caused anger and resentment in Guangzhou, and even the Portuguese in Macao had sent envoys to him to put forward n and strict duties, so the shopkeeper Liu could only temporarily call it a day.

Theoretically, it is impossible for a force to maintain a high density of daily patrols for a long time, and Liu Xiang is well aware of this. So after he returned to Chaoshan, he originally still had some illusions: Cao's grid would be loosened, and he could take his subordinates to Fujian, but the big deal was to go to Zhejiang, and come back a year or two later.

However, when he returned to Chaoshan and received information more conveniently, he found that the situation was not only not improving, but even worse.

First of all, patrols in the strait have not been relaxed.

Second, now even fishing boats are not easy to mix: in the past six months, the people have "absorbed" all the fishing boats near Xiamen.

The fishermen's society, which has been passed down from generation to generation, has been completely destroyed by the Crossing Public.

All the coastal fishing villages were reorganized by the powerful General's Office. Taking the village as a unit, the first is personnel screening and personnel diversion, and then the end of the "fishing tyrant" and "fish pen" with the S nature: dare to grab the exploitation right of leeks with the biggest hooligans, and teach the breech gun to be a man in minutes.

After that, the remaining fishermen who were allowed to work could form small joint-stock companies and happily borrow large fortune boats free of charge from the wharf outside the middle and left.

The ships captured from the pirates were all modified to be hand-cranked and towed with steel or rope. Fishermen who have borrowed new fishing boats must form a fleet and go out to sea behind a pilot boat.

The pilot boat will signal at the right time, and the fishermen will only need to see the flag rocket and get off.

Large boats, with fleet-style fishing with navigation, can penetrate deep into the middle of the strait where fishermen did not dare to go in the past, so the efficiency is greatly enhanced. The fish caught are salted on the spot and sent back to Xiamen, where the endless amount of smuggled salt is piled up in the freight yard, and the fishermen no longer have to worry about a mouthful of salt.

This type of fishing is expanding from Xiamen to the north and south. Basically, in every coastal county in Fujian, one or two fishing boat assembly points will be set up in the future: the pilot boat with fish finders will come regularly to take the younger brothers to sea.

Then a strange sight appeared: the small fishing boats that used to be so numerous on the coastline were completely gone, and the ocean was silent.

In this case, any traditional fishing boat that trespasses into the patrol area of a certain force will be quickly discovered, interrogated and seized.

Now Liu Xiang's side is not even smoother in delivering news.

The advanced management mode not only improves production efficiency, but also exposes the charm and ghosts.

What's even more terrifying is that the scope of this "sea rot" is still expanding day by day. Fishermen along the coast of Fujian who have received the news have recently been defecting to Cao's family in large numbers to hand over a few shabby small boats to change them to large boats, and they are not oppressed by the fish pens, so fools will not do it.

Shopkeeper Liu was completely depressed now, and he couldn't find a way to break the game

Unlike half a year ago, he now has a very objective understanding of Cao Jun's combat effectiveness, so the option of "just frontal" was first eliminated by him from the response plan.

The option to break through the level is undoubtedly unreliable, and now even a single fishing boat can't be mixed up.

The strong neighbor in the north, which occupies a key place in the throat, has effectively blocked the N Strait, and put the Liu Xiang group, which had just returned from the south, in a dilemma.

So at the end of 162, Liu Xiang, who couldn't find a strategic direction, was quite anxious.

The Cao clan's subordinates who appeared out of thin air were like a crouching tiger in front of them. Now don't talk about competing with Zheng Zhilong before and meddling in the grand strategic concept of Sino-Japanese trade, Liu Xiang is not even staying at home Chaoshan at the moment: there is only a 200-mile sea route between him and Xiamen, and Cao's clipper can come to take a picture with a single charge, which keeps him awake at night.

So the shopkeeper of Liu Da frantically sent spies to reconnoiter around, and at the same time sent several groups of messengers to contact friends, including the Portuguese, hoping that the situation would change.

The turning point came at the end of December: Song Asheng, a spy sent earlier, returned to Chaoshan.

Song Asheng is a native of Jieyang, and he is also an old Chaoshan brother. He hadn't been a spy before, he was just the owner of a birdship.

The reason why Song Asheng was sent to Xiamen was not because he was smart and clever, but according to the spies who came back last time, they saw Song Asheng's nephew on an errand with the people, so Song Asheng was sent to Xiamen after a few words of encouragement from Liu Xiang.

