The Empress came ashore and beheaded the meritorious officials, forcing me to wear the yellow robe

Chapter 431: Paying Pirates Protection Fees

Li Jihuan was completely bewildered by the situation. What was going on? I thought there would be a fight. The kind of fight I want is one that's incredibly satisfying!

why?

Why did these East Japanese warriors, who believed that the "Bushido" spirit was above everything else and were willing to sacrifice their lives, surrender?

Didn't they want to fight these pirates to the death before? Why did they give in so quickly?

Of course, this could also be a "false surrender" strategy by the Eastern Japanese, designed to make them relax their vigilance and become complacent.

Immediately...

The Pirate King Li Jihuan directly ordered one of the warships to dock and see what was going on. If the other party was cheating, at most one vanguard would die.

The younger brothers who were chosen to be the vanguard were very helpless, but they were all desperate men. In order to avoid being laughed at by their peers, they usually had no choice but to bite the bullet and go on in such situations.

When they carefully landed in the city and wanted to go in to see what was going on, they were stunned by the scene before them.

Wow… Wow! What’s going on?

They saw the streets full of civilians and Eastern Japanese warriors. When they saw them, these people all cheered and welcomed them wildly.

Ah this...

People who didn't know them would think they were not pirates but Qin troops. Why were the people cheering when they arrived in Dongwo?

The pirates who had landed on land looked at the Eastern Japanese on the opposite side and really didn't understand what they were going to do. Until Tanaka Ichiro stood out from the crowd.

I have to say that he is the smartest military advisor. Not only is he very smart, but he can also speak the official language of Da Qi.

This is not surprising...

In Confucian cultural circles, people were proud to learn the Chinese characters and language, just like people in later generations are required to learn English.

"Dear guests who have come from afar, please be patient. We invited you here simply to discuss a business deal. I wonder if you could inform your Pirate King. He will surely reward you handsomely!"

As he said this, Tanaka Ichiro walked over and lifted a piece of red cloth in front of him, while several pirates looked in disbelief.

Wow! When the red cloth was lifted, the pirates were stunned by the huge silver ingots in the box underneath.

This……

This state is really rich! To have given such a big surprise right away, this amount of money is not a small sum.

So, several pirates who went up to investigate ran back happily and reported the whole matter to Li Jihuan truthfully.

"What? They want to negotiate with us? And they've prepared a large amount of silver?"

After hearing this, Li Jihuan was completely shocked. He had never expected that such a thing would happen.

Everything happened too fast and too suddenly, which was a bit unexpected.

Even though Li Jihuan came from a military family, he had never seen anything this weird before him, okay?

It's so confusing!

I'm a pirate, not a regular soldier from the Great Qi. How can I negotiate with a bunch of pirates? How should I handle this?

Looking at the others, it was clear that they were all very excited after hearing that there was a lot of silver. They stared at Li Jihuan with wide eyes and looked expectantly, obviously wanting him to negotiate.

Li Jihuan had no choice but to look at his other advisors and ask them what they thought. Was there anything fishy going on on the other side?

It's true, after a preliminary analysis, the subordinates felt that this was a trap. How should I put it?

The people of East Japan are now particularly afraid of pirates. They are just pirates, but they are a country. It should be easy to deal with them, right?

but……

The pirates' weapons were stronger than theirs, their warships had more traps than theirs, and their supplies (mainly fire and ammunition) were more abundant than theirs.

Knowing this, they could only comfort themselves that pirates were just a bunch of loose sand and a ragtag group, but they didn't expect the slap in the face to come so quickly.

There was a Pirate King in the pirate team. Under his command, the pirates were invincible.

In this way, the pirates are actually no different from military organizations. If they want to defeat these pirates now, it is obviously right to capture the leader first.

and so……

These think tanks had reason to suspect that the East Japanese were targeting the Pirate King with all their current tactics. If the Pirate King died, wouldn't the pirates be scattered?

Most importantly, the think tanks all knew the true identity of Pirate King Li Jihuan: he was Li Jize's younger brother. If he died at sea, Li Jize, the so-called "big boss" behind the scenes, would likely be furious and stop playing pirates! He might even order them to disband.

Because of this, they did not recommend that Li Jihuan take the risk of negotiations. If he died in Dongwo, not only the Dongwo people would be in trouble, but they, the pirates, would also be in trouble.

but……

Facing the other pirates, all of them looking expectant and eager for silver, the think tanks made a request: they could negotiate, but they couldn't let the Pirate King go to negotiate in person.

The simplest and most direct way is to let someone pass the message, especially the few vanguards, to convey the message.

"The Pirate King is willing to negotiate with the General, but... he won't come in person. He wants us to negotiate on his behalf!"

After these people conveyed the message, Ichiro Tanaka and General Kankai Yukoji were really helpless.

Especially Kankai Yukoji, he's the current general of East Japan, the nominal "emperor." Now he's groveling and actively negotiating with the pirate leader, who only sent a few soldiers. How presumptuous! Are you polite?

Fortunately, Tanaka Ichiro, who was standing by, remained rational. He quietly explained to General Kanjie Yukoji, "Your Excellency! This pirate leader must be worried that we are up to something and is afraid to negotiate. We don't need to force them. For now, everything should be based on our own goals!"

Kankai Yukoji then remembered that he had previously solemnly promised that for the lives of his warriors and the safety of his country, this little humiliation was nothing and he was willing to endure it.

Thinking of this, he took a deep breath and began to maintain the smile on his face.

"We are willing to provide your fleet with sufficient funds for its departure. We only ask that both sides maintain peace and avoid further fighting."