The Executive Committee has no particular scruples about what kind of trade relations there are between "Fu Ruifeng" and the pirate gangs. In fact, when formulating the policy on the export of weapons, the Executive Committee had already listed the pirate gang as an important sales target, and the emergence of "Fu Ruifeng" happened to solve the most difficult sales channel problem for the crossing group.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the strongest armed forces on the southeast coast were not the army of the Ming Dynasty, but large and small pirate gangs. The situation in Guangdong is a little better, and the Ming army on the Fujian side has rarely won against Zheng Zhilong's pirate group in the past two years, and it has been defeated again and again. However, fortunately, there is the Ming Empire behind the big backer, and the ability of the official army to withstand defeat is still far greater than that of pirates. As for the pirates, a single loss could lead to ruin, so they were more willing to spend money to upgrade their armament to ensure an advantage in battle, and even went so far as to spend thousands of taels of silver to buy heavy artillery from the Spaniards and Dutch.

In terms of economic strength, the pirate group certainly can't be compared with the vast territory of the Ming Empire, but for the Executive Committee, customers who are willing to spend money are good customers. In recent years, the war in the northeast of the Ming Empire has been tight, and more than half of the annual military expenditure is spent outside the Guan, and there is not much expenditure that can be used for the renewal of weapons in the southern army.

Comparing the two sides, it is obvious that it is more likely to reach a deal with the pirate group in the near future, and the Ming officials and soldiers will be beaten up by then, and the idea of buying guns and cannons will naturally arise.

After entering the Pearl River, there are obviously more boats on the river, and the more you go upstream, the more dense it becomes, and when you reach the vicinity of Humen, you can already see the four hundred Dafu boats traveling in groups.

"These ships are going to Manila to do business with the Francs. Li Nai introduced: "Because of the long distance, the merchant ships all travel in groups so that they can take care of them at sea. ”

"It takes about ten days to get from Guangzhou to Manila, right?" He Xi asked with some uncertainty.

"It's a good ride, and it's here in 10 days. Li Nai nodded and confirmed his guess: "But above the South China Sea, the wind and clouds are unpredictable, and it would be good to arrive in Manila on the 15th." ”

When Schneider heard this, he was thinking about how to attract Guangdong maritime merchants and gradually shift their trading location to Shengli Port. （.）

The fleet went upriver along the Pearl River, walked for more than half a day, and finally entered the scope of the urban area of Guangzhou in the later generations.

Schneider pointed to a barren river beach on the south bank of the Pearl River and said, "If I'm not mistaken, that should be where the Canton Tower is located." In the past, when I came to Guangzhou to visit the Pearl River, the bridges on the river were one after another, but when I looked at the eyes, almost the entire south of the Pearl River was wasteland, which was like a dream. ”

He Xiying said: "Your ability to identify the direction is not bad. I also remember that the sandbar here was a tourist park, but unfortunately I arrived too late to meet the troops in Guangzhou, so I didn't have time to visit Guangzhou at that time. ”

After a little more walking, the two of them were already able to see the southern wall of Guangzhou City on the boat. After several days of turbulence at sea, we finally arrived at our destination. Both of them were in good spirits and began to take a closer look at the situation on the shore, and for some time to come, the city would be a stage for them to use their skills.

Guangzhou city in the early Ming Dynasty is divided into three areas: sub-city, west city and east city, the three cities each have a city surrounding, the sub-city and the west city are separated by the West Lake, and the east city is separated by Wenxi, the traffic is very inconvenient. In the third year of Hongwu, presided over by Zhou Zheng, the governor of Guangdong, part of the old city wall was demolished, the Haochi between the three cities was filled, and the transformation of the three cities was completed. In the seventh year of Hongwu, Zhu Liangzu, the Marquis of Yongjia, expanded a section of the city wall to the north, and built Zhenhai Tower at the north gate, which is the place where Ning Qi was taken by Tao Donglai and others to verify the wormhole when he joined the crossing team.

In the late Ming Dynasty, the city of Guangzhou continued to expand to the south, according to the description of the new city of Guangzhou, only the scale of the new city expanded during the Jiajing period was "1,124 zhang long, 2 zhang 8 feet high, 3,786 zhang, eight gates." The east city wall is on the first line of Yuexiu South Road in later generations, the south city wall is adjacent to the Pearl River, the west city wall is next to Xihao, and the north city wall leans on Yuexiu Mountain, with an area of about six square kilometers, which is basically the central urban area of Guangzhou in later generations.

At this time, Li Nai also walked to their side and began to introduce them to the situation on the shore. Miles of wharves were built along the Pearl River outside the southern city wall, which was the area with the highest concentration of maritime merchants in Guangdong. The Wuyangyi, the Tax Division, the Approval Office, the Municipal Shipping Lifting Division, and other official offices related to economic exchanges are also concentrated here.

