"Huh!" Ono Ichiro laughed: "Mr. Lin, you are a good hand at trading, but you don't understand the matter of war." The Dutch had great firearms and armor, and the most powerful weapons of the natives were poisoned arrows and spears, and they had no horses; Besides, if you look at the fortress of the Dutch, it is isolated from the mainland on a sandbank, and how strong the fortress is, and the village of those natives is only a circle of trenches and a row of bush fences at most, once the fight starts, only the Dutch will fight the natives, and there are no natives to fight the Dutch, what is the use of having more natives? ”

"Actually, I don't think that's the most important thing!" Yoshihiko Yamada said in a low voice.

"So what's the most important thing?" Lin Heshui asked.

"Mr. Lin, don't you know that the natives near Dayuangang are divided into dozens of villages, each with its own elders, and they do not rule each other. When a man reaches adulthood, he has to hunt a human head and hang it at the entrance of the village to prove his courage, and the more heads outside the village, the more warriors the village has, because there are more grudges between the villages, and it is common to attack each other. Every time the Dutch attacked a certain village, the other natives not only did not come to help, but would take advantage of the fire to loot, so although the Dutch were only a hundred soldiers when they first arrived, they were able to defeat each of them. “

"So, if there is a heroic hero who unites these villages into one, he will be able to resist the Dutch?" Lin Heshui asked with interest.

"Not bad!" Yoshihiko Yamada nodded: "Although the Dutch have excellent firearms and occupy a beautiful place, but in the final analysis, their own country is thousands of miles away, and they occupy this place for wealth rather than land reclamation. The Dutch had nothing to plunder, were so wounded and wounded that they had to retreat back to the walled city in a few moments, and the more this was the case, the more their food and material had to be transported from long distances, and it was impossible not to withdraw their troops in a long time. For example, in the north of Dayuan, there is a local leader who calls himself the king of the big belly, and there are dozens of local villages and communities that worship him as the king, if there is a dispute, they are not allowed to vendetta against each other, and they are dealt with in front of the king, and the king is judged by divine order, and all the villages and communities are admired. Neither the Spaniards nor the Dutch dared to collect taxes from them, nor did they dare to send missionaries in, and if anyone entered their country, they were often beheaded. “

"Oh, I didn't expect that there were such heroes among the natives of Yizhou!" Lin Heshui listened to Yamada Yoshihiko's narration, listened with great interest, he had a plan to win the support of the local natives on this trip, but he had no clue, he had learned from some businessmen that the local aborigines in Taiwan are also different from other places, such as Hainan Island, there are also many fierce natives in the southwest, but even the most fierce natives, it is not difficult to communicate with the merchants who bring them various commodities, but the local aborigines in Taiwan are different, and the strangers from outside are no different from the prey in the mountains and wilderness for themCutting off their heads is a sign of honor and bravery for them, and if they are not careful, they will lose their lives. Although Lin Heshui was not afraid of danger for the sake of fame and fortune, he still did not do it by pinning his life on the moodiness of the barbarians.

"Mr. Lin said with a smile, the mountains and rivers of Yizhou are majestic, although they are not as good as the outstanding people of China, but how can one side of the water and soil raise one side of the people, how can it not give birth to heroes and heroes?" Yoshihiko Yamada said with a smile: "If it is time, how can it be impossible for the big-bellied king to annex all the tribes and become a country of his own, just like Qin, Qi, Chu, and Zhao in ancient times?" “

"That's what Mr. Yamada said!" When Lin Heshui heard this, he had already made up his mind, if he had the opportunity, he would definitely go to the Potbelly Kingdom, and he would meet the eloquent Potbelly King for a while, but before that, he had to settle the matter of these two Japanese first, he smiled: "I accepted the sulfur and deer skins that the two of you just said, but since you and I are already friends, how can I take advantage of you, so let's make a discount according to the price given to me by the Dutch, what do you think?" ”

Yamada and Ono couldn't help but be overjoyed when they heard this, the price given by Lin Heshui far exceeded their expectations, and the price they used to sell was only 30% of the Dutch, but now it has almost doubled, but it is a blessing in disguise. With this windfall, not only did they have enough money to pay for their journey back, but they could even squeeze out a small amount of money to make a small business for their families in Manila, instead of having to live as a domestic worker.

