Dongting Town is only twenty miles away from Taihu Lake, and it is downstream.

The two large ships set out from the dock, passed through the Beixingtang River, entered the Liangxi River and entered Taihu Lake, which took a total of half an hour.

During the flood season, the water of Taihu Lake flows from west to east and from north to south, so the unlucky ones are Suzhou and Songjiang.

The most unlucky one is naturally Kunshan, which is known as the bathtub of Suzhou and Songshan.

The group went downstream and arrived at Xijing Bay when it got dark.

On the way, Mr. Zhao agreed with Hua Bozheng that he would go back to Suzhou to raise money.

The pirates demanded a ransom of 100,000 taels, but that's more than three tons of silver, no one can carry it on their person, right?

Hua Bozhen meant that if they left the boats and food to the pirates, the situation would be fine.

But Mr. Zhao said, "We should be prepared for the worst." What if the pirates are not under the control of the Dongting Chamber of Commerce?

So you still have to be prepared for both situations.

Hua Bozhen thought it made sense, and the two agreed on a way to contact each other, and then separated at the outer lake of Xijing Bay. One went east into the bay, and the other went south to Dongting Lake to find President Weng to learn about the situation.

~~

Let me explain this on two sides.

An honest and trustworthy young man like Mr. Zhao would naturally not lie to Hua Bozhen who was eager to help.

He actually took a boat into Xijing Bay.

However, he did not take the Muguang Canal to Suzhou City, but went to Hushuguan from the Hudong Canal in the north.

Hushuguan is located ten miles north of Suzhou City. It is the first customs in Jiangnan and straddles the Grand Canal. Goods carried by merchants from the north and south must be inspected and taxed here, which naturally gave birth to a first-class prosperous place in Wuzhong.

When the ship arrived at Hushuguan, it was already three o'clock in the night, but the town was still brightly lit.

Through the misty rain curtain, I saw the bright lights on both sides of the canal. Strings of colorful lights were reflected on the river surface, and the river water also became colorful.

The taverns and brothels are still bustling with the sounds of stringed instruments and the flirting of men and women, making one feel as if they are back by the Qinhuai River.

However, Zhao Hao had no intention of appreciating the ambiguous night scene in the rain. His eyes only moved back and forth between the two sides of the street, looking for the Wu Ji sign.

There are so many money houses and bill shops in Hushuguan, so it is impossible that Wu Ji’s is not among them.

"There." Qiaoqiao was sharp-eyed and saw a long string of angry lanterns hanging on a two-story shop facing the street beside the bridge.

There were indeed the words "Wu Ji Money House" written on it, but the light was not on. No wonder Mr. Zhao missed it.

"Not bad." Zhao Hao nodded approvingly, and Qiaoqiao felt very proud.

Although it was the middle of the night, the dock was still full of merchant ships waiting to pass through customs the next day.

After finally finding a berth to stop, Zhao Hao and others went ashore, and Gao Wu knocked on the tightly closed door of Wu Ji.

There was a faint light coming through the crack in the door.

"Who?" came a vigilant voice from inside.

"Shoulder to shoulder!" Zhao Hao behind Gao Wu replied in a deep voice.

"Bing Jian Zi" means friends. Wu Ji was born in the underworld and had his own way of communicating.

When in Beijing, Ye taught Zhao Hao all this, otherwise he really wouldn't be able to open this door.

"The sky is full of clouds?" There was silence for a moment, and then someone else asked the question.

What are you doing here in the dark?

'The old man who eats the money from the drifters is playing with partridges, and the boss is coming to me.'

The pirates are robbing, and your boss is in their hands, so I’m here to help.

Zhao Hao was talking in black language... Oh, by the way, the black language of black language is Chun Dian. At the same time, he secretly complained, can't you just talk properly?

But on second thought, four hundred years later, all walks of life are still desperately expanding their own jargon in order to raise the entry threshold and prevent outsiders from easily getting in.

