Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

"Your Excellency! There's a fleet of ships ahead!"

A sailor covered in blood suddenly pointed ahead and shouted.

The Champa envoy stared intently and immediately gasped.

On the horizon directly in front of them, a dark shadow resembling a continuous mountain range had appeared out of nowhere.

As they drew closer, the three enormous treasure ships, each weighing thousands of tons, appeared like sea gods, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression, as they slowly sailed into the battlefield.

The Ming Dynasty dragon flag with its black background and gold lettering fluttered in the wind, gleaming in the sunlight.

"It's the navy of the Great Ming Dynasty! The navy of the Celestial Dynasty has come to our rescue!"

The Champa envoy was so moved that he knelt on the deck, tears welling in his eyes.

However, the pursuing pirates, who had long been rampant on the seas, did not take this suddenly appearing fleet seriously.

In their minds, although the Ming Dynasty's ships were large, their military preparedness was lax, and they were all old, weak, sick, and disabled men who were vulnerable to attack.

"Leader! There are Ming Dynasty ships ahead!"

A pirate shouted.

The pirate leader was a one-eyed man with a face full of scars. He licked the blood from his blade and laughed wildly.

"So what if they're Ming Dynasty ships? They're so cumbersome, they wouldn't even be enough to fill our teeth! Leave two ships to hold off that Champa envoy, the rest of you, follow me and charge!"

"We've seized a Ming Dynasty official ship; once we return to Southeast Asia, we'll be local tyrants!"

Seven or eight pirate ships did not slow down at all, and five of them, oblivious to their own mortality, charged head-on towards the flagship of the Ming Dynasty navy.

On the flagship, Pei Yuan looked at the group of South Sea pirates who were like moths to a flame, and his sarcasm almost overflowed from his lips.

"Ignorance is bliss."

Pei Yuan raised his hand, but did not draw the Emperor's Sword; he simply swung it forward casually.

"Give them a quick death. Port side heavy guns, fire a salvo."

"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"

A deafening roar, like the sky collapsing and the earth sinking, exploded across the sea.

The five newly loaded Zhenhai Divine Bronze Cannons displayed their devastating destructive power at this moment.

A blinding flash of fire, and five solid iron projectiles, each weighing several tens of kilograms, accompanied by a deathly whistle, instantly traversed hundreds of steps across the sea.

The five pirate ships that were charging aggressively from the South Seas didn't even have a chance to turn around before they crashed head-on into this devastating iron hammer.

"Crack! Bang!"

Wood chips, along with mangled flesh and blood, exploded into mournful splashes on the sea surface.

This is not a war at all; it is a simple one-sided annihilation.

Faced with heavy artillery, those long, narrow pirate ships made of ordinary wood were like paper toys.

It was just one volley.

None of the five pirate ships escaped; in less than ten breaths, they were all reduced to floating planks and drowning victims screaming in despair.

The other two pirate ships, which were still chasing the Champa envoys, were terrified when they saw this scene.

Although the pirate leader was not dead, he was terrified and frantically turned his ship around, trying to escape this deadly sea.

"Trying to run? Have you asked my cannons yet?"

Pei Yuan snorted coldly.

"Right-wing Fujianese flotilla, encircle them. Prepare the muskets on the upper decks. Let these sea rats know what happens when they draw their swords in Ming Dynasty waters."

More than a dozen agile armed Fujian ships swooped in from both flanks like arrows, easily cutting off the pirates' retreat.

Then, a barrage of shotgun shells rained down like a storm.

The two pirate ships were instantly riddled with holes by the iron shot, and the pirates on board fell like wheat being harvested.

Not even a complete corpse was left behind.

The entire naval battle, from beginning to end, lasted only about half an incense stick's time.

The Ming Dynasty navy, without losing a single soldier or even scratching the paint on its ships, completely wiped out this group of ruthless bandits who had been running rampant in Southeast Asia.

On a merchant ship from Champa.

The envoy and the ship's crew were already kneeling on the deck in terror, their bodies trembling violently.

They looked at the three towering Ming Dynasty treasure ships and the dark muzzles of their cannons, still emitting blue smoke.

Besides extreme fear, all that remained in his heart was a deep awe of the unparalleled military power of the Celestial Empire.

terrible!

These massive warships and cannons, as if descended from the heavens, would be a sight to behold if they were to sail to the ports of Champa.

A single volley of fire would be enough to level their palace!

"My lord! The Ming general opposite us has ordered our commander to board the ship and pay his respects!"

An interpreter ran up nervously to report.

The Champa envoy dared not hesitate for a moment, quickly tidied his disheveled clothes, and boarded the small boat.

As if on a pilgrimage, they boarded the deck of the Ming Dynasty's treasure ship.

The top deck of the treasure ship.

Pei Yuan sat upright in his chair, with Lu Zheng, who had his hand on his embroidered spring knife, and a group of menacing Imperial Guards standing beside him.

The moment the Champa envoy stepped onto the deck, he was overwhelmed by the imposing military presence.

He strode forward, knelt down, and shouted in broken Mandarin.

"The envoy of the lower kingdom of Champa pays respects to the Grand General of the Celestial Empire! Many thanks to the Celestial Empire's navy for saving our lives!"

"The might of the Celestial Empire awes the world; our humble nation will never forget it!"

Pei Yuan, holding a teacup, looked down at the terrified envoy, a sly smile playing on his lips.

"An envoy from Champa? No need for formalities."

Pei Yuan slowly sipped his tea.

"I am the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince of the Great Ming Dynasty, and the Right Commander-in-Chief. I am here on the Emperor's orders to tour the four seas. Saving you is merely a matter of lifting a finger."

The Champa envoy kowtowed repeatedly.

"Great Commander, you are truly awe-inspiring! Our humble state has brought a thousand catties of top-quality spices and ten boxes of agarwood to pay tribute to the Celestial Empire, intending to present them to the Emperor of the Great Ming."

"Now that we have been saved by the Governor, our humble state is willing to offer half of these tributes to the Governor as a token of our gratitude!"

In the eyes of the Champa envoy, the Ming officials had always touted themselves as a nation of etiquette, and the fact that they had voluntarily offered half of their tribute was already an extremely generous gift.

The other party will certainly politely decline for a while, and then gladly accept.

However, he clearly did not understand the way this person in front of him behaved.

Pei Yuan put down his teacup, and the smile on his face gradually faded, turning into a chilling coldness.

"half?"

Pei Yuan stood up, walked to the Champa envoy, and looked down at him condescendingly.

"Your Excellency, have you been at sea for too long and lost your mind? My Ming Dynasty navy was built at the cost of millions of taels of silver."

"The gunpowder and iron bullets used in those shots just now were all purchased with my own money."

Pei Yuan suddenly drew his Emperor's Sword and slammed the spine of the blade onto the envoy's shoulder, pressing him down so hard he almost fell onto the deck.

"I saved the lives of your entire ship's crew, and you offer me half of what should have been tribute to the Emperor?"

The Champa envoy was terrified, thinking that the Ming general thought it was too little, and quickly changed his mind.

"All of it! This humble subject is willing to offer all tribute to the Governor!"

"idiot."

Pei Yuan snorted coldly and sheathed his sword.

"Those tributes originally belonged to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. You're using the Emperor's possessions to offer as a substitute? Do you think my blade isn't sharp enough?"