At this very moment, on a small island at sea, a one-eyed man excitedly addressed the bandit leader on the island:
"Boss, I see some ships at sea."
The pirate leader immediately showed an excited expression and said:
"Are you sure you're not seeing things? Are you sure there are some ships?"
The one-eyed pirate immediately said:
"Don't you trust my eyesight? I can see things very clearly, and I have a very keen eye."
The eldest brother chuckled and then spoke:
"More and more merchants are passing through here, and there are also many merchant ships passing by. Most of the time, they are small, individual vessels with little profit."
The one-eyed man immediately spoke again:
"Boss, you can rest assured this time. I can guarantee that the ships passing by this time are very large and definitely worth a lot of money."
The eldest brother immediately perked up and said:
"Really? That's fantastic news! Did you see clearly? How many ships are there?"
The one-eyed man said:
"There are dozens of boats in the distance. We're going to strike it rich this time. With this scale, I'm sure there are a lot of good stuff on board."
Upon hearing this, the leader's eyes lit up. He had been a pirate for many years, and usually only took on small ships.
At most, the fleet only has three or five ships.
There has never been any significant financial gain.
But this time, his subordinates told him that they had seen a fleet of dozens of ships, and it was clear at a glance that they were very wealthy and had a lot of good stuff. Could he let it go?
We definitely can't let this opportunity pass us by.
So the pirate leader immediately spoke up:
"Since that's the case, what are we waiting for? Tell everyone to prepare to board the ship and intercept this fleet. We must pull off a big heist."
If this fleet can make us a lot of money, we can leave this place, stop being pirates, and go ashore to enjoy wealth and luxury.
Hearing the pirate captain say that, the pirates under his command were very happy. After all, no one wanted to be a pirate for life. Besides, what was this pirate's purpose anyway?
All they want is to make some money and then enjoy life.
Living on a small island, they certainly couldn't enjoy life, so when they had enough money, they naturally wanted to return to the mainland to spend it.
If one could make a fortune with a single piracy and then no longer need to be a pirate, then it would naturally be a sure-fire way to make money.
Thinking of this, the pirates were very happy, so they made contact and quickly set off in seven or eight small boats.
This boat, for an ordinary fisherman, might be a bit big. Each boat can seat more than ten people, and with seven or eight smaller boats, it can carry a total of seventy or eighty pirates.
Such a pirate group was already quite large, considering that ships usually passing by at sea are not very big.
However, if there are so many pirates, they can be considered major pirate groups.
The pirates boarded their ship and quickly headed in the direction the one-eyed man had pointed.
The one-eyed man on the ship was still very excited and said to the leader:
"Boss, we're really going to make a fortune this time. That fleet has dozens of ships."
The eldest brother also said:
"You've done a great job this time. Don't worry, you'll definitely get your share of the rewards. Also, pass down the order to have the men prepare their weapons and be ready to take down this fleet at sea at any time."
Upon hearing this, the pirates all drew their broadswords, looking fierce and imposing.
However, on the other side, aboard the main ship in the middle of the fleet, Zhu Yunwen sat in a luxurious chair and said to Ma Sanbao:
“Pirates should not exist, especially this shipping route. As a trade route between overseas countries and our Great Ming, it should not be threatened by pirates.”
This time, wiping out all the pirates along the shipping route will also be a major task.
Ma Sanbao immediately nodded and said:
"Your Majesty, I understand. Rest assured, there are no pirates at sea who can oppose our fleet."
Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly, and at that moment another subordinate came over to report:
"Your Highness, Lord Ma, we can now clearly see a pirate fleet of seventy or eighty men on our right, rapidly approaching us. They are about three miles away."
The so-called "three li" is actually 1,500 meters. At sea, visibility is quite limited at a distance of 1,500 meters.
Even when looking at things in the distance, it's not very clear.
The reason why the soldiers on the Ming Dynasty ship who were responsible for monitoring the surrounding situation could see so clearly was because Zhu Yunwen had taught them how to make glass and then produced some concave and convex mirrors.
Then, after improvements, an even better telescope was created.
It can be considered the best and most advanced telescope available today. It is naturally no problem for them to see this distance of 1,500 meters clearly. It is quite normal that they can see it clearly.
So Zhu Yunwen took out a telescope and looked carefully in the direction of the pirates in the distance. Sure enough, he saw seven or eight small boats on the sea, struggling to get closer to the fleet.
At the same time, Zhu Yunwen also discovered that there was a small island in front of their fleet.
So Zhu Yunwen smiled and said:
"I don't know if these pirates are bold or if they don't know the situation of our fleet. Here's what we'll do: give the order for the fleet to speed up, and then hide behind that small island ahead. When these pirates catch up, we'll give them a surprise."
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