Unexpectedly, this time it was less than half a moon, and Song Asheng came back.

In a row of dilapidated wooden houses on the shore of Dahao Island, Liu Xiang, who had just had lunch, was informed and immediately summoned Song Asheng.

After pouring a cup of narcissus tea, Liu Xiang, who was short in stature and dark-skinned, had an angular face and no longer polite, and after Song Asheng took a sip of dry tea, he immediately asked: "Old Song, come back quickly, should there be news?" ”

"Yes, yes!" Song Asheng nodded again and again at this time: "I was lucky to take a merchant ship this time, and within two days, I met my nephew in the restaurant opened by the Yanren." ”

Liu Xiang nodded slowly when he heard this: "It's luck!" ”

Song Asheng then said a little excitedly: "Big shopkeeper, that man can stop the brothers on the ocean every time, it turns out that he doesn't rely on many boats, he has magic weapons!" ”

When Liu Xiang heard this, he leaned forward slightly: "Oh!?" How do you say that? ”

"The people of the center and left of the city set up a three-zhang high pier, the top of the pier has a silver pot like a magic weapon, every day to rotate, called Lord Lei."

Song Asheng said excitedly at this time: "This Lord Lei was invited by the people of the Enlightenment from the Daoist person, and his mana is all over the sky, and he can see ships within 200 miles of the ocean, day and night!" ”

"Really!?" When Liu Xiang heard this, her eyes widened, her legs were cocked, and she jumped off the chair.

"Don't dare to deceive the big treasurer!" Song Asheng hurriedly explained at this time: "My nephew is walking on the grain platform, and he is friends with the apprentice who manipulates the magic weapon. According to him, every time the brothers' boat had not even passed Floating Head Bay, the news had already been told to the gunboats by means of a thousand-mile transmission of sound! ”

"Alas, there is a way to transmit sound for thousands of miles, and it seems that businessmen have been spending money to buy news recently."

Liu Xiang is worthy of being a person who came over in the wind and waves, and after a short gaffe, he put his hands behind his back and sighed: "I originally thought it was all legends, but now it seems that these outsiders really have some overseas secret arts!" ”

Liu Xiang shook his head at this time, and at the same time let out a smack in his mouth: "I can't complain that just a few ships have blocked the 600-mile sea frontier impermeable, so that's it, hehe, so it's like this."

Song Asheng finally added at this time: "This Lord Lei is said to be a son and mother who are connected to the heart, the middle left office, Penghu, and the big members have all set up, and a nest of male and female magic weapons have sealed the strait tightly. ”

"Old Song, this news is coming, I have worked hard for you this time." Liu Xiang reached out and patted Song Asheng on the shoulder at this time: "Go to the grain station to receive three rewards, and allocate two more boats to you tomorrow." ”

"Thank you, big boss!"

"If you have merit, you should be rewarded, what do you thank your brother, I can't say that I want you to go to the Zhongzuo Institute again in the future."

"Needless to say, just a word from the big shopkeeper!"

After sending Song Asheng away, Liu Xiang waved his hand and pushed back the others, and walked silently in the house alone.

Although the mystery of the fleet's repeated interceptions has been revealed, Liu Xiang is not relaxed for half a minute now, and his thoughts are even heavier.

If what Song Asheng said was true, and the people were really using magic tools to monitor the ocean, then Liu Xiang's last bit of hope would be broken.

Originally, he risked being raided by the Cao clan to return to the Chaoshan area, just under the pretense of waiting for his opponent to be exhausted. However, reality dealt him a heavy blow: Cao's gunboats were patrolling from beginning to end, and they were very relaxed

In this way, Liu Xiang's gang seems to have only one way to go: go south to Guangdong, never come back, and even if they rest in the future, they can only go to Vietnam and Siam.

Thinking of this, Liu Xiang, who was always resolute, was extremely irritable at the moment, and hurriedly walked back and forth in the house, with an anxious and helpless look on his face.

However, the next moment, Liu Xiang suddenly stood on his feet, and after muttering for a while, he shouted loudly outside the door: "Someone, please come to see me." ”

Liu Xiang naturally has a military advisor in front of his tent, and there is more than one. However, there is only one military advisor without a surname in the title, that is, Yu Xianke, the chief military advisor who died with Liu Xiang in history. 11