The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 5 Two Corpses
They dismissed the captain of the guard.

Lin Qian and the Spanish port officials completed the docking procedures.

Lin Qianxi speaks fluent Spanish with standard pronunciation and is very efficient at communication.

The members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce all stood bent over and waited to the side, while the interpreter occasionally wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

The formalities were completed quickly, and the Spanish official shook hands with Lin Qian in farewell, saying, "I apologize for the misunderstanding. I hope you have a good time in Manila, sir."

After saying that, he walked to the next berth.

The translator braced himself and stepped forward, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect, saying, "It was my fault just now, brother, please don't take it to heart."

Lin Qian glanced at him: "Pirates, right? I'll remember this 'favor'."

Before the interpreter could reply, the Spanish official shouted, "Come here quickly, you yellow-skinned pig with a garbled tongue!"

The translator shuddered and led the members of the Han Chamber of Commerce to follow closely behind.

"Pah, you lackeys!" Lei Sanxiang spat as he watched the men's retreating figures, then asked, "Brother Lin, what do we do now?"

Lin Qian slowly turned around, her gaze settling on the fourth and fifth brothers.

Seeing all his brothers looking at him, Chen Hong's eyes widened, and he forced out a smile that looked more like a grimace: "I was just too hasty and talked nonsense... Brother Lin, you too, if you have this ability, why didn't you say so earlier, making all the brothers worry about you..."

No one spoke on the plank road; the atmosphere was somber.

Chen Hong gritted his teeth and knelt down: "This time it's my fault, brother. If you want to hit or punish me, then do it!"

Seeing that the fourth brother was standing there like a wooden stake, Chen Hong hit him hard in the back of the knee and said angrily, "Apologize to your sixth brother now!"

The fourth brother put on a tough front, but his legs were so weak that he collapsed to the ground. He then struggled to his feet in a disheveled manner and glared at Lin Qian.

Chen Hong then ignored him and simply knelt down on the ground with his head down.

Lin Qian stared coldly at the two of them, her face expressionless.

Chen Hong felt his heart pounding even harder, and he didn't dare wipe the cold sweat from his forehead that was running into his eyes. Every second was torture. Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer, gritted his teeth, and stood up: "You surnamed Lin, what exactly do you want? Give me a straight answer!"

Lin Qian slowly spoke: "Those who betray their brothers shall be condemned by heaven and earth."

"What!" Chen Hong was shocked. These words were the oath the seven men swore when they became sworn brothers.

Even the usually strong-willed fourth brother finally couldn't hold on any longer and swayed as he collapsed to the ground.

Chen Hong and his companion looked pleadingly at the crowd.

Chen Jiao, Lei Sanxiang, Lin Qian, and Bai Langzai all stared at the two of them with eyes that looked like they were about to die.

……

That evening, on a beach outside Manila.

A large pit, two corpses, and three people filling it with soil.

Lin Qian stood at the edge of the pit, watching the two corpses gradually being buried by sea sand.

"You deliberately created this dangerous situation just to see who wasn't on your side, right? Good tactic." The eldest brother, Chen Jiao, stood beside him, took two gulps from the wine jug, and then handed it to Lin Qian. "Frankish wine, want a sip?"

The smell of alcohol was pungent, with a slight sweetness; it was probably rum. Lin Qian shook her head: "In this line of work, it's better to keep a clear head."

Chen Jiao grinned, revealing an extremely ugly smile: "You're probably the only one in this industry who wants to keep a clear head."

He paused and said, "I went to the Balian Market. There's no shortage of sales here, and the prices are much higher than in Macau, just like you said before."

The sworn brotherhood was merely for the purpose of hijacking a ship; ultimately, it was all about money. Compared to the silver, the deaths of the fourth and fifth brothers were insignificant.

Chen Jiao took a few swigs of wine, then turned his head and stared at Lin Qian with his one eye.

"Sixth Brother, you are so familiar with the Franks and can speak their language. You could have a good future as an interpreter. Why did you become a pirate? Or are you just born to love the life of danger?"

Lin Qian smiled but did not answer. He knew that Chen Jiao had become suspicious of him. Now that two of the seven brothers had died, people's hearts were unsettled. The important thing was not to explain his identity, but to calm people's hearts.

When it comes to appeasing people, nothing is more effective than money.

The immediate priority is to get rid of the goods as soon as possible.

"I'll find a buyer tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, we'll split the money on the ship." After saying that, Lin Qian turned around and went back to the dock.

