Chapter 161: The Bait

The group then proceeded to extravagantly praise the life of Li Huamei from the Koei games, even mentioning unreliable things like the “Proof of the Conqueror.” Ma Jia saw that the game enthusiasts were getting more and more off-topic, and Li Huamei’s face was growing more and more suspicious. Fearing they would blow their cover, he quickly stopped them.

Li Huamei didn’t ask much more. From their conversation, they learned that this Li Huamei was currently engaged in trade between Goa, Macau, and Taiwan with a two-masted fast boat. She had come to Macau this time to see if there was any suitable sailing equipment she could acquire. This excited the group. This is a real professional sailor! They immediately introduced themselves, claiming to be descendants of the Southern Song dynasty who had returned from Australia and were temporarily residing on Hainan Island. From her expression, it seemed she didn’t quite believe them, but whether she believed them or not didn’t matter much. Since they knew the other party was a professional sailor and such a beautiful girl, several of the Navy men had the idea of hiring her as a foreign instructor. After all, there were too few people who understood Western sailing techniques. Although Wen Zong knew a lot, he was basically a theorist.

As soon as Monde made this request, Li Huamei smiled without answering. The few burly men around her all showed contemptuous looks. This look greatly provoked the few transmigrators. Monde, ignoring Ye Yuming’s attempts to stop him, raised the offered salary to five hundred taels of silver a year, which already seriously exceeded the budget, but still got no response. Monde then tried his usual trick of using modern plastic trinkets, which had always worked on the local women in Lingao, but Li Huamei showed no interest.

In the end, the group retreated in disappointment. Only then did Li Huamei smile and say, “You few, is this your first time trading at sea?”

Being seen as rookies felt bad, but they had to admit that they were indeed rookies.

“You guys,” Li Huamei’s laughter was like a blossoming flower, making the hearts of the few men flutter. To be honest, this Li Huamei would only be considered of average appearance in the modern world, but these men had been deprived for a long time. It had been almost half a year since they landed, and the women they saw most often were dark and thin. To suddenly encounter a woman who suited modern tastes, it was inevitable that their hearts would be swayed.

She drank a cup of wine heroically. “You guys can’t even tell the difference between Puerto Rican rum and Batavian rum, and you want to hire me as a captain!” she said, lightly tapping the bottle. “Do you know how much money I make on one trip between Goa and Macau? Do you know how much money I spent to get a trade license from the Governor of Goa?”

The Navy men were ashamed and their faces flushed with embarrassment. Ma Jia and Ye Yuming had not been enthusiastic about recruiting people in the first place—after all, this was the purview of the Executive Committee, and acting on their own without consulting the leadership was unjustifiable no matter what. Seeing the situation, they quickly stepped in to smooth things over. Although Ma Jia was from a clerical background, he was much more worldly-wise than a recent graduate like Monde. Our own strength is lacking, so it’s no wonder she looks down on us. If we were truly the masters of the Chinese coast, would she dare to refuse to be our foreign instructor? When Zheng Zhilong demanded that the Dutch and English pay navigation taxes, who dared to refuse? This is a manifestation of strength.

Fortunately, they were currently in a phase of extensively developing relationships in all aspects. Even if business couldn’t be done, goodwill could still be maintained. If she couldn’t be employed by them, they could still discuss cooperation.

After listening to Ma Jia and the others, Li Huamei nodded. She then asked several more times if they were really Australian merchants. Only after receiving an affirmative answer did she nod slightly, without giving a clear statement. The girl’s gaze suddenly shifted to their waists, and she asked, “Is that a firearm?”

“Of course.” This derringer-style, front-loading, single-shot pistol had been manufactured by the mechanical department at the end of last year to equip the officers and sergeants of the New Army. The barrels of the first batch of guns were made of the same boiler steel tubes as the Minié rifles, and the quality was excellent. As this operation carried a certain risk, to reduce the possibility of losing modern firearms, besides a small number of SKS rifles stored on the ship, each person carried very few modern handguns, most of which had been replaced with this derringer-style single-shot pistol.

“Is it a flintlock?”

The group thought to themselves, This Li Huamei has a good eye. Seeing no matchcord on the gun, she immediately thought of this, which showed she was an expert familiar with firearms. But you don’t know that our gun is much more advanced than a flintlock.

“It’s so small. What’s the use of it?” the girl said doubtfully.

There’s a chance, Monde thought. What sailing equipment in Macau can compare to our firearms, which are more than 100 years ahead? Thinking of this, Monde said mysteriously to Li Huamei, “Miss, our gun is much more powerful than a matchlock. If you don’t believe me, let’s find a place to test it.”

“Alright,” Li Huamei was quite straightforward. After paying the bill, the group went out to find a place to test the gun.

