Li Qiufeng heard that Shopkeeper Song valued himself so much, and was thinking about being humble, but he heard Zhang Shi laugh and said: "Brother Zhu, Shopkeeper Song is cold and warm-hearted, and rarely praises others. Today he praised it so much, even Zhang had a light on his face. Haha, haha. ”

Everyone talked and talked about it, and each other had a ghost. After half a pillar of incense, I saw the boat boss coming from the east. Although Li Qiufeng had seen this person yesterday, one was on the bow of the boat and the other was on the shore, a little far away, and he didn't see his face clearly. At this time, I looked closely, and saw that the boat boss was about forty years old, with a stout body, a gloomy face, and a sonorous and powerful walk, and at a glance he knew that he was a brave man.

Zhang Shi saw that the boss of the boat had arrived, and said to everyone: "Lao Qin is back, if you are not at ease, you can follow him to the boat to have a look." ”

Shopkeeper Hu said with a smile: "There is a member of Zhang who is mediating in the middle, what else do we have to worry about? Right now, everyone is waiting to sail out to sea, send things to Fusang, and then sit together and count the silver tickets." Haha, haha. ”

At this time, the boss of the boat had already walked in front of everyone, and said with his hand: "Ladies and gentlemen, come here so early? You have sent people to watch the neighborhood at night, and we know everything we do, so why do you come here early in the morning to drink the river breeze?"

After the boat boss finished speaking, a few sneers came out of his mouth. Shopkeeper Hu and the others were very embarrassed by the ship's boss's debunking thoughts, and wanted to say a few words about the scene, but they couldn't say it for a while. Zhang Shi didn't care, and said to the boat boss: "Lao Qin, don't run a few shopkeepers." The goods transported this time are all their belongings, and if they go out of business, they will only have one way to jump into the river. It's better to be cautious than to be so-so. ”

Zhang Shi's voice fell, and the shopkeeper Hu hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, Zhang Yuanwai said that we are in our hearts." Lao Qin, it's not the first time we've shipped goods, and a few shopkeepers are absolutely at ease with you. It's just that these things are piled up on the dock, and we are worried that there is a little thief who has the idea of hitting the goods, so we sent a few people to help watch it, not that we are not worried about you Lao Qin. Don't think about it, let's have a drink. ”

Shopkeeper Song and the others also echoed on the side, wanting to invite the boat boss to drink. The captain of the ship snorted and said in a rough voice: "Thank you shopkeepers." We have a rule in this business, seven days before we go to sea, we can't drink anymore. Otherwise, those drunks who died in the sea smelled the wine and dragged them to the bottom of the water to make the king, but they couldn't row. ”

Shopkeeper Hu and the others looked at each other, knowing that he deliberately prevaricated with words, but there was nothing they could do about him. Seeing everyone's embarrassed expressions, the boat boss continued: "If the shopkeepers are not at ease, they might as well go to the boat and take a look." ”

Shopkeeper Hu and the others were robbed by him, knowing that this trip was all about his ship, where would he dare to offend this person, so he hurriedly waved his hand and said: "There is no need to do more, where will we believe you Lao Qin?!"

Zhang Shi watched coldly, seeing that the boat boss and several shopkeepers were dirty, for fear that the two sides would make trouble, he hurriedly diverted the conversation and said to the boat boss: "Lao Qin, what did you do early in the morning?"

The boss of the boat was very polite to Zhang Shi, and said: "When we go to sea this time, it is different from the past, I am afraid that we will have to walk on the sea for more than a month." It is necessary to prepare enough water and rice, so as not to die of hunger and thirst at sea. It's okay to say that rice noodles are just to prepare enough drinking water for a month, but it is not an easy task. In those days, I once went out with the first emperor to fight the Tartars, encountered a great storm, and as a result, I got lost, and the army could not take care of each other, and after three days, not only the grain and grass were cut off, but also the water source was cut off. If we hadn't captured a few Tartar soldiers later and forced them to take us to find a lake, I was afraid that before we could confront the Tartar soldiers, the army would collapse without a fight, and the whole army would have to be annihilated. Drinking water is more important than food, and we must not be careless. ”

Li Qiufeng listened to the captain of the boat say this, and his heart sank, and he couldn't help but think of Zhu Sanjia, who had been a soldier at the border pass. He didn't expect that the boss of this ship had also been a soldier, and what was even more surprising was that this person had also gone out with Emperor Zhengde to fight the Tartars. He carefully looked at the captain of the ship, and saw that he spoke in a rough voice and behaved in a powerful manner, and indeed looked like he had been a soldier in the barracks, and he felt a little close in his heart.

