The Fuhai is an 18-meter-long Dafu ship. The owner is the Qiongzhou Dahai merchant Haishuzu. The descendants of this Qing official Hai Rui did not inherit the noble character and the spirit of being content with poverty. From his father, they have invested on a large scale in the smuggling trade from Guangdong and Guangxi to Nanyang, and have quickly grown into a famous Qiongzhou maritime merchant in this generation.

When Hong Kong was opened, Haishuzu, who was far away in Qiongzhou, quickly smelled the smell of money. The first batch of industries were purchased in Hong Kong. In order to prevent Hong Kong's militarization, the Governor's Yamen restricted the depth of the port terminal. Haishuzu immediately drove his newly built super lucky ship more than 20 meters to Hong Kong, proving that the yamen's depth limit of the dock was unreasonable. He joined hands with the gentry to relax it, which gave Hong Kong the ability to anchor heavy gunboats like the Tiger Shark. Therefore, the Hai family also became an important partner of the community.

The Fuhai is a moderately sized ship in the Haijia fleet. At the end of last year, the Fuhai was loaded with raw silk, porcelain, tea and sugar purchased from Hong Kong. In the southwest monsoon in April, the Fuhai ship was loaded with spices, peppers, and suma from Batavia, and from Wandan to Indian saltpeter, and from Peking University to Nian, and rice. They followed the ancient Western route back to Qiongzhou, loaded with sugar and headed straight to Hong Kong. Because there were too many cargoes, the waterline was very deep, less than two meters away from the deck. The Fuhai did not stop on Lao Wanshan Island. It was obviously not going to enter the main channel of the Daxi Channel, but continued to drive eastward and prepare to enter the Longgu Waterway into Hong Kong. Although the channel was narrow, it was completely under the control of Tenglong Trading Company. It was very safe. When the wind direction was wrong, you could also find nearby water diverters nearby and let the sailors use paddle boats to pull the Fuhai into the port.

Seeing the familiar island appearing in front of him, the captain smiled and said, "Bless the Dragon Prince, we finally do whatever we want."

"Captain, you have to invite us to have a drink when you go back." The sailors shouted. This trip was really not easy, and the sailors in their hometown became more courageous when they saw them.

The captain smiled and said, "That's natural. I made a lot of money this time, so the cargo owners are naturally happy. It is reasonable to reward you with more wine."

"Or why we open two barrels of bar now, and there are still seven or eight barrels of unfinished wine in the bottom cabin!" a slightly older grade suggested.

The captain was also thinking, but suddenly heard a sharp whistle, and the lookout hand on the mast shouted: "Second Master, there is a boat approaching."

"It must be a cruiser from Tenglong Trading Company." The old sailor who suggested driving wine said lazily.

The captain was alert. He didn't want anything else to happen at his doorstep. The captain had been in the estuary of the Pearl River for more than ten years and knew the danger here. There were originally more than a dozen pirates of big and small, such as the four-ranking pirates, the red flag pirates, the white flag pirates, and the pirates. These pirate forces are big and small, usually serving the people and thieves in chaos, but the captain knew that they were not strong men like Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang, and they were just bullying the weak and afraid of the strong on weekdays.

In the telescope, the captain saw two ships coming out of the Lao Wanshan Islands, both of which were paddling boats. The hull was slender like a long dragon. There were eight oars on both sides of the hull. The blue sea surface was stirred up and down, and the sailors on the boat wore red cloth scarf, short brown clothes, and barefoot. At first glance, they were dressed as eight pirates at the Pearl River Estuary.

The captain couldn't help but wonder that the Bashang thieves were originally entrenched on Lantau Island and robbed merchant ships to make a living. Because they controlled the waterways entering and leaving Hong Kong, they have been attacked by the community fleet in recent years. They have been moved to their homes for a long time. How did they appear in such a place? The captain shouted: "Take out the Bolang machine and the bowl gun on our ship, fire two cannons first, take out the knife and spear, and prepare to fuck them. The Bashang thieves have always bullied the weak and feared the strong. As long as a few of them are killed, they dare not be arrogant."

