~~~~~~~~

These officers were either young or reckless and could not see Li Yuanqing's suffering, but Shang Laoliu had been through many storms and naturally understood Li Yuanqing's thoughts. He sighed and said: "Yuanqing, those people in Shandong are not good people.

We can only outwit this matter. I think that Zhang Daguan is a partner we can consider for cooperation."

Li Yuanqing smiled and said, "Brother Shang, Mr. Zhang Daguan can consider it, but we don't have the capital to discuss cooperation with him now."

Shang Laoliu nodded, "It would be nice if we had more time. Both Guanglu Island and Changsheng Island have a lot of beaches. We can boil salt and sell it to this big official."

Li Yuanqing sighed, "Boiling salt is one way. But water from afar can't quench the thirst near you. By the way, Brother Shang, do you know about coal?"

Shang Laoliu was stunned, "Yuan Qing, are you talking about the kind of dark charcoal? The kind that blacksmiths use when making iron?"

Li Yuanqing nodded, "Exactly this. Brother Shang, this time, we may be able to use this as a breakthrough to get in touch with this high official."

The application of coal in China can be traced back to ancient times. During the Western Han Dynasty, there were already blacksmiths who applied the firepower of coal to blacksmithing.

At this time, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, although coal was still a rare item, people were no longer unfamiliar with it. In addition to being used by blacksmiths to make iron and raise the temperature, many wealthy families had already regarded it as a good item for heating in winter. Especially in the palace

, has basically become popular.

Shang Laoliu also understood what Li Yuanqing meant. If he wanted a profiteer like Zhang Daguan to work hard, he would have to draw a huge pie for him.

"Yuan Qing, I think this can work. However, we have to think carefully about the specific steps."

Li Yuanqing smiled. After such a long time of getting along day and night, the two of them had already gotten along seamlessly. "I already have an idea in my mind about this matter."

At this time, Huang Guoshan and Yang Xiaochuan had arrived at the door and respectfully greeted Li Yuanqing.

Li Yuanqing smiled and said, "Come in."

The two of them came into the house and hurriedly kowtowed to Li Yuanqing to say hello.

Li Yuanqing smiled and helped them up, "Guoshan, Xiaochuan, you're welcome, sit down. Caizi, go and pour two bowls of hot water for the two brothers."

Caizi, who was warming herself by the stove, quickly poured two bowls of hot water and placed them in front of Huang Guoshan and Yang Xiaochuan.

Both of them were flattered and hurriedly saluted Caiko.

Caiko smiled shyly and retreated to the stove again.

When Li Yuanqing saw the two of them sitting down again, he smiled and said: "Guoshan, Xiaochuan, how much do you know about that dragon on Black Island?"

…………

Black Island is located in the north of Dengzhou Prefecture, in a group of mainland islands. Not far to the southeast is Changdao, a famous tourist resort in later generations.

But in this era, the productivity was mainly based on feudal agriculture. Any place where the land was not fertile enough was basically a bitter cold land, not to mention islands far away from the mainland.

Heidao is located at the throat of the Bohai Bay and is rich in fishery resources. Although the land is not fertile, it can feed thousands or hundreds of people without much problem.

Originally, there were several small villages on the island, and the people lived a life that was not rich but peaceful enough.

But all this was broken a few years ago.

A man who called himself Li Jiaolong rushed to Black Island with dozens of people and slaughtered all the people in several villages on the island. Fortunately, a few people escaped and brought the news back to Dengzhou Mansion.

This Li Jiaolong was about thirty years old. He was tall, powerful and ruthless in his actions. He rarely left anyone alive and no one knew his origins.

Dengzhou Prefecture organized official and military encirclement and suppression campaigns several times, but was defeated by him. Over the past few years, Dengzhou Prefecture no longer wanted to provoke this strongman, and the two sides formed a strange tacit understanding.

And Li Jiaolong has become much more restrained than when he first came to Heidao to establish his authority. Although he still collects "protection fees" from nearby fishermen, he no longer hurts others easily.

