Chapter 203: The Blessed Land of Eight Min, Weathering Hard Times Together

The two men stepped out and saw the bow of the New Route plunge into the water, sending up another thunderous roar of spray. The seawater hurled skyward formed a curtain of rain that drifted down. The bow's entry stirred layer upon layer of waves that surged into the distance, and all around the New Route was filled with splashing white foam.

The shipwrights held their breath, staring at the whale ship that rocked violently just after launching, letting the curtain of rain fall upon them.

They watched as its swaying gradually diminished until the hull finally steadied.

The shipwrights let out resounding cheers.

Zhou Qiyuan was struck speechless by the sight before him.

Since the whale ship was a merchant vessel, all rigging except the cannons had been completed on the slipway, so after launching, crewmen rowed small boats to board her.

Moments later, the New Route's three great hard sails rose, spreading like a roc spreading its wings.

With the mizzen lateen sail working in concert, the ship slowly picked up speed.

Then came the crew's shouts from the deck: "Northeast wind, port side running free—set sail!"

Over thirty crewmen answered in unison, and the ship quickly swung her bow around, heading out toward the Jiulong River.

Along the way, the crew excitedly sang work songs.

The lead singer's voice was high and piercing, though too far away to make out the words; the crew chimed in with rhythmic "hey-ho" refrains like muffled war drums. Soon, once the channel was clear, Old Fei picked up his axe and walked toward the second slipway.

At the mooring cables, Old Fei spat into each palm, rubbed his hands together to spread it evenly, then seized the axe and brought it down hard on the cable. The second whale ship slid slowly into the water, and when her stern met the sea, the white spray she pushed up stood a full five or six zhang tall—a truly stunning sight.

The slipway, the shore, and the docks were all soaked by the surging waves.

Once the second ship steadied, a fresh batch of crew boarded and sailed southeast.

The whale ships were bound for Nan'ao Island for their final fitting—installing the cannons on the open deck—after which they would load cargo at Qianjiang Bay dock. With April nearly upon them, once the southeast monsoon steadied, it would again be time to sail north to Hirado.

To counter Li Dan's attacks, during the winter monsoon period the Nan'ao warships had been stationed defensively at Nan'ao and Chikan, while the merchant ships lay at anchor in Macao, not trading at Hoi An.

Now the Nan'ao warehouses held a large stock of trade goods, just right for a single satisfying sell-off at Hirado.

There was also the market vacuum left by Li Dan's death to seize, negotiations with the Hirado domain to conduct, and a reckoning with the Dutch to settle.

The agenda was packed full.

The two whale ships had left Old Fei's arms gone soft and weak; he could only grit his teeth and bear it.

Lin Qian watched with a hidden smile—this was exactly why he didn't preside over the launching ceremonies himself.

The mooring cables were extremely thick and tough, so the axe for cutting them was specially made—both sharp and heavy—and an ordinary man would run out of strength after just a few swings. Once the third ship was launched, Lin Qian also boarded, planning to ride along back to Nan'ao.

Zhou Qiyuan, meanwhile, went home to make his preparations, intending to report to Qingping Office once everything was in order.

The two parted at Xiamen dock.

Dusk was approaching, and the Xiamen shipyard lit up with warm yellow lamps, the wind carrying sounds of laughter and cheer along with the smell of wine and roasting meat.

For over half a year, the shipwrights had worked nearly every night overtime for these three whale ships, sometimes pulling two or three all-nighters in a row to meet the deadline. Now that the ships were delivered, everyone could finally celebrate their achievement.

Aboard the whale ship, Lin Qian leaned against the gunwale, gazing toward Xiamen Island with a smile on his face.

Xiamen dock's shelter from wind, water depth, and swell conditions were all better than Nan'ao Island's dock, and it was also closer to the economic centers of Yuegang and Zhangzhou. As such, the center of commerce would henceforth shift from Nan'ao to Xiamen.

