"The rain has stopped." At this point, most of the dark clouds had dispersed, revealing the setting sun. The sea breeze blew in. Pei Zi Yun took off his armor and saw several wounds on his body. Although some of them were long, they were not deep.
"Lochia Purge!"
"Sweet Dew Technique!" Since the wounds were not deep, they healed quickly and turned into red lines. Pei Zi Yun heaved a sigh of relief as he looked around the camp. There were still people trying to extinguish the fire.
"It was raining just now, and everything was wet. Since there was no oil, they did not set fire to it." Pei Zi Yun stood at the top of the mountain and looked down. He could see the entire island clearly.
"It looks like there are at least one or two hundred households here."
"We've already cleared out some fields."
Pei Zi Yun retrieved a silver flask from his robes and drank a mouthful of wine. Cai Yuan Zhen walked over and stood beside Pei Zi Yun. There were wounds on his armor as well, and some blood. He had been injured as well.
"Captain Cai, the island has been conquered. The pirates are one step closer." Pei Zi Yun said plainly.
"Yes, your excellency Pei. Everything is as you predicted!" Cai Yuan Zhen spoke with a look of admiration on his face, "Using the captives, we've discovered the pirates' warehouse. Please give us your instructions."
"Let's go take a look!" Pei Zi Yun followed Cai Yuan Zhen as they walked. Before long, they arrived at a room. The metal door was locked, and there were two sergeants standing guard.
Pei Zi Yun took one look and knew that Cai Yuan Zhen was indeed loyal. The door hadn't even been opened, and he was just waiting for him to open it. Pei Zi Yun's heart warmed as he sighed.
With a flash of his sword, the metal door was slashed open. When he opened the door, he was stunned.
Inside, there were wooden shelves filled with gold and silver. It was eye-catching and dazzling. Cai Yuan Zhen's breathing quickened as he mumbled, "There's so much gold and silver. Ai, this design is very strange!"
Pei Zi Yun's eyes gleamed as he saw that the two sides of the gold bar were painted black. One side had the words "Ten taels", while the other side had the words "Chang Shi".
"This is a gold bar from Japan. It weighs ten taels, and is ninety-seven gold."
"There are two hundred of them, and they're worth two thousand taels of gold."
"This is official silver, fifty taels for one. There are a hundred of them!" Pei Zi Yun flipped one over and saw the words "Official Silver Bureau" printed on it.
At the same time, there were also silver bricks, which were the silver coins. Pei Zi Yun walked around casually as he looked at the statistics. He then made a rough estimate, "There are two thousand taels of gold here, and twenty-three thousand taels of silver bricks and silver ingots."
"Another twenty thousand taels of silver."
"As for the money, it's about 10,000 strings of coins."
Pei Zi Yun revealed a smile and laughed, "Captain Cai, do you wish to be promoted?"
Cai Yuanzhen was stunned. "Yes!"
"If you want to, I shall hand over these two thousand taels of gold to the Crown Prince. I shall guarantee that you will be promoted to a fourth rank official!" Pei Zi Yun said plainly, "As for the remaining twenty-three thousand taels of gold, we shall split it among everyone!"
"There are about thirty thousand taels of silver and money. Take half of it and confiscate it, and give the other half to the soldiers. Everyone will get fifteen taels!"
"What do you think?"
Cai Yuanzhen bowed, "I shall listen to master Top Scorer's decision!"
Hearing Cai Yuanzhen's words, Pei Zi Yun laughed and asked, "How many men do we have left to fight?"
"Your excellency Pei, we've lost a hundred and twenty men, and two hundred are injured. We can fight six hundred men." Cai Yuanzhen replied solemnly.
When Pei Zi Yun heard this, he took several steps forward, "There aren't many pirates left either. The ones who suffered the greatest losses on Golden Island weren't us, but the pirates."
"Gather all the captives and commoners. The captives shall carry the corpses, while the commoners shall carry the goods and cook the meat and rice. Place the gold in the boxes and transport it to the ships."
