"Private?" Wang Ke was stunned for a moment when he heard this, he wanted to refuse, but those gems flashed in his mind, and he changed his mind and made a gesture to signal the maid to retreat, and asked in a deep voice: "Say it!" ”

"The students first ask the adults a question, how much is this mink and the gems in the box worth?"

Wang Ke thought for a while and replied: "These two things are rare treasures, and I am not a businessman, where can I say how valuable it is at a time?" “

"That's what your lord said!" Zhao Youcai said with a smile: "But in Lord Lu, although these things are quite rare, they can't be said to be rare. ”

"Oh?" Wang Ke faintly understood what Zhao Youcai meant in his heart: "What does Mr. Zhao mean?" ”

"Brother Duancheng, after Lord Lu pacified the tribes, his reputation among the barbarians was shocked, and as far as the wilderness, the barbarian merchants all came to Ningxia with rare treasures to trade with them, wanting to exchange for tea, silk, porcelain and other Chinese specialties, and this sable skin and gems are just one or two of them. However, these things are not hungry and cold, and they do not help the military affairs. The adults wanted to transport these treasures to the south in exchange for tea, silk, and porcelain, and trade with the barbarians to raise their armies. ”

"I see!" Hearing this, Wang Ke's heart was already steady, he stretched out his right hand, and covered the leather box full of gems under his sleeve without a trace, and then asked: "Then what is the matter with Mr. Zhao's trip, which can be used by this official?" ”

Zhao Youcai was overjoyed when he saw Wang Ke accept the gem, and hurriedly replied: "My lord, now that the court and the central court are rampant, the ministers are attacking each other. People who want to do something often give people a handle, and before they can do it, they are ousted from power. Therefore, this matter must not be brought forward by the government! ”

"Not bad!" Wang Ke nodded: "Mr. Zhao is thoughtful, especially about money, a hat to compete with the people." I can't turn over, and I hurt myself and the country! ”

Therefore, the lord planned to set up a business to specialize in this business, bringing all kinds of treasures and specialties from Ningxia, and then transporting tea, silk, porcelain and other specialties from the Central Plains. If you are willing to help. Lord Lu is willing to give up one percent of the dry shares! ”

After listening to Zhao Youcai's promise, Wang Ke didn't answer immediately, he thought about it a little, and felt that the profits of this business were very profitable, so he asked in a deep voice: "I am the same year as Brother Birch, if it is just an ordinary thing, this dry stock is not necessary!" ”

Zhao Youcai heard it, and he didn't know the meaning of the other party's words: If it was just an ordinary thing, there would be a lot of dry shares. If it weren't an ordinary thing, I'm afraid there would be fewer dry stocks. He secretly scolded the other party's greed in his belly, and said with a smile: "My lord, you should also know that the trade of silk, tea, and porcelain has been divided up by various tooth shops and commercial houses. Where can I get in for a while? ”

"Yes, Mr. Zhao. There are all local powerful gentry behind these trades, as the saying goes, a strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, you have to intervene in it, but I'm afraid it's not that simple, right? ”

"Don't worry, sir!" Zhao Youcai showed a mysterious smile on his face: "I didn't come alone this time, I was accompanied by a hundred elite soldiers carefully selected by Lord Lu, all of whom were heroes who had experienced a hundred battles, and were not only skilled in martial arts. And he is good at firearms, if someone comes hard, it is self-defeating! ”

"This-" Wang Ke was suddenly startled by the murderous aura that showed in the other party's words, and he swallowed back the words that he was going to bargain, and was thinking about whether he should talk about this trouble. There were several knocks at the door.

"What's the matter?"

"Tell the master, Lord Futai sent someone to come, please go to the mansion to discuss matters!"

"Well, you tell someone to come, I'll be there right away!" Wang Ke stood up and smiled at Zhao Youcai: "Mr. Zhao, it's really unfortunate, Wenfutai has something to discuss. Brother Lu Nian's matter will be put aside for a while, let me think about it, and then give a reply? You just arrived in Hangzhou, I wonder if you have found a place to live? “

Zhao Youcai hurriedly got up and promised: "There is an inquiry from Lord Lao, I am waiting to live in a temple outside the Wulin Gate!" Wang Ke smiled reservedly, asked the name of the temple, and sent Zhao Youcai out of the door, and then quickly changed his official robe, and went out in a sedan chair all the way to the Buzheng Embassy's Mansion.

