The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 9 Dividing the Silver with Large Scales
A boatman came to knock on the door.

Lin Qian put down the nautical chart, closed her sore eyes, pinched her brow, and called someone in.

"Captain, the crew who are unloading the cargo are here."

"Boatman" was the Ming Dynasty's term for a ship's captain. After the original captain was killed, the boatmen began to call him "Boatman."

Lin Qian indicated that she understood.

Upon exiting the cabin, one could see that Zhou Xiucai and Lei Sanxiang were already directing people to unload the cargo.

The other boatmen also helped with moving and passing things in the cabin, all in an orderly manner.

Fujian ships were all designed with watertight compartments, with the ship's hold divided into small compartments by wooden planks. Unloading cargo required loading and unloading from each compartment individually, which was quite complicated.

However, the advantage is that if a compartment floods, the entire ship will not sink, making it much safer than Western ships.

An old man with a pipe in his mouth, puffing out smoke, was pointing out to the shipwrights how to open the cargo hold deck door.

This man was a carpenter on the ship. He couldn't speak, so everyone called him Dumb Huang.

Upon seeing the mute Huang, Lin Qian had an idea and called him over.

Dumb Huang walked over with a big smile on his face. Before he even got close, you could smell a pungent smell of smoke, as if his whole body had been soaked in tar.

Lin Qian took out a piece of paper from her bosom, on which was drawn the shape of a pen nib.

"If this is how it's done, is it possible to make a bamboo pen?"

Dumb Huang took the painting, glanced at it, and gave Lin Qian a thumbs up, praising her for her good drawing.

In her previous life, Lin Qian was a designer, and drawing was a fundamental skill for her. During her student days, she often went to the countryside to sketch. Of course, it was also common for her to use sketching as an excuse to find female models to admire.

Dumb Huang returned the blueprints to Lin Qian, patted his chest to indicate that there was no problem, and then turned around to get his tools.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Dumb Huang returned with a bamboo pen.

Lin Qian took the pen and saw that the nib was exactly the same as the one in his drawing, and it was also comfortable to hold.

Lin Qian returned to her room, dipped her brush in ink, and casually wrote a few words. The ink flowed evenly, and with a little pressure, the brush tip could even slightly separate, showing variations in thickness.

Aside from needing to dip it in ink occasionally, it was almost indistinguishable from modern fountain pens in terms of usability, and much better than a quill pen that cost a silver peso.

Lin Qian said to the mute Huang, "Well done, we'll rely on you to make pens from now on."

Dumb Huang patted his chest with a smile.

The unloading process lasted for three or four hours before all the cargo was unloaded from the ship.

Then Lu Chengji's employees carefully carried up more than a dozen large boxes.

Lin Qian opened a few boxes and found neatly stacked silver ingots and coins inside.

These boxes together represent the total value of the goods.

By the time the boxes were all moved, it was almost evening. Lin Qian rewarded each worker with three rials, and the workers were immediately overjoyed.

After the laborers had gone far away, the sun had already set below the horizon, casting a desolate red glow between the sea and the sky.

All the boatmen stared intently at Lin Qian.

"Third Brother, take some men and bring a box of silver coins."

"Okay!" Lei Sanxiang replied with a strong voice.

"Second brother, bring me the scales and ledgers from the ship."

"okay."

Lin Qian paused for a moment, glanced at the remaining crew members, and shouted, "Everyone, get on deck! We'll divide the silver!"

After the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn, everything was ready on the deck.

Lin Qian and several sworn brothers stood at the stern of the ship, in front of them an open box filled with gleaming silver pesos.

There were five or six scales of varying sizes next to it.

The boatmen gathered around, waiting to receive their money.

"It's agreed beforehand that whoever receives the money keeps it. If theft or robbery occurs, this will be the consequence!"

After Lin Qian finished speaking, she swung her sword and chopped off a corner of the railing.

None of the boatmen spoke.

"Qi San," Lin Qian said, uttering a name.

A boatman squeezed through the crowd, smiled, and stepped forward, holding out a burlap sack.

Zhou Xiucai grabbed a handful of silver coins and placed them on the scale. He then added or subtracted the weight until it was around 150 taels. He then carefully weighed it with a small scale to ensure that the weight was accurate to the last millimeter.

After weighing the coins, Lin Qian poured them into Qi San's sack. The coins slid down with a clear, clinking sound.

Everyone swallowed hard upon hearing this. "We agreed on one hundred taels each, and the extra fifty taels is a reward from the captain!" Lei Sanxiang shouted.

