IDWBE -Chapter 218 Liberating the Natives

“One cannon can take out a third-rank martial artist?”

There was no sadness in Lin Yi’s tone. Most of the people in Tian Shiyou’s hands were desperate fugitives, each likely with blood on their hands. If they all died, the world would be cleaner.

He didn’t feel the slightest regret.

What filled him more was astonishment and excitement!

A cannon capable of killing martial arts masters—this was exactly what he had dreamed of!

If this thing ended up in his hands, wouldn’t that be even better?

“Your Highness, it’s absolutely true,” Ge Laoshan said confidently, “I’ve seen the corpses. They were blasted beyond recognition—too horrible to look at. It was incredibly powerful. In the end, Tian Shiyou, fearing the cannon, took people at night to remove it. Otherwise, who knows what misfortune would have befallen him. And then there are the muskets—far stronger than ours. I almost got hit myself. Those things are deadly, nearly impossible to defend against.”

“Muskets too?”

Lin Yi was even happier. “Looks like these foreign devils actually know what they’re doing.”

In this time period, he felt genuine excitement for the first time.

“Foreign devils?”

“That’s a fitting term your Highness uses—they look like demons, really scary,”

Ge Laoshan continued, “They rely on their strong ships and powerful cannons to occupy the southern parts of Nanyang, enslaving the natives to do labor. These natives can’t resist at all.”

Lin Yi laughed. “Their ships are stronger than ours?”

Ge Laoshan nodded. “It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes the ships better, but once they start moving, our big ships can’t catch up. Even Du Sanhe was no match for them at sea and suffered a defeat once. In the end, Du Sanhe had to wait for them to come ashore and deal with them on land.”

“Even Du Sanhe suffered losses?”

Lin Yi’s expression grew more and more amused. “Seems these foreigners really do have some skills.”

“Yes. Du Sanhe’s ships also had to avoid those cannons from the foreign devils. Otherwise, no matter how skilled they were, if they fell into the sea, they’d either drown or starve within ten to fifteen days,”

Ge Laoshan added, “And not all foreigners are the same—they seem to belong to different countries, with different accents. Two groups of foreign devils even fought each other several times at sea. It’s like us versus the Ayus.”

“I understand that,”

Lin Yi said with a smile. “Show all the captured ships, cannons, and muskets to Lord Shan Qi. Have the shipyard experts study them carefully. One mustn’t be short-sighted in life; always learn from others’ strengths.”

“Your Highness…”

Ge Laoshan’s face fell.

These captured ships were theirs—surely they couldn’t just give them to the administration for free?

“Look at you,” Lin Yi scolded, “Back when you were doing maritime trade, I didn’t even confiscate your navigation license fees, right?”

Hearing this, Ge Laoshan hurriedly said, “Your Highness, don’t worry! I’ll go see Lord Shan Qi immediately!”

Compared with a navigation license, a broken ship is worth just a few coins. So he agreed without hesitation.

“Wait,” Lin Yi called after him. “I ask you—how many foreigners were captured this time?”

Ge Laoshan said, “Over a hundred on our side, more than five hundred with Tian Shiyou, and the other families had over four hundred. Altogether, there should be over a thousand men, women, and children. Liang Gen, Qiu Wujin, and the others’ big ships haven’t returned yet. If we include them, the number would be even higher.”

Lin Yi stood up, paced the hall, and said in a deep voice, “Xia Xizi, deliver this to Lord Shan Qi: From today onward, Sanhe shall ban the buying and selling of people—foreigners or natives, all the same.”

“Your Highness…”

Ge Laoshan froze.

Stopping human trade wasn’t just words—it was a decree! Many people in Sanhe had vested interests in the native trade! One misstep could truly spark public anger.

Lin Yi thought for a moment and said, “Have Lord Shan Qi come here directly.”

“Yes.”

Xia Xizi immediately left.

Ge Laoshan still stood stiffly before Lin Yi.

Lord Shan Qi, Wang Qingbang, and the others arrived quickly. Hearing that Lin Yi planned to ban human trade, they were just as shocked as Ge Laoshan.

In Baiyun City, who didn’t own one or two natives? This affected everyone!

Lord Shan Qi cupped his hands. “Please, Your Highness, reconsider.”

“All past natives shall be freed. The administration will pay their former masters; if money isn’t enough, land will be given instead,”

Lin Yi sipped tea as he said, “This is non-negotiable. The administration shall restore their freedom; those who want to farm will get land, those who want work will be assigned tasks. Roads are being built everywhere, so even roadwork is excellent.”

