Chapter 10: The Five Precepts

Bailangzai nodded slightly in agreement.

Everyone exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

Lin Qian said, "Since that's the case, we need to establish some rules from now on. Take the distribution of silver, for instance—after each voyage's profits, we can't divide up all the silver. A portion must be kept in the common fund for repairing the ship, purchasing weapons, and such."

Lei Sanxiang slapped his thigh: "Exactly so. Brother Lin already has ideas—just say them outright. Brother Lin's ideas are never off the mark."

"Alright. From now on, whether the ship takes plunder or engages in trade, for every hundred taels of silver earned, seventy taels go into the common fund, the helmsman takes ten taels, the sailors who fought take ten taels, and the navigator, gunner, and other officers aboard—along with the carpenters, cooks, and bureau directors—split ten taels according to rank."

This was a distribution ratio Lin Qian had modeled on the historical organizations of Zheng Zhilong's gang and Zheng Yi Sao's gang, and it also matched the prevailing customs among sea bandits of the day, so no one raised any objection.

The hundred and fifty taels each sailor had been given today, when counted together with the ship's appraised value, actually worked out to roughly equivalent to the sailors' 10% share.

Next, Lin Qian laid out five precepts.

One: Do not disobey the helmsman's orders.

Two: Do not fight among yourselves.

Three: Do not secretly keep loot for yourself.

Four: Do not rape women.

Five: Do not plunder the poor and common folk.

Lei Sanxiang's face showed difficulty: "Brother Lin, these five precepts are all fine except for that last one—if we don't plunder the common folk, then who do we plunder?"

"Naturally, whoever has money—we plunder them." Lin Qian answered calmly.

"But rich men have sturdy ships and plenty of men; they're not easy to get at."

Lin Qian smiled: "No need to worry. I currently have a big deal in mind—if this deal succeeds, it'll be worth dozens of ship raids put together."

At these words, everyone perked up with interest and began asking for details one after another.

Lin Qian smiled without answering, merely raising a hand to point out the window at the sea.

Everyone followed his finger and looked—outside the window was the port of Manila. Night had already fallen, and by the torchlight of the patrolling soldiers, the hulls of the galleons loomed in and out of view, their towering masts standing straight like dark spears, their tips vanishing into the pitch-black sky above.

None of them understood what he meant. They were stunned for a moment, and then Lei Sanxiang said in disbelief: "Damn it all—you want to raid the Franks' galleons?"

Everyone's gaze fell upon Lin Qian, all their faces filled with shock.

This couldn't be described as a wild fantasy—it was practically hair-raising to hear. That was why none of them had even dared to think in that direction at first.

Setting aside the Spaniards' sturdy ships and powerful cannons, just in terms of numbers alone, the Spanish guards outnumbered them by more than ten to one. There was simply no way to win.

Even if they somehow managed to seize a ship, the sails and rigging of a Ming Fujian junk and a Manila galleon were completely different—no one would even know how to sail one.

Even if they got lucky and managed to sail out of port, they'd be chased down by Frankish warships, and in the end, they'd still end up as food for the fish.

Lin Qian took in everyone's reaction, and so first steadied them, saying: "Let's discuss this at length another time. Before that, I'd like everyone to split up and handle some matters first."

His experience starting businesses in his previous life had taught him one truth—the greater the undertaking, the less room there is for playing it safe.

Whether starting a business or being a sea bandit, both were extremely risky endeavors—every step was a gamble.

If you don't have the guts to sit at the gambling table, then you're only fit to be served up on it!

The brothers exchanged glances and said in unison: "We await the helmsman's orders."

"Good." Lin Qian clapped his hands.

Then he assigned tasks to everyone.

Chen Jiao was put in charge of recruiting sailors. Their ship had no firearms, and all their sea battles relied on boarding and jumping across to the enemy deck—they needed numbers to gain the advantage.

Lin Qian could tell that Chen Jiao was experienced and seasoned, and that he had very likely been in the sea bandit trade before. Sending him to recruit sailors was the most fitting choice.

Lei Sanxiang was responsible for purchasing weapons, especially firearms. Manila wasn't like the Great Ming—firearms weren't strictly controlled there. As long as you had connections, you could get your hands on a few.

Lei Sanxiang had been through the Battle of Sarhu. Presumably he had been a soldier in the Divine Engine Battalion, using the three-barreled gun—that was how he'd earned the name "Sanxiang," or "Three Shots."

As the one among the brothers most familiar with firearms, he was the best candidate for procuring them.

Scholar Zhou was responsible for keeping the accounts. Since 70% of the silver earned went to the common fund, how it was spent naturally had to be recorded openly to satisfy everyone.

At this point, Bailangzai spoke up: "Sixth Brother, what do I do?"

