Lu Ming

This person is Li Kuiqi, one of the Eighteen Zhi Mountains.In history, due to the uneven distribution of spoils, this person surrendered after being recruited and rebelled. He once annexed most of the troops and drove Zheng Zhilong back to Fuzhou.

After listening to Li Kuiqi's seemingly generous words, Liu Xiang sneered: "800 elites, 5 large boats, and no news for half a month. If we wait any longer, when will the bill be settled? Right now nearly [-] brothers are trapped here, sitting on the mountain and eating nothing. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it on stage, right?"

Speaking of this, Liu Xiang squinted at a young man in green robes who was sitting on the opposite chair.

The young man looks about 25 or [-] years old, with a strong figure, and there is a bit of Zheng Zhilong's shadow in his eyebrows, but it is Zheng Zhilong's fourth brother: Zheng Zhifeng.

Zheng Zhifeng had a tired expression on his face at the moment, sitting in the chair, he didn't know what he was thinking.Hearing Liu Xiang pointing his sword at the grain table again and again, he could only open his mouth and try his best to answer: "The grain table is still good, don't bother shopkeeper Liu to worry about it."

"It's good? Humph." Liu Xiang sneered again: "I'm afraid I won't be able to get the bottom of it? What about the silver rice that should have been allocated to me yesterday?"

……

Marching and fighting in ancient times was far from simple.

There are tens of thousands of people, and there are no boundaries.In fact, even a gang of hundreds of people still needs a food station dedicated to logistics.

A pirate gang with thousands of ships and tens of thousands of men has even more stringent logistical requirements: food is such a key material, and there must be a large-scale commercial operation behind it to ensure the distribution.

...Whether the pirates robbed merchant ships or civilians, most of what they got in the end were just some floating goods, not the food neatly placed there.

After all, cargo is the priority on merchant ships, and Fujian does not produce food locally.The pirates' so-called coastal plundering, in fact, the main purpose is to grab some easy-to-get floating wealth. As for food...Zheng Zhilong and the others are all wealthy businessmen, not Chuang Wang, and they are not hungry enough to attack cities for food. the point.

So regarding logistics, the pirates have a set of ancestral supply methods: nest masters.

From the day when there were pirates, the profession of nest owner appeared in coastal areas at the same time.Nest owners are responsible for purchasing the stolen goods looted by pirates at low prices, and organizing food and salt to provide these bulk goods to pirates.

This process is also effective in later generations: those thieves who robbed the jewelry store also wanted to sell the stolen goods to the Jews afterwards, and the selling price was up to 3%.

And it is even more ridiculous for a gang of ten thousand people like Shibazhi to live by robbing food.In fact, the Zheng Group consumes an average of more than seven or eight tons of grain every day.All these goods were trafficked by nest owners in Guangdong and Zhejiang.

And the matter of Liangtai that Liu Xiang mentioned repeatedly today has actually pointed to the core of the problem: the Zheng family can't get it right.

Before this, because someone was going to Fuzhou City to talk about recruiting security, the whole gang was in a state of forced silence: Naturally, there should be no more news of pirates looting during the negotiation, this is the basic principle.Otherwise, is it true that the old bear can't kill people?

However, there is a price to pay for this state of silence: every day, a large amount of food and silver are withdrawn from the public account.

If Zheng Zhilong hadn't died, then this situation could last for a long time: even if the Zheng family used their own private money for maritime trade to fill it, at least they could support the pirates for half a year.At that time, as long as one move is made, no matter how much money is earned back.

But now it doesn't work.Zheng Zhifeng, who is in charge of Liangtai, can only admit the news of his elder brother's death even if he doesn't want to.After leaving Zheng Zhilong and the 800 core pirates of the Zheng family, the Zheng brothers had no choice but to make plans for their own family while grieving in private.

People who lick blood at the knife edge are the most sensitive to the rise and fall of each other's strength.Right now, the Zheng family has lost their biggest support overnight, and it can be said that their strength is rolling downhill: the pirates are all characters with red tops and whites, and they have been with Liu Xiang and Li Kuiqi in private these days. There were a lot of people who returned, but none of the little shopkeepers who came to follow the Zheng family and these young people.

Still the same sentence: now is 1628, and it is far from the golden age in history when the Zheng family became powerful and Zheng Zhifeng used the tiger's skin to pull the banner.As soon as Zheng Zhilong died, the middle-class people of the Zheng family immediately showed their prototypes, and they were completely incomparable with Li Kuiqi and Liu Xiang, who were in the second tier of dominance.

