"Alright, Mr. Colonel!" A voice came from the side, and Silva turned to see a familiar figure lying on the ground, it was the same man who had been on the mast for the reward, but he was now covered in blood, and his right leg was no longer there below the knee. He saw Silva turn around, a reassuring smile on his anguished face: "Have mercy, Mr. Major, Priest, for God's sake!" ”

Silva glanced at Father Juan, who shook his head slightly, the man on the ground was too badly injured to be cured on this broken ship that had no mast. Silva walked up to the man, knelt down on one knee, pulled out his dagger and put it between the third and fourth ribs in his left chest, and asked, "What's your name, and who else is in the house?" “

A gleam of gratitude flashed in the man's eyes: "Thank you, Mr. Major!" My name is Resto, I live next to the Juan Church in Manila, and I have a woman and three children, two boys and one girl! ”

"Very well, I will send the two hundred Pistols I will send to confess to the priest!"

The man nodded, turned his gaze to Father Juan, and whispered a few words, and after hearing this, the priest drew a cross on his chest and whispered: "On behalf of the Lord, I forgive your sins, Amen!" ”

The man's eyes lit up with joy, and with a slam of force, the dagger stabbed between the third and fourth ribs and through the heart. The man, Resto, twitched, and then lost his sparkle in his eyes, but there was still a reassuring smile on his face.

Silva pulled out his dagger, wiped it twice on the sole of his shoe, and stood up, looking at the corpse on the ground and drawing a cross on his chest.

"What should we do now?" Father Juan asked.

"Pray to the Merciful Lord and Our Lady! That's the only thing we can do right now! ”

Daishan Island, Chongfu Temple, this temple was built just a few years ago, so the wall and door beams look brand new, Wang Xingguo and others won the battle. Due to the strong wind and waves, everyone did not dare to take a boat back to the mainland, so they stayed in this Chongfu Temple for one night, preparing to wait for the next day when the wind and waves subsided before leaving.

"Mr. Wang Qian really uses soldiers like a god!" Ke Congwen smiled and sent the wine glass to Wang Xingguo: "This time to pacify the pirates, the capital division must go to the court and ask for credit for you!" ”

"Don't dare!" Wang Xingguo looked at the wine in the cup with some hesitation: "My lord, in fact, we only killed dozens of sailors this time, and the thieves and ships are still there, so let's wait until the matter is over before drinking this wine!" ”

"Huh!" Ke Congwen had already drunk four or five glasses into his stomach, and he already had three or four points of wine: "Sailors are good." Whether it's a sergeant, it's all Yangyi, and I sent the head up, and some people can still say that I can't kill the good and risk the merit? Besides, there is such a big wind and waves on the sea, and the thieves have fed the fish nine times out of ten, and I say that he is a pirate or a pirate, and anyone else dares to say that he is not? This wine is very shallow, Wang Qian is always a man in the northwest, what is it worth drinking two or three catties? ”

"This!" Wang Xingguo was dumbfounded. As Ke Congwen said, if you are other pirates who have a bad relationship with civilian officials, you can still say that you are a good person and a meritorious person. But these sailors are either high-nosed and deep-eyed, or their skin is as black as charcoal, and they look like the legendary Kunlun slaves, which are far from the people of the Ming Dynasty, and this hat will definitely not be buttoned. According to the captive's confession. These big ships have not been repaired yet, and they docked at Daishan Island to repair the ships, and even ordinary ships cannot afford such a big wind and waves. What's more, it is a broken ship that has not yet been repaired, and most of it has sunk. In front of him is good wine, although this Ke Dusi is sparse in war, but he is gratifying, and the bad guy is also a second-class member of the imperial court, so why should he stand up. Thinking of this, Wang Xingguo raised his wine glass and said respectfully: "Since this is the case, the villain will be bold!" With that, he drank all the wine in his cup.

"Okay, good, Mr. Wang Qian is really massive!" Ke Congwen high-fived and smiled, he picked up the wine jug and poured another glass for Wang Xingguo: "Good things come in pairs, good wine also comes in pairs, Mr. Wang Qian, drink another glass!" “

Wang Xingguo put a glass of wine into his stomach, and suddenly felt that his mouth was slippery, he was a good wine, and today he got the opportunity, and there was no persuasion from others, so he drank happily, and after a while, he had seven or eight glasses of wine. They drank Shaoxing's rice wine, although the entrance was smooth, not as strong as the northland wine, but the stamina was great. After a while, Wang Xingguo felt dizzy and couldn't help but take a nap. Ke understood from the side of the article, and hurriedly called the personal servants outside to serve Wang Xingguo to lie down and rest.

