Chapter 150: A Belated Lantern Festival

Everyone was deeply puzzled, but they understood immediately.

At present, the entire fleet was fleeing in one direction—once dawn broke, being caught up was only a matter of time.

Though sailing south in the dark was risky, it could buy them a slim chance at survival.

Yang Tiansheng directed the sail-trimmers to change the sails.

In his heart, he knew that at this distance at sea, even if he shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice would never reach the government troops.

Yet he still instinctively lowered his voice.

The flagship quickly turned around. On the pitch-black sea, visibility from the bow was less than ten paces—they were practically sailing blind.

Everyone on deck stood frozen stiff at their posts, not daring to move.

None could tell how long they sailed before the cannon fire gradually faded out of hearing.

Another four hours passed, and the morning sun began to rise.

Tension reached its peak—everyone came to the gunwales, scanning the empty ocean.

After repeatedly confirming that no ships were anywhere in the surrounding waters, the crew let out muffled cheers.

Some even covered their faces and curled up on the deck.

Yan Siqi stood at the bow, having braved the cold wind all night. Now that his tension eased, his strength was spent. He swayed twice and nearly collapsed, but managed to brace himself against the bulwark and stay upright.

With his last shred of strength, he ordered: "Sail southeast. We'll go around the island of Formosa, then return to Hirado."

This route could be said to be dangerous to the extreme.

Their expedition had been to develop Formosa, so the ships were well stocked with water and provisions—enough to handle the return voyage, at least until they could resupply at the Ryukyus.

The problem was that east of Formosa lay the open sea beyond the open sea—no Han Chinese had ever been there.

Yan Siqi himself had only learned of such a route from the Dutch.

With morale at rock bottom across the fleet, charging blindly into that was, to put it plainly, a nine-to-one gamble with death.

But no matter what, it was better than sailing north and running headlong into that ghost ship of the dark night!

Contrary to Yan Siqi's expectations, after hearing his decision, not a single crew member objected—everyone silently turned the ships and changed sails.

Though they had labored hard all night, not one person asked for rest.

Without even needing Yang Tiansheng to urge them on, everyone worked far more briskly than usual.

At the same time.

On the stern deck of the Tianyuan, Lin Qian unfolded his telescope and swept the ocean surface.

As far as the eye could see, there was only a vast expanse of rolling waves.

Three nautical miles off the Tianyuan's stern, a large patch of splintered wood floated on the sea, with many sea bandits still clinging to the timbers, frozen stiff.

This was a ship the Tianyuan had just sunk at dawn.

Counting this vessel, Lin Qian had sunk a full four enemy ships in one night—a spectacular tally.

The two Eagle ships had exhausted all their sky-rockets.

The Tianyuan's cannonballs were also more than half spent; she no longer had the capacity to pursue.

In the end, some of the other sea bandit ships had still gotten away.

Still, it was no great problem—after all, Lin Qian had flown the Ming government army's banner the entire time. Even if the sea bandits wanted revenge, they ought to go after the government troops.

As for Lin Qian—the government troops attacked you, what does that have to do with this Lin Qian?

Once April arrived and the southeast monsoon rose, Lin Qian's merchant ships would set sail for trade at Hirado.

Lin Qian had already prepared a contingency plan specifically to deal with Li Dan.

Of course, there was also the rumor circulating in the jianghu that Five-Clawed Flood Dragon had wiped out Li Kuiqi—but that was mere street gossip, not to be taken seriously. Li Kuiqi was clearly destroyed by the government troops.

With the government gunboats' firepower so ferocious, wasn't it perfectly reasonable that they had annihilated Li Kuiqi?

Though Five-Clawed Flood Dragon had a bit of a name in the jianghu, he was nothing more than someone who had thrown in with the Portuguese to scrape together a living.

Lin Qian deliberated in his mind for a long while, concluded there were no oversights, and sent orders via Eagle ship to Nan'ao Island.

"Order: Eagle ships One through Five are to patrol the waters around Penghu. If they encounter enemy vessels, report at once."

Thereupon, the Tianyuan turned south and headed back.

By dusk, the Tianyuan had sailed back to the front of Kui Harbor.

By now the fires at Wugang had died out. Charred ruins of buildings lay everywhere, and a small hill of heads—all topped with chonmage hairstyles—stood conspicuously by the harbor's edge.

Several Han guards watching the harbor spotted the Tianyuan and hurriedly fired sky-rockets to signal.

Before long, the Changfeng sailed in from the south, and upon drawing near, lowered a tender boat.

Chen Jiao climbed up the rope ladder of the Tianyuan.

