Chapter 9

"Girl, sailor, you have a candidate?" After walking silently for some time, Zheng Xi couldn't help asking.

"No." Ling Qingyu answered very simply, turned to Zheng Xi and said, "so tomorrow we'll go to the street to find someone."

"Look for it on the street?" Zheng Xi was a little stunned. Although there were sailors walking on Quanzhou street, was the eldest lady going to catch people? Catch one catch one?

"When I went to the shipyard a few days ago, I saw a lot of people looking for jobs over the Yongding bridge."

"Yongding bridge? Is that the place to find short-term workers? Not sailors?"

"Didn't you say that rowers only need to be strong and obedient? We pay wages, not like short-term jobs?"

The next morning, Ling Qingyu and Zheng Xi arrived at Yongding bridge.

The summer in Quanzhou is very hot. Most of the people gathered at the bridgehead are dressed casually on their shoulders, and some are simply naked. Some of these people have local unproductive households who live on part-time jobs, but more are refugees from the north. The Henan Road in the North has been dry for three consecutive years, and some places have no crops, and a large number of people have fled the famine. However, there are many mountains and little land along Fujian Road, so it is impossible to settle so many people, so most of them have become refugees.

When Ling Qingyu arrived at the shipyard, he saw that Wu Dayou employed many carpenters from the north, who were cheap and hardworking. He had long had ideas about these cheap labor forces.

"Boss, do you want a short-time job? Choose me, strong enough! It only takes 20 Wen a day."

"My boss chose me. You see, I'm much stronger than him. It's right to choose me."

"I'm a master craftsman. Do you want a mason?"

Seeing someone coming, people who had been lying or gathering by idleness rushed to recommend themselves to others, so that they could get a job to ensure a family's daily rations.

"Don't worry, don't worry," Zheng Xi blocked his hands crawling on his body. It's not a woman. He was pushed up by so many men, grabbed left and dragged right. It's really not his good. Seeing that he couldn't block it, he shouted, "stop it all! Our boss wants many people this time, 20 strong laborers, 100 Wen a day, and is a sailor on a sea ship!"

The jeering noise suddenly quieted down, and then various whispers rang out again.

"It's going to sea. It's a narrow escape. You can't come back if you don't do well."

"My family has a family and a mouth. It's over when I die."

"But a hundred Wen a day, where to find such a good thing?"

"We don't know anything about water. Isn't it a death to get on the boat?"

Ling Qingyu listened to the small voices in the crowd, but no one stood up and said to go, waved Zheng Xi to come over, and whispered in his ear.

Zheng Xi nodded, shook his clothes, walked to a stone in the middle, and said, "the owner said that it would take more than three months to go to sea this time. If you are willing to sign, you will be given a one-time deposit of ten Liang silver. If you perform well, you can double your salary when you come back. There will be no such shop after this village. As long as there are 20 people, you need to be healthy and strong enough."

The voices in the crowd became louder. Ling Qingyu was not in a hurry. She simply found a big tree on the side and sat down on the stone under the tree.

There is a bridge hole at the head of Yongding bridge. You can't see the inside from the outside, but you can see the movement outside in the hole.

There were several big men sitting in twos and threes in the cave. The first one was naked, leaning against the stone wall, with a thatch in his mouth. His eyes looked at Zheng Xi standing on the middle stone, and his eyes turned to the old God sitting under the tree. He looked at the scenery on the left and the drama on the right. It was only a woman disguised as a man who didn't bring a cup of tea. The woman was dressed in a blue men's gown, with her hair in a bun on her head, a wooden hairpin inserted, and a big cake face, with many freckles and acne on her face. Her figure was not like that of an ordinary girl, but tall and sturdy. If it weren't for the slight bulges of the two groups on her chest under the summer shirt, it would be really not so easy to judge whether it was a man or a woman.

"Lao Dan, the ship they repaired this time seems to be owned by a woman?" Gu Sui spits out grass roots and asks Zhang Dahu next to him.

