Li Qiufeng's heart sank, he glanced at the big ship, and said: "We have the gate of the city and the yamen, these officers and soldiers don't dare to mess around?"

Zhang Shi shook his head and said, "I received the customs defense from the Yamen of the City Shipping Division, and it stands to reason that the Yamen will inform the sailors and ask them to turn a blind eye." The ships that go to sea every day in Ningbo Prefecture have official documents from the side of the sailors, and they should not intercept our ships when they see them. But the ship was in hot pursuit, fearing that things would be in trouble. ”

Shopkeeper Hu's face was also a little ugly, and he said to Qin Lao Wu: "Old Qin, do you think they want to be unfavorable to us?"

Qin Lao Wu kept staring at the warship, listening to the shopkeeper Hu at this time, but he didn't look back, and said: "Dealing with the government, there is no such thing as silver being uneven. I look at the appearance of these bastards, nine times out of ten they are Fujian sailors transferred by the imperial court not long ago. ”

When he said this, he paused slightly, and then turned to the shopkeeper Hu and said: "Old Hu, this time I didn't ask the shopkeepers for silver! Looking at the appearance of these officers and soldiers, I am afraid that I will have to ask the shopkeepers to take out the silver and send them away." ”

Before Shopkeeper Hu could speak, Shopkeeper Yin couldn't help but shout: "Why do you ask us for silver again?" surnamed Qin, you have changed your way to take out silver from our pockets in the past few days, is it a bit excessive?"

Shopkeeper Ji also echoed: "As the saying goes, if you don't believe in your words, you don't know what to do." In the past two years, we have gone to sea to do errands, but we have used your old Qin's boat, and the silver we have given you is no less than 1,000 taels. This time, he promised to give you three thousand taels of silver. We treat you like this, but you have changed your way to harm us, I'm afraid you can't say it?!"

Qin Lao Wu sneered and said, "Two shopkeepers, did you touch your conscience when you said this? And send you to sea five or six times, and the big ship will be useless, and you will have to buy a new one. In addition, the cost of hiring a boatman to go to sea will also increase several times the cost of silver taels. In this way, the two or three hundred taels of silver you paid me will not be much left in the end. ”

When Qin Lao Wu said this, he glared at Yin and Ji viciously, and then said: "You shopkeepers are all big business figures, and you are all extremely shrewd. There are more than 1,000 ships of all sizes in Ningbo City, but every time you go to sea on my boat, what is this for?"

Qin Lao Wu said as he glanced at everyone. Shopkeeper Yin and the others met his eyes, and involuntarily lowered their heads, but no one refuted. He continued: "Except that my ship is large and strong, and can carry more goods, it is because I ask for the least amount of silver. Otherwise, with your calculating nature, how could you come to me every time?! I, Qin Lao Wu, am a rough man, but I'm not a fool! If it weren't for Zhang Yuanwai saying all the good things and giving me silver behind his back to make up for the shortfall, I wouldn't have bothered to send you to sea!"

Qin Lao Wu said this unceremoniously, after the white shopkeeper and the others heard it, their faces changed greatly, and they all snorted angrily, and they all rushed up to reason with Qin Lao Wu. Shopkeeper Hu hurriedly stopped everyone and said: "Lao Qin is right, don't be annoyed, don't be annoyed, let's discuss something." ”

As he spoke, he winked at the white shopkeeper and the others. The white shopkeeper and others are all shrewd, and naturally know the meaning of the shopkeeper. Everyone secretly does business with the Fusang people, and it depends on Zhang Shi to maneuver in the middle. Qin Lao Wu was the person Zhang Shi found, and Shopkeeper Hu and the others wanted to change people, but they didn't dare. Moreover, there are many places to go to sea this time with the help of Qin Lao Wu. Now that he has just left Ningbo, if he turns his face with Qin Lao Wu, I am afraid that this deal will be smashed immediately. At that time, not only did everyone not get a penny, but they were afraid that even their old books would be lost. It was the white shopkeeper and the others who had to hold back their anger and no longer argue with Qin Lao Wu.

