The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 86 The Dragon King Inspects the Ship (Seeking First Subscription)
The boat owner frowned: "No need to seek shelter from the rain, continue sailing."

"Yes." The fire chief was slightly surprised, but since the ship owner didn't explain, he didn't press the matter.

The boat owner cursed his bad luck inwardly.

He was the ship manager of the Lin family of Huangyan, Taizhou Prefecture. He was sent to Macau by his master to inquire about the situation of another three-masted Fujian ship belonging to the Lin family, and to sell some silk and porcelain.

The three-masted Fujian-style ship departed from Yuegang at the beginning of the year, also heading to Macau, but disappeared without a trace after setting sail.

He went to Macau to inquire, but no one there had ever seen the ship.

After spending money at the council hall, they learned that the Lin family's three-masted Fujian ship had never docked.

It's obvious that the ship was hijacked at sea.

Even though the Lin family of Huangyan has declined somewhat in recent years, it is still a large family with a history of four hundred years and some reputation in the southeastern sea. Even the notorious pirate Li Kuiqi has to give them some face.

The Huangyan Lin family's merchant ships, if not completely unimpeded, should have been safe and sound, yet they were inexplicably robbed. How could he explain this to his master?

This is just the first unfortunate thing.

The second unfortunate thing was that some powerful and wealthy merchant came from Macau and sold off a huge amount of raw silk, porcelain, pearls and other goods, causing the prices of goods to drop significantly.

In previous years, this shipment of goods would have sold for 10,000 taels of silver, but this time it could only fetch 8,000 taels. The price drop was so drastic that it was astonishing.

That's just how the market works. He can't take the goods back, and since he can make a profit anyway, he can only grit his teeth and accept it.

After selling the goods, he wanted to bribe the council to find out the source of the extra goods.

The foreigners who had received the money only vaguely told him that the goods came from the sea to the east.

The statement that all the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty were located east of Macau is essentially meaningless.

The ship owner had no choice but to return to port.

The third unfortunate thing was the strange weather on the return journey. It rained incessantly, and the journey, which should have taken more than a month, was only halfway through after more than half a month had passed.

The hijacking of the ship and the failure to sell the goods were enough to anger the owner.

If he fails to arrive on time again, does he still want to be the ship manager?

That's why the fire chief told him to come ashore to avoid the rain, and he refused with a displeased expression.

Boom!

A rumbling thunder came, sending shivers down everyone's spine.

The boat owner walked to the side of the boat, glanced at the two gunwales, and said irritably, "Manager Zhao, stop looking at the deck. Didn't you see that the water inlets on both sides are blocked?"

When Manager Zhao went to the side of the ship, he saw that it was indeed true.

The water flow from the sluice gates was intermittent; no wonder the water was accumulating on the deck.

He hurriedly told the boatmen to bring wooden strips to clear the blockage.

The boatman who was called upon tied a rope around his waist, took the cleaning rod, carefully climbed over the railing on the side of the boat, bent down, held onto the railing with one hand, and used the cleaning rod to unclog the water hole with the other.

Suddenly, a crosswind blew in, and the Fujian ship was violently rocked.

The person outside the railing slipped and fell into the water. As he fell, his head hit the side of the boat and he was knocked unconscious. In an instant, he was swallowed by the sea.

Seeing this, the boatmen on deck rushed to pull the rope. Five or six boatmen worked together and finally managed to snatch the man back from the Dragon King's grasp.

They placed the man on the deck, and there was a pool of blood on the back of the boatman's head, which quickly stained the deck red with rainwater.

“He’s still breathing,” a boatman said, putting his finger in front of his nose.

The others did not show joy, but rather a sense of solemnity. This person had injured the back of his head, and if he did not receive treatment ashore, he would surely die.

The ship owner shouted from the stern, "Are you dead or not? If you're dead, throw you into the sea!"

Manager Zhao leaned closer for a look, then looked up at the boat owner and said, "The person is still alive."

