Chapter 412 When the Ship Starts to Leak

However, this risk was worth taking! When Lin Baiguang came to Nanri, he took the outer ocean route, which took more than six days one way. In ancient times, there were no telegrams or telephones for instant communication. Once the fleet set off from Nanri, Zhu Cailao could only wait. It would take at least fifteen days for him to realize something was wrong.

Even if he discovered something was amiss, he wouldn't know exactly what the problem was: whether the ships had sunk in an accident, been robbed, or gone off course... The various uncertainties of navigation would make it difficult for him to make up his mind to deal with Lin Baiguang immediately. Lin Baiguang estimated that from the moment the fleet set sail, he would be safe for at least fifteen days.

Fifteen days was enough to do many things. Fifteen days was also enough for Zhu Cailao to run out of grain and be forced to launch an attack.

Thinking of this, he began to write the letter.

The content of the letter was very simple, merely informing the Executive Committee of the agreement reached, and writing down the conditions and requirements of both parties. At the same time, he informed Lingao that Zhu Cailao would immediately use the loan to buy grain, and requested them to sell the grain as soon as the ships arrived.

The letter was straightforward and used no code words. This was to gain Zhu Cailao's trust—he would inevitably inspect it carefully before letting the messenger take it. Therefore, Lin Baiguang did not use any invisible ink or ciphers; he didn't know how sophisticated the ancients were at detecting secret writing. As for ciphers, although the other party might not be able to crack them, seeing them would naturally arouse suspicion.

He believed that Ran Yao and the others had enough intelligence to understand the meaning conveyed in his letter. After writing, he blew the ink dry, put it in an envelope, and wrote no inscription. He handed it to the young pirate outside and asked him to give it to the messenger going to Lingao.

If Zhu Cailao wants to study it, let him study it, Lin Baiguang laughed to himself.

At noon, Shi Shisi brought people to deliver the meal. The food was as exquisite as always. Lin Baiguang found it hard to believe that this was the food for an army that was about to run out of grain: it was still four dishes: fire-singed ox scalp, blanched duck tongues, clear soup bird's nest, and steamed abalone. Apart from slight differences in seasoning compared to modern times, these dishes would not be inferior even in a large modern restaurant.

"It's too wasteful for me to eat such a table of good food alone. Since there is food and wine, Brother Shi, why don't you drink with me?"

"Alright," Shi Shisi was not a person to be coy, especially since such food had become almost impossible to get on Nanri Island recently. Although he was a mid-level leader who had enough to eat, he certainly didn't eat this exquisitely.

"I'll go get a few jars of good wine," Shi Shisi said and was about to go out.

"Since we are drinking, the more people the better."

"That is naturally good, but—" He stared at the food and wine on the table, showing a hesitant look.

Lin Baiguang laughed: "No matter, Nanri Island is surrounded by the sea; is it possible we can't catch a few nets of fish and shrimp?" He fished out a small piece of silver from his waist, about two taels. "Brother Shi, take this to buy some, and find a cook to prepare it—I see the cooks here have very good skills."

"Where is the need for so much?" Shi Shisi refused to take his silver. "For fish and shrimp, just telling the little ones to go catch them is enough. They are all from fishing families; it's as easy as turning over a hand. As for the cook, five mace is enough—I can afford that! We can't hire Boss Zhu's personal cook, but the ones from the small kitchens will do."

Shi Shisi refused to take the silver and went off on his own. Lin Baiguang cleared the table himself and took out dried meat, preserved fruits, and other dry provisions suitable for drinking from his luggage.

About half an hour later, Shi Shisi returned with people and added seven or eight dishes to the table, all seafood. They were nothing more than razor clams, oysters, prawns, and seaweed—the most common foods on this island.

"There is only this seafood..." Shi Shisi rubbed his hands with some embarrassment. "Even if we wanted to find a few eggs, there's nowhere to look."

"It's already very sumptuous!"

"I invited a few friends I'm usually close with; they also wanted to meet you, brother!" Shi Shisi smiled with squinted eyes. "Everyone wants to go to Lingao to experience the Australian foreign treats." He laughed loudly as he spoke.

Lin Baiguang laughed: "What difficulty is there in that? Once the matters here are settled, just come over. Brother will play the host for everything!"

