Capital Datang

Niuchou Inner Harbor on the west side of Keelung Port is a dedicated military port for Li Min’s navy. All military ships are moored here. On the outer port connected to Keelung Port, there are three layers of water fortresses to prevent outsiders from intruding.

Niuchou Port is a military port, so there is nothing to say about its safety. Therefore, the land on both sides of the water villages in the port has been bought by many merchants to build some warehouses, shipping companies, etc., and the closer the water villages are , the more expensive the land price, so the closer the shops are to the water village, the stronger their financial resources will be.

There is an isolated area of ​​about [-] meters between the water village and the surrounding shops. The first shop on the left side of the isolated area is a three-story building that occupies a large area. The whole body is made of masonry and cement, which looks extremely solid.In fact, most of the houses in this port are made of bricks and stones, and very few of them are made of traditional wood. This is mainly because Taiwan is very windy, especially typhoons will occasionally land, so the houses here must be built very solidly and beautifully. It doesn't seem very important anymore.

On the main entrance of this three-story building, there is a tall plaque with four big characters "Slave Catching Association" written on it.This is Keelung City, and it is also an industry association spontaneously formed by all slave hunting teams on Taiwan Island. It has some official background behind it, but when it comes to the outside world, it is just a non-governmental organization and has no relationship with "government" agencies.

Today's slave hunting association is very lively. The entire island of Taiwan, large and small slave hunting teams, all send their representatives here. Everyone gathers together, drinking and eating meat.However, the protagonists of today's banquet are not them, but a group of people sitting in the middle of the banquet, mainly a young man under 20 years old.He is dealing with the toasts of the people around him.Capital Datang 414

The young man surrounded in the middle was tall and tall, although his complexion was slightly dark.But the appearance is very gentle, and he is wearing a robe.He looks like a reader.But if he really regarded him as a scholar, it would be a big mistake.This young man's real name was Lu Wan, and he grew up in a pirate's den. Although he looked like a scholar, he was an out-and-out pirate leader.

Before Li Yin came to Taiwan, this young man was also a well-known No. [-] person on the island of Taiwan, because he looked gentle, and he was also very eager to learn, and he had read some of the Four Books and Five Classics.Knowing etiquette, righteousness and shame, when robbing at sea, he only seeks money and does not kill people. His style is somewhat similar to that of Lu Qing and the others. No. Sea gentleman.

Lu Wan is a man capable of writing and martial arts, and he is considered a rare talent. When Li Yin sent Lu Qing to sweep Taiwan Island.Lu Wan knew that he was not his opponent, so he voluntarily surrendered, but he was unwilling to be seconded, so later when Lu Qing integrated the navy.Although he was invited to serve in the navy, it was a pity that he refused.Instead, he took a group of old brothers and started a business of catching slaves and selling slaves.Although it was harder than being a pirate before, at least I could have a stable meal.And the income is more stable.

"Mr. Lu, you are going on a long voyage, and you don't know when you will come back after you go. My brother is a rough man, and he doesn't know how to say polite words. I can only offer you a bowl here and wish you a safe return. !” A middle-aged man in brocade robe stood up and said.Although the clothes on this man's body are very luxurious, but the whole person is tall and thick, his face is full of flesh, no matter how he looks like a rich man, he looks like Lu Wan's colleagues.

The man in brocade clothes who spoke was named Xu Sandao, and he was originally a pirate on the island. Since Taiwan fell into the hands of Li Yin, he turned the pirate ship in his hand into a slave ship. The slave trader is also one of the stewards of the slave catcher association.

"Thank you brother Xu for the good wine, I'll do it first!" Lu Wan and Xu Sandao were old acquaintances before, so when they saw him toasting, they naturally drank it all in one gulp.When the others saw Lu Wan being so forthright, they all applauded loudly together, and stood up to toast one after another. As a result, although Lu Wan's alcohol capacity was good, he couldn't drink so many people. Fortunately, he had many brothers by his side. They all blocked the wine for their eldest brother, but despite this, Lu Wan and his party were still fed enough.

Seeing this situation, Yan Bei, who had been sitting in the main seat without speaking, smiled and said, "Everyone, brothers Lu and the others are going to set sail tomorrow, and today is a farewell banquet for them, so please don't force it!" Too ruthless, otherwise, if Brother Lu and the others cannot get up tomorrow, it will delay the big event!"

Since the last time he came to Taiwan with Li Yin, Yanbei has been staying here. At the beginning, he opened up a large plantation for his family, but later found that there was a shortage of manpower, so he started his old business in Dengzhou. It is slave hunting.It can be said that the slave hunting industry in Dengzhou was developed by him at the beginning, and now he has resumed the old industry in Taiwan, which can be said to be extremely handy.In just one year, he integrated the slave hunting industry on the entire island, and also established the slave hunting association, of which he served as the president.Of course, the matter of slave arrest developed so smoothly, which is also inseparable from Li Yin's strong support.

