1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 853 Island Casino
There are not many commercial facilities at Cangdongao Wharf. Apart from a row of warehouses on the shore, there is only one shop integrating a hotel and restaurant. There are restaurants downstairs, and people live upstairs and in the courtyard behind.But the scale of this store is really not small. There are more than 40 rooms in five courtyards in the upper room in the backyard alone. It is no problem for the entire store to accommodate more than [-] people at the same time.According to Xu Ke, there is also a shop of similar size built at Tian'ao Wharf next to it, which is used to provide temporary accommodation for foreigners.

However, the prices in this robber's den are really not cheap. Xu Ke asked for two guest rooms and one upper room in the backyard, and spent ten taels of silver to go out.Zhao Cheng picked more than a hundred catties of fish, shellfish, shrimps and crabs from the boat and sent them to the kitchen, and exchanged the fresh water and seasonal vegetables needed on the boat, but Tishuk saved a lot of money.

Zhao Chengcheng wanted to take this opportunity to wander around the island. He never thought that the Haisha gang would be extremely fortified, only allowing outsiders to move around in this small area near the pier, and the road leading to the interior of the island is specially There was a checkpoint, and Zhao Cheng was stopped without any suspense.In desperation, he could only walk around the pier.The peninsula separating the three harbors is hilly, and the situation in the other two harbors on the left and right cannot be seen from the wharf of Cangdong'ao.

Compared with ordinary fishing port towns, this place is indeed more prosperous. There are roughly [-] or [-] merchant ships and cargo ships seen at the pier.Although the sun was about to set, there were still a few ships on the pier busy loading and unloading cargo, and foreign businessmen and sailors, who looked obviously different from those of the Ming Dynasty, could be seen swaggering through the pier.It's just that the harbor is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the area available for development near the sea is not large, which limits the scale of commercial development in this place to a certain extent.

Zhao Cheng has been to many trading ports under the rule of Haihan, and he is also a person who has seen the world. In comparison, the scale of operations here is naturally nothing. The development of Wanshan Port is almost done.Of course, in terms of complete supporting facilities and institutions, this place is still incomparable with Wanshan Port. In addition to the most basic docks, warehouses, and hotels, Wanshan Port later built a special hotel and tavern. Han civil affairs, financial, health and other institutions set up offices on the island, and matters such as immigration, money exchanges, and medical treatment can be handled on the island in a timely manner.

The coastal fortifications of the Haihan Militia in Wanshan Port even defeated the fleet of the pirate Liu Xiang in the Pearl River Estuary Battle in the early years, and made the first contribution to Haihan's seizure of control of the Guangdong waters.Later, although the trade function of Wanshan Port was gradually moved to the Hong Kong area occupied by Haihan in the later period, the basic structure of this place was still preserved, and some merchant ships from the Pearl River Estuary to Hainan Island still chose this small port with complete facilities for transit. supply.

Compared with the coastal defense fortifications of Wanshan Port, Zhao Cheng believes that the defense strength here in Cangdongao can only be regarded as better than nothing, especially the coastal defense is almost zero, which is not enough to threaten the Haihan fleet.Only a few exploration-class warships with the smallest tonnage are enough to suppress the armed pirates here.However, the area of ​​Liuheng Island is larger than that of the Penghu Islands. It is difficult for the Haihan Army to wipe out the pirates on the island. It must be done by land and water.

After nightfall, except for the lights in this hotel, the entire port was plunged into darkness.Considering that the terrain here is completely unfamiliar and there is no reliable guide party, Zhao Cheng finally gave up his plan to go out to reconnaissance at night.After all, there is a lot of darkness outside, even if no one is on guard, there is no useful information to be found.

Having nothing to do, Zhao Cheng went downstairs and listened to the sailors and crew who were also staying here drinking and chatting.These people came from three mountains and five mountains, from various countries. Most of them were not pirates, but ordinary people who served the smugglers who came here to trade. There were also Westerners with deep eyes and high noses who spoke Chinese with a big tongue.

After listening for a long time, [-]% to [-]% of the conversation was complaining about the high consumption here, the poor food and drinks, and the lack of certain adult services on the island. is unhappy.Zhao Cheng smiled, and thought that what the sailors who went to sea missed was nothing more than eating, drinking, whoring and gambling.The food in this place is mediocre, the drinks are not good, the price is high and there is no other entertainment, no wonder these sailors complained.

