The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 12 Welcome Aboard
The Fujian-style ship remained anchored in Manila harbor for over a month.

During this period, Dumb Huang's sextant underwent several improvements and finally achieved the ideal accuracy.

Lin Qian allocated funds from the public account and spent two hundred silver coins to buy a piece of ironwood half a person's height, which she used as the main material for the sextant.

The final sextant was the size of an adult's arm, weighed over ten kilograms, and its appearance was almost identical to that of later sextants.

Using this to calculate Manila's latitude, we can obtain a result of 15 degrees north latitude, which is exactly the same as the actual latitude.

After that, Lin Qian had one more task every day: to observe the angle of the sun and then calculate the solar declination angle on different dates.

This is a meticulous process that requires patience and cannot be delayed even once a year has passed. Once the measurements are completed, a complete solar declination table can be obtained.

In the future, we can calculate the latitude by measuring the sun's angle during the day and referring to tables.

This will facilitate future navigation in the Southern Hemisphere and meet the need for daytime latitude measurement.

During this period, Chen Jiao recruited more than twenty crew members, all of whom had worked on Spanish ships and were very familiar with the weather and hydrology of Southeast Asia.

Lei Sanxiang acquired more than thirty goose-feather sabers, about ten Spanish swift swords, more than a dozen Japanese katanas, and two matchlock guns.

This early matchlock gun weighed about 20 pounds and was as tall as a person when standing upright. It required a tripod inserted into the ground to be used and to be placed on the tripod for proper aiming. Clearly, there was still a lot of room for improvement.

In comparison, the Japanese arquebus and the Ming Dynasty's Lumi arquebus were far superior to the Spanish matchlock gun in terms of overall performance.

Among them, the Lumi gun invented by Zhao Shizhen was the most powerful.

Lin Qian made up her mind that she would definitely get some when she had the chance in the future.

Lu Dongzhu recently sent over a batch of Spanish navigation instruments, but unfortunately most of them were crudely made and of low precision, clearly obsolete.

It wasn't that Lu Dongzhu hadn't prepared carefully; it was just that the Spanish were watching very closely.

For a maritime power like Spain, its leaders were well aware of the importance of monopolizing navigation technology.

Losing a gun only means losing a few lives.

Losing a ship would only result in the loss of a few dozen tons of gold and silver.

But if they lose their knowledge of navigation, they will lose the entire ocean.

Therefore, Lin Qian still personally paid a visit to express her gratitude and purchased several thousand silver coins worth of foreign goods from Master Lu, mostly cloves and cardamom, as a way of returning the favor.

During this time, besides writing in the nautical log and measuring the solar declination angle, Lin Qian would often travel to Manila, where she would frequently run into Catherine.

The frequency and number of these chance encounters not only puzzled Bai Langzai, but even Catherine herself noticed them.

Catherine was excessively pampered by her governor father, and had an extremely willful personality. However, she was stunningly beautiful, perfectly matching both Eastern and Western aesthetics, and was never short of suitors.

However, due to her noble status, her suitors were at least at the rank of naval vice-captain, and their titles were at least earls.

Being pursued by a commoner like Lin Qian was a disgrace to her, so every time they met, she would go up and humiliate Lin Qian.

Lin Qian simply smiled calmly, unmoved, and after a few days of quiet, she went back to doing things her own way.

Such thick skin and unwavering spirit shocked even Catherine's guards.

After a long period of chance encounters, Lin Qian had figured out Catherine's travel patterns.

She goes to the Cavite shipyard in the south of the city every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

That was the largest shipyard in Southeast Asia, and arguably the largest in Asia. The Manila Galleon was built here.

It was also a no-go zone for Han Chinese. Spanish guards were stationed around the shipyard, and they would open fire immediately if any Han Chinese approached.

Catherine would stay for a whole day each time she went, but what she did there was unknown.

However, judging from her personality and men's clothing, it can be guessed that she is definitely not a Western aristocratic lady, and most likely has a strong interest in sailing.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, Catherine would have free time. Sometimes she would go to the port to watch the ships coming and going, sometimes she would go for a horse ride outside the city, and sometimes she would stay in the governor's mansion.

