Updated: 05/0/202

In the morning, the sun rises over the sea, and the sky and sea are suddenly brilliant golden. The American galleon "Queen" was dressed in the glow, sailed from the place where the sun rose, followed the direction of the wind, quickly sailed through the waters of Zhoushan, and sailed towards the mouth of the Yangtze River.

"Pirates, southeast, two pirate ships found!" The lookout on the mast exclaimed.

Grant Captain, the captain of the "Queen" on the bridge, hurriedly raised his monoculars, and when he went to the left side of the merchant ship, two green centipede ships emerged from behind the reef and headed straight for the merchant ship with great momentum.

Captain Grant often sailed off the coast of China, and he knew that the Centipede Ship was a special vessel for Chinese pirates, and that it resembled a centipede, with two masted sails and rows of oars on either side. The large centipede boat has more than 20 oars on each side, each with two strong men, and walks on the water like flying.

The two green-hulled boats that came on were not small, with more than a dozen oars on each side. The two green-hulled ships used oars and sails together, and they quickly approached the American merchant ships.

Captain Grant raised his head at the flag on the mast, and the wind was south-east, and he immediately ordered the sailors to pull the sails and let the helmsman adjust the sail according to the direction of the wind, so that the speed of the merchant ship was increased to more than ten knots at once.

Tough boatswain John soon assembled a group of sailors, who skillfully wielded their muskets and crackled fire on the approaching two ships as a warning.

The two green-hulled ships ignored the warnings of the merchant ships, and after sticking in diagonally, they unhurriedly pursued the merchant ships behind, and from time to time they fired two cannons, but the shells fell far behind the stern of the "Queen".

Grant followed the pirate ship behind, feeling that something was not right, he picked up the binoculars and scanned around, there was nothing around, but not far ahead, there were several islands and reefs.

The captain touched his chin and wondered if there would be a pirate ship behind this reef?

The lookout was already shouting, "Pirate ship, there are two pirates ahead. ”

Two pirate ships flashed out of the reef in front of them, blocking the merchant ship's channel with murderous violence.

"Turn the rudder, turn the rudder!"

Grant hurriedly ordered the sailors to turn the rudder and avoid the pirate ship to the northeast, fleeing in the direction of Zhoushan.

As soon as the merchant ship turned, only a "boom" was heard, and a cannonball landed less than half a chain in the stern, causing a splash almost to splash on the ship.

"Hurry, hurry!" Frightened, Grant ordered the sailors to speed up.

The Empress fled in a hurry, and the four pirate ships let out a brutal cry, picking up speed and chasing after them, firing a few grapeshots from time to time.

"Crackling", John desperately organized the sailors to shoot resist. More than a dozen muskets rained down on several pirate ships, only to make the pirates cry bitterly.

The pirate ships are also desperately firing cannonballs. In the fierce confrontation, the sails of the "Queen" were already riddled with holes, and the sailors fell a lot.

The speed of the "Queen" slowly slowed down, and the pirate ship chasing after it was less than half a nautical mile.

With a "boom", smoke and fire rose from a pirate ship, and a rain of grapeshits swept over, and the boatswain John, who organized the shooting resistance, was shot in the arm and immediately fell.

When John was wounded, the sailors on deck lost their courage, and the gunfire on the merchant ship disappeared a lot.

At this moment, a sudden whistle formed by the sound of a gust of wind flew by, and only a loud "boom" was heard, and not far from the side of the pirate ship chasing in front, sparks flashed on the sea, and a high column of water suddenly rose.

The waves caused the pirate ship to shake violently a few times, and the pirates were startled, and the speed of the pirate ship chasing ahead suddenly slowed down.

At this time, Grant found out that two more mantis ships came from the southerly direction, but they were milky white, and they fled in a hurry just now, and they didn't pay attention.

It wasn't long before another whistle sounded. The front of the green-hulled ship in front of it had a "boom", and the fire was shining. The mainmast and sails of the wooden ship were all blown away, and the green-hulled ship broke a large hole and sank rapidly. A large whirlpool formed on the surface of the sea, surrounded by fragments of wooden boats, mixed with many panicked human heads, and some corpses.