At this time, after several years of development, there were already more than a thousand strong men on the Black Island, and they occupied an advantageous location. Even in Dengzhou Prefecture, it was difficult to do anything to Li Jiaolong, and they could only turn a blind eye.

Close one eye, and as long as Li Jiaolong doesn't cause trouble, let him go.

At this time, at the top of a gentle hill in Heidao, in Li Jiaolong's palace, Li Jiaolong was having a grand banquet.

The New Year is about to enter, and it is time for the pirates on the Black Island to judge their merits and reward them. Basically, all the pirate leaders who have a good reputation are here.

Li Jiaolong took a big bowl, filled it with wine, and looked at everyone with a smile, "Brothers, after working hard for a year, it's time to enjoy yourself. Come on, Li, I'll give you a drink."

"The boss is so polite, haha. We are so lucky to be able to follow you."

"That's right. Before the big boss came, it was hard for us brothers to have enough to eat. How could we be like now, having wine and meat every day?"

"Come on, you're the boss, I'll do it first out of respect for you."

"..."

Seeing the crowd cheering and cheering below, Li Jiaolong couldn't help but reveal a proud smile on his face. He thought to himself: "If you move a tree, you will die, and if you move a person, you will live. That is indeed a wise saying."

If Guan Canghai were here, he would probably recognize Li Jiaolong at a glance as his colleague back then, Li Heixiong, who was working under the famous Zheng Yiguan.

This Li Heixiong was originally a soldier in the Jiaozhou Guards. When he was young, he fought fiercely with others and accidentally killed someone, so he fled to the south and went to the sea to make a living.

No one knows his original name. Because he was strong and ferocious, he once hunted a bear in the forest with a single sword. In addition, because of his dark skin, he was called Li Heixiong.

Originally, Li Heixiong was doing well with the Zheng family, which had a large business, but an accident a few years ago almost cost him his life.

Their fleet accidentally robbed a passenger ship and killed all the men on board, while the women were divided among them.

In fact, this was not a big deal at first, but who knew that the people on this boat were the family members of a nobleman. They coveted the beauty of these women and did not kill them. When they returned to the shore, they inevitably exposed their flaws.

The big shot was instantly furious. Even Zheng Yiguan could not protect them anymore and wanted to hand them over. Fortunately, their leader had a close relationship with a master under Zheng Yiguan and secretly revealed the information to them.

, they got the news and fled in all directions.

However, Guan Canghai chose to return to his hometown in Liaodi and live a stable life, but Li Jiaolong and Li Heixiong chose to return to their old careers.

Because of his powerful force and the water warfare techniques he learned from the Zheng family, the government and army could do nothing to him.

Slowly, he settled down in Heidao and followed, and gradually formed a collusion with the tycoons in Dengzhou Prefecture. "After eating the plaintiff, eat the defendant." Small groups of pirates around him joined one after another, and their strength continued to grow. It was really better than before.

When he was in the Zheng family, he was much more chic.

At the end of the year, Li Jiaolong, just like officials and gentry, gathered his brothers and people to hold a 'year-end summary meeting' to give his subordinates a little sweetness.

…………

The night was getting darker, and everyone in Li Jiaolong's 'palace' was already quite drunk.

This palace was originally a small village. It was located on the top of a gentle mountain. It could be climbed high to see the distance, and it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Li Jiaolong fell in love with this place at a glance. He built a lot of construction here and built houses and courtyards.

as his base camp.

At this time, what no one noticed was that a small team of about a hundred people had put on pirate clothes and quietly moved toward the top of the mountain.

The leader wearing a thick fur hat was none other than Li Yuanqing.

In fact, Li Yuanqing had been wandering around the Dengzhou waters for more than ten days, but the official Zhang was extremely cunning and did not easily bite Li Yuanqing's hook.

