A knife in love

Chapter 1143

After the fat man finished speaking, he turned his head and said to the people behind him: "Masters, I rashly made the decision for you, and I hope you don't get angry. We spent a lot of money this time, and we all wanted to make a fortune, but we didn't expect The imperial court suddenly issued a decree to strictly control the sea. Each of us has 4 to 4 taels of silver in our hands. We originally thought of going to Fusang to earn a huge price difference. These goods will have to be thrown in your hands. At that time, each person will lose 3000 to [-] taels of silver, and everyone will have to jump into the river together. Therefore, it is better to spend the [-] taels of silver than to lose money. Let us go bankrupt."

The faces of the people behind the fat man were uncertain, and some of them clenched their teeth, and the muscles on their faces twitched uncontrollably.After a while, a man with a gloomy face said: "Hu Zhizhu is right. We have been forced to this point. This time we have to go. Even if we don't make any money, we still have to go. Just like Zhang According to the outsider, I am willing to pay the money.”

After the other people heard this, although they looked helpless, they had no choice but to agree.Shopkeeper Hu then turned around and said to Member Zhang: "Old Zhang, please go and talk to the boss of the boat again. The few of us are willing to give 3000 taels of silver as a reward for this trip. This is the previous boat fare. More than a dozen times. After he takes the money, whether it is lending money or buying land, it is enough to become a rich man, and he will no longer have to beg for food at sea. I think he will not refuse. Whether we can get out of this time will depend on It's your brother's."

Zhang Yuanwai saw that everyone agreed to pay the money, his eyes lit up, but his face still had a look of embarrassment, and he said: "Fine. Since you are so sincere, I will ignore this old face and go to the boat boss to discuss it. Let's see if he can agree."

Shopkeeper Hu and others pleaded repeatedly, before Zhang Yuanwai turned around, walked along the wooden plank onto the big boat, and disappeared in the bow after a while.

Li Qiufeng has been standing more than ten steps away.He has profound internal strength, although the distance is a little far away, and there are a lot of voices around him, he can clearly hear what they said.Hearing that these people were going to deliver goods to Fusang, he was overjoyed.I thought to myself that as long as I follow these people, I can go to Fusang.You have to keep an eye on them, lest you don't know when these people are gone.

I saw that fat man took a few shopkeepers, stretched his neck, and looked at the bow of the ship eagerly.It was as if there was an invisible big hand in the air, pinching the necks of these people and pulling them upwards.

Li Qiufeng turned his back to the big boat, but his ears were pricked up, listening carefully to the movements of these people.

After half a stick of incense time, those people let out a sigh of relief.Li Qiufeng turned his body slightly, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Zhang Yuanwai stepping down from the bow of the ship.The few people waiting on the shore hurried forward to meet him, staring eagerly at Zhang Yuanwai, wishing they could grab him off the boat and ask him.

Seeing Zhang Yuanwai staggering to the shore, he turned around and waved his hand towards the bow.In addition to the two boatmen on the bow, there was another man in his 40s.This man was tall and very sturdy.He bowed his hands towards Zhang Yuanwai, then turned and walked away, and disappeared in the bow of the ship in the blink of an eye.Only then did the two boatmen chanted and worked together to pull the plank back onto the boat.

As soon as Zhang Yuanwai came to the shore, the five or six storekeepers surrounded him.Li Qiufeng listened attentively, only to hear Zhang Yuanwai said with a smile: "Everyone can relax. The boss of the boat has already agreed. In three days, after the tide ebbs, we can set sail to sea."

After Zhang Yuanwai finished speaking, the five or six shopkeepers felt relieved and celebrated with their foreheads and hands.Li Qiufeng watched with cold eyes, seeing that the five or six shopkeepers were lucky, but none of them noticed that Zhang Yuanwai was standing aside, with a smug smile on his face.After a long while, the fat man suddenly thought of Zhang Yuanwai, and hurriedly bowed to Zhang Yuanwai, saying, "Thank you, Zhang Yuanwai! We are able to escape from death this time, thanks to Zhang Yuanwai's mediation. This favor , we will never forget it."

