The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 50 Boat Congee

The Tanka people are free-spirited and unrestrained, without the constraints of etiquette imposed on women on land, and without the rule that their maiden names cannot be easily revealed.

The group greeted each other.

Bai Qing invited Lin Qian and the other person onto the boat, and then rowed to catch up with the fleet.

Lin Qian noticed that this small boat was much smaller than other people's Tanka boats, which she found strange.

Bai Langzai asked first, "Sister, why didn't you row a big boat? Where did Mother go?"

Bai Qing stood at the stern and said, "The big ship is anchored at the pearl farm. My mother is getting old and it's inconvenient for her to travel at sea. I was thinking of taking a small boat back so that the officials could count the goods and we could get back as soon as possible."

The counting of the pearl farmers was done on a household basis, with one boat representing one household, so a family only needed to return on one boat.

If it weren't for his high-pitched voice, Bai Qing would have looked like a thin, dark-skinned man dressed in men's short clothes, his bare feet resting on the deck.

Lin Qian saw that Bai Langzai had taken off his shoes and socks after boarding the boat, and guessed that this must be a custom of the Tanka people, so she also took off her shoes and socks.

Zheng Zhilong followed suit and did the same.

Upon seeing this, Bai Qing smiled and said, "Brother Lin, Brother Zheng, let's eat on the boat tonight. I'll cook some boat congee for everyone."

Bai Langzai has been following Lin Qian these past two days, eating delicacies every meal. He figured Lin Qian would definitely look down on his own boat congee.

So she began, "Sister, Brother Lin, he..."

She was interrupted by Lin Qian halfway through her sentence: "That's great, thank you for your help, Sister Bai."

Bai Qing speaks Cantonese, while Lin Qian speaks Mandarin. Although their accents are completely different, with Zheng Zhilong and Bai Langzai acting as translators, they can understand each other.

Bai Qing laughed and said, "What Bai family sister? I'm not necessarily older than you. How old is Brother Lin this year?"

Seeing that Bai Qing was quite straightforward, Lin Qian stopped using flowery language and said directly, "I just turned twenty this year."

"Oh, you've got it wrong to call me 'sister.' I'm only seventeen. I should be calling you 'big brother.'"

Lin Qian smiled modestly, but was slightly surprised inside.

Bai Qing doesn't look seventeen at all; people would believe she's twenty-five.

Sure enough, people age faster under heavy labor.

No wonder the two young people would say things like "Mother is old" when they are so young. It seems that under such cruel labor exploitation, even if they are only in their thirties or forties, they are considered old among the Tanka people.

……

The small boat sailed all the way to Poshan Wharf.

This place is a safe harbor, far from the city of Guangzhou, and sparsely populated.

It was the place where Bai Langzai and his group of Tanka people moored.

Lin Qian glanced around and saw that there were over a thousand boats in the port, with every hundred boats grouped together and a passageway left between them.

The fact that they are arranged so neatly suggests that each ship has a designated berth.

According to Zheng Zhilong, the Ming Dynasty also had a baojia system for the boat people, just like the people on land. One boat was considered one household, ten households were organized into one jia, and ten jia were organized into one bao.

Bai Qing and her brother were cooking porridge at the bow of the boat.

After it was cooked, Bai Langzai brought Lin Qian a bowl: "Brother Lin, please have a taste."

Lin Qian took it and stirred it slightly with a spoon. There were quite a few fish, shrimp and river delicacies in the porridge.

However, both the thickness of the porridge and the chipped corners of the tableware revealed their poverty.

Lin Qian picked up a spoonful and subconsciously blew on it, only to find that there was no heat at all; the porridge was just lukewarm.

When I put it in my mouth, I realized that the rice was undercooked and the porridge was bitter and salty, which only highlighted the fishy smell of the fish and shrimp.

Bai Langzai gave Lin Qian an apologetic look.

