The man slammed to the ground, "I am from Xinning County, Guangzhou Prefecture. ”

Chen Shouxu didn't hear clearly, so he asked the visitor to repeat it. The local accent is too strong, but fortunately, Chen Shouxu has been in Guangdong for a long time and finally figured it out.

"What do you call it?"

"Cai Yuanding, the word Jitong."

In addition to Cai Yuanding, there were more than 40 Chinese captured in Acapulco. After being captured by the pirates, they thought they were going to work as coolies for the pirates, and they had nothing but strength. The Spaniards exploited the Chinese in the Philippines very heavily, and the tax burden of the Chinese was much higher than that of the natives. Things are no better in Mexico, where most people are reduced to working as servants for the locals or as handymen in towns and cities as loggers and sweepers. These jobs can't save money at all, and overseas Chinese have nothing to do. They lived in the corner on the west side of Acapulco, and were the first to meet the pirates.

Chen Shouxu let Harris. Acton took over the rest of the work with Holren, and he had a lot of questions he wanted to get answers from Cai Yuanding.

Although they are compatriots, the accents of the two are very different, Chen Shouxu's accent makes Cai Yuanding sound very difficult, and the difference between Cai Yuanding's speech and Chen Shouxu's familiar vernacular is not small, and some words that cannot be expressed can only be understood through the Spanish translation on the flagship.

The Spaniards did not have many people in the Philippine colonies, and there were very few whites among the soldiers. The backbone of the army was white, but there were also a large number of Japanese, Indians, and native Filipinos. The same is true of sailors, but unlike the army, there are many Chinese among them. The Philippine Governor Dasmanaris' expedition to the Spice Islands consisted of 400 Chinese sailors and miscellaneous servants. On the expedition, the daily whipping is over. Governor Dasmanalis threatened to shackle the Chinese and shave off their hair. In the Philippines, the symbol of the Chinese religion is to shave their hair, and as long as they shave their buns, they can enjoy the same tax rate as local Filipinos. At this time, the Chinese sailors of the flagship could not bear it anymore, and under the leadership of Pan Hewu and Guo Weitai, they revolted and killed all the Spaniards, including the governor, and seized the flagship. It's a lot like the story of some Pirates of the Caribbean.

Due to illness or the oppression of the Spanish governors, some sailors who came to America with galleons did not make it to the time and stayed in Acapulco. Over the years, there are many Orientals in Acapulco today. Most of them are Filipinos and Indians. There are a small number of Chinese, but there are dozens of them, and they are the pioneers of Chinese immigration to the Americas.

Cai Yuanding was originally a Chinese sailor on a Manila galleon, and is now an overseas Chinese leader in Alapulco.

"Has Mr. Cai ever read?" Chen Shouxu felt that Cai Yuanding's name and characters were good, and his conversation was not like that of an ordinary sailor.

"I'm ashamed. After Cai's house test, he had no choice but to go to the East to make a living. ”

It's good that ordinary people can pass the government exam, and the person who can pass the middle school entrance exam will not be just a sailor.

After all, he is a native language, Cai Yuanding has read books, and he is not a person who can't understand anything except the vernacular. As the exchange continued to deepen, the conversation between the two gradually smoothed out, and Chen Shouxu sent the translator away.

What Chen Shouxu asked, Cai Yuanding answered.

When Chen Shouxu asked about his origin, Cai Yuanding sighed, "After my parents died, I pawned all the family property and invested in a merchant ship from Guangzhou to Manila. The Khromber confiscated all the cargo on board and gave us only one sampan to go to Manila. When I arrived in Manila, I had no money to pay for the journey back to my country, and my family was bankrupt, so I lived in Manila. ”

Chen Shouxu expressed his understanding that the United Dutch East India Company is now the hegemon of the Asian seas. They were much stronger than the Spaniards in Manila, and sent fleets to blockade Manila Harbor and Macau on several occasions. In order to disrupt Sino-Philippine trade, the armed merchant ships of the Dutch would immediately become pirates if they encountered Chinese ships bound for Manila.

Cai Yuanding continued, "Most of the people in Manila come from the two counties of Zhang and Quan. As a Cantonese native, living in Manila is not easy. Fortunately, I still know some words, and I can barely make a living by writing some letters to my compatriots. ”

At this time, overseas Chinese were generally grouped overseas according to region, and it was difficult for non-township parties to integrate, Chen Shouxu also had a slight understanding of this, and he waited for Cai Yuanding to continue.

