The Wild Goose had a smooth journey and arrived off the coast of Nagasaki at noon.

Nagasaki is a harbor deep in the strait, sheltered by a long headland, and at the narrow entrance to the fjord, you can see the layers of buildings scattered on the hills, and Guo Xu looks through a telescope and uses pen and paper to draw simple drawings.

"That's the Chong Two Fan Office, also called the Thousand People Fan Office." He Bin was beside Guo Xu and said in a brief introduction.

"You know?" Guo Xu asked.

He Bin nodded: "It's not a secret, since all the Dutch moved to Dejima, the general of Edo ordered the Fukuoka Domain and the Saga Domain to take turns to send troops and horses to garrison this Nagasaki Port Okikou, with a fixed garrison of 1,000 people, hence the name." ”

Guo Xu hurriedly recorded all of these in a personal notebook, and said to He Bin with a smile: "Mr. He, you better keep a low profile, after all, you are with us this time." ”

He Bin smiled, nodded, owed to Guo Xu, and treated Guo Xu with the etiquette of a sailor to a captain.

Outside the port of Nagasaki, the Koge encountered the patrol ships of the Nagasaki Commission, because there was also a lookout set up by the Japanese on Gongen Mountain, the commanding height.

It's just that there was some misunderstanding between the two sides, because the Japanese lookout saw the appearance of a three-masted foreign ship, thinking that it was the Dutch, after all, among the current Japanese trade objects, the foreigners only have a Dutch red hair, so the patrol ship is equipped with the Dutch common word, that is, the Dutch translation.

But when the patrol ship approached, it was found that the foreign ship named after the Chinese character Hongyan was all Tang faces, fortunately, there were sailors on the ship who could speak Chinese, and Guo Xu took the initiative to give gifts to the Japanese on the cruiser, and was able to pass and enter the fjord.

"I didn't expect that there were people who knew Chinese on the ship, I was really lucky, otherwise I would have to delay a lot of time." Chen Si'an couldn't help but say.

Guo Xu showed the information he heard from He Bin, and he said: "This is normal, shopkeeper Chen." This is Nagasaki, and since the Tokugawa shogun closed the country, all the Ming merchants in Japan have been concentrated here, plus this is the trade season, resulting in this harbor city of more than 40,000 people, more than 10,000 Ming people. ”

"Yes, I didn't know that Oriental trade was so hot." Chen Si'an was very surprised.

The Hongyan entered the fjord, approached the port at a low speed, Guo Xu was standing in the stern, observing the surrounding situation, in the depths of the port, there is a fan-shaped artificial island, that is the island inhabited by the Dutch, only two football fields on the artificial island, there are less than 20 people living in the merchant curator (Kapitan), the warehouse manager, the clerk, the doctor, the carpenter, etc.

The Japanese who served it were one hundred and fifty people. The Dutch were not allowed to leave the artificial island except to Edo and Nagasaki, and only prostitutes, women and monks were allowed to enter, except for the officials.

Approaching the port, Tang Tongshi hurriedly came, accompanied the officials of the Nagasaki Commission to the ship to count the goods, collect weapons, and inspect the personnel.

"Come on, please get off the boat." Tang Tongshi said to Guo Xu and Chen Si'an.

Guo Xu nodded, and said to the sailors who had already lowered the sails and lowered the anchor and packed up: "Everyone get off the boat, line up, hold your chest high and raise your head, don't make trouble." ”

It is not that Guo Xu wants to show the Japanese the demeanor of a trading company sailor, but that the sailor disembarking is a test for the Japanese.

On the pier where the pedals are erected, a huge woodblock print is spliced with the image of the Virgin Mary painted in colored ink, which is a test set by the Japanese to prevent Christians from entering Japan, and all foreigners who are new to Japan must step on the statue of the Virgin Mary and get off the boat.

Although he prepared in advance and cleaned up the people in the crew who were related to the Taixi religion, Guo Xu was not sure that anyone would disobey him.

