Great, the city of Geranza.

It was the hottest time of the year, the sun shone on the walls of the city of Geranza, reflecting a scorching light, and in the shade of the city walls, a group of workers were resting in the shade, most of them Chinese, eating watermelon, hiding from the torture of God.

But in the office of the governor of the city of Geranza, the governor Paul was losing his temper, and his clothes were wet from the hot weather, and he let out an angry roar when he saw the workers resting in the shade of the city wall through the window, which made the atmosphere in the whole city of Geranza tense, and when the soldiers and servants passed by, they would try to avoid making a sound as much as possible, and hurried away, lest they should be seen by this brutal fellow.

"Damn it, damn it, and those yellow-skinned monkeys, vampires." Paul roared, smashing the stick in his hand.

The source of anger is the financial data that has just been submitted on the desk, and the end result is negative.

He was the ruler of the land, the supreme ruler, but all this required the recognition of Batavia, and to get their recognition was to use a beautiful statistic, which Paul could not take.

It's not that he's incompetent, it's inevitable.

The city is located on a sandbar and needs a lot of money every year to repair it to maintain its defensive capacity, and now the workers are doing this, both in terms of wages and materials, and it is a necessary part of the expenditure, which was not much in the past, because although the local treasury spends more, it also earns more.

It's just that in recent years, the river has been declining, and the income has gradually decreased.

Because the most important goods of the big people are deer skins, and deer hunting is the main income, ten years ago, this business was inefficient and sustainable, the Dutch conquered the indigenous tribes and made them pay deer skins as taxes, but with the arrival of the Chinese, advanced hunting technology and the entry of hunting equipment, the output of deer skins increased day by day, and finally, it reached its peak two years ago, and now it has fallen into a trough, so that even the maintenance funds of the city of Geranza are not enough.

"Maybe we should raise the poll tax on yellow-skinned monkeys." A young man said.

The person who spoke was the tax commissioner from Batavia, who was actually a commissioner, named Carl, who had been sent by the company's headquarters to solve the problem of the imbalance between the bureaucrats and the local government, and fortunately, he was a friend of Paul's.

Paul glanced at Karl and a little spark flashed in his eyes: "If that's the case, I'd rather go straight to them, as the Spaniards did in Manila." ”

Now in the Dayuan area, the Dutch East India, Du Company has implemented tithes on various transactions, and began to collect a poll tax two years ago, but the problem is that the soldiers who levy it continue to clash with the Han Chinese, which has put the relationship between the two sides at a critical point, if it is further improved, the Han people will inevitably rebel, and for Paul, it is better to directly launch a massacre and seize the wealth of the Han people.

Karl spread his hands: "I think you can think about it." ”

Clearly, Paul's angry words were taken by Carl as an offer. But in fact, Paul didn't think so at all, because killing chickens and eggs can only solve a temporary financial crisis, and the future of Formosa lies not in killing people, but in sugarcane, and only by recruiting more Han Chinese to grow sugar cane can more profits be generated.

However, as an envoy sent by headquarters, Karl needed an immediate solution, not a long-term plan such as sugar cane expansion.

Paul didn't want to pay attention to Karl's impulse, he sat there and was silent for a while, and then said, "All right, Karl, let's go."

Embark on another expedition, so that you and I can account to the Doge of Batavia. ”

Launching an expedition against the Spaniards was the most effective account for Batavia, as long as there was war, no one cared about finances, and as long as there was victory, both men had merit.

Carl smiled: "I suggested it a long time ago. ”

Karl had come to solve the financial problems, and if he could be associated with the victory of the expedition against the Spaniards here, he could become the governor of the colony with this resume, which was a key position in the fortune jump.

Ten days later, a fleet of four armed merchant ships and two junk ships departed, with three hundred Dutch soldiers and six hundred native soldiers, in addition to the necessary crew. This is also a great effort for the Dutch East India Company, which has already controlled 220 villages and communities, has 62,000 indigenous populations, and 20,000 Han immigrants.

Meanwhile, in the woods outside Tamsui City.

Located in the north of Tamsui City, this forest is lush with vegetation and is a rare place of tranquility in the left near the left, when the sun has begun to set, the birds are singing, and the sun is setting in the west.

If the local acquaintances who come and go are resting, they all choose to be in this forest, where there is firewood to use, and they can also build shacks, so this is regarded as the territory of the natives.

"Come, Great Wizard, it's an honor for Li to be here." On the straw mat, Li Zhaoji raised his wine glass and paid tribute to an old man with bright feathers on his head and his skin dyed with colored paint.

The Grand Wizard took his glass and drank, looking like an old god at ease, and said a few words to Atta beside him.

In fact, Li Zhaoji has already tried to find out that this great wizard can understand his own speech, but for the purpose of pretending to elevate his status, his words must be conveyed by Atta, perhaps this is also a religious custom.

"The great wizard said that when men are together, drinking alone is not enough to show their spirit, I hope you Fu Lao can produce some warriors and practice." Atta said to Lee Siu-gi.

Li Zhaoji asked, "But you want my soldiers to wrestle with the warriors of Kaidagran?" ”

"No, the Great Wizard means, show your army." Atta said.

Li Zhaoji nodded slightly: "This military weapon, the first firearm bow and crossbow, the second is the spear, and then the sword, I don't know what the great wizard wants to see?" ”

"Firearms, of course." Atta said.

Li Zhaoji nodded and nodded to Zhao Dahe.

Zhao Dahe walked out of the ranks, took off the cloth bag behind his back, and after opening it, it was a cleaned arquebus.

