On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

In the "Fanfang" area of ​​Quanzhou Port, the bustling trade during the day has faded, leaving only the whimpering of the sea breeze blowing through the empty warehouses.

Baron Ferdinand's "Golden Fleece" did not return home loaded with silk and porcelain like other merchant ships, but instead remained quietly anchored in deep waters with its sails half-retracted, like a dormant shadow.

Deep in the cabin, candlelight flickered, and Ferdinand's blue eyes beneath his blond hair flashed a sinister light. Opposite him sat several trusted crew members and a dark-skinned, cunning Dayak guide named "Scorpion".

"Quanzhou's rules are too strict," Ferdinand said, drumming his fingers on the table in a low voice. "The Maritime Customs collects a 30% tax, and transactions must be conducted under their watchful eyes. Their profits are being squeezed dry."

"Baron," Scorpion said in his stiff Castilian, "Dingxiangyu Baturu is a greedy and cowardly rat. He accepted our gold and glass but dared not act."

"Don't dare to act?" Ferdinand sneered, "Then force him to act."

He spread out a crude South China Sea map and pointed at the location of the "Emerald Island": "The king of the Emerald Island, Heishi, has a feud with Batulu and he is even more daring."

"What does the Baron mean?" A gleam of light flashed in the Scorpion's eyes.

"Take your men to Emerald Isle," Ferdinand said in a cold voice, "and tell Blackstone that the Kingdom of Castile is willing to provide him with the sharpest steel swords and the finest muskets to help him unify the nearby islands and become the true king of the South Seas."

He paused, greed intensifying in his eyes. "The condition is that he allows us to establish a permanent trading post on Emerald Island, allowing us to trade freely without being restricted by Daqian, and granting us the monopoly on the clove trade on Lilac Island."

"Fire gun?" Poison Scorpion licked his lips. "Black Stone will definitely be tempted."

"Also," Ferdinand's eyes flashed with ruthlessness, "find a way to let Baturu know that Emerald Island has our support and we are prepared to deal with him. Fear and greed will make him come to us on his own initiative."

"Understood," the scorpion grinned, "I'll leave right away."

"Be careful of the Embroidered Guards," Ferdinand warned, "take the secret path to Devil's Reef."

"Don't worry, Baron," the Scorpion's figure flashed and disappeared into the darkness outside the cabin.

Ferdinand picked up a glass of amber wine, looked at the lights of Quanzhou Port outside the window, and a cold arc appeared at the corner of his mouth.

His real goal was to bypass Quanzhou and control Southeast Asia.

Dingxiang Island, the local king's palace.

Baturu paced anxiously in the bedroom. The gold coins and glass in the secret compartment of his bed burned his heart like a branding iron.

A trusted guard hurried in, his face pale.

"My king, this is bad news. We've got news from Emerald Island. Black Stone has received support from Westerners. They've given him many muskets and swords, and he's threatening to destroy Lilac Island and take our Lilac Forest."

"What!" Baturu was struck by lightning, his fat body trembling violently, "How dare those Westerners?"

"Absolutely true!" the guard's voice trembled. "The spy saw with his own eyes the warriors of Emerald Isle test-firing their muskets on the beach. The power was astonishing."

Baturu slumped in the chair, his brocade robe instantly soaked with cold sweat.

Fear, like a cold, poisonous snake, coiled around his heart. Black Stone was already fierce, and with the Western musket, he couldn't imagine what would happen to Dingxiang Island.

"Ferdinand the Westerner," he suddenly remembered those golden temptations, "he said he could help me."

A crazy idea started to grow in his mind.

Fear overwhelmed reason, and the fire of greed was rekindled under the ice of fear.

"Prepare the boat!" Baturu stood up suddenly, his voice hoarse, "Go to Quanzhou Port secretly, I want to see Baron Ferdinand!"

Quanzhou Shipyard, deep in the Fenleisi Gewuyuan.

In a strictly guarded secret room, candlelight was bright.

Chu Xiling's cold face showed no emotion as she stared through the huge "crystal microscope" at a piece of metal fragment as thin as a cicada's wing - it was a sample cut from the escapement fork of a Western chime clock.

In the field of view of the crystal mirror, the microscopic structure of the metal is clearly visible.