The boat owner waved his hand impatiently: "Throw it back, throw it back. That's the Dragon King inspecting the boat and wants to take it away. Maybe if you throw it back, the rain will stop."

Half out of fear of the boat owner and half out of superstition, the boatmen, upon hearing this, lifted the man up and threw him into the sea with a splash. The man's body floated with the waves, and after a few surges, he disappeared without a trace.

With someone dead, the boatmen were somber, and even Manager Zhao seemed listless when he tried to urge them on.

Fortunately, the rain subsided a little after about half an hour.

"The water hole is open!" a boatman exclaimed in surprise.

The boat owner looked to the side and, sure enough, at the water's eye, the water flowed in a white line and fell into the sea.

The water level on the deck had visibly decreased significantly.

After sailing for another hour, the heavy rain gradually stopped and the dark clouds dispersed.

In the distance, a green outline appeared on the sea.

The captain pointed to the outline and said, "Ship owner, that's Nan'ao Island."

The ship owner nodded slowly. The deputy commander of Nan'ao Island received bribes from the Lin family of Huangyan every year, so there was no need to worry about being harassed by the soldiers when passing through.

After the heavy rain, the sea breeze was damp and cool, and the ship owner couldn't help but shiver. He turned around and went back to the stern cabin to take shelter from the wind, lay down on the bed, and prepared to take a nap.

He had only been lying there for a little over half an hour, half asleep, when someone rushed in from outside the cabin in a panic: "Ship owner, three ships are coming to the starboard side."

The boat owner stood up, saying impatiently, "What's the rush? Are you from Nan'ao Island?"

"It came from the sea in the east."

The ship owner's eyes widened immediately. He stood up and went outside the cabin to look out. Sure enough, he saw three black dots approaching from the eastern sea.

If this ship came from Nan'ao Island, it should be a patrol vessel of the military.

If they come from the east sea, they must be pirates.

The ship owner steadied himself and said, "Maintain course and dock at Nan'ao Island!"

The subordinate withdrew to relay the order.

The boat owner kept his eyes fixed on the three black dots on the sea. The distance was too great to see the size of the approaching boat, but he could vaguely sense that it was moving at a considerable speed.

His two-masted Fujian-style ship was already slow, and with eight thousand taels of silver loaded in the cabin and his personal goods filling the gaps, plus the fact that it had just taken on water, the speed could not be increased no matter what. He could only hope that the person who came was Li Kuiqi's subordinate and was wary of the Lin family of Huangyan.

Less than an hour later, the three ships in the distance had gotten much closer, and their decks could be seen with the naked eye.

On the sea, two Cangshan boats and one Haicang boat were seen sailing side by side, each with a small number of people on board, and they were traveling at a fast speed with the help of the southeast wind.

Nan'ao Island, however, is still far away on the horizon.

An hour later, the sun set in the west, and the entire sky was filled with fiery clouds, turning the sea a deep red.

By the dim red light, the ship captain squinted at the three approaching ships and saw that everyone was carrying a weapon, confirming that they were undoubtedly pirates.

The ship owner summoned Steward Zhao and instructed him, "Bring out the flag from your residence and hang it on the mast."

Manager Zhao agreed and instructed the boatmen to get to work.

With pirates attacking, the shipwrights dared not dawdle. They quickly took out a wooden box from the cabin, opened it, and inside was a neatly folded flag.

The boatmen took out the flag and tied it to the mast with rope.

The flag fluttered in the wind, and a large "林" (Lin) character was embroidered on it.

The Lin family of Huangyan is a prominent and respected family. If the ship that came was under Li Kuiqi's command, they would not pursue it upon seeing this flag.

Unexpectedly, the three ships continued their advance with undiminished momentum.

The ship owner cursed inwardly, "Where did this petty thief come from? He's never even heard of the Lin family of Huangyan."

Seeing that they were about to be caught, the boat owner could only pray in his heart that he would mention the name of the Lin family of Huangyan and that it would scare these petty thieves away on their own.

(End of this chapter)