"Your task is the heaviest, and the most dangerous." Lin Qian said with a serious expression. "Wait a few days until I've made proper preparations, and then I'll tell you."

Lin Qian said to everyone: "Be careful in your dealings—make sure no one discovers you."

Everyone rose, cupped their fists in salute, and then filed out of the cabin.

Lin Qian sat back down at his desk. He had pulled an all-nighter yesterday and still hadn't closed his eyes—now waves of drowsiness were washing over him.

But he still couldn't sleep.

He had started from nothing, cutting through brambles to blaze a trail.

If you wanted to build something from scratch, pulling all-nighters for two or three nights in a row was nothing out of the ordinary.

Lin Qian took out a sheet of paper and drew a sector, then marked graduations along its arc, and drew a lens at the pivot point—gradually, the shape of a sextant emerged.

After witnessing Mute Huang's craftsmanship, Lin Qian had decided to have him handcraft a sextant.

The sextant's structure was simple—it only required three materials: a convex lens, mirrors, and metal.

Considering that Mute Huang was a carpenter, swapping the sextant's metal frame for wood ought to work as well.

Southeast Asia had a type of ironwood that sold at an extremely high price—it was very dense, resistant to corrosion and warping, and perfectly suited to replace steel.

Glass could be bought in Manila, and the convex lens could be removed from the single-tube telescope he'd bought yesterday.

All in all, the sextant's structure and materials weren't a problem.

The problem was that precision was hard to solve—the graduations on a sextant weren't something you could just scribble casually.

If the graduations were off by even a single degree, the actual distance measured could be off by more than two hundred li.

Lin Qian planned to finish drawing the design first, then take a stroll through Manila tomorrow to see if there were any tools like protractors available.

The insect-wax candle burned to its end; the tides rose and fell.

Lin Qian stood up, yawned, and walked to the window—outside, the sky was already showing the faint light of dawn.

After a quick wash, Lin Qian picked up his paper and pen, called for Bailangzai, and headed into Manila.

First he bought some gifts and went to pay his respects to Proprietor Lu.

Business done, one must not neglect personal relations.

After a simple meal with Proprietor Lu, Lin Qian asked him to purchase some Spanish navigational instruments—things like astrolabes, compasses, sea charts, rulers, and protractors.

Proprietor Lu looked troubled: "Brother Lin, most of these things are at the Cavite shipyard. The Franks there keep a close watch, and the Governor-General has strictly ordered that these instruments not be allowed to leave."

Lin Qian said: "I know the difficulty involved—otherwise I wouldn't have come to ask you, Brother. I'm simply curious about the Franks' seafaring arts. If they can't be bought, it's no great loss."

Proprietor Lu smiled: "In that case, I'll do my best."

Leaving the Lu Chengji Trading House, Lin Qian strolled through the Parian market, buying copper wire, coarse salt, vinegar, kelp, and other goods.

Bailangzai held back again and again, but finally couldn't help saying: "Sixth Brother, if you want to eat something, just have the cook buy it. Why come yourself?"

Lin Qian smiled mysteriously: "Some ingredients only taste right when you buy them yourself."

Around the Parian market there were many gambling dens and brothels. Along the way Lin Qian ran into quite a few familiar faces from the ship, so he had the sailors take the ingredients he'd bought back to the vessel.

Afterwards, Lin Qian took Bailangzai to the walled city.

His intention was to try his luck, to see if he could find what he was looking for.

Unfortunately, after spending the whole afternoon there, his luck remained poor—he found nothing.

At that moment, Lin Qian stopped in front of a tavern and asked Bailangzai: "How's your tolerance for liquor?"

"Never drunk before."

Lin Qian smiled wryly. He didn't like drinking, but when you move in the world of men, sometimes you have no choice. Today was one of those times.

The two pushed open the door and went in, chose a seat by the window, and ordered two glasses of rum.

By now it was nearing evening, and the Spaniards in the tavern were gradually growing in number.

Seeing Lin Qian and his companion, they all cast appraising looks—clearly, Han Chinese faces were rarely seen in the taverns of the walled city.

At the same time, Lin Qian was sizing up the Spaniards. From their clothing and smell, he could tell that most of them were sailors off the ships.

These sailors mostly ordered dark beer or rum, then sat together playing cards.

The game was extremely simple—pure comparison of card values, with bets usually of a few reales.

Lin Qian glanced over a couple of times, understood the rules, then picked up his glass and walked over.

"Gentlemen, might I join in?"

The Spaniards were somewhat taken aback. After all, they were all from the same ship, worked together in perfect coordination, and cheating was child's play for them.

An outsider like Lin Qian joining their game was no different from a fat sheep delivering itself to the butcher.

After a brief hesitation, the Spanish sailors broke into smiles, all seeing the greed in one another's eyes.

An old sailor pulled out a chair.

"You're welcome to join us, honored sir."

Pink Round