Guangzhou City, Shen Mansion.

Lin Cha came galloping on horseback, and when he jumped off the war horse, he saw Shen Youlong's servant Song Bao standing at the door, he hurriedly greeted him, and Song Bao arched his hand and said: "Mr. Lin is so fast, it's only been less than an hour."

Your Excellency the Governor has commanded, you have arrived, and you don't need to pass it on, but go directly to the study. ”

Lin Cha nodded and smiled, took out a big money bag from his arms and stuffed it to Songbao, and said gently: "Songbao, I heard that someone is embarrassing you in the land outside the city, you can take this money first, don't report the name of the governor, don't worry, my Lin Cha's money, in this Guangzhou territory, one or two can be used for three or two." ”

"Yo, I don't dare." Songbao shirked.

Lin Cha feigned anger: "If you buy land for yourself, the official will be lazy to care about you, I heard that you are settling your old father and mother, it is for your filial piety, and it is also worth it, you are a son, you can't let your father and mother suffer." ”

Song Bao knew what Lin Cha meant, and on the way to the study, he kept whispering: "General, the legendary righteous merchant is in the mansion at this time, and the lord allows him to participate in the foreign ship affairs and let him be the interpreter." ”

"Li Zhaoji?" Lin Cha's face changed slightly, because he had already received a threatening letter from Li Zhaoji, knowing that Lin Rong was in his hands, and the bad things between himself and the four pirates had been mastered by him.

Song Bao nodded, and Lin Cha asked, "Why does the Governor value him so much?" ”

Song Bao said in a low voice: "Yesterday in Nanyuan, this Li Zhaoji did not hesitate to offend the gentry of Guangdong, and he was stunned to raise more than 30,000 donations for the imperial court. And also released a bold statement, let him preside over the affairs of foreign ships, he can add another 100,000 salaries for the imperial court, you also know, my lord is now not thinking about the matter of silver, this Li Zhaoji is using his own head to make a military order, how can the lord not respect him. ”

When Lin Cha heard this, Li Zhaoji, a maritime merchant in his heart, actually entered the house here with the Governor, and dared to make such a bold statement, obviously he relied on it, so he asserted that this person should not be underestimated. After pondering for a while, Lin Cha asked again: "Songbao, did Li Zhaoji mention me next to adults?" ”

"I talked about it." Songbao nodded.

Lin Cha hurriedly asked, "What did he say?" ”

Seeing Lin Cha's nervous face, Song Bao was surprised: "Lord Commander, what are you nervous about?" What Li Zhaoji said in front of the lord was all good things about you, saying that on Wailingding Island, how brave and good Chen Ping was the chief banner under your command, and how those pirates heard about you and how your command was broken.

When the lord heard this, he was very dissatisfied, and said that although you are slightly at fault, you are faithful. ”

When Lin Cha heard this, he smiled embarrassedly, and he also understood that Li Zhaoji was not blindly coerced, and the threatening letter he received the day before yesterday was a stone to ask for directions, and Xu was the power to dismount.

"Humble Lincha, join the Governor." Arriving at the door, Lin Cha shouted for a meeting.

Hearing Lin Cha's voice, the room was quiet for a while, and then Shen Youlong's voice came: "General Lin, come in quickly, I've been waiting for you for a while." ”

It was Zhao Wenji who opened the door, and unlike on weekdays, when Shen Youlong saw Lin Cha, he always looked like he was high up and pulled away, this time, Shen Youlong directly asked Songbao to serve tea to Lin Cha and gave him a seat, Shen Youlong pointed to Li Zhaoji who was standing on the side and asked, "General Lin, do you recognize him?" ”

Lin Cha shook his head slightly, whether Rao already knew that this was Li Zhaoji, or insisted that he didn't know, Shen Youlong said: "This is Li Zhaoji, the righteous businessman who you and your righteous son Chen Ping slashed Kou Ping thief together." ”

As he spoke, Shen Youlong said to Li Zhaoji: "Zhaoji, this is the chief soldier Lin Cha that the old man often talks to you, the pillar of the southern sky that you always praise, the figure that pirates are afraid of like a tiger." ”

Seeing that Shen Youlong said this, Lin Cha introduced Li Zhaoji to himself like a nephew, and became more and more wary of Li Zhaoji in his heart.

"The general is really heroic, and when I see him today, I am really fortunate to have three lives." Li Zhaoji flattered his mouth, but he winked at Lin Cha.

Lin Cha smiled: "Mr. Li is also extraordinary, he has admired him for a long time." ”

After Shen Youlong arranged for the two of them to sit down, he said directly to Lin Cha: "General Lin, the sea ships outside Humen are engaged in business, let Zhaoji assist you, don't look at him young, but he knows his feelings very well, and the words of foreigners are also very proficient." ”

Of course, Lin Cha would not refuse, but readily agreed. Thinking in his heart, Li Zhaoji first threatened himself, and then flattered himself, he must want to cooperate with him, and he made a bold statement, but he can increase the salary of the imperial court by 100,000 yuan in foreign ship commerce, and the matter of foreign ships is led by himself, if this thing is done, Li Zhaoji is a great merit, and he is indeed the first merit, if it fails, there is also this guy to blame, how can he not agree?

Shen Youlong had already arranged for Zhao Wenhe to learn about some foreign ships yesterday, and at this time he called Lin Cha, which was confirmed by the official, and after a few words of greeting, he went straight to the point.

"Mr. Lin, how is the matter of the foreign ship handled? And tell the governor the details of the foreign ships coming to me. Zhao Wenji personally brought Lin Cha a cup of tea and said.

