Chapter 37: Zheng Zhilong
In the latter half of the night, Jose pushed open the cabin door, both sleepy and angry.
A puff of tobacco smell surged in, choking Jose to immediately feel dizzy and see stars.
“Please sit.” Lin Qian’s voice came from the darkness.
Jose looked toward the voice and saw a point of red light flare up at the oval table near the door in the Captain’s Cabin. It extinguished a few seconds later as smoke billowed out, making the tobacco smell in the room even heavier.
Jose’s eyes adapted to the darkness. He groped his way to the table, sat down, and thought to himself: “Does this person not need to sleep at all?”
“There’s plenty of time at night. We can have a good chat. Moreover, people in a sleepy state aren’t likely to lie easily.” Lin Qian seemed to see through his thoughts and explained with a cigar in his mouth.
Jose silently cursed him as a pervert in his heart but didn’t dare continue his wild thoughts. He could only force himself to perk up and lightly change the topic in a relaxed tone: “Is this New Continent tobacco? I didn’t expect Your Excellency to have this hobby.”
Lin Qian explained: “This thing is called a cigar. The taste is a bit like coffee.”
Cigar? Coffee? Jose had never heard of these two words.
In this era, there was no concept of cigars yet.
Coffee had only just been introduced to Venice from the Arab world.
Spain’s most popular non-alcohol drink was still hot cocoa.
Of course, the English hadn’t yet developed a habit of drinking tea.
Europe at this time was still very different from the 18th century often seen in movies.
“Not important. I invited you this time to talk about the Portuguese vassal matter you mentioned. If you want me to cooperate with you, you have to explain it clearly.”
Jose said discontentedly: “I’m afraid we’ll have to repeat it many times back and forth today too?”
Lin Qian exhaled smoke: “Today, just say it once.”
“How can Your Excellency confirm that what I say is true?”
“No need to confirm truth or falsehood. Just need a guarantee.”
“I can’t even come up with one peso.”
“A guarantee doesn’t have to be property, right?” Lin Qian’s words were full of threat. Cold moonlight shone through the porthole, illuminating the swirling smoke around him.
Jose felt a chill on his neck and was forced to recall that he was still a captive. He could only sigh and explain everything in detail.
Macau is different from Manila. It is a dual-head system of Governor and council.
Therefore, power is relatively dispersed. Each councillor has the right to decide matters within their purview.
Jose’s “Portuguese friend” is also a dispossessed blood-drained nobleman, but obviously doing much better than Jose. He is now a councillor on the council. With his permission, Lin Qian can trade in Macau.
Jose’s plan is to have Lin Qian anchor in the outer seas of Macau, while he goes ashore to negotiate with the councillor friend.
“Portuguese have always been strong competitors to Spaniards. I think they would very much welcome someone like Your Excellency,” Jose summarized.
Lin Qian listened without responding and fell into contemplation. In the darkness, only the red light of the cigar end flashing on and off could be seen.
Finally, Lin Qian spoke: “I’m thinking about what you said earlier about wanting to join us.”
Lin Qian’s leaping thoughts left Jose stunned.
“…Your ancestors after all started as pirates, so it’s like returning to the old trade,” Lin Qian said faintly.
Jose grew excited: “What pirate? That’s called adventurer!”
Lin Qian smiled: “Call it what you want. Now I give you a choice: join us, or after this job, I’ll let you go.”
“I choose to join!” Jose said firmly.
Compared to Great Ming, Europe has a more flexible moral view toward pirates.
Toward small groups of pirates, people hate their harassment and plunder, considering them greedy and cunning.
Toward large groups of pirates, people extremely yearn for their adventures and wealth.
For example, the famous English pirate Francis Drake frequently plundered Spain’s America colonies and helped the English defeat the Invincible Fleet. He was knighted and became a national hero in the hearts of the English.
It was somewhat like the Chinese saying “those who steal hooks are executed, those who steal countries are ennobled.”
But even Captain Drake spent his whole life without successfully capturing a single Spanish galleon.
In fact, up to today, in over a hundred years of Spain colonizing the world, the only ones to truly successfully capture a Spanish galleon, besides Thomas Cavendish, is Lin Qian alone.
Just this one feat was enough for the young East Asian captain before Jose’s eyes to go down in history.
Therefore, Jose decided to emulate his great-great-grandfather’s investment in Columbus: invest in Lin Qian, join his fleet, and one day restore the family glory.
For Lin Qian, fencing and cashing in the stolen goods in the future would definitely require Portuguese and Jose as the middleman.
So even if Jose had chosen to leave, he wouldn’t have been let go. Fortunately, Jose was smart and chose the right option.
“Good. I appoint you as advisor. You can’t get a share of the profits from this galleon plunder, but I will allocate 500 taels of silver from the public account as your advisory fee.”
Hearing this, Jose felt his life brighten up. When he was in Manila, he only had 300 pesos. In a blink, it would more than double. The East was indeed full of gold everywhere.
“You don’t need to go ashore yourself. Write a letter to send ashore and have that ‘councillor friend’ send a representative on the ship to negotiate.” Lin Qian pushed paper and pen in front of Jose.
……
Ten days later, Guangdong Macau, outer seas anchorage.
A triangular sail single-masted small boat slowly sailed toward the galleon.
Lin Qian stood at the ship’s rail to welcome them. Jose, Chen Jiao, Zhou Xiucai, Lei Sanxiang, Bai Langzai, and other crew members stood behind him.
The small boat drew near and threw up a rope.
The crew members took it, tied it tight on the ship’s rail, and then threw down the rope ladder.
Soon, one person climbed up the rope ladder. This was the “councillor friend”‘s representative.
What slightly surprised Lin Qian was that this person was not only a Han person, but a teenager in his teens.
Lei Sanxiang said somewhat discontentedly: “Just you came? Where’s your Frank master?”
The teenager climbed onto the ship, straightened his clothes, and replied with an unhurried smile: “This is the Manila Galleon, right? I don’t seem to see any Spaniards either.”
The teenager looked around, walked straight to Lin Qian, smiled, and cupped his hands: “You must be Senior Lin Qian? I am the envoy of Mr. Councillor, named Nicholas. I’ve heard so much.”
Lin Qian returned the courtesy while sizing up the teenager. He had a medium build, dark skin, square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. His eyes flashed with light and sharp aura, completely different from the numb expressions of near-sea fishermen.
Moreover, the teenager’s speech and manners were very mature, completely unlike someone of his age.
The reason he gave a foreign name “Nicholas” was partly due to his identity as Mr. Councillor envoy and partly because he must have seen the cross on Lin Qian’s neck.
Lin Qian took the cross off his neck and explained: “Since we are both Han people, no need for Franks’ etiquette. May I ask brother’s honorable name?”
The teenager laughed: “Honorable name I dare not claim. I am called Zheng Zhilong. Because I am the eldest son at home, by Fujian custom, you can also call me Yiguan.”
