"Is that him?" For those who sailed in the South China Sea at that time, Zheng Zhilong was an unavoidable name, this young man from Nan'an, Fujian, at the age of 24 when he recruited Xiong Wencan, the governor of Fujian, was already the first sea merchant and pirate on the southeast coast of China, he tried to monopolize the trade between China and Japan, China and the South Seas, which had a sharp contradiction with the Dutch East India Company, which took the monopoly of the Oriental maritime trade as its own responsibility.

"Well, this information is not cheap!" Governor de Salcedo sneered: "Give him a hundred well-trained and well-equipped infantry in three months, in addition to a well-prepared galleon, led by a gentleman who is proficient in military affairs, to serve him for three years, and he is provided with a good salary, twelve months' salary as a pension for the dead in battle!" It seems that this Duke Nicholas also has a lot of trouble! “

"Major Silva!" Governor de Salcedo suddenly raised his voice: "I don't know what the powerful Duke Nicholas is doing this, but the enemy of his enemy is his friend, and any action that can hurt the Dutch is God's approval." This Nikolai had ambitions for the island of Formosa (that is, Taiwan), and the Dutch had two strongholds there. You know I need more troops to guard Manila. I have ordered the sheriff to arrest all the homeless people he can find, and you have the right to pardon all the criminals in the prison, and I have also given you twenty veterans as non-commissioned officers, and in three months I need to see that everything is ready to stop, you know? ”

"Yes, Your Excellency! Serve God and the King! “

Zhejiang, Hangzhou, two Zhejiang patrol salt imperial history house.

In the morning, the warm spring sun shines on the eaves, a few swallows that have just returned are busy building their nests in the eaves, and a peach tree not far away is about to fail, and the branches are full of green leaves. Only four or five were barely open, and the ground was littered with petals, like a pink blanket had been laid on the ground. Outside the back garden of the mansion is the West Lake, and there are bursts of hawkers selling fruits and eating on the lake, and the sound of these hawkers is also a bit of the unique lazy energy of Hangzhou people, which makes people can't believe that at the same time, the northwest and northeast of the Ming Dynasty are fighting two cruel wars at the same time.

Zhao Youcai took a sip of the tea in the bowl, and the taste of more than a dozen dishes of water was already dull, and there was no difference between it and white water, and he waited from early in the morning to now, and his empty stomach was washed by the tea. The hunger went straight to his head, he couldn't bear it anymore, put the tea bowl on the coffee table next to him, and asked the maid who was adding water to him: "Little lady, how long will you have to wait if you dare to ask?" ”

"Oh, why is Nong so anxious, didn't the slave family just say it, the lord had a banquet with the prefect last night and drank a few more cups. I'm afraid I'm going to get up late, and be patient, be patient! "That maid is Jiangnan's daughter's family, and she is a good age of thirteen or fourteen years old. It is the offspring like water, Wu Yinnong's words sound even more intoxicating, but unfortunately Zhao Youcai was already anxious, and he got Liu Cheng's order. took the letter that Lu Boqi gave him, and took his entourage all the way to Hangzhou, thinking that he had visited this lord of the two Zhejiang Salt Imperial Historians early. If you rush to the Qimen Tea Market again, you may be able to catch up with the tail of this year's spring tea. After he arrived in Hangzhou, he immediately sent a post to the door, but he didn't want to encounter such a situation, he sat from early in the morning to almost noon, the imperial history was still lying on the bed, he had been working under Liu Cheng for a long time, and he had long been accustomed to the style of seeing at any time, and he really couldn't adapt to such a lazy style at once.

Zhao Youcai waited for a while, only to see that the shadow of the eaves under the hall was getting shorter and shorter, the sound of the slag of the nesting swallows was getting louder and louder, and the anger in his heart was getting higher and higher. He secretly didn't know when this old man would get up, so he would just go back to fill his belly first, and then visit the tea market in Hangzhou, and then he had a bottom in his heart, and then he could go directly to Qimen after seeing this adult, saving one day is one day. Thinking of this, he stood up and was about to retire, and a servant girl in royal blue sleeves came out of it, she blessed Zhao Youcai and said: "Mr. Zhao, my master has woken up, he has seen your prayer post, please go see him immediately!" ”

Zhao Youcai nodded, and followed the maid through the back hall, past a verandah, the road was very quiet, and the whole courtyard was like his master, who had just woken up from his sleep. Zhao Youcai also subconsciously lightened his pace, passed through the two courtyards, and came to the door of a fine house, the maid turned around, deftly lifted the curtain, and made a "please come in" gesture. Zhao Youcai nodded to the maidservant, and when he walked into the house, a strong aroma suddenly came to his nose, making him a little unaccustomed to it, and he couldn't help but sneeze.

