The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 35 Sail Set

The pendulum clock was the last discovery in the captain's cabin.

At this point, all the finances for the entire cabin had been recorded in the ledger.

The most valuable items in the cabin were the twelve parchment books, followed by an ivory cross carving, and then a walnut four-poster bed.

As for the paintings on the wall, they are works of art and are not included here.

Zhou Xiucai roughly estimated that if the contents of the captain's cabin were sold as a package, they would be worth about 6 to 1.2 taels of silver.

Let's round it up to 1 taels of silver.

If the large sailing ship's harvest is sold for 20 taels of silver, plus the captain's quarters, the total would be 21 taels. As the captain, he would receive a 10% cut, which would amount to approximately 2.1 taels.

By the time the spoils in the captain's cabin were taken inventory, it was around noon.

The crew members began to eat in shifts. Lin Qian said to Zhou Xiucai, "Call the eldest brother, third brother, and seventh brother to eat in the officers' mess. Second brother, you should go too. I have something to say to them."

"Okay." Scholar Zhou nodded and went out.

……

Twenty minutes later, the brothers were all seated in the stern restaurant.

Lunch was still hard biscuits with cured meat, which made everyone look uncomfortable.

Considering that this stuff was really hard to swallow, Lin Qian asked the cook to serve a glass of rum with every meal. Now, the "sailor set" on the table is complete.

Lin Qian said, "This is all we have on the ship. Just bear with it. We'll treat everyone to a Cantonese feast once we reach the shore."

Everyone started working with long faces, as chopsticks were completely useless when faced with these dishes.

"I called the brothers here today to redistribute our positions."

Everyone slowed down and held their breath.

"After all, the large sailing ship is a Franco-made ship, and its structure and performance are very different from those of the Fujian ship. Therefore, it is appropriate to model the positions of the Franco-made ships accordingly."

Lin Qian paused, and seeing that no one spoke, she continued.

"Brother, Chen Jiao will serve as the first mate."

"Brother Zhou is the quartermaster and also the accountant."

"Brother Lei will serve as the artillery chief and boatswain."

"White Wave Boy, take charge of the navigator."

After speaking, Lin Qian explained the job responsibilities to the four people and said, "All of the above positions are under the management of the ship. When it comes to profit sharing, you will also participate in the profit sharing of the sailors, doctors and carpenters. In other words, you can get a lot more."

"Brother Zhou estimated that the value of this hijacking would be 200,000 taels. For example, each ordinary crew member could get more than 300 taels, and each officer could get nearly 5,000 taels."

"Hahaha... Hearing this price, even this ash-like monstrosity tastes delicious now," Lei Sanxiang laughed.

Bai Langzai: "Sixth Brother, I don't know how to navigate."

Lin Qian: "I'll teach you."

Although Lin Qian himself could also serve as the navigator, he has too many things to do right now, and he can't finish even if he works all night every day, so he has to take on some tasks outside.

After observing him for a long time, Lin Qian found that Bai Langzai was a loyal and devoted man. As a Tanka people, he was naturally knowledgeable about navigation and would learn quickly. Lin Qian was at ease teaching him how to use a sextant and read nautical charts.

Moreover, Lin Qian had a deeper purpose. After all, once they arrived in the Pearl River Delta, Bai Langzai might still be needed as an intermediary between him and the Tanka people.

Winning over Bai Langzai now is paving the way for recruiting Tanka people later.

"Come to the captain's cabin tonight," Lin Qian said to Bai Langzai.

"it is good."

"Captain..." Chen Jiao hesitated before speaking, "We've made quite a bit of money this time, but according to the usual practice, isn't giving each crew member a bonus of over three hundred taels too much?"

Zhou Xiucai said, "The Tao Te Ching says, 'When the government is lenient, the people are honest; when the government is strict, the people are cunning.' Anyway, the crew doesn't know how much money is recorded in the accounts. Even if each person only receives one or two hundred taels, it will be enough to make the boatmen grateful." Chen Jiao looked worried and said, "What I'm worried about is that if the dividends are too high, it might alienate people. Three hundred taels is enough to buy a dozen acres of land and become a wealthy family. Once we dock, I'm afraid no one will want to go back to the ship to suffer."

