Chapter 499 Smuggler 2

Author: Chris Webber

Chapter 499 Smuggler 2

Cao Sengnu nodded. Although the goods on his ship were of many kinds, they could not use them on weekdays. Even if they were stolen by these water families, they could not use them by themselves. They could only take them out and resell them for money to buy the things they needed on weekdays. The origin of these goods was unknown and the quantity was large. They were excluded and discriminated by the government and the reselling of them would only be eaten by the black market merchants. An Taishun said half of what he said.

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"That's these things! You can get the reward if you transport these to the agreed place and then give them to the consignee!" The speaker handed over a wooden sign.

"How do I know who the delivery man is?" the leader took the wooden sign and asked in a deep voice.

"The receiver also has a wooden sign! It was originally the same piece in your hand, and it was just right when it was put together!"

The dog stood beside the leader and looked around curiously. Although he was born and raised on the boat, he had never seen such a ship. The deck under his feet was smooth and tight, and the narrow and sharp bow gave people the feeling that it could be cut open at any time. The ropes hanging from the mast were like a huge spider web. He could not imagine what each rope had for each of them. Of course, what surprised him the most was a load of cargo transported from under the deck. The cargo had already piled up a hill on the deck, but the speed of cargo was transported without slowing down at all, just like a magician casting spells under the deck.

The leader picked up the wooden sign. Like most of the people at that time, he didn't know how to read, but he could also see the exquisite patterns on the wooden sign. The master who carved it had a pair of skillful hands. It was not the first time he participated in a similar activity, but this time he had an ominous premonition. He hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice: "Can I know who I work for?"

"Puchi!" The man smiled and shook his head: "Did you do this work the first day? He actually asked such a thing. Isn't it because you only work and get money, and don't care about anything else? If you are so curious, you can get out of the way first and don't block others' path!"

The other party spoke loudly, enough for the people on the boats next to him to hear it. The leader knew that the other party was right and with the other party's bid, he had no worries about not being able to find a tight-lipped outlaw to work. He nodded: "Okay, that's it!"

"That's all! You're shipped to the agreed place before dark today. You are also an old man. I won't say much about other nonsense. Just work carefully!"

"I understand!" The leader responded and waved his hand. The men stepped forward and moved the designated goods to their boat. The dog also wanted to help, but was stopped by the leader: "Agou, you and Amao have not grown up yet, so you don't have to move things. You both go to the boat to explore the wind and make it smarter. Do you understand?"

"I understand!" The dog responded, and he called his companion to return to his boat, let the cat climb onto the mast, stand on the deck, and carefully check around. At this time, a companion accidentally dropped the cage on the deck while carrying the cargo, and the overturned cage cracked a hole, revealing the red and yellow metal ingots inside.

"What is this?" Dog'er's attention was immediately attracted. The leader next to him immediately gave him a sniffle and shouted: "What do you think? I'll let you look around and avoid being attacked by someone. It's not that you shouldn't see these things!"

it hurts!

The dog screamed and his neck shrank back. Soon, the boat was filled with waterline, and the waterline was only about one and a half feet away from the side of the boat. With the leader's whistle, the boat turned the bow and sailed southwest.

"Hey, dog!" The cat slid down from the mast and approached the dog: "Why did the boss hit you just now?"

"Mediating on other people's business!" Gou'er was so angry that he gave Mao a thunderous hand and gave the moment he had just been hit again.

"Ouch!" The cat who was beaten screamed: "If you don't say it, don't say it, why are you hitting someone?"

"I asked you to go to the mast to keep watch, so that you can avoid being attacked by someone. It's not for you to see these things you shouldn't see!" Dog'er gave the words he had just taught him a lesson to his companion. Although Mao'er was so angry, he was one or two years younger than Dog'er and was less powerful. He couldn't beat Dog'er, so he had to pause: "Okay, count on you, I'll catch up with you in two years, and settle the score with you!"

While the two little girls were arguing, a sailor came over, pulled the two of them apart, and smiled and said, "Forget it, you two can argue even if it's a big deal. Let me tell you! That cage contains copper!"