Ke Congwen sat alone in the room, sipping the residual wine in the cup, there was a table by the window, on which were placed two candlesticks, the two candles were swaying with bright yellow light, outside the window came the sound of heavy rain washing over the walls and the sea breeze sweeping over the woods on the top of the mountain, and the cold wind blowing through the crack in the window blew the candles, which were bright and extinguished, reflecting on his face, and it looked even more cloudy.

"Master, Wang Qianhu has already fallen asleep!" The servant sang a fat song to Ke Congwen, but Ke Congwen didn't seem to hear it at all, just sat there, frowning as if thinking about something. When the servant saw this, he took two steps back, and when he reached the door, he was about to turn and go out, but he heard the voice of his master: "Wait, come and drink a few glasses with me!" ”

"Master-" The servant had a look of embarrassment on his face, and Ke Congwen stretched out his hand and pointed to the horse in front of him: "Sit down!" “

"Yes, sir!" The servant carefully dropped half of his buttocks, first poured Ke Congwen a full wine glass, and then poured half a glass for himself, Ke Congwen drank it all in one gulp, the servant hurriedly filled it up, and Ke Congwen drank it all again. Seeing this, the servant asked cautiously, "Master, don't you have anything on your mind?" ”

Ke Congwen nodded, put the wine glass to his mouth again, and found that it was empty, and angrily threw it on the table, the servant hurriedly poured the wine, and asked in his mouth: "Didn't you win a big battle today, and beat the red-haired pirates, there are more than 20 pieces of the first rank alone, what is the trouble of the master?" “

"Hey!" Ke Congwen sighed, put the wine glass to his lips and put it back: "People who have no long-term concerns must have near-term worries, this time it's over, but next time?" There are no Hongmaoyi pirates, what if there are any pirates, Frankie pirates, Fujian thieves or something? What do I have to deal with? You can't have such good luck every time you meet Wang Qianhu, right? ”

"Master, you can train your troops, you are the commander of Zhejiang, and the two Zhejiang guards are your subordinates, as long as you select soldiers and train strictly, what are those pirates?"

"Training?" Ke Congwen sneered: "Where does the food come from?" Where does the pay come from? Even if you practice it. Can you top it? The last time I sent to fight this gang of red-haired thieves, it was also a family member selected by each guard, but it wasn't a mess? Back then, Qi Shaobao was able to train the army because Governor Hu supported him, don't say that I don't have Qi Shaobao's ability, even if I have this ability, who will support me? Governor Wen? Thank God that guy didn't stab me in the back! He was drunk and worried, and at this time he had already sent it out, and there was only a personal servant in front of him, so he actually said what he only dared to say in his heart on weekdays.

"Sir!" The servant's face was so pale with fright that he hurriedly ran to the door, pushed open the door and poked his head out to see that no one was there before he returned: "This is not home. Beware of the walls with ears! ”

Ke Congwen snorted coldly, he also knew that what the servant said was reasonable, but the long-accumulated resentment in his heart came out, and he still pressed it: "Our martial artists are really raised by the stepmother, and we owe money and food on weekdays, and when we meet a thief, we will give an order, and we will take it in ten days and a half months, and we usually don't pay food, and the ghost will give you your life at a critical time!" ”

"Sir!" The servant heard Ke Congwen complaining. Suddenly, an idea moved: "I have a solution, but I don't know if it will work." “

"Do you have a way?" Ke Congwen looked at his subordinates suspiciously: "Let's hear it!" ”

"It's hard to train elite soldiers, but don't you have an elite soldier in front of you?" The servant pointed out the window: "Sir, you have also seen it, and you have to talk about the soldiers." Even Qi Shaobao's soldiers back then were just like that, right? ”

"You said Mr. Wang Qian?" Ke Congwen was stunned when he heard this, and then his head shook like a rattle: "How is this possible, this team of people is Liu Zongbing's personal soldiers, and Liu Zongbing relies on them to make contributions." Seal the wife and the shadow! ”

"Master, people's hearts are flesh and blood, although these people are Liu Zongbing's personal soldiers. But after all, they are people, and they are willing to work hard for General Liu, just to get promoted and make a fortune. Liu Zongbing can give them it, but you can't give it to you, master? ”

"There's some truth to what you're saying!" When Ke Congwen heard this, he couldn't help but nodded, he had been in the land of Liangzhejiang for a long time, and he had been doing businessmen all day long, and he had long regarded himself as a businessman rather than a martial artist. Even if he offends that Mr. Liu, he may not be helpless, and besides, does he want to do tea business here?

