The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 3 The Age of Exploration

Upon hearing Lin Qian's question, Bai Langzai seemed somewhat conflicted, but after a moment he slowly shook his head.

Lin Qian shrugged and continued tidying up the star chart.

For him, the art of star-gazing was not worth keeping secret. If Bai Langzai wanted to learn, he would do him a favor; if he didn't want to learn, there was no need for him to rush to teach him.

After tidying up the star-gazing board, Lin Qian walked towards the stern tower.

Bai Langzai followed silently behind, and after walking for a while, he suddenly asked, "Have you really been to Luzon?"

"of course."

Whether in his past life or this one, Lin Qian had never been to Luzon, but that didn't stop him from telling "white lies" to "reassur people."

Bai Langzai hesitated, clearly still harboring some doubts about Lin Qian.

Although Bai Langzai pretends to be cold and mature, he is only sixteen years old after all, and his thoughts are written all over his face.

During this time, Lin Qian had been observing his cheap brothers and had long realized that Bai Langzai had gotten into a lot of trouble. His agreement to seize the ship was definitely not just for a hundred or so taels of silver.

"Your family is from Guangdong, right? Have you gotten into some trouble?" Lin Qian asked casually.

Bai Langzai was taken aback again, then said coldly, "It has nothing to do with you."

Lin Qian stopped, turned around and looked at him, her eyes like knives, as if she wanted to pierce him.

Bai Langzai's throat bobbed, his whole body tensed, and his right hand instinctively went to the hilt of the knife at his waist.

"In twenty days at most, we will arrive in Luzon safely. We will unload the silk and porcelain, replace them with Spanish silver dollars to fill the hold, rest for a month or so, and return when the monsoon changes."

Lin Qian narrated slowly, her tone calm yet firm.

"When we return to the Ming Dynasty, I will help you with your matter."

After saying this, Lin Qian pushed open the door and entered the cabin.

For him, there was nothing to promise in the early stages of starting a business. If he didn't even dare to make empty promises, he might as well go home and go fishing.

As for fulfilling his promise, he only said he would help, whether it was to help completely or to do his bit.

How exactly to help depends on the severity of the problem and the value of Bai Langzai.

Upon hearing Lin Qian's words, Bai Langzai's expression became complicated. He stood there for a moment, then took a deep breath, regained his composure, walked to the stern tower entrance, and stood there with his knife in hand.

As dawn broke, Lin Qian went out of the cabin and saw Bai Langzai, who had been keeping watch all night. She patted him on the shoulder and told him to go back to the cabin to rest.

He then ordered everyone to correct their course and sail south along the Tofan Island.

At that time, marine chronometers had not yet been invented. When sailing on the ocean, the longitude of a ship could not be determined. Once it left land landmarks, it could only rely on compasses and stargazing to leave it to fate.

Fortunately, Manila is located directly south of Dongfan Island.

As long as the ship stays on course and doesn't encounter any storms, and with the prevailing northwest monsoon, a smooth arrival at the port is practically guaranteed.

The boatmen are in much better spirits today, thanks to the effects of alcohol.

Without the oppression of the boat captain and Manager Wu, the boatmen actually worked with more enthusiasm.

As they set sail, one of the boatmen shouted a boat song at the top of his lungs: "Hey! Everyone, pull together!"

The other boatmen chimed in, "Heave-ho, heave-ho!"

"Riding the winds from all directions!"

"Hey zo, hey zo!"

"The anchor breaks through a thousand-foot wave!"

"Hey zo, hey zo!"

"The bow is pointing skyward!"

"Hey zo, hey zo!"

One person led the singing, and the boatmen sang along. Although the singing was off-key, it was full of momentum.

The sound of dozens of men singing "Hey Zuo" in unison was like a heavy drumbeat, striking the heart. Those who heard it felt a surge of pride, and they felt that even if the road ahead was full of storms and dangers, they would still have the courage to forge ahead.

……

All the best.

Fifteen days later, a faint line of green appeared on the horizon.

"Land? It's land!" the lookout at the bow exclaimed in surprise.

Instantly, the boatmen rushed to the bow and the side of the ship, looking into the distance.

The green expanse on the horizon grew larger and larger, and the cries of seagulls could be faintly heard.

"Have we arrived?" "Thank God, we've arrived in Luzon!"

The boatmen were beaming with joy and shouted excitedly.

"Brother Lin, you're really something!" Lei Sanxiang laughed as he ran up and patted Lin Qian on the shoulder.

Lin Qian smiled and ordered, "Right rudder, sail around the island, and enter Manila Bay."

"Right rudder!" Lei Sanxiang shouted the order.

"Right half rudder!" the helmsman shouted back, and the ship turned right.