Seeing this scene, the three pirate ships behind hurriedly turned their sails and prepared to escape.

At this time, the sound of a loudspeaker sounded on the sea, "We are the Maritime Guard of the Ming Empire of China, you must stop the ship for inspection." If you shoot and disobey, it will be a dead end! ”

The 00 coast guard ship is the flagship, Wang Wenli stands at the bow of the ship, he wears a steel helmet, wears a protective vest bought from Taobao, and holds an electric horn in his hand, shouting loudly in Zhoushan dialect, Mandarin and English, ordering all ships on the sea to immediately lower their sails and be inspected.

The three pirate ships still wanted to escape, but 002 quickly caught up, and the M240G medium machine gun on the bow of the ship was aimed at the pirate ship, "Tu, Tu, Tu, Tu", "Tu, Tu, Tu".

The pirate ship was full of ghosts and wolves. Under the threat of heavy firepower, the three pirate ships had to lower their sails.

00 went straight to the "Queen" American merchant ship, and Wang Wenli was still shouting at the bow of the ship. Grant, who was standing on the slipway of the "Queen", secretly scolded and scolded, it was another group of pirates, there was only the Qing Kingdom here, where did the Ming Empire come out?

But the centipede ship came violently, and the words "China Coast Guard" on the bow and "Chinacoastguard" on the stern were real. With no way to escape from the merchant ships, Grant had to let the sails fall and wait for the so-called inspection.

Throwing on the rope ladder, Chen Yu, Wang Wenli, Wang Xinglei, Fang Chushou, Wu Erwa and others jumped onto the American merchant ship with the help of the rope ladder.

The sailors of the merchant ship all retreated to the middle of the sailing ship, and the coast guard members boarded the bow of the ship one by one.

“goodmorning”

Chen Yu, who was wearing a marine camouflage suit, came to the boat, and seeing that everything was under control, she patted the dust on her body casually and sorted out her clothes.

"Goodmorning" Captain Grant, who was almost forty years old, tall and thin, dressed in a proper gentleman's attire, stood in front of the sailors, "Thank God! You saved the lives of our entire ship. Thank you, brave knights of the sea. ”

"You're welcome." Chen Yu smiled reservedly, "We are the Maritime Guard of the Ming Empire of China, and it is our duty to maintain law and order at sea." ”

After finishing speaking, Chen Yu raised his hand to Captain Grant and saluted, "I am Chen Yu, the leader of the Zhoushan Squadron of the Maritime Guard of the Ming Empire of China. The Maritime Guard of the Ming Empire of China is responsible for the law enforcement of coastal waters and waterways, water safety, and the rescue of ships in distress. In accordance with the provisions of Chinese law, I will inspect the cargo of your merchant ships in accordance with the law and collect taxes from the Jinghai Sea. ”

Wang Xinglei was doing a translation on the side.

"Jinghai tax?!" The fox's tail was finally revealed, Grant smiled, and he raised his head, "This Jinghai tax should be collected." But this is the sea area of the Qing Empire, where is the Ming Empire? I've been through this area many times, and I've encountered pirates twice before, but I've never encountered any Daming Coast Guard. ”

Chen Yu smiled slightly, "I'm sorry, you guys are too ignorant, the Ming Empire has a history of five hundred years. Although it did not come to inspect before, it does not mean that the Ming Empire has given up the right to inspect. ”

Captain Grant knew that although the people in front of him were unknown, they had indeed saved the "Queen", so he didn't bend around and asked Chen Yu directly, "What do you want?" ”

"We are a maritime guard, and it is our duty to clear pirates, inspect goods, and collect Jinghai taxes according to regulations. The scene of pirates chasing merchant ships is believed to be a situation that neither you nor I want to see. The principle of our taxation is to take from the people and use it for the people. We will return a safe sea area to merchant ships. As he spoke, Chen Yu stretched out his hand very unceremoniously, "Bring the merchant ship's manifest and customs clearance documents." ”

Although Grant was unhappy, he still knew which was more important than the one that broke the fortune and avoided disasters, and the people and the shipload of goods were all robbed.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Saying that, Chen Yu handed the manifest to Wang Wenli and asked him to take someone down to the warehouse to inspect the goods.

