Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

The calm on Hong Kong Island continued until July of that year.

The repair work on all the ships was almost completed. In addition to inspecting the work on various aspects of Hong Kong Island, Chi Honghai was also looking forward to the arrival of his precious baby.

Calculating the days, he led his men and a boatload of goods and silver to Haojing.

When the Portuguese saw the familiar ship reappear, they naturally understood why the other party had come here.

He stood on the shore, took off his ostrich hat to reveal his sparse hair, and waved the hat to welcome Chi Honghai's arrival, after all, this was a big order for him in the East.

"Friend, I know what you're here for. Look how impatient you are."

"We can't afford to be in such a hurry; our baby only feels comfortable when he's in our own hands, right?"

"Oh, you're right. Come on, let us see your treasure. I'm sure you noticed it when you came here," the Franco man said, pointing towards the harbor.

Chi Honghai turned his head and looked at the ship again.

A large warship, about fifty meters long and more than ten meters wide, was docked on one side of the harbor, with two gun decks on its hull.

This behemoth refreshed Chi Honghai's understanding of warships. His gaze was fixed on the ship, and no matter what was happening around him, he could not look away.

"Friend, this is a Tier III battleship, just built in Lisbon and sent over. It's equipped with sixty-four cannons. I'm sure a puff of white smoke will terrify the enemy," the Franco-Franklin said with a laugh.

At that time in Europe, the classification of battleships had not yet been fully established, and each country had its own specific classification of battleships, usually based on the number of guns they could carry.

"Sixty-four cannons?" Chi Honghai repeated the number, knowing that all his ships combined didn't have as many cannons as this one.

"How about it, my friend? This treasure is worth the almost year-long wait, isn't it?" The Portuguese man walked up to Chi Honghai, patted him on the shoulder, and said.

Chi Honghai didn't mince words. He had come all this way specifically for this ship, and now that it was here, he naturally wanted to acquire it: "So, how much does this ship cost?"

"The price isn't exactly cheap, my friend. You know this ship is considered very good even where we're from, and it's a ship that was just completed recently. It was originally intended for someone else, but I intercepted it for you and even transported it all the way here."

The merchant understood that these words seemed like nonsense, but in reality, they were just setting a psychological expectation for the price to be quoted below. If he didn't exaggerate the quality of his product and make it sound difficult to obtain, how could he demonstrate that it was worth the price?

"Tell me, how much?" Chi Honghai pressed.

The Portuguese did not answer directly. He glanced at Chi Honghai and then at the ship before slowly uttering, "150,000 taels of silver."

Asking for 150,000 taels of silver was obviously outrageous. Although Chi Honghai didn't know the exact cost of the ship, he at least knew a little about shipbuilding.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty could build an official ship of 500 liao (12 zhang 2 chi 5 cun long, 1 zhang 1 chi 5 cun deep, and 3 zhang wide) for less than 2,000 taels. The most expensive caravels before that were no more than 7,000 taels. Now this ship has arrived, costing 150,000 taels.

Even by Western standards, a first-class battleship would cost around £60,000, which is roughly 200,000 taels of silver. This third-class battleship, at 150,000 taels, is simply too expensive.

Chi Honghai was stunned by the price. He thought that he might not be able to sell a ship for that much money even if he risked his life to rob it. And this guy was asking for 150,000?

He certainly wanted the ship, but he didn't want to be taken advantage of.

"Friend, can't I have a little less? For the sake of us being friends."

"Oh, friend, I'd like to give you a discount, but not everyone can just get a Tier 3 battleship from the Lisbon shipyard. There are paperwork, approvals, shipping costs..."

The Portuguese man talked at length, but it all boiled down to one sentence—it's indispensable.

Chi Honghai was angry, but he didn't directly confront the other party and expose their lies.

"Looks like we didn't knock on that painting enough last time." Chi Honghai said this in a low voice in Chinese.

Upon hearing the noise, the Portuguese asked, "Friend, what are you saying?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I just meant you're right, this treasure is indeed worth that much money."

The Portuguese man nodded with a smile, clapped his hands, and said, "So, my friend, do you still want this ship? But let me make this clear beforehand: we both have experience in this area. If you don't want it, the ten thousand taels of silver you paid earlier cannot be refunded."

"I never said I didn't want it." After saying that, Chi Honghai turned to Shen Er and said, "Shen Er, have the brothers bring over all the silver on the ship."

"All of it? Master, we've never spent this much money before!" Shen Er looked at his master with great surprise. This was the first time in his memory that his master had spent all the money he brought.

"Bring it up."

After counting the silver, there was still 50,000 taels of silver left over.

"Friend, is this an extra fifty thousand taels?"

"Give me another two thousand muskets and a few more cannons, that'll make it fifty thousand taels."

"Oh, okay, that saves us from counting money, right, my friend?"

Chi Honghai nodded in agreement without any expression.

Just as the firearms were being loaded onto the ship, Chi Honghai stepped onto the deck of a third-class battleship for the first time. The greater height made him feel even more different. Before this, he had never stood on a ship this high, including when he was with Zheng Zhilong.

After experiencing the charm of the deck, he went down to the lower gun deck, which had two levels. He explored each level carefully, touching every cannon on the ship.

After spending half a day going around the ship, Chi Honghai found almost no fault with it and was very satisfied.

Just as Chi Honghai was feeling pleased with this treasure, news soon came that made him less than satisfied.

"Sir, the goods are all loaded! When are we going back?"

"I'm going back now!"

After saying that, Chi Honghai suddenly realized something.

Such a large ship must require a lot of crew, not to mention that two ships need to be sailed back.

Chi Honghai stepped off the deck and asked the Portuguese man, "Friend, how many people does this ship typically need?"

The Portuguese man gestured with his hand, saying, "Five hundred men. If you're just talking about starting this ship, you'll need about fifty men."

Five hundred men! That's basically all of their sailors!

I only brought about fifty people with me when I came here. If we count the full capacity, that's only one-tenth of the ship. We could sail back, but what would happen to the ship I came here on if we sailed back?

The Portuguese man also realized that Chi Honghai was short-handed, so he started to use his after-sales service skills.

"Friend, not enough people? We can help you get this big guy to your place."

Chi Honghai quickly waved his hand: "No need, friend, thank you for your kindness."

He knew what the consequences would be if the Portuguese really went to Hong Kong Island and saw his shipyard. After that, the business would definitely not be so easy, and he might even have to buy ships from the Portuguese in the future.

"Shen Er, take your men back and tell Qingjiang to bring more brothers over, the sooner the better," Chi Honghai instructed Shen Er first.

"Friend, I've spent so much money, staying here for two days shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Of course, of course, my friend, this isn't your first time spending the night here, so I don't need to introduce you to other places."