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In this era, the Ming Dynasty navy was still quite powerful, but the Ming Dynasty navy stationed on Taihu Lake had become a fisherman with no combat effectiveness. Even the captain looked like a pampered old man.
In this bandit suppression operation, Captain Lu brought along a dozen of his men, just to gain some military merit. However, the battle ended too quickly. After two rows of guns were put down, the pirates surrendered, which surprised Captain Lu so much that he almost dropped his eyeballs to the ground.
Captain Lu had fought against Luo Tieshan's pirates before, and he knew very well how powerful Luo Tieshan and his men were. They were fierce bandits who killed people without blinking an eye and had superb martial arts. He originally thought that the two sides would have a fierce battle, but the weapons of Lord Tang's men were too powerful. Even after such a long time since the incident, Captain Lu still felt his heart beating fast. When did the Ming Dynasty produce such a powerful musket? It was simply an unparalleled weapon for killing people. Captain Lu couldn't help but think to himself that even if his men got the musket, he would have to defeat these pirates.
Captain Lu and Tang Tong were not superiors or subordinates. When Tang Tong had originally asked him for a boat, Captain Lu had been rather pretentious. Later, Tang Tong had promised him five hundred taels of silver, and only then did he simply lend Tang Tong the boat. Now, seeing how good Tang Tong was with a musket, Captain Lu couldn't help but have his own ideas. Seeing Tang Tong approaching him, Captain Lu bowed and said, "Master Tang, you have done a great service in pacifying these pirates this time."
"Haha, Lord Lu, you are joking. I don't have any credit this time. It is Lord Lu who has made great contributions. I wonder if Lord Lu is willing to take the credit?" Tang Tong smiled. He was still not used to the fake smiles in official circles, so he looked a little fake.
Tang Tong already had a fierce look on his face, and this fake smile made him look completely malicious. Captain Lu was startled and forced a smile: "I wonder what Lord Tang means..."
"Sir Lu, this is what I think. These pirates surrendered to you under your command. Afterwards, you incorporated these pirates into your own navy and made them soldiers of the Ming Dynasty navy. In this way, the shortage of soldiers under your command can be supplemented. Then you don't have to worry about the shortage of soldiers under your command when the higher-ups come to inspect. Of course, Sir Lu, don't worry. These soldiers are not for you to support. I will be responsible for all their expenses. In addition, I will give you one hundred taels of silver every month for salary. What do you think, Sir Lu?" Tang Tong said this politely, but with Tang Tong's expression, it sounded like a threat to Captain Lu.
Tang Tong said this because he was not in charge of the navy. If he wanted to have a navy legitimately, he had no choice but to think of this method. It was just like in the 1980s in later generations, when private enterprises were registered under the name of state-owned enterprises. Moreover, with the name of the Ming Navy, there would be no need to worry about inspections by other navies in future maritime trade, because maritime trade in this era was actually smuggling. If those seafarers wanted to do business safely, they had to pay a large amount of silver to those officials, and Tang Tong did not want to lose the silver he had on hand and let others get it.
"Well, Lord Tang..." When Captain Lu heard that he would be given 100 taels of silver every month, he felt a little moved, but he was still a little hesitant. After all, he had never encountered such a thing before, and he didn't know whether it was good or bad.
"Lord Lu, please don't make a decision in a hurry. I have another idea that I would like to cooperate with you. The banditry in Taihu Lake has been quelled, and many merchants will pass through Taihu Lake in the future. I think that Lord Lu should give full play to his advantages and control the transportation industry on Taihu Lake in his own hands. I am willing to cooperate with Lord Lu to establish a shipping fleet on Taihu Lake. All goods that need to be transported from Taihu Lake must be transported by our shipping fleet. Lord Lu, what do you think of this?" If the transportation industry on Taihu Lake can be controlled, the profits will be considerable. Naturally, Tang Tong is willing to get involved and win over the navy commander Lu.
When Captain Lu heard what Tang Tong said, his eyes lit up, as if he saw countless gold and silver swaying in front of his eyes. He looked up at Tang Tong and thought to himself that this Lord Tang was really good at making plans. He even came up with such an idea.
"Since Lord Tang thinks highly of me, it is my honor. I am willing to serve you at my utmost." After trying to control the transportation on Taihu Lake, the silver came rolling in. Captain Lu finally had no worries at all and became respectful to Tang Tong. As the saying goes, money makes the world go round, and people become officials just for money.
