The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 67 The Sea Demon's Eyes and Eyes
That night.

The officers' mess on the USS St. Anna.

The officers of the entire pirate gang sat around the table, the atmosphere extremely oppressive.

After a long silence, Lei Sanxiang broke it first: "Damn it! If you ask me, we should just arrest that guy surnamed Huang and torture him severely. I don't believe he won't talk!"

Chen Jiao rebuked, "Don't talk nonsense. Huang Hetai is a fifth-rank garrison commander. We must not touch him unless absolutely necessary."

Zheng Zhilong said, "Could it be that we have someone with Li Kuiqi here?"

"You brat, what do you mean?" Lei Sanxiang slammed his hand on the table.

Zheng Zhilong hurriedly explained, "I was referring to the islanders. After all, there are more than three thousand of them, and merchants come to the island to do business every day. It would be easy for Li Kuiqi to plant spies."

Chen Jiao said, "Those merchants would ask questions and check before landing on the island every day, and nothing unusual was found. Moreover, it was impossible for the merchants on the island to find out the movements of the Fujian ships at sea."

No one spoke for a moment.

After a moment, Zheng Zhilong suddenly said, "That's right! That merchant, the one who sold us the ship!"

Chen Jiao's eyes lit up: "I forgot about that. Ships are the livelihood of maritime merchants, and they won't sell them easily. This person is selling them so readily, there might be something wrong with them."

Lei Sanxiang slapped his thigh and stood up: "I'll go arrest them right now!"

“It’s not him.” Lin Qian slowly shook her head.

Lei Sanxiang sighed and sat down.

The merchant who sold the ship was surnamed Hu. His family was in the business of selling Chaozhou silk. Thinking that he could make more profit by selling to the Franks, he impulsively ordered a Fujian-style ship to be built.

Only after it was built did they realize that the boat business was a deep and murky affair. At best, they would lose all their money; at worst, they would be bankrupt. In addition, obtaining a boat license was also a troublesome matter.

So after the ship was built, they dared not sail it, and they were reluctant to sell it at a loss, so it could only stay in the harbor, and the bottom of the ship was almost rotten from being soaked.

If it weren't for Lin Qian, this ship would have sunk in the harbor sooner or later.

Before buying the boat, Lin Qian had someone thoroughly investigate the businessman surnamed Hu, getting to the bottom of his background.

After the incident, Lin Qian suspected him first and has now sent Bai Qing with people to his residence to monitor him, but it is highly unlikely that they will find out anything.

After Lin Qian explained the whole story, the brothers all felt somewhat discouraged.

Lin Qian asked the crew to bring out Longjing tea and brew it for everyone.

The teacup was placed on the table, but Lei Sanxiang pushed it away and said in a gruff voice, "I can't drink this! That bastard surnamed Li is all about underhanded tricks! If he's got the guts, let's have a real fight, and I'll smash his dog's head in!"

Chen Jiao stepped on his foot under the table.

"Brother, why did you step on me?" Lei Sanxiang asked innocently.

"Stop saying a few words!"

Lin Qian fiddled with the cup lid with her fingers, trying to sort out her thoughts.

They currently have two problems to solve.

First, where is Li Kuiqi's stronghold?

Only by knowing the location can we discuss the next steps in retaliation or rescue.

Secondly, what methods did Li Kuiqi use to precisely rob the Fujian ship?
If it's just a mark or a symbol, that's fine.

If what Zheng Zhilong said is true, there are spies on the island, and it will be difficult to achieve anything without eliminating them.

The scene of her meeting with Li Kuiqi that night flashed through Lin Qian's mind like a movie.

He recalled the nautical chart that Li Kuiqi had taken out, which roughly depicted the coastlines of Fujian and Guangdong provinces and the surrounding islands.

Lin Qian vaguely remembered that the closer the map got to Nan'ao Island, the more accurate it became, while the area west of the Pearl River Estuary and north of Haitan Island gradually became blurred.

It is evident that Li Kuiqi's activities took place in this area, most likely on an island near Nan'ao Island.

That's why Li Kuiqi wanted Lin Qian to lead people away from the island, so as to avoid being affected when the imperial court launched a siege.