As they were speaking, another four or five people came in one after another, of varying heights and builds. Shi Shisi introduced them one by one; they were all "managers" of various branches, as well as small leaders in Zhu Cailao's central army. Everyone exchanged greetings and took their seats.

Shi Shisi had people carry in a few more jars of wine.

"This is real Lanling wine I got from a ship a few years ago." Shi Shisi was in high spirits, smashing the mud seals and pouring wine for everyone one by one.

After a round of toasts, everyone began to chat idly, talking mostly about the fresh Australian gadgets in Lingao. Sure enough, these people held an extremely strong interest in the AVs Shi Shisi had watched in Lingao.

From their mouths, Lin Baiguang learned that Zhu Cailao had long been interested in the Crossing Group. When the Gou Family Manor was destroyed, Zhu Cailao had once considered moving his entire army to Lingao, but he held back out of fear of the Crossing Group's "giant ships" and "fast boats," changing his plan to sending Shi Shisi to "fish." Later, Zhu Cailao got bogged down in the chaotic war with Liu Xiang and had no mind for other things.

That really was a close call! Lin Baiguang thought that if it weren't for their iron ship having enough deterrence, plus the chaos on the southeast coast, if Zhu Cailao had really launched his whole army to attack back then, the Crossing Group, which had not yet established a firm foothold, might not have been wiped out, but heavy losses would have been unavoidable.

With more wine, loose talk began.

"It really is easier to be an official if you have someone in the court," Shi Shisi showed a look of indignation.

"Oh? Who has offended Brother Shi?"

"Hmph, originally, I should have been the one to go to Lingao to buy grain. I've been there twice, I know the way, and I understand your rules there. But they insisted on swapping in that idiot He Xin! Just because he's the cousin of the concubine of Boss Zhu's brother-in-law!"

Lin Baiguang couldn't figure out this complex relationship for a moment, but he understood the meaning: the "cushy job" of going to Lingao to buy goods had been snatched by someone with connections.

"Forget it, they have backers. How can hard-suffering people like us compare?"

"Motherfucker! If I knew earlier, I wouldn't have talked about the things in Lingao! If I'd just said it was a living hell, no one would have fought me for it." Clearly, Shi Shisi was still obsessing over his various "adventures" in Lingao.

From his mouth, Lin Baiguang learned that the ships going to Lingao were twelve large vessels directly under Zhu Cailao's command. The smallest was five or six hundred liao, and the largest was fully two thousand liao—Zhu Cailao intended to "eat the big households" at Lingao.

"Brother Shi doesn't need to take it to heart. There will be plenty of chances to go to Lingao in the future."

"That little bastard He Xin, relying on being some kind of bird relative... he doesn't go to fight battles, but he grabs all the benefits. This bunch of imperial relatives who rely on women selling their cunts aren't good things!"

"Forget it, in this world, where isn't it like this?" A leader named Lin Dan drank a bowl. "We drink and eat meat here, while the little ones below are gnawing on fish bones and drinking salty water. Do you think they are happy?"

"We eat meat and drink wine here because we fought for it with swords and spears. Like him," Shi Shisi pointed to a fat man beside him, "Old Hu spent his own money to build ships and came to join with his whole family. We all have capital. What capital does He Xin have? Relying on a woman's thing?"

The crowd burst into wild laughter, and someone joked: "Maybe his 'capital' is a few inches longer than yours..."

Lin Baiguang discovered that the topic of "sex" could always arouse enthusiastic discussion among everyone.

Shi Shisi was indignant and poured out much of the grievance in his chest: "We risk our lives fighting, but when dividing money, they are the first..."

"Brother Shi, speak cautiously! Speak cautiously!" Lin Baiguang liked this reaction very much, but the incident with Little Shu yesterday had made him alert—who knew if this Shi Shisi was acting intentionally? Even if not, there might be spies inside or outside the tent watching his every move.

Shi Shisi wanted to curse more under the influence of alcohol but was persuaded to stop. The fatty named Hu drained a bowl of wine and sighed: "Our big gang is getting worse year by year. Think back to those years with the northern and southern fleets, sweeping across Fujian and Guangdong. How glorious, how imposing! Now we are squeezed onto this small island to muddle along, unable to advance or retreat!"

"In the final analysis, it's that traitor Zheng Zhilong who broke the rules! If I catch him, I'll slice him up to feed the dogs!"