But I heard the captain of the boat continue: "If you go to sea this time, if you use ordinary wooden barrels to store water, you will definitely not be able to last for a month." I was at a loss for thought, and suddenly it occurred to me that Wu carpenter in the north of the city once said that the year before last he went to Zhangzhou to build furniture for a large family, and he had nothing to do, wandering around an abandoned shipyard, and saw a big ship left behind by the eunuch Sanbao when he went to sea during the Yongle period. The ship was in a dilapidated state, but the skeleton remained. He was intrigued to find a strange round barrel hanging from the hull of the large ship, so he examined it carefully. At first, he thought that these round barrels were to help the big boat float in the water, so he hung on the hull. Later, in a wooden barrel that was opened, it was found that there was still half a bucket of water in it. Only then did I know that these barrels were used to replenish the drinking water for the big ships. At that time, the eunuchs of Sanbao went to the Western Ocean, accompanied by hundreds of ships and more than 20,000 officers and sergeants, and drinking water was the top priority. It will never last long to store water on the ship. It was the shipbuilders who came up with the idea of hanging these round wooden barrels around the hull of each large ship and filling them with clean water. In this way, not only can the big ship sail more smoothly at sea, but it can also replenish the drinking water for the officers and sergeants on board. I went to Carpenter Wu early in the morning and asked him to make me ten barrels. ”

When the boat boss said this, he took a sip and said viciously: "Damn, Carpenter Wu saw that I was in a hurry, and he set up a stinky shelf with me, saying that he would build ten wooden barrels in one day and one night, and he couldn't do it at all." In the end, Lao Tzu was anxious and asked him how much silver he wanted. Carpenter Wu was happy this time, saying that he would complete the project on time, and he would ask five or six carpenters to help, and he would get one hundred and twenty taels of silver. Lao Tzu didn't say a word, but added thirty taels to him, for a total of one hundred and fifty taels. However, Lao Tzu told him that ten wooden barrels must be made in one day and one night, and then properly loaded on the ship, otherwise Lao Tzu would dismantle his carpenter's shop. Carpenter Wu heard that Lao Tzu promised to give silver, and patted his thigh and agreed. Damn, this bastard who sees money and has an eye for money! It's obvious that he took advantage of people's danger and knocked Lao Tzu with a bamboo bar!"

When the shopkeeper Hu and the others heard him curse like this, they all thought in their hearts: "You bastard and the carpenter surnamed Wu are half a catty and eight taels, and they are bright for a while." When the crow falls on the pig, don't think anyone is black!"

Zhang Shi smiled: "Old Qin, you don't want to be in pain." You don't have to pay for this one hundred and fifty taels of silver, Zhang paid it for you. ”

As he spoke, he took out a stack of silver tickets from his arms, flipped one out of the middle and handed it to the boat boss, and said, "You can take the two hundred taels of silver first, don't have a chance with Carpenter Wu." He is a well-known iron rooster in Ningbo City, and he has always been a hair. Knowing that you are in a hurry to use it, if you don't knock you hard, it won't be him. ”

The boat boss looked at the silver ticket handed over by Zhang Shi, and his eyes lit up. It's just that he said: "Zhang Yuanwai, how can I collect your money? The use of wooden barrels to store water was my temporary idea, and I did not discuss it with the staff." If I take your money, it will be as if I had deliberately asked you for money under a clever pretense. ”

Zhang Shi was about to speak, but the shopkeeper Hu hurriedly took two steps, stopped between the two, reached out and took out a few silver tickets from his arms, took out one from the middle, handed it to the boat boss, and said: "How can Zhang Yuan take out this silver? Naturally, it is up to a few of us to pay this silver." You can take these two hundred taels of silver tickets, if it is not enough, you can just tell me. ”

When the shopkeeper Song and the others saw Zhang Shi and the boat boss singing and harmonizing, they knew that neither of them wanted to pay more money, and they obviously wanted the six shopkeepers to pay money, and they all scolded the two of them shamelessly. It's just that the shopkeeper Hu took out the silver and handed it to the boat boss, and deliberately said the word "we" loudly, which naturally included the other five shopkeepers. Although the shopkeeper Song and the others were not convinced, it was just that it was difficult to ride a tiger, so they had to endure the pain and echo the voice, asking the boat boss to put away the silver ticket.

The captain of the boat gave in, and finally put the silver ticket in his arms, and smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum, and thanked him repeatedly. Shopkeeper Hu took the opportunity to ask, "Old Qin, can we leave on time?"

The captain patted his chest and said, "A few shopkeepers can rest assured, the rice, noodles, vegetables and vegetables have been harvested yesterday." Carpenter Wu said that early tomorrow morning, he will lead someone to nail the wooden barrel to the hull of the ship, and it will definitely not delay our trip. But remember, we only said to the outside world that we would go north to Shandong to deliver goods, and we must not say that we missed our mouths, so as not to cause trouble. ”