Daming Yinghua

Chapter 139
"Xu San, where is our boat anchored?"

Leaving Cheng to take charge of the house, Zheng Haizhu sat on the horse and asked Xu San who was holding the rein.

Xu San pointed to a row of lucky boats in the east harbor in the distance: "It's the one in there, Miss Zheng will be able to see it clearly tomorrow, it's only seven or eight feet long, not big, but it's enough for our family to carry. A ship boss and three sailors have all been in charge of Xun Hai Dao, running smuggled goods in Dengliao Hai Dao, and it was his family who transported them last time."

Zheng Haizhu thought: "Today, I will show the nepotism of the Lu clan, and save 200 taels, which is enough to buy half a lucky boat. We will do business a few times later, and we still have to have our own boat."

Xu Sandao: "Of course I feel more at ease when I have my own boat. Although the boat we hired is a friend of Mao Shoubing, people are very close to each other. Who knows that they have been looking at our good things for many years, and one day they suddenly have evil thoughts. , looking for pirates to kill and steal money."

Zheng Haizhu said happily, "You're right if you think so. You must be on guard against others."

Xu San scratched his head and said, "But our own boat can't get in."

Zheng Haizhu looked at him: "So, I want to get in touch with that Cheng Xin. Don't think that he is not in the right place. He is probably a pussy in war, but he is not stupid in business. Ask him to go to the master who patrols the sea road to make a match, and ask him about it." In the south of the land, do they have any familiar merchants? If not, let's jump up and help patrol the sea road to carry goods for resale. The sea road is so big, and it is worthwhile to collect protection fees. Not to mention that once the gods above fight, you will become cannon fodder, and your life will be gone, so why sell flags. What you leave to your descendants must be property."

Xu San listened and agreed.

In his opinion, Miss Zheng has several faces to show others.

Although every face is not fierce, some are straightforward, some are smooth, some are enthusiastic, some are cold, some are penny-pinching, and some are slapping others.

Like today, Cheng Bazong was given 100 taels in the end, which Zheng Haizhu told Xu San in advance.Just like paying taxes at the Canal Chaoguan, Ms. Zheng is unwilling to teach people how to handle soft persimmons, but she will not rely on her background to break the rules of the world.

Xu San felt that it was enough for him to imitate this face.

People like Cheng Xin can be found everywhere. In Ms. Zheng's words, if you point at him to release water, if you can't pay for the benefits, you have to find a good reason for him to explain to the superior, and you have to make the superior feel that he has neither If you offend people, you will get more or less money.

It's not difficult for him to do it, and it's always smoother to deal with him when you go back home.After all, he has a tiger embroidered on his chest, and he still manages a private port.

During this trip, Xu San felt that following Miss Zheng was more interesting than following Mao Wenlong to ambush the Tartars.Mao Chengbei from Hangzhou, like his father Mao Wenlong, was not mean to his subordinates, but Ms. Zheng was not only not mean, but also taught some tricks like an old cat leading a kitten.

Xu San gradually gathered his energy and worked hard for "Hao Ming Trading Company".

He was seriously thinking about how to make friends with Mr. Cheng, who was as handsome as an actor, when he came back from Liaodong in the next spring, when Miss Zheng's voice came from his head: "You rest by the side of the road, I'll run a horse." Go to the sea and look at those boats."

Without waiting for Xu San to answer, Zheng Haizhu took the reins back from his hand, clamped the horse's belly, and galloped towards the sea.

……

Ever since I left Yan Siqi in Taiwan, Zheng Haizhu hasn't seen the commercial seaport and all kinds of lucky boats and bird boats for more than half a year, and my heart is very itchy.

In this era, no matter how prosperous city life is, no matter how exquisite utensils are, no matter how interesting literature and art, in her eyes, they still belong to the ancient farming civilization.

Of course, she also loves farming civilization, and understands that many honest and simple concepts in her blood are thanks to her diligent and solid farming ancestors.

But what really made her feel connected with modern times and relieved her sense of loneliness as a visitor from another world was the integration of people into ocean activities.

The scene in front of me has the typical color of using power for personal gain in the muddy official administration in the late Ming Dynasty.However, the other side it presents is indeed the vitality that only exists in the black market and sea trade.

Tomorrow, the Dengzhou porter hired by Xu San will go to load the goods, and the ship will have to sail out of the port. Time is limited. Zheng Haizhu wants to take advantage of the horses today to take a tour along this private port.

The closer to the harbor, the stronger the fishy smell from the sea breeze. Zheng Haizhu, who was not too fast, also watched the countless dilapidated shacks on both sides, and there were people cleaning up the catch or repairing the fishing nets.

Seeing that the wharf where the blessing boats were gathered was a hundred paces away, under the cliff obliquely in front, there was suddenly the sound of "bang, bang" firecrackers being fired.