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, the Liangzhejiang Salt Imperial History is a supervision official sent by the central government, and if it is replaced by a term that is easier for modern people to understand, it is the special inspector of the central government on the work of the salt industry. It is not difficult to imagine that the relationship between the local officials in Hangzhou and Wang Ke is quite delicate, respecting and maintaining a certain distance, if it is not necessary, they will not invite him to participate in the negotiation of serious matters, so why this time? It was with such curiosity that Wang Ke walked into the main hall of the political envoy.

"Lord Wang, you're here, sit down!" Zhejiang Governor Wen Kedao nodded to Wang Ke and motioned for him to sit down, Wang Ke was surprised to find that almost all the civil and military officials in Hangzhou City had arrived, and even Zhejiang, who had a very low sense of existence on weekdays, commanded the envoy to sit there, he realized that something was wrong, and hurriedly sat down in his seat. Wen Kedao coughed: "Colleagues, the situation is urgent, I won't say more useless words, I invited you here today, not for anything else, but a group of water bandits infested the Jiangkou, several ships have been robbed, people and goods on board have been lost, and even an official ship transporting salt has been robbed." “

"What, it's the return of the Wokos!" Hearing Wen Kedao's introduction, everyone immediately exploded, although since Qi Shaobao beat the Japanese invaders, the sea has been a lot calmer, but all kinds of other pirates still haunt from time to time, but there are not many people who openly loot like in the estuary, let alone rob the salt ships of the government, even if they don't consider the revenge of the government, the pirates can easily realize other things, but this salt, can they still be changed to be sent to the mainland as a smuggler to resell it for cash?

"Probably not, from the mouth of the escaped sailor, I know that this ship is very tall and sturdy, with three giant masts, more than 20 meters long, and the end is even more towering like a city wall, the shape is very different from the Japanese ship, but it is somewhat similar to the plywood ship of Hongmaoyi!"

"Furry?" The envoy on the side was a Cantonese man, and asked in an official dialect with a thick accent: "This is strange, the student also saw a few red-haired people when he was in Guangdong, although he was born with red hair and green eyes, and his skin was as white as a ghost, but he was a law-abiding businessman." How can they go around looting? ”

The political envoy on the side sneered and retorted: "That's not necessarily, if it's not my clan, its heart will be different, Hongmaoyi's law-abiding degree in Guangdong is just forced by the situation, and when he comes to Zhejiang and is unattended, he will naturally regain his old ways and return to his old business!" ”

"Everyone, stop. Stay! Wen Kedao stopped the argument of his colleagues, turned to Ke Congwen, the capital of Zhejiang, and asked: "Whether it is Hongmaoyi's boat or not, if it robs a few civilian boats, it will be fine, but if it is allowed to eat the marrow and know the taste, and feel that the coastal defense of Zhejiang Province is lax, there is an opportunity to take advantage of it, then I am afraid that there will be no peace in the southeast, Master Ke, you are the head of your own military ministers." You have to come up with a strategy for what to do! ”

"Lord Futai!" Ke Congwen's face was ugly, as if someone had caught some handle: "I have something to tell you, Zhenhaiwei came to report a few days ago, saying that a big boat was docked on Daishan Island, and it was a little similar to the plywood boat you said!" ”

Syllable!

Wen Kedao slapped the table abruptly and shouted, "Why didn't you say such a big thing earlier?" ”

Wen Ke shouted. Ke Congwen jumped up from his chair in fright and knelt on the ground. shouted: "Death to death, death, I have sent someone to send Zhen Haiwei to drive the thief away-"

Wen Kedao looked at Ke Congwen on the ground, forcibly suppressed the anger in his chest and asked, "Ke Dusi, what about the result?" ”

"Lord Wen, those pirates have very sharp firearms. Zhenhaiwei Qianhu was hit by a bird gun and died on the spot! Speaking of this, Ke Congwen lowered his head, and the result was unknown.

Wen Kedao snorted coldly and said, "Ke Dusi." You are the frontier minister of this province, and it is your responsibility to defend the territory, if you can't talk about this group of pirates to drive away within half a month, then don't blame this official for not remembering the feelings of his colleagues! ”

Hearing Wen Kedao's words, Ke Congwen's face was even more dead, and he got up from the ground, even claiming that he was, but he didn't dare to sit down. Originally, Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, assigned the three powers of local administration, supervision, and military to the three parallel departments of the political secretary, the envoy and the command department, in order to prevent the tail from falling off and forming a local separatist force against the central government, but in the implementation of the three departments, it was found that the three parallel departments were divided and did not work well. He was born as a Jinshi, and there are many bigwigs in the court as Olympic aids, and he can reach the heavens with a casual word, and naturally he is not the commander of this military attache who has long been ******** in the third division can compare. But it's no wonder that Wen Kedao said so ugly, the Daishan Island mentioned by Kedusi is one of the Zhoushan Islands, which happens to be located in Hangzhou Bay, guarding the estuary of the Qiantang River.

