Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

Before leaving, Chi Honghai, still somewhat unwilling to give up, said to the Portuguese.

"Friend, how much do you think your large ships would sell for?"

The Portuguese man smiled and began explaining the situation at the Lisbon shipyard to Chi Honghai, as well as their classification of warships.

First, they told Chi Honghai that the battleships were divided into four classes, each with different tonnage and gun capacity, with the highest class being the first-class battleship.

Chi Honghai thought about it and realized that this was something he couldn't afford, and the seller might not even be willing to sell it.

"Friend, how much do you sell this Tier 2 battleship for?"

The Frenchman waved his hand: "Friend, the second-tier battleship Lisbon is probably not for sale, but I can give you a rough price. Maybe we'll get a special deal if our relationship deepens in the future?"

"The price of a second-tier battleship, I guess, is around 100,000 silver pesos?" The Franco-Man's tone was uncertain.

"Silver Sopes? How much silver is that?" Chi Honghai pressed.

"Oh, right, if this were converted into silver, based on the exchange rate between silver peso and white silver, it would be equivalent to 100,000 taels of silver."

During the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver weighed approximately 37.3 grams.

1银比索=8里亚尔=27克钱币（含银24.3克），1个里亚尔=8个铜比索，与中国交易是按27克计算的（因为货币製作比较精美）。

Having some knowledge of shipbuilding costs, Chi Honghai was well-prepared in terms of price.

But I never expected that Western warships would be so expensive. I thought I had already been ripped off by buying this sailboat, but I didn't expect there to be something even more outrageous.

It should be noted that at that time, a Ming Dynasty warship with a capacity of 500 liao (thin-skinned merchant ship) cost only 1000 taels.

A century-old navy is not just something to be talked about.

They've exceeded their budget but still want to order another ship. They can't afford this big one, so they have to keep asking around at each level.

However, Chi Honghai's tone when asking the price did not reveal any sign of being broke. After all, it was you, the Portuguese, who said you weren't selling, so there was no need for me to expose my true colors.

"It's a real shame not to sell the Tier 2 battleships, but what about the Tier 3? Surely we can sell the Tier 3s?"

"Oh ho ho, friend, of course, of course, level three can definitely be sold. The price of level three is about... 70,000 taels of silver. I'll sell it to you as is, but it will take a year to process."

Upon hearing that it had been a year, Chi Honghai nearly fainted.

However, even a year-long shipping period is still faster than building a ship from scratch.

After much pleading and cajoling, Chi Honghai used the money from selling goods to buy weapons, ammunition, food, herbs, and a brand-new Caravelle sailing ship, as well as to pay part of the ship repair costs. He also spent 10,000 taels of silver as a deposit to reserve a third-class battleship.

He returned home with the remaining 50,000 taels of silver.

It's worth mentioning that this newly purchased Caravelle sailboat was not purchased at the same price as the previous one.

In the words of the Portuguese, the last ship had been used for a while, but this one was a brand new ship that had just arrived from Lisbon. The two were different. After haggling for a long time, they finally bought it for seven thousand taels.

As for other items, they were sold to the Portuguese at high prices, and bought back at similarly low prices.

Back on the island, Chi Honghai saw many white cloths hanging on the shore from afar, many of which were stained with bloodstains that could not be washed off.

He was prepared for this situation, but he was still stunned by the sight before him when he stepped onto the island.

Although he had never been this afraid when he personally killed government soldiers, seeing his brothers like this undoubtedly caused him great emotional turmoil.

Especially when these injured or even missing limbs crew members and their families looked at him with calm expressions, he felt as if he had done something wrong.

These people did not cry out in pain, nor did they make a fuss; they were very quiet. Even the seriously wounded endured the pain, their eyes filled with tears, trying to sit up and look at themselves.

Chi Honghai stretched out his hand, telling everyone to lie down or sit down as before.

He looked around, which took him quite a long time.

Finally, Chi Honghai clasped his hands together, bowed his head, and apologized to everyone involved in the battle in the manner of a subordinate.

He took the blame for the injuries and deaths upon himself.

At this point, however, people did not buy into Chi Honghai's argument.

They all said that it was because they hadn't trained long enough and their skills weren't up to par that they dragged down the team, and that it had nothing to do with the master.

They were also very grateful to Chi Honghai for bringing back all of them, who were injured or disabled. If it were anyone else, they might have fed them to the fish.

As he spoke, Chi Honghai lost control of the scene. Those who could stand stood up, and even the seriously wounded who could not get up raised their hands and used all their strength to shout, "Thank you, Master Xie, Madam Xie."

He was not afraid when he went from being a wealthy man to a wanted criminal overnight.

He wasn't afraid to kill government soldiers.

He even ran to Zheng Zhilong alone without fear.

This time, fear gripped his heart. He wasn't afraid of the soldiers, of getting hurt, or of dying; he was afraid of letting down the people who followed him.

Chi Honghai told everyone to rest well, as the best medicinal herbs had been purchased and that with these high-quality medicines, everyone would surely recover.

As for those who have been disabled, although they cannot do much, Chi Honghai not only did not treat them harshly at this moment, but further improved their living conditions.

He forced himself out of the room, and as his body disappeared from the sight of the wounded, he went limp, supporting himself on his knees, panting heavily.

At that moment, a hand took his arm.

Looking at the bracelet on her wrist, he knew that this person was his wife.

Wu Wanruo didn't say anything. First, she helped him to sit down at a table, then touched and pressed his hands and shoulders, asking if he was injured.

He looked at his wife's pale face, clearly exhausted from his absence these past few days.

As for how tired he was, Chi Honghai knew very well.

With so many wounded, she was both a doctor and the mistress of the house; she couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

Ai Si brought over a bowl of hot soup, placed it on the table, and reported to Master Chi on the days he had been away.

"Master, we are very grateful to Madam for the island these past few days. Without Madam, the island would have been in chaos if you hadn't been here."

Chi Honghai looked up at Ai Si, then turned to look at Wu Wanruo.

"During the days I was away, someone caused trouble on the island? Who dared to be so bold!"

"Qingjiang, Qingjiang!" Chi Honghai shouted, wanting to ask Liu Qingjiang what he had been doing these past two days.

Ai Si quickly explained, "Master, no one is causing trouble. The brothers are all behaving themselves!"