A large commercial house like "Fu Ruifeng" has a special docking area at the wharf. The boatmen threw out the cables, and the laborers on the shore slowly pulled the boat to the near shore. After the boat was stabilized, the boatmen hurriedly lifted out the gangplank and put it between the side of the boat and the river bank. Li Nai raised his hand and said, "Two, please get off the boat!"

Both of them are revisiting their old places, but when they set foot on the land here again, their feelings are very complicated. The last time I was here, I was surrounded by tall buildings, noisy traffic, and crowded people, but now this qiē seems to be more like a set from a historical movie, uncanny but incomparably real.

"Doesn't it look like you're making a movie?" He Xi asked Schneider beside him in a low voice.

Schneider nodded and responded in a low voice: "The professionalism of the extras is very high!"

A young man with a face vaguely similar to Li Nai and a short beard on his chin greeted him, and greeted him from a distance: "Third brother!"

Li Nai hurriedly stepped forward to salute, and then introduced to Schneider and He Xi: "This is my brother Li Luo. These two Haihan distinguished guests from Shengli Harbor, Mr. Schneider Shi and Mr. He Xihe. ”

A few people first said a few polite words "for a long time", and Li Lu asked curiously: "Both of them are famous scholars?"

Schneider smiled and waved his hand: "It's not that there is merit, we Haihan call people with culture and status as Mr., even if they are doing business." ”

Li Luo suddenly said: "I see. The two gentlemen must have been tired of this journey, and they must be a little tired, and they have prepared a place to rest, please come here!"

Li Luo had already asked people to prepare a few soft sedan chairs, and Schneider and He Xi were at peace when they came, and they got on the sedan chair directly without refusing, and as for their luggage, the person who had their own "Fu Ruifeng" would send it later.

The question of accommodation was already discussed between the two sides when they were in Victorious Port. Li Nai also mentioned that he could live directly in Li's house, but this mention was directly rejected by Schneider, and many of the tasks in the Guangzhou Office were not suitable for disclosure, and it must be inconvenient to live in Li's house.

Schneider hopes to follow the normal process as soon as he goes, first find an inn with a better environment to live in, and then pick a suitable yard in Guangzhou City and buy it directly as the residence of the Guangzhou Office. Li Nai patted his chest at that time and said that this matter could be handled by "Fu Ruifeng", which absolutely guaranteed good quality and low price and good environment.

Li Nai is not bragging, "Fu Ruifeng" has a lot of industries in Guangzhou, there are seven or eight mansions alone, and several of them have been idle, especially to accommodate merchants from afar. Therefore, although Li Luo did not know in advance that there would be Haihan people who would return to Guangzhou with Li Nai, he immediately said that he had arranged a place for the two of them.

Regarding the situation of Li Nai's family, there is not much information on the side of the crossing group, only that Li Nai has two half-brothers, and he has always been in business with his father, and he has not taken Li Nai's path of studying and testing for fame. According to the analysis of the Executive Committee, there should be a question of inheritance between these brothers, and the attitude of the Guangzhou Office in this matter must be cautious.

The two of them sat in a rickety sedan chair, as if they were back at sea, and in a moment they felt their heads start to feel a little dizzy again. Fortunately, it didn't take long for the sedan chair to stop, and the sedan chair lifter lifted the curtain and invited them to get out of the sedan chair.

"This yard is good! it's bigger than the yard of the Cliff Office. After visiting the house that Li Lu had temporarily prepared for them, He Xi praised with satisfaction: "The furniture and living facilities are also very complete, and it is not too far from the wharf by the Pearl River." ”

"The two of you are satisfied, please stay in peace, all the tools here are provided by the disdainful line, and a few more people will be sent to serve the two of you. Li Lu said very enthusiastically.

Schneider did not refuse his kindness, nor was he in a hurry to raise the rent with him or buy it directly, and planned to stay for a few days to familiarize himself with the environment. The city of Guangzhou is not big or small, and it is more appropriate to set up the Guangzhou Office, which still needs to be slowly considered after on-the-spot investigation.

While speaking, the luggage of the two was also sent to the place, and seven or eight large nanmu boxes were carried directly into the bedroom according to the instructions of the two. Li Luo saw that things were about the same, so he took Li Nai to say goodbye to the two, and agreed to invite the two of them to come over to the house later.

After the two brothers of the Li family left, only Shi He and a subordinate were left in this courtyard. Schneider got up and stretched, "Okay, let's get down to business." ”

The two took out the radio and storage batteries first, tied the outdoor antenna to a tree in the courtyard, and sent a signal to the base camp that they had arrived safely. The base camp had apparently been waiting for their news, and there was a quick reply, telling them to act with safety first and contact them regularly.

After receiving the news, the two turned off the radio station and packed up their things, and they did not plan to set up the radio station and the power generation system immediately until their current residence was determined. Although Akito certainly can't understand the function of these things, if they don't do it well, they will cause unnecessary trouble.