Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

Chi Tou led Pang San and steered the Dinghai warship, one of the six warships, out of the harbor.

"Sir, why are you in such a hurry? Where are you going?"

Chi Hung-hai was working overtime at the bow of the ship when Shu Chang replied, "Taiwan."

"Zelandia? Are they going to see Brother Qingjiang? But they've only been there a few days!"

"Who said we were going to Zeelandia?"

Pang San was puzzled. If not Zeelandia, where else could they go in Taiwan? The only people they'd dealt with before were the Dutch on the island, weren't they?

"Sir? Not going to Zeelandia? Then what shall we...?"

Chi Honghai did not provide further explanation, but instead asked Pang San to go inside the cabin to check the situation.

Everything went smoothly along the way. With Zheng Zhilong's special flag flying, the patrol boats didn't bother him.

It wasn't until they got close to the strait that Chi Honghai had someone bring out the flag he had placed in the cabin. The crew looked at the unfamiliar pattern and didn't understand which side's flag it was.

A white background with a red cross looks like a wrong answer on a white exam paper.

This is a Spanish naval flag that Chi Honghai specially commissioned to be made.

Although the strait is not far from Fort Zeelandia, and can be seen with the naked eye, Chi Honghai deliberately sails along the other side and specifically chooses to go to areas with dense ship traffic.

This made the Dutchman on the watchtower of Fort Zeelandia very anxious. After all, he had no news of the sudden arrival of the ship. Even if he wanted to set sail to rob it now, by the time he caught up, the ship would be heading to the Spanish stronghold in the north. He could only watch helplessly as it passed by.

After a while, the ship sailed to the vicinity of Keelung. Faced with the sudden arrival of the ship, the Spanish became wary and inquired about the situation. They all said that there had been no reports of ships coming from the Luzon Islands recently.

But this ship is flying their flag, so even if it's a fake friendly attack, one ship wouldn't be enough to support the troops.

Since the ship was clearly not much of a threat, the Spanish allowed it to dock and sent a team to meet it and see what was going on.

The reason why Chi Honghai chose Keelung instead of the Luzon Islands is also very simple. Apart from the distance factor, there are two main reasons for him.

First, he had never been to the Luzon Islands. Even with a compass and astronomical tools, a familiar route was better than an unfamiliar one. Moreover, if he entered the open sea and was mistaken for the enemy, he would be helpless if he was alone on a ship. If it was one against one, that would be fine, but if there were more enemies, he would be helpless.

Secondly, based on his own judgment, although the Spanish had been operating in the Luzon Islands for longer, they were now focusing more of their resources there in order to compete with the Dutch for the exclusive right to Taiwan. In addition, with the aid of the British, the influence of Keelung should not be less than that of the Luzon Islands.

When the ship docked, the person who stepped off was an Asian, which surprised the Spanish who were there to meet him.

When did the Luzon Islands start hiring Eastern sailors?

"He doesn't look like a sailor. Look at him walking ahead of those people."

"What? The people behind them are all Asians too?"

Chi Honghai was also quite nervous, after all, the other side was carrying firearms. If they mistook him for an enemy, he would be in big trouble. He quickly waved to the Spaniards to show that he meant no harm.

Not many people disembarked from the ship; besides Pang San, there were only a few other crew members.

When the two met, the Spaniard, seeing this Eastern face, was momentarily at a loss for words to greet him.

"Hello, friend, don't be nervous. I'm here to discuss cooperation." Chi Honghai spoke fluent Portuguese, which surprised the other party, but the other party quickly asked with a smile.

"Friend, why are you flying our naval ensign?"

"It's not that I'm afraid of hanging other things on it and being mistaken for those dirty things from the south; the smell of firearms is unpleasant."

Hearing the keywords "dirty things in the south," it must be referring to the Dutch. Since it's about the Dutch, even if they're not friends, they're at least not enemies.

And so Chi Honghai was led into Keelung City. Along the way, he chatted and laughed with the person who brought him, mainly discussing the bad things about the Dutch in the south.

Soon, Chi Honghai, who had entered the city, was brought before their commander, Farn Moore.

Chi Honghai bowed politely in accordance with Western etiquette. Seeing that the other party was so accommodating, Moore did not make things difficult for him for hanging the naval flag without permission. Instead, he asked what business Chi Honghai had in the chicken coop.

Chi Honghai looked up at Moore and also noticed a Westerner in red next to him.

"Your Excellency, I have important news to tell you, but you may not be happy to hear it."

Moore stroked his beard and twirled it between his fingers: "Oh? Tell me what kind of news could make me unhappy? I think, apart from the Dutch in the south causing trouble, there's no other news that could make me like this."

"Portuguese."

Upon hearing the word "Portuguese," Moore's eyes suddenly deepened. Looking at Chi Honghai, he said in a pretentious tone, "Portugal was conquered by us Spanish long ago. Their Lisbon is now our shipyard."

"Your Excellency, there is an old saying in our Ming Dynasty that means, 'If you lose the land but preserve the people, you can preserve both the land and the people.'"

"What do you mean?"

"The current situation of the Portuguese is what this sentence means: although you have conquered their land, you have not yet conquered the hearts of the Portuguese."

Moore chuckled, "You mean, they want to rebel? Hah, I doubt they have the ability!"

"They certainly don't have that ability, but who knows? Maybe there's some outside help, or maybe they're deliberately trying to trip you up. I heard that the officials in Macau sent several top-quality paintings and calligraphy from the Ming Dynasty to your King."

"Isn't that a good thing? Loyalty to our Emperor is loyalty to Spain, and we need people like him who know what's good for us."

Chi Honghai smiled and said, "These paintings are meant to please His Majesty the King in exchange for rewards. Of course, exchanging good things for fine clothes is understandable, but as far as I know, these paintings are forgeries. Exchanging for real gold and silver and tangible power—do you still consider that loyalty?"

"Why should we believe your baseless rumors?" Moore shouted, his voice trembling with emotion.

Chi Honghai remained calm and walked over to the man in red. "You're English, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir, how did you know?"

"A significant portion of the goods you give to the Spanish were supplied by me. If Your Excellency doesn't believe me, you can have the English testify to see if I helped you deal with the Dutch."

"Sir, is what he said true?" Moore asked the Englishman.

"Um...the diplomat stationed in Macau did mention before we left that an Easterner was helping us with these matters."

Chi Honghai's words were corroborated by the English, but Moore did not entirely believe them.

"Why?" Moore asked coldly.