A knife in love

Chapter 1155

Hearing Shopkeeper Song's praise of him, Li Qiufeng was thinking of being humble when he heard Zhang Shi laughingly said: "Brother Zhu, Shopkeeper Song is cold-hearted and warm-hearted, and he rarely praises others. Today he praised so much, even Zhang was embarrassed." There is light. Haha, haha.”

Everyone talked and talked, each with their own ghosts.After half a stick of incense, I saw the boss of the boat coming from Dongshou.Although Li Qiufeng met this person yesterday, one was at the bow of the boat and the other was on the shore, a little far away, so he couldn't see his face clearly.Looking intently at this moment, I saw that the boss of the boat was about forty years old, with a stout figure, a sinister face, and a sonorous and powerful walk. He was a brave man at a glance.

Zhang Shi saw that the boss of the boat had arrived, and said to everyone: "Old Qin is back, if you are worried, you can follow him to the boat and have a look."

Shopkeeper Hu said with a smile: "There is Zhang Yuanwai mediating in the middle, why don't we worry about it? Right now, everyone is waiting to set sail and send things to Fusang, and then sit together and count the silver bills. Haha, haha."

At this time, the boss of the boat had already walked in front of everyone, cupped his hands and said, "Masters, have you come here so early? You have sent someone to watch around at night. The shopkeepers know everything we do, so why bother to come here so early in the morning? Come here to drink Jiangfeng?"

After the boss of the boat finished speaking, several sneers came out of his mouth.Shopkeeper Hu and the others were very embarrassed when the boat boss exposed their intentions. They wanted to say a few words on the occasion, but they couldn't say it for a while.Zhang Shi didn't care about it, and said to the ship's boss: "Old Qin, don't run on the shopkeepers. The goods shipped this time are all their belongings. If something goes wrong, they can only jump into the river. It's better to be cautious than careless."

As soon as Zhang Shizhen's voice fell, shopkeeper Hu hurriedly said: "Yes, that's right, what Zhang Yuanwai said is in our hearts. Lao Qin, it's not the first time we have sold goods. The shopkeepers are absolutely assured of you. It's just these things They were piled up on the pier, we were worried that some thieves might have the idea of ​​stealing the goods, so we sent a few people to help watch them, not because they were worried about you, Lao Qin. Don’t think too much about it, let’s go, let’s have a drink.”

Shopkeeper Song and others also echoed, and wanted to invite the boss of the boat to drink.The boss of the boat snorted, and said in a rough voice: "Thank you all the shopkeepers. There is a rule in our business. You can't drink alcohol seven days before going to sea. Otherwise, those drunks who died in the sea will smell of alcohol. It’s not worth it if you drag it to the bottom of the water and become a bastard.”

Shopkeeper Hu and the others looked at each other, knowing that he was deliberately prevaricating, but there was nothing they could do about him.Seeing the embarrassment on everyone's faces, the boss of the boat said, "If you are worried about the shopkeepers, you might as well take a look on the boat."

Shopkeeper Hu and the others were snatched away by him. Knowing that the trip was all on his boat, how could they dare to offend this person, so they hurriedly waved their hands and said, "There is no need to do so, how can we trust you, Lao Qin?!"

Zhang Shi looked on coldly, seeing that the boss of the boat and the shopkeepers were having a mess, he was afraid that the two sides would start a fight, so he hurriedly changed the subject, and said to the boss of the boat, "Old Qin, what did you go to do so early in the morning?"

The boss of the boat was very polite to Zhang Shi, and said in his mouth: "This time we go to sea, it is different from the past, I am afraid that we will have to walk on the sea for more than a month. Therefore, we need to prepare enough water and rice, so as not to die of hunger and thirst at sea. It’s okay to talk about rice and noodles, but it’s not easy to prepare enough drinking water for a month. Back then, I went out with the late emperor to fight the Tartars. I encountered a big storm and lost my way. Days later, not only the food and grass were cut off, but also the water source was cut off. If a few Tartar soldiers were not captured later and forced them to lead us to find a lake, the army would have collapsed without a fight before we could fight the Tartar soldiers. The entire army must be wiped out. Therefore, drinking water is more important than food, and we must not be careless."

Li Qiufeng's heart trembled when he heard what the boss of the boat said, and he couldn't help thinking of Zhu Sanjia who had served as a soldier at the border.He didn't expect that the boss of this ship had also been a soldier, and what was even more surprising was that he had gone out with Emperor Zhengde to beat the Tartars.He took a closer look at the boss of the boat, and saw that he spoke in a rough voice and behaved forcefully. He really looked like he had been a soldier in the military camp, and he felt a little close to him in his heart.

