Gao Peng is a shrewd Green Battalion officer, and he is also the lowest Green Battalion officer, I thought it was bad luck, who would want to have this kind of financial luck.

He is an officer of the lowest level of the Manchu Green Battalion "Xun", the official position is the general, and there are fifty nominal people under his command, but there is no one who does not eat empty pay these years, he actually has only fourteen soldiers under him, and he is only fifteen if you count him, but there are a lot of ruffians in this city, and the ruffians and soldiers are almost mixed into one virtue in these years, so he often hires the ruffians in the city to fill the number.

He was unlucky, last year was sent to the left battalion as the commander, the reason why it is said to be bad luck, is because the left battalion still belongs to the Fengshan County administration a few years ago, although it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, Zheng Chenggong era, there are two armies stationed here, one left to rush, one to the right, so left the name of the left battalion, the Qing Dynasty established the county seat here, on both sides of the mountain, facing the sea, backed by the lake, is still an ideal defensive fortress, but Taiwan is not peaceful in recent years, five or six years ago Lin Shuangwen rebellion spread to the whole of Taiwan, the left battalion was captured twice.

After Lin Shuangwen, the local civil officials felt that Zuoying was indeed a convenient place, but they couldn't find a reason, and moved the county seat to the more prosperous Pitou Street under the pretext that there were many military disasters here, and it was an ominous place. But after all, the left battalion has military value, and there is a port here, so a flood land was set up, and Gao Peng was transferred here to be the commander.

How much oil and water is there in an abandoned county town? Although there is a port, the government has not taken care of it at all these years, the port is seriously silted, and merchant ships have come here less and less, only a group of poor fishermen still rely on where to make a living, but the fishermen on the water have no oil and water, and those ship heads, dragon heads and other goods are not easy to mess with, so Gao Peng feels that he is really unlucky.

In fact, he has already calculated, the green battalion soldiers have lived like beggars in these years, he has at least one county town, and some other flood lands nearby, some are even in the mountains, and they can't eat enough without hunting. But people are like this, at least Gao Peng thinks that coming to Zuoying to be the general is not worthy of the credit he made a few years ago, and he is more or less a hero who participated in the suppression of the rebellion from beginning to end.

Fortunately, it was abandoned by the government here, and no one cared about it, it became a place far away from the emperor of the sky, Gao Peng did whatever he wanted here, and he lived by blackmailing merchants, but he didn't have to think about making a fortune. It's not that he didn't want to eat by the sea, but the ports here are about to be abandoned, and he doesn't have a ship in his hand, so he can't smuggle and make a fortune like Lukang and other officials in flooded areas.

Who would have thought that a group of merchants came yesterday and inquired all over the world about buying wood, Gao Peng immediately felt that this was an opportunity to make a fortune when he heard the news, and it happened that his subordinate Kui Si'er thought that there was indeed a batch of wood in the Confucian Temple here, and now no one cares about it, there is a school in the temple, but the old master in the school does not dare to care about his general affairs. What's more, he didn't think about really doing business with the merchants, all he thought about was the merchants' money.

Who would have thought that these merchants were really fat, and they carried three thousand silver dollars with them, which made him change his attention and let the other party see the wood, and it could be seen from the other party's eyes that they really needed these wood, so he opened his mouth again, and said that the other party asked for seven thousand silver dollars, and if he could exchange these wood for ten thousand silver dollars, it would be a windfall. casually took out a little activity, Gao Peng felt that he could move his nest, and it should be no problem to go to Donggang to be a Qianzong.

But as a day passed, Gao Peng's mind changed again, especially when his subordinates encouraged that the merchants should be very rich, and they couldn't let go of the fat sheep who could take out 10,000 silver dollars casually, otherwise they would really be ashamed of their ancestors. But Gao Peng thinks that more is better than less, and it is already very good to earn 10,000 silver dollars, but if you can squeeze more, of course it will be better. Therefore, he rejected his subordinates' suggestion to detain the other party's ship, hand over the person to the Fengshan County Ya as a sea coward, and swallow the money privately. Because Gao Peng knows very well that there is too much money, sometimes it is hot, and if you hand over people to Fengshan County, then it is not easy to swallow the money alone, and in the end, you may not even be able to keep 10,000 silver dollars.