Ever since, Zheng Zhifeng began to play tricks on the grain platform: Since these hungry wolves will not be able to be suppressed sooner or later, it is better to save more resources for the winter while his brother is still in charge of the grain platform.Brothers are very clear: Zheng's family will spend the winter in the future.

Who would have thought that the grain was withheld for only one day, and the matter was exposed by Liu Xiang, who was looking for faults with his eyes wide open.

And Zheng Zhifeng, who was a little embarrassed, could only vaguely say: "Perhaps it is because the subordinates delayed a little, and the money and food left for only a day or two, why is shopkeeper Liu like this?"

"You bastard! How dare you take money here after detaining your brothers' hard work!" Liu Xiang, who had long disregarded the second generation ancestors of the Zheng family, was filled with righteous indignation at this moment, and jumped out of his chair in rage. Pointing at Zheng Zhifeng's nose, he shouted: "Little thief, how much silver and rice have been stolen from the Liangtai, and to be honest, there is still one life left!"

With a sound of "choking", as soon as Liu Xiang finished speaking, a burly man standing behind Zheng Zhifeng immediately pulled out a short knife from his waist.This person is Zheng Zhipeng, a brother of Zheng Zhilong's hometown - in history, this guy was beheaded in public by Guo Xingye on the charge of losing Xiamen, and made a raft.

As Zheng Zhipeng pulled out his waist knife, there was a sound of gold and iron clashing in the tent of the Chinese army: the subordinates standing behind the shopkeepers all pulled out their waist knives, and the scene suddenly became tense.

Chapter 230: The Completion of All Talents ([-])

There was a murderous atmosphere in the big tent of the Chinese army. The confidantes of the shopkeepers from all walks of life all drew their weapons and stared at each other. The scene was about to explode.

From this, we can see the quality of the Zheng family members: when Zheng Zhilong was here, not to mention the Liangtai, it was the people inside and outside the Chinese army camp, all of whom were direct descendants of the Zheng family.The shopkeepers come here to discuss matters on weekdays, and all the attendants have to stay outside the account, and only the Zheng family is in the account.

And since Zheng Zhilong's accident, all the shopkeepers who came to the Zhongjun tent brought their subordinates, and even after entering the account, there were confidantes standing behind them.

"You bastard, they are all my brothers, what are you doing with your sword?" At this moment, a middle-aged man who had been sitting still in a chair stood up next to Li Kuiqi.

This person is called Zhong Bin, one of the Eighteen Zhi, and has always been friends with Li Kuiqi.

"Put away the knives." Zhong Bin said in a deep voice after standing up.The next moment, the few confidants standing behind him slowly retracted their knives first, and the rest of them also put away their knives one after another seeing this situation.

"Brothers who eat in the same pot, why bother to make such a fuss? It's not a joke." Zhong Bin saw that the situation had eased, so he added another sentence to smooth things over.

However, the perpetrators did not appreciate it.After Liu Xiang sneered, he said to Zhong Bin, who seemed simple and honest: "See how long you can survive", and then walked out of the central army tent with his men.

After Liu Xiang went out, the subordinates who were waiting outside the tent quickly surrounded him and boarded a big bird boat at the pier, and walked away.

But inside the tent was quiet.

The brothers of the Zheng family naturally had nothing to say.The little abacus before had been seen through, and when the shopkeepers drew their knives in the tent for the first time, the Zheng family suddenly discovered that they, who were in charge of the grain table, had become a child holding money and a target of public criticism.

So shortly after Liu Xiang left, the Zheng family also left the Chinese military camp with cold and playful eyes.

After the two groups of people left, the tent seemed much more spacious, and the tense atmosphere calmed down.And until then, Li Kuiqi, who had been sitting silently on the chair, slowly got up and sat down on Zheng Zhifeng's chair opposite him.

After Li Kuiqi sat down, there was a smile on his wrinkled face first, then he turned sideways, and said to a chubby man in his 40s, who was dressed like a non-member, and said, "Brother Zhong Ji, you can't do it for children." ah……"

Hearing this, the fat man first nodded in agreement, and then sighed: "You are fierce, you are short-sighted, not as good as Brother Nai."

