The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 74 Dark Clouds Loom Over the Sea
"Was it written by Second Brother?" Bai Langzai asked, somewhat surprised.

Lin Qian used chopsticks to pick up the letter, carefully unfolded it, and laid it on the table. The handwriting on the letter was neat and clear, and it was indeed Zhou Xiucai's handwriting.

Su Kang wisely turned his head away and pulled Su Qingmei, who wanted to take a look, away as well.

Lin Qian leaned closer to the letter and saw that it read:
"Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. I hope you are doing well with Chief Li, so please don't worry."

Chief Li greatly appreciated the silver and firearms he received from you, brother. I have recently been staying there and have often heard your insightful discussions, gaining much understanding in the process. Therefore, I am writing to share these thoughts with you.

My brother once said that the naval forces of the southeast were easily defeated, but this is a grave mistake.

The imperial court regards us pirates as outright criminals and has therefore not launched a full-scale campaign against us. If you insist on holding Nan'ao and thus attract a large army, you will surely suffer annihilation, and by then it will be too late for regrets.

I hope you will soon change your mind and stop being so stubborn. When you leave the island, I will surely meet with you.

"Attach a section of the left thumb as proof..."

Bai Langzai had been learning to read from Lin Qian for a while, but he wasn't yet at the level to understand letters. He asked, "Master, what did Second Brother write?"

Lin Qian said calmly, "Li Kuiqi forced my second brother to write a threatening letter, in which he said that the finger belonged to my second brother."

Upon hearing this, Bai Langzai flew into a rage and coldly said, "When I see this thief, I will definitely chop off all ten of his fingers to avenge my second brother!"

Lin Qian suppressed her anger and took the tray with the thumb on it closer to examine it carefully.

The severed finger was slightly decayed and emitted a foul odor.

Judging from its appearance, it should undoubtedly be the left thumb.

It's uncertain whether these are Zhou Xiucai's fingers.

First of all, Zhou Xiucai's handwriting is clear and the strokes are strong, which does not seem like he has suffered the pain of a severed finger.

Secondly, Li Kuiqi was clearly wary of Lin Qian and would not easily break off relations.

Regardless, even if the severed finger didn't belong to Zhou Xiucai, it belonged to one of the other brothers on the Fuzhou ship.

Feeling threatened and humiliated like this, Lin Qian felt a surge of heat rush to her head.

After taking a few deep breaths, Lin Qian stood up and said to the crew member who brought the box, "Where was this box found? Take me to see it."

The crew member responded and led the way.

Bai Langzai put the letter and the severed finger back into the box, picked up the box, and followed behind.

The crew led Lin Qian all the way to the southern beach of the island.

This place is called Qianjiang Bay, located directly south of the island's fortified village, and further south lies the South China Sea.

The Saint Anna and the Tanka boats mostly anchored in the north of the island, where there are few boats on weekdays, so even if Li Kuiqi's men came by boat, it would be difficult to spot them.

The crew member pointed to an open space on the beach: "Captain, put this box here."

Lin Qian asked, "When did you discover it?"

"In the morning, about two hours ago."

"Did you see who put it there?"

The crew member shook his head.

Lin Qian then asked, "What can be seen from the two watchtowers on Guolao Mountain and Dajian Mountain?"

The crew member shook his head again: "I didn't see any smoke coming from the watchtower."

Lin Qian instructed Bai Langzai, "Send someone to the two watchtowers to find out the details."

"Okay," Bai Langzai replied.

……

That evening, in the captain's cabin of the Santa Ana.

Lin Qian sat at the nautical table, with Zhou Xiucai's letter spread out in front of her.

Lin Qian looked at it several times and confirmed that there was no hidden information.

It is likely that when he wrote this letter, he was under Li Kuiqi's close supervision, and even the words in the letter were written exactly as Li Kuiqi requested, without any tricks.

Bai Langzai then pushed the door open and came in: "Helmsman, we've found out. The two watchmen said that a single-masted ship came from Qianjiang Bay this morning. There was only one person on board, so the two watchmen didn't light any smoke signals."

Lin Qian inquired further about the ship's condition and the messenger's appearance, but found nothing unusual.

It seems we won't be able to find any more clues from the threatening letter.

Lin Qian strolled to the window and looked at the sky. The recent continuous rainfall must be due to the arrival of the plum rain season, which means that the subtropical high-pressure belt has moved to the southeastern sea area, leaving only the northwest front lingering in Fujian and Guangdong.

Lin Qian knew in her heart that there was not much time left. If the three people who went to Chaozhou Prefecture to investigate the brothels had no results within three days, then she would have no choice but to launch a full-scale attack on Chuancheng.

