Four days later, the dungeon of Matsue Mansion.

There was a pile of hay on the ground, on which several unkempt men leaned, and they formed a semicircle, staring directly at a broken bowl with a missing mouth in front of them, which was a black mass, I don't know what it was, but it had a fatal attraction for the rats in the cell.

A few rats probed their brains out, and the vigilant little beasts carefully looked at the people in the cell, squeaking from time to time, but there was no response, and the people in the dungeon seemed to be dead Yiyang.

After a few rounds of trial and error, the rats finally got to the edge of the broken bowl and enjoyed the food inside, and just as they were satisfied, a piece of clothing was covered, and at least three rats were buckled underneath.

The cell seemed to explode for a moment, and the men who had just died now all pounced, and someone reached directly into their clothes, grabbed a mouse, desperately bit off its head, and then tore at the fat rat meat.

The warm blood and rat meat were not much, but they were enough to soothe the hungry belly, but four people participated in the ambush, and in the end only three rats were obtained, and the one who got nothing immediately fought with his companions.

They snatched and beat each other, their faces were covered in bruises and blood, the rats were dismembered, the hands that grabbed the rats were bitten, and all four of them turned into demons. And when Tasman opened his eyes, he saw such a scene.

"Hey, don't fight, what's wrong with us!" Tasman pounced on him, trying to pull them away, but he felt sore, his stomach gurgling, and his head dazed. So instead of pulling the fighter away, he threw him to the ground.

The crowd had been stuffing all the rats into their stomachs before they remembered Tasman, helped him up, leaned against the wall, and said, "Captain Tasman, you're awake, I thought you'll never wake up again." ”

"Where are we, aren't we drinking?" Tasman asked.

Tasman remembered that he had begged Moder for a long time that day before he could visit the owner of the Oriental Trading Company, and he wanted to explore the art of navigation and ships with the legendary figure. Returning to Batavia after exploring the southern continent, he saw a ship flying the Blue Dragon Flag anchored in Batavia.

There were intricate sails and ropes on it, some of which he didn't know the functions of. There is also the ingenious steering wheel, which allows one person to manipulate the operation of the rudder, rather than many people pushing the rudder together, which are techniques that he has never seen before, and which is rare for a man who has been producing on ocean-going ships since childhood.

When the bottom of the ship was cleaned and the sea trials were underway, he boarded the ship in an official capacity, felt the extraordinary speed, and heard that all this technological progress came from a man named Li Zhaoji.

Tasman was full of admiration for him, so he took the opportunity to explore the north and came to Songjiang. But because of an accident, the gun went off, fortunately, the man in the high position did not embarrass himself, but also ruined the best opportunity to talk to him.

"yes, we shouldn't have drunk that damn wine." A man said viciously, slamming his fist on the wall tiles of the cell, his words full of remorse.

After the Moder talks that day, Tasman escorted him back to the docks, where there was an area that was allocated to foreign ships by the Ming court, and all those who disembarked from foreign ships had to live in that area, and a visit like Moder required the consent of the Songjiang prefect's yamen.

When he returned, Tasman was a little annoyed, but he heard that there was a room facing him on the dock, and that cheap rum was sold in the evenings, and that the Ming officials in charge of it were already off work.

So Tasman and the sailors of his expedition ship went and had a good drink there.

Tasman only remembered that the rum was very high, and he drank so well, but he still got drunk quickly, but he never imagined that he would wake up and be in a prison cell, with his friends, who were so hungry that they ate rats.

Tasman's friend told him about the events of that day, and after Tasman was drunk, someone brought several women, but they needed twenty guilders at a time, and the drunken Dutch sailors had the courage to bargain with each other, hoping to come to a group price, both soft and hard, so that they pulled out the supplies they had with them.

But the man did not agree, took the woman with him and was stopped by the Dutch sailors and beaten out.

In less than ten minutes, more than a hundred soldiers arrived, armed with arquebuses, and took control of everyone inside, and some Dutch sailors tried to escape, but were killed on the spot. In a clash at night, the Dutch sailors were killed seven, wounded four, and fifteen captured.

Tasman and the men in the cells were also some of the sailors who were captured, and they were held in different cells depending on the ship to which they belonged.

In this cell, Tasman and his fellow sailors on the expedition ship were imprisoned.

"Hey, anyone, anyone?" Tasman ran to the door of his cell and shouted, but no one answered but heard echoes from the dark hallway.

"Captain, stop shouting, no one." Said a sailor.

Tasman said: "Didn't you say that other people were in other cells? ”

"Yes, but that was three days ago, and they were redeemed for three days. A most ordinary sailor costs four hundred guilders. The man whispered.

Tasman asked, "What about us, why didn't Mr. Moder come and ransom us?" ”

"Moder won't come to redeem us, we're scapegoats." Said the sailor.

