Zhang Kai, his ship, and his sailors had been struggling with the pursuers for five or six days.
When the Zhang family fell, the sailors were scattered, and the fleet fell into the hands of countless tigers and wolves. It was left in Zhang Kai's hands, with only this small boat worth a thousand materials. This ship is not a standard lucky ship. When it was built, the craftsmen from the Erythium sinensis area helped, so the shape is not square and flat like a dendrobium, but slightly longer, narrower and lighter.
Compared with traditional Fu boats, this kind of boat is not strong enough, difficult to withstand wind and waves, and carries less cargo. The several families who divided the fleet that day kept it and gave it to the descendants of the Zhang family. Speaking of it to the outside world, they seemed kind and generous.
Zhang Kai is a brave man, and he has used this small boat to travel between Song and Jin countries in recent years. He didn't dare to get involved in bulk goods. He mainly dealt in licorice, tangerine peel, and ginger, and he could still make a good living. If everything goes well, after this sea trip, we can go to the shipyard in Mingzhou to customize a new ship.
Unfortunately, this trip was not smooth at all.
It is said that because the Jin Kingdom's capital and large areas of territory were burned, killed, and plundered by the Northern Black Tartars, the Jin Kingdom's merchants must need a huge amount of supplies on this trip, which will bring huge profits to the Song Kingdom's maritime merchants.
But the merchants of the Jin Kingdom were not stupid. Would they let the maritime merchants of the Song Kingdom break their bones and suck out their marrow? Their response this time was to rely on the reputation of Jin Guoding as the naval commander, and repeatedly asked Song Dynasty maritime merchants to select qualified leaders to come to Laizhou Sanshan Port to discuss the price and quantity of supplies face to face with gongs and drums. To avoid conflicts in the future.
It's not a bad idea.
Since ancient times, the sea has been a place of alienation, a place where only the bold and vicious dare to take advantage of it. Maritime merchants have always worked independently and competed with each other. Even if the leaders are sitting in restaurants in Mingzhou, Yuezhou or even Lin'an Prefecture, drinking glasses of each other, the moment they step on the board of the ship, a white knife will come in and a red knife will come out at any time.
But after fighting with each other for many years, the business has always been so small, and it is not necessarily possible to make extra money in any one year.
Daikin's situation has changed dramatically since last year, and everyone feels that it's finally time to make a fortune. So before making a big fortune, it is natural to check the number and qualifications of your companions, so that you can keep this windfall in the hands of powerful businessmen.
Since mid-March, wars between the Song Dynasty's maritime merchants have continued continuously, and even at Sanshan Port in Laizhou, the fighting continued.
Zhang Kai estimated that he and the military judge of the Ding Navy had moved closer to Chu Cai in the past few days, which aroused the jealousy of others. Therefore, the night before the formal meeting between the two parties, someone came late at night with the intention of Burning boats and killing people.
Zhang Kai's boatmen were all experienced veterans who had been doing business with the Zhang family for two generations. When they saw something was wrong, they immediately weighed anchor and fled. The sea was vast, and it was best to just leave. Unfortunately, the enemy did not stop, and even sent two fast boats full of vicious water thieves to pursue them.
Zhang Kai's ship was more agile than the ordinary lucky ship, but after all it was not as fast as the kind of fast ship used to kill people and steal goods. The two sides escaped and chased each other from the Bohai Sea to the west of Laizhou to Shaohai to the east of Laizhou. Zhang Kai's luck was also a little worse. The day before yesterday, he was pushed into the Zhanshui channel by the tide from the west of Shaohai.
Now it was a case of catching a turtle in a jar. Zhang Kai fled all the way north, with his pursuers chasing him all the way. As the channel became narrower and narrower, the distance between the ships became closer and closer.
By this time, the three ships were stuck together.
On the sea a few days ago, the two sides had come close to each other. There were several signs of being burned by fire on Zhang Kai's boat, and the ripeng and wild fox sails used to boost the wind in front of the big raft were also in tatters. Attacked by pursuers. However, the sea is open, and the direction of the wind and tide are also changeable. As long as you muster up your energy and persist for a while, if the wind direction and hydrology change, you may be able to escape.
Now I can't get away.
It's over.
Pirates dressed in ragged clothes and with fierce faces were rolling over the side of the ship. Someone yelled: "You have offended Mr. Shi, so you should have known that this day would come sooner or later! Stop complaining on the road to hell!" "
Zhang Kai, surrounded by more than a dozen sailors, stood in front of the square house-like house behind the ship. Planning to fight to the death. After hearing this shouting, he smiled bitterly and wanted to shout something in response.
