Cao Sengnu nodded. Although there were many kinds of goods on his ship, they were basically not used by ordinary people. Even if they were stolen by these people on the water, they could not use them themselves. They could only resell them for money. Come and buy what they need on a daily basis. The origin of these goods is unknown and the quantity is large. They are usually excluded and discriminated against by the government and the people. If they are resold, they will only be eaten up by black market traders. The 15% that An Taishun said is probably a lot more. said.癖
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"These are the things! If you transport these to the agreed place and give this to the recipient, you can get paid!" The speaker handed over a wooden sign.
"How do I know who is the recipient?" The leader took the wooden sign and asked in a deep voice.
"The person receiving the goods also has a wooden sign! It's originally the same piece as the one you have, and they fit together perfectly!"
The dog stood next to the leader, looking around curiously. Although he was born and raised on boats, he had never seen a boat like this - the deck under his feet was smooth and tightly fitted, and the long, narrow and sharp bow gave people a sense of being at any time. It might feel like the water was being cut open, and the ropes hanging from the mast were like huge spider webs. He couldn't imagine what purpose these ropes had. Of course, what surprised him the most was the loads being carried out from below the deck. Cargo, the cargo has piled up a hill on the deck, but the speed of cargo shipment has not slowed down at all, as if there is a magician casting a spell below the deck.
The leader picked up the wooden sign. Like most of the lower-class people at that time, he could not read, but he could still see the exquisite patterns on the wooden sign. The master who carved it had a pair of skillful hands. This was not his first time. Participated in similar activities, but this time he had an ominous premonition. He hesitated and asked in a low voice: "Can I know who I work for?"
"Pfft!" The man smiled and shook his head: "Is this your first day doing this job? You actually asked such a question. The reason why we need you is not because you only work and get paid, and don't care about anything else. Question? If you are so curious, you can get out of the way first and don't block other people's way!"
The other party spoke loudly enough for people on several nearby boats to hear. The leader knew that the other party was right. With the other party's price, he had no worries about finding a tight-lipped desperado to work for him. He nodded: "Okay, that's it!"
"That's it! It will be delivered to the agreed place before dark today. You are an old man too, so I won't say any more nonsense. Work carefully!"
"Understood!" the leader responded and waved his hand, and the men stepped forward to carry the designated goods to their boats. Gou'er also wanted to help, but was stopped by the leader: "Agou, you and Amao haven't grown up yet, so you don't need to move things. You two go to the boat to explore the wind and be smart, do you understand?"
"Understood!" The dog responded. He called his companions back to his ship, let the cat climb onto the mast, and stood on the deck, carefully looking around. At this time, a companion accidentally dropped the box and cage on the deck while carrying goods. The overturned box and cage cracked a hole, revealing the red and yellow metal ingots inside.
"What is this?" The dog's attention was immediately attracted. The leader next to him immediately gave him a shudder and shouted: "What are you looking at? I asked you to watch your surroundings carefully to avoid being attacked by others. I’m not telling you to see these things you shouldn’t!”
it hurts!
The dog screamed and shrank its neck. Soon, the boat was full, and the waterline was only about a foot and a half from the side of the boat. Following the leader's whistle, the boat turned around and headed southwest.癖
"Hey, Dog!" The cat slid down from the mast and came to the dog's side: "Why did the boss hit you just now?"
"Mind your own business!" The dog was in a state of frustration, so he gave the cat a shudder with his backhand, and gave the cat the same blow he had received just now.
"Ouch!" the beaten cat screamed, "If you don't tell me, don't tell me. Why are you beating me?"
"I asked you to stand guard on the mast to avoid being attacked by others. I didn't let you see these things that you shouldn't see!" The dog told his companions exactly what the leader had just taught him. Although the cat was angry, he still He is one or two years younger than the dog and has less strength. He cannot beat the dog.
, had to pause and said: "Okay, I'll blame you. I'll catch up with you in strength in two years, and I'll settle the score with you again!"
While the two boys were arguing, a sailor came over, pulled the two apart, and said with a smile: "Forget it, you two can quarrel even if it's no big deal. Let me tell you! That cage is filled with copper!" "
"copper?"