Upon hearing this, Qi San wanted to kneel down and kowtow in gratitude, but Lin Qian helped him up.

"We're all brothers, no need to kneel."

Qi San stood up shakily, wiped his eyes, and hoisted the sack onto his shoulder.

Zhou Xiucai had Qi San put his fingerprint on the ledger.

"Qian Wu." Lin Qian read out the next name.

……

Including Lin Qian and his sworn brothers, there were a total of 45 crew members on the ship, with a total of 6,750 taels of silver, which were divided up into more than two chests of silver coins.

By the time the silver was divided, it was already completely dark.

The boatmen who had received their money early had already gone ashore to enjoy themselves.

Those who left late could only return to their cabins, spending the night anxiously planning to go to the city for a good time as soon as it was light.

Most of the silver that Lu Dongzhu gave to Lin Qian was silver ingots brought from the Manila galleon. To prevent imported inflation, according to the Governor's Office regulations, silver ingots could not circulate on the island.

Lin Qian distributed silver pesos, the legal tender of Luzon, to the crew.

The goal was to get the crew to spend more money; the money came quickly, but it also went away quickly.

Lin Qian plans to stay in Manila for a while.

In name, it is waiting for the monsoon.

In reality, it was to allow the boatmen to spend lavishly in Manila.

Once he'd spent most of his money, he'd need to earn more, which made him even more closely tied to his small pirate group.

This seems rather unethical.

But if you want to be a nice guy, working as a laborer at Yuegang Wharf is obviously a better job than being a pirate leader.

Besides, Lin Qian didn't force them to spend the money. If they lived on the boat, didn't gamble or visit prostitutes, and were honest and law-abiding, they would naturally be able to save up the money.

After distributing the boatmen's money, Lin Qian called his sworn brothers to the stern tower.

"To be honest, brothers, we earned more than 36,000 taels of silver from this sale. We distributed more than 6,700 taels, leaving more than 29,000 taels. Let's discuss how to divide this money."

Lin Qian got straight to the point, and at the same time asked Zhou Xiucai to spread out the account book and put it on the table.

No one spoke.

After a long pause, Lei Sanxiang said, "Brother Lin, why don't you draw the line?"

Zhou Xiucai said, "Let the captain speak first."

Lin Qian said, "The brothers risked their lives to seize the ship and gain this wealth."

Although Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother broke their oath first, they were unrighteous, and we cannot be unjust. Their share should naturally be given to their families when we return to the Ming Dynasty.

Now that the hijacking is over, if anyone wants to take the money and leave, I will not hesitate to personally escort them to the Ming Dynasty and present them with the silver.

But don't forget, corrupt officials and local bullies still roamed the Ming Dynasty. Even if we had a fortune, we would be too weak to hold onto it.

Moreover, with everyone involved in murder cases, it's even more difficult to maintain stability.

The profits from shipping are now evident to all. With our brothers working together, we are confident we can make a name for ourselves at sea. If you brothers trust me, you might as well stay.”

No one answered, and the atmosphere became rather somber for a moment.

After a moment, Chen Jiao spoke up: "Look at the faces of those officials, how can they compare to the freedom and joy of coming from the sea?"

Lei Sanxiang laughed and cursed, "Damn it! Brother Lin, your roundabout way of talking has confused me... Anyway, just because you haven't forgotten your brothers, I'll stick with you."

“Zhou Xiucai, you wouldn’t be reluctant to give up your academic achievements, would you?” Lei Sanxiang asked.

"What do fame and fortune matter?"

Zhou Xiucai waved his hand indifferently. He was actually just a student who had passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations and did not have the official title of Xiucai.

The county examination in the Ming Dynasty was not like the entrance examination for junior high school; it was a real battle of thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge, with less than five out of a hundred people being able to pass.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up working as a boatman.

His real name was Zhou Youcai, but because he was literate, the boatmen gave him the nickname "Zhou Xiucai" (a scholar who learned to read and write).

Even so, when it came to the dignity and civility of scholars, Zhou Xiucai couldn't let his words fall flat. Instead, he said indignantly, "The court and the public are all obsessed with factional strife. The imperial examinations no longer look at the essays, but rather at who is part of the chief examiner's faction and who can better manipulate the examiner's mind. It's better to devote oneself to such a murky officialdom than to live a life of leisure by the rivers and seas like me."

Lei Sanxiang patted Zhou Xiucai heavily on the shoulder: "You've read too many books, but you can't speak like a human being... Never mind, as long as you stay, you're a good brother."

Everyone then looked at Bai Langzai.

(End of this chapter)