The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 4 Spanish
The Fujian-style ship slowly docked at the port.

The anchorman lowered the anchor, and the swivel cast the rope.

Several workers on the dock took the cable and tied it tightly to the shore pile.

The boatmen laid planks between the ship's sides and the boardwalk.

On the plank road, a Spaniard was already waiting there, followed by three or four Han Chinese men who were bowing their heads.

After the pilot disembarked first, he bent down, gave the Spaniard a fawning smile, and stood behind him.

Lin Qian, Bai Langzai, Lei Sanxiang and others disembarked one after another.

The Spaniard looked impatient and said in Spanish, "Give me the ship's documents."

The Han Chinese translator straightened up and shouted, "What are you standing there for? Bring the boat to the master."

Lin Qian took out the ship's pass from her bosom, but the interpreter snatched it from her and handed it to the Spanish.

The Spaniard took it, glanced at it, frowned, pointed to the destination port and muttered something under his breath. Although he couldn't read Chinese, he recognized the characters for "Luzon," which didn't look like "Macau."

The interpreter cautiously leaned closer for a look, his expression changed, and he pointed at Lin Qian angrily, saying, "Your ship was clearly supposed to be going to Macau, so why did you come to Luzon? You have some nerve!"

Upon hearing this, the brothers all felt guilty and looked away.

“Just tell him it says ‘Manila’ on it,” Lin Qian said casually.

The translator's lips trembled. It wasn't uncommon for boats to disobey the farewell signs, but he had never seen anyone as ignorant of the rules as Lin Qian.

The interpreter decided to teach Lin Qian a lesson and said to the Spaniards in broken Spanish, "Pilate! They are Pilate!"

The Spaniard's expression immediately changed, and he shouted loudly in all directions.

The brothers tensed up. Lei Sanxiang asked urgently, "What happened? What did that damn bastard just say?"

"It's like they're calling us pirates," Lin Qian said calmly.

"What!" Everyone was shocked.

Lei Sanxiang shouted at Lin Qian, "Brother Lin, what do we do now?"

"In my opinion, the only option now is to follow the example of Lord Mengchang's escape at night!" said the second son, Scholar Zhou.

"Speak like a human!" Lei Sanxiang shouted angrily.

Zhou Xiucai: "Let's run while the soldiers aren't here!"

"How can we run? There's no time to weigh anchor!" Old Fifth Chen Hongdao said, already drenched in sweat in just a short while. "Lin Qian killed the man, and he hijacked the ship. If you ask me, we should..."

"What do you mean?" Lei Sanxiang roared. "You son of a bitch! We brothers swore an oath before Lord Guan, what was your oath?"

The Spaniards were still shouting loudly, and people around them scattered in fright. Guards were already running over from a distance.

Fifth Brother Chen Hong hardened his heart and stared intently at Lin Qian, saying, "Either he dies, or we all die together. What do you all think? Let's make a decision!"

The fourth brother, who had been silent all along, said, "Lin Qian, you caused this trouble, so you should clean it up!" After saying that, he stood next to Chen Hong.

Lei Sanxiang cursed, "You son of a bitch!"

"Zhou Xiucai, what do you say?" Chen Hong asked through gritted teeth.

“Oh…this…you…how…oh dear, this…brothers fighting among themselves, we must unite against external threats! Oh…” Zhou Xiucai’s face turned pale, his lips trembled, and he couldn’t utter a complete sentence.

Chen Hong spat at him and then asked Lei Sanxiang, "Third brother, what do you say? Are you determined to go to your death with Lin Qian?"

Lei Sanxiang shouted to Lin Qian, "Brother Lin, what do we do now? Say something!"

Lin Qian turned her back to everyone, remaining silent and not even turning her head to look at them.

"Sigh!" Lei Sanxiang sighed deeply, standing behind Lin Qian and said, "I'm so unlucky, I didn't die in Sarhu, but I fell for a kid like you!"

Chen Hong sneered: "Very well, brother, say something."

The eldest of the group, named Chen Jiao, was over forty years old with a weathered face. Upon hearing this, he calmly replied, "Even if we hand Lin Qian over now, the Franks won't let this go..."

