Chapter 311: A Tacit Understanding

Lu Yang said, “For those who truly have no way to live, Master Lu has some properties in Fujian and Zhejiang. He can send them there to be tenant farmers and open up wasteland.”

Sun Yuanhua was skeptical. He was from Jiading, and Zhejiang was right next door. Although northern Zhejiang was a rich and fertile land, the fields had long been connected, and there was little land left to reclaim. Southern Zhejiang was all mountainous, with a large population and little land. The people had to leave their homes to work as merchants or tenant farmers to survive. As for Fujian, although he had never been there, he knew it was a province of continuous mountains with very little land. The grain produced was not even enough to feed its own population, and a large number of people emigrated every year.

Naturally, the refugees collected by Master Lu had another destination—one only needed to look at the long jetty extending into the bay to know. Besides having a large number of ships docking, why build such a long jetty? It was clearly for transporting people by ship.

Thinking of ships, Sun Yuanhua’s gaze fell on the vessels by the jetty—his eyelids twitched.

The distance to the pier was not short, but the weather was clear today, and the ships moored by the jetty could be seen clearly against the blue background.

Besides some small, common local fishing boats, there were more than a dozen large ships of over two hundred liao! Sun Yuanhua knew well the importance of the navy for cross-sea support and maneuverability in the Liaodong campaign. When he was governor of Deng-Lai, he had worked hard to build up the navy. To expand the fleet, besides trying to build ships himself, he had also sent people to Korea to purchase large naval warships.

He had never expected such a large fleet to be gathered right under his nose! He suppressed his surprise and excitement, rubbed his eyes, and carefully examined the ships at the pier.

Although he couldn’t see the details, the ships appeared to be in excellent condition. The sails and rigging were almost new, and a blue and white flag fluttered from the stern. There were also protruding objects on the deck covered with tarpaulins, which looked like cannons.

“Are all these ships Master Lu’s?” Sun Yuanhua asked, feigning nonchalance.

“Indeed,” Lu Yang said. “They are all under Master Lu’s command. Would you like to take a look, sir?”

Lu Wenyan did not intend to hide his true identity—after all, deep cooperation was to follow. Besides, without showing some muscle, the other party might not trust him.

“Very well,” Sun Yuanhua nodded.

Led by Lu Yang, Sun Yuanhua immediately went to the jetty. There were a total of nine naval vessels moored at the Qimu Island pier: one Type 901 gunboat and eight special service boats. Because the Type 901 gunboat looked very different from ordinary ships, the Daishuang was moored between two rows of special service boats. Not only the cannons on the deck but also the smokestack were camouflaged with tarpaulins and fishing nets.

Sun Yuanhua immediately boarded a special service boat—it was a Guangdong-style ship, not commonly seen in the local area. From the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang all the way to Liaodong, because of the many shallow coastal waters, the mainstream ship type was the flat-bottomed junk. Among the warships of the Deng-Lai navy, there were also many junk-type ships. However, these ships had a shallow draft and were slow. As warships, they only had an advantage because their opponent was the Later Jin, which had almost no navy.

He watched with interest the modified sterncastle, masts, and rigging. He was particularly impressed by the deck, which was so clean it was reflective. This was something impossible in his experience.

Boarding the sterncastle, Sun Yuanhua became very interested in the ship’s wheel. At this time, sailing ships, both Chinese and foreign, used a tiller for steering. The convenient and sensitive ship’s wheel immediately caught his attention.

He tried turning the wheel and found it quite light, marveling at it.

Next, at his request, Lu Yang ordered the tarpaulins to be removed from the cannons, revealing the 24-pounder smoothbore cannons and 68-pounder carronades mounted on the open barbettes.

Sun Yuanhua was a “cannon expert.” Although most of his knowledge came from Western missionaries who were not very professional, he had, after all, been exposed to a large number of Western firearms books and actual objects, and had long-term contact and cooperation with Portuguese soldiers. His ability to identify cannons was unmatched in the court.

He could see at a glance that the cannons before him were larger than the “Hongyi cannons” purchased from Macau, which the court regarded as “vital military assets.” Not to mention the few thick and short cannons, even the muzzles of the seemingly smaller long cannons were much larger than those of the Hongyi cannons.

“Does this cannon fire 24-jin cannonballs?” Sun Yuanhua asked. At that time, Chinese translations of Western artillery books did not convert the units of measurement. “Pounds” were directly translated as “jin,” and units of length became the “builder’s foot.” Although Sun Yuanhua was an expert, he could not read Portuguese or Italian, so he went along with the mistake.

Lu Yang, of course, knew this. Although his units of measurement were wrong, he could tell the approximate caliber of the cannon just by looking at it, which was quite professional.

“It is indeed a 24-jin cannonball.”

“And that large cannon over there, I wonder what size cannonball it uses?”

“That’s a 68-jin cannonball.”

