Gao Mo and Bai Siwen packed their briefcases and prepared to go out. They will travel to Blanco. Almeida is located on a manor house just outside of São Vicente, in beautiful scenery and comfortable conditions, and is the usual vacation home for the Blanco family.

In that manor, which had more than a hundred rooms, there were dozens of servants of their family and hundreds of black slaves from Guinea. Black slaves were responsible for cultivating large tracts of land there, where wheat and corn were grown, and in recent years, as demand on the East Bank grew, the Almeida family converted a considerable part of the land into cotton to export large quantities to the East Bank for high profits.

It had just rained two days ago, so the road was quite muddy. Gao Mo and Bai Siwen sat on the bumpy four-wheeled carriage, and the carriage without shock absorbers shook very much, making people feel extremely uncomfortable. Gao Mo and Bai Siwen's faces, which were already tense because of the difficulty of negotiation, showed signs of turning white at the moment.

Looking out of the window on the carriage, you can see a large area of well-groomed farmland around you. Winter wheat planted a few months ago is showing tender green seedlings, and on a wasteland at the edge of a wheat field, a large group of black slaves in shackles are loosening the soil in preparation for the spring planting that is about to begin.

At intervals around the field, a small fortress was built that could accommodate a dozen people. The fort is a mixed brick and wood structure, and it is said that Blanco once imported a large number of red bricks from the east coast, and it seems that they are used to build the fort. These forts were created to protect against the increasingly frequent and widespread Palmares (meaning palm tree) alliance of blacks, a loose association of blacks composed mainly of fugitive slaves hiding in the dense palm groves, hence the name Palm Tree Alliance.

The early Palm Tree Alliance was helped by the Guarani, who were also hidden in the jungle. Even immigrants under Dutch rule in northeastern Brazil have made deals with them. But the good times didn't last long. Later Dutch peasants who emigrated gradually changed their stance after raising black slaves. Began to adopt a hostile attitude towards the blacks of the Palm Alliance. The Palm Tree Alliance was also extremely unhappy with their enslavement of blacks, and there were frequent skirmishes between the two sides.

The protracted war between the Dutch and the Portuguese in Brazil has been going on for many years. Both sides have suffered extremely heavy losses and are feeling a bit exhausted at the moment. Even some Portuguese aristocrats, as well as Brazil's native white elite, began to prepare to recognize the Dutch as legitimate rulers of northeastern Brazil in exchange for the Dutch taking the initiative to end the current hostilities between the two sides.

During the years of war between the Dutch and the Portuguese, the Palm Tree Alliance grew stronger, and according to local white Brazilian estimates, the number of black people in the Palm Alliance is estimated to have exceeded 20,000 and approached 30,000. These blacks were armed with rudimentary cold weapons, and only some of the elite were armed with captured arquebuses. They took advantage of the emptiness in the rear created by the Dutch at war with the Portuguese. They frequently went out of the jungle to attack the estates and farms of these white men, killing any white inhabitants they saw, freeing all enslaved black slaves, destroying the tools of the white people, stealing the livestock of the white people, and even burning down the white people's farms or manors before retreating.

These blacks allied themselves with the Guarani and became a third force in the Brazilian battlefield. Both the Dutch and the Brazilians had a terrible headache about this, and there were even absurd things that happened when the two sides of the front line heard that the rear was attacked by blacks and returned to suppress it at the same time. The forts that Gaumo and Bethwin saw at this moment were built by Blanco's family, the Almeida family, an indigenous white family that had been operating in San Vicente for generations, and owned a huge number of land and slaves. So they naturally became the target of the Palm Alliance's blacks.

To this end, the Blanco family imports large quantities of red bricks, lime and cement from the East Coast every month. It was used to build these small and endless fortresses. The fort was home to heavily armed white or Mameluko (white and Indian) soldiers, who were the main force of defense against black attacks.

After a jolting of the carriage, it finally arrived at the Blanco family's estate in the countryside. The sprawling estate stands alone on a plain, with nearly all the trees in the vicinity cut down and replaced by hand-dug moats and wooden fences. This kind of behavior based on safety awareness made Bai Siwen feel stunned when he first stepped out of the carriage and saw the manor, which was really different from his impression of the "beautiful environment" European country manor.