Unlike the dense and uniform Daqian fine steel, this piece of metal is full of tiny bubbles and impurity particles, the grains are coarse, and even tiny cracks can be seen on the edges.

"The phosphorus content is too high," Chu Xiling whispered to herself, "causing the grain boundaries to become brittle and prone to fracture."

She looked away, glancing at a report just delivered by an apprentice from the Institute of Gewu. "Analysis of a Western-style musket barrel sample: Made of ordinary wrought iron, with uneven carbon content and high levels of sulfur and phosphorus impurities. The inner wall shows obvious turning marks, and the rifling is shallow and irregular."

She picked up her pen and wrote in her elegant handwriting on the lab record: "Western metallurgy emphasizes form over material. Its firearms have barrels that easily explode and have short lifespans; its mechanisms are made of brittle materials and lack durability. However, its glass coloring and watch escapement designs are indeed unique."

She put down her pen and walked over to another workbench.

On the table were several pieces of Western glass fragments of various colors, as well as several samples that were preliminarily imitated by the craftsmen of the Gewu Academy based on spectral analysis.

A piece of imitation dark blue glass reflects a gorgeous luster under candlelight, and its purity is no less than that of the original Western glass.

"Lead, antimony, and manganese," Chu Xiling's fingertips brushed across the cold glass surface, "The formula can be optimized."

She picked up a model of a modified self-ringing clock movement made by the Institute of Gewu, which was inlaid with a stainless steel escapement fork.

Gently wind the mainspring. The gears mesh, emitting a steady, even ticking sound, far more crisp and melodious than the original Western model. This reverse penetration of technology takes place silently.

Jinling, behind the Purple Palace, the Imperial Study.

Murong Yanyue was wearing white casual clothes, with her black hair loosely tied up, standing in front of a huge Western nautical chart.

Her fingertips were slowly moving from Quanzhou Port to the deep blue waters of the East China Sea marked with "unknown".

The eunuch silently presented two secret reports: an urgent report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard of Quanzhou that Ferdinand's secret envoy "Scorpion" had left the port and his whereabouts were unknown; a secret report from the Nanyang Protectorate that Batulu, the local king of Dingxiang Island, had secretly left the island and was suspected to be heading to Quanzhou.

Murong Yan's eyes were calm, and her gaze lingered for a moment between the "Emerald Island" and the "Lilac Island", then moved to the foggy sea area at the edge of the chart.

"Is there any news from the East China Sea Patrol Fleet?" she said in a clear voice.

"Your Majesty," the eunuch whispered, "Three days ago, the Flying Fish III reported that an unidentified fleet had been sighted in the waters eight hundred miles east of the Black Water Ocean. The ships were enormous, with unusual sails and flying double-headed eagle flags. There were approximately fifteen of them, heading southeast. The Flying Fish III did not dare approach and is currently following and monitoring them."

"Double-headed eagle," Murong Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, "the flag of the King of Castile."

She walked to the desk and dipped the scarlet pen into ink.

"deliver an imperial order."

"Secretly order the East China Sea Patrol Fleet. Feiyu-3 continues to follow and monitor, maintaining a distance and not exposing oneself. Also, dispatch the Zhenhai and Dingyuan ships, along with the Polang, to immediately weigh anchor and secretly proceed to the Black Waters to provide support. Under the guise of escorting the merchant fleet, this is actually a warning. If the Western Fleet provokes, issue a warning and drive them away. If they attack first, sink them!"

"Secretly order Nanyang Protector Wang Yun, the Western merchant ship Ferdinand, and its crew to be closely monitored. Any unusual movement must be arrested immediately. If Dingxiang Island's local king, Baturu, arrives in Quanzhou, he must be secretly detained and prevented from coming into contact with Ferdinand. Instruct the Embroidered Uniform Guard to fully investigate the whereabouts of the Poison Scorpion and the movements of Emerald Island."

"Secretly order Chu Xiling of the Thunder Division to prioritize Western firearms and ship intelligence. Anything captured or observed must be analyzed and reported immediately."

After the imperial edict was announced, the Embroidered Uniform Guard sent flying eagles with secret orders to Quanzhou and Donghai.

Murong Yan put down the red pen and slowly walked back to the sea chart.

The moonlight filtered through the window lattice and fell on her moon-white clothes, as cold as frost.