Chapter 218: Ship Sold or Not Sold

Newlyweds are naturally as good as honey blending oil, and they are willing to get tired of being together all day and all night, but Li Meng's affairs are busy, even if it is a few days before the wedding, in addition to the indispensable etiquette banquets, there are also the affairs of the Jiaozhou camp and the visitors outside who need to deal with the reception.

I thought that Yan Ruoran would be a little resentful, but I was a little surprised to find that the girl was still gentle, and there was no emotional change, women educated in the Confucian tradition may have the determination to dare to pursue love, but after marrying their beloved, it is absolutely obedient, and ancient women are so good.

Mu Yunyao, Gu Hengbo and Liu Ru are the three daughters who are closer to modern women in speech and demeanor because of the special environment in which they grew up, but this is not necessarily a good thing.

Let's not talk about the happiness of the back house, this time it is gold that gives Gao Yigong, more than a dozen people don't have too many horses, it is said that there are still people to receive in Jining, 50,000 taels of silver, these people have no way to take it. For safety, Li Meng still sent dozens of cavalry from the Jiaozhou battalion to follow from afar to avoid accidents.

As soon as Gao Yigong left the city gate, under the command of Huang Ping, all the armed salts stationed in the Jiaozhou Yanzheng Inspection Mansion were dispatched to carry out a dragnet screening in Jiaozhou City.

The armed salt Ding is different from the soldiers of the Jiaozhou battalion, these people have retired from the Jiaozhou battalion because of disability or age, and there are also children from all over the country who have signed up for recruitment and have not met the requirements of the Jiaozhou battalion.

These people are generally on the edge of the roads in villages and towns, only these people in the Jiaozhou Salt Administration Inspection House are stationed in the state city, so they also take on the task of maintaining law and order in the city, they are many strong, compared to the Zhizhou Yamen's officials to catch fast, the number is also a lot more, and today's Jiaozhou City, Zhizhou Yamen is just Li Meng's auxiliary officer.

Originally, Li Meng thought that the armed salt ding in his hand was the level of the gentry's guardian people, but after fighting with Liu Zeqing, he changed his opinion, and these armed salt ding fought with Liu Zeqing's peripheral troops, which was to have the upper hand steadily.

The screening of the salt diners must be entered into the house, those landlords and gentry from all over the country, as well as the envoys of civil officials and military generals, all live in various houses, these houses are very detailed interrogation, but such a closed door, but the gate of Jiaozhou is open, and the precautions are lax.

Many people who had ghosts in their hearts took advantage of this opportunity to run out, but waiting outside the city was the salter on horseback, and if he ran again this time, he would be served by sabers and spears.

There was no too much conflict, several unidentified people died, and more than sixty people were captured, and during this time these people had already applied for a series of jobs from shop guys to door-to-door sons-in-law, and it seemed that they were preparing to lurk for a long time.

These people were all sent to the old camp in Fengmeng Town by the Jiaozhou battalion, where there were old criminals who had retired from the yamen, and they were experts in torture and torture.

The day after sending off Gao Yigong, Li Meng asked Zheng Zhibao to go to the Yantian Salt Field of the Lingshan Guard, the on-site exploration and observation, and by the way, the female dependents who lived in the city because of their marriage were all picked up.

Seeing Zheng Zhibao, there was a contact from the Zheng family in advance to communicate the details, Zheng Zhibao gave half a courtesy, and Li Meng did not move, because Zheng Zhilong was a coastal defense guerrilla at this time, Zheng Zhibao was at best a thousand general roles, and Li Meng was a landlord, so Li Meng should have the advantage in etiquette.

Of course, when they actually met, Zheng Zhibao had not yet made a fist, and Li Meng took the first step to help him up, which is always polite.

Although Zheng Zhibao's official position is not high, he is a big leader who leads tens of thousands of pirates at sea, and although he is just a seaside overlord in Fujian in the Ming Dynasty, he is a real big man in Ryukyu and Japan, and he has a high-level bearing, plus he is also a rare tall figure in Fujian, and he looks even more powerful.

However, after Zheng Zhibao saw Li Meng, his attitude maintained enough humility and politeness, unlike Zheng Zhibao's very exposed temperament, Li Meng's demeanor and actions are calm and self-controlled, neither humble nor arrogant, and he has a kind of self-confidence in it, this kind of temperament, only the kind of people who have great power and amazing talent can have.

This kind of temperament, Zheng Zhibao has only vaguely seen in one person, that is his eldest brother Zheng Zhilong, although it is only vaguely similar, he doesn't know whether the difference is superior or inferior.

In addition, after coming to this Jiaozhou City, there were people who arrived early to explain the situation to Zheng Zhibao, and almost all the leading figures in Shandong gathered here, as well as the details of the military performance of the Jiaozhou battalion, all of which showed that Li Meng's power and strength were already the first in Shandong, and it was faintly the status of their Zheng family in Fujian.

