Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

After explaining the policies of the Four Seas Gang to the other party, the other party, fearing that Lin Chengfeng might change his mind, immediately gave him a thousand taels of silver.

Lin Chengfeng had his men accept the silver, and then immediately led his men to retreat back to his own ship. This was hard for everyone on Chen Lang's ship to believe. Were there really pirates who followed the rules like this? They would give up tens of thousands of taels of cargo and be satisfied with just a thousand taels?

Despite his confusion, Chen Lang acted swiftly, fearing the other party might change their mind, and immediately began urging the ship to hoist its sails and set sail.

Meanwhile, when Lin Chengfeng returned to the ship, the sailors couldn't contain themselves any longer. However, the long period of training had taken effect, and no one dared to cause a disturbance. They could only have their captain step forward and ask Lin Chengfeng:

"Master, are we just going to let them go like this? I went to see the ship; it was full of porcelain, worth at least ten thousand taels of silver. That's a huge sum of money."

The captain of this ship was Chen Shuanzhu, who had been the first to go to the Fujian ship. At this moment, he was pushed to the front by the crowd to express his opinion to Lin Chengfeng.

Upon hearing this, Lin Chengfeng glanced at the man, then looked at the numerous sailors behind him. "These are the rules set by the gang. What? You want to object?"

"We wouldn't dare! Master is joking. How could we dare to object? We're just reluctant to let go, which is why we have this question."

Chen Shuanzhu hurriedly waved his hand and shook his head like a rattle drum. What a joke! Who would dare to object? The Four Seas Gang is most thorough in carrying out two things: first, distributing money; second, beheading. Anyone who violates the gang rules is killed without hesitation.

"Since you have no objections, why are you complaining? You can't question the gang's orders. Just carry them out. The other side has surrendered, so you don't have to risk your lives. What are you dissatisfied with? Do you have to kill a few people? Besides, even if it's a thousand taels, you'll still have one tael in your hands. What? You've only had a few good days, and you're already looking down on one tael of silver?" Lin Chengfeng asked rudely.

"That's not true! We will obey the gang's orders!" Chen Shuanzhu and his men quickly swore oaths to ensure they would obey orders.

"Hmph, you must remember, giving you 30% of the profits is gang policy, and letting surrendered ships go is also gang policy. It is the gang that gives you the opportunity to make a lot of money. If anyone disobeys, then don't blame the gang rules for being ruthless!" Lin Chengfeng coldly swept his eyes over the crowd. He was not joking. If anyone dared to cause trouble again, he was already prepared to kill them to establish his authority. This was something he had planned before setting off. He had even arranged for axemen.

Lin Chengfeng kept a close eye on everyone's reactions, but unfortunately, no one stepped forward. Seeing that everyone was willing to obey the order, Lin Chengfeng waved his hand, signaling everyone to return to their respective ships and prepare to search for other merchant ships.

After everyone else had left, Lin Chengfeng sighed inwardly. In truth, he understood these people very well. They could get more than ten taels of silver by seizing a boat, but if the other party surrendered, they could only get one tael at most. The difference between them was more than tenfold.

Even Lin Chengfeng himself felt heartbroken when he thought about it, after all, he was the leader of all the ships and he was the one who took the lion's share.

However, Lin Hao talked to him all night last night, presenting the facts and reasoning with him, explaining in detail the reasons for doing so. Although stealing ships is extremely profitable, it ultimately carries huge hidden dangers, and the risks, costs, and number of ships that can be stolen are limited.

However, if rules could be established in this sea area and water could be pumped from each ship, this would create a stable source of income. Moreover, Lin Hao listed the number of merchant ships that came and went from Nangantang Island during this period and calculated the costs for him.

The final conclusion is that while ship raiding may be very profitable in the early stages, income will soon hit a bottleneck if it is not possible to raid all ships. Moreover, frequent raids will seriously affect the number of merchants. However, as long as it becomes a consensus among all merchant ships to pay a toll of one thousand taels per ship, the profits obtained will be several times or even dozens of times that of simply raiding ships.

Most importantly, while 30% of the looted silver was to be distributed to the sailors as a bonus, the money that the merchant ships voluntarily paid to the Four Seas Gang was exempt and could be used entirely for the Lin family's grand ambitions. He could clearly distinguish which was more important.

After reuniting with the other ship and the captured Fujian ship, Lin Chengfeng gained a deeper understanding of the conversation he had had the previous night.

Although the Fu ship had cargo worth more than 10,000 taels of silver, it wasn't theirs after the hijacking. They still had to carefully escort the wrecked ship back to Dongluo Island. This round trip took up a whole morning, showing how slow the hijacking process was.

However, not providing an escort was not an option either. No matter how powerful a sloop was, it was still just a small boat. If it was surrounded by multiple other ships, it could at best retreat safely, but it would not be able to protect its spoils.

It was also impossible to transfer the goods from the Fujian ship to a single-masted sailing ship, as the combined carrying capacity of the three ships was only 600 liao, while a single Fujian ship with a carrying capacity of 500 liao could fill all three ships.

Putting aside the time wasted transferring cargo, a full-loaded pursuit would slow things down, and even then, it would only allow for one more raid at most, so it's better to just return directly.

After escorting the spoils back to Dongluo Island, Lin Chengfeng was too lazy to even eat. He hurriedly ate a few mouthfuls of dry rations and continued hunting with great enthusiasm. The sailors on the ship also had no complaints.

This time, Lin Chengfeng was smarter and brought several bird boats with him. This way, after completing the hunt for the merchant ships, he could hand over the subsequent escort missions to these ships.

Over the next few days, Lin Chengfeng led his men on several raids, each time reaping great rewards, making everyone else green with envy. Lin Hao had no choice but to arrange for rotations so that everyone could have a chance to make money.

As the Four Seas Gang launched attacks in all directions, a large number of ships were captured by the gang, and merchants turned pale at the mention of the gang. However, some lucky individuals were able to arrive unharmed because they surrendered in advance, and they also spread the word about the Four Seas Gang's insurance policy.

The Four Seas Gang also spread the word that anyone willing to go to the Four Seas Gang to pay for insurance on their ships could get their previously seized ships back.

This move was a stroke of genius. Although many merchant ships were plundered, there were too many merchants. As long as the bad things didn't happen to them, everyone still had a glimmer of hope. So even though the news spread, not a single person came forward to pay up.

The news that the ships could be reclaimed immediately caused a great stir among many people.

A Fujian-style ship is worth only a few hundred taels of silver, but time is of the essence.

Waiting for a ship again would take at least several months, and there was no guarantee of getting a ship. By then, it would be too late. However, by paying a so-called insurance fee of one thousand taels, one could get a ship worth several hundred taels back and immediately set sail for trade again. Moreover, many people thought that if the other party's guarantee was true, the risk of the next trip would be greatly reduced.