In the evening, Ningbo, the study room of the Liu family's mansion.

An old man who was a little thin and had a long strand of hair sat on the chair, this person was talking about Liu Jiamao, the head of the Liu family, and looked at the children of the Liu family who were standing next and asked, "How much money did the Shi family bring this time?" ”

"Three big ships, no less than a thousand materials, the value of the goods is more than 50,000 taels of silver." The disciple of the Liu family stood there respectfully and said.

"What goods are you going to buy?"

"Raw silk, grain, tea, etc."

"Alright, you go out."

Sending away the children of that family, Liu Jiamao sighed for a long time, recently Fujian's participation in maritime trade has become more and more large, which has had some impact on these maritime merchants in Jiangnan.

During the Ming Dynasty, the so-called maritime trade was overwhelmingly defined as trade with the Wa Kingdom and Korea.

The small island country of the Wa country is rich in silver, the annual output of silver alone can reach one million taels, the entire Wa country, the annual output of silver is as high as more than eight million taels, and the currency circulating in the Wa country is the copper coin of the Ming Dynasty, and the silver mined every year is basically through these maritime merchants into the Ming Dynasty.

In this era, the Ming Dynasty, with an annual output of only hundreds of thousands of silver, did not flow into China on a large scale before the American silver, the vast majority of the silver in circulation in China came from the Wa Kingdom.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the European colonizers had just expanded their colonies to Southeast Asia, and the maritime trade in Fujian and Guangdong was not yet developed, and only the Portuguese had the largest trading volume, followed by the Spanish and Dutch who gradually came into contact with the Ming Dynasty.

Although the trading volume of the European colonists is still far lower than that of the Japanese countries, anyone with a discerning eye can find that the trading volume with these red-haired ghosts is increasing day by day.

Some emerging maritime merchants and small maritime merchants in the south of the Yangtze River have set their sights on these red-haired ghosts, and the Liu family is one of them, and for more than ten years, they have been able to earn a large amount of gold and silver in the hands of the Portuguese every year, but since last year, the suddenly rising Fujian maritime merchants have seized a large amount of trade from them.

This led to a significant drop in their income last year.

This year, not far from the arrival of the Portuguese caravan, the Shi family once again purchased so much tea and raw silk from Ningbo, which shows that their family's trade with Portugal this year may be about to lose a lot.

Last year was defenseless, and this year, it is absolutely impossible for his Liu family to let this kind of thing happen again.

The next day, several maritime merchant families who mainly engaged in the sea routes in Southeast Asia gathered in Liu's house to discuss the major matter of dealing with this Fujian maritime business.

"Master Liu, what is the so-called matter that found us this time?"

Liu Jiamao's gaze swept over the other four people present, "Everyone, it's time to trade with those red-haired ghosts once a year, I don't know what you think of this transaction?" ”

The four people present looked at each other and exchanged glances with each other, and roughly understood the meaning of the head of the Liu family to summon everyone.

"If it was in previous years, it would be fine, and I would have waited for a few companies to discuss the share of each family, but last year it was ......," a family head sighed slightly.

"Last year, we had a lot of stock left, and it was really unexpected that these damn Fujianese would intervene."

"These guys can't be involved again this year anyway."

"Of course, this sea route was developed by us little by little, how could it be possible for these Fujianese to pick peaches halfway."

"Master Liu, you say, what should we do."

In the end, a group of people discussed and set their eyes on Liu Jiamao again.

"The old rules, there is nothing to say, and it is not impossible to want to get a piece of the pie on this road, but we still have to weigh their share, how many people each family can contribute, let's talk about it."

The imperial court is absolutely forbidden to the sea, and no one can borrow the power of the imperial court, that is to say, the sea is a lawless land, and if you want to make money on it, you must have enough force, whether it is to deal with pirates along the way, or other competitors, these need to be supported by sufficient force.

How big can the sea trade be, everything depends on the strength of each family, blocking people's money is like killing parents, since these Fujian people want to steal business from them, then don't blame them for being ruthless.

In this era, any maritime merchant who does not have an armed force of several hundred people in his hands, not to mention anything else, just those sailors who go to sea, run on the sea all the year round, fight with pirates, and almost every one of them has one or two lives in their hands.

