Li Xiao never expected that the South China Sea would turn out like this. But this is understandable. After all, there are huge benefits in collecting merchant ship protection fees. Since there are benefits, there will definitely be people fighting for it.

They are all sea-creators who have no fear of heaven and earth, and risk their lives for their jobs. Fighting on the sea is really nothing.

For them, life and death are really ordinary matters.

"Zheng Zhilong has strong soldiers and horses, and he has captured so many artillery pieces. He should be able to beat that Zhang Baozi!" Zheng Sen is his student, and Li Xiao still prefers Zheng Zhilong in his heart.

"These two people are really fighting each other. Zheng Zhilong has artillery, and Zhang Baozai has the support of the Folangji people behind him. He only has more artillery than Zheng Zhilong, but not less. The two of them were fighting equally, and neither could do anything to the other.

I think the war in the southeast will continue to rage for a while longer. It’s still unclear who will win in the end.”

Old Chen Fu was very good at persuading people to drink. Ruan Dacheng drank a lot of wine and talked a lot.

"This treasure is very rich!" Buying artillery and other things requires money. Li Xiao does not think that Zhang Baozai at sea has the ability to make his own gunpowder. Logically speaking, it is difficult for a pirate to spend so much money to buy it.

Equipped.

"What kind of money does he have? It's not like those from Jiangnan...! Oh, he drank too much, he drank too much." Ruan Dacheng didn't drink too much, so he quickly let it slip and braked immediately.

"Oops! I forgot, there is still official business in the yamen. I drank too much today and it will delay the work. Thank you for the hospitality, Lord Governor. I have other errands. If you are not leaving the capital for a while, Ruan will be my host and I will invite you back!" Ruan Dacheng knew that he would be here again!

If you sit down, you might say something fatal, or you might as well run away before you drink too much.

After getting rid of Li Xiao and Chen Fu's attempts to stay, Ruan Dacheng said goodbye and left.

Ruan Dacheng had just left here, and the dishes had not yet been removed. Wang Chengen arrived, and Li Xiao quickly took Chen Fu to greet the emperor's personal eunuch.

"Haha! Our family has sent someone to the governor, come here! Bring them two up!" Seeing Li Xiao, Wang Chengen bowed deeply and turned to the people behind him and ordered!

Two guys with black blindfolds on their heads were pushed out. From a distance of more than two meters, Li Xiao could smell the stinky smell on their bodies.

The light in the prison was dim that day, so Li Xiao couldn't see clearly. Now under the bright sun, Li Xiao could see clearly. The hair of these two brothers was as shaggy as a lion, and they didn't know how long they had not cut it. There was a scene outside.

The layers have been rolled out into felt pieces, and Cao Bianjiao is better, since he is young after all.

The guy Cao Wenzhao has a beard all over his face, and he doesn’t look human at all. If you just look at the head, Li Xiao would never guess what kind of creature it is. Cao Bianjiao is Cao Wenzhao’s nephew at first glance, regardless of his age.

He is small, and his stature is comparable to that of his uncle. He is tall and burly, but very thin. From the place where his chest is exposed, you can see the ribs.

The clothes on his body were worse than those of a beggar. The original color could not be seen at all, and there were so many scattered pieces of cloth reflecting light in the sun. The clothes were all wet!

There were no shoes at all on the bare feet. Although he was not wearing shackles, there were still traces of shackles. The feet and the exposed calves were all black objects of unknown composition. Li Xiao could see it with the naked eye. There were

The little creature kept jumping around.

As for the head, it is a distribution center for microorganisms. The most exaggerated thing is that Li Xiao actually saw bugs crawling in and out of Cao Wenzhao's ears.

Oh my God! These are two people. They are basically imps released from hell. This is in broad daylight. If they came out at night, they would probably scare one or two crazy.

This prison is really no place for humans!

"Long live the old slave and tell the governor that the person you want will be handed over to you. Shandong must be managed well and no trouble will occur. If everything in the capital is settled, then return to Jinan quickly. Now that chaos has begun, Jinan needs a governor

An important minister like you is in charge." Wang Chengen covered his nose in a feminine manner, and twisted his fingers into orchid fingers.

"I thank you for your kindness! I also thank you, Eunuch Wang, for sending me here personally. Please come in and have a cup of tea." He has come all the way to send someone to me, so no matter what, I have to invite him to sit in the house.

"Thank you, Governor, but I have other errands to do, so I won't disturb you. I'll leave them to you and we'll leave." Wang Cheng'en was still so polite, bowing when talking to Li Xiao.

It is really rare for Zhu Youjian's personal eunuch to be so humble now.

"Wang Eunuch, wait a moment." Li Xiao stopped Wang Chengen, and Chen Fu behind him quickly brought up a small bag.

Li Xiao stuffed the bag into Wang Chengen's hand and came all the way to give it away. Without any etiquette, Li Xiao would be in great disgrace.

Wang Chengen weighed it in his hand, and found that such a small bag was quite heavy. Without asking, he knew that it was gold sand. There were many officials in the imperial court who had feudal responsibilities, and most of them spent a lot of money when they went to the capital to report on their duties.

It is rare to find someone with a bag of gold dust, even Wang Chengen, who has been bullish recently, is a little frightened.

"Sir Governor, this...!" Wang Chengen was a little hesitant. After all, this was the first time he had received such an expensive rite.

