Due to the disappearance of two soldiers, Joseph had to postpone his trip and spend an extra day in Joncoop Harbor to search for him, but unfortunately found nothing. 『

Although he suspected that the two soldiers had been murdered by the people of Jonlong Harbor, Joseph had no evidence and did not want to offend the people of Jonlong Harbor at such a moment, so he had no choice but to leave depressed, and he could not miss the day when Raehrsen attacked Macao.

"Holland, England, Spain, Portugal!"

When Joseph left, in the public room of the private school, Li Hongyu wrote the names of the four countries in turn on a piece of paper, and his brows were slightly furrowed.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to open overseas trade, these four European maritime powers could not avoid it no matter what, they had now implemented colonial rule in the South Seas, and if they wanted to do business with the South Seas, they would have to deal with them.

Although Li Hongyu is very reluctant to admit it, now that the Ming Dynasty does not have an ocean-going fleet in the substantive sense, the glory of Zheng He's voyage to the West has become a dusty history.

Compared with the European three-masted warships equipped with dozens of guns, the ships of the Ming Dynasty were too inferior in terms of combat effectiveness and flexibility in naval battles.

Therefore, before he could assemble a fleet of sailors to compete with the European maritime powers, Li Hongyu had to compromise it in exchange for time and opportunity.

"Sir, there is news of Geng Yi, you guessed it right, he seems to have fled to the natives in the mountains with Yaoqin."

When Li Hongyu was looking at the four countries on the paper and falling into deep thought, Zhang Cheng walked in quickly and said excitedly:

"According to the information from the natives, they did see two strangers, a man and a woman, passing by a few days ago, wearing aboriginal clothes, but they didn't know where they went."

"The eldest prince has already sent someone to chase him, and Wang Ren has also sent someone from his side, I don't know who will find the two of them first."

Saying that, Zhang Cheng sneered, "If the eldest prince's people find Geng Yi and Yaoqin first, then Wang Ren's evil deeds will be made public, and neither Hai Ye nor Hu Ye will let him go." ”

"Alas!"

Li Hongyu couldn't help but sigh when he heard this, "A pair of hard-working mandarin ducks, they don't want to think about whose world is here, if they don't escape, how can they have a stable life!" ”

"But then again, they're used to life here, so where can they run away?"

However, Li Hongyu paused for a moment and shook his head with a wry smile, the circle of life in ancient times was very small, and it was not easy to leave the familiar environment to live in another place.

"Sir, the eldest prince asks you, do you want to tell Master Hu about this matter?"

Zhang Cheng did not have Li Hongyu's sentimentality, and said in a deep voice, "The place where Geng Yi and Yaoqin are hiding is in the southern part of the island, where there are many natives, and Wang Ren's people are watching from the side, the eldest prince is worried that he will not be able to bring Geng Yi and them at that time." ”

"Let's wait and see what happens, since Geng Yi chose to take Yaoqin to hide in the south, he naturally has his reasons, and he must have a lot to do with the local natives, and Wang Ren's people shouldn't take advantage of it."

Li Hongyu groaned slightly when he heard this, and said to Zhang Cheng with a slight frown, "It's not too late to tell Shi Hu after the two of them are traced, as long as it can be determined that Geng Yi and Yaoqin are indeed together, then Shi Hu will definitely know that Wang Ren did the brothel." ”

Zhang Cheng suddenly bowed slightly when he heard this, thinking that Li Hongyu was reasonable, Yaoqin, the key figure in the brothel conflict, was with Wang Ren's henchmen, so outsiders would definitely think that Wang Ren had nothing to do with the brothel.

"Sir, why don't you kill that red-haired yi?"

Then, Zhang Cheng remembered another thing, and asked with some puzzlement, "It's also a scourge to keep that Hongmaoyi, and it's a waste of food, so it's better to kill it with one knife, and it's a hundred." ”

The red hairy Yi in Zhang Cheng's mouth naturally refers to the young Dutch soldier who was caught, Li Hongyu couldn't let him go, but he didn't kill him, but served him with good food and drink, which made Zhang Cheng and the others feel very puzzled and unclear about Li Hongyu's intentions.

