Chapter 57: Surfacing

“On D-Day, when the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was clearing out Zhongzuosuo City, they discovered two Lingao-made naval cannons on the city wall. After checking the inscriptions, it was confirmed that these two cannons were from the recently missing naval patrol boat, Ganghaixun 64.” The screen then showed two smoothbore cannons that had been knocked over among a pile of bricks and sandbags. The gun carriages were damaged, but the cannons were intact. The inscriptions, emblems, and dates cast on them were clearly visible.

Photos of the two cannons appeared on the screen, with close-ups of the whole and various angles, including the barrel and the damaged gun carriage. Only the cannon foundry in Lingao could produce this type of cannon.

Then there were a dozen more photos, showing the gunpowder, fuses, and supporting tools for the cannons.

“Very complete,” Wen Desi said.

“Yes, after receiving my order, the Planning Institute’s special search team conducted a carpet search of the area around the cannon firing position and found these cannon-supporting ammunition and equipment—all of which were equipment from Ganghaixun 64.”

“Wait…” Wen Desi raised his hand when a picture of a shrapnel fuse was shown. “They used this kind of fuse too?”

“Yes, according to the reports from Shi Zhiqi and the marines, they were fired upon by these two cannons during their attack, and there were shrapnel shells.”

A low murmur of discussion arose in the conference room. This type of fuse was a 19th-century technology, and in this time and space, it was a unique skill of Lingao. It could be said that apart from the army and navy artillery of the Fubo Army, no other armed force could correctly use this type of fuse.

“So, there are people we’ve trained in Zheng Zhilong’s ranks?”

“Well, there’s no conclusive evidence yet,” Xu Ke said. “However, the Ganghaixun 64 incident was indeed the work of the Zheng clan. I will report on this in the last item.”

“Okay, you can continue.”

“Yes.” Xu Ke clicked the mouse, and the weapons factory on Gulangyu appeared on the screen.

“This is the weapons factory built by the Zheng clan that we discovered on Gulangyu—it’s mainly used for casting cannons.” He then showed photos and survey data of the various facilities and equipment in the factory.

“We handed over the photos and survey data of the entire factory’s facilities to several senators from the Manufacturing General Supervision Department who have a relatively deep understanding of cannon casting and production organization for analysis. Their conclusion is that this is a very well-designed cannon foundry. The design concepts of some of the facilities are not only higher than the East Asian level of this time and space, but also superior to the current highest standards in Europe.”

Xu Ke showed the next set of photos.

“This is one of the two facilities that the senators from the Manufacturing General Supervision Department considered most suspicious: the reverberatory furnace.”

Most of the people present knew what a reverberatory furnace was. The principle of a reverberatory furnace is simple, and the construction difficulty is not great—in Japan, after the opening of the country by the Black Ships and before the Meiji Restoration, the shogunate also engaged in a period of Westernization, which included building reverberatory furnaces under the guidance of Europeans and casting cannons according to European models. Although the cannons cast were still smoothbore cannons, the pig iron water produced by the secondary smelting in the reverberatory furnace at a higher furnace temperature was purer, and the quality of the cannons cast was qualitatively improved.

“The senators from the metallurgical and foundry departments have confirmed that all the furnaces in this set of photos are reverberatory furnaces used for melting pig iron for secondary smelting. The Science and Technology Group of the Great Library has confirmed that in this time and space, this structure of reverberatory furnace has not yet appeared. Therefore, it is impossible that some European technician helped Zheng Zhilong build it.”

Another slight commotion arose below.

“The second item has not yet been formed.” Xu Ke clicked on the photo. This was the square-shaped blockhouse-like building he had seen at the cannon foundry and the various bamboo and wood accessories found nearby.

“After identification by the senators from the machinery and construction departments, they unanimously believe that this is an unfinished windmill. Around the windmill, no bearings or transmission systems used inside the windmill were found, so it should not have been completed yet. The senators from the construction company pointed out that from the architectural structure alone, this windmill is very similar to the windmills we currently use extensively for lifting water and irrigation.”

“Zheng Zhilong definitely didn’t build this to grind flour or lift water,” someone joked below. Xu Ke also smiled and said:

“The senators from the machinery department analyzed that there are two possibilities for building a windmill. One is to provide power for the boring machine used for cannons, and the other is to grind gunpowder. Perhaps both are possible. In short, this is obviously a way to improve work efficiency.” Xu Ke then introduced the facilities, material preparation, and craftsman recruitment of this cannon foundry, especially the crucibles.

The use of crucibles is for no other reason than to obtain high-quality steel, but in cannon casting, neither China nor the West used steel before the mid-19th century. Furthermore, the amount of steel produced by crucibles is too small. It is fine for making a small number of swords or tools, but it is not economical for making cannons.