Chen Zhongji, a native of Haicheng, Zhangzhou, made his fortune in Hirado, Japan, and is one of the founders of the Yan Siqi Group.After Yan Siqi's accidental death that year, although Zheng Zhilong obtained a righteous name by marrying Yan Siqi's only daughter (Guo Xingye was born in Japan at this time), and thus took over Yan Siqi's power on the surface, Chen Zhongji still controlled most of the Yan Siqi's old subordinate.

In real history, Chen Zhongji, who was not very interested in Zhao'an, would soon be killed by Zheng Zhilong after Zhao'an.

But in the plane of Transmigration, things are reversed: Chen Zhongji not only frees himself, but also has a common language with Li Kuiqi, who also advocates continuing to be a pirate.This was also one of the reasons why the brothers of the Zheng family left in a hurry: Chen Zhongji, who should theoretically belong to the Zheng family's forces, did not show the slightest trace of the Zheng family's flavor just now, which made several young people suddenly terrified.

From Chen Zhongji, we can get a glimpse of Zheng Zhilong's tightrope walking in history: no one is really with him.But Brother Zhilong has the ability to gather these seven-legged things together, use their lives to make a movie with the government, and then use the power of the government to kill the old brothers one by one. The purpose is clear, the means are superb, step by step Shocking, has to be admirable.

……

When Li Kuiqi and Chen Zhongji started whispering with smiles on their faces, Zhong Bin also turned around and waved to the group of shopkeepers in the corner: "Dewei, come and talk."

Du Dewei knew that the field had turned into a leadership interview mode, so he and Hu Ba beside him exchanged glances, a smile appeared on his face, and he walked all the way to Zhong Bin's side with fists in his arms: "Master Zhong, Haven't seen you in days."

The next moment, Zhong Bin pressed him affectionately on the high chair next to him: "Dewei, this is the end of the matter, I'm afraid the Zheng family will take the blame. You are a bright-eyed person, so I won't say much... "

……

At this time, the real behind-the-scenes man who dragged the gang together finally revealed his true colors.who?The combination of Li Kuiqi + Zhong Bin.

In terms of leadership alone, Li Kuiqi's stats are quite high.In history, after his rebellion, he was able to win over most of the people and drive away Zheng Zhilong, which is a clear proof.However, like most mediocre pirate leaders, he has a flaw: lack of strategic vision.

Facts have proved that only Zhaoan is the only way out.

Li Kuiqi, who is obsessed with being a liberal leader, has actually been taking advantage of the silence of the whole group these days to secretly do the work of several other big hills, including Chen Zhongji.

Today, after everyone turned their faces completely, although it will be difficult to use the public funds in Liangtai to buy time for themselves in the next step, Li Kuiqi's combination already knows it well at this time.

That's why the scene just now happened: the two had already begun to openly win over people, Li Kuiqi was in charge of attracting Dashantou, and Zhong Bin was in charge of Du Dewei and other small shopkeepers.

The way to win over is very simple, you just need to sing: "Forgive me for being unruly, indulgent and loving freedom in this life". People who don't want to be dogs to the government will naturally gather here.

……

After Du Dewei chatted cordially with Zhong Bin, Zhong Da's shopkeeper, he stepped aside: There is still a line behind, so you can't stop others from making progress, can you?

Ever since, Du Dewei quietly retreated to the corner again, and when Hu Ba and Zhong Bin finished speaking, they walked out of the tent together with a few shopkeepers.

"Treasurer Du, you must have made a decision, right?"

As soon as several shopkeepers with the same illness came out of the big tent, one of the little bosses named Cao Hu asked Du Dewei about the market.

Cao Hu is a small leader with only 10 broken ships under his command.This person has a square head and big ears, and looks very festive and honest from his face.

Du Dewei shuddered when he heard the sound.What is this place?This is the entrance of the Chinese army tent!The people standing on both sides of the road are all followers of big bosses from all walks of life. Talking nonsense will kill people!

After cursing from the bottom of his heart that Cao Hu, who seemed simple and honest, would die soon, Du Dewei raised his head and laughed loudly: "I think Mr. Zhong is right. People from the rivers and lakes should drink and eat meat freely to be serious!"

... After Cao Hu listened to it, he laughed and said nothing.After that, the group of people silently passed through a large number of Li Kuiqi and Zhong Bin's men, boarded the small boat at the dock, said goodbye, and parted ways.

