"Stop, stop, let me tell you about the situation in the nearby sea area. What nonsense are you telling me about Qingzhou commanding Qianshi, Qingzhou Zuobuzheng envoy, training troops to prepare for Japan, Lingshan victory and so on? I ask you, what is the use of this? , and what the hell is this Mr. Zhushan..." Kang Lin suddenly found that he was really not adapted to the way scholars of this era spoke. He was just the financial deputy of the Taiping Gang, a middle-aged sour man who had barely studied in a private school for several years. Ding explained the situation in the nearby sea area, but he didn't expect that the guy actually started to chatter and ramble for a while, and then he even talked about everything. He ordered his colleagues to train troops and prepare for the Japanese, and the envoy Zuo went to the island to compose poems. He didn't get to the point, so he couldn't help interrupting his long speech in a hurry. Then, under the unkind eyes of everyone, the old scholar who had never even passed the Tongsheng exam finally stopped talking about ancient times and began to elaborate with a smile. The situation in the sea area that everyone is most concerned about comes.
"Master, based on the speed of the fleet and the calculation of passing through the islands, we have now arrived at Chengliang Bay off the coast of Jiaozhou, and we estimate that we will reach Lingshanwei in one day! However, the closer we get to our destination, the more careful we must be. Because in this bay, there are all kinds of pirates, officers and soldiers, and untouchable bandits who are half fishermen and half bandits. They are large in number and well-armed. They will conduct inspections, sneak attacks, and even rob merchant ships at sea from time to time!
As we all know, merchant ships are clumsy and have a deep draft. Once they reach offshore waters, they will be inconvenient in movement due to the relationship between shoals, ocean currents and trade winds, and then become the target of the enemy! In order to eat this piece of fat, the Lingshan Guard Xiahe Village guarding Qianhu Station hidden in the dark, the sea master Xue Caiying, Zhang Changshou, and other small gangs will be happy to send out small boats, long dragons and a large number of personnel to deal with it. Once a merchant ship is involved in a raid, the consequences will definitely be tragic, because no ship can escape from the pursuit of these guys when the time and place are not in our favor. Therefore, we must sail carefully and avoid as much as possible. Drive their patrol boats and eyes and ears..." After talking for a long time, the old scholar with a goatee, the vice president of finance, felt that his mouth was already a little dry, and he was about to ask the pirate master (whose ship was stolen by Kang Lin's people). Attacked, scuttled, and therefore regarded the powerful Kang Lin and his gang as pirates who roamed the sea and ate raw meat.) Asking for a drink of water, but taking a sneak peek, he found that this gang of embryo killers was entering the harbor at this moment, so they arrived I couldn't help but swallow the words on my lips! Others didn't know how powerful these pirates were, but he, Hu Badai, had fully understood the torture skills of the scar-faced master (referring to Zheng Nansheng, the infantry commander). In order to make himself cooperate with the people in front of him. When asked by a fat-faced man, the killer actually used a small iron clip to peel off two of his nails, and then sprinkled salt on the wound. The excruciating pain made me feel My heart and liver were trembling, and my hair was standing on end. You must know that that bastard did it while his mind was completely clear!
Maybe that guy doesn’t regard himself as a human being at all! The old Confucian boy Hu Bacai thought this and his mouth was full of saliva. He did not dare to speak any more and continued to talk.
"Then can we avoid them and choose a route directly to Shaihuo Island? Lao Hu, you also know that we just had a battle with the vicious sharks earlier, and the ship is in urgent need of rest now. It's really not the case. It's a good time to start a fight with someone..." Kang Lin took a sip of tea and nodded to his attendant Luo Liang to also bring a bowl of tea to the thirsty Hu Rusheng. Of course, the tea was not his own good tea, but Luo Liang brewed a large bowl of tea with powdered tea leaves. However, even this poor tea made Hu Bacai's uneasy heart calm down a little. At that moment, he saw this guy unceremoniously picking up a bowl full of tea. He took a long drink from the large porcelain bowl, and then he stroked his goatee contentedly and began to formulate words to answer Kang Lin's questions.
"Master, we just said that there are three major forces in Chengliang Bay, the government, the sea lords, and the pirates! I won't talk about the government. The Qiu Ba gang in Xiahe Village, as long as they don't happen to have something happen, usually they are They won't go out to sea to patrol, because they are better at sitting on the ground and waiting for merchants to come to their door for them to slaughter, rather than taking the initiative; as for the small gangs and untouchable bandit groups in the bay, you don't need to pay too much attention, sir. , their small number of people and boats will not affect the overall situation. The big ships and fast guns we have can easily crush them; in comparison, what the master really needs to pay attention to is the sea master Xue Caiying and Zhang Changshou! Among these two people, Xue (Cai Ying) Ying) is a big shopkeeper who accepts both black and white. He owns more than 20 large ships, dozens of small and medium-sized ships, more than ten small and medium-sized shopkeepers, and nearly a thousand people. In addition to having an unusual relationship with the Shandong Governor's Yamen, he also communicates with others. Yifangui is really powerful; and Zhang Changshou is simply the son and daughter-in-law of Sha Dahu, the master of the evil shark pirates and the owner of the nest. In addition to helping the evil shark pirates and the government's transportation, on weekdays, I also do some non-capital trading. In Chengliang Bay, there are two to three hundred sailors all year round, and seven or eight large ships are at your command at any time... Therefore, if the master wants to avoid these obstacles and sail directly to the island, I think that first of all we The injured bird ship must be repaired, otherwise, with this burden, other ships will not be able to move quickly, and they will be easily intercepted and captured by enemy ships in the event of trouble..."
