Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

"What are you doing over there?"

"Master with the hook claw, brothers, we need to practice boarding again today."

"I'm waiting for you."

"What?"

Chi Honghai gently nudged Liu Qingjiang's shoulder and then turned to walk towards the training ground.

Waiting for Liu Qingjiang to return with more than a dozen grappling hooks, Chi Honghai spoke first and asked.

"How many of our brothers do this well."

Liu Qingjiang threw the head of the grappling hook on the ground, holding the rope with one hand.

"Sir, the ones who used to be pirates were the best at using this thing."

"Okay, distribute the notices and tell them to prepare. We'll skip training today."

"Sir, what's this? Another shipment has arrived?"

"Does the lack of stock mean you can't grab it? Grab whatever's in short supply."

Upon hearing that there was work to be done again, Liu Qingjiang smiled and walked to the training ground, calling out the men who were former subordinates of Liu Xiang.

Instructor Lang, who was teaching how to use firearms, didn't understand the situation for a moment, so he turned around and looked at Chi Honghai with his hands outstretched.

Chi Honghai smiled and raised his hand.

"It's alright, Instructor, please continue."

There were about fifty people who were called out by Liu Qingjiang.

They stood in two rows facing Chi Honghai, holding firearms in their hands, and the ranks were fairly orderly.

"Brothers, leave the firearms with Instructor Lang later. Bring your grappling hooks and get ready to come with me."

Questions arose from the crowd.

"Sir, are we going to hijack a ship tonight?"

Chi Honghai shook his head and blurted out two words.

"Kidnapping people."

As soon as he finished speaking, laughter erupted from the queue.

"Kidnapping is great, isn't this what we've always done? Hahahaha."

Chi Honghai ignored him, his expression subtly changing as he let out a very slight sigh of relief.

Liu Qingjiang noticed something was wrong with Chi Honghai, so he stood in front of the line.

"What are you laughing at? You know what you're doing. Have you forgotten what I just told you?"

Under Liu Qingjiang's reprimand, the entire team calmed down again, and their crooked bodies straightened up in an instant.

-

Fishing port on Hong Kong Island.

Dozens of men, with grappling hooks at their waists and weapons in their hands, hurriedly boarded the small boat that Chi Honghai had bought from the Portuguese.

As Chi Honghai's beloved pet, its first outing, though not a combat mission, still needed to be ceremonial.

Light breech-loading cannons were installed on the ship long ago, and the crew not only brought firearms, but also their Western instructors.

Bathed in the golden light, the group drove away from Hong Kong Island and headed towards the outskirts of Xin'an County.

Along the way, the boat traveled along the coast. After sunset, in order to avoid being discovered as much as possible, Chi Honghai strictly forbade lighting torches on the boat.

Only by the moonlight and the exceptional eyesight of a few could one have some visibility.

Therefore, the entire driving process was not particularly fast.

Swaying gently, by the time the boat reached the outskirts of Xin'an County, it was already midnight.

After disembarking, the group stood in a line on the beach again.

Even in Guangzhou in June, the sea breeze at night still feels a bit chilly when it hits you.

"Qingjiang, take a team of men and go to the larger villages or estates around here. Find out which families have blacksmiths and carpenters, and bring them back to me."

"Sir, I thought we were going to kidnap some young lady, but it turns out we're kidnapping this... This isn't worth anything..."

"We still have a young lady living on our island. We can't afford to have more. We're just using these people as tools. Kidnapping them is worth a few bucks. We can rob an official's ship and have everything we need."

"When did you begin to enjoy this, sir?"

Chi Honghai stared intently at Liu Qingjiang, but it was too dark to see his expression clearly.

They had no choice but to issue the order to depart.

"Pang San, take your men and follow me closely, we're going to the city."

Guided by the scattered lights in the city, Chi Honghai and his group made their way to the edge of the city in the dark.

The city walls of the county town in the Ming Dynasty were not that high, and the area to the south was relatively peaceful.

After Zheng Zhilong, the pirates lost their arrogance. Even if there were some small groups of pirates, they generally wouldn't rush directly into the county town.

In this situation, at night in the county town, the only person who can be at ease on duty is this wall.

Chi Honghai ordered Pang San to lead his men to throw the grappling hooks onto the city wall, and then began to sneakily climb up.

After he climbed the city wall, he bent over and looked down at the dark scene below, but there was not a single person in sight.

Sleep well, sleep peacefully.

Although it was pitch black, as a permanent resident of Xin'an County, even though he had moved away for some time, he could not forget the streets and alleys of the county.

"Get back as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

With practiced ease, Chi Honghai and Pang San each led a group of men to the residences of the blacksmiths and carpenters in the city.

"Ta-da, ta-da."

"Who is it... so late at night..."

"Act impartially and investigate suspicious individuals."

"Some suspicious person has come to our house..." the craftsman muttered as he got up.

"branch"

As soon as the craftsman opened the door, he immediately perked up from his sleepy eyes.

Chi Honghai's men held a knife to his neck and slowly pushed him into the house.

"What...what do you want? I have no money..."

"Stop yelling. I don't want your money. If you dare to utter a single word, I'll send you to report to the King of Hell right now."

The craftsman was too frightened to continue speaking, but when he heard that the other party didn't want his money or his life, he calmed down a little.

The men took out a rope, tied the man's hands behind his back, grabbed a rag from the table, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Let's move on to the next one."

The plot repeats itself, and Chi Honghai can't help but sigh that the identity of an official is indeed useful. Not to mention seeing him, just hearing the words "upholding justice" is enough to make people obediently cooperate.

Not long after, several blacksmiths and carpenters in the eastern part of the city were kidnapped by Chi Honghai.

With the task completed, Chi Honghai returned to the spot where he had been.

Not long after, Pang San and his men also sneaked over here.

However, as they got closer, Chi Honghai realized something was amiss.

In his memory, there weren't this many blacksmiths and carpenters in the west of the city. Why was the number of people Pang San tied up tonight not quite right? Had he tied up the wrong people?

When Pang San got close to his face, Chi Honghai realized that he had brought the whole family of three with him.

Chi Honghai's earlobes felt slightly hot, but he didn't say anything.

They would first have people climb onto the city wall, then tie them up, hook them onto their backs with grappling hooks, and fish them out like pigs. Then they would fish them out and place them outside the city.

After the group of people escorted these people to the shore, Chi Honghai put his hands on Pang San's shoulders and shook him.

"My good Pang San, I told you to kidnap the craftsman, but you ended up kidnapping his whole family."

Pang San was so flustered that he didn't know what to do.

"Master... didn't you say... that with the whole family here, we could work in peace?"

Chi Honghai shook his head, holding his forehead, and turned to ask the blacksmith behind him.

Where are your wife and children?

"The...the typhoon happened a few days ago, and people passed away..."

Chi Honghai patted him on the shoulder.

He didn't inquire about the remaining few, because he knew they were all single.

"Bring these people onto the ship and wait for Liu Qingjiang."

"Yes."

When Liu Qingjiang returned, Chi Honghai found that Liu Qingjiang's situation was roughly the same as Pang San's, except that he had a wife and children, so he packed them up as well.

Chi Honghai looked at the people Liu Qingjiang brought back and said calmly, "Get on the ship."

Pang San, standing beside him, asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Sir, why don't you mention Brother Liu?"