At night, the harbor is brightly lit, the lights on the big ships are bright, and some small boats that shuttle through the harbor are also hung with lanterns.
There are almost all boatmen selling food on the boats, mostly rice dumplings, fish and shrimps.
The sailors who had not yet disembarked were unwilling to eat the food on the ship, so they would buy some food from nearby boats selling food.
Zhang Yun came out of his home, holding a lantern in his hand, walking in front, followed by Zheng Tie and others.
When the group of people arrived near the mansion where Li Dan lived, the mixed flow of people gradually dwindled, and the number of people patrolling with weapons gradually increased. Most of the people walking around were guards with swords.
There were few ordinary people around, and the noise in the port gradually disappeared.
Li Dan's residence is a Japanese-style building, but it is much larger than an ordinary Japanese residence. It is more like a small town where residence and defense are integrated.
The four corners and the middle are mostly tall multi-story attics, with many arrow holes and firearm holes on the courtyard walls.
Zheng Tie noticed that there were many guards nearby holding firecrackers.
Unlike the fire blunderbuss used in their Tiger Flag, the fire blunderbuss used by the guards here are mostly slender bird blunderbuss, similar to the kind of bird blunderbuss used by the Daming Firearms Camp.
The guards of the Li Mansion include Han Chinese and Japanese. Each of them has thick limbs and a fierce look on his face. They look like the kind of elites who are fighting.
When they arrived outside the door, Zheng Tie and the others were stopped by the guards of the Li Mansion.
"Excuse me, I am Zhang Yun, the manager of the port. We encountered a batch of hard goods this time and need to see Mr. Li." Zhang Yun said humbly, then half-covered his mouth with his hand and whispered. , "A ship's worth of ironware is worth hundreds of thousands taels of silver."
The guard leader glanced at Zhang Yun, then glanced at Zheng Tie and others, and then said to Zhang Yun, "Follow me."
"Everyone, please wait here for a moment."
Zhang Yun warned Zheng Tie and the others before following the guard leader and walking in from the door.
Outside the door were surrounded by Han and Japanese guards walking around, all with fierce looks on their faces. Zheng Tie and the others stood still and did not dare to move without permission.
This is already the outskirts of the port, and the surroundings are silent except for the footsteps of patrolling guards.
"Damn it, I'm actually a little panicked." Zheng Chao spat on the ground.
Having run across the sea, he knew the meaning of Li Dan's name on the sea. He was a little nervous, excited, and even worried about the opportunity to meet Li Dan.
Zheng Tie said with a smile, "Don't panic, we are here to do business, there is nothing to worry about."
"Ah, okay." Zheng Chao nodded.
After running across the sea and staying in the Tiger Flag for so long, he quickly calmed down.
In an attic not far away, a young man wearing a silk robe and appearing to be less than thirty years old was looking out the window at the door of Li's house.
Zhang Yun stood behind the young man respectfully.
"You said they were the maritime merchants who brought a shipload of iron cargo," the young man said, holding the window with one hand.
Zhang Yun said respectfully, "Yes, eldest son, these are the people. They said they came from the port on the Tianjin Wei side, and the proprietor behind them runs an iron yard."
The young man nodded and said, "Go and bring them in."
"Yes." Zhang Yun bowed and retreated.
Soon, he arrived outside the gate of Li's house.
"What do you think Mr. Li said?" Zheng Tie saw Zhang Yun walking out and asked.
Zhang Yun said, "Shopkeeper Zheng and several others, please go in with the younger ones. Mr. Li wants to see you."
"Isn't it Master Li?" Zheng Chao had a look of disappointment on his face.
Zhang Yun smiled and said, "Master Li doesn't take care of things much anymore. Most of the things are left to the eldest son."
"Lead the way, let's go see Mr. Li." Zheng Tie said to Zhang Yun.
Zhang Yun nodded, turned around and walked towards the door.
When he reached the door, the person behind Zheng Tie was stopped.
Zhang Yun hurriedly said to the guard leader on the side, "They are the people the eldest son wants to see."
The guard leader said in a cold voice, "People can go in, but the weapons will stay."
Zhang Yun looked at Zheng Tie and said with a smile, "Shopkeeper Zheng, would you like to ask your brothers to hand over their weapons to others for safekeeping? Let's go see the eldest son and bring the weapons in. It's not a good idea after all."
Zheng Tie could understand the actions of the leader of Li Zhai's guards. If someone wanted to see their boss in Lingqiu, they would not let him bring weapons to meet him.
"Zheng Chao, you come with me to see the eldest son, and the rest of the people stay outside." Zheng Tie said to the others.
Zheng Chao handed the saber and musket he carried to the gunman behind him, and then followed Zheng Tie into Li's house.
Zhang Yun walked in front and led the way.
Several people crossed a gravel path and entered the attic.
"This is the eldest son." Zhang Yun gestured towards Li Guozhu with his hand, then pointed at Zheng Tie and said, "This is shopkeeper Zheng from Tianjin Wei."
Zheng Tie cupped his fists and bowed his hands in salute, saying, "I have met the eldest son."
Li Guozhu smiled and said, "You're welcome, please sit down."
There were some cushions placed in the loft, and he took the lead in sitting on them.
Zheng Tie and Zheng Chao found the two cushions closest to them and sat down cross-legged.
A servant came in with a teapot and served tea to several people.
Li Guozhu grabbed the rim of the teacup with his right hand and asked with a smile, "I heard that you two came to Hirado this time and brought a lot of iron goods."
Zheng Tie said, "I have brought 150,000 taels of ironware on the order of the proprietor."
"Ironware is indeed a hard commodity in Japan, but few people can carry so much at once." Li Guozhu said with a smile.
Ironware was in short supply even in the Ming Dynasty, not to mention in the Japanese country. If a city like Nanjing, the largest city in the south of the Yangtze River, bought hundreds of thousands of taels of ironware at once, it would have a serious impact on the use of ironware among the people in Southern Zhili.
Zheng Tie said, "My boss has his own iron yard and furnace in Lingqiu. He makes iron himself, and there are a large number of craftsmen who are constantly making various iron tools."
"Amazing." Li Guozhu couldn't help but praise.
Unlike silk, porcelain and tea, ironware itself was not enough for the Ming Dynasty to use for its own use. People who could not afford silk porcelain did not need it, but ironware was used by everyone, so Ming merchants rarely sold ironware overseas in large quantities. At most, some ballast iron is brought at a time, and the quantity is limited.
The Japanese state was more iron deficient than the Ming Dynasty, the price of iron was higher, and the profits were greater.
If the quality of this batch of ironware is acceptable, and Li Guozhu decides to eat all of this batch of ironware, the money he should be given will not be less, and he will not bully the weak just because they are the Li family.
All ships arriving at the port are merchants and must abide by the rules in everything. The same goes for the Li family, who will not force themselves even if they cannot reach an agreement.
The law of the open sea is that the weak eat the strong, and the Li family has never been polite when encountering merchant ships with good guns.
Li Guozhu said, "I will go check out the goods tomorrow. If there is no problem with the quality, our Li family wants all of your iron goods. You can rest assured about the price, and we will never let you suffer a loss."
Hearing this, Zheng Tie breathed a sigh of relief.
Things went better than he expected. He didn't expect that a shipment of iron cargo would find a buyer so quickly, and it was also the largest maritime merchant, the Li family.