Two hundred paces away, more than ten Spanish guards carrying muskets had already stepped onto the dock and were heading towards the pier. Seeing that the situation was extremely critical, Chen Hong was wary of Lei Sanxiang and dared not act rashly. He shouted to Bai Langzai, "Seventh Brother, you're still young. Don't throw your life away!"

Bai Langzai didn't answer, but simply rested his right hand on the hilt of his knife and coldly stared at Chen Hong.

"Are you out of your mind?" Chen Hong asked anxiously. He couldn't count on Zhou Xiucai right now, his eldest brother was neutral, Lei Sanxiang supported Lin Qian, and only his fourth brother supported him.

The two sides are evenly matched, so we must try to win over Bai Langzai.

Chen Hongqiang patiently said, "I know you're a Tanka person from the Pearl River Estuary. You want to earn money for your sister, right?"

There was obvious anger in Bai Langzai's eyes.

Chen Hong, sweat beading on his forehead as he watched the approaching Spanish guards, continued, "Lin Qian can't help you. Trust me, we'll go to Macau and sell this cargo. We'll get as much silver as we want."

"Heh." Bai Langzai chuckled.

Seeing that his attempts to win him over were futile, Chen Hong's expression changed, and he cursed, "You scoundrel!"

"Let's do it!" Chen Hong shouted to the fourth brother, and the two drew their knives.

Upon seeing this, Lei Sanxiang and Bai Langzai simultaneously drew their knives.

"Put the knife away," Lin Qian said calmly.

"What?" Lei Sanxiang frowned. "Those two damn bastards could kill you."

"If you want to live, put the knife away." Lin Qian's tone remained calm.

The Spaniards were armed with muskets, and everyone knew that a direct confrontation would be futile. Left with no other choice, they steeled themselves and listened to Lin Qian's advice.

Lei Sanxiang and Bai Langzai sheathed their knives, and Chen Hong and the other man, still somewhat doubtful, also put their knives back into their waistbands, though their hands remained on the hilts.

The Spanish guards ran to a stop twenty paces in front of the crowd, lined up with their guns at the ready, and shouted loudly.

"What did they say?" Lei Sanxiang asked.

Lin Qian said, "Put all the knives on the ground, or they'll shoot."

The brothers had no choice but to do as they were told.

The atmosphere on the boardwalk relaxed a bit.

At this moment, Lin Qian took a deep breath and shouted, "Estimado seores, creo que tenemos algunos malentendidos."

Upon hearing this, the Spaniard on the other side and his brothers behind him were all stunned.

"Brother Lin, you can speak their language?" Lei Sanxiang's eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"

“I said, there’s some misunderstanding here.”

Soon, the Spaniard on the other side shouted, "You're coming over alone, unarmed!"

Lin Qian spread her hands and slowly walked over. After a thorough search, a man who looked like a captain of guards came over and said, "You can speak our language? That's great. Do you have any defense against the accusation that you are pirates?"

"Sir, we are legitimate merchants from Yuegang, Fujian. Our journey is approved by the Ming government to transport silk and porcelain to Macau to trade with Portuguese merchants. I am the captain, and I can guarantee that we are not pirates."

The captain of the guards summoned a Han Chinese interpreter, and after confirming that the ship's promissory note did indeed say Macau, he said with a look of disgust, "Oh, those damned Portuguese... how did you end up in Manila port?"

"Sir, we encountered a storm, veered off course, and ended up in waters near Manila. My crew wanted to return to Macau, but I assured them that the Spanish, like the Portuguese, are reputable merchants, so..."

“Even better! We are more reputable merchants than the Portuguese!” the captain of the guard interrupted proudly, handing the boat back to Lin Qian. “Welcome to Manila. Your journey ahead will prove me right, sir.”

If we use the Gregorian calendar, it is now 1620.

Although Spain and Portugal were both under the control of the Habsburg dynasty, their relationship was extremely delicate.

Just like Britain and France, who joined the European Union after World War II, they are allies now, but they were enemies for hundreds of years before.

For the Spanish, silk, porcelain, and raw silk were lucrative commodities. No one would turn down money that was offered to them, especially when it came from their old rivals. They were even happier to make money from it.

Lin Qian had done business with Spanish companies in her previous life and had some understanding of their culture and history. Long before deciding to come to Manila, she had already figured out how to use the conflict between the Spanish and Portuguese to explain the matter of the ship pilot.

(End of this chapter)