In Xiguan, Guangzhou, the Thirteen Lines have a huge mansion here, which serves as the headquarters of various affairs.

At this moment, more than 20 merchants dressed in various silk satins had gathered in the main hall of this courtyard.

The Thirteen Lines is just a name, not only the Thirteen Firms are involved, but sometimes there are even twenty or thirty of them, and everyone abides by the same rules.

Wu Guodong, the head of the thirteen lines this year, has white hair, and the two black eyes on his narrow face are very eye-catching, and he is constantly smoking his cigarette pouch at this time, and the smell of choking smoke slowly wafts in the room.

Knock knock

Wu Guodong knocked on the table with his silver cigarette pouch, focusing everyone's attention.

"There's trouble," he said with a mouthful of eyelids, "There are a lot of people in the city, and they are thinking of ways to bypass us and trade directly with those foreign businessmen all day long, have you heard about this?" ”

"I heard that, it seems that the head of the Wang Ban of the government went to warn them and was beaten," Lu Shi, an old man with crane hair who was also holding a pipe, said excitedly with some gossip.

"No, even officials dare to fight, what is the origin of these people?"

"Could it be someone from the Zheng family?"

The rest of the room was talking.

Wu Guodong coughed twice and said: "Don't guess, these people claim to be the new Anbo family of the new crown of the imperial court, they are specially here to open the sea, Li Zhifu has already come to visit, according to him, these are all true, I don't think there will be any fake, these two people are about to call brothers and sisters." ”

"New Amber?" , a group of businessmen, you look at me, I look at you, no one has heard of this person.

"I won't say much else, let's talk about what to do now, right?"

"What did the Zheng family say?" , a middle-aged man asked.

"The Zheng family said that it is a matter of the imperial court, if he doesn't go to the sea, the Zheng family will not be able to do too much, not to mention that this new Amber seems to have brought thousands of people over, there are many people, and the people who come are not good."

"Wow"

Everyone in the room turned their heads again, and this was the first time they had encountered such a situation.

The nobles of the Ming Dynasty were mainly concentrated in Liangjing, but most of these people went directly from the south of the Yangtze River, and there were very few who came from Guangdong.

"Since the government and the Zheng family can't do anything about him, then what do we care about this matter, it's a big deal to ignore him, and after a while, let all the businesses that have cooperation with us not be allowed to do business with him, see what he does."

It was a new steward who had joined the firm who said this, but when he said this, the others shook their heads.

Wu Guodong swept over with a roll of his eyes.

"That's a light thing to say, but today there is a new Amber who can bypass us, and tomorrow there will be an old Amber who will also do this, how can our thirteen lines still mix in the realm of Guangzhou?"

These words were already meant to be reprimanded, and the old man in charge of the matter blushed when he spoke, and he shrunk his neck and did not dare to speak again.

The room was buzzing again.

Lu Shi, the crane-haired old man who opened his mouth at the beginning, looked at Wu Guodong, "Why don't we send someone to keep an eye on him, if someone wants to do business with him, we can't warn Xin Amber, can we still warn them, no one trades, wouldn't this matter be naturally yellow." ”

Wu Guodong showed a little smile on his face, "Eh, that's right." ”

"I invited you here today for this matter, there is a red-haired man who seems to want to contact the new Amber, and the old man plans to send someone to warn him first, if he ignores it......"

Wu Guodong's face showed a hint of fierceness, and his right hand stretched out and clenched into a fist, "Then let's send someone to intercept him at sea, do you agree or disagree with this matter?" ”

Lu Shi took the lead in patting the table, "I have no opinion on this, if you break the rules, you should do this." ”

"I'm okay with that"

"I see it"

Hearing the many stewards in the room nodding one after another, Wu Guodong nodded with a smile, "Then it's decided, that red-haired man seems to have a few plywood boats, and when he turns around, he can't ask the Guangdong sailor to go out, and this money has to be shared by everyone, and no one is allowed to run away." ”

"You old guy, it's not just for this matter," Lu Shi scolded with a direct smile.