"Why, how can this be?" Tasman felt incomprehensible.

The sailor said: "Yesterday, Mr. Pete, the merchant officer of the fleet, came to ransom me, and I was once his attendant, and begged him to ransom me away. But instead of doing so, he told me something.

He told me that on the day you were out of town, you had offended a very important task and had left Mr. Modell's task unfinished, and that Mr. Modell was very unhappy with you. And the tavern incident was also caused by Carlos and them doing it first, and the main responsibility was on our ship.

The master here, an earl of the Ming Kingdom, needs an explanation, wants to kill people, and Moder makes us that account. They bought off the head of the Earl's house, and they were only able to save some of the people, leaving us alone. ”

Tasman said angrily: "Why, why is this happening, a man only needs four hundred guilders, and I have fifteen thousand guilders on my ship for the expedition funds, which were personally wholesaled by Governor Matsolko, and Moder will not be unaware, he can completely use this money to ransom us." ”

"This is because, Mr. Moder was a man who was ransomed from the Earl's servant, and not from the Earl." A voice came from the hallway, getting louder and louder, and then a group of six people walked in, talking to the person walking in the middle, he was gorgeously dressed and covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, so that he spoke in a strange voice.

When he arrived, his men set him down in a chair and set up a table in front of him, followed by roast chicken, roast meat, naan, rice, and several bottles of wine. Everyone watching was stunned, and all the Dutch were spitting.

"Your Excellency, is this for us to eat?" A sailor couldn't help it, stretched out his hand to reach it, but couldn't reach it, and asked helplessly.

The man said, "Yes, according to the rules of the East, every prisoner who is killed can have a good last meal. This is a head-killing meal, do you want to eat it? ”

"Eat, and before I die, I will fill my stomach. My lord, you speak Dutch, can you please bring in a priest, since I am dying, I want to repent. Tasman said immediately.

"No, I can't."

Tasman asked, "My lord, can I ask your name, you look very noble, but you are not wearing the clothes of a Ming official." ”

"My name is He Bin, I used to be a translator for Dongyin, Du Company, and now I work for Dongfang Trading Company." He Bin said with a smile.

As soon as He Bin raised his hand, the table full of affairs was handed forward, and the Dutch got started and quickly stuffed it into his mouth, they hadn't eaten for three days.

And He Bin let them eat their stomachs and didn't speak.

After eating a whole roast chicken, Tasman had oil on his hands and asked, "Why did the Lord of the Oriental Trading Company bring us food?" ”

He Bin said: "Mr. Moder has abandoned you. When he went north this time, he was required to establish a harmonious trade relationship with the Ming Dynasty. But you have sinned against the Peace, and have wounded his men. If it were another official, he would have let you go. But the Peaceman can't, someone has to die. ”

"Why, I don't understand." Tasman said.

He Bin said: "This earl is from Guangdong, China, and was once a pirate, and he had a deep grudge against the Dutch at the mouth of the Pearl River. ”

"Well, why are you still here?" Tasman asked.

He Bin smiled and said, "Moder betrayed you, I believe you also saw it." Obviously the betrayed don't need to cling to their past oaths and loyalty, and our boss believes that you know something we want to know, and I hope you can tell me. ”

"Well, I know some ........" Tasman said.

At this moment, there was a commotion outside, and a group of people walked in, and before an interpreter arrived, the voice arrived: "Is Tasman awake, it's okay if you don't wake up, your time of death is coming, I have prepared some food for you, and you can die after eating."

It's a pity for Tasman, he can't eat....... Hey, who are you? ”

Only then did the visitor discover He Bin, who replied in Chinese: "I am He Bin, the person who is the shopkeeper of Li Da." ”

"Oh, Mr. Ho. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The interpreter immediately nodded.

"What are you doing here?" He Bin asked.

The interpreter said: "General Zhou of Bofu was ordered to send these Yangyi on the road. ”

He Bin smiled: "Didn't you say that you still have to be tried?" ”

"This, the villain doesn't know." The interpreter squirmed.

He Bin smiled, took out a money bag from his arms and threw it to him: "Do you know now?" ”

The interpreter said with a smile: "It's Yangyi's eyes, called Moder, who paid General Zhou to kill these people quickly, saying that he would either let them go or kill them quickly, so as not to have too many dreams at night." The villain estimated that these people had some secrets, and Moder was in a hurry to silence them.

Since you're here, it seems that Master Li also knows some secrets, so would you like to ask? ”

He Bin nodded: "Sort of, I'll go and talk to General Zhou and give me some time." ”

The interpreter said: "If I don't work for you, I will go on a trip, and the relationship between Uncle Li and Master Li is a matter of one sentence." ”

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