But the boss of the boat went on to say: "So this time, if you use an ordinary wooden barrel to store water, it will definitely not last for a month. I was thinking hard, and suddenly I remembered that Carpenter Wu from the north of the city once said that he went to Zhangzhou the year before last. The wealthy family made furniture and had nothing to do. They went to an abandoned shipyard and saw a large ship left by the Sanbao eunuch when he went out to sea during the Yongle period. The large ship was dilapidated, but the skeleton was still there. He found the hull of the large ship He was very curious about a kind of strange round wooden barrel hanging on the boat, so he checked it carefully. At first, he thought that these round wooden barrels were hung on the hull to help the big boat float in the water. Later, when he opened the In a wooden barrel, I found that there was still half a barrel of water in it. Only then did I know that these wooden barrels were used to supply drinking water to the big ship. When the Sanbao eunuch went to the West, he was accompanied by hundreds of ships and more than [-] officers and soldiers. Drinking water is the most important thing. Only relying on water storage on the boat will never last for a long time. Therefore, the shipbuilders came up with this method, hanging this kind of round wooden barrels around the hull of each large ship, and filling the barrels with clean water. In this way, not only can the ship run more smoothly on the sea, but it can also provide drinking water for the officers and soldiers on board. So I went to Carpenter Wu early in the morning and asked him to make ten wooden barrels for me."

At this point, the boss of the boat took a sip and said viciously: "Damn it, Carpenter Wu saw that I needed it urgently, and even put on airs with me, saying that it is impossible to build ten wooden barrels in one day and one night. In the end, I got anxious and asked him how much silver he wanted. Carpenter Wu was straightforward this time, saying that he wanted to finish the project on schedule and he would invite five or six carpenters to help. It would cost 120 taels of silver. Added 30 taels, a total of 150 taels. But Lao Tzu told him that ten wooden barrels must be made in one day and one night, and then properly loaded on the boat for Lao Tzu, otherwise Lao Tzu would demolish his carpenter's shop. When Carpenter Wu heard that Lao Tzu promised to give the money, he immediately patted his thigh and agreed. Damn it, this bastard who has eyes for money! He clearly took advantage of others' danger and slapped Lao Tzu hard!"

Shopkeeper Hu and others heard him swearing like this, and they all thought in their hearts: "You bastard and that carpenter surnamed Wu are not the same. It's bright for a while. Don't blame the other when the crow lands on the pig!"

Zhang Shi smiled and said, "Old Qin, don't feel heartbroken. You don't need to pay for the 150 taels of silver, Zhang will pay for you."

While talking, he took out a stack of banknotes from his pocket, picked one out from the middle and handed it to the boat boss, and said, "You take the 200 taels of silver first, and don't get to know Carpenter Wu. He's from Ningbo City. The famous iron cock has always been tenacious. Knowing that you are in a hurry to use it, if you don’t hit you hard, then it’s not him.”

The boss of the boat looked at the bank note that Zhang Shi handed over, and his eyes lit up immediately.He just said: "Mr. Zhang, how can I collect your money? Using wooden barrels to store water was my temporary idea, and I didn't discuss it with Yuanwai. If I took your money, it seems that I set up a pretense and intentionally offered you money. You are begging for money."

Just as Zhang Shi was about to speak, Shopkeeper Hu hurriedly took two steps, stopped between the two of them, reached out his hand and took out a few bank notes from his bosom, took out one from the middle, handed it to the boss of the boat, and said in his mouth: "How can this money be made by Zhang Yuanwai?" ? Naturally, we are the ones who pay the money. You take care of the 200 taels of silver, and if it’s not enough, just tell me.”

Shopkeeper Song and others saw that Zhang Shi and the boss of the boat sang together, knowing that neither of them wanted to spend more money, and it was obvious that they wanted the six shopkeepers to pay, so they scolded them for being shameless.It's just that shopkeeper Hu took out the silver and handed it to the boss of the boat, and said "we" loudly, naturally including the other five shopkeepers.Shopkeeper Song and the others were dissatisfied with their hearts, but they could not get off the tiger, so they could only endure the pain in their hearts, and echoed, asking the boss of the boat to collect the bank notes.

The boss of the boat gave way, and finally put the banknote in his arms, smiling like a blooming chrysanthemum, and thanked him repeatedly.Shopkeeper Hu took the opportunity to ask: "Old Qin, can we leave on time?"

The boss of the boat patted his chest and said: "Don't worry shopkeepers, the rice noodles and vegetables were purchased yesterday. Carpenter Wu said that he will lead people to nail the wooden barrels to the boat for us in the morning, so we will definitely not be delayed." Itinerary. But everyone, please remember that we only said that we will go north to Shandong to deliver goods, and we must not let it go, so as not to cause extra complications and cause trouble.”

(End of this chapter)