The crew members of the ship were counting the money happily. This was the same as the promise made by the captain when he left. With this money, they could return to their hometown to buy some land and then live a good life. Although it could not guarantee that they would become rich, at least they would not have to risk their lives on the sea. They still remembered the horrors they had experienced along the way.
After the captain divides up all the money, he has to give a portion to the local government. If he doesn't, he will not be allowed to sell the goods here. But even so, this is a business with no capital. As long as the supplies can be brought back, why worry about not making money?
"Master Watanabe, are you sure about the number?"
The captain said happily that after the gentleman nodded, he could sell the ship directly and then use the money to do business with small landlords. Pirates in this era were not professional and they just wanted to make a quick buck and then stop.
"The number is fine, but you must not bring disaster upon yourself. If the Tang Dynasty investigates this matter, we will be in big trouble. Do you know why there are more and more Silla people here? It's because their country has been destroyed."
The local officials were very happy when they received the money, but they were also worried that if the Tang Dynasty wanted to deal with this matter, they would be in trouble.
According to what he knew, the Tang court had already inquired about this matter among the latest batch of envoys sent to Tang Dynasty. They only blamed the robbery on the common people along the coast, calling them pirates, and said that the Fuso government would hold these people accountable.
To put it bluntly, they treated the Tang Dynasty court as fools. They also knew what the rulers of the Tang Dynasty court were willing to listen to. As long as they expressed their loyalty and cleared themselves, then this matter would have nothing to do with them. What's more, the central government of the Tang Dynasty court might not care about the lives of the people along the coast.
"Don't worry, my lord. Silla was destroyed because they were looking for trouble. They never obeyed the Tang Dynasty. In addition, they share a land border. The Tang cavalry could reach Silla directly from Chang'an. Their demise was inevitable. But we have a natural barrier like the sea. The Tang Dynasty can't do anything to us."
The pirate captain said nonchalantly that in his opinion, their trip to the Tang Dynasty was a life-or-death journey. More than a dozen ships returned while they only had one ship. Even if the Tang Dynasty's navy was stronger than theirs, could they still come to their door?
"You're right. Even the once-powerful Central Plains Dynasty couldn't reach Fusang. We are protected by Amaterasu..."
Thinking of this natural barrier on the sea, Lord Watanabe felt very satisfied, but before he finished speaking, this guy rubbed his eyes hard, and he seemed to see some shadows on the sea in the west.
The sea was a little cloudy today. If it were a clear sky, he would have been able to see it long ago, but even though it was cloudy, he could still see a ship in the distance.
"Are you sure you're the only ones back?"
When Lord Watanabe said this, the captain next to him was heart in his throat. In fact, there were two ships that could be brought back. They were quickly discovered when they were robbing the Tang Dynasty, and they only robbed half of the ship's supplies. It was only because they robbed the robbers in the middle that they were able to bring back a full ship of supplies.
Could this old man have foreseen the future? But the pirate captain soon lost his mind. He followed the direction of Watanabe-sama's finger and saw that what appeared in the distance was not just one ship, but a large number of ships. Compared to these ships, their pirate ship was like a small boat.
The people living on the coast also began to panic. Although this was a port city, the largest ship here was about twenty meters long, just like the pirate ship. However, the ships in the distance were more than twice as long and were so densely packed that it was obviously a fleet.
Fuso is a maritime country, so their shipping industry is much more developed than that of the Tang Dynasty. However, when everyone saw the fleet in front of them, they were shocked. Even in their dreams, they could not believe that they had such a powerful fleet.
"The Tang Dynasty's fleet..."
As the fleet got closer, some people could see clearly that the big flag on the bow was a big Tang character.
It’s over, it’s over…
Lord Watanabe's heart was about to explode. He had long said that the Tang Dynasty was extremely powerful and that you bastards should not go and rob them casually, but you guys just didn't listen. Now look what happened. The Tang Dynasty's big ships are slowly approaching. After all, you have brought an enemy that will destroy Fuso.
"How is this possible?"
The pirate captain said in some confusion, you know, it is very far from here to the coast of the Tang Dynasty, and there is no feasible route at all. They were also crossing the river by feeling the stones on the sea, and no one knew how many people died, so there was only such a route.
The Tang Dynasty fleet had never come to Fuso. Even if someone came, they were on the ship of the Tang Dynasty envoys. The people of Fuso were not stupid. Although they admired the culture of the Tang Dynasty, they also knew how to protect themselves, so they never revealed the specific location of Fuso.
In their view, it was impossible for Tang ships to reach Fusang, but could this fleet before them be fake? Many people could clearly see that each ship was much larger than theirs, but these ships had many openings, and what were the round black holes inside?
"Don't panic, don't get confused..."
Lord Watanabe is the local official here. Originally, he lived a very poor life, but with these pirates, he could get money every two or three months, so his life became a little better. But now, retribution has finally come. Seeing many people around him being trampled and injured, he wanted to organize the order here, but unfortunately it was impossible.
Everyone knew what day it was. This ship had robbed supplies from the Tang Dynasty and was just about to see if there was anything they wanted. Unexpectedly, the Tang Dynasty's ships came after them, and there were hundreds of them. Not to mention their place, even if all the ships in Fuso were added together, they would probably not have as many as this fleet.
"Capture them all. Don't let any of them escape. Also, go to the homes of all the pirates and capture them as well. If you let any escape, I'll hold you accountable."
Watanabe immediately realized that he could only survive if he captured these people...