"Is it Mr. Zhao?" A voice came from inside the house, Zhao Youcai looked at the place where the voice came from, and saw a man in a scarlet robe with his back to him, sitting in front of a bronze mirror more than half a person high, and two maidservants were surrounding him, combing his hair and arranging his clothes. Zhao Youcai hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "Zhao Youcai, the supervisor of Yanzhou, pays a visit to Lord Yushi!" “

"No courtesy, no courtesy!" The man pointed to a chair beside him and smiled: "Mr. Zhao, please take a seat, I have already read Brother Birch's greetings, he and I are the same year as the exam, just like brothers, he asked me to take care of you in the letter, and I will treat you as my own family, and I have acted a little more rudely, please forgive me!" “

Zhao Youcai sat down in the chair, only to see that the man had a thick beard and long eyebrows, white skin and long body, he was a rare beautiful man, at most he was in his early forties, and he was more than ten years younger than Lu Boqi, so he hurriedly owed a debt and said: "Lord Yushi is serious!" ”

At this time, the maid had already braided her hair in a bun, and the man turned around and said with a smile: "The official's surname is Wang, his name is Ke, and the word is Duancheng, since Mr. is also from Shilin, then you and I will be commensurate with your name!" “

Zhao Youcai saw that the other party was so intimate, and Fang Cai's resentment had already disappeared, and said with a smile: "Then the student will be big!" “

"It's almost noon, and you haven't had lunch yet, so why don't you use it here together!" Speaking of this, Wang Ke didn't wait for Zhao Youcai to speak, and instructed the maidservant on the side: "I will use lunch in the study today, so that Mrs. They don't have to wait for me!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

Zhao Youcai went to the study with Wang Ke, and the wine and food were already delivered, and after three rounds of wine, Wang Ke began to ask about Lu Boqi's affairs in Dunzhou. Zhao Youcai told Wang Ke roughly about Lu Boqi's affairs in Dunzhou, Tongzhou, and Ningxia, and he naturally did not say that Lu Boqi was captured by thieves, and he said everything that happened because of people, but he attributed many of Liu Cheng's contributions to Lu Boqi, and almost said that Zhuge was resurrected and Wang Meng was reincarnated. After listening to Zhao Youcai's story, Wang Ke was speechless, and suddenly shook his head and sighed: "When I was studying with Brother Birch, I knew that he had a strange mind, and the officialdom has been ruined over the years. I also often lament that creation makes people and makes the world's wizards sink into subordinates. Now it seems that the time has not yet come! “

"Curious? I didn't see it! It's strange that you can see it! Zhao Youcai slandered: "But there is a saying in this guy that is not wrong, people's fate is really the bag of the creation of children, so if Lu Boqi hadn't met Lord Liu, the best ending in this life would be to go home with tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy a field and build a house, and be a rich man, where can there be today?" I can't miss this opportunity! Thinking of this, he smiled and said, "Lord Lu is here to send me this time." In fact, it is also for the sake of Fuyi, and please ask the adults to help! ”

"Fuyi?" Wang Ke was stunned when he heard this, and asked: "Where does this start, please explain it in detail to Mr. Zhao!" “

"Brother Duancheng doesn't know. This battle has been won, but winning the battle is not over. Soldiers have to pay military salaries, and where to govern the army in Tuntian don't use money, but you also know the current situation in the imperial court. One lid to cover three pots is already stretched, and money is required. Only have their own ideas. Speaking of this, Zhao Youcai paused: "After Lord Lu thought about it, he finally decided to work tea!" ”

"Tea?" Wang Ke immediately understood, and said with a smile: "I can't imagine that Brother Birch not only has a strategy in his chest, but also dabbles in economics, and it seems that it will be a sure thing to enter the cabinet in a few years!" But I'm just patrolling the history of the salt and the imperial history, so I'm afraid I can't help with tea. “