The followers of Du Dewei and Hu Ba got together.When the two returned to the outer berth more than three miles away from the Zhongzuo Wharf, they gathered all their subordinates without saying a word, sharpened their knives and guns, and entered the overall security mode.

The little person who lives in the cracks every day has a very accurate premonition of danger: Not long after the two returned, there was a loud shout of killing from the direction of Liangtai.Accompanied by the sound of killing, a large number of pirates stationed in the core area of ​​the dock began to kill each other, and the scene was in chaos.

Seeing such a hot scene from afar, the thin and thin Du and Hu couldn't care less about who was cutting whom, so they hurriedly ordered to set sail and leave first.

Zhongzuo Institute is located in the south corner of Xiamen.After the bosses started the battle, Du and Hu led a total of 40 ships under their command, more than half of which were fishing boats, and began to move towards the sea off Xiamen.

Before it was too late, when the fleet circled the cape in the lower right corner of Xiamen, Du Hu and his wife breathed a sigh of relief: the current position is relatively safe, and the fleet has enough waterways for them to go north, south or east. choose.

Du Dewei, who was still in shock, immediately sent a small boat back to investigate.

However, before the small boat came back, a large number of sea boats rushed out from the direction of the center left.There are more than 300 large ships in this group of people, and there are no small ships.

Seeing the mighty fleet heading south on the ocean in the distance, Hu Ba stood at the bow and said with certainty: "There is no need to guess, it must be the people of Manager Liu."

Du Dewei sighed: "Oh, it's nothing to be happy in the end, Zheng Dalong's death is too untimely."

Hu Ba also sighed with the friend beside him who wanted to recruit safety, and then the two of them waited silently at the bow of the boat for news.

At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, another large group of people rushed out from the direction of the center and left.In terms of number, the fleet this time is nearly half smaller than the size of Liu Xiang's gang, and the identity is easy to confirm-the Zheng family went north along Xiamen Island to return to the old nest in Weitouwan, and the fleet started from Du Dewei. Passing by in front of them, the flag is clearly visible.

……

At around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the two small boats sent out came back one after another.

The information brought back by the spies and the two people's guesses were not very different: first, Liu Xiang's gang began to attack the Liangtai, and fought with the Zheng family who guarded the Liangtai.Then the Zheng family started to retreat, and when Liu Xiang's men were robbing Ku Yin, Li Kuiqi and Zhong Bin's men rushed over again.

So Liu Xiang, who was attacked on both sides, resisted a few times, then retreated to the front line, boarded a boat with some money and went straight back to Guangdong.After Liu Xiang left, the Zheng family brothers had a few words with the confronting Li Kuiqi, boarded the boat with troops and some silver, and went straight back to their hometown in Anping.

Having said this, the spies revealed another piece of news: Li Kuiqi, the treasurer of the Zhongzuo Institute, has now taken the top spot.Shopkeeper Li Da is gathering soldiers and horses, and has sent people around to spread the word, demanding that the small group of people who have run away go back to "discuss major issues" and "there will be no deduction of food."

When Hu Ba heard this, he let out a sigh of relief, and turned to look at Du Dewei beside him: "How about it, are you going back or not?"

Du Dewei frowned, looked at the choppy ocean, and said slowly: "Don't worry, you and my brother will always have a place to go."

Chapter 231: The Completion of All Talents ([-])

For the rest of the day, Du Dewei and Hu Ba's fleet did not go to the middle left to join the crew, but took a big circle around Xiamen Island.In the evening, the fleet had rested on the coast of the mainland across the sea from Xiamen Island.

Early the next morning, the fleet began to travel south along the coast of the mainland, passed through the strait between Gulangyu Island and the mainland, bypassed the Elephant Trunk Reef, entered the Jiulong River, and berthed in the private port of Haimen Island.

Haimen Island, located at the mouth of the Jiulong River, was originally a gathering place for private businessmen.As a transit point between Yuegang and Xiamen, there are commercial buildings on Haimen Island at this time: private ports, warehouses, inns, taverns, kilns...all of them.

After the fleet anchored, Du Dewei gave some more instructions to his deputy, and then Hu Ba took care of the house, while he himself sailed to Yuegang along the south bank of the Jiulong River in a light bird boat.

……

From the middle of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th century, with the emergence of the historical event of "Longqing switch", as the only legal starting port of maritime trade in the Ming Dynasty, Yuegang in Haicheng County, Fujian Province once became a "sea ship scale gathering, The No. [-] foreign trade port in the world where merchants gather together.