"Hmph, do you think Li Kuiqi doesn't want to? Or the Big Boss doesn't want to? But he is now a dignified guerrilla general, an official of the imperial court."

"What's a guerrilla general? A sesame-sized official. We've even beaten a Regional Commander to death, so why fear a ball like him?"

"He has many men and many ships," Lin Dan said. "Presumably, he has a lot of money too." He wondered, "I've never figured it out. Last year when he and Li Kuiqi split the pot, didn't Li Kuiqi take most of his men and ships? How did his momentum become so strong in less than a year?"

"The court supports him. I heard Governor Xiong Wencan is buying cannons and building ships for him. His strength has greatly increased."

"That old fogey Xiong Wencan is thinking of the trick of borrowing a knife to kill a man."

"Isn't Zheng Zhilong doing the same thing? He just wants to use the power of the government to wipe out people like us so he can do all the business on the sea alone." Lin Dan sighed, "The Big Boss is not his opponent."

Fatty Hu said: "Come, come, let's drink. It's still passable for now. If it really doesn't work out, I'll just hoist my sails and run with my whole family. At worst, I'll go down to the South Seas to seek a way to live."

The crowd fell into silence for a while, all feeling that the future was worrying. At this moment, someone whispered: "Have you heard? Black Flag Number Four is going to run."

"Who said that?" Everyone was startled. Black Flag Number Four was not an ordinary manager; he was a backbone of the big gang. If he was going to run, wasn't that a sign that the great tree was about to fall?

"It looks like it. Everyone has gone back to the ships. Not a single one is on shore."

"If it really doesn't work, I might as well run too. What a life!"

"When the time comes, everyone should just defect to Lingao," Shi Shisi suddenly popped out such a sentence. Lin Baiguang was startled inside. In his view, these words were too blunt and simply carried the implication of luring him into a trap.

"True, hearing you speak so well of Lingao, I want to go too," someone responded.

"You must be our introducer when the time comes," Fatty Hu said with a face full of sincerity.

"Can't say that, can't say that," Lin Baiguang responded carefully. "The Big Boss's situation hasn't reached that stage yet. Everyone just rest assured. As long as we get through these few months, maybe the situation will improve—hasn't the Big Boss already sent ships to Lingao to transport grain and gunpowder? If things unfortunately get to the point where everyone is displaced, there will always be a meal for everyone in Lingao." He smiled. "But for now, everyone should work together to tide over the difficulties. If the big tree really falls, it won't be good for us monkeys."

"Manager Lin is right," Lin Dan said. "Better to deal with the familiar than the unfamiliar. Maybe after a while, our luck will turn."

"I'm just afraid that while we work together, those who usually eat the most fruit will have long wanted to get down from the tree."

Xu Cheng, who hadn't made much noise, suddenly spoke up. His face was already flushed red, as if he had been holding it in for a long time. He was a small leader in the central army. Originally, he had just been drinking sullenly with his head down without saying a word.

"You probably don't know," Xu Cheng's tongue was big, "The Fourth Madam's brother recently escorted several ships of things out. I don't know where they were sent... And Great Manager Wang Er's brother has also disappeared... Even the iron chests for storing valuables in the old camp are missing many!"

Xu Cheng lowered his head and stammered: "I've seen through it. What brotherhood loyalty, what Jianghu morals, it's all bullshit. Money is the only real thing. I've followed the Big Boss for more than ten years, and I don't even get to be in the front line for playing with women; it's all leftovers from others—yet their relatives, clansmen, and slaves have all become leaders, shipping women and wealth home boat by boat!"

"You're drunk, stop drinking." The faces of several people became unnatural, and they quickly supported him to stop him from talking nonsense. Shi Shisi hurriedly went outside the tent to take a look. He only felt slightly relieved when he saw that only the few trusted aides he brought were keeping watch outside.

"Watch carefully. If anyone comes, give a signal!" After saying that, he ducked back into the tent. The people inside had already stuffed Xu Cheng's mouth with food.

"This, Brother Xu made a slip of the tongue after drinking, a slip of the tongue..."

"It's fine, it's fine, Little Brother didn't hear anything." Lin Baiguang gave a knowing smile.