This decision was based not only on port conditions and economic considerations—history itself bore it out.

In Zheng Chenggong's era, Xiamen had already been the general hub of the "Five Merchant Houses and Ten Guilds."

Taking advantage of the fact that history hadn't diverged much yet, Lin Qian could still half-feel his way across the river using the Zheng father and son as stepping stones.

But he wasn't copying them wholesale either.

For instance, Xiamen had also been Zheng Chenggong's military center, but for Lin Qian, transferring Nan'ao Island's military capability there would be pointless. After all, nearly half of Fujian had already fallen under Lin Qian's control.

Once Bailangzai made a circuit of the Guazhou canal mouth, Wei Zhongxian might well hand over all of Fujian on a silver platter.

After all, the Guazhou canal mouth was the junction of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River—cut it off, and grain transport would be blocked, plunging the north into famine. Of course, Lin Qian wouldn't actually let Bailangzai sever the grain transport; that kind of profoundly immoral act was something Lin Qian couldn't bring himself to do.

Fortunately, Wei Zhongxian was a petty man who judged others by himself—he would never dare gamble his own life and power on Lin Qian's moral character. Especially given Lin Qian's influence and Wei Zhongxian's current reputation, hated by men and loathed by ghosts alike.

Even if Lin Qian didn't actually cut the grain transport, merely massing troops as a threat and shouting slogans calling for Wei Zhongxian's removal would be more than enough to make him suffer.

The whale ships, fitted with keels, sailed with great stability—their roll amplitude was even smaller than the Tianyuan's.

For a merchant vessel, that meant less dunnage and cushioning material for cargo, lower damage rates, more cargo space, and higher profits. After nightfall, the whale ship anchored at Yandun Bay.

After disembarking, Lin Qian first went to the dry dock to inspect the construction progress of the new flagship.

At present, the new flagship's hull frame was complete and undergoing static seasoning—letting the wood release stress under gravity, naturally settling into shape with tight joints. This resting process would take roughly three to four months, or even half a year.

Construction of the new flagship's main body had begun in the tenth month of the fourth year of Tianqi; about half a year had passed since, and the static seasoning was only just beginning.

At the current pace, the ship's overall completion would likely take another year and a half or so.

After overall completion, there would still be outfitting—and a sailing warship's outfitting was far more troublesome than a whale ship's. It required installing the rudder, anchors, sail rigging, and cordage; arranging cabins and the galley; mounting cannons and bilge pumps, and so on.

The outfitting process would take about four or five months.

Then came sea trials, another two or three months or so.

By rough calculation, the new flagship would formally enter service about two years from now—that is, in the seventh year of Tianqi.

Compared to the standards of this era, this shipbuilding speed was already quite fast.

There was no helping it—time was the inevitable price of developing new technology and building great ships.

This was truly a matter requiring slow work for fine results; forcing the pace would only yield a worthless hulk that sank upon launching, just like the Vasa.

So Lin Qian merely made an inspection tour, then rode back to the General's Mansion.

In his study, Lin Qian took out his navigation log.

This log had been in use since the days of the Qingping, and even when Lin Qian wasn't at sea, he would record thoughts and plans in it, sometimes sketching diagrams and drawings.

He flipped to the page on organizational structure and added Zhou Qiyuan's Qingping Office to it.

The administrative system on Nan'ao Island thus became five offices: Civil Registry, Public Works, Military Defense, Justice and Penal Affairs, and Qingping.

This was an interim arrangement for the current stage. These five offices roughly corresponded to the Ming's three provincial offices for local governance, but with power divided more finely, enabling specialized management and mutual checks while reducing buck-passing and squabbling.

In the future, fiscal authority would be separated from the Civil Registry Office, and judicial authority would be separated from enforcement authority.

At the same time, the situation where imperial power did not reach below the county level had to be changed—governance had to penetrate down to the grassroots.

These departmental divisions from the center down through province, prefecture, county, and township formed the base of the comprehensive governance pyramid.