"Yes, it's said that it was the only daughter of a marine merchant surnamed Lin who died in the sea earlier. She came out and set up a female household and changed her surname to Ling. They came back last night and said that boss Ding, who had originally led the ship to sea, was plotted against by someone and broke his leg. Most of the sailors were afraid and withdrew their appointment, and they didn't know whether the ship could go out. Fortunately, the owner was kind, and the money was settled every day, and the money was given well. They also saved some money." Zhang Dahu road.

"I listened to the old man say, that ship is very good?"

"That's why Old Dan has been blowing. He said that although he hasn't built a boat, the material and workmanship of the boat are excellent. It's big and not afraid of the waves. No matter how big the waves are, it's ok if they can't turn over. It's ok if they don't know water. Otherwise, boss Ding and they already have their own water hands, and old Dan wants to follow them to the sea. Hey, boss, what do you mean?"

Gu Sui stood up, bowed his head out of the bridge hole, patted the soil on his body, and thought about it, he still picked up the jacket that was almost rotten into cloth strips and walked to Ling Qingyu.

"Ling Dang?"

Ling Qingyu was stunned at first, and then suddenly realized that he was shouting. Looking back, he saw only a pair of mud legs, trouser legs rolled up to his knees, and a pair of old straw sandals on his muddy feet. Then he looked up and looked up again. He only felt that his neck was a little twisted, and then he saw a face. Because Gu Sui was lowering his head, the sun was shining obliquely over his head, and his face was hidden in the shadow. That was it. The angular, hard facial features and manly face still made Ling Qingyu blind.

Lingqingyu unconsciously stood up, but after standing up, he found that he was still going to raise his head to his neck. This man, I'm afraid, is one meter nine?!

Gu Sui saw that Ling Qingyu raised her head like a cockfight to the end, and couldn't help laughing, "what's wrong with Ling's family?"

Ling Qingyu coughed, thinking, Ling Qingyu, you're not a little girl, you're already the aunt of Ben Si. What man hasn't seen, and it's not the same when you take off your clothes! Thinking of taking off his clothes, his eyes flashed on the naked body of the man in front of him. The man was tall, but he was good. There was no fat in the exposed place. The beautiful stripes of muscles bulging under his brown skin made Ling Qingyu unconsciously think of the famous Roman statue pie thrower.

"Sit down," Ling Qingyu calmed down and sat down on the stone again. At the same time, he patted the stone next to him and motioned for the other party to sit down.

Gu Sui did not sit down on the stone, but directly sat on the ground.

Well, Ling Qingyu secretly praised them, and expressed his satisfaction that they can finally look directly at each other now. He laughed and said, "I don't know how many people can this eldest brother take aboard?"

"There are nine of our brothers in total, and three of them are repairing your ship in the shipyard. However, when we get on the ship, we hope to get six liang of silver for a month's wages, and give a deposit of twenty liang of silver before getting on the ship." Gu Sui said, casually pulling out a thatch and holding it in her mouth. This woman surnamed Ling looks young, but she looks like a smart person. It's always easier to work with smart people. After looking at Ling Qingyu, he looked at his brothers scattered around again. His eyes were actually right, and he couldn't help but smile a little deeper.

Ling Qingyu touched his chin. This big man, and those around him, were all tall and strong. They seemed to have good strength, but their faces were not good. It was estimated that they were malnourished. Although they were all ragged without covering their bodies, they still had a kind of momentum on their bodies. These people were not ordinary people. When going to sea in the future, whether these people will produce any moths, she is really not sure to control them, but from the current situation, these people are the best rowers, strong, and seem to be trained.

"Yes, brother, if you like, I want to hire you as the head of the class. In addition to the salary, you can also pay dividends when the ship comes back. Well," Ling Qingyu took out three hundred Liang silver tickets from his pocket and handed them to Gu Sui. "In addition to the deposit, this hundred Liang is what I lent you. You can buy some goods by yourself and sell them overseas."

Gu Sui was stunned, holding the silver ticket in his hand, smiled and said, "lingdang is not afraid that I will run away with the silver ticket?"

"You're not such a person," Ling Qingyu looked at him directly, then shrugged and said, "if you run away, it's that I don't know people well, and I have no eyes, so I have to recognize them."

auzw. "Hahaha," Gu Sui laughed, "little girl, good, I'll write a contract for you now."