But now Yuegang is desolate, and the prosperity of the past is no longer there.

With Zheng Zhilong defeating the government army and occupying the Zhongzuo, the days of Yuegang haven’t happened in the past few days—Xiamen Island is stuck in the sea off the Jiulong River, where thousands of pirates gather and completely seal it off. Moonport Gate.

After Zheng Zhilong occupied Xiamen, his original strategic intention was to transfer the South China Sea Trade Center there, so Yuegang became a thorn in his side.Not long after occupying the Zhongzuo, Zheng Zhilong personally led an army into the Jiulong River, looted Yuegang, set fire to the port, and hunted down Haiphong general/Yuegang comprador group spokesperson/Xu Xinsu everywhere.

To be honest, Zheng Zhilong and his predecessor Xu Xinsu have no personal enmity.The only motivation to support Zheng Zhilong's continuous pursuit of Xu Xinsu is Yuegang.

Xu Xinsu is the spokesperson of Yuegang, including the merchant comprador group in Zhangquan area.If Zheng Zhilong wants to complete his strategic plan and replace Yuegang's strategic position with Xiamen, he must kill Xu Xinsu and destroy Yuegang.

So, it's vendetta.The rest of the reasons for chasing and killing Xu Bazong are all excuses.

... The bird boat that Du Dewei took set off from Haimen Island and traveled upstream along the south bank of the Jiulong River. After a short 20 miles, he turned into the destination port: this place is connected to the tide outside and mountain streams inside. Yanyue, so it is named Yuegang.

Moon Harbor has seven piers on the almost one-kilometer-long coast.From east to west, they are Xiangguan Wharf, Lutouwei Wharf, Zhonggu Wharf, Rongchuan Wharf, Dianziwei Wharf, Agebo Wharf, and Xiwei Wharf.

These piers are all built with strips of stone and are very strong. There is a temple behind each pier dedicated to different gods.The functions of the seven piers were different, and Du Dewei, who had come to Yuegang many times to sell stolen goods, now ostentatiously parked the boat at the official pier with only two or three small shrimps.

In the formerly bustling wharf area, there are only a few fishing boats in and out now, and there are no more trees and oars on both sides.

After getting off the boat, Du Dewei took only two followers and walked towards Fan Lane.

The original Yuegang Merchant Market covers an area of ​​about 5 square kilometers, and there are jewelry stores, medicinal materials stores, cotton cloth stores, silk stores, grocery stores, hoop stores, casting tripod stores, sugar stores, silk thread stores, fish stores, paper stores, and wood stores. , tea shop and many other shops.

The seven major commercial markets are all surrounded by water networks, so people call Moonport "sea country".

It's just that Du Dewei traveled all the way today, and found that most of the shops have been overheated, there are many ruins, there are few pedestrians, the streets are deserted, and even beggars are gone...

"Alas..." After shaking his head, Du Dewei and his party quickened their pace, and not long after, they arrived outside a large stone house in Fan Lane.This stone house is large in scale, and even though it is obvious that it has been burned, it still looks magnificent.

And this house is probably the only lively place in Yuegang right now.

A large number of craftsmen were climbing on the roof to replace the damaged parts, and there were many well-dressed men standing outside the house. After seeing Du Dewei and his party coming, at least three of them greeted Lao Du at the same time.

"Shopkeeper Du, I haven't seen you for a long time, how are you doing?"

"TOEFL TOEFL, it's okay..."

Du Dewei entered the house smoothly while exchanging greetings all the way.Since the plaque on the gate of the house has been burned and has not had time to be remade, outsiders really do not know who the owner of this house is.

Guided by a man in green with a short knife in his waist and hips, Du Dewei passed through the dilapidated front yard where many people stayed, leaving his followers there by the way.By this time, he had already figured it out - among the attendants left in the front yard, he saw a familiar face.

After coming to the atrium, which was not much better than the front yard, Du Dewei was ushered into the flower hall of the side yard.The flower hall was still in good condition, at least the overhead porch was still there, so the guests were all brought here, and as expected, Du Dewei saw the big-eared, simple-minded Cao Hu at first sight.

Resisting the tempting thought of stabbing the annoying chrysanthemum with a dagger at his waist, Du Dewei greeted Cao Hu with a half-smile: "Brother Cao, is it true that the mountains and rivers meet again?"