"Your Excellency, I am willing to give you 50 pounds." A gentleman estimated the wool income of some time ago, and said to Isabel.

"Your Excellency, I am only a yoman, and I am willing to give you 30 pounds." One of Yoman hurriedly reported his principal amount.

"I'll give 40 pounds."

"I'll give 100 pounds. Your Excellency, these guys are afraid that the principal invested will not be recovered. "Another gentleman, very generously, offered a sum of money that he thought was a lot.

"I'll pay 60 pounds."

"Your Excellency, I will grant you 35 pounds."

Little Beardsmith looked at the greedy and calculating businessmen with contempt, turned his face disdainfully, and looked at Isabel squarely, "Your Excellency, I will pay you 200 pounds myself. ”

When little Beard's father heard the eldest son report the amount of funding, it was too late to stop the eldest son, so he had to smile at Isabel, "Your Excellency, since my eldest son has contributed 200 pounds, then I will also contribute 200 pounds." ”

Then, when each of the retainers reported their financial amounts, the Duke of Richmond, who was bent on defending Isabel, could not help but become a little annoyed. He knew that this group of mercenary businessmen would never invest half of their wealth, even 1/3 of their wealth.

Holding a wine glass, he stood on the small staircase with a sullen face and looked at the retainers, "Everyone, what are you afraid of?" Afraid that the invested principal will not be fully recovered? Or do you think that the noble honor of the family of advisors is not credible? ”

The duke's words were obviously tinged with anger, and the retainers present did not dare to easily refute or quibble, and most of them were silent. Just as the Duke was about to continue growling, Isabel quietly walked up to his side, her lips quirming, "Henry, they're just ordinary merchants, not pirates. Moreover, sea raiding was a very risky investment for the British. ”

The Duke of Richmond turned his face to look at her solemnly, "Isabel, I just wanted to make it up to you. ”

"I know, Henry." Isabel pursed her lips and smiled, turning her face to the retainers in front of her, "I know what you think. Well, so be it, I only need to invest £50 each. I think you'll always get your £50 stake. ”

The retainers secretly breathed a sigh of relief. For this group of ordinary businessmen, it is absolutely impossible to invest large sums of money in a very risky trade without being completely sure. It's the rules of trade, and even if God tells them to invest, they will think about it, and think again.

Where could the young and vigorous Duke of Richmond know how to do business, and emotionally proclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that I will grant the adviser 2,000 pounds!" ”

"2000 pounds?? If you can receive a 10x return, then it becomes 20,000 pounds?! One gentleman blinked in disbelief and muttered to another gentleman beside him.

"Raiding at sea can grab so much money? My God, this is more than the woollen business. The other gentleman sighed and shook his head.

Just as everyone was talking, Isabel threw out another bait-like sentence, "Gentlemen, yomans, you have to remember one thing, the less investment will be less. If you see that Your Highness has obtained a huge treasure in the future, you must not be blushing. ”

In this emergency fundraising meeting, Isabel raised a total of £3,000. As it was dinner time at the end of the meeting, the Duke of Richmond invited his retainers to dinner. During the dinner, most of the retainers were curious to ask Isabel about maritime raids and overseas trade.

Isabel said eloquently: "In fact, raiding at sea is more akin to raiding on land. However, naval raids require the use of artillery. ”

"Artillery? Your Excellency, as soon as you open fire, those ships will stop and dare not go any further? Gentleman old Beard Smith spat out a layman's word.

"Hahaha... Beard, you should wait until I'm done with dinner before telling jokes. The Duke of Richmond, who sat at the top of the long table, struggled to swallow the beef in his mouth, laughing and sarcastically at Old Beard.

Old Beard, who was sitting across from Isabel, smiled a little awkwardly and turned his head to look at the young lord, "Your Highness, this... I'm a layman at sea raids, so I'm going to figure out some of them first. ”

Isabel also felt a little amused and shook her head, "Beard, the artillery is fired for the purpose of an artillery battle, and it is necessary to defeat the enemy's artillery with our artillery in order to plunder the property. ”

"Artillery battle? What if the enemy's artillery hits your ship? ”

"As long as the arsenal is not hit, my ship will not be sunk."

This time, Isabel selected Baldwin, Fast and other 10 Duke's palace guards who could swim to follow her south. For the sake of safety, she asked Beard Smith Jr. to serve as the treasurer of the Duke's Palace, to take care of the money raised, and to follow her to the south.

After three days of preparation, Isabel led the team on the morning of June 8, bidding farewell to her parents, the Duke of Richmond and her fellow retainers of the Duke's Court, and set out with a large sum of cash. The destination this time was Plymouth, Devonshire, an important naval base based on Henry VIII's royal shipyard.

Before he got out of Yorkshire, Faist, who was walking in front of the team, turned around and smiled at Isabelle, "Your Excellency, today is Lent, why did you choose to travel today?" ”

Isabel rode side by side with little Beard, and because little Beard's horse was also pulling a riding horse carrying two chests full of money, she ordered little Beard not to leave her sight and to guard the chest around the clock.

Isabel raised her chin slightly, glanced at the road in front of the team and said with a smile, "Fasting day? Fast, now we are on a military mission. There are no feasts of Christ, and there are no fasting days. ”

"Your Excellency, this is wonderful. The trip took about two weeks, and no one would accuse us of not following the teachings of the Catholic Church. ”

"Fast, what if I told you that this trip would take a year before I could return to Yorkshire?"

As soon as the words fell, even little Beard beside her was very surprised, "Your Excellency, this time I went overseas... It takes so long?? ”

The two flag-bearers in front of the team also glanced back at her, and Isabel glanced at Little Beard on the right and nodded, "Yes, this time we sailed to the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. ”

"North Atlantic? Caribbean? Little Beard, hearing such a geographical term for the first time, rolled his eyes and tried to imagine what the sea was about to look like.

Please remember that the first domain name of this book is .. Three-Zhangmen mobile version reading website:m.