Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 215: Chapter 52 The Birth of the Legendary Pirate Queen

“What on earth are you trying to say, Lord Zhao?”

Bishop Tang Ruola kept his composure.

“It’s simple; if your country truly wishes to assist the authorities in suppressing the pirates, you should follow our tactical arrangements. Having so many warships enter the port constitutes a considerable risk, please understand our predicament.”

Zhao Guangyi was neither servile nor overbearing.

Bishop Tang Ruola narrowed his eyes slightly. Ever since the seventeenth century, when the Portuguese King proclaimed that the bishop’s status was above the governor, as well as any local princes and high officials, he had always been the one to mediate the conflicts between the officials and the Portuguese.

“I and Lord Zhao are old acquaintances, too,” he said.

“Over the years, there have always been frictions between the official customs and ours. I have always been able to hear your name from the mouths of several of my subordinates.”

Bishop Tang Ruola counted on his fingers.

“In ’04, I arrested twenty-four Jesuit priests, and you came with men before I returned, directly taking away four Chinese among them.”

“In May ’06, under your jurisdiction, a Macau-born soldier killed three Chinese people with a musket. We requested the authorities to allow three days for us to handle it. You did not permit it and executed him immediately.”

“To enjoy the emperor’s bounty, one must bear the emperor’s concerns.”

Zhao Guangyi’s eyelids drooped.

“Yes, yes,” he said, “I just wanted to say…”

Bishop Tang Ruola’s tone was somber, “I’ve always felt that you… are such a nuisance.”

Bang~

A hole bored by a bloody gunshot pierced the blue official uniform. Zhao Guangyi collapsed weakly, blood spattered on the ground, causing an uproar in the room!

Zheng Da opened his mouth to cry out but was silenced by a lead bullet piercing through his throat, staining the quail pattern on his chest with fresh blood.

Shouts of alarm, curses, cries of anger, the glint of blades, and the sound of gunfire all became entangled chaos. At once, the dock was in an uproar.

…

“I have heard that the coastal naval forces are mostly composed of the old and frail. The armaments are defective, and the warships have thin planks and old nails; they break upon impact and are far inferior to the foreigners’ fierce and robust artillery. How can we resist such a force? If things continue to deteriorate, how can we maintain the border’s dignity and security at Weiyuan?”

——In the fourteenth year of the Jiaqing era, Lin Yuanfu, before taking office as Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, wrote to the emperor during the night.

…

In June, British Captain Bast with his fleet of twelve Vasco warships bombarded the Xinfeng docks on the day they entered Guangzhou, sinking nearly a hundred government ships. In just one day, they seized all surrounding batteries. In three days, they destroyed the Guangzhou official residence and breached the city walls. In less than five days, Guangzhou was conquered.

Governor Ye Shanren died for his country, and the General of Guangzhou, Fulin, fled, with his whereabouts unknown.

Fujian Green Camp soldiers from Fengtian and Jiangzhe rushed to the rescue but were firmly intercepted by the Portuguese sailors at every turn, leading to significant losses and chaos along the entire South China coast.

The government boats, which boasted nine hundred patrol warships, were caught unprepared for sudden warfare; the larger warships of the past had been dismantled, and the remaining vessels had been left to rot on the beaches, eroded by wind and rain.

The Red-haired were ferocious, and the situation arose so abruptly that the government found itself without any means to retaliate…

…

Li Yan hurried back to Lantau Island amidst great turmoil, unwilling to believe the news he heard.

To open one’s door to welcome a thief; it was no more than this.

Also, on the day that Li Yan returned to Lantau Island, he had no time to deal with the weeping Zheng Xiu’er, who wished for the return of her magic books or with Lin Yuanfu, who had suddenly fallen ill and hadn’t eaten for two days. This was all because of the letter sent by Cai Qian’s messenger.

Stripped of its courtesies and rhetoric and translated into the most furious tone of General Fulin.

“The ransom, I’ll pay! I’ll pay more!”

“I won’t pursue the pirates anymore! Offer amnesty! Salaries, titles, reputation, whatever you want, I’ll let go!”

“Not just the Red Flag, but all pirates of the South Seas, as long as you drive the Red Haired Devils out of Guangzhou, any condition you propose, I will agree!”

