Based on past experience, Paul. Taylor felt that the Ming Emperor had expelled the Dutch from the Great Rank only for the purpose of maintaining his majesty and protecting his subjects, and that he would not refuse to trade with them, and that since the Dutch had been driven away, a void would inevitably be created in the area, and those who filled this gap should still be able to get a good price. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

It turns out that Paul. Taylor's judgment was correct, as the first merchants to arrive after the end of the war, the merchants of the Ming Kingdom made a concession of one and a half on the price of sulphur, and as for the sands, which were now forbidden to be sold to foreign merchants, His Majesty the Emperor had taken them into official camps. Taylor, with a little regret, gave the sailors a three-day vacation to check the quality of the cargo. But when he returned to his lodgings, he was struck on the head - and a brawl broke out among his sailors in the tavern. This was a common thing - the problem was that they used knives, twelve of the thirty-five sailors were killed, seven were seriously wounded, he lost more than half of his men at once, and the "Oak" was paralyzed.

"These drunkards who deserve to die without mistakes, I should hang them all on the mast one by one, and feed the crows with their corpses!" Taylor's forehead was bruised, especially when he learned that he still had to pay for the 1,000 gold ducats he had to pay for the bar's repairs, fines for breach of the peace, medical bills, pensions for the killed, and so on, and his self-control finally collapsed.

"Drag these bastards to the devil, dispose of them as you please, sell them into slavery, castrate them and sell them to the Turks, chop them into pieces of meat and feed them to the sharks, all right, I won't pay a penny for these bastards, not a penny!" Taylor's drunken spit sprayed the clerk of the Ming Kingdom in the face, and at this time he was in a situation that he could not care about - 1,000 gold ducats, and the salary for a year was only 100 gold ducats, and there was a lot of scum like this in any port, and it would be nice to buy a few barrels of rum for a few shillings, let them drink a good time, and then drag them to the ship as drunk as they were, and as for driving the "Oak" to the next port, he would ignore it.

"Taylor!" The Ming clerk took a step back to avoid Taylor's "spitting and strafing" I am not elsewhere, but in the Ming Dynasty I do not accept the payment of the living person. If you refuse to pay compensation and pay the fine, then I will have to order the seizure of your goods and ships and the forcible auction of them to compensate for it! ”

Taylor, who was completely enraged by the other party's words, was about to give the other party a few punches to vent the anger in his chest, but this Ming Guo clerk seemed to know how to read minds, and he quickly took a step back to the side, not only widening the distance between Taylor and Taylor, but also letting go of the more than ten Japanese mercenaries outside the door behind him. Taylor could clearly see the arquebuses in the hands of these mercenaries and the swords hanging from their waists, and the anger in his chest immediately dissipated. He wiped his face and pleaded in the gentlest tone possible, if he could reduce some of the money? You see, my people have so many dead and wounded, you can't put all the blame on our side, right? ”

"Please forgive me, this is the realm of the Ming Dynasty, so you have to act in accordance with the "Ming Law"!" The clerk did not back down and had witnesses who proved that it was your person, who had an argument with someone in the tavern, and then started fighting, and also used a knife, according to the "Da Ming Law", the blade was injured; And later, some people set fires, which was even more criminal. They are your sailors, and you are their master's family, and according to the criminal law, they are to punish you according to the severity of discipline, beat you with a hundred spines, and then confiscate the ship's fare, and send them to the south, and you will be fined 1,000 gold ducats, which is already because you are a foreigner, and you do not know the laws of the Celestial Empire, and you are extrajudicial and merciful. ”

"This—" Taylor was speechless, and although he scoffed at the so-called "Great Ming Law", the soldiers outside the door with firearms and swords could not ignore it. Even if he suddenly became powerful and could fight his way out of the "Oak" and jump on the "Oak", he would not be able to escape from this great port - first of all, he had no sailors, and secondly, after these Chinese took this port from the Dutch, they rebuilt the fortifications, and the two channels that could enter and exit the harbor were tightly guarded by the heavy artillery in the fortress, and not even a single sampan could escape. But if the ships and goods were auctioned off, his fate would only be worse - the shareholders of the East India Company were ruthless to anyone who caused their property to suffer, and only a debt prison and a gallows awaited him. At last, his knees weakened, and he knelt before the clerk, clasped his hands on the other's knees, and began to weep bitterly, uttering illogical words - but it didn't matter, for anyone understood that he had now been struck down by a great calamity, and was begging for mercy.

