Ming East India Company

The first to receive the money were the Bai family's hired farmers. These people were considered the core of the Bai family's base. The Bai family only gave each household a few years of tax exemption as a small benefit to successfully mobilize them to go to war.

"All Bai family farmhands who participated in this war will receive 120 taels of silver each. The original three-year tax exemption will be extended to five years. Those who died in the war will receive 20 taels per household for 15 years. All children of the participants can attend the Bai family private school in the future."

As soon as Shirono finished speaking, the servants present widened their eyes in disbelief.

They came to participate in the war for two reasons: first, to avoid taxes; and second, because they knew that the Bai family had always treated them well, and that they probably wouldn't receive the same treatment if they changed owners. So they wanted to do their part to protect the Bai family.

Now, not only has the Bai family escaped danger, but they can also make another fortune; it's like a windfall.

Some servants even knelt down to declare that they only wanted to help the Bai family through their difficulties and did not need any extra "compensation," so as not to be "misunderstood" by their employer.

It took a lot of persuasion from Bai Ye to convince these people to accept the reward.

The only unhappy person present was Bai Ling. Accustomed to being frugal, she felt it was a sin to see so much silver being handed out.

Next up are Cheng Keqin's crew members.

Before entering the main hall, everyone was very nervous because, strictly speaking, they had "boarded midway." The Bai family had not promised them any amount of silver.

Moreover, due to their weak land combat capabilities, they did not actually play a significant role in the battle.

Therefore, before organizing the procession outside the hall to enter, Cheng Keqin specifically instructed everyone to behave themselves and not to complain no matter how much they were given, because if they offended Bai Ye, they would lose every single penny.

"Master Cheng's fleet will accompany us in attacking cities and capturing strongholds. According to the treatment previously agreed upon with the garrison soldiers, each person will receive an average of forty taels of silver. Those who die in battle will receive an additional forty taels of silver as resettlement allowance."

Before the crew could cheer, Shirayuki swept his cunning gaze over everyone again:

"However, since you are all Captain Cheng's men, I cannot overstep my bounds. Therefore, I will give your rewards directly to Captain Cheng, and the specific allocation of each person will be decided by Captain Cheng."

The crew's enthusiasm, which had just been building, suddenly turned cold.

The ship owner on this trip was notoriously stingy; once the money was in his hands, you couldn't expect it to come out.

However, he couldn't find any reason to ask for money, so he could only walk out of the palace gate dejectedly.

Bai Ye's relationship with Cheng Keqin is still complicated. On the one hand, Cheng Keqin and his crew are talents that he urgently needs, and he has to win them over. On the other hand, if Bai Ye directly tries to poach them, Cheng Keqin might resort to desperate measures.

Therefore, doing this now is the best strategy: he spends the money himself. If Cheng Keqin pays the money, the crew will only remember his kindness; if he doesn't pay, then Cheng Keqin will be the one who offends people.

Cheng Keqin saw through Bai Ye's intentions, but when he thought about the large sum of money that was going to be deposited into his account, he couldn't be bothered to argue anymore.

His greatest ambition in life was ultimately to go ashore and become a landlord; to him, these crew members were essentially just consumables.

The soldiers of the garrison were the last to receive their share of the money. Bai Ye personally wielded the weight. According to the previous agreement, each of the soldiers was to receive forty taels of silver, but Bai Ye specially doubled it, giving each of them eighty taels.

Those who made outstanding contributions, such as Pang Shipu and Feng Luzi, were rewarded by Bai Ye with amounts ranging from one hundred to two hundred coins, depending on their merits.

The soldiers of the garrison were overwhelmed with gratitude and offered their thanks, as their original reward had been doubled and they were now receiving new rewards.

"Oh right, it seems you've forgotten something."

Bai Ye watched the departing figures of Feng Luzi, Pang Shipu, and the others, and said with a smile:

"I promised you that you would be my Bai family's servants."

Pang Shipu and Feng Luzi exchanged a glance, and both very obediently stepped forward and knelt down, saying:

"We are completely satisfied with the money the owner has given us, and we would never dare to be greedy again."

In fact, most of the garrison soldiers who came to fight with Bai Ye were not so simple-minded. The officers of the Ming Dynasty had often made empty promises to them.

We've heard countless promises of military pay being delayed by one or two months or guaranteed to be paid by the end of the year, but these corrupt officials have never actually delivered on them.

Therefore, they never really expected Baiye to deliver on all the rewards; it would be quite good if he could get the full forty taels of silver that was initially promised.

"Since I, Baiye, have promised a generous reward, I will never go back on my word. If I said I would take you as servants, then I will definitely take you as servants."

"As for the land allocated?"

Bai Ye came up behind Bai Wenzheng and took out the land register of Ryukyu Island from his box:

"This land is on Ryukyu Island. You can have as much land as you want on this island if you want."

"The land of Ryukyu?" Pang Shipu and Feng Luzi were taken aback by Bai Ye's words. The garrison soldiers behind them were also whispering among themselves, wondering what Bai Ye was up to.

"Go and discuss it yourselves. There's no rush."

While laughing, Bai Ye announced that all irrelevant people should leave, leaving only Bai Ling, Bai Wenzheng, Bai Jingxing, Bai Wenyue and other core members of the Bai family in the main hall.

"Now," Shirano said solemnly, "it's time for us to discuss the establishment of a new Ryukyu Kingdom."

Shang Ning is dead, but since my Bai family intends to establish ourselves in Ryukyu, we must take Shang Ning's place in ruling Ryukyu.

"Then what should we call this place? How about we petition the Haicheng County government to add Ryukyu Village to the Yellow Scale Register?" Bai Wenyue was the first to suggest.

Shiro almost laughed out of anger.

You finally found a secluded paradise where you could escape the government, and now you want to give it back? You're out of your mind!

Why do these Ming Dynasty maritime merchants always have such erratic thought processes?

"We now own Bai family property in Ryukyu. If you report this to the authorities, it will be theirs for the taking."

"But if we don't report it to the authorities, this kind of no-man's-land is essentially just banditry!"

"Who said that? Ryukyu is a legitimate vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and this is the imperial seal of investiture."

As Bai Ye spoke, he took out the seal of xxxx that Shang Ning had used. This seal had been in use ever since Zhu Yuanzhang conferred the title of Ryukyu upon it.

Bai Wenyue was even more confused: "We've killed the Ryukyu king, does the title of vassal state still exist?"

"Do you think the officials in the capital know about the change of dynasty in Ryukyu? As long as we pay tribute regularly, what can they possibly discern?"

Bai Wenzheng realized what was happening:

"Resurrection through a corpse?"

"That's right. We can pretend that Ryukyu still exists, find a puppet to continue to claim the title of Ryukyu King, while our Bai family actually holds the real power."

"So, are we considered Ming Dynasty citizens or Ryukyu citizens? How should we interact with the government after we return? Are we Ryukyu envoys or Ming Dynasty citizens?" Bai Ling asked a question that left Bai Ye speechless.

"In the Ming Dynasty, we were Ming people; in Ryukyu, we are Ryukyuans," Hakuno said.

After Bai Ye's explanation, the Bai family members reached a consensus on the development of the Bai family.