Chapter 222: Ash.o.r.e
"The rain has stopped." At this point, the dark clouds had dispersed, and the setting sun was visible. The winds blew across the island, as Pei Zi Yun removed his leather armor under the cool breeze. He noticed many wounds on his body, blood seeped out of them. Although some of these wounds were long, they weren’t deep.
"Expel Toxins!"
"Sweet Dew Technique!" Since the wounds weren’t deep, they recovered extremely quickly, leaving just a faint red line along his skin. Pei Zi Yun exhaled deeply, and turned around to look at the stronghold. At this point, several fires all around were still blazing, while groups of soldiers tried to extinguish them.
"It rained earlier, which makes everything wet. Since the fires weren’t started by oil, they will be extinguished before long." Pei Zi Yun stood atop the peak of a hill and looked down. He could almost see the entire island clearly.
"It looks like there are at least a hundred or two hundred households living here."
"And they’ve even started ploughing the lands for the farming season."
Pei Zi Yun whipped out a silver flask from the pocket within his robes and took a deep drink. Cai Yuan Zhen then walked over and stood beside him. He had several sword slash marks across his leather armor, and traces of blood on his body as well. He had been hurt, although not gravely.
"Captain Cai, look at how this island has been overwhelmed by us. The pirates are another step closer towards extinction." Pei Zi Yun spoke blandly.
"Yes, your Excellency Pei. Everything was as you expected!" Cai Yuan Zhen spoke, he had an expression of admiration and pride written across his face, "After interrogating the pirates, we’ve discovered the location of their warehouses. Please offer the next instructions."
"Let’s take a look!" Pei Zi Yun walked side by side with Cai Yuan Zhen. Before long, they reached a door which was locked by metal chains from the outside. A pair of soldiers guarded the door.
When Pei Zi Yun looked at this situation, he knew that Cai Yuan Zhen was loyal to him, and had been won over for he didn’t open the door before Pei Zi Yun was consulted. Instead, he waited for Pei Zi Yun to see it and make a decision. At once, Pei Zi Yun felt a warmness in his chest, and was extremely appreciative of this gesture.
With a flash of the sword, the chains broke open and the door was free. The sight which greeted them caused them all to be astonished.
The interior of this warehouse was filled with wooden shelves. Every single shelf was covered in gold and silver, unlike anything any of them had ever seen before. The amount of gold and silver was dazzling to their eyes. Cai Yuan Zhen’s breathing started becoming ragged as he mumbled to himself, "There is so much gold and silver. Ai, this is such a strange sight."
Pei Zi Yun glanced around the entire warehouse, and saw that the gold was imprinted with black ink. There were the words "Legitimate Gold" inscripted on it. These inscriptions were usually done by banks to prevent counterfeits.
"This is the gold from j.a.pan. Each bar of gold is worth ten taels of gold, and was of 97% purity."
"Since there are two hundred gold bars, it’s worth two thousand taels of gold."
"This is also quality silver. Each bar is worth fifty taels, and there are a hundred of them!" Pei Zi Yun picked one up to take a look. He noticed that each of them were inscribed, "Banker’s Silver."
They then noticed silver bricks lying around as well. These silver bricks however were of average quality. Pei Zi Yun strolled around the perimeters of the warehouse and looked around. At last, he counted quietly in his head, "There are two thousand taels of gold. Adding
the amount of silver and other treasures, they would be worth twenty three thousand taels of silver."
"As for the silver fragments, there are about twenty thousand taels worth."
"As for coins, there are ten thousand coins worth."
Pei Zi Yun smiled before laughing out loudly. "Captain Cai. Do you wish to be promoted?"
Cai Yuan Zhen paused, "I do!"
"If you wish to, these twenty thousand taels of gold shall be secretly delivered to the Crown Prince. He shall know that it came from you, and I a.s.sure you that you will at least attain fourth rank after this!" Pei Zi Yun spoke out blandly. "As for the rest of the twenty three thousand taels, everyone should split it!"
"As for the silver fragments and coins, half shall be confiscated and surrendered to the higher authorities, while the other half shall be given to the soldiers!"
"How does that sound?"
Cai Yuan Zhen bowed deeply, "All shall be decided by master Top Scorer."
Hearing Cai Yuan Zhen’s words, Pei Zi Yun laughed out before asking, "How many fighting soldiers do we have left?"
"Your excellency Pei, a hundred and twenty died in battle. Two hundred were injured in battle. Those who are still able to fight number around six hundred." Cai Yuan Zhen spoke seriously about such matters, and wore a look of severity.
When Pei Zi Yun heard this, he walked several paces before replying, "There aren’t many pirates left. The party which lost the most from this battle here in Golden Island would be the pirates, and not us."
