Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 68 Change the Rules

That night, most of the sailors on the Bowang disembarked and went out to fool around.

Sailors are a high-risk profession. Whether in the East or the West, they pay attention to carpe diem. Therefore, as soon as a ship docks, sailors will go out in groups to engage in whoring and gambling. This is why the entertainment industry in almost all ports in the Age of Discovery was Very developed.

Lin Hai did not prohibit sailors from disembarking like they did in Fequsuo, but he still emphasized not to cause trouble.Anyway, Shen Tingyang has great hands and eyes in Chongming. Even if someone causes trouble, the most he can do is hand over the troublemaker to the government to deal with it impartially, so as not to cause trouble to the Bowang.

Therefore, except for Miguel's dozen foreigners who were still on the gun deck, the Bowang was almost empty, and there were only seven or eight night watch sailors on the open deck.

Lin Hai and Shi Bi were sitting in the official hall, listening to the river water lapping against the side of the ship outside the window. They didn't speak for a long time.

In the end, it was Lin Hai who spoke first: "Brother, regarding the matter of donating an official position in Zhoushan, the reason why I don't agree to take you with me is that besides the fact that you are carrying a murder case, there are more important reasons."

While at the Zhongzuo Institute, Shi Bi learned that Lin Hai was going to donate an official position in Zhoushan, and wanted him to help him donate a thousand households.But Lin Hai did not agree. The reason was that Shi Bi had a murder case on his body and would cause trouble if exposed. It was completely unnecessary to donate two thousand households. Instead, he owed Xu Xinsu an extra favor.

Shibi was not very happy at the time. There was such a long distance between the Pearl River Estuary and Zhoushan, so he thought it would be fine if he just changed the name.By this afternoon, seeing that Lin Hai's prestige among his old men was getting higher and higher, he felt more and more that Lin Hai was deliberately seizing his power.

In fact, ever since he was in danger at sea, Shibi had been convinced that Lin Hai was protected by Mazu. From then on, he had decided to listen to Lin Hai in all matters.After all, this is his uncle, who is different from Boss Li, not to mention an uncle who can communicate with Mazu.

But what Lin Hai did later made him feel chilled. After all, he had been the eldest brother for several years and was quite sensitive to human affairs.He felt that Lin Hai did not treat him as a family member, but was deliberately wary of him and suppressed him, so he felt very uncomfortable.

After Lin Hai spoke, Shibi still didn't respond for a long time, so he had no choice but to continue: "After returning from Hirado, you and I must act separately. If you also become the palm seal Qianhu, we won't be able to move as freely as we do now."

At this moment, Shibi felt something coming out. Did Lin Hai have something urgent that he had to hand over to him?There was a slight movement in his heart. Maybe he had a misunderstanding. Could it be that his sister-in-law didn't want to suppress him, but she didn't agree to donate the official position for him because she trusted him?
However, he had been making a bad face to Lin Hai all afternoon, and now he was a little embarrassed. He said dryly: "Last time, you said that the family wanted to do things together, and now you are talking about doing things separately."

Lin Hai said sincerely: "After returning from Pingdo, I cannot leave Zhoushan for a long time. I have to take care of the relationship between the officialdom and the Wu family. But I need to send someone to Haojing to buy ships and cannons. Apart from you Apart from this, I really can’t find anyone else who can entrust me with so much money.”

Shi Bi said with a cold face: "Why do you have to go to Haojing? You can't buy a boat in Zhejiang and Fujian? Besides, how much is a boat worth? Why don't you let me go there?"

Lin Hai shook his head: "It's not just one ship. I want to buy ten old lock ships as big as the Bowang. Of course, I will also bring back a batch of goods and recruit some people. Then I will ask Miguel to come with you. Go, you need to be on board to take charge of this matter, otherwise I won’t trust you.”

Shi Bi obviously didn't believe it: "Ten Bowang numbers, that's not 10,000+ taels of silver? You still have to bring goods, how can we get so much money?"

Lin Haidao: "It will happen soon. This is the second thing I want to tell you. In the future, when we do business without capital, we cannot share it equally with our brothers like before. The rules must be changed, and they must be changed drastically. "

Shi Bi didn't react for a moment and said blankly: "What do you mean by this?"

Lin Hai smiled and said: "This means that the money to buy the boat has to be robbed. Brother, we are about to do something big. If we split it with the brothers then, we will lose a lot."

This... Shi Bi was dumbfounded. He had never dared to think of such a large business without capital in the past. He could not even imagine that any maritime merchant would bring so much money or goods at one time.This is not really because he is short-sighted. In this era, except for Li Dan and other top sea merchants, basically only the Western devils have this strength. In this case, the latter usually use the fully armed large Galen ships. , otherwise you will lose a lot if someone robs you.

"At least 20 taels, maybe more." Lin Hai said, whispering to the stone wall, "The Concubine Tianfei told me this, and I haven't told anyone yet..."

After hearing this, Shi Bi could no longer keep a straight face and stood up uncontrollably: "Seriously?"

After seeing Lin Hai nodding, Shi Bi walked back and forth excitedly in the official hall, laughing and gritting his teeth. His facial expression could be described as ferocious.After a long while, he sat down and said: "This is a huge event that will break the heavens. Once it happens, the Yamen will arrest us from heaven to earth."

Lin Hai said calmly: "Wealth is gained through danger. My uncle is used to doing business without capital. Why are you so courageous this time? Listen to what you said, you don't dare to do this anymore?"

Shi Bi was provoked by him and blurted out: "Do it! If you don't do it, it will be your grandson."

He fully understood that the reason why Lin Hai insisted on paying money to his brothers was to change the previous pattern of sharing the spoils.If the 20 taels of silver were really divided, everyone on the Bowang would become a rich man. At least they would lose their spirit, and at worst they would simply break up. Who would work for them in the future?

Shi Bi knew that he had wrongly blamed Lin Hai, but as an uncle, he was too embarrassed to admit his mistake. He just said: "You gave money to the brothers this afternoon, just because you want to follow today's rules in the future?"

Lin Hai smiled and said: "Today's reward is considered as a reward. From now on, brothers will work with us. In addition to wages and reward, you can also get interest."

Shi Bi asked in confusion: "What interest rate?"

"It's just dividends. Have you ever heard of top stocks?" Seeing Shi Bi's confused look, Lin Hai had no choice but to explain in detail this system invented by Shanxi merchants.

Then, he detailed his plans for the next few years, including establishing a colony in Dongpan, establishing a joint-stock company, driving the Dutch out of Southeast Asia, and monopolizing trade with Japan and the West.

Shi Bi's mouth went dry after hearing this. Many of the details were beyond his cognitive boundaries, but at least he had a rough idea of ​​what it would be like if all of this became a reality.

For example, Lin Hai told him that Mazu said there was a big gold mine in Dongfan, Mazu said the silver came from Japan and Luzon, Mazu said the Spice Islands occupied by Hongmao...

Shibi felt a sense of déjà vu. He still remembered the first time he had a drink with Lin Hai, and also listened to a bunch of heavenly books about Dongfan's deerskin, gold sand, and sulfur.It has only been a few months now, but they have already made tens of thousands of taels of silver from deerskin and gold sand, and there are still three hundred loads of sulfur lying on the boat...

After seeing off Shibi, who was full of excitement and head full of paste, Lin Hai couldn't fall asleep listening to the sound of the river waves for a long time, and the blood in his chest was rushing like the surging Yangtze River.

This is a river that has witnessed 5000 years of glory. She is the blood of this ancient civilization. How can it allow the armored ships of the nouveau riche to run rampant?

(End of this chapter)