"Anchor ......"

"Raising the Sail ......"

With the sailors' well-trained slogans and movements, the bird boat set sail slowly.

Mao Wenlong and Zheng Haizhu stood on the deck and waved goodbye to Yan Siqi, who stopped at the edge of the stone cliff to see them off.

When the ship leaves the harbor, it will pass by the salt works on the island, and Mao Wenlong can't help but sigh when he looks at it: "Yan Dangjia is indeed a slap in the clouds for a long time - a master." Daishan Island, which is a big chicken nest, is only afraid that the salt produced by the sun can be equal to the output of Fuzhou Wei and Jinzhou Wei combined. ”

Zheng Haizhu was eager to learn about the reality of the Ming Dynasty, so he asked curiously: "Why?" There are a lot of soldiers and guards, and they are paid by the court, can't they compare to these old and weak women and children? ”

Mao Wenlong snorted coldly: "Do you think that the imperial court is like this Daishan Island, and it is a mountain king who has the final say?" The boiling salt of the seaside guards and the iron smelting in the mountains of Liaoyang all require a large amount of silver to raise Dingkou and repair water conservancy and mine roads. The food and salary allocated by the imperial court were stripped layer by layer, not to mention that it was for the salt and iron army, even the soldiers under Lao Tzu who were fighting hard with the Mongols and Jurchen Tatars, and they couldn't get a few coppers. ”

Zheng Haizhu took advantage of the situation and said tentatively: "Then this time, General Mao brought the silver back to Liaodong, can you get a small mine to try?" Isn't the general stationed near Liaoyang? ”

Mao Wenlong waved his hand and said: "I don't dare to touch salt and iron, at most, if I buy mules and horses and have leftovers, sell some mountain goods, and give some New Year's money to the soldiers." ”

Suddenly, his eyes changed, and he put on a gesture of sincere condescension and sincere thanks, and smiled at Zheng Haizhu: "Miss Zheng, the benefits you let Yan Dangjia share to Ben Jiang will be remembered in your heart." If you say beautiful words, our martial artists are not interested in talking more, and when we go back, we will get some good wild ginseng and mink, make up the name of some distant relative, and send it to Songjiang to support your style in the Han family. ”

Zheng Haizhu hurriedly bowed and returned the salute, his eyes fell on the patches of different shades on the hem of Mao Wenlong's robe, and his heart suddenly soured slightly.

It's a garrison of a military town, and he doesn't dress as well as the subordinates of the wealthy gentry of Songjiang Mansion.

No matter what later generations say about this Liaodong general, whether he is unruly or unruly, or monopolizes the trade between Liaodong and North Korea, a few years later, after all, he has really resisted foreign invasions for the Ming Dynasty under extremely difficult conditions.

And the contact in the past few days, all kinds of details, made Zheng Haizhu truly feel that Mao Wenlong's three points of decisiveness, two points of cunning, one point of simplicity, and the blood of resisting enemies from time to time made him at least like a qualified person, and it would be a pity if he said goodbye.

"General Mao, I heard that you are from Hangzhou, a good place, are there any relatives over there now?" Zheng Haizhu continued to talk with Mao Wenlong.

"Well, there are, there are quite a few," Mao Wenlong said, "My grandfather was originally a salt merchant, and my father gave up business to study, but unfortunately passed away early." Uncle was killed in battle. Alas, the north side was too bitter, so a concubine served me there, and raised me two daughters. My mother, daughter-in-law, and eldest son are all in Hangzhou, and my uncle is an official outside, and my family members also stay in Hangzhou. This time, I came south to secretly meet Yan in charge, and the excuse for leaving Liaodong was to return to Hangzhou Province. ”

"Oh, so. Did the general ever think about bringing some silk yarn and satin from Hangzhou and selling them back to Liaodong? ”

Mao Wenlong touched his chin, squinted his eyes and said, "You're right, you can't be blind to the good strength of our big men, you have to transport some southern goods back." But to buy silk, you have to ask for the principal, and my five hundred taels of gold have to be exchanged in Dengzhou, and I have to buy mules and horses. ”

Zheng Haizhu said without hesitation: "General, my two hundred taels of gold also have to be exchanged at the Dengzhou wharf." It's better for me to hand over my own silver ticket to you, as the capital to borrow you to sell Hangzhou silk to Liaodong. You went back to Hangzhou this time, with your house as a guarantee, brought the goods to Dengzhou, you took my silver, the dart bureau sent it back to Hangzhou, and transported the silk to Liaodong, how about it? ”

"Huh?" Mao Wenlong was a little stunned, first tried to understand Zheng Haizhu's buying and selling arrangements like arranging troops, and then reacted and said suspiciously, "You're not afraid that I will run away with money?" ”

Zheng Haizhu thought to herself, you have a strategic cooperation with Yan Siqi, and you know my friendship with him, how dare you.