"Haha, we make money together and get rich together, Lord Lu. From now on, we are a family. We don't need to be so polite to each other. It's too much." Tang Tong's smile was sincere this time. The two sides took advantage of this opportunity to finalize the deal. Tang Tong would take over the transportation business, set up a land freight information network, and be responsible for the official arrangements. Captain Lu would combine his own ships with those of Luo Tieshan and his men, and take his hundreds of men to run shipping business.
The profits were split 50-50 between the two parties, because Luo Tieshan and his men's ships were actually now counted under Tang Tong's name, and these ships were more than those under Lu Qianhu's command. In this way, it seemed as if Tang Tong had suffered a little loss.
After the two parties signed the contract, Tang Tong paid 700 taels of silver to Captain Lu. Among the 700 taels of silver, 500 taels were the rent for the ship that Tang Tong used for this battle, and 100 taels were the monthly salary that Tang Tong promised to give to Captain Lu. Captain Lu received the 700 taels of silver, and Tang Tong gave the main credit to Captain Lu in the battle report he wrote to his superiors. As a result, Captain Lu left with a smile on his face and his men.
The battle report did not mention that the bandit leader Luo Tieshan had surrendered, but instead stated that Luo Tieshan had escaped. Tang Tong had no choice but to accept this because Luo Tieshan had some grudge against General Qin, and he naturally could not let Luo Tieshan fall into the hands of General Qin.
It must be said that the wealth in the hands of Luo Tieshan and his men was considerable. After several generations of the head of the family, they had accumulated about 40,000 taels of silver, 3,000 taels of gold, a large box of various jewels and jades, several thousand strings of copper coins, and some other valuables. It was a bargain for Tang Tong.
But for Tang Tong, the harvest this time was not good. There were too many people coming, so the bonus had to be reduced. He had to give each person ten taels of silver as a token of his appreciation. The rest of the money was considered as the Nanyang Development Company and was used to buy ships and cannons.
This artillery must be purchased. Tang Tongqi knew that since he could not produce it, he had no choice but to buy shares of the Nanyang Development Company from the Westerners. Tang Tong also gave his leaders, such as Zhang Niujiao, Zhang Yiheng, Heipi, Luo Tieshan, Xu Yuxi, etc., 3% of the shares each, and the next level of small leaders, such as the flag chiefs of each flag, 1% of the shares each. In this way, not only Zhang Niujiao and Heipi were happy, but also Luo Tieshan, Xu Yuxi and other people who had just surrendered felt at ease.
Everyone returned home victorious. The rogue army and pirates went to the offshore training base, while Tang Tong took his soldiers to Changzhou. This operation lasted for about fifty days. Tang Tong, Chen Yuxian, Yuan'er and others had been separated for a long time. As soon as they arrived at the door, Yuan'er happily threw herself into Tang Tong's arms and kissed Tang Tong's face several times with her little mouth. Unfortunately, Tang Tong didn't know that the Yuan'er in his arms was Chen Yuanyuan, one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, otherwise he would not have been willing to wipe the saliva off his face.
Tang Tong held Yuan'er in his arms, glanced at Chen Yuxian, who was standing beside him with a smile, and asked her, "How have you been these days?"
This was a very common greeting, sometimes asked between acquaintances, but it would never be as gentle as Tang Tong's voice. There were some women whose gentleness could make men become gentler without them realizing it.
"Well, Yuan'er and I have been living very well these days." Chen Yuxian smiled softly, without saying much, turned sideways, and let Liu Rushi behind her out.
Liu Rushi looked at Tang Tong nervously. She had just been at Tang Tong's house for a few days when Tang Tong led his troops out. She had no idea what kind of person Tang Tong was. Although she had heard from others that Lord Tang was a kind man these days, she was still very scared when she saw Tang Tong's ferocious face.
"Haha, it seems that Miss Liu has been doing well these days. Her complexion has become much rosier." Tang Tong played a little joke on Liu Rushi, which made Liu Rushi's face even redder, but the fear in her heart was also relieved a lot.
Tang Tong carried Yuan'er into his home. When he was about to find a chair to sit down, he saw something on the table and was stunned for a moment. He hurriedly carried Yuan'er over.
——I don’t know which buddy gave me four roses at once, which made me happy for a while. Haha, buddy, thank you.
And to all the brothers and sisters who have always supported me, thank you for your recommendations and collections, thank you!
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