Chapter 1: The Pledge of Allegiance

"Why does the village head's family eat meat at every meal, while your whole family can't even gnaw on tree bark?"

"Why do the officials only bully you, taking away all your family's money, and still seizing your father and brothers for corvée labor?"

"Why do you work the fields so hard, only to end up unable to pay the land rent, owing the landlord three taels of silver, and having your sisters sold off to pay the debt?"

"Because you people can endure it!"

Boom!

A flash of lightning streaked across, illuminating the faces of everyone on the ship.

The numb-faced boat workers looked up toward the front of the stern cabin, anger gradually rising on their faces.

Lin Qian held a knife in one hand and raised a torch in the other. Seeing the expressions of the boat workers, he knew in his heart that the great deed could be accomplished.

He pointed the knife before him, where the shipmaster and his woman knelt, both with cloth wads stuffed in their mouths, hands bound behind their backs, trembling like sieves.

"Even if we leave Zhangzhou, leave the Great Ming, there will still be villains bullying us!"

"A whipping today, a whipping tomorrow—if this keeps up, never mind our wages, will we even keep our lives? We're all born of fathers and mothers, coming to the sea to make a living, yet we get beaten and cursed by this villain day in and day out. For what?"

In the half month since setting sail, basically everyone had been beaten. Hearing these words, they all felt the wounds on their backs ache, and their anger grew even fiercer.

"When this cargo reaches port, it'll sell for at least ten thousand taels of silver. That's money our brothers risked our lives for through wind and wave—why should it go to this villain who docks our wages on one hand and toys with women on the other?"

At the mention of ten thousand taels of silver, the boat workers' breathing grew heavy and coarse, their eyes bloodshot as they stared at Lin Qian.

Cold sweat poured from the shipmaster's forehead, his eyes full of terror, constantly letting out muffled whimpers, but unable to speak.

Another flash of lightning streaked across.

Boom!

Lin Qian thrust his hand forward, the knife plunging into the shipmaster's back. He pulled the blade out, and blood sprayed everywhere.

The shipmaster collapsed into the pool of blood, twitched twice, and soon lost all breath.

The woman beside him was so frightened that urine ran down her leg, kowtowing continuously and begging for mercy.

She spat out the rag from her mouth with effort, crying and shouting: "I was wrong, I know I was wrong, spare me, just spare me and I'll do anything…"

Though he had prepared himself mentally, this was after all his first time killing someone. Every muscle in Lin Qian's body trembled uncontrollably, and his right hand gripping the knife shook the worst of all.

He bit his tongue hard, using the pain to control his body. Gripping the knife tightly, he took a deep breath, and his right hand thrust down again.

The woman let out a shrill scream and collapsed as well.

The boat workers were all shaken out of their wits by this bloody scene.

Lin Qian pulled out the knife and hid his trembling right arm behind his back.

Who could have imagined that half a month ago, he was a modern man of financial freedom, sailing a yacht around the world, only to perish in a storm and wake up here in the Great Ming.

The wealth and status of his past life had become smoke in an instant, returning him to the very bottom rung of society.

The original body's family were tenant farmers. A flood a year ago had submerged the fields, washed away the house, and drowned the whole family.

Though he had escaped death, he was left with nothing but a worthless life, and because he couldn't pay the land rent, he owed the landlord's family three taels of silver.

Fearing he'd be beaten to death by debt collectors, the original owner had fled in secret and become a boat worker.

Only after muddle-headedly setting out to sea did he learn that the shipmaster was actually a servant of the landlord's household.

Heaven truly plays tricks on people.

By custom, once at sea the shipmaster was an absolute lord, and beating or cursing the boat workers required no reason at all.

The original owner was weak-willed by nature, and the shipmaster especially loved to pick on him—within three days of setting sail, he'd already been whipped four times.

The original owner had been fleeing for a long time, his body already frail. Between fear and injury upon injury, he came down with a high fever one night and died of illness, for no clear reason.

That was what allowed Lin Qian from the later age to cross over into this body.

Once Lin Qian figured out the situation, he realized this life was practically a hellish start.

According to the Great Ming Code, leaving one's registered household for more than three months already made one a vagrant—if caught by the authorities, the heavy penalty was beheading, the light penalty eighty strokes of the rod, plus deportation back to one's original registration.

Setting aside whether he could even survive to leave the ship, or whether the landlord would let him go after returning to his hometown, the single stain of being a fugitive household was enough to cut off his future entirely.

Both doing business and inventing things were impossible, and entering officialdom through the civil examinations was out of the question.

As for farming the land… if he could have farmed in peace, the original owner wouldn't have died on this ship.