What's more, in this era, there is at least a need for security.

~~

After a secret signal was given, the person inside finally removed the door panel.

Dozens of guns were pointed at the door. The shop assistants and guards were all armed with the latest model of bird-beaked rifles.

Gao Wu quickly protected Zhao Hao behind him. In fact, there was no need to be nervous, the fuse had not been lit yet.

But a surprised voice was heard from inside. "Mr. Zhao! Put down the gun quickly, this is the eldest lady's brother!"

The guards then put away their guns.

Zhao Hao looked at the middle-aged man who saluted him and smiled awkwardly but politely.

Secretary Ma knew that the young master's face blindness had recurred, so he leaned over to his ear and whispered, "This is Mi, the housekeeper beside Miss Jiang."

"Butler Mi, aren't you accompanying Miss Jiang? Why are you here?" Young Master Zhao was able to speak then.

"My lord, the pirates let me go and sent a message. Please prepare the ransom within three days." Butler Mi invited Zhao Hao to the account office upstairs to talk. After closing the door, he bowed his head and said, "As soon as I arrived here, I ordered someone to report to Yangzhou as soon as possible. Thinking that Kunshan was still waiting for food to save his life, I quickly notified you."

"I'm in Wuxi, and my subordinate sent me a letter, which was a day late." Zhao Hao explained first, then said in a deep voice: "What are the pirates doing?"

"They are all covered with masks, so I can't recognize them." Butler Mi laughed bitterly, "Taihu Lake is so big, there are dozens of big and small bandits."

"Where is their lair?" Zhao Hao asked again.

"I don't know either." Butler Mi lowered his head and said, "The thieves were masked."

"Then how do you communicate?" Zhao Hao asked again.

"They asked us to deliver the silver to Xiaozhu Mountain before noon the day after tomorrow and bury it in the dug pit. They will release the person after they get the money." Butler Mi replied hurriedly.

"Is that so?" Zhao Hao felt relieved after hearing that. He sat down on the chair and asked Butler Mi to tell him about the robbery.

Steward Mi told Master Zhao that the day before yesterday, the eldest lady personally escorted five grain ships from Yixing. When the ships reached the center of the lake, more than a dozen gunboats suddenly rushed out of the natural river port of Pingtai Mountain.

The gunboat is a small boat unique to the Taihu Lake. It has two pointed ends, is less than ten feet long, and only three feet wide. It has two oars and one paddle, and is light and fast. Because the rudder is shaped like a wooden gun, it is called a gunboat.

This small boat is similar to the speedboats of later generations. It is fast, flexible and easy to hide. It is the only choice for bandits to make a living on Taihu Lake.

The grain ship was large, clumsy and fully loaded, so it had no way to escape and was soon surrounded by gunboats.

~~

"It was raining heavily, and the bird guns and crossbows were useless, so the pirates could come up with impunity. They grabbed our boat with a hook and threatened to set it on fire if we didn't surrender." Butler Nami said, "Torches are not afraid of rain, and they can be thrown into the cabin to light a fire. The young lady judged the situation and asked us to surrender to the pirates."

"Yes, wise." Zhao Hao nodded and asked softly, "Do they know that Miss Jiang is on the boat?"

"I don't know. The young lady and the maid changed into men's clothes and mixed in with the boatmen." Butler Mi replied hurriedly, "The pirates asked me to come back and tell them to prepare a ransom of 100,000 taels within three days to return the property to its original owner and not to hurt anyone. Then they sent me to the shore in a small boat..."

"Hmm." Zhao Hao asked for more details, then made the decision: "I'll pay the ransom, you raise the money immediately!"

"Is this possible?" Butler Mi was pleasantly surprised. Such a large sum of money was naturally not something that the managers could use.

We must ask Yangzhou for permission and obtain Ye's authorization.

But then the daylily will get cold...

ps. This is the first update, I just wrote it, I will finish it slowly...