After Wen Kedao reprimanded Du Si, he discussed with the other officials for a while about guarding against pirates, and then dispersed. Wang Ke was also assigned some tasks, because his official position was lower among the people, so he fell behind, just about to go out only to find that there was a folding fan on the chair next to him, vaguely Nadu Si Ke Congwen, hurriedly took the folding fan and chased after him, calling the other party. Ke Congwen took the folding fan, smiled bitterly and said, "Thank you, Lord Wang, Congwen is at a loss today, see you smile!" ”

"No need to be polite!" Wang Ke said with a smile: "A colleague is naturally deserved." He looked at the other party's expression and asked, "Master Ke, are those pirates really so difficult?" ”

"Hey, although the pirates are not many in number, their ships are strong and powerful, and they are quite lawful, and they are by no means an ordinary rabble. I heard the defeated soldier say that when our army attacked him, there was no sound in the camp of the thieves, and when our army entered the camp more than 20 paces, they suddenly fired a volley of guns, and then took advantage of the chaos to rush and kill. ”

"But I heard that the elite soldiers of Liangzhejiang were trained by Qi Nantang single-handedly, especially good at firearms, unparalleled in the world!"

"Phew! What year did you say about this? Ke Congwen was already depressed to the extreme at this time, and finally had a colleague to talk to, so he hurriedly vomited bitterness: "Lord Wang, you should also know the situation of the two Zhejiang Guards, it is common to be in arrears for two or three years, and the sergeants who escape, even if they do not escape, have their own livelihoods, there is no way, the whole family has to eat!" Except for a few pro-soldiers, they have not been trained on weekdays, how can they be used? Hey, I'm afraid I won't be able to pass this level this time! “

Hearing Ke Congwen's words, Wang Ke's heart couldn't help but move, he thought about it, and finally decided to wait for a while, until the other party was cornered, and then he took out the goods to sell them at a high price, thinking of this, he pretended to be comforted, and said with a smile: "Master Ke, you don't have to be so depressed, the thieves are just a boat, at best there are two or three hundred people, and with the soldiers of a province, they are crushed to death." ”

"Well, I hope so!" Ke Congwen was not so confident: "I have ordered the elite soldiers of the guards to be driven to Hangzhou, hoping to drive the thieves away, pass this pass!" ”

Daishan Island.

Tang Dynasty. Silva stood on the side of the ship, listening to the rhythmic sound of oars and the sobs of his captives, watching as the boat slowly sank into the water. Beneath sea level, the black island of Daishan is rising from beneath the surface of the sea and slowly growing larger.

At the sound of the boatswain's order, the "Pizarro" deflected through the bow, the sails caught the sea breeze, and passed the ship to the west of the island, a narrow triangular gown, capable of holding only twenty people, the lifeboat of the "Queen Mary", fifteen days earlier he led a hundred trained soldiers aboard the "Queen Mary" to the man named Nikolai. The lair of a former pirate leader of the first official fulfills the agreement. But as fate would have it, they were caught in a storm halfway through, and the terrible wind tossed the ship, which weighed more than four hundred tons, like a toy, and the only thing he could do was to fix himself to the side of the ship and pray to the Merciful Virgin. Fortunately, Our Lady answered the prayers of the crowd, and the "Queen Mary" was not sent to the bottom of the sea, but lost two of its three masts, the hull was also flooded, and half of the sailors were missing, in addition to the fact that they had deviated from course. So Silva had to order to dock on the nearest land, mend the ships and replenish the sailors, and then continue their voyage. When they landed, they found that the inhabitants of the island had fled, and in order to obtain the necessary sailors and repair materials, and in order to obtain the necessary provisions, Silva had to work as pirates, which caused the local garrison to counterattack, but he easily defeated the attack of the Ming army, in Silva's opinion, these enemies were not so much armies as a group of peasants with crude weapons, without courage, no discipline, no tactics and no honor, It was hard to imagine that such a great empire would be defended by such an army, which made him even more confident about the journey ahead. (To be continued.) )