But when it came to his mouth, it became the words of the sedan chair lifting people's faces: "The general is a senior who understands right and wrong, don't make a self-defiled naughty smile." I am a female streamer, and I live in the house of the gentleman's master, so it is inconvenient to do business. I have this little belongings, so let's point to the adults and you to help each other make profits. ”

Mao Wenlong had a lot of capital, so he was naturally happy, and praised heartily: "Little girl, you are not simple." ”

Zheng Haizhu said two words to himself, and immediately took out the silver ticket, told Mao Wenlong the exchange secret words that Yan Siqi told him, and cheered him on: "General Mao, Songjiang Mansion has long been full of Hui merchants, and they transported Songjiang cotton cloth to Liaodong and made a lot of money. I asked them why they didn't transport Wu Sihangjin, and they said that the north was not as rich as Jingshi and Nanzhili, and that they were medium-sized people who could not afford to wear silk. But I think it's because they haven't found a way to go up......"

Mao Wenlong pursed his lips: "That's nature, no matter how poor the mountain is, there are also rich temples." Little girl, you are the same age as my eldest daughter, I admit that you call Uncle Mao, it is not considered to take advantage of you, right? Uncle Mao is not bragging to you, in the house of the Liaodong General Army, I can also go in and drink. The family members of the adults are wearing Hang Jin. What's more, over there, Khalqin likes our good silk and satin. ”

Zheng Haizhu pretended to be very interested and asked, "Khalqin?" But the tribes of the Mongols? ”

During the next voyage, Mao Wenlong knew everything about Zheng Haizhu's questions, and told him about the border affairs and interpersonal relations in eastern Liaodong, as well as the transportation situation of the Grand Canal from Jining to Hangzhou.

Zheng Haizhu listened very satisfied.

If you want to do something in an unfamiliar time and space, you must first stock up on all kinds of information.

……

Two days later, the bird boat approached the waters of Nanhuizui in Songjiang Prefecture.

The old man who led Mao Wenlong to the boat that day, surnamed Tang Minghong, was the uncle of Tang Ayuan, the manager of the Daishan Island Salt Farm, and like his nephew, he was Yan Siqi's cronies. Yan Siqi asked Tang Hong to buy a house near Nanhui Tsui, which was specifically responsible for picking up guests.

Tang Hong had already calculated the arrival time of the bird boat from the fishermen who delivered the news, and smoothly picked up the group ashore with a sand boat and went to the house to rest for the night.

The next day, Mao Wenlong took his men and horses to Hangzhou Mansion, and Tang Hong led Zheng Haizhu to Huinan Town to hire a car and return to Han's house in Songjiang Mansion.

Tang Hong knew that the relationship between Zheng Haizhu and Yan Dangjia was not ordinary, so he was particularly cautious, and did not dare to find a coachman near Sifang City at random, but led Zheng Haizhu to Jinshanwei, which was two miles away, to find the carriage shop opened by the officer's family.

Jinshanwei, together with Tianjin Wei, Weihaiwei and Zhenhaiwei, is known as the Four Davids.

The Ming Dynasty has a long eastern coastline, and the wheel of world history has entered the Age of Discovery, a country's coastal defense is particularly important, so in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the status of the four Davids in the east has far exceeded the dozens of guards facing the Mongolian tribes in the north.

Jinshanwei and Songjiang Mansion are 100 miles apart, which is a long distance in ancient times, Zheng Haizhu took refuge in Songjiang Han's family for more than half a year, and has never been to Jinshanwei.

Today, I saw that under the scorching sun, the sea surface was steaming, and a bluestone fortress wall stretched on the inner side of the seawall, guarding the tall city at the most critical place, just like the sea beast king of the town of ten thousand animals.

Tang Hong showed Zheng Haizhu's guide to the guards, and the two entered the acropolis, and just a few steps along the bluestone paved cross street, they saw a pair of people galloping on the other side of the street.