Ming East India Company

Summer of the 20th year of the Wanli reign, May 10th.

Even at dawn, the sweltering heat of midsummer still made Shirano feel suffocated.

On the southern part of Yuegang, on the surface of the Kowloon River, the outlines of more than a dozen boats have gradually appeared in the thin mist, following the rising tide.

On the shore, the Bai family's forces had already assembled.

Before setting off, Bai Wenzheng gathered several shrewd and capable family members together:

"This voyage involves a mixed bag of ships. You will each be assigned to a different ship to supervise the captains. Make sure they don't defect or desert midway through the voyage."

"But we only have a few people in our family who can read needlework. If the real ship captains really want to sail around recklessly, how will the monitoring officers identify them?"

Bai Wenyue raised questions.

Shirono took out more than a dozen needle trays from the box.

"Everyone carries a compass. From here to Ryukyu, the wind is generally blowing north. Unless the ship goes astray for several days in a row, it shouldn't get too far astray."

"Moreover, the fleet was operating as a group this time, raising flags during the day and lighting lanterns at night as a warning. Anyone who pays a little attention can tell whether the ships are on the right track," Bai Wenzheng added.

"In addition, each ship carries several members of the clan. Keep a close watch on them and prevent the accompanying soldiers and crew from talking to each other. They take turns sleeping at night to observe the situation."

Furthermore, never try to sleep in the cabins with all your crew just because the waves are small; if someone locks you in the hold, you're doomed.

Based on his understanding of sailors and crew members during the Age of Exploration, Shiro knew how low their moral standards were.

Murder, rebellion, theft, ship seizure... almost any crime on land can be magnified infinitely here.

In the days before surveillance and satellite phones, if you killed someone and threw them into the sea, even Sherlock Holmes couldn't solve the case.

With so many people in his fleet, even if they were sold as slaves, it would still fetch a high price.

Fortunately, because the fleet was designed for amphibious operations, the number of personnel was severely "over-limited," with almost every ship carrying twice as many people as normal.

As long as the "ground troops" on each ship are on your side, the crew alone can't cause much trouble. After all, you're all on the same ship; who's afraid of close-quarters combat!

That's why Bai Ye wanted to take precautions and prevent the crew from colluding with the private army led by the Bai family. Most of these "marine soldiers" came from honest farmers and garrison troops. It was hard to say what they might do if they were fooled by these old foxes and acted impulsively.

As per Bai Ye's plan, the cobbled-together Bai family army was quickly divided into more than a dozen squads. Bai Ye tried to distribute the slaves, farm laborers, and garrison soldiers in each squad as evenly as possible to reduce their chances of banding together.

During this process, Bai Jingxing, Bai Ye, Bai Wenzheng, Bai Wenyue, and others were each assigned the task of leading a team.

"Father, what about me?"

Bai Ling, who had been waiting for the mission for a long time but hadn't heard her name called, couldn't help but jump out and question it.

"You, you stay home and look after the house."

"Ah!" Bai Ling's eyes widened. "Why?"

Bai Jiancheng explained:

"This is a custom when going out to sea. Bringing women on board will bring disaster from Mazu, so women have always been strictly forbidden on board."

"I've never been used like a woman," Bai Ling retorted defiantly.

……

"Stop arguing, Lingwazi. This time, crossing the border is a matter of life and death for the entire clan. You just stay home and guard the house!"

Bai Ling stomped her feet in anger, but since Bai Wenzheng had already spoken, she couldn't argue with him, so she simply stormed out in a huff.

Bai Ye sighed, as the saying goes, the end of metaphysics is science.

He did know a thing or two about it. Sea voyages are long, and people often go months without contact with women. If a woman gets on board, the sailors and crew below might not be able to control her and might have bad intentions.

If it's an accidental "mating," that's fine. But if some men get carried away with their lust and start fighting or even dueling over women, that's going to be a lot of fun.

Therefore, the boat owners simply took a one-size-fits-all approach and did not allow women to board the boats from the beginning.

On the shore, Baiye and others were busy, while the waiting fleet on the sea was also towed ashore and anchored.

After the lead ship's mooring rope was securely secured to the wooden stakes of the pier on the shore, the crew members of the fleet came out one after another.

The leader walked down the plank road, bowing as he went:

"My surname is Cheng. People on the surface of Yuegang call me Second Master Cheng. I am the captain of the fleet behind me. Third Master Bai, how have you been?"

Bai Ye scrutinized the man, noting his robust yet not bulky build, his stable stance, and lack of any hint of flab. His face was a deep ochre hue, etched by the sea breeze and scorching sun, yet his features were well-proportioned. He clearly possessed the shrewdness and cunning of a seasoned江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world).

Wen Yue walked up to Bai Ye and whispered in his ear:

"This Boss Cheng is also called Cheng Keqin. He's a regular customer of the Bai family. He's a decent person. There aren't many ship owners who can go to Ryukyu. It's not easy to find one like him."

Shiro remained silent. Ryukyu had enjoyed a period of prosperity during the mid-Ming Dynasty. Early Europeans hadn't fully explored the maps and only knew that Ryukyu wasn't just Japan, which resulted in the Ryukyuans monopolizing trade with Japan for a time.

Later, the Portuguese discovered the direct route to Nagasaki, bypassing Ryukyu, the "middleman," and Ryukyu's good days as a "touch of all nations" were gone forever.

Therefore, there are not many captains left who can still be found on the route to Ryukyu.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Master Cheng, Bai Wenzheng directed everyone to board the ship.

Master Cheng's fleet consisted of fifteen ships: ten haicang boats and five cao pie boats, with a crew of six or seven hundred.

Leading the pack was Master Cheng's flagship, which was directly named "Keqin".

First, regarding equipment, Shirano's men didn't have much gear, only a dozen or so breechblocks and a dozen or so sets of armor. Small helmets were distributed to everyone.

When Cheng Erye saw Baiye gather all the Franco aircraft on the Keqin, he was a little puzzled:

"Brother Bai, it's certainly a good thing that you can bring some French aircraft on board, but why put them all on one ship? At least give some to each ship!"

Shironodo:

"If we encounter pirates, a dozen or so Franc planes opening fire all at once might offer a chance of survival. What use would splitting them into individual ships be?"

Upon hearing this, Master Cheng repeatedly praised it:

"Master Bai is truly a tiger father like dog son; I never expected this in all my years of navigating the seas."

At this time, although pirates were also rising along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, it was not as rampant as it was in the era of Li Dan and Zheng Zhilong in later years. Therefore, even if merchants had armed defenses, they would only carry some crossbows on each ship, and rarely used firearms.

Firstly, this thing is bulky and requires two people to operate; secondly, the fuse is easily wetted at sea, affecting its use.

However, Hakuno knew the immense power of concentrated use of the Franz series, so he simply concentrated them all on one ship.

In addition, Bai Ye had another intention: in case Master Cheng had any ill intentions on the way, arranging heavy firepower on the flagship would be a backup plan.

After all, one should always be wary of others, and Bai Ye dared not gamble on the character of this Second Master Cheng.