"Tell the soldiers to rest and be on duty. After they've eaten the meat and rice, they shall sleep."
"What if the pirates ambush us?" Cai Yuanzhen was hesitant.
Pei Zi Yun laughed and pointed to the island, "Captain Cai, look. Sentry Island, sea battle, Golden Island, and three battles against the pirates. There aren't many enemies left. At most, there's about a thousand of them left. And they aren't the elites. All the elites were killed just now!" Pei Zi Yun said.
"Besides, it takes time for the enemies to return from the sea. We should have time to rest. Now that we've fought three battles in a row, our soldiers are exhausted. We have to eat and sleep."
"Yes, your excellency Pei." Cai Zhenyuan spoke with mixed feelings in his heart. The two of them walked out of the building and looked down at the forest below. There was a river flowing into the sea.
"A river. When I came up here, I checked it out!" Pei Zi Yun pointed down at the river, "Although it's a river, it's actually a natural fissure that connects to the sea."
Pei Zi Yun pointed down, "Our army is exhausted. Now that we've changed our strategy, since the island has been taken, the pirates can rely on the rain for their water supply. However, we only have a few rations on the ships. Give the order to all the ships to sail up the river. Take as much as you can. Even if they run aground, it doesn't matter."
"We have the geographical advantage. We can't fight our enemies head on. We just have to occupy a higher position."
"Once we're ashore, we'll still be in formation. However, our enemies will always be at sea. They might be able to fight us on the ships, but once they're ashore, they'll be like a bunch of loose sand."
"Let's fight fair and square. Once we're ashore, we'll crush our enemies!"
"Yes, Sir, I understand." Cai Yuanzhen replied after thinking for a while.
At this point, a Battalion Commander came forward with a look of joy on his face. He had a few wounds on his body, but he didn't seem to mind, "Your excellency Pei, I've just captured one of the leaders who was in charge of the rations, and interrogated him. He said that there wasn't much rations left on the ship. He said that they left in a hurry and didn't expect the enemy to attack, and wanted to fight them head-on. Hence, the rations are still piled up in the stronghold, and the ship only has three days' worth of rations."
Ying Zheng was a little anxious as he spoke, and choked for a moment before continuing. "Master, I have checked, there are still a lot of rations in the village."
"Haha, the heavens are really on my side. The Wokou pirates probably don't have much water. Without food and water, let's see how they die." Pei Zi Yun laughed out loud, "As for attacking the shore, we shall wait for them to tire themselves out. Furthermore, we shall occupy a strategic location. When they come, we shall crush them in one fell swoop. If they don't, we shall be left with no food or water. We shall rest for two or three days, and gather our elites before setting out to sea and annihilate them."
Cai Yuanzhen was extremely impressed with Pei Zi Yun's words. After remaining silent for some time, he then said, "Your excellency Pei is able to devise a strategy, and the pirates are able to play with your hands. I am impressed."
"Don't try to flatter me. Let's hurry up and set up camp. Captain Cai, do as I've instructed and prepare." Pei Zi Yun said.
"Quick, quick." The soldiers shouted out loudly, as they supervised the commoners to pull the boats up the river.
"One, one, one, one, all the best. One, one, two, all the best."
On both sides of the river, the soldiers were setting up camp, as they arranged for the commoners to cut down wood and set up camp.
On both sides of the river, the soldiers were setting up camp, as they arranged for the commoners to cut down wood and set up camp.
The entire beach was filled with people kneeling on the ground. The pirates were all tied up. From time to time, some soldiers would step forward to interrogate them, and report everything they knew to their superiors.
"Quick, move the goods onto the ship. Quick." The commoners were being watched by the soldiers as they moved the gold and silver onto the ship.
"Light the fire, cook the food." Several soldiers were supervising the cooking of rice in a huge pot. Some of them were even making pancakes. Amidst the sizzling sounds, the fragrant pancakes were made.
Pot after pot of meat soup was being cooked. Some of the salted meat was added for seasoning. Most of the meat was butchered and fresh. Groups of people were eating the pancakes, meat soup and meat cubes.