Luzon is a large island, and it took a whole day for a Fujian-style ship to sail around the island before entering Manila Bay.

The port is already in sight, with various sailboats moored for miles, which are faintly visible and quite spectacular.

A small two-person boat approached from afar. Lin Qian knew it was the port's pilot and ordered someone to lower the rope ladder.

The pilot climbed up the rope ladder.

Lin Qian stepped forward and bowed, but the navigator did not return the bow. He looked at Lin Qian with a rather arrogant expression and said, "New here? Don't you know the rules?"

The pilot had yellow skin and black hair; he was a Han Chinese. Everyone could understand him, but his accent was strange.

Lin Qian's sworn brothers were annoyed by the man's arrogance, but Lin Qian had gained some prestige during the ten-plus days of sailing, so they didn't dare to say anything unless Lin Qian made a scene. They just glared at the pilot.

Lin Qian took out a silver ingot from her belt, handed it to the pilot, and said with a smile, "I'll trouble you to give me your guidance."

The pilot took the silver, weighed it in his hand, and said with a stern face, "This money isn't taken for nothing. It's the rule of the Han Merchants Association that pilotage is charged when a ship docks."

Lei Sanxiang: "You thief..."

He was stopped in his tracks by Lin Qian's gaze.

Then, Lin Qian took out another silver ingot and handed it over: "This is for your drinks."

The pilot then smiled and said, "Alright, since you're new here, I'll explain the rules for entering the port. Follow my small boat into the port first."

He waved to the side of the boat as he spoke, and another person on the small boat rowed.

With his back to the crowd, the pilot gazed at the port with an air of command: "The port can only be used for loading and unloading cargo during the day. It will be closed after 5 pm, and no one may enter or leave at will."

"Wangcheng District is Francois territory. You should stay away from it unless you need to, lest you lose your lives for nothing."

"Han Chinese merchants all lived in the Balian Market, and casinos and brothels were also located there..."

"When doing business here, the Han merchants take one-twentieth as insurance premiums, while the Franks take one-tenth as taxes..."

……

As they approached the harbor, a huge sailing ship moored there attracted everyone's attention.

The ship had a very deep draft, its sides were twice as high as a three-masted Fujian ship, its sterncastle was towering, and its sides were tied with a dense array of ropes, making it look quite spectacular.

This ship was bigger than any ship of the Ming Dynasty, and even the shipwrights who were used to seeing ocean-going vessels were dumbfounded.

Upon seeing this, the pilot said with some pride, "This is a Francois ship. They call it the 'Manila of Curry.' The Francois guard this kind of ship very closely. There are guards all around. If any Han Chinese approach, they will be shot."

The boatmen seemed to understand but not quite, only feeling that the name of the ship was exceptionally profound.

The pilot was still babbling incessantly about praising the Spanish sailing ships. Lin Qian felt extremely disgusted by his sycophantic attitude, but she couldn't bring herself to confront him directly, so she just went along with it.

Lin Qian speaks Spanish and knows that the so-called "Curry Manila" means "Manila Galleon".

This type of ship is very similar to the famous Western galleon, and it was named after the fact that it was mostly used for transportation on the Latin American and Manila routes.

Two hundred years earlier, when Zheng He sailed his treasure ships to the Western Ocean, the Manila galleons were not yet considered the world's largest.

Today, after more than a century of maritime prohibition, the Ming Dynasty has lost its treasure ship blueprints and its navigation and shipbuilding technologies have declined significantly, making it difficult to compete with the West at sea.

Although the Manila Galleon was an armed merchant ship, its firepower, speed, long-range capability, hull structure, and strength were all superior to any warship of the Ming Dynasty.

It was precisely because of their powerful ships and cannons that the Spanish were able to swagger around Luzon, the Portuguese seized Macau and refused to return it, and the Dutch secretly colonized southern Japan.

For the world, this is the golden age of exploration.

Meanwhile, the imperial court was still obsessed with internal strife and immersed in the glory of being the Celestial Empire, unaware of its own injustices.

Looking at the large ship in front of her, Lin Qian was filled with emotion. She felt that in this era of great competition, how could she be content if she did not make some achievements?

As they approached, the masts of the large sailing ship appeared even taller, and the dense array of cannons on the hull was faintly visible, creating a powerful sense of oppression. Even the sailors lowered their voices.

Lin Qian turned around and looked at her Fujian ship. It didn't have a single cannon, and compared to the Manila galleon, it was really inferior.

A thought flashed through Lin Qian's mind: how much silver would it cost to buy a Spanish warship?
The value of the cargo on his Fujian-style ship probably wouldn't even buy the keel...

However, considering his new profession, perhaps... buying a boat doesn't necessarily require money.

(End of this chapter)