So Gao Peng refused, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the merchant was rich, and he still opened too little, feeling that he was too disadvantaged, and he felt that when the other party came to pull the wood, he could change his words and find an excuse to raise the price.

According to the agreement, the other party came again early this morning, Gao Peng originally planned to raise the price, but seeing the other party's posture, he immediately gave up, because the other party sent sixty people, forty of whom were carrying shotguns, and the murderous appearance made him feel his scalp tingle, and felt that these people must be ruthless characters who have killed people.

At this time, he was not worried about whether the other party would give money, but worried about whether the other party would eat himself in the dark, but in the end, the other party still gave the silver honestly, and the wood was not all taken away, but picked and picked, and the best beams were pulled away by hired ox carts.

With a group of equally trembling subordinates, Gao Peng sent this group of people out of Zuoying City before he put his mind at ease, he suddenly thought that if these were really Haikou Kou, he would be able to occupy this city just now, and he Gao Peng would fall to the ground because of the loss of the city, he believed that the county lord would put all the sins on his head at that time, and he had no luck, and in order to explain to the above, Fengshan County would also push his family out, and exile for three thousand miles would be light.

Thinking of this, Gao Peng felt a chill down his spine, he felt that he no longer dared to despise these merchants, and immediately sent someone to the port to keep an eye on the merchants' every move.

At this time, as his confidant and younger brother, Kui Si moved his mind again and told Gao Peng that the ship of the Fan merchant was very large, and he was afraid that there were good goods hidden, Gao Peng said that there were many merchants in Fan, and Kui Si suggested contacting the nearby Chishan Xun to do this business together, anyway, it was a Fan merchant, and no one would care about it at that time.

Gao Peng had a moment's heartbeat, but he still refused, if it became natural, hello, hello, everyone, if something happened, he couldn't afford it, so he immediately sternly ordered his subordinates to be careful in the past few days, don't mess with those merchants, and wait for them to repair the ship and leave. In order to appease the hearts of his subordinates, he also took out a thousand silver dollars and distributed them to these people, which made him feel a lot of pain.

Zhou Lang waited on the boat until noon, and waited until Colin personally brought someone back the timber before he was relieved. He didn't think that the soldiers of the Green Battalion would definitely eat black, after all, he paid a lot of money, plus sent dozens of heavily armed soldiers, so that the other party was afraid and minimized the danger, but he was still not very relieved, and now when he saw the wood back, his heart was put in his stomach.

Although everything seemed to be going well, Zhou Lang still came to discuss with Colin according to the crisis plan he had thought about all night yesterday.

Although he always suspected that Colin was placed by the East India Company to spy on him, but along the way, Colin maintained more respect for himself, so when Zhou Lang reminded Colin that he couldn't relax, he didn't have any objection and immediately arranged it.

The ship had entered the harbor yesterday and was unhindered, and now it was stranded in a pre-dug bunker on the beach of the harbor, supported by long rafters on all sides, so strong that even the tide could not propel the ship for the time being. Forty veterans, heavily armed, stood guard on the ship, keeping an eye on every movement, and a sailor kept an observer from the lookout post on the mast, reporting any disturbances at sea.

There was also a group of carpenters busy at work, working all kinds of timber with saws and planers, gambling on the cracks in the ship, stuffing twine, lime and tung oil into the joints, and a big move was going on on the deck to replace a mast, and although a dozen carpenters were hired from the port and the city, the manpower was far from enough, and all the sailors took part in the work, even Harald, the captain.

The materials were ready, everything went well, and as long as they passed the ten-day construction period safely, they would be able to sail again. But these ten days were by no means easy ones, but difficult ones.

"You can't be careless at night."

Before dark, Zhou Lang found Colin again and reminded Colin of this. The crisis plan was discussed with him, just to remind him.

"Don't worry, it's already been arranged. Everyone is ready to fight at any time, and the sentry posts are constantly rotated, with at least ten men on duty every night. ”

Colin is a regular military officer, and his execution ability is unquestionable, which Zhou Lang is very satisfied with. He even thought that if Colin wasn't from the East India Company, he could hire him for a good price.