There were no less than four or five hundred sailors in each fleet, plus spare men, pirates from all families, guards from the shore, deterring tenants, and guarding the mines.

Just to feed these people, it costs tens of thousands of taels of silver a year, but fortunately, the annual income is more abundant, and these investments are nothing.

"My grandson's family has three hundred people, five warships, and a thousand taels of silver."

"My Zhao family has four hundred people, six warships, and a thousand taels of silver."

According to the proportion of their own family in the sea trade of the red-haired ghost, the head of each family contributed people and money, and the overall calculation was that there were a total of 2,000 troops, 30 warships, and more than 6,000 taels of silver.

The reason why so many manpower ships are not aimed at the Shi family, but to crack down on those emerging maritime merchants in Fujian, and to cause a rebellion in the entire Wanwan Strait and along the coast of Fujian, it is necessary to completely dispel the careful thinking of these Hokkien Yankees going to sea.

This time, not only the ships and people, but also the silver taels from each family, they still have to invite a wave of real pirates on the sea to take action, after all, it is under the banner of the Japanese pirates, so the Japanese still have to have, even if there are less.

In fact, the strength of this wave of Japanese pirates that Liu, Sun, and Zhao are going to find is not bad at all, and the leader is named Okamura Tashita, and there are as many as a thousand people, a small number of them are composed of ronins from the Wa Kingdom, and most of them are sailors and ashigaru.

The so-called Wakoku ronin refers to those down-and-out samurai who have lost their feudal titles and left their masters' homes to wander around.

In the Wa Kingdom, those who can be called samurai are not ordinary people, the so-called samurai is already a member of the low-level aristocracy, and he is in charge of fighting full-time, which is about equivalent to the people of the Ming Dynasty.

After the Kamakura shogunate period, the Wa Kingdom entered the Warring States Period, of course, this Warring States Period is their own history book statement, this large period, the small Wa Kingdom has enough hundred countries, just one county can be called a country, so it is called the Warring States Period.

But in Wang Xuan's view, it is more appropriate to call it 'Sheep Village Era'.

Compared with the Warring States Period of China, the national war of the Wa Kingdom is not much different from the Pleasant Goat vs. the Big Big Wolf, and it is just a game.

Of course, if it is more accurate to call it a war between counties, it is more appropriate to call it a war between counties, a fight of hundreds of people or thousands of people, similar to two villages fighting for water.

The samurai were the absolute main force in such skirmishes, and when a daimyo was destroyed, these samurai would become ronin after losing their allegiance to their masters.

The strength of this group of pirates to be able to stand on the sea for a long time is indeed not to be underestimated, and in terms of combat effectiveness alone, it may not be inferior to the combined fleet composed of several companies.

……

Five days later, the Shi family made this transaction in Ningbo, and made a big profit again, full of three ships of goods Yang Fan set sail, starting from Ningbo, crossing the Zhoushan Islands and then going around to Xiangshan County, you can go all the way along the coastline and return to Fuzhou Port.

It's just that they don't know that they were targeted a few days ago.

The five Liu families did not use all their strength against the Shi family, but only divided a team of people, six boats and 400 people blocked the mountain in front of them, and the other manpower, including which Japanese people, had already come all the way to the sea off Fujian.

Just arrived at noon, the Shi family fleet, the lookout hand was bored with a clairing mirror and looked at it casually, suddenly outside the mountain pass saw six boats coming this way, far away is not clear, just thought that some merchant ships did not pay too much attention, and when a little closer, it was found that the other party's ship is obviously different from ordinary merchant ships, the hull is more narrow and long, and the speed is faster than ordinary big-bellied merchant ships.

A bad thought crossed the lookout's mind, and he immediately picked up the drum hammer and struck the gong beside him.

Hearing the alarm, the boatswain immediately rushed out and looked up at the lookout, and heard the other party shouting by the neck: "There are six ships coming straight to us, they don't look like merchant ships, and they feel that the other party has bad intentions!" ”

The boatswain was immediately startled, and while ordering the alarm to be sounded to get everyone ready, he turned and ran towards the captain's quarters.