"Yeah! I was standing nearby and could see it very clearly!" The sailor sat down cross-legged and said, "It's copper, to be precise, it's copper bars!"
"Copper bars?" The dog and the cat exchanged glances, and both saw doubts in each other's eyes. The dog asked, "Is the copper you are talking about the copper of the copper coin?"
"Yes, it's just one. The copper coins we use every day are made of copper!"
"But why is this copper bar red and yellow, while the usual copper coins are green and black? Is it different?" Mao'er asked.
"That's because this copper bar is pure copper, and the copper coins we usually use are made of copper mixed with other things, which makes it look like that!" the sailor said with a smile.
"Doesn't that mean that one copper bar is worth a lot of money?" the dog asked.
"One thousand dollars?" The sailor laughed: "At least three thousand dollars. This copper bar is much more expensive than the same weight of copper coins!"
"so much?睙
"Well!" the sailor smiled: "I just did the math. Even if only half of the box we just brought up is filled with copper bars, it is worth at least ten thousand to twenty thousand coins. If it is used to make copper coins, it can be turned over again. Double!"
The sailor's words brought the dog into a strange world. With the price of food at that time, one guan was enough for a family of three for several months. One hundred guan was already the limit of his imagination, and ten thousand guan was beyond his understanding. scope. After a while, he sighed: "I really can't imagine that there can be such rich people in this world!"
"Agou, don't think about this mess!" Amao's reaction was more astute. He poked his companion in the ribs: "There are so many on the ship, let's just grab some and we'll have everything!"
Poof!
The sailor on the side laughed: "Ah Mao, you don't think there is no manifest in those goods, do you? When they received the goods, they only found out after counting them? Then I will skin you carefully!"
"He has so many, why can't we just take one or two? How stingy!" Ah Mao complained.
"This is not a matter of stinginess, it is about our credibility. Otherwise, if people entrust us with so many goods, wouldn't it be just a letter? If you take it, our letter will be destroyed, and no one will spread it. If you don’t entrust the goods to us, what will everyone eat in the future?”
"Then what if we swallow all these goods?" Gou'er suddenly asked: "You said these goods are worth tens of thousands of guan. How can we get so much in our lifetime? With these tens of thousands of guan, we will never use it. If you’re doing this, what does your reputation matter?”
"That's true!" The sailor looked at the dog in surprise, as if he knew each other for the first time in his life: "Ogou, I really didn't realize it. You have such a clear mind, it's amazing!"
"Haha, that's what I said. Whether it works or not depends on the boss!" The dog became more and more happy when he was praised and couldn't help but laugh.
"That's right, I'll go talk to the boss!" The sailor jumped up: "I think it can be done!"
The two teenagers looked expectantly at the sailor walking towards the leader, but after a while he came back dejected. The dog came up to him and said, "How was it? What did the leader say?"
"The boss gave me a warning and told me not to think so wildly!" The waterman pointed to the red paw print on his right cheek: "I have been hurt by you!"
"Ah?" Cat asked, "Did you make a mistake? The ones in this box are not copper bars?"
"Yes, it's a copper bar! It's also very valuable!" The sailor replied angrily: "But the copper bar, chief, can't be eaten or worn in our hands. We can only sell it to a few illegal dealers on the shore. "Family, for things like this with unknown origins, people will definitely haggle to the death. Maybe they will sell us to the government after taking the money, and in the end we will get nothing!"
"Didn't you say you can use this thing to make money?" Dog asked: "We can make money from these copper bars and use them to buy the things we want.
West, isn’t it done? "
"You're talking about it!" The sailor said with a wry smile: "Do you think it's that simple to make money? Just blow on the copper bars and turn them into copper coins? This is a craft passed down from generation to generation, and is passed down from generation to generation! Besides, privately minting copper coins is a matter of course. It's a serious crime, if the government catches you, not only will you lose your head, but everyone will be implicated."
The sailor's words caused the two teenagers to fall into depression. The young ones had already felt the pain of being at the bottom of society, but they had not yet been numbed by this pain. They suddenly saw the dawn of escape from their fate, but It suddenly went out again. The pain and frustration are difficult to describe in words.