"This person can use it later."

Li Hongyu knew that Zhang Cheng didn't know what his intentions were now, so he smiled and said to him, "You let people take a good look at him, and I will go to meet him after hanging him for a while." ”

"The little one understands."

Hearing this, Zhang Cheng replied to Li Hongyu, he has been with Li Hongyu for a while, since Li Hongyu wants to see that Hongmaoyi, he must be planning something, otherwise he would not have spent so much effort on that Hongmaoyi.

"Everyone has worked hard during this time, it's time to boost morale."

After the salute, Zhang Cheng was about to leave, but Li Hongyu stopped him, picked up a painting from the table on the side, handed it over, and said with a smile, "You send someone to Fuzhou and sell this painting to the best calligraphy and painting shop in Fuzhou City for 1,000 taels, and the money you get will be at your disposal to treat everyone." ”

"A thousand taels?" Zhang Cheng was taken aback when he heard this, he didn't expect the painting that Li Hongyu gave him to be so valuable.

"If the calligraphy and painting shop doesn't accept it, then go to the street to sell it, and don't sell it for two thousand taels!" Li Hongyu smiled slightly, admonished in a deep voice, and directly doubled the price.

"Sir, whose painting is worth so much silver?"

Zhang Cheng was even more surprised at this time, and couldn't help but ask curiously, Li Hongyu had never revealed that he had such a valuable thing around him before, and he was very interested in the person who painted, and a painting could be sold for two thousand taels.

"To tell you the truth, this painting was made by my son."

Li Hongyu smiled slightly when he heard this, and said to Zhang Cheng, "This calligraphy and painting industry should be a gimmick, only if those rich and powerful people in Fuzhou City know that there is such a painting, then they will have the possibility of paying for it." ”

"It turned out to be Mr.'s masterpiece!"

Zhang Cheng was even more surprised, he never expected that this painting was painted by Li Hongyu, even if it is a gimmick, but the key is to see the strength, after all, those rich people in Fuzhou City are not fools, and they will never make a loss-making business.

"Sir, can the little one catch a glimpse of Mr.'s masterpiece?" Afterwards, Zhang Cheng asked with interest, eager to know what kind of painting Li Hongyu had painted, which was worth two thousand taels of silver.

Li Hongyu smiled and nodded, so Zhang Cheng carefully unfolded the painting on the table, which was a picture of the tiger roaring mountain forest.

A majestic tiger is standing under a large tree on a hill and roaring in the sky, with rolling mountains in the background, the scenery is beautiful and lifelike.

"Sir, what a beautiful drawing!"

Although Zhang Cheng didn't know how to appreciate calligraphy and painting, he felt that this painting was very vivid and realistic, and smiled and pointed to the signature "Sheng Zimu" on the painting and asked, "Sir, is this Mr.'s alias?" ”

"Pretty much." Li Hongyu replied with a smile when he heard this, "Sheng Zimu" is the name that Li Hongyu got after turning "Li Sheng" upside down and opening the word "Li".

According to the rules on the market, the signature on the calligraphy and painting has certain regulations, and it cannot be signed casually, so he chose "Sheng Zimu", which is similar to the alias.

In addition, this "Sheng Zimu" is also a contact code formulated by Li Hongyu, and those close to Li Hongyu will know that it is him as long as they hear about "Sheng Zimu" and the forest map of Tiger Roaring Mountain.

There is a person in Fuzhou City who knows Li Hongyu's contact code, and this person is Zhang Shenghui, a cloth merchant in Wuchang Mansion who was introduced by Li Hongyu's eldest brother Li Hongqing, and now Zhang Shenghui serves as the chief treasurer of the Honghai business in Fujian founded by Li Hongyu in Baihe Town.

A painting with an unfamiliar signature but a price of as much as 2,000 taels of silver can definitely reach Zhang Shenghui's ears, so that Zhang Shenghui knows that Li Hongyu has come to Fuzhou City, or that it is not far from Fuzhou City, and he will definitely find a way to find out the news of Li Hongyu, and then send someone to contact him.

