There is no difference between the sea and the canal in the middle of the night, and there are also times when the boats need to be unloaded at night on the canal side, and the boats and the berthheads are connected together by pedals, and the labor of carrying them cannot flow there, and there are people who have the appearance of tents and stewards who plan to count them, and there are also people who go to add some firewood to the fires on both sides after a while.

The shipowners and merchants are more relaxed, and there are special sheds nearby, where they sit and chat and watch, waiting for the delivery.

After Huang San drove the carriage into this area, many of the people who came and went were very familiar with him, everyone smiled and greeted each other, and some people deliberately went to open the food box lightly, and there was a burst of laughter.

Wang Tong and the others walked with their heads bowed on the side of the carriage, and no one paid attention, the space here was slightly larger than that of the canal wharf, and the road was wider, Wang Tong subconsciously wanted to see the city in the distance, but was blocked by a swarthy piece, and couldn't help but sneer.

This is also why he rarely comes here, let alone a local native, and he didn't react when he saw the swarthy place, and there were no hills and mountains here.

Those blocking the line of sight, should be in the south of the city granary Datun, the canal grain, not all the time can be transported to the destination, some need to be temporarily stored here, for another transshipment, and the need for Jingshi, Jizhen and Beizhili several provinces is huge, the granary is naturally many, the scale is also very large.

Everywhere in Tianjin, on both sides of the canal, there are granaries built everywhere, which is also a feature of Tianjin City at present, the grain and grass on the other side of the city are newly built in recent years, Wanli ascended the throne for six years, the world can be regarded as smooth and rainy, and the amount of grain transported is much more than in previous years, so it is necessary to build a new granary.

For Wang Tong, who is not familiar with the surrounding terrain, in his mind, these places have never been connected, and he can only roughly understand it tonight.

After a short time, when he arrived at the place where he ordered wine and food, Huang San was a little nervous and beckoned everyone to move the food box and wine jar from the car and send it into a tea shed.

Don't look at the small tea shed, the lantern inside is actually a wooden frame lamp covered with cicada wing veil, and it seems that there is sandalwood or something burning, in order to resist the usual smell of the beach.

The tables, chairs and benches are all good workmanship, not to mention the teapots, cups and saucers are all fine porcelain, several men of different ages sit around the table and talk and laugh, and there are strong men with weapons guarding the front and back of the tea shed.

The people seated at the table were dressed in silk but short shirts, and they spoke with an accent that did not sound like the official dialect of the North.

Put down the food box and wine jar, and someone who looks like a man came over and gave the silver, in addition to the reward of about one or two silver per person, this two silver can already hold a table of banquets in Tianjin City, and this side is so generous, but Wang Tong still paused before remembering the courteous thanks.

After all, his identity is different, and he will not be grateful for such a reward, and in the same way, the reaction of the group of people brought by Wang Tong is even slower than him.

The guy who led them, Huang San, broke out in a cold sweat, but fortunately, the people in the tea shed didn't care about this little thing, and after leaving the tea shed, there were still some wine, meat, noodles and other meals in the car, which were carried down for the guards outside to eat.

Under Wang Tong's whispered orders, Huang San deliberately took a detour to see as much as possible the situation on the dock here.

Porcelain, silk, cotton, bamboo, and spices from the South Seas were all fixed goods in the North-South trade, and the profits were naturally high.

After these goods were carried down from the big ship, soon there were boats that looked like boats to fill up and leave, Wang Tong probably calculated in his heart, sea freight is much cheaper than Cao Yun, needless to say, with Cao boat marketing, the taxes and fees of the passage do not have to be paid, this piece of the imperial court at least lost the equivalent of three to forty percent of the value of the goods in taxes, if you take the maintenance of the canal and the southern provinces to subsidize the loss into account, one in and one out, almost how much they sell, how much the court will lose, perhaps even more exaggerated.

It was nothing more than tax evasion and tax evasion, taking advantage of the loopholes in the regulations, lying on Daming's body to suck blood, Wang Tong came to a conclusion in his heart, and after watching it for a while, he felt that there was nothing to see.

After greeting Huang San, he detoured back from the original road, but when he walked back to a berth that he had just passed, Wang Tong felt a little strange.

For he had heard the people on the ship and the people on the dock shouting that the goods had been unloaded, but at this time there were many more people gathered up and down the ship than they had just done, and the people came and went and did not know what to carry.

Compared with what Wang Tong saw, this ship is the largest ship, even if it is compared with the Galen ships seen in Macao, the height is not comparable, but the fat hull is much better.

"Two thousand stone of grain, it is estimated that you will eat yourself on the twenty stone ship, you have to calculate it."

It happened that someone on the boat was shouting below, which explained the question in Wang Tong's heart, and he knew what goods were being loaded and unloaded here.

There is a quota for grain, and these sea vessels have several times the volume of the boats, so what are the boats on and off the river doing, and with the two benefits of exemption from inspection and tax exemption, I am afraid that everything will make a fortune.