To the coast guard, led by sailors, walked to the cargo hold.

"I hope you're quick, we've got some of our crew wounded by pirates." Grant said coldly, "We must rush to Shanghai immediately for treatment." ”

"Don't worry, we're completely business-oriented, and we won't delay your time more." Chen Yu said as he looked left and right, many sailors on the deck were indeed not lightly injured, "But we also have a few doctors here, and if necessary, we will serve you wholeheartedly." ”

Without waiting for Captain Grant's consent, Fang Chushou and Wu Erwa walked over directly with the medicine box.

Grant was a little uneasy, Chen Yu said with a smile on the side: "Our doctor is a professional doctor, and he swears to save lives and help the wounded, and carry forward the humanitarian spirit. ”

"The Hippocratic Oath?" Grant asked Wang Xinglei, who was working as a translator, in surprise.

Wang Xinglei smiled and said, "Yes, it's the Hippocratic oath." ”

Hippocrates was an ancient Greek physician who is known as the father of medicine in the West.

These pirates in front of him were obviously rebels of the Qing Empire, and they also knew Hippocrates, and Captain Grant was very surprised. However, he was quite skilled in Fang Chushou's treatment techniques, and his worries about his crew suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Fang Shouchu first went to check the wound of the injured John, "It's not a big deal, the bones are fine," he said, he first took out an alcohol cotton ball to disinfect the wound, and then bandaged the wound with a triangular towel first aid kit.

"Okay, the wound is fine, and you can continue to change the dressing when you get to Shanghai." As he spoke, Fang Shouchu examined another injured sailor. Wu Erwa was on the side to assist.

It didn't take long for Wang Wenli to return to the deck with the people.

After an inventory, it was found that the manifest was basically correct, and the US merchant ships were loaded with a total of 6 quintals of cotton, 476 quintals of lead, 200 quintals of wrought iron, 26 quintals of pepper, 00 quintals of shark fin, and 47 quintals of American ginseng.

"Well, cotton is 0 yuan a load, lead is 4 yuan a load, wrought iron is 2 yuan a load, pepper is 5 yuan a load, shark fin is 25 yuan a load, and American ginseng is 0 yuan a load."

After some calculations, Wang Xinglei calculated that the total value of the merchant ship's cargo was about 22,700 silver dollars.

"Pay your taxes!" Chen Yu said to Grant, "Our taxes are relatively fair, and we collect taxes according to the value of one hundred, so you need to pay 227 silver dollars, plus the loss of our rescue operation, you need to pay a total of 00 silver dollars." ”

Billing signature.

Grant was stunned and handed over 00 oceans, received a tax stamp, and a small red flag of the sun and moon.

"Good. When you pay your taxes, you are our taxpayers, and it is our duty to protect the free and safe navigation of taxpayers in these waters. ”

"Goodbuy" Chen Yu saluted, then took the initiative to shake hands with Captain Grant and withdrew to the coast guard ship with the brothers.

"Don't forget to hang the little red flag, that's the mark of our taxpayers." As he spoke, the 00 Coast Guard ship approached 002 in the distance.

A sailor on the deck of the Empress cried out, "Is this still a pirate?" More formal than our American maritime anti-smuggling team! ”

Grant shook his head and thought to himself: Anyway, it's not a big loss.

He instructed the sailboat to adjust its sailing and sail in the direction of Shanghai.

The 002 Coast Guard ship has successfully subdued the three pirate ships and captured more than 100 pirates. Most of the pirates on board were tied up in the cabins, leaving only a few sail steerers.

After the rendezvous, the two coast guard ships escorted the pirate ship and headed straight for Mingxing Island.