Chapter 65: The Pirate's Lair

  Zhang Baosheng, due to the relatively comfortable life he had been leading lately, no longer needed to do manual labor on the dock, so he looked much younger. When Zhang Lei saw him, he immediately felt that this was what a middle-aged man in his forties should look like, rather than looking like he was over sixty with an air of premature aging.

  "It's been a long time since you came back, and you didn't even send a message. I heard that when you were on the lake, you encountered lake bandits, and everyone was worried. But after hearing that you were fine later, they felt relieved. I wanted to go to Songjiang Prefecture with your brother to take a look, but the factory is too busy, and it's really hard to find time." Zhang Baosheng shouted as soon as he saw Zhang Chen.

  Zhang Lei also knew that the current match factory had expanded in scale, but due to the inability to achieve mechanized production, it was always in a state of shortage. As the most important link in this process, Zhang Baosheng, as the manufacturer, could not extricate himself no matter what.

  "Alright, alright, I'll think of a way as soon as possible, Father, don't complain anymore. Isn't it because I came back today to treat everyone well? Old Seventh has already gone to call Xu Bo over, tonight we'll have a full fish banquet." Zhang Lei promised. In fact, he had been dedicated to the research and development of mechanized production technology, but due to various technical reasons, it had stagnated.

  Just as they were talking, Xu Bo and Jiang Yuyang had already appeared at the gate with a large basket of fish. Zhang Lei hurriedly invited them in and asked them to start working in the back.

  Many literati left poems about the whole fish banquet: "Long heard of Hulun Lake, the fish banquet leaves a name. Plum blossoms open on the table, pine trees lie in the plate. Carp presents three offerings, playing with two dragons. Only pitying the clear stew is beautiful, fresh and tender drunk in autumn wind." This was originally a specialty of Hulunbuir, so when Zhang Lei heard that Xu Bo could actually make a whole fish banquet, he was shocked and very curious - what kind of whole fish banquet could this southern aquatic product produce?

  Half an hour later, Zhang Lei finally knew that this whole fish banquet used all kinds of fish from Anhui Province, and the dishes were fried, steamed, stewed, and cooked in various ways, opening his eyes to a new world.

  "I didn't expect you to have such skills, I think even the master chefs in Beijing are no match for this." Zhang Lei tasted it and couldn't help but praise.

  Xu Bo was a bit embarrassed by the praise, scratched the back of his head and smiled foolishly: "At this age, eating fish every day is also boring, we have to change our ways. My dad and I have been working on it for over a decade, and that's all we've come up with."

  Zhang Lei originally wanted to say that Zhang Dongguan had spent more than half his life making the 108 dishes of Manchu-Han full-course banquet, but suddenly remembered that at this time Zhang Dongguan's grandfather was not even born yet, so he quickly shut up. He said: "Come on, everyone, let's get started and eat!"

  Because Zhang Baosheng went to fetch a few jars of good wine and said he wanted to celebrate properly, this meal lasted until the time of candlelight before it was considered finished. Everyone had a slight intoxication. When Xu Bo was about to leave, Zhang Lei suddenly said: "Xu Bo, are you interested in working with me?"

  Xu Bo stuck out his tongue and asked: "Following you, what are we doing?"

  Zhang Lei said: "From now on, you will be the weather forecaster for my Pacific Fleet."

  Xu Bo suddenly sobered up halfway after hearing this and asked: "What did you say?"

  Zhang Lei suddenly felt that he had spoken too early, so he smiled self-deprecatingly: "Nothing, nothing, I just drank too much and talked nonsense, don't mind it."

  After the banquet dispersed, Zhang Lei rested for a night and went to his own tomato and sesame fields again. He found that they were growing well, so he felt relieved and returned to Songjiang Prefecture to continue his work.

  During this period of his return home, all indicators were fully completed, which made him very pleased. Also, with the joining of the Su family, an old-brand family, the development of Zhang's Chamber of Commerce entered a peak period. Every time he saw others using machines that he had invented, Zhang Lei felt a sense of unspoken pride.

  "Director, this is a beggar who asked me to give it to you. He calls himself Su Qi'er." A few days later, one morning after Zhang Lei had just finished breakfast, Feng Yong handed him an envelope.

  Zhang Lei yawned and said, "What kind of person is this? Not even a beggar would deliver messages... Wait a minute, what was that guy's name? Surname Su?" Suddenly waking up at the end, as if remembering something.

  "What's wrong?" Feng Yong asked.

  Zhang Lei waved his hand and said, "It's okay, it's okay, you go ahead and take care of your business."

  He went into his study, opened the letter and found it was sent by Zheng Zhihu. It said that although Zheng Zhilong had become the Admiral of the Navy, Zheng Zhihu still stuck to his old trade. If Zhang Lei wanted to meet with Zheng Zhilong, next month on the first day would be a good opportunity as Zheng Zhilong would also come to the island to meet with his brothers. The letter was attached with a map and a few words. At the end of the letter were written four characters: "Burn after reading".

