The object that Feng Fei was holding tightly in his hand was actually not a rare thing, if it was really calculated according to its value, it was just something that could be purchased in a small mountain village for a few tens of dollars, but it was a very important thing for Feng Fei and their journey, so he couldn't pay attention to it.

Zhao Xingdou and his party were simply the same, when Wu Di and the three teenagers returned to the warship, they confessed to Feng Fei and the two of them, set sail, and drifted away, no longer paying attention to Feng Fei and their three ships full of goods.

Feng Fei and the others did not delay, and before Zhao Xingdou and their warships had sailed far, the three sea ships had already hung up their sails and sailed in the direction of the South Seas with the wind.

"Hey, I said Lao Shi, if the pirates in the future were as reasonable and sensible as this gang of Hongtang now, it would be great." Feng Fei said with emotion while unfolding the objects in his hand, and at the same time watching Zhao Xingdou's back as they went away.

As soon as the object in Feng Fei's hand was unfolded, it turned out to be the three flags with the general appearance of the flags hanging on their masts with Zhao Xingdou, but the specifications were much smaller than the flags that were more than one zhang long, in addition to the word "Hong" on the flag, there were a few more lines of black characters below the flag, and the handwriting on it could be seen under a closer look: "On the fourth day of the eighth month of the forty-sixth year of Wanli, the westbound ship owners Feng Fei and Shi Zushou." ”

"Tell me, just these three little red flags can ensure that you and my three sea ships sail safely for hundreds of miles, and it is really worth spending a few hundred taels of silver." Feng Fei unfurled the somewhat wrinkled flag, and then hung it in a conspicuous place on the mast: "It's just a pity that now the Hongtang's sphere of influence is still a little smaller, if it can be bigger, and control the Qiongzhou sea area, the East China Sea, and the Ryukyu area, it will be perfect." ”

"Who's to say it isn't!" Shi Zushou replied in agreement, and then said with a touch in his heart: "Actually, this is not necessarily an impossible thing, you don't want to think about it, this Hongtang force, but it came out in less than half a year, and then killed the Quartet, and the pirates in the surrounding waters were handed over, and they were wiped out, so that there is such a weather today, if they are given some more time, they may not be able to reach such a scale!" Maybe when the time comes, the open sea of our entire Ming Dynasty will become the territory of Hongtang! ”

"Hey, I hope so, speaking of which, this group of pirates is much more conscientious than the officers and soldiers of the Penghu Water Division, at least they will do things when they get the money, unlike these moths of the Water Division, who only know how to knock money, but they don't do anything practical." Feng Fei nodded in agreement, but there was some worry on his face: "But have you heard that the pirates who were driven out of the Penghu Sea by Hongtang recently are gathering in the Ryukyu area, ready to discuss trouble with Hongtang!" I heard that even Yuan Laoba and his gang, which are the most powerful in that area, are also involved, and the future of this Hongtang in the future is worrying! ”

"Isn't it??" Shi Zushou was taken aback.

And Feng Fei and the Hongtang gang in their mouths, now under the leadership of Zhao Xingdou, are counting the harvest of this trip on the ship, and they don't know that in the far east, someone is trying to fight them.

"Platoon commander, this time we have gained a lot of money, it has only been ten days, and we have already distributed thirteen red flags, and we have received six thousand and thirty-five taels of silver." As the tent of Zhao Xingdou's team going to sea this time, Wu Di recorded today's harvest and happily reported to Zhao Xingdou.

"That's a lot of money!" Zhao Xingdou was pleased, and even looked at the most important warehouse in the cabin with some awe, filled with three large wooden boxes full of white flowers and silver.

Zhao Xingdou has been a pirate for a lot of years, and roughly calculated, he has also been a little twenty years, but since he followed Wu Daofu to Bengang for half a year, all this they have experienced can be regarded as really opening their eyes and seeing what is called daily progress and gold.

There is no need to go through all the necessary efforts for a ship and its cargo as before, even at the risk of their lives, to snatch back a batch of goods that are of little use to them, and then to give half of the profits to outsiders in exchange for less than half the value of the goods. Now, not only do the maritime merchants who come and go no longer try their best to avoid them, but even every shipowner will prepare enough silver taels in advance and willingly hand them over.

Of course, the word willingness is a bit exaggerated, whether it is the businessman, he will definitely not take the initiative to squeeze out some of his interests and hand them over to others, but today's Penghu sea area is not the era of pirates raging and rising together more than half a year ago.

Since Li Tianyang began at the beginning of the year, he took Wu Daofu and his family to sweep and confiscate the pirates in the surrounding seas, in the past half a year, there have been no less than dozens of pirates who have directly or indirectly disappeared in the waters around Penghu, and there are nearly 20 pirates who have been destroyed by Wu Daofu's hands alone.

What followed was the rapid expansion of Li Tianyang's team, from more than 200 people at the beginning of the year to a behemoth with more than 1,500 regular team members and nearly 20 ships of 400 materials.

This is also where Li Tian's capital lies in raising them, no longer waving a broken banner, but re-hanging their Hongtang banner.

With such a scale, it is no longer a matter of stretching the limit to control the waters around the long and narrow Taiwan Strait, although it is not easy to say.

After killing chickens and police monkeys in the early stage, concentrating on several powerful caravans as examples, Li Tianyang and the rules set by Hongtang established a great reputation in the hearts of these seafarers who came and went from the south to the north, and no one dared to do that thing.

Moreover, Hongtang is not really a vicious person, although they are also robbers, but in terms of food, they are much more elegant than those reckless pirates. Originally, according to the previous rules, every passing sea vessel had to pay 10% of the value of the goods to Hongtang, but after Li Tianyang investigated for a long time, he finally lowered the silver tael, which is called "toll", to the point of 1/20, that is, the "twenty draws one" in the mouths of seafarers now, which is similar to the difference between the tax on the face of the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.

But in fact, Hongtang collects this silver, but in the hearts of these seafarers, it can be said to be a worthwhile price. After all, compared to the government that only takes the silver and does nothing, after the people of Hongtang collect this silver, even if they meet other patrolling fleets in Hongtang on the way, as long as they have that little red flag, no one will collect a second "toll" this time. At the same time, with Hong Tang's non-stop patrols day and night, and the pirates in his sphere of influence, the Penghu sea area has changed from the past to one after another, and the hodgepodge of elusive pirates has become a situation where only Hong Tang is the sole hegemon, and the security in it has suddenly improved countless levels, and there is no need to worry about meeting other pirates in this sea area.

(End of chapter)