Originally, Li Yuanqing did not want to take action against Heidao. After all, Heidao was huge in strength and easy to defend and difficult to attack. Li Yuanqing did not have many troops and was not completely sure.

But there was no reply from Zhang Daguan. Thousands of people on Guanglu Island were still waiting with their mouths open, waiting to eat. In desperation, Li Yuanqing had secretly planned to attack Zhangjiaji Town.

But at this moment, Li Yuanqing accidentally found out about the gathering of pirates on Black Island.

More importantly, Guan Canghai happened to encounter a small fleet of pirates. After a battle, he discovered that the leader of the pirates was actually his old subordinate.

Everything that happens next is a matter of course.

With internal support and careful planning, Li Yuanqing took control of the small dock closest to the hill without much effort.

As the time was almost up, Li Yuanqing decisively led more than a hundred elite men under his command, heading straight for Li Jiaolong's heart.

At this time, although he had prepared a retreat, the opponent was powerful after all. Li Yuanqing did not dare to be careless at all. The soldiers in the team behind him each carried rice bags, wine jars, chickens, ducks, fish, etc., which looked like dry food.

Living pirate, although it is a bit late at this time, today is Li Jiaolong's banquet, so it is not too eye-catching.

At this time, a short and stocky man carefully came to Li Yuanqing and whispered: "Sir, if you go forward, I will be in front. If you encounter any questioning, I can say hello."

Li Yuanqing smiled and said in a low voice: "Dongcheng, thank you for your hard work. If this matter is decided, I will protect you as a hundred households."

This short and stocky man is called Zhang Dongcheng. He is not only Guan Canghai's subordinate, but also his fellow villager in Liaodi. Although he is active in Dengzhou Prefecture, he is already familiar with Mao Wenlong's name, and Li Yuanqing and Chen Zhong took the lead.

Zhenjiang had already been notified to the whole country by the imperial court, and he was no stranger to Li Yuanqing's name.

Zhang Dongcheng is also a bloody man. He is from the Liao people and has official Canghai. In addition, he is not Li Jiaolong's headquarters. Although he follows Li Jiaolong, he can only make ends meet, so how can he benefit from it?

How could he still hesitate when he saw the Ming Lord at his side?

At this time, after listening to Li Yuanqing's words, Zhang Dongcheng couldn't help but be overjoyed, "Thank you very much for your support. Dongcheng will definitely die for me."

As he said that, he winked at Li Yuanqing, quickly came to the head of the team, and cursed in a low voice: "Hurry up, I am. Master Long is still waiting up there."

Li Yuanqing and Guan Canghai glanced at each other and nodded, saying nothing.

Soon, the team had arrived at the first checkpoint in the mountain. A pirate on duty shouted loudly and asked: "Stop, who are you?"

Zhang Dongcheng hurriedly stepped forward and said with a smile: "Master Qi, it's me, Dongcheng. Master Long yesterday ordered me to go to Dengzhou to buy things. Didn't I just come back?"

The pirate leader Qi Ye at the checkpoint said: "Going to Dengzhou to buy? When did it happen? Why didn't I know?"

Zhang Dongcheng hurriedly smiled and said: "It was yesterday afternoon when Master Long summoned me. Master Qi, didn't we have an appointment to drink and gamble together in the evening? I haven't had time to apologize to you yet."

Zhang Dongcheng said, without saying a word, a large silver ingot was already thrust into the hands of the seventh master.

Master Qi had to keep vigil today and did not go to the banquet to drink. He was originally very resentful, but with the money in hand, the cruelty on his face dissipated a little, "Okay, Dongcheng. I know this. But,

Don’t forget, kid, you still owe me a drink. Haha.”

Zhang Dongcheng said hurriedly: "That's it, that's it. How could I forget it?"

Only then did Master Qi lazily wave his hand to the pirates around him, "Someone, please open the city gate for them."

"yes."

After a moment, a huge wooden fence gate was slowly lifted up, and Li Yuanqing and his party hurriedly swarmed in.

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Chapter completed!