And controlling a province, the most important thing was military power. Lin Qian had already achieved this in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou by paying military wages and appointing trusted confidants; Chaozhou, Xinghua, Fuzhou and other prefectures were also being slowly but steadily swallowed up.

Next was finance. As long as one did not raise the banner of open rebellion, Ming taxes could not be touched. But Lin Qian's maritime trade was itself large-scale smuggling that paid no taxes to the Ming—it had already effectively eroded the tax base and diverted fiscal revenue.

Then came personnel. Lin Qian currently had considerable say in the appointment of Fujian military officers, but could hardly intervene in the appointment of civil officials. This, he believed, would change after the Guazhou Canal operation.

Last was the judiciary—the key to evolving from a warlord into a political regime, the legitimate use of violence and the final power to interpret social order. In regions where the Ming's judicial authority was a vacuum, whoever could hear grievances and settle cases naturally gained authority. This was also the foundation by which local strongmen and rural gentry could, to a certain degree, seize political power from the imperial court.

On this point, Lin Qian planned to use the tiqi arrests as the entry point, gradually transferring judicial power from county and prefectural yamens into the hands of Garrison Commanders everywhere, slowly hollowing out the prefectures, counties, and local gentry.

This was not easy to do, and there was no particularly suitable candidate, so progress was not being rushed.

The above four items formed the middle layer of the comprehensive governance pyramid.

The upper layer—also the most important—was a slogan that could unite people's hearts, a goal for everyone to strive toward together.

Lin Qian had already drafted three: "Loyal to the sovereign, repel the barbarians; consolidate the foundation, pacify the people," "Revere orthodox learning, sharpen loyalty and integrity," and "The Eight Min Paradise, together we face the hardships of the times."

These respectively sought the support of the imperial court, the scholar-officials, and the gentry and common people.

Using the words "repel the barbarians," the spearhead was clearly aimed at the Jianzhou barbarians, the wokou pirates, and the red barbarians—this was a way of setting up targets and converting internal contradictions into external ones. Additionally, there was a hidden target tucked away: the eunuch faction and the court's corrupt governance.

After all, why "sharpen loyalty and integrity"? Because the eunuch faction had nearly killed off all the principled scholar-officials.

Why were there hardships of the times? Because the court's corrupt governance had left the common people with no way to survive.

Finally, there was also the vague concept of the "Eight Min Paradise."

As for what a paradise was? Scholar-officials, landlords, merchants, and common people each had different definitions. Lin Qian did not spell it out, letting everyone guess. In any case, on the surface, Fujian's economy was developed, there was no persecution, and the people lived and worked in peace—that was enough to satisfy most.

These three slogans were only the program for the current stage, serving the goal of seizing Min, Yue, and Zhe within the Ming system.

They were slogans with a relatively strong spirit of compromise, proposed under the principle of "make friends as many as possible, make enemies as few as possible."

When the day truly came to raise the banner of rebellion, or when the bourgeoisie developed to a certain level, or when reform and transformation were undertaken, new slogans would be proposed again.

As for the method of propagating the slogans, it was without question running newspapers and finding a few literati to serve as the writing pens.

Conveniently, whether printing newspapers, printing the *Standard Parts Illustrated Catalog* or the *Complete Treatise on Agriculture*, or popularizing basic education, all required a printing house for block printing.

Lin Qian had already ordered the Engineering Construction Department to handle this matter. The site was chosen in Zhangzhou city, and the writing pens had also been found—just waiting for work to begin.

Mid-April, the weather turned warm.

On Nan'ao Island, white pomegranate flowers were in full bloom. Looking down from the mountaintop, great swaths of white pomegranate blossoms bloomed throughout the town, like clusters of white clouds caressing the ground.

Every time the children passed by on their way home from school, they would look up, drooling at the still-unripe white pomegranates.

The boys would compete to jump up and reach the branches bent low by the flowers. Whenever they managed to touch one, they would send the petals scattering in the wind.

