In a sugar cane plantation north of the city of Santo Domingo, in the southeast of the Spanish island, the plantation owner, Diego Alvarado, warmly entertains several special guests with Spanish dishes with unique traditions and characteristics. These special guests were not only Diego's new trading partners, but also Anglo and Saxon people who had traveled thousands of miles from the islands of western Europe to the Caribbean.

alliance against France's allies; new slave trading partners; Sail across the ocean to the island of Spain in the Caribbean to trade overseas; Because of all these conditions, the plantation owner Alvarado was willing to talk to him about things other than trade that were of interest to both sides. For example, the small Galen armed merchant ships used by the slave traders, the forts and trading posts built by the Portuguese off the coast of Africa, and the "Pepper Coast", "Ivory Coast", "Gold Coast" and "Slave Coast", among others.

It's November 1543, but the city of Santo Domingo on the Caribbean Sea still feels like it's summer. After dinner, Alvarado invited Isabel and the others to drink and talk under the pergola outside the plantation premises. Captain Hawkins thought of a question that made him curious before, and saluted the plantation owner sitting on the side with his wine glass, "Sir, I found out this afternoon that the plantation owners have some unique methods for verifying the bodies of black slaves in the slave sale area, is this the method you and others used to select black slaves?" ”

Diego Alvarado replied with a glass, "Captain Hawkins, this is actually some of my own solutions that the other plantation owners have to think of. ”

"As a last resort? Sir, do you mean that the purchase of black slaves will cost you a little more? Isabel, who sat on the other side, glanced at the plantation owner and then at the vast expanse of sugar cane that was about to be harvested in the field outside the house.

"Miss Brenda, as long as there are merchants, there will be merchants who take advantage of unfair means. For example, some slave traders would sell old or physically inadequate slaves to us. ”

"Sir, this kind of cargo is different from other goods, there will always be old or not strong enough black slaves." Captain Hawkins nodded and stroked his beard.

Alvarado smiled lightly, "Captain, when we encounter this kind of cargo, we will make them open their mouths and examine the teeth of the cargo. In addition, we can also tell if they are sick by the smell of sweat. ”

Isabel sat there and did not speak, but thought to herself, "Opening your mouth and checking your teeth is one way to select livestock." Checking the health of black slaves with the smell of sweat has never been heard of, and I don't understand why they did it. ”

Alvarado then asked her about the transport of black slaves, "Mademoiselle, you told me that these goods were bought in the Cape Verde Islands. But how did your fleet survive the voyage across the Atlantic, and how could it be delivered to the city of Santo Domingue without the plague? ”

Perhaps Isabel never seriously thought about it. When she snatched them from the Portuguese, she only viewed them from the point of view of humanism. Clearly, she was not willing to abuse slaves like other slave traders.

While she was still thinking, Captain Hawkins asked, "Sir, is it normal to have to die some cargo?" ”

Alvarado glanced at the captain, leaning back in his chair and sipping his glass slowly, "Captain, in the slave traders I know, almost everyone will crammed a large number of slaves into the cabin as if they were cargo. And because the voyage was too long, the goods were chained and could not handle the problem of urinating and defecating, so only the young, strong goods could make it to the sales area outside Santo Domingo alive. ”

When the plantation owner explained this, Isabel understood a little. On closer thought, the reason why her fleet was able to make it alive across the Western route and finally arrive in Santo Domingo was because the fleet was not overloaded, and the black slaves who were imprisoned at the bottom of the cabin also had a certain amount of room to move around and could be used as wine barrels and pickled fish barrels to solve the troubles of urinating and urinating.

Taking advantage of the plantation owner's conversation, Isabel smiled lightly as she shifted her gaze from the few black slaves who were working in the sugar cane fields to the plantation owner's face, "Sir, if I load the young black slaves according to the capacity of the merchant ship, and give them a certain range of movement in the cabin, and provide them with food, water, and wooden barrels for handling urine and defecation, will there be fewer deaths?" ”

"Well, Miss Brenda's words are worth considering." Alvarado gave her an approving look, and then asked, "Mademoiselle, if you use this method to transport goods to the city of Santo Domingo or to the Americas, I am afraid that there will not be a lot of goods loaded at a time." In doing so, how can you profit from these high-value goods? ”

At the heart of the humanist ethos is the centeredness of the human person, affirming the value and dignity of the human person. Advocate that the purpose of life is to pursue happiness in real life, advocate individuality, and believe that people are the creators and masters of real life. Isabel views black slaves from a humanist point of view because she never treated them as goods or animals. It was a change in thinking and behavior that allowed her slaves to arrive alive in the harbor and become a sought-after commodity in the eyes of the plantation owners.

Isabel put down her glass, stood up and looked at the large sugar cane fields not far from the house, and then turned to look at Alvarado himself, "Sir, if you transport slaves every time you exceed the cargo capacity, how many slaves will die during the voyage?"

Alvarado looked up at her and shook his head, "That's a hard question to answer. However, I can tell you a recorded case of a 100-ton merchant ship carrying 414 slaves from the coast of Africa to the Americas. ”

"Well, it seems that the slave ship is very overloaded. Mr. Alvarado, do you want to know why the black slaves I carry are so popular with you? ”

"Of course, if you let the young, beautiful goods do some training, you can bring more wealth to me or other plantation owners."

Isabel nodded and paced slowly under the pergola, "My reasoning is that the number of slaves carried at a time does not exceed the cargo capacity of the merchant ships, and the slaves are provided with food, water, and a certain range of movement. In this way, even after a long period of transportation, I believe that these black slaves will not die of the plague. So, every black slave I transported to the plantation could bring me a great deal of wealth. ”