Fatty's voice fell, and the other shopkeepers also thanked him again and again.Zhang Yuanwai put away his smug smile early on, but showed a bit of worry, and said, "Masters, this matter is not simple. Although the boss of the ship has agreed, it is still unknown whether he can go to the open sea. Everyone’s cargo is piled up so much, it’s too eye-catching. Moving it to the boat in broad daylight might make people suspicious. The boss of the boat said that after dark, if there is no suspicious person nearby, he will ask the boatman to move the cargo to the boat , shopkeepers don’t need to worry.”

Several storekeepers thanked them again and again, Zhang Yuanwai said a few words of humility, and finally he said to everyone: "All the storekeepers have been extremely anxious these days, and I think I am exhausted physically and mentally. Today's overall situation has been decided, and we should go back to the inn to rest as soon as possible. If you have important matters, you can find me at the Zhang family's old house in Sifang Lane, and I will entertain you with a banquet at any time. If there is no accident, we will meet at the pier early in the morning in three days."

After Zhang Yuanwai finished speaking, the shopkeepers made some more polite remarks.Zhang Yuanwai waved his right hand, and two porters carried a small sedan chair to the crowd.Zhang Yuanwai bid farewell to several shopkeepers, and immediately got into the sedan chair.The two bearers lifted the sedan chair and left in a hurry.

I saw several shopkeepers smiling and seeing each other off, but as the sedan chair got farther and farther away, the smiles on the faces of these people gradually disappeared.After the sedan chair disappeared at the corner of the pier, there was no smile on the faces of the shopkeepers.The fat man surnamed Hu gave a "bah" and said viciously: "Damn it, this damned vampire! With the imperial ban, he hit us hard again."

Another shopkeeper sighed, and said: "It is said that the surname Zhang can extract oil from stones, and today I finally learned the lesson."

An old man with a goatee said: "At present, the imperial court's sea restrictions are extremely strict, and these boat owners are indeed in a dilemma. The boat boss is afraid of losing his wealth and life, but it is human nature..."

Before the old man finished speaking, shopkeeper Hu snorted, and said with a sneer: "Old Yu, you have lived for more than 50 years in vain, and you are so confused. The bastard surnamed Zhang and the boss of the boat are just wearing a pair of pants. It’s acting, trying to get money from us in different ways. The bastard surnamed Zhang just got off the boat for the first time, and the boss of the boat hid on the deck and eavesdropped.”

Shopkeeper Hu's voice fell, and the other shopkeepers were a little surprised.Shopkeeper Yu with a goatee said, "Shopkeeper Hu, how do you know that the boss of the boat is hiding on the boat?"

Shopkeeper Hu gave a "bah", pointed at the bow of the boat and said, "Didn't you find out? When that bastard got off the boat for the first time, the boatman didn't take back the boat board at all. That's because the boss of the boat and the bastard surnamed Zhang had already negotiated." Now, I know we will beg Zhang to go back to the ship to find the boss of the ship. They made it clear that they want to suck the marrow and force us to hand over the money to them obediently. The bastard surnamed Zhang has been operating in Ningbo for more than ten years, not only the wharf All these boat owners listen to him, even the Shibosi Yamen and the Ningbo Government Yamen have benefited from him, and they are very dependent on him. If we want to go to Fusang, we have to rely on the strength of this bastard."

When Shopkeeper Hu said this, he paused for a while, with a sinister smile on his face, and then said: "If you are a villain, you have to eat our footwashing water this time. The surname Zhang wants to get money. Just leave it to him. Ladies and gentlemen, the things must be ready. As long as we bring the things to Fusang, we will be able to make a lot of money at that time. A mere 3000 taels of silver for the boat is no problem. If this trip goes well, After everyone returns to Middle-earth, all of them will be rich and wealthy. At that time, there will be no need to take the risk of beheading to go to sea to seek wealth!"

Those shopkeepers originally had gloomy faces, but when they heard what shopkeeper Hu said, they immediately turned from worry to joy.Several people gathered together, their voices were extremely low.Although Li Qiufeng listened attentively, he couldn't hear what they were whispering clearly.After a while, shopkeeper Hu said: "The surname Zhang asked us to put all these goods on the dock. We might as well do as he said. However, in order to avoid complications, we must send a few smart and capable family members to watch at the dock. The shopkeepers will go back to make arrangements. Starting from this evening, each family will have four people, each with two people in a team, and each team will be on duty for two hours. Keep an eye on our goods!"

Shopkeeper Yu and others nodded in agreement, and everyone discussed in a low voice, and then they left the pier together.

(End of this chapter)