The servant outside the door looked at the bulging silver in the cloth bag and smiled: "Please wait a moment, I will report it right away."
The servant turned around and shouted to the inside of the courtyard gate: "Someone, bring a stool for the two masters."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the mansion was opened from the inside.
Two servants rushed out holding stools.
They came to Dong Liao and Dong Dong and put down the stools: "The two masters, please take a rest for a while."
The two of them smiled slightly and sat down without hesitation.
While they were resting, the servant had already delivered the visiting card to Zheng Zhilong.
"Sir, there are two merchants from Northern Zhili outside the door who want to see you. They say they want to discuss the issue of foreign goods with you."
Northern Zhili? Trading in foreign goods?
"No!" Zheng Zhilong was in a bad mood and refused directly.
The reason for his bad mood was that a merchant ship bound for Japan sank at sea, resulting in a loss of 100,000 taels of silver.
Zheng Zhilong's maritime trade was mainly with the Japanese.
The silk, cloth, porcelain, black and white sugar, musk, Chinese yam and other medicines he shipped from the mainland to Japan were very popular.
According to relevant records, Zheng's caravan monopolized 20% of Japan's foreign trade.
The servant had to help Dong Liao since he had received his money, so he continued, "Master, these two merchants are called Dong Liao and Dong Dong. Here are their visiting cards. If you don't see them, I will return them to them."
Dong Liao? Dong Dong?
Dong...Liaodong?
"What accent do they have?" Zheng Zhilong asked again to be on the safe side.
The servant thought for a moment and said, "My lord, they speak with a rather unauthentic Beijing accent."
Zheng Zhilong's body stiffened slightly. After thinking for a moment, he took the visiting card and read it carefully.
There was not a single word written on the visiting card, but a silver note for one thousand taels was attached.
Wow!
Simple and clear, indeed interesting.
Zheng Zhilong closed the visiting card and sat on a chair to think for a while, then ordered: "Tell them to go to the Catholic Church and wait, I will be there later."
Zheng Zhilong was influenced by the Portuguese and converted to Catholicism, so he named the front hall of the Zheng Mansion the Catholic Church.
"Yes, sir." The servant turned and left with a smile on his face.
Zheng Zhilong changed his clothes and then went to the Catholic church.
Dong Liao and Dong Dong had been waiting in the Catholic church for a long time. When they saw Zheng Zhilong coming, they immediately stepped forward to greet him: "Dong Dong, a merchant from Northern Zhili."
"Dong Liao."
"Meet General Zheng."
Zheng Zhilong nodded: "Nice to meet you."
After the host and the guest were separated, the merchant Dong Liao glanced at the person standing behind Zheng Zhilong and said, "Sir Zheng, I have something important to discuss with you. Can we find a private place?"
Zheng Zhilong shook his head slowly: "It's okay, this man's name is Shi Lang, he is my trusted general, just say whatever you want to say, no need to hide anything."
Dong Liao stared at Shi Lang for a while, then said to Zheng Zhilong, "Sir Zheng, we have a batch of goods to ship to Korea. However, the sea is windy and rough, and there are pirates. I heard that the fleet under Sir Zheng has clear flags and strong weapons and armor."
"We would like to hire Mr. Zheng's fleet to help with transportation. I wonder if Mr. Zheng is willing to help?"
After hearing the word "Korea", Zheng Zhilong stood up and shouted to the outside: "Come here, arrest these two traitorous merchants."
Four servants immediately rushed in from outside the door and surrounded Dong Liao and Dong Dong.
Dong Liao panicked: "Zheng... Lord Zheng, what does this mean?"
"What do you mean?" Zheng Zhilong sneered, "The court has issued an order that anyone who trades with Korea will be considered as traitor to the country. As merchants from the Ming Dynasty, you must know this. I will arrest you on the spot. Is there any problem?"
Dong Liao hurriedly explained: "Sir Zheng, what we want to transport is grain and cotton and linen, which are not within the scope of the imperial court's ban."
Zheng Zhilong glared and said, "It doesn't matter what it is, as long as the destination is North Korea, we have to take them down quickly."
Just as the four servants were about to take action, Dong Dong, who had been silent, spoke up: "Master Zheng, wait a minute, I have something to say."
Without waiting for Zheng Zhilong's consent, Dong Dong spoke up: "Fifty thousand!"
"What?" Zheng Zhilong didn't hear clearly and asked subconsciously.
"Eighty thousand!"
"What's the meaning?"
"For each batch of goods transported, we are willing to pay 100,000 taels of silver, no higher." Dong Dong continued.
Zheng Zhilong immediately understood what the other party meant. He smiled coldly and said, "You want to bribe the general of the Ming Dynasty with just 100,000 taels of silver? You underestimate me too much."
Dong Dong showed no fear: "Sir Zheng, the 100,000 taels of silver I mentioned is for your hard work, and the transportation fee is extra."
Hearing him say this, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but hesitate for a moment.
But he quickly recovered and ordered Shi Lang, who was standing next to him, "Catch them and send them to the Quanzhou government office to be dealt with by the prefect."
"Is Lord Zheng worried that we are Jinyiwei?"
"Quickly capture them and send them to the Quanzhou government office immediately!" Zheng Zhilong trembled all over when he heard the three words "Jinyiwei" and yelled at Shi Lang.
Swish!
Without waiting for Shi Lang to take action, Dong Liao reached out and pulled out a dagger from his arms.
Shi Lang and several servants treated Dong Liao as a formidable enemy. They first stepped back half a step, then rushed forward and put the tips of their knives against Dong Liao's body.
Dong Liao smiled slightly, swung the dagger in his right hand violently, and stabbed it heavily into the heart.
Phew--
The sharp dagger pierced through the clothes and pierced into the heart along the gap between the bones.
Dong Liao's rosy cheeks quickly turned pale, and then his body went limp and fell down.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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