Out of the manor came a group of eight cavalrymen with muskets on their backs, sent by the Almeida family to meet them. Brankolema, who was dressed in hunting clothes, stopped, and then smiled at Gao Mo and Bai Siwen and said, "Gao and Bai, today's weather is good, it is really suitable for hunting." You know, it's been a long time since I've done this fun-filled action. ”

"Blanco, it's a pity that we still have an important negotiating task today." Bai Sven smiled reluctantly and said, "Perhaps after we have reached a peace agreement with the representatives of the British, I can invite you to the east coast for a pleasant hunting operation." You know, the cougars and jaguars that populate the dense forests and grasslands, and even the mesmerizing crocodiles, I think you'll love it. ”

"Ha Luha, Bai, thank you for your invitation, I will seriously consider it - after you and the British have reached a peace agreement that is satisfactory to both sides." Blanco laughed heartily, "It's a shame that you're all my friends, but you're at war. In fact, there is a basis for peace between you, and perhaps a step back for both sides would be a good outcome. ”

"We have no way back." Without waiting for Bai Sven to speak, Gao Mo preemptively said: "The appetite of the British is too great, and this is something we can't agree to. Although we have always wanted peace, we will never beg for peace, and the British will pay for their arrogance. War is such a thing as unpredictable results, and perhaps the next moment there will be jaw-dropping changes on the battlefield. ”

Blanco looked at Golmore in silence for a moment, then leaned his mouth into Golmore's ear and whispered, "Gao, I think maybe you do have more reason to ask the arrogant Englishman to take a step back. A week earlier, news had come from Elmina Fort in Ghana that several strongholds of the British East India Company and the Merchant Adventure Company near the Gulf of Guinea had been attacked by a fleet and destroyed. The British lost a great deal of manpower, goods, and slaves, and the losses were said to be in the tens of thousands of pounds. Prior to this, the fleet had also destroyed several British ships at the mouth of the Gambia River, destroyed the trading post of the British Guiana Trading Merchant Company there, and plundered a large amount of valuable gold and other goods. It is reported that the British are extremely angry, and the East India Company and the Merchant Adventure Company are sending some warships to the area to investigate, and the Guiana Trading Merchant Company, which has suffered heavy losses, has announced its withdrawal from the alliance organized by the East India Company against your East Coasters. Moreover, it is said that Virginia and other North American colonial companies also intended to withdraw some of their forces to protect their native North American interests. As for the East India Company, they are also in trouble at the moment, and their restless king is going around raising money and raising an army......"

After saying that, Blanco glanced at Gao Mo meaningfully, and then Ha Lu Ha Da Yan smiled and said, "Gao, Miss Esmeranda is very interested in you, she says that you are the most learned gentleman she has ever met, much stronger than those shallow playboys. Ha Luha, seize this opportunity, Gao, Miss Esmeranda is a passionate lady. ”

Gaumo pretended to smile reservedly, but his heart was rapidly digesting the astonishing news that Blanco had just passed on to him. The naval fleet has been lost since it went to sea, and there has been no news of it. A while ago, the Portuguese in Brazil had rumored that the naval fleet had been wiped out at the mouth of the Gambia River, and those who said this were as if they had seen it with their own eyes. To be honest, Gao Mo didn't believe it at first, but he couldn't stand the fact that there were people around him who kept saying this, and these people even described the details of the naval fleet in a good way, so Gao Mo himself was a little shaken.

So he sent his concerns back home in a letter, ready to discuss them with Mr. Verswin and some other committee members. Unexpectedly, Bai Siwen was a little panicked after seeing this letter, and later caused a storm with the boss, almost involving him Gao Mo.

At this time, Blanco's message to him should be extremely accurate, because it is the first hand that the Portuguese have sent back from their colony of Fort Elmina in the Ghana region of the Gulf of Guinea, and the credibility is extremely high. So in this way, the rumors about the East Coast Fleet in San Vicente a while ago are very suspicious, or did the British deliberately reveal them to confuse the eyes or put pressure on themselves?

Gaumo's mind was in a hurry, and by this time he had the confidence to negotiate a favorable outcome with the British. Blanco revealed such an extremely important piece of information to him, and this favor was huge, and the East Coast people had to accept his favor no matter what. At least at this crucial and delicate moment, he showed a certain inclination of his own at the right time, unleashing a palpable goodwill on the East Coast. Then, in the future, it may be possible to carry out more in-depth cooperation with Blanco's family. (To be continued......)