Zhang Ergou took a deep breath when he heard this.
Although Zhang Ergou was poor and had low aspirations, being a broker required being well-informed. He knew clearly: Li Shengjie was Li Zhi's beloved son and the future heir of the Li family. Not to mention killing this Japanese general, even if Li Shengjie killed the master of the Oda family, the Shogun of Japan, and the emperor of Japan, Li Zhi would do everything in his power to protect him and would never hand over Li Shengjie under any circumstances.
The more Zhang Ergou thought about it, the more complicated it became. His head almost exploded. He stood there stammering, unable to utter a word.
Li Zhi saw that he was at a loss, and knew that he couldn't ask him for his son again, so he smiled and said, "Why? Do you still want me to hand over my son to the pirates?"
“No… no… I don’t dare, I don’t dare.” Zhang Ergou answered while shaking his head like a rattle.
"Alright!" Li Zhishu said, "I won't make it difficult for you. Tell those Japanese that it was my son who killed the man, but I will never hand him over to them. When I return to Japan, I will prepare a heavy gift to apologize to your Lord Oda! I have been talking for an hour or so, and I am tired. You can get off the boat now."
Zhang Ergou nodded, agreed repeatedly, and quickly translated Li Zhi's words to the Japanese.
Unexpectedly, the more the Japanese listened, the angrier he became. He bared his teeth and cursed at Zhang Ergou.
Although Li Zhi knew some Japanese, he could not understand what they were saying because they spoke so fast and with such a heavy accent. So he asked Zhang Ergou, "Ergou, why are they still refusing to get off the boat? What nonsense are they talking about?"
Zhang Ergou said, "Old captain, they said that the dead man was a trusted and beloved general of Lord Oda. If we can't catch him, we won't be able to explain. They also said that if I can't get the person, then there is no need for them to keep a useless Han Chinese like me, and they will kill me with a knife! Old captain, save me, save me!" At the end, he was already crying.
After hearing this, Li Zhi actually felt sorry for Zhang Ergou. He nodded and winked at the servant Lao Caitou, then said to Zhang Ergou, "Ergou, I held you in my arms when you were a child, but I didn't expect you to be such a mess when you grew up. Well, for the sake of your dead parents, I will save your life again. You tell those Japanese the following words truthfully!"
After hearing this, Zhang Ergou couldn't help crying with joy and agreed immediately.
"Just tell them—" Li Zhi said viciously, "The one who died was just one of Oda's generals, not his son. What's so strange about that? Even if my son really killed Oda's son, it's the fault of that little Oda's poor martial arts, not anyone else. What's more, Oda has many sons, one more or one less is not a big deal, dead is dead! If you keep pestering me, believe it or not, I will give the Mori family hundreds of kilograms of gold and let them recruit thousands of soldiers to cut off Oda's retreat! Be smart and let these Japanese get off the boat!"
After hearing Li Zhi's murderous words, Zhang Ergou's eyes widened, as if he didn't understand what Li Zhi said, and he stared at Li Zhi blankly.
Li Zhi said impatiently: "Why are you looking at me? Don't you recognize me? Why don't you tell these Japanese people you brought everything I said!"
Zhang Ergou finally came to his senses and said tremblingly, "Old Captain, are you kidding me? If I tell others what I said, will I still be able to survive?"
Li Zhi's eyes showed a hint of murderous intent, and he curled his lips in disdain, saying: "Do you think you can survive if you don't tell me? Stop talking nonsense and tell the Japanese word for word. Otherwise, the Japanese will not kill you, but I will throw you into the sea to feed the sharks!"
After hearing this, Zhang Ergou shuddered all over. He finally made up his mind and tremblingly translated Li Zhi's words into Japanese and spoke them to the leading Japanese general.
The Japanese general was obviously angered by Zhang Ergou's words. His face turned blue and purple. Finally, he had exhausted all his patience and growled in a low voice with gritted teeth. Then he reached for his waist with his right hand, wanting to draw his sword. In his rage, the Japanese general actually forgot about his ancestral Japanese sword, which he had just given to Li Zhi as a gift. His right hand touched nothing, so he had to draw out another short sword about a foot long.
Zhang Ergou was shocked, fearing that the Japanese general's subordinates were ruthless, so he quickly jumped back several steps towards Li Zhi.
The Japanese general really wanted to kill Zhang Ergou to vent his hatred, but when he saw that Zhang Ergou had run so far away, leaving him with no way to do it, he became even more furious. Even the small moustache on his lips almost stood up, and the muscles and skin on his face twitched strangely.
The Japanese general was extremely angry and shouted loudly. Nearly fifty Japanese pirates behind him all drew their swords and were about to attack.
Li Zhi showed no fear when facing the Japanese long swords, and still sat in the chair without moving.
However, Old Cai behind him did not dare to neglect him and shouted with a long roar: "Brothers, come out!"
Before he could finish his words, he suddenly saw seventy or eighty sailors stand up behind him, each holding a strong bow and crossbow, holding their breath and aiming at the group of Japanese. Arrows had already been put on the bows and crossbows, and the metal arrow tips reflected the sun and emitted a cold light, as if they were ready to shoot and take people's lives at any time.