Only now did he realize where the human trade went wrong.

Sanhe was not the Americas—it didn’t lack people so badly that slavery was necessary for development.

If these maritime merchants were allowed to continue recklessly, Sanhe’s population ratio would soon become unbalanced! The natives would become the majority, while local people would become the minority.

Prolonging it would only escalate conflicts between natives and locals, possibly leading to internal unrest.

Also, keeping labor tied to individuals would hinder Sanhe’s productivity.

Ge Laoshan couldn’t help but ask, “Your Highness, what should we do with captured prisoners in the future?”

Lin Yi said, “Send them all to the administration to work on roads. Give them a chance to make amends. Lord Shan Qi, make it clear to each household: think long-term. The world is bigger than you imagine. To make big money, grab land and business; human trade gets you nowhere. Also, find out where these foreigners came from, why they came to Nanyang, and get interpreters to ask everything. See if there’s a chance for business. If they refuse my kindness, find out their hometowns—I’ll personally go ask them.”

“Yes.”

Seeing no room for negotiation, Lord Shan Qi had no choice but to comply.

As expected, the next day, when the administration posted the announcement banning human trade and freeing the natives, Baiyun City erupted in uproar.

Many couldn’t understand—natives they had bought, who worked the fields, cooked, and served them, were now being freed just like that! Some stubbornly tested the authorities, curious to see what the constables would do.

Within a couple of days, major households like the Liang, Wang, and Hu families began voluntarily freeing their natives.

Ordinary people started to panic. If the large households did it, what could they do?

Fearful of Sanhe’s law, they reluctantly sent their natives to the administration.

Lord Shan Qi hadn’t expected the people to obey so quickly. With so many natives, it was impossible to manage them all, so they were sent directly to the roadwork sites.

The biggest difficulty was money—each strong native now cost one or two silver coins! So they had to let the former masters pay with land as much as possible.

Unfortunately, people only cared about money.

Spring plowing began.

Sanhe locals, accustomed to using natives, were now all frowning.

So much land, and just a few family members to farm—it was unrealistic. They had no choice but to bring back their former natives, but now they had to feed them and pay wages as well.

It was unbearable.

The only consolation was that natives were cheaper to hire than laborers from Nanzhou or Yuezhou.

“What the hell is going on!”

Tian Shiyou watched the natives with their families boarding the big ships and cursed.

These natives had been captured by the maritime merchants, yet now they were being sent back!

Many had even participated in campaigns against Ayu and Yuezhou. While laborers would steal, the natives weren’t foolish—they had secretly saved up.

Now free and homesick, anyone who could afford a ticket eagerly boarded the merchant ships.

“Master Tian,” An old, dark-skinned, thin man hunched over and knelt before Tian Shiyou. “I will never forget your kindness.”

“Damn it, your official speech is better than mine!”

Tian Shiyou said angrily, “First, I’ll make it clear—you’re only going as far as Lübin. After that, figure it out yourselves.”

The old man quickly kowtowed. “Even so, I am deeply grateful!”

Tian Shiyou continued, “Be prepared—the big-nosed foreigners have already occupied your homeland. Whether it ends well is up to you.”

The old man wept. “Even if I die, I want to die at home!”

Tian Shiyou glanced at the people on the ship and snorted coldly. “Stop pretending to be pitiful. I know you’ve all been secretly learning martial arts.”

The old man was stunned, trembling all over.

“Enough—like nobody knows,”

Tian Shiyou said impatiently, “You, the old man, stirred things up and secretly taught your people martial arts. Smart, knowing our Sanhe skills are formidable.”

“Not daring!”

Cold sweat poured down the old man’s forehead onto the deck.

“Hmph,”

Tian Shiyou looked at the rising sun. “I didn’t say I’d punish you. You’re lucky, and His Highness is merciful. I’m letting you go. But never forget gratitude; always remember His Highness’ kindness.”

He was slowly understanding Lin Yi’s plan—freeing these natives with ties to Sanhe to counter the foreigners!

Thinking further, having more natives in Sanhe wasn’t necessarily good.

“I will never forget Your Highness’ kindness!”

The old man wept bitterly.

“Are you Dager?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll remember you.”

Tian Shiyou laughed heartily, then shouted, “Stop dawdling! Hoist the sails!”

The deck immediately bustled with activity.

Under the morning glow, fifteen large ships hoisted their sails simultaneously, drifting downstream majestically.

Lin Yi lay bare-chested under the grape trellis, holding his tea cup, sipping occasionally.