"Hahaha, President Wu also cares about everyone", and someone immediately came out to hold a round.

The businessmen didn't pay much attention to it, and laughed along.

Compared with the proceeds of controlling the sea trade, the money from bribing the sailors is only a drop in the bucket.

~~~

said that William Kent was here, and he just got out of Liu Ximing's yard, and he thought of the partner to work with.

Although Britain was defeated by the Dutch in Southeast Asia, so it focused on running India, but there were still many British who were willing to break through the encirclement of the Dutch and try their luck in East Asia.

These people are usually businessmen, pirates in their spare time, and they have ships and money in their hands, so they should be the best partners.

After walking around the port, he finally found three partners, namely Daniel Dahler from London, Fox Rupert from Wales, and Hearst Hill from Portsmouth.

However, what he didn't expect was that he gathered these three people together and planned to go to Liu Ximing's station together to discuss the details, but he was suddenly stopped by more than two dozen men in short shirts.

A middle-aged man in a long gown who looked very sven walked out of the crowd.

"Wu Nafanzi, do you want to avoid our thirteen lines of trading alone? Lao Tzu tells you that it is best to dispel your mind obediently, otherwise be careful that you have a life to make money, and you have no life to spend money. ”

Hearing the interpreter tremble as he translated the man's words, William, Daniel and the others were dumbfounded.

The people of the Thirteen Lines found the door so quickly, and seeing that the other party was too numerous and powerful, William had no choice but to laugh immediately.

"Your Excellency, we British merchants have always been very well-behaved, and we have received your warning."

After the translator finished speaking, the middle-aged man smiled contemptuously and waved his hand to leave.

"Be careful, don't try to play tricks, there is no one we can't find in the city of Guangzhou."

"Okay, no problem", William smirked all over his face, scolding inwardly as he lowered his head and watched them leave.

"What now?" When the group had gone away, three British businessmen surrounded them, and several of them began to converse in English.

Liu Ximing thought that William would have to wait a few days to get this done, but he didn't expect that he would sneak into the door the next night and didn't even bring a translator.

"Your Excellency, something is wrong", William rushed into Liu Ximing's study with a panicked face.

Liu Ximing hurriedly pointed to the stool and motioned for him to sit down and speak.

"Don't panic, there is something you can tell me, this is my country, and I am a nobleman, there is nothing that cannot be solved."

"Those merchants have found me and threatened me not to trade with Your Excellency, or they will attack us."

William's words made Liu Ximing stunned, and the slap in the face came so quickly that he was a little caught off guard.

"And what do you guys think?" , Liu Ximing asked faintly.

William was infected by Liu Ximing's calm emotions, and finally calmed down, and his eyes began to flash with greed and fear.

"This business is very profitable, of course we want to continue trading, I even have a partner, it's just that I heard that these Ming merchants are very powerful, and they may intercept us in the open sea."

"Your Excellency, the four of us have only 17 ships combined, 11 of which are merchant ships, if we are really attacked, we will definitely not be able to defeat them."

After William said this, even he felt a little depressed, and it was really uncomfortable to be held up by others.

Who knew that Liu Ximing, who was sitting on the main seat, smiled faintly, "Hahaha, if you are just worried about this, I think the transaction can still continue." ”

"Your Excellency", William raised his head sharply to look at Liu Ximing, his eyes full of surprise.

"Can you tell them not to attack us?"

"No", Liu Ximing's expression of shaking his head made William's heart darken, but then his words made William cheer up.

"Since you are worried about being attacked by them, then I will send troops to escort you to the sea, I have 48 large warships, and the largest large warship has 74 guns, such a powerful firepower is enough to protect you."

When he heard that Liu Xi's big boat had 74 guns, William almost dropped his jaw on the ground in surprise.

My Gaude, such a powerful warship is rare even on European soil.

At present, Britain has not yet completed the classification of battleships, and the third-class battleships equipped with 74 guns are indeed rare fierce battleships in the world.