Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1236 Business
As soon as he landed, several people came to greet him with a very respectful attitude.But no one spoke, and the strong man remained silent.He nodded only after someone bowed his head and said something to him.

Guided by someone in front, the strong man and his entourage walked along the path carved out in the dense jungle.After walking about half a mile, he stopped.In front of him was a simple village, no different from the villages of the so-called aborigines living in similar environments around the world.What is different is that there are many wooden poles standing on this stockade, and a dead human head is poked on each pole.

The burly man was indifferent to this horrific scene.At the gate of the village, there were many armed men standing guard. Although these men were dressed in rags, their solid stature and sophisticated weapons showed that they were by no means ordinary fishermen at sea.

A group of people were brought into the stockade. The ground in the stockade was stained with blood. Obviously, the "aboriginal people" here had been "cleared out" and the place was left to the new owner.

In the open field in front of a large thatched hut, a fire was burning in the firepit.A young man was sitting on a high chair, holding a bunch of grilled fish in his hand, and was feasting. When he saw the strong man coming, he smiled at him and pointed to another high chair next to the firepit—“Please sit down.” .

"Hello, Mr. Paul," the young man said in Japanese, leaning on the backrest with a careless look as if he was in his own home, "It seems that your journey is going well."
"Everything is going well," the strong man replied in a deep voice, also speaking in Japanese, "When will my reward be honored?"
"Hey!" The young man exclaimed pretending to be surprised, "You are a cruel person, you have no feelings, you only talk about business! You are also a devout Christian, can't you be like a brother in front of the common belief? ?”

"A devout Christian will not go to mass and burn incense to idols at the same time." The strong man called Mr. Paul said disdainfully, "I have done everything you asked me to do. Now you You have to pay me as agreed."

"You are such a candid man, you can talk straight when you have something to say!" The young man concealed his displeasure, "Let's talk serious! Apart from the issue of remuneration, I have a few important matters to discuss with you!"

"Give me the reward first." Mr. Paul said unequivocally, his eyes were almost gray, which meant he was cold and calm.

The young man motioned to his followers, and someone immediately brought a box.It was filled to the brim with Spanish pesos.

"This is the promised reward."

Paul reached into the box, took out a few silver coins from the bottom of his pocket, looked at them carefully, threw them back and nodded.Immediately a man came and closed the lid and took the box away.

"I will leave the ship to you. As for the sailors who drive the ship and how to use the cannons on it, I will also teach you how to choose one."

The young man said, "Now let's talk about the second thing. You said that you can make as much cannon as the Australians."

"Yes." Paul nodded, "As long as you can pay. And the patience to wait."

"I have money, but not enough patience."

"Then there must be more money."

"You are such a good merchant, not a pirate!" said the young man with a smile.

"Being a pirate is also a business. It's a good business. Let's put it this way, Mr. Feng, as long as the price is right, everything is easy to negotiate."

"You are really a special person." The person called Mr. Feng is Zheng Zhilong's younger brother Zheng Zhifeng.After the failure of the operation to mediate the relationship between the Dutch and the Australians, not only a large sum of money was lost, but the relationship between them and the Dutch also declined significantly.The Dutch seem to think they are behind it.

The brothers of the Zheng family racked their brains and couldn't understand what kind of magic the Australians used to convince the Dutch that they were the real murderers.It is not difficult to speculate that they used tricks, what is difficult is how they found clues and evidence in this state of "seamless, ironclad evidence".

However, neither the Australians nor the Dutch seem to be willing to publicize this matter.The economic and trade exchanges between the three parties are still going on.The ships of the Dutch and Australians still enter and leave the center and left as normal according to the trade agreement.The brothers of the Zheng family can easily imagine that the silence of the Australians is by no means swallowing their anger. They must be secretly planning revenge on the Zheng family.

Now that the Zheng family is competing with Liu Xiang for the control of foreign trade along the coast of Fujian, it is unbearable for them to prepare for such an enemy who is more fierce and dangerous than Liu Xiang at the same time.

The rise of the Australians in the Taiwan Strait in the past few years is obvious to all. Their huge sailboats and black speedboats that spit out black smoke and can sail against the wind and the current weigh heavily on their hearts like stones.

Although the Australians have not shown their ambitions for overseas trade for the time being, they are only satisfied with trading with Europeans along the coast, but they will not maintain such a large fleet for the purpose of playing a prestige in the Taiwan Strait.

There will always be a day when the Australians will fight to the death for maritime supremacy.Zheng Zhilong has no doubts about this.

