Each of the big fortune ships that Pang Gang cashed in could be equipped with forty cannons, twenty on each side. When the ten big fortune ships opened fire collectively, two hundred Napoleon bronze cannons roared at the same time, and hundreds of iron bullets were fired.
Maru flew towards the ship that was escaping quickly.
Seeing the rumbling sound of cannons not far away and the dense iron pellets flying towards them, the sailors of the caravan who were escaping quickly were all stunned. There were also experienced sailors among them. After seeing such a situation,
Quickly shout to your companions to avoid the shells.
"Quick, quick, they are firing, you idiots, get down quickly, get down quickly!"
"Boss, boss, they are firing, what should we do?" Sun Laoer, with a dark complexion, asked his boss in panic.
"Crazy, these sailors are crazy, they actually fired." The boss standing on the side of the ship seemed not to hear his deputy's question, looking at the projectiles flying towards him in the distance, his face revealed
With a look of disbelief, he muttered to himself with a livid complexion.
This was the most unbelievable thing he had ever encountered in his life. An army called the Ming Navy actually fired at them.
"Master, get down quickly!"
At this time, the deputy on the side threw down the owner who was in a daze, and they both lay down on the deck. When they lay down, several iron pellets fell on the boat, weighing six or seven kilograms.
The iron pellet was packed with powerful kinetic energy and hit the deck of the ship. Wood chips flew everywhere on the ship, and the screams of the sailors could be heard from time to time.
"Boom..."
An iron pellet hit a mast, and the mast, which was as thick as an ocean bowl, was broken on the spot. The long mast collapsed, and the sail and the heavy mast also hit the cabin, causing chaos.
"Boss, we can't go on like this, we will be sunk if we continue like this." Sun Laoer dragged his boss to the other side of the ship and anxiously suggested to his boss: "We can't run anymore, they are going to kill us."
Let’s fight to death.”
"Then what do you think we should do?" The boss had no idea at this time. The arrogance just now had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a look of panic on his face.
"Master, stop the boat quickly, otherwise we will be totally ruined if it's too late."
"Okay, stop the boat!" The owner gritted his teeth and the muscles on his face trembled. However, he quickly chose the latter in the simple multiple-choice question of money or life. After all, there are still very few people who want money rather than life.
of.
As the shipowner's order was issued, a sailor risked his life and climbed to the main mast to blow a huge white flag. The white flag fluttering in the sea wind also served as an order to other ships.
Following the owner's order, the five ships slowly docked. At the same time, the originally intensive sound of artillery also stopped.
"Sir, the ship in front has stopped. Commander Li asked us what to do?" At this time, a young man wearing sailor's clothes ran up to Pang Gang and asked.
"Idiot, there's no need to ask. Hurry up and pull the boat over and arrest them all. Do you still need me to teach you?" Looking at the excited and trembling young man in front of him, Pang Gang felt helpless.
He scolded, "Xie Jintian, you, a naval engineer, have to hone yourself a lot. Do you have to report such a simple thing?"
Pang Gang looked at the young man in front of him who was only in his twenties and had been training for less than half a year. He felt helpless. If he had joined his own army and asked for instructions like this during combat, he would have been whipped by him.
I was beaten to the ground, but this was the navy, and it was also their first time to fire live ammunition at a ship on the sea, so it was better to be cautious.
Thinking of this, Pang Gang felt a little aggrieved. If half a year of training in the army had already trained the sergeants into a force with forbidden laws, why would it be so troublesome in the navy? Half a year later, the trainees did not perform normal sailing drills.
Outside the sails, they didn't learn much about combat skills. This was one of the reasons why Pang Gang asked them to shoot live ammunition at those ships.
"Those Somali pirates in later generations knew that they would wait until the target docked and start boarding the ship to rob it. How could my soldiers be so stupid?" Looking at Xie Jintian who was running towards the gun position in a hurry, Pang Gang couldn't help but feel a little depressed.
It seems that these people still need more practice.
"Come on, let's move closer too!" Pang Gang waved his hand and ordered the flagship to move forward.
By the time Pang Gang approached the five merchant ships, they were already surrounded by Qingzhou's warships. At this moment, sergeants with guns were coming on board one after another to inspect them.
Pang Gang came to one of the most damaged merchant ships. This was the ship that had taken the lead in hoisting the white flag just now.
When Pang Gang boarded the ship, all the sailors on the merchant ship had been escorted to the deck. Pang Gang came to the deck with more than a dozen soldiers and asked: "Which of you is the owner of these ships?"
