Chapter 18: The Water Prison
"Dare to arrest our leader, arrest him."
"Come on, Yangyi is crazy, no, Yangyi is in heat."
A group of people ripped Mark out of Zheng Tingqiu's body, Zheng Tingqiu's face was full of shock, and his big lips, which were originally stinky, were swollen by Mark's kiss, 'delicate'.
"Damn, this foreigner treats Lao Tzu as an animal, and he dares to Lao Tzu." Zheng Tingqiu wiped his mouth, he was really a little angry.
Li Zhaoji hurriedly stopped: "Brother Zheng, don't be angry, this foreign devil is still pretending to be English red hair here, this is the rule of the English people, big brother doesn't know it yet, England is known as an empire in the world."
The number of etiquette is different from ours, and reaching a cooperation is the same as getting married, and you have to ...... it. ”
Li Zhaoji made up nonsense, and in the end, he had no words, and said to Zheng Tingqiu in a low voice: "For the sake of the face of the silver, the silver." ”
Zheng Tingqiu remembered that this business could make a lot of money, and the unpleasantness just now was thrown to Java. His men also advised: "Chief, you should be bitten by a dog." ”
There was a crisp snap, a slap in his face, and Zheng Tingqiu scolded: "Get out, get out of here." ”
The three of them sat down and continued to discuss the details of the cooperation, Li Zhaoji said: "Brother Zheng, Mr. Mark said, the first batch of 200 piglets, all of them must be strong men, fifty-five taels of silver, but only three thousand taels of silver, the rest of the offset with foreign goods, there are a lot of goods in demand on the Dongfang, the spices enjoyed by the nobles, the indigo and sumu of dyed cloth, and tin and copper. The price is based on the market price in Macau.
The second batch of 800 will be asked for after returning from Nagasaki, 45 taels for men, 25 for children, and 60 taels for women, of which 500 will be settled with silver and copper, and the rest will be offset with goods. ”
"This....... Brother, in terms of the price of goods, you will give me a few more profits. Zheng Tingqiu rubbed his hands and said.
Li Zhaoji waved his hand: "Brother Zheng, listen to me, Hongmao has a shopkeeper who specializes in following the goods, called the commercial commissioner, and he has the final say on the price of the goods. ”
Seeing that Zheng Tingqiu seemed to be displeased, Li Zhaoji continued: "But I can't lose our brothers, I have a way to earn more." ”
"Brother, let's hear it." Zheng Tingqiu likes Li Zhaoji more and more now, and feels that this kid is not only bold but also has a lively brain, can come to things, and can make money.
Li Zhaoji said: "If Brother Zheng wants to make more money, he can do it on the piglets. ”
"You mean to give him the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled?" Zheng Tingqiu said immediately.
Li Zhaoji smiled: "Brother Zheng is joking again, your piglet is from Neilingding Island, right, where are the old, weak, sick and disabled?" ”
Zheng Tingqiu nodded again and again, when he surrounded Neilingding Island and caught the piglets, the gentry families and close seafarers who couldn't afford to offend were directly let go, and those who were quite rich were all taken to kidnap the tickets, and the rest, who were really old, weak, sick and disabled, were all cut down on the spot, or had died in the water prison for most of the month.
Really talking about the old and weak, those merchants may be, but they are all meat tickets, and each one is related to hundreds of taels or even thousands of taels, so it is impossible to sell them for fifty-five taels.
"What do you mean by that brother?"
"You tie up those untamable ones and give them to Yangyi, isn't it? If you don't have enough in your hand, go to the other three surnames to exchange it, this kind of piglet is not easy to sell, and those leaders should be willing. Li Zhaoji reminded.
When Zheng Tingqiu heard this, he smashed his fist into the palm of his hand: "Brother is really smart, this method is good, anyway, they are all sacrifices, and the ghosts and gods don't care about these." ”
Among the piglets, the highest price is naturally young women, and the lowest price is not children, but those who are unruly.
To put it bluntly, the person who buys the piglet is to be called as a slave when he buys it, and the disobedient slave will not only not produce benefits, but will also cause trouble and losses, and the most unsold will not be able to sell for a price.
Li Zhaoji said: "If Brother Zheng is satisfied with the price and the like, then arrange to see the goods." ”
"It's just right, the weather is good today, it's suitable for going to sea, let's go and have a look." Zheng Tingqiu was naturally satisfied and said immediately.
Li Zhaoji was surprised: "Why, the piglet is not on this island?" ”
"There are only a few on the island, and they are all meat tickets. There are a lot of people here, and we have three or four thousand piglets ........ Zheng Tingqiu said with a smile, and Li Zhaoji understood.
Although the destruction of Neilingding Island was a case committed by four pirates surnamed Lin Cha, the chief soldier of Guangdong, it was ordered by Shen Youlong, the governor of Liangguang, that with such a figure coming forward, there could be no more pirates on Neilingding Island, otherwise it would be Lin Cha's responsibility, so Hong Kong Island would temporarily replace its position as a smuggling hub.
As for what happens in the future, it still depends on three years later, after all, the governor of the Ming Dynasty rarely has more than three years of term, and then the new official will have a new policy.