At this point, everyone looked at the "sailing set" in front of them and felt that the saying "going back to the ship will be a nightmare" was particularly apt.

However, Lin Qian had already considered the things that Chen Jiao was worried about.

Lin Qian didn't even need to think of a solution; capitalists of later generations had already figured it out: just get everyone to spend their money. On a macro level, this could maintain inflation, and on a micro level, it could increase the cost of living.

Of course, neither of the above two points can be achieved by a single capitalist alone.

Most capitalists will choose a more manipulable method, namely controlling employee income levels, encouraging employees to take on debt, and maintaining a situation where people seem to be doing well on the surface, but would starve if they left the company.

Once Lin Qian occupies Nan'ao Island, she will be able to do this.

The above are just the more civilized methods. As the saying goes, "It's easy to get on a ship, but hard to get off." Since the crew members have chosen this profession and taken money stained with blood, it won't be so easy for them to get away...

However, since the team is still in its early stages, Lin Qian does not intend to coerce the crew too much. As long as the core members stay, he does not want to restrict the departure of others.

If someone wants to leave, build a business on land, and become extremely wealthy, then that's a living advertisement for the team.

If things don't go well after you get ashore, then it can serve as a lesson from the past.

If they are unfortunately arrested by the authorities, it won't matter much if they implicate Lin Qian.

After all, he had robbed a Manila galleon. For this alone, he would be remembered in history and ranked alongside the world's most famous pirates. The Spanish governor would surely send someone to protest to the Ming Dynasty.

It was only a matter of time before a wanted poster for his portrait was plastered all over the coast of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Lin Qian cannot stay at the Pearl River Estuary for too long, as long as the crew does not scatter like birds and beasts during this period.

After a moment's thought, Lin Qian calmly said, "Don't worry, although we will each receive three hundred taels of silver, it will not be all at once. We will give ten taels at a time, and it will take several dozen days."

Chen Jiao: "But after several dozen days, everyone will still leave after taking the money."

“Then keep a few dozen taels and distribute them at the end of the year.” Lin Qian thought for a moment and then said, “But no matter what, those who want to leave will always leave, there’s no need to force them to stay.”

Lei Sanxiang said worriedly, "What if someone reports it to the authorities, or gets arrested by the government?"

"No one would leave their money untouched and go to the authorities. If someone is arrested, the ship will have to sail to the open sea, and the government can do nothing about it."

After Lin Qian finished speaking, she thought for a moment and added something else.

"From now on, there will be a rule on the ship: roll call every morning, followed by the distribution of silver. If someone is absent during roll call, it will be known that someone has been arrested, and we can set sail immediately."

It's impossible to prevent the crew from disembarking when a ship docks; otherwise, what would they do with their money?
Ultimately, Lin Qian is still a pirate, and his men are a motley crew gathered for profit. For the time being, this is the only way to control him.

In the future, once they have territory and strength, Lin Qian will naturally have a way to mold this rabble into a navy.

After finishing their business, the group spontaneously began discussing Cantonese cuisine, specifically which region had the freshest raw marinated dishes and which region had the most fragrant Shaoxing wine.

After discussing food and drink, they started talking about women, such as which region has smoother skin and which region has smaller feet.

After listening for a while, Lin Qian couldn't help but express her opinion: "What's so attractive about bound feet? It's dirty and morbid."

Scholar Zhou shook his head and swayed: "The ruler measures and reduces it by four-tenths, a slender jade shoot wrapped in light clouds. Hehe, its wonder is beyond words..."

Lei Sanxiang asked with curiosity, "Really? Women in Liaodong all have big feet, I've never actually seen any with small feet."

Zhou Xiucai said mysteriously, "You'll see it when we dock."

Chen Jiao: "I heard that the Tanka people don't want to bind their feet?"

Bai Langzai: "The Tanka people have lived on boats for generations. Women have bound their feet, so they can no longer walk on the boats."

Lin Qian nodded: "This is a healthy aesthetic."

Scholar Zhou feigned anger: "This brat is not worth mentioning..."

After chatting and laughing for a long time, they still couldn't finish the hard biscuits and cured meat.

(End of this chapter)