Lu Ming

So the old William urgently ordered the sailors to close the muzzle and lower the sails.As the major shareholder of one-third of the ship and the owner of many goods in the cabin, since Old William said that the visitor was a friend, others would naturally not object.

The next moment, the misunderstanding was resolved.

The Lady Jacob lowered her sails.After the smooth communication between the two parties, the big ship, accompanied by the small boat, arrived at the sea off Hongji at noon the next day.

"Thanks to the Almighty, the old friends have built a port here again. Well, they can see dear old William again!"

Standing at the bow of the ship, William Janes looked excitedly at the busy harbor and the towering flags in the distance, waved a short cane, and laughed like no one else was around.

The old friend that William Janes spoke of, naturally crossed the crowd.

Along with the loud laughter, in addition to the large flock of water birds scratching overhead, there were also noisy sailors on the Lady Jacob.

The next moment, the armed merchant ship slowly entered the port.The sailors chanted, climbed up and down, and stowed the sail cables on the big ship one after another.And the hull creaked cheerfully as it was turning.

Finally, on March 1632, 3, the Mrs. Jacob, on which the old William was aboard, stopped at the rudimentary Hongji Port.

After the ship dropped anchor, Old William pointed to the two huge warships in the harbor and the large number of ant-like laborers on the shore, and excitedly put his arms around the shoulders of the person next to him, and said to him, "Look, Robert, this is my lot The power that I told you about last time."

After saying this sentence, Old William thought about it and added carefully: "The private army of the Earl of the East."

The person who was hugged by the old William was a young gentleman who was about 27 or [-] years old, wearing a short shirt and a cotton jacket.

This gentleman's name is Robert Crawley.

He has short brown hair, a round face, and a not very prominent nose.On the whole, Mr. Crawley, who was not tall, had a gentle face, which was different from the red-haired old William with a hooked nose.

The answer is simple: Sir Robert Crawley is not Dutch, but English.

Mr. Crawley was from Kent, the second son of a country baronet.

Different from the traditional Eastern model of "separation of families among the sons", the eldest son heir of the Western title will get all the property and fiefdoms of the family.Therefore, the second sons of noble families usually need to find a job to support themselves after they reach adulthood.

Of course, due to the education they have received since they were young, the second sons usually have a good future.They can serve as stewards, attendants, and adjutants for other nobles; they can also work in government departments, and they can also serve in the army as low-level officers.

In fact, even in World War I, in the invincible British fleet, most of the low-level officers were served by nobles.

Robert Crawley was such a second son.

As an adult, he first worked as a clerk in the private library of a duke in London.Later, because of his interest in poetry and literature, he went to the West End Grand Opera House to find a job as a steward.

Later, Crowley, who got married and had children, originally thought that this was the end of his life, so he planned to find a long-term job in the city government.

And at this moment, a turning point in Crowley's life came: a distant uncle of his died and had no children after death.

Crowley's mother was the second son, and Crowley's eldest brother was born to the baron's ex-wife, so he had no blood relationship with this uncle.Crowley is the first heir to the uncle's property.

His uncle was a businessman, and Crowley did not inherit any real estate, but only a sum of money and some goods.

As the saying goes, Qian Zhuang is cowardly.

Crowley himself didn't expect that after receiving the inheritance, he became ambitious overnight, planning to go to the vast sea to find endless wealth like countless adventurers in this era.

After the old baron learned of this, he had nothing to do but curse.After all, the second sons were born to go out and make troubles. Since he couldn't give the second sons property, he had no right to arrange their lives.

However, after the incident, the old baron did his best as a father... Of course, this is not a sponsorship for Crowley. All the property of the family will belong to the eldest son in the future, and the old baron has no right to give Crowley a large amount of sponsorship.

What the old baron sponsored was a letter.

This letter was written to the old baron's friend and comrade-in-arms: the Dutchman William Janes.

When the old baron was young, he and the red-haired William Janes fought against the cavalry of the Kingdom of Spain during the rebellion war in the Netherlands. The two were life and death friends.

In this way, Robert Crowley boarded a merchant ship to the East, and in the winter of 1631, in Batavia, the Netherlands, he found his father's old friend, William Janes.

Chapter 601 Crowley's Fantasy Journey ([-])

William Janes pushed open the cabin door and shouted eagerly: "My child, good luck has come."

It was already the second day that the Lady Jacob was berthed at Hongji Port.

Since Honji Port is under construction, there are not so many docks that can supply the fleet, local transport ships, and foreign armed merchant ships at the same time; so after entering the port the day before, the Dutch ship was designated to anchor at a water surface in Honji Bay.

As a result, it is inconvenient to unload personnel and materials, and they need to be transported by small boats.

Fortunately, the Lady Jacob is only temporarily docking for supplies this time. The ultimate destination of this ship is Macau and Tainan, and there is no need to unload cargo in Hongji.

Early the next morning, William Janes got off the boat to find a way, leaning on the short walking stick that was given to him when he was recuperating.

But when he came back at noon, he shouted loudly: "My child, good luck has come!"

