When the capital of the Ming Dynasty was being attacked by the Houjin army, a few double-masted ships made a turn near the Dongyi coastline and slowly sailed toward the officials.
The waterline of the four boats was very deep, and they were obviously full of goods. In this chaotic and turbulent Huaxia coastal area, where pirates were as common as hairs on an ox, such a fully loaded cargo ship would definitely attract people. The pirates were spying on them, but the "Zheng" flag hanging on the top of the ship was like an amulet, dispelling the covetous eyes of the small pirates.
Although the Zheng family had suffered a heavy blow, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. The Zheng Corporation was still not something that could be provoked by a kitten or a puppy.
Zheng Zhihu walked out of the cabin. He walked to the bow of the ship and looked into the distance. He greedily breathed in the fresh air outside. The narrow space below the deck made him feel suffocated.
In fact, he did not need to visit the Aussies by boat. The distance between Dumbo Harbor and Chikan was less than a hundred miles. However, the land was densely covered with forests, the roads were not repaired, and the surrounding natives had not yet surrendered. If he rashly passed by the native villages and fields, he might be welcomed by the headhunters of the natives. Therefore, the Zheng family's diplomatic mission had no choice but to choose the less dangerous sea route.
Zheng Zhihu was looking at the sea when he saw a few fast boats with the flag of " Australia and Song " slowly climbing out of the horizon and slowly heading towards them.
Two hours later, the Australian and Song Clippers were getting closer. Zheng Zhihu could even see the solemn expressions on the faces of the crew members. A sailor in blue clothes raised a small flag and whistled at the Zheng family's fleet.
Zheng Zhihu didn't want to waste any time, so he shouted that he was from the Zheng family, transporting goods to the high-ranking officials to do business.
However, the chief bandit did not buy it. He coldly repeated the order to stop the ship for inspection and claimed that Zheng Zhihu would bear all the consequences of resisting the order.
Zheng Zhihu was slandering them. The Australian was just a pirate who was both a merchant and a thief. He actually acted like a government official and did not seem to care about the Zheng family's reputation at all?
Although he was unhappy, Zheng Zhihu didn't dare to express it. There was a cannon covered with tarpaulin at the front and back of the ship. The tarpaulin did not completely cover the cannon. It seemed to be intentional or unintentional. The thickness and caliber of the cannon wall made Zheng Zhihu dumbfounded.
The caliber of this cannon was even stronger than the strongest Hongyi cannon (18-pound cannon) that the government had made. It must be the legendary warship cannon of the Kun bandits. One shot could destroy the gods!
If they were to really start a fight, his five boats would not be able to withstand a close-range attack. Moreover, the Zheng family was in a delicate situation. It was better to have one more friend than one more enemy.
He immediately ordered his men to follow the Australian rules. He saw the short hair of the shaved head climb onto the five boats. He went up to check, and then walked into the cabin to check if there were any prohibited items.
A moment later, a short-haired sailor who was inspecting another boat seemed to have discovered something and shouted to the other sailors across the boat.
"My men said that you transported a lot of refugees. What are you here for?”Zheng Zhihu felt as if there was a knife on his back.
The pride and confidence of the Zheng family had vanished in the face of the heavy artillery. He could only tell them everything he had prepared beforehand.
Perhaps the Australian leader knew nothing about the Zheng family, so he was not sensitive to the Zheng family flag.
Zheng Zhihu could only call himself a merchant of the Zheng family for the time being. He heard that the people of Australia were in urgent need of resources and manpower, so he shipped refugees, pig iron, sulfur, raw silk, saltpeter, and other commodities to the high-ranking officials.
He repeatedly stated that he was a legitimate businessman of the Zheng family and had no ulterior motives. After saying that, he even put on a polite fake smile and took out a silver ingot worth ten taels and quietly handed it to the short-haired officer.
Unexpectedly, when the short-haired officer saw the silver ingot in his hand, he felt as if he had been bitten by a poisonous snake. He felt embarrassed and sad. The officer snorted coldly and rejected Zheng Zhihu's bribe. The officer looked around at the sailors who were following him. Then, he turned around and said to Zheng Zhihu righteously," Keep your money. We don't like this."
No matter how hard Zheng Zhihu tried to persuade him, he still refused to accept bribes. Although the short-haired officer rejected him directly, when Zheng Zhihu really put the money back into his pocket, he could clearly see the other party gritting his teeth and showing a regretful expression.
As the inspection passed smoothly, Zheng Zhihu was able to sail into the water channel accompanied by the Aosong speedboat. The first thing he saw was the construction of a new stronghold on the northern island. A military fortress with a stone wall and rammed earth was rising from the ground. A dense number of people were moving supplies and hammering. Many heavy artillery were being lifted and installed by cage cranes. Uptown.
As the fleet went deeper into the Taijiang inland sea, Zheng Zhihu saw the Dutch Merchant House that he had seen in the past. He had a complicated feeling of revisiting the old place, but this emotion was quickly dispelled because he saw the second military fortress erected in the middle of the sandbar. It seemed to have completed half of the construction. The black muzzles of heavy artillery protruded out of the city wall, making people shudder.
Another large caliber cannon?
Zheng Zhihu's heart skipped a beat. Compared to the Kun bandits 'cannons, the government troops and their own cannons were like rice bowls meeting rice vats!
It was not that the government had not tried to forge heavy cannons, but the rate of success was extremely low. The cannons were also easy to explode when fired. Moreover, the cannons used by the Ming government army were often purchased from Guangdong. The quality of the cannons produced in Guangdong was famous all over the world. The government sometimes asked the Macau Cannon Factory to sell cannons, but no matter how big the cannons were, they were not as big as the Kun Thief's.
However, the Kun Thief did not seem to be afraid of the risk of the cannon exploding. There must be some secret technique that no one knew about…●..
