Dragon Sea Empire

The small boats of the Japanese pirates were imitated from the multi-oared speedboats of the Portuguese. At that time, people in the Ming Dynasty also imitated them, which were called centipede boats.Right now, the three small boats of the Japanese pirates are slowly approaching the stranded Goa.Yin Feng, who had calmed down, took a breath, turned around and looked at the messy crew, and shouted loudly in Portuguese: "Do you want to live?"

The crew members stared blankly at him, Yin Feng stood on the bow and shouted: "Everyone listen to me, load the muskets with ammunition,..."

Due to the wind direction, the Japanese pirates' small boat had to row close to the coastline, and then sailed to the bow of the Goa along the wind and current.This gave Yin Feng a little time to prepare for the battle.

About half an hour later, a temporary bunker composed of wooden boxes, wine barrels, and cloth bags was piled up in the middle of the upper deck of the merchant ship. More than 30 crew members, merchants, and servants held various weapons and faced the bow of the ship, feeling uneasy. Crouch behind cover.

Yin Feng was sweating profusely and his mouth was dry. He spent all his energy to direct everyone to make such a temporary bunker.The injured captain Rodriguez ordered all the crew members to follow Yin Feng's orders before he finally fell into a coma, and the blacks were more obedient to the command, while the Indian and Malay crew members were always in a state of panic.Zeng Jingshan led the servants of the Zeng family to obey Yin Feng's orders unconditionally, although he didn't understand why Yin Feng gave up the defense of the bow, and all the personnel were concentrated in the middle of the ship.

Bernardo hid in the bilge when the gun battle started just now, but his two servants—also blacks—have been on the deck.Ma Jialuo followed Yin Feng closely, holding a hammer in his left hand and an ax in his right.Yin Feng also squatted down, checked carefully, and turned to Ma Jialuo and said: "After the battle starts, you must wait for my order before rushing out!" He said it again to the Zeng family in Chinese.

Right now he has 15 blacks who have mastered 15 matchlock guns, 5 Malay sailors who operate 5 trigger crossbows, and a few trembling Indians and 5 Zeng family servants who have weapons such as swords, axes and sticks.At the same time, a small copper cannon mounted on the wooden box was also ready, and it was in the hands of Yin Feng.The small copper cannon on the bow was injured and unconscious because the captain and second mate were injured, no one knew how to dismantle it, so we had to put it there and let it go.

Zeng Jingshan, who was watching from the side of the boat, shouted, "They are here."

Before the words were finished, there was a sporadic sound of musket guns, and the guns hit the place where the small copper cannon was erected on the bow to sparks.The Japanese pirates learned the lesson of the first attack. Because the small copper cannon had a short range, they left a small boat parked outside the range of the small cannon, and kept shooting the bow with matchlock guns to eliminate all possible firepower points; Under the cover of matchlock guns, the Japanese pirates on the small boat quickly rowed to the bow of the Goa.

The distance from the bow of the ship to the temporary bunker in the middle is only [-] steps. Once the Japanese pirates board the ship, they only have one chance to fire their muskets.It was Yin Feng's first command of a battle in this era of mixing hot and cold weapons, and he tried his best to recall the war history materials in his memory, and the plots of countless war movies also flooded into his mind.He took several deep breaths in a row, expelled all the images from his mind, calmed down and looked at the direction of the bow, and shouted: "Listen to my order, pay attention..."

A series of grapple ropes were thrown on the bow of the ship, and the short figures of the Japanese pirates appeared on the bow with agility.They jumped over the side of the boat and stood still, holding Japanese swords tightly in both hands. Everyone's eyes were red and full of murderous intent.But there were no enemies on the deck in front of them, not even the bodies of the crew members killed in the previous attack.

There were about 10 Japanese ronin in the first batch, and a black-clothed samurai in the lead found the strange and messy accumulation in the middle of the upper deck, and there was still smoke rising from behind (actually, it was the smoke from the ignition rope on the matchlock gun), and he was puzzled. go here.