Zheng Xi came with a ready-made contract in his hand, but when he heard Gu Sui's salary, he looked at Ling Qingyu complaining, but he saw that there was no one else coming up except Gu Sui, who looked tall and big, one for two, so he had to reluctantly change the salary on the contract, and then let Gu Sui and others press their fingerprints, and this person was hired.

"Ling Dang's family," Gu Sui wiped the inkpad on her hand and handed back a hundred liang of silver tickets to Ling Qingyu. "Gu Sui is a rude man and doesn't know what goods to make money. It's better for Ling Dang's family to help me buy them together."

Ling Qingyu was speechless. The goods of 100 liang of silver turned around outside and came back with 1000 liang of silver. This is a great advantage for sailors. Besides, she lent the silver to him. Unexpectedly, she even had to do the purchase by herself? Isn't this too unfair? However, after his eyes swept on Gu Sui and others, Ling Qingyu was silent again. This world is the most cynical. With their identity and appearance, even if they took money to buy it, they were afraid that they would also consider the money as unknown.

"OK," lingqingyu took the silver ticket and said again; "I'll ask Zheng Xi to exchange it for a small amount of silver or cash?"

"Then trouble Ling Dang." Gu Sui gave a formal salute.

Ling Qingyu saw that his salutation posture was correct and his appearance was square. He smiled gently and left with Zheng Xi.

"Brother Gu," a young girl hurried over and saw the contract in Gu Sui's hand. She didn't feel anxious. "Brother Gu, it's going to be returned soon. How can you go to sea? Then it's ten to nine times. How can you do such a dangerous thing? If something happens to you, what do you ask me and my mother to do?"

"Miss Mei," Gu Sui stopped her words, and blocked the girl's body, saying faintly, "this time, after our brother's deposit has paid the balance of the yard, it will be enough for you and the old lady's life. I think brother Mei should be able to find it in some time, and then your family will be reunited naturally."

Gu Sui said, and went away on his own.

Mei Hong wanted to catch up and persuade again, but Zhang Dahu stopped her.

Zhang Dahu said with a smile, "Miss Mei, please come back. It's too dirty here. Don't pollute your eyes."

Mei Hong stamped her feet and said, "I'll talk to my mother."

When Mei Hong's figure ran away, Zhang Dahu spat and said, "who is it?"

"Threehundred Liang!" Zheng Xi was heartbroken, and unconsciously said, "girl, you are generous. Even if they are strong enough, they can't really top two. You have improved the cabin rolling. Now there are only thirty seats, but there are always thirty people. Isn't it? If most of the budget is removed, what about twenty-one people?"

Ling Qingyu suddenly stopped, let Zheng Xi not check, was hit, hurriedly said: "girl, are you okay?"

Ling Qingyu glared at him. I'm wearing men's clothes. What's wrong with you every girl, but you don't have time to argue with him, pointing to the front and saying, "who are those people?"

Not far from Yongding bridge is the seawall. At this time, there are people with shackles mixed with mud under the dam in twos and threes, all yellow and skinny. If Gu Sui's gang is malnourished, then these people seem to have only skeletons left, and their bodies are full of scars. When I look at them, I think they are piles of corpses.

Zheng Xi frowned and mused, "I'm afraid it's a prisoner. I heard that a group of serious criminals were sent from Quanzhou City. Because there were not enough people to build the seawall this year, they were transferred."

After hearing this, Ling Qingyu bowed his head and walked quickly with Zheng Xi. But he glanced at the corner of his eyes and saw that there were two teenagers inside. He thought, what kind of felony can he commit when he is so young?

Two yamen servicemen came up, one holding a knife and the other picking their teeth. As they walked, they said, "at last, the dam has been repaired, and now they can work."

"What about those prisoners? There are only 20 dead."

"Go to the sea and keep it. I don't know if these people have offended the adult above. It says not to leave a living mouth."

Zheng Xi heard the two yamen guards say so. The secret road was bad. Sure enough, he saw his girl stop and gather in front of the two yamen guards, with an innocent smile on her face and said, "Hello, two officials."

