As he spoke, he quietly leaned into her ear and whispered something.
About an hour later, Butler Chen hurried back, raised his hands to Lin Yuer and Nan Yanxi and said, "Go back, you two."
"What we pulled this time is mainly five hundred stones of gunpowder, which is said to be used for black firecrackers. As for who sent it... I haven't found out yet."
"I only heard that he is a native of Nanzhou."
Nan Yanxi nodded slightly and continued to ask: "Oh... when will we pick up the goods? And when will they be delivered?"
"The sooner the better." Shopkeeper Chen replied: "The guest seems to be very anxious and wants us to go as quickly as possible. It is best to set off tonight."
After saying that, he looked at Lin Yu'er again: "Madam... look at this... let's..."
Seeing this, Lin Yu'er waved her hand, pointed at Nan Yanxi and said, "That's right... This is a very serious matter, so we should be extremely careful."
"My cousin is a smart and tactful person, so he will be solely responsible for this matter... Just listen to his arrangements."
"I'm a little tired...You guys can chat, I'm going to take a rest..."
"Yes, madam." Butler Chen agreed, and Nan Yanxi also stood up to salute with her, watching Lin Yuer turn around and enter the back hall.
Then, Nan Yanxi looked outside and saw that the sky had darkened. She immediately said to Butler Chen, "Brother Chen...please take me to the pier."
"Oh...Okay, okay..." Butler Chen quickly agreed, and the two of them went out one after the other.
The entire Nanzhou, which was the Nanzhao Kingdom back then, was a coastal city.
There is a dug canal in Nanzhou City, which leads directly to the sea in the south, and all kinds of business at the canal wharf, except for the official family, are almost all controlled by the high government.
The two tall horses, one behind the other, arrived at the canal pier in a short time.
At this time, the steward of the dock was already waiting here. When he saw Butler Chen coming, he hurriedly greeted him: "Hahaha...Brother Chen, you are here."
Then he saw Nan Yanxi behind him who was dressed as a rich man, and he suddenly said doubtfully: "Uh... I dare you to ask who this young master is..."
"Oh...this is my wife's cousin." Butler Chen introduced him quickly, but after finishing the sentence, he remembered that he still didn't know what this man's name was.
He had no choice but to apologize and said with a smile: "Uh... Master, I dare to ask, what is your name..."
"Well... it's easy to talk about." Nan Yanxi waved her hands in a somewhat irritated manner: "Master, my surname is Zhang, and I am Zhang Sanjin."
"Yes, yes...Young Master is such a good name." Steward Chen quickly flattered him, then turned to the dock steward and said, "This is Madam's maternal cousin, Young Master Zhang."
"This time I went to the south to transport the goods. My wife said that it was a serious matter at this time and we had to be extra careful, so I invited Mr. Zhang."
"So our Mr. Zhang will be solely responsible for this work. You must cooperate well and make sure there are no mistakes."
Hearing this, the dock steward quickly agreed: "Oh, okay, okay, brother Chen, don't worry."
Butler Chen nodded with satisfaction, then turned to Nan Yanxi and said, "Sir, this is the chief steward of our canal terminal, Liu Deshui."
"He has been with us for many years and is highly respected by the madam. If you need anything, just ask him."
After saying that, he bowed his hands to the two of them: "You two, there are a lot of things in the house, so I will go back first... I wish you both success!"
Nan Yanxi and Liu Deshui bowed to each other, then saluted to Steward Chen and said, "For your kind words... Steward Chen, walk slowly..."
Butler Chen's back gradually faded away. Liu Deshui turned to Nan Yanxi and smiled: "Mr. Zhang... look... when should we set off?"
Seeing this, Nan Yanxi hurriedly said politely: "Oh... Manager Liu, you are too polite... In this matter of shipping, how can I have the skills of Brother Liu?"
"I came here this time just to deal with the inspection by the government and the army and to make my cousin feel more at ease."
"You are solely responsible for this operation. You have the final say on when to set off!"
Nan Yanxi's perfect and polite words made Liu Deshui very happy, which gave him enough face.