The fierce Japanese were also shocked to see such a scene. They took two steps back and looked around, only to see countless sailors appearing from the cabin, on the cables, and behind the mast, with bows and crossbows aiming at them. As long as the old ship owner Li Zhi gave an order, thousands of arrows would be fired and they would be shot like a group of hibernating hedgehogs.
This group of troops was prepared by Old Cai after he saw Li Zhi's expression. There were bows and crossbows on the ship, so it was easy to prepare. In a blink of an eye, more than a hundred sailors, relying on their familiarity with the terrain on the ship, surrounded the more than 40 Japanese who came aboard to provoke them.
Although the Japanese were cruel and ferocious, they were not fools. They knew that no matter how fast their swords were, they could not be faster than arrows, and no matter how long they were, they could not match the range of bows and crossbows. Although they were all gritting their teeth in anger, no one dared to move forward even a single step to die.
Li Zhi was very pleased to see this. He smiled and said to Zhang Ergou, "Ergou, tell them that I still say the same thing. People cannot be handed over to them for disposal. Now that the matter has already happened, I will return to Japan to apologize to Lord Oda in person after I complete this deal."
Although Zhang Ergou was temporarily working for the Japanese, he was still a Han citizen in his heart. He was also a distant relative of Li Zhi. Seeing the old ship owner so impressive, he also felt impressive in his heart. He raised his head and told the group of Japanese what Li Zhi had said.
Although the Japanese usually look strong, they know how to judge the situation. They know that in the current situation, not only is it impossible for them to take people off the ship, but it is also uncertain whether they can escape safely.
So they thought and discussed for a while, and finally put the sword back into the sheath. Like a deflated ball, they bent over and hunched their chests to say a few words of farewell to Li Zhi, and then they lined up to get off the boat as dejected as roosters that had been plagued.
Li Zhi coldly watched the Japanese disembark, and uttered a few words, "bully the weak and fear the strong." Then he stood up from his comfortable chair and said loudly, "My fellow men, you did a good job today and made me proud. I will reward you two taels of silver each. After you return to Japan, I will give you two days off. Have fun!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a tsunami-like cheer broke out on the deck.
Li Shengjie, who had been hiding for a long time, also came out of the cabin, jumped to his father, and said with a smile: "Dad, everyone said you were so powerful back then, I thought you were just bragging. Today, it seems that you are really as powerful as the saying goes. You scared the Japanese away with just a few words. When will you teach me this skill?"
Li Zhi doted on his only son the most. Hearing him praise him in person, he felt indescribably happy. He laughed out loud a few times and then said, "You have a lot to learn, kid! Don't cause trouble for me in the future. What skills can't I teach you?"
Qiu Yizi and others also came forward and flattered and humbled Li Zhi in another way.
After talking for a long time, Li Zhi suddenly remembered Zhang Ergou, turned around and said to him: "Ergou, what are your plans for the future?"
Too many things happened so fast today that Zhang Ergou couldn't react in time. He hesitated for a long time before he said in a voice that couldn't be any lower: "It's all up to the old ship owner."
Li Zhi heard it clearly and replied, "Er Gouzi, you are lucky today. You have come back alive. Do you know what's going on?"
Zhang Ergou nodded and said, "Yes, yes. I have to rely on the old ship owner's prestige, otherwise I would have been chopped in two by the Japanese long ago."
"Hmph!" Li Zhi sneered, "What do you know? Do the Japanese dare to kill people on my ship? Let me tell you, you committed a serious crime by bringing the Japanese on board today. If you hadn't been a little tactful just now and seemed to be on my side, I would have ordered someone to kill you. Look at the guards around me. If I let go, killing you would be as easy as crushing an ant, right?"
Zhang Ergou looked up at the bows and arrows on the deck that were being arranged by the sailors while chatting and laughing. He was originally somewhat proud of seeing these weapons scaring off the Japanese, but now he was still frightened. His knees went weak with fear and he knelt on the deck, kowtowed continuously, making a "dong dong dong" sound.
Li Zhi said: "Okay, stop knocking. This old man's boat is newly built, be careful not to break the wood on the boat."
When the others heard what Li Zhi said, they burst into laughter. However, Zhang Ergou, who was involved, could not laugh at all. He quickly raised his head but did not dare to stand up. He just knelt on the deck like a huge toad.
But Li Zhi continued, "Er Gouzi, I don't blame you for what happened today. Who would be willing to work for the Japanese if they could make a living in China? I speak Japanese as well as you do, and I understand a little bit of what those Japanese said to you, and I know you were polite when you translated it for me. This is your filial piety, and as long as you have this filial piety, I won't make things difficult for you."
Qiu Yizhi listened carefully, and he had heard his adoptive father, the emperor, say more than once: "A loyal minister is a filial son, and a filial son is a loyal minister." Take his right-hand man Zhao Chengxiao for example. When Emperor Zheng Rong heard that he was reluctant to join him because he was taking care of his old mother, he pardoned him on the spot for going up the mountain to be a bandit. Not only did he confer the title of general, but he also gave him the two words "Chengxiao" personally - the emperor gave him a name, what a great honor!
Qiu Yizhi listened, thought, and sighed: It turns out that although the status of the supreme ruler on land and the overlord on sea is still very different, they have something in common in employing people and running the army. (To be continued)