Shi Lang ran several full laps around the ship. The sight of its thirty-two cannons made his eyes shine. That number alone completely crushed the Frankish three-masted galleons. Moreover, the ship's cargo capacity surpassed even the great Dutch vessels.
Whether in firepower or carrying capacity, it outclassed contemporary Western ships across the board.
"This is incredible," Shi Lang exclaimed. "With ten or so ships like this, you could sail straight to the East India Company's headquarters and fight them there."
He was practically vibrating with excitement.
Jiang Cheng and Tie Niaofei exchanged puzzled looks.
"The East India Company?" they asked. "What's that?"
Shi Lang sighed. "It's a company established by the westerners in the Southern Seas. It may be called a company, but in truth it functions as a naval headquarters. Westerners sail massive ships across ten thousand li, constantly eyeing our southeastern coast. They have already built a base on Yizhou Island. If we do not eliminate them quickly, Yizhou may well fall into Western hands."
This was the first time Jiang Cheng and Tie Niaofei had heard of such matters. They were stunned.
"Can Westerners really be that formidable?" Jiang Cheng said. "That seems unlikely. How many of them could there be? Our Great Heavenly Dynasty could send out any army and crush them."
Shi Lang shook his head. "You really need to understand the coastal situation better."
In fact, Li Daoxuan was thinking the same thing.
This will not do. Even my people from Gao Family Village do not understand the situation clearly. It seems I need to show them just how dangerous the Westerners are.
But how should he explain it?
Heh.
The best method, of course, was a movie.
The Little Soldier by the Daling River had already caused a massive stir within Gao Family Village's territory. If he wanted everyone to be wary of the Westerners, the best approach was to make another similar film. One that revealed their wolfish ambitions and showcased their technological advances. Only then would people truly take it seriously.
Li Daoxuan leapt onto the two characters "Puzhou" written on the box. In an instant, his perspective shifted to the Huahua World Star Agency in Puzhou.
The moment he arrived, he saw Old Nanfeng grabbing Chen Qianhu by the collar.
"Get over here and act properly," Old Nanfeng roared. "Stop running around like a headless chicken."
"Brother Nanfeng, spare me! Spare me!" Chen Qianhu wailed. "Don't make me play Huang Taiji again. I'm begging you."
"First day working under me?" Old Nanfeng sneered. "You do not know how ruthless I am? Spare you? Spare my ass. You have five minutes to change into Huang Taiji's costume and fix your hair. If not, do not blame me for being unkind."
Once Old Nanfeng's killing intent leaked out, even Chang Wei would drop to his knees on the spot.
Chen Qianhu dared not resist. He lowered his head and obediently went to change costumes.
Just then, the Tianzun arrived.
The embroidered Dao Xuan Tianzun emblem on Old Nanfeng's chest spoke.
"Greetings, comrades."
Everyone immediately replied in unison. "We pay our respects to Tianzun!"
Li Daoxuan said, "Old Nanfeng, I want to shoot a naval battle film."
"A water battle?" Old Nanfeng froze. "Uh… how are we supposed to shoot that? Everyone here is a landlubber."
"Well," Li Daoxuan said, "I will have Bai Yuan dispatch naval forces to cooperate with you. What you need to do is find people to write a solid script and flesh out the story."
Old Nanfeng relaxed. "That is no problem. What naval battle does Tianzun want to film? The Battle of Red Cliffs? Han Xin's battle at the Wei River? Or Zhu Yuanzhang versus Chen Youliang at Poyang Lake?"
"None of those," Li Daoxuan replied. "I want to film the Battle of Liaoluo Bay."
Old Nanfeng froze.
Everyone present froze as well.
The Battle of Liaoluo Bay had occurred only two years earlier. Most inland people had never even heard of it.
Li Daoxuan had no choice but to give a brief explanation. "This was a naval battle between the Ming navy and the Dutch."
Before he could continue, Chen Qianhu's eyes lit up.
"So the villains in this film are Westerners?"
"Yes," Li Daoxuan confirmed.
Chen Qianhu burst into laughter. "Hahahaha. I cannot play a Westerner. No matter how the script is written, I will not be the villain this time."
Li Daoxuan added calmly, "There is also a traitorous pirate who served the Westerners. A great Han traitor named Liu Xiang."
Chen Qianhu froze.
Old Nanfeng's gaze slowly shifted toward him.
"Oh? A traitorous pirate? A Western dog?"
"No. No. NOOOO!" Chen Qianhu screamed miserably.
His cries echoed throughout the agency.
Anyone who heard them was moved to tears.
That very night, the poor scholar screenwriters hired by the Huahua World Star Agency began working frantically. They developed the story, wrote the script, and designed the characters.
At the same time, Li Daoxuan made a phone call to Cai Xinzi.
"Old Cai, you should have ready-made models of Spanish galleons from the Age of Exploration, right?"
"Of course I do. If I did not have those, what kind of model business would I be running?"
"Good. I need eleven of them."
Cai Xinzi was baffled. "I would understand ten or twelve. But eleven? What does that mean? That you are a lonely bachelor?"
Li Daoxuan replied coolly, "Unlike you, I am happily single. You, on the other hand, live in terror of your wife shouting 'Laozhi Shudao Shan.'"
Cai Xinzi scoffed. "You do not know a thing. I am the boss at home. I say 'Laozhi Shudao Shan,' and she immediately cooks and does laundry without a word."
Li Daoxuan was about to mock him when a scream came from the other end of the phone.
Silence followed.
An eerie silence.
A few seconds later, a young girl's voice answered.
"Uncle Li, my dad is getting beaten. Mom says he is showing off and needs discipline. His ears are twisted into pretzel shapes."
Li Daoxuan burst out laughing. "Hahahaha."
"What does 'showing off' mean?" the girl asked innocently.
"That is a bad phrase," Li Daoxuan said solemnly. "Your dad said it, so your mom is disciplining him. Do not learn it, or your mom will discipline you too."
"Wow. Then I will not learn it."
"Good girl."
The next day, eleven Spanish galleon models were delivered. All of them were dead models, with no motors, solar panels, or any other mechanisms.
Li Daoxuan was not actually planning to fight a war. They were simply props for a film.
As the props arrived, the poor scholar screenwriters, under Li Daoxuan's hands-on guidance, finished the script.
The story's protagonist was a boy who lived peacefully in a coastal village on Yizhou Island. One day, Dutch ships arrived without warning, slaughtered everyone in the village, and burned it to the ground. They then built a fortress called Fort San Salvador.
The boy barely escaped with his life.
He fled to the mainland and joined the imperial navy.
Not long after, the Dutch set their sights on Kinmen in Fujian. Led by the pirate traitor Liu Xiang, they sailed in with eleven massive warships, bristling with aggression.
A great naval battle began.
The film's title was:
Blood Battle at Liaoluo Bay.