Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 14 Meeting Li Guozhu for the first time

After renting a house from Zhangzhou for two months and working in a shipyard owned by a Quanzhou native, Lin Hai could already speak a few words of Hokkien, and his hearing was completely fine.

He was not too excited when he heard an unfamiliar voice call him Yiguan. These days, Fujianese people used to call the eldest son Yiguan, the second son and third son, and so on.For example, Chen Yaozu and his twin brother were called Chen Erguan and Chen Yiguan respectively.

It wasn't until another unfamiliar voice spoke to him that Lin Hai took his attention away from the abacus.

He raised his eyes and saw a man with long arms and legs standing in front of the counter. He saw a broad face, thick lips, clear eyes, two thick eyebrows flying sideways into his temples, and a faint green stubble on his cheeks that went straight to his temples. side.

This man was dressed in short-game attire, with a net scarf on his head. He didn't look like a wealthy person, but the nails on his hands were very neatly trimmed, and there was a huge emerald ring on his thumb.The shape of the ring finger was made from a whole piece of gemstone. It was green and shiny, and even a layman like Lin Hai could tell that it was the best.

This person was probably a high-roller at sea. Lin Hai quickly identified the visitor. He had seen many Chinese merchants dressed similarly in the shipyard. Most of them stopped here for repairs when they came to Macau for trade.Although these maritime merchants were wealthy, they did not wear luxurious robes like ordinary wealthy people.

"Brother, you look strange, but are you the new accountant?" This is what the man asked Lin Hai. He sounded very familiar with Chen Kee Shipyard.

Lin Hai replied in half-baked Minnan dialect: "Xiao Ke is the accountant here. Does the guest want to repair the ship?"

The man did not answer, but pointed to a wooden ship model placed next to the abacus and said, "What is this boat for? I looked at it like a red-haired plywood boat."

In this era, there were no ship models, not even shipbuilding drawings. The so-called shipbuilding procedures were oral instructions passed down from masters and apprentices to fathers and sons, and they were basically based on experience.The ship model that the man pointed at was of course made by Lin Hai, and the prototype was the Baltimore clipper ship Newport.

Anyway, the shipyard had a lot of tools and scrap wood, so Lin Hai made this ship model with his own hands after work. However, except for the mast, no other equipment was installed.

"This is something Xiao Ke plays for fun in his spare time. It's just a gadget. The guest said it looks like a red-haired ship?" Lin Hai was a little surprised. The sails of North American schooners were indeed developed from Dutch ships. This person He is well-informed, and you can see this origin just from the mast.

The man nodded and said: "There is a kind of ship in Hongmao. The foremast and mainmast are hung with horizontal sails, and the mizzen mast is hung with longitudinal sails. Brother, this two-masted ship seems to me somewhat similar, but not the same. In addition, your mast is equipped with It’s too crooked.”

"The mast of this ship is tilted backwards. This is to concentrate the wind force toward the stern of the ship. The farther back the wind receiving position is, the easier it is to turn upwind, and the faster it is to change sides against the wind." Lin Hai saw that this man was insightful and intentional. He showed his hand and used the simplest words to explain the relationship between heart pressure and static stability.

Back-sloping masts were common on North American schooners more than 200 years later, because schooners emphasized upwind performance.However, the current Western-style schooners are far less scientific than those of later generations. Things such as hollow bows, upper-edge gaff sails, downward-inclined keels, backward-inclined masts, etc. have not yet come out.

The man frowned and thought for a moment, and soon found that Lin Hai's theory was consistent with experience. He raised his brows and said: "My surname is Li, my surname is Guozhu, and my surname is official. Have you asked me what my surname is?"

Li...Li Guozhu?Isn't this the biological son of Zheng Zhilong's adoptive father, Li Dan... That's right, Chenji Shipyard was founded with the help of Li Dan, so it's not unusual to see his son here.

In the original history, after Li Dan's death, his estate in Taiwan fell into the hands of Zheng Zhilong, his Fujian estate was inherited by his sworn brother Xu Xinsu, and his Japanese estate was inherited by his biological son Li Guoshu.Xu Xinsu was killed by Zheng Zhilong at the end of the seventh year of Tianqi, while Li Guozhu persisted until about the eighth year of Chongzhen, and was eventually murdered by Zheng Zhilong.

During these [-] years, Li Guozhu had always been an enemy of Zheng Zhilong. He also wrote to the Dutch and Taiwanese governor accusing Zheng Zhilong of embezzling his father's inheritance, and wanted to unite with Hongmao to deal with the latter.In the naval battle of Liaoluo Bay in the sixth year of Chongzhen's reign, Li Guozhu and the great pirate Liu Xiang joined the Dutch side with their warships, but were defeated by Zheng Zhilong using arson ship tactics.

Two years later, Zheng Zhilong used the help of the Japanese to get rid of Li Guozhu. So far, he has basically monopolized the Chinese businessmen's trade with Japan. This is also the most important trade line of the Zheng Group.

Lin Hai thought in his heart, crossed his hands and said: "My surname is Lin, and my last name is the word "Hai". It turns out that it is Mr. Li who is in front of me. Brother, I really have a blind eye and cannot recognize Taishan."