Then the children would scatter amid the scoldings of the surrounding adults, laughing loudly as they ran off.

Inside the General's Mansion.

Lin Qian was meeting with Bai Qing, Lü Zhou, and He Sai, giving final instructions before the merchant fleet set sail.

Although the summer monsoon was still unstable, in order to seize the market vacated by Li Dan's death, the merchant fleet had to set sail as early as possible.

This trip to Hirado had been arranged with three whale ships, five Fujian junks, and twenty Haicang ships, with a total cargo capacity of over seventeen thousand dan. The carrying capacity was nearly twice that of the "Zheng He fleet" mentioned by the Jiaozhi people last year!

The reason no more ships were sent was that in this past year, Nan'ao Island had only received this much cargo—it had all been loaded aboard.

As for the sailors who could not put to sea due to insufficient cargo, they had been consolidated by the Military Guard Department and incorporated into the army.

According to the Military Guard Department's statistics, Nan'ao's total troop strength had now reached five thousand. If the guard station soldiers and camp soldiers of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou were counted, that would be over ten thousand.

It was just that the guard station soldiers and camp soldiers had little combat capability—Lin Qian did not count on these men for fighting.

The trade details were already very familiar to Lü Zhou and He Sai; Lin Qian did not need to interfere much.

Lin Qian's instructions to the three were mainly concerning relations with the Hirado domain, the shogunate, and the Dutch.

The total value of the cargo on this voyage was nearly touching the limit of trade with Hirado.

The shock, resentment, envy, and jealousy of all parties were easy to imagine. Whether it was armed plunder or sitting down to negotiate, they needed response strategies. Preparing responses in advance and drawing clear bottom lines would make it easier for Bai Qing and the others to act according to circumstances.

Bai Qing raised his hand like a blade and chopped the air: "Now that Li Dan is dead, this is the perfect time to press the advantage. Best to use a naval battle to drive the Dutch completely out of Hirado!"

He Sai shook his head vigorously: "The Ming has an old saying—harmony brings wealth. I don't think we need to hound the Dutch relentlessly. Wouldn't it be better if we all did business peacefully together? That way the cost of escorting convoys could also be lower."

Lü Zhou frowned and said: "Helmsman, from what I understand, the Dutch don't like proselytizing, so they enjoy the trust of the shogunate, the Hirado domain, and the Satsuma domain. This nail has been driven into Hirado for too many years. With a bit of force, it's easy to pry out—but I'm afraid of damaging the wood as well."

Lin Qian turned the teacup lid in his hand, pondered for a moment, then said: "The Dutch have no trade foothold in East Asia. In peaceful commerce, they are no match for us. Given the Dutch nature of greed, a war with us is only a matter of time.

But Lü Zhou is right—the Dutch have deep roots in Hirado. The shogun and the various domain daimyo are no fools either.

If monopolizing Hirado trade were possible, Li Dan would have monopolized it long ago and wouldn't have left the Dutch around until now.

Appearing too aggressive would instead make the shogunate hostile toward us. Damaging our fundamental interests would not be worth the gain."

Hearing this, the expressions of Lü Zhou and He Sai both improved considerably.

"However." Lin Qian's lips curled up. "The matter of the Dutch allying with Li Dan and sending ships to spy on Nan'ao Island cannot go unaddressed either. We need to find a way to occupy the moral high ground, avoid provoking the shogunate's displeasure, and still deliver a heavy blow to the Dutch forces in Hirado!"

"Uh..." All three fell into deep thought.

After a moment, Bai Qing ventured: "Use the tactic of feigning weakness to lure the snake out of its hole again?"

Lin Qian shook his head: "When a trick is overused, what interest is there left in it?"

Hearing Lin Qian say this, the three all knew he already had a plan in mind, so they all assumed an attentive listening posture.

Lin Qian said: "Ranqiu, bring me my 'delivery voucher.'"

