And in the long run, the foundation of this kind of concession is not solid, because Yang Sichang cannot always be the first assistant of the imperial court, and the next first assistant may not necessarily be on Liu Cheng's side, which Liu Cheng knows and Zheng Zhilong also knows. www.biquge.info As for the Minnan merchant group headed by Zheng Zhilong, whether it is from the reclamation and development of Taiwan Island or the monopoly of maritime trade between the East and the West, it is a lifeblood of life and death, and the geographical location and conditions of Dayuan Port determine that it is not only the best port and agricultural development area on Taiwan Island from Fujian, but also an excellent naval base to control the Taiwan Strait. From this point of view, it is only a matter of time before a new conflict breaks out between the two sides, and if this is the case, it is undoubtedly a very powerful bargaining chip if the heir of the leader of the rival group can be controlled in his hands.

"Mr. Cheng Er!" Xu Hecheng said in a low voice: "Then Zheng Damu came out of the south building and encountered something. Afterwards, Zheng Zhilong will definitely find out who was in the South Building at that time, and we are the biggest suspects, and this matter is not so easy to understand. ”

"That's right!" Cheng Er scratched his head and sighed: "It's a pity that there is an extra Chen Zilong in the South Building today, otherwise I would have taken that little lady away, and then burned down the South Building, and just set a headless case into action!" ”

"Such a bold man, such a spicy method, this Xiuning Cheng Er is really not a simple character!" Xu Hecheng couldn't help but be taken aback, the "little lady" in Cheng Erfang's mouth clearly refers to Liu Ruyi, he already coveted Liu Ruyi's beauty in the South Building, if he didn't know that they had seen Zheng Damu and Chen Zilong was not easy to start, looking at his appearance, he simply took Liu Ru away, and by the way, he killed all the servants and maids in the building, and then set fire to the building, so that Zheng Zhilong could not trace it.

"Besides, do you remember that Kunlun slave? It doesn't seem to be a simple person, I came here in Weifu this time, and there are less than twenty guards around me, although they are all good hands, but Zheng Damu should also have other guards around him, wouldn't it be bad if he was injured by the tiger if he didn't succeed in fighting the tiger? ”

"That's what your lord said! It's just that opportunities like this are not easy to come across, and I think it's a pity! Hearing Xu Hecheng mention the Kunlun slave, Mr. Cheng Er finally deflated, rumors in the rivers and lakes that Zheng Zhilong is not only handsome, but also quite talented in martial arts, he went out at the age of seventeen, when he lived in Hirado, Japan, spent a lot of time to ask the local swordsman to ask for martial arts, but in a few years to master the magic of Dongying swordsmanship, and in the subsequent pirate career many times to kill opponents with his own hands. He also has silver, and the guards chosen by people like Zheng Zhilong for his eldest son must be extraordinary, if he acts rashly, he is afraid that he will suffer a lot.

"Lord Xu, Mr. Cheng Er!" The man with the knife who had been guarding the hatch suddenly said in a deep voice: "I have a way to get the best of both worlds!" ”

"Oh, Mr. Yoshida, please speak!" Mr. Cheng Er was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "If it is successful, it will be rewarded!" ”

"My lord, I remember that there are lanterns and flags on this ship, right?" Yoshida asked.

"Yes, so what?" Xu Hecheng asked.

"My lord, you can put up the lanterns and flags, and then leave by boat, so that everyone on the shore can confirm that you have left Songjiang, if something happens to Zheng Damu, it will naturally have nothing to do with you. It's not early now, so Zheng Damu shouldn't set off immediately, but stay overnight in Songjiang and start on the road tomorrow morning. I'll go and fetch him back at night. ”

Mr. Cheng Er was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly said to Xu Hecheng: "Lord Xu, I think this method is good, so it is better to agree to him!" ”

Xu Hecheng ignored Mr. Cheng Er, he stared at Yoshida Okiji's eyes and asked, "This matter is very important, you first tell me your plan, how many people do you want?" How to capture Zheng Damu alive, I will make a decision after listening! ”

"That's nature!" Yoshida Okiji smiled: "I only need to make familiar people, my lord's escort this time, there are four of my subordinates, and this time it is not convenient to use firearms, I also need four archers, in addition to a guide who is familiar with the local situation." ”

