The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 63 Important Matters to Discuss
They've got Huang Hetai on board.

Lin Qian then gave some more silver to compensate the frightened sailors in Shen'ao Port.

He also asked Su Kang to help treat the wounded naval officers and soldiers.

Thus, their group officially settled down on the island.

……

The next day.

The officers' mess on the USS St. Anna.

Lin Qian called all the carpenters, tinsmiths, blacksmiths and other craftsmen on the island together for a meeting.

There were so many people that there weren't enough chairs, so the younger ones had to stand and listen.

In order not to delay the construction progress in the residential area, Lin Qian specially moved the meeting time to the evening.

Each person had a steaming cup of Longjing tea in front of them. Back then, Longjing tea wasn't like the cheap, low-quality tea served as a complimentary pot of hot water at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in later generations.

In an era when ordinary people could only afford tea dust, Longjing tea was a truly fine tea, something only officials and wealthy families could afford.

Therefore, even if the artisans were mentally exhausted, they were willing to listen to Lin Qian's meeting for the sake of the tea.

Lin Qian first had the craftsmen explain the progress of the work in the residential area.

The craftsmen explained that the island had plenty of manpower and timber. Most importantly, the people they usually looked down on, the Zhuhu and Tanka people, worked very hard and built the houses very quickly.

At this rate, the houses will be all built in another three or four months.

Lin Qian shook her head: "It's still too slow. Can it be faster?"

The craftsmen looked at each other and finally said, "Then we'll need more labor, more carpenters..."

"Hmm." Lin Qian dipped a bamboo pen in ink and wrote in the nautical logbook that she should bring back more carpenters on the next voyage.

None of the craftsmen spoke; they only felt that the rustling sound of the bamboo pens was like the King of Hell altering the Book of Life and Death.

Then Lin Qian inquired about the number and quality of carpenters needed.

When they learned that what they needed most were apprentices to help out, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, the southeastern coastal area is so vast, and he has already captured all the top carpenters. It would be really difficult to find others with the same skills.

Next topic.

Lin Qian took out a blueprint and spread it on the table.

The craftsmen felt helpless, so they moved the candle closer and craned their necks to look.

This was already the umpteenth set of blueprints they had looked at since boarding the ship.

The image still features the familiar tiny handwriting and densely packed data.

At first glance, these blueprints amazed many craftsmen, but now they seem indifferent to them.

The only thing that surprised everyone was that the picture was of a ship.

The ship has three masts, a thick and sturdy hull, and more than a dozen movable windows arranged on both sides of the ship.

"This is... a cannon door?" A carpenter recognized the significance.

"This looks like the ship we're standing on?"

"Is the captain planning to build another ship?"

Lin Qian smiled and said, "Look more closely."

The crowd then brought more candles, and after observing for a while, they discerned the truth.

Someone pointed to the bow and said, "This used to be a soft square sail, but it's been replaced with several triangular sails."

Dumb Huang gestured vaguely towards the side of the ship with his pipe.

Someone exclaimed in realization, "Yes, the number of gun ports on the ship's side has also changed."

The Santa Ana originally had only one gun deck with fourteen gun ports on each side, but now that number has been increased to sixteen.

Six additional small gun positions were added next to the railings on each side of the upper deck, bow deck, and stern deck.

As a result, the number of cannons on the ship increased from thirty to forty-six, an increase of 53.33%.

He had calculated the structural strength of the ship, and adding sixteen cannons was still a conservative design.

The problem is that no tree grows in the shape of a ship's plank.

Shipbuilders build ships like they're building with blocks; they use whichever block they can find, and as long as they're put together in the end, it doesn't matter how they put it together.

Therefore, in the age of sailing warships, no two ships were exactly alike, even if they were designed using the same blueprints.

Therefore, theory is one thing, practice is another. Lin Qian could only devise where to fire the cannons.

As to which planks on the hull could be cut and which could not, that was up to the shipwrights and carpenters.

The craftsmen studied the blueprints for a long time, and then, with Lin Qian's permission, they took the blueprints down to the gun deck to compare them with the blueprints.

Most of the crew members were sleeping on the gun deck. They were awakened by the noise and got up from their hammocks, looking sleepily at the group of people studying the wooden planks.

They kept going until the wee hours of the morning.

After leaving the artillery deck, Dumb Huang patted the blueprints and then gave a thumbs up.

Lin Qian understood and asked, "When can we start work? How long will the construction period be?"

A carpenter replied, "We'll start at the earliest tomorrow, and the construction will take at least ten days. But that will slow down the city's construction."

Lin Qian pondered for a moment: "Let's put the city construction on hold for now and focus on modifying the cannon gates first."

Judging by the time, it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival in just a few days, the day of the first delivery of goods.

As agreed by Lin Qian and the fat councilor, the total value of the goods to be delivered was 40,000 taels, of which 10,000 taels were used to purchase firearms.

The purchased firearms were loaded onto the Santa Ana on the return trip.

With the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty now on the throne, the court has no time to attend to other matters.

This is his prime developmental period, and we must do everything we can to expand his strength.

Naval warfare cannot be fought with just one ship.

Building new warships is not only expensive and labor-intensive, but also extremely time-consuming. Even if there are readily available planks, it can still take several months or even years to build them.

Strengthening the Santa Ana is merely a stopgap measure.

Once we've built up our strength, we'll find a foolish pirate to take down, seize the pirate's fleet, and send the head to Commander Huang to report our achievements.

That would be the best of both worlds.

As dawn broke, Lin Qian saw the craftsmen off as they boarded a small boat and returned to the island.

Before disembarking, each person was given five taels of silver.

The craftsmen's faces, which had been filled with resentment, immediately lit up with smiles.

The commodity economy of the Ming Dynasty was extremely active; wherever there were people, there were people doing business.

Several days ago, there were already a few vendors on the island, and then gambling dens and pleasure boats appeared.

Money is always useful, even on this godforsaken island.

After seeing the last craftsman off the ship.

Lin Qian walked back to the captain's cabin, not bothering to take off her clothes or wash her face, and collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep in an instant.

I don't know how much time had passed when I heard a noise on the deck, which jolted me awake.

Lin Qian walked to the washbasin, wiped her face with a damp cloth, and felt refreshed.

As I stepped outside, I saw Lei Sanxiang arranging for the crew to take roll call, and dismissing them after confirming that everyone was present.

"Captain," someone called from behind him.

Lin Qian turned around and saw Zhou Xiucai and Jose.

Today is the day the two are escorting the goods to Macau to hand them over to the fat legislator.

"Be careful on the road," Lin Qian instructed. "Buy more matchlock guns. Old He knows a lot about these things, so just listen to him."

"Understood, Captain." Scholar Zhou nodded in agreement.

Lin Qian escorted the two down the rope ladder.

Below the rope ladder, a three-masted Fujian-style ship was quietly waiting.

This boat was purchased by Lin Qian from a nearby merchant for use in delivering goods.

The goods to be delivered had already been loaded in advance, and there were more than ten skilled crew members on board to escort them.

Not long after, the Fujian ship lowered its sails and slowly set sail.

At the same time, a fast boat sailed from the direction of Baisha Bay and stopped beside the large sailboat. The people who came were soldiers under the command of Commander Huang.

He approached Lin Qian, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "The garrison commander requests that the leader come over; there is important business to discuss."

Lin Qian frowned slightly: "Can you tell me what it is?"

The sergeant said, "It seems to be related to the General."

(End of this chapter)