Since Hong Kong is going to be a smuggling hub, and the local food, drink, and Lazar will have to be supplied on the shore, if there is a big deal of piglets here, where will those fishermen and seafarers dare to come? If they don't come, this place will be completely reduced to a pirate den, and how will each family survive without smuggling and trading?
"Where is the piglet locked up?" Lee asked.
Zheng Tingqiu said: "Locked up on Wailingding Island. ”
Although they are all called Lingding Island, the inner and outer Lingding Islands are not close together, but are distributed on the north and south sides of Lantau Island in the south and one in the north, which are the north-south intersection of the central waterway and the Lung Gu Waterway on the east side.
Li Zhaoji nodded: "Then I'll send Mr. Mark back to the ship first, and then let's go to Wailingding Island to pick piglets." This foreign devil is suspicious by nature, and he will definitely not join us, let him drive the boat far away. ”
"Well, it's just a foreign ship." Zheng Tingqiu didn't care.
The water dungeon on Wailingding Island.
The dungeon was dark and hellish, the air was filled with the smell of decay and fish, and the sounds were covered with all kinds of cries and cries for mercy.
Most of them crouched in calf-deep water, their eyes hollow, waiting for a dark moment of fate, while one man was tied to a log shelf in the water dungeon, allowing rats to crawl around him.
This was a man waiting for death, he described it as withered, very weak, and seemed to be dying at any moment, when suddenly a noise woke him, and there was a chaotic sound of footsteps in the distance, which caused the restlessness of the piglets in the water prison.
"My lord, give me something to stutter."
"Master, let the villain go, the villain still has children to raise at home, and the old mother is still waiting for the villain to earn money to go back to catch the medicine ........."
However, these cries of mercy did not receive any mercy, and with a shout and a sharp whip, a piglet rolled to the ground, and let out a terrible howl, and everyone fell silent.
The first person seems to be a solid businessman, with a rather ornate robe, and the whole person has a strange image.
He is tall and long, this figure should be a strong man, but this person covers his mouth with a white silk scarf, walks quite enchantingly, his skin is pale, his lips are weirdly red, and his temperament makes people feel weird.
"Yo, Lin Ping, aren't you dead yet?" The man lifted the jaw of the bound man with a stick, and let out a sad smile, and his words were full of sarcasm and provocation.
"Phew, ass duck, damn dog." The man scolded, but it was the one who laughed, but the man said: "You thing that forgets your ancestors, Lao Tzu is called Chen Ping, and when you die and become a ghost, you are also called Chen Ping, not Lin Ping, only you are a faceless dirty thing who sells your ass, so you changed your surname to Lin Rong........" ”
"Damn, dare to scold our Master Qian......." At that moment, some subordinates rolled up their sleeves to give this person a full punch.
Lin Rong smiled and said, "Hey, you Qinggao, Qinggao is here." But you have been high for a few days, and you have sent a letter from the master, asking your brother to send you ungrateful goods back to your hometown. ”
Chen Ping was furious when he heard this, struggled desperately, and roared: "Dog, mother-raised, Lao Tzu does things by himself, and has nothing to do with them, my brother just obeys orders, you let them go." ”
"Okay........" Lin Rong smiled pitifully and beckoned someone to untie Chen Ping from the wooden shelf. Then he said, "Come, kneel down for me, and kowtow ten heads, and I will let your brothers go." ”
Chen Ping glared at Lin Rong, but quickly knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.
Lin Rong laughed wildly, and kept saying to the people around him: "See, he kowtowed to Lao Tzu." Lin Ping, you shout a few more words, my name is Lin Ping. ”
"My name is Lin Ping........" The voice came out between his teeth.
Lin Rong was even more arrogant, but he kicked Chen Ping to the ground and said, "Lao Tzu is playing with you, just to change your temper with this stone in the pit." The general said that the lord must all die. ”
"I fought with you ......." When Chen Ping heard this, his eyes were split, and he pounced desperately, but he was stopped by Lin Rong's subordinates, and his fists and feet were added.
Lin Rong laughed and said, "Don't beat this guy to death, tie him up, I want him to watch his brothers drown one by one, and then kill him." ”
At this time, a voice sounded from the forest not far away: "Master Qian, if you kill him, you will get a piece of rotten meat, it is better to sell it to me, you can get dozens of taels of silver." ”
Lin Rong's face changed greatly, on this island, he is the boss, even if the four surnamed pirates come, they must also be respectful to him, where do they meet someone talking to him like this, and he said angrily at the moment: "What kind of dog thing, get out of here for Lao Tzu, see if Lao Tzu doesn't tear your mouth." ”
A group of people walked out of the forest, led by Li Zhaoji and Zheng Tingqiu, and the person who spoke just now was Li Zhaoji.
Zheng Tingqiu was busy playing the round and said, "Master Qian, don't be angry, this brother Li Zhaoji and I are here to send you silver." ”
"It turned out to be Leader Zheng." Lin Rong saw Zheng Tingqiu, smiled, and beckoned the person to put down the weapon in his hand.
At this time, Zheng Tingqiu and others came over, and Lin Rongzai looked at Li Zhaoji carefully, but saw that he was extraordinary and richly dressed, so he asked, "How do you call this brother?"