Li Zhen and Li Yun both wanted to know how Li Yan controlled the Strait of Malacca without using force? Unfortunately, although Zhu Chong knew, he could only reveal one thing to them, that was to point to the Malay Peninsula that was across the sea from Mo Luoyou. As for the others, he refused to say a word, which made Li Zhen and Li Yun unable to do anything.

The fleet was moving along the Strait of Malacca. In this narrow and long strait, Li Zhen and Li Yun also encountered many fleets coming and going. They also found that these fleets were generally large in size, with at least twenty or thirty ships traveling together, and the ships were also equipped with simple weapons. According to Zhu Chong, this was mainly to prevent pirates.

Li Zhen and his fleet moved forward very quickly. After passing through the Strait of Malacca, they moored on a small island in the northwest corner of Jinzhou for a night. Next, they will go west. If nothing unexpected happens, they will soon arrive at Ceylon Island, and then land on this island to start the first step of their conquest journey.

However, just as Li Zhen and his team rested on the island for a night, the next day, when the fleet set sail again, no one expected that just as their fleet had just turned the island and was about to move forward, they suddenly saw two ships coming towards them in front of them, and behind the two ships, more than a dozen fast boats were chasing them.

This was the first time Li Zhen and Li Yun encountered this situation, so they didn't react for a while. Instead, Zhu Chong looked up and immediately showed a hint of anger on his face, saying, "What is not eye-catching is even robbing our Han merchant ships?"

Hearing Zhu Chong's words, Li Zhen, Li Yun and others realized that they had encountered the legendary pirates, and looking at the styles of the two merchant ships that fled in front, they were the blessing ships produced by the Tang Dynasty, which were the symbols of the Han merchants on the sea. As for the dozen smaller ships behind, you need to ask that they were pirates.

Zhao Qiu is now crying without tears. Originally, he was a maritime merchant in Guangzhou and his business was not very big. He only had two ships under his name. He usually transported various cargoes from the Tang Dynasty to Tianzhu, and then brought back a ship of specialties from Tianzhu, making two price differences. Generally speaking, as long as he could walk back and forth in a year, it would be enough for him to eat for several years.

For example, after Zhao Qiu transported a batch of silk to Tianzhu last time, he bought a batch of exquisite wool blankets and a few small boxes of gems from a Persian merchant. Then he transported the goods to the Tang Dynasty and sold them more than ten times the price, which made him a big profit. This time, Zhao Qiu transported another batch of goods from the Tang Dynasty. He was preparing to go to Ceylon Island, the southernmost part of Tianzhu, where he had an old customer, and they had already agreed last time, as long as the goods were shipped, the other party immediately paid.

But as the saying goes, the extreme happiness leads to sadness. Originally, he was traveling with a fleet of Tianzhu that returned from the Tang Dynasty, but on the way, he encountered a big storm, and one of his ships was not lucky. He actually hit a reef and needed some repairs. However, the fleet of Tianzhu who was with him was unwilling to wait for him, and finally left first. Zhao Qiu had to scold the people of Tianzhu without any faith, while allowing people to repair the ship quickly, and then set off on the road with fear.

Zhao Qiu has traveled several times from the Tang Dynasty to Tianzhu, and he also hired a surveyor on his two ships, so he didn't have to worry about the problem of trekking at all. However, Zhao Qiu was not worried about these things, but about pirates. Especially on the route from Malacca to Tianzhu, there were even more pirates. These pirates include Indians, Persians, and the emerging cannibals, and even pirates who fell here from the Qin Dynasty. With the strength of Zhao Qiu's two ships, if they encounter pirates, they will definitely be a life-threatening death.

When Zhao Qiu was thrown away by the Tianzhu fleet, his ship had just passed through the Strait of Malacca. The next voyage was very dangerous and you might encounter pirates if you were not careful. However, they had already passed through the Strait of Malacca and could not go back at this time. They wanted to accompany other fleets, but they did not meet the Han fleet for a while. Finally, Zhao Qiu gritted his teeth and took the risk out of Malacca and then walked forward alone.

As the saying goes, they are afraid of anything they are. Not long after they walked out of the Maliu Strait, they were targeted by a pirate composed of more than a dozen ships. Although the other party's ships are small, they are very fast. Moreover, these pirates are all outlaws. Although there are many crew members on their two ships, they will definitely be alive when facing these dozen pirate ships.

Relying on his ship's flexibility, Zhao Qiu turned around and fled towards Malacca. Pirates on the Tianzhu Sea would not usually chase into the strait, so as long as they could escape to the strait, they would still have a chance to survive. Unfortunately, seeing that they were not far from Malacca, God suddenly stopped helping them. The sea changed its wind direction, and they turned into a ship against the wind. As a result, they could only watch the pirate ship behind them getting closer and closer. Zhao Qiu and his crew couldn't help but feel a look of despair. Many young people even pulled out their weapons and prepared to pull a pirate back before they died.