The crew disembarked smoothly, and Chen Si'an became the busiest person, and he was matched by the Tang Tongshi named Horen Youemon.

Now Nagasaki has five Tang Tongshi, their names are all Chinese names with the suffix Saemon or Uemon, and Ho Ren Youemon is a representative, he is very diligent, especially after receiving Chen Si'an's gifts, and carefully arranges various affairs.

According to the rules, all crew members were arranged to live in local dwellings after disembarking, alternating with those who stayed on board, and all cargo was registered and placed in warehouses on the shore.

Chen Si'an watched He Ren Youemon busy and said to Guo Xu in a low voice: "Guo Xu, there is something wrong with this person, he seems to be too positive. ”

Guo Xu smiled: "Shopkeeper Chen doesn't want to make a noise, if he has other purposes, he will show his feet, let's just pay attention." But don't provoke this guy because of his positivity, it's not good for business. ”

Chen Si'an nodded, because he had already heard some rules of Nagasaki trade in Guo Xu's mouth, of course, all these messages came from He Bin.

When the Tang ship docked at the port, the Tang Tong went on board, collected the roster and cargo book, searched for smuggling, and when they were put into storage, they had to evaluate and confirm the quantity and quality of the goods, which was directly related to the price at which the goods were sold to Japanese merchants, which was the trade with Nagasaki, and there was no freedom at all.

"Two, please come with me, don't bring more than two people each." After handling the warehousing of the goods, He Ren Youemon said enthusiastically to Chen Si'an and the others.

Chen Si'an said: "Lord He, when will you start trading?" ”

"Hehe, according to the rules, when the goods of a new ship are put into storage, they must be sent by the Nagasaki Commission to select the goods of high quality, and after the selection is completed, no one else will come to trade." Ho Hito Uemon said with a smile.

Chen Si'an's face changed slightly, his heart was trading with the Japanese people, everything was controlled by others, how much goods were out, how much money was collected, it was completely out of his own, it was really hateful.

The two entered the bustling city of Nagasaki with Ho Hitoemon Gate, a port city of more than 40,000 people, and it was at the height of the year when trade was at its peak, and merchants from all over Japan came to trade.

And the residence that Ho Hitoemon arranged for the two of them was his home.

Everything went well, it was dark, and after dinner, Guo Xu was in the room discussing tomorrow's itinerary with He Bin, but he was taken out of the room by He Ren Youemon, he deliberately avoided Chen Si'an, and took Guo Xu to the backyard, and it was Zheng Tai who was waiting for Guo Xu.

"You are Guo Xu, Guo Xu of the Oriental Trading Company, the captain of the Hongyan?" Zheng Tai sat on the chair, quite majestic, and said in a deep voice.

Guo Xu nodded: "It's under you, dare to ask Your Excellency." ”

"Didn't you keep looking at me at the docks after your ship arrived?"

"You are Lord Jung Tae Jung!" Guo Xu exclaimed in surprise and knelt directly on the ground, but this humble attitude surprised Zheng Tai, and the two sword-wielding guards behind Zheng Tai were also surprised.

Because Zheng Tai knew that Guo Xu was probing himself, he thought it was some trick of the Oriental Trading Company, so he deceived Guo Xu and tried one or two. In addition, a team of people was also deployed to arrest two crew members of the Oriental Trading Company to extract confessions.

"In Xia Guo Xu, entrusted by General Shi Langshi, I have something important to tell you." Guo Xu said immediately, looking quite excited.

Zheng Tai was surprised: "Shi Lang..... Which is it? ”

Shi Lang is a newly rising junior, and Zheng Tai has not been in Fujian for many years, so naturally he has not heard of it, Guo Xu hurriedly told him, Zheng Tai vaguely remembered that Shi Daxuan's family did have such a junior.

"Wait, you mean that the eldest prince was taken hostage by Li Zhaoji?" Zheng Tai got a piece of news from Guo Xu that he couldn't believe,

"General Shi Lang has a secret letter to submit, and the adults will know if they have read it."