He just took a step, when Yin Feng, who had been observing the situation in the gap of the wooden box, suddenly stood up and shouted: "Fogo!" (Portuguese: open fire)

The black musketeers stood up one after another, and there was a "crackling" gunshot, and gunpowder smoke filled the entire middle of the hull.Although it was only a volley of 15 matchlock guns, plus Yin Feng's pistol shooting, the gunpowder smoke also made Yin Feng cough violently.The smoke was blown away by the sea breeze in a few seconds, only one of the 10 Japanese pirates was still standing there in a daze, and the rest were lying on the deck, either dead or injured.Before Yin Feng had time to say anything, flutter flutter, the short arrows fired by the Malay trigger crossbow had been shot, and two arrows stuck in the chest of the dazed Japanese pirate.

Yin Feng was furious. Looking back, the Malay sailors were still in a daze with their crossbows in their hands.The crossbow was originally arranged to be used in the second round of shooting to make up for the problem caused by the slow reloading speed of the arquebus, but now it's okay... He opened his mouth, wanted to curse something, but didn't curse, but said loudly: "Hurry up! Load ammo!"

The blacks were also stunned by the effect of their own shooting, and only then did they remember to load ammunition, and got busy with all their hands and feet.Yin Feng noticed that the Malays were still in a daze, so he shouted at them angrily: "Quickly string and load the arrow!"

Zeng Jingshan suddenly shouted again: "Someone is coming up again."

Several figures quickly appeared at the bow of the ship, white light flashed, and a few flying knives shot and killed several black musketeers who were buried in the bullets. Before Yin Feng gave an order, the panicked blacks had already fired a few shots , not one hit.A few more Japanese pirates boarded the bow, and then let out a loud roar, and rushed towards the crew's position of the Goa together.

There was no other way, the arquebus was too late to fire the second round.Yin Feng lit the small copper cannon with the matchlock in his hand.

"Boom!", gunpowder smoke filled Yin Feng's eyes again, and his ears lost their function temporarily due to the shock.The recoil of the small copper cannon pushed the sandbag on Yin Feng's body, and he fell on his back on the deck, hitting the back of his head on the deck, but he still did not forget to shout: "Rush up!"

The people around seemed to be rushing forward, with chaotic footsteps.When he struggled to support the ground with his hands, bent over and got up, he found that his hands were covered with blood.Looking up at the bow of the ship, everyone was smashing, stabbing, and poking at the deck with their weapons.

All the Japanese pirates who came up in the second batch were already lying in a pool of blood.At least half of them died under the close-range bombardment of small copper cannons, and the rest were injured and were hacked, stabbed, and crushed to death by dozens of crew members rushing up.Now there are at least 20 corpses on the bow deck, and all the injured Japanese pirates have also been killed. The excited and nervous crew members are still adding damage to the corpses.

"Stop! Stop!" Yin Feng jumped over and yelled on the bloody bow deck, pulling and kicking, finally calming everyone down.Zeng Jingshan looked out from the bow again, turned his head excitedly and said, "Master Yin, the Japanese pirates have escaped!!"

Seeing that the two groups of crew members went up and never returned, the Japanese pirates in charge of covering wisely decided to retreat, and their small boats quickly turned around and rowed towards the mother ship.However, the idea of ​​retreating back to one's own ship became a luxury.

More than a dozen small fishing boats and small boats appeared along the coastline, and they were quickly approaching the "Yamato" ship of the Japanese pirates; at the mouth of Jiangjun Creek on the east side of the bay, a Chinese sailboat also appeared and was approaching the battle area.

"Junk ship! Junk ship! Could it be a pirate again?" the black Margaro exclaimed.At that time, Westerners collectively referred to Chinese-style sailing ships as junk ships, and Magaro also followed this name after working on sea ships.

Yin Feng smiled and found that Magaro's chest was stained with blood. He patted him on the shoulder and said, "Are you not injured? Don't worry, you should be very familiar with that Chinese pirate ship."

Magaro opened his thick lips, revealing his white teeth, gaping at the approaching Chinese sailboat.This is Zeng Erjiao's pirate ship, with the "Li" flag flying on it. Magaro once stayed on it for more than half a year.In any case he did not expect to see the ship.Yin Feng was actually wondering, did Zeng Erjiao give up his plan to retire abroad?When he saw the slang-talking big man, former Zeng Erjiao's deputy Shandong Dahan Lu Shitou, his question was finally answered.

