At this time, Luo Hyunmiao suddenly had an idea and thought of Zheng Zhilong.

Wouldn't it be better if he was like Zheng Zhilong and collected protection money from these maritime merchants? Although there are not many maritime merchants to Korea, but now Korea is an ally of the Qing State, and without land trading channels, maritime trade will be greatly enlarged, and it is also a good financial route.

Zheng Zhilong would collect 3,000 taels of silver a year for a ship, but he would collect less, 1,000 taels, and if 3,500 ships could come to Korea for trade, it would be 3.5 million taels a year. In that case, the annual income will be much higher than it is now, and you can collect money while sitting at home.

However, it soon occurred to him that in order to achieve this goal, he would first have to gather all his men, cruise the shipping lanes to Korea, and continue to rob passing merchant ships until all the merchant ships gave in and had to pay him protection money.

Of course, there must be bloody battles again and again, fighting with the maritime merchants, and even with the naval divisions in the north, which is inevitable. It was Zheng Zhilong, who fought bloody battles with various caravans, pirates and officials and soldiers on the routes between Nanyang and Japan, stepping on piles of corpses and bones, so that his team continued to grow, and finally turned Nanyang and Dongyang into his own pond, and since then he has been rich and rival the country.

By this time the crew had begun to raise the sails under the supervision of his men, and the crew shouted the trumpet to pull the rope.

Luo Hyun Miao suddenly asked Boss Wu: "Old Wu, I heard that the soldiers in the north are powerful, tell me, what kind of strength is their sailor?" ”

Boss Wu secretly glanced at this kind pirate leader, a little at a loss, and didn't know how to answer.

"Tell the truth," Luo Hunmiao still said kindly: "There are so many people on this boat, and there are people on the other two boats, who is talking nonsense, you will know when you hear it." ”

Although Luo Hyunmiao looked kind, Boss Wu was already trembling. He heard the meaning of this bandit leader, and it was easy to distinguish if he told a lie, and as for the consequences, whether to feed the fish or kill the head, then it would be up to the people to be happy.

Boss Wu stammered and replied: "The soldiers of the New Dynasty are indeed powerful, and even the murderous Qing soldiers are not opponents. However, the sailor is not good, there are only three or four lucky ships with two or three hundred materials, and they are all old ships and are not used. The others are small boats, such as eagle boats, chain boats, and two-headed boats. For more than a year, I've been in the harbor and haven't been out much. ”

Luo Hyun Miao grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. Judging from Boss Wu's performance, he knew that what he said should be the truth. Since the naval division in the north did not have much strength, there was one less obstacle to his great cause of becoming the overlord of the northern seas.

He was calculating his strength in his heart. With the addition of these three merchant ships, he has eight large ships. Coupled with the more than 400 men under his command and the nearly 3,000 islanders on the four islands, the strength is not small. As he robbed more ships in the future and recruited a few hard-working heroes, he felt that his goal could be achieved.

He gently patted Boss Wu's shoulder and invited: "Okay, Old Wu, go and sit on my boat, and along the way, let's have a good chat." ”

"Okay, okay, Luo is invited first."

Outside Shanhaiguan, outside Ningyuan City.

It's already September, and the Central Plains is still just wearing jackets, but the people outside the customs have already changed into cotton clothes. Of course, rich officials like Wu Sangui, Tang Tong, and Gao Di naturally do not wear bulky cotton clothes, but wear light, warm, and luxurious furs.

At this time, however, they were not drinking and having fun, but were watching the weapons test from outside the city.

With the commander's order, the throwing rod of a return cannon was slowly pulled down, the hanging basket at the front end was filled with stones the size of a human head, and a clay pot filled with twenty catties of fire oil was also placed in the net pocket made of iron chains. The oil-soaked linen outside the clay pot was ignited, and at the commander's order, the soldier let go of the machine, the throwing rod quickly bounced, and the fire pot flew into the distance with a roar of flames.

After a few breaths, a fire ignited in the distance, the flames swaying in the wind, but the flames would not be extinguished. After that, the soldiers hurriedly measured the range, and after a while came back to report: the distance was two hundred and fifty paces.

"Haha, two hundred and fifty steps, farther than Li Yan's stone thrower." Tang Tong said excitedly.

Wu Sangui and Gao Di were not very happy. Gao Di said lightly: "I don't know if it can come in handy, Li Yandu is about to subdue Mongolia, and the Qing Kingdom is afraid that it will be dangerous." ”

"I haven't seen it yet." Wu Sangui said coldly: "Yesterday, the Qing Kingdom came with an order to send 10,000 troops to deal with Li Yan's cavalry who entered the grassland. Naiman, Weng Niute, Ao Han, Horqin and other departments were already ready, and the Qing State itself sent 80,000 troops. ”

Tang Tong immediately asked, "What are the odds of winning?" ”

Wu Sangui shook his head and replied, "I don't know." It is said that Li Yan sent 20,000 cavalry this time, and Li Yan's cavalry, 20,000, is not small. ”

"Then should we send troops?" Gaudi asked hesitantly.

Wu Sangui looked at the two of them and asked in a low voice, "What are your opinions?" ”

Tang Tong rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "I think let's look at the style." After that, he asked Gao Di: "Brother Gao, is there any change in Shanhaiguan?" ”

"It's still the same, it's all right." Gaudi replied honestly.

Tang Tong shook his head and pointed: "At this time, how can you be safe?" Li Yan is increasing his troops and will go out of the Kanto at any time. ”

"Well, that makes sense. Li Yan will not only send cavalry to the grassland, but also vigorously contain us outside the pass. Wu Sangui also nodded in agreement.

Gao Di immediately understood what the two meant, and he also smiled and said, "Then let's do it, let's not help each other." After that, he restrained his smile and said worriedly: "However, if Li Yan wins, how will we deal with ourselves?" For more than a year, Li Yan has paid little attention to us, and doesn't seem to expect us to do much. ”

Tang Tong was also angry at this time, and complained: "Only this small land in the Western Liaoning Corridor has to feed a population of 100,000 and an army of 50,000, which is really fucking not easy." ”

In order to get more food, they used the open space in front of the various cities and forts, and almost all of them were planted with food, so that the soldiers could barely keep themselves from starving. Li Yan blockaded them severely, and the Qing Kingdom itself was short of food, so they could only rely on themselves.

Wu Sangui said helplessly: "Forget it, our fate is not good, we failed to seize the opportunity in time, and we are sandwiched between two powerful forces, so we can only follow which one wins." ”

Tang Tong also felt that it was boring to say this, so he changed the topic: "How much did you get that handcuff?" Although the cavalry is not used to it, it is still effective for us to equip the guards to save our lives. ”

"And the cannon, will the Qing Kingdom give it back to us?" Gaudi asked, too. They had no copper, and the craftsmen could not make cannons, so they had to ask the Qing court for it.

Wu Sangui said dejectedly: "The handcuffs are not easy to make, only sixty strokes are made, and each of you will take twenty strokes when you leave." There is no need to think about the cannon for the time being, the Qing Kingdom itself is not enough, how can there be any surplus for us. ”

Tang Tong and Gao Di glanced at each other, and they both knew that the artillery might not really have it, but the handcuffs must be more than sixty shots. However, the craftsmen are all in Ningyuan City, and they can only endure it.

The two of them were still smiling, and they thanked Wu Sangui with their hands: "Then thank you to the eldest brother." ”

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