At this point, there is no point in speaking harshly. After all, it was a member of the family named Zhang who offended Mr. Shi, not an unrelated sailor. Why not ask them, if I, Zhang Zihe, committed suicide on the spot, could I save someone else's life?
As soon as he regained his strength, the old boatman next to him gave Zhang Kai a strong tug.
"Don't think about it!" The stooped old boatman held the dagger tightly, stood up for a rare moment, and shouted to the crowd: "Fight them!"
The next moment, both sides were shouting, blood splattered, and broken arms flew across.
On the narrow deck, dozens of people clashed with each other and killed each other with knives and daggers. The planks of the ship they were stepping on became slippery with blood in just a few breaths, so that one after another the fighting men slipped and fell.
Zhang Kai was not a warrior and had no personal experience in such a brutal fight. For a moment, he was in a daze under the light of swords and blood.
The old captain yanked Zhang Kai again. He lowered his voice and said hastily: "Master, go back to the scabies house quickly! Jump into the river from the window at the back and run away! Quick!"
The scabies house is a large cabin, with the sailors living below and Zhang Kai's residence above. Going out from the rear window is the position of the two co-rudders. If you take another step, you can jump into the water.
Zhang Kai's hand holding the knife was trembling a little, and his voice was also trembling: "But, I, I..."
"Go quickly!" The old captain pushed Zhang Kai back hard.
When Zhang Kai staggered back, he saw a pirate approaching with a long knife. He stabbed the long knife hard into the right side of the old boat's neck, then cut his throat open to the shoulder blade. Blood spurted out, splattering on Zhang Kai's face and on the shoulders and backs of the sailors on both sides who were still facing the enemy.
The old boatman's body slowly fell limp, his eyes kept staring at Zhang Kai, and his mouth was still opening and closing, as if he wanted to say something.
On the right side of Zhang Kai, the sturdy sailor with his back covered in hot blood is the son of the old captain. Zhang Kai grew up with him and regarded him as his elder brother.
The strong sailor was still unaware of his father's death. He was roaring, hugging the oars and sweeping away, driving away several pirates who were trying to approach.
However, the oar was too heavy and was very inconvenient to swing. When he used his full strength and swung it for the second time, an ax flew from nowhere and severely cut off his right arm, leaving only a thin layer. Skin and flesh connected.
As the blood surged wildly, the old boatman's son screamed wildly, and his body was scattered. Then a pirate jumped forward and cut his belly open with a knife.
Right in front of Zhang Kai's eyes, he retreated continuously until his back hit the side of the ship on the other side, and then his body began to twitch. As he retreated, intestines and organs flowed all over the place.
Zhang Kai really couldn't stand this situation. He felt that his feet were weak. He couldn't move or escape at all!
I'm afraid it's time to die today, so just die! Die!
Zhang Kai felt that his body and emotions were completely out of control. The only thing he still controlled was his voice. So he roared with all his strength, then took the dagger in his hand and began to swing it wildly.
There were only a few sailors left to cover him, and the pirates were gathering in ever greater numbers. The pirates seemed to be laughing when they looked at his desperate expression and his flawless movements.
Zhang Kai looked at each of them, looking at their ferocious faces.
He suddenly noticed that there was a pirate standing on the side of the ship. His smiling face suddenly became distorted in pain.
There was a shining silver iron hook that pierced the pirate's calf horizontally, completely penetrating his calf, and blood spurted out from the wounds on both sides. The pirate opened his mouth, and when he was about to scream, the iron hook yanked back. The pirate instantly lost his balance, waved his hands, and fell to the back of the ship.
His body roughly hit the deck of the Clippers, making a thud, followed by several death groans.
In the blink of an eye, the iron hook appeared again. This time it hooked the side of the ship, and the blood on the hook flowed down the gaps in the planks of the ship's side.
A gray-haired soldier poked his head out from the side of the ship and looked left and right.
It turns out that the iron hook is tied to the soldier's left arm, which is very convenient for fixing the body when climbing on the ship.
Zhang Kai stopped waving his dagger and looked blankly in the direction where the soldier appeared. Many pirates also felt that something was wrong and turned around to take a look.
The soldier didn't take the sight of him seriously at all. He also turned his head, looked outside the side of the ship, and then shouted impatiently: "You're a fool! When it's your time to kill, why do you want me to invite you?"
