Chapter 4: Spanish
The Fuchuan Ship slowly docked.
The Anchor Man dropped anchor, the Rope Man threw the rope.
Several laborers on the dock took the rope and tied it tightly to the shore pile.
Ship Workers laid wooden boards between the ship’s rail and the gangplank.
On the gangplank, a Spaniard was already waiting there, with three or four bowing Han People behind him.
After the Pilot disembarked first, he bent at the waist, smiled obsequiously at that Spaniard, and stood behind him.
Lin Qian, Bai Langzai, Lei Sanxiang, and others disembarked in single file.
That Spaniard looked impatient and said in Spanish: “Give me the ship’s documents.”
The Han People responsible for translation straightened up and shouted: “What are you standing around for? Present the ship’s manifest to the lord.”
Lin Qian took out the ship’s manifest from his bosom; the interpreter snatched it and handed it to the Spaniard.
The Spaniard took it, glanced at it, frowned, pointed to the destination port, and muttered softly. Although he couldn’t read Chinese, he still recognized the characters for “Luzon,” which didn’t look like “Macau.”
The interpreter carefully leaned over to look, changed color, pointed at Lin Qian angrily, and said: “This ship is clearly supposed to go to Macau—how did you come to Luzon? What audacity!”
Hearing this, all the brothers felt guilty and averted their gazes.
“Just tell him it says ‘Manila’ on it.” Lin Qian said lightly.
The interpreter’s lips trembled with anger. People who didn’t follow the ship’s manifest weren’t unheard of, but someone like Lin Qian who didn’t know the rules was the first he’d seen.
The interpreter decided to teach Lin Qian a lesson and said to the Spaniard in broken Spanish: “Pirate! They are pirates!”
The Spaniard immediately changed expression and shouted loudly all around.
Now all the brothers were tense. Lei Sanxiang anxiously said: “What’s going on? What did that scoundrel just say?”
“Seems like he said we are pirates.” Lin Qian’s face was calm.
“What!” Everyone was shocked.
Lei Sanxiang shouted at Lin Qian: “Lin Laodi, what do we do now?”
“In my view, now we can only imitate Meng Changjun’s night flight story!” The speaker was Old Two Zhou Xiucai.
“Speak human language!” Lei Sanxiang angrily rebuked.
Zhou Xiucai: “While the guards haven’t come, let’s run quickly!”
“How to run? No time to raise anchor!” Old Five Chen Hong said. In this short time, he was already sweating profusely. “Lin Qian killed the people, hijacked the ship. I say, better not…”
“What do you mean?” Lei Sanxiang angrily said. “Scoundrel! We brothers swore together before Guan Erye—was that just fart?”
The Spaniard was still shouting loudly; surrounding people scattered in fright, and guards were already running from afar.
Old Five Chen Hong gritted his teeth, stared deadly at Lin Qian, and said: “Either he dies alone, or we all die. What to do? Brothers, speak up!”
The usually silent Old Four said: “Lin Qian, you caused the trouble—you clean it up!” Then he stood beside Chen Hong.
Lei Sanxiang cursed: “Scoundrel!”
“Zhou Xiucai, what do you say?” Chen Hong gritted his teeth.
“Ai… this… you… how… aiya, this… Brothers quarrel inside but must resist outsiders together! Ai…” Zhou Xiucai’s face was pale, lips trembling; he couldn’t say a complete sentence.
Chen Hong spat at him, then asked Lei Sanxiang: “Old Three, what do you say? Determined to die with Lin Qian?”
Lei Sanxiang shouted to Lin Qian: “Lin Laodi, what now? Say something!”
Lin Qian had his back to everyone, said nothing, and didn’t even turn to look at them.
“Ai!” Lei Sanxiang sighed deeply, stood behind Lin Qian, and said: “Consider me unlucky—didn’t die at Sarhū, but ended up in the hands of a kid like you!”
Chen Hong sneered: “Very good, Elder Brother, say something.”
The brothers’ Elder Brother was named Chen Jiao, over forty, with a weathered face. Upon hearing this, he calmly said: “Even if we hand over Lin Qian now, the Franks won’t let it go easily…”
Two hundred steps away, more than ten Spanish Guards holding matchlock guns had stepped onto the dock and were heading toward the gangplank.
