The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 49 Elder Sister
Of the three, Lin Qian was a fugitive, Bai Langzai was a Tanka (boat people), both of whom had clandestine identities, while Zheng Zhilong was a legitimate citizen.

It's best to avoid government officials.

Su Kang went over and shooed his daughter to the backyard.

The little girl named Mei was worried about her father, so instead of going to the backyard, she hid behind the curtain and peeked.

Su Kang took out a money box from behind the counter, took out several strings of copper coins and put them in a sack.

It just seemed that not enough had been paid, and the bailiff said a few words to him.

Su Kang poured all the money from the money box into a sack.

It still didn't seem enough, and the constables grew increasingly impatient.

Zheng Zhilong whispered gloatingly, "This doctor has raised enough donation money, but not enough for the usual amount. As the saying goes, a doctor cannot heal himself. This is going to be a good show."

Lin Qian spent the morning wandering around and learned that in addition to the silver for craftsmen and the tax for gatekeepers, the imperial court had set up a new donation fund, which was similar to the new Liaodong tax for farmers. It was essentially an extra tax levied under a different name.

Lin Qian had never heard of the common practice of paying money.

Zheng Zhilong explained: "The regular money is the money that ordinary people give to the government. There are money for scales, money for delivery, money for tickets, and money for shoes and socks to give to clerks."

Lin Qian clicked her tongue in amazement. Bribing the government had become the norm, and if she didn't give enough, the government would ask for more. It was outrageous.

He had seen ruthless and heartless government offices in his previous life, but he always acted with caution.

I have never seen officials in the Ming Dynasty so brazen in their solicitation of bribes.

No wonder the people spoke of the government with such contempt and resentment when they chatted this morning.

Seeing that Su Kang couldn't pay the usual amount, the yamen runners prepared to use medicinal herbs to settle the debt.

Su Kang tried to stop him, but was instead pushed to the ground with a palm strike.

Mei'er, who had been watching from behind the curtain, could no longer bear it when she saw her father being beaten. She lifted the curtain and was about to rush out.

She had only taken one step when her arm was grabbed and she was pulled away by a strong force.

She was startled and was about to scream when her mouth was tightly covered.

She looked closely and saw Lin Qian make a shushing gesture at her, then take out two taels of silver from her belt.

"If the constables ask, just say you found it at home, understand?" Lin Qian said in a low voice, and then stuffed the loose silver into Mei'er's hand.

He then gestured to Bai Langzai to let go.

Mei looked at Lin Qian with a mixture of doubt and gratitude, then took the silver to pay the tax.

She was short one tael and six mace of her usual allowance, and the remaining four mace was just enough to make shoes and socks.

The money for the shoes and socks was quite generous, and the constables beamed with joy. They helped Su Kang up, put the medicine back, and left politely.

Soon after, the sound of gongs rang out from the street, and the sound moved on to the next house.

Su Kang, disregarding his own needs, hurriedly asked his daughter, "Where did the money come from?"

Mei'er pointed to Lin Qian sitting in the corner: "It was given to me by that husband."

Su Kang straightened his clothes, stepped forward to express his gratitude, and inquired about Lin Qian's name and address so that he could return them to her in the future.

Two taels of silver was just a drop in the ocean for Lin Qian. Paying taxes for Su Kang was an attempt to win him over, so why would she let him repay his debts? Hence, she made several excuses.

However, Su Kang was stubborn and had a bad temper. He insisted on getting Lin Qian's address, as if he had paid a debt of two taels of silver to settle a score.

Seeing this, Lin Qian said, "Then consider the two taels of silver as the doctor's consultation fee."

Su Kang thought to himself that two taels of silver for a medical consultation was too much, but before he could speak, Lin Qian stopped him again.

"This is not my consultation fee. I plan to hold a free clinic in a few days, and I would like to ask Mr. Su to make a house call at that time."

Su Kang's brows relaxed, and he agreed, "In that case, I will wait for you to tell me, sir."

After Lin Qian and the other two left, Su Kang immediately pulled Mei'er aside and scolded her, accusing her of taking Lin Qian's money.

Mei'er looked aggrieved: "I was afraid Father would get beaten..."

Su Kang was even angrier, and flung his hand away, saying, "You can't take other people's money!"

“But I think the three gentlemen are good people…” Mei’er argued softly.

"What good people!" Su Kang roared. "These three call each other brothers, are generous, and have a strong江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) vibe. How could they be good people? They might be bandits or pirates!" "Ah?" Mei'er was slightly surprised, but then said with certainty, "Even if they are bandits or pirates, they are still better than the officials in the yamen!"

"you!"

Su Kang was furious and reached out to hit her again, but seeing his daughter's pitiful state, he couldn't bear it and slowly lowered his hand.

"That's enough. I'll repay their kindness by holding this free clinic. If they keep bothering me, I can always take them to court later," Su Kang thought to himself.

……

The next day, early morning.

A large number of small boats appeared on the Pearl River.

These boats are no different in size from ordinary fishing boats, except that their upper decks are huge, like a small house placed on the boat, making them look top-heavy and very disproportionate.

This is the Tanka boat.

Lin Qian and the other two stood on the shore, gazing in the direction of the approaching ship.

Bai Langzai was especially excited, standing with his feet in the water, gazing into the distance.

As the Tanka boat approached, Bai Langzai saw the people on board and waved and called out to them.

Soon, someone on the ship noticed him.

Someone asked: "Bailangzai? Are you Bailangzai?"

Bai Langzai shouted, "It's me! It's Bai Langzai!"

Then the Tanka people exclaimed, "Bai Langzai is back! He's not dead..."

Then many people went to the bow of the boat to see Bai Langzai, and many people came to greet him.

After a while, a small boat emerged from the fleet and headed towards the shore.

On the small boat, a thin, dark figure was rowing.

She didn't seem to be rowing very hard, but she managed to steer the boat like an arrow shot from a bow, heading straight for the shore.

"Sister...Sister!"

Bai Langzai shouted excitedly, then kept walking forward until half of his body was submerged in the water, and then he plunged into the water.

When he resurfaced, he was already at the side of the boat. He held onto the edge of the boat and pushed himself onto it with a smooth motion, leaving a trail of water splashing around him.

Bai Langzai's older sister put down the oars and stared at Bai Langzai carefully, pinching his arms and face as if afraid that the person in front of her was an illusion.

"Sister, I'm back." Bai Langzai cried and laughed at the same time.

His older sister, with tears in her eyes, smiled and said, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

With a flick of her wrist, the older sister turned the small boat around as if it were alive, heading straight towards the fleet.

“Come on, when we get back to the pier, your older sister will make you some boat congee.”

Bai Langzai hurriedly said, "Sister, don't worry, Brother Lin hasn't boarded the ship yet!"

"Brother Lin?" The older sister was slightly taken aback. Following the direction Bai Langzai was pointing, she saw Lin Qian and Zheng Zhilong.

"People on the shore?" the older sister asked warily.

The Tanka people have been discriminated against by people from the mainland for generations, and they have an innate distrust of "people from the mainland".

Bai Langzai explained, "I've become sworn brothers with Brother Lin, and the other one is Brother Zheng, who is Brother Lin's friend."

The older sister was relieved: "Since he is your friend, he can board the boat."

After saying that, he turned the oar again, and the small boat turned nimbly on the spot. Then, he gently rocked the oar a few times, and the small boat came to a steady stop on the shore.

Bai Langzai jumped off the boat and introduced the group to each other.

"Sister, this is Brother Lin, and this is Brother Zheng Zhilong."

"Brother Lin, she is my elder sister, her name is Bai Qing."

(End of this chapter)