my wonderful zoo

Chapter 127 Selling Flags

The pirates in Wanshan Sea Area are going crazy.

Originally, everyone was in peace with each other, and the territories were divided among each other. The officers, soldiers and navy basically did not come to the open sea. There was a tacit understanding.

Now, this tacit understanding was suddenly broken by a group of lunatics.

The pirate leader Ge Er was fleeing madly in his boat. More than a dozen ships in his home were beaten by five Chen Jiajun navy warships, and they were unable to fight back. Compared with other pirate leaders, he was clever and managed to escape.

"Brother, there is still a ship ahead!" But the luck was bad, and the lookout on the mast reported that the way ahead was blocked.

"Quick, quick, quick! Turn the helm, let's run eastward."

Going east into the ocean, although it is easy to get lost, is better than traveling along the coast and being blocked by the Chen family's navy.

"Brother, we can't run away. It's a fast ship. We can't run away." A captain came over and persuaded: "Let's surrender."

"Fart!" Ge Er did not accept the persuasion of his men: "Whoever talks about surrender again, don't blame me for not recognizing anyone under my sword!"

He knew in his heart that he had previously been funded by a large businessman on the shore and robbed the merchant ships of the military government and killed people from the military government.If he surrendered now, his minions might live, but he would definitely die.

"Go east, they won't be able to chase them for long." Ge Er could only pray that the Chen Jiajun navy wouldn't have time to kill them all.

It takes too much effort to chase a ship on the vast sea.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. A quarter of an hour later, the Chen family's warships in the southwest were still chasing after them.

"Is this guy surnamed Chen stupid? How can he gain anything by chasing our small boat?" Ge Er was a little angry.

"Brother, my surname is Chen, too," the deputy reminded.

"Is now the time to emphasize this?" Ge Er put his hand on his forehead, feeling a headache for his subordinates' stupidity.

"Brother, there are also ships in the east!" the lookout reminded again.

"What!" Ge Er couldn't believe how the Chen family army could dispatch so many ships to encircle and suppress the pirates.

Picture what? !
Sure enough, after a while, a mast appeared on the sea to the east, with a "Chen" flag hanging on the top of the pole.

"Go north! Go north!" Ge Er could only yell again and turn the ship around.

"There are also ones in the north!" The lookout hand once again cut off Ge Er's hope.

"Fuck, you're crazy! You're crazy!" Ge Er was angry and anxious, and felt chills in his heart. He had a hunch that today next year might be the anniversary of his death: "Brothers, fight with them."

After shouting, he saw that there was no excitement among his men, so he knew that the chips were not enough: "If you escape today, I will reward each of you with two hundred pieces of silver."

"Fight with them!" Money can make the world go round, and there must be a brave man under a heavy reward. The money was sprinkled, and it really worked.

“Fight them!”…

Soon, Chen Jiajun's warships from three directions approached, and the pirates' ships were also ready for battle.

……

Chen Mao looked at the pirate ship on the opposite side preparing for a desperate resistance, and truly felt that the pirates on board were not worth it.

"This Ge Datou can really run away. If he hadn't been on the death list, I would have let him go."

"How to fight?" The men came over and asked.

"Quick battle and quick decision, shoot him twice first, and then board the ship to clean up." As a member of the Chen clan, Chen Mao has a natural advantage in being promoted in the Chen family army. In the past half a year, he has been promoted from an ordinary sailor to a captain.

And there are some priorities in the equipment of advanced weapons, so his ship is equipped with an artillery gun.

"Yes!"

boom!boom! …

After the two ships approached forty steps, four consecutive cannonballs were fired condescendingly. There was almost no one left standing on the deck of the pirate ship. "Board!!" Three ships approached from three directions, and their dog claws flew out, firmly anchoring the pirate ship.

The melee sailors wearing iron-clad armor jumped over with long knives in hand. No one on the pirate ship dared to resist. The battle ended quickly and the ship was easily captured.

"Where is Ge Er?" Chen Mao also climbed up and asked a pirate prisoner who was hiding well and unharmed.

"Over there!" The pirate pointed toward the middle of the deck. Chen Mao looked in the direction of his finger and saw a man wearing leather armor lying on his back on the deck, completely unrecognizable.

He probably caught several shotgun pellets with his face.

"How to identify this..." Chen Mao muttered in his heart and made an arrangement: "Find a few more pirates to come over and identify him. If it is confirmed that it is Ge Er, we will return."

The spies who were lurking among the pirates often heard Ge Er bragging about robbing Chen Jiajun's merchant ship and killing the stewards above.

People like him will definitely be recorded by spies.

No, it is being liquidated now.

……

On October [-], the month-long cleanup operation against pirates finally came to a successful conclusion, and Chen Xun took time out to participate.

The entire operation went smoothly, and there was basically no large-scale resistance.

From the waters of Wanshan Islands to Shangchuan Island and Xiachuan Island in the southwest, all the way to the waters of Hainan Island, all pirate organizations with names were named one by one.

Those who were clever and fast, as soon as they saw that the situation was not right, they immediately ran away and escaped.

A wise and self-aware person, when he saw Chen Jiajun coming, he quickly surrendered.If the lives of the Chen Jiajun merchant ship crewmen were not killed in the early stage, their lives could be considered saved.

Those pirates who were hard-headed and resisted were all crushed by the Chen family's navy.

In the middle of the surrender operation, Chen Xun also sent the musketry battalion up to test the combat effectiveness of the musketry battalion in sea breeze, rocking boats, and humid environment.

Chen Xun was very satisfied with the final result.

Gunpowder wrapped in oiled paper packs works well against the humid environment at sea.

Even if it rains, as long as the musketeer wears a bamboo hat with a large brim to protect him from the rain, he can charge and shoot normally.

This raid against pirates not only greatly improved the security of the military government's sea trade routes, but also improved the reputation of the Chen Jiajun navy.

From now on, as long as merchant ships flying the Chen flag sail in this large sea area, basically no pirates will dare to provoke them.

In addition to this, the elimination of the pirates in this sea area not only trained troops, but also cut off the arms of the gentry and wealthy merchants involved in maritime trade.If they want to sail normally in this sea area from now on, they will have to buy flags from the military government.

Chen character flag with yellow characters on a green background.

Merchant ships that do not fly this flag will be "attacked" by the Chen Jiajun navy and lose all their money.

Chen Xun estimated that next year the military government's income from "flag sales" alone would exceed the country's annual land tax income.

Moreover, selling flags can not only increase income, but also clarify the scale of maritime merchants on Guangnan East Road.

In half a year, the military government will be able to grasp how many maritime merchants there are on Guangnan East Road, how many ships these merchants have, what kind of ships they are, what kind of trade they are conducting, and so on.

These data will give the military government a very big advantage.

After all, the military government is not only a "supervisor" in the sea trade on Guangnan East Road, but also participates in person.How can other maritime merchants compete?

It is estimated that the next time the military government expands its territory, the owners behind these maritime merchants will have to consider whether to resist.

　Make up for yesterday's.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)