Chapter 940: Five Taels of Silver Per Girl
Shi Kefa's words hit like a bolt of lightning, and Jiang Cheng's movements froze instantly.
The surrounding sailors, who had been eagerly preparing for a naval battle, also froze. Right, a group of women was tied up on the enemy deck. If their cannons started firing, they'd have a great time, but those women would easily meet their end.
From the very first day they joined the Gao Family Village Militia, the sailors had undergone rigorous moral and ethical education, seeing themselves as protectors of the common people. How could they, like the imperial soldiers, fight with no regard for civilian lives? Everyone seemed to have been struck by a paralysis spell, completely frozen.
Zhu Piaoling's head popped out from the ship's cabin. "What do we do?" he called out loudly. "Hey, if we can't fight back, won't we just take a beating for nothing?"
Jiang Cheng was also somewhat bewildered. At this moment, however, Tie Niaofei, the seasoned salt smuggler who had traversed the land and navigated both the underworld and bandit territories, was the most experienced. He'd seen every chaotic situation imaginable. He shouted, "In a situation like this, you have to project your strength, scare the opponent off with sheer presence to prevent an immediate fight. Then you'll have a chance to negotiate... Name a price and buy them! Just purchase those women, and that's that."
Everyone's spirits lifted. Right, there was this approach! Those who had walked the darker paths indeed knew more.
Jiang Cheng loudly commanded, "Wanli Sunshine, drop the merchant ship disguise! Show them our cannons!"
At his command, several small hatches simultaneously flipped open on both sides of the Wanli Sunshine, revealing two rows of openings. From these gaps emerged numerous cannons, gleaming with the sheen of advanced steel alloys...
Days earlier, when Cai Xinzhi had helped Li Daoxuan create the ship model, hearing him insist on "cannon holes" along the hull had nearly made her burst a blood vessel. She couldn't for the life of her understand the purpose of such a design, but the client always gets their way, so she had dutifully complied.
The pirate ships rushing towards them instantly slowed their advance. The pirate captain, known by the alias Phantom Bat, was a subordinate of Liu Xiang, the last great pirate among the Wind and Cloud Eighteen Scholars who had yet to reform.
Earlier, when he'd spotted this incredibly massive ship, even larger than the Westerners' Spanish galleons, his heart had ached with desire. Seeing what appeared to be an unarmed vessel, he'd entertained thoughts of capturing it. Leading six ships, he had charged towards the Wanli Sunshine, only for the colossal vessel to suddenly bristly with so many cannons halfway through their approach. Phantom Bat was thoroughly startled.
"Damn it!" Phantom Bat cursed. "I thought it was a plump catch, but it turns out to be a thorny hedgehog!" He roared at his crew, "Don't get any closer! Stay out of their cannon range!"
He didn't know that the Wanli Sunshine's cannons were all rifled, far outranging the smoothbore cannons commonly used by Westerners. In reality, they were already well within the Wanli Sunshine's range. If not for the concern of accidentally harming the women on board... heh heh...
"Boss, they don't seem to want to talk," a pirate offered, leaning closer. "Look, they're frantically waving a colorful flag at us."
Phantom Bat nodded. "These guys must be new. They don't even know standard nautical flag signals, just blindly waving a flag. But they want to talk, that much is clear."
"Boss, should we talk?"
"Talk? Of course, we'll talk," Phantom Bat replied. "Such a huge ship, so many cannons... are we going to ram our heads against it? I was actually thinking of abandoning this job, but since they want to talk, we'll talk first and see what their intentions are."
And so, all six pirate ships began to wave their flags. They were using standard nautical flag signals, capable of conveying simple messages. However, the people from Gao Family Village couldn't understand them at all.
It didn't matter. Gao Family Village had a powerful megaphone. Tie Niaofei picked it up and boomed, "Brothers of the sea, how about we each launch a small boat to talk?"
Phantom Bat exclaimed, "Huh? Their voice is so loud? I can hear him speaking from this far away. I certainly don't have a booming voice like that."
He waved his hand, lowered a small skiff, and personally jumped into it. With just two men, himself and a subordinate to row, they pushed off and paddled forward.
On the Gao Family Village side, a small skiff was also lowered. A sailor rowed, and Tie Niaofei hopped aboard, moving to meet them.
The two boats drew close to each other in the middle of the sea.
Tie Niaofei cupped his hands in a traditional greeting. "Are you brave heroes from the Wind and Cloud Eighteen Scholars?"
Phantom Bat chuckled. "That's right, our boss is Liu Xiang. And who might your people be?"
With a flourish, Tie Niaofei produced his Imperial Merchant token. "I am Tie Niaofei, an Imperial Merchant, appointed by imperial decree to conduct business, specifically supplying goods to the imperial palace and border armies."
This startled Phantom Bat. *No wonder his ship is so enormous and bristling with cannons,* he thought. *He's one of the old emperor's exclusive Imperial Merchants.* But so what if he was an Imperial Merchant? Their boss, Liu Xiang, wasn't even afraid of the imperial navy, so why would he fear some Imperial Merchant?
With that thought, Phantom Bat's confidence returned. "An Imperial Merchant, how impressive, with such a colossal ship! What could you possibly want to discuss with me?"
Tie Niaofei replied, "While I am an Imperial Merchant, at the end of the day, I'm still a businessman. I've traveled far and wide, and I understand the rules of the road. Wherever I go, I always pay my respects to the local powers. Now that I've come to the sea, it's only proper to first greet the brave heroes of the Wind and Cloud Eighteen Scholars."
Seeing him speak so politely, Phantom Bat inwardly gloated. *So that's how it is! Even an Imperial Merchant has to pay us homage on the high seas, hahahaha!*
Tie Niaofei continued, "Here's some silver. Let's consider it a gesture of friendship." He extended both hands, offering a pouch of silver.
Phantom Bat gleefully accepted it. "Well said, well said. Since you've paid your protection money, we'll make sure to remember your colorful flag. We won't attack you again when we see it."
Tie Niaofei smiled. "Now that we're friends, I have a bit of business to conduct."
Phantom Bat frowned. "?"
Tie Niaofei said, "From a distance, I noticed a group of women tied up on your brave hero's ship. I wonder where these women came from, and what you intend to do with them? I, your humble brother, am rather interested in buying them to resell, perhaps to human traffickers in the capital, heh heh heh... Name your price."
Hearing this, Phantom Bat immediately brightened. "Ah, I see! Haha! These women were captured from a coastal fishing village yesterday. I was planning to take them back for my brothers to enjoy, but since Brother Tie is interested, I'll give you a discount. Five taels of silver per girl."
Hearing this, Tie Niaofei's heart sank. *The men in that fishing village must have all been killed.* These pirates were truly despicable!
But outwardly, he said, "Five taels is a bit steep. I need to make a profit too, brother. How about four taels?"
Phantom Bat laughed. "Good, deal!"
Comments