"It was you who caught him! His family is in Jinzhou. You seized his cargo ship at the mouth of the lion, and then took his son as a hostage, saying that he had transported the goods to Mingzhou before returning them to his son.▲∴▲∴, he waited here for more than half a month, and went to the dock every day from morning to night, and finally waited for your fleet. Why do you still deny it? You are still not a human being!" Unexpectedly, as soon as Hong Tao said something, Jiang Zhuyi's face was filled with frost. The more he spoke, he became more and more excited, with tears in his eyes, probably remembering the experience of her father and brother. At this time, Hong Tao was a beast in her eyes, a bad guy who killed people without blinking, and he still dared not admit that kind.

"Stop, stop, stop... Don't rush to scold me, come, sit down and say. I think there must be a misunderstanding here. I have been to Jinzhou, but I have never encountered any saltpeter ship... Alas, no! Wait!" Hong Tao stumbled, and just walked around the dock. When Hong Dashanren was completely dissatisfied at this time. Bai Nima grinned for a long time, and Jiang Zhuyi scolded them all. At this time, he hadn't remembered what was going on with the boat and his son as a hostage, but in the end, he finally had some impression. It seemed that when he first arrived at the Lion's mouth, he encountered two cargo ships with copper coins coming out of the Lushun mouth. At that time, he seemed to have asked a cargo ship to deal with it. As for how to deal with it, he didn't ask at all. He had the time to figure out the two cargo ships, and it was a war!

He threw Jiang Zhuyi into the bedroom alone, and Hong Tao ran to the deck and asked Swan to ask all the captains of the cargo ship to ask, "That's the person who really detained them. At that time, the captain of the cargo ship could not tell whether the two cargo ships holding saltpeter and sulfur were shareholders of the Strait Company, and he had no time to check them carefully. The flagship had already put the flag on the docking, so he came up with a way to save trouble and detained the son of the Xu family as hostages. Anyway, the fleet would return to Mingzhou sooner or later, so let's distinguish them again. This deduction lasted for more than a month, and he had forgotten about it. The son of the Xu family was also mixed with the prisoners of war and was working on the dock at this time.

"Find him, clean it up, take it to me, and then you can get a bucket of water yourself! You can't forget to report if you can't tell it clearly! People take your son away, but you also forget. Are you willing?" Hong Tao was so angry that his good reputation was ruined by others, but it's too late to say anything now. The shit pot of arresting his son as a hostage was considered to be locked up again, and he couldn't even hide it.

"Old man, take his son back. There are still a few bags of candy here. They are not good things. They are all specialties from me. Just think of it as a plea. But old man, the flag of the Strait Company cannot be hung randomly. You also know that the Strait Company and Mongolia have started war now. You are running a boat in the north. It is very dangerous to hang this thing!" Back in the cabin again. Hong Tao's face was full of a kind smile, his waist was bent a lot, and he bowed and apologized, which was to return the whole of his son to Zhao. But his grandson could not be used to pretend, followed by a big stick.

"General... Oh no, Chairman, Chairman..." The one who came with Jiang Zhuyi was Xu Liangzhi, a sea merchant from Jinzhou. He transported saltpeter and sulfur to Mingzhou. He waited for Hong Tao's fleet on the left and did not come. He waited for the right and did not come yet, so he went to the merchant who bought his goods in Mingzhou and told him about his son being detained as a hostage.

Although the merchant who could help Luo Youde secretly acquire saltpeter sulfur in Mingzhou was not a visitor from the Bureau of Statistics and was also a confidant of Luo Youde. After thinking about it, he found Jiang Zhuyi, a new arrival, but was a perfume agent arranged by Cixi himself. They didn’t know the specific identity of Cixi, but they knew that Cixi was a person around Hong Tao, so the Jiang family was probably in contact with Hong Tao. Otherwise, why should I send it from Guangzhou to Mingzhou, and help buy a house and build a perfume shop.

"Oh, don't kneel, don't kneel. We don't want to kneel down and talk, so let's sit down. Just call me the chairman, and you'll be exempted. If you have any questions, just say it. This time I was negligent. If you have any losses, I will pay it. I will delay your ship for so long. "Hong Tao held Xu Liangzhi's arm and didn't let him kneel down, and then helped him to sit on the chair. Looking at the expression on his face, it must be a difficult sentence, and it's nothing more than a loss. The sea merchants in this era went to sea all depend on the weather. It's probably a month or two to wait for a good time, and the losses are huge.

"No, no, no, no, no loss, no loss, just don't know where Jinzhou..." Xu Liangzhi did not leave immediately at the mouth of the lion. At least he saw how Hong Tao's fleet bombarded the Mongolian cavalry. Now he sat with Hong Tao, a half-immortal who could use his palm thunder, and was very nervous and began to stutter.