Lei Sanxiang, Zhou Xiucai, and Bai Langzai, who were filling in the soil, were all greatly encouraged by these words. Chen Jiao, on the other hand, stared at Lin Qian's back for a long time, his expression complicated.

……

Although Manila was under Spanish rule, more than 70% of the city's inhabitants were from the Ming Dynasty, who lived and did business in the area around the Palembang Market.

Dealing with the merchants of these eight markets is not much different from doing business in the Ming Dynasty.

Accompanied by Bai Langzai, Lin Qian held talks with several merchants at the Balian Market.

In the end, they chose Lu Chengji, a merchant company. Lu's price was not the highest, but it would allow them to buy all their goods at once, saving them a lot of trouble by not having to sell them in batches.

The purchase price offered by Lu Dongzhu was 6 pesos per bolt of silk. Ordinary porcelain bowls were 2 pesos for 10 pieces, and large porcelain pieces were 8 pesos per piece.

Lin Qian had already tallied the cargo on the ship: 8,500 bolts of silk and over 40,000 pieces of porcelain of various sizes. A simple calculation showed that this ship of goods could be sold for 60,000 Spanish silver pesos.

Ten silver pesos were roughly equivalent to seven taels of silver in the Ming Dynasty.

Sixty thousand Spanish silver pesos translates to forty-three thousand four hundred taels of silver.

After deducting the 20% insurance premium from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the 10% tax from Spain, and miscellaneous expenses such as berthing and unloading fees, there was still about 36,000 taels of silver left.

The figure is far higher than the one Lin Qian promised.

Even if each crew member received 100 taels of silver, there would still be more than 30,000 taels left.

Hijacking a ship is an extremely profitable business, and these 30,000 taels are pure profit.

Although Lin Qian didn't know the purchase prices of silk and porcelain in the Ming Dynasty, she managed to get a general idea after making some inquiries.

If the merchants were legitimate merchants from the Ming Dynasty, transporting this shipment of goods from Yuegang to Manila would yield a gross profit margin of at least 50%.

The profit margin, calculated by dividing profit by cost, is around 100%, and at the lowest it will not be lower than 80%.

Lin Qian was a businesswoman in her previous life and was very sensitive to numbers. She was able to calculate the above result mentally.

It was precisely this extremely high profit margin that attracted the people of the Ming Dynasty to actively participate in smuggling, even at the risk of being beheaded.

According to the regulations of the Governor General's Office in Manila, a Spanish tax collector and a Catholic clergyman must be present when a contract for goods is signed.

After Lin Qian and Lu Dongzhu agreed on the price, Lu Dongzhu asked his staff to invite the Spaniard over.

While waiting, Master Lu brewed tea and subtly inquired about Lin Qian's background, which Lin Qian skillfully deflected with a few words.

A moment later, the waiter arrived with the tax collector and the godfather.

Lu Dongzhu got up and went out, respectfully greeting the Spaniards, and also gestured for Lin Qian to follow.

Lin Qian was puzzled. Logically speaking, Lu Dongzhu was able to buy his entire ship of goods, which showed that he was very wealthy and had considerable influence in Manila. So why did he show such a respectful and fearful expression in front of the Spaniard?

But since she was a guest, Lin Qian went out to meet the two Spaniards.

The Spaniards were long accustomed to this kind of flattery and remained extremely arrogant.

Instead, he noticed Lin Qian coming out with her back straight, which seemed a bit strange, so he took a few more glances at her.

Lu Dongzhu stepped aside and invited the two Spaniards inside.

Just then, a commotion broke out on the street in the distance.

Lin Qian looked toward the commotion and saw three knights galloping away in the distance. Pedestrians on the road quickly made way for them. The market was crowded with people, and soon the crowd was completely overwhelmed.

The three men did not slow their horses at all and charged straight toward Lin Qian.

As they got closer, Lin Qian could see clearly that the two guards on either side were Spanish guards, dressed in orange uniforms with rapiers at their waists, just like the guards she had seen at the port.

The person in the middle has deep and delicate features. She is wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and black riding breeches and boots. Although she is dressed in men's clothing, it accentuates her graceful curves. Her hair flies as she rides her horse, giving her a wild and beautiful flamenco-like appearance.

"Quickly lower your head!" When Lu Dongzhu saw Lin Qian looking up, he reached out to press Lin Qian's head down in a panic, but Bai Langzai stopped him.

This delay allowed the woman to rein in her horse and stop in front of Lu Chengji's shop.

"Yellow monkey, what are you looking at?"

(End of this chapter)