Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1139 Looking for Weaknesses
She sat on the deck at the stern, pretending to lower her head to adjust the fishing nets, and observed the Australian port from under her bamboo hat.

The main ports where Australians anchor many large ships are not allowed to enter civilian ships, just as their main cities may be entered by outsiders.

Only a small area in the west of the city is open to civilian ships and outsiders. A small natural port was refurbished, and a street was built around the port as a commercial area.

Anyone can come in and out of this business district and do business here.Although it is also surrounded by fences and moats, it is separated from the main city by moats, and you must pass guard posts and suspension bridges to enter the main city-Australians are very wary of outsiders.

Li Siya has already observed that on the top of Qishan Mountain, the Australians have set up forts and towers.The breast sister said that their cannons have a great range, and it seems to be true-otherwise they would not have set up a fort on the top of the mountain.

Just seeing the size and strength of the Australians from the sea, Li Siya knew that no one in East Asia could destroy this city with a "positive attack".On the island of Taiwan, whether it is the Dutch, the southern Fujian immigrant group or the Spaniards far away in the north of the island, they are all insignificant.

It is too difficult to make the Dutch and the Australians turn their faces.

Li Siya's confidence was a little shaken.But it soon occurred to her that the entire East India Company was behind the Dutch.If they can really anger the Dutch and make them realize that the existence of the Australians is a life-and-death relationship, they will definitely mobilize all their strength to fight the Australians to the death.

To do this, you have to look at your own wrist and ability.

"We are going to berth at the port." The captain of the ship reminded her loudly.

Li Siya nodded.

The fishing boat quickly entered the port—because the fishing license flag issued by the coast guard was flying on the boat, no one came to ask questions, and the small fishing boat soon moored to the trestle.

The pier is full of rattan baskets and wooden boxes full of catches, and fish scales and small fish and shrimps are scattered on the ground.A strong fishy smell filled the air.From time to time, men or women, in groups of two, walked across the trestle bridge with heavy catches still dripping with sea water.

A large wooden house with a thatched roof not far from the trestle bridge is the purchase point of the fishery cooperative.Fishing taxes are also collected here.There is a large row of "floor scales" at the door - this is the first time Li Siya has seen this kind of scales installed on the ground.What she has seen the most on the coast of East Asia is the Chinese boom scale.No matter in Macau or Batavia, Chinese merchants are always weighing various goods with steelyards of different sizes to buy and sell.So much so that the Dutch and the British had to accept their weights and measures at some point.

The fishermen put their catches on the scales, and the scales were quickly reported in taels after moving them.The person who supervised the harvest looked at the catch, and quickly reported the name and grade of the catch: "First Class", "Second Class", "Extra Class", "Extraordinary"...

On a large blackboard next to it was written a price list of various catch types and grades. Li Siya felt that it was worthless because almost no fishermen could read.This concept of grading purchases according to species also exists in traditional Chinese fishing pens, but the fishery owners take advantage of the fact that the fishermen are all illiterate and rely heavily on small loans provided by the fishing pens, and often cheat at will.The best fish and shrimp are often sold at the end of the day when they are suppressed to an extremely cheap level.Sometimes there is a good harvest at sea, and as soon as the boat docks, the fishing pens here will immediately close their doors and stop harvesting, so as to lower the price.

Li Siya didn't come here to investigate the fishery, but she was very sensitive and knew that this was a way for the Australians to win people's hearts. "Price based on quality" and "fair trade", if these two points can be achieved, a large part of the hearts of the people can be won immediately.Coastal fishermen, in particular, have been at the bottom of the food chain of "buy high and sell low" for a long time, enduring layers of exploitation, often catching a lot of fish but not enough to eat a few meals.

Australians are well-deserved for their ability to deceive people. No wonder so many fishermen come here, not only fishermen from Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and other places, but also many fishermen with a Cantonese accent.Li Siya thought to herself, sometimes when I chatted with my baby girl, I found that she also said good things about the Australians from time to time, praising them for their "capability and kindness".

With such mixed feelings, she walked along the street.On one side of the fishing shop is a shop that sells fishing gear, grain, lamp oil, cloth and other daily necessities needed by fishermen. The shop is very large.There are a wide variety of products.Li Siya is not interested in this, but it can be seen that the fishermen are very interested in this place. From time to time, some people come and go here to buy goods with the money they just got, and they return with a full load.

There is a bulletin board next to the store, with a large notice posted, and a person next to him holding a loudspeaker and talking loudly, surrounded by a circle of people.Li Siya originally wanted to read the notice, but suddenly realized that she was a Yugu now, so she stopped and listened behind the crowd.

