Qiu Yizi was daydreaming when he heard the Japanese pirate facing Li Zhi speak first. He mumbled a lot of Japanese, but he couldn't understand a word of what he said.
Qiu Yizi was just about to ask Li Shengjie what they were talking about when he saw a man next to the Japanese pirate take half a step forward and said, "Old captain, how are you? The Japanese are greeting you. The old captain is knowledgeable and well-informed. Looking at the family emblems on the swords and flags of these Japanese, he knows that they are from the Oda family. Their master Oda is also here for the old captain to take care of!" He spoke fluent Chinese and was obviously a Han Chinese.
Li Zhi did not respond. He raised his eyebrows and said to the Han man who delivered the message, "I was wondering who it was. It turns out to be you, Zhang Ergou. Aren't you helping the Mori family? It is said that the Oda family and the Mori family are sworn enemies. You change your mind faster than turning the pages of a book. When did you take the surname Oda?"
Zhang Ergou laughed: "I can make a living anywhere. I want to become the old ship owner's disciple. The old ship owner is my uncle, but I'm afraid you have high standards and think I..."
Li Zhi interrupted him before he finished speaking and said, "Stop trying to be friendly with me and get down to business. Didn't you say that Master Oda brought it to me? How dare you come to ask for hello without any gifts? Does he think I, Li Zhi, am a monk in the temple? Even monks have to prepare incense money. You come here empty-handed, which clearly shows that you look down on me. Since you look down on me, don't blame me for looking down on you. All right, get off the boat!"
Zhang Ergou originally mentioned the ruler of Japan whose surname was "Oda". Firstly, he wanted to state his intention directly and secondly, he wanted to use Oda's reputation to intimidate others. However, he did not expect Li Zhiquan to buy it. Instead, he made a fuss about the Oda family and asked for a gift.
After hearing what Li Zhi said, he swallowed nervously, turned around and whispered to the leading Japanese general beside him for a long time.
The Japanese general listened for a long time, his face looked very ugly. Finally, he sighed deeply and suddenly drew out the sword from his waist.
There were hundreds of sailors guarding Li Zhi, and they were all shocked when they saw this. They thought that the Japanese pirate was angry and intended to commit murder, so some stepped forward to protect the ship owner, some drew their swords and prepared to fight, and some shouted loudly to bluff, and the whole deck was in an uproar.
Li Zhi was very calm and said, "What are you messing about? Don't mess around!"
Although his words were not shouted loudly, they were extremely majestic and the deck suddenly became quiet.
The Japanese general who led the battle did not intend to fight against Li Zhi for the time being. He held the saber in his hand, looked at it reluctantly for a few seconds, and finally handed it to Zhang Ergou. Zhang Ergou took the saber, admired it, and then stepped forward and handed it to Li Zhi.
Li Zhi did not take it with his hands. He just glanced at the sword with a cold gaze several times, and asked in a cold tone: "Is this the gift the Japanese gave me?"
Zhang Ergou nodded and agreed quickly: "Yes, yes. The old ship owner knows the brains of the Japanese. They forgot to bring gifts when they went out, so they gave the old ship owner the heirloom sword."
Li Zhi nodded expressionlessly and said calmly: "This knife looks like an ancient artifact passed down from our ancestors, not something made in some wild village. Okay, take it." After saying that, Li Zhi did not reach out to take it, but tilted his head slightly.
The old servant standing behind him, Lao Caitou, stepped forward wisely, took the knife from Zhang Ergou's hand, and then handed it to someone behind him.
But Li Zhi said again: "Tell the Japanese that I appreciate the kindness of their master Oda and ask them to get off the ship."
Zhang Ergou was stunned when he heard this, and quickly said, "No, the Japanese still have something to say to the old ship owner! Please stay, old ship owner."
Li Zhi really wanted to ignore Zhang Ergou and his Japanese pirates and just walk away. However, he saw that there were nearly fifty Japanese pirates at once. Although he was not at a disadvantage in a fight, it would still be a storm. Moreover, his base camp was still in Japan, and the Oda family was powerful, so he could not offend them easily.
So Li Zhi thought for a while and said, "I am not feeling well and cannot sit for long. Let the Japanese speak quickly if they have anything to say."
Zhang Ergou was afraid that Li Zhi would change his mind, so he quickly said, "It's not a big deal. It's just that a retainer of the Oda family was beaten to death, and it is said that the murderer boarded the old ship owner's ship. So I came to ask the old ship owner to do me a favor and hand this man over to the Japanese..."
Before Zhang Ergou finished speaking, he heard Li Zhi laughing up to the sky: "Zhang Ergou, is this your first time seeing me? Even if you are crazy, at least ask around to find out when anyone on my ship has been taken away."
Zhang Ergou was about to speak when he heard Li Zhizhi say, "But I see that you are having a hard time as a broker for the Oda family. In case you fail to deliver your mission, I will ask you a question." Then he asked loudly, "Boys, which of you has ever killed a Japanese?"
His question was not a good one, because the sailors guarding behind him started shouting at each other, and the deck became noisy again.
I only heard someone say, "Of course I have killed Japanese. Before I boarded the ship, I got into a fight with a samurai from some unknown family in a brothel in Sakai Port. The man was weak and I kicked him to death. If the old ship owner hadn't asked, I would have forgotten about it!"