"Helmsman!"

"Big Brother." Lin Qian pointed at the pile of heads at Wugang and asked, "What is that?"

Chen Jiao gave a wry smile: "That's a gift the Mattau tribe left for you. They're all wokou killed by the ship's cannons. The natives have a headhunting custom—those heads are your war trophies."

Lin Qian found it equal parts amusing and exasperating—he hadn't expected the natives to be so thoughtful.

As for the ronin at Wugang—not a single one survived. A small portion had been blown to death by cannon fire; the majority had been killed by Mattau warriors lying in ambush all around.

Lin Qian said: "Those wokou heads aren't entirely useless, though. Salt them, send them to Garrison Commander Huang to claim credit, and have the Yunfan carry them back."

"Er—" Chen Jiao's expression turned awkward, then he said: "The Yunfan can't leave anytime soon. She needs several days of repairs at Tayouan."

"What? Did the wokou have cannons?" Lin Qian was slightly surprised.

Judging from the Yunfan's attack range, only cannons could have posed a threat to her.

Chen Jiao said: "No, that's not it—it's that the mortar burst its barrel."

"How bad is the damage? Any casualties?"

"Following your instructions, Helmsman, the crew stayed well back when the mortar fired. Only two suffered minor injuries. It's just that the cannon is ruined, and the Yunfan's bow took heavy damage as well."

Then Chen Jiao recounted the story of the cannon bursting.

The burst occurred after the fuse was lit, so it could basically be concluded that the chamber pressure had ignited the powder inside the explosive shell.

This was a common problem with early explosive shells; historically, the safety issue with explosive shells was not solved until the invention of mercury fulminate.

Before that, the only option was to improve metallurgy and shell-making techniques as much as possible to avoid bursts.

As for how to make those improvements, the Xialajiao cannon foundry could be tasked with the research and development.

Moreover, Lin Qian had no intention of paying for this mortar — he would demand compensation from the Macao people instead.

Next, based on the interrogation results of the prisoners, Chen Jiao recounted how the ronin had occupied Wanggang and stirred up discord.

Lin Qian listened and pondered for a long while, vaguely sensing there was still something exploitable in this affair, so he said in a slow voice: "Come to the captain's cabin. I have questions for you."

The two walked into the captain's cabin and sat down separately. Lin Qian said: "Tell me everything you saw and heard that day at Madou Village, omitting not a single word."

Chen Jiao related the whole account.

Lin Qian interrupted: "There was a woman at Madou Village who understood Chinese? What was she arguing with the headman about?"

The argument between the woman and the headman had all been conducted in the native tongue, which Chen Jiao could not understand. He only remembered that the quarrel had been extremely fierce — the headman had even drawn his knife on her.

And the woman seemed to hold no low status, as the surrounding native elders were all urging the headman to calm down.

Lin Qian picked up the Inca gold button and toyed with it between his hands, his brows slightly furrowed.

This native woman, being fluent in Chinese, had naturally undergone a certain degree of sinicization, while the headman Aban was a thorough native — a clash of cultural values, and that was contradiction number one.

The headman was foolish, had misjudged Fort Zeelandia, triggering a great battle, and had subsequently been attacked by other villages, causing needless deaths among his own people — that was contradiction number two.

Among the natives, women held the higher status, yet the headman was a man, hot-tempered and prone to blunders, causing the women of the tribe to refuse to accept his authority — that was contradiction number three.

An organization that seemed unbreakable could be shattered in one blow once its internal contradictions were found and exploited.

During the New Year, Lin Qian had told Chen Jiao that there were three strategies for dealing with the natives of Dongfan Island — superior, middle, and inferior — namely: assimilation, division, and suppression.

And with the natives' internal contradictions now so severe, was this not the perfect opportunity to implement the middle strategy?

Among the colonizers in history, the ones best at exploiting contradictions and playing the game of ruling natives through natives were the English.

Though their colonial policies were notorious, one had to admit they were effective and had stood the test of history.

Lin Qian's use of the divide-and-rule approach against the natives might not seem entirely honorable, but it was still far more gentle than the Dutch colonizers' method of outright suppression.

With this thought, Lin Qian called Chen Jiao to bring in the interpreter from that time, carefully asking about the content of the natives' quarrel, and learning in detail about the natives' social structure, methods of production, and so on.

Once he had a fairly complete picture, Lin Qian said: "After a great victory, we ought to hold a celebration. As it happens, the Lantern Festival was never celebrated — why not do it now? Eldest Brother, invite the natives of Madou Village on my behalf. Remember, be sure to invite that native woman named Anya in particular."

