(89 Literature Network Literature) (89 Literature Network Literature)

Li Meng nodded, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip of tea, to this extent, it is not suitable for politeness, and he is the party who is reasonable and active, if he pretends to be a fake model, it will make people look down on him, and immediately said:

"There are still one hundred and sixty people in my hands, and the rest are either killed in battle or run into the sea and freeze to death, and the cost of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation during this time, as well as the cost of destroying my salt fields, is about five thousand taels of silver. (Qingfeng Literature Network.)

I thought there would be trouble in bargaining, but who would have thought that after the shopkeeper Zheng heard it, he just groaned a little, nodded and agreed, and stood up solemnly and said:

"Lord Li is merciful, these five thousand taels of silver will be sent to the adults in ten days, these bastard things, they must be strictly disciplined when they are brought back, and they will not be born again."

After talking so simply, it goes without saying that the next thing is needless to say, but Li Meng was a little stunned, looking at the other party's appearance, it was clear that he was directly sending money to himself, could it be that he really had the spirit of a so-called king, he went to Kaifeng and brought back a county lord, and when he met this Zheng family who ransomed the prisoners, he also took the initiative to send money to himself.

Seeing Li Meng's somewhat stunned appearance, the shopkeeper Zheng showed a smile on his face and said with a smile:

"Listen to those people in our fleet, your lord has a lot of salt pans and salt pans by the sea?"

Hearing this, Li Meng finally realized that the drunkard's intention was not to be a prisoner, but to be a private salt, and said with a smile at the moment:

"Don't be in a hurry, don't be in a hurry, let's talk slowly."

Whether Zheng Zhilong became a coastal defense guerrilla before or after being recruited, the Zheng family's fleet was the largest force in the Asian seas. (Literature Reading NetworkQingfeng Chinese NetAll ships passing through the waters under their control must pay a fee to the Zheng family, which is equivalent to a tax.) The Zheng family's merchant fleet runs through the north and south of China and abroad, doing business everywhere, and it is really rich and rivals the country.

With such a large fleet, in various ports and cities by the sea, there are their trading houses and representatives, and these Fujian trading houses are the agents of various ports north of the Yangtze River.

The Zheng family's fleet went back and forth to do business. But after all, he was born as a pirate, and he had nothing to do and did no business without capital is also an important way to make extra money.

Those big ships were originally merchant ships, and the leaders in charge were familiar with the waters of Shandong and Nanzhili, and in addition to their own more than 200 people, they actually pulled up a team of more than 400 people. This is the mighty drive.

No one took the guard in their eyes, and no one thought that the other party who was celebrating the New Year would actually be on guard, so naturally they were killed, and many people were captured. Originally, a few leaders thought that there was no need to inform the Zheng family, the landlord in the vicinity, of this kind of private work.

After the defeat, several ships returned to Haizhou in ashes, for a few people still wanted to hide, after all, the big ship was still there, and the sailors were there. Recruiting some people may still be able to fool the past, anyway, I don't know how many young people in Fujian and Guangdong want to go to the sea to make money, who would have thought that Li Meng's side was playing with the idea of making ransom, and sent someone to inform the relevant people quickly.

South Zhili north and Shandong, the merchant representing the Zheng family is the Fujian Commercial House in Jining Prefecture, it is this Zheng shopkeeper, after hearing the news, he was taken aback, so he sent someone to Haizhou to inquire about what was going on, and then he learned the specific situation.

This Zheng shopkeeper is naturally clear about the situation in Fujian and Guangdong. (Reading the network, I thought to myself, you Li Meng just cut down those people, it doesn't matter if I'm here, it's good that the boat is there, and I'll look for it when there are no people.) (The Zheng family is at sea, no matter how fierce and fierce you Li Meng is, it's only on 6, anyway, there is no intersection, and I don't have to pay the people you captured!)

But the shopkeeper still came. The reason is also very simple, because the prisoners and sailors of the fleet who came to report the news all said that they saw a large salt pan on the side of the Lingshan Guard.

Zheng shopkeeper is also one of the representatives of Nanshang in Jining Prefecture, and he is very familiar with the door, so he spent money to inquire about the Yamen of the Salt Transportation Division. I really know about Li Meng in Jiaozhou. After inquiring about the news outside, the identity of Li Mengshan's biggest salt lord in Shandong was about to come out.

Although Fujian is close to the sea. But the weather is cloudy and rainy, drying salt and boiling salt are costing much more than other places, although there is a good harbor by the sea, but there is no too suitable salt field, so eating salt is the need for the input of Huai salt, but this price is also expensive, for example, Li Meng's salt farm is sold for one or two and a half cents and a load of salt, which is considered the batch price of private salt in Shandong, but the same situation in Fujian, it will cost five taels of silver for a load of salt, which is only the price of the batch, and the price is more expensive when sold to the hands of the people.