The two yamen guards were stunned. When they saw a ingot of silver stuffed by Ling Qingyu, their faces suddenly got better and said with a smile, "what's the matter, brother?"

"When the villain first arrived in Quanzhou, he heard that Quanzhou shipping made money, so he also rented a small boat with others. There were still some people on the boat. The villain wanted to buy some usable ones, as long as he could paddle the boat. The official didn't know if there was anything to introduce?" Ling Qingyu slightly bent over and said with a humble gesture.

"Oh? Brother also wants to run by sea?" The Yamen serviceman looked Ling Qingyu up and down, weighed the heavy silver ingot, and said with a smile, "this sea transportation is not so easy to run. It's a near death activity. Brother, are there any good sailors on your ship?"

"It's also the first time for the villain to find some people who have run the ship. I don't know why. Later, it was said that the Xie family fleet wanted to go, so the villain was also unable. Now the villain's wealth has been smashed into it, and there are generous profits to return if he runs hard." Ling Qingyu bent lower and said.

The two yamen guards looked at each other, and most of them understood that this was a novice silly bird. They heard that the second master of the Xie family wanted to monopolize the shipping of Quanzhou. Yesterday, they also lost Ding Budong's gang. Now the little brother is afraid that he can't find a skilled sailor. There are no skilled sailors on the ship. The reliable ship is going to have an accident, either getting lost or dying in the wind and waves. It's just that this little brother is also tired of interests, so he still wants to go to sea. Only in Quanzhou City, I'm afraid no one will get on his boat. No wonder he will be hungry and greedy for these dying prisoners. Anyway, they are all dead. It's better to make some money for himself.

"There are twenty people here. If you want, brother, take 100 liang of silver." The Yamen serviceman waved his hand and said proudly.

"Can I buy these prisoners?" Ling Qingyu asked suspiciously as she slowly took out the silver ticket from her purse.

"Hehe, these are exiled prisoners, who can make dead deeds, but they have to go to the Yamen to go through the formalities, but," the Yamen paused for a moment, looking at lingqingyu with your understanding eyes.

Ling Qingyu nodded repeatedly, handed over the silver ticket, and then said to Zheng Xi, "follow the official to go through the formalities. You can't lose a penny of the money that should be handed over to the Yamen."

Zheng Xi frowned. With a pair of grudge eyes that you did as expected, he glanced at lingqingyu and followed one of the Yamen guards to look at the Yamen.

The other one said to Ling Qingyu, "if you can come back safely this time, you will be rich. Congratulations first."

Ling Qingyu bowed down again and nodded, "Chengguan Ye's auspicious words, it's better to count onehundredand Liang as official ye in the villain's goods this time, and settle it with the official ye when the villain comes back."

The Yamen serviceman laughed and said in his heart, the little brother looked young, but he was a sensible man, but they went on a boat, and they really couldn't come back, but they didn't say it, Only said: "thank you so much, brother. I'm under the governor of Quanzhou. My name is Zhou Zhou Zhou. You go to the Yamen to find Zhou Laoer. How are you going to settle these people? I suggest you don't untie the shackles, and don't let them eat enough. If you don't die of hunger, you can't be soft hearted if you want them to be obedient. Well, this is what my brother gave you." Say, draw out a long whip from the back of the waist, and there is a barbed thorn with dark black blood on it.

When Ling Qingyu saw the whip, he didn't feel a cold war. He really seeped at it.

When Zhou Zhou saw her appearance, he laughed and shook his hand. The whip made a sound, and it hit a man nearby, leaving a dazzling bloodstain.

With the sound of the whip, people on the ground trembled unconsciously, and then some struggled to get up.

Ling Qingyu resisted shaking her hands and took the whip that Zhou Zhou Zhou repeatedly handed over. The whip was very heavy. She didn't feel her hand sink when she took it, and she almost fell down, which made Zhou Zhou Zhou laugh again.

Seeing that Ling Qingyu's face was a little white, Zhou Zhou waved and said, "brother, go back first and ask your servant to never pull people." I gave the whip, but I didn't mention the shackle key.

Ling Qingyu said good again and again, dragging the whip to the direction of his yard.