After leaving the port, there were more and more pedestrians on the road, including red-haired barbarians and Han merchants with escorts walking on the street.
The streets were busier than the port, with constant shouts of hawking.
On the way back to Huang's house, Zheng Yiguan saw a vendor selling candied haws on the roadside and bought one.
When Li Guozhu saw it, he thought it was a greedy young man.
Unexpectedly, Zheng Yiguan never tried to eat the candied haws in his hand, but kept holding it in his hand.
The Huang family's shop is on the street next to the port. The back of the shop is connected to the yard. The front is used as a shop and the back can be used for living.
"Yiguan is back." As soon as he entered the store, the waiter inside greeted Zheng Yiguan enthusiastically.
"Brother Wang, these are uncle's guests. I will take them to stay in the backyard." Zheng Yiguan responded with a smile.
The waiter glanced at Li Guozhu and others who were following behind, and said with a smile: "There are some good tea leaves in the shopkeeper's cabinet. I'll get them for you."
"Thank you, Brother Wang." Zheng Yiguan thanked him.
The waiter smiled and said, "Why are you so polite? You usually help me a lot."
Soon, the waiter took out a bag of tea and handed it to Zheng Yiguan.
Zheng Yiguan put away the tea leaves, took Li Guozhu and others, passed through the back door on the other side of the shop, and came to the yard behind the shop.
"Brother."
Accompanied by shouts, a strong black boy ran out from the main room behind the yard.
"Zhihu, did you cause any trouble when I was not at home?" Zheng Yiguan asked, touching the black boy's head with his hand. "
"No." The black boy said, "Brother, I have been helping in the shop before you come back. If you don't believe me, you can go to the shop and ask Brother Wang."
"It's good that you didn't cause any trouble. Take this bunch of candied haws and eat it! Big brother bought it specially for you." Zheng Yiguan handed the candied haws to Zheng Zhihu.
Zheng Zhihu had already seen the candied haws in his elder brother's hand. Now he was holding the candied haws in his hand, with joy on his face.
"Brother, you eat too." Zheng Zhihu didn't rush to eat the candied haws in his hand, but raised it to Zheng Yiguan's mouth.
Zheng Yiguan smiled and said, "You can eat it. I ate it on the way back."
"Then I'll eat it." Zheng Zhihu couldn't wait to bite the first fruit and eat it.
Zheng Yiguan turned around and said to Li Guoshu: "Eldest Master, this is the villain's eldest brother, Zheng Zhihu."
Li Guozhu nodded and said enviously: "You two brothers have such a good relationship."
There is also a cross-yard in the middle of the backyard, with a total of seven rooms. Zheng Yiguan arranged for Li Guozhu and others to live in the cross-yard.
"Master, please have tea."
Zheng Yiguan first poured a cup of hot tea for Li Guozhu, and then poured tea for the others.
Li Guoshu looked at Zheng Tie and said: "Shopkeeper Zheng, I'm really sorry. Huang Cheng has gone to Luzon. It may be difficult to come back in a short time. Why not stay here first and let the boat go back first. When Huang Cheng comes back, I will Arrange a boat to take you, Shopkeeper Zheng, back."
Hearing this, Zheng Tie hesitated for a moment, and then said: "We have already arrived at Xiangshan'ao anyway, so why not go to the artillery factory here? Maybe with luck, we can bring back two Folang machine gunners."
Li Guoshu said apologetically: "It's my fault that I didn't tell Huang Cheng in advance. That's why Shopkeeper Zheng missed the point."
Zheng Tie waved his hand and said, "The eldest son is not to blame for this. No one expected that Shopkeeper Huang would go to Luzon."
Zheng Yiguan, who had not yet left with the teapot in his hand, heard the conversation between the two people and hesitated for a moment before saying, "My eldest son, did you come to Xiangshan'ao to find the Folangji gunsmith?"