The Japanese pirates' pirate ship was surrounded by fishing boats from the pirate village and Lu Shitou's boat before the high tide got out of trouble.After a burst of long-range attacks with bows, arrows, blunderbusses and harpoons, the Chinese pirates attacked the "Yamato" ship and slaughtered all the Japanese pirates who broke the rules and robbed the port.The pirate circles in East Asia usually regard Yaogang as a trading port for smuggling goods and a sheltered port for pirate ships. They don't want to attract the attention of coastal local officials or aristocratic families who are trading overseas by robbing some legitimate merchant's cargo ship.

This pirate ship was also sheltered here, and there is also a small village where Japanese immigrants gather in Yaogang.But for some reason, the ship suddenly attacked the Goa, which was a taboo, so the local Chinese fishermen and pirates teamed up to destroy the Japanese pirate ship.Waren Village also dispatched small boats to take over the Japanese pirate ship that came from nowhere.

The main settlement of Yaogang has no official name, and it is commonly known as Fanhan Street. Except for the surrounding indigenous Pingpu people, the residents are all fishermen, pirates, merchants, and refugees from the coast of mainland China. The residents of Waren Village are also Japanese pirates.The residents here are completely in a state of anarchy. Residents of various ethnic groups and occupations are controlled by several powerful pirate leaders, and the various gangs check each other, and there is a delicate balance.

After the high tide, the Goa finally got out of trouble and was led into the sea at the most northeast of the Downwind Inner Harbour, General Creek, where there is a ship repairing wharf where the ship will be repaired.The captain and second mate, and the other wounded, were taken to Panham Street, where the most experienced healer among the pirates was located.Hearing Zeng Jingshan's propaganda, Lu Shitou held Yin Feng at the pier and laughed happily: "I never thought you could stand up to the Japanese pirates, I thought you were a fat monster, haha!"

Zeng Jingshan promptly leaned into Yin Feng's ear and said, "Fat demons refer to timid and cowardly people."

Yin Feng rolled his eyes and said angrily, "Why didn't you go to Malacca with Lord Jiao?"

"I don't want to go to Hongmao's territory, I can't understand the barbarian language. It's better to stay here, there are lotus flowers flowing lotus water, and the king of heaven can't control me." Lu Shitou patted his chest and said.

Zeng Jingshan said softly on the side: "The lotus refers to the bowl, the flow is the meat, and the water is the wine."

Zeng Erjiao did listen to Yin Feng's advice and went to Malacca, planning to find a contact before going to Banten and Jiugang to live his retirement life.Legend has it that Zeng Yiben, Lin Feng and other old pirates washed their hands and retired there.But Lu Shitou didn't want to leave his homeland. First, he was only in his 30s and didn't want to retire. Second, there were old people in his family.He thought that after working for a few more years and earning enough money, he would take out the elderly at home and go to Nanyang to live a good life.

"Now is not a good time to do this kind of business without capital, the government and various wealthy businessmen are all staring at this place." Yin Feng persuaded Lu Shitou at the evening banquet; "When is it worthwhile to float on the sea like this? You have to do some real business."

This is a hotel on Fanhan Street, under the simple bamboo shed, only Lu Shitou and Yin Feng are drinking under the dim oil lamp.Lu Shitou gulped down the local wine from the local Siraya people of the Pingpu ethnic group, his expression a little depressed: "This way, our brothers have already walked several times, so we quit."

Suddenly he smiled happily again: "However, I've found Chacai, it's time for me to get rich!" Seeing Yin Feng's puzzled expression, he laughed loudly: "Forget, you are not from the world, haha. What I said is that I have found someone to do business with. Just like you, this person knows a lot of barbarian language and has been to places where barbarians live."

Yin Feng thought to himself: there were quite a few people dealing with Westerners and Chinese at that time, who would it be?

Coincidentally, a group of people walked into the hotel at this time and greeted Lu Shitou: "Boss Lu!" "Brother Shitou!"

Lu Shitou jumped up and hurriedly pulled them over.These people are all dressed in short clothes, are not tall, and their faces are dark because of living at sea all the year round. One of them is in his 30s and has an extraordinary bearing. He has a dagger in his waist. It can be said that he is handsome with a smile on his face. He stepped forward to give Yin Feng a fistful salute: "This is the brother Yin Feng who commanded Ruoding in the morning and repelled the Japanese pirates, right?"

His official dialect had a slight Hokkien accent, and Yin Feng quickly jumped up and bowed his hands in salute, and said modestly: "How dare you? If the command is determined, don't dare to say it. It's just a desperate fight."

