Chapter 74: Black Clouds Press The Sea
“Is this written by Second Brother?” Bai Langzai was a bit surprised.
Lin Qian used chopsticks to pick up the letter paper again, carefully unfolded it, and spread it on the table. He saw that the handwriting on the letter was neat and elegant; it was indeed Zhou Xiucai’s handwriting.
Su Kang tactfully turned his head away and conveniently pulled away Su Qingmei, who wanted to take a look.
Lin Qian leaned close to the letter and saw that it was written above:
“Seeing this letter is like meeting face to face. Elder brother is safe in all matters at Leader Li’s place; do not worry.
Leader Li greatly appreciates the silver and firearms that younger brother gifted. Elder brother has recently been staying there as a guest, often hearing profound discussions and gaining much insight, thus writing this letter to share with younger brother.
Younger brother once claimed that the southeast naval forces are not worth a strike; this is greatly mistaken.
The Imperial Court looks down on us sea bandits and thus has not fully suppressed us. If younger brother insists on holding Nan’ao and provokes the large army, destruction will surely follow, and regret will come too late.
I hope younger brother changes his mind soon and no longer clings to his own views. When younger brother leaves the island, elder brother will naturally meet with him.
Attached is a section of left thumb as proof…”
Bai Langzai had studied literacy with Lin Qian for a while but had not yet reached the level to read letters. He asked, “Helmsman, what did Second Brother write?”
Lin Qian said flatly, “A threatening letter forced on Second Brother by Li Kuiqi. The letter says that thing is Second Brother’s finger.”
Bai Langzai flew into a rage upon hearing this and said coldly, “When I see that thief, I will chop off all ten of his fingers to avenge Second Brother!”
Lin Qian strongly suppressed the anger in his chest and brought the tray holding the thumb closer for a careful look.
The severed finger was already slightly decomposed and emitting a foul odor.
From its appearance, it was undoubtedly a left thumb.
But whether it was Zhou Xiucai’s finger was uncertain.
First, Zhou Xiucai’s handwriting was clear with powerful strokes, not like that of someone enduring the pain of a severed finger.
Second, Li Kuiqi clearly had some scruples about Lin Qian and would not easily break relations.
In any case, even if it was not Zhou Xiucai’s, this severed finger belonged to one of the other brothers on the Fuchuan Ship.
Suffering such coercion and humiliation, Lin Qian felt waves of hot blood rushing to his head.
After several deep breaths, Lin Qian stood up and said to the crew member who had brought the box, “Where was this box found? Take me to see.”
The crew member responded and led the way ahead.
Bai Langzai put the letter and severed finger back in the box, picked up the box, and followed behind.
The crew member led Lin Qian all the way to the beach on the south of the island.
This place was called Qianjiang Bay, directly south of the fortress on the island; farther south was the South China Sea.
Santa Ana and most Tanka Boats were anchored on the north side of the island. This area usually had few ships, so even if Li Kuiqi’s men came by boat, it would be hard to spot them.
The crew member pointed to an empty spot on the beach. “Helmsman, the box was placed right here.”
Lin Qian asked, “When was it discovered?”
“Around noon, about two hours ago.”
“Did you see who placed it?”
The crew member shook his head.
Lin Qian asked again, “Did the two watchtowers on Guo Lao Mountain and Da Jian Mountain see anything?”
The crew member shook his head again. “Didn’t see any smoke from the watchtowers.”
Lin Qian instructed Bai Langzai, “Send someone to ask around at the two watchtowers.”
“Okay.” Bai Langzai agreed.
……
That night, in the Captain’s Cabin of Santa Ana.
Lin Qian sat at the navigation table with Zhou Xiucai’s letter spread out in front of him.
Lin Qian read it over several times and confirmed there was no hidden message.
Presumably, when he wrote this letter, he was under Li Kuiqi’s strict supervision; even the wording was written exactly as Li Kuiqi demanded, without room for tricks.
Bai Langzai pushed open the door. “Helmsman, I asked around. The two watchtowers said that around noon, a single-masted boat came to the Qianjiang Bay area with only one person on board, so they didn’t light any smoke.”
Lin Qian followed up with questions about the boat and the messenger’s appearance; nothing unusual.
It seemed no more clues could be dug from the threatening letter.
Lin Qian paced to the window and looked at the sky.
Recent continuous rains indicated the arrival of the plum rain belt, meaning the subtropical high-pressure belt had shifted to the southeast sea surface, with only the northwest front lingering in Fujian-Guangdong.