"Thank you, Mr. Lin!" Yamada and Ono stood up and bowed deeply to Lin Heshui, who hurriedly pulled the two of them to sit down and said in a low voice: "There are many people here, you don't want to attract attention, but something bad happens!" ”

"Yes!" Yoshihiko Yamada has also experienced a lot, so he is too excited to do this. He looked around and no one noticed him, and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Lin, when are we going to deliver the things to you?" ”

"Just tonight, the night is long and dreamy, pay the payment in person." Lin Heshui replied in a low voice.

"That's good! It's just that how does Mr. Lin transport things out of Dayuan Port? The Dutch are very strict! Yoshihiko Yamada asked with some concern.

"I plan to leave the goods here first, and then load the goods in a small boat and transport them out through the waterway of Luermen, and load them onto the big ship! Do you think it's feasible? “

Yoshihiko Yamada and Ichiro Ono glanced at each other, and Yoshihiko Yamada nodded: "This is a good way, then set it for next Friday, and the two of us will be on duty that night!" “

"It's good!"

Yoshihiko Yamada and Ichiro Ono went to their minds, and they couldn't help but feel a rush in their chests, if it weren't for the important things in the evening, they would have already drunk heartily. Yoshihiko Yamada gave the letter he had already written to Hayashi and told him to send it to a tailor shop called Yoshidaya in Lower Manila, where the owner of the tailor shop, Yoshida Okiji, was Yamada Nagamasa's deputy when he was in Ayuthaya, and he became the leader of these Japanese ronins after they were driven out of Ayuthaya. Yoshidaya has become a mutual aid association and contact center for these Japanese ronin.

Lin Heshui memorized the address, put the letter in his arms, pretended to be disapproving, and asked, "Two, if I want to go to the pot-bellied king, what is the way?" ”

"The Potbelly King?" Yoshihiko Yamada asked strangely, "Mr. Lin, what are you doing there?" ”

"I'm a businessman, so I'm naturally going to see if I can do anything!" Lin Heshui said with a smile: "Like you said, there are very few people who go to the big-bellied king, if I can do it, there will be no one to rob me of this deal!" “

"I think Mr. Lin, you better forget it!" Yoshihiko Yamada shook his head: "I heard from those natives that a few years ago, the King of Big Belly had ordered all villages to prohibit the collection of golden sand and sulfur, and even deer skins were rarely collected and preserved. The natives produce nothing but these three things, and they don't produce any of these things, so what are you going to do? ”

"Forbidden? So why did the potbelly king do this? ”

"I heard from the natives that the King of Potbelly thought that the reason why the Dutch and the Spaniards came to invade them was because they coveted the treasures of golden sand, sulfur, and deer skins, and if they no longer collected these things, these robbers from the sea would not come to invade them, anyway, they didn't need the golden sands and sulfur very much, and although the deer skins were needed, they could also be replaced by other things."

"Oh, it seems that this pot-bellied king even understands this truth, it seems that he is really a character!"

"Not really!" Yoshihiko Yamada smiled: "But if Mr. Lin really wants to go to the pot-bellied king, I have a way, but I don't know if the spirit is not spiritual." ”

"What's the method?"

"Use this!" Yoshihiko Yamada took out a bone fragment from his arms, there were several strange-shaped symbols on the front, and a distorted human face on the reverse, which looked rather eerie. Lin Heshui took the bone fragment and looked at it and felt a little strange: "What is this?" ”

"One token!" Yoshihiko Yamada replied: "When I went to buy deer skins and sulfur, I happened to meet the grandson of the great witch in the village who was seriously ill, and I happened to have a little medicine from the Dutch, and he cured the child, and the great witch was very grateful to me, so he gave me this thing, saying that it belonged to the common ancestor of their natives, and that the natives would not kill you when they saw it!" ”

"Does this really work?"