"Safety first, hopefully no accidents."

Zhou Lang sighed.

After speaking, he added: "Thank you for your hard work, I will apply for a bonus from the company when I go back." ”

Inadvertently, Zhou Lang's attitude towards Colin has changed, which is really due to the current power structure on the ship. Zhou Langkong has the identity of the Chinese director of the China East India Company, but he is basically a bare-bones commander, Harald almost holds the most power as the captain, and Colin, who controls the military power on the ship, has become an important part of balancing power.

There is such a complex composition of power in just one ship, and power is really the most complex social composition of human society.

The first three days passed safely, the progress of the project is very ideal, thanks to the efforts of the crew, and the carpenters recruited in the local area are unusually hard-working, the hard work of the crew, which is due to Harald's iron-fisted management, and the hardships of the local carpenters are attributed to the consistent quality of the Chinese, so the progress of the construction period is gratifying, Harald believes that the maintenance will be completed ahead of schedule, maybe the eighth day can sail.

But it's just maybe, the real construction can be completed on the fifth day, and then you have to wait for the new brush of waterproof tung oil to dry, if the sky is beautiful, two days may be enough, but if the sky is not beautiful, continuous rainy days, it is not easy to say.

It's July, which is the typhoon-prone season in the Taiwan Strait, and heavy rain can fall at any time. Fortunately, the weather has been beautiful in the past few days, most of the project has ended, and there has not been a single raindrop, and even the weather has been good for two consecutive days, which is a rare good luck among bad luck.

Zhou Lang has always been in a state of caution, he will never relax until the last moment, but he can tighten his heartstrings, but it does not mean that everyone can be like this, when the work is going well, Zhou Lang saw a relaxed expression on most people's faces, this is not a good thing, he reminded his colleagues many times, including Harald, he also reminded that although the two have contradictions, they still have to cooperate, and cooperate with people who don't like or even dislike, Zhou Lang still has this mentality.

What worries Zhou Lang is that although Colin's cooperative attitude has always been very good, Colin himself is inevitably a little lax, he is a young British aristocratic officer, he was only fifteen years old when he fought in the United States, and he is only in his thirties now, but he has become a colonel smoothly, with a great future, and sometimes it is inevitable to be proud; However, Harald, who had a holiday with Zhou Lang, made Zhou Lang more at ease, this captain who is not easy to get along with is indeed experienced and strictly managed, and his sailors have always been nervous, but the nervous thing is only work, and it is unknown what his mentality is.

Zhou Lang is worried here, and Gao Peng is also worried over there.

At first, he was worried that if these merchants did not leave Zuoying, they would cause big trouble and implicate themselves. Sending people to stare at every day, seeing that the other party has been honestly repairing the ship, and the ship is about to be repaired, which should have made him easy, but it backfired, and his idea of making a fortune in silence finally couldn't be realized. Because the other military camps knew about the situation in Zuo Ying, they knew that he Gao Peng had made a fortune, and there was even greater wealth waiting for them.

The nearest to the left camp, located in the north of Fengshan County, Guanyin Mountain, Chishan Xun is also called Guanyin Mountain Xun, located in the east of the left camp ten miles, there is a total of 1,000 members of the garrison, 73 soldiers. Huang Laoer, the general manager of Chishan Xunqian, didn't know where he learned that a foreign ship with oil and water was very fat here in Zuoying, and sent someone to contact Gao Peng, and there was a faint warning in his words, warning Gao Peng not to eat alone.

How did Chishan Xun know that there was a foreign ship here, Gao Peng couldn't figure it out, he suspected that it was his subordinates who told the secret, after all, they were all mixed green battalions, the green battalion soldiers of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were hereditary, and the fathers passed down from son to son, and they were stationed in one place in one area, but the officers were changed frequently, so it was inevitable that there were various relationships between the battalions under his command and other Xun's battalions, and it was not surprising that the news leaked out.

