Tang Ping did not answer the man's question, but turned to look at Shang Sixian. After all, this was his country.
Shang Sixian also shook his head in confusion. Why does this person feel that he is more powerful than himself, the King of Ryukyu?
So he asked: "Who are you?"
"Hey, who am I?" The man was happy, and then said to the shopkeeper in the grain store: "Come and tell them, who am I?"
The shopkeeper smiled bitterly and said to Tang Ping and the others, "This is Mr. Dong of Tamsui Port."
Then he begged that Mr. Dong: "Master Dong, I want to sell it to you at your price. I really have to pay for all my pants. Can you please do me a favor and give me more? You must be willing..."
The shopkeeper gritted his teeth and said, "I will sell this batch of grain to you first."
Tang Ping and others glanced at each other. It seemed that Mr. Dong had a good background. The local grain dealer had to sell to him first even if the price was reduced.
Shang Sixian was even more confused. This time, because Tang Ping requested to keep a low profile, he persuaded the ministers to come to Tamsui to greet Tang Ping in person. This was also the first time that he came out "incognito" alone. Unexpectedly, he There are still such characters in Tamsui Port under the rule.
You must know that he has also been to Chang'an. He has learned about the food prices in various places along the way. It can be said that the food prices in Tamsui Port are already the lowest prices he knows. He did not expect that this man named Dong Ye would still bargain. , and it is forced buying and selling.
"Master Dong is a businessman?" Shang Sixian asked with a frown.
"Of course he is a businessman, but he is not an ordinary businessman!" Mr. Dong said with a proud look on his face: "I am working for Lord Srivijaya Palabu."
He was gibbering so much that Tang Ping didn't even understand. It was Qian Laosan who whispered behind Tang Ping: "Srivijaya is a country where all monks are monks. I heard that it is quite powerful in Southeast Asia."
"But when I heard you talk, I thought you were from Ryukyu." Shang Sixian said.
"What's wrong with the Ryukyu people? Can't the Ryukyu people do things for Lord Srivijaya?" Mr. Dong looked proudly: "Stop talking nonsense, have you received the news? There are sixty warships coming from the northern sea. That's all. It belongs to our Lord Balabu. If you don’t give me face today, you won’t give face to Lord Balabu. When the time comes, Lord Balabu will get angry, and I’m afraid even our Majesty won’t be able to bear it!”
Tang Ping and the others looked at each other. Sixty battleships from the north sounded familiar. It seemed like no one could sail sixty battleships from the north except them, right?
Good guy, according to Master Dong, their direct nationality has been changed to that of Srivijaya.
Tang Ping and the others would not be intimidated, but the grain store manager was really intimidated.
Tang Ping and his fleet were parked at sea. The Ryukyu royal family naturally did not panic after receiving the news. However, when they saw the local fishing boats at sea, they did not know their origins.
In addition, Tang Ping did not want to reveal his identity, so without notification from the government, the people of Tamsui Port did not know the origin of the battleship to the north, and they were a little worried for a while. When Master Dong said this, the shopkeeper felt a sudden shock at his feet. soft.
What is the concept of sixty battleships? That is, there are 500 soldiers on each battleship, which makes it an army of 30,000.
There are not even ten thousand people in the entire Ryukyu Kingdom including government officials and the like.
So with a pop, the shopkeeper knelt down.
"Master Dong, this...can't be done. You, you are also from Ryukyu...you can't bring outsiders here..."
"Okay, okay, stop talking to me about outsiders and insiders. Whoever gives me food and money, I will do things for him. Lord Balabu gave me so much money this time, hurry up and Send me the grain to the dock, otherwise I will have your good harvest. Also, I tell you, the money you owe me is about to be due, so pay me back quickly!"
"Let's go to the next house!"
After saying that, Mr. Dong threw down a money bag, turned around and left without discussing with the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper looked at the money bag that fell on his lap. When he opened it, he collapsed on the ground.
"Shopkeeper, this..." As soon as Shang Sixian opened his mouth, the shopkeeper said: "I think you are all from other places? I'm sorry, I really can't sell this grain to you, so don't Thinking of competing with that Mr. Dong, I really can’t afford to offend him! Hey, I really can’t live this life.”
Or maybe the people in Tang Ping were willing to buy his grain without even negotiating the price, so he was grateful and gave these two words of advice.
"Is Mr. Dong so powerful? The government just doesn't care about him?" Shang Sixian asked.
"You have also heard about this guest. He is Lord Balabu's subordinate. Our Ryukyu Kingdom cannot afford to offend Srivijaya. How do you want the government to control it? This Mr. Dong is powerful in our Tamsui Port." He buys and sells by force, not only buying our things at low prices, but sometimes asking us to buy goods he brings from other places at high prices."
"What kind of goods? They're all garbage!" a clerk said angrily from behind.
"Hey, that's all. I can't keep these grains anymore, so I'll sell them to him. I don't plan to do this business anymore."
"Shopkeeper, you don't want to run away, do you?" The waiter was shocked: "Last time the shopkeeper of the Ma family just stopped doing business and wanted to run away, but he was caught by Mr. Dong and said that he had not paid off the debt. I can’t leave, so I sold his whole family to Nanyang.”
"I have more or less saved some money over the years, and I will give you some as severance pay, and give the rest to him, even if I have worked for most of my life in vain!"
The shopkeeper stood up from the ground tremblingly, and then said to the waiter: "Refund these customers' money."
