Chapter 1508 (￣～￣) Chewing!
The two medium-sized wooden sailboats Chunshen and Huachang of the Li family's fleet returned to Hangzhou smoothly within a few days, and after submitting the more than 20 Japanese pirate prisoners to the Ming government, they were awarded by the government.
Of course, the rewards are just a few words of encouragement verbally, money or other substantive rewards, don't even think about it!
Because the current government of the Ming Dynasty did not pay attention to the Japanese pirates at all. Apart from making money for themselves, they were more troubled by the barbarians outside the pass and the intruders in the northwest. Where is the time to take care of the barbarians, Japanese pirates, and business travelers outside the sea?
As for matters such as the Li family's fleet attacking Japanese pirates without authorization, it is even less of their business.
Anyway, the Daming government along the coast will not pay money, people or boats, and the Li family can just fight if they want to. If something happens, the Li family will naturally be the one to take the blame. Once they get benefits, such as catching a group of Japanese pirates this time, it will be the merits of their Hangzhou government, so why not do it?
"Admiral!"
"We're back!"
In Li's private house with the style of a Suzhou garden, Li Huamei, who had been in Hong Kong for two full days, finally waited for the return of her foreign employees (followers).
"!!"
"James, there is still a long time to go, are you back?"
"And Yi An..."
"Everyone has worked hard, sit down and have a cup of tea!"
Seeing the subordinates come back one by one, Li Huamei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then stretched out her hand to signal everyone to sit down first.
"how?"
"How are you handling the goods you brought back and the Shibo Department?"
That's right, this is what Li Huamei cares most about.
Because they are armed caravans, the goods are the main prerequisite for the survival and development of her Li family fleet!
If the goods can't be handled, then they have no money, and if there is no money, no one is willing to go to sea with their Li family to fight Japanese pirates, go south for trade, etc., let alone want to travel across the world.
The reason why Li Huamei is determined to fight against Japanese pirates is that
There is no reason why there is a risk of decapitation, such as privately recruiting sailors, privately casting (purchasing) artillery, buying weapons, etc., even at the risk of risk.
She was born in the Central Plains, and grew up in the army in her early years. Her father was originally a captain of the local fleet (Navy Division) of the Ming Dynasty, but he was killed in battle against Japanese pirates many years ago. He forged a sworn feud with the Japanese pirates!
It was also shortly after her father was killed in battle and the navy was destroyed, she, who was not resentful of the inaction of the government, resolutely took over her father's burden, even though she was not recognized by the Ming government, she stubbornly organized the Li family boat Team, personally served as the admiral, responsible for fighting against Japanese pirates.
So far, she has two medium-sized armed merchant ships (Fuchuan type) that can be used. On weekdays, they not only need to travel around the sea to do business and make money, but also need to be always ready to fight against the Japanese pirates who invaded the Daming Sea. What she relies on is just those like-minded subordinates in front of her who are willing to follow her.
In addition to James Ludway, Xingjiu Shiraki, and Yi'an Dukov who just came back, there are also adjutants Yang Xien and Charlie De Huisen who have been standing aside.
Yang Xi'en was originally her father's comrade-in-arms, and now she is the housekeeper of the Li family and her adjutant. He has always taken good care of her, and has always taught her the skills of fighting at sea and commanding subordinates.
Of course, the above things are not important. What Li Huamei wants to know more now is of course the issue of the delivery of goods, because the sale of goods cannot bypass the government and the Shipping Department. But it was really a waste of time.
"fine!"
"all the best!"
"Don't worry admiral, as I said earlier, bribery is very effective!"
"Now Hangzhou has been settled by us, and the goods can be sold normally in the future. I just went to make an agreement with those officials. In the future, 3% of the transaction value will be paid on time as a special 'tax', and The fleet only needs to ensure that it is disguised as a foreign ship every time it returns, and those officials, including those in the navy, will turn a blind eye."
Seeing Li Huamei looking towards him, Yi'an Dukov spoke in fluent Chinese bit by bit.
"Bribe?"
"Sure enough, it's exactly what I thought..."
"well!"