"Go on!" Without any expression, Kang Lin leaned on the big chair and continued to rest with his eyes closed. He seemed to have fallen asleep, while Yan Si, the painting officer under him, motioned for him to continue. It could be seen that the members of the Chiyang fleet were This painting-praising master is very interested in his explanation!
"Sir, in fact, there is some middle ground between Xue Caiying's gang and Zhang Changshou's gang! In order not to overly stimulate their opponents, they all restrained themselves and transferred the main force of their fleet away from this area. In the area, these cunning old fritters don’t actually want to break the fragile balance between the two sides, because a conflict years ago caused them to each lose several large ships, several official and military-style ships with three hundred or four hundred materials! Therefore, I believe that as long as we find the right weather conditions, the ocean currents will have a high probability of passing through their control area safely..." After carefully considering his words, Hu Bacai continued to speak carefully. Obviously, he was not A stupid person, otherwise it would be impossible for him to defect to Boss Ji, who is half pirate and half maritime businessman, without even the slightest hesitation when he can't survive in the mainland! At this moment, he was keenly aware of the doubts and distrust of Chiyang people towards him. Although the parties involved tried their best to hide it, he still felt it clearly! Therefore, in order to alleviate the doubts about his identity among these seemingly eccentric maritime merchants, he began to think hard about his wording and prepared to give an explanation that would satisfy everyone in the following conversation. .
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Hu!" But just when Hu Bacai was thinking over and over how to resolve the doubts that the people in Chiyang had about him, Kang Lin, who had been sitting high behind the case with his eyes closed and concentrating, finally spoke. , at the same time, his closed small eyes also opened, and he was staring at the already somewhat bewildered Merchant Marine Treasurer's Officer with a gaze like an eagle's eye, "Can you tell me, are you serving as the Merchant Marine's Treasurer's Officer?" What did you do before, or to put it another way, your previous occupation was..."
Perhaps there is also a reason why I know the inside story in such detail! After much thought, Hu Bacai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and decided that it would be better not to play tricks with these embryo killers, because even though these people still looked like well-dressed literati, if he said something like If he accidentally said "no", then these bird-bearing hozens might use some means to deal with him. Anyway, he never wanted to taste the feeling of being separated from flesh and blood again! If nails could be considered a type of bone.
"Sir, before I joined Ji Duozi, I spent some time under Uncle Xue, the Lord of the Sea. Therefore, I know a little bit about the discord between the two gangs, Xue and Zhang..."
"You know a little bit, you just know a little bit..." In the flash of lightning, Kang Lin quietly exchanged glances with Yan Si, his painting officer, and then made a new decision, "It doesn't matter, no matter what you know, How much? Let’s go down and explain to our manager Liu first. As for the route issue, we can discuss it later..."
"Old Yan, Xingzhi, Wende (Yan Xiaosong's nickname), what do you think..." Seeing that he couldn't get any useful information out of Hu Bacai's mouth for the time being, Kang Lin sent his personal followers to take the uneasy Hu Bacai away. After leaving the conference cabin, and with the irrelevant people disappearing from his sight, the leader of Kangda, who had been leaning on the chair to take a nap, finally ended his pretentious behavior. The man, whose back was sore from the wooden chair, immediately sat down. He straightened his body and grabbed the tea cup on the table. Regardless of the fact that the tea inside was already cold, Niu took a sip!
"Master Chief, in my humble opinion, the credibility of what Hu Batai said just now should be very high. After all, he is on our ship now. If he dares to lie to us, I believe that Captain Fan and Commander Zheng will be happy to deal with it." Entertain him, so we don’t worry about what tricks he will play for the time being, unless this guy doesn’t want to hang out in this sea area in the future..." Facing the inquiry from his leader, as a fleet logistics officer and part-time counselor Yan Xiaosong from Military Affairs loosened his brows that had been furrowed in deep thought and said tentatively.
"Sir, my subordinates also think that we should give Hu Batai a certain amount of trust, because we are not familiar with the Chengliang Bay area after all. In addition, there are also large merchants Xue Caiying, Zhang Changshou and a small group of pirate forces intertwined with each other. Therefore, in order to To reduce fleet personnel, material losses and save time, my subordinates believe that we should take Vice Hu Cai’s suggestion, look for clues, and leave the control of Xue and Zhang as soon as possible..." Before Yan Xiaosong finished speaking, he stood Yan Si, the fleet painting officer opposite him, also expressed his approval in due course.
Note: Untouchables and bandits are clearly defined, denouncing officials, merchants, sailors, and fishermen who swore allegiance to Xia Ting as inferior untouchables. They are not allowed to go ashore to trade, settle down, or intermarry with civilians.
Note 2: Finance Vice, the person responsible for accounting on merchant ships in the Ming Dynasty, was generally held by down-and-out literati, similar to modern accountants.
Note 3: Rutong, scholars who failed to pass the county examination in ancient times were called Rutong no matter how old they were.
