Three days later, Fu Yong brought news that he had found some maritime merchants who were willing to open up shipping routes to the West.
Han Du also went to a restaurant owned by Fu Yongxuan as promised.
Fu Yong had been waiting for Han Du at the door for a long time, and when he saw Han Du coming, he hurriedly greeted him.
"Master Hou, they are all waiting upstairs."
Han Du nodded and walked ahead to the third floor. When he opened the door, he saw eight merchants standing inside the house, obviously waiting for him.
When the eight merchants saw Han Du coming in, they quickly bowed and said, "I'll pay my respects to the Marquis, little man."
"Everyone, get up." Han Du said calmly, walking to the empty upper seat and sitting down.
After taking a look at the eight people, they were all tall and short, fat and thin, all dressed in thin silk. In the Ming Dynasty, except for the Jiaofang Division, merchants were not allowed to wear silk and satin, but in Nanyang, all governor-general offices were
Turning a blind eye, no one would ask what the merchants were wearing. Even Lao Zhu acquiesced to this privilege because these merchants brought him huge taxes every year.
After Han Du saw a few people, he suddenly felt that they looked familiar, but now was not the time to ask, so he waved his hand and said: "Stop standing, sit down."
"Thank you Lord~"
After several people bowed to Han Du, they slowly sat down.
Including Fu Yong, nine people sat down around the table, looking at Han Du with longing eyes.
Han Du pondered for a while, then subconsciously tapped his fingers on the table a few times, and said: "I think Fu Yong must have told you about my purpose of coming to you, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Marquis, Brother Fu has told us carefully." One of them was wide and fat, and the silk on his body stretched his fat into circles. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and lowered his head.
Smiled and replied.
Han Du nodded slightly, suddenly looked confused, and asked: "Why do I see that you look familiar to me?"
Fu Yong quickly smiled and replied: "Master Hou, some of them went out to sea to do business in partnership with the villain, and some of them were met by the villain later. But Mr. Hou, don't worry, they all have a very rich net worth, and they also want to
I want to explore the idea of shipping routes.”
It turned out to be the case. Han Du suddenly realized that no wonder he looked familiar. At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He was indeed the first person to dare to go overseas to do business. Even if he has a fortune, he still has the courage to explore the road again.
Unlike some people who only want to be rich and contented. After making a little money, they don’t think about pioneering and enterprising, but just want to enjoy life in Wenwen Village.
The fat merchant wiped the sweat from both sides of his face, bowed with a smile and said: "Please don't give up, Lord Marquis, and support me more."
Since people are willing to take risks to support him, Han Du doesn't mind giving them reassurance. He waved his hand and said generously: "In Daming and Nanyang, I may not be able to protect you. But I
I promise you that you will not suffer any loss in the West.
People bully.”
"With these words from the Marquis, I am willing to go through fire and water for the Marquis!" Fu Yong immediately bowed his hand and made a solemn promise to Han Du.
Han Du nodded, and then said: "I am very pressed for time and will set off in five days. You should take advantage of these few days to prepare the goods and ships."
"No need to prepare." Fu Yong said immediately.
Han Du turned his head and looked at Fu Yong in confusion. If he didn't prepare goods, what would he exchange with others when he went to the West? You can't be a bachelor, right?
Of course, from Han Du's own heart, he didn't mind doing business without capital and robbing some kingdoms. But this was the harvest of the navy, and Han Du had never thought of distributing what belonged to the navy to these maritime merchants.
Seeing Han Du frowning, Fu Yong quickly explained: "Master Hou, I don't know. The villain has just come from the capital, and the goods are still on the ship in the port and have not been unloaded. Now that we have to follow Master Hou,
If we go to the West, our unloading skills will be improved, so we can go directly to the West and set off at any time."
Yes, the day I met Fu Yong, he went to the Governor's Mansion to pay taxes. Since he was paying taxes, it must be that he had goods that had just arrived at the old port.
Since these people's goods are neatly loaded on the ship in the port, it will be easy to handle.
However, Han Du then asked: "But your goods were originally shipped to the old port, and now they have to be shipped to the West. Is it appropriate?"
Han Du's eyes swept towards everyone.
The merchant on the right hand side spoke quickly and explained: "Don't worry, Mr. Hou, it's perfect for the goods that I'm waiting for to go to the West. Originally, the goods that I'm waiting for were also intended to be sold to those Western merchants, but now they're sold directly to the West.
You can even make a lot of money.”
It is certain to make a lot of money, after all, there are no middlemen to make the difference!
This person can sit in the same row as Fu Yong, and is obviously second only to Fu Yong in terms of strength among the nine people. Han Du did not feel offended when he spoke.
"In that case, there is no need for five days. Let's set off on time in three days." Han Du originally wanted to give them some time to prepare the goods, but now that they don't need it, Han Du naturally saves this time.
"You little man, please obey~"
Returning to the Governor's Mansion, Han Du reported the matter to Zhu Biao and suggested setting off in three days.
Zhu Biao nodded indifferently and said, "In that case, let's set off in three days."
After Han Du ordered the navy to prepare and replenish food and fresh water, he came to the flagship and quietly glanced at the three pirates who were imprisoned. The three men appeared
You can't die yet. Although the two were interrogated separately, the possibility of collusion in confession is very small, but it is not absolutely impossible.