If they wanted to obtain high-quality swords, it would be nothing for the Zheng Zhilong group, which controlled the trade routes to Japan. Therefore, the possibility of manufacturing swords can be ruled out.

“…From the on-site exploration and the confessions of the prisoners, we learned that this factory is nearing completion. From the large amount of cannon-casting materials they have stockpiled and the large number of craftsmen they have recruited in advance, it can be seen that the Zheng Zhilong group has very high expectations for this cannon factory—this may be related to the fact that they are currently upgrading their naval equipment. In the shipyard on the beach near the cannon foundry, we found several under-construction, improved large Fuchuan ships. These two ships are nearing completion. We are considering towing them back to Hong Kong for further investigation—here are the photos of the ships.”

“It has ribs, a deck, and this unusual length-to-width ratio: I’d say it’s 4,” Wen Desi commented. “This ship is an improved version of the Fuchuan. The deck and ribs are improvements made for installing cannons.”

“Yes,” Xu Ke nodded. “The experts from the navy also say so.”

“So, so far, besides the shipyard, this arms factory has not yet been put into production?”

“That’s right. There are no signs of production in the factory—although according to the assessment, they could have started production completely. According to the prisoners, they were waiting for ‘foreign cannons.’ After analysis, we believe that the so-called foreign cannons of the prisoners should refer to ‘sample cannons,’ because in places like Jinmen and Xiamen, we have found cannons made in various countries: Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. The calibers range from 1 pound to 24 pounds. Furthermore, they also have two cannons from our ships—obviously, they are not short of foreign cannons.”

Finally, Xu Ke talked about the issue of Ganghaixun 64.

“According to our interrogation of the captured prisoners, we have obtained the following information: the patrol boat was brought back by Zheng Zhilong’s brother, Zheng Zhifeng, some time ago and was repaired at the pier. At the same time, the cannons and some equipment on the boat were dismantled.”

At this time, a portrait of a young man appeared on the screen, with the caption: “Zheng Zhifeng.”

“We were unable to capture Zheng Zhifeng. As for the other high-level prisoners captured, they knew very little about this matter, but we still have some gains: several staff members confessed that the Ganghaixun 64 patrol boat was hijacked by someone hired by the Zheng family for a large sum of money and then handed over to the Zheng family.” Hearing this, another small commotion arose in the conference room, which quickly quieted down.

“…In order to find out the specific situation, our bureau conducted an investigation in Jinmen, Xiamen, Anping, and other places. Unfortunately, we did not find Ganghaixun 64, nor did we find other equipment on the boat—including the typewriter and the equipped ammunition. They seem to have disappeared.”

“Considering that it would be almost impossible for ordinary pirates to capture the Ganghaixun 64 patrol boat almost intact, we are very curious about who did it. Although we did not capture Zheng Zhifeng himself, we captured many of his staff, personal soldiers, and servants. Through further interrogation of these people, we learned that it was done by a Japanese Christian named Paul. In addition, it is said that this person also promised to provide the Zheng family with cannons and other firearms, claiming that they were not much worse than those of Lingao.” Hearing this, the faces of everyone in the conference room became more solemn.

“Since Zheng Zhilong kept his contact with Mr. Paul a secret, we were unable to obtain more information from the staff. But through the interrogation of Zheng Zhifeng’s entourage, we obtained a portrait of Mr. Paul.” A portrait of a typical East Asian man in his prime, about thirty-five to forty years old, appeared on the screen.

“Those of you present may not be familiar with this person, but I believe you all know Lando,” Xu Ke paused. In his heart, Xu Ke was reluctant to mention his colleague, but he also understood his duty. “When Senator Lando first came to Lingao, the General Political Security Bureau interrogated him many times. At that time, he mentioned that when he traveled through time, the small boat he was on encountered a storm. At that time, there were two Filipino crew members, a German first mate, and a Japanese man on the boat.” This time, a photo of a typical white man’s body appeared on the screen.

“This is the German first mate, who died from a head injury on the console. His name was Paul,” Xu Ke deliberately paused to let others sort out their thoughts. “The two Filipino crew members disappeared after encountering the storm, and it is presumed that they were swept into the waves. Paul died, and the Japanese man’s name was Hale. He and Lando climbed onto a lifeboat together. Later, the lifeboat was overturned by the waves, and they were separated. Lando never saw him again.”

A portrait of an East Asian man of about thirty years old appeared on the screen. He had short hair, no beard, a strong build, a fair face, and a smooth forehead.

“This is a portrait of Hale drawn at the time based on Lando’s description. It can be seen that the images of the two portraits are very consistent.” This portrait was superimposed on the previous one, and the outlines and facial features were very similar.