Eavesdropping

Yang Shan carefully examined the Sea Pirates' muskets, and after testing them, he came to the same conclusion.

The Imperial Guard said disdainfully, "These muskets are far inferior to those of the Divine Machine Battalion."

Yang Shan asked, "Inferior in what way?"

"The range is poorer, the ignition takes longer, and they need reloading after every three shots. Even the barrels are poor. I just touched one—after only three shots, the barrel was already like it was on fire. Reload it twice, and it will definitely burst."

Turning the musket in his hand, Yang Shan said, "Yet even muskets this poor are not something every one of our soldiers possesses. That means once we face them, our troops will be at a disadvantage."

The Imperial Guard said, "They only have fifteen muskets on each ship."

Yang Shan's face darkened like still water. "They are bandits, and we are soldiers! In the vast Ming Dynasty, every soldier's weapon ought to surpass those of bandits."

The Imperial Guard fell silent.

Yang Shan tightened his grip on the musket and said, "Collect all the weapons. Separate the firearms from the cold weapons."

"Yes."

During the inventory, the Imperial Guards discovered that each of the two ships was missing five or six muskets.

Only ten muskets were counted on one ship, and only nine on the other.

The Imperial Guard looked toward Pan Yun and the others, who were bandaging the wounded. He ground his teeth but ultimately did not go after them, merely reporting the matter.

After a moment of thought, Yang Shan said, "They have rendered great service. Let the missing ones be missing. Register however many remain."

The Imperial Guard had always suspected that the cannon from the Ryukyu ambush had also been hidden away by Pan Yun and the others.