As soon as they heard that Boss Lai was looking for someone to work, the coolies immediately cheered up, threw away their cigarette butts, and gathered around, pointing their heads and pointing: "You, you, and you, the new man, come over here, while you rest, five or six
Why would a ten-year-old join in the fun?"
Of course, a strong laborer like Liu Ziguang was selected in the first round. He, Lin Sheng, Dingli and other thirty coolies jogged behind the carriage. The carriage walked along the road along the river. There were thousands of ships and ships on the Huangpu River, and the docks were light.
There were several of them. The carriage took the coolies to another small pier with fewer ships. A dual-purpose steam paddle steamer was moored beside the pier. It was said to be a dual-purpose ship because in addition to a steam engine, it was also equipped with a
The auxiliary sail is specially used when the wind is downwind to save fuel. Such ships are usually ocean-going merchant ships. The hull is made of wood, and key parts are reinforced with iron sheets. The anchor chain and iron walls are stained with rust, which shows that it is a ship.
A ship that goes to sea frequently.
There was a man standing on the bow of the boat. He was wearing a long kerchief and a folding fan in his hand. He was wearing Ming Dynasty clothes, but his face was really dark. Boss Lai got out of the carriage and bowed to the man and said: "Mr. Ma, please, Xin Bian
The weather in Beijing is very nice.”
The man smiled and said: "New Bianjing is naturally like summer all year round. The weather is not as sharp as Shanghai's. In winter, you can still wear furs and show off your clothes."
Boss Lai continued: "Mr. Ma, why don't you stay in Shanghai? We have plenty of room on board the Fuyuan, so we can show off your collection of furs."
The man said: "If I am stationed in Shanghai, can your uncle rest assured about the safety of this waterway?"
The two chatted for a while and then asked the coolies to get on the ship to move the goods. Liu Ziguang walked onto the ship among the coolies. Most of the sailors on the ship were short and dark-skinned Nanyang natives. There were many things in the cabin.
There are countless large boxes with trademark emblems printed on them, which are three fives connected together. The "five-five-five" turned out to be a cargo ship transporting cigars. But after the outer box was removed, there was a lot of articles inside. The same thing
The weight of the box with the 35 trademark printed on it was countless times larger. Even Liu Ziguang was stunned. He weighed the box again and found that it weighed hundreds of kilograms. How could there be any cigars in it?
It's clearly a metal, and it's a precious metal.
Other workers also noticed something strange, but no one showed any surprise. Instead, they used ropes and poles to lift out the extremely heavy boxes in a tacit understanding, as if they were used to this kind of thing.
Liu Ziguang didn't want to attract attention, so he asked Ding Li to carry the box together. While tying the box with a rope, he asked quietly: "What is in it? Is it so heavy?"
Ding Li looked around and lowered his voice: "What else could it be? Money from the Song Dynasty.
"Silver is also a commodity?" Liu Ziguang asked puzzledly.
"If there is less money, it is money, if there is too much money, it is just goods. We coolies don't care about that. As long as we give money, we have to carry it even if it is a dead person." With Ding Li's knowledge, he could not give an answer that satisfied Liu Ziguang. He could only
He shrugged his shoulders to show his understanding and got back to work.
After the silver was carried off the ship, a group of carriages covered with black tarpaulins were parked at the pier for unknown reasons. Men in black clothes with swords and bows were guarding them on strong horses. The coolies carried the silver boxes one by one.
The horse-drawn carriages and those boxes of thirty-five cigars were temporarily piled on the pier. During the whole process, Mr. Lai and Mr. Ma were counting and checking with their account books, and there were no officials from the Shipping Department on site.
Although Liu Ziguang didn't know what the situation was, his intuition told him that there must be something wrong here, so he simply snatched Mr. Ma and the account books in his hand, so that he would have both personal and material evidence.
After the goods were unloaded, the carriage drove away. Boss Lai also got on the carriage and left, calling his head: "Let's go." The coolies walked back in twos and threes to continue waiting for work. Liu Ziguang found an excuse not to go back with everyone and was alone.
After going around in a circle, we returned to the pier and walked straight towards the dual-purpose ship from Song Dynasty.
The gangplank from the ship to the trestle has been removed, and the Nanyang sailors are busy collecting debris, cables and other things. Liu Ziguang jumped on the ship. The sailors looked at him in surprise, and they all put down their work and gathered around. Liu Ziguang
He walked away as if there was no one around and said, "I'm looking for Mr. Ma."
The sailors knew that this was the coolie who had just moved the cargo, but Mr. Ma was not visible to everyone. While they stopped Liu Ziguang, they shouted something in Nanyang dialect, and a capable one-eyed dragon emerged from the cabin and said
The sailor said a few words, then looked up and down with one eye, and Liu Ziguang waved to him to come into the cabin to talk.
"What do you want from Mr. Ma?" asked the one-eyed dragon. It was not unprecedented for a dock coolie to volunteer to be an ocean-going sailor. The man regarded Liu Ziguang as such a person.
