I'm the Farmgirl You Can't Mess With

Chapter 1339: Side Story: Having the Whole World in View (16)

Editor: Atlas Studios

Enraged at being attacked, the French pirate shouted, “This is a conspiracy, an English conspiracy! Attack! Attack back with all your might!”

As soon as the captain gave the order, the French gunners immediately filled the gunpowder and fired at the nearest English pirate ship.

Now it was the English captain’s turn to be angry. “These blind Frenchmen. Didn’t they see that the pirate ship that attacked their ship was in the northwest?”

Despite his scolding, he still swiftly turned the ship around and clashed with France.

Dumbfounded, Lin Chengxiu muttered, “No one doubts our identities?”

Anyone would suspect something was amiss when one party suddenly defected at the last minute, right? How did he manage to incite defection from the other two English pirate ships?

This was because Lin Chengxiu did not understand the relationship between England and France in recent years. The two countries had been at war for almost a hundred years, and in the past few years, the war had become more intense. Many of their relatives and friends had died at the hands of the other party. Therefore, although they looked like they were robbing Great Qi together, their hatred for each other was much deeper than for Great Qi.

Therefore, it was perfectly understandable for the English to turn against the French at the last minute. At this moment, the captain of the other two English pirate ships said, “Although I have to praise the brave decision of the brother opposite me, I have to say that he chose the wrong time. He should only deal with the French ship after taking down the trade caravan of Great Qi…”

At this moment, no one doubted the identity of Lin Chengxiu’s ship.

On the other side, Zhou Zhou led the Second Vanguard Battalion and engaged in a fierce battle with the Italian pirate ship. The Portuguese pirate ship left the battlefield and watched from afar, not intending to interfere.

This pissed off the captain of the Italian pirate ship. “These detestable Portuguese. They clearly agreed to cooperate, but they went back on their word. How detestable!”

Seeing this, Zhou Zhou went harder on the Italian pirate ship while ordering his men to be on guard against the Portuguese warship.

When Lin Chengxiu saw this from afar, he decisively fired a shot at Portugal to drag it into the battle.

These territorial waters immediately became chaotic.

By the time the two warships of Great Qi rushed over, the French pirate ship had already been destroyed and was sinking into the water silently. The other two English pirate ships gradually reacted and shouted, “That’s not a ship of England. We’ve been tricked!”

However, the distance between the ships was far, so they basically communicated using the semaphore. At this moment, it was useless for them to shout because no one other than their own crew could hear them.

At this moment, the battle was intense. Not only did no one pay attention to their semaphore, but they also did not have the time to flag.

With the addition of the two warships, the situation in the battle arena immediately became clear. By the time the sun set in the west, the sea was dyed red, and the two pirate ships of England were the last to be destroyed.

Before this, some of the pirates from the other three countries had managed to escape. Zhou Zhou met up with Lin Chengxiu and looked at the dyed red seawater. Smiling, he said, “Sowing discord—what a well-executed strategy. From today onwards, the relationship between the Western countries will be even more lively.”

Lin Chengxiu did not dare to claim credit and said, “This strategy was presented by the two young masters, not me.”

“You’re the captain. Without your permission, it’s useless no matter how smart they are. You don’t have to be humble in front of me.” Zhou Zhou turned around and said, “Immediately interrogate the pirates and find out where they hid the goods. We’ll set off immediately.”

Zhou Zhou still asked the two warships to go back and look for the trade caravan. He asked them to stop at the Nanyang area to rest and reorganize, only continuing on their way after they had cleared out most of the pirates.

Due to the large number of captured pirates this time, the number of Great Qi interrogators had also increased. Therefore, many of the pirates succumbed to the punishment and confessed on the spot.

After resting for a night, Zhou Zhou divided his troops into two groups to seize back the goods that had been stolen from the merchants.

On the other hand, the merchant ships docked in Nanyang watched the Great Qi army display its might and seized the opportunity to do business with the natives of Nanyang. So, it turned out to be a fruitful trip for them as well.

As for the officials and businessmen in the Indian Ocean, they were all shocked by Great Qi’s military operation. The Governor-General of England in India was the first to send an envoy to protest against Great Qi’s massacre. Furthermore, he strictly stated that Great Qi’s actions had harmed the interests of England, and also pointed out that the Indian Ocean was under England’s sphere of influence…

When the magistrate of Guangzhou received the letter of protest, he pursed his lips and said to the envoy in disdain, “Please go back and tell your governor that firstly, the Indian Ocean isn’t within England’s sphere of influence. It belongs to India and all the surrounding countries. Though Great Qi is only a few days’ trip away from there, even we are not shameless enough to claim that it falls within Great Qi’s sphere of influence. In comparison, how long does it take for someone to reach the Indian Ocean from England?!”

“Secondly, the warships of Great Qi were there to eliminate pirates. Those pirates are inhumane and wantonly rob the people of Great Qi…”

As a jinshi, the magistrate of Guangzhou was extremely eloquent. At this moment, although he did not cuss, his meaning was very clear: You Westerners are despicable, shameless, and vicious. And you still have the cheek to come to us to complain? Utterly devoid of shame. Since you can’t restrain your citizens, Great Qi doesn’t mind teaching you a lesson and teaching you what it means to obey the law!

In addition, the magistrate of Guangzhou also actively contacted the Tributary Affairs Bureau, hoping that they could interact with the masters from India and express that Great Qi empathized with India and the surrounding countries of the Southeast Asia and was willing to help out a little in regards to the invasion by the West.

The countries of Nanyang and the Central Plains had always had a tributary relationship. Even though India was a large country, they had once admired the Great Tang. Basically, the two sides shared a good relationship.

Compared to the unfriendly Westerners who had different skin and hair color from them, they clearly had a better impression of Great Qi.

This was especially true for the natives of the Nanyang countries and islands. To them, the Central Plain had always been their suzerain state. Even if the suzerain state had changed dynasties several times, they were still willing to respect them—provided that there were benefits.

Shortly after Great Qi leaked some news, the various countries sent envoys over.

Not only did the Westerners occupy their land and demanded that they plant all kinds of strange crops, but they also asked them to pay a lot of additional taxes. They could not even keep their long hair and had to shave or cut it. Also, they were forced to convert to Christianity!

Who knew what God was?

They had only heard of the Jade Emperor and the Buddha. Of course, they trusted their Ancestral God the most!

Therefore, when they heard that Great Qi was on their side because they were robbed by the Westerners, they all came to join them.

The magistrate of Guangzhou didn’t expect that his random idea would create such an impact. After receiving the letter from the Tributary Affairs Bureau, he excitedly began to work hard on this matter.

At this moment, Zhou Zhou and the others, who were far away at sea, did not know about this situation because they had been very busy for the past three months.

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