Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

"Young Master, this... I can't accept it. I didn't do anything; you were the one giving the orders."

Upon seeing the plate of silver that Lin Hao presented to him, Liu Aniu immediately knelt on the ground.

"Young Master, when my mother was seriously ill, I, as her son, was powerless to help. Fortunately, with your help, Master, she was able to turn the tide. I haven't even repaid such a great favor yet, so how can I take this money now? Please take it back, Young Master."

"Haha, gratitude is gratitude, and reward is reward. One thing is one thing. You have rendered a service to the Lin family, so you should be rewarded. Otherwise, how can the Lin family be respected? Moreover, you are the first mate on the ship, and you personally trained the sailors. If you hadn't been strict with them, how could things have gone so smoothly? Get up. This is what you deserve."

Lin Hao helped Liu Aniu up and then handed him the plate containing the silver.

"If you really want to repay the favor, just continue working for my Lin family. My Lin family can't do without a good man like Brother A Niu. Take this money, buy some good food for your aunt, and find a wife to carry on the family line. Wouldn't that be a wonderful life?"

"I...I..." Liu Aniu had seen the world before. Although he had never saved any silver, he had seen quite a lot of silver when he was a pirate. But this was the first time he felt that one hundred taels of silver was so substantial.

"Haha, alright, Brother Niu, go down now. The brothers behind are getting impatient. If you don't go down soon, they'll be worried about you." Lin Hao patted the other man's shoulder and helped him down the wooden platform.

Liu Aniu carried the wooden tray full of silver and walked back to the crowd step by step.

Everyone's attention was firmly drawn to the wooden plate in his hand.

Lin Hao didn't prepare a bag for the other party to put the silver in, precisely for this kind of spectacle. Although a hundred taels of silver is a lot, it wouldn't be conspicuous if it were put in a bag, but now it's different. A whole tray of silver made everyone's eyes glaze over.

He wanted everyone to see clearly, to see so much silver laid out before them, to make them envious, to make them jealous, to make them go crazy. He wanted them to fight tooth and nail for the same treatment next time.

Lin Hao nodded, satisfied with the effect of the plate of silver.

"Next up, Liu Laoshi."

All eyes in the audience immediately turned to a dark-skinned man, who was at a loss when he saw so many eyes on him.

After Lin Hao called out twice, he was pushed to the front of the stage. He tried to climb the steps, but his steps went awry and he fell three times. The crowd burst into laughter, which made Liu Laoshi even more nervous. His face turned red and he was at a loss for what to do.

"Haha, you weren't panicking when the cannons were firing, so why are you panicking now?"

Lin Hao stepped forward, reached out and pulled Liu Laoshi up, then led him to the center of the wooden platform. He then raised Liu Laoshi's hand and said to the crowd, "Liu Laoshi, as a gunner on the Fujian ship, used cannons to inflict devastating damage on the enemy in the battle against the Shuangfeng Island pirates. He is hereby awarded a reward of 70 taels of silver!"

Boom~

The crowd erupted in commotion once again. Liu Aniu was at least a leader before, and while everyone admired him, they always felt there was a distance between them. But they knew Liu Laoshi very well; he was just like them, from the very bottom of the bottom. This guy, besides being strong, was usually quiet and rarely spoke. On the Fujian ship, he was a ship's anchor and gunner, and yet he still got 70 taels.

The eyes of everyone who had finally calmed down turned red again, wishing they could take their place.

In contrast, the group of pirate prisoners fell completely silent. The reward they received made the lowly sailors, like themselves, lose all desire to curse Zhou Daye. Instead, they were all thinking about how to perform well so that they could be selected by the Lin family.

Lin Hao handed the plate containing 70 taels of silver to Liu Laoshi. Liu Laoshi first took it blankly, then picked up a silver ingot and took a big bite in front of everyone. After a long while, he muttered to himself in a daze, "It's actually real..."

"Haha, do you think my Lin family would lie to you? Alright, take the money and go now. Do your best, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to earn money in the future."

"I... Young Master..." Liu Laoshi stammered for a long time, not knowing what to say. Then he put down the plate and respectfully kowtowed three times to Lin Hao on the ground, making the wooden table thud loudly.

After Liu Laoshi went down, Lin Hao called up another gunner, who also received 70 taels. The ship's helmsman, as well as Lin Yi, Lin Er, Lin San, and Lin Wu, received the same treatment. Lin San and the others, as the commanders of the third team, also received 70 taels. Lin Wu, on the other hand, had performed outstandingly in the battle after landing on the island.

However, they behaved much more normally than the roughnecks before them, though they were equally excited, as they had never received so much silver before.

In reality, they were all orphans adopted by the Lin family. To put it nicely, they were Lin Hao's playmates, but in reality, they were servants. Each of them had a past that was hard to talk about. Their greatest hope in the past was simply to be able to eat their fill in the Lin family. They never dared to dream of getting so much money.

Having finished rewarding these people, the next step was the legendary "Sunshine Award." Lin Hao announced that everyone who participated in the battle against the pirates on Twin Peaks Island would be rewarded with 40 taels of silver.

Amid cheers, Lin Hao proceeded to reward each of the silver-haired individuals.

Finally, after everyone had received their bounty, Lin Hao announced that in all future ship raids, 3% of the spoils would be converted into silver and used as a reward for all participants.

Even without spoils of war, the Lin family would still provide unified rewards based on the importance of the battle and the performance of everyone involved.

Everyone cheered. The sailors who hadn't gone to sea with Lin Hao were finally relieved, knowing they would have a chance to earn a lot of money in the future.

Just a day ago, they were thankful that they hadn't gone to sea with their young master and avoided encountering pirates. Now, they were filled with regret. If they had another chance, they would have charged forward no matter how dangerous it was.

The sailors and boys cheered wildly, but the guards behind them were unhappy.

They had fought the government troops with real swords and spears, and suffered heavy losses, but now they could only watch others collect silver. The bitterness in their hearts was unimaginable.

"Hey, Brother Li, has the young master forgotten about us? He hasn't mentioned any rewards yet," a guard with a strip of cloth wrapped around his shoulder asked in a low voice.

The so-called Brother Li is Da Tou, whose real name is Zhou Li, and is the son of the former head of the guards. Lin Hao had personally bandaged his wounds before.

Upon hearing this, he immediately reprimanded, "Liu Dashan, what nonsense are you spouting? When has the young master ever mistreated us? Just stay put."

"That's hard to say. After all, they seized 7 taels of silver, but not only did we fail to seize it, we also caused the masters to be arrested. In other families, we would have been beheaded long ago. Maybe this time they'll just reprimand us," another person said in a low voice.

They were already very grateful to Lin Hao for rescuing them, and they would have been willing to accept being scolded. But now that they saw others receiving money while they were likely to be scolded, their mentality suddenly became unbalanced.

"Stop talking nonsense. Can't you use your brains?" Zhou Li couldn't help but sigh. If he weren't still injured and unable to move easily, he would have loved to give them a good talking-to and make them wake up.

"There's still so much silver left on the stage, and we're the only ones who haven't received any. So what do you think we're here for?" Fearing that these people were too stupid to understand and might cause some unpleasantness, Zhou Li quickly clarified.

As soon as Zhou Li spoke, the guards around him immediately brightened up. That's right, there's still so much silver left. Apart from them in the audience, everyone else was just watching the show from the sidelines. Surely the money wasn't going to be given to the spectators.

Everyone immediately became eager.

At the same time, Lin Hao's gaze also turned towards the crowd.