Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

"Get up quickly. If you're willing to come with me, that would be great. But this is a deal that could cost you your life. Have you thought it through?" Lin Hao helped the man in front of him up. The clothes on the four men were tattered, and Lin Hao could see all sorts of whip marks on their skin.

"Young Master, this world offers no way to survive. You've avenged our village. Whatever it takes, I, Liu Shuanzhu, will follow you. We never want to live that kind of humiliating life again." Helped up by Lin Hao himself, Liu Shuanzhu was extremely excited. Those pirates hadn't treated them like human beings before. Coming this time was definitely the right decision.

The three people behind him then also made statements one after another.

"Yes! We want to live a decent life, please take us in, young master."

"I'm not afraid of death! Young master, I'll kill whoever you tell me to kill."

"Me too...me too."

"Alright, then I'll accept you as my family. From today onwards, you are members of the Lin family. Do you still have any families?" Lin Hao asked, holding Liu Shuanzhu's hand.

"I'm all alone, as is Shuisheng, but Agui and Youtian have their families," Liu Shuanzhu introduced to Lin Hao, pointing to three people in the crowd.

The other three are Chen Shuisheng, Chen Agui, and Chen Youtian.

"Very good. Lin Liu will take out silver and give each person five taels as a resettlement allowance. Those with families will also receive five dou of grain."

Lin Hao's words stunned the four of them. It was the first time they had ever heard of getting paid to join the pirates. They all thought he was joking, but when the silver was actually handed to him, they realized it wasn't a dream.

"This...we...silver." Chen Shuanzhu wanted to say that they hadn't done anything and dared not ask for money, but with the silver in his hand, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Take it. Those with families can take the silver and food to their families, or they can go back and bring it with them. I welcome both."

If you want people to risk their lives, you can't be stingy with money. Lin Hao had no attachment to silver; on the contrary, he coveted the fishermen who had grown up by the sea.

"Young master, wait for me, I'll take my mother and brother away right away." The man named You Tian felt a sense of unreality as he held the silver and grain in his hand. He then made up his mind to go and bring his family members over.

"Me too, I'm going to pick up my family. Please wait for us, young master." Chen Yougui immediately chimed in. The village was already struggling to survive after the pirates' destruction, and they only risked going with them so as not to burden their families. They never expected such a pleasant surprise.

"Go ahead, I'll wait for you here." Lin Hao was very happy to be able to bring his family over. Others might feel it was a burden, but Lin Hao was only happy. Only subordinates like this could guarantee loyalty.

Chen Shuanzhu and Chen Shuisheng watched with envy as the two returned home in high spirits. They too wanted a share of the pie, but alas, they were both alone.

When the two returned to the village, it suddenly became lively and noisy for a long time. People were still looking towards Lin Hao's direction from the village entrance from time to time.

"Young master, they wouldn't have regretted it, would they? They took the silver and food and ran away, otherwise why haven't they come back yet?" Lin Liu asked from the side. Lin Liu was the best at math among all the boys, and his bookkeeping skills were also first-rate. He was in charge of the statistics and safekeeping of the supplies this time.

Before Lin Hao could speak, Lin Si retorted, "Sixth Brother, are you out of your mind with your calculations? This is just a deserted, dilapidated island. Where do they think they can run to?"

"Uh, that makes sense, but Fourth Brother, how about we talk about how you vomited all over the place when you were chopping someone up?" Lin Liu said with ill intent.

"You, shut up! I was seasick, yes! I was seasick, don't talk nonsense." Lin Si immediately became agitated.

During the previous battle, when he was finishing off the enemy, the gore was so intense that he turned pale and vomited all over the place. All his brothers had been laughing at him for a whole day over this.

"Alright, stop arguing, they're here," Lin Yi said, stopping the two from arguing and pointing in the direction of the village.

"There are a lot of people. Do these two have that many family members?" Lin Liu subconsciously hugged the account book in his hands. He had a bad feeling that his lovely silver coins were going to decrease even more.

As Lin Liu had predicted, it wasn't just Chen Agui and Chen Youtian's family who came.

"Young master, we'd like to join you too, please take us in."

"Young master, is there really a resettlement allowance if I join?"

The crowd that had squeezed through immediately started asking questions all at once. But Lin Hao and his men still exuded a fierce aura, so they only dared to ask from a distance and didn't dare to get too close.

Lin Hao stepped to the front, cupped his hands in greeting to the crowd, and said, "Fellow villagers, my Lin family welcomes all brave warriors who come to join us. Everyone who is recruited will receive three taels of silver, and those with families will receive an additional five dou of grain. However, we do not accept just anyone."

"What conditions does the young master require?" The crowd immediately began asking all at once.

"Too young, too old, unable to handle a boat, or too weak. Those who are willing to participate, please line up and I will choose."

In fact, according to the requirements of Qi Jiguang's military book, these people were not very good soldiers, but Lin Hao could not care about that at this time. As long as they could handle the boat, that was fine. Quality and other such things were not the point of concern now.

Then, under Lin Hao's personal selection, sixteen more people were chosen from the villagers, bringing the total to twenty. These twenty people were basically the best-condition group in the village. The people under him were either too old, sickly, or even missing limbs, making their condition worrying.

In addition, there was a carpenter in the village who could make furniture and do simple boat repairs, and a rope weaver who could weave ropes and nets, who were also taken in by Lin Hao.

According to the previous standard, each person was given five taels of silver and five dou of rice, which made everyone overjoyed.

As for the remaining elderly and weak, Lin Hao considered it and simply gave each of the villagers who were not selected three bushels of grain as a way to appease them and also to prevent the village from collapsing all at once after losing so many laborers.

However, this meant that Lin Hao had only a few bushels of grain left of what he had captured. Considering the more than 60 new prisoners and the more than 20 new recruits and their families, the food crisis not only had not been resolved, but seemed to have become even more serious.

After settling matters with all the villagers, Lin Hao arranged for his new 20-odd men and their families to board two other ships, and then finally set sail for Dongluo Island.

It has been three days since he left Dongluo Island. Lin Hao suddenly became a little worried about how things were at home. If the Shen family had not only hired Zhou Daye's pirate family, what would happen to the family members on Dongluo Island? Could the few people he left behind hold them off?

"Speed ​​up, full speed ahead. I need to get back to Dongluo Island before 11 PM."