Chapter 27: The Fierce Battle at the Dock (Part 1)

  "It's really disgusting." Lu Zizi complained while eating dried meat jerky.

  Chen Xin was chewing on tea leaves, not saying a word, his face still wearing that professional smile. Lu Zi didn't know what they had talked about at the bow of the ship that night, thinking it was just Zhao Dongjia giving Chen Xin some instructions. And Chen Xin seemed to be unaffected by that night's events, still getting along with the other sailors as usual. Since Zhao Dongjia still intended to recruit him as a son-in-law, he didn't worry about anything for the time being.

  This is the twentieth day on the ship, they passed by Korea's Jeju Island yesterday, not going through the Jeju Strait but continuing south from the west of Jeju Island to near the Nagasaki route. Today every lookout on the mast has been arranged with people constantly looking around. At this time a side wind blows in from the left side of the ship, sailors quickly adjust the sails and lower the right leeboard, reducing leeway. The side wind blows against the wide sail, causing the ship to sway slightly.

  Lu Zizi didn't know how to navigate, and Chen Xin wouldn't teach him how to use the sextant. Several times he tried to learn, but Hei Pao and others just brushed him off with a few words. Yesterday, after passing by Jizhou Island, he had a reference point and managed to find his direction. Knowing that this trip was still going smoothly, they were almost in Japan, without encountering any big storms or other pirates. Twenty days had passed, and he didn't know how the Ningjin war was going, nor did he know about Liu Min's clothing store.

  Almost all the sailors had arrived on deck, each with their weapons at hand, mainly knives, long spears and grappling hooks, as well as some flying claws. Wang Fugui and other gunners brought out two barrels of gunpowder and were loading the bullets into the large Frankish cannon. Zhu Guobin was still in the middle of the crow's nest, his eyes gleaming with spirit as he scanned the sea surface. His dark skin was covered in sweat, shining brightly in the sunlight. Zhao Dongjia also had a Japanese sword inserted at his waist, and together with Second Master Han Bin and others, they were looking out to sea from the side of the ship.

  In this era, maritime merchants could instantly transform into pirates at any suitable time without any technical obstacles. Especially on this ship, most of the cargo belonged to others, and if the sailors wanted a substantial income, the best source was plundering other ships. After passing through Tsushima Island, Nagasaki, Japan's only trading port, is not far away, and the possibility of encountering other merchant ships is very high.

  The atmosphere on the deck was noticeably different from usual, except for a few old sailors who were closing their eyes and resting, the other sailors were extremely excited and restless, constantly drawing out half of the knife in their hands and then putting it back. After Lu Zizi finished eating his dried meat, he seemed to have noticed it too, and just as he was about to ask Chen Xin, Chen Xin had already whispered to him: "Brother Lu, if we encounter other ships at sea today, there might be a fight, we're not here to risk our lives, unless absolutely necessary, don't rush to the front, preserving our lives is most important."

  Lu Chuanzong said with a big smile: "Alright, Brother Chen, don't worry, I'll sacrifice my life to keep you safe."

  Chen Xin was slightly moved, as Hai Gouz and Zhang Dahuai had also said the same thing before. Although he hadn't verified it, he believed they were sincere. In fact, what he had given them wasn't much, and there was even some deception involved. Their repayment had far exceeded his expectations. The simplicity of these people in this era was something he hadn't anticipated. If roles were reversed, he asked himself if he could do the same, and facing them, he couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

  Lu Baozi handed over the tobacco pipe, and Chen Xin had also started smoking in the past few days. The boat was just a small space, and after a long time, people were getting a bit irritable. Smoking did have a relaxing effect.

  Just as he was about to take over the flint and steel, Zhu Guobin suddenly shouted loudly from the middle mast.

  "There's a boat ahead!!"

  A loud noise suddenly erupted on the deck, and everyone stood up. Zhao Dongjia jumped onto the bridge in a few quick steps, and with one swift motion, he pushed back a sailor who was about to go to the toilet, and stood on the bridge himself, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, gazing in the direction that Zhu Guobin was pointing. In the distance, there indeed was a black dot on the surface of the sea, but it was still unclear. He ordered the two sailors steering the ship below: "Get closer and take a look."

  The two immediately adjusted the course, and Han Bin also led others to change the sail position to better borrow wind. The ropes on the deck were crisscrossed, and every adjustment of the sails required opening and retying, which was not an easy task. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and everyone was busy.