As soon as Pang Gang finished speaking, a tall but fat middle-aged man squeezed forward, nodded and bowed with a smile: "My lord, my lord, I am the owner of these ships. My surname is Liang. I just had Duoyou."
I'm sorry for the offence, please forgive me."
"Oh, are you the owner of these ships?" Pang Gang stared at him with a half-smile but not a smile, and then said, "You are very courageous. How dare you attack the checkpoint?"
Do you hear our flags and shouts?"
"Sir, we...we...we don't know if you are really a Ming Dynasty navy master, otherwise we wouldn't dare to escape." The boss defended desperately, while his eyes were dripping.
Turn around.
"Haha, that's a pretty smooth answer." Pang Gang sneered, "It's not that you don't know, but you're afraid that we'll blackmail you if you stop."
A trace of red flashed across the fat old face of the owner, but he quickly disappeared, and he quickly said with a smile: "What's the matter? We have always paid taxes in accordance with the rules of the court. As long as we get on the dock, we will pay taxes."
pay."
"Oh, really?" Pang Gangpi said with a smile: "By the way, I forgot to ask, what kind of goods are you carrying on these ships?"
The owner said with a smile: "Sir, what I'm doing this time is silk. It's a small business, so naturally you don't take it seriously."
"Oh, five ships of silk can be considered a small business. I have learned a lot." Pang Gang said with a sarcastic smile: "Well, you can pay taxes to me after we calculate the amount.
"
"What, pay taxes to you?" The boss was stunned. He had never seen anyone paying taxes like this in his long time in business.
"Sir, you seem to be the Qingzhou navy, why did you come to the border of Hangzhou to collect taxes?" The boss's words hinted at the suspicion that Pang Gang had reached out to fish across the border.
Pang Gang would not pay attention to this businessman's nonsense. Soon, the soldiers counted the silk on the ship and filled five ships. The silk on each ship was worth two hundred thousand taels of silver.
While listening to the quantities reported by the sergeants, Pang Gang sneered: "Haha, Boss Liang, the small business you mentioned is really not small. The five ships are loaded with goods worth one million taels of silver. Okay.
Okay, I won’t talk nonsense to you anymore, just pay the tax of 200,000 taels for the goods worth one million taels!"
"What, two hundred thousand taels!" The boss named Liang almost fainted after hearing this. He almost jumped up immediately, "Sir, when did the taxes in Ming Dynasty become so heavy? This is a 20% tax.
!”
"Is it heavy? I remember that the land rent you collected from tenants has never been less than 50%. I only charge you 20% of the tax. Is it very heavy? Well, I will withhold these goods first. What are you waiting for?
When the time comes, I will hand over the money to you and I will return it to you. Someone, send these people back to the dock!"
"Sir, no, I have to go back to deliver the goods, my lord!" The boss didn't see the situation good, and continued to bargain with Pang Gang out of habit.
Pang Gang was not interested in talking nonsense with him, and with a wave of his hand, he asked the sergeants to put the boss named Liang and all the sailors on the boat onto the boat and drive them away.
The boss surnamed Liang did not expect that the general would fall out with him at any time. There was no room for relaxation. Soon, hundreds of sailors and their crews on the five cargo ships were taken to Hangzhou by sergeants in small boats.
On the dock.
What happened in front of the pier quickly caused a sensation in the city of Hangzhou. As the first "victim", the merchant surnamed Liang immediately ran to the governor's Yamen and cried to Chen Yadong about Pang Gang's "atrocities."
"Lawless, lawless!" Wu Yadong was so angry that he immediately called Song Xinghe, the new commander of Hangzhou troops and horses, and ordered him to send troops immediately to arrest the audacious Pang Gang.
Song Xinghe shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Sir, it's not that you are unwilling to send troops because of your humble position, but because you are weak-minded. You can't let the soldiers swim to the sea to catch them, right?"
"Uh..." Wu Yadong suddenly remembered that in the Ming Dynasty, except for Nanjing, there was no longer an established navy.
Wu Yadong frowned and said, "Then can we ask Nanjing for help and ask them to send a navy to destroy this group of rebels?"
Song Xinghe said bitterly: "My lord, I'm afraid not. Not to mention whether the Nanjing War Department will order the navy to rush to help me in Hangzhou, but even if the Nanjing War Department gives the order, Nanjing's navy, which has not added a ship for hundreds of years, still can't do it."
Whether he can do this or not is yet to be seen."
"Then I will report to the emperor and ask the court to send water...send..." At this point, Wu Yadong couldn't go on. There are no navy in the court now.
Sitting on the chair slumped, Wu Yadong never expected that this little warrior, who was not in his eyes at first, would create such a big problem for him, but now he was forced into a corner.