The sailor also felt the frustration of the two men. He touched the heads of the two teenagers and said: "Forget it, you two boys, stop thinking so much! You can still make a lot of money from this job, and you two should be able to change it." Wearing decent clothes will make you feel better this winter at least!"
Agou pushed away the adult's hand angrily. Like most of his peers, he didn't like being treated like a child at this time, which made him feel more and more about his bad situation: "So what if I change my clothes? What if I change my clothes?" Instead of being looked down upon by others, I can only live on the water all day long, and when I get ashore, I will be treated like a thief!"
The sailor opened his mouth. He didn't know how to answer the boy's question. Finally, he sighed: "What can we do? Our ancestors have been like this for generations. This is our fate!"
"I don't believe in fate!" The dog jumped up and roared angrily. Tears flowed from his eyes, sliding down his cheeks and down the corner of his mouth. They were salty and bitter, just like his mood at this time.
woo woo woo woo!
"Damn it, why did we encounter a government patrol boat? Hurry, hurry up, raise the sail to full, and the rest of us can paddle!"
The sound of the conch brought the dog back to reality. He quickly rushed to the mast and pulled up the rope with all his strength. The sails on this ship were made of reed mats and were very heavy. He exhausted all his strength and the reed sails could only be raised. At one o'clock, two powerful hands stretched out from the side, and Lu Fan's rising speed suddenly became faster.
As the reed sails rose, the boat moved faster, the current, wind direction and regular strokes all helping them. The dog rushed to the side of the ship, only to find that all the oars had been occupied. When he was doing nothing, the leader's voice came: "Ogou, go to the mast and count how many oarsmen there are on the government patrol boat!"
Agou responded. He quickly climbed up the mast and looked at the patrol ship in the distance. He had good eyesight and could clearly see the green flag flying on the pursuer's mast: "It's a fast-legged crab. There are nine long oars! Their sails are also raised, and they are bigger than ours!"
"Damn it!" the leader cursed. He knew exactly what this meant. The opponent had more oars than him, the sail was bigger than him, and he was naturally faster, so he would not be able to escape pursuit no matter what.癖
"Everyone, work harder. As long as we enter the reed marsh, we can get rid of them!" The leader tried his best to encourage his men.
The patrol boat approached quickly, like a giant wooden dragonfly taking flight. Under the crazy beating of the wooden paddle, the surrounding water turned milky white. The scene of the incoming ship became clear, and there were crowds of people on the deck. There was the reflection of metal in their hands. Agou even found traces of archers. He hated archers.
Standing on the bow of this rampaging warship was a short, stocky man with a half-bald head, thick gray eyebrows, and strong arms. He was wearing an old gray burqa. Agou recognized the other person as Liu Ze, the most cruel captain of the Yangzhou government patrol boat. He often hung the smugglers he caught on the mast to intimidate others.
"We can't escape!" someone wailed, "there's too much cargo on the ship!"
"Boss, let's surrender!" The sailor just shouted: "Hand over all the copper ingots on the ship. Maybe Liu Ze will spare our lives for the sake of so many copper ingots!"
The leader did not speak. The muscles in his cheeks were tight and the veins were exposed. He knew that what his men said was right. If he handed over the copper ingots, maybe Liu Ze would be overjoyed and spare his life - he would be whipped instead. Exiled, or working as an official slave building the city wall, if that was the case, I would rather die.
"Put down the oars, maybe I can give you a good pleasure!" A rude voice came from the pursuit boat: "Otherwise I will order the arrows to be released!"
"quick
paddle! "The leader shouted, he called the cat and the dog, took out the wooden sign from his arms, and stuffed it into the dog's hand: "Now everyone's life is in the hands of you two, now you two have to remember Every word I said!"
The cat and dog nodded seriously, and the leader smiled: "Do you see where I am pointing? It is where there is a rock. I will put all the cargo on the ship into the water nearby, and then you two Everyone will take the opportunity to get off the boat. When the time comes, you go to the agreed place, give this wooden sign to the connector, and then tell them everything that happened and where the copper bar fell into the water, and let them salvage it themselves!"