The horse Chi Ruyi under Zheng Haizhu's crotch has always been the mount of Fan Bin, the head of Zhu Yi's bodyguard, not the war horses of Daming that have been on the battlefield.Except for the sound of firecrackers that came from far away during the Chinese New Year, what Chi Ruyi was most comfortable with when she became an adult was the sound of the bowstrings of hunters in the mountains and forests outside Yanzhou City.

At this moment, the sudden bang of the firecrackers instantly made the horse's oversensitive hearing convey catastrophic fear to the nerves.

Chi Ruyi let out a long hiss, shook his back, and then shook violently from the horse's head to its neck.

Instinctively, Zheng Haizhu lowered his upper body, grabbed the reins tightly with both hands, and pressed the stirrups tightly with his feet, so as not to let himself, an immature rider, be thrown off the ground by the startled horse.

Just now she felt that Chi Ruyi was shaking her neck a little less, when the sound of firecrackers sounded from behind the cliff.

This time, it seems that there are several dense bursts of fire, and the sound is connected, which is better than the thunder and sky fire.

Chi Ruyi went berserk again, shaking her neck while rushing to the path to the left.

Zheng Haizhu had never experienced such a horse speed before, his mind went blank for a moment, and the exclamation that came out of his mouth seemed to reach his ears from far away.

In front of the wormwood bushes, a figure suddenly appeared, quickly facing the galloping horse.

Before Zheng Haizhu could react, the man had already jumped on the horse, reached out from behind her, picked up a part of the rein from both sides, stretched his arms to steer it, and kept shouting.

Zheng Haizhu was pressed on the neck of the horse by the other party. After a few breaths, he finally regained consciousness, and it was clear that the person controlling the horse was a woman.

Chi Ruyi was still in a state of insanity, but being held back by the woman, she seemed to change the direction of running.

Zheng Haizhu glanced to the right from the corner of his eye, and suddenly felt a chill rushing towards the sky, and at the same time, his heart seemed to miss a few beats.

A cliff, a cliff!
Although you can see the fields and shacks below at a glance, the drop is not as big as the cliffs near Penglai Pavilion, but if the horses running at high speed fall from a height of two or three feet, it will be very dangerous for people and horses .

The movements of the woman behind her are very skillful. Zheng Haizhu leaned on the horse's neck, and she could also feel the different moments of her pulling and pulling the rein, her gestures were complicated and flexible.

Finally, Chi Ruyi was led to run to a slack field in winter.

The firecrackers rang a few more times, but the power was greatly reduced when it was heard from afar.

Chi Ruyi's ears twitched rapidly, as if a person would keep blinking after the shock had just settled down.

But it has noticeably slowed down and started to snort.

The woman behind pulled the rein little by little, and finally made Chi Ruyi stop in front of the field ridge with a few "whoo, whoo".

As soon as the horse stood firm, the woman jumped off, walked to the horse's head, bent her body towards Zheng Haizhu, and faced the mud.

Zheng Haizhu was condescending, only seeing a withered and messy head with a bun, and a dirty rough linen jacket and trousers that couldn't see its original color.

She quickly got off her horse too.

"Thank you fellow for saving your life, is this fellow from Jindao Tun?"

The woman wrung her cracked hands, still looking at the ground, and gave a low "hmm".

The cowardly crouched man in front of him is completely different from the brave and unrestrained female knight who was riding the frightened horse a moment ago.

Zheng Haizhu was a little puzzled.

Look at this woman, she is about the same age as me, and like me, she also combed her hair like a married woman, but her clothes are ragged, she should be the daughter-in-law of a poor military household in the village.

Even a woman from a well-to-do family in Dengzhou City is unlikely to have access to horses that the rich and the rich can afford. How can this woman be so good at riding?

Zheng Haizhu saw that her clothes were thin, and thought that she was sweating while riding the horse just now, and now that the northwest wind blows, it will make things worse, so she took off the sable fur rewarded by Lu Wang's mansion, and went forward to put it on her.

The woman was so frightened that she waved her hands again and again, then she raised her head and said: "Fur goods, old expensive, don't wear them, don't wear them."

It's not Dengzhou dialect. To be precise, its blunt grammar and weird accent are not like Han people.

Zheng Haizhu was even more surprised, and saw her face clearly, broad face, slender eyes, and thought, Dengzhou is very close to North Korea, could it be an immigrant from North Korea?
The woman refused to wear the sable fur, so Zheng Haizhu had to take off her Songjiang cotton padded jacket, put it back on the sable fur, and then wrapped the padded jacket around the woman, saying seriously: "Catch cold in winter, catch typhoid fever, and you will die. "

The woman didn't struggle this time, after Ren Zheng Haizhu helped her tie her belt, she looked up at Zheng Haizhu, then turned around and stroked Chi Ruyi's neck after a while.

"Good horse, good horse."

Her eyes seemed to light up all of a sudden.

(End of this chapter)