  Zhang Lei firmly remembered the map and password in his heart, then burned them on the candle holder.

  Counting the days, it's only a few days since the beginning of the month. He couldn't help but get excited too, soon he would be able to meet the famous Zheng Zhilong. How could his mood not be agitated? Maybe with good luck, he might even see Zheng Zhilong's son, Zheng Chenggong.

  In 1645, the Qing army entered Jiangnan, and soon Shi Lang surrendered to the Qing. The Tian family was killed in the chaos of war. Zheng Chenggong led his father's old troops in the southeastern coastal areas of China to resist the Qing, becoming one of the main military forces of the Southern Ming dynasty in its later period. He besieged the Qing government in Nanjing but was ultimately repelled by the Qing army and could only rely on his naval superiority to defend the islands of Xiamen and Kinmen. In 1661, he led his troops across the Taiwan Strait and defeated the Dutch East India Company's garrison in Taiwan the following year, marking the beginning of the Ming-Zheng period.

  It is not difficult to see from the above words that Zheng Chenggong drove away the Dutch after failing to resist the Qing army in order to find a place to settle, and he himself did not expect that a hundred years later he would inexplicably become a national hero.

  Longing for the stars and longing for the moon, these few days made Zhang Lei suddenly understand the meaning of the idiom "days are like years", finally, after almost collapsing from waiting, April has arrived.

  Early in the morning, Zhang Lei dressed up neatly and prepared his gift. According to the map, he arrived at a small dock. Behind the dock was a market, and on the water were mostly small fishing boats of fishermen. Looking around, it was densely packed, and it could be said that it was prosperous.

  At last, Zhang Lei found the small boat he was looking for. On the boat sat a dark-skinned man with worn-out clothes, his sleeves rolled up high, wearing a large straw hat that covered his face, and holding a two-foot-long pipe emitting a faint wisp of smoke.

  In front of the bow, a wooden stick was used to support a fake person, wearing an equally exaggerated big bamboo hat, draped in a pure black hemp robe, with three strings of firecrackers hanging from his neck.

  Zhang Lei walked over, cleared his throat and said: "Boatman, are you going to the firecracker store?"

  The man who was quietly smoking suddenly lifted his head, squinting his eyes due to the gaze, and saw Zhang Lei. He tapped on the ashtray and said: "What's the point of going to the firecracker store?"

  "Of course we're going to set off firecrackers," Zhang Lei said.

  "What did you use to light it?"

  "A loyal and righteous heart, three long-life cigarettes."

  The boatman stood up, took two steps forward and said: "Then which string will you choose first?"

  Zhang Lei slightly opened his arms and said: "Three cannons fired in unison, peace under heaven."

  "The boatman asked: 'What's your honorable surname?'"

  Zhang Lei angrily said: "Are you checking the ship or investigating the ancestral home? Are you going or not?"

  "Please, young master." The boat owner nodded towards a few men dressed as fishermen in the back and then said to Zhang Lei.

  Zhang Lei jumped from the shore to the bow of the boat and then pointed to several large boxes behind him, saying: "This is a gift I am giving to my elder brother."

  That person impatiently said: "Alright alright, someone will move it."

  The small boat swayed gently as it sailed away from the harbor and appeared on the vast blue sea. The few people on the boat were all silent, Zhang Lei also wouldn't make a fool of himself, so he lay down on the deck to bask in the warm sun.

  After walking on the water for more than half a day, until the sunset in the west, the outline of the land finally appeared on the sea surface. As they got closer, Zhang Lei found that it was an island, with a larger base and smaller top, resembling a cone shape, like a shark's fin.

  On this beach, dozens of ships of no small size are anchored, and the dark mouths indicate that they have extraordinary combat effectiveness.

  Among the boats, a dense trail of footprints formed a path that extended forward to under the rocks. There, strange vines crawled in all directions, decorating the island, which was eighty percent rock, with vitality. Several young people wearing short-sleeved shirts stood facing each other, holding red-tasseled spears that were taller than they were.

  Under the leadership of Zhang Lei, he walked step by step towards the entrance of the cave. When they were still three or four zhang away from those people, Zhang Lei ran forward and whispered a few words in the ear of the person at the front, who nodded and retreated.

  "Please," said the boatman to Zhang Lei.

  Zhang Lei looked around and then adjusted his hat on top of his head, walked in with his head held high and chest out.

  This is a naturally formed karst cave, and in some places you can still see the marks of water erosion. The dark passages are all over the place, just like an old mole hole. The scene of the idiom "Three Burrows of the Cunning Rabbit" reappears, and if there is no guide, people who come here for the first time will inevitably get lost in it.

  After walking for about a minute in the darkness, Zhang Lei estimated that he had already approached the foot of the mountain. As he turned a bend, a bright light suddenly appeared in front of him, and a loud noise came out. The boatman stopped his footsteps and said, "We're here."

  Zhang Lei nodded, after the boatman turned around and left, took a deep breath, and calmly walked in.