  Everything was adjusted, and the Fuship was already parallel to the sailboat in the distance, with Zhao Dongjia returning to the bow of the ship. He climbed up the foremast and issued commands from time to time, adjusting the direction as the two ships rapidly closed in on each other.

  Chen Xin occupied a position with a good view near the bow on the right side, and at this time, he could already see the general structure of the ship opposite. Several sailors squeezed forward behind him, thinking of coming to watch, Hei Pao and Er Dangjia Han Bin were by his side. Although Hei Pao and Han Bin did not get along with each other on ordinary days, they were now united in observing the outside situation, both of them were seriously watching.

  The ship was sailing from southwest to northeast, and must have been returning from the Chinese coast or the South Seas. It had four sails set, with a fore-and-aft sail at the bow, slanting forward, carrying a white soft sail, and an occidental-style square soft sail at the stern, but both soft sails were not very large. The two masts in the middle carried folding balance sails like those of a junk, without a crow's nest, and the bow was of the "Daiwa" type with wooden rails, just like a hybrid of an oriental and occidental sailing ship. People could be seen moving about on board, and there was a figure at the top of the mainmast, who seemed to be gazing in this direction.

  Han Bin spoke up against Hei Pao Dao: "It's a Zhu Yin ship from Japan."

  "That's right." Zhao Dongjia had already come down from the foremast and stood in front of them.

  Ben Yong also walked over: "Big brother, look at this cargo ship, there should be a lot of goods on it, want to rob it?"

  "Why bother doing it if you're not going to do it properly?"

  "Hei Pao suddenly turned his head and shouted loudly to the crowd on the deck: 'Get ready for business! Each of you will get 100 taels of silver if you board the ship, and another 100 taels for each head you cut off. Anyone who wants a share of the silver, shout out loud!'"

  "Get more flying claws, don't use fire bottles!"

  A cacophony of cheers and wails erupted on the deck, with weapons clashing loudly. Even Lü Zǐzi's hundred taels of silver couldn't match the excitement. After the sailors' shouts subsided, they began to prepare, placing long spears, grappling hooks, and flying claws on the starboard side. Many put on simple leather armor, while a few bird gunners started loading their guns with three or four coins worth of ammunition. Chen Xin wasn't too keen on those things; the explosive pellets were too weak.

  Wang Zugui and other gunners loaded the large flintlock, inserted an iron flash behind it, and then began to load the red cannon. The loading process was no different from that of a firelock, except that more tools were used. They removed the wooden wedges under the gun carriage, moved the barrel back, and Wang Zugui took a long-handled powder scoop, scooped up some gunpowder from the powder bucket, loaded it into the muzzle, then picked up an iron ball weighing about six or seven catties from the wooden tray on the ground, inserted it into the muzzle, and used a round-headed ramrod to compact it. Finally, they poured some ignition powder onto the touch hole, and the loading was complete. It seemed much faster than that of the flintlock musket.

  Chen Xin returned to the second floor, took his own shotgun, he knew that the red seal ship opposite, Tokugawa Ieyasu issued a red seal certificate for the development of trade, and at the same time issued it to Chinese merchants, its full name is called "Foreign Red Seal Certificate", only those who hold it can enter Nagasaki Port, all ships with a red seal certificate are called red seal ships.

  On the deck, chaos reigned. Chen Xin arrived at the third floor and didn't rush up immediately. He first loaded all the medicine balls next to the ladder hole and inserted that Japanese sword into his waist. Although he didn't want to fight to the death, he also had to be prepared. On the vast ocean, it was different from on land, there was nowhere to escape. When the critical moment really arrived, one could only fight with all their might.

  In an instant, Song Wenxian was suddenly seen in his cabin, sitting comfortably at a wooden table with his eyes half-closed, slowly drinking wine. He looked at Chen Xin and raised his cup with a smile: "Chen accountant, why are you in such a hurry? Do you want to drink some wine to boost your courage?"

  Chen Xin smiled, took the wine cup and drank it all in one gulp. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said to Song Wenxian: "Mr. Song is calm and composed, but I'm not yet at this level. If we lose the battle between the two ships, Mr. Song's goods will surely be lost. Why didn't you stop the big boss?"

  Song Wenxian still had his eyes half-closed, ignoring the commotion on the deck, and said to Chen Xin: "I'm just a cargo escort, I only take care of the goods, not the ship. Even if I were to swallow my pride and try to stop them, it would cut off everyone's source of wealth and earn me a lot of resentment. What's the point in that?"

  Chen Xindao said: "It's a matter of life and death, isn't Mr. Song afraid at all?"