"Take control of the captives and the civilian population now. Order the captives to gather and move the corpses, while the civilians should help to shift goods and prepare food of rice and meat. Take this gold and place them into boxes before shifting them onto the ships."
"The soldiers should take shifts to patrol and sleep. Once they’ve consumed their meal, they should be ordered to sleep and rest."
"What if the pirates launch stealth attack on us?" Cai Yuan Zhen hesitated as he asked.
Pei Zi Yun burst out in laughter as he pointed to the island and spoke, "Captain Cai. Look, we’ve won the pirates three consecutive times. Sentry Island, battle at the sea, and Golden Island. There aren’t many enemies left. They would have a thousand more men at most, and they aren’t even their best fighters. Their best fighters were just killed by us!" Pei Zi Yun spoke out.
"Besides, the enemy would have to come from sea, and would require time. We should have some time to rest now. We’ve just fought in three consecutive battles, and the soldiers are exhausted. They must eat, and they must rest."
"Yes, your Excellency Pei." Cai Yuan Zhen acknowledged. However, his tone almost sounded like he was facing a myriad of emotions. The pair of them ascended a flight of stairs before reaching the top. They then looked down upon the island from the elevated view. They could see a long river flowing through the dense forest some distance away.
"I’ve already noticed the river when I came up here!" Pei Zi Yun pointed down at the river and continued, "Although we call it a river, it’s actually a natural crack in the earth, flowing with water."
Pei Zi Yun continued pointing, "My soldiers are exhausted beyond measure, but the plan has changed now that we’ve won this island from the pirates. The pirates can rely on rainwater to survive, but they now have no food supplies. The only way for them to survive would be to attack our boat supplies if we send them out now. Send the order out, all the boats containing food supplies should travel by this small river. Even if the boats get stranded or wrecked, it’s fine."
"We control the supplies now, and have the upper hand. However, we have everything to lose should we decide to fight them. Likewise, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain."
"Once we’re on land, we are an army in battle formation. The pirates have lived at sea all their lives and are more adept at sea battle. They might be able to contest us at sea. However, once it comes to land battles, we will smash them effortlessly."
"We are an army of soldiers, and we should crush the enemy!"
"Yes your excellency. I understand." Cai Yuan Zhen thought to himself before he acknowledged.
At this point, a lieutenant approached. He had an expression of glee on his face despite the numerous wounds on his body. "Your Excellency Pei. We caught a pirate leader who was in charge of their supplies. We managed to interrogate him and found out they didn’t take much supplies along with them. They were in a hurry, and didn’t expect to be attacked. Of those boats that are still out at sea, they only have three days of supplies left to last them. Hence, all their food rations and supplies are still here within the stronghold, and not with the remaining pirates."
The lieutenant seemed somewhat anxious as he spoke. He gulped down once before continuing, "Your Excellency. I’ve also checked out the supplies storage, and found a huge supply of wheat grains."
"Haha, even the heavens are a.s.sisting me. Looks like the pirates would be short on both water and food. Let’s see how they shall die." Pei Zi Yun laughed out, "As for defending the island, we should rest and wait for them to come. Once they do, we will be rested up, while they are impoverished. Killing them shouldn’t be a problem. If they decide not to come, they will die of starvation. Let’s speak more on this subject in two or three days time. Once we are energized, we might even think of going out to sea to find them."
These words were extremely sharp and forceful. Cai Yuan Zhen thoroughly understood his point. He paused for some time before he spoke, "Your Excellency has completely destroyed the pirates, and have them in your palms. This subject is in admiration."
"Now’s not the time for bootlicking. We have to hurry set up camp and restore our soldiers. Captain Cai, do as I ordered." Pei Zi Yun instructed.
"Yes, your Excellency." Cai Yuan Zhen then turned around to give orders. He was clearly relaxed at this point.
"Quick, quick!" The soldiers started shouting out at the civilian population, as they supervised while the commoners dragged the boats out to sea."
"One, two. One, two. Come on. One two, one two. Come on!"
On both ends of the islands, soldiers erected tents while the commoners chopped wood for use.
A ma.s.s of pirates littered the sandy sh.o.r.es of the island. The pirates were all bounded up. From time to time, a soldier would walk up and ask them for information. Other soldiers would gather around and record whatever he said.
"Quick, shift the goods onto the ships. Quick." The commoners were being watched closely as they loaded up the gold and silver.
"Start the fires, prepare the food." Several soldiers observed as they issued instructions for the pirates to follow. There was a large quant.i.ty of rice being cooked within a huge wok. Some other people were baking pastries, which caused a delicious aroma to waft in the air and diffuse all around.
