Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

After gathering all the officials and servants of the county government, the magistrate of Xin'an County led his troops south.

Even Wu Laosi clamored that he wanted to go with the county magistrate, saying that he wanted to rid the people of their hatred.

In reality, he was afraid that his goods were indeed in the hands of those people in the south, and if the county magistrate hadn't taken him on this trip, he might have found an excuse to steal them all.

However, the sixty or seventy yamen runners in the county were not enough. These runners were mainly responsible for maintaining public order, such as arresting thieves and collecting taxes.

These thousands of commoners dare to break free from the government's control. If a fight breaks out, our few dozen men might not be a match for them.

Therefore, the magistrate of Xin'an County also ordered the two patrol inspectors of Xin'an County to take about a hundred soldiers with them.

The reason it was a request rather than an order was that the patrol inspectors were ninth-rank officials, directly under the command of the prefect. The county magistrate did not have direct jurisdiction, but could request their cooperation.

When the inspector heard that a group of commoners had fled to the south, he agreed to the county magistrate's request without a second thought.

This is a great opportunity to make money. Even small amounts are still money. You can't usually get this kind of benefit at the camp.

However, what they didn't expect was that when the three hundred people arrived in the south, the commotion also caught the attention of Chi Honghai and his men.

"Master! Master! A group of soldiers are coming from the north! It looks like they're heading for us!" Liu Qingjiang said urgently to Chi Honghai as he returned to the south bank by boat.

Normally, even if someone were to come, it would only be yamen runners, but now a group of soldiers have arrived, which means that this matter is not so simple—I have probably been exposed, but I don't know exactly how much.

"Have the brothers get their equipment. The heavy artillery is hard to move. Have someone set up the light breech-loading cannons first."

After saying that, Chi Honghai, along with Shen Er, Pang San, and Liu Qingjiang, picked up some more firearms from the warehouse and went to the north bank.

After quickly distributing the remaining firearms, the group of over five hundred men lined up along the wooden fence on the north bank, each standing on the fence and waiting for the others to arrive.

Chi Honghai first ordered his men not to reveal their firearms directly. At this point, he was unsure of the other party's purpose, and he also felt that the intimidation of directly displaying their weapons was not as great as the effect of revealing them halfway through the charge.

When the county magistrate and his men arrived, and he saw the fence and the people before him, he turned to his subordinates and said, "Why didn't you mention this?"

"I...I thought those shabby fences built by those troublemakers wouldn't be of any use, so I didn't report it to you, sir."

Looking at his subordinates, one of the inspectors said, "Why is the magistrate so bothered by this broken fence? The brothers will take some men up there and kick it down. Those troublemakers standing on it will have to kneel down and kowtow to the magistrate in the end."

After hearing the inspector's words, the county magistrate calmed down and led his men forward.

The closer he got, the more he noticed a familiar figure standing on the fence. He didn't speak, but he kept telling himself that the damned person was already dead.

However, things don't always go as planned.

When he reached the fence fifty paces away, he clearly saw the face of the person on the fence—Chi Honghai.

The county magistrate and Wu Laosi pointed at Chi Honghai on the fence in a panic, unable to utter a second word for a while, their mouths full of "he he he he he he," leaving the two inspectors and their subordinates nearby wondering what they had done wrong to be so speechless.

Chi Honghai stood on the fence, watching the reactions of the two people below, a sneer appearing on his lips.

When the county magistrate came to his senses, he took a few steps forward and shouted at Chi Honghai, "Chi Honghai! How come you're not dead?!"

"You, sir, are you so eager for me to die? Looks like you've been plotting against me behind my back, haven't you?" He shifted his gaze to Wu Laosi, raising his head slightly. "You agree, right, Wu Laosi? You've wanted my position for a long time. Are you comfortable sitting in this position now?"

"Let me tell you two, I, Chi Honghai, was reincarnated from the sea and I am very close to the ocean. Entering the sea is like returning home. That night—I didn't die."

Wu Laosi, his face flushed, pointed at Chi Honghai and cursed, "You beast! You robbed all my goods, didn't you!"

"Hey, Wu Laosi, the magistrate is here. You can't just say whatever you want. Which eye of yours saw me rob your goods? Or was it some immortal in your dream that appeared to you?"

The other party couldn't explain why, and just kept cursing.

The county magistrate was too lazy to care about these matters. Even if Chi Honghai hadn't hijacked the ship, what difference was there between him gathering a crowd outside the control of the government and setting up a camp without authorization, and bandits occupying the mountains and becoming kings?

In response, Chi Honghai retorted, "The villagers all voluntarily fled here. As for why they fled here, the county magistrate might as well ask himself."

However, if you want to find fault, you can always find a pretext. Besides, there's no one else here, so you don't need any excuse to get rid of me.

You, Chi Honghai, are a thorn in the county magistrate's side. You're lucky you didn't die that night. Today, you must stand here and fight me.

At the magistrate's command, the soldiers and constables rushed forward.

Chi Honghai remained calm and simply raised his right hand, signaling everyone to take out the muskets from behind the wall and aim them at the people rushing up.

Upon seeing a row of muskets pointed at them, the men who had charged forward instantly lost their arrogance and turned back.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two shots from a light breech-loading cannon rang out, striking the open ground where the group had retreated, startling them so much that they dared not take another step back.

"If anyone below dares to move another step, these breech-loading cannons won't have eyes like they did before!" Liu Qingjiang shouted sternly.

In an instant, the three hundred men stood motionless beneath the fence, dropping their weapons and giving up the fight.

It's no wonder they've been exploiting the people for too long; they become weak when faced with a tough opponent, acting like big shots when they're oppressing the people.

As for the county magistrate and Wu Laosi, they were so shaken by the two shots from the breech-loading cannon that they collapsed to the ground, unable to even muster the courage to run away.

Even a minor official of the seventh rank might not be able to see a musket, let alone a breech-loading cannon.

The county magistrate had no idea where Chi Honghai got the power to do all this, but his own life was in grave danger.

After the cannon fire stopped, the county magistrate got up from the ground. Before he could even brush off the dust, he kept begging Chi Honghai for mercy.

"Master Chi, I was wrong to misunderstand you, which led to this misunderstanding. Now that our misunderstanding is cleared up, there's no need for conflict."

"Misunderstanding? That arrow that night was also a misunderstanding? If I fire a shot next to you now and it hits you, would that be considered a misunderstanding?" Chi Honghai said, grabbing the musket beside him and aiming it at the magistrate.

The county magistrate panicked and knelt down on the ground with a thud: "Misunderstanding, Lord Chi, I have wronged you, it's all a misunderstanding."

After finishing with the soft approach, he switched to the hard line: "Chi Honghai, if you kill me today, you will be killing a high-ranking official of the imperial court! That's no small matter; you'd better think it over!"

The county magistrate was right, and Chi Honghai had also thought of this problem.

"Who said I was going to kill you?" Chi Honghai smiled contemptuously.