"Please rest assured of this!" Ke Congwen was overjoyed when he saw that Zhao Youcai did not categorically refuse, and hurriedly explained: "Although this group of pirates has a strong ship, the hull of the ship is damaged by wind and waves, and they lean on Daishan Island to repair the ship, and there is only a small boat with twenty or thirty people. The two times we fought with them were land battles, and with Lord Lu's military might, they must have to be captured! “

Zhao Youcai saw Ke Congwen say this, and he couldn't shirk it, so he had to turn his head to look at Wang Xingguo. Although Liu Cheng ordered Wang Xingguo to obey him in everything during his trip before parting, he did not dare to treat this man who had been a personal guard and saved Liu Cheng's life as a subordinate. Who knows if he is a henchman sent by Liu Cheng to monitor him? What's more, those elite soldiers are certainly not so easy to move. Ke Congwen saw it in his eyes, how he didn't understand, and hurriedly said to Wang Xingguo: "Mr. Wang Qian, as long as you ensure that I pass this hurdle this time, I will ensure that you will be the capital secretary, no, is it okay to participate in the general?" ”

"Your Excellency doesn't know, I'm here to receive a military order from the general!" Wang Xingguo was not very interested in Ke Congwen's lure: "Protect Mr. Zhao to come to Zhejiang to discuss the purchase of tea, if there are side branches, the matter of bad tea, and the military order is violated, you will lose your head!" ”

"Tea!" Ke Congwen was overjoyed when he heard this, patted his chest and said: "Mr. Wang Qian, please rest assured, as long as you help me with this matter, as much tea as you want, it will all be wrapped up in this official!" ”

Seeing Ke Congwen say this, Wang Xingguo and Zhao Youcai were a little suspicious. Ke Congwen saw that the two of them were like this, and hurriedly explained that from the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the guard system that originally provided soldiers for the army was gradually abolished and became a tool for officers to make profits, and most of the soldiers in the guard house became slaves or hired laborers of officers. This is especially true in the north-south and Jiangnan regions, where the commodity economy is developed, and many officers simply turn the soldiers in their districts into hired laborers. Some of them work in their own workshops, and some simply rent them out to industrial and commercial owners who need a lot of labor, and collect their own rent. Although he was not good at training and fighting, he had a good set of industries, and there were more than 1,000 soldiers working in his own industry alone, including silk workers, cotton workers, mills, oil mills, and so on. There are another seven or eight hundred laborers waiting for rent, which is first-class in Hangzhou and even in Zhejiang. This tea drying, drying, roasting tea, packaging all do not require a lot of labor, especially in the season, it is busy feet do not touch the ground, if you do not hire short-term workers, you are tired and busy, with so many skilled labor in Hangzhou tea industry does have a considerable right to speak.

"Okay!" Wang Xingguo glanced at Zhao Youcai helplessly, he couldn't tell whether Ke Congwen was telling the truth or just boasting in a hurry, and Zhao Youcai's eyes also showed a trace of helplessness. At this time, Ke Congwen had already seen that the key to the matter was not in this Mr. Zhao. It's on this Qianzong. He gritted his teeth, moved closer and said in a low voice: "Mr. Wang Qian, if you agree, I will give you a thousand taels of silver immediately, and I will give it now!" ”

"Toji-sama, it's not about silver!" Wang Xingguo smiled bitterly: "My life is gone, what's the use of more silver?" Besides, it's not my life alone, it's the lives of so many people! He paused slightly. He said, "If you want to promise you, you must first agree to my two conditions!" ”

"On what terms?"

"The first condition. Fifty taels of silver for each brother, to be seen! ”

"Okay, I'll have someone deliver it right away!" Ke Congwen gritted his teeth: "What else?" “

"Second, whether this battle is fought or not, no matter how it is fought, you must listen to me, otherwise you will not be in harmony. That's going to die! “

Ke Congwen hesitated for a while, and saw that the other party's attitude was very resolute, so he had to admit: "It's okay, it's up to you!" “

"Then it's a deal!" Wang Xingguo raised his wine glass and stretched it out in front of Ke Congwen.