"Four archers? A guide? Xu Hecheng nodded: "Then let Hun Apu, Wei Lan, Xue Huaien, and Ye Xian Tugan go with you, how about it?" "These four men are either Mongolian eagle archers, or northwest warriors, all of whom have two strong bows, which can gallop left and right, and are equipped with a bow, two bags of arrows, a horse, iron armor, and spears and machetes, and are capable of fighting a hundred warriors. It was Liu Cheng who was selected from more than 100,000 Mongolian tribes, Yansui, Ningxia, and Xuanda Town military households, and placed them under his own account. Yoshida Okiji was overjoyed when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Thank you, my lord, with these four people, I will definitely capture that Zheng Damusheng." ”

"As for the guide!" Xu Hecheng's gaze turned to Mr. Cheng Er on the side: "Then I'm afraid it's only Mr. Cheng Er." ”

"That's easy to say!" Mr. Cheng Er said with a smile: "Let Cheng De, who came with me this time, go with you, he is my son, trustworthy, and has come here several times to collect debts, and he is very familiar with the owners of those shops, and he is very clear about the situation here in Songjiang." Mr. Yoshida, what do you think? ”

"That's good!" Yoshida Okiji smiled: "We are either Japanese or Northland, it is too conspicuous here, and it is much more convenient to have him." ”

"Mr. Yoshida, what are you going to do?" Xu Hecheng asked.

"Lord Xu, at the moment, I don't know anything about Zheng Damu's situation, if I say how to act is empty, I plan to go ashore first, and after investigating and hearing about his situation, I will see the opportunity to act!"

Xu Hecheng listened to Yoshida Okiji's answer and nodded, he suffered great changes when he was young, and he had been wandering in the rivers and lakes for many years, knowing that many times he could not predict it in advance, and he could only act at the opportunity. If Yoshida Okiji had just patted his chest and made a whole set of plans, he wouldn't dare let him go. After all, if this matter is exposed, it will be endless trouble.

"Mr. Yoshida, I'm going to say ugly things ahead!" Xu Hecheng's voice was not loud, but his tone was extremely heavy, as if a piece of lead ingots fell to the ground: "If this matter is revealed, then Zheng Zhilong will definitely embarrass us, and the consequences will be unimaginable." When you go ashore, if you find that you are not sure, just come back, there is nothing to be embarrassed about, and I will never blame you! ”

"Don't worry, my lord, I won't be reluctant!"

"Well, if this is done, I will have a great reward!" When Xu Hecheng said this, his voice paused slightly: "I heard that you Japanese call the princes who have land that can produce 10,000 koku of rice as daimyo, and the heaviest reward is the daimyo, and there are seven or eight hundred Japanese men in Dacheng right now, right?" If you succeed in this matter, I will make you a semi-daimyo on behalf of Lord Liu, and allow you, the Japanese Chezhi Dan, to reclaim 5,000 stone of land in Taiwan. ”

Hearing Xu Hecheng promise such a heavy reward, Yoshida Chongji's body trembled, and then he knelt on the ground, his face was close to the plank, and replied in a trembling voice: "Thank you for your favor, I will definitely capture that Zheng Damu!" ”

"If you do it, you must not leave a living mouth, and if you fail, you must not leave a handle in the hands of the Zheng family, anyway, no matter whether it is successful or not, I will never admit that I knew about it in advance, do you understand?"

Yoshida Okiji's face also became solemn, Xu Hecheng's meaning was very clear, if the thing was the best, if it failed, the nine people of Yoshida Okiji would either flee or cut themselves, and don't leave the Zheng family alive, so as not to implicate the people behind the scenes.

"It's nature!" Speaking of this, Yoshida Okiji's left hand hidden in his sleeve suddenly shook, Xu Hecheng felt a breeze passing in his ears, and then there were a few muffled sounds behind him, and he looked back to see that there were already several kunai on the bulkhead behind him, and the sharp steel blade reflected a cold light under the candle.

"My lord, please rest assured, if things don't work out, there will definitely be no life left for the Zheng family!"

A moment later, the mast of the big ship in Xu Hecheng raised the official flag of Yangzhou Bingbeidao, and the bow and stern of the ship also hung signs with the words "quiet" and "avoidance". But soon several military men with protruding chests and bellies came out of the ship, holding clubs and leather whips in their hands. Seeing this, the onlookers hurriedly dispersed, and after another half a ring, the mysterious ship left the dock and headed west.