This was the bloody reality of feudal society.

However, Lin Qian was not the type to accept his fate.

It was now the forty-eighth year of Wanli, the most profitable time for maritime trade, and the pirate trade was flourishing right along with it.

In the late Ming, Zheng Zhilong built his start as a pirate, amassing boundless wealth—and not only that, he accepted amnesty, washed himself clean and came ashore, dominating both the lawful and unlawful worlds to become a hegemon of the southeast.

At his peak, even the Manchu Tartars, the Southern Ming court, the Dutch, and the Spanish all had to watch his mood.

Since this world wouldn't let him be an obedient subject, then he would follow Zheng Zhilong's example and stir up heaven and earth.

And the first step right now was…

Seize the ship!

"Bailangzai!" Lin Qian called out.

A youth behind him sprang forward and hurled a bundle to the ground.

The bundle scattered open with a clattering sound, revealing its contents—more than a dozen long knives.

"Anyone who takes a knife is a brother of mine, Lin Qian. When the ship reaches port, each of you gets a hundred taels."

The boat workers erupted in murmurs: "A hundred taels…"

"You couldn't earn a hundred taels in twenty voyages…"

"That's enough to buy several mu of paddy field…"

Soon, several men stepped out from the crowd, took knives, and stood behind Lin Qian.

Adding Bailangzai who had just thrown the bundle, Lin Qian's side now had seven men.

Lin Qian was not at all surprised, because a few days earlier, the seven of them had secretly sworn brotherhood and planned this ship seizure together.

Although the shipmaster was now dead, with just the seven of them as sworn brothers, they could not possibly control all the boat workers, much less sail this three-masted Fujian junk away.

There were more than fifty boat workers on the ship, and at least half of them would need to be won over.

For the boat workers, sailing the seas was a perilous trade, but it was still an honest livelihood. Once they picked up a blade, they would become bandits, and if caught by the authorities, they would lose their heads.

But openly opposing Lin Qian, they lacked both the courage and the ability.

After all, every weapon on the ship was now in that bundle. Once someone came to take a blade—whether to join the cause or for self-defense—in the eyes of the other boat workers, they had already become bandits.

If they did not take a weapon, they would be unarmed and helpless, unable to defeat Lin Qian's men, and would ultimately have to obey orders anyway.

This was an open scheme.

For a long while there was no movement, until finally one of the boat workers plucked up his courage and asked, "What happens after we take the silver?"

Lin Qian thought to himself, a good question, and said in a clear voice, "After the silver is divided, those who appreciate being brothers may stay and carve out a place for themselves on the seas together. Those who have other plans are free to come and go as they please."

The boat workers stirred restlessly. A few men stepped forward to take blades, and then more than ten others followed.

Some moved too slowly, and when no weapons remained, they stood empty-handed beside Lin Qian.

After half a stick of incense had burned, all the boat workers on deck had gathered around Lin Qian.

Someone among the boat workers shouted, "Brother Lin, we've all thrown in with you now—what do we do next?"

"There's one more person for everyone to meet." Lin Qian gave Bailangzai a look.

Bailangzai returned to the cabin and dragged out a bound man.

"Steward Wu?" The boat workers murmured in low voices.

This man was the ship's bookkeeper, who loved nothing more than finding excuses to dock their wages. The money he skimmed never even made it into his own purse, yet he still took delight in it.

To curry favor with him, the boat workers debased themselves before him more than the lowliest of servants.

To the boat workers, this lackey was even more hateful than the shipmaster himself.

"Kill him!" A boat worker roared, and was quickly echoed by the others. In an instant, the cries for blood merged into one.

Lin Qian took out a whip and said, "One lash each. Who goes first?"

The boat workers were seething with excitement, all pressing forward. Under the organization of Lin Qian's sworn brothers, they lined up one by one and took turns swinging the whip.

Steward Wu screamed again and again. At first he begged for mercy without cease, then he cursed without end.

"You bastards, you capsized cargo, you curved-heels—you've got some nerve! Aiyo..."

Many of the boat workers were Tanka boat people, and "curved-heel" was the most venomous insult against them. Hearing it, they struck even harder.

By the time each man had taken his lash, Steward Wu's life or death was unknown.

Lin Qian had someone throw the body into the sea. A moment later, a splash came from over the side of the ship.

"The man was killed by all of us together—this is our pledge of allegiance, brothers." Lin Qian smiled.

The boat workers' hearts jumped. Just now, each had taken one lash, focused only on venting their anger. Which lash had actually killed Steward Wu could not be said for certain—and this way, had they not all taken on a life?

Only then did everyone understand that there was no turning back.

Yahei

Fenyuan

Pen