Strategically located on the eastern side of the Gulf of Mossuril at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, Mozambique Island has been officially part of the Portuguese colonial system since it was discovered and claimed as Portuguese territory by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama in 1498. After more than 100 years of construction, the Portuguese built churches, manors, trading ports and the majestic Sebastian Castle at the northern tip of the island.

Today, the island is the centre of Portuguese rule in East Africa, dominating a vast area stretching from Mombasa in the north to Marques (Marquis de Lorenço) in the south. At the same time, the island was a gateway for the Portuguese on their way to the East. Many ships to and from India and even China have to dock and replenish here, so the island is also extremely commercially developed.

When the officers and men of the Navy of the Republic of the East Bank disembarked and walked to the pier pier, a Portuguese tax officer came up with several retinues.

"Good day, guest from the East Coast. I'm Sergio, the tax collector of the island, and I need to inspect your goods according to the regulations......" The Portuguese tax collector chattered in Spanish, but was interrupted by Second Lieutenant Juan before he could finish his sentence.

Second Lieutenant Juan slipped a hundred-dollar coin into Sergio's hand and said impatiently, "This is the port entry fee!" You don't have to inspect the goods, do you want to inspect that? With that, Second Lieutenant Juan pointed to the black hole in the 32-pounder long-barreled gun on the deck of the battleship "Free Trade".

The Portuguese man's face suddenly turned ugly, and several of his attendants behind him were even more faintly uneasy. The fort on the island of Mozambique had only a dozen guns, and the largest caliber was only 18 pounds. Most of them are 8-pound and 12-pound goods. There is no comparison with the war monster of the "August 10th" class battleship.

"Okay. East Coasters. Sergio said with some displeasure: "Don't wander around the city, don't cause trouble." You will stay for a maximum of three days, and if you overdue, you will have to pay the fee, and I am serious about paying the fee this time, 'really'. ”

Sergio was not wrong. It is important to know that since the Portuguese began to vigorously manage the colonies of Angola and Mozambique, the so-called "penal system" (exile colony) has been vigorously promoted. So, in both places. The proportion of scumbags and criminals far exceeds the proportion of normal immigrants. These people were not a good thing when they were in Europe, and now they are even more lawless in the lax colonies. For them, killing someone is not a matter at all, and as for robbery or something, it will happen every three days.

"We'll take notice." Second Lieutenant Juan nodded reservedly, "By the way, the Commander of the Fortress of Sebastian Castle, my commander would like to pay a visit to him." ”

"Unfortunately, Your Excellency the Commander has taken someone to Senna. It's not been very peaceful over there lately. Those Bantu blacks made trouble for three days, and recently even attacked and killed several Prazo (1) masters. Your Excellency the Commander hastened over to attend to business. I think maybe he'll be back by the end of October, but that's not for sure. With that, Sergio left with a few of his retinue.

The retinue appeared to be of mixed black and white descent, which is common in East Africa today. After the arrival of the early Portuguese colonists, many of them married local indigenous women, and the offspring were mulatto. Although somewhat discriminated against, these people were in a much better position than the indigenous Bantu blacks, and many of them served as officers in the native Portuguese colonial army, which was dominated by indigenous soldiers. Of course, there were also those who infiltrated the colonial government and served as followers of some junior officials or white officials.

In fact, the nature of these people is the same as that of the Mameluco people in Brazil (mixed white and Indian race) and the gaucho people of La Plata (mixed white and Indian race), all of which are caused by the extremely uneven ratio of men and women in the early European colonizers. Of course, the issue of the imbalance between men and women is now quite entangled in the East Coast Republic of China. Among the more than 20,000 people in the country, there are nearly 4,000 more young men than women (13,000:9,000), and this imbalance has led to the fact that the amount of dowry in the country has risen again and again, and even those women in Charuya and Guarani are rushing to ask for it.

Many officers and soldiers have even spent their savings for many years in order to get married. Nowadays, the difficulty of marrying a daughter-in-law has become a focus of attention for ordinary people in the East Coast Republic of China, and for this reason, the Executive Committee and the Government Council are also very troubled. On the one hand, they urgently sent a letter to the Bordeaux trading station, asking them to focus on recruiting poor local women of working age to come to the East Coast in France, and to follow the example of the French Church, and to give rich dowries (land and cash) to French women who were willing to settle on the East Coast; On the other hand, they even demanded that the merchant ships on the east coast that went to the port of Izmir of the Ottoman Empire to trade try to buy a large number of female slaves to return to the east coast.

The slave market in the Ottoman Empire has always been prosperous, especially for female slaves who are exclusively used by dignitaries and nobles. Most of these slaves came from wars of conquest or tribute from conquered areas, with the exception of a few domestic slaves who were sold by the locals for various reasons. For example, after the Balkan Peninsula, the South Russian Plain, Hungary, Poland, Central Asia and other places were attacked by the Ottomans, many local residents were collectively reduced to slavery; For example, the constant war between the Ottoman Empire and Persia resulted in countless prisoners of war and slaves.