Lin Cha said: "Your Excellency, this time the foreign ships that appeared off the coast of Humen are indeed red-haired, and the lowly arrangers have contacted them, just like five years ago, these red-haired people asked for trade, and in order to understand their strength and intentions, they sent competent people to Macao to inquire about the Franco-mechanics, and the Franco-mechanical people said that it would take some time to return.

The lowly officials arranged for foreign ships to be temporarily anchored in the Xin'an area, and were not allowed to go ashore, and Nantou Shuizhai was responsible for monitoring, while the political envoy Yamen arranged for Xin'an County to provide him with fresh water and wait for contact. ”

This is consistent with the information that Shen Youlong learned yesterday, he nodded slightly, and said in his heart Although Lin Cha has not yet made any achievements in this matter, there is nothing missing in the end.

Shen Youlong asked, "Zhaoji, what do you think?" ”

Li Zhaoji smiled, hugged his fists and said, "Junior...... The younger generation did not dare to speak. ”

Li Zhaoji's embarrassed appearance made Shen Youlong even more interested, and Lin Cha chuckled in his heart, and Zhao Wenji played a round on the side: "Why did Dong Weng arrange for everyone to meet here today, Zuo just wanted to speak more conveniently, Zhao Ji should not hesitate, it is okay to say something wrong." ”

"Mr. Lin, this is offended." Li Zhaoji first bowed apologetically to Lin Cha, which made Lin Cha more and more nervous.

Li Zhaoji continued: "As far as the younger generation knows, the chief soldier must have been deceived by the Yangyi, those Yangyi in the open sea are not Hongmaoyi, but English Hongmao, and the Francois will not have a return in a few days, the reason is that they have a dislike for the British Yangyi, this time the foreign ship came to Guangdong, and did not enter Macao at all, because they did not want to contact it.

Mr. Lin, dare to ask those people you sent to Yangyi, do you want Francois to contact you in the center? ”

Lin Cha's face changed drastically, because Li Zhaoji almost completely overturned what he said.

Shen Youlong and Zhao Wenji also looked at each other, and the two of them never thought that Li Zhaoji was amazing, and the information he provided was completely unknown to them.

"This ...... Hongmaoyi did say that the two sides were in direct contact and did not allow Francois to participate, but he thought about it humbly, Yangyi was cunning, and deliberately did so, that is, he insisted that Francois be the middleman. Lin Cha's forehead was sweating, and he said it truthfully.

Shen Youlong and Zhao Wenji also sensed that something was wrong, and Yangyi did not let the Franco-mechanics participate, which once again confirmed that what Li Zhaoji said may be true, the reason is very simple, Daming deals with foreigners, and it is almost impossible to get away from the Franco-mechanics in Macau.

Shen Youlong said: "Zhaoji, tell me in detail, why is this so? ”

Li Zhaoji said: "The younger generation talked to the staff in the palace yesterday about the incident of Yangyi's invasion of Humen five years ago, and found that the imperial court did not know anything about the English red hair. The local government of Guangdong even thought that it was the Hongmaoyi who committed Humen five years ago, but in fact, it was completely wrong, those were red hairs, but they were English red hairs, not Dutch red hairs. ”

This is even more shocking, five years ago, the Ming and Weddell fleet had a big battle, and then there was a diplomatic dispute, even the Guangdong general soldiers were impeached and imprisoned for this matter, and they made trouble for a long time, and they didn't even figure out the identity of the other party, of course, this is not surprising, if it wasn't for Li Zhaoji to say it, the Ming Dynasty didn't know that he had fought with the British until he perished.

"How is this English red hair different from the Dutch red hair?" Shen Youlong asked.

"Hmm..... Its geographical relationship is almost similar to that between the Japanese Kingdom and the Dynasty. They have different languages and different nationalities, but they share the same beliefs and belong to two countries. Li Zhaoji said.

"No, no!" Lin Cha suddenly interrupted Li Zhaoji's words loudly, and he said: "My lord, Hugh wants to listen to his nonsense, we may not know, but how can the Francois not know, why don't they tell the truth?" ”

Li Zhaoji didn't wait for Shen Youlong to ask, and said directly: "This is to talk about the relationship between these countries. Eighty years ago, the Spaniards in Greater Luzon annexed Franco, Francois had just become independent for less than three years, Francois was weak, and Greater Luzon was strong, so he asked for help from the English Red Hair, and the English Red Hair asked him to assist the English in trade with my Ming Dynasty, and the King of Francois agreed.

But you also know that now Yangyi can buy Ming goods, and I can communicate with the Ming Dynasty, and it is also the Macau Franco family, how can the local Franco people be willing to share their interests with the English? Five years ago, when the British ship came to Guangdong, Francois did not dare to offend, and was worried that it would share its interests, so he thought of a trick to damage it, and he knew that I had a bad relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Red Hairy Empire, and the English and the Red Hair Empire were quite similar, that is, they lied that the English people were the Red Hairy Scholars, so there was a misunderstanding, so that I was confused and fought with the English people.

But there is a saying that when you tell a lie, you have to use more lies to fulfill that lie. This English came to Guangdong for the second time, and the Francois knew that if it was revealed that they deliberately deceived and caused war, the Celestial Empire would inevitably be furious, so they could only continue to lie that the English were red hairy.

And the English were able to break the conspiracy of the Francis, so they insisted on not allowing them to participate in trade affairs. ”

Although the information provided in the words was completely contrary to what everyone knew, it was reasonable, logical, and convincing, and the study fell into a deathly silence for a while.