Shi Lang's two secret letters were handed over to Zheng Tai, and after Zheng Tai read them, he immediately felt extremely tricky.

He originally planned to prepare that as soon as Li Zhaoji's fleet arrived in Hong Kong, he would pick quarrels and provoke trouble, cause trouble, and take the ship with people, but he never thought that most of Li Zhaoji's fleet would not enter the port at all, but instead took Zheng Sen, the eldest son of the Zheng family, into the fleet as a hostage early.

"Shi Lang said in the letter that Li Zhaoji respects my son-in-law very much, but is it true?" Jung Tae asked.

Guo Xu said: "Naturally, it's true, Li Zhaoji has already guessed that you are going to deal with him, but he doesn't dare to tear his face with the Zheng family, just thinking about controlling the eldest prince as a hostage and letting the Zheng family, who is in charge of this matter, throw a rat into the trap, so that he can successfully complete this trade." ”

Zheng Tai got up and walked around the room, asking a few questions from time to time, his brows furrowed, obviously in trouble.

At this time, he was in a dilemma, if he couldn't capture Li Zhaoji, he would not be able to complete the task assigned by Zheng Zhilong, and his good days in Nagasaki would be over. But Li Zhaoji had Zheng Sen as a hostage, which really made him helpless, and he was not sure that Zheng Sen would be rescued first.

After pacing for a long time, Zheng Tai asked: "Li Zhaoji is in the Oriental Trading Company, what is his authority?" Among the fleet on this trip, are there other high-level executives who have two hearts with him? ”

Guo Xu told the truth: "Lord Zheng, the Oriental Trading Company was created by Li Zhaoji, he covered the sky in the trading company with one hand, and no one dared to disobey his will among the high-level people. In this northward trade, the fleet was in charge of Chen Liuzi, who was Li Zhaoji's brother and was the most loyal to Li Zhaoji. ”

"How loyal?"

Guo Xu said: "Li Zhaoji said that he and Chen Liuzi were a life-changing friendship. ”

Zheng Tai nodded: "Okay, I know, you go back and rest first, and then I will inform you when I think about it, or He Ren will hand over the secret letter to you."

Shi Lang promised you two pieces of silver, and I will give you a lot of money, so you can rest assured. ”

"Thank you, Lord Zheng, the little one is willing to serve the dogs and horses." Guo Xu's face was full of excitement, he just waited for a while, and Zheng Tai's subordinates gave him two gold bars, the value of which had exceeded the price that Shi Lang had promised.

When he returned to the room where he lived, Guo Xu told He Bin everything he had when he met Zheng Tai: "Mr. He, what do you think Zheng Tai will plan?" ”

He Bin lay on the bed, thought for a while, and said: "What else can he plan, from his side, what else can he do besides catching the big shopkeeper?" He didn't even dare to let the big shopkeeper leave, after all, Zheng Sen was in the fleet. ”

"Then I'm back to the fleet, how should I tell the big treasurer?" Guo Xu asked with a smile, he recognized He Bin's insight and ability.

But He Bin obviously didn't mean to bring his juniors, he rubbed his hands at Guo Xu, and deliberately put his hand in the place illuminated by the moonlight, He Bin said: "Boy, as far as I can see, this trade will not be successful, then I will lurk in Nagasaki and look for an opportunity to negotiate with the Dutch."

But I came in a hurry, and I didn't have much silver on my body, you are Guo Huaiyi's nephew ........ ”

Guo Xu was helpless, and handed the gold bar that Zheng Tai gave him to He Bin, He Bin said with a smile: "Guo Xu, don't think that I took advantage of you, I will write you a receipt, saying that I received your money, you can rest assured, Li Zhaoji will definitely make it up to you."

That guy, I can see it, but whoever can do things, he is never stingy. ”

"Mr. He, you better get down to business." Guo Xu naturally understands this, but he doesn't want to judge the big shopkeeper in front of outsiders, he admires Li Zhaoji very much.

He Bin didn't say much, and Guo Xu's gold bar was only changed to four words - Nagasaki Practice.