At this time, Macau had plenty of open space, not yet at the point of needing to reclaim land from the sea as in later times. After walking a short distance along the coastline from the dock, they came to the end of the port area. Although it was still within the protection of the city walls and batteries, it was already a desolate tidal flat. On the beach were a few broken small boats and some scrapped ship materials, which were perfect as targets.

After firing a few shots at the hull of a wrecked boat, Li Huamei had a very intuitive understanding of the superiority of this gun. The thick oak planks of the boat were easily pierced, and even the wooden board behind it was blown away. The accuracy of the gun was beyond her imagination. At a distance of 100 paces, Monde could easily hit a target no larger than three feet by three feet—which was simply incredible by the standards of 1629.

She then asked if she could also try it. Monde immediately agreed, which made Ye Yuming frown. Even if the other party has no malicious intent, this is still our first meeting. To so casually display our ultimate weapon and let someone else try it, isn’t that a bit inappropriate?

Monde taught her how to load the gun and place the percussion cap. Li Huamei watched and listened, secretly admiring it. Everyone says Australian goods are exquisite—and it’s true. Even such a small firearm is made to perfection. In terms of loading, it was countless times faster than the matchlock she was used to. In a fight, not to mention the accuracy and power, the advantage in firing speed alone would be enough to be lethal.

After a few test shots, she had mastered the essentials of shooting and loading. She couldn’t help but repeatedly handle and caress this small and exquisite weapon, looking as if she couldn’t bear to part with it.

“It’s a really good gun.”

“Since you like it, then—” Monde’s words were cut short by Ma Jia:

“This gun is very good. We might make more in the future. If you like it, miss, you are welcome to come to Lingao to purchase it.”

Seeing their embarrassed expressions, Li Huamei knew that this thing was very valuable. She didn’t mind and, with a slight smile, returned the gun to Monde and went to see the shooting results herself.

Here, Ye Yuming whispered to Monde, “Are you out of your mind! Casually giving away a gun—”

Monde looked unwilling. “But she’s Li Huamei.”

“Li Huamei, Li Huamei, you think you’re playing Uncharted Waters!” Ye Yuming glanced at the woman. “We don’t even know where this woman came from, and you’re giving her a gun. Don’t you want to stay here anymore?”

Only then did Monde realize his mistake. His head cleared up a bit. Ma Jia sighed. These game addicts always unconsciously equate reality with games.

Perhaps to liven up the atmosphere, Li Huamei invited them to see her ship, which was moored at the dock.

“Let’s go have a look,” Ma Jia suggested. Although he was not at ease with Li Huamei, his curiosity was very strong.

“As long as we don’t go on board,” Monde muttered. He was a bit dejected, perhaps feeling a little disillusioned.

“Everyone be careful.” Although this was still under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese, no one would be completely lawless here.

The group made their arrangements and walked back together. Her ship was very conspicuous among the many ships at the dock. It was a small single-masted sailing ship, though much larger than the transmigrators’ Tongji.

This ship was a single-masted fast boat. It had a gaff rig as long as its hull, like a swordfish, which allowed it to carry a long line of sails, making it more agile than a two-masted sailing ship. With a tailwind, its speed could reach 11 knots. It was a very useful type of ship for smuggling and piracy.

“This is my Hangzhou. Isn’t she beautiful?” Li Huamei was very fond of her ship.

Monde estimated the ship to be about 100 tons, with a considerable draft. There were five closed gunports on one side of the hull, and including the swivel guns visible on the deck, there were a total of about 14 cannons. As for its crew and cargo capacity, he couldn’t estimate—he didn’t know much about European sailing ships.

The others just echoed his sentiments. They knew even less about ships than Monde.

While the group was touring the ship at the dock, a small sailor who had been following Li Huamei had disappeared at some point. At this moment, this person appeared near the warehouses behind the dock area, quickly ducked into a rather shabby alley, came to a busy warehouse, looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, then went around to the side door and knocked a few times.

The door opened immediately. The sailor did not greet the person who opened the door but walked straight inside.

Inside the door was a small courtyard with many large and small houses, which seemed to be empty and unused. The courtyard was also piled with a lot of miscellaneous things. The sailor came to the second door and pushed it open directly. Inside was a completely different world.

In the Moorish-style tiled courtyard, two dark-skinned guards were dozing. Hearing someone enter, they immediately became alert and grabbed their curved swords.

The sailor waved his hand at them and continued to walk inside. At the top of the steps was a deep living room. Light filtered in through the high, narrow windows. The sailor stood at the doorway for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the light. He saw his mistress—Li Siya, dressed in a loose silk robe, reclining on a low, long sofa piled with many beautifully embroidered pillows. She was staring at a piece of paper in her hand, lost in thought.