The old sailors on the Fuhai were responding, and they found all kinds of spears and short swords. They kept shouting at the Bashang thieves surrounding them, and occasionally fired the Folang machine, which made the group of pirates dare not approach. Seeing this, the sailors burst into laughter and praised their captain for being prescient. However, the captain's face looked ugly. He knew very well that since he couldn't eat, the pirates should retreat. What to do around his ship, the only possibility was that they were waiting for reinforcements.

Sure enough, eight-pad boats kept coming out of islands, like sharks smelling blood, wandering around the Fuhai, and they could come up to take a bite at any time. The beads of sweat as big as beans on the captain's face rolled down. He had countless thoughts in his mind. The Fuhai was too big and heavy, and was no match for the paddle boat in the narrow channel. If the food on the ship and the cargo such as sugar were thrown away, there was still a glimmer of life, but the owner and the cargo owner would not let him go, but if he tried hard, he would not be the opponent. Should he surrender and eventually become a pirate?

Suddenly, a cannon came from the north side of Dangan Island in the distance. A water column suddenly rose on the starboard side of the Fuhai. At a glance, you could tell that it was caused by artillery bombardment. The Bashang Thief surrounding the surroundings looked like bees that exploded the nest and fled in all directions.

Four fast crabs rushed out from the north of Dangan Island. The four ships fell off their spinnades, but the black-bottomed golden dragon flag on the top of the mast was waving in the wind. When the captain saw the flag, he screamed, thinking that there was something to save now.

Dongdongdongdongdongdong!

The dull drum sounds were getting closer and closer, followed by a few rhythmic horn sounds. The four fast crabs rushed towards their prey like arrows. The bow and sterns of these fast crabs each had a four-pound cannon. They loaded double shotguns for the first fast crab. They turned slightly and bit the stern of an eight-alloped boat. With a cannon, the steel rain of hundreds of shotguns swept across. The slurry on the eight-alloped boat was smashed to pieces. The fast crab turned again, and the slender and sharp bow aimed at a pirate ship that was turning in place.

The captain on the fast crab boat shouted: "Crash over and sink it!"

Dongdong!

As the drum sounded, it became faster and faster, and the rhythm of the slurry hands on both sides became faster and faster. When less than twenty steps away from the enemy ship, the drum sound stopped. Dozens of oars on both sides of the fast crab raised and retracted back to the water surface. All the slurry hands collapsed and welcomed the violent collision!

boom!

A huge sound rang out, and the copper-skinned corner of the fast crab boat pierced directly into the abdomen of the eight-legged boat. Then the sharp metal corner tore the weak side plate of the pirate ship. The eight-legged boat seemed to be broken by a giant's palm. After a sore and disgusting sound, the eight-legged boat broke directly in half, and the pirates on it were thrown away and landed on the water.

The drum sounded again, and one-third of the pulp hands were busy turning the bow of the ship, preparing for a new round of impact, while more pulp hands picked up the mesh guns on the shelf beside them and kept firing at the pirates on the surrounding eight-pad boats...

The Crab Fleet's shelling and heavy impact to pieces, tearing the eight-supporting thieves' fleet to pieces. Only two ships with far distances left. The soldiers on the Crab Fleet began to capture the prisoners. Anyone who dared to resist was shattered by the swinged oars and smashed the sky spirit cover.

The Fuhai escaped from death and successfully entered the Longgu Waterway. Then he entered the dock under the guidance of the water diversion boat. The scene in front of him surprised the captain. There were still a large number of ships moored in the port, many of which were large-tonnage Fuhai, Guangbo, and horn-bang boats. You can tell that most of them came from Nanyang, while the rest were from Fujian and Jiangnan, and came to the Hong Kong trading center to purchase goods.

However, these ships were in poor condition, many of them were injured, many of them broke large holes, and some of their masts were broken. In comparison, the Fuhai was lucky because the captain could see at a glance that the attacks these ships were not pirates like Bashang Thief. At least the big holes in the bulwark could only be fired by large-caliber Red Barbarian Cannons.

"Second Master, come with the villain quickly. Master has been waiting for you for a long time." A servant from the Hai family saw the captain who had gotten off the boat at the dock and said repeatedly.

The captain followed the servants to trot, got on the carriage and left the port to the shopping mall belonging to the Hai family. The merchants from Qiongzhou or western Guangdong came and went all the way into Haishuzu's study, and then he saw his cousin dressing in front of the mirror.

