Chapter 220: The Esmeralda

Count Fannanuova had already taken off his hat and gave a slight bow as a sign of respect. “Honorable sirs, your presence here is a great honor for me.” The Count had shed his cavalry attire from the ball game and was now wearing a magnificent hunting suit. Standing behind him was a seaman, perhaps the captain, as tall and sturdy as a Norseman. His deep, brownish-yellow skin was clearly the result of long exposure to the tropical sun and sea breeze. He wore a wig, a long-tailed coat with a double row of gold buttons, and a tricorne hat decorated with an anchor and oak leaves tucked under his arm. He stood with his feet apart, his body as straight as a mast. The way he looked at others gave the Spaniards the illusion that they were young, errant seamen, trembling before their captain, awaiting punishment.

“Your Excellency the Count, is this your ship?” one of the port officials asked foolishly, perhaps dizzy from the rocking of the sampan. Don Basilio glared at him fiercely. The Count, however, paid no mind and pointed to the top of the mast, where a flag bearing his family crest fluttered, the same as the one on his famous red-flagged carriage in Manila.

The wind was getting stronger, and the waves, carrying the dazzling sunlight, leaped high, crashing into brilliant white spray on the shore and reefs. The Esmeralda was anchored with a single anchor, all her sails furled, but she still tossed and turned with the beating of the waves. Weiss walked on the swaying deck as if he were strolling in the gallery outside the yacht’s stern. The patrol ship captain grew more and more curious about the Count. He had thought him just a knight, but he walked on the ship like an old sailor. In contrast, the port official and the clerk had fallen behind, having to hold onto the bulwark to maintain their balance. What kind of man was this European nobleman who had come from so far away?

There wasn’t much to see on the yacht. Compared to its beautiful lines, the deck from bow to stern was surprisingly simple and neat. It seemed its sole purpose was to sail fast and nimbly evade enemy ships. It was as if this were not a yacht, but an armed fast boat ready for battle at any moment. After seeing the cannons on deck, the patrol ship captain was even more convinced of his opinion.

“Do you only have two cannons on your ship?” the patrol ship captain asked. When the Count, at his request, ordered the gun covers to be removed, the gleaming black cannons made his eyelids twitch violently. In the entire Far East, he only knew of the Portuguese technician Bocarro in Macau who could cast heavy cannons from iron. Of course, the Chinese also cast iron cannons, but those could hardly be called cannons. The patrol ship captain had been on junks and seen the Chinese iron cannons. They were all small, shabby iron tubes, with no standard design or finishing, as if they were casually made by pouring molten iron into a mud mold. They were tied haphazardly to the ship’s side with ropes and could not be compared to the finely cast cannons before him.

“Without swivel guns and light falconets, how do you deal with the Ladrone pirates? Their fire ships and fast boats will swarm you like a tide.”

The Count turned his head and said a word. The wig-wearing yacht captain shouted a few commands in an incomprehensible language. In an instant, four sailors ran to the gun positions, untied the ropes, and turned a few screw wheels under the cannon. Wherever the Count’s riding crop pointed, the muzzle of the cannon followed, raising and lowering as if it were not a heavy cannon, but a wheellock pistol that could be held in one hand. The demonstration was performed twice, proving that the short cannon on the forecastle and the carronade at the stern were indeed “swivel guns,” except that they fired not 2-pound small iron balls or canister shot, but devastating 24-pound and 68-pound giant projectiles.

“Whether it’s the Ladrones or the Malay pirates, I have the best gifts prepared for them here,” the Count said, pointing his silver-tipped whip to the ammunition rack next to the 68-pound carronade, where formidable grapeshot was neatly stacked.

“Your Excellency, your warship is so fine that it would be difficult to build even in Seville or Genoa, the most prolific producers of fast ships in all of Europe.” Even though the gunnery drill deliberately avoided aiming at the patrol ship, the Spaniards were still greatly intimidated. Anyone with even a little knowledge of naval warfare could see that two or three fast ships like the Esmeralda, armed with such cannons, could easily outflank and capture a galleon from its vulnerable stern. And Weiss’s guests had not even witnessed the terror of the 68-pound explosive and incendiary shells.

“You are quite right. The Esmeralda is my ship, and I am a soldier. My ship, like my sword, is a weapon in the service of God. I would be pleased to hear you call it a warship,” the Count said proudly. “My warship must be able to sail fast against the wind, to pursue the pirate ships of the Malays. It must have a shallow enough draft to penetrate the shoaly lairs of the bandits and rescue Christians who have been enslaved. No local ship suits my purpose, so I had the Esmeralda built at the shipyard in Hong Kong. Another workshop there makes mining machinery for me. I designed the flexibly rotating gun mounts and ordered them to be made. As for the cannons, they were ordered from Mr. Bocarro’s foundry in Macau. All these expenses were paid for out of my personal income.”