At this time, the person in charge of the Shi family's caravan who heard the warning sound, the fourth elder of the Shi family, also walked out, "What's the matter?" ”

"Fourth master, there are six ships coming towards us, it doesn't look like a merchant ship, I'm afraid ......"

He didn't say the latter words, and the fourth master of the Shi family also understood what he meant.

Shi Laosi snatched a clairvoyant mirror from the hands of the people around him, and quickly ran to the bow of the boat to look at the opposite side, from the clairvoyant mirror, he could clearly see that the boat opposite was a sail pulp dual-purpose boat.

At this moment, two rows of oars stretched out around the hull of the ship, and they were paddling frantically on the water, and the ship approached itself at high speed.

This kind of sailing ship has high explosive power and fast speed, although it has low resistance to wind and waves, is not suitable for long-sea sailing, and its endurance is relatively weak, but it is very suitable as a pirate ship in coastal and offshore areas.

Shi Laosi put down the clairing mirror with a pale face, these guys who came straight must be pirates!

If it's good in the open sea, there is no wind and three feet of waves, but in this offshore area, no matter how good the boat is, it can't run to the other side, and now it's in the strait, even if you want to run to the open sea.

Now there is only one way in front of Shi Laosi, do it! it to the end! If you win, you will live, and if you can't do it, you will die!

Taking a deep breath, Shi Lao Si roared, "All the staff are ready, the speed of the boat is the highest for Lao Tzu, and Lao Tzu will sink them and hit the bow of the boat!" ”

There are six ships on the opposite side, and they are all pirates, and their combat effectiveness is definitely much stronger than their own side, the only advantage of their own side is that the ship is big enough, if they collide head-on, it is not that Shi Laosi looks down on the opposite side, as far as their small broken sail slurry dual-purpose ship, in Wang Xuan's words, the displacement is not 200 tons, and it is completely possible to sink them at once!

As for surrendering, he didn't think about it, he wasn't stupid, the other side was obviously prepared to come against him, and it was unlikely that he would be alive, otherwise, he wouldn't have attacked himself so precisely, and his strength was still so sufficient.

Instead of praying for the enemy to stay alive, it's better to take the risk!

Shi Laosi gave an order, and the big ship immediately rushed towards the other party at full speed, these crew members are all tenants or children of the Shi family, it is not an exaggeration to say that the family is still very loyal.

Time passed by seconds, the two fleets walked opposite each other and soon hit each other, Shi Laosi, who was standing at the bow of the ship, could clearly see the hideous face of the pirate opposite, snorted coldly, pulled a rope and quickly tied himself to the side of the ship.

The pirate leader of the Zhao family on the opposite side was a little puzzled what Shi Laosi was going to do, but on the opposite side was the fish and meat on the board, he didn't think much about it, so he yelled directly, "Robbery, stop the boat for Lao Tzu, if you dare to resist, all of them will be killed!" ”

According to the usual practice, he generally threatened a few words, and he didn't expect the other party to surrender directly, but as soon as he finished shouting, he felt wrong.

If it was normal to say that the other side didn't know that he was a pirate before, and he was still coming head-on, then now he has signed up, but the other side neither runs nor stops, and rushes over at full speed, ...... this?

Wait, if you don't turn again, you're going to crash!

"Quick, turn the rudder!" The voice of the pirate leader of the Zhao family has been deformed, and he no longer has the vigor he had just now, this is a madman!

The pirate ship that was still aggressive just now hurriedly left the rudder and prepared to avoid it, but the first mate on the Shi family's ship also gritted his teeth and followed the right turn to chase over, the distance between the two sides was too close, and the Zhao family did not expect the other party's will to hit the ship so strongly, you know, even if the big ship hits the small boat, the damage to the other party is not small, and if it is not good, it will be sunk!

It's just that the pirate ship turned its rudder in advance, but it showed its fragile flanks, and it was hit hard by the fully loaded Shi family's big ship!

In the exclamation of the pirates, "Boom! ”

There was a loud bang, and the two boats were violent, and the Zhao family's sail pulp dual-purpose boat was already relatively low, but this time it was run over by the Shi family's big ship with a load of nearly 500 tons.

The first thing to explode was a stream of blood, which was the sailor who couldn't dodge and was directly crushed into powder!