“Send troops to save me! No, send troops to save the nation!”

…

In the early June of the fourteenth year of Jiaqing, Cai Qian, the Great Pirate, widely issued invitations.

Utilizing the influence he had built over the years by providing outlets for pilfered goods and supplying money and weapons to pirates in the South Seas, he called together the Red Flag Gang’s Tianbao, An Nan’s Demon Thief Zhang He, Treasure Ship King Lin Ajin, Yishi Zhufen, the Yellow Flag Gang’s Xu Longsi, the Three Flags Anti-Red Alliance Army, Phoenix Tail, Short Ox, Red Head, White Bottom bandits, to assemble with the Cai Clan’s Tianbo Division at sea, to deliberate on a crucial matter.

What’s the matter?

One, the Red Haired Devils want to take over Guangdong, do we care or not?

The other is, if we do care, which family will lead?

“If the skin does not exist, how can the hair adhere to it?”

Even the usually mild-mannered Cai Qian laid down a harsh ultimatum this time: “Those who come are friends, if we can’t agree, we part on good terms. But if you don’t come! If you don’t show me this respect! Then it means war! I guarantee that no one in the whole South Seas will dare to sell you a grain of rice, a single bullet. The Cai family are businessmen, we stand by our word, and this time is no exception!”

…

“Cai Qian, that lackey of the officials! No good will come from this!”

“Why must we go, what the hell does he think he is?”

“Not go? Why shouldn’t we? Within the Five Flags, it’s Lantau Island that calls the shots, and this time, it’s us who will have the final say!”

“The issue now is not whether we’re going or not, it’s how many men and ships we’re bringing!”

“No doubt about it, we’ve got to shine up the hardware we’ve amassed over the years! Line up the cannons, sail the big ships out,”

“You bloody fool, we’re there to talk, not to fight, why would you bring along ships and cannons. Want to stick your neck out?”@@novelbin@@

“Zhang He and we bashed our damn brains out, the leader of the Three Flags is still in our hands, do you think they’ll bring fewer men?!”

The hall erupted into a confused clamor, but essentially, going was a consensus, yet the question was, how many men and ships to bring? And who shall go?

Any discerning person could see that this was a sea change in the South Seas like none in a hundred years.

With Guangdong fallen, pirates flocked to the South Seas, looking for someone who could call the shots.

Whoever stood at this critical juncture and became the leader of all the great thieves, in a sense, laid the foundation for unifying the South Seas and becoming the true Pirate King of the South Seas!

While several hall leaders argued enthusiastically, Li Yan remained silent, Chaoyi had voiced that they must go, and then said no more.

“Chaoyi,”

When Li Yan spoke up, everyone immediately fell silent.

“You said we should go, so tell me, who should I bring?”

Chaoyi fell into a prolonged silence; both were hesitant about the same matter.

“No matter who I bring…” Chaoyi made up his mind.

This was also what the lady had hoped for, right?

He took a deep breath: “Xiu’er must go.”

Li Yan nodded, “Continue.”

Chaoyi cautiously glanced at Li Yan, “Xiu’er is of the Zheng bloodline, through the entire South Seas, no family dares to say ‘no’ to the descendants of the Lord of the State. Taking him is like having a banner…”

“Not a banner,”

Li Yan interrupted Chaoyi, finally making a decision.

“We’re going!” Li Yan stood up: “We don’t need many, I’ll choose! This time, there is only one goal.”

His expression was resolute: “To place Xiu’er at the head of the Great Alliance.”

While Chaoyi stayed behind to guard home, Li Yan selected twenty of the fastest patrol boats, two hundred cannons, a hundred elite Gaoli ghosts, nearly a thousand strong youths, and over fifty descendants of Wupozi,

As for Cha Xiaodao, Lady Dan, Black Rider Ghost, Xue Ba, and Xiu’er, no need to say more.

Beyond these, Li Yan brought one more person with him.

Lin Yuanfu.

[You have triggered an additional Yan Fu event: The Rise of the Legendary Pirate Queen]

[Content: Assist Zheng Xiu in becoming the leader of the Great Pirate Alliance and successfully repel the Red-haired Men.]

[Evaluation Criteria: Based on the scale of the alliance and the results of driving out the Red-haired Men.]