"copper?"

"Well! I stood beside me at that time and saw it very clearly!" The sailor sat cross-legged: "It's copper, to be precise, it's copper bars!"

"Copper strips?" Gou'er and Mao'er exchanged glances, and both saw doubts in each other's eyes. Gou'er asked, "Is the copper you are talking about the copper coins?"

"Yes, it's just one. The copper coins we use on weekdays are made of copper!"

"But why is this copper strip red and yellow? The copper coins on weekdays are blue and black? Is it different?" Maoer asked.

"That's because the copper strip is pure copper, and the copper coins I use on weekdays are mixed with copper and it's like that!" the sailor smiled.

"Wouldn't that copper bar be worth the money?" asked Gou'er.

"Yi Guan money?" The sailor laughed: "It costs at least three Guan money. This copper bar is much more expensive than a copper coins of the same weight!"

"so much?"

"Yeah!" The sailor smiled: "I just calculated that even half of the box we just brought up was worth at least 10,000 or 20,000 pens. If it was cast into copper coins, it would be doubled!"

The sailor's words brought the dog into a strange world. At the time, the price of food at that time, the money was enough for a family of three to take for several months. Hundreds of coins were already the limit of his imagination, and tens of coins had exceeded his understanding. After a while, he sighed: "I really can't imagine that there is such a rich person in this world!"

"Good, don't think about these messes!" Amao's reaction was more agile. He poked his companion under the ribs: "There are so many on the boat, so let's just take some of them!"

Puff!

The sailor beside him smiled: "Amao, don't you think there is no order in those goods, right? When they receive the goods, they will find it soon after they count them. Then carefully peel your skin!"

"He has so many, so we can't take one or two of them? So stingy!" Amao complained.

"This is not a stingy thing, it is related to our credibility. Otherwise, if people entrust so much goods to us, isn't it just a word for letter? If you take it, our letter will be ruined. No one will entrust the goods to us when it is spread. What will everyone eat in the future?"

"What if we swallowed all these goods?" Dog'er asked suddenly: "You said these goods are worth tens of thousands of guan. How many lifetimes can we get so much? With these tens of thousands of guan, we will never have to do this industry. What's the point of being a good reputation?"

"That's right!" The sailor looked at the dog in surprise, as if he had known each other for the first time in his life: "Good, I really didn't see it. You have such a clear mind, it's amazing!"

"Haha, I just said that, I have to listen to the boss if it is okay!" Gou'er became more and more happy when he was praised, and he couldn't help but laugh.

"That's right, I'll go talk to the boss!" The sailor jumped up: "It can be done according to me!"

The two teenagers watched the sailor walk towards the leader with anticipation, but after a moment, they returned dejectedly, and the dog went up to him: "How is it? What do you say to the boss?"

"The boss gave me a slap, so I won't think about it!" The sailor pointed to the red palm print on his right cheek: "I'm so painful by you!"

"Ah?" asked Maoer, "Are you mistaken? Isn't the copper bar in this box?"

"It's a copper strip! It's also very valuable!" The sailor replied angrily: "But the leader's copper strip cannot be eaten or worn in our hands. He can only go to the shore to sell it to the owners who collect black goods. For example, such things from unknown origins will definitely be priced to death. Maybe if you collect the money in the front foot, you will sell us to the government. In the end, we won't get anything!"

"Didn't you say you can use this thing to mint money?" asked Dog'er, "We can mint these copper bars and buy what we want, wouldn't it be?"

"What you said is light!" The sailor smiled bitterly: "Do you think it's so simple to cast coins? If you breathe, these copper strips will turn into copper coins? This is a ancestral craft. It's not only that you have to pass on your son but not your daughter! Besides, private casting of copper coins is a serious crime, and the government has caught you not only to lose your head, but everyone will be implicated."

The sailor's words made the two teenagers feel the pain of being at the bottom of society, but they have not been numb by this pain. They suddenly saw the dawn of getting rid of fate, but suddenly extinguished. The pain and depression are difficult to describe in words.