Old William brought back several messages.

The first news: The private army of the Earl of the East conquered the native kingdom not long ago and signed a trade agreement with the local king.

The second news: Because of the above-mentioned news, a large number of officials under the earl came here-and among them happened to be friends of old William.

The third piece of news: Old William got a request to unload the cargo in advance after meeting his friends in the military.

Fourth: There is a banquet at noon tomorrow, and old William has been invited.

Of these news, the previous one didn't mean much to William and Crowley.They are private maritime merchants, and their current social status does not need to care about East Asian geopolitics and the resulting changes in international relations.

And the next few news will affect the vital interests of the two of them!

Especially Crowley.

In fact, before this, Crowley was already desperate.

……

When Crowley set off from England, he was carrying a traditional British export in the seventeenth century: textiles.

Britain is in the early stage of "sheep cannibalism". During this period of time, there are no global trade lines and no competitive commodities.British merchants sold woolen and flax all over the world.

Crowley is no exception.As a first-time businessman, he exchanged all his starting capital for woolen, linen and cotton cloth before going to sea, and then took a boat to sea.

And after he took the boat all the way to Surat, the information collected along the way told him that in the hot South Asia, the sales of certain textiles were not good.

Especially when the market is still facing competition from the Dutch, Portuguese, and Spaniards.

In the end, Crowley could only cut the meat and sell some of the goods to other merchants at a fair price.In this way, including the cost of long-distance transportation, the small businessman Crowley has virtually lost 4/1 of his original capital.

Only then did Crowley discover that the high-end abilities in literature, poetry, eloquence, etc. that he was proud of in the first half of his life were of little use in the commercial market.

Fortunately, not long after, Crowley inquired about William Janes from the shop.So he took another boat to Batavia.

In Batavia, Crowley got his wish to meet the nobleman: Old William.

After reading the letter, old William lamented for a while, and immediately recognized Crowley as his own nephew: the old baron had saved old William's life on the battlefield.

After that, Crowley, who was on the verge of bankruptcy, finally had a turn for the better.

First of all, under the suggestion of Old William...actually, under the "order", he quickly cleared all the goods on hand and recovered the funds.

Next, he followed the old William on "the ship of his own family": the old William had just bought a third of the ownership of the Lady Jacob.

After that, Crowley returned to India with the ship, and stayed in several cities along the coast of India for half a year.During this period, Crowley used all the funds to purchase the goods designated by William Sr.

In other words, the goods that are now parked in the warehouse of the Lady Jacob are Crowley's last gamble.

However, old William brought good news today: After learning about the situation, old friends in the army asked Mrs. Jacob to unload ahead of time.

"Thanks to the Almighty Lord! Uncle William, this is really good news. Finally, I don't have to smell that feces anymore!"

As soon as he heard the news, Crowley crossed himself on his chest.

Old William laughed loudly: "Crowley, my poor, Crowley who came to the cabin from the banquet... You still have a lot to learn. The point is, now, you are a businessman, so you shouldn't discriminate against horses." Shit, that smells like money!"

Yes, the most important cargo in the cabin of the Old Lady Jacob were thirty warima horses.

Mawari horse, an excellent horse breed in India.This is an elegant, strong, medium-height horse that has been bred for use by humans dating back to medieval battlefields.

The Mawari horse is a cross between an Arabian horse and a Turkmen horse.This kind of horse was once used as a cavalry horse, and accompanied by its master, it captured cities in Central Asia.

Since the Turkmen horse was once the military horse of Alexander the Great, its descendant, the Mawari horse, is also particularly suitable for survival in arid and barren areas.

This advantage of Marwarima is highly valued by the time travelers.Because the future Imperial Cavalry Legion is bound to chase the north in the Gobi, desert and outside the Great Wall, the Mawari horse is an important horse breed reserve in the Army Cavalry Plan.

So when the army stationed at Hongji Fort learned that there were stallions on Old William's ship, they immediately sent a report to Guangzhou and Tainan, asking the racecourse to send someone to Hongji to take over the horses immediately.

The Army's eagerness is not groundless.The transportation conditions of sailing ships in the seventeenth century were harsh. The total number of horses purchased by Old William was actually 36. However, during the voyage, the horses needed fodder and a lot of fresh water, which were lacking on the ship. In addition, the sanitation situation was not optimistic.

Therefore, even with the best efforts along the way, when Mrs. Jacob arrived in Hongji, six horses had already died, and the remaining thirty horses were not in good condition.

So the army asked to unload the cargo quickly and get the horses ashore for recuperation first.After the horses recover after a period of time, the Army will arrange for more professional ships to transport the horses away.

The Army didn't want to suffer the loss of another stallion.

The action of crossing forces with the advantage of information technology is very fast.Soon after the old William returned, several traffic boats came to the Dutch ship berth to communicate.At the same time, the communication between the army and the navy here has been completed. A warship originally docked at Hongji's main pier immediately raised its sails and set sail to give way to the Dutch ship.