"Nowadays, the Daming navy exists in name only, and has long lost its combat effectiveness. However, the Northwest and the Central Plains have been suffering from famine and military disasters for years. It is said that the intruders are almost hitting the Gyeonggi area. Right now, the Ming Empire is troubled by internal and external troubles, but those people don't You want to make progress, but you only care about asking us for bribes..."
"What happened to this imperial court?"
As she spoke, Li Huamei couldn't help feeling a little sad, she just sighed and lowered her head, not knowing what to say.
Having been in contact with the world, she knows that all countries in the world are now busy competing for maritime hegemony, relying on maritime trade and plunder to develop and grow themselves, and ship technology, artillery, guns and other technologies are constantly improving. Chinese people go overseas to do business, but private individuals are still not allowed to go to sea. In addition, Japanese pirates ravage the sea area, the sea ban policy is strict, and the sea defense is becoming increasingly weak...
To be honest, even if it was Li Huamei herself, if it wasn't for Yi An, James, Charlie De and other foreigners as a cover, she disguised her Li family fleet as foreign ships to pay tribute and trade, and also attacked the government and the Shi Ship Department. If Xu Yizhong bribed her, I'm afraid her boat wouldn't even be able to enter the pier, right?
"Admiral..."
"Don't think about it too much. Now we can travel freely with a little money, which is already considered very good."
"Your Great Ming Empire has such a large territory, there are some things that you and I cannot easily interfere with."
"Don't worry, as long as they don't interfere with our business, it won't be long. With the convenience of maritime trade, I can be sure that I will grow up quickly. By then, expelling the Japanese pirates will be nothing more than a trivial matter."
Seeing the sad look on Li Huamei's face, Yi'an Dukov, who has a lot of research on Central Plains culture, hurriedly tried to persuade her.
"Ah!"
"I know……"
Nodding her head, Li Huamei quickly calmed down.
After all, it doesn't matter whether she can figure it out or not. Although the Ming Dynasty used to be prosperous and prosperous for a while, after all these years of natural and man-made disasters, after eunuchs came to power, chaos in the court and riots, now The chaos in the imperial court is afraid that it will become more and more serious, all she can do is adapt.
That is to say, the coastal side has not been poisoned by intruders. Now those places in the northwest where there are intruders, I am afraid that there will be thousands of miles away, and once the intruders ravage the coast, let alone doing business by then, I am afraid that even The goods could not be sold or bought, that was the last thing Li Huamei wanted to see.
"That's all! It's better not to think about those things, as long as the transaction can go smoothly, let them do everything!"
"correct!"
"Where's that little guy Annie?"
At this time, Li Huamei thought of the little blond girl they brought back.
She investigated, and it seems that the little guy was still called a 'witch' by those pirate captives? Moreover, the three leaders of the pirates were burned to death by her?
In fact, Li Huamei was not too willing to believe that kind of thing. In her opinion, that little guy was just a weird little girl with superb swordsmanship, magical marksmanship and some tricks to deceive her eyes.
As for where the other party came from and which country he was from, she didn't know.
Because, although she had been together for a few days and she asked several times, she couldn't understand what the other party said every time. From Li Huamei's point of view, maybe even the other party didn't understand. After all, she was just a child, maybe However, when they travel far and wide in the future, it may not be possible to find some clues from other places?
When the time comes, just send the other party home directly, it doesn't seem to be a big deal.
"Ask Annie?"
"The old man saw her fishing for our family's koi in the backyard in the morning. At this hour, maybe she has already gone out to eat and drink?"
"I heard that the little guy has been going to the restaurant every day for the past two days. The shopkeeper Liu of Zuichunlou has sent someone to tell the old man two or three times, telling us not to give the child too much money indiscriminately, and not to let her go out alone. If you run around, you might be abducted someday!"
"I don't know where her money came from..."
As he spoke, Yang Xien kept looking at Li Huamei, who was a little startled, with suspicious eyes.
Obviously, in Yang Xien's view, in this huge Li's mansion, anyone who can make the decision and spend a lot of gold and silver on that little girl, except Li Huamei, the eldest lady of the Li family and the admiral of the fleet, will never There will be a second person.
These days, that little guy lives with his young lady even for a living, not to mention how much relationship there is, maybe at some point, even the young lady's dowry will be thrown out and squandered?
"Uncle Yang..."
"I assure you, I didn't give Annie any money!"