"I have come all the way from afar. It's hard work, my lord. I went back to report to Li Xiao. Long live the report. Li Xiao will set off back to Jinan in two days. As long as I, Li Xiao, are here, I will ensure that nothing happens in Shandong. Long live, please rest assured!" Li Xiao hugged Wang Chengen.

, I still looked down on eunuchs in my heart. But Wang Chengen respected him. If he was disrespectful to others, it would mean that he, Li Xiao, did not know etiquette.

Arrogance depends on the target. At least people like Wang Chengen, Li Xiao feels that they should be treated with courtesy.

Face is something that is always given to each other.

"That's it! Our family has thanked the governor, and I will definitely bring your words to you. Say goodbye!" Wang Chengen led the people away.

The Fifth Master wanted to take off the blindfolds on the faces of Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao, but was stopped by Chen Fuhe.

"They are used to being dark in the prison. If you take off the blindfold now, they might go blind on the spot. Ask someone to clean up a room and take them out to wash them well. Then find the medical officer.

Any wounds were treated.

A good man was tortured like this." Old Chen Fu knew the trick. Even Li Xiao didn't understand why two good people had to blindfold their eyes.

"May I ask which master rescued me, so that Cao can know your name?" Cao Wenzhao suddenly asked as soon as the person came over.

"My lord is the one you met in prison that day. He is the governor of Shandong." Li Xiao did not speak, and the fifth master answered Cao Wenzhao's question from the side.

"Governor? Governor Li?" Cao Wenzhao immediately thought of that ridiculously young official. Unexpectedly, he turned out to be the governor of a province.

However, Cao Wenzhao did not have the slightest doubt about Li Xiao's identity. It was not that his family did not find someone to deal with. But firstly, the family was really poor, and secondly, during Wei Zhongxian's time, no one dared to vindicate his case.

In this way, Cao Wenzhao was imprisoned in imperial prison for five years. No one tried him, and no one said how many years he would be imprisoned. Cao Wenzhao sometimes felt that he would be imprisoned until death.

While in prison, Cao Wenzhao didn't even know that Wei Zhongxian had been killed. He thought that the person who could get him out must be a big shot, a big shot more powerful than Xiong Tingbi.

"Okay, there's no need to say more. Take it with you!" Chen Fu waved his hand. The smell on these two people was really too great.

The two people were taken away, and Chen Fu looked at Cao Wenzhao's back. "Brother Xiao is very clever. He can even dig up a guy like this when he visits the imperial prison."

"You know him?"

"I don't know, but it's rare to see someone who can still walk on his own after being imprisoned for so many years. And when he heard that he was released from prison and regained his freedom, he was not overjoyed or sad, and he was neither humble nor arrogant when he spoke to you. This calm demeanor, on the battlefield,

The generals are unparalleled."

Old vixen!

Li Xiao took a look at old Chen Fu and saw that this guy had already become a spirit. He was extremely accurate at identifying people. He could tell whether he was a mule or a horse without having to pull him out. What kind of person he was, you could tell at a glance what he was like.

"Give them a good treatment, and then give them two meals of porridge. It took a lot of effort to beg the emperor to get it out, so you don't have to worry about it. Things in the capital are almost done. Let the medical officer give them a good diagnosis and treatment. When I leave the capital the day after tomorrow,

I’m going to take these two people with me.”

"Promise!" Old Chen Fu bowed and promised.

"Oh, by the way! Your nephew Chen Laohu, my second son is very easy to use. I am interested in letting him succeed Liu Laoliu as captain. What do you think?" Li Xiao suddenly remembered what Li Xiu said to him. After all, he

Chen Laohu is the nephew of old Chen Fu. You need to talk to old Chen Fu about this matter and listen to his opinion.

Liu Laoliu is too timid, and now it seems that he is not suitable to be the captain of a battleship. Li Xiu is planning to let him go to the gunship transport ship, but his character is far from something that can be solved by experience. Liu Laoliu was terrible in the Battle of Penglai

His performance made both Li Xiu and Li Xiao give up on him.

Considering his merits, he was asked to drive a transport ship. That thing was not a battleship, but it required experience in running ships. In doing this job, Liu Laoliu was able to put his talent to the best use.

Without Liu Laoliu, the No. 2 ship needed a new captain. Li Xiu strongly recommended Chen Laohu. Li Xiu was very satisfied with this guy's performance in the Battle of Penglai.

Since it was Li Xiu who proposed it, Li Xiao had no objection. Anyway, he would have to work under Li Xiu after he was promoted. He would use whomever he felt comfortable with.

"Thank you for your support, sir!" Old Chen Fu was obviously very excited.

Li Xiao now has many ships, but most of them are merchant ships and transport ships. There are also a large number of fishing boats busy in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea. But there are only three warships at the moment!

These three ships were all captured from the Dutch. The No. 1 ship was Li Xiu's boat. The No. 2 ship was originally commanded by Liu Laoliu. As for the No. 3 ship, the outfitting has not yet been completed.

Yulao has recently used a large amount of copper, resulting in a serious shortage of copper for casting copper cannons. In addition, the production capacity of the arsenal is so large, resulting in the delay in using the No. 3 ship.

The only two warships were assigned to Chen Laohu to command one. This was such a great trust. No wonder old Chen Fu was so excited.

"Mr. Chen, it's not easy for you in the capital. After I leave, you have to support the situation here alone. A large part of our military expenditure depends on the business in the capital. Especially tobacco and wine, oh, by the way, Xibianmen

How is the construction site outside?"

"It's almost completed, and I'm thinking of inviting you to take a look in the next few days."
Chapter completed!