Unlike ordinary arquebuses, this arquebus is modified, its most important barrel is removed from the British arquebus, and the butt is a new design of Li Zhaoji, unlike the old grip shooting of the Ming army, this new type of arquebus has a modified butt, which is fired from the shoulder.

The ram rod and beak are also carefully polished, and the ammunition is fixed and loaded in twelve bamboo tubes.

Since the completion of the improvement, Zhao Dahe and other people who are accustomed to using firearms can't put it down.

Zhao Dahe meticulously loaded the ammunition, Li Zhaoji looked around, pointed to a bird's nest in the distance and said: "That bird's nest is about seventy steps away from here, Dahe, you hit the bird's nest, this glass of wine will be given to you." ”

Zhao Dahe grinned and raised his gun to aim, but was stopped by Atta.

Atta said: "What is the point of hitting a bird's nest, if it is closer, the children of my clan can be beaten down with a sling." ”

Li Zhaoji smiled, and he understood that the Great Wizard and Atta were not here to see the firearms demonstration, but to test themselves.

Even if the trading company can't always be humble and show off its martial arts occasionally, it can also make the locals fearful.

Thinking about this, Li Zhaoji said: "Atta, then what do you say to fight?" ”

Atta called out to Haruki behind him, and Haruki stepped forward, and Atta gave the order, "Haruki, tie your shield under the nest." ”

Haruki immediately removed the shield behind his back, which was made of hardwood, oval in shape, and covered with a layer of animal skin, obviously very hard, and the shield was nearly an inch thick, and it was also quite heavy.

Haruki hung his shield on a branch and ducked aside.

Zhao Dahe raised his gun to his shoulder, aimed at the shield in the distance with a handmade sight, he muttered the mantra of Professor Li Zhaoji with three points and one line, and after pulling the trigger, his right shoulder seemed to have been punched, and he slammed back, and the muzzle of the black hole spewed out white gunsmoke.

There was a bang, like a lightning strike, and the birds in the forest were frightened and flapped their wings and flew wildly.

When the smoke cleared, everyone smelled a choking smell, and in the distance, the shield was still hanging on the branches, shaking constantly.

The Great Wizard and the others showed a contemptuous smile on their faces, Li Zhaoji glanced at Zhao Dahe, his face did not change, and Li Zhaoji knew that Zhao Dahe must have hit.

"Big River, drink this bar." Li Zhaoji picked up his wine glass and handed it to Zhao Dahe.

"Thank you, shopkeeper." Zhao Dahe knelt on one knee and took the wine glass.

Atahaha smiled: "Haha, are you worthy of drinking if you fight like this?" ”

"What kind of fight it is, you only know when you see the target." Li Zhaoji directly put the wine in Zhao Dahe's hands.

Zhao Dahe drank a full cup and returned to the queue, and at this time, Haruki took the shield back under Ata's order.

Just from the solemn expression on Haruki's face, Atta felt that something was wrong, and when he got closer, he glanced at the shield Haruki was holding, and found that there was a thumb-sized hole on it, and Atta and the Great Wizard were shocked.

Haruki's shield was extremely heavy, and the Atayal people's spears, stone throws and other weapons could not penetrate it, but it was pierced by a musket.

Seeing that the two were shocked, Li Zhaoji stepped forward and took the initiative to turn the shield over, letting out a burst of laughter.

As Lee had expected, a thumb-sized hole could be seen on the front of the shield, while a larger hole was visible in the back, and it had cracked along the wood grain.

This is the power of the arquebus, and within the effective range, not to mention the shields supported by this kind of leather and wood, even iron shields cannot defend against them.

In the European battlefield, the strongest defensive armor is the cuirassier cuirass, and the French army's method of testing whether this cuirass is qualified is to let the musket shoot at a distance of 50 meters, and it is qualified if it cannot be pierced.

"Atta, you're right. The thunder and fire magic used by the chief of the Big Chicken Coop Society is this kind of firearm of the Fu Lao. It seems that their firearms are not weaker than those of the ghosts, or even better. The Great Wizard said to Atta in his native language.

"I've said it a long time ago, and they have another firearm, more powerful than that." Atta said.

"Let them show it." The Grand Wizard said.

Atta pointed to the Dongfang moored at the dock in the distance, and said to Li Zhaoji: "Big boss, you have a bigger firearm on board, thicker than my arm. ”

"That's artillery, it's not convenient to display here, it's too loud, it's going to make everyone uneasy." Li Zhaoji couldn't help but doubt the purpose of Atta and the Great Wizard, and cautiously rejected this request.

After Atta told the Great Wizard what Li Zhaoji meant, he said to him: "Great Wizard, I have seen the Great Fire Gun of the Fan Ghost, which can break a thigh-thick tree, and the Fu Lao also has it, and every ship has it. ”

The Great Wizard nodded: "In this way, Fu Lao's strength is not weaker than that of the ghost. ”

Atta agreed, and the Grand Wizard said, "Then tell them what we ask." ”

Atta said to Li Zhaoji: "Great treasurer, it is like this, four days ago, the chief of the Great Chicken Coop Society used the arquebus you sold him to repel the attack of the Atayal people, and it is rumored in our clan that he has mastered the magic power of thunder and fire. ”

Li Zhaoji remembered that when he traded for the first time that day, a big-bellied chief was soft and hard and exchanged Jinsha for an arquebus, but he was a little surprised: "He is really smart and can master this complex weapon so easily." ”

Atta's face changed slightly, because according to those who saw it, the big-bellied chief only fired the arquebus when the Atayal were attacking, and the mere sound of a thunderbolt scared the Atayal away.