It seemed that the hearts of the people here with Zhu Cailao were greatly unstable. The vested interest group was frantically stealing, ready to leave this sinking ship at any time—this was also the inevitable result of this kind of traditional family-style feudal corporate group.

"Cough, cough, nowadays, sigh, it's really..." Shi Shisi didn't know how to phrase it.

"It's okay, let's just continue drinking. Only talk of romance, only talk of romance."

The fleet Zhu Cailao sent to Lingao had left Nanri Island for twelve days.

In these days, Zhu Cailao no longer summoned him. Presumably, in his view, Lin Baiguang's use as a messenger had ended. Now he was just a collateral hostage.

Under Shi Shisi's introduction, Lin Baiguang got familiar with quite a few leaders in the fleet. Every day, besides drinking, they gambled—he carried a lot of silver on him as operational funds. Lin Baiguang used the poker cards he brought to teach everyone to play Blackjack. This novel card game, being simple and exciting, immediately became a popular gambling game for a time.

Since it was inconvenient to gamble in the central army stockade, he went to Shi Shisi's camp every day to drink, gamble, and watch the young pirates box and wrestle.

Little Shu was still sent to his tent every night to serve him. Lin Baiguang naturally wouldn't be pretentious; he would even come up with some new tricks every night, his cries reaching several li away.

With gambling, playing with women, and drinking combined, everyone just thought Lin Baiguang was a man who indulged in sensual pleasures and wouldn't connect his frequent drinking with leaders to other things. This was also his tactic for self-cover.

However, he strictly adhered to one point: he would absolutely not reveal even a tiny bit of intention to recruit in any venue, though many people asked him about Lingao's condition and strength. By this time, small groups had already appeared that, despairing of the future, took their ships and left the main force under the cover of night.

It seems that when the time comes and everything is in chaos, I just need to grasp the situation in time to pull away a hundred or so ships without a problem, Lin Baiguang calculated.

However, historically, the fleets of Zheng Zhilong and the Ming army chased all the way to Nanri Island and defeated Zhu Cailao right there. How to save his life in a chaotic battle was still a question—wouldn't it be unjust to die in the chaos of war?

He thought about this every night. Alone and unarmed, how could he cope? It seemed the only way was to get onto Shi Shisi's ship before that happened. That old sea dog Shi Shisi would surely have the skill to escape with his life.

But another threat began to slowly descend upon him. The fleet that went to Lingao indeed did not return on time as he had predicted. Zhu Cailao became restless after waiting for a few days, but he didn't know where the problem lay. He began to suspect Lin Baiguang's intentions, but hearing people say that he drank and gambled all day and played with women enthusiastically at night, he didn't look like someone harboring evil designs.

"Damn it, what exactly is going on!"

Suddenly, Lin Baiguang could no longer leave the central army stockade. Although food and women continued to be supplied, and Shi Shisi often came to see him, he was tantamount to being under house arrest. This was the first dangerous signal. Lin Baiguang knew that the outcome would be decided in these few days.

After waiting for grain and pay for a long time without result, Zhu Cailao would definitely follow history and launch his whole army to attack Min'an—this was foreseeable.

What was unforeseeable was what attitude he would hold towards the grain-buying fleet that hadn't returned for so long. Would he directly chop Lin Baiguang's head off before setting out to fight?

Lin Baiguang had no plan to use, so he could only wait, engaging in resignation to fate. He felt: the problem wasn't big.

On the evening of the thirteenth day, Zhu Cailao and the main leaders were discussing matters in the central army tent when they heard the sound of clappers. They couldn't help but be startled.

"What happened?!" he asked sternly. It wasn't the signal cannon for an enemy attack, but beating the clappers meant an urgent unexpected event had occurred.

Before long, someone came to report: another group of ships had left the main force.

"It's Black Flag Number Four's ships!"

The leaders instantly caused a commotion. This Black Flag Number Four was not a small group; he had six large ships and twenty small ships, a medium-sized gang. He had been under Zhu Cailao's banner for ten years. Suddenly weighing anchor and leaving was obviously a sign that he had lost confidence in the future.

"Big Boss! I'll go chase him back right now!"

"Forget it! You can't keep someone who wants to leave." Zhu Cailao's face was iron-blue. "We've been brothers. If you go to stop him, it will inevitably lead to a fight, letting outsiders see a joke. Let him go; it leaves some room for meeting in the future."

(End of Chapter)