Several days later, Fort Zeelandia.

Dusk was approaching; lanterns and festoons adorned every corner of the town, and colored lanterns were lit early at the crossroads.

Streets and alleys alike were piled with firecrackers and skyrockets.

Everyone wore their finest clothes, smiles on their faces, quietly awaiting the festival's arrival.

In a few more days it would be February — well past the Lantern Festival date.

But because of the native siege and the suppression of Kuigang and other affairs, the Lantern Festival had never been celebrated. Now that all matters were—

—settled, the helmsman had ordered the Lantern Festival to be held belatedly.

Having a festival was always a good thing, and the folk of both Chikan and Tayouan Isle were naturally happy to celebrate.

When Aban, Xilin, Anya, and a host of native elders and warriors walked into Fort Zeelandia, this was the scene that greeted them.

The native party numbered over twenty in all, each draped in animal hides with bare legs and war knives at their waists. The moment they entered the town, they looked about at everything with curious eyes.

Chen Jiao stepped forward to lead the way: "This way, please. The helmsman is waiting in the town."

When the natives had besieged the town before, Chikan's casualties had not been heavy, and most of the townsfolk bore little ill will toward the natives.

Rather, it was the natives who were more wary — Aban kept his hand on his knife hilt the whole time, never straying from Chen Jiao's side.

Chen Jiao, meanwhile, wore a smile throughout, seemingly oblivious to the natives' wariness, enthusiastically introducing all manner of things in the town.

On a side road off the main street, a large body of soldiers marched in parallel — every one of them clad in cotton armor, bearing long spears and wild-goose sabers, led by none other than Ma Chenglie's household troops.

Should the natives harbor ill intent, these armored soldiers would charge forward, and the scene would become a one-sided slaughter.

Not all the natives were tense, though — the sisters named Anya and Xilin wore smiles on their faces, pointing and commenting on everything around them along the way.

Seeing Aban walking close to Chen Jiao, Anya simply pulled her elder sister forward and used her body to separate Aban from him.

"What is that? Why is there a glowing fish?" Anya asked excitedly, pointing into the distance, speaking in the Southern Min dialect.

"Those are festival lanterns," Chen Jiao explained with a smile. Though he faced the colored lanterns, his peripheral vision took in the movements of Anya, Aban, and the others. He thought to himself: just as the helmsman said — so even these natives have their internal strife.

"The Lantern Festival has always had the traditions of viewing lanterns and guessing lantern riddles," Chen Jiao said, leading the group closer to the lantern.

The sun had just sunk below the mountain ridges, and heaven and earth were gradually darkening. The faint candlelight within made the lantern appear exquisitely beautiful — the great golden fish's fins swayed with lifelike grace, every scale visible in fine detail, as if it were truly swimming through the air.

The natives had never seen such fine lanterns; drawing near, they all let out exclamations of wonder.

Chen Jiao thought to himself: exclaiming is exactly right — these lanterns were made by the finest craftsmen the helmsman had commissioned in Chaozhou Prefecture, each one worth two qian of silver. Even in the capital, they would be rare treasures.

Chen Jiao looked at the riddle written on the lantern and said: "Everyone, listen well.

A green luan bird carries a jade hairpin, scattering into a thousand layered petals.

The night breeze gently lifts them, flying into the brilliant river of stars."

Anya was utterly bewildered — her understanding of Han culture was only skin-deep, and she had no idea what the four lines of verse meant.

Chen Jiao explained the meaning of the riddle's surface, and only then did Anya have a sudden realization. She then translated it for the other natives who had come along.

Everyone racked their brains over the answer, thinking for a long while, but their guesses were all wrong answers like "wind," "stars," and "petals."

Chen Jiao actually could not guess it either; he secretly asked one of the attendants beneath the lantern for the answer.

Then, putting on a show of deep thought beside Anya, he mused: "Night breeze — brilliant river of stars — hmm, what thing glows at night like a river of stars?"

Anya's eyes lit up: "I've got it — fireflies!"

The attendant laughed heartily: "This young lady has guessed correctly!"

Then he brought over a prize: "This prize is for you, young lady."

Anya took it and looked — it was a knot woven from red thread, with a netted weave in the middle, round all around, and red tassels hanging from the bottom. It looked quite delightful.

Chen Jiao took the chance to explain: "This is called a Ruyi Knot. It can grant the wearer's wishes and bring good fortune in all things."

Anya found the knot beautiful and the meaning auspicious, so she wanted to wear it in her hair.

Under Chen Jiao's guidance, she changed to wearing it at her waist instead.

Anya spun around once: "Sister, does it look good?"