After listening for a long time, there was no valuable information. Zhao Cheng was about to call some of his subordinates back to the room to discuss tomorrow's arrangements, when he saw Xu Ke and the Seventh Brother coming out of a private room side by side.Xu Ke also caught sight of Zhao Cheng and waved to him.

"Seventh brother said, you want to take me to a good place to play, old Zhao, you go with me!" After Zhao Cheng approached, Xu Ke lowered his voice and said to him, a strong smell of alcohol poured into Zhao Cheng. into the nasal cavity.Zhao Cheng didn't ask any more questions, but nodded, then turned around and gestured to his subordinates, signaling them to go back to their rooms first.

Seventh Brother led the two of them through the atrium to the back courtyard, and turned into a small independent courtyard.There was a table of banquets in the main room, and seven or eight young and strong men were eating, drinking and chatting. When they saw Brother Qi bring someone in, they just nodded their heads and didn't say hello.Seventh Brother led Xu and Zhao directly past the banquet, and there was a door behind the screen.

Seventh Brother opened the door and went in. It was a short corridor, about four feet wide, with another door at the end.Zhao Cheng looked at the uncarved natural mountain wall above his head, and asked casually, "Is this in the mountains?"

Seventh Brother looked back at him, nodded and said, "This is a cave, and it is also the most fun place on Liuheng Island."

The three of them entered the door at the other end of the corridor, and sure enough, they immediately stepped into a different space.This cave has a space about three feet high, and a number of trays hang down from the ceiling with iron chains, and thick butter candles are lit inside. The terrain in the cave is flat and very open, and there are forty or fifty large tables. There are several floor-standing candlesticks, and Zhao Cheng noticed that the glass cover covering the candlesticks looks very familiar, and it is actually an item produced by Haihan.Hundreds of people gathered around these tables and yelled, all of them were playing gambling games like Pai Gow craps.

Seventh brother introduced: "If you two want to play, just greet the waiters in red and tell them how big the game is, they will take you to the appropriate table to play, and you can also give them the money to exchange for chips , you just need to sit and play. If you are tired or hungry, you can also call them, and they will take you to eat and rest, so that you can keep your energy before continuing to play."

Zhao Cheng pretended to hesitate and said: "I don't know where this is, I don't have much cash with me!"

Seventh Brother waved his hand and said: "It's okay, if Brother Zhao wants to borrow money, we can borrow it here. As long as you pay it back before leaving the island, you don't need any interest. With the credit of the boss, I will guarantee you that the 500 taels of silver are okay. questionable."

Xu Ke pretended to be angry and said, "Seventh brother, so my credit is worth 500 taels of silver?"

Seventh brother laughed and said, "Okay, it's my brother's slip of the tongue, 1000 taels! My brother, your credit value is 1000 taels, is it okay?"

Of course Zhao Cheng didn't want to borrow 1000 taels to gamble, but he only said 50 taels, while Xu Ke himself borrowed 200 taels.Seventh Brother raised his hand as a gesture, and immediately a waiter in red came over to listen to his orders, and after a while, he brought over 250 taels of chips.The chip is made of unknown kind of wood, it is light and strong, and the amount is engraved on it, starting from one tael of silver, and ranging from 50 taels of silver.Zhao Cheng turned the chips over, and the word "Haisha" was engraved on the back. The production was quite regular, much more presentable than ordinary underground gambling houses.

Seventh brother saw that the two had divided the chips, so he said goodbye: "Two brothers are playing slowly, brother, I still have business to do, let's take a step first. If you are tired of playing and plan to leave, the passage just now can only enter but not exit. , you need to let the waiter take you out. I wish you two good luck and win a lot of money!"

As soon as Seventh Brother left, Zhao Cheng played tricks on Xu Ke, and the two separated first, found a random gambling table and played for a while. After realizing that no one was paying attention to them, they got together again and had a brief exchange. sentence.Neither of them thought that there would be such a place on this island. Although Xu Ke had been here a few times, he hadn't stayed here for too long. He and the little pirate leader here were just nodding acquaintances. This was the first time Through eating, drinking and drinking routines to trick the other party, unexpectedly, there will be unexpected gains.