"Good. Deal! Ke Congwen also raised his wine glass and touched the wine glass that came over, and he almost splashed the wine in the glass with too much force, and the pale red wine spilled on the round table, like dripping blood.

Daishan Island.

"Quick, search all these rooms and see if there's anything to eat!" Silva ordered that the storm not only damaged the ship, but also destroyed two-thirds of the food, and he had to search for food. In front of him were several crude houses, the walls were made of stone blocks, the surface had not even been plastered, the roof of the house was covered with a thick layer of reeds, the windows were a few leathers of unknown animals, and a few strings of salted fish were hanging on bamboo poles in the yard, and the salty smell of sea fish was permeating the air, which for a while made him feel like he was returning to his hometown of Catalonia by the sea.

"Mr. Major, no food has been found in these rooms!" The boatswain whispered to Silva, "Nothing but salted fish!" ”

"Then take the salted fish!" Silva whispered, "Hurry up, the enemy could reappear at any time!" ”

"Yes, Mr. Major!" The boatswain turned and shouted twice to the native sailors, the tattooed natives whined discontentedly, and the sound of smashing utensils and furniture could be heard in the house. He turned to Silva and said, "Mr. Silva, allow me to say bluntly, the army of the Ming people is very cowardly, and the location of this island is very good, why don't we use this island as a base and launch several expeditions around?" It's going to be a big deal! ”

"Paul!" Silva called out the other man's name impatiently, "Have you forgotten the purpose of our trip?" Help that Ming sea merchant in his war with the Dutch instead of coming here to rob! We are soldiers, not pirates! At this point, Silva realized that his tone was a bit excessive, so he continued in a more gentle tone: "Tell the sailors, be patient, and when we reach Xiamen Island, the Ming lord called Yiguan will give them the most generous reward. ”

"Yes, Mr. Major!" The boatswain bowed his head, and there was a cheer in the room, in which Silva heard the word "grain", and the boatswain walked in, and came out with a smile on his face: "Mr. Major, the grain has been found, and they have hidden it in the water tank behind the stove."

"Very good, bring the food, we'll go back right away!" There was a rare smile on Silva's swarthy face. Ever since he was swept up in the storm on this strange island, his nerves have been tense, and he felt relieved to find food, and in three days, three more days, he would be able to repair the "Queen Mary" and leave here for Xiamen. After completing the Governor's order, the tight string in his heart finally loosened a little when he thought of this.

On the orders of the boatswain, the Spaniards marched in battle formation to the entrance of the village - infantry wearing cuirasses and halberds at the front, sword and shield soldiers at the back, arquebusiers and sailors with food bags in the middle. They were used to all this.

When the Spaniards were still more than twenty paces away from the entrance of the village, suddenly there was a scream from the entrance of the village, and then they saw a man running frantically towards them, shouting in Spanish "Moor, Moor!" About a dozen paces behind him, a knight was riding after him, and he rose from his stirrup and swung his lasso vigorously over his head. With a flick, the noose landed right on the fleeer's neck as if it had eyes. The knight made two loops of the rope around the hook on the side of the front of the saddle, and then turned the horse's head so violently that the great force immediately strangled the fleeer's neck, pulling him to the ground, and he instinctively pulled the noose around his neck with his hand so as not to suffocate to death.

"It's Carlos. He's supposed to be here to keep watch! A sharp-eyed soldier recognized the unlucky man who was struggling on the ground as his companion from his armor, and the halberd soldiers at the front hurriedly raised their weapons and rushed forward with a loud shout. Seeing that he could not escape with his captive, the knight cut the rope and fled, and a brave soldier gave chase after him. The knight suddenly looked back at the moon, and an arrow struck him in the door, and he fell on his back with a scream, and the others did not dare to chase after him.

Silva pulled out the dagger at his waist and cut the lasso around Carlos' neck, seeing that the other party's eyes were rolling, and a mark the thickness of a thumb on his neck sank deep into the skin and had been retracted.