Although the price of female slaves in the slave market is expensive, money is not the first thing that is valued in today's Eastern Republic, and people are always more important than money. Therefore, the merchant fleet was ordered to make contact with the Hornisian family, simply barter, exchange the textiles and weapons on the east coast for female slaves on the spot, and then pull them back to the east coast.

In addition to the orders they received to collect women, the expedition to East Africa even received orders to search for women. However, Guo Zili has exhausted his appetite for those black women, and at this stage, China basically has a negative attitude towards the introduction of black people, so he has never paid much attention to this issue.

After handing over to the Portuguese at the docks, the two ensigns, Givin and Juan, led some men to conduct some supplies and commercial investigations. As a backup plan for the mid-leg node of the African route, the Portuguese island of Mozambique is the focus of everyone's investigation. The main thing to look at is the number of berths in the Portuguese docks, whether there is enough food and water on the island, and so on.

Except that they went to investigate. Most of the officers and sailors remained on board. After all, it is lonely overseas. It's better to be cautious in everything. Besides, the island still has only a few thousand inhabitants (about a thousand whites), and its economy is mainly based on the cultivation of cashew nuts, corn, tobacco, and at most some seafood.

In the evening, when Guo Zili was lying on the rocking chair in the captain's room and looking at the charts comfortably, Jiwen, Juan and others who had gone out to purchase and inspect finally returned. They were joined by some local black coolies who were transporting supplies. There are also several local businessmen.

"Sir, these merchants are from Muscat, and I think they might be useful to us, so I took it upon myself to bring them back." Ji Wen walked to Guo Zili's side and said softly.

"Muscat? Where is this? It seems to be a city in the Middle East? Guo Zili didn't react for a while, and then asked in some unfamiliar Spanish: "Do you speak Spanish?" ”

A few Muscat businessmen, you look at me, I look at you, obviously didn't understand Guo Zili's words.

"They know a little Portuguese." Second Lieutenant Juan stepped forward and reminded softly. The Hispanic officer, who spoke Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese, was a talent, and he immediately said in Portuguese to several merchants: "My commander does not like to listen to nonsense, please repeat to my commander what you have just said to us in full." If he makes a decision that is beneficial to you. Believe me, you will get more wealth than you ever imagined. There is no doubt about it. ”

An elderly Muscat merchant dressed in a white robe and a checkered scarf stepped forward, saluted Guo Zili, and then said in a slightly excited tone: "Honorable East Coasters, we are merchants from Muscat, and I have heard that you have the intention of buying slaves, and I think we have a good basis for cooperation. In Mozambique, Zanzibar, Mombasa and Mogadishu, we have thousands of slaves in our hands. Of course, in Muscat we have more slaves, the male slaves are strong and docile, while the female slaves are quite enchanting and will surely please the distinguished guests. Speaking of the slave girl, he paused slightly, and then made a look that a man understands.

After Ensign Juan finished translating, Guo Zili sat up straight, then stared at the Muscat merchants and said, "I think you are mistaken, Muscats. I don't need those stupid Bantu slaves, you know? I don't need blacks, neither! If you want to convince me to spend money, I'm afraid you'll have to prepare some better goods. ”

Several Muscat merchants whispered to each other before the older merchant stepped forward and said, "Distinguished guests, except for these Bantus. We happen to have a batch of Persian slaves on hand, but the price is ......."

"Persians?" Guo Zili pondered for a while, then nodded in approval: "Persians can." We need women and children in large quantities, what is the price? Be cautious, you won't even get from Muscat to Mozambique in a month. Perhaps your only cost is to go to the Persian countryside to capture those slaves, so please don't fool me with an exorbitant price, which will make me doubt your sincerity. ”

Several Muscat merchants whispered again, and some small quarrels even broke out during the period, but Guo Zili watched them quietly and did not urge.

After a long time, the old merchant faced Guo Zili again and said, "Distinguished guest, we have already discussed. Slave girls have 1 kruzada each, and children have 1 kruzadow for every two. As you know, the Safavid dynasty of Persia is so powerful today that it was a risky thing to go to them and capture slaves. If we are not careful, we will lose a lot of manpower, and this price is already our lowest price, and it really can't be lower. ”

(1) Plazo: The Portuguese soldiers, merchants, adventurers, and exiles who first entered the Zambezi River valley obtained some land through various means (granted by superiors, taken from the natives, gifted or traded by the indigenous kings), and at the same time they also gained dominion over the Africans of the land, such a territory was called "Prazo". Originally, a plazo was not allowed to exceed three square leagues, and the owner had to live on the land, marry the Europeans who lived on it, and was also responsible for the management of the land so that it could be colonized as soon as possible.

In the later period, many Plazuo lords began to marry Africans and Indians, and the Portuguese government, in order to ensure the status of the local white people, issued a rule that the inheritance of the territory was limited to the eldest daughter of the owner of the territory, and she must also marry a Portuguese citizen born in Portugal, otherwise there would be no inheritance. They were able to collect taxes from the natives of the land, as well as to the Portuguese colonial authorities and the Church, and became known as "Zambezi housewives". (To be continued......)