The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 108 Grandpa is Gone
At Lin Qian's command, the white sail on the bird boat's single mast was raised.

The hard sails were brimming with wind as they sped downstream.

In the distance, the Lin Mansion, engulfed in flames, gradually disappeared into a dot on the horizon.

The crew cheered wildly.

Lin Qian smiled, thinking that if her second brother were here, he would surely recite the line, "The monkeys' cries on both banks could not be stopped, but the light boat had already passed ten thousand mountains."

After the crew members shouted and yelled wildly for a while, Lin Qian asked, "How much silver is in the silver vault in total?"

Lei Sanxiang beamed with joy: "About forty thousand taels, plus what we robbed in the backyard earlier, it's at least fifty thousand taels, just as the captain said!"

Lin Qian frowned slightly. He had said that there were 50,000 taels of silver in the manor, which was an estimate based on the number of ships. The calculation was very rough, and it was purely a coincidence that it matched.

Moreover, 50,000 was only his lowest estimate. The Lin family is known as a family with a history of four hundred years. Even if all the money was invested in land, houses, businesses, and inventory, it is impossible that there would be no accumulation. It should not be only 50,000 taels.

Seeing Lin Qian's solemn expression, Zheng Zhilong asked, "Captain, is there something amiss?"

Lin Qian slowly shook her head and asked again, "How many brothers did you lose?"

Chen Jiao said, "Eight were injured and two died."

For the pirates, this victory was practically equivalent to no casualties.

Especially when they had just left the waterway by boat, the well-equipped cavalry alone suffered no fewer than ten casualties.

The exchange ratio is astonishing!
However, Lin Qian also knew that this exchange ratio was due to their geographical advantage.

If they were standing on the shore, or guarding the Lin residence, facing such heavily armed cavalry, even with matchlock guns and carbide, the pirates would be slaughtered in one fell swoop.

Lin Qian guessed that the cavalry was very likely the personal guards of the Haimen Guard Commander.

Thinking of the beggar-like fighting ability of the ordinary soldiers in the garrison, compared to the fierce bravery of the private soldiers.

It's utterly absurd.

At the same time, Lin Qian also secretly reminded herself that she must not underestimate the heroes of the world just because of the victories in the battles against the garrisons.

If he hadn't had a flash of inspiration and come up with the idea of ​​driving the Lin family members and servants out of the mansion to fish in troubled waters, his escape from the Lin mansion wouldn't have been so easy.

Thinking of this, Lin Qian looked around and asked, "Where's Xie Er?"

Bai Qing: "I killed him."

Lin Qian nodded without asking any further questions. Before entering the mansion, he had instructed the Bai siblings to keep an eye on Xie Er and kill him on the spot if he made any unusual moves.

It seems unlikely that someone as cunning, cowardly, and blindly loyal as Xie Er would genuinely submit. If we don't kill him today, he'll eventually court death.

On the Yongning River, small boats flew like birds, while the rest of the people chatted and laughed heartily.

Lin Qian stood at the bow of the ship, her mind flashing back to the entire process of the raid on the mansion, trying to figure out if she had missed anything.

As the sun rose, the tenants on both banks of the Yongning River had already gotten up, and smoke was rising from their chimneys.

Along the riverbank, several fishing families were carrying their fishing nets onto their boats.

Lin Qian's eyes lit up, and a new idea popped into her mind.

Lin Qian asked someone to bring fifty taels of silver. After checking that there were no special marks on the silver ingots, she then called over the Bai siblings.

"There is a dangerous task that requires your attention."

Bai Qing clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Please give your orders, Master!"

Lin Qian handed the silver to the two of them and said mysteriously, "Go buy a fishing boat."

……

Half an hour later, the bird fleet sailed into the Lingjiang River.

Less than an hour later, Haimenwei was already in sight.

From a distance, you can see the river-blocking cable on the south bank lying across the river, while the river-blocking cable on the north bank remains submerged in the water.

Dozens of ships are surrounding the breach.

The garrison soldiers tied the bow and stern of the boat together with ropes, placed it horizontally on the water, and filled the cabin with sand to ballast it; this was a simple river-blocking rope.