Such a role has real materials, and it is a winner in all aspects, Zheng Zhibao is also a person who is used to seeing wind and waves, so he naturally knows how to do it.

In the fort of the Li family's manor, the two sides sat down in the main hall, and the earth dragon in the room was warm, Zheng Zhibao felt better, and said with a smile:

"I'm not afraid of Lord Li's jokes, we brothers, I'd rather go to Luzon and Borneo to run, it's okay to walk in the summer in the country, this winter is too wet and cold, I can't stand that sin!"

Although the accent of Fujian was very strong, Li Meng still understood it, and when he nodded and was about to conform, someone outside shouted:

"My lord, there is news from Huang Qianhu's side, but you have to watch it."

Although this move is a bit rude, it will not delay the matter, lest because there are guests or other things, the subordinates are afraid of disturbing and dare not report it, after all, it is important to do business.

Li Meng replied, said sorry to Zheng Zhibao, smiled and picked up the tea bowl, a personal soldier respectfully walked up to the main hall, handed the wooden box in his hand to Li Meng, the wooden box was sealed with fire paint all around, this is also a method of secret transmission in the Jiaozhou camp, there are some identifying details in the wooden box, someone peeks, it will be discovered by the recipient.

Li Meng took out a short knife, cut off the fire paint, opened the wooden box, glanced at it a few times, took out the note inside, opened it and browsed it a few times, and then casually lit it in the ever-bright lantern on the table, threw it on the ground, took a sip of the tea bowl, and said to Zheng Zhibao with a smile:

"The sons and daughters are in the city, and dozens of people have been arrested, just now I reported that there are a few people from your side, the official thought, maybe it was Daohe and the accompanying servants a few days ago, it must be a misunderstanding, why don't you wait for the third brother Zheng to leave and bring them with you?"

Hearing Li Meng's kind words, Zheng Zhibao's eyes couldn't help twitching a few times, but he could only reply with a dry smile:

"These people are used to being casual, they don't have any control, they have to run around if they can't stand it, and they make trouble with adults, Zheng Mou will pay for it here first."

Li Meng waved his hand, signaling that it didn't matter, this topic was just revealed, but the content on the note was quite interesting, Li Meng didn't expect that there were so many spies mixed in the city, there were Jinyi Guard, there were Governor Yamen, there were Shandong General Soldiers, as well as the Zheng family, and some scattered people in Yanzhou Mansion, Huang Ping's method was very simple, Jiaozhou City is a small city, just check outsiders.

The power of the Jiaozhou battalion rose rapidly, and the people around it were quickly defeated, even if there were hostile forces who wanted to bury nails and come in, there was not enough time.

Huang Ping, who was born in the Jinyi Wei family, found a few newly buried nails in Jiaozhou City It is not easy, after the big rope, a big net was opened inside and outside the city, and many fish entered the net, and there was a great harvest.

Thinking about the Zheng family's big business in Jiaozhou City and Lingshan Wei, and also to build a private port, it is also a matter of course to arrange eyes and ears in Jiaozhou City, but there is nothing to take for granted on Li Meng's side, and he doesn't look at whose territory this is.

This Zheng Zhibao is also a person who does things, and he quickly returned to normal, and said with a smile:

"This time, there are also a few masters from our Fujian land, surveying the terrain and building the port, these people are all first-class in our Ming Dynasty, and when the time comes, I will ask Lord Li to make it convenient."

Seeing that Li Meng was silent, Zheng Zhibao also felt that the matter of the spies was indeed a loss, and said directly to the point:

"The labor and needs of the port are welcomed, and I hope that Lord Li will help prepare it, don't worry about the money, you only need to open the list, and the Zheng family will definitely pay it."

The Zheng family, who has no land combat ability, is of great significance to obtain a good port in Shandong, and the Zheng family has naturally prepared many favorable conditions, Li Meng asked with a deep groan:

"Every ship docked must be inspected by armed soldiers of our Jiaozhou battalion."

Zheng Zhibao knew that this was because of the ears and eyes in front of him, and he had no reason to refute at all, so he could only reply with a smile:

"The adult's territory, the adult doesn't arrange it like this, and the Zheng family has to take the initiative to ask for it."

"Merchant ships are profitable, how to collect this tax?"

"The adults laughed, if the tax is collected, the Zheng family will have today's foundation, my eldest brother also has a plan for this matter, the Zheng family sent five sea ships of 800 materials to Lord Li, and followed our Zheng family on the trade route, and the Zheng family didn't want any of the money earned, and the adults just waited to sit on the ground and collect the money."

Foreign sea trade is a huge profit, the Zheng family gave Li Meng these five ships, and took them to do business, in which the flow of money is probably not less than this tax, but the relationship between the two sides can be more closely combined, free from the tension of collecting taxes and paying taxes.

Li Meng was silent, Zheng Zhibao was a little anxious, his own family had invested a lot of money in order to get the port in the north, but the other party pressed himself everywhere, he couldn't use force, he could only keep luring with good conditions, this was too passive, what if the other party's lion opened his mouth......