"Oh, the old man is from Jinzhou... This... Jinzhou is gone, it's burned..." When Hong Tao heard this, another enemy came to the door and burned his hometown. Why do you want others to go back? At this time, he suddenly felt a cold cold air piercing his back. When he turned around, he saw Jiang Zhuyi staring at his eyes, full of anger.

"But the local people didn't kill them, they all ran away..."

"It might as well, the old man's family has gone to the countryside. I just want to ask the Chairman, can your Straits company still invest? I heard that there are quotas every year, but your company is far away in Guangzhou, so I can't catch up." Xu Liangzhi was slowly confused by Hong Tao's smile, his nervousness eased, and he mustered up the courage to make his request.

"The Strait Company... It's okay to receive people, but they are all doing business in Nanfan and the big cannibal. You haven't contacted them before, so it's not easy to get started. Your family used to transport saltpeter and sulfur fur goods. Although these things are not very eye-catching, they can't stand the flow of water. It's better to be mature than to make it raw. Jinzhou will definitely not be able to go back to it. In fact, not only Jinzhou, but also the ports in the north are basically gone. Even if there is one, they will not be gone in a few days. Do you want to listen to my construction?

"When Hong Tao was waiting on the deck for Xu's son, he had already asked Jiang Zhuyi about the origin of Xu Liangzhi. Jiang Zhuyi had quite a lot of information. Obviously, he had asked about the origin of this northern merchant in Mingzhou before. From this point of view, Cixi's vision was quite accurate. She did have the talent to be an intelligence officer and brought strangers without any rashness. Not only did she inquire with the Gao family in Mingzhou, but she also asked other maritime merchants about the Xu family's background.

"It is said that the chairman is a boy with money, and the old man is reluctant to ask him to do so..." Xu Liangzhi was a little disappointed when he heard that Hong Tao was not willing to let the Xu family join the Strait Company. He also heard Hong Tao say that there were other suggestions, and he rekindled hope. Regardless of whether Hong Tao was talking big, Lionkou and Jinzhou were probably gone. A sea merchant would not have a ship alone, but he would have to have a previous and next company. Otherwise, who would provide you with the goods you pulled away and who would you sell the goods you pulled back? This industrial chain cannot be built in a short time. Even if the Xu family went to another port to make a living, there would be no business to do in a short period of time. The reason why he wanted to join the Strait Company was that Xu Liangzhi also wanted to use the power of the company to make it easier for his own business.

"Saltpe and sulfur are the company's key purchases. I dare not say that it will not change for a hundred years, and it will not change within at least a few decades. If the elderly can continue to operate this transaction and make the transaction bigger, I can guarantee that I will charge as much as you bring it to you, and the price will be better. I don't know if you are willing to continue to do this transaction. Don't worry about sales, but the supplier needs you to contact yourself." Jinhewan has a large demand for saltpeter and sulfur, and it will become larger and larger. Just relying on such a scattered purchase will not only be high in cost, but the supply of goods is also unstable. Hong Tao has noticed this problem. He originally planned to start solving it in the near future, but now a Xu family suddenly pops up, and it can cooperate.

The nearest production area of ​​saltpeter is the Northwest China, especially the saline-alkali land of the Turpan Basin. There are not only saltpeter, but also Glauber's salt. Unfortunately, most of the production areas of saltpeter are in Mongolia. They could still trade when wars were not started. Once a war broke out, the trade route was cut off. The amount flowing through smuggling could not meet the needs of Jinhewan. The most troublesome thing is that the cannons, such as cannons, cannot be known to others forever. After being beaten a few times, the Mongolians will slowly figure out the basic principles of cannons. Even if they can hide this secret, the Southern Song Dynasty court was also a sieve that leaked everywhere. As long as they knew it, it would basically be equivalent to the Mongolians coming to know it. At that time, it would probably be prohibited in the north. Whether saltpeter and sulfur could be smuggled out was a problem.

Another major production area of ​​saltpeter is the Indian Peninsula, especially in the North India region. At present, the main goods Bojiao purchased in Kabaran Port for Jinhe Bay is saltpeter. As for the saltpeter mine in North Africa, Hong Tao, I don’t think about it. It’s too far. Without the Suez Canal, it’s better to go directly to Chile to find saltpeter than to go to North Africa. In fact, whether it’s North Africa or Chile’s saltpeter mine, the current Jinhe Bay cannot quench the thirst.

Once the saltpeter mine from India is cut off, Hong Tao can only dig a hole in the most primitive way, use animal feces and artemisia to make salt and nitrate. However, this method requires several years to be buried in this way before salt and nitrate cannons are boiled. If they really reach that point, the cannons in Jinhewan have to count them.

In addition to saltpeter, there is another raw material, which is sulfur. There must be sulfur mines in the volcanic area east of Jinhe Bay, but that volcano is alive and sprays it from time to time. It is too difficult to send people to mine and the cost is too high. It is better to find out if there are any areas in the surrounding area that are rich in sulfur. It is more cost-effective to exchange whale oil and sugar for easier production. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!