Remember in one second to provide you with wonderful novels to read. The grass sparrows that flew from Siberia feasted on the rice that was about to be harvested in the Pearl River Delta. They were covered in oil and fat. It was the most plump time. It was the first time for Cummins to eat this "Guangdong delicacy". He also ate it with gusto and ate it in one go. About a dozen of them went down, chewing the meat and bones to pieces.
"For this meal, we can get tens of thousands...of currency coupons." Thorpe said that in another time and space, each bird would be sold for 200 yuan in a hotel.
"Is it so expensive?" Xie Peng said a little doubtfully, "I heard from Lin Baihu that grass sparrows are everywhere, and each one in the market only costs a few dozen cents."
Lin Ming just laughed a few times without saying anything. He just laid out the dishes and said, "Come on, these are grass worm stewed eggs, they are the most delicious."
However, the maggot-like insects solidified in this stewed egg were enough to scare Xie Peng and Cummins away. Thorpe didn't hesitate and ate a few spoonfuls: a little pepper was added to it, and it was delicious and juicy. It was much more delicious than what he had eaten in another time and space: at least there was a lot more in terms of quantity.
"It's a pity that there are no dragon fleas." Lin Ming felt a little pity, "Now is the time to eat dragon fleas."
"You can't bring this thing out without scaring them to death." Thorp smiled, "I think the county magistrate is very polite to you."
"When we Jin Yiwei go out to do business, we always have to give this little face. It's just a matter of spending the county's money to buy a favor." Lin Ming was quite proud.
Thorpe nodded. The Jinyiwei brand along the way was indeed of great use. He was originally a little worried about his ostentatious staff trip, but people from the Foreign Intelligence Service said that when traveling long distances in this time and space, there is no better and safer cover than an official badge.
As they were talking, a bodyguard suddenly came in and said that someone had brought another banquet.
"Which master gave it to me?" Lin Ming asked.
"The person who came didn't want to say anything, so he put down the food box and left." The escort asked, "Do you want to carry it in?"
"Of course we have to carry it in." Thorpe said, "Let's see what good thing it is first."
The bodyguard immediately brought in the food box and opened it to see that it was in the format of eight large bowls. Lin Ming's eyelids twitched as he said: Government officials generally do not use this kind of noodles.
"Damn. Why is there still a bowl of cockroaches!" Cummins shouted.
"This is the dragon flea," Thorpe said. "You can eat it by dipping it in soy sauce and twisting off the head. It's also unique in Guangdong."
"This is something of unknown origin. I think we won't eat it." Xie Peng was very cautious.
Lin Ming picked up a reed in the food box, looked at it, and said with a smile: "It's not that the origin is unknown. Just now we had a banquet for an 'official', now it's a banquet for a 'thief' .”
"thief?"
"Yes. This reed is the mark of Tian Biao, a water bandit in Gaoyao County upstream." Lin Ming said, "His shed is thirty miles upstream."
"Why do you want to give us a banquet?" Thorpe asked.
"It's nothing more than selling a favor to ask for future favors." Lin Ming put down the reed. "The stolen goods he robbed on the Xijiang River cannot be sold locally. They have to be transported to Foshan and turned into money. Sooner or later, if you don't see the temple burning incense, it will be taken away. Just chop off your head."
What Lin Ming didn't say was that he had a "friend" relationship with Master Tian.
"It's really a family of officials and bandits." Cummins said contemptuously.
Although this was a good thing, Lin Ming felt a little uncomfortable when he heard it. He only smiled and said: "It has always been like this. People like us who accept some incense and close their eyes are already not conscience-stricken. They collude with water bandits in the yamen. They get money. It’s not like there aren’t those who add two to one and make five…”
Thorpe thought to himself that the social environment here is really complicated. It seems that the Guangdong strategy is far from being solved by simple military means...
"Can this banquet be eaten? Will it be poisoned?" Cummings remembered the lesson of the work team that was wiped out.
"No." Lin Ming said, "Just eat it with confidence." Unless he is insane, he will not do anything to poison us. "
Since everyone had already eaten, except for Thorpe who left the dragon fleas as snacks, the others took care of carrying the banquet out to the bodyguards and boatmen as a tooth ceremony. Unexpectedly, as soon as the banquet was carried out, the escort came to report again: Chen Hongyi, a boat owner in Sanshui County, had sent a banquet.
"Who is this again?" Looking at the steaming grass sparrows, grass worm stewed eggs and dragon fleas in the food box, Cummins was already feeling a little uncomfortable in his stomach.
"Shopkeeper Chen also sent a gift." The escort presented a red greeting card and a gift list.
Lin Ming picked up the big red greeting card and said, "This is shopkeeper Chen from the shipping company. His ships ply the Xijiang River all year round, and they always visit the temple to burn incense."
Cummins leaned over and took a look. The items on the gift list were very simple: ten stones of white rice, two jars of fine Lanling wine, some smoked roasted duck, and a load of snow pear melons.
"Rice can also be used as a gift?" Cummins was very curious. "Where can I find this thing! Is it not too heavy to move around?"
"It's a gift-giving cutout," Thorpe said. "Ten stones of white rice means ten taels of silver. Right, Lin Baihu."
"Yes, the chief is right." Lin Ming laughed a few times, and now the ten taels of silver could only be paid to the public.