The more it drags on, the worse it will be for him.The strength of the Australians continues to grow every moment.Guo Huaiyi’s report mentioned that the towns they established in Dagou sent refugees far more effectively than their years of colonization since Yan Siqi’s era.

Although the size of his fleet has the upper hand, the information collected from various sources, especially the information obtained from Li Siya, made Zheng Zhilong have a quite sober estimate of the strength of the Australians.If they fought face to face, his huge "fleet" would be vulnerable.At the beginning, several armed merchant ships of the Dutch were able to suppress his superior fleet in naval battles.He would not have been able to win against the Dutch if they had not been outnumbered and then managed to launch an attack in the bay, where it was advantageous to launch a fire attack.

Zheng Zhilong understands the advantages of European sea power in China's coastal areas better than anyone, not to mention the Australians who have faster ships and more powerful cannons than the Dutch and Spaniards.

To win, you have to be surprised.Launch a surprise attack, block the Australian fleet in the harbor, and attack with fireboats as they did against the Dutch.

But the Australians have too much advantage in ship guns.This has become a nightmare that the brothers of the Zheng family have been unable to let go of.

Fortunately, at this time, the ship returning from Manila brought them a message.A Japanese Chechitan came from Manila, who seemed to have mastered a lot of magic, and made many novel firearms. The Spaniards got the firearms designed and manufactured by him, and had already won many victories over the natives.For this reason, the Chechitan believer won the trust of the governor.

This news and the firearm he invented made Zheng Zhilong keenly aware of something, and he immediately sent Zheng Zhifeng to Manila to look for Qiezhidan.

The relationship between the Zheng family and the Spaniards was not very harmonious, but they were not hostile either.The Spanish colonial government is also extremely dependent on the Nanyang shipping routes under the control of the Zheng family, so Zheng Zhifeng's request was quickly satisfied-he met the legendary Chechidan-Paul Gaoshan.In the ensuing secret talks, the two sides reached the first cooperation agreement.

During this meeting, Zheng Zhifeng felt that Mr. Paul had a strong interest in Australians and knew much more than them.But he seemed to be hiding something, his eyes were flickering and he was unwilling to tell the truth.

Mr. Paul readily agreed to the suggestion that he should help deal with the Australians.

"As long as Mr. Feng can pay the price, he can talk about anything."

Of course the Zheng family has money.But when it comes to how to effectively deal with the Australians, the brothers of the Zheng family have no clear plan.It was Mr. Paul who suggested that since they are so in awe of Australian ship guns, it is better to capture an Australian ship first.Can understand Australian ships and guns most intuitively.So there was a battle to capture Gang Hai Xun No. 64.

This operation to seize the ship was planned from beginning to end by Mr. Paul, who brought the manpower and weapons from Manila, and even set up a secret camp on Xiaoliuqiu Island because of his suggestion.The Zheng family provided ships and intelligence support.

Seeing that the opponent so neatly seized a clipper from the Australian who is known to be strong and undefeated at sea, Zheng Zhifeng couldn't help but be convinced——Mr. Paul is really not a big talker.Not only can you make firearms, but you are also good at fighting!I couldn't help but feel solicited in my heart.

"...Can you make us the renju guns used by the Australians?" Zheng Zhifeng asked, "It's the kind on the ship you captured."

"Yes." Paul nodded without hesitation, "It's not difficult."

Seeing that the other party actually downplayed the manufacture of the "Australian lance" which is known as an "artifact", Zheng Zhifeng gasped. Is this bragging or a real stunt?

"Is this true?!"

"Of course it is true." Mr. Paul said, "but I have to make a statement first: I will not make them as flexible and light as they are, and I am afraid that it is impossible to shoot continuously for a long time. But there is no problem in making weapons with the same effect. "

"As long as it can be made." Zheng Zhifeng couldn't contain the excitement in his heart. In his opinion, the "Australian blunderbuss" is simply a magic weapon, and it is an important boost for the Australians to dominate the sea and land. If they can also get this magic weapon, plus Of the other cannons that Paul promised to manufacture for them, the Zheng family accounted for two of the four characters of boats, cannons, and strength.

As for the "Chuan Jian", they have obtained several European sailing ships from various sources, and they are still building large sailing ships themselves.Although these sailboats are Chinese-style, they are not much smaller than European ships in terms of size and tonnage.As long as you can equip enough Western or Australian cannons, you can compete with any enemy.

(End of this chapter)