New Ming Empire mixed in America

"Long live my lord, what are these barbarians talking about?"

Watching the three foreign leaders talking to each other, Liu Erhe scratched his head and ears anxiously.

"They have more than 200 rifles on the ship. I want to buy them. Now they are discussing what kind of price they will give to impress us."

After receiving a satisfactory answer, there was a hint of relief in Li Mingqi's voice.

"Do you still need to buy it? Just bring it over."

Sun Laifu, who had been on guard at the door, muttered.

This put a dark line on the Emperor's face. As expected, those who are close to the ink are black. There is no one who can match Liu Erhe's temper except a big boss and a thick head.

"The entrance to the cargo hold is right next to the sailors' lounge. If you can pilot this ship, I won't trade with this guy and just kill everyone and grab it."

After hearing Li Mingqi's words, Liu Erhe and Sun Laifu looked at each other and stopped talking.

"Okay Captain Onast, let's talk about the price of these rifles."

Li Mingqi looked again at the captain who was looking at them eagerly.

"It's Ernesto, sir." Ernesto seemed to attach great importance to his name.

"Okay Captain Onast, how much do you want to sell those second-hand rifles for?"

When he heard the word money, Ernesto's obsession with his name immediately disappeared.

"When I bought it, it was US$25 a piece. Now...I...I think US$20 is a very reasonable price..."

"With your ship, sailors, and everything on board, I think... this should be enough."

Li Mingqi took out a small wooden box from his arms and placed it on his desk. After opening it, the contents inside made Ernesto almost pop his eyes out.

I saw Li Mingqi take out a milky white cross pendant strung with a red rope from the box. In addition to the pendant, there were also six balls slightly larger than soybeans and a single ball of the same material that was almost the size of a longan strung on the rope.

.

When he first took it out, Ernesto simply thought it was a necklace made of an unknown jade stone.

But as Li Mingqi directed Liu Erhe to block all light sources, everyone in the captain's cabin took a deep breath.

This necklace actually exudes purple fluorescence in the dim environment!

Ernesto couldn't help but swallowed his saliva, looked at Li Mingqi in disbelief, and stammered: "This...this...is this for me?"

"Of course, as long as you promise to give me this ship and all the goods, this treasure will belong to you!"

Li Mingqi fooled Ernesto seriously.

If this luminous plastic cross pendant, which he spent a huge sum of money (7 yuan and 50 cents) to buy, could be exchanged for these things, Li Mingqi would laugh at it.

Looking at Ernesto, whose body was trembling with excitement, Li Mingqi added:

“We can sign a contract in the presence of God!”

"I agree!" Ernesto yelled this loudly.

Why risk your life by going to sea? It’s not just to make a fortune!

For this treasure, Ernesto almost lost his mind. He was prepared to risk his own life that the other party would not kill him because of this thing.

"Very good, Erhe, untie him!" Li Mingqi was very satisfied with Ernesto's reaction and threw the pendant back into the wooden box with a smile.

Soon, Ernesto drafted a contract to exchange the Asuka for a precious necklace.

In a friendly atmosphere where both of them regarded the other as a fool, they signed their names on two copies of the contract.

And at Ernesto's strong request, both parties pressed two rows of their respective fingerprints on the signature of the contract. The kind with ten fingers.

After collecting the contract, Li Mingqi handed Ernesto the necklace that had been left in the sun, and kindly reminded him: "Remember to let this treasure bathe in the sun for a period of time."

"Why?"

Of course, it cannot be said that it is because I am afraid that the luminous cross will not light up if it is not exposed to sunlight for a long time.

So after coughing twice, His Majesty the Emperor said sincerely:

"Because there is a legend in my hometown that a luminous gem will bring luck to its owner after bathing in the sun."

Looking at Ernesto's ecstatic expression, Li Mingqi felt as if he could buy the entire Northeast with two fist-sized plastic luminous balls after Lafayette came to power in the Qing Dynasty.

Think of the time when archaeologist Sun Dianying shouted, "Lafayette, I'd like to pay my respects to you. Dig for me!"

I found that Lafayette's mouth was...ahem, it was too big to fit. When I found that Lafayette was holding two fist-sized plastic luminous balls in his hands, should I cry or laugh?

The transaction was successfully completed, and both parties breathed a sigh of relief.

After asking Liu Erhe to untie Barton and Wilson Jr., Li Mingqi urged Ernesto to call a meeting of all sailors.

Not long after, with the sound of snare drums playing, all the crew members gathered outside the captain's cabin.

Holding up the contract he had just signed, Ernesto announced to everyone the fact that the Asuka had changed ownership and had become the Royal Navy of the New Ming Empire. It was the first ship with some force and was promoted to the temporary capital ship of the navy.

This news caused a commotion among the crew. Some of them directly expressed their dissatisfaction: "Are we going to work under these yellow people? This is an insult to white people!"

However, after Li Mingqi sent everyone a Vietnamese sand gold bracelet, everyone had no objections to the change of ownership of the Flying Bird.

The guy who just shouted "This is an insult to white people" now swears that he is one-twelfth yellow.

After Li Mingqi announced that everyone would receive a similar necklace at the end of the journey, the blood purity of the sailor, who had one-twelfth yellow blood, quickly became one-fourth.

So much so that when Li Mingqi mentioned the disappearance of the boatswain, everyone looked indifferent.

After all, everyone knows how Hansen and his thugs tortured the yellow man on the mast. Isn’t it normal for people to take revenge and go back?

Besides, didn’t you see that Hansen’s cousin Ernesto, the ‘former’ captain, acted like it had nothing to do with him? So the others didn’t even care about that guy’s life or death.

A bosun who often bullied sailors because of his status, no one cared where he went.

After appeasing everyone on the ship with various fakes, Li Mingqi, led by Ernesto, began to visit the capital ship of the Xinming Empire.

Apart from the rifles, the remaining tea leaves and raw silk in the warehouse did not interest our Emperor at all.

By the time Liu Youcai came over to report that the regent had woken up, Li Mingqi had already visited the entire ship.

"Long live my lord, the regent has woken up and is currently recuperating in the captain's cabin."

After hearing the news, His Majesty the Emperor made a temporary decision - to occupy the captain's cabin!

The deck was almost full of people now, and the first mate on the Bird was worried about the danger of going too fast. So the sail on the Bird was lowered by half, slowing down the speed.

The Chinese, who had not breathed for more than a month, all crowded onto the deck, pointing at the sea and talking to each other.

Now the Chinese on the ship are divided into two parts.

Half of them were Ming people who cut their braids and joined the New Ming Empire to gain a new life. These people were poor people who could not survive in the Qing Dynasty. They sold themselves and wanted to find a way to survive in the United States.

These people are all companions in the same cabin as Li Mingqi.

As for the others, some are potential people who have not yet had time to join the Xinming Empire.

Of course, there are still some die-hards who refuse to cut off their braids no matter what.

Most of them are "students studying abroad" who paid their own shipping expenses to go to the United States to pan for gold.

These people adhere to the traditions of their "ancestors" and angrily accuse those who cut off their braids of having forgotten their ancestors and are treasonous.

There was no other way. For these "patriotic people" of the Qing Dynasty, His Majesty the Emperor could only "bear the pain" and order them to be driven back to the cabin and continue the same treatment as before.

Looking at the loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty who held their heads high and shouted loudly at Li Mingqi when they were driven back to the cabin, "rebellious ministers and traitors will not die well", Li Mingqi felt no anger in his heart, but more sadness.

Even many bannermen on the ship had their pigtails cut off (don’t think that all bannermen could not survive). Why did they, who were also Han Chinese, protect that ‘pig tail’ so much?