On the way, Zhao Youcai had already thought through the original situation, and when he saw that Wang Ke showed the meaning of shirking, he hurriedly smiled and said: "Brother Duancheng, Lord Lu is here to bring a thin gift, please accept it!" With that, he turned around and commanded the outsiders. Wang Ke smiled: "Brother Birch, this is a bit redundant, I am the same year as him, like brothers, this seems to be a raw part?" “

While speaking, an entourage had already delivered a package in his hand, Zhao Youcai solemnly took the package, put it in front of Wang Ke, and said with a smile while unwrapping the package: "These are brought by Lord Lu from a barbarian merchant from the extreme west, please take it away from Brother Duancheng!" “

Wang Ke originally squinted, with a disapproving look on his face, the imperial history of the two Zhejiang patrols is also among the top ten in the Ming Dynasty, what treasures has he never seen? It's just that seeing that Lu Boqi has a bright future, he is to send goose feathers thousands of miles, and whether things are valuable or not is secondary, this friendship is rare. But as Zhao Youcai unwrapped the package, he couldn't help but snort softly, leaned forward, and left the chair with half of his buttocks.

It turned out that there was a pair of mink furs in the package, with rich fluff, flexible needle hairs, smooth color, gorgeous and soft, mink fur was black, and the tip of the hair was slightly purple, mixed with a little silver-white star. He stretched out his right hand and gently stroked the pair of mink furs, only to feel that the fingertips were everywhere, with a sense of warmth, and weighed it again, only to feel that it was as light as nothing, it was really a rare treasure.

"This, is this the legendary sable?" Wang Ke's voice trembled a little.

"Brother Duancheng has good eyesight!" Zhao Youcai saw Wang Ke like this, the stone in his heart had fallen to the ground, and hurriedly said: "This is the best sable skin, that barbarian country is called Russia, the land is barren, the forest is lush, the climate is bitter and cold, it is rich in beast fur, and the mink produced is beyond the reach of Liaodong sable." The fur made of this mink fur is warm when the wind blows, the fingers are like flames, the water is not wet, and the snow disappears, which is really a rare treasure! Lord Lu asked me to bring it to you! ”

"This, this!" Wang Ke held it in his hand, and he couldn't say how much he liked it, and he didn't know what to say for a while. Ancient Chinese winter clothes have always been based on animal fur as the top quality, in the Analects there is a fat horse, light clothes and fur, a high-quality fur is worth thousands of gold, not surprising. At that time, the main source of import of fur fur from the Ming Kingdom was Liaodi, but due to the continuous war with the Houjin, the import of high-grade fur fur was also greatly reduced, and its price rose in a straight line. Wang Ke knew very well that such a high-quality mink fur, even if it was difficult to buy with money in the north and south of Kyoto, whether it was worn by himself or given as a gift to his colleagues and superiors, it was extremely useful, and this pair of fur furs was enough to thank him for the batch of salt he had sent earlier.

"Brother Birch sent such a generous gift, and there is only disrespect!" Wang Ke finally regained his composure, and his tone of voice to Zhao Youcai also changed subtly, a messenger who brought such a generous gift should be valued accordingly no matter what.

"Brother Duancheng, my lord has another gift for me to give to you!" Zhao Youcai took the fur fur, revealing a palm-sized leather box underneath and sent it to Wang Ke. Wang Ke looked at the other party with some hesitation, and carefully opened the leather box, only to see that there were more than ten rubies, agate, and emeralds about the size of a little finger inside, which looked gorgeous in the sunlight projected from the window.

Wang Ke took a deep breath before swallowing another exclamation into his throat, he closed his eyes so that these rare treasures could leave his retina for a while, and when he opened his eyes again, he closed the leather case and pushed it back.

"Brother Duancheng, why are you doing this?" Zhao Youcai asked in surprise.

"This gift is too heavy, it is useless, you go back and treat me and thank Brother Birch, I have accepted this heart, but the thing is returned!" Wang Ke's voice is not loud, but he is very resolute, he has been rolling in officialdom for more than ten years, don't you know that there is no free lunch in the world? Although Lu Boqi said that he was the same year as himself, he had not been in contact for more than ten years, not to mention that he was now faintly above himself, and the pair of mink furs could still be said to be in love with himself, and these gems could not be said.

"Your Excellency!" Zhao Youcai carefully pushed the leather box back again, and said with a smile: "The student has a few private words, you can listen to it, if you don't want to accept it, it's not too late for the student to bring it back!" (To be continued.) )