The ancients should not be underestimated, tax evasion, price differentials in various places, means of transportation, all aspects were integrated and combined into a means of making a fortune.

It doesn't matter how much financial revenue the Ming Empire has lost, the people who handle it are afraid that everyone has made a fortune, look at the grandeur in the tea shed just now, small tents, tea sets, tables and chairs, lamps, etc., you can guess one or two.

Wang Tong had a general idea in his heart, but when he turned around and asked about another thing, he lowered his voice and said:

"General Tan, what kind of ship is this, it's really big!?"

"My lord, it's a lucky ship, it's almost 2,500 materials."

The tone was very low, Wang Tong was also stunned, the light on both sides of the carriage was dim, and he couldn't see Tan Jiang's expression, but Wang Tong knew that this Tan General was not in a good mood when he was not called "master" but "adult", could it be that something happened just now.

But at the moment, this place is not a convenient place to talk, everyone fell silent, followed the guy Huang San back, after leaving this port area, Li Hutou was a little too young to hold his eyelids, and after a few yawns, he was driven by Wang Tong to lie on the carriage and fall asleep.

On the way back, Huang San didn't dare to sit in the car, he walked in front with a lantern and led the old horse, and the others were also a little tired, Wang Tong coughed, and was about to ask, but Tan Jiang said in advance:

"Have you noticed, the tea shed guard we delivered the meal has a narrow blade in his hand, similar to the style of the Miao knife, but narrower."

Wang Tong slowed down in a daze, he really didn't notice this detail, he was staring at the men in short silk shirts who were sitting, Tan Jiang's voice was very steady and seemed to have no emotion, this kind of performance appeared on him, according to Wang Tongping's judgment from accumulating experience, Tan Jiang should be very uncalm at this time.

"I didn't look closely."

"Have you seen that six of the twelve guards in the tea shed have sheathed two-foot short knives pinned diagonally to their waists?"

"But what's the matter?"

Wang Tong was stunned, but he didn't expect what the other party was going to say, but Tan Jian, who was walking in front, turned around, his voice was a little high, and he said hatefully:

"The short knife is called rib difference, one long and one short, no one in Daming wears it like this, even a short knife and dagger will be placed on the waist, and those legs are all compasses"

"It's a devil, it's a wolf!"

Speaking of which, what else is there not to understand, and only the warriors of the Wa State are so saber-swords, but who said that the Han people can't learn like this, after Wang Tong shouted this, he felt that the matter was big, from the southeast Wa rebellion that began in the last year of Zhengde to the end of Longqing was basically quelled, during this period nearly one million soldiers and civilians were killed and wounded, and countless military and money were spent, and countless officers and soldiers were used to recruit and suppress.

The southeast is where the wealth of the world is, the southeast chaos is equivalent to shaking the country, the Jiajing Emperor reigned for decades, the Mongolian prince in the north, the Japanese in the south has always been a big trouble, to the Longqing Emperor, Qi Jiguang in the south, Yu Dayou even fought and won the battle, and the north and I answered the ministry to negotiate peace, only then did there be the peace of the world after Wanli ascended the throne.

Now there are Japanese robbers appearing here in Tianjin, what kind of big case is this, if the crime of the Japanese is treasoned, if it is verified, he will be immediately imprisoned and beheaded, this side can be reached in a few days from the Beijing Division, and if it is transmitted to the Beijing Division, it is a great event.

"Are you probably sure!?"

The matter is serious, Wang Tong did not dare to ignore it, and General Tan said in a deep voice:

"There are many martial artists in Fujian who have been to the Wa Kingdom, and it is not uncommon to learn the martial arts and weapons over there, but the owners of those few ships sitting there are the Yuegang Voices of Zhangzhou in Fujian, is this still wrong?"

Wang Tong unconsciously stopped, in fact, he was a little confused when he heard this, whether it was something to do with the accent of Zhangzhou, Fujian.

"The pirates are called the Japanese pirates, but the real Japanese are only two or three out of ten, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou have many sea giants, these Fujian people are good at naval warfare, but the land war is not as fierce as the Cantonese people, often recruit a large number of real Japanese as subordinates, wartime precursor, peacetime guards."

Perhaps seeing Wang Tong's confusion, Tan Jiang explained out loud, I see, in this way, the meaning is completely different, I don't know why, Wang Tong breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, walked a few steps and said with a soft smile:

"No wonder some ships dare to unload openly during the day, but some ships can only come at night, and the Fujian pirates with the Japanese invaders dare not come out during the day!"

Tan Lun has served in Nanzhili and Zhejiang for a long time, but as a civilian official, he has been fighting hard with the Japanese for a long time, and his pro-soldiers will naturally hate the Japanese invaders, and it is inevitable that Tan will have such emotions.

Wang Tong's thoughts quickly turned to the other side, in addition to the taxes he had escaped, if the trade with the Wa Kingdom was also included, the wealth in and out would probably be even more amazing

(To be continued)