"That's not okay!" Tang Ping shook his head: "Although I don't like to force others, I have my own rules."
"The first is that I came first, and the second is that I have already paid the money and you have already collected it, so there is absolutely no reason for me to take the money back."
The implication is that he still has to buy this grain.
The shopkeeper's face turned pale: "Guest, why can't you understand? We can't afford to offend Mr. Dong, let alone Mr. Balabu. Even he has two boats and four to five hundred thugs. . If you really offend him, I’m afraid you won’t even be able to get out of Tamsui Port, let alone their 60 warships in the north!”
"Don't worry, shopkeeper, he can't take away what I want to buy. As for the sixty warships in the north, he can't call them either."
After finishing speaking, Tang Ping looked at Shang Sixian and asked, "If I deal with him, you won't blame me, right?"
Shang Sixian blushed and shook his head and said: "Our country is small and the people are few, but I really don't know that there are such scum in the country. If Brother Tang is willing to help, I will be grateful!"
He had only just taken over the throne from his father, and he hadn't even straightened out the relationships in the court yet. How could he take care of a bully in Tamsui Port.
It was only after meeting today that I realized that someone could be so bad that he not only bullied the market, but also helped foreigners bully the people of his own country.
He insisted that the Ryukyu Kingdom was no match for Srivijaya, but why did he cling tightly to the big brother of the Central Plains for so many years? Isn't it just to get their support at this time?
What's more, Tang Ping was willing to take action, so he had no reason to jump out and stop it.
As for why Tang Ping took action, in addition to the reason he mentioned and that the fleet really needed supplies, it was also because he regarded the Ryukyu Kingdom as one of his own.
What is this called Mr. Dong? What does it mean to help outsiders show off their power in their own place?
"Qian Laosan, Luo Laosi!"
"Sir, my subordinates are here!"
In order to hide his identity when he got ashore, everyone called him Mr. Tang Ping.
"Do you still remember my old job?"
"Of course I don't remember!" Fourth Master Luo scratched his neck and said confidently: "We brothers listened to the young master... and now we are helping the young master and the young master's uncle to do things in a serious manner. Those things in the past have long been gone. remembered."
"Ahem!" Qian Laosan lightly kicked the idiot: "Actually, Master thinks we should remember, so of course we will."
"What do you mean?" Fourth Master Luo looked at the two of them: "Didn't Young Master say that? From now on, forget all the past and start from scratch. Third brother, why are you..."
Tang Ping had a dark look on his face. How could this guy be so honest-minded and have been a pirate leader for so many years?
Looking at Tang Ping's look, Luo Laosi also felt that he had said something wrong, and murmured, "Then should I remember it?"
Qian Laosan could only pull him and said to Tang Ping: "What do you want us to do, Master?"
"Well..." Tang Ping thought for a moment and said, "Bring the person here first to understand the specific situation."
Just now, Mr. Dong was talking so much that he was talking nonsense. Who knows which sentence is true and which is false? After all, he dared to say that even Tang Ping's East China Sea Fleet was their own ship.
If you don't catch this kind of person and make him suffer, I'm afraid he won't tell the truth.
"My subordinates understand." Qian Laosan clasped his fists, then pulled Fourth Master Luo out and went out. It was easy to pretend to be pirates and kidnap people, but this was the first task Tang Ping had given them since they became the commander-in-chief of the East China Sea Fleet. , even if you are pretending to be a pirate, you still have to do it beautifully.
"Third brother, tell me, sir, what's going on? Didn't you start giving us repeated orders that we can't go back to our old profession? Why are you doing it again today..."
"Fourth brother, are you stupid? Look at those special forces who follow the young master. The young master tells them to do sneaky things, but don't they do the same well? We are just doing the original work now, but our identity is still the young master My East China Sea Fleet, do you understand?"
Fourth Master Luo nodded in understanding, then rubbed his hands excitedly, and whispered: "Actually, there are many brothers who miss their previous lives. I will call them when I go back. I will not make them happy." ?”
A country is easy to change but a person's nature is hard to change. These people have been pirates for more than ten years. How can they change in a day or two?
But now Tang Ping has high force, gives a lot, and has strict discipline, so they can be more restrained.
"Fourth Brother, you have to make it clear when you go back to your place. This kind of thing can only be done if Duke Ping Guo asks you to do it. If Duke Ping Guo doesn't let you do it, you will lose your head if you do it."
Fourth Master Luo touched his neck and felt a chill running down his spine. He had not forgotten the huge waves caused by artillery all over the sky.
"Of course I understand this, but do you think...are there many opportunities like this?"
Qian Laosan thought for a while and said, "Well... I think it's indispensable."
The two of them returned to their respective flagships in a small boat. As soon as they talked about this matter, the younger brothers below who were already soldiers of the Tang Dynasty navy were all gearing up and rushing to go.
"The other party only has two boats. The third child and I told each other to send ten big boats to go over. A total of twenty boats is enough. Or... let's draw lots!"
As the news spread, the East China Sea Fleet was happily preparing to participate in the lottery, but the Taihao Fleet was a little sour.
In the long time they have been out, they have fought two naval battles. One was against these guys, and the other was when they sank a warship from East Vietnam. They had no time to spare.
"Hahaha, don't be envious, brothers of the Taihao fleet. You are great at sea cannons, but when you become pirates, you still have to look at us!"
