Chapter 223: You have to say hello first

In the eighth year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, that is, in 1531, China and Europe were still in a slight upper hand in most aspects, but the gap between firearms and ocean-going navigation had begun to widen.

Although the ban on the sea existed in name only, when Zheng He went to the West, the shipbuilding technology that was far ahead of the world was gradually falling behind because of the ban on the sea and the discussions of civil officials about the cost of money at sea and shaking the country. Jiang Feng didn't know anything about these heavy topics.

He just knew that since the history he had studied in elementary school, he had constantly praised the strength of the Western ships and guns, and although the Chinese people were extremely serious about admiring foreign countries, such praise was always indispensable.

Jiang Feng said that the sailing ship of the Franc machine he saw was a brig, this kind of ship could not even be said to be a battleship, at best it was an armed merchant ship, and the place where this ship was anchored was quite far away from where Jiang Feng was standing, and Jiang Feng led his group to walk for a while before going around to a better observation position.

It is much clearer to see here that there are gun emplacements on the open deck on the side of the ship, and on each side there are a dozen guns of different sizes. This is just an armed merchant ship that came to Shuangyu Island for smuggling and trade, and it actually has such powerful firepower.

There were a few leisurely sailors basking in the sun on the deck, and Monk Li kept smiling bitterly in his heart on the side, thinking that this lord is really a little ambitious, what will happen if you just fancy this ship, whether it is Shuangyu or the shipyard in Yuegang, it can't be done at all.

Jiang Feng looked at the ship up and down, left and right, and never said a word, and after a stick of incense or so, Jiang Feng didn't say anything, turned his head and walked back towards the way he came. Along the way, he kept his head down and didn't say anything, and the people around him thought something was wrong.

On the bustling street of the shop, when he arrived at the inn where he lived, Jiang Feng suddenly asked Li Guangtou, who was following him:

"Lao Li, can't you find a shipyard to make this boat?"

Li Guangtou secretly screamed bitterly in his heart, but he also had to tell the truth:

"My lord, except for the bitch and the shopkeeper who looks at the goods, this ship has never let idlers go up, just look at the things on the deck to understand how to see, besides, the villain said something offensive to people, the lucky ship is enough, if you really run into our lucky ship is not inferior to the Westerner's ship......"

Jiang Feng didn't answer this sentence at all, and directly interrupted and asked:

"How many more men do you have on this Shuangyu Island!?"

Although Li Guangtou's power on the island has been driven out by Xu Qi and Deng Fang, his foundation cannot be given up so easily, and with this kind of bustling people coming and going on the island, it is impossible to have any real precautions.

Li Guangtou was stunned for a moment, obviously caught off guard by asking, Jiang Feng looked at him coldly there, Li Guangtou hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke:

"There are a dozen or so men who can be used, but they are all sailors and shop men, and none of them can hold knives."

Jiang Feng didn't care how much truth he said, and said with a serious expression:

"Ask your people to help me find out ......"

The unprecedented Jiang Feng leaned into Li Guangtou's ear and whispered, hearing this, Li Guangtou was suddenly stunned, the cold sweat on his head flowed down all of a sudden, and he whispered:

"Adult ......"

He said these words here, Jiang Feng always looked at him with a smile, Li Guangtou suddenly felt that he had a cold air from the bottom of his heart, and he didn't dare to speak when he stammered there, so he quickly nodded there and said:

"Wait, sir, I'll make arrangements."

Yang Shishi, who was standing behind Li Guangtou, took out the hand that he put in his arms, and there was always a sheathed spike in Yang Shishi's arms.

Originally, Jiang Feng's plan was to come to Liuheng Island to confirm the matter of the ship and leave here, but after he returned, he called the innkeeper into the room. Directly took out the cash from the belongings he carried, and wrapped the entire inn, there are all kinds of characters on Liuheng Island, and it can be said that he is well-informed as the shopkeeper of the inn. It is not strange to Jiang Feng for this behavior, looking at the appearance of Jiang Feng's entourage and the generosity of spending money, he knows that Jiang Feng is not an ordinary person.

Liuheng Island is not only a place to make a lot of money, but also a gold cave, I am afraid that Jiangsu and Zhejiang may not be able to catch up with here in terms of wine color. It is not uncommon for young and wealthy high rollers to want to stay here for a while longer to make money or spend money.

In the days that followed, Jiang Feng, like most of the merchants on the island, either went around asking about incoming goods and quotes, or lingered in the Qinglou Casino, often returning to his residence very late.