This was a backup plan left by the commander of Haimen Garrison to prevent the thieves from escaping. He only received news of the thieves in the middle of last night and ordered the garrison troops to block the Lingjiang River. It has only been four or five hours since then.

Who were the soldiers of the Southeast Garrison? Calling them seasoned veterans would be an understatement; calling them starving disaster victims would be more accurate.

Adding to the fact that the commander had just dealt with the battalion commander of the North Bank camp yesterday, the morale of the entire North Bank camp was extremely low.

Being woken up in the middle of the night to work again, everyone was full of resentment.

From the dead of night until noon, they struggled to fill the ballast sand tanks, and the ten boats wobbled precariously on the river, with no ropes tied at the bow and stern.

The garrison soldiers, who were busy tying ropes, saw a fleet of ships rushing towards them from afar. They threw down their ropes and scattered like birds and beasts.

No matter how much the garrison commander insulted and berated them, it was to no avail.

After entering the Lingjiang River, Lin Qian's bird boat moved to the head of the group.

Everyone on the boat looked worried when they saw the garrison soldiers blocking the river with their ships.

The crew member rowing at the stern asked, "Helmsman, what should we do?"

Lin Qian said calmly, "Hit it."

Their ships had silver ballast, were heavier, and had sturdy bows, so they didn't suffer serious damage when they rammed into the side of the enemy ship.

As they got closer to Haimen, everyone's expressions became tense.

Lin Qian shouted, "Everyone bend down, tie the rope tightly, and hold on tight!"

As they traveled between the two mountains of Haimenwei, they saw a sparse rain of arrows.

Most of them fell into the water, and a few landed on the boat, exhausted, and fell into the water after a light tap on the shield.

"Watch out!" Lin Qian shouted.

As soon as he finished speaking, the bow of the bird boat crashed heavily into another boat, causing the other boat to tilt and be knocked far to the side.

Surprisingly, the impact was not strong, and the boat blocking the river was easily knocked away.

Lei Sanxiang, Chen Jiao, and others were already standing guard on the ship's side, ready to cut the ropes.

Unexpectedly, the bow and stern of that ship were not connected to any other ships.

Before they could even wonder what was happening, seven bird boats filed out of the gap created by the collision.

The garrison soldiers on both the north and south banks stood on the cliffs, watching Lin Qian's fleet sail away.

"Hahahaha...Grandpa's gone!" Lei Sanxiang's wild laughter echoed between the two mountains of Haimen.

After a moment, Haimenwei returned to silence.

"Sir, should the ship's ropes be repaired?"

"Fix your fucking head!"

……

at the same time.

The Lin Mansion was engulfed in flames.

All the Lin family members and servants were properly settled and gathered in the open space in front of the mansion.

The women huddled together like a flock of ducks, wiping away tears and weeping, their bodies covered in black handprints.

Most of the men had vacant eyes, and some even knelt and wept bitterly before the burning mansion.

A naked, madwoman wandered through the crowd at the Lin residence, her face full of a maniacal smile, occasionally hurling vicious curses at those around her.

"Hehehehe...hahahaha..."

"Kill them all, kill them all, hahahahaha... kill them all..."

The commander sat on a high ground to the side, and with the help of his soldiers, he removed the sunken arm. The lower arm was bruised and swollen.

If it weren't for the high-quality steel used in the arms and hands, and the relatively off-center angle of the crossbow bolts, the swelling in the arms would have been far more than just a simple matter.

The commander's eyes reflected the raging fire before him, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

A soldier came to report: "General, five brothers have died, ten have been wounded, five warhorses have died, and two are lame."

"Understood. Collect the remains and take them back for a proper burial."

"Yes!" The soldier clasped his hands in acceptance of the order.

The commander appeared calm on the surface, but his heart was bleeding.

A good army is better than a large one.

Every soldier under his command was fed with silver, and every warhorse was built with mountains of hay.

As a commander of the third rank, he accepted countless bribes and embezzled countless military salaries, barely managing to support these sixty-odd soldiers.

Unexpectedly... fifteen people were killed or injured in just one attack!
"Zhao Ba!" the commander shouted.

"Your subordinate is here!" Zhao Ba clasped his hands in obeisance, his armor plates clattering as he received the order.

"Bring me the key figures from the Lin family!" the commander roared, veins bulging on his forehead.

(End of this chapter)