Zhang Shi stepped forward and said to the white shopkeeper and the others: "A few shopkeepers are angry. We have in our hands the customs defense issued by the Yamen of the Municipal Division, and these officers and soldiers dare not be rude to us. Lao Qin also had good intentions and wanted to send these officers and soldiers with silver, so as not to cause other troubles. You can rest assured that if the officers and soldiers want to extort money, I will pay for it. ”

Shopkeeper Hu hurriedly said to Zhang Shi: "Zhang Yuanwai, how can you let you pay for the money? You can accompany us on this trip, which has already given us a lot of face." How much silver you will need, you can say. A few of us got together and sent the officers and soldiers to the best. ”

Qin Lao Wu sneered, and said: "A few shopkeepers think that I want to knock money from a few people, but they don't want to think about it, if the officers and soldiers come on the ship to find trouble in a while, I will give them silver, also in front of you." No matter how greedy I am, I can't fool you in front of you. ”

The white shopkeeper and the others thought about it, and their faces were a lot better. Shopkeeper Ji arched his hand to Qin Lao Wu, squeezed out a few smiles on his face, and said: "Old Qin, there are many offenses just now, please don't be surprised." Shopkeeper Yin also said a few polite words on the side. Qin Lao Wu just sneered and did not answer. At this moment, I heard a boatman exclaim: "Fifth master, fifth master, that boat, that boat......"

Everyone's hearts sank, and they all turned their heads to look ahead. But seeing that the warship was close in front of him, by the light of the lantern torches, he could see that the warship was full of officers and soldiers, all holding knives and guns, and even officers and soldiers bent their bows and arrows, and the cold and shining arrows were aimed at Li Qiufeng and others.

Qin Lao Wu turned his head and said to several boatmen: "Lower the sails, stop the boat!"

The two boatmen hurriedly lowered the sails halfway, and the speed of the big ship slowed down at once, and the distance between the ship in front of it increased considerably.

At this time, the sky was gradually darkening, and although the wind and waves on the sea were not large, there was still a faint sound of waves shrouded between heaven and earth. The warship in front noticed that Qin Lao Wu's big ship had slowed down, and immediately lowered its sails. The distance between the two ships was again shortened to a distance of five or six feet, and all the officers and men on the warship were heard shouting in unison: "Stop the ship! Stop the ship!"

Qin Lao Wu turned his head to Zhang Shi and said, "Zhang Yuanwai, how do you think we should deal with it?"

Zhang Shi looked at the slowly approaching warship and said in a deep voice: "Do as they say! I will come forward to deal with the officers and men, and you must not act rashly." ”

Shopkeeper Hu and the others all looked nervous, and Shopkeeper Yin and Shopkeeper Song quietly took a few steps back. Qin Lao Wu nodded, turned around and waved his hand to the boatman under him. Several boatmen lowered the sails, the helm of the helm, and the big ship slowly stopped. It's just that the hull of the boat rises and falls with the waves, but it is not as smooth as it is when it travels.

I saw that the warship sailed forward more than ten zhang, slowly turned around, and approached the big ship that everyone was on. It was only when the two ships were side by side that the ships stopped. Li Qiufeng and the others saw that there were three cannons on the warship, and the muzzles of the guns were aimed at them, and everyone's faces changed greatly when they boarded.

Forty or fifty officers and men stood on the warship, surrounded by a military attache wearing a helmet and armor. This military attache had a dark face and raised eyebrows, and at first glance it was not easy to match.

At this time, the two boats were only two feet apart, and several officers and men carried two three-foot-wide planks and put them on the sides of the two large ships. Two sergeants stepped onto the board, followed by the military attaché, followed by a dozen more sergeants with swords and guns. A moment later, all the officers and soldiers arrived on Qin Lao Wu's ship. The large ship, which used to be spacious, suddenly became crowded.

After the military attache walked to the boat, Zhang Shi walked a few steps quickly, arrived in front of the military attaché, and arched his hand and said: "Zhang Shi, a small citizen in Ningbo Mansion, meet the general." ”

Li Qiufeng looked at the military attaché's dress, he was just a captain, and there were thousands of generals, generals, guerrillas, generals, deputy generals, and general soldiers, and there were still 108,000 miles away from the general. As soon as Zhang Shi opened his mouth, he raised his official position by more than ten levels, which was naturally flattering.

The military attache looked arrogant, glanced at Zhang Shi, and said fiercely: "You people are so bold that you dare not stop the boat after listening to the orders of this official, do you want to rebel?"

Zhang Shi nodded and smiled with a smile, and said with a smile: "General, it's not that we don't want to stop the boat, but on the sea, how can we say stop and stop?" When the boatman lowered the sails, the rope was knotted, and the rope was not untied for a while, so the boat was not stopped immediately, and I ask the general to forgive me. ”

After Zhang Shi finished speaking, he slammed to the ground again. The military attache snorted and said viciously: "Do you think this official is a three-year-old child, and can be deceived by you like this?! Come on, search this officer carefully, don't be fooled by these guys?!"