Li Guoshu turned back to look at Zheng Yiguan and said, "Yes, I came to Xiangshan'ao this time just for the Folang Machine Cannon Master. Do you have any ideas?"
After all, Zheng Yiguan is also a member of the Huang family. He has some status here in Xiangshan Ao and may have some connections.
Moreover, before coming here, he and Shopkeeper Zheng of Tiger Zi Banner made a generous guarantee, but now such a flaw appeared, which made him feel a little embarrassed.
Zheng Yiguan said: "I know some people from the Xiangshan'ao Gun Factory, and among them is the cannon caster of Folangji Ren."
"Really?" Zheng Tie's eyes lit up as he sat aside.
He originally heard that Huang Cheng, whom Li Guozhu was looking for, was not in Xiangshan Ao, so he no longer had high hopes, but the young man named Zheng Yiguan in front of him gave him a surprise.
Zheng Yiguan nodded.
"If I want to take a few Folangji gunsmiths out of Xiangshan'ao, can you help me do it?" Zheng Tie looked eagerly at Zheng Yiguan in front of him.
As a guard leader who came from Liu Heng's side, he knew very well what their boss expected from Hongmaoyi's field artillery.
Li Guozhu and Zheng Chao on the side all turned their attention to Zheng Yiguan.
Zheng Yiguan pondered for a moment and said: "If there are only two or three cannon casters, it should be possible. If there are more people, it may be difficult. The manager of the cannon factory is a man named Folangji. He will not let the cannon casters in the cannon factory do it." Too many divisions have left.”
"Two or three gunsmiths are enough." Zheng Tie excitedly slapped the table in front of him.
Because the palm of the hand was too hard, a lot of tea in the teacup on the table splashed out, and some of it splashed onto Li Guozhu's cuffs.
After Zheng Tie noticed it, he said apologetically: "Master, I'm really sorry. I was so excited just now."
"It's okay." Li Guozhu waved his hand without any concern.
If Zheng Yiguan could really accomplish this, it would be a good thing for him. At least he wouldn't have to break his promise in front of the Tiger Flag people.
Huang Cheng is Zheng Yiguan's uncle, and Zheng Yiguan is half of the Li family.
"But..." Zheng Yiguan hesitated and said, "This matter requires money to deal with, and the cannon maker will not leave until he sees the money. It will cost a lot of money."
"As long as the thing can be done, you can ask for as much money as you need." Zheng Chao, who had been silent for the whole time, said.
He still carried in his arms the 20,000 taels of Nanjing bank notes that the headmaster had given him before leaving Lingqiu.
Zheng Yiguan thought for a moment and said: "Three hundred taels should be enough, no more than five hundred taels at most."
Zheng Tie said: "Okay, I'll give you five hundred taels. As long as you can find a cannon caster to come with us, I will give you another five hundred taels alone."
"Ah!" Zheng Yiguan was stunned.
I didn't expect that I would have the opportunity to get five hundred taels for free.
You must know that after a year of running a boat, his uncle only earned a few thousand taels of silver. Part of it was given to the Li family and fell into his own hands. Two thousand taels was considered good.
Now he only needs to find two cannon-smiths for the people brought by Mr. Li, and he can get five hundred taels of silver for free. This amount of silver is already comparable to his uncle's income in less than half a year.
He and Zhihu came to live with his uncle. After all, they were living under someone else's roof. Being able to get five hundred taels of silver for free would also be a guarantee for his and Zhihu's future lives.
Thinking of this, Zheng Yiguan said solemnly: "I will go to the artillery factory tonight."
For these five hundred taels of silver, the cannon-smith must be found no matter what.
Zheng Tie said: "I will have the money sent to you, but the gunsmith I want must be the kind of gunsmith who can cast field artillery such as Red Mao Yi's two-pounder and four-pounder cannon."
Li Guoshu, who was sitting next to him, said, "This thousand taels of silver will come from my Li family."