Her sister Xilin smiled indulgently: "The knot is nice, and this riddle was well made too. The Han truly do have quite a few fine things."

Aban snorted disdainfully: "We Siraya people have fine things of our own, no fewer than the Han!"

Immediately an elder behind him quietly reminded: "Headman, you must not contradict Xilin's words."

Aban: "Why can't I? She hasn't asked——"

The elders showed terrified expressions and frantically signaled the headman to shut up.

The flesh on Aban's face twitched, but in the end he swallowed the rest of his words.

Chen Jiao had an interpreter following behind him, but this conversation was clearly not meant for Chen Jiao's ears. In front of the natives, Chen Jiao naturally could not have it translated.

And the interpreter had long ago received Lin Qian's instructions to remember what the natives said — especially any disputes — and report them when meeting the helmsman privately.

After guessing one lantern riddle, Anya grew interested in the riddles and went around several more lantern displays in a row.

She could not guess a single riddle on her own, relying entirely on Chen Jiao's secret hints from the side, yet she still played on tirelessly.

Chen Jiao had long received Lin Qian's instructions and did not urge them at all, letting the natives wander freely about the city.

After playing for a long while and witnessing the prosperity of Chikan City, the natives' wariness greatly diminished — only Aban still kept his hand on his blade.

Stopping and starting along the way, it was not until the sky had gone completely dark that the group finally reached the heart of the city.

Lin Qian had already prepared a banquet in the city's banquet hall and was waiting respectfully for the natives to arrive.

After darkness fell, all the lanterns in the city square were lit. Several hundred lanterns were arranged at staggered heights, decorating the square as if a river of stars had been spilled upon it.

The moment the natives entered the square and saw this sight, they were struck speechless with amazement.

Many of the natives had seen Kui Harbor before — that place was nothing more than a slightly larger village settlement.

The sea bandits and ronin of Wugang Harbor struggled even to make a living; when had they ever held such a grand festival?

Thus the natives had thought Han settlements were all like Kui Harbor — until they saw Lin Qian's cannon ships and the lanterns of Chikan City, which completely revised their understanding.

Chen Jiao led the natives to the banquet hall, where Lin Qian had already been waiting for some time. They exchanged greetings.

The banquet used individual seating — one small table per person.

Lin Qian said: "I have heard that in your tribe, women hold the highest status, so the seats on the right side have been reserved especially for women. Please."

At this time, the several main seats at the front of the left side had already been taken by Lin Qian's men, so Aban could only sit in the last seat in the middle-rear.

As headman, he always sat at the highest position in his village — whether at sacrifices or meetings. When had he ever sat in such an out-of-the-way seat?

But what Lin Qian said was not wrong, and moreover, with Xilin present, he could hardly make a scene. He could only casually find a seat and sit down.

At the banquet, Lin Qian deliberately treated Aban coldly, angering him so much that smoke seemed to pour from his seven orifices. He raised his cup alone and drank down the strong liquor.

Say what one would, the Han might be bad, but their food and drink were excellent. This liquor was far more fragrant than what his village brewed — and it got one drunk faster too.

This banquet was of the highest standard in every respect — wines and foods alike. Even the chopsticks at each person's table came in three pairs: wooden, silver, and ivory, each with a different purpose.

All food, drink, and wine were served by attendant maids.

There were even musicians playing music to the side, and beautiful dancing girls performing to add to the merriment.

A high-standard banquet so steeped in classical elegance — not just the natives, but even Lin Qian's own men were dazzled and entranced.

When the music ended, the dancing girls flicked their flowing sleeves to a stop, bowed gracefully, and withdrew.

Only then did Anya snap back to her senses. Seeing her sister Xilin staring at her, she remembered her mission. She unstrapped the war knife from her waist, held it up with both hands, and stepped forward to present it.

She had barely taken two steps when two armored guards in cotton armor behind Lin Qian suddenly rose and blocked Anya's path.

Armor plates clinked — the scene momentarily grew tense.

Seeing this, Bailangzai stood up: "Young lady, if you wish to present the knife, allow me to pass it along."

Among the native villages, such behavior was a symbol of distrust and cowardice.

But after the baptism of the lanterns, the feast, and the song and dance, Anya had come to see it as part of the strict code of order. She handed the war knife to Bailangzai.

"This is a Siraya war knife. Only warriors of the village may wield it. You are a mighty warrior — I give it to you."

Bailangzai passed the knife to Lin Qian, and the two guards in cotton armor stepped back, once again vanishing into the darkness.

Lin Qian took the knife and examined it. The blade was rather short, and the tip curved in a graceful arc — it was exactly the kind of knife Chen Jiao had seen at Madou Village.