It turned out that the notice posted was a recruitment notice. The Australians were recruiting sailors and hired labor. Anyone who was willing to come could help resettle their families and give them houses.

"...Come with the whole family, we have enough houses and food!" The person shouting with a loudspeaker passionately shouted in Hokkien, "The old people, children, and women in the family can all work to make money!"

In order to replenish enough sailors for the rapidly expanding fleet, the Navy picked up the idea of ​​fishermen fishing here.Although the results of the recruitment were not very remarkable, hundreds of people were recruited.The navy has set up a cadet teaching team locally to train these new recruits.

The Australians are recruiting sailors. Could it be that they are preparing for war?Li Siya thought to herself, whether it's true or not, this sign is a good excuse.She was contemplating when she suddenly heard someone yelling in Hokkien: "This girl, go slowly!"

Li Siya was taken aback, she didn't expect someone here to stop her, so she quickly forced herself to calm down.At this time, a fat middle-aged woman came, wearing the kind of blue cloth short-sleeved trousers and jacket that the women under the Australians often wear, with a smile on her face.

"Girl, where are you from?" The fat woman looked familiar, and took her hand first.

Li Siya made a shy look, lowered her head and said, "Don't do anything, aunt, my family is from Zhao'an County."

"I can't see that there are talents like girls in Zhao'an County!" The fat woman looked her up and down several times, and she praised Li Siya with the intention of swallowing her alive.Li Siya couldn't help being frightened: Although she painted her face black and braided her hair in braids to conceal her Portuguese ancestry, her nose was taller than ordinary women and her appearance was different from ordinary people. You can't hide it with makeup.In this way, it is easy to reveal flaws when people look closely.I was secretly anxious, in case of being exposed, this is the territory of the Australians, and I would definitely not be able to walk around if I was caught-not to mention, the fact that I kidnapped Chairman Wen back then was enough to be caught by the scene. The Australians were cut to pieces.

She suppressed her fear and said with a calm smile: "Mother, don't cancel the slave's house, the slave's house has to buy things and go back to the boat..."

The fat woman nodded repeatedly and said: "I know, I know, you are the daughter of a fisherman at first glance. Every day, you come and go in the wind and waves. It's rare that you are a good-looking talent. Now my aunt has a good place to go, and I guarantee you and your whole family can enjoy it." Endless..." She was rambling on, but Li Siya had already understood that this fat woman was a human being.

This kind of people only search for "talents" among the daughters of poor and small families in the streets of the downtown area. After inquiring about the specific details, they will match up with the big families who have requirements for concubines and maidservants.

Didn't expect it to be here too!She secretly wondered, how could there be a rich family here?However, she immediately understood: Could it be that she is buying maids for Australians?

I just heard the other party continue to say: "...the Australian masters are going to buy maids now. I think you are tall and slender, and the height of your eyebrows and eyes are very suitable for their requirements. If you are interested, come here with your family The deed is——Your family is from southern Fujian, and you go fishing here, you should know the credit and skills of Australians, and being a maid for them is more noble than ordinary girls from middle-class families, and your family members can It's a lot of glory..." As if she was afraid that she wouldn't believe it, the fat woman showed her identity card. "Girl, look, ma'am, I'm a real clerk in the human resources department in Australia. If I'm in Daming, I'm still considered an 'uninfluential'..."

Fortunately, Guo Huaiyi's people came at this time, and Li Siya took the opportunity to get rid of him.She pretended to be shopping and wandered around the street again: the streets of the market were very short, and apart from the fishing agency’s purchasing stations and shops, there was only one ship repairing yard that provided boat repairing services for fishermen, and one that bought and sold deer. Pishanhuo is a shop that sells daily necessities and a restaurant that provides simple meals.Going further inside is the restricted area blocked by wooden fences.Looking in from the outside, it seems to be warehouses and workshops.Catch of all kinds appears to be transported inside to be processed.Several red chimneys stood upright and emitted black smoke, and a strange smell of rotten fish and rotten shrimp mixed with soot came from time to time.

The people who come to this market, apart from the fishermen, are some nearby aborigines and hunters of the Han nationality.Almost all of them came to sell deerskin and venison, and they also bought grain, salt and daily groceries here.

Li Siya walked back and forth along the street twice, but didn't find anything worth taking advantage of.It seems to be open and relaxed here: there are only some young men with sticks on the street to maintain order, and no soldiers with knives and guns can be seen, but the specific defensive measures are completely invisible, obviously loose on the outside and tight on the inside.If you raid from the sea, you still have to risk the threat of enemy artillery fire, and the opponent's fleet is close at hand, I am afraid there is no chance at all.

(End of this chapter)