He seemed to be very familiar with Mr. Chen. Asked, "Do you have any message from Mr. Chen?"
"The visitor said that Mr. Chen was afraid of disturbing official business, so he didn't dare to come over to say goodbye. He also said that if Lin Baihu had any instructions, he would just let the visitor know."
When Lin Ming was about to say something, Thorpe said, "This shopkeeper Chen has a lot of money. He looks like a big boat owner."
"Yes, he is a big boat owner on the Xijiang River. His boats start from Sanshui and go all the way to Nanning, Guangxi."
"Are there many ships?"
"There are probably more than a hundred large and small ships." Lin Ming said, "I don't know the specific number. Guangzhou and Zhaoqing have the largest number of ship owners in this province. Shopkeeper Chen's business is very large, and management by both public and private parties is indispensable. of."
Thorpe thought to himself that Lin Baihu, the royal guard, was quite a figure: officials, bandits, and businessmen all betrayed his favor and fawned over him. Is this Jin Yiwei's skin so valuable?
"Since he sincerely gives gifts, it doesn't hurt to invite him to meet him." Thorpe thought that since this man is a ship owner, he must be very familiar with the situation of Xijiang water transportation. Talk to him personally and see what materials can be obtained along the way. More informative.
"Yes, yes, since the chief said so, I will ask him to come over and talk about it." Lin Ming said hurriedly.
When the servant went back to report to Lin Baihu and asked him to "come aboard and meet him," Chen Hongyi had already gone to bed and slept with his concubine in the sixth room. This evening, when he heard from his men on the pier that an official ship had arrived, it was from Lin Baihu in Foshan. He immediately asked people to prepare a banquet and send gifts - as usual, he showed such filial piety to the officials of this province who were passing through the border. Being a boat owner on the Xijiang River, with hundreds of large and small boats and thousands of boatmen and helmsmen, is an "unsettling factor" in the eyes of the government, so transportation to the government is very important, not to mention that he has some contacts with Lin Baihu, and his A rice boat was seized, and Lin Baihu helped run it. That's how the friendship was formed.
However, the friendship between them has not reached the point where Lin Baihu will come to invite him after seeing the invitation. So I didn't prepare to travel at all. He didn't get up quickly until the servant knocked on the door in a panic and said that Lin Baihu wanted to see him. I couldn't help but feel anxious.
Chen Hongyi is in his fifties, with a bronze complexion and tendons all over his body. Even wearing silk and satin, he can't hide his background as a boatman. It's just that his hair has turned completely white and his back is a little stooped - these are all traces of years of living on the water. At the age of fourteen, he boarded a boat and rowed an oar, going through life and death in the wind and waves on the Xijiang River. It was hard to earn this family fortune.
It is even more difficult to maintain this family business. Over the years, shopkeeper Chen has made a lot of money by transporting rice from Guangxi and salt from Guangdong. If you have money, you will inevitably become "fat." To do business on this vast Xijiang River, it is not enough to just make money - sooner or later it will be turned into a floating corpse in the Sixianjiao backwater bay - you must also have the ability to use traffic to disrupt the forces of all parties.
Lin Ming is not his backer: he is not qualified yet, but as a "friend", Lin Ming is still very useful when he needs help with something - he has a wide range of friends, is familiar with people, and has such a face. Pi can talk to her everywhere, so she tries her best to curry favor with her on weekdays.
"Quickly, bring me the guests' clothes!" He asked, "Tell people to prepare more lanterns!"
His family lives just outside Sanshui County, just a stone's throw from the dock. At that moment, more than a dozen servants lit lanterns and torches and escorted Chen Hongyi all the way.
But when he saw Lin Baihu greeting him at the bow of the boat, he was suddenly surprised again. He had always known that Lin Ming had a lot of officialdom habits and was used to flattering superiors and being arrogant. Although businessmen like him were polite on the face because of their interests, they still looked down on him deep down. The two of them met a handful of times, but he never came to greet them.
The so-called abnormality is a monster, and Chen Hongyi becomes increasingly uneasy. The two met and Lin Baihu whispered: "There is a gentleman inside who wants to see you. Please speak carefully."
Chen Hongyi said quickly: "Young man, I understand!" But his heart was beating secretly. Who is this "master"? Lin Baihu actually came out to take care of him in person. Could it be that he was his superior?
Chen Hongyi secretly complained: Since ancient times, when officials wanted to meet businessmen, they only wanted to ask for money.
However, when things came to pass, there was no reason why he couldn't go in, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and get into the cabin.
The cabin was lit with Australian kerosene lamps, which illuminated it brightly. Chen Hongyi saw a young man in his thirties sitting in the main seat in the cabin. He had fair skin and no beard. He was wearing a Huluo t-shirt and a black crepe Confucian scarf. He behaved calmly and gracefully. I couldn't help but feel suspicious, so I quickly took a step forward and bowed to the end: "Young man Chen Hongyi, a boat owner in Sanshui County, is polite."
"No need to be polite, please take a seat." The young man spoke in Guangzhou vernacular, "Is this the shopkeeper Chen Hongyi Chen?"
"Yes, that's right, Xiaomin." Although Chen Hongyi didn't know the identity of the other party yet, he saw that Thorpe's demeanor and demeanor showed that he was definitely not an ordinary person, and he could command Lin Ming like his brothers. He was probably a nobleman from the provincial capital or the capital. (To be continued.).
