Sima Rulan's eyes looked at the rest of the people in front of the round table, Chai Lin, Gu Zhengyuan must have advocated not opening the city gate, and from the expression, Zhu Zi and Gonggora also had the same opinion, and only Hua Bushi's face was calm, and he sat down with his head down, but he didn't know what he was thinking.

She could only pin her hopes on the eldest young master, and asked, "Mr. Hua, do you have any good ideas to save those natives outside the city gate?"

Hearing Sima Rulan's inquiry, Hua Bushi raised his head, but instead of answering, he asked, "How many indigenous people of the Baba tribe are there on this Okura Island?"

Yao Yuanxiao said: "On the whole island, there are more than 150 villages of the Baba people, each village has a minimum of 100 people, and a large number of tribes have more than 1,000 people, so that all the indigenous people have a total of 70,000 or 80,000 people. ”

Hua Bushi said: "In this way, the more than 3,000 people who entered the city yesterday and the 5,000 people who fled outside the city gate today are only a small part of the indigenous people on the island. The destruction of the village by the 'Black Dragon Palace' must have driven all the indigenous people on the island to Okura Castle, and if it wanted to save them, Okura Castle would have to accept 70,000 or 80,000 people. ”

Gu Zhengyuan exclaimed: "Seventy or eighty thousand people? Now the population of Okura City is only fifty thousand, and another seventy or eighty thousand natives will be able to pay it back, this is absolutely unacceptable!"

Sima Rulan's face also showed frustration and sadness. If there were only a few thousand people, Okura Castle might be able to accept it, but seventy or eighty thousand natives were too many, and it would be too difficult to save them!

Hua Bushi pondered for a while, but said: "However, in the following opinion, it is not impossible to let these seventy or eighty thousand natives enter the city. ”

Yao Yuanxiao said: "What do you say Young Master Hua? These seventy or eighty thousand people who have nowhere to settle in the city will definitely cause chaos, and the food stored in the city is not enough for them to eat, besides, if so many people are allowed to flock into the city, the people of the Dragon Palace can also sneak into the city among them, and then the Okura City will be attacked by pirates immediately! I don't think there is any need to discuss this matter anymore, anyway, the natives must not be allowed to enter the city again!"

Hua Bushi shook his head and said: "It is true that so many natives entering the city will cause a lot of trouble, but it is not impossible to solve it, as long as it is handled properly, Okura City can also be accommodated." ”

Chai Lin on the side said: "Young Master Hua said this, doesn't he have a good idea?"

Hua Bushi said: "Let's talk about resettlement first, in fact, there are a lot of houses in Okura City, as long as the people in the city are willing to settle, even if they are crowded, they should be able to barely live seventy or eighty thousand natives, but most of the Han people look down on the natives Baba and dislike them for being dirty, and refuse to let their houses be given to them to live in." ”

Sima Rulan said: "Mr. Hua is right! There are a lot of houses in the city, and there are many vacant rooms in our city lord's mansion, and the small building where I live is called Xiaohong to sleep with me upstairs, and the downstairs can be given to the female dependents of the indigenous people!"

Yao Yuanxiao said: "Although the eldest lady doesn't think Bababa is dirty, even if the city lord's mansion is given to the aborigines, it can accommodate more than a thousand people at most, which is just a drop in the bucket for the seventy or eighty thousand aborigines, and we can't force the residents in the city to give up their houses." Opening the city gates and putting them in the natives would have been opposed by the majority of the people, but now that the people in the city are unstable, it would be very inappropriate for us to forcibly requisition the houses!"

Hua Bushi said: "It is inappropriate to forcibly requisition houses, but we can get people to voluntarily give up their houses." Although the Han people in the city do not like the indigenous Baba people, most of them love money, and as long as we spend two dollars on the house, I believe that many people are willing to respond. ”

Sima Rulan clapped her hands and said, "That's right! Let's take the silver taels to rent the houses of the common people, and they will definitely be willing to rent them!"

Yao Yuanxiao said: "Paying for renting a house is a solution, but these 70,000 or 80,000 natives have to rent at least 10,000 houses, and the silver taels spent during this period are by no means a small amount, but who will bear these silver taels?"

Sima Rulan said: "We've also earned some silver over the years, and we will bear it!"

Hua Bushi smiled slightly and said, "Miss Lan'er is certainly generous, but in my opinion, guarding Okura City is related to the interests of everyone in the city, and it is not just a matter of the 'Wanjintang' family, and all the trading houses that do trade in the city should fulfill some obligations." If you have money, you can make a strong contribution, and everyone must understand it. ”

When he said this, his eyes were on Gu Zhengyuan, Zhu Zi and Gongora at the table. These three people are all shrewd businessmen, how can they not understand what this eldest young master means.

Gu Zhengyuan said: "Okay, Boss Zhu and I will contact the merchants in the city tomorrow and ask everyone to donate, and there should be no problem in making up tens of thousands of silver taels." ”

Gongora also immediately spoke out, expressing his willingness to take the lead in calling on the city's fleet companies from Western countries to donate money.

Okura Castle is a transit place for merchants from Eastern and Western countries to do ocean trade, there are hundreds of shipping companies from various countries in the city, when it comes to the degree of wealth, I am afraid that there is no city in the Ming Dynasty can compare with this trading city far away in the overseas ocean.

