For today's dinner, Captain Hawkins only invited his brother Richard, their eldest son, and several captains of the family to accompany Isabel Walton, a noble lady from the north. Several of the adults in the room clearly understood the etiquette of the meal and were able to follow it consciously, and the atmosphere during the meal was also very pleasant.

However, for John and Brady, two and a half grown children, the so-called etiquette of dining and the display of nurturing were very painful for both of them. For example, the etiquette of not dipping meat directly into the salt in the salt dish, not rubbing snot on the tablecloth, not picking teeth with a knife, etc., made them feel that today's dinner was more uncomfortable than taking some medicine.

When the two and a half children would look at the adults boredly on both sides of the table, Isabel, who was sitting on the left side of the top of the table, put down the knife and fork in her hand, raised her wine glass and saluted the several members of the Hawkins family present, "Ladies and gentlemen, you are all excellent captains and pioneers of the kingdom's overseas trade, and I would like to express my gratitude to you as a member of a noble family from the north. ”

Captain Hawkins raised his glass and looked at her with a grin, "Miss, as merchants living in Plymouth, only overseas trade can make the family more prosperous. ”

Everyone else raised their glasses, and after taking a sip of the wine in their glasses, Isabel remembered a question as she put her glass down. Glancing at Captain Hawkins, he smiled lightly, "Captain, what did you do with the two sailors who rushed me?" ”

The captain wiped some of his lips with a square cloth, looked at her and replied solemnly, "Miss, since you are willing to forgive them, I don't think it is necessary to throw them into the sea as punishment." However, not killing them does not mean that they will not be punished, and I will make the decision to deduct the gratuity for 6 weeks. ”

"Well, Captain, I'm happy with such a punishment." Isabel nodded, playing with the Venetian wine glass, which was rarely seen in ordinary people, even aristocratic families, and whispered, "Captain, I heard two sailors say a name, Mr. Cañas. Is this gentleman Spaniard? ”

Captain Hawkins glanced at his brother Richard on the right, then turned to Isabel with a smile and nodded, "Yes, miss." Most of the Hawkins family's fleet traded with the Portuguese colony of Brazil. Occasionally, however, we would trade with Spain and the Canary Islands, Spain's overseas colony. Mr. Canias, whom you have just mentioned, is a plantation owner in the archipelago. ”

At this time, the captain's brother Richard continued, "Miss Isabe, since the Canary Islands became a Spanish colony at the end of the last century, the native Berbers of the island have been completely wiped out by the Spaniards. Today, the entire archipelago is a Spanish farm, where wine grapes, sugar cane and wine are grown. ”

Isabel listened quietly to the introduction, her mind quickly recalling the location and size of the Canary Islands. When Richard stopped, she looked at Captain Hawking again, "Captain, how much wealth do you think can be gained from trading with the Canary Islands?" ”

Captain Hawkins put down his knife, picked up his glass and took a sip of wine. Then he put down his glass and looked at her, "Mademoiselle, maybe you don't know much about Canary wines. However, I think you must be familiar with sucrose, which was used by nobles, knights, and gentlemen. ”

"Medicine was not developed, and it was centuries to take sucrose as a medicine. Of course, sugar was very profitable in the 16th century. Isabel thought to herself, and looked at the captain with a smile, "Captain, I know that cane sugar and Canary wine can bring you and your family a lot of wealth. But where did the labor on the plantations come from to grow these sugar cane and wine grapes? Captain, are you well aware? ”

"Uh, plantation labor... Canary Islands...? Captain Hawkins' eyes rolled up hard, remembering something he knew. At this time, he suddenly laughed and looked at Isabel again, "Miss, the Canary Islands are in the northwest sea of Africa, and of course the labor needed by the Spaniards will go to the nearest African continent to plunder, which is what we often call black serfs. ”

Seeing that the captain's thinking had kept up with her own thinking, Isabel said a seductive language unhurriedly, "Captain, then, did the Spaniards need to spend a certain amount of money when they went to the African continent to plunder these black slaves?" Or do the Spaniards not have to pay the cost at all? ”

Captain Hawkins here has excellent leadership skills, while his brother Richard is more adept at calculating profits, which is the heart of commercial trade, and the captains of other families are better aware of the principles of trade that require them to pay and how much they need to go to sea once.

As soon as her words came out, several family members present immediately fell into thought. While there was a rare silence in the dining room, the two eldest sons, John Hawkins, and his cousin Brady began to get a little unbearable of the quiet. "Smack..."The dinner knife that John was playing with fell on the table, and John hurriedly looked at his father and several family members, and he found that no one noticed his small movements.

Richard was the first to figure out this question, shaking his head and staring at the noble lady sitting across from him with disbelief eyes, "Miss, what are you talking about... Slave trade?! Lead a fleet to Africa to capture black slaves and sell them to the Spaniards or the Portuguese?! ”

Judging from the scale of overseas trade in the 15th and 16th centuries, the slave trade was a type of trade in which a black slave could be sold more than twice as much as it was successfully sold, and the more it was sold, the more money it would make. As for the wear and tear caused by the "goods" in transit, it is the overseas trade merchants who can bear it.

At heart, Isabel, who had received a higher education at university, was extremely opposed to the slave trade. However, she had to accept the fact that the bloodiest human trade in history and the darkest part of history. If she hadn't come up with this type of trade now, sooner or later the Hawkins family would have stepped in and made a fortune in the slave trade.

Isabel was a little heavy, but she still smiled politely at Richard, "Sir, the Spaniards and Portuguese currently have vast overseas colonies, and their plantations require a large number of slaves to work for them day and night. So, I think their plantation owners prefer you to go and do the slave trade with them. ”

Captain Hawkins quietly drank the Canary wine and looked at her calmly, "Miss, how much wealth can the slave trade bring?" ”