Zheng Zhihu looked at the northern island and then at the body of the giant kun. The two fortresses were the horns of each other. If the enemy came from the outer sea, they would definitely be attacked by the two forts at the same time.
Zheng Zhihu couldn't help but imagine that if the Zheng family had attacked with all their might during their heyday, with ten to twenty heavy cannons bombarding the ship, even if the Zheng family had taken down the high officials of the Kun bandits, they would have ended up with a miserable victory of killing 1,000 enemies and losing 800 lives.
There was no gold or silver in Tainan, only a piece of wilderness to be developed. How did the Aussies accumulate wealth with a piece of wilderness?
Not only was the huge number of heavy cannons showing off their wealth, but they were also showing off fearlessly. Anyone who came to see the Kun Thief's heavy cannons would be amazed by how terrifying the Kun Thief's heavy cannons were!
Wait a minute!
Since the Kun Thief's firearms were so sharp, he could definitely lure Kun with money. Although the Zheng family's strength had been damaged, the trade route to Japan was still intact. The gold and silver stored in the fleet could also support them for a long time. The Zheng family still had some surplus wealth.
If the Aussies could sell a few heavy cannons forged with secret methods to strengthen the Zheng family's fleet, it would be a piece of cake for them to eliminate Li Kuiqi.
However, when Zheng Zhihu disembarked at the dock, he was stopped by the new officer with shaved hair. The other party's accent was strange, mixed with a Hokkien accent, but he spoke something else. It sounded similar to the Liaodong military language. The other party asked him a few questions, asking if he was a merchant selling goods, a traveler, or a long-term resident.
Zheng Zhihu replied that he was here to do business. He heard that the Australian people liked to take in refugees, so he brought hundreds of refugees here to seek a way out.
It was probably a certain word in his words that caused the officer to be unhappy. The other party kept asking many questions, as if they were asking him what illness he had contracted and whether there was any epidemic in the area he was in.
Zheng Zhihu patiently answered all of the officer's questions, repeatedly emphasizing that he was not sick and had never been sick before. However, the officer did not believe him at all. Instead, he summoned a few fierce men and forced them over like a few mountains. Then, they pulled him into a longhouse. The attendants behind him were not spared either and went to other longhouses.
After a while, Zheng Zhihu walked out of the long house, his face full of fear and fear.
It turned out that the Kun thief did not believe his words and insisted on "purifying" him. Several men pressed him down and cleaned his body. One man grabbed the Australian locust and smeared it all over his body. Then he took out a hard and big brush and rubbed it on his head as if he wanted to peel off a layer of skin.
What scared Zheng Zhihu the most was that the burly man's hands were moving around his " second brother " and butt. He even heard a few of the bandits who looked like Japanese pirates continuously letting out grotesque growls of " Oye " and " Ahhh
He wanted to resist, but a few men bulged! His strong muscles caused the thought of resistance that had just risen in his mind to sink into the bottom of his heart again…
The bandit wanted to cut his hair and shave his beard, but he refused. He declared without hesitation that if he wanted to shave his hair, he would have to kill him first. Because of Zheng Zhihu's strong desire and the bandit's unwillingness to force him to shave his hair, the matter was forgotten.
After being tortured by the Kun Thief, Zheng Zhihu changed his clothes and walked out of the longhouse. Although the humiliating experience was unbearable, after being washed by the Australian locust, he felt relieved and went to the purification camp.
Zheng Zhihu was so engrossed that he couldn't help but ask the passers-by about the reason why the Aussies built the fence and allowed the refugees to pass through slowly.
"I heard that the Aussies suffered a loss a few days ago. Because they were not prepared for the time being, they were troubled by the chaotic refugees. This time, they thought about it and built fences and walls. They increased the number of troops to maintain law and order. If there are any more disturbances, they will be sent to the labor camp. If they are accidentally killed by the soldiers, it will be their bad luck.
The passer-by in big Ming's attire added," The Aussies brought the refugees here and placed them in the exile camp to recuperate for two months. They can use them after they recover. I think the Aussies don't look like they're recruiting people to work and reclaim the land. They look more like they're doing good deeds. Everyone admires the Aussies. They're really good to the poor."
"Where did the Aussies get so much food to feed the refugees?”Zheng Zhihu was puzzled.
"It grows in the rice fields!" Another passerby with shaved hair, who was listening to the conversation, said proudly, as if he was showing off his farmland," The Australian people have a secret way of farming. One mu of good paddy fields in Jiangnan can only produce one or two stones of grain in a season. However, in the hands of the Australian people, one mu of land can produce three or four stones of grain in a season, which is twice as much as others. Moreover, the Australian people are willing to buy grain in large quantities. Do you think that so much grain can feed the refugees?”
Double the grain production?
This new discovery shocked Zheng Zhihu. Although his main business was the sea trade business with his brother, he had a good understanding of agriculture. He knew very well what it meant to produce more food, which meant that he could feed more poor farmers.
The reason why there were so many bandits and rebels in the north of Ming Dynasty was because of the lack of food. If people didn't have food, they would be hungry. If they were hungry, they would rob. If they robbed too much, they would eat the rich. More and more refugees would gather together and an uprising would break out.
Although Zheng Zhihu was extremely unwilling to believe that the Australian fields could produce twice as much food, it was an indisputable fact that there was no food pressure to supply so many refugees.
The Aussies really surprised him!
Thanks to the introduction and comments of the passers-by, Zheng Zhihu and his entourage wandered around again, feeling the different rules and customs of Kun Thief Town and Ming Dynasty.
Not long after he left, the man with shaved hair smiled meaningfully and left.
After a while, a written evaluation of Zheng Zhihu appeared in Wang Kaizhi's hands.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。