“Hong Kong, you mean that small island off the coast of Guangzhou that is now in the hands of those Australians?”

“Precisely. The Australians have established excellent shipyards and cannon foundries on the island. They are very good at making machinery and cannons, especially fine ones, but they refuse to sell them, no matter how much you offer.”

“You seem to have a very close relationship with the Australians!” the tax collector said maliciously.

“Of course,” Rando said, stroking his beard proudly. “A nobleman of my stature, a faithful servant of God, is welcome wherever I go. Besides, the Australians are a bunch of mammon-worshippers!”

With that, he patted the velvet money pouch at his waist, which made a crisp clinking sound. A burst of laughter immediately erupted on the deck.

Rando continued, “The Jesuit fathers in Macau have proposed to raise funds for the construction of this ship, to have it patrol the waters off Macau and capture pirates. I hope the gentlemen of Manila can raise this sum—if it can be raised. With just two or three more Esmeraldas, forming a small fleet under my command, the fierce and cunning Moro proas will be utterly destroyed, and the heathen bandits who harass Cebu and the Visayas will have no choice but to surrender. At that time, the glory of God and the honor of His Majesty will surely shine upon the entire Eastern Archipelago, from Malacca to the Moluccas.”

Don Basilio looked at the Count with an expression of half amazement and half doubt. The patrol ship captain, on the other hand, excitedly gripped his sword. “Ah, the Mercury is also a well-equipped good ship, but a noble and great idea like yours could never have been born in Mr. Sanabria’s mind.”

“The esteemed gentleman you refer to,” the Count said to Don Basilio, “must be the sea palace of your dear friend, Don Sanabria?” He turned back to continue listening to the patrol ship captain, leaving the embarrassed tax collector with his back.

“…In the fleet of the Royal Colony of the East Indies, you will not find a faster or more magnificent three-masted ship. Mr. Sanabria spent a great deal of money to hire the first-class shipwright from Goa, Diego Luis, to personally supervise its construction. Its rigging and sails are also of the finest quality. With a good wind, it can travel two to two and a half leagues in an hour…”

“But a strong crosswind could capsize it,” the wig-wearing yacht captain suddenly interjected. His Spanish had a strange accent, but it was still understandable. “Carving beams and painting walls on the ship’s side, and erecting huge statues of Apollo, Minerva, Neptune, and the like, only adds useless weight, reduces speed, and makes the voyage more unstable.”

“Well, Mario, my good captain,” the Count said, “have you really seen Don Sanabria’s ocean express? For the sake of the merciful Holy Mother, you haven’t offended his ship, have you?”

“Your Excellency, as we entered the bay and had just passed the islands of Mariveles and Corregidor, that three-masted ship came up behind us.” Captain Mario kept touching the wig on his head, as if afraid it would be blown off by the wind. “I’m sure it was the ship you mentioned. The bow and stern were covered with gilded statues, like those rich Chinese women who stick their hair full of glittering gold jewelry but can’t even walk straight. Its captain probably mistook us for pirates and chased after us with all sails set.”

“And what did you do?”

“I ordered a circle around the three-master, so that the blind captain could get a clearer view of your flag. It still tried to catch up with us, even with its studding-sails all out. Of course, it was left behind in the end. How can a water buffalo outrun a steed?”

“Well, look at you, you’ve scared our distinguished guests. My dear Mario, if Don Sanabria were to hear you describe his treasure ship in such a way, he would probably use Jupiter’s thunderbolts to blast us both to smithereens.” The Count paced to the open hatch at the rear of the deck and stopped. He untied a heavy silk pouch from his waist and patted it, making the pleasant clinking sound of gold coins. “Your Excellency the Tax Collector, I assure you on my honor that this 180-ton small ship carries no cargo for sale in Manila. But I am still prepared to comply with His Excellency the Governor’s decree and pay the anchorage tax of 12 silver pesos per ton. You and your colleagues may inspect every cabin, every corner, to verify that there is no falsehood in my words.”

Don Basilio was extremely embarrassed. He had almost crumpled the hat in his hands. He could only bow his head and waist, stammering praises of the Count’s virtue of forgiveness, repeatedly expressing his apologies, and declaring again and again that the Count’s private yacht, the Esmeralda, was exempt from inspection and all commercial ship taxes while anchored in Manila.