They couldn't use a big fire to cook porridge on the boat, and even if they went ashore to cook it, they didn't have enough firewood, so this was the best they could do.

Bai Qing ate with a smile on his face, suggesting that even this kind of undercooked rice porridge was not something his family often ate.

Lin Qian slowly ate the porridge spoonful by spoonful, and then smiled and said, "It's delicious."

Bai Qing smiled as he took the bowl, rinsed it in the river, and said, "I'm glad Brother Lin likes it."

She wasn't faking it; Bai Qing had never left the Tanka boats. She genuinely thought the boat congee was delicious, the best thing she had ever eaten.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching him, Zheng Zhilong tilted his head back and swallowed the porridge in one gulp. He couldn't say anything, but he gave a thumbs up.

After the meal, Bai Langzai called his sister back to the cabin, took a cloth bag from his clothes, and handed it to her mysteriously.

When Bai Qing opened it, she saw that it contained rows and rows of pure white and lustrous pearls, weighing about seven or eight ounces.

She deals with pearls all day long, and at a glance she can tell that every single pearl in the bag is a top-quality pearl, one of which is worth ten taels of inferior pearls.

This bag of top-quality pearls was not only enough to pay their family's taxes for the whole year, but there would still be a lot left over.

Bai Qing was startled and quickly sealed the bag shut. He gripped the dagger at his waist with one hand and stared at Lin Qian and Zheng Zhilong.

The boat is only so big, so the two of them must have seen the bag of pearls, and it's hard to say they wouldn't covet it.

Bai Qing had witnessed many instances of people killing each other over a single top-quality pearl when the pearl makers went to sea. The fact that she had survived to this day was a testament to her compassion.

At this moment, Bai Langzai stopped Bai Qing: "Sister, these were all earned with the help of Brother Lin. There will be more beads like these in the future."

Bai Qing was stunned, just as Lin Qian looked at her, her eyes showing no fear, but rather some admiration.

Bai Qing had only ever seen that look in one type of person—the pirates!
Only pirates would appreciate the fierce yet extremely poor Tanka people.

Bai Qing was just inexperienced, not stupid. In an instant, she understood where Bai Langzai's pearls came from, and also figured out the identities of Lin Qian and Zheng Zhilong.

This actually made her relax. After all, pirates were better than ordinary people on land.

Moreover, it seemed that her younger brother had already joined the pirates' crew, so she had even less to worry about.

Bai Qing loosened his grip on the dagger: "I've made a fool of myself in front of the leader."

Lin Qian smiled and said, "If you hadn't just made that move, I really wouldn't have noticed that you had a dagger on your waist. Now I know where Bai Langzai's skills come from."

Bai Qing said, "People who live on the water always need to be more careful." Then she went out of the boat awning and looked around.

Seeing that the Tanka people on the surrounding boats were all busy with their own things and no one was paying attention to them, he felt relieved.

Bai Qing retreated into the cabin and first bowed to Lin Qian, saying, "My brother has been well taken care of by the leader at sea. I thank him on his behalf."

Lin Qian waved her hand: "Just call me Brother Lin. Calling me 'leader' all the time is too attention-grabbing."

"Yes." Bai Qing looked at Bai Langzai, then at the bag of pearls, and made up her mind. "Brother Lin is my younger brother's sworn brother and has been kind to my family. If there is anything we siblings can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask!"

"There really is something..."

Lin Qian didn't want to reveal his purpose, but since Bai Qing was so open and honest, he decided not to hide it either.

Are there many doctors at Po Shan Wharf?

Upon hearing this question, Bai Qing was taken aback.

……

The next day, Su Kang and his daughter got up early and went to the Poshan Wharf outside the city to provide free medical treatment for the Tanka people.

He didn't want to come, but he owed Lin Qian money.

Even if it's not for personal reasons, they'll still come for the money.

Upon reaching the dock, the father and daughter set up their stall and displayed various tools. Soon, boatmen began rowing over to come ashore for medical consultations.

