Captain Hawkins and others, who sat a little to the right of Isabel Walton, had been focusing on her and the plantation owners of Santo Domingo City, and were very interested in what they were talking to. It was only a matter of a moment that Captain William Hawkins had the illusion that when he became a nobleman who spoke Spanish fluently, he must use Isabel's swagger to negotiate with these Spanish merchants who had made a fortune with the white bones of blacks.

However, when he noticed that Isabel's maritime lieutenant was hurrying out of the stands like a sea breeze, he sensed that something was wrong. He did not immediately go and ask the noble female captain of the fleet, but quietly stood up after several plantation owners had left the stands. Take a step forward and walk to the right side of Isabel.

Trying his best to maintain a noble and dignified appearance, he slightly tightened his chin and looked at Isabel on the left, and said softly, "Miss Isabel, I saw that your adjutant was in a hurry to leave, did you encounter any problems in the negotiation?" ”

Isabel leaned to the right at an angle between the back of the seat and the hanging hand, her left hand resting on the left armrest, her right hand gently supporting her chin, and her right leg crossed to examine the plantation owners who had come to the middle of the 300 black slaves. When he heard Captain Hawkins' words, he squinted at him, "Captain, you can sit down and talk to me." ”

"Yes, miss." Captain Hawkins hurriedly pulled over the seat and sat on her right, staring at her expression.

"Captain, do you remember the slave trade license I showed you?" Isabel was about to pick up the glass with her left hand when the black woman who had poured it for her before actually handed it directly to her with both hands. Isabel frowned slightly and did not speak.

Captain Hawkins nodded, then looked at her thoughtfully, "I suppose these Spaniards want to see our slave trading licenses, don't they?" ”

Isabel held the glass in front of her eyes, deliberately admiring the color of the wine in the glass, and said kindly, "Yes, Captain, I was talking to these fucking Spaniards about this charter just now. ”

"I didn't expect that the slave trade license that was sold publicly in Spain more than 30 years ago is still valid today??"

"I've asked Baldwin to go to the boat to get the charter. However, I was thinking about the question, is it possible to buy a new slave trade license now? You know, that piece of paper in the hands of the Portuguese has not been able to be kept for a long time. Isabel looked at the plantation owner in the square as she admired the wine in her glass, but she said what she wanted to tell Captain Hawkins.

"New concessions?! Well, as soon as the deal is completed, I can send someone to the Governor's Mansion to inquire. ”

When Baldwin brought a letter box from the ship, Isabel immediately opened it and examined the slave license. Then, he handed it to Captain Hawkins, "Captain, now you can send someone to the Spaniards to verify the charter." ”

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In front of the 300 male slaves who were shackled and their hands bound in chains almost the entire square of the small square, the eight plantation owners of Santo Domingo carefully examined the various parts of the slaves' bodies as if they were selecting goods. What Isabel and others did not know was that in the accounts of the plantation owners, black slaves did not belong to hired hands or servants, but were often listed alongside livestock, tools, etc., and belonged to the private property of the plantation owners.

According to the plantation owner's demand for black slaves, the black slaves who were sold were roughly divided into three categories: the first category, the younger, handsome ones went to the plantation owner's house to work as servants, their duties were mainly to help with household chores, the labor intensity was low, and the life was similar to that of ordinary servants. Because they ate and lived with their masters, the lucky black slaves were able to gain freedom after gaining the trust of their masters.

The second group, and most of the black slaves bought by the plantation owners, were placed to work on the sugar cane plantations. Once the sugarcane reached maturity, the labor intensity of the black slaves increased. You need to work in the sugarcane field for more than ten hours a day, and you can only eat in the sugarcane field.

The third group will be arranged to mine to mine ore. Due to the primitive mining methods and the low level of technology, almost all the work had to be done by the black slaves by manpower. As a result, black slaves working in the mines would die as a result of heavy labor or abuse, and this was the group with the highest mortality rate.

All the plantation owners would open the mouth of the black slave in the picture to check the condition of his teeth and guess the age of the black slave. Some plantation owners would stick out their tongues and lick certain parts of the black slave's body, such as the chin and cheeks, in order to tell if they might be sick by the smell of sweat.

Soon, the plantation owners picked their favorite "goods", and there were about 200 black slaves. Subsequently, a dozen or so sailors of Captain Hawkins' supervision of the black slaves put an iron ring on the wrist of the black slave to indicate that it had been sold, according to the request of the white overseer in the slave sales area. When most of the slaves in the small square had been put in a hoop, a sailor who was tasked with delivering the news reported to Captain Hawkins that there were about 100 slaves left unsold.

Isabel was already sitting impatiently in the stands, and immediately glanced at Captain Hawkins when she heard the sailor's words, "Captain, can the rest be sold tomorrow?" ”

Captain Hawkins stroked his beard, "Of course, we have a lot of time anyway. ”

Isabel stood up with her hands on the armrests of her chair, and was about to step down from the stands when she suddenly found several Spaniards dressed as merchants riding horses and leading a large number of white retinues to the outside of the slave sales area. He suddenly stopped and stood in the stands, holding the hilt of the handguard sword in his left hand, and scolded secretly with a frown, "Spaniards, go to hell." ”

Captain Hawkins's voice suddenly rang in his ears, "Miss, we all know that the slave trade is an ugly act of injustice, cruelty, barbarism, and brutality. ”

Isabel turned her head to look at the captain and said coldly, "Captain, perhaps we should all repentance of our sins to God. ”

When the last 100 or so slaves were sold, the plantation owners came to the stands to negotiate the next barter with Isabel and others. Of course, this form of direct barter does not involve the payment of currency, and there is no third party involved, and the barter parties have to sign a trade agreement and then determine the relevant matters therein. In order to show fairness and impartiality, the dozen or so plantation owners present also recommended a Spanish accountant who knew English for Isabel and others to record the accounts related to the transaction.