After Bai Langzai went down, Dumb Huang went into the captain's cabin, accompanied by an apprentice.

After entering, the mute Huang patted the apprentice on the shoulder.

The apprentice said, "Sir, it's almost the end of the month. The craftsmen on the island need to be paid their wages, and they also need to replenish their tools, wood, iron, and other supplies. We need to approve a sum of money, but Zhou Zhiku is not here right now, so I can only bother you, sir."

Since Zhou Xiucai was arrested, there are only two literate people left on the boat: Lin Qian and Zheng Zhilong.

Lin Qian was wary of Zheng Zhilong and would never entrust him with the financial power.

Lin Qian had to work part-time as the ship's accountant.

After listening, Lin Qian rummaged through the public accounts on the table, took out pen and ink, and asked, "How much silver do you need to approve?"

The apprentice said, "It will cost more than 1,300 taels."

Lin Qian verbally inquired about the details, confirmed there were no problems, wrote a brief instruction, and handed it to the apprentice.

The apprentice took the money and was about to leave when the mute Huang stopped him and pointed to the ground.

The apprentice understood and quickly said, "Yes, there's one more thing. My master said that in Luzon port, a large sailing ship broke an anchor chain and suffered several damages to its hull. It hasn't been repaired yet and we need to find an opportunity to fix it..."

The apprentice paused, forgetting his lines, and looked at Dumb Huang, who used two fingers as chopsticks and held a bowl in one hand, making a gesture of eating noodles.

The apprentice shuddered and continued, "My master also said that a large ship with thick wooden planks like this needs to be repaired every six months at most, and the time is almost up."

When the bow triangular sail was modified earlier, the mechanic discovered that the rigging on the mainmast was severely worn and needed to be replaced, and the sail was also damaged.

The hull also needs to be cleaned. Large ships often have barnacles and ship maggots attached to it, which burrow into the wood. These ship maggots look like...noodles, and if left unattended, they can quickly riddle the hull with holes.

The apprentice's account is correct.

Lin Qian herself understood that the maintenance costs of warships in the age of sail were extremely high, accounting for more than 10% of the ship's construction cost each year.

In other words, the maintenance cost of a ship that has been in service for ten years is equivalent to the cost of building a brand new one.

Lin Qian kept putting off the maintenance of the Saint Anna, partly because she was busy with other things and didn't have the time.

On the other hand, it's because there's not much money left in the account.

Including the newly approved 1,300 taels, Lin Qian's public account book showed a balance of less than 8,000 taels.

This money came from the initial investment of 30,000 taels earned from selling the goods on the Qingping ship; there had been no further income since.

A significant portion of those 30,000 taels was spent on purchasing weapons, nautical charts, and other items in Manila.

After arriving at Nan'ao Island, I paid the craftsmen their wages and bought various building materials, which cost me quite a bit again.

The bulk of the expenses came from purchasing a large quantity of firearms from the fat councilor when attacking the Naozhou Pearl Field. Just to buy enough gunpowder for 1,500 shells, they bought more than 120 barrels, costing over 5,000 taels of silver.

Originally, after the goods were delivered to the fat councilor on the fifteenth of August, another 30,000 taels of silver would be deposited into the account, of which 21,000 taels would belong to the public account, and thereafter 21,000 taels of silver would be deposited into the account every month.

The cash flow budget is extremely generous.

Unexpectedly, the ship hijacking incident cut off Lin Qian's cash flow.

His ship was laden with countless treasures and goods, more fine pearls than glass marbles, but he couldn't convert them into cash.

Even if we contact buyers on shore now, it's too late; no one will easily accept goods of dubious origin.

Eight thousand taels of silver is enough to keep Nan'ao Island running for a short period of time.

However, when it comes to doing big things, such as maintaining large sailing ships, they quickly find themselves stretched thin.

To keep people's morale stable, Lin Qian kept the shortage of silver a secret, not even from her sworn brothers Chen Jiao and others.

The public accounts disclosed to the crew members will only include two parts: the crew members' income composition and the details of public account expenditures; there will be no information on the balance of silver.

Even if someone with a strong desire wanted to calculate it, they couldn't.

After a moment's thought, Lin Qian said, "With a formidable enemy at hand, we should postpone repairing the ship for now."

Upon hearing this, the mute Huang and his apprentice withdrew.

Lin Qian walked to the stern deck and looked up at the sky, where she saw dark clouds pressing down on the sea.

The attack on Chuancheng is becoming increasingly urgent.

(End of this chapter)