Ten days later, the port of Liuheng Island, some merchants from Hangzhou came one after another, these people transported a lot of goods, are boxes of porcelain and all kinds of fine goods, these things are not easy to transport, so they need to be wrapped more carefully.

The guards on the island were not surprised, there were too many such merchants, although Xu Qi and Deng Fang both started as pirates, but now they are more inclined to be a maintainer of order, so that as the largest merchant on Liuheng Island, they will get greater benefits.

To put it ironically, now these pirates on Liuheng Island are doing the work of officers and soldiers, and the effect may be much better.

These businessmen from Hangzhou hired horse-drawn carriages to bring the goods to the hinterland of Liuheng Island, very coincidentally, they actually met "acquaintances" on the street, although the inn where the acquaintances were located had been packed, but under the accommodation, the high-rollers who chartered the rooms still gave up a lot of rooms reasonably.

The merchants were very grateful to move in, and the goods in their hands did not worry about selling, and the next day they found a trading house with a suitable price, and sold the goods in their hands at a fairly good price. It was a great joy for all, and the merchant and the fellows had made a lot of money this time, so they naturally wanted to have a good time before leaving, so they continued to live at the inn......

In fact, in Jiang Feng's Inn, including the Hangzhou merchants who came ashore later, they were all Tie Ding under Jiang Feng, the Zhejiang people under Monk Li were all pretending to be merchants, and the people with northern accents under Jiang Feng were all pretending to be buddies, and whatever they needed to talk about on weekdays was done through those southerners.

The brig moored in Shuangyu Port is a Spanish armed merchant ship, to be precise, a Portuguese armed merchant ship, but now Portugal is still under Spanish rule, and the name of this ship is quite funny if translated into Chinese-Rooster.

The ship traveled between Luzon, Kyushu in Japan, and Zhejiang in the Ming Dynasty, most of the time as a merchant, but made cameos as pirates when conditions permitted. Because of the strong force on the ship, there was basically no threat. So the business has also snowballed, and the ship has been at sea for six years.

The first captain had now made enough money, and now he had bought a nice estate in Spain and lived a leisurely life, and now everyone from the sailor to the captain of this ship has taken the previous captain as a target, and everyone thinks that they too will have that day.

The current captain's name is Agaya, and he is in a restaurant specially opened for Westerners on Liuheng Island, eating nondescript bread and ham, incidentally, this ham is replaced by Jinhua ham, for a person who has been on the ship for about a month, it is no longer a problem whether it is authentic or not, this is already a supreme delicacy.

Captain Aguya traveled from his hometown to Luzon to Kyushu in Japan to Rokuyoko Island, and he felt that the prosperity of Rokuyoko Island did not necessarily exist in his hometown.

And he also heard that there were more prosperous and wealthy cities on the continent not far away, and Ajaya was eager to go and see, for the Spaniards who came to Asia and Africa, conquest and plunder were always their heart's desires, but he also knew in his heart that the lucky example of defeating tens of thousands of Inca troops with 500 soldiers in South America could not be applied to himself.

On this island alone, there are more than ten pirate forces that can easily kill them, and this is just pirates, if it is the huge empire on the mainland, it is unimaginably powerful. So every time he thinks about it, it's a pity, I don't know when I will have the opportunity to go to the city of Daming, and I don't know when the forbidden sea will end.

While the captain was thinking, a middle-aged man dressed in a long robe sat down in front of him, and Ajaya was no stranger to such a person, who on this island was either a merchant or a translator. Sure enough, the other party spoke quite authentic Spanish.

"Mr. Captain, are you willing to sell this ship?"

Ajaya was stunned for a moment, looking at the middle-aged man in front of him, very unfamiliar, he had never dealt with him, but looking at the other party's application did not look like a fraud. A smile suddenly appeared on the corner of Aguya's mouth, and he asked rhetorically:

"Sir, how much are you going to pay?"

"One hundred thousand taels!"

The interpreter was waiting for the other party's response with anticipation, but saw the ghost on the opposite side suddenly raise a short gun and aim it at him.

"Get out of here, or I'll shoot you down, do you know how much my ship makes a year, bastard!."

In the inn where Jiang Feng lived, Jiang Feng listened to the words of the interpreter expressionlessly, and just said lightly:

"Now go and rest, you will go out with us in the evening."

In the inn room, the iron men were wiping the short guns in their hands, sorting out their weapons and armor, and outside the room, Li Guangtou said to Jiang Feng with a smile:

"My lord, the ship is ready."