Chapter 80: First Intimate Contact
"Look, what is that..."
Suddenly, a sailor pointed at the sea and shouted in surprise.
As he shouted, everyone looked towards the sea. It turned out that there were several corpses floating on the sea. Under the starlight, they could vaguely see that there seemed to be more corpses floating on the sea.
On the surging sea, the corpses were like logs floating on the sea, drifting with the waves.
"This this……!"
Liu Kunpeng's expression changed slightly, but soon he sighed. They had all been on the battlefield and naturally knew where these corpses came from.
Why are there so many dead bodies?
This problem does not seem to be serious. The most important issue now is whether it is the Taiping Army or the government army that controls the coastal areas of Jiaxing.
However, it seems that this has no impact on them. Their trading partners are not limited to one party. Just as the boss said - a qualified arms dealer must sell arms to both warring parties so that they can continue to fight for a long time.
As usual, Chang Kun, who was leading a group of soldiers, would always look towards the sea involuntarily. Would he encounter foreign ships?
But there seemed to be nothing happening on the sea.
Ever since Prince Shi Qiansui led his troops to capture Jiaxing a few months ago, there would always be some foreign ships docking at the coast, carrying gunpowder, muskets, and sometimes even cannons that the Taiping Army urgently needed.
For generals at all levels, being able to buy foreign guns, cannons and gunpowder was a great achievement.
"If I can buy a few dozen barrels of gunpowder from my foreign brothers, I might be able to become a brigade commander..."
As he was muttering to himself, suddenly, a shadow on the sea caught his attention. It was a ship!
Although Chang Kun was born in the inland, he was not unfamiliar with ship sails, especially that ship was a Western ship.
"Yes, it's our foreign brother from the sea!"
Although he couldn't see the shape of the ship clearly, looking at the shape of the sail, Chang Kun said happily, since it is a foreign sail, it must be a foreign brother.
"Quick, Xu Youcai, find a boat and row over there and ask where these foreign brothers are from. Ask them if there are any foreign guns or cannons on the boat. If not, gunpowder will do! Let them bid..."
After receiving the order, Xu Youcai hurriedly shouted to a few people to find a small wooden boat, lit torches and rowed towards the sea. Chang Kun also asked his subordinates light torches. For a moment, the originally dark coast suddenly lit up.
"We've been discovered!"
The sudden light on the shore made Liu Kunpeng's heart tighten.
“Someone is coming!”
Seeing a small boat coming from the shore, the sailors on the boat immediately picked up their muskets and aimed at the boat with torches as if they were guarding against pirates. Seeing this scene, Li Fugui shouted.
"No one is allowed to shoot! Find out what they want first."
Who is coming?
Was it the Qing army or the Taiping army?
Finally, when Li Fugui and his companions saw clearly the people on the boat, his mood suddenly became extremely complicated - it was the Taiping Army!
Once upon a time, they also had long hair like this!
"Are there foreign brothers on board?"
"That's right, that's right. We are a ship from overseas, specially here to trade with our Taiping brothers."
Standing at the bow, Liu Kunpeng answered.
"The goods on this ship are urgently needed by our Taiping brothers. Please help us pass on the message!"
…
After waking up, Wang Botao felt a little uneasy. He has always believed in this feeling. He has fought many battles over the years, and it was thanks to this feeling that he escaped death many times.
"Could it be that the Qing monsters from Hangzhou are coming to kill us?"
But on second thought, he felt that it was unlikely. After all, the troops of Prince Zhong and Prince Shi were all in Zhejiang right now, and the people from Hangzhou would not dare to attack even if they were extremely bold.
But what is wrong?
Suddenly a soldier reported that a foreign brother had come by boat to trade and wanted to see the commander. After hearing the report, Wang Botao felt relieved and happy.
"The foreign brothers have come here on a big ship, and they must have brought a large number of foreign guns and cannons. Now we have to show off in front of the Prince of Attendants..."
But then his brows frowned again - no money!
"Scribe Zhao, what do you think we should do about this?"
Wang Botao called the clerk over and complained.
"The spring silkworms haven't hatched yet. We don't have silk or tea. What can we use to exchange guns and cannons with our foreign brothers?"
In fact, it's not that there is no money, but all the silver has been handed over to the Holy Treasury. It seems that this feeling of uneasiness is due to what happened today.
"Master, what's the big deal? If it doesn't work, let the Holy Soldiers fight the rebels , and everything will come naturally."
Zhao Shian said directly.
"Well, that's all we can do. Don't let any of those rich dogs go."
Anyway, that’s how money and food come from.
"Brother Yang has come all the way to my heaven... Oh!"
When Wang Botao saw Mil for the first time, he felt his legs go weak.
Oh my god, these are foreign brothers!
It's clearly the Yaksha in the opera!
No wonder they are called ghosts, they really look like ghosts. Their skin is black, as if it was splashed with ink. Only their teeth and the whites of their eyes are white. If it wasn't broad daylight, one would really think they were little ghosts that ran away from the King of Hell.
What is this nigger mumbling?
Just as Wang Botao was startled by the black man in front of him, he suddenly heard someone next to him say to him:
"Mir Daban wishes the general good health and victory in every battle."
Wang Botao finally calmed down after hearing this. He then saw a Chinese man standing next to the black foreigner. When he saw the Chinese man, Wang Botao regained his confidence as a general.
"Who are you and why are you here?"
Of course, this was said to Liu Kunpeng. He didn't want to even look at Mil. This man looked too weird.
"Mir Daban came here to help the Heavenly Kingdom's Holy Soldiers. General, our ship brought thousands of muskets, thousands of barrels of gunpowder, and hundreds of barrels of gunpowder..."
"What!"
Wang Botao said in surprise.
“There are so many!”
Surprised, he said quickly.
"Oh, this is really an emergency! Tell Mr. Mir that you don't have to worry about the money. Even if the money is insufficient, we can use raw silk to make up for it. The price is guaranteed to be fair..."
While Wang Botao was speaking, Liu Kunpeng kept talking to Mil in Portuguese. It seemed that he was translating, but in fact he was just chatting casually. After Mil finished speaking, Liu Kunpeng spoke.
"General, you misunderstood. Mr. Milban said that we came here to trade not for money or silk, but for another business..."
