Lu Zhen quickly came to his senses, looked at Henry with a smile and said, "Rotterdam?" I know that it is an extremely beautiful harbor city, where the tulips are as famous as the qionghua in Suzhou, and the tall windmills are a local sight. ”

Originally, Henry was a little disapprehensive about Lu Jin's saying that he knew Rotterdam, not to mention the Ming Kingdom in the far east, even in a maritime country like Manraka, no one had ever heard of Rotterdam. But now, when he heard him mention tulips and windmills, Henry's face changed a little, and he suddenly exclaimed excitedly: "Oh my God, have you really been to my hometown of Rotterdam?" When did you get there, and how did you get there safely across the ocean? When I came by ship, it was because of a storm that I ended up in Manraka. ”

"Well, it's hard to say......" Lu Zhen smiled mysteriously, neither saying that he had never been to Rotterdam, nor that he had ever been. His purpose was naturally to make the other party unable to figure out how much he had mastered, after all, he was a fellow countryman with those pirates, and it was hard to guarantee that he would not help them cover up some problems. So it's better to leave the other party with a mysterious impression, so that they have to weigh one or two when they hide it again.

Just when Henry wanted to ask, Lu Zhen had already put his face on the table: "Okay, let's get down to business." We invited you here today just to ask something from these pirates, and as long as you can help me with the Suzhou government, we will definitely give you something in return. Not only for you personally, but also for your fleet. ”

"Yes, I promise you that I will provide you with sufficient silk and porcelain and other goods at the most fair price, and at the same time, I can also buy all your spices, so that you will not have to go to other places with great difficulty." Tao Yong also hurriedly added.

Before Henry could react to this assurance, his companions were already a little excited, and the merchant at the head hurriedly shouted, "Henry, let's do what these adults mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." ”

Henry shrugged his shoulders: "Well, since everyone said so, I'll do it." I wonder what questions you want to ask them? ”

Lu Zhen immediately said: "Let's ask them where they came from, and how did they come all the way from the Netherlands...... I mean, the Netherlands came to my Ming Sea? Even pirates can't have such idleness. ”

Henry spoke to the pirates as he had said, and only after a while did he say, "They said that they were from Rotterdam, just like me." As for coming here, it was because they had plundered a fortune of the Kingdom of Spain before, and because they were afraid that the other party's navy would encircle them, they temporarily came east, encountered a big storm, and finally drifted to the eastern sea. However, as far as he knows, in fact, in the past few years, many explorers who are interested in the sea have emerged in Spain and other European countries, and they are just one of them. ”

"Oh? Is there such a thing? After listening to this explanation, Tao Yong was surprised and glanced at Lu Zhen again. Is there any other country actively practicing the overseas trade that Lu Daren strongly advocated in his early years?

Lu Zhen pursed his lips and shook his head disdainfully. He knew too well what Henry meant by explorers, but they were just a bunch of pirates just like the captives in front of him. Not only them, but also those so-called maritime pioneers a hundred years later, such as Columbus, Magellan and others, are in the final analysis a group of sea bandits who plundered all directions. They did discover America, and then slaughtered countless natives there, plundered people's wealth, and called it the Great Discoveries.

As for circumnavigating the globe, you only have to think about it carefully. If it weren't for the constant looting of the supplies and food of the people everywhere along the way, how could the things carried by those few ships be enough for people to circumnavigate the world?

Of course, Lu Zhen didn't mean to argue with them about this, but he was vigilant in his heart. Although this time the pirates in front of them appeared in the waters near Daming because of chance, it is difficult to guarantee that there will not be a second accident. Or, in a few years, these bandits at sea will find the right route and method, and suddenly appear in the waters of the Ming Dynasty.

This is by no means alarmist, especially now that the Ming Dynasty has a completely different attitude towards the sea. If it was placed in the previous forbidden sea, even if these pirates were making trouble on the sea, the imperial court would not know, let alone care. But now, as the scale of the Ming Dynasty's trade at sea is getting bigger and bigger, maybe it will collide with those thieves, and the losses will be big at that time. Just like the catastrophe that many official merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty encountered in this year.