Therefore, to defend the city, there will never be a shortage of silver taels, which is also the advantage of Okura Castle.

Hua Bushi said: "When the natives are allowed to enter the city, in order to prevent the 'Black Dragon Palace' spies from taking the opportunity to get in, in my opinion, you can first explain to the leaders of each tribe, ask them to count the heads of their tribes, and then let the people from each village enter the city one by one." If they do not belong to their tribe, they will not be put in. The elder of Moli Village, who had entered the city the day before, was a person who could be trusted, and it would be of great help for him to communicate with the leaders of the Baba tribes. ”

Chai Lin said: "The matter of identifying the spies, as long as the indigenous Baba who entered the city is carefully investigated, I believe it can be solved." But these many indigenous people have entered the city, the population in Okura City has more than doubled, and there is not enough food in the city, is there still a solution for Young Master Hua?"

Resettlement can be solved with silver taels, and pirate spies can be prevented by inventory, but there is only so much grain in Okura City, even if Hua Bushi is resourceful, it is impossible to conjure up food out of thin air. Chai Lin's question is precisely to ask the crux of the matter.

Sure enough, Hua Bushi pondered for a long time before he said: "The matter of storing grain is indeed unthinkable, now the food in the city is only enough for 50,000 people to eat for three or four months, and the population has increased by 70,000 or 80,000 people when the indigenous people are released into the city. ”

Yao Yuanxiao said: "The pirates of the 'Black Dragon Palace' are fighting to consume the grain and grass in the city, and when the food is eaten up, Okura City will be self-defeating, so we still can't let those indigenous people enter the city!"

Hua Bushi said: "This is not true, if we manage to repel the pirates of the 'Black Dragon Palace' within a month and a half, and lift the blockade of Okura City, we can still save these tens of thousands of natives." ”

Yao Yuanxiao said: "Now the strength of the ships and manpower in the city is far from the pirates of the Dragon Palace, and it is very reluctant to be able to hold the city, how can we repel them within a month and a half?"

Hua Bushi said: "With only the existing ships and manpower of Okura Castle, there is no chance of winning this battle, and if you want to repel the pirates, you have to think more about it." ”

When Chai Lin heard this, his expression moved, and he asked, "Young Master Hua said this, doesn't he already have a plan to retreat from the enemy?"

Hua Bushi said: "We are not strong enough to retreat from the enemy, and if we want to retreat from the enemy, we can only borrow external forces, and now in the South China Sea, only one Liliang is enough to compete with the pirates of the 'Black Dragon Palace', and only they have time to come to support Okura Island within a month and a half." ”

The "Black Dragon Palace" is the king of pirates in the vast ocean of the South China Sea, and the so-called "Seven Great Kou" who plundered along the coast is simply an ant comparison with the "Black Dragon Palace", which is not the same day. For a while, Chai Lin and Yao Yuanxiao didn't think of which Liliang Hua Bushi said could compete with the "Black Dragon Palace".

But it was the Spanish nobleman Gongora who reacted quickly and said, "What Mr. Hua said is not the sailor of the Ming Dynasty?"

As soon as Gongora's words came out, Chai Lin shook his hand again and again: "Young Master Hua wants to borrow the sailors of the Ming Dynasty, but he can't! The ocean-going trade on Okura Island is illegal smuggling in the eyes of the government, and it is a great luck that the sailors of the imperial court do not come to conquer it, and if you want them to deal with the pirates, wouldn't it lead the tiger to drive away the wolf, and this Okura City will be difficult to keep after all!"

Hua Bushi said: "Of course, I can't wait to attract the officials and soldiers of the imperial court, but there is one person who may be able to achieve this, but Miss Lan'er must be willing to spare his life." ”

Sima Rulan's face sank, and she said, "What you want to say is that it is the murderer who assassinated my father, Cao Duyun?"

Hua Bushi said: "Duyun Gongzi is the righteous son of Emperor Chongzhen, the Cao family is powerful in today's imperial court, and Cao Gongzi also has a secret will, he can mobilize important officials from various provinces to listen to it, if he goes to Guangdong to mobilize the fleet of the Daming Navy to come to help Okura Island, most of them can be successful." ”

Yao Yuanxiao said: "This matter is absolutely impossible! That kid surnamed Cao assassinated the Sima City Lord, he should have had to cut it with a thousand knives a long time ago to pay tribute to the City Lord's Heavenly Heroic Spirit, how could he be let go so easily!"

Hua Bushi said: "Now that the 'Black Dragon Palace' is besieging the island on a large scale, it is determined to win Okura City, even if the natives are not allowed to enter the city, it can only delay for some more time, and it will inevitably be attacked by pirates." The current plan is only to use the water division of the imperial court to solve the difficulty, and to mobilize the Ming water division to come, it is not possible for Cao Gongzi to do it. Miss Lan'er, can you bear to let the foundation of Okura City be destroyed like this, and the people of the whole city will be slaughtered by the pirates of the Dragon Palace? I believe that Sima City Lord has a spirit in the sky, and he will also give up his own personal vendetta to protect the people of this city!"