Every Sunday, she would dress in women's clothing and go to church to pray and worship.

Lin Qian had also entered the church several times through the cross, but unfortunately the governor's family had a special chapel, so she could not see Catherine.

Moreover, the church bell tower was a forbidden area, and Lin Qian could not approach it. During this time, apart from occasionally helping Lin Qian with diving errands, Bai Langzai mostly "bumped into" Catherine with him.

Even with Bai Langzai's icy personality, he couldn't help but repeatedly advise, "Sixth Brother, there are plenty of women in the world, why hang yourself on one tree?"

Lei Sanxiang also advised, "Brother Lin, if you're really feeling restless, I know a few good places to go..."

Chen Jiao had always believed that Lin Qian's actions must have a deeper meaning, but after observing for a long time, he sighed and said, "I didn't expect you to be such a love-struck fool, brother. Go ahead and try to win over that cold shoulder, just don't let it interfere with your business."

……

On the 25th day of the third month of the 48th year of the Wanli reign (1699), a Friday, the sky was cloudless.

Early in the morning, Lin Qian came out of the stern and loudly ordered, "Notify the boatmen on shore to return to the ship before noon. We will leave port this afternoon."

"So sudden?" Lei Sanxiang was quite surprised.

Chen Jiao glanced at the sky, his expression worried: "This clear weather is abnormal. If we set sail today, I'm afraid..."

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time," Lin Qian interrupted Chen Jiao, saying meaningfully.

As Lin Qian had arranged, water and food supplies had long been prepared in the cabin, and the goods to return to the Ming Dynasty had also been stacked in the cargo hold. They were just waiting for the crew to arrive before setting sail.

After more than a month at the port, many of the boatmen had already spent all of their 150 taels of silver.

Those who hadn't spent all their money mostly didn't disembark, and there weren't many boatmen on shore; they all quickly returned to their boats.

It is now approaching early summer, and the monsoon has not yet formed, so very few ships choose to set sail at this time.

But Lin Qian had given the order, and the boatmen dared not disobey. After lunch, they all took their places and awaited Lin Qian's commands.

Just then, Lin Qian said, "I almost forgot to say goodbye to Miss Catherine."

……

Around 3 or 4 p.m., Catherine left the Cavite shipyard and returned to the Governor's Palace.

From afar, I could see a person standing on the road. It was Lin Qian, with her little follower standing behind her.

Catherine looked disgusted and ordered the guards to drive him away.

The guard rode over, drew his saber, pointed it at Lin Qian, and said in Chinese, "No lingering near the shipyard!"

Lin Qian cupped her hands towards Catherine in the distance and said, "I am returning to the Great Ming Dynasty. I have come today to bid farewell to you, Miss."

The guard translated these words, and Catherine rolled her eyes and said, "Vale, vale."

Even though Bai Langzai didn't understand Spanish, he could tell from the impatience in his voice.

"I have something to give you before we part," Lin Qian said, taking a wooden box from her bosom.

The guard took the wooden box and handed it to Catherine, who threw it on the ground without even looking at it.

Just at this time.

boom!boom!
Two gunshots rang out from the woods by the roadside.

Instantly, blood mist erupted from the horse beneath Catherine, its brain shattered into pieces, and its skull and brain matter scattered everywhere.

Before Catherine could react, she fell heavily onto the beach.

The two guards were shocked. One dismounted to help Catherine up, while the other spurred his horse to protect her.

Catherine was half-covered in horse blood and was stunned by the sudden turn of events.

Before she could react, she felt a heat on the back of her neck, as if liquid had splashed onto her. She turned around in a daze and saw a long knife protruding from the stomach of the guard behind her.

The knife was slowly withdrawn, and blood gushed from the wound, instantly staining the sand beneath their feet crimson. The guard collapsed limply.

Lin Qian wiped the blood from her face and said with a smile in Spanish, "Miss Catherine, welcome aboard."

(End of this chapter)