In the harbor, the Bai family's small boat continued to shuttle among the other boats, informing everyone that there was a doctor offering free medical consultations.

The Tanka people live a hard life, and everyone is riddled with ailments. They can barely afford to eat, let alone seek medical treatment.

Even if they had money and wanted to go ashore for medical treatment, they would be looked down upon and refused treatment by clinics.

Over time, this has deepened the estrangement between the Tanka people and the people on the shore, causing them to refuse to go ashore for medical treatment. As a result, many people who originally had minor ailments have become more and more serious and eventually die.

Lin Qian asked Su Kang to provide free medical treatment to the Tanka people, which would not only win their hearts but also further test his medical skills, since many of the diseases suffered by the Tanka people were also likely to be contracted by the sailors.

In addition to Su Kang, Lin Qian also asked Zheng Zhilong and Bai Langzai to find more than ten well-known doctors throughout the city to come and provide free medical services.

It can be considered a medical skills competition, so that Lin Qian can decide which doctor to recruit based on the results.

For this, Lin Qian spent more than ten taels of silver.

To avoid disturbing the yamen runners, Lin Qian instructed Zheng Zhilong to bribe them with silver, which cost an additional two taels of silver.

During the consultations, Lin Qian stayed on the shore, stopping at each medical stall for a while, partly to check the doctors' skills.

Secondly, the money shouldn't be wasted; the Tanka people need to recognize its worth.

At lunchtime, Su Kang let out a long sigh.

"Father, why are you sighing? Isn't the food good?" Mei'er said.

These meals were all ordered by Lin Qian and included both vegetables and meat. In Lin Qian's opinion, they were just work meals.

However, to Su Kang and his daughter, who were poor doctors, this was already a rare treat of meat.

Su Kang said, "Although these Tanka people are ignorant and cunning, they are still human beings. Some of them have minor illnesses, but they seek medical attention too late, which has led to chronic conditions. It is a real pity."

Before Mei'er could speak, the doctor offering free medical consultations said in a sarcastic tone.

"Isn't this Dr. Su, the 'authentic traditional Chinese medicine doctor'? Why is he bringing his daughter along on his house call?"

Su Kang was a disciple of Chen Shigong, and because Chen Shigong wrote the book "Orthodox Surgery", their lineage was also known as the orthodox school.

Because he advocated bold surgery and incisions to achieve both internal and external treatments, he was disliked by other schools of traditional Chinese medicine that advocated internal treatments. In addition, Su Kang had a bad temper and was not good at socializing, so he was suppressed even more.

The doctor deliberately referred to "The Orthodox Manual of Surgery" as "The Orthodox Manual of Traditional Chinese Medicine" to mock him.

Su Kang simply ate his meal and completely ignored the man.

Mei said, "Instead of arguing, you should see a couple more patients."

The man sneered, "A bunch of scoundrels. If it weren't for the money, who would care about them?"

Their argument was quite loud, and the word "qutizi" reached the ears of the surrounding Tanka people, causing many to glare angrily at the doctor.

The doctor, though outwardly fierce, feigned anger and said, "What are you looking at, you bunch of filthy bastards!"

Lin Qian had somehow appeared behind the doctor and calmly said, "Let's go, we won't need you this afternoon."

The doctor turned around angrily, and upon recognizing the wealthy patron Lin Qian, he immediately changed his demeanor and repeatedly apologized.

Lin Qian simply uttered a single word: "Get lost."

The doctor's face turned bright red instantly. He wanted to argue, but he was in the wrong. His gaze swept over the dockworkers and Su Kang and his daughter, all of whom had a leisurely attitude.

The doctor angrily waved his sleeve and fled the scene as if he were running away.

The Tanka people erupted in cheers.

Mei said to her father, "Father, you see, he's a really good person!"

Su Kang: "Shut up!"

(End of this chapter)