However, his memory was limited, and he lacked the ability to compare Li Kuiqi's nautical charts with later maps. Lin Qian remembered that Zheng Zhilong's hometown was in Fujian, so he asked, "Brother Yiguan, you are from Fujian, have you heard of Li Kuiqi?"

Zheng Zhilong: "My home is in Nan'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture. Li Kuiqi's name is known to almost everyone in Quanzhou. Rumors say that he has more than a thousand warships and more than ten thousand soldiers. They also say that he is the incarnation of the sea demon, the son of the sea dragon king, etc. These are just rumors from the streets."

Lin Qian pressed further, "With such a reputation, why hasn't the government arrested this person?"

Zheng Zhilong smiled contemptuously: "The government? You've seen the fighting power of the Southeast Naval Garrison, brother. Which pirate would be afraid of you?"

Not to mention a major pirate like Li Kuiqi, even minor figures like Yuan Jin and Li Zhong from the surrounding waters didn't take the navy seriously.

The government was already thankful the pirates didn't land to loot; there was no need to even attempt to capture them at sea.

Chen Jiao added, "That makes sense. The pirates are just itinerant bandits, not rebels. They spend their days at sea and don't affect the county magistrate's official position, so the government naturally doesn't bother with them."

Chen Jiao was a veteran pirate for over twenty years. He had followed countless helmsmen, ship owners, leaders, and ship owners. Seventy percent of these people died in internal strife, and thirty percent perished in storms. None of them died in the county jail.

This is also why veteran pirates like Li Kuiqi dared not invade Nan'ao Island.

After all, there was a garrison on the island; killing people would be tantamount to rebellion.

The Ming Dynasty court generally turned a blind eye to pirates, but when it came to rebellion, it was ruthless and showed no mercy.

The Ming Dynasty's navy was not entirely composed of corrupt officials and incompetent drinkers who were drawing salaries without working.

If there were just one or two exceptional individuals who could train for a few years, they could sweep across the southeastern seas.

Unfortunately, such formidable figures emerged one after another in the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention those from distant times, there was Shen Yourong in Fujian, and Yu Dayou's son, Yu Zigao, could be considered half a formidable figure. Together, they were one and a half formidable figures.

Lin Qian tried hard to recall historical records about Li Kuiqi, but after thinking for a long time, she could only remember a few scattered sentences.

It seems that Li Kuiqi later became Zheng Zhilong's sworn brother, and the two of them, along with more than a dozen others, formed a political alliance called "Eighteen Zhilong".

A few years after they became sworn brothers, Zheng Zhilong accepted the imperial pardon and then killed all his former sworn brothers one by one.

If they hadn't become sworn brothers with Zheng Zhilong and all died under his blade, these minor characters wouldn't even have left their names in the annals of history.

Now, this insignificant character, whose name alone would take up too much space in history books, has caused Lin Qian enormous trouble.

Lin Qian picked up the tea and took a sip.

Then a thought flashed through my mind: there seemed to be a similar scene when I met Li Kuiqi that night.

At that moment, tensions were already high between the two sides when suddenly Li Kuiqi's men entered the room and reported the movements of the Santa Ana.

Lin Qian initially thought he was just an ordinary spy.

Looking back now, it doesn't seem that simple.

Based on the distance between the two locations and the speed of the Santa Ana, the time required to deliver the message was estimated.

Less than half an incense stick later, Li Kuiqi learned the news after the Santa Ana raised its sails.

Such rapid information transmission efficiency means that there are at least two informants, one watching the large sailboat and the other watching the informant in front.

The two informants used methods such as sound and smoke to transmit messages over long distances.

Therefore, the first informant must have been either on the ridge of Guolao Mountain or on the sea.

Considering that most of Li Kuiqi's men were Tanka people and that they were able to track down and plunder Fujian ships.

His informants must be on the sea, and they must be very well hidden, otherwise they would have been noticed by Chen Jiao, Zheng Zhilong and others long ago.

Thinking of this, Lin Qian's gaze sharpened.

Seeing his expression, everyone knew he had made up his mind, and they all held their breath and waited.

Lin Qian said in a deep voice, "Tomorrow morning, Third Brother and Brother Yiguan, pack your things, bring water and dry food, and meet on the shore."

Lei Sanxiang asked, "Why are we going ashore?"

"climb mountains!"

(End of this chapter)