Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

Lin Hao took the list of seized items from Lin Ba and examined it carefully.

Compared to Lin Ba's excitement, Lin Hao frowned instead.

"The spoils were so meager? Especially the silver, less than 4 taels. Li Jiu has really disappointed me."

It's worth noting that when the Four Seas Gang robbed the Shen family's warehouse, they only obtained a few ships' worth of supplies, which was worth nearly 10 taels of silver. Li Jiu was an old pirate, and with the Zhang family as his backer, it was truly puzzling that he had only accumulated such a small fortune over the years.

Even with the addition of 1 strings of copper coins, it would still be less than 5 taels.

"Hao'er, your expectations are too high. Making money isn't that easy." Lin Chengfeng happily took the list from Lin Hao's hand and read it line by line. After a while, he couldn't help but sigh again, "Robbing is still the fastest way to make money. This is another tens of thousands of taels in hand."

…………

"Doing business is still the fastest way to make money," Lin Chengbi said involuntarily, putting down the order in his hand.

In an inn in the Manila Valley, Lin Chengbi and the others sat facing each other. They had just finished taking inventory of all their supplies and calculating the approximate profits from their trip.

"Master, how much money will we make this time?" Lin Liu asked curiously, craning his neck.

Lin Chengbi waved the papers in his hand at everyone: "Didn't you all guess? Why are you asking me?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Liu smiled and said, "We can only guess the approximate number; we'll have to ask the hall master for the exact figure."

"Then I'll tell you. You'll find out later anyway." Lin Chengbi smiled, carefully folded the paper, and put it into his pocket. He then said, "The price of our goods is higher than we expected. It seems that due to the blockade by another foreign country, the purchase price of raw silk and cloth has been raised here. After deducting the cost of the purchased goods, we still have 35 pesos left, which is roughly equivalent to 25 taels of silver. And the four ships of goods we purchased can still be sold at a high price when they return to the Ming Dynasty."

The supplies originally robbed from the Shen family were worth no more than 10 taels in the Ming Dynasty. Even with the additional supplies purchased by the Lin family for the long voyage, the total value was only 12 taels.

A trip to Manila more than doubled the value of the goods. The initial 25 taels of silver, plus the four ships full of cargo, brought the total value to at least 30 taels. No wonder so many people risked their lives to go to Southeast Asia; the profit margin was over 100%, who wouldn't be tempted?

If we consider that the 2 taels of the principal are obtained for free, and the real cost is the 24000 taels of dividends and the 10 taels for subsequent purchases of goods, then the profit is 10 times.

Everyone's breathing became heavy. Lin Chengbi, in particular, pinched his thigh hard under the table several times to stop the absurd thoughts from running through his mind.

However, while the profits were substantial, the risks were also very real. Leaving aside the earlier robbery of the Shen family warehouse, the presence of those armored figures nearly led to a disastrous outcome.

Even the journey to Manila was not without its challenges.

This was the Lin family's first time in Luzon. Although they had found sailors who had been to Luzon before and Lin Hao to draw up detailed nautical charts and sailing routes for everyone, the various extreme weather and sea conditions along the way still tormented them to the point of exhaustion.

Three sailors died on the way, their bodies giving out, and two others drowned after accidentally falling into the water. Additionally, two guards perished while fighting off pirates attempting to rob them along the way. Overall, the cost was considerable.

"Master, when are we going back?" another person in the room asked Lin Chengbi.

"What's wrong, Wang Long? You've only been away for a little over half a month, and you can't help but miss your wife already?" Lin Chengbi couldn't help but tease.

Wang Long and Lin Liu were two business assistants that Lin Chengbi brought with him on this trip to Southeast Asia. Wang Long had just gotten married before the new year, and his wife was already pregnant before he left. Now, judging by the time, she was about to give birth, so it was no wonder that he missed home.

Upon hearing Lin Chengbi's words, Wang Long immediately blushed with embarrassment, his fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of his clothes as he said, "Master, please don't joke. I was just thinking of completing the mission as soon as possible so that the young master could know this good news."

"Hmph, you've become quite the smooth talker than before. But don't rush, the young master's mission isn't finished yet. Besides, we've only been in Manila for a few days. Let everyone stay a while longer and get their bodies in good shape before setting off again. As for you all, when we get back to the ship, give everyone five taels of silver, and you take ten taels. Go wherever you like, except for the gambling dens. But remember to leave someone to guard the ship," Lin Chengbi said with a smile to the group. This was only fair; everyone had worked so hard to make a living, how could they not get some benefits?

Upon hearing this, the two men were immediately delighted. Such opportunities for publicly funded entertainment were rare. Although the accounts had just been calculated at tens of thousands of taels, in reality, even five or ten taels of silver had considerable purchasing power, enough for everyone to enjoy themselves to the fullest.

"Let's go, let's go have some fun. We've come all this way, we can't let it go to waste." Lin Liu, being young and impulsive, was the first to stand up, cupped his hands in greeting to Lin Chengbi, and then pulled Wang Long out.

There are actually only three of them left in the village; the others are either on the boat or have been sent to the city on various missions. Once the settlement is completed, they will have finished all their tasks for this trip.

After the two men left, Lin Chengbi's expression gradually calmed down. He then took out the paper again, staring intently at the last line of numbers, and remained motionless for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Chengbi let out a long sigh and said in a low voice, "More than 20 taels of silver, haha, this is the first time in my life I've ever handled so much money."

Folding the paper in his hand and putting it into his pocket for the second time, Lin Chengbi stood up and muttered to himself, "No matter how much money you have, it's not as good as power. Hao'er, don't let your uncle down."

The group was located in a Chinese-populated area south of Manila called Jiannei.

Although Intramuros was built entirely with the help of Chinese craftsmen, the Chinese were prohibited from entering the city and were only allowed to live along the Nam Pasig River south of Intramuros. Moreover, their location was exactly within the range of the city's cannons, which shows how wary the Spanish were of the Chinese.

Fifteen years ago, cannons from the Manila city walls bombarded the ravine, after which 500 Japanese ronin rushed into the ravine to burn, kill, and loot, killing all the wealthy Chinese households who remained inside and refused to resist, and then burning the entire ravine to the ground.

The massacre was only 15 years ago, and the village has returned to its former glory, even more so than before.

The entire city of Manila is supported by the Chinese community. All kinds of clothing, food, decorations, household items and even entertainment facilities are supplied by the Chinese.

Naturally, the area became the most prosperous place in all of Manila, even surpassing Intramuros.

Many Spaniards spent most of their time in the valley during the day and only returned to the royal city at night.

This also gave everyone an excellent opportunity to observe the Spaniards.