Li Xia breathed out softly, "Okay, this boot has fallen down."

"How much do you know about banditry along the coast? Tell me." Li Xia looked at Sixth Brother outside the window. The articles Guo Sheng asked to memorize were changed from one at a time to two at a time. Sixth Brother's ability to endorse it shows how much he has improved.

.

"I know a lot. The line from Wenzhou to Shaoxing in southern Zhejiang has always been within the range of pirates. When I was very young, I followed my adoptive parents to escape from pirates several times. The folk customs in southern Zhejiang are fierce. In some places, Xianghe Taiping

Achyranthes Village, which is more than ten miles away from the village, once killed half of dozens of pirates. There were trenches dug outside Taiping Village, half to protect against enemies and half to protect against pirates.

Those pirates were actually local people who joined the gang for various reasons. When I escaped from Taiping Village and went back to Shaoxing begging for food, I was once involved in a group of pirates. The pirate leader was named Hu

They wanted to take me in as their godson, so I followed them for four or five days before I found an opportunity to escape.

Later, after I became a scholar, I went to Wenzhou Prefecture to seek revenge, and also borrowed money from pirates..."

Guo Sheng paused in his words, glanced at Li Xia who was looking at him sideways with a clear look on his face, gritted his teeth and continued: "I found a gang of pirates and designed to trick them into bloodbathing Taiping Village and the enemy next door. This is revenge.

The thing is that I was too young and vigorous at the time. Over the years, whenever I think about this matter, I feel regretful and unable to sleep..."

"It's nothing, go on." Li Xia interrupted Guo Sheng.

Guo Sheng quickly glanced at Li Xia, and there was nothing surprising. So far, it seemed that his girl didn't care about human life. The girl said that she was just a little premature... Hey!

"Yes. Later, I visited the world and said that there are fairy mountains overseas. I...went to the sea several times."

Guo Sheng smiled dryly, and Li Xia glanced sideways at him and pulled down the corners of his mouth.

"Those pirates are different from the mountain bandits in the interior. Bandits, no matter what, they still step on the king's soil and never deviate from the king's law. The pirates are different. From Fujian to the south, if the wind direction is good, it only takes ten days.

, there is land, and they are all barbaric places. I heard that one or two groups of pirates have taken over the island, and some have proclaimed themselves kings and emperors on the island. They are truly lawless."

Guo Sheng became a little excited as he spoke. It seemed that he really knew a lot about these pirates.

Li Xia listened very attentively. Outside the window, Li Wenlan walked briskly into the room. Guo Sheng hurriedly stopped and stood up and looked at Li Xia. Li Xia looked at Sixth Brother who had already walked to the door and lowered his head to write.

In the evening, Li Xia and Li Wenlan entered the small courtyard where Guo Sheng and Xu Huan lived together.

After Xu Huan wanted to stay for a long time, Mrs. Xu tidied up a small courtyard for him. Although the Gaoyou County government office was not big, the Li family had a small population, so there were many empty courtyards. But Xu Huan refused to move, saying

As long as Mr. Guo is not annoyed, it is best for him to live with Mr. Guo. It is really comfortable for the two of them to talk, eat peanuts and drink some old wine.

Of course Mrs. Xu would not force this, so Xu Huan stayed in the temporary wing room.

In the corridor, Xu Huanzheng and Guo Sheng gathered around a small red clay stove, making tea and drinking tea. When they saw the two coming in, Xu Huan waved with a smile on his face, "Come here quickly, you two must have come because of the smell. Uncle is buying something today."

I got fresh chestnuts, just roasted.”

"Uncle, uncle!" Li Wenlan rushed forward, excited, "The wintersweet has bloomed in the back garden, and the green plum blossoms next to it have also bloomed a lot. They are so beautiful, and the faint fragrance floats in the moonlight at dusk. Didn't you say that admiring plum blossoms in the evening is the best time?

Okay? Let’s go enjoy the plum blossoms, uncle will write a poem, and I’ll write one too!”

Xu Huan rubbed his forehead with one hand and kept smiling with a wry look on his face. He really couldn't laugh or cry at this elegant little nephew, "It's so cold. Eat chestnuts..."

"Go on, go on, who told you to talk about the floating fragrance?" Guo Sheng glanced at Li Xia, who was following leisurely behind, and pushed Xu Huan.

Xu Huan stood up reluctantly, patted his clothes a few times, and wiped away all the reluctance. He raised his shoulders, and with a mood similar to that of Li Wenlan, he said loudly: "In this evening,

How can you not appreciate plum blossoms like that? Come on, uncle will take you two to enjoy the plum blossoms."

"I'm not going, I want to eat chestnuts." Li Xia squeezed past Xu Huan, sat on his seat, stretched his head and looked at the chestnuts placed around the mouth of the red clay stove.

"What's so delicious about chestnuts? Uncle, let's go. My sister can also compose poetry anyway." Li Wenlan has never been able to be the boss of his sister. She has become accustomed to what her sister says. She can eat chestnuts if she wants. He is

You must appreciate the plum blossoms.

Xu Huan held Li Wenlan's hand and laughed all the way.

Watching the two of them leave the courtyard, Guo Sheng poured a cup of tea and handed it to Li Xia. Li Xia motioned to him: "Go on."

"Yes. Pirates are rampant along the coast, but business at sea is very prosperous. Pirates rob merchant ships at sea. They are very organized. They surround the merchant ships, board the ships, count the goods, offer prices, and take a percentage. It depends on

Which merchant ship it is from, which robber family it is from, if you encounter a ship from your hometown, you will usually ask for a little less, but you will also have to pay more, but generally, it will not be more than half."

Li Xia listened carefully. She didn't know these things.

"There are very few people who steal all the goods and kill people. When I went out to sea with the ship, I encountered two groups of pirates along the way. They didn't hurt anyone. I heard from the boss of the ship that there were also newbies who didn't understand the rules or were violent.

After that, all the people were killed and robbed, once or twice, and by the third time, a large number of pirates came out to clean up the house, so as not to affect everyone's business."

"It's true that thieves have their ways." Li Xia sipped his tea and said in a low voice, "Well, tell me about the big merchants in Xingzhou."

Guo Sheng was startled and reacted very quickly, "Jiang family?"

"Tell me everything."

"Yes. In fact, it's hard to say which one is the largest maritime merchant. Maritime business has extremely high profits because the risks are extremely high. Unlike inland business, they don't have to put on airs to show that they have strong financial resources. Therefore, each maritime merchant

How many ships there are, how big the business is, and how much money is earned are mostly kept secret. How well a business is doing can all be guessed based on the incoming and outgoing goods and its usual behavior."

Guo Sheng explained carefully first, and then said: "In recent years, the most recommended families in Mingzhou are the Jiang family and the Zhao family. These two families are in-laws. Now in Mingzhou, they talk about the same thing and are very good friends.

, but these two families are among the best, mostly because of Queen Jiang and Prime Minister Zhao Ji."

"How much are the ships and pirates from their two families worth?" Li Xia looked at Guo Sheng.
Chapter completed!