Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

Chi Honghai's men surrounded the villagers, brandishing knives and guns at these commoners.

The villagers, belatedly realizing their mistake, not only discovered that they had committed the heinous crime of murdering government officials, but were also surrounded again, though this time not as tightly as before.

Looking at the new batch of unknown people, the fear from before returned after the resentment had been vented.

Anyone who dares to kill government officials and is well-equipped is either a bandit or a roving brigand.

No matter who it is, for them...

It's all meat from a hot pot with two broths, just cooked from clear broth to spicy broth.

It's just a matter of seasoning it; in the end, it's still going to be eaten.

Before Chi Honghai could remind him, someone in the crowd muttered that killing an official was a capital offense.

Immediately, the crowd panicked.

Faced with the fear of death, they even forgot that they were surrounded by a group of unknown people.

Chi Honghai, fed up with the noise, couldn't stand it anymore.

He took a shotgun from one of his brothers and fired a shot into the sky.

"Bang"

Upon hearing the sharp sound of gunfire, the group quickly retreated to a huddle, ceasing their whispered conversation, their bodies trembling and driven only by the instinct for survival.

Boss Chi handed the gun back, cleared the smoke from his face, and walked to the crowd.

"Killing an official is a capital offense, but ignoring me isn't?"

After hearing his words, the villagers' fear intensified.

We've already bled enough today.

Whether it was the soldiers slashing wildly at them with knives before Chi Honghai arrived, or "shooting them like sieves," or the retaliation against the dog soldiers just now.

The bleeding never stopped, mainly because every drop of blood was inextricably linked to those present.

After glancing at the terrified villagers, Boss Chi did not rush to deal with them.

Instead, he walked up to the soldiers who were still catching their breath and looked at their unrecognizable faces.

"Speak up, how come soldiers are killing civilians? Explain clearly, and you guys can still be saved. Don't worry, everyone knows I don't lie, and I value integrity above all else."

The soldiers, panting heavily, endured the pain and uttered each word slowly and deliberately.

"The General of Guangzhou Prefecture...sent us here...saying...saying that the war in the north is urgent for the imperial court...Guangzhou Prefecture needs to requisition everything it can, and anyone who refuses will be treated as a rebel..."

"So, what are you going to do if you surround these thousand or so people?"

"General Chen also said... he also said... last time, an official ship was hijacked by Japanese pirates after it set off from Xiangshan County. When it set off, several fishing boats from Xiangshan County followed the official ship for a while... The people in the nearby villages all colluded with the Japanese pirates... They gathered all the villagers from the villages around Xiangshan County together and killed them all... leaving some young women... to be conscripted into the army..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chi Honghai turned around, drew a sword from a soldier behind him, and slashed at the man.

A head fell to the ground, blood splattering everywhere.

After finishing, he kicked it a long way away.

Colluding with Japanese pirates? Colluding with what kind of Japanese pirates? It would be good enough if the coastal residents didn't feel envious when they saw real Japanese pirates.

However, it's understandable. In the eyes of the general, the lives of ordinary people are not considered lives, so he naturally didn't care much about dealing with their reputation.

After all, Emperor Chongzhen was too busy dealing with the situation in the north to have any idea what was going on here.

The crowd gasped in surprise at the sight.

"Don't get me wrong, I definitely keep my word, but what I just said applies to keeping promises to people. When it comes to animals, there aren't as many rules."

He wiped the blood from his face and rubbed the tip of the knife against the ground a couple of times.

"He's breathing too fast."

Liu Qingjiang understood what Master Chi meant, took his knife, and went up to him, ending the lives of the remaining man in a few swift moves.

"What about you? Still want to breathe!" Liu Qingjiang said, pointing at the crowd. The people surrounding them took two steps closer.

One of them pushed through the crowd and knelt on the ground.

"Hero, all our things have been stolen by that corrupt official. Even if you kill us now, you won't be able to conjure up anything of value."

"Please have mercy on us and let us go. We will remember your great kindness and will definitely offer you tribute next year."

Chi Honghai turned around and laughed loudly twice.

"Next year? Will you even live that long? You heard what those beasts said earlier. I'll let you go, but do you think your officials will?"

"Besides, I'm a pirate captain. I came out to rob, and I went back with nothing. Where do you think I'd put my face? Are you going to ask for it from your overgrown graves next year?!"

Judging by the situation, the villagers are facing certain death today.

They'll call everyone's names; no one can escape.

Many people were wailing and spouting nonsense, while quite a few others clung to unrealistic hopes and kowtowed repeatedly.

I was thinking of living one day at a time.

Even if they don't have enough to eat or wear, or even if they have no relatives.

For these simple and honest farmers, their entire lives are spent pursuing nothing more than one word.

live.

"However, it's not impossible for them to live to next year."

When Chi Honghai said this, he put away his previous coldness and lightness.

The villagers who heard this didn't care whether it was a trap or not.

They no longer cared whether the pirate captain in front of them regarded them as human beings or as livestock.

This last glimmer of hope, intertwined with the instinct for survival, is something we must seize.

A group of people knelt down on the spot, and some crawled to Chi Honghai's feet.

Even knowing he was a pirate, they still begged him repeatedly to spare his life.

"I will let you go unharmed, but if you stay here, you will die tomorrow, not next year."

"Men get attacked, women get raped, the elderly and weak get violated—have you thought about how you're going to live?"

The villagers listened to Chi Honghai's description, and although they were still in a daze, it seemed to make sense.

Not to mention that I didn't get my hands dirty with the blood of those soldiers, this official, who was my own father, came here to take my life. He didn't treat me like a human being at all.

In terms of value, it might not even be as valuable as livestock.

However, on the other hand...

Under heaven, all land belongs to the king; where can one find peace and security?

Chi Honghai stood still, not saying anything more, but letting the villagers think about it on their own for a while.

"Hero, hero! You've shown us the way. As long as we can survive, you're like God to us villagers."

The pirate captain gave a soft snort.

"If the emperor doesn't treat you like human beings, why doesn't he find someone else who does? Qingjiang, if I remember correctly, the Zhu family only rebelled because they couldn't survive, right?"

The meaning of the words is quite clear.

But the villagers were all stunned. They had considered every possible way to survive, but they hadn't even thought of rebelling.

Although they had no other options, everyone was still afraid, since it was, after all, the government.

Chi Honghai didn't try to persuade the group any further. He told Liu Qingjiang to gather the group together and then they were about to leave.

Liu Qingjiang was puzzled, so he went up to the old man and asked.

"Sir, weren't we supposed to be kidnapping people? I took a look at this group, there are about a thousand of them, are we just going to release them all like this?"

"What's the rush? You'll be able to be on friendly terms with them soon enough."

Liu Qingjiang was puzzled, thinking that his master had not yet recovered from the depression of the past few days, but he still did as his master said.

Shen Er turned his head and sneered at the group of people, "You really don't know what's good for you. Our master is a well-known benevolent man. You can't even hold onto your chance to live. Tomorrow, when the authorities come, you'll all regret it."

The group hadn't walked far when they heard a commotion behind them.

Looking back, the crowd of people, tall and short, fat and thin, covered in yellow dust and mud, were all staring at Chi Honghai.

Their expressions were quite grim, but their eyes revealed a glimmer of new hope for survival.

"Sir...Sir...We are all willing to follow you...We hope you will accept us..."

"We hope you will accept us, sir..."

"We hope you will accept us, sir..."