But this matter can't be traced yet, because it's hard to say whether it's really the news revealed by his subordinates, after all, such a big ship is parked in the port, and the entire Zuo Battalion knows about it in less than two days, which can't be kept secret at all. This is Gao Peng's negligence, he didn't expect the other party to stay here for so long, and he thought that the other party would leave in a day or two.

Now that Chishan Xun knows, I'm afraid it won't be long before other floods will know, and it's impossible for people in Fengyixun, Qihouxun, and Xixi Xun not to want to get a piece of the pie, and even Fengshan County will know that once Fengshan County knows, it will be difficult for these green battalions to swallow this windfall alone, even if they can get it, it is also the South Road Battalion stationed in Fengshan County.

If things don't go well, the merchant is really hard, and in the end, he didn't get any benefit from the mobilization of the people, and he was known by the above, that was the most troublesome thing, because the place where the accident happened was the left camp where he was stationed, and he definitely didn't run away when the time came. Therefore, at this point, Gao Peng really didn't want to do anything to those merchants.

However, Chishan Xun's general Huang Lao Er already knew about it, and sent someone to urge him, asking Gao Peng to join him to take down the Fan merchants, and swore that Chishan Xun had received a secret report that there were Fan merchants smuggling in Zuoying, and he would come to investigate. This is clearly going to get a piece of the pie.

Now everyone knows that the merchants are rich, because they are generous, they hire people to work in the port, and the money they give is unimaginable to everyone, and a carpenter gives a silver dollar a day. Asking Huang Lao Er to let go of such a fat sheep is not something that can be sent away in three or two sentences, unless Gao Peng can divide half of the 10,000 silver dollars he has in his hand, otherwise he can't impress Huang Lao Er at all, but asking Gao Peng to take the money is more uncomfortable than killing him.

The matter has come to this point, just after Huang Lao Er couldn't wait for Gao Peng's exact reply, and actually brought someone to Zuo Camp in person, Gao Peng knew that the matter could not be delayed, and he had to give Huang Lao Er an explanation.

"Those merchants are not easy to mess with, they all have guys in their hands, a water shotgun. There are also cannons on that ship, and the barrels of the cannons must be so thick! ”

Gao Peng also tried to dispel Huang Laoer's greed when he saw wealth, and gestured with his arms.

But Huang Lao Er, who was short in stature and had a pair of eyes squinting like poisonous snakes, didn't believe it at all, and sneered:

"Yo, Gao has stepped on this plate to understand, I'm afraid that if Lao Tzu doesn't come, you will really get rich. Brother advises you, brother, don't get fat if you eat alone! ”

Gao Peng knew that things were in trouble, and at this time he suddenly hated the group of merchants very much, one blamed them for buying wood and didn't leave quickly, and the other blamed them for not leaving, and he also threw money to provoke right and wrong. But he can't blame Huang Lao Er, firstly, Huang Lao Er is a ruthless character, and secondly, the matter is in his territory, this is his handle, which annoyed Huang Lao Er, poked the matter out, and gave him a general charge.

Thinking of this, coupled with the fact that he was still very interested in the money of the merchants, he suddenly felt a chord in his heart, and he didn't do anything.

"Then do it!"

After seeing that Gao Peng was finally willing to make up his mind, Huang Lao Er smiled, and his eyes were only squinted.

"After that?"

Huang Lao Er asked.

Gao Peng said: "Of course it's one and a half!" ”

Huang Lao Er is very satisfied, after all, it is a transaction on Gao Peng's territory, so why is he dissatisfied with being able to share half of it.

"It's just that you have to plan well, those merchants are indeed a little skilled."

Gao Peng was still a little jealous of those murderous merchants.

At this time, his henchman Kui Si suddenly jumped out: "Master Gao Huang Ye, the little one has a full stop, I don't know whether to talk about it." ”

Gao Peng nodded.

Kui Si said with a smile: "The sixth master of the Guanmiao West Exit Casino, and the head of the Fish Gang, Wei Jiangtou, are also inquiring about this matter." ”

Gao Peng and Huang Lao Er glanced at each other and couldn't help laughing, since the matter is prickly, it is really not cost-effective to let others go, but isn't there a ready-made thug.

A family of soldiers and bandits, a nest of snakes and rats, has been the same since ancient times!