The sailor also felt the frustration of the two men. He touched the heads of the two boys and said, "Forget it, don't think about it all! This job can still make a lot of money. You two should be able to change into decent clothes, at least this winter will be much better!"

Agou angrily pushed away the adult's hand. Like most of his peers, he didn't like to be treated as a child at this time, which made him feel more and more badly in his situation: "So what if you change your clothes? You are still looked down upon. You can only live on the water all day long, and you will be treated like a thief when you get ashore!"

The sailor opened his mouth, and he didn't know how to answer the young man's question. Finally, he sighed: "What's the way? Our ancestors have been like this for generations, and this is all fate!"

"I don't believe in fate!" Dog jumped up and roared, tears flowing out of his eyes and slid down the corners of his mouth, salty and bitter, just like his mood at this moment.

Woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo!

"Damn it, why did you meet the official patrol boat? Hurry up, raise the sails, and the rest of the people go paddle!"

The sound of a conch pulled the dog back to reality. He rushed to the mast quickly and pulled up the rope hard. The sail on the boat was made of reed mats and was very heavy. He used all his strength to lift the reed sail up a little. At this time, two powerful hands stretched over to the side, and the reed sail rose quickly.

As the reed sails rose, the boat was moving faster, and the water flow, wind direction and neatly rowed all helped them. The dog rushed to the side of the boat, but found that all the oars had been occupied. Just as he was doing nothing, the leader's voice came: "Go, go to the mast and count how many oarsmen there are in the patrol boat in the government!"

Ah Gou responded, and he quickly climbed up the mast and looked at the patrol boat in the distance. He had good eyesight and clearly saw the green flag flying on the mast of the pursuers: "It's a fast-legged crab with nine long oars on each side! Their sails also rose, bigger than ours!"

"Damn it!" the leader cursed. He knew very well what this meant. The other party had more oars than him, and the sails were larger than him, so he naturally had faster speeds. He could not get rid of the pursuit no matter what.

"Everyone should work harder and work harder. As long as we enter the reed marsh, we can get rid of them!" The leader tried his best to motivate his subordinates.

The cruiser approached quickly, like a huge wooden dragonfly flying. Under the crazy blow of the wooden oars, the water around it turned milky white. The scene of the boat became clear, and the crowd was surrounded by people on the deck, with metal reflections in their hands. Ah Gou even found traces of archers, who hated archers.

There was a short and strong man standing on the bow of the warship, with a half-bare head, thick gray eyebrows and strong arms. He was wearing an old gray burqa. Agou recognized that the other party was Liu Ze, the most cruel one among the captains of the Yangzhou government patrol fleet. He often hung the smuggler he caught on the mast to intimidate others.

"We can't escape!" someone wailed: "There are too many cargoes on the ship!"

"Boss, let's surrender!" The sailor just now shouted: "Put all the copper ingots on the ship, maybe Liu Ze will spare our lives for so many copper ingots!"

The leader did not speak, his cheeks were tight and his veins were exposed. He knew that what his subordinates were right. If he handed over the copper ingot, perhaps Liu Ze would spare his life if he was overjoyed - instead whipped and exiled, or became an official slave to repair the city wall. If that were the case, he would rather die.

"Put down the oars, I may be able to give you some fun!" A rude voice came from the pursuer ship: "Or I will order the arrow to be fired!"

"Roar!" the leader shouted, and he attracted the cat and dog, took out the wooden sign from his arms and stuffed it into the dog's hands: "Now everyone's lives are in your hands, and now you two must remember every word I say!"

The cat and the dog nodded seriously, and the leader smiled: "Do you see where I finger? It's where there is a reef. I will put all the goods on the boat into the nearby water, and then you two will also take the opportunity to get off the boat. At that time, you go to the agreed place and give this wooden sign to the connector, and then tell them everything that happened, and where the copper strips fell into the water, so that they can salvage it themselves!"
Chapter completed!