"Shopkeeper, look, there is a fleet, it is our Tang Dynasty warship!" But at this moment, Li Zhen and his huge fleet turned out from behind the island, and some sharp-eyed crew members shouted loudly, their faces full of surprise.

At this time, Zhao Qiu also turned around and saw the huge fleet in the distance, especially when he saw the dozen warships cruising outside, his nervous heart suddenly relaxed. If it weren't for the support of someone next to him, he would have almost collapsed on the deck.

The scar-faced pirate leader standing at the bow of the ship was still clamoring proudly, but the appearance of Li Zhen and his fleet was like smashing a hammer on his head. This made him stunned for a moment. He didn't even expect that such a huge fleet of Han people would appear here.

"Save! Hahaha~" A cheer immediately sounded on Zhao Qiu's two boats, and the crew members who escaped from death seemed crazy, waved desperately to Li Zhen and their fleet.

If they encounter fleets from other countries, they may also worry about whether the other party will rescue them? And even if they are rescued, they will ask for a reward afterwards. After all, no one will be willing to offend a group of pirates for no reason. But the fleets of Han people are different. All Han merchants going out to sea have formulated an overseas mutual aid agreement under the leadership of the Qi Palace. Among them, when merchant ships of the same clan encounter pirates, other Han merchants have the responsibility and obligation to help the other party resist pirates.

The pirates behind Zhao Qiu also showed a timid look when they saw such a huge fleet. The scar-faced pirate leader ordered that more than a dozen pirate ships drew a U-shaped arc on the sea, and seemed to be preparing to retreat.

However, Zhu Chong looked at the pirates who were preparing, and snorted disdainfully and said, "It's just a dream that we want to escape after being offended by our ship!"

With Zhu Chong's order, more than a dozen clutches immediately rushed out of the fleet. These clutches were auxiliary ships of warships. They were not only fast, but also equipped with three heavy crossbows, which could attack the enemy's sails from a distance and gain time for the main warships.

The pirate ships were obviously built by Tianzhu. Although they were very fast, they were much worse than those of Zhu Chong, the regular naval-equipped clutches, so they had not escaped for a few miles and were caught up by the clutches behind them. In fact, if it weren't for the unfavorable long journey and the steamships were restricted by coal, it would definitely be easier to catch up with these pirates.

When the Scarface Pirate saw that he could not escape, a ruthlessness surged in his heart. He turned the bow of the ship and rushed towards the clutch. It seemed that he wanted to fight to the death. In fact, this was not the Scarface Pirate, because the warships of the Tang Dynasty had never been here before, and he didn't know that those tall ships as big as cities were just warships, and there were 50,000 grassland cavalry on the transport ship in the middle. Otherwise, he would not dare to turn around and fight to the death with his two courages.

However, for the pirate ships that turned around, the dozen or so fast ships did not take it, but turned a small circle to let the opponent charge, and then used a good crossbow arrow to leisurely use a special fire crossbow arrow. In front of the arrow is cotton soaked in tinder oil, which cannot be extinguished when ignited. There is a crossbar at the tail of the arrow, which can prevent the crossbow arrow from shooting through the canvas. However, it is precisely because of the crossbar that the range of this rocket is very close, but the crossbar can be removed with strong force and can be shot far at that time.

The "swoosh~" broke the wind and more than a dozen crossbow arrows with thick smoke shot out. Because they passed by, they were very close, most of the rockets shot into the other side's ship. As a result, the cotton-made sails of the Indian ship were quickly ignited and spread along the rope to the hull.

These pirates are still used to jumping into gang battles, and they never expected that the other party would use this kind of long-range attack, especially after the canvas was ignited, which made them feel a little more busy. The Scarface Pirate Head reacted the fastest, kicked away one of his subordinates, attracted everyone's attention, and immediately directed everyone to put out the fire.

But just as the pirate ship was in chaos, Zhu Chong and his main warships had already chased after them. All the navy personnel did not take these dozen small pirate ships seriously, and they were even lazy to prepare their weapons. They directly put the speed to the maximum and then pressed them directly with the wind.

The scar-faced pirate leader's boat was the largest among the pirate ships, but compared with Zhu Chong and his warships, it looked like the difference between giants and dwarfs, so there was no suspense next. The pirates on the ship only felt a darkness on their heads, and then their ship shook suddenly. With a loud bang, all the pirates stood unsteadily and fell into the sea one by one, and the pirate ship was also pressed into the sea by the high bow.
Chapter completed!