  "Wealth and honor are won in the midst of danger, a great master has gone through hundreds of battles, it's unlikely to be defeated. If we win, everyone will benefit, even those below can get a share."

  Song Wenxian, a scholar, spoke without reserve. Chen Xin was taken aback and burst out laughing: "Indeed, sir, you are not ordinary. I admire you. If we were to engage in battle, perhaps it would be safer for you to retreat to the second floor."

  "Thanks for reminding me, Brother Chen." Song Wenxian smiled and nodded his head, then picked up the wine jug to pour more wine.

  When Chen Xin returned to the deck, the ship opposite felt that the Fu boat was not good and had changed direction, turning its head to the southeast direction. It seemed to want to escape, but the speed was not as fast as the Fu boat, and the distance was still gradually shortening. Now it's still morning, if they want to drag until night to get rid of them, it's probably very difficult.

  At this time, the wind direction has changed again. Compared with the navigation direction of the two ships, it is now a headwind, but not a complete headwind, slightly biased to the left. By adjusting the sail surface to be roughly parallel to the wind direction and slightly oversteering, some wind power can still be borrowed. The Fuship has also lowered its right-side washboard, and the three balanced longitudinal sails have shown their advantages at this time. The two soft sails in front of and behind the Japanese ship have completely counteracted each other and have been taken down, leaving only two hard sails.

  An hour later, the Fu ship had caught up to within a mile, and the performance gap between the two sides was obvious. Zhu Yin's ship probably also understood that it couldn't escape and didn't continue to turn around. The distance quickly narrowed to 200 steps, with the Fu ship slightly higher than the Zhu Yin ship. Chen Xin could clearly see the people on the opposing ship, several cannons, swaying long spears and grappling hooks, and the occasional flash of knives on the deck in the sunlight. On the main mast of the Zhu Yin ship, that person was still shouting loudly towards this side, but it was unknown what he was saying.

  As the distance drew closer, the sailors on the Fu ship held their weapons and shouted loudly, while the opposing ship also transmitted loud shouts. Listening to the noisy sounds, Chen Xin felt a bit tense, his palms slightly sweating, and he secretly observed Zhao Dongjia, seeing that his expression was calm and his eyes never left the opposite ship.

  The battle is imminent, Chen Xin went to the left side with fewer people to ignite the fuse. As he moved, his hand trembled slightly, and after knocking on the flint several times without igniting it, Lu Zidi came over to help, and the two of them finally lit the fuse. Lu Zidi had already drawn out both Japanese swords, looking at Chen Xin's reddening face, also tense.

  Wang Zugui and others had loaded the red cannon at the bow of the ship, another person held a forked ignition rod with two forks each wrapped with a burning fuse, after preparation, Wang Zugui turned his head to look at Zhao Dongjia, but Zhao Dongjia was still quietly looking at the opposite side, without any expression.

  The warship ahead might have also seen the cannons on this side, wanting to position itself sideways in front and use its broadside cannons to counterattack. Zhao Dongjia finally nodded slightly, and the fuse was dropped onto the gunpowder.

  A loud "boom" shook the air, the cannon recoiled violently, the deck trembled, and smoke billowed from the bow of the ship. The Fu boat continued to move forward, passing through the white smoke, the pungent smell of gunpowder filled Chen Xin's nostrils, his eyes stinging with tears. As the cannon fired, his heart pounded wildly in his chest, tightly gripping the handle of the shotgun, which was now slick with sweat.

  As soon as the cannonball passed by, a loud shout came from Zhao Dong's house: "Turn the rudder to the left!"

  The Fu ship quickly began to turn the rudder and adjust its sails, heading towards the direction diagonally in front of the Zhu Yin ship. The two ships sailed side by side while the Fu ship narrowed the distance, taking advantage of its speed. Every adjustment made by the Zhu Yin ship was in a passive state.

  "Boom", a white smoke burst out from the left side of the Zhu Yin ship, and a black iron ball whizzed past the bow of the Fu ship with a sharp whistle, falling far away into the sea on the left side. A loud "splash" sound was heard as it kicked up a large amount of water spray. At this time, the Fu ship had completed its turn, and Wang Fuji and others counterattacked with the red cannon on the right side. The iron shell fell behind the Zhu Yin ship, still without hitting it.

  "I wonder if I'll really die here today." As the sound of cannons echoed, Chen Xin's mind suddenly popped up with this question. He had traveled through several hundred years to the Ming Dynasty, would he silently die in a robbery? Dazed, he looked around and saw Zhao Dong's figure standing at the bow of the ship, unmoving amidst the swirling smoke.