As soon as the troubles in his chest were gone, Ke Congwen had a big heart, and suddenly felt that the wine in the cup in front of him was fragrant and sweet, and after drinking a few glasses into his stomach, he fell asleep soundly. The next day, the wind and rain gradually subsided, and it was convenient for everyone to return to the mainland by boat.

But the happy days did not last long, and a few days later, Master Kedu Si Ke was preparing to go out to inspect his silk mill with a few companions according to his usual habits, preparing for the work of spring cocoons. Just as he was about to get on his horse, he saw a sergeant galloping towards him, shouting: "Lord Dusi, Lord Dusi, it's not good!" ”

Seeing this, Kodusi was furious, jumped off his horse, and gave the sergeant a heartwarming kick, and scolded: "Dog, can't you even speak? Say something bad early in the morning! Didn't anyone teach you how to speak? “

The sergeant was smacked by the heart, and almost lost his breath, when he saw Ke Congwen raising his horsewhip to whip himself, he hurriedly took two steps on his knees in pain, and shouted loudly: "Master, the Hongmaoyi pirates have beaten again!" “

"What?" Ke Congwen hit his head like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and his hand fell to the ground as soon as the horsewhip was weak, he calmed down, hurriedly pulled the sergeant up from the ground, and asked sharply: "Really?" ”

"It's true!" The sergeant shouted: "Yesterday morning a few fisherwomen went to the Shark Reef to catch the morning sea, but they saw a big boat leaning on the shore, and they didn't know whether it was stranded or sheltered from the wind and waves. ”

"Damn it!" Ke Congwen couldn't help but feel confused at this time, he thought that he had passed this level, but he didn't expect another incident, and he didn't know if this ship was the one from a few days ago, or another merchant ship. He paced back and forth a few times, and scolded: "Come on, change my clothes and go to the king's mansion!" “

Shark Reef.

Silva sat on the deck and stared for a long time at the dark shadow in the distance, another unknown reef, or island, in this large bay, which was dotted and dotted like the of a goat.

He didn't know whether to thank or curse God, and the wind broke the last mast of the "Queen Mary", and at the same time took the lives of six great boys, lost the mast and the sails, and the beautiful lady became a beggar on the side of the road, and it was impossible to drive a ship with a displacement of four hundred tons with oars alone, and the only thing they could do was to resign themselves to fate. Fortunately, they were not swept up in the wind and waves, hit the reef, and the boat was wrecked and people died; Unfortunately, there is no fresh water, no trees, and nothing on the Shark Reef that will keep them going, and now they have only two options: 1. Stay here and wait for someone to save them; 2. Throw away the cargo of the "Queen Mary" and the bilge, and take the rowing boat, which can only hold less than thirty people, to find a way out.

"Mr. Major!" Father Juan's voice was hoarse and low, his face was emaciated, his lips were chapped, his eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed to be a teenager all of a sudden, he held a cane in one hand and an oyster in the other: "Eat some!" ”

"No, I don't have an appetite!" Silva pushed the priest's hand away: "How are the soldiers and sailors?" ”

"It's bad!" The priest shook his head: "Everyone's mood is terrible, and now there is a little fresh water in the pools, small ditches and crevices on the reef that rained two days ago, plus the wine on the boat, but this will not last long!" “

Silva did not speak, he knew in his heart that the truth was probably worse than the priest said, the seventeenth-century sailors could be said to be a collection of social dross, full of criminals, landless peasants, bastards, the captain was controlled by whips, gallows and rum, and if he was not careful, he would be attacked by his subordinates, but the storm and defeat had dealt a serious blow to his prestige. There has been no riot yet, but the crew has not yet recovered from the blow of the catastrophe, and they must do something, otherwise the fate that awaits them will never be better than being buried at the bottom of the sea.

"Silva, you should take the water and transport people to the mainland or to islands with fresh water and food!" Father Juan's eyes lit up: "You have to act now, right away!" (To be continued.) )