For example, if they had agreed in advance on what to do if they were caught, then it is very likely that there would be something wrong with the confession Han Du obtained.
Therefore, Han Du can't kill the three people yet. He just needs to go to the place where they confessed. If it is false, then Han Du will let them know the consequences of deceiving him. Not only will their lives be worse than death, but they will also be killed.
Reveal the real place.
Contrary to Han Du's calmness, Hard was extremely afraid of these three pirates. Even if they were all chained, even if they were imprisoned tightly, Hard would still feel that these three people would suddenly
Rise up and kill him.
"The noble Marquis" saw Han Du turn around and walk outside, Hard quickly called to Han Du.
Han Du paused, looked back at Hard, and asked, "What's wrong?"
"My Lord Marquis, pirates are filthy maggots. Why don't you kill them and throw them into the sea to feed the fish?" Harder was very puzzled.
Han Du took a steady look at Hard, who understood Chinese, and then said: "How do I know if you have concealed your real address? If they told you the address, but you deliberately gave a false address
Are you deceiving me?"
Hader's expression changed, and he immediately knelt down in front of Han Du and raised his hands and said, "Hader is willing to swear in the name of Allah that Harder has never deceived the Marquis."
Han Du shook his head and said: "It doesn't matter what you say. Whether you have deceived me or not, I will know as long as you take them to the place you said."
After saying that, Han Du left without looking back.
Hader was left kneeling on the spot, and after Handu walked away, he slowly stood up. Of course he did not lie to Handu, but as Handu said, he could not guarantee that the pirates would not lie to him.
Therefore, in any case, it is best to bring the pirate there. It will be of great benefit to clear his suspicion and help Han Du find the treasure.
Originally, Hader wanted Handu to reward him with a ship and goods so that he could go back and pay off his debts, but now he didn't even dare to mention it.
Three days later, Zhu Biao boarded the flagship and led the navy toward the strait.
The strait gradually becomes thinner from west to east, and it becomes particularly small at the end close to the Nanyang. Moreover, there are many islands and reefs here, and only a few slender and curved waterways can pass through. At the beginning, Han Du wanted to prevent people from the six families from escaping quietly through the strait.
, specifically ordered Zhang Chao to set up a water stronghold here. Although the waterway cannot be cut off, there is still no problem in completely monitoring the strait.
To this day, naval forces are stationed in the water village here.<
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Zhu Biao stood on the bow of the ship with the sun on his back, blowing the sea breeze, and his whole body was like a spear standing upright, pointing straight at the sky.
When passing by the water village, I saw the bright golden dragon flag flying above the water village and couldn't help but ask: "Is there a navy guarding here too?"
Han Du nodded and explained: "This strait is the only seaway leading to the Western Ocean. Didn't I pursue the Six Families in Nanyang at the beginning? I was worried that they would kill me and turn around and sneak away from this strait, so I sent people here.
I blocked them. Although no one was blocked later, the location here was too good, so I stayed."
Zhu Biao also came out of the army and was no stranger to marching and fighting. He just took a few cursory glances, nodded in agreement and said: "The terrain here is indeed advantageous, but unfortunately there are still some shortcomings, and the sea channel cannot be completely cleared."
Seal it. If this strait can be completely sealed, then this place can really become the gateway to Nanyang."
Han Du smiled and shook his head, "There is no way to completely seal the strait."
Zhu Biao asked curiously: "How to seal it? You can't build the water stronghold into the sea, God knows how deep the water is."
"Of course it's impossible to blockade it with water fortresses." Han Du nodded in agreement, agreeing with Zhu Biao's statement, "But please see, Your Highness, the islands on both sides of the strait have steep mountains. If we can install dozens of cannons on both sides, we can
The range of the cannon can barely seal the waterway. In such a long and narrow waterway, the speed of ships will not be too fast when passing by. As long as the ship enters the range of the cannon, it will be a living target. If the cannons on both sides cannot be pulled out, no matter how many ships there are,
Don’t even think about entering Nanyang.”
"Use cannons to block the strait?" Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, and then realized that Han Du's method was not only feasible, but also a clever trick. Cannons installed on ships can sink the opponent's ships, so there is no reason to install them on cliffs.
It cannot sink ships on the sea.
"good idea!"
Zhu Biao first sighed in admiration, then looked towards the cliffs on both sides, and suddenly frowned. He turned back to Han Du and said: "But it is not easy to move the cannon to the cliffs on both sides. This cliff is so steep, and it is far from the top.
It’s so high. If you want to install the cannon, you can only dig directly into the rocks of the mountain, which cannot be completed in a short time.”
Han Du nodded and said: "What His Highness said is reasonable, but it is not easy for us to install the cannon, and it will be even more difficult for others to dismantle the cannon in the future. And we are not in a hurry. Now our navy is all over the sea.
If you resist, you don’t have to worry about anyone’s ships daring to come to Nanyang, just build it slowly.”
"That's true!" Zhu Biao nodded with a smile.
They were cautious when crossing the strait. Eighty warships and forty grain ships, plus more than twenty merchant ships belonging to Fu Yong and others, stretched out a long line on the sea, stretching for more than ten miles.