Lu Shitou laughed and said, "Brother Yin, this is my talent, Li Dan."

"Under Li Dan, a native of Quanzhou, Fujian, is now doing business in Manila, Luzon."

Yin Feng was shocked, and hurriedly bowed his hands again: "Little brother Yin Feng, he returned from the West, and now Zengjia Haozi Firm in Quanzhou, Fujian is helping."

In Yin Feng's world, Li Dan was a celebrity in China's pirate circles in the late Ming Dynasty, the adoptive father of Zheng Zhilong, and the former East Asian sea king.He was originally doing business in the Philippines and was the leader of the Chinese in Manila. Later, he fell out with the Spanish ruler and was driven to Kyushu, Japan to settle down. With the help of Japanese pirate groups, he formed a large armed fleet. Carry out transactions that are both merchants and robbers.Tokugawa Ieyasu's unification of Japan's overseas trade also relied on his support and funding.His son Li Guozhu inherited his father's business and was also a famous sea merchant at that time.Zheng Zhilong inherited his power, and then he achieved the career of a generation of maritime hegemony.

Li Dan introduced two young people who were only 17 years old behind him. The fatter one was Yuan Jin, and the thinner one was Li Zhong. They were both from Tongan, Fujian.Yin Feng didn't think of these two people in his memory, but these two people are actually celebrities.In Yin Feng's historical era, Yuan Jin and Li Zhong were also pirate leaders who were active in the southeast coast in Ming Dynasty.In Yin Feng's historical era, they would roam the seas of Fujian and Guangxi for many years. They surrendered to the government with more than 47 ships in the 1619th year of Wanli (40). Later, they went to the northeast to aid Liao and participated in the battle against Hou Jin. .But now, they are just Li Dan's subordinates, in the apprenticeship period of their pirate career.

On this day in 1600, the three future celebrities in the East Asian pirate world gathered in a simple hotel in Dongfan Yaogang, and had a drink with Yin Feng.

Li Dan was indeed rare in China at that time, and he knew the world outside China very well.He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, as well as Japanese, and proficient in Hokkien, Cantonese, Beijing Mandarin and other local dialects-this makes Yin Feng feel ashamed.Li Dan knew the difference between Spain and Portugal, and also knew that the two countries served the same king; he claimed to have been baptized by the Catholic Church, but he was baptized into the Catholic Church in order to participate in the election of the Chinese leader of Manila.Because the Spaniards stipulated that the Chinese Jiabi Dan must be a Catholic.But in fact, many local Chinese believers who were forced to become Christians often took off their crosses when they returned to China, and put them on again when they went to Manila for business.

Because Li Dan was too young and not qualified enough, he was not selected for the position of the leader of the Chinese community, Jiapidan, but he is still one of the leaders of the Chinese community in Manila.Since Yin Feng is from the West and knows the outside world very well, the two have a lot of common language, which made Li Dan unconsciously feel close to him.After Li Dan heard about Yin Feng's business plan, he asked, "Why do you want to take the risk of going to Jiangnan to smuggle raw silk?"

Yin Feng said: "Brother Li, does he know how much the purchase price of Manila raw silk is?"

"Last year's price was about 240 taels per load."

"This year, the purchase price of raw silk in Macao is 150 taels per load. I have inquired about it, and the price of raw silk purchased directly in Jiangnan is twice as low."

Li Dan nodded: "This naturally saves the intermediate turnover link and greatly increases profits. However, the risk is too great." He drank a large bowl of local wine in one gulp, stretched out his hand and raised a finger: "I heard from Brother Lu that Brother Yin is very courageous and loyal, and he is courageous and resourceful in dealing with the Japanese pirates in the morning, which is also admirable. I hate meeting Brother Yin late, and I am not afraid of exchanging words. I thought Brother Yin's trip was reckless! "

Yin Feng's eyes lit up; he never thought that he would be invincible as a time traveler, his advantages only lie in his ability to communicate with foreigners, his grasp of historical trends, and his written knowledge of the general situation of overseas trade at that time .In fact, he felt that he still knew too little about China's overseas trade and various businesses at that time, and he wanted to learn more about it.He hurriedly said: "I was about to ask for advice, please speak frankly, Brother Li."