"Yes." Ranqiu, standing in attendance at the side, handed over a sheet of rough paper.

The top of the paper read: "Raw Silk Delivery Voucher."

The body text read: "One dan of Huzhou silk, selling price one hundred eighty taels. Price fixed. Delivery upon presentation of voucher."

In the lower right corner was written: "Delivery deadline: June of the sixth year of Tianqi."

The edges of the document were carved with extremely intricate and dense decorative patterns. The date bore a red seal, and below it was a handwritten serial number. It looked extremely refined. All three stared at it in complete confusion.

Lin Qian explained: "This thing is called a 'delivery voucher.' Plainly speaking, it's a simple document stipulating that before June of next year, the holder may purchase one dan of Huzhou silk at a price of one hundred eighty taels. I plan to issue it in Hirado."

He Sai frowned deeply and protested: "High-quality Huzhou silk in Hirado—when the market is good, it can sell for over two hundred taels. Even at the worst market conditions, it's around one hundred ninety taels. It has never fallen below one hundred eighty. We don't lack sales channels—selling like this is too much of a loss!"

Lin Qian clapped his hands and said: "You're right—we intend to take a loss! Not a small loss, but a great, tremendous loss! That way the voucher holders make money! What can we do? Who says we aren't a responsible great merchant fleet?"

Since the supply is unstable, the losses from the fluctuations it causes should naturally be borne by us!

This is the sincerity of our cooperation with the shogunate and Hirado!

He Sai's face scrunched up like a bitter gourd as he muttered: "In the Hirado trade, raw silk takes the largest share. This year, our merchant fleet has basically bought up all the raw silk from Fujian and Guangdong, leaving raw silk to occupy nearly half of the total cargo space.

As a result, profits are severely constrained. To make the shogunate build trust with us, this loss is a bit too great."

Lin Qian laughed: "What you said is good! You should say more of that in Hirado—but saying just that isn't enough. You need to make it even more tragic!

Say that the merchant fleet encountered a storm at sea, half the ships sank to the bottom, and the raw silk on the remaining ships was all soaked through with seawater."

He Sai said: "Impossible. We guard the raw silk most strictly—it's wrapped in oilcloth layer upon layer. There's absolutely no way it could get wet."

"Is that so? What if I opened the oilcloth and poured seawater straight inside?"

"Huh?" He Sai was dumbfounded.

Lin Qian said: "I've already done it. Over a hundred chests of raw silk were heavily soaked, and over two hundred chests lightly soaked. Don't feel bad—this is the price the self-injury ruse must pay. In truth, this 'delivery voucher' is essentially a 'call option.' This thing is a trap I've set for the Dutch.

After you reach Japan, first play up your misery, then proactively seek out the 'silk-thread allotment elders'..."

Lin Qian laid out the entire scheme. The plan itself was actually very simple—the difficult part was explaining to the three men what an "option" was, what a "call option" was, and how changes in the physical goods market would affect the "call option."

In 1602, the world's first joint-stock company was established in the Netherlands.

In 1609, the Bank of Amsterdam was founded, providing a series of financial services such as deposits, transfers, and bill acceptance.

While other countries were still using precious metals as their currency form, the Dutch had already begun inventing various new financial instruments, and early futures were also sprouting in Amsterdam.

Coincidentally, the tulip bubble hadn't burst yet, so when facing financial products, the Dutch combined curiosity, boldness, greed, and recklessness—everything except caution.

And Hirado also had a highly developed commodity market.

With all these conditions combined, Lin Qian's scheme could take effect, allowing him to strike the Dutch down into a slump without shedding a single drop of blood.

Of course, this scheme also had the possibility of failure, but as the issuer, as long as Lin Qian didn't participate in the greater-fool game, he would never be backlashed. As for selling raw silk at one hundred eighty taels—would that lose profits?

Don't be foolish. Selling eight or nine thousand dan of raw silk over there—if the selling price could stay above one hundred fifty taels, you'd thank heaven and earth.