"Ah... Hahaha, you are so polite, sir..." Liu Deshui laughed and said politely: "In that case, then I am rude... Master, you can correct me at any time!"
After saying that, he turned to several subordinates and shouted loudly: "Attention... Prepare three speedboats, with five people in each boat, board the boat immediately and set off!"
"yes!"
All the sailors agreed in unison and began to work one after another.
After a while, three small boats were prepared. Liu Deshui raised his hands to Nan Yanxi and said, "Mr. Zhang... please get on the boat..."
"Oh, okay!" Nan Yanxi quickly agreed, and under the leadership of Liu Deshui, she boarded the first boat and got into the cabin.
Liu Deshui waved his hand, and a sailor stood on the bow of the ship and blew the departure horn: "Woo... woo..."
After receiving the order, the three ships raised their sails, shook their oars, and headed south.
Although today's Ming Dynasty is engaged in industrial construction everywhere, steam engines for ships are already very complete.
But after all, the production capacity cannot keep up with the development. The marine steam engines are mainly used for warships of the army, and also for official ships such as the Coast Guard.
Among civilian ships, those that can afford steam engines must be large passenger ships. Small boats like today still use sails, oars, and oars, a three-in-one power method.
However, this is enough, and after all, it doesn't hold much heavy stuff.
The three small boats raised their sails and took advantage of the strong wind on the sea at night to move forward silently and quickly.
Nan Yanxi sat aside and looked at Liu Deshui with great interest. Holding the chart, she could tell the direction just by looking at the stars on the vast sea.
"Manager Liu is so capable. Just by looking at the chart and the stars, you can find your destination on this vast sea, or at night when you can't even see where you are."
Liu Deshui on the side smiled modestly: "Oh, Master, you deserve the award... This is just a rice bowl for villains to eat."
"I've been serving this bowl of rice since I was a child, so I'm naturally a little more proficient... It's nothing to make a fuss about, hahaha..."
Seeing his modesty, Nan Yanxi also laughed: "It takes a very capable person to do this job. Manager Liu is too humble."
"By the way, where are we going on this trip?"
"Hey, it's that fly-head island where birds don't poop." Liu Deshui's words were full of disdain and confusion: "You should know that place from the name, it's about the size of a fly's head."
"Not to mention fresh water on the island, there is not even a blade of grass to be seen, and the seabirds are reluctant to land... Especially when the tide comes in, only about half an acre of land is left."
"I don't know who it is, but it's hiding something on there. It really has some ideas!"
"Oh...that's right..." Nan Yanxi nodded and said nothing more.
Seeing that he fell silent, Liu Deshui stopped talking and concentrated on commanding the fleet.
Time flies, especially in this vast, silent and boundless sea. Nan Yanxi only took a nap, and nearly an hour passed.
I vaguely heard Liu Deshui ordering to the sailors: "Be careful to slow down and don't hit the rocks. Let's move closer slowly."
Nan Yanxi suddenly woke up, thinking that we have arrived... Just as she was about to stand up, Liu Deshui also walked in, cupped her hands and said, "Sir, we have arrived."
"Oh? It's very fast..." Nan Yanxi stood up quickly and got out of the cabin.
Looking around, I saw not far ahead, a small island with a small name appeared in front of me.
This small island is really not big. It looks like it is only half an acre of land. There are not even any plants on it, not even soil.
Strictly speaking, this cannot be called an island, at best it can be regarded as a reef.
At this time, a boat had docked on the reef, and several people were standing there, holding torches and shaking them in their direction.
Seeing this, Nan Yanxi's eyes narrowed, and he naturally knew in his heart that these people were the boss of Paihuo.
Liu Deshui commanded three small boats and slowly arrived not far from the island and dropped the anchor.
Because there is no pier on this island, if everyone wants to get to the island, they have to transfer to a small sampan.
With the help of Liu Deshui, Nan Yanxi climbed onto the small sampan with pretense of difficulty. After a lot of effort, she finally landed on the so-called Flying Head Island.
As soon as everyone stepped onto the island, several people greeted them from the opposite side.
The leader was a middle-aged man, whose face was covered and his appearance could not be seen clearly.