"It seems that a strong maritime defense force is already on the agenda." Lu Zhen secretly made a decision, and then looked at Henry again: "You ask them again, how did they collude with the people in my Ming Dynasty?" He didn't ask if there was any, but directly asked how to collude, and didn't give the other party a chance to deny it at all.

These pirates were also real people, and immediately told the truth: "We met a man who claimed to be a lotus saint in front of a small city in the southeast. There were also people among them who could speak our native dialect, and later they also told us that we were no match for the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the Ming Kingdom on land with our little men, so they proposed an agreement to cooperate with us and make a fortune together.

"They prepared a lot of food and supplies for us, and then let us find a place to stay at sea and wait for news. They want to find out the route of your merchant ships going to sea and pass them on to us, and then we will intercept and plunder them at sea. During the year, we did rob a lot of property with the cooperation of both sides, and half of it was taken by them. ”

"I see." Only then did everyone understand what had happened at sea that year before. Many people stared at these pirates with hatred, and hated to kill them on the spot.

"By the way, one of the interpreters sent by the Lotus Saintess to us was still left on the island by us, it's been a month, and I don't know if he took our treasure with him." Robentz suddenly thought of something and shouted.

"Is there still such a traitor who has a foreign enemy?" Tao Yong said quite annoyedly: "Let them tell the location of the island where they are staying, and my Ming Mansion must go there to catch this heinous prisoner!" ”

Lu Zhen was more concerned about another key question: "You ask them again, where did the guns on their ships come from?" ”

Robenz was apparently more willing to answer the latter than the former, and said: "Our artillery was minted two years earlier from the city of Rotterdam for a hundred gold coins. We waited in the city for more than half a month for this artillery, and we were almost caught by the guards several times......"

"The cannon maker is still in Rotterdam? Can anyone else build a cannon of this size and more power? Lu Zhen asked again.

"This ...... The secret of our warfare at sea is not something I can tell you so easily. Unless you are willing to pay for it and give us another ship to get us out of here. Seeing that Lu Zhen was very concerned about this problem, Robentz suddenly sold Guan Zi and put forward such a condition: "In addition, the things on the small island we used to have are also ours, and I will never tell you where it is." ”

Well, the pirates who had been answering questions before thought they had captured the other party's key point and began to bargain.

In the face of these big Dutchmen who couldn't figure out their situation at all, Lu Zhen really didn't know whether to be angry or laugh. After a while, he shook his head, gave Tao Yong a look, and handed over the power of disposal to the other party.

Tao Yong immediately glared at him and shouted: "Bold thief, you dare to speak like this when you are dying, is it true that I have no royal law in the Ming Dynasty?" Come on, pull these thieves down to me and give me a heavy responsibility, and if you dare to talk nonsense, you will continue to torture and kill one or two people, and they will know that I can't be insulted! ”

I didn't torture these guys before because I knew that it was useless to beat them, and I couldn't even make threats because of the language barrier. But now the situation is different, as soon as they see that they don't know what to do, they will be tortured directly, anyway, their sins are heavy enough, even if they are directly beaten to death, they deserve it.

Immediately, an errand officer stepped forward and pushed these guys who were still screaming outside the hall. Several men served one, and when they were all knocked down, there was a burst of sticks. Suddenly, the screams came from outside, and Henry and the others were shocked for a while, and then they knew the majesty of the Ming Dynasty, and they were glad that they were standing on this side.

After beating them heavily, Robentz and the others were dragged into the hall again. Then Lu Zhen got up and walked to a few people who were lying on the ground and were gasping for breath, and said, "Now you can tell us everything we want to know, right?" If you refuse to recruit again, it won't be so easy. I know that there are ways to make you regret living in this world. ”

Although the other party couldn't understand what Lu Zhen was saying at all, his expression and tone still made them feel a panic, and after hearing Henry's slightly trembling translation, they finally couldn't bear it anymore, and immediately shouted: "I said, I'll tell everything I know." The location of the island is to be drawn for you, and the cannon was forged by a craftsman named Dakaya in Rotterdam, and I heard that he did improve the power of the cannon later, but we did not dare to go back to him......"