Lin Qian knew there was not much time left. If the three investigating the brothel in Chaozhou Prefecture had no results within three days, they would have to forcibly attack Ship City.
After Bai Langzai left, Mute Huang entered the Captain’s Cabin, accompanied by an apprentice.
Once inside, Mute Huang patted the apprentice on the shoulder.
The apprentice said, “Helmsman, it’s almost the end of the month. Wages for the island craftsmen need to be prepared and distributed, and their various tools, timber, iron, and such need replenishing. We need to approve a sum of silver. With Zhou Zhiku away, we can only trouble you.”
Ever since Zhou Xiucai was captured, there were only two literate people left on the ship: Lin Qian and Zheng Zhilong.
Lin Qian was wary of Zheng Zhilong and could not hand over financial authority to him.
Lin Qian had no choice but to handle the ship’s accounting work himself.
After hearing this, Lin Qian pulled out the public account book from the table, took out brush and ink, and asked, “How much silver needs approving?”
The apprentice said, “Over thirteen hundred taels.”
Lin Qian orally reviewed the details, confirmed no issues, wrote an approval note, and handed it to the apprentice.
The apprentice took it and was about to leave when Mute Huang held him back and pointed at the floor.
The apprentice got it and hurriedly said, “Right, one more thing. My master said that back at Luzon port, the Galleon broke an anchor chain, and the hull has several damaged spots that haven’t been repaired yet. We need to find a chance to fix it…”
At this point, the apprentice faltered and forgot his words. He looked at Mute Huang, who used two fingers as chopsticks, pretended to hold a bowl with one hand, and mimed eating noodles.
The apprentice shuddered all over and continued, “My master also said that a big ship like this, made of thick wooden boards, needs overhauling at most every half year of sailing, and by the days, it’s almost time.
When modifying the bow triangular sail earlier, master found that some rigging on the main mast was severely worn and needs replacing; the sailcloth is also damaged.
Also, the ship’s bottom needs cleaning. Big ships often have sea shells and barnacles attached below, plus shipworms that drill into the wood. These shipworms look just like… noodles. If left alone, they’ll soon riddleship bottom full of holes.”
Everything the apprentice relayed was correct.
Lin Qian himself understood that in the age of sail, warship maintenance costs were extremely high, with annual fees exceeding 10% of the ship’s construction cost.
In other words, over ten years of operation, maintenance could equal the cost of building a brand-new ship.
Lin Qian had been dragging his feet on maintaining Santa Ana, partly because one thing after another left no time.
The other reason was that silver in the accounts was running low.
Including the just-approved over thirteen hundred taels, the public account book in front of Lin Qian showed a silver balance of less than eight thousand taels.
This silver came from the thirty thousand taels principal earned by selling off Qingping’s goods; there had been no income since.
Much of those thirty thousand taels was spent in Manila procuring weapons, sea charts, and such.
After arriving at Nan’ao Island, paying craftsmen wages and buying various building materials spent more.
The biggest outlay was during the Naozhou Pearl Farm raid, procuring large quantities of firearms from the fat councillor. Just the gunpowder for fifteen hundred cannonballs required over one hundred twenty barrels and cost over five thousand taels.
Originally, after delivering goods to the fat councillor on Mid-Autumn Day, another thirty thousand taels would enter the accounts, with twenty-one thousand belonging to the public account, and twenty-one thousand taels monthly thereafter.
The cash flow budget had been extremely ample.
Who would have thought the ship robbery would directly strangle Lin Qian’s cash flow.
His ship held countless treasure goods and top-grade pearls more numerous than glass marbles, but they could not be liquidated.
Even contacting shore buyers now would be too late; no one would readily take goods of unknown origin.
Eight thousand taels was enough short-term to keep Nan’ao Island running.
But for major undertakings like maintaining the Galleon, it would quickly become strained.
To steady hearts, Lin Qian had not publicized the silver shortage, not even to sworn brothers like Chen Jiao.
The public account disclosed to the crew only excerpted crew earnings composition and public expenditure details, without showing silver balances.
Even the scheming could not calculate it.
Lin Qian thought for a moment and said, “With a great enemy at hand, put ship repairs on hold for now.”
Hearing this, Mute Huang and the apprentice withdrew.
Lin Qian walked to the Stern Deck and gazed at the sky, where black clouds pressed over the sea.
The matter of attacking Ship City was growing ever more urgent.