The Shi family's boat suddenly stopped, pushing the other party sideways out more than ten meters away, and a wave seven or eight meters high surged up towards both sides, and after a meal, relying on huge inertia, the Shi family's boat slowly rode up.

The total displacement of the pirate ship was only 200 tons, how could a 500-ton ship ride on it withstand it, the hull was almost completely pressed into the sea, and only the click sound came from the keel.

"Click!" A sound came from the bottom of the water, and the whole pirate ship was crushed into two parts, and the bow and tail of the ship were raised high, and then began to sink towards the sea, and those pirates who jumped into the sea at the beginning of the collision began to swim desperately into the distance.

But the whirlpool brought up by the sinking of the ship held the men to death, and they could only scream and be sucked under the surface of the water little by little, and after the ship had run over them, there was nothing to be seen on the surface of the water except for some broken wood.

However, the big ship of the Shi family that passed by was not good, after all, it was an ordinary merchant ship rather than a warship, the thickness of the ship's side was low, there were three direct damages, two cracks, and it was not necessary to check it, and the keel must have been injured a lot, after all, it was the stress point of the entire ship, quite a human spine, and I don't know how long it could last after this time.

"Boom! Rumble! ”

Two loud bangs were heard, and you didn't have to think about it to know that it was the boat behind that had also crashed.

Shi Laosi gritted his teeth fiercely, although he tied himself to the side of the boat just now, his internal organs were still trembling and painful, and he couldn't bear to untie the rope at this time, this battle is not over.

Although he sank the opposite side, he was seriously injured, and even if he didn't sink, he was basically half-useless.

Moreover, there are at least three intact ships on the opposite side!

The watertight cabin in front began to enter the water, the speed of the ship decreased a little, and the pirate ship that passed by was turning its bow to kill it at the moment, Shi Laosi wiped the corners of his mouth, and staggered towards the back, "All cheer up, fight with these pirates, kill one is enough, kill two to earn one, today is either we die or they die!" ”

"In this vast sea, don't think about the possibility of surrender, let's fight to the last man!"

Shi Laosi pulled his neck and blushed his face to boost morale, and these sailors under his command saw that the four masters of the Shi family began to work hard, so there was nothing to hesitate!

The pirate ship approached, and at once its claws hooked the side of the ship, and at the same time there was a roar, and the pirates took out their bows and arrows and began to shoot.

A rain of arrows fell, the sound of 'poof' arrows entering the flesh sounded, and the screams of 'ahh' were endless.

The Shi family immediately suffered heavy losses as soon as they saw each other, after all, unlike the pirates on the other side who had rich combat experience, and now they relied on the blood in their hearts, and they didn't expect that the opposite side would shoot arrows at all.

The hook board was set up, and the pirate raised by the Zhao family screamed and danced the waist knife in his hand, and rushed over frantically, with a bloodthirsty and hideous face, rich combat experience, which could not be resisted by a single blood.

After all, the Shi family has not been trained as a Saint Seiya, so they will not break out in the small universe.

As soon as the two sides came into contact, it was almost a one-sided battle, and in a short period of time, more than sixty sailors on the Shi family's big ship were slaughtered.

"Master, go, go!"

A personal guard pulled Shi Laosi back, kicked the opposite pirate with a knife back, kicked down the other party, turned his head and roared at Shi Laosi eagerly: "Fourth master, jump into the sea, grab a plank and jump into the sea, you will definitely die if you go on like this, if you jump into the sea, there is still so much hope to rush to the shore, here is not far from the shore!" ”

"As long as the fourth master can go back, he can avenge us! Otherwise, we'll die in vain! ”

As long as Shi Laosi can go back alive, then this guard will not die in vain, and his wife, children and mother will be taken care of by Shi Laosi, which is no wonder that he is crazy and desperately tries to stop the pirates opposite.

Shi Laosi watched his family members being killed on the spot one by one, watching his personal guards stop five pirates to protect him to the death, and from time to time his body was opened with such a bloody hole because he couldn't dodge, he was still fighting endlessly, took a deep breath, swept a group of pirates fiercely, and engraved the appearance of these guys in his mind, and then, resolutely turned around and grabbed a board and jumped into the sea.

'Knock'

The water splashed, and Shi Laosi disappeared into the vast sea.