The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 30 The Azure Sea
Seeing the ricocheting bullets heading straight for their ship, the Spanish soldiers were thrown into chaos.

Their merchant ship was small and had thin hulls, so it couldn't withstand a cannon shot coming from the bow.

For a moment, they were unable to react and could only instinctively pray to God.

Perhaps God heard the devout prayers of His people, for a hundred paces behind the stern of the merchant ship, another splash of water was stirred up.

The shells miraculously flew over the merchant ship.

Fortunately, the civilian merchant ship had a low hull, otherwise the shot would have hit.

The Spaniards, who had narrowly escaped death, quickly changed course to avoid the danger.

Although everyone knew that the shot was purely by luck, and that even if they had stayed still, they would not have been hit by another shell with the same trajectory.

But nobody dared to gamble.

The instinct for survival drove them to turn around.

The Governor of Manila on board roared, "Don't turn around! Board the ship immediately!"

But it was too late; the merchant ship had already turned hard to port and sideways, hiding behind the towering hull of the Holy Justice.

"Damn coward!" Alonso roared in fury.

……

On the dock, Catherine kept a close eye on the situation at sea with binoculars.

When she saw a cannonball heading straight for her father's ship, her heart leaped into her throat, and she cried out in alarm.

They were relieved to see that the merchant ship had not been hit.

Then he moved the telescope toward the large sailing ship.

A row of pirates stood on the port side of the large sailing ship, seemingly watching the outcome of the shot.

Catherine tried her best to make out the faces of these people, but they were too far away, and even through the binoculars, she could only see tiny figures the size of a grain of rice.

Suddenly, she saw a pirate on the ship's side with binoculars, looking in her direction.

Catherine's heart skipped a beat, and as if she had been caught doing something wrong, she quickly put down the binoculars.

When she calmed down and raised her binoculars again, the large sailboat had already turned to starboard, with its sterncastle facing her.

"Goodbye, Lin Qian." Catherine's red lips parted slightly, and she said with a sense of loss, "One day, I will definitely hold you in my own hands!"

……

After firing the first shot, Lin Qian ordered the large sailboat to turn right.

In the age of sail, the larger the ship, the more complicated the steering became.

Therefore, before the ship goes sideways, it is important to straighten the course in time.

The previous shot was not in vain; the Spanish on the merchant ship were clearly terrified and had already turned left and retreated to the rear of the Holy Justice.

This delay means the Sacred Justice will have to remain docked for quite some time.

Lin Qian's large sailboat had already sailed to the mouth of Manila Bay.

At this moment, the sun shines brightly, a sea breeze blows beside you, and seagulls circle overhead.

The bow cuts through the waves, splashing a slightly salty, icy mist onto the deck.

Before my eyes, the azure sea stretches to the horizon.

"Hard to starboard, heading due north!" Lin Qian shouted the order. He couldn't help but reach out and stroke the teak armrest of the large sailboat. From this moment on, this was his ship.

"Understood!" Chen Jiao replied, then shouted towards the deck: "Hard starboard, heading due north, port side with the wind, change sails!"

More than twenty sailors came to the starboard side and skillfully tightened the starboard sail rigging.

As the ship turned, the spars gradually turned to the right, eventually reaching the perfect windward side. Lin Qian silently watched all of this. In his previous life, he had mostly used triangular sails and knew very little about the complex sail and cable system of this Western-style square sail.

Although the principles of utilizing wind power are roughly the same, he had no idea about the specific wind direction, which rope to pull, or which sail to use.

Once she had shaken off the Spanish pursuers, Lin Qian was determined to figure out these complicated ropes, even if it meant staying up for five or six nights in a row.

The large sailboat headed north, riding the southwest wind at full speed.

Lin Qian estimated that the ship's speed was around eight knots at this time, twice that of the old Fujian ship, and there was still room for improvement.

For example, the square sails could be replaced with several triangular sails, the sternmast could be lengthened, the Latin sails could be replaced with square sails, the sterncastle could be lowered, more space could be provided for the sails, and the beam could be reduced.

During the Age of Sail, the pinnacle of ship technology was the battleship of the 18th and 19th centuries.

This Manila galleon even bears some resemblance to the carracks, and there is still much room for improvement compared to top-tier battleships.

Thinking of this, Lin Qian squatted down and gently stroked the rough wooden deck of the large sailboat with her fingertips, a satisfied smile appearing on her lips.

At this moment, Bai Langzai's voice came: "Sixth Brother, I've counted them. Three brothers died, two were seriously injured, and more than a dozen were slightly injured this time."

Lin Qian said solemnly, "Remember the names of the deceased and the injured brothers. The compensation will be paid from the public account."

"Okay." Bai Langzai paused, then asked, "Sixth Brother, what should we do with that freeloader?"

"Eating for free?" Lin Qian asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It's that naked foreigner who gets everything for free," Bai Langzai reminded him.

Lin Qian then remembered Jose.

Lin Qian glanced at the shore and said, "He can swim, right? Let's throw him overboard."

The large sailing ship had difficulty turning, so it was impossible for it to dock for just one prisoner. Fortunately, it was only about 500 meters from the shore, so he should not drown.

"okay."

Moments later, José was led out of the cabin. As he saw himself being pushed step by step toward the ship's side, José cried out in terror, "No, don't push me overboard! Stop!"

He spoke broken Mandarin, and only then did Lin Qian realize that he could speak Mandarin.

Lin Qian was in a great mood, so she teased him in Chinese, "Don't worry, swim fast and the shark won't be able to catch you."

It was meant as a joke, but after hearing it, José quickly said, "It's not that I'm afraid of sharks! I want to join you, I want to be a member!"

"Hahaha..." The surrounding boatmen burst into laughter.

The two crew members escorting Jose kept walking, pushing him all the way to the side of the ship and forcing his head overboard, but Jose just wouldn't let go of the ship's side, and they couldn't push him off for a while.

Lin Qian's smile faded: "Just jump without worry, you won't die from this height."

José spoke rapidly, “If I go back now, the governor will hang me. I can’t leave. Since you’ve arrested me, you have to take responsibility… I want to join you. I know how to sail, and my family used to be Columbus’s owners. You’ll need me…”

“Columbus lived over a hundred years ago. I have no interest in his outdated navigation techniques.” Although Lin Qian said this, she secretly gave the two crew members of Jose a hand signal, telling them to be gentle and not actually push him overboard.

José's mind raced, and he added, "You need to find buyers for the cargo on the galleon, and you also need to repair the damaged ship. I have connections with the Portuguese!"

"Don't worry about sales or ship repairs." Lin Qian made a show of bravado, but in fact he really didn't have any ideas. He originally planned to dock at Yazhou first and then contact buyers.

Unexpectedly, I met my perfect match – José.

Jose, with half his body already pushed out of the hull, looked at the splashing waves beside the ship and said anxiously, "We absolutely need the Portuguese's help to repair the ship. The large sailing ship is technically complex, and it's not something that the shipwrights of the Ming Dynasty can repair, let alone the yellow-skinned ones."

"Pull it back," Lin Qian commanded.

Jose was pulled back by two crew members and sat on the deck, making the sign of the cross on his chest with lingering fear.

Lin Qian walked up to him and said, "Come to the captain's cabin tonight."

“No problem, sir…” José began, but suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He moved to the side of the ship, clutching his backside. “You… what do you mean? I… I… I…”

(End of this chapter)