It was a decent large-sleeved ancient costume with no decorations on its body, but the row of jade openings on the opposite side showed a faint luxury. The crystal-clear and delicate jade buckles were valuable. On the table next to it, there was an ivory cane in the long box.

The captain was shocked and shouted to Hai Shuzu: "Couple, can you say...you have already..."

Hai Shuzu turned around and showed a smart face. He laughed and said, "Second brother, you are right. Now I am a formal member of the Hong Kong local meeting. I have finally achieved this. All the efforts of you, me, and our Hai family have not been in vain!"

The captain naturally understood the importance of the ivory cane. Being a local councillor means completing the transformation of business into an official, which means that the Hai family has the right to speak in Hong Kong and far exceeding other merchants, which means that they can share more profits and conveniences brought by Tenglong Trading Company. The reason why Haishuzu was able to become a councillor is because of the strength and investment of the Hai family. The Hai family has some influence on the Liangguang Yamen with their ancestors and the children of Zhongketu, and also has the largest fleet outside the club. In recent years, Haishuzu has purchased a large amount of industries in Hong Kong, completing the Nanyang wood share required by the club and the goal of immigrating to Taiwan, allowing him to move forward step by step towards the councillor.

"Originally, Brother Yu thought it would take another year or even two years of hard work, but some time ago, the club set up a large bank called a bank in Jiangnan. While those idiots were still hesitating, Brother Yu subscribed 100,000 taels of dry shares and became a member of parliament." Hai Shuzu said proudly.

The captain nodded and said quickly: "So, congratulations to cousin, but...what are the ships in the port?"

Hai Shuzu did not answer the captain's words, but asked: "Have your Fuhai arrived safely?"

The captain said: "Yes, cousin, I have arrived at the port. I was just harassed by the Bashang Thief in the Dangan Island area. Fortunately, I was lucky to be in the patrol fleet, but wasn't the Bashang Thief driven away by the club?"

Hai Shuzu put on his clothes and waved his hand and said, "Don't ask too much. There are six letters on the table. In the afternoon, a notice ship will leave. Take the letter on the ship and hand it to the official according to the name on the envelope. Each partner of Taipei and Songjiang Prefecture should ask the people on the ship for specific situations. You must tell them the news that Brother Yu has become a local councilor, explain the meaning of the local councilor in detail, and tell them that the problem in Hong Kong is just a small problem, and the goods will be delivered as scheduled!"

"Sir Hai, the carriage has arrived. Please go to the council." A capable young man walked into Haishuzu's study and said with a smile.

Hai Shuzu nodded slightly, and followed the young man and got on the carriage of the parliament. Hai Shuzu asked, "Little brother, who are the people who participated in the meeting today?"

The young man closed the curtain and whispered: "If you don't ask, the younger one should also say that Lord Lin He has explained that this meeting is extraordinary. Not only are the five members of the local meeting of our Hong Kong Chief Executive District, but also representatives of the Governor's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi. The most important thing is that three veterans came from the base camp. So Lord Lin asked you to speak carefully and express your opinion carefully at the meeting."

Hai Shuzu nodded slightly and walked into the municipal building. He walked into the conference room and found that the conference room was full of people. In addition to the familiar Li Mingxun and Lin He, there were several generals and officials in the conference room. The scholar sitting in a corner was Chen Bangyan, the representative of Shen Youlong.

"Okay, everyone is together, Simmons, let me introduce the situation first." Li Mingxun nodded at Hai Shuzu, who had sat down, cleared his throat and said.

Simmons stood up and pointed to the map hanging on the walls of the South China Sea and said: "Last month, the Spaniards won the naval battle against the Red-Mao Yi and lifted the blockade of Manila. A cruise fleet and a detachment fleet of its subordinates headed north after the war to carry out a battle of the Hong Kong surrounding areas. This fleet has a total of four main battleships and seven schooners. At present, it has caused the sinking of eight merchant ships, five stranded, and more than a dozen other damaged to varying degrees. Hong Kong has been blocked by the outer periphery of this detachment fleet."

"It should be noted that in addition to the Spanish fleet that attacked us and our business partners, there were also pirates at the Pearl River Estuary. These pirates successfully attacked and in addition to obtaining spoils, they could also get bounties from the Spanish, so the counterattacks were very serious." Lin Hejie said.
Chapter completed!