8

"That was in previous years. This year, with the pirates, it's even doubtful if anyone will take the goods. Why don't you send someone to contact them? Maybe the goods they take will be cheaper."

Cheng Xi understood clearly that when pirates appeared, it wasn't just one or two merchants who suffered, but entire trade routes. Without the private boats operating small businesses, the number of people collecting goods would inevitably decrease. Now that news of the government's tax increase had spread, he expected many people to eagerly wait for merchants to come.

This is a good opportunity to find a bargain. No matter how cheap the goods in Panyu are, they can't be cheaper than their place of origin, right?

Lin Meng was stunned for more than ten seconds. He suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "My benefactor is right! Many villages are afraid to sail away, so they must have a lot of goods stored! I'll go ask my uncle and see if he can make this happen!"

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered the key point, and with a red face, he bowed deeply: "My benefactor is really our savior!"

It was because of the man in front of them that they were able to come back alive, contact the Sun and Li families so quickly, and have money to buy goods.

Each of these things saved their lives! Such a great favor, even working like a slave can never repay it!

Seeing him like this, Cheng Xi smiled slightly: "You and I fought side by side, lived and died together, so why bother with formalities? Let's get down to business."

Hearing this, Lin Meng's heart warmed. He nodded vigorously and ran out quickly.

"Sun Er, if you can't do something, just say something. No one will laugh at you." Li Niu said with a grin, breathing heavily.

In the past few days, all the ships from various companies have arrived, and everyone has gathered and started training with Cheng Xi.

The young and weak were all arranged to swing the club. They spent half of their time on the boat and half under the boat. They not only had to poke at the straw targets, but also had to learn how to form a formation.

Those who were tall and strong would learn to throw spears. Every family had skilled harpooners, and throwing a short spear was much easier than spearing fish, and it could also directly kill people on the enemy ship, giving them a sense of heroism. Those who were bold and steady could learn some sword techniques. While the moves were crude and not considered true martial arts, they were more than enough to kill pirates boarding the ship when combined with the spearman.

As for Li Niu and Sun Er, who already had martial arts skills and were also able to steer the ship, they had to learn a lot. They had to understand everything and also had to learn the newly emerged "flag language".

That’s not all. They also have to run several miles every morning and are so tired that their tongues are about to pop out.

Li Niu relied on his good physique and ran until he was sweating all over to make some sarcastic remarks to others.

Sun Erlang ignored him and just kept running. After finally returning to the village, Li Niu clutched his chest, feeling he couldn't breathe. He coughed and cursed, "This kid is not a human being! Why are you running? My lungs are about to explode!"

As he was cursing, a voice came from behind him: "If you don't want to, you don't have to run."

Li Niu shuddered and quickly turned around to smile: "Brother Cheng, you're joking. Didn't we just listen to you? As long as we can save the boat, we can practice any way we want!"

He was no fool. After running for a few days, he could already feel his strength growing. He was the captain of a ship, and the more energetic and fit he was, the more he could intimidate others.

He is not young anymore. If he doesn't take this opportunity to learn well, he might be replaced one day and retire.

After spending a few days together, Cheng Xi also knew that this guy had a habit of talking too much, so he ignored him and said directly: "The hull modification has been completed. We will go on board for actual combat today and practice flag signals by the way."

Li Niu and Sun Erlang were both startled, not caring about the sweat on their bodies. Li Niu urged, "Hurry up! Go take a look first!"

All three ships had been modified for this voyage. The Sun and Li families' ships had reinforced bulwarks, while the Lin family's ship had a taller mast and a lookout tower added to it.

This was something no one had expected. On ordinary ships, people would stand at the bow and stern to look out for the channel and enemy situation. How could they build a platform on the mast?

Because of this, the two of them became even more curious about the transformation of the Lin family's ship. At this moment, all three ships were parked at the shore. Several people boarded the ship and immediately ran to the mast, looking up.

"Such a small platform? Is it really useful?" Li Niu looked at the small wooden platform on the top of the mast, and he was extremely curious. There was probably only enough space for one person to stand on it, and it was not very useful except for looking into the distance.

Besides, the mast is not low, and it will sway even more when it is at sea. What if it falls down?

"This time we go out to sea, we are on guard against pirates. It is very important to stand at the highest point and observe the enemy situation. The sooner we discover the enemy, the sooner we can prepare for battle and gain the initiative." Cheng Xi answered as a matter of course.

In fact, after carefully observing the ship, she understood why ancient Chinese ships did not have the habit of setting up lookout towers.

Unlike the soft sails used in the West, Chinese ships used hard sails. Rows of bamboo poles were fixed horizontally on the sail surface, making the entire sail surface an integrated whole that could be raised and lowered with simple ropes.

In this way, the hard sail can withstand winds from all directions, avoiding the problem of Western soft sails that must be adjusted with the wind, requiring a large number of zipline devices and manpower losses.

But on the other hand, the weight of the sail will increase linearly, the height of the mast will be limited, and there is only one straight up and down main mast, without the stepped horizontal masts like those of Western sailing ships. Naturally, it is impossible to build a lookout tower between the two horizontal masts.

With such a large pole and a large hard sail that can circle in all directions, there is no space to set up a lookout tower.

Cheng Xi studied for a long time and finally set up a small platform on the top of the mast. After people climbed up, they could sit on the platform and use ropes to fix their bodies, which could roughly ensure safety.

However, no matter how much he introduced it, it would not be as intuitive as an actual demonstration. Cheng Xi didn't waste any words. He rubbed his hands together, grabbed the main mast, and climbed up quickly.

This action startled everyone, and Li Niu already shouted, "Hey! Brother Cheng, no, this is too dangerous!"

What kind of danger is this? Cheng Xi ignored his shouting and easily climbed to the top of the mast. He tied the fixed rope first, then turned around and sat down.

The mast was only seven meters high, not even as high as a three-story building. Cheng Xi had practiced on a Western-style sailing ship after all. He had climbed higher masts and more dangerous rope nets. Even though his strength had not fully recovered yet, he was not afraid of this height.

After settling down, she looked at the people on the deck and shouted, "Look at my flag!"

After shouting, Cheng Xi took out two small triangular flags from his waist and waved them. It was a pipe dream to expect these fishermen to master complex flag signals, but simple warnings could still be accomplished.

Waving a red flag means there are enemies ahead. Waving the flag left and right means the enemy is far away and not attacking, while waving it up and down means the enemy ship is approaching rapidly. The number of times the flag is waved represents the number of enemy ships.

In addition, there are black flags and yellow flags, representing official ships and unknown merchant ships respectively. Such flag signals cannot convey complex information, but they are sufficient for warning.

Upon receiving the order, the three ships could react quickly by signaling advance and retreat using the deck's advance and retreat flags. For private vessels, this was already an extremely advanced method of communication.

"They're enemy ships! Three enemy ships approaching!" Li Niu squinted his eyes and watched for a while, then shouted excitedly, "We see them! But three enemy ships?"

He had practiced his voice so well that it could be heard everywhere. Cheng Xi sat on the high mast, watching the people jumping and shouting and waving, and couldn't help but smile.

Time waits for no one. After a few more days of training, when the Lin family's ships were fully loaded with cargo, the three ships set sail together and left the coast.