Li Guozhu smiled and did not give in. He just asked: "Mr. Lin is an accountant and can also build ships?" Lin Hai said: "My brother's ancestors were doing business in Western Europe and know little about Tang Dynasty ships, but he knows a little about the ships of various countries in Western Europe. The red-haired boat that Grand Master Li mentioned just now is named Yahat, which is the red-haired language and means fast boat."

When Lin Hai said this, he originally wanted Li Guozhu to take a look, but he didn't want Young Master Li to lose interest after hearing this.After all, although Chinese-style sailing ships are not suitable for use as warships, they still have excellent performance as merchant ships. Few Chinese maritime merchants in this era were interested in expensive Western-style sailing ships. At most, they could only learn from the details.

Li Guozhu said a few polite words to Lin Hai, and then called shopkeeper Chen to say that he wanted to repair the ship. He came to Macau this time with a total of two sea-going ships, one of which was an old ship that had been damaged during navigation and needed major repairs.

Shopkeeper Chen met Li Guozhu and called him his benefactor. He repeatedly insisted not to take money, but was eventually rejected.Li Guozhu threw away the money and left, leaving shopkeeper Chen looking at his back and sighing: "The Li family and his son are so benevolent and righteous!"

Lin Hai and shopkeeper Chen chatted for a long time. Seeing that the sun was setting and there was nothing going on at the counter, they said goodbye to their boss and went back home.

It is about four miles from the shipyard to the Portuguese community in Nanwan, and the walk takes no more than two cups of tea.When Lin Hai arrived home, Zhu Niang was cooking. The two of them had already chosen a date, and they were going to get married in ten days.

Zhu Niang is an old girl. She is happy every day when she sees good things coming. She is always humming a tune when she is cooking alone, and her eyes and eyebrows are always filled with an inexplicable smile.

"Brother Lin is back. Guess what we have to eat today?" Zhu Niang heard the familiar footsteps and turned back to Lin Hai with a mysterious smile.

Lin Hai smelled the aroma of meat from afar, and exaggeratedly twitched his nose and said: "What a good day, even you, an iron cock like you, have changed your temper and are willing to buy meat?"

Zhu Niang proudly brought out a plate of roasted chicken: "I didn't know how many feathers I plucked today. This chicken was still crowing early in the morning. I trimmed it with my own hands. The Huang family has guests today, and the Huang family made a big fuss. Ask me to help in the kitchen when it comes to the food on the table. This roast chicken didn’t get to be served until the end, which made me, the helper, much easier.”

Just at this time, Qizai also heard the noise and rushed into the kitchen excitedly and shouted: "Master is back, I want to eat chicken!"

This boy had been craving for most of the day. He wanted to eat chicken during lunch, but Zhu Niang stopped him and wanted to wait for Lin Hai to come back to eat together.Shi Wusi also followed Qizai in, and the first thing he asked Lin Hai was: "Xian son-in-law, have you got any clues about finding a buyer?"

He was asking about the pearl. Lin Hai had told the three of the Shi family not to go out. These days, Shi Wusi was very strict with Qi Zai.Except for Zhu Niang, who had no choice but to buy groceries, the three of them could not go out easily. The matter of selling pearls naturally fell on Lin Hai.

After living in the Huang family for some time, Shi Wusi got to see the life of the rich.The old man is thinking about buying a house and hiring some maids and women to take care of him.Zhu Niang also urged Lin Hai to sell the pearl. The wedding day was approaching day by day. What woman wouldn't want to do her lifelong event in a glorious way.

Lin Hai had been to the Third Street a few days ago. The so-called Three Street refers to Yingying Street, Guanqian Street and Caodui Street.It is the commercial center of Macau City. There are various shops opened by Guangdong merchants everywhere, including several jewelry stores, all of which are headquartered in Guangzhou City.

He carried the pearl and asked about the price in various jewelry stores. The highest one paid for it was a thousand taels of silver. He just held off because he didn't want to use the money to improve his life.

"There are a few favorite buyers whose bids are a little lower. I still have to fight with them." Lin Hai perfunctoryly said something to his future father-in-law, and then changed the subject and asked, "What guests came to the Huang family?"

"He's shopkeeper Huang's nephew, his name is Zheng Erguan." Zhu Niang continued, "The Zheng Yiguan you told He Xiang about that day is his biological brother."

Zheng Zhihu... It is said that this was the second person in the early days of the Zheng Group. Lin Hai remembered that this kid did not live long. He seemed to have died at the hands of the great pirate Liu Xiang in the early years of Chongzhen, and did not catch up with the Ming and Qing dynasties.

It is now February of the fifth year of Tianqi. It is the time when Zheng Zhilong is desperately trying to develop his power in Li Dan's gang. For this reason, he has divorced his two wives in his hometown in Fujian and Hirado, Japan, and instead hooked up with Yan Siqi, the second leader of the gang. daughter.

At this juncture, as his only adult brother, Zheng Zhihu, why did he come to Macau instead of staying in Taiwan to help his brother?
(End of this chapter)