"Well, I'm very interested in Mr. Ma's account book and would like to borrow it for a look." Liu Ziguang said nonchalantly.
Hearing this, the one-eyed dragon suddenly took a step back, drew out the sword from his waist with his backhand, and slashed at him. Liu Ziguang pinched his sword-holding hand with his right hand, and stuck his throat with his left hand. He said with a ferocious smile: "Borrow the account book and look at it before using the knife."
Ah, you have such a bad temper."
The man was the first mate on the ship. He was a pirate. He had seen many scenes, big and small. He had never been subdued with just one move like this. His throat was stuck and he could not speak. The hand holding the sword
It hurt so much that he felt like his bones were about to be crushed. Liu Ziguang took his sword off and placed it across his neck, threatening: "Don't scream, take me to Mr. Ma."
This is a Western sword with a guard. It can cut and stab. The blade is sharp. When pressed on the neck, it has been faintly cut. The one-eyed dragon is also an old man. As soon as the man in front of him makes a move, he will not be in trouble.
The kind of aura that comes out is definitely not something that ordinary people can emit. Only a ruthless character who has killed countless people can make him, a pirate who has come through strong winds and waves, so frightened.
Liu Ziguang escorted the one-eyed dragon to the door of the captain's cabin, and put a little pressure on his back with the sword. The one-eyed dragon understood, knocked on the door and said: "Boss, someone wants to see you."
After a while, a reply came from inside: "I'm not free right now, so I'll ask him to come visit me tomorrow." It sounded like Mr. Ma's voice.
Liu Ziguang put his sword on the back of Cyclops' neck and pushed it forward. Cyclops hurriedly knocked on the door again: "Boss, this gentleman does have something very important."
There was silence in the cabin for a while, and then Mr. Ma finally said: "Come in."
The cabin door opened, Liu Ziguang pushed Cyclops in, pushed the door open with his foot, and closed it with a bang. Looking up, he saw Mr. Ma and a young man sitting side by side behind the table. The two seemed to be talking about something worthy of joy.
Everything was happening, with harmonious smiles on their faces. However, Liu Ziguang noticed that the one-eyed dragon's face changed when he saw the man, and he seemed a little shocked.
Liu Ziguang pushed the one-eyed dragon aside, raised his bright sword to his shoulder, and said straight to the point: "Mr. Ma, please sort out the ledger of the transaction with the Fuyuan, pack it up and follow me."
Mr. Ma did not speak, but looked at the young man next to him. The man not only laughed dumbly, but also took out his hand from under the table. It turned out that he also held a sharp blade in his hand, and he was pointing the tip of the knife at Ma.
Where are your waist and eyes, sir?
"Hahaha" the man laughed heartily, "I didn't expect someone to cut off the nonsense. Tell me, is this guy from the Ship Bureau or Dongchang?"
Liu Ziguang also laughed: "Someone actually made the move before me. I can't tell you who I am. I have to take the people and the ledger away. Let's talk when we have time."
"How can this be done? I was obviously the one who came here first. The people and the account books should belong to me." The man said slightly angrily. He threw the short knife in his hand on the table and looked at Liu Ziguang with his arms folded, looking as if he was a master of art and bold.
style.
After hearing the conversation between the two uninvited guests, Mr. Ma said: "Two heroes, please stop arguing. No matter who you are, if you want to touch someone like Ma in Shanghai, aren't you afraid that the Lai family will cause you trouble?"
"Shut up!" The young man struck Mr. Ma on the neck with a palm, knocking him unconscious to the ground. Then he took out a square oil-paper package from the desk drawer, and it looked like he was going to take it with him.
The loot is gone.
"If you want to monopolize it, don't blame me for being a gangster." Liu Ziguang rushed up to grab it. The one-eyed dragon behind him saw the opportunity and rushed out to shout for reinforcements. Little did he know that Liu Ziguang was looking at all directions and did not forget him at all.
Without looking back, he grabbed the inkstone on the table and threw it back, hitting Cyclops on the back of the head. Unfortunately, his brain was shattered before he could even cry out. He died softly at the door of the cabin.
Seeing Liu Ziguang's fierce approach, the young man hurriedly threw the oil paper package out of the porthole. He picked up the short knife on the table and fought with Liu Ziguang. Although this young man's martial arts was excellent, he was still inferior to Liu Ziguang. Three
As he moved forward, Liu Ziguang struck the aorta in his neck with the same palm, knocking him unconscious.
The fight had attracted the attention of the sailors on the ship. A burst of chaotic footsteps could be heard on the ship. Liu Ziguang stretched his head out of the porthole and saw that the oil paper bag had disappeared. There were only ripples in the water. There was no time at the moment.
To salvage this thing, we can only get the two captives away as soon as possible.
Although Liu Ziguang was sure that the oil paper package contained the account book he needed, he still spent ten seconds rummaging around in Mr. Ma's cabin, found a few pieces of writing paper and stuffed it into his arms, then picked up one with one hand.