With the military campaign of the Dutch, Li Hongyu felt the need to contact the Portuguese and the Spaniards, and use the sea power of the Portuguese and the Spaniards to ensure the smooth progress of maritime trade.

In addition, in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, Li Hongyu ordered the flint and three-masted warships from the French merchants through Sun Hongye, the chief treasurer of the Honghai Merchant in Guangdong, should be about to arrive, and he had to deal with related matters, and there were some things that Sun Hongye could not do at all.

Therefore, Li Hongyu found an opportunity to ask Zhang Cheng to send people to Fuzhou City to sell paintings, so that the people who sold paintings would definitely attract Sun Hongye's attention, and then find out his whereabouts from the people who sold paintings.

Following Li Hongyu's instructions, Zhang Cheng did not dare to slack off, and immediately arranged for someone to take Li Hongyu's Wuthering Mountains forest map to Fuzhou City, and after entering the city, he went straight to the largest calligraphy and painting shop in the city, and wanted to sell the picture for 1,000 taels of silver.

From the skill and artistic conception of this painting, the appraiser in the calligraphy and painting shop felt that it should be from the hand of a certain calligraphy and painting master, but unfortunately the signature was very unfamiliar, so he hurriedly reported it to the shopkeeper.

"Majestic, magnificent, is really everyone's demeanor."

After carefully identifying it, the shopkeeper of the calligraphy and painting shop said to the sturdy young man who came to sell the painting with regret, "It's a pity that its signature is not good, and I have never heard of this 'Sheng Zimu', which makes its value discounted a lot." ”

"If you really want to sell, I'll give you five hundred taels, which is already the highest price in Fuzhou City." As he spoke, the shopkeeper stretched out his right hand and five fingers to the sturdy young man and said solemnly.

"My husband said that this painting is worth at least 1,000 taels, and if you pay 500 taels, I won't sell it." The sturdy young man shook his head when he heard this, and before leaving, Zhang Cheng repeatedly told him that the price of selling paintings should only be high, not low.

"In that case, you can go to another house, and if there is no suitable one, you are welcome to come back." The shopkeeper looked embarrassed, and said with a deep groan.

Seeing that the shopkeeper refused to give 1,000 taels, the sturdy young man beckoned to the two companions who followed him, put away the paintings and left the calligraphy and painting shop.

"Master, that painting has a far-reaching artistic conception and majestic momentum, since it is from the hands of a famous artist, why does the master refuse to buy it, after a few years and this 'Sheng Zimu' becomes famous, that painting can be sold for a good price."

Waiting for the sturdy young man and his entourage to walk out of the store, the appraiser who was in charge of receiving the sturdy young man couldn't help but ask the shopkeeper curiously, although the signature was an unknown person, but the absolute value of buying the painting for a thousand taels has a very huge appreciation space.

"If you don't have a reputation, even if you paint well, the price can't get up, most people buy calligraphy and painting just to show off, and they only see the signature, how many people really know calligraphy and painting?"

The shopkeeper smiled slightly when he heard this, and said confidently, "The master gave the highest price in Fuzhou City, and other places will only give less than the master, and he will still come back obediently and sell the painting to us, so that we can avoid the risks."

The appraiser nodded when he heard this, it turned out that the shopkeeper had seen the situation of the sturdy young man clearly, so he insisted on buying it with five hundred taels, so as to avoid risks and make the greatest profit from it.

"Shopkeeper, the kid who sold the painting just now was selling it on the street, and pushed the price of the painting to two thousand taels."

Not long after, just as the shopkeeper was instructing the appraiser to appreciate the ancient calligraphy and paintings, a fellow ran in in a hurry and said loudly.

"Two thousand taels?" Hearing this, the shopkeeper and appraiser were stunned, their eyes full of surprise, they never expected that the sturdy young man would double the price of the painting.

Please remember that the first domain name of this book is .. All come to read the mobile version reading website: m.