Songjiang is adjacent to the Wusong River, the two banks of this river can be said to be the most prosperous area in the Yangtze River Delta and even the whole Ming Dynasty, thanks to the sandy soil suitable for planting cotton, advanced textile technology and convenient water transportation conditions, the cloth produced here is of excellent quality, and has the reputation of clothing in the world. Although it is already winter, there is still an endless stream of boats carrying people on the river. When the merchant ships saw the official flag on the mast of the big ship and the wooden plaque on the bow of the ship, they all moved out of the way to avoid causing trouble. It's a pity that trouble can't be avoided, and when a fishing boat got a little closer, a soldier on the official boat shouted to him: "Come here, my lord has something to look for you!" ”

On the fishing boat was a middle-aged man in his forties, accompanied by a half-grown child of twelve or thirteen years old, with several bamboo poles sticking out of the bow of the boat, on which thirteen or fourteen ospreys were neatly arranged. The fisherman was staring wide-eyed, looking for the fish under the water, but he didn't want trouble falling from the sky, and he wanted to run but didn't dare, so he had to lean over with a bitter face, and when there was still a long way away, he said to the military man: "What do you command?" ”

"There are a few people on our boat, we want to go back to the old temple in Songjiang, you are a local, let's send them back!" The soldier said in a commanding tone.

"Yes, yes, I just don't know how many people there are, my boat is small, and I'm afraid I can't fit it if there are too many people!" The fisherman replied with a bitter face, it takes two or three hours to go back and forth from here to the old temple in Songjiang, which means that the rest of the day is all in vain, except for a broken house, this boat, and these dozen ospreys, there is nothing else, but in addition to this child's house, there are three or four mouths to fill, and he lives a life of stopping his hands and mouths, but looking at the official flag on the boat, how dare he refuse?

"Guna man, this is for you!"

A hard object hit the fisherman, bounced off the plank, rolled twice before stopping. The fisherman looked at it, but it was a piece of silver, he hurriedly picked it up, looked up at the boat, and saw a man standing behind the soldier, of medium stature, of ordinary appearance, dressed in a brown silk robe, wearing a small melon skin hat, and a solid merchant's dress, looking at himself with a smile: "It will take you half a day to send us back, and this silver should only buy the fish you brought first!" ”

The fisherman weighed the silver, and it was about a tael, which was a stone of brown rice according to the price of rice at that time, enough for his family to eat for half a month. His heart was suddenly relieved, and a smile appeared on his face: "Thank you, please rest assured, the villain has been fishing on the Wusong River since he was a child, and the waterway is very familiar, even if he closes his eyes, he will not go wrong!" ”

"Okay, you get over the boat, let's get on board!"

"Great!" The fisherman answered, put the silver into his loins, and with two strokes he leaned over the boat and tied it with a rope. The merchant who gave the silver jumped down, and the fisherman hurriedly stretched out his hand to help him, wiped the wooden plank on the water tank where the fish were placed with his sleeve, and said with a smile: "Master, my fishing boat is very sloppy, please bear with me!" ”

"It's okay, you just row later, and go back to Songjiang quickly!" The merchant was a cheerful man, and sat down with a butt. At this time, another ** man came down from the official boat, which made the fishing boat sink, and the river was no more than a foot away from the side of the boat. The fisherman just wanted to say that there were too many people, but it could be seen that these men were strong and strong, their eyes were as cold as iron, and their bodies were bulging, and they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts, and they swallowed back when the words came to their mouths.

"I have some debts to collect in Songjiang!" The merchant also felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly smiled: "These are my buddies, you also know that the road in this world is not very peaceful, and it is not easy to bring a few more people with money!" ”

"That's what the master said!" The fisherman answered, and hurriedly called his boy to put away the osprey, and scolded himself in his belly: "Look at this posture not like a debt collector, but like an impermanent ghost who collects people's life accounts!" ”

The fisherman was quite neat, and in a short time he raised the sails and went to the stern of the boat to swing the oar, and although the fishing boat was pressed to a deep draft, it still went down the river to the old temple ferry. Fortunately, he didn't encounter any wind and waves along the way, and when he arrived around Shenshi, he could already see the smoke of the old temple. The fisherman was relieved to see that his destination was near, for he was afraid that if he pretended to be too many, he would capsize the boat, and the loss would not be compensated for by a mere tael of silver. (To be continued.) )