Some said: "Last month, I was sailing, and a few ignorant Japanese came in a small sampan and wanted to rob us. The old ship owner asked me to try the cannons from Lan Country, and I fired a cannon and the Japanese sampan sank... It was a small matter, and I didn't think of reporting it to the old ship owner."
Someone else said, "There are only a few Japanese. Who hasn't been killed before? Why is the old ship owner asking like that? He should be asking how many Japanese have been killed!"
Everyone talked for a long time before the deck calmed down.
Li Zhi said with a smug smile: "Er Gou, you heard it all. There are more than 500 people on my ship, and it seems that most of them have killed the Japanese. You can ask the Japanese to come and choose them, or you can take them all away!"
Even if Zhang Ergou was dumb, he could tell that Li Zhi was speaking sarcastically, and he quickly replied, "No, no, the old captain is making fun of me. The Japanese want the man who killed a retainer of the Oda clan, and they won't hold anyone else accountable."
"Bullshit!" Li Zhi interrupted gruffly, "What do you mean by letting bygones be bygones? I'm giving you face by saying these few words! Do you still want to come over and call you to task? The Japanese think too highly of themselves!"
Zhang Ergou was so frightened by Li Zhi's roar that he could hardly stand. He quickly explained, "I'm not asking for punishment. I'm not asking for punishment. I've been talking too much Japanese and have forgotten how to speak human language... I'm... I'm talking about it. I'm talking about it. I'm begging the old ship owner to ask which brother on the ship hurt the Oda family, okay?"
Li Zhi raised his eyes and said, "Face? How can you get face from me? Even if it's the face of the master of the Oda family, I may not give it to you!"
After hearing this, Zhang Ergou was almost anxious to tears. He kept apologizing, saying that he had said the wrong thing and made the old ship owner angry.
Although Qiu Yizhi couldn't see his expression clearly from behind him, she could sense from his tone that Zhang Ergou was really panicked, and he almost knelt down and kowtowed to Li Zhi. At this point, not only was Zhang Ergou completely overwhelmed by Li Zhi, but Qiu Yizhi was also deeply impressed by him - it seemed that it was not a fluke that this man could start from scratch and create such a big business from a poor scholar.
But Li Zhi said again: "Okay, okay. After all, you, Zhang Ergou, are also our Li family's nephew, so we can't make things too difficult for you. Well, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll ask you one more question."
Then he asked loudly: "Which of you has killed anyone from the Oda family?"
After he asked this question, the deck was no longer as noisy as before. The sailors whispered for a while, and then someone answered: "Old captain, the Japanese can be killed if they are killed. Do you still need to ask their names in advance? Even if you ask, the Japanese don't understand Chinese and can't tell clearly..."
Li Zhi nodded, looked at Zhang Ergou and said, "You heard it too, why not go out and ask, when did this old man have such patience? It's a pity that this is a muddled account, and it's really hard to find out, so just tell the Japanese the truth."
Zhang Ergou had no choice but to turn around and talk to the leading Japanese general for a long time.
After a long time, the Japanese general came up personally, holding a red helmet in his hand. He bent down and put it on the deck, and spoke a long string of Japanese to Li Zhi.
Li Zhi looked at Zhang Ergou coldly and asked, "What did the Japanese say? Translate it for me."
Qiu Yizhi, who was hiding in the cabin, didn't understand, so she asked Li Shengjie beside her: "Young Captain, it's been decades since the old captain went to Japan, how come he can't even understand Japanese?"
Li Shengjie laughed and said, "How could Dad not understand Japanese? This is his rule. Everyone on the ship must speak Chinese. Even when talking to Japanese people, you cannot speak Japanese. I asked Dad why he did this, and he said it was to remind us not to forget our roots and that we are Han people."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi felt inexplicably excited and admired Li Zhi even more.
Although Zhang Ergou on the deck didn't know Li Zhi's intention, he had to follow Li Zhi's rules and said to him: "This Japanese said that they are looking for the Japanese general who was shot dead wearing this set of armor. Old captain, please see, this set of armor is very conspicuous and easy to check. Old captain, you might as well ask again. Even if it is not a member of the ship, maybe someone sneaked on board, it is hard to say."
Li Zhi listened and thought: It seems that this group of Japanese pirates came prepared. If I don't give them an explanation today, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get through.
He thought again: But this Japanese general was shot to death by his own son Li Shengjie with one arrow. He absolutely could not hand over his own son to the Japanese pirates for punishment. So why not put all the blame for shooting the Japanese pirates on Qiu Yizi
This thought flashed through Li Zhi's mind. He knew that although Qiu Yizhi was on his ship and he could do whatever he wanted with her, there were many people on the ship and they were all gossipy. Once the news leaked out, he would have an irreconcilable feud with the court, and he and his descendants would be fugitives forever, with no chance of success. Moreover, although Qiu Yizhi was a small seventh-rank county magistrate, he was connected to the current crown prince. The more he helped him, the more he would repay him in the future. This deal was a win-win.
After thinking this through, Li Zhi finally stopped tangling with the Japanese pirates and Zhang Ergou in front of him, and sneered, "Humph," I thought it was someone else. This red-armored Japanese general is so ostentatious, he deserves to be shot to death. I already knew about shooting this Japanese general..."
Zhang Ergou thought Li Zhi was about to give in, and asked impatiently, "Who is this person?"
"It's my son, Li Shengjie!" Li Zhi replied. (To be continued)