Pots of meat soup were being cooked as several cans of salted meat were thrown into the soup to add to the flavor. Most of the meat within the soup however, wasn’t preserved meat. They were freshly hunted wild boars on the island. At this point everyone got to eat some pastries, soup, and meat.
"Quick, go to sleep when you’re done eating. No shouting!" Someone ordered.
Several Daoists were healing the injured soldiers, while a doctor was tending to their wounds. Those soldiers who were more seriously injured were first treated by the Daoists before the doctors worked on them.
Pei Zi Yun was extremely busy at this point as well. He used the Sweet Dew Technique to heal as many soldiers as he could manage.
A soldier stepped forward to offer Pei Zi Yun some meat and rice, "Your Excellency, your food is here."
"Good. Arrange for at least twenty soldiers to be patrolling at all times. Once there’s news, set the fire to signal the rest." Pei Zi Yun spoke as he devoured his food hungrily.
"Yes, your Excellency." The soldier then retreated.
They were all busy until late at night, when the boats arrived at the mouth of the small river. The camps and tents were already constructed, and half of the army were already fast asleep. However, the commoners and captives were still hard at work. Seeing this, Pei Zi Yun whispered, "Send someone to watch them closely."
As he said this, he turned around and headed for the boats.
At this point, there were dozens of candles which flickered brightly in the dark. More than a hundred people were waiting for him. On his left and right was the section leader and the official. They were carrying the imperial banners. To their left and right were Cai Yuan Zhen and Chen Pu.
Pei Zi Yun walked through them, as everyone bowed deeply.
"a.s.sume your positions." Pei Zi Yun then continued, "Please take your seats."
Everyone stood straight and placed their hands behind their backs. Cai Yuan Zhen and Chen Pu then proceeded to sit down.
"It’s been a tiring day for everyone. Your Excellency Chen, please tell us about the gold and silver earned." Pei Zi Yun spoke out plainly.
Chen Pu then stood up and spoke, "We have twenty thousand fragmented silver, and about ten thousand strings of coins."
"Thirty thousand will be given to the authorities, and half of the remaining shall be given to the foot soldiers. Those soldiers who partic.i.p.ated in battle and were hurt shall be given twenty taels each. Those who weren"t hurt shall be given fifteen taels. Those who didn’t kill anyone will be given ten tales of silver. Anyone who fought and bled would be given thirty taels."
Everyone started to break out in discussion. This was the repayment for shedding blood for a cause. With this much amount of silver, life would be much more comfortable.
"As for the silver bricks and other treasures, they’re worth 23,000 teals. We shall split this."
"Boom!" Everyone around couldn’t bear it any longer and erupted in discussion.
After sometime, Pei Zi Yun raised his hand to appease the crowd, and everyone fell silent. "a.s.sistant Section Leaders shall receive a hundred taels. Section Leaders shall receive a hundred and fifty taels."
That was five thousand taels worth in distribution.
"Junior Lieutenants will receive two hundred and fifty taels, while Lieutenants will receive three hundred taels!"
That was 2,400 taels worth.
"Junior Captains will receive five hundred taels, and Captains will receive a thousand taels of silver."
"Your Excellency Chen will receive a thousand taels of silver. Your Excellency Luo (Section Leader of the main vanguard) will receive a thousand taels of silver. All the other leaders of the main vanguard will receive a hundred and fifty taels."
"As for this official, I can say tell everyone that he was sent by the higher authorities. I shall reward him with six hundred taels." Pei Zi Yun slapped the official on his back.
"The remaining ten thousand taels, half would be given to the Governor, and the other half would be given to me. Does anyone have any objections?"
"We have no objections!" Everyone’s face was blushing red from the alcohol. The minute they spoke these words, everyone stood up before falling to their knees, "Thank you, your Excellency for the reward."
All of a sudden, someone knocked on the door as Pei Zi Yun turned around and listened to the report, "Your Excellency, the pirates have appeared."
"What?" Pei Zi Yun walked out of the door and into the bright night sky. Some distance away, several boats were inching nearer towards them. There were about thirty boats. Of these, one of the boats was in the lead.
Cai Yuan Zhen looked at Pei Zi Yun and asked, "Your Excellency Pei, what should we do now?"
Chen Pu then asked, "Should we wake the soldiers?"
"Wake up one section of the soldiers. The pirates are just testing the waters, and won’t dare to launch a large-scale attack. Let’s wait a bit longer." Pei Zi Yun’s eyes were glued onto the surface of the water. With a wave of his hands, footsteps could be heard. The soldiers had been awakened and were all in their sleeping clothes. At this point, they were all standing at attention.