"She always seems to be able to conjure up money..."
"Could it be that it's really the kind of magic touch?"
As she spoke, Li Huamei couldn't help but feel a little suspicious, and began to ponder and ponder wildly.
"Miss, what did you say?"
Yang Xi'en didn't hear Li Huamei's last few words clearly, and then hurriedly asked.
"ah!"
"No! Nothing!"
Shaking her head, since she couldn't figure it out, Li Huamei simply stopped thinking about it, and looked at James Ludway and Xingjiu Shiraki at the side.
"James, there is still a long time to go. It's not good to let Annie run around. Can any of you find her?"
"If she gets lost, it will be a trouble."
Shaking her head, since today's official business has been dealt with, and knowing that the goods have been sold and traded normally, Li Huamei doesn't plan to stay on the shore for too long, and they will go to sea tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at the latest, so it's better to hurry up and send that little girl to the sea. It would be better if the guy was found.
"I can't lose it!"
"Miss, are you afraid you don't know?"
"The little guy hasn't been in Hangzhou for long, and she has almost touched those restaurants, such as Zuichunlou, Lanting Pavilion, Gulixiang or Doulaofang. She has already eaten all over, even She found all those places that the old man didn't know about, so how could she get lost?"
"When she is full, she will come back by herself."
Before James and Xingjiu could speak, Yang Xi'en said with a smile.
"But……"
"It's not good for her to be a little girl from a foreign country, and there are a lot of hooligans in the city. If she doesn't care about the severity of her actions, it will always be a trouble."
Yes, since Anne once subdued a whole ship of Japanese pirates by herself, Li Huamei was not too worried about the safety of that little guy, but she had to think more about others, in case someone provoked that little guy , God knows what will happen!
Now in the city, not at sea!
Although the current world is not peaceful, and the Ming Empire seems to be on the verge of collapse, it may collapse one day, but no matter what, there are kings in the city, even bad guys and ruffians must not be killed like the sea After throwing it into the sea, they have to consider all aspects of things.
"Well……"
"makes sense!"
"Well, there's no need for James and Xingjiu to go. It's not easy for them two foreigners to talk. It's better for the old man to find her in person."
"Don't wait for me for lunch, I'll have a good meal with that little girl after I find her!"
After finishing speaking, I feel that I don’t have any important things to do when I stay at home, and I think that if I go out to find someone, I can have a big meal, it’s better than staying in Li’s mansion and eating those clear soups that I’ve been tired of for a long time Yang Xi'en, who was weaker than the water, lit up his eyes, clapped his hands, and directly rejected Li Huamei's proposal to let James and Xing Jiu go out to find someone, and then waved his sleeves first and walked out of the hall without hesitation.
"..."
"The old man is really cunning!"
"Hmm! Agreed!"
"Hey! Xingjiu, I heard that those Japanese pirates are going to drag down Caishikou and behead them in a few days. Are you okay?"
"Huh? James, why do you ask that?"
"It's nothing, after all, they are your people..."
"No!"
"They are pirates who plundered the coast. They deserve to die. They are despised by us warriors!"
"..."
"alright!"
"Everyone, go prepare. Since Annie and Uncle Yang are not coming back, let's have lunch early!"
Without waiting for James and Xingjiu to continue talking about those bloody things, Li Huamei interrupted their topic, then nodded after seeing that everyone had nothing to say, and walked towards the backyard of the Li Mansion first, only giving Everyone in the living room left a faint fragrance like peony flowers.
...
At this time, in a restaurant in Hangzhou, a little girl was slapping the table vigorously.
ψ(｀～′)o: from the shopkeeper! Here are a few more good dishes, they are not short of money!
Σ(°△ °|||)︴: There are more! Take out all your steamed buns, steamed buns, rice, etc. and distribute them to those beggars, and count them on their accounts, let them take them away, they are dirty and smelly, and hinder this mushroom from eating up!
(ˉ▽￣～)Cut~~: People don’t care if they are refugees or beggars...
?(?~?,)?: By the way, why isn’t the spicy ‘Dongpo Pork’ cured yet?
(?╭╮?): Then go to the West Lake vinegar fish first... If you dare to fool others with fish from other places, they will burn your West Lake dry, so that you will never be able to eat West Lake fish! !
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