Huaishang is powerful, and the salt road to Fujian, whether it is 6 or sea, is under their control, and the price can never be reduced.

If it is said that Zheng Zhilong is also a strong party, why don't you start fighting like Li Meng, because the strength of Huaishang is also strong, and the reason why Shandong is like this is because the market itself is not big, but the price of salt in Fujian is so high, and the profits are so amazing, how can he be willing to give up, Zheng Zhilong is also rich here, and he doesn't care too much about this.

But the big boss doesn't care, the people below are all eyeing this price difference, but the salt merchants in Huaishang are very strictly controlled, and it is easy to get salt by the sea. Li Meng's source of goods is really like a rain from heaven.

There are goods to be pulled back and forth in Sino-Japanese trade, and the goods from the south to the north can be transported to the north, and the goods from Jiangnan and Fujian are transported to the south and Shandong, and the goods are transported to the north and south, and there is no goods to pull when they return, or there is no profit from the special goods in the north, and it is too uneconomical to empty the ship.

It is just used to transport salt, the key is how to get a suitable price on Li Meng's side, Zhengjiadi sea ships, each ship transports more than 1,000 quintals of goods is not a problem, pull up the salt goods, if Li Meng can give a price of one or two or five cents a load, a ship earns it, and the money for the redemption of five thousand taels of silver will be earned.

However, Li Meng also knows the price of salt in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, so naturally he can't let the other party make this cheap profit, since it is a business, then it has to be negotiated slowly.

But the person who ordered the inspection here was about to arrive, and the two bargained for half an hour, but there was no result, Li Meng thought that he would have to go over there to see how the preparations for the inspection were doing, and he immediately said:

"Shopkeeper Zheng, you let the next person take those captives back, if there is no urgency in Jining, just linger here for a few days, and I will meet the officials of Laizhou Mansion on the third day of the second lunar month, how about taking a look together?"

The shopkeeper Zheng knew that this was Li Meng who left him to talk in detail, and this private salt trade was a good way for him to make money personally, so he naturally couldn't let it go easily, so he immediately agreed with a smile, as for those captives on the beach, just arrange a few people to go over, as for life and death, who cares.

The Jiaozhou battalion has 2,000 soldiers, which is the largest army in Laizhou Mansion, and the level of the people who check the soldiers, horses and salaries is not low.

Not only is the Jiaozhou battalion here busy with preparations, but even the Jiaozhou Mansion is also very busy, and Li Meng is concentrating on gathering soldiers and horses to manage military affairs. The people below did everything they could, and Ning Qiangui sent a special family servant to wait over there with Wu Tongzhi, and he also sent someone to inquire about the preferences of this Lord Denglai Dao.

In this era, there are really a lot of tricks to receive Shangguan, Li Meng is also an eye-opener, Yan Zhizhou is a very famous and gentlemanly literati, this time he actually arranged people to go to Jining Prefecture and other prosperous places to recruit a few beautiful prostitutes, and also invited a few chefs, it is said that this Denglai Daoliu Lord is a wealthy family in Hebei, like wine and food, if it is served well, everything is easy to say, this Master Ning can call a lot of public funds in his hands, and he also does things according to the rules.

Li Meng has a little back to the feeling of the past, when he was in the army in modern times, the superior leaders and chief officers went to the grassroots level to inspect, and he led the people below to be busy as a squad leader and a veteran, although he felt very tired at the time, but now that he thinks about it, he is very happy and fulfilling.

On the third day of the second lunar month, Li Meng led several officers and a team of personal soldiers out of the city for thirty miles to meet the errand, Yan Zhizhou and Wu Tongzhi also went out of the city together, the two sides just smiled and nodded to greet, but they didn't have much to say, relatively speaking, Li Meng's attitude was polite, after all, he was pursuing the other party's daughter

Almost near noon, I could see a team coming over on the official road, this team of people were all riding horses and horses, for more than a dozen knights, it was rare to see soldiers wearing new mandarin duck jackets since Li Meng came to this era, in the end, it was a team of deputy provincial cadres, which was a bit magnificent.

When the dozen or so knights saw Li Meng and them parked on the side of the road, the big flags behind them were waving, and they were dressed as officers and soldiers, and they knew that they were the targets of this inspection, and two knights urged their horses to run over to this side, shouting from afar:

"But the Jiaozhou battalion garrison Li Meng?"

As soon as they heard this, the officers and soldiers behind Li Meng all showed angry looks, these cavalrymen had no rank and no rank, and they actually called Li Meng the same name. Ning Qiangui, who was following alongside, hurriedly persuaded in a low voice:

"This is the personal soldier of the deputy envoy, this is normal, everyone should not be angry."

"Li Meng is here, greeting the deputy envoy of the inspection and Lord Denglai Daoliu." (89 Literature Network Literature)

(89 Literature Network Literature)