"Quick, get the rum!" Silva took a tin flask from someone else and poured two sips into Carlos's mouth, and Carlos took two sips of the liquor into his throat, and immediately coughed violently, and Silva tapped him on the back a few times before relieving himself.

"Carlos, who attacked you just now? What about the others? “

"All dead, all dead, Moors, Moors!" Carlos cried out with tears in his eyes, the Moors in his mouth were the general name of the nomadic people who were ****** to the beliefs of the Spaniards in North Africa, known for their ability to ride and shoot, and were synonymous with pagans in Spanish. He had just left two men at the entrance of the village to stand guard, but he didn't want to rush out a few cavalrymen suddenly, so he shot one of them to death, and when he saw that the situation was not good, he turned and fled, but he was caught in a lasso, and the rest had already been seen.

Silva walked over to the downed soldier and saw a feathered arrow through his right eye, already dead.

"It's the cavalry of the Ming Kingdom, they're on the island!" The boatswain whispered.

"Hmm!" Silva nodded, he stood up and patted the dust on his hands: "Bring the food, go back to the ship immediately, we don't have cavalry, it's too dangerous here!" “

Without Silva urging the Spaniards moved quickly. Everyone knew that they were in great danger, and that the cavalrymen who had just escaped would surely tell the Ming generals their numbers and locations, and if they could not return to the camp by the dock before the enemy reinforcements arrived, they would have no choice but to die. The enemy's cavalry will never be just a few, and it will be difficult for the infantry to confront the cavalry on open flat ground.

Grinding Heart Mountain.

"Wang Qianhu, the red-haired thieves are there, but there are only sixty or seventy people." Ke Congwen pointed to the Spanish grain squad that was running wildly on the path at the foot of the mountain: "There are more than 300 people on our side, why don't you cut down the tart?" ”

"No hurry! Wait."

"Wait? Aren't you afraid he'll run back to the lair? ”

"I can't run away!" Wang Xingguo smiled confidently: "We have horses, they don't have horses, two legs can't run on four legs, let them run again, let's fight again when we're tired!" "It turned out that after Liu Cheng pacified the Chahar and Tumut tribes, he completely solved the problem of military horses. Zhao Youcai really brought a lot of valuable goods with him on his way to the south this time, Liu Cheng was afraid that the road would be uneasy, and the robbers or those who were more greedy than the robbers would rob the gentry, so he simply drew a hundred people from his own guard to be his bodyguards, in order to facilitate the journey, not only the cavalry is a double horse, even the infantry also has horses, and has become an infantry that moves on horseback and fights on foot.

Ke Congwen looked at Wang Xingguo's confident appearance, and swallowed back the words that came to his mouth. He stepped aside, took out a stick holder from his arms, shook it a few times, picked up the bamboo stick on the ground and looked at it, and said with a sigh of relief: "Thank God, it's a lot, Grandpa Lu bless me to pass this level, I will definitely reshape your golden body for you!" ”

On the way back, Silva tried to avoid the easy path and chose instead to take the path between the bushes and small trees on the hillside, so as not to be surrounded by enemy cavalry. Daishan Island is a large island with an area of more than 100 square kilometers, and the rocky hills and hills on the island are covered with various plants such as masson pine, juniper, and heather, and the thorny stems and leaves constantly scratch the bare skin of the soldiers, leaving blood marks on them. In a few moments, all that could be heard was the sound of loud panting, the sound of trees and rocks, and soon the weary sailors had dropped the sacks full of food on their backs. Suddenly, a sharp whistle pierced the air, and Silva stopped, followed by Paul, the boatswain, who was close to him.

"Why stop?"

"Did you hear that?" Silva asked, when another whistle came from the bottom of the mountain, as if in response to the previous whistle.

"You mean the whistle?"

"Not bad!" Silva suddenly shouted, "Stop, everyone!" ”

The soldiers and sailors stopped at a loss, they stared at the major with strange eyes, didn't he just let him get back to the camp as soon as possible?

"Paul, have you ever hunted? I mean the kind of hunting in the forest? Silva asked. (To be continued.) )