Chapter 760
Doubt
Chapter 760 Doubt
Pan Yun nodded.
Xuanmiao's heart stirred slightly, and he asked, "What cargo is on the ship?"
Pan Yun paused, his gaze sweeping over the three dilapidated ships and the Ming Dynasty flag on the deck. His mind raced: "They've loaded two hundred thousand taels of silver..."
Xuanmiao stared at her intently: "Who knows about this?"
Pan Yun said, "Even Yang Shan doesn't know. Only some people in the mining area know, as well as Cao Jixiang of the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Office and a few of his men."
Pan Yun grew increasingly suspicious: "Does Fourth Senior Sister suspect they've mistaken someone for someone else and boarded the wrong boat?"
Xuanmiao thought for a moment and asked, "Is all 200,000 taels of silver yours?"
Pan Jun grinned and said, "No, they are all to be offered as tribute to the imperial court."
Xuanmiao calmly replied, "What's the difference between that and robbing the delegation's official ship?"
Pan Yun's voice was chilling: "There is no difference."
The two sisters exchanged a glance, both determined to find out who was hiding behind the scenes.
"If you don't catch the venomous snake in the gutter and remove its fangs, it will eventually attack and bite you again."
Although Wang Cong and his crew slowed down, they still managed to get close to the island.
Unsure of the specifics, they changed direction, wanting to get far away from the area.
Miaozhen then climbed up to the top of the ship with the flag and waved it at them.
Wang Cong couldn't understand her flag signals, but he could see people through her telescope, so he immediately said, "Move closer."
When the officers and soldiers of the mission saw the Ming Dynasty flag on the large ship, they embraced each other and wept bitterly.
That's great, they won't be stranded on the outer islands.
Two large ships docked, and seven or eight small boats were launched. They immediately joined the operation to retrieve the bodies from the sea.
Don't be fooled, not everyone who falls into the sea is a corpse.
They not only rescued many officers and soldiers who were still alive, but also a pirate who had been knocked unconscious.
Although he was dizzy, he clung to a floating board.
As soon as he detected the person's breath, Tao Ji immediately stepped forward and pried open the person's mouth. Instead of treating the person first, he removed the poison sac from the person's mouth before attempting to save them.
Yang Shan arrived in a hurry, and Pan Yun gave Wang Cong a wink.
Wang Cong immediately stepped forward to stop Yang Shan and bowed: "My lord, I am Wang Cong. I wrote to you before, inviting you to set off together."
Yang Shan paused slightly: "You are Pan Yun's nephew, Wang Cong, who is temporarily in charge of the Silver Mountain for the imperial court?"
"It is indeed I, sir. Please allow me a moment to speak."
Yang Shan glanced at the pirates who had been treated by Tao Ji, then turned and walked aside with Wang Cong to whisper to each other.
Wang Cong stated that they had important items on board, which could be taken back to China, but the items could not be left to wander around on the ship.
Moreover, the ship's load capacity is also a problem. It would be best to repair the ship, otherwise they would have to sacrifice some things.
Yang Shan glanced at their boat and asked, "Did you bring a lot of cargo?"
Wang Cong: "Returning home laden with spoils."
Yang Shan frowned slightly and said, "These are all very important things here; we can't just throw them away."
Wang Cong: "So we need to repair the ship first, and then we can talk about it if we can't repair it."
Wang Cong inquired, "I wonder if we could ask someone in the area for help?"
Yang Shan pondered: "I will write to the King of Ryukyu, but don't have too high hopes."
Because they had also been attacked on land, Yang Shan was no longer very trusting of Ryukyu. But he didn't expect that the Ryukyu king, upon receiving his plea for help, would immediately send people to assist him, even bringing two more ships. If their ships were unable to sail, the Ryukyu fleet would escort them back.
The officials who came were particularly sincere, bringing along the Ryukyu king's nephew. The Ryukyu king had no sons, and his nephew was also a prince. The Ryukyu officials said that their young prince could personally escort the envoy back.
They had many wounded, so Yang Shan decided to leave behind some of the seriously wounded, while the officers and soldiers who died in battle would be cremated and their ashes taken back.
In order to return to Beijing as soon as possible, he decided to change his flight route and go directly back to Tianjin.
The Ryukyu side had no objection to this, stating that they would listen to Yang Tianshi in everything, as long as they could serve the superior nation.
Pan Yun sighed with admiration, "The King of Ryukyu is indeed grateful for the Emperor's grace. This is also a connection between Lord Yang and Ryukyu. It seems that Lord Yang's decision to return to Quanzhou was a wise one; if he had returned to Tianjin, he would have missed out..."
Pan Yun paused here, her body stiffening.
Yang Shan murmured, "Yes, we passed through Ryukyu on our way here to appease Ryukyu on imperial orders. But on our return, we made a last-minute decision to go back to Quanzhou from Ryukyu instead of going back to Tianjin via the Yellow Sea. Did these people find out about our fleet beforehand, or do they have some other plan?"
Yang Shan glanced at Pan Yun, then at Wang Cong, and finally at the two large ships behind them before turning and hurriedly leaving.
It seems he's going to urgently interrogate those two pirates.
Seeing Pan Yun's annoyed expression, Xue Shao reminded her, "You can stop making that face now that the person is far away."
Xuanmiao turned and left: "It's too fake."
Pan Jun didn't care at all, still looking annoyed, but muttered to herself, "As long as it works."
Sure enough, Yang Shan, who had just finished interrogating the pirates, changed his mind again. He decided to team up with Wang Cong and others to return to Quanzhou, and then from Quanzhou to Tianjin.
Yang Shan said in a deep voice, "We'll take the sea route entirely. I want to see just how difficult the sea routes of my Great Ming Dynasty really are!"
He didn't press Wang Cong about what he had on board, but instead ordered the Ryukyu fleet to escort Wang Cong's two ships in the middle.
After their three official ships were repaired, two of them were still usable. So he entrusted the broken ship and the seriously wounded soldiers to Ryukyu, and took the two official ships with knife and fire marks with him on the journey, even if it was slower and the load was lighter.
Pan Yun stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the leading ships, and smiled slightly: "I wonder if there will be any more pirate raids next?"
Tao Ji: "You sound really looking forward to it."
Pan Yun: "I like to cut through the Gordian knot and I hate this kind of drizzling rain and endless sneak attacks the most."
Xue Shao: "I'm afraid that even if the sea ban is lifted, these schemes will not stop."
Pan Yun then turned to Wang Cong and asked, "Did you hear that? Countless conspiracies and schemes. Are you sure you want to get involved?"
Wang Cong was very excited: "Entering the world is also a way of cultivating the Tao. I am not stupid or clumsy, so why can't I make this money? Junior Uncle, the maritime trade in the Ming Dynasty is currently in a state of chaos. If I can clear the fog and see the truth, wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Mysterious: "Aren't you afraid of dying?"
Wang Cong: "I will die without regret!"
Xuanmiao and Pan Jun silently agreed, but their eyes were shining.
If the children in the family want to do it, why can't they scout it out for them?
The sea is vast, and due to the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban, a boat would occasionally appear on the sea, where there were usually not even a single fisherman.
The boats were all small, and they only rocked from a distance. When they saw this fleet of eight boats, they only watched for a while before leaving.
Yang Shan used his telescope to observe every day and saw small boats appearing in the surrounding area for three consecutive days. His face darkened.
He sent a message to the rear ship, instructing them to be on high alert at night and, from now on, to have half the crew maintain a state of wartime readiness at night.
All ships strictly adhered to the regulations.
Yang Shan turned around and went to the lower deck to look at the two pirates.
(End of this chapter)