Hearing the chairman's words, the people below no longer made things difficult for Lu Wan and his group, but discussed in groups of twos and twos what they should do if Lu Wan's trip was successful, so as to get the most benefit from it.

Looking at the people discussing below, Yan Bei nodded vigorously, then walked up to Lu Wan who had already drunk, raised his teacup and said, "Brother Lu, you have a heavy responsibility this time. , and I drank a lot of wine just now, the president will no longer toast you, but here is a cup of clear tea, please drink it, it can be regarded as me, the president, using tea instead of wine to enlighten tomorrow See you off, brothers of Hang!"

When Lu Wan saw that the president personally respected him, he immediately felt a little flattered. He knew that the president Yan in front of him was of noble birth, and he had served as the chief historian of the Qi Palace before, and he was even a friend of His Royal Highness Qi. , in his eyes, he is a great big shot. When he usually meets Yan Bei, he doesn't even dare to take the initiative to talk to him.

Thinking of this, Lu Wan excitedly took the teacup and drank it down, then bowed and said, "Thank you, President, for the tea! Also, please rest assured, the President, the villain will definitely complete the task assigned to us by the association!"

Hearing Lu Wan's assurance, Yan Bei also nodded slightly, patted him on the shoulder mǎnyi and said, "Brother Lu, you are the person with the best navigation skills in our association, and you also know how to draw nautical charts. You have rich experience, so you are the best candidate for this time, and the source of slaves for our association in the future will depend entirely on your exploration this time!"

Regarding Yan Bei's praise, Lu Wan naturally said a few more words of modesty, and finally sat down.

Although Lu Wan is young, but he has both civil and military skills, coupled with his rich sailing experience in Shanghai, he can be said to be a rare sailing talent.This time he is responsible for the task of the Slave Catching Association. He will take a fleet of five large ships and several small boats, set sail from Keelung Port in Taiwan, and then head south after passing through Java. how far.And Lu Wan had to draw a chart of the sea along the way, and mark the development value of the islands he encountered.

Taiwan's plantation economy is booming, and the sugar-based planting industry has been greatly developed. Countless rich and nobles in the Tang Dynasty sent people to invest and set up large-scale plantations.The development of plantations led to the prosperity of the slave trade.Now the source of slaves in Taiwan is mainly from the nearest Java, but the number of natives on Java is limited. With the crazy slave hunting during this period, it has become increasingly unable to meet the needs of Taiwan.

After Yanbei saw this situation, he immediately decided to open up a new source of slaves. According to the extremely inaccurate world map drawn by Li Min, Java is a series of islands to the south. The maritime merchants confirmed it, and they also discovered that there are a large number of natives living on these islands. Although there are many cannibals among these natives, there are also many docile natives, so Yanbei hit his mind. on these natives.

However, slave hunting is also a matter of doing business. They need an accurate chart, and they need to know the number and temperament of the natives on each island.If Yanbei wanted to go to the south of Java to catch slaves, he had to send a fleet to find out the situation there first, and draw a chart for the future slave hunting operations of the slave fleet, and Lu Wan was The explorer they carefully selected from within the Slave Catching Association, and the fleet he led was also carefully built by all members of the association. Although it was not as equipped and qualified as Li Yin's regular navy, it was not far behind.

After toasting a few glasses of wine with all the members, Yan Bei returned to his office on the third floor under the pretext of running out of alcohol, where there were already two people waiting for him.Capital Datang 414

"Brother Cui and Brother Wang, I've kept you two waiting for so long, forgive me!" Yan Bei clasped his fists at the two who were sitting sipping tea as soon as he entered.These two are Li Yin's old acquaintances, namely Cui Yu and Wang Kuang. When Li Yin accompanied Empress Xiao to Tainan, he lived in their plantation for a while, and as Li Yin's friend, Naturally, they also knew Yan Bei.

Seeing Yanbei coming in, Wang Kuang first smiled and said: "Brother Yan, if you feel guilty, why not bring a few more boats of slaves to us, we will definitely buy them at the current price, and we will definitely not let you suffer, Brother Yan."

"That's right, Brother Yan, you are in charge of all the slave trades on the island. Surely this trivial matter is not a problem?" Cui Yu continued laughing.

"No problem, what is this trivial matter, as long as Brother Cui and Brother Wang open their mouths, I can transport any slaves you want!" Yan Bei also agreed very boldly. As the president of the association, this small matter Naturally.

Wang Kuang and Cui Yu also knew that this matter was nothing, so they were not polite to Yan Bei, and after casually chatting a few more gossips, Wang Kuang finally said: "Brother Yan, the younger brothers are here this time. I have a big deal to discuss with you, but I don’t know if you have the guts to take it?” (To be continued.)