This so-called "delivery voucher" was destined to be a worthless scrap of paper from the moment of its birth.

As the delivery vouchers were bid higher and higher, whoever held them last would be the one the landmine blew up.

Given the Dutch greed and their familiarity with financial products, this landmine would most likely explode in their hands.

Though, exploding in the hands of shogunate merchants wouldn't be bad either—even if the Dutch profited, they'd be profiting from the shogunate's money, and they'd still be kicked out the door by the shogunate.

And no matter what, Lin Qian wouldn't lose—he might even make a small profit.

Thinking of this, Lin Qian couldn't help but smile. Blowing a bubble was certainly enjoyable, but being able to fast-forward to the day the bubble burst was even better! The next day, the Great Ming Treasure Fleet set sail for Hirado.

Among the cargo, the raw silk and large quantities of white sugar and porcelain were all loaded onto three whale ships, yet these three ships did not set out together.

Without the whale ships, the Great Ming Treasure Fleet looked much more shabby—a fitting image for a fleet that had lost half its cargo ships to a storm. While less than half of the Treasure Fleet set sail...

The Fuzhou and five Haicang ships had already sailed to the Guazhou Canal Entrance.

As early as when they passed Chongming County at the mouth of the Yangtze, the news that the fleet had entered the Yangtze estuary had already been reported upstream.

Along the entire route, the guard station naval stockades didn't dare come forward to intercept them.

If any bold one did approach, all the Fuzhou needed to do was open its gun ports and flash its bronze cannons, and the river troops would slink away in disgrace. The two great victories at Macao and Fuzhou, and the two pirate-suppression campaigns at the Pearl Mother Sea and the Min River estuary, had made the name of the Nan'ao Naval Force resound throughout Jiangnan.

Its signature Sea Wolf ships had the Ming navy scrambling to imitate them. As for the even more powerful clipper ships, their naval colleagues had heard thunderous praise of them—they simply lacked the ability to replicate them.

Now seeing the Nan'ao Naval Force fleet sailing into the Yangtze, which reckless fool would dare step forward to block them?

On top of that, the mounted agents of the Eastern Depot were arresting people on a massive scale throughout Jiangnan, losing all popular support—officials feared for their own safety, and the common people became estranged and disaffected.

And Zhangzhou's act of arresting the mounted agents had earned the admiration of the various Jiangnan provinces, so they would be even less inclined to make trouble.

Thus, along the five-hundred-plus-li waterway from the Yangtze estuary to Guazhou, not a single ship came forward to question them.

Bailangzai swaggered right up and anchored before the Guazhou Canal Entrance.

Because the water levels of the Yangtze and the Grand Canal differed, a special set of ship locks had been built at the Guazhou Canal Entrance to transport vessels.

Bailangzai did nothing in particular—just parked alongside each time a ship entered the locks to wait for the water level to rise.

To the common people and merchant shipowners, the Nan'ao Naval Force had strict military discipline, so no one thought much of it—at most, they found it a bit odd.

But to the Eastern Depot agents and mounted riders, this was no different from having cannons pointed at them—every time they passed through the locks, their legs trembled on both sides.

Soon, through the mounted agents' reports and local officials' impeachments, the matter reached the capital and came to the knowledge of Wei Zhongxian.

Nine Thousand Years was momentarily struck with terror, his eyes bulging as he muttered: "He... he truly dares to cut off the grain transport?"

Wang Tigan immediately said to the reporting agent: "Seal off this information—don't let a single word leak out!"

After the agent withdrew, before he could offer advice to Wei Zhongxian...

Another Eastern Depot Chiliarch strode in quickly, even tripping over the threshold before entering—utterly disheveled—and only his trembling voice was heard: "Nine Thousand Years, our agents in Fujian—they've all been wiped out."

"All? All wiped out?"

"Not a single one left!"

Yahei

Fenyuan

Pen