"Quick, eat and sleep. Don't make any noise!" Someone shouted.
Several Daoists were treating the soldiers, while the physicians were cleaning up the wounds. Some of the more serious injuries were treated by the Daoists.
At this point, Pei Zi Yun was busy as well, using the Drought Rain Technique to treat the injuries.
A personal guard walked up to Pei Zi Yun and brought him some meat and rice, "Your excellency, the food is here."
"Good. Arrange for at least twenty people to patrol the shore. Once there's any news, immediately set off the fireworks." Pei Zi Yun was wolfing down his food.
"Yes, your excellency." The personal guard left.
By midnight, the boats had already reached the river. The camp was almost complete. Most of the soldiers were asleep, while the commoners and the captives were still busy. Pei Zi Yun looked at them and whispered, "Send someone to watch over them!"
He then turned around and walked back to the boat.
At this point, the hall was lit up with dozens of candles. Close to a hundred people were waiting. On the left and right were the officials and the personal guards, carrying the Emperor's flag. On the left and right were Cai Yuanzhen and Chen Pu.
Pei Zi Yun walked towards the leader of the group, as everyone bowed to him.
"Everyone, please rise." Pei Zi Yun then said, "Please take a seat!"
Everyone returned to their positions, as Cai Yuanzhen and Chen Pu sat down.
"Everyone, you've worked hard. Your excellency Chen, please tell me about our earnings." Pei Zi Yun said plainly.
Chen Pu stood up and said, "Twenty thousand taels of silver, and about ten thousand strings of coins."
"Thirty thousand taels of silver is from public funds. Half of it will be given to the squad leader and his subordinates. Those who participated in the battle will receive twenty taels of silver. Those who participated in the battle will receive fifteen taels of silver. Those who didn't die will receive ten taels of silver. Those who died will receive thirty taels of silver as compensation!"
There was a commotion amongst the crowd. This was the most generous compensation they had ever received. With so much silver, it would be good to be able to live.
"Twenty-three thousand taels of silver bricks and silver ingots. We'll split it."
"Boom!" Everyone couldn't take it any longer and started shouting.
After some time, Pei Zi Yun raised his hand and pressed it on the table. Everyone quietened down, "Vice Captain will receive a hundred taels of silver, Captain will receive a hundred and fifty taels of silver."
That was five thousand taels of silver.
"Vice Captain will receive two hundred and fifty taels of silver, Captain will receive three hundred taels of silver!"
That was two thousand and four hundred taels of silver.
"Vice Captain will receive five hundred taels of silver, Captain will receive a thousand taels of silver!"
"Your excellency Chen will receive a thousand taels of silver, and your excellency Luo (Personal Guard Leader) will receive a thousand taels of silver. All of the personal guards will receive a hundred and fifty taels of silver."
"Everyone is unfamiliar with this person. I can say that he was sent by the higher-ups. He will receive six hundred taels of silver." Pei Zi Yun patted the official's shoulder.
"As for the remaining ten thousand taels of silver, five thousand shall be given to the Governor, and the other five thousand shall be mine. Does anyone have any objections?"
"No objections!" At this point, everyone's faces were red, as though they were drunk. Hearing these words, everyone stood up and knelt down, "Thank you your excellency for the rewards!"
All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Pei Zi Yun turned around and heard the report, "Your excellency, the pirates have appeared."
"What?" Pei Zi Yun walked out of the room. At this point, the sky was brightening. From afar, he could see ships approaching. There were about thirty of them, and one of them was trying to get closer.
Cai Yuanzhen looked at Pei Zi Yun and asked, "Your excellency Pei, what should we do now?"
Chen Pu asked uneasily, "Should we wake up the soldiers?"
"Wake up the first battalion. The pirates are only probing us, and won't launch a full-scale attack. Let's wait a little longer." Pei Zi Yun stared at the surface of the sea as he waved his hands. Before long, the sound of footsteps could be heard. The soldiers were all sleeping in their clothes.
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