"I don't know!" Yoshihiko Yamada smiled bitterly: "I'm not crazy, if those natives don't recognize this thing, won't I lose my life in vain?" Mr. Lin, you have done us a great favor this time, and you can take this as a little reward for me, but I advise you not to go in person, just take this token and let a servant go, if it is really effective, it is not too late to go by yourself! “

Lin Heshui was overjoyed when he heard this, carefully put away the bone fragment, and arched his hand: "Thank you Yamada-kun!" ”

The three of them drank the wine and returned happy, and sure enough, that night, Ono Ichiro took his men to send more than 200 deer skins and more than 100 kilograms of sulfur over, Lin Heshui counted a little, and then paid for the goods in Mexican silver dollars according to the agreement, and Ono received the payment and left with a thousand thanks.

"Mr. Lin, counting this batch of widows, the goods are almost received!" The captain looked at the back of the Japanese gradually disappearing into the night, and asked Lin Heshui, "When will we go back?" ”

"I'll be gone in two days!" Lin Heshui replied: "But we won't go back to Hangzhou, let's go to Luzon!" ”

"Down to the South Seas?" The captain looked a little hesitant: "Mr. Lin, this is a sand boat, it's okay to run near the sea, but it's reluctant to run in the South Sea." “

"Well, then you go to Quanzhou first, I'll take a boat to Luzon there, and you can sail back to Hangzhou by yourself!"

"Mr. Lin, aren't you hurting me?" The captain shouted: "When I went, I had a good boatload of people, and when I came back, I would lose one of you, and Mr. Cheng Er didn't discount both of my legs?" ”

"The leg is discounted, so it's not like you're leaving me and running away, it's me who asked you to put down me!"

"Mr. Cheng Er has already told me, you must be sent well, and then brought back, if there is a single hair missing, I will ask me!" The captain smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Lin, you don't know how powerful Xiuning Cheng Er is, don't say it, we'd rather go to the South Seas than go back alone like this." ”

Lin Heshui saw that the captain was so resolute that he couldn't convince the other party, so he had to smile and say: "Otherwise, let's go to Quanzhou first, and then you and I will go to Manila together, and the boat will be handed over to others to drive back to Hangzhou, anyway, it should be a big problem to sail along the coast all the way!" ”

"That's fine!" The captain nodded: "Anyway, I'll follow you Mr. Lin, if it happens, don't forget to share my share, if not, you will die together!" ”

When Lin Heshui heard the captain's words, he couldn't help but laugh and said: "That's natural, if this thing happens, Lin will definitely not forget you!" ”

So three days later, the water of the Lin River left Dayuan Harbor, and did not travel far, but found a secluded shore nearby, and when it was dark, he returned to the vicinity of the bay, and sure enough, at night, Yamada and the others were on duty, and loaded the deerskins and sulfur into the boat in a small boat. After separating from him, Lin Heshui sailed westward, and when he arrived at Quanzhou Yuegang, he bought the sulfur deer skin on the boat, and Lin Heshui and the captain changed their clothes to seafarers and took a sea boat all the way to Manila. Although Xingxi encountered some storms along the way, he did not encounter many twists and turns, and arrived in Manila after more than half a month.

Manila.

Lin Heshui stepped off the gangplank, he was already used to the life on the rocking boat, he had just stepped on the land and was still a little shaky, and it took a while to recover, he looked at the familiar scenery around him, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "It's back again!" ”

"Mr. Lin, where are we going now, why don't we find a place to eat first, put down the luggage and take a breath!" The captain followed Lin Heshui with the package on his back and asked while wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Find a place to store your luggage first, and go to Yoshidaya in Xiacheng District to find someone first, time is very tight, and saving a moment is a moment!" Lin Heshui replied categorically.

"Yes!" The captain answered, his face full of disappointment.

Like most of the Western European colonies of the time, Manila was divided into the upper and lower towns, with the upper city being the first place where the colonists first landed, and was usually a military fortress to defend itself against hostile natives around it. As the colonists expanded their control, the military threat of the aborigines gradually weakened, and a commercial and residential area was gradually formed outside the military castle, which the colonists often called the Lower City to distinguish it from the original fortress. With no formal planning, downtown is often synonymous with chaos and crowds. Rao grew up in Lower Manila, and it took a lot of effort to find his destination. When he got to the bottom of the plaque at Yoshidaya, it was already evening. (To be continued.) )