After the Dutch ship arrived at the busy dock, it was an extremely busy scene: a continuous stream of coal transport teams, and a large number of laborers who erected cement foundation piles in the cofferdam.

Later, after the first horse was pushed out of the cabin, Mr. Crawley saw the legendary mechanism for the first time: a crane arm operated by a system of steam power, which lifted the horse from the ship with ease and ease. The head was hoisted to the pier.

"Wow, amazing mechanical power!"

Crowley is a cultural person who has studied mathematics and Leonardo da Vinci's geometry, so he does not rely on God and theology in everything like old William and other rough people, but he immediately realized the key to the problem: the power of the crane arm.

But he couldn't see what he wanted to see, because the entire power system was hidden in a small house on the dock.Crowley could see nothing but black smoke rising from the roof.

In a foreign land, he still understands the principle of being cautious in words and deeds.So Crowley ended up just keeping his doubts and curiosity to himself.

The mechanical system was very efficient, and it took about two hours for the horses in the cabin to be transferred to the shore.

Then old William went ashore with two dark-skinned Indian grooms, went through the handover procedures with the army, and handed over the man and horse to the army.

Crowley stood at the bow, watching the eastern soldiers carefully.These soldiers uniformly wore green thin cotton jackets with copper buttons, trousers that were considered "loose" compared to European soldiers, and shiny short black leather shoes.

Judging from the various shiny metal objects on the soldiers, as well as the neat formations and guns, it is certain that their owners have a lot of wealth at least.

This is also consistent with the information Crowley collected before.Old William had told him that the Earl of the East had a huge private domain and abundant financial resources.

Finally, after being patted on the shoulder by an officer wearing a strange military cap whose face could not be seen clearly, Old William happily returned to the ship.

After closing the cabin door, Old William showed the short receipt with a proud face: "The hot horses were finally accepted by the owner before they died. Crowley, our next step is to go to Guangzhou to get paid That's it! Thank God for good luck to the pious people!"

Crowley couldn't help but feel a little worried when he saw William's relaxed expression.He was really a little skeptical about this three-finger-wide note... Even though the paper of the note was very white and crisp, it belonged to high-end goods.

So Crowley asked cautiously: "Uncle William, are you sure you can use this, um, 'rough' note to get our payment in Macau?"

"My child, you are still young, and you have too little experience." Old William put away the note carefully, and said, "The territory of the Earl of the East has the cleanest administrative system in the world. I know what you are worried about, don't worry. Well, to learn more about the Earl's Territory, you will have it when you arrive in Macau."

"Oh. So, Uncle William, what shall we do next?"

"Next? Hehe."

Old William wiped his big upturned mustache with his thumb, which was a small gesture when he was in a happy mood: "Since the boat is parked at the pier, and since Old William has important friends here, then we can go to the city and go to wash first. Take a bath and relax... There will be a banquet hosted by the master in the evening, this is a good opportunity for us to receive the next commission, and I will take you to participate!"

Speaking of this, Old William suddenly remembered something: "Take out the two sets of clothes I gave you, right now. We need to change our clothes so that we can have a better chance!"

Chapter 602 Crowley's Fantasy Journey ([-])

Long before Batavia sailed, William Sr. had prepared two suits for Crowley.Old William knew that if he wanted to cultivate this old friend's nephew, he had to establish a relationship with a certain force.

Old William was convinced of this.He himself relied on this, from an old mercenary who chewed tobacco leaves and worked for others, to today's Mr. William, a respected wealthy businessman.

So William Sr. paid great attention to detail.

Ever since, Crowley dug out the two sets of simple clothes that he had never worn from the suitcase.

"Very well, now we go into town, with clothes and parchment."

"Is that the parchment I thought?"

"Yes, there are people who care about it at the banquet, I saw it yesterday."

……

It is very convenient to go to Fort Hongji from the pier.After disembarking, there was a thin, brown and black Annan slider driver in a neat orange vest, waiting for passengers.

Since Crowley came to the East, he has sat on sliders in many countries and city-states, and their shapes are similar.So he and the old William hired two pairs of sliders naturally, and entered the city one after the other.

The wharf is very close to the west gate of Hongji Fort, only 300 meters away, just within the best coverage of the artillery fire at the head of the city.

But what caught Crowley's attention was not the cannon at the top of the city, but the cinder road under his feet.

The cinder road mixed with gravel is black and smooth, leading from the pier all the way into the city.Sitting on the slider and looking around, there are several similar cinder roads leading inland to the east of the pier.On the road, there are endless streams of Annan people pushing small carts, pushing black coal into the cabin along the ramp.

"Uncle William, is it cold in Ming Dynasty? Why is the port exporting coal in large quantities?"

"It's not cold, at least it's not cold in Macau and Dayuan."

Crowley's question is a bit esoteric. How could the old William of the seventeenth century have a cognition of the relationship between industrialization and coal.After thinking about it, Old William finally gave an ambiguous answer: "Maybe it's because of the munitions factory and the mint. The earl needs a lot of muskets and cannons to maintain the security of the territory."