At Yuegang Port in Zhangzhou Prefecture, the foreign silver ships pressed down on the wave patterns, and Shen Xitang’s black cloth boots crushed the charred pages of the *Haicheng Tax Record*. Xiao Heng’s Xiuchun Saber cleaved open a disguised Luzon warehouse, and crates of Mexican silver dollars suddenly ignited from underground fire—beside the Chinese text for "15th Year of Chongzhen," the words "Seville Minting Technique" were marked in Spanish, concealing the structural support parameters for Mexican silver mines!
"Lord Thousand-Householder, inspect this silver ingot." Her fingertips traced the spiral forge patterns on the silver cake. "This 'Nine-Turn Smelting' method was improved by Zhu Wan during the Jiajing-era maritime ban; how could it be mixed with the Habsburg double-headed eagle stamp?"
A whistle sounded abruptly from the warehouse. Twenty porters wrapped in red headscarves rushed out from a secret door. The copper hoop patterns on the shoulder poles they held were identical to the molds used by Sun Yuanhua when casting Red-Barbarian Cannons during the Tianqi era. Shen Xitang’s Silver Silk shredded a crate of silver coins, revealing a fallen scrap of the *Manila Secret Ledger*—next to an official document claiming "eight hundred thousand taels of reported ship taxes," there was a Tagalog annotation: "Resold to the Cebu Cannon Foundry as shell stamping molds!"
Chapter 197