Seeing the situation extremely critical, Chen Hong—fearing Lei Sanxiang and not daring to act rashly—shouted to Bai Langzai: “Old Seven, you’re still young; don’t throw away your life!”
Bai Langzai didn’t answer, just placed his right hand on the knife handle and coldly looked at Chen Hong.
“Don’t you want your life?” Chen Hong was very anxious. Now Zhou Xiucai was unreliable, Elder Brother neutral, Lei Sanxiang supporting Lin Qian—only Old Four supported him.
Both sides evenly matched, he had to win over Bai Langzai.
Chen Hong forced patience and said: “I know—you’re Tanka People from the Pearl River Estuary; you want to earn silver for your sister, right?”
Obvious anger appeared in Bai Langzai’s eyes.
Chen Hong, looking at the steadily approaching Spanish Guards with sweat beading on his forehead, continued: “Lin Qian can’t help you. Believe me—we go to Macau, sell this ship’s cargo, and you’ll have as much silver as you want.”
“Heh.” Bai Langzai chuckled lightly.
Seeing persuasion failed, Chen Hong changed expression and cursed: “Curved hoof!”
“Do it!” Chen Hong shouted to Old Four; both drew their knives.
Lei Sanxiang and Bai Langzai, upon seeing this, simultaneously drew their knives.
“Put away the knives.” Lin Qian’s voice was calm.
“What?” Lei Sanxiang frowned. “These two scoundrels want your life.”
“Those who want to live, put away the knives.” Lin Qian’s tone was still flat.
The Spaniards held muskets; everyone knew a hard fight would be disadvantageous. Helplessly, they steeled themselves and followed Lin Qian’s words.
Lei Sanxiang and Bai Langzai sheathed their knives; Chen Hong and the other, half-believing, also put theirs back but kept hands on the handles.
The Spanish Guards ran to twenty steps in front of everyone, stood firm, raised their guns in a line, and shouted loudly.
“What are they saying?” Lei Sanxiang asked.
Lin Qian said: “Put all the knives on the ground, or they will shoot.”
The brothers helplessly complied.
The atmosphere on the gangplank eased slightly.
At this moment, Lin Qian took a deep breath and loudly said: “Estimado señores, creo que tenemos algunos malentendidos.”
These words stunned the opposite Spaniard and the brothers behind.
“Lin Laodi, you speak their bird language?” Lei Sanxiang’s eyes widened. “What does that mean?”
“I said, there are some misunderstandings here.”
Soon, the opposite Spaniard shouted: “You alone, without weapon—come over.”
Lin Qian spread his hands and slowly walked over. After a search, a Guard Captain-like person came over and said: “You speak our language? That’s great. Regarding the accusation that you are pirates, anything to defend?”
“Honorable Mister, we are legitimate merchants from Yuegang Port in Fujian. This trip was approved by the Great Ming Government, carrying silk and porcelain to trade with Portuguese merchants in Macau. I myself am the Captain; I can guarantee we are not pirates.”
The Guard Captain called over the Han People interpreter and, confirming the ship’s manifest indeed said Macau, showed a disgusted expression and said: “Oh, damn Portuguese… Then how did you arrive at Manila Port?”
“Honorable Mister, we encountered a storm, deviated from course, and arrived in the sea area near Manila. My crew wanted to sail back to Macau, but I assured them that Spaniards, like Portuguese, are merchants with good reputation, so…”
“Even better! We are merchants with better reputation than the Portuguese!” The Guard Captain proudly interrupted, handing the ship’s manifest back to Lin Qian. “Welcome to Manila. Your subsequent journey will prove my words, Mister.”
If using the AD calendar, it was now 1620.
Although Spain and Portugal were both under Habsburg dynasty control, their relations were extremely delicate.
Just like Britain and France joining the EU after World War II—currently allies, but enemies for centuries before.
For Spaniards, silk, porcelain, and raw silk meant rich profits. No one would refuse money delivered to their door, especially money snatched from an old rival—it was even more satisfying to earn.
Lin Qian, in his previous life, had done business with Spanish companies and had some understanding of their culture and history. Long before deciding to come to Manila, he had figured out how to exploit the conflict between Spaniards and Portuguese to explain the ship’s manifest.
