Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

"Uncle Shen's news is quite good." Lin Hao nodded in satisfaction. What he lacked now was all kinds of craftsmen. If he bought everything from the shore, he would be easily restricted, and the government could easily control him.

However, if you have a complete self-sustaining system, you often only need to purchase raw materials, which makes things much easier.

"I'm glad it can help you, my dear nephew." Shen Wangshu said with a smile, then hesitated and tentatively asked, "Then... could you—"

"hehe."

Lin Hao smiled slightly, but shook his head. "The news is indeed good, but it also risks offending the Zhang family. This alone probably won't make up for the losses my Lin family has suffered."

His tone shifted, and he said meaningfully, "What Butler Shen gave us is far more valuable than this. It seems Uncle Shen still puts the Shen family first; even now, he's still trying to make other families take the blame."

Upon hearing this, Shen Wangshu inwardly cursed Butler Shen to the bone, but dared not show it on her face, and could only force a smile and explain:

"Nephew, you misunderstand. It's just that my Shen family doesn't have any such craftsmen."

"If there are no craftsmen, then what about supplies?"

Lin Hao followed up with a seemingly casual but incisive question: "October is almost here, has your Shen family prepared all the goods for your overseas shipment?"

"this……"

Shen Wangshu was taken aback, then realized, "It's almost all prepared, we're just waiting for the monsoon to arrive so we can set sail."

"Where is that thing kept?" Lin Hao continued to ask.

"In Xishan Village, north of Funing."

Shen Wangshu decided to throw caution to the wind, saying, "The entire village in that area is under the control of my Shen family. We even built a small dock there, where all the supplies for going out to sea are piled up."

At this point, he simply confessed everything, "Not only my Shen family, but also several other families in Fuzhou who are on good terms with us have stored their goods there. Right now, there are at least five boatloads of supplies gathered there, just waiting for the boats to arrive so we can load them immediately."

"That matches what Butler Shen said."

Lin Hao nodded, then changed the subject, "But Uncle Shen, as the naval commander, shouldn't you at least tell me something that Steward Shen doesn't know? Otherwise, how can I persuade my father to let you go?"

"Who doesn't know that Lin Hao, the head of the Lin family, calls the shots?" Shen Wangshu thought to herself, but dared not say it out loud. She could only bite the bullet and continue, "The Li family's goods are in Donghai Village, and the Liu family's are in Mazi Village..."

It must be said that Shen Wangshu's promotion to naval commander showed his extensive knowledge. The wealthy families in Fujian all went to sea and basically had similar places along the coast.

He simply poured out everything he knew, even detailing the routes frequently used by some prominent maritime merchants and the transit islands they stopped at.

But a sliver of hope still lingered in his heart—

If Lin Hao can't resist taking action and robs all these places, then once the families behind them join forces, not to mention Lin Hao, several of them will be wiped out.

"How much fighting strength does your water fortress still have?"

Lin Hao suddenly asked, "How many people? How many ships?"

"The entire Fenghuomen Water Fortress has only one sentry, less than a thousand men."

Shen Wangshu honestly replied, "There aren't many who are truly capable of fighting. This time, only a third of our manpower has come out."

He paused, then added, "As for the boats, there are even fewer. Most of them are old and dilapidated, and sink as soon as they go out to sea. These six are already the best-preserved batch in the water fortress."

"In other words,"

Lin Hao's eyes lit up slightly. "After what happened to you, the Feng Huo Sect's water fortress is basically ruined now?"

"That's true. Twenty years ago, the water fortress had 2 government troops and dozens of ships that could go out to sea, but now many of them have been sold off by the higher-ups, and more than half of the soldiers have deserted." Shen Wangshu said with a face full of resentment. If the water fortress had the strength it had twenty years ago, it could have wiped out a pirate like Lin Hao with a flick of its wrist, and he wouldn't have had to become a prisoner.

"What about the small water fortress in Dinghai in the south? What's the situation there?" Lin Hao then asked.

"Hmph, our water fortress is right under the nose of the governor, and it's already like this. Xiaocheng water fortress is even worse off. According to some news we've heard, they're not even as good as us. It's hard to say whether they can even muster six complete ships now."

"Oh?"

Lin Hao seemed thoughtful. "In that case, Uncle Shen, how do you think the government will treat our Lin family after this?"

"What else can we do?"

Shen Wangshu sighed, "Given the current situation, it's no longer something that Fu Ning can handle; it will definitely be reported to the governor."

"Given the governor's style over the years, those he can't win against are usually appeased. I'm afraid that soon someone will come to appease the Lin family, and then you can go back to live on the shore, with all the past wiped clean."

"Heh, surrender." Lin Hao sneered. There's no benefit to surrendering now; on the contrary, it will cause the hard-won troops to completely fall apart. Only a fool would surrender.

Even if they wanted to be granted amnesty, they would wait until their own power was greater and their organizational structure was more mature, only then would they have the leverage to negotiate with the imperial court.

At most, it might annoy the government, but it's far from being a problem.

After chatting with Shen Wangshu for a while and getting him to know almost everything he knew, Lin Hao nodded in satisfaction. He then gestured to a boy who came up to him with a stack of papers covered in writing.

Lin Hao took it and examined it carefully before handing it to Shen Wangshu with satisfaction.

"Uncle Shen, take a look. If it's correct, just sign and put your fingerprint on it. That way, I won't make things difficult for you."

Shen Wangshu took the paper and almost threw it away with trembling hands. It was filled with his own recounting of the inner workings between the coastal families and the imperial court.

Once you sign and put your fingerprint on this document, it's basically a pledge of allegiance. No matter when, if Lin Hao takes out this document, he'll basically have no way out. The government might let him go, but those families will kill him.

Shen Wangshu was still hesitating when a calligraphy brush was shoved into his hand. At the same time, Lin Hao's voice rang in his ear, "Uncle Shen, sign this, and we'll be on the same side."

Shen Wangshu was torn between his inner struggle and his will to survive. In the end, the will to survive prevailed, and he resigned himself to his fate by signing his name and pressing his fingerprint on the document.

Seeing the other party sign, Lin Hao was quite satisfied and casually asked, "Uncle Shen, do you still want to go back to being the commander?"

Shen Wangshu was stunned for a moment, and said incredulously, "Go back? Become a captain? How is that possible? My entire army was wiped out. I can't escape even if I go back. I can only eke out a living here. I hope my nephew can give me some food."

"Heh, that's not necessarily true. What were your orders from the government?"

"The Lin family colluded with pirates to plunder the county town, and they want us to go out to sea to wipe out the pirates and arrest the Lin family members at the same time," Shen Wangshu said after a moment of surprise.

"That's right, you see, Uncle Shen, your mission is to wipe out the pirates, and our Lin family is just a side job." Lin Hao said with a smile, "Before you came out, wasn't your family's plan for you to wipe us out and take down Zhou Daye along the way? In other words, the government wants the pirates' heads, but your Shen family wants our Lin family's lives."

Shen Wangshu immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Indeed, this was what Ningde County had reported. So, officially, they were indeed trying to wipe out pirates. Only those who knew the inside story understood that the Lin family was behind this whole affair from beginning to end.

At the same time, Shen Wangshu also keenly realized Lin Hao's meaning. When passing by Shuangfeng Island before, Butler Shen went there on the way and found that Zhou Daye was gone. Now it seems that he has been dealt with by Lin Hao.

If I can get this week's big eye's head and then pin this pirate on him, wouldn't things take a turn for the better?

Shen Wangshu looked up at Lin Hao's smiling face and finally made up her mind.

"Nephew."

"I just remembered something that's...very important to the Lin family."