“68 jin?!” Sun Yuanhua was quite shocked. In his mind, a Hongyi cannon that fired a 12-pound cannonball was already a “giant cannon.” But the cannons on this ship were ordinary 24-pounders, and there was even a 68-pounder!

“Since it fires a 24-jin cannonball, it must require a lot of gunpowder,” Sun Yuanhua raised a second question. “I see that the barrel of this cannon is very thin, and it is not cast from bronze. I wonder if it will not burst?”

The Ming Dynasty introduced Western cannons but did not fully adopt the standardized training and use of them. Therefore, there were many problems with the amount of gunpowder loaded, the rate of fire, and the forced cooling of the cannon barrel. In addition, there were various problems with materials and craftsmanship when imitating the cannons, so cannon bursting accidents occurred from time to time.

To ensure the safety of firing the cannons, the only way was to thicken the barrel when casting them. The result was that the cannons produced were very heavy. This trend developed to its extreme during the Opium War, when cannons weighing several thousand jin fired shells equivalent to European 12-pounders, or even 9-pounders or 6-pounders.

In contrast, Lingao’s smoothbore cannons were all manufactured using integral casting, heat treatment, hammer forging, and then drilling. The raw materials and processing methods used were hundreds of years ahead, and the quality of the cannons produced was far superior to that of traditionally cast cannons.

“It’s no problem,” Lu Yang smiled slightly. “Not to mention 68-jin cannonballs, even cannons with hundred-jin cannonballs are fine.”

“Hundred-jin cannonballs!” Sun Yuanhua repeated in astonishment. In his view, a 68-jin cannonball was already terrifying enough, let alone a hundred-jin one!

He looked at the cannon before him again in disbelief. The smooth muzzle and the shiny barrel gave him a strong visual impact. His impression of the entire cannon was actually—”exquisite.”

His gaze fell on the gun carriage under the cannon. It was not the Western-style four-wheeled wooden gun carriage that he had personally supervised the construction of, but was mounted on an exquisite iron gun carriage with many iron rods, wheels, and some incomprehensible bronze and iron parts. Some of them looked familiar—similar to the objects in the Illustrations of Strange Western Machines, but not exactly the same.

He wondered what the use of this pile of objects under the cannon was.

As if to answer his question, Lu Yang released the cannon’s lock and gently pushed it.

The heavy cannon actually rotated, and under the push of a seemingly not-so-strong young man, who clearly wasn’t using his full strength.

Sun Yuanhua had been in Liaodong and had experienced actual combat. He certainly knew how significant it was to be able to move the cannon’s muzzle so easily in combat. And this was a problem that even the Franks and the missionaries had no solution for!

Then Lu Yang quickly turned the handwheel, and the cannon barrel gradually rose. Sun Yuanhua was already stunned. The Portuguese adjusted the elevation of their cannons by hammering a wedge-shaped piece of wood. Not only was the adjustment speed very slow, but a slight uneven force would cause it to overshoot.

People said that the West had strange machines that were not found in China. However, the various “strange machines” on this ship far surpassed those of the West.

At this point, his originally vague guess had become a conclusion. Master Lu was a “Kun thief”!

Besides the Kun thieves, who in the world could create such exquisite and wonderful machines? The events in Guangdong had more or less reached Sun Yuanhua’s ears—especially since he had frequent correspondence with the Jesuits in Macau and employed Portuguese in his army, so the information he had about the Senate was much more detailed than that of ordinary officials in the court. He knew about the Kun thieves’ “large iron ships,” “fast iron boats,” “large cannons,” and “fast guns.”

Although the ship before him was a Guangdong-style ship, the cannons were undoubtedly Australian-made! Master Lu and the young man before him were both Australians, and the mountain stronghold on Qimu Island was also a genuine “Kun thief’s nest”!

It was no wonder they had built a stronghold here and painstakingly taken in refugees. They must have been transported to Hainan Island. Hainan Island was located in the south and was sparsely populated. The Portuguese had said that the Kun thieves were always trying to attract immigrants from the mainland. The Kun thieves on Qimu Island must have the same purpose!

Sun Yuanhua’s feeling about the “Kun thieves” was simply this: they were nothing more than a group of businessmen who wanted to make money. As long as the Great Ming did not hinder their business, they were not a threat to the Great Ming. They were much better than the vicious Tartars who made a living from robbery and slaughter.

Usually, whether from the Portuguese or from people from Guangdong, the impression of the Australians was not bad. They were said to be skilled craftsmen and good merchants, honest and reliable in business. Not to mention that the church praised the “Australians” as if they were angels descending from heaven.

Although he already understood in his heart, Sun Yuanhua was in no hurry to expose it. Sometimes it was better to pretend to be confused. Besides, he couldn’t see any malice from them towards him.

These people had gone to great lengths to rescue him from the rebel army, so they must have a purpose. He might as well wait and see what they wanted to do. In any case, he, Sun Yuanhua, had nothing left.