NOVPUBMi Fang couldn’t help but look embarrassed upon hearing Gan Ning’s words. He was, after all, the one in the Navy who was most fond of smuggling contraband. Coupled with his wealthy background that spared no expense, he occasionally paid out of his own pocket to provide the entire army’s soldiers with an extra serving of meat and vegetables. Before long, the sailors, who originally came from backgrounds as water pirates and river bandits, showed great loyalty in helping Mi Fang smuggle goods onto the ships. As a result, everyone in the Navy turned a blind eye to Mi Fang’s activities.
Of course, part of this was due to the fact that Mi Fang never made things difficult for the Navy. He merely added some ballast goods; if the Navy’s ships were full, Mi Fang wouldn’t bring any extra cargo. But on the other hand, Gan Ning’s Navy often operated with their holds mostly empty. Trailing behind were supply ships; so with seven or eight out of ten ships empty, Mi Fang benefited greatly.
"Gan Lan, as usual, use the large ships to tow the supply vessels. Allocate the first batch of Cao Army prisoners onto the spare supply ships—three hundred per ship. We’ll only need about fifty men to guard them," Gan Ning calculated the size of the supply ships and then inhumanely crammed three hundred prisoners onto each one.
"Affirmative!" Gan Lan saluted with a fist and then, taking the General’s Order, ran towards the prisoner camp.
"All captains should carry out a final inspection of their ships’ current and reserve facilities before boarding. Gather the crew and prepare to embark. We’re heading back to the Yangtze River to rescue the Lu Family!" Gan Ning stood up and issued one final command.
"Affirmative!" All the captains rose to their feet, saluted Gan Ning with a fist, and then proceeded to leave gracefully.
As Mi Fang was also preparing to leave, Gan Ning called out to stop him, "Zifang, bring more contraband this time, including everything that hasn’t been sold before. This trip isn’t just to rescue the Lu Family; we need to visit Yiizhou as well. The agreed date with the indigenous chief is approaching, so we might as well resolve all our matters in one go."
"Ah…" Mi Fang looked awkwardly at Chen Xi as his secret was exposed by Gan Ning in front of Chen Xi. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he was about to speak up when Gan Ning turned and saluted Chen Xi with his fist, "Strategist, please forgive us. Our navy always needs some ballast to prevent capsizing, so I have ordered Zifang to bring some goods to trade with the indigenous people and to seek some benefits for our navy soldiers."
Mi Fang was stunned and then looked at Gan Ning with a face full of gratitude; the other man had taken the blame for him. This was deeply appreciated by Mi Fang, who had been just caught red-handed in front of Chen Xi. He had been worried about how to explain himself to Chen Xi, knowing that this was essentially the misuse of public resources. If Chen Xi were to take offense, then his brother Mi Zhu would surely scold him to death upon finding out. Since coming to the navy, Mi Fang had learned to smuggle contraband, if nothing else.
"This is all within the bounds of your duty, as long as you agree to it," Chen Xi said, waving a hand dismissively. He was well aware of the reasons behind Gan Ning’s actions and had nothing much to add; Gan Ning knew how to prioritize matters.
"Thank you, Strategist, thank you, General," Mi Fang scratched his head, speaking with a hint of excitement. With the matter left to Gan Ning, there was nothing more to say; Gan Ning had always turned a blind eye to Mi Fang’s contraband.
"Don’t thank me just yet. Let me make myself clear: using the ships of our navy, you won’t have any safety concerns. You agree with that, right?" Chen Xi said, smiling as he glanced at Gan Ning, who certainly lived up to expectations as he began to speak.
"That’s for certain; our navy goes wherever it wants to go," Mi Fang nodded eagerly, like a pecking chicken, then conscientiously continued the conversation, "I am willing to donate half of the profits I make to the navy as welfare." Indeed, Mi Fang was not foolish; he understood the concept of a community of shared interests.
"Alright, Zifang, rest assured, our Navy will cover you, which will definitely be cheaper than the toll fees those Indigenous People charge. Moreover, we guarantee no one will dare to rob your goods, and we ensure your personal safety. If anyone tries to bully you into buying or selling, we’ll be your protection," Gan Ning boasted, his years of experience as a River Bandit made this sort of maneuvering utterly smooth.
For Mi Fang, giving half of his profits to Gan Ning’s Navy meant nothing special; he might as well have been a rich young master sent out by his brother to experience life, without any concept of money, much like explaining the cost of something to Mi Zhen or Zhen Mi, who had no notion of value.
That said, Mi Fang had brought back several shipments of unsold goods, resulting in significant losses. This was why Gan Ning suggested bringing all the unsold goods along, as some had been pulled back multiple times and were now stacked up in a warehouse on the shore, likely amounting to several shiploads of cargo. The sight pained Gan Ning, for that was all money!
Despite the losses, when Mi Fang brought the goods back, he made sure the Navy had their fill of meat, improved their meals, showing no sign of regret for the loss. He continued to spend money to ensure the soldiers ate and drank well. His generosity pleased Gan Ning, who appreciated such magnanimous characters.
"Okay, go take your ship and attach it to the big one," Gan Ning waved Mi Fang off, indicating he should get on with his business or they would have to leave without him.
"Ziyi, how is it going with the Navy? Are you getting used to it?" After everyone else left the tent, only Gan Ning, Taishi Ci, and Chen Xi remained, so Chen Xi spoke more informally.
"I’m currently learning how to command ships from Xingba. Overall, I find commanding the Navy more challenging than charging into Trap Formations on land," Taishi Ci found a spot to sit and shared, "Thinking about it, Xingba has a tough job."
"Ha ha ha, Ziyi, I’ve told you many times, you don’t need to maneuver ships. You need a mount, a flagship. Our Navy has a killer move called ’Sink them with a ram.’ Learn this one trick, and you’ll be fine. I’m only average at commanding ships myself, but our ships are huge, we just need to crush the enemy’s little sailboats," Gan Ning laughed heartily.
In the past, when Gan Ning was with the Brocade Sail Pirates, he sailed small boats that demanded skillful handling, attacking with a group of men surrounding the enemy. After the Lu family refitted his ships, his upgraded vessels became much larger than the small boats and thus lost a lot of their maneuverability. Group attacks were less effective, and directing them became a hassle.
At first, Gan Ning fought using the same tactics as when he commanded small boats, but after fighting the Divine Beast, he realized that no command was better than a straightforward ram. Line up ten large ships and ram at full speed, and even mythical creatures would be battered half to death.
Since then, Gan Ning’s battle strategy became far more aggressive. Tactics like surrounding the enemy felt weak in comparison. Strengthened by Cloud Qi, with increased speed, a direct ram was time-saving, effort-saving, and effectively decisive.
After hearing this, Taishi Ci couldn’t help but have a bitter smile. He couldn’t accept Gan Ning’s brute force combat approach—it lacked any technical substance. What if the enemy’s ship was even bigger? Wouldn’t that be suicidal?
Chen Xi glanced at Gan Ning and thought, [This guy’s style is indeed fierce. Still, ’Sink them with a ram’ is truly one of the essentials of naval warfare. If the quality of the ships is genuinely up to standard, ramming is far more reliable than fighting with crossbow bolts from afar, or attempting to jump onto enemy ships for close combat. Gan Ning really has a talent for understanding such straightforward brutality...](To be continued. If you like this work, I invite you to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
