It is getting dark, and lights are already on in Xujiazhuang.
Liu Heng sat behind the desk, looking through the account books from the previous month.
"Master, Zhao Wu is back." Zheng Tie entered the room to report.
Liu Heng put down the account book in his hand, picked up the bowl, and said, "Let him in!"
After speaking, he took a sip of tea.
Zhao Wu walked into the signing room from the outside. As soon as he came in, he said respectfully, "Report to the head of the family, the Han family's matter has been resolved. Several people led by Laicai Gambling have been killed by their subordinates, and the rest have been sent to Dongshan to dig." mine."
"I heard that you killed someone on the street?" Liu Heng asked.
Zhao Wu lowered his head and said, "My subordinate was so anxious that he couldn't hold it back and killed the person in the street. A clerk in the execution room even saw him."
"You are too impulsive." Liu Heng said, and then added, "Just kill him. All the people around him deserve to die, but you need to change your impulsive temper."
Zhao Wu said respectfully, "Yes, I would like to listen to the instructions of the master."
"Leave matters in the county to the Intelligence Department, so you should stop interfering." Liu Heng warned.
"I understand." Zhao Wu nodded.
Liu Heng took another sip of tea, swallowed it, and said, "A batch of ironware will be sent to Tianjin in two days. You and Zheng Tie will discuss which one of you will go on this trip."
Zhao Wu and Zheng Tie looked at each other and said at the same time, "I will obey the master's instructions."
Liu Heng said with a smile, "You two have been with me for so long, and sooner or later you have to go out on your own. Now there is such an opportunity. Let's see who of you two is willing to go. This trip will not only go to Tianjin, but also take a seat." The ship goes to sea to go to Japan."
"Ah! So far!" Zhao Wu was stunned.
When he was this old, he never even went to Tianjin, not to mention the Japanese country, and he never even saw the sea.
"How is it? Have you two decided who will go?" Liu Heng looked at Zhao Wu and Zheng Tie.
Zhao Wu took the lead and said, "I'll be satisfied if I can stay with the master as a guard subordinate. Let Brother Zheng handle the matter of going to sea!"
Zheng Tie's lips twitched twice, but he didn't speak. He just glared at Zhao Wu.
Zhao Wu turned his head to the side and pretended not to look.
"Subordinate..."
Zheng Tie bowed and was about to speak, but was stopped by Liu Heng.
Liu Heng said, "I also prefer Zheng Tie to go. You have a calm temperament. Going to Japan this time is very important for our Tiger Flag, so you are more suitable than Zhao Wu."
Seeing that the head master had said so, Zheng Tie had no choice but to say, "Yes, my subordinates will follow the head master's arrangements."
Liu Heng smiled and nodded.
Originally, the person he wanted to go to sea this time was also Zheng Tie, but Zhao Wu and Zheng Tie were always by his side. He couldn't favor one over the other. Although it was a hard trip to the Japanese country, it was considered a good choice within the Tiger-Character Banner system. Once you get promoted, you can take charge of some people on your own.
"Congratulations to Brother Zheng." Zhao Wu smiled and arched his hands towards Zheng Tie.
Zheng Tie said with a dark face, "How about we switch? I stay with the headmaster and you go to Japan."
Hearing this, Zhao Wu waved his hands repeatedly, and at the same time he did not forget to take a peek at Liu Heng who was sitting behind the desk, fearing that the boss would regret it and really go to Japan to go to sea instead of him.
Liu Heng took a sip of tea and said, "After Zheng Tie leaves, Zhao Wu will take over as the guard captain, and the deputy captain will be handed over to Xu Xuewu."
"Yes." Zheng Tie and Zhao Wu responded at the same time.
"Okay, Zheng Tie, go back first and follow me to the Ordnance Bureau early tomorrow morning." After Liu Heng finished speaking, he said to Zhao Wu, "Zhao Wu, go find Deputy Director Li."
"My subordinates, please retire." Zheng Tie bowed and retreated.
Not long after, Li Shuheng came to the signing room.
Zhao Wu made a cup of hot tea and served it.
Li Shuheng waved his hand and said, "If you don't need a tea cup, use a tea vat instead. I'll have a good drink."
Zhao Wu had no choice but to take the tea down, ask someone to bring a tea vat, pour the tea into the tea vat, and then serve it to Li Shuheng.
Li Shuheng held the teapot with one hand, looked at Liu Heng behind the desk, and said, "The boss is asking his subordinates to come here so late. Did something happen?"
Liu Heng picked up a letter from the desk and said, "Read this letter first."
Zhao Wu came over, took the letter, and handed it to Li Shuheng.
Li Shuheng put the teapot aside, reached out to take the letter, pulled out the letter paper and read it.
Liu Heng behind the desk said, "This is the letter Yang Yuan sent back from Tianjin. He has already connected with a thousand households in Tianjin and is preparing to borrow the other party's boat to go to sea."
After Li Shuheng read the letter, he stuffed the letter paper back into the envelope, and said at the same time, "We don't have to worry about selling the refined iron produced in Dongshan in the north. Wouldn't it be too risky to ship it and sell it to Japan? My subordinates heard from Zheng Chao and the others. Said that running a boat on the sea is extremely dangerous, and sometimes a wave can overturn the boat, causing the boat to be destroyed and people to die."
Liu Heng smiled.
He was not surprised by Li Shuheng's lack of support. This was not Li Shuheng's fault. Like most people in the Ming Dynasty, Li Shuheng did not know the huge dividends from the sea.
Seeing that Liu Heng did not listen to what he said, Li Shuheng added, "The Ming Dynasty banned the sea because of the instability of the sea. In the early years, Japanese pirates attacked the coast. Although it has become more stable in recent years, it can be said that this ship is made of fine iron." It is to be sold to the Japanese country, the lair of rogue bandits."
Liu Heng slapped his forehead and said with a helpless smile, "Except for some of the Japanese pirates who invaded the coast of the Ming Dynasty, they were real Japanese rogues, and most of them were disguised as pirates of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, the Japanese pirates have been in the past for so many years. This has nothing to do with us selling iron to the Japanese country." It has nothing to do with it.”
After a pause, he continued, "The Japanese country is rich in silver. We send a ship of iron to the Japanese country, and what we get back is a ship of silver. It can be said that the silver is the same as picking it up for free. For such a business, our Tiger Flag has this condition, why should we do it?" Give up such a good opportunity."
Li Shuheng frowned and said, "Now our Tiger Flag has no shortage of money. There is no need to take this risk. Otherwise, forget it. We can sell the iron to Qianhu in Tianjin."
Liu Heng said, "The tiger-character flag seems to be stable. I don't know how many people want to deal with us privately. Let's just say that Huang An, the current guard of Lingqiu, has become more honest now. He is not sure to move us. But if there is Opportunity, do you think he will let us go easily?"
Li Shuheng said in a deep voice, "Ever since I found out that he had hooked up with the deputy general of Datong and wanted to attack us, Zhi Jing from the garrison office has been cut off. If there is a chance to attack us, he will definitely not let go of the opportunity."
"As the saying goes, the people do not fight against the officials, let alone we are still bandits." Liu Heng said, "When the day comes when Datong Prefecture sends a large army to clear the tiger flag, should we sit back and wait for death, or should we throw away everything we have now, as before? Traveling around."
"This..." Li Shuheng didn't know how to answer the question for a moment.
He had not thought about this before, but after being reminded like this, he knew that the possibility Liu Heng mentioned was not impossible.