Xu Ke called a waiter in red and asked a few words. The casino in this cave is open day and night, and you can gamble whenever you come, so you don't have to worry about no one.If you want to play bigger, the casino can also arrange corresponding bets on your behalf.The people who can enter here are basically certified regular customers. It is impossible for strangers to enter Liuheng Island without being accompanied by them for the first time.As for ordinary sailors and crew members, they really can't afford to gamble here. If they are unlucky, their income for a month will be gone in three or two strokes, so this place is not even open to such low-income people.

The two of them had important responsibilities, and they were not in the mood to gamble for fun here. They were discussing whether to continue to look here or go back to rest, but saw another group of people coming in at the entrance.Xu Ke glanced at it, then lowered his voice and said, "The leader of the bandit is Li Luotou, the leader of the bandit here."

Hearing this, Zhao Cheng pretended to be casual and turned his head to take a look. He saw a bald-headed strong man in his forties surrounded by seven or eight people, patrolling the venue.From time to time, someone greeted him with clasped fists, but Li Luotou didn't have any pretensions, and responded with a smile one by one.

Zhao Cheng secretly took note of his appearance, and planned to ask his soldiers responsible for depicting the terrain to draw the appearance of the bandit leader Li Luotou first after leaving here tomorrow.

Then Li Luo turned his head to Xu Ke's side, and the two of them also imitated Li Luo's head and bowed their hands.Li Luotou was very caring. Seeing that the two were strangers, he took the initiative to ask. Xu Ke introduced himself and said that he was brought in by someone so as not to arouse his suspicion.

After hearing this, Li Luotou did not doubt the identities of the two, but immediately ordered: "Come here, take a chip of 20 taels of silver and give it to these two new friends!"

Although the 20 taels of silver is not a large sum, Li Luotou's move has an excellent effect of buying people's hearts.If Xu and Zhao didn't have a mission, maybe they would really be grateful for his "goodwill".Of course, Xu and Zhao are not newcomers to society, so they naturally understand that Li Luotou's gesture of goodwill is one of the purposes, and the bargaining chips that are given out, probably few people can take them out, anyway. Money, how can you not be willing to use it on the gambling table to try your luck?Maybe if you are not convinced after losing, you will continue to throw money into it.This move seems generous, but it is actually fishing. If you are greedy for money, you will probably be caught in a gambling game because of this.

After Li Luotou patrolled the venue, he didn't stay any longer, and quickly left with his men.Together, Xu and Zhao continued to play for a while, and then pretended to be tired, asked the waiter to take the remaining chips to settle the accounts, and then left the secret casino in the cave.The absent-minded Xu Ke lost more than 30 taels of silver, while Zhao Cheng was lucky and won seven or eight taels. In addition, Li Luotou gave away 20 taels of chips, so there was not much loss.

The two were taken out of the casino through another passage, but after they came out, they were in a warehouse on the pier.Looking at the quiet port outside, it is hard to believe that there is still a bustling casino hidden in this place.

On the way back to their residence, Zhao Cheng asked, "Boss Xu, have you noticed that there are other entrances and exits in that cave?"

Xu Ke nodded and said: "The cave seems to run from east to west, and it happens to be between Cangdong Ao and Tian Ao in the east. I think it is very likely that there is a passage leading to the east. Enter this casino through the passage in the mountain."

Zhao Chengdao: "I think so too. Looking at the scale of this casino, I'm afraid that there is only three to four thousand taels of silver in the daily income. After a long period of time, this income is really quite a lot. Previously, it was estimated that the land of the Haisha Gang has hundreds of dollars a year. Now it seems that the income of ten thousand taels is underestimated, and the annual income of this casino alone is this amount."

Xu Ke said: "With so much cash flowing into the island, the Haisha Gang may not be able to spend the money quickly. If the coalition forces conquer this place, they will have to search it carefully. There must be a secret bank to store it. silver."

Zhao Cheng remembered that Xu Yuzhuo had sent people to Yandang Town to raid the gang's bank bank after they wiped out the Yueqing Ship Gang in Yueqing Bay, Wenzhou, so he decided to tell Xu Ke about it.After hearing this, Xu Ke also sighed: "The pirates in Yueqing Fishing Port Town have so much savings. The Haisha gang has been entrenched on Liuheng Island for many years, and the money in the hoard must be even richer. The coalition forces said this time You might be able to make a fortune!"

(End of this chapter)