Among the natives attending today's banquet, every single one carried such a knife.

And most of their scabbards were densely covered with hair, looking much like horse mane.

Pointing at the bare scabbard of his own knife, Lin Qian asked: "Why does this knife have no hair decoration?"

The interpreter translated Lin Qian's words in a loud voice.

Lin Qian knew Anya understood Chinese, and knew full well the meaning of the hair on the scabbards. These words were spoken specifically for the other natives to hear.

Sure enough, after the interpreter finished translating —

Aban said drunkenly: "That's not decoration. You only get it from headhunting. Only warriors are worthy of earning it."

The implication was full of mockery, and Lin Qian's men glared at him with fury.

Lin Qian, however, acted as if he had heard nothing. He smiled and gave the order: "In that case, cut off some of those wokou's hair and glue it onto the scabbard."

"Yes!" Chen Jiao clasped his fists in acknowledgment.

Aban's face flushed red. He wanted to retort but did not know what to say.

In the Siraya tribe, headhunting required personally defeating the enemy in combat — but did killing with "heavenly fire" count as personal?

In the tribe, killing with a spear thrust counted. By that standard, perhaps "heavenly fire" could be considered an oversized spear.

The enemies Aban had taken heads from numbered twenty-nine.

In the battle at Wengang, a full two to three hundred men had been blasted to death by cannon fire————

By that reckoning, among everyone present, hadn't this Han man taken the most heads? Wouldn't he instantly become the foremost warrior of the Siraya?

At this thought, Aban was dumbstruck.

But Anya and most of the other natives didn't have as many thoughts as Aban; they were simply pleased that Lin Qian respected their headhunting customs.

Lin Qian imitated the natives' manner and tucked the knife into his waist.

Anya returned to her seat, and in a moment another tune began—this time it was "Prelude to Water Melody," its melody soft and graceful, enchanting the natives' hearts.

Seeing the atmosphere was just right, Lin Qian signaled to a maidservant, and shortly afterward tangyuan were brought up.

The natives had never seen this kind of food; seeing it white and sticky, they didn't quite dare to eat it.

Lin Qian ate one as a demonstration, and only then did the natives follow suit and try it.

Anya tasted one and showed a look of pleasant surprise: "So sweet!"

Sweetness has always been the most difficult flavor to obtain in nature, and humans have an instinctive genetic fondness for it.

After the tangyuan were finished, many more pastries were served, all without exception using large amounts of white sugar.

Seeing the natives' fondness for sweet foods, Lin Qian began introducing the relationship between white sugar and sugarcane, the returns of planting grain versus sugarcane on the land, the Han people's love of white sugar, and the promising trade prospects for white sugar.

The speaker had no ulterior motive, but the listener took it to heart.

The Siraya people were by nature a semi-agricultural, semi-fishing-and-hunting people, with the men in charge of military affairs, fishing, and hunting, and the women in charge of farming and weaving.

The conflict between Anya and the headman Aban stemmed from the distribution of tribal resources among different modes of production.

Since the establishment of Fort Zeelandia, Aban had exchanged hunting for large quantities of goods, which had begun to overshadow farming; his position as headman grew ever more secure, and he even vaguely seemed to surpass Aunt Xu.

If what Lin Qian said was true—that growing sugarcane brought such enormous returns—it would not only allow the village to develop further, but also reverse the current situation of women's weakness in the village.

Xilin and Anya exchanged a glance, and both could see the same thought in each other's eyes.

The banquet ended; it was already late, and the natives stayed overnight in Fort Zeelandia.

Lin Qian returned to his room, took out white paper, ground ink, and practiced calligraphy.

In the latter half of the night, he suddenly heard voices outside the door: "The helmsman has already gone to sleep. If you have business, speak of it tomorrow."

Then a crisp female voice rang out: "But isn't there a lamp lit inside?"

Lin Qian thought to himself that the bait had been taken quickly, then said to the door: "Let her in."

The native woman Anya entered, with two guards following closely behind, coming in together.

Anya glanced back at the guards behind her and said, "What I have to say is best heard by fewer people."

"They're afraid you're carrying a knife."

Hearing this, Anya casually lifted the animal hide at her waist, revealing a taut midsection with clearly defined abdominal lines.

Below, she wore only a short skirt—to be precise, two pieces of cloth covering front and back; without the animal hide to cover her, she would have flashed herself with every step.

The two guards behind her made no move, but their breathing immediately grew heavy.

"Helmsman, can we talk alone now?" Anya said with a smile.

Bubble Tea