Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

The moment the cannons fired, Shen Wangshu knew she was in trouble. It wasn't that the enemy wasn't refusing to fight back; they just wanted to get close enough to attack her.

Then, the dense volleys of musket fire from the wall shattered the last vestige of hope in his heart.

Previously, a volley of sixty paces was enough to break through the government troops; now it's only ten paces.

But this wasn't the end of the story. The government troops collapsed, and at worst, the encirclement and suppression campaign would fail.

Immediately afterward, to Shen Wangshu's horrified gaze, the gate of the stockade was flung open, and a large number of Lin family pirates dressed in blue rushed out, hacking and slashing at the government troops.

"Damn it, the Lin family wants to keep us all here." Shen Wangshu was immediately alarmed. He didn't care about the servants who were still being chased and said to the only servant left beside him, "Quickly, let's get on the boat."

Then, turning around, he saw that Zhong Gui, who had been beside him before, was now on the sampan, rowing vigorously toward the large ship.

Shen Wangshu cursed the other party a hundred times in his heart, but he dared not be negligent in the slightest. He hurriedly found a sampan and pushed it into the water with all his might.

Shen Wangshu didn't care about his status at this moment, and he and his servant each took an oar and started rowing.

However, before he could even board the ship, the guard pointed into the distance and said, "My lord, look! There's a ship."

At this moment, half of the sun had already sunk below the horizon. Suddenly, two large ships appeared on the southeastern sea, bathed in the setting sun, and rushed towards the group.

On the large ship, a large "Lin" character was prominently displayed.

"It's all over." Shen Wangshu slumped onto the boat, throwing away even the oars.

By this point, he understood that he was already trapped. There were practically no people on the boat. If he had some time, he could gather a few more people and get the boat moving.

But even if I manage to gather enough men, I won't have time to sail out now. The enemy could easily sink my immobile ship.

This is a trap. The other side doesn't take us seriously at all; otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to split their forces.

He had foolishly jumped in, still dreaming of getting promoted and making a fortune. Now it was all over. As a member of the Shen family, he certainly wouldn't survive.

Shen Wangshu drew his long sword and held it to his neck, ready to commit suicide, but after several attempts, the cold blade prevented him from doing so.

But since the knife was already drawn, it would be embarrassing to put it back, so he looked at his servant, hoping the servant could persuade him.

"Sir, do you need my help?" the servant asked hesitantly, not understanding what he meant.

These words infuriated Shen Wangshu. She immediately put down her knife and began punching and kicking the servants, yelling, "I'll give you a piece of my mind, you useless piece of trash!"

The servant, already demoralized from the prospect of being killed, was further enraged by Shen Wangshu's beating. "Damn it," he thought, "I can tolerate your beatings and scoldings normally, since I'm treated well. But now that I'm down on my luck, you're still bullying me? What a waste of my misfortune!"

He immediately reached out and shoved Shen Wangshu, causing her to stumble and fall onto the boat, her head hitting the deck hard. Blood immediately began to flow.

The servant's heart skipped a beat when he saw this. He knew he had acted impulsively, but there was nothing he could do now that things had come to this.

Reaching out to check Shen Wangshu's nose, they found he was still breathing and were overjoyed.

Then he removed Shen Wangshu's belt and tied her hands tightly behind her back.

He tore off a piece of white cloth from her inner garment, then held it up on the small boat and shouted, "Shen Wangshu has been captured! Everyone, surrender now!"

......

As night fell, the entire beach was illuminated red by torches, and the Lin family guards escorted the captured government troops.

"Brave warrior, what is your name?" Lin Hao asked, looking at the man before him with great interest.

"In reply to your question, sir, my humble name, Zhou San, is unworthy of the title of hero." The man in short clothes knelt in front of Lin Hao. Behind him was Shen Wangshu, whose hands were tied behind his back and who was glaring at him angrily. Unfortunately, his mouth was stuffed with a pair of smelly socks, so he could not say anything.

"Since you were able to capture this corrupt official, you are certainly a brave man. Get up. Men, bring fifty taels of silver to this brave man." Lin Hao ordered the people behind him.

In no time at all, fifty taels of silver were neatly placed in front of Zhou San.

"This..." Zhou San's eyes widened. He had only intended to capture Shen Wangshu to protect himself, but this surprise made him extremely excited. However, he was also a little afraid to take it, fearing that it might be some kind of trick.

"Take it. My Lin family has always been fair in rewarding and punishing." Lin Hao saw the other party's unease and comforted him with a smile. "Since you have captured Shen Wangshu, then take this money. I wouldn't stoop to playing tricks on you over such a small amount of money."

Hearing this, Zhou San felt relieved. That's right, if they wanted to kill him, they would have done so long ago. Why bother toying with him with silver? Once he understood this, Zhou San quickly put away the silver and hugged it tightly to his chest.

The surrounding government troops and prisoners of war watched this scene with envy that turned red in their eyes. Why should they get the reward? Wouldn't it be better if everyone just enjoyed being prisoners? Why should you get the reward? You traitor!

"Go and rest for now. If someone asks you questions later, just answer truthfully. You'll be allowed to go home tomorrow." Lin Hao arranged for him to leave, then walked forward excitedly.

Here, Liu Aniu was leading his sailors and another group of prisoners down, and the most conspicuous one among the prisoners was wearing the exact same clothes as Shen Wangshu.

"Haha, Brother Aniu, you've come at just the right time. If you were any later, these guys would have gotten away with it." Lin Hao stepped forward and gave Liu Aniu a big hug.

"It's all thanks to the young master's excellent command. There were only a few people on these ships, and they surrendered as soon as they saw our fleet. By the way, this is the high-ranking official we captured." Liu Aniu reached out and pulled Zhong Gui out from the crowd.

"I've found out. This guy's name is Zhong Gui, and he's one of the centurions leading this team." Liu Aniu was quite excited; this was the first time he had captured an officer from the government army.

"So it's Lord Zhong." Lin Hao politely cupped his hands in greeting, then said in a relaxed tone, "I'm sorry, Lord Zhong, please get used to it."

"You are so young, could you be the child prodigy from the Lin family back then?" Zhong Gui asked Lin Hao in surprise.

"Oh?" Lin Hao glanced at the other party with slight surprise. "Lord Zhong has also heard of my name?"

"Of course, a few years ago in Fuzhou, your reputation was legendary, but unfortunately now..." Zhong Gui sighed.

"Everyone has their own ambitions," Lin Hao shrugged indifferently. "As for Lord Zhong, now that you're a prisoner, would you be willing to surrender to me?"

"Hehe, please don't joke, sir." Zhong Gui straightened his back and said, "Although I am not very capable, I will never disgrace my ancestors. Since I have been defeated, there is only death to me. Surrender is absolutely out of the question."

"Your integrity is commendable, but I wonder how long you can maintain it." Lin Hao smiled casually, not annoyed, and waved for him to take him away.

"Brother Aniu, let's go see our spoils of war." Lin Hao said, leading Liu Aniu onto the sampan.

This time, they captured six ships at once, including two that were about the same size as the previous Fujian ships. Once they were equipped with sailors, their strength would immediately increase several times over. The only thing that worried Lin Hao was where to find so many skilled sailors.