"Captain!" The clerk helped Taylor up, and said with a smile, in fact, things are not incompatible! ”

"Accommodating?" As an employee of the East India Company, Taylor had no shortage of experience dealing with Ming merchants, and when the word "accommodation" came to their lips, the next concession was usually to ask for benefits. Taylor was secretly happy in his heart, and hurriedly said that as long as you can not auction the ship and the cargo, I have 100 gold ducats on the ship, and I will give you my gratitude! ”

The clerk had a surprised expression on his face, and then shook his head and smiled, Captain Taylor, do you think I'm asking you for a bribe? Who are you and I? ”。

Taylor shook his head blankly, and the clerk sneered and said My surname is Lin, my name is Heshui, and I am the secretary of the city, in your words, I am the commercial commissioner here, do you think I will ask you for a mere 100 gold ducat? ”。

Hearing this, Taylor's face was already as pale, although he didn't mention that the city was a thing, but the commercial commissioner still understood, this is one of the top officials of the trader station, and his annual salary is dozens of times that of him, not to mention the various dividends obtained by meddling in trade, although this big man can not be compared with Surat and Manila, but he can do it here, and his annual income is 10,000 gold ducats, and he can take out a mere 100 gold ducats, and people may not be eye-catching.

Seeing Taylor's appearance, Lin Heshui smiled slightly, and made a gesture to the door, and a servant brought a bottle of wine, two wine glasses came in, and then went out to close the door. Lin Heshui made a gesture of please, walked to the table and sat down, poured two glasses of wine, pushed one cup towards Taylor, and said with a smile Taylor, sit down! ”

Taylor sat down at the table and drank all the wine in the cup, Lin Heshui smiled slightly, but no, just poured it full for the other party. Taylor drank it all again, and after three times, Taylor finally couldn't hold it back, turned the empty wine glass upside down, and asked, Lin, can I keep my ship and cargo? ”

"According to the law of my Ming Dynasty, your subordinates will hurt people with their blades, and they will set fire to the city, which is undoubtedly a capital crime! As for you, your majesty is not strict, and you can't run away from the cane! One hundred gold ducats is already the limit, and it is absolutely impossible to reduce it again! Lin Heshui took a sip of wine, and his words changed, but if someone is willing to give you this thousand gold ducats, it is okay.

"A thousand gold ducats for me?" Taylor smiled bitterly and said with a wry smile, I don't know anyone here, who would be willing to pay such a large sum of money for me? Speaking of this, he suddenly understood the meaning of the other party's words, glared at Lin Heshui and asked, Could it be that you mean-?"

"That's right, Captain Taylor, you're a smart man!" Lin Heshui smiled and said I am willing to give you this thousand gold ducat, if you are willing to do something for me, no, for Daming, not only do you not need to pay this hundred gold ducat, but you can also receive a bounty of four hundred gold ducats from me after the matter is completed! ”

Hearing this, Taylor's face showed not ecstasy, but surprise and resentment, is this a trap you have designed? ”。

"No, at least not all!" Lin Heshui laughed and said with a smile It was not our arrangement for your sailors to make trouble in the tavern, but after I saw your information later, I decided to do so. ”

"My profile?"

"That's right!" Lin Heshui smiled You have been on the ship since you were fourteen years old, and in the past thirty years, you have sailed all kinds of ships to many places, from whaling ships to trading ships and armed merchant ships. You've had a lot of sailing experience, and you've even commanded a small fleet to go to Ezo, Japan, to hunt seals, am I right? ”

"You are?" Taylor's face changed drastically, and he immediately reacted that you peeked at my logbook? ”

"Can you say it's a peek?" Lin Heshui smiled and said This is an inspection, do you understand? And if I hadn't looked at those, imagine what you'd end up with right now? He was beaten with sticks and bruised all over his body, and lay in a pile of stinking grass waiting to die. Don't you prefer to have a drink with me like you do now? ”。

Taylor didn't, he knew in his heart that the "Oak" was probably under the control of the soldiers, and this Lin meant it very clearly: either accept it, or eat a stick and die in a cell, in fact, there is no choice. He poured a full wine glass, drank it all, and asked what do you want me to do? ”

"Your old business, sail the boat!" Lin Heshui said in a low voice As long as the matter is completed, this matter will be written off, and you can also get a reward of four hundred gold ducats, and you can withdraw half of it before you leave. ”

"Where?"

"North, not far from Ezo!"

"This can't be?" Taylor shook his head, and it would take about half a year to go there, and the shareholders of the company would hang me! ”

"Nope! They'll give you a big bonus! Lin Heshui took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it over, Taylor looked down, and his face couldn't help but change drastically?

"That's right, it's a pickup voucher!" Lin Heshui said with a smile After you finish this trip, you can use this voucher to take away two hundred quintals of paper from Songjiang Mansion to the best quality Nanjing silk, and the price is only eighty percent of what the Dutch get. ”

Taylor didn't, he knew very well that China's raw silk, especially the best quality Nanjing silk (actually Huzhou silk, but generally shipped from Nanjing) was an absolute sought-after commodity in both Europe and the Near East, and the Dutch could make a profit of 200 or even 300 percent by shipping raw silk to Europe. The British East India Company had long wanted to meddle in this trade, but it was monopolized by the Dutch, Zheng Zhilong, the Spaniards, and the Portuguese, and if it could transport two hundred quintals of raw silk to Surat, it would definitely be welcomed like a hero, and all the troubles it had caused before would be ignored by the directors.

"What you said is true, two hundred quintals of Nanjing silk? Eighty percent of the Dutch price? ”

"Of course it's true, who are you and my boss? It is Lord Xu of Yangzhou Bingbeidao, and the best silk production area in the Ming Dynasty is in his jurisdiction. Of course, it's your business to ship it back to Surat, and we can't control it! ”

"No problem!" Stimulated by the generous reward and high profits, Taylor's mood was high, and he weighed the pros and cons a little, and there was no need to hesitate, at least he could get rid of the doom in front of him, and he could also get two hundred gold ducats in cash. He stood up, but it was cold on the other side of Ezo, so he had to make some preparations before leaving. ”

"No problem, you are the captain, everything is up to you!" Lin Heshui also stood up with a smile on his face.

The efficiency of the river water was so high that after about forty minutes, the arrested sailors of the "Oak" were released, and the wounded were given medicine and bandages. If Taylor still had some resentment in his heart at this time, then when he received a deerskin bag full of two hundred new gold ducats, the original resentment had already disappeared, which was about two and a half years of his salary, although as a captain he had some other income, but two hundred gold ducats was also a considerable amount of money for him.

When Taylor confirmed with his teeth and eyes that the two hundred glittering treasures were not counterfeit, he hurriedly put them in the iron box where his personal belongings were stored and locked up. Then his head began to work rapidly, and like most of the navigators and explorers of Western Europe at that time, Taylor was a money worshipper, believing that gold could lift the soul from hell to heaven. Lin Heshui gave him two hundred gold ducats so happily, which can only show one thing - the benefits involved in this voyage are far more than several hundred gold ducats. Thinking of this, he quickly ran to the filing cabinet, flipped out a few circles of charts, spread them out on the table, and pondered as he looked at them, and said What else is there besides seal skin? Is it worth this Ming State official to spend so much money to hire me? Raw silk, ceramics, sugar, spices, these are not lacking. The gold mine must be the legendary gold mine! Or a silver mine, a big silver mine like Posito, yes, the Ming people like silver the most. (To be continued.) )