"Four years ago, Manila raised the residency tax for Chinese to 10 pesos, plus the tribute tax and the housing tax, which I simply couldn't afford. Other cities on the island levy a higher residency tax on Chinese, twice as much as in the capital. Cai Yuanding touched his hair lightly, "As long as you shave your hair bun and believe in the church, you can be exempted from residence tax." But I didn't want to do that, so I was left to become a sailor. ”

Chen Shouxu took out the tequila and poured Cai Yuanding a glass of wine, "Then I came to Acapulco with the galleon, do you want to go home?" ”

Cai Yuanding took the wine glass, "I missed the shipping schedule because I was sick and was stranded in Acheng, but I didn't expect this stay to be 3 years." It was true that there were some Chinese sailors in Acheng who were reluctant to return to the Philippines to suffer from the Spaniards. But this galleon has not come for two years, and Acheng is by no means a good place, and it is about to die in this desperate domain. They all regretted it. Now there is no one who does not want to go back. ”

Chen Shouxu walked up to Cai Yuanding, leaned on the table, and looked at Cai Yuanding condescendingly.

"As a compatriot, Mr. Cai, I don't force you. I'll give you two options. I'm going back to Asia soon, and you can go back on my ship, on condition that you sign a contract with the fleet for 10 years of service, and I'll treat you better than the Spaniards. I can't guarantee you'll be home, but I can guarantee you'll be much closer to home than you are now. Chen Shouxu stared at Cai Yuanding's eyes, "Or you can get off the boat and continue to wait for the next wave of galleons to bring you back." ”

Chen Shouxu lit his pipe and waited for Cai Yuanding's reply. Smoke enveloped Chen Shouxu's face, blurred in the dim light.

In Cai Yuanding's eyes, Chen Shouxu actually led a huge fleet of Hongmaoyi pirates, which is simply an ancient anecdote. What happened to him today can be said to be ups and downs, but he can also be regarded as a person who has experienced strong winds and waves. As soon as he gritted his teeth, Cai Yuanding stood up and was about to bow down.

"Don't kneel." Chen Shouxu's voice was resolute and indifferent.

Cai Yuanding was stunned, his reaction was also very fast, and he bowed to Chen Shouxu with both hands in fists, "Lord Meng will not give up, Cai Mou dares not to do the work of dogs and horses." ”

Chen Shouxu smiled, "You go back and tell my words to the other Chinese in Acheng, the conditions are the same as yours." Then bring someone who agrees to report to my quartermaster Cochlin, and he will give you a post. ”

Seeing off Cai Yuanding, Chen Shouxu returned to his seat. In this bloody age, he must be careful in all his actions. Especially for people. Ethnicity and descent are not a reason to build trust in a foreign land, that is only the beginning of everything. Now in the entire fleet, the person he trusted the most was undoubtedly the Guardian Black Titch. Chen Shouxu will only get their allegiance if the energy source continues to bring benefits to his subordinates. The same clan does provide a good foundation for the relationship between the two sides, but it is far from enough.

Confucianism has ruled Chinese thought for 2,000 years, during which time it has undergone several drastic changes, and its core has always been inseparable from two words: motivation and constraint. Under different economic structures, the forms of incentives and constraints are different, and Confucianism has always been able to provide different interpretations of the texts in the classics in accordance with the reforms. It's not that there are people who follow the rules, but those people will soon lose their Taoism and be marginalized. This is the fundamental reason why they can succeed.

For Chen Shouxu, the principle is the same, no matter what method is used to maintain the cornerstone of the entire fleet, it is inseparable from the words incentive and constraint. He himself was motivated and constrained by the laws of the fleet.

----

As my colleague had predicted, the fleet did not harvest much gold and silver in Acapulco. Chen Shouxu received a total of more than 110 manpower supplements. To Chen Shouxu's relief, all the Chinese joined the fleet. Except for the Chinese, the Indians, Malays, and Filipinos, Chen Shouxuan did not give them a chance to choose, and all of them took the fleet.

Quartermaster Cochlin was not stupid, he placed all the Chinese on the flagship Changshui, and the rest of the captive sailors were divided into the entire fleet.

On the third day, September 21, 1640, the fleet counted the personnel. According to Chen Shouxu, there was one captain, one navigator, two artillery officers, one boatswain, four helmsmen, two cooks, four doctors and barbers, four carpenters, two blacksmiths, two sail tailors, two signal non-commissioned officers, one hundred and thirteen sailors, and nine boys. There are four officers of the Marine Corps Command, and one company of ordinary officers and soldiers of 80 people, a total of 231 people. Chen Shouxu eliminated the professional cooper on board, and the rest of the fleet did the same.

Chen Shouxu stood in the stern of the flagship, inspecting his fleet.

Vice-flagship, Zachary. the Raphael of Marmont;

Lynn. Stirling's Long River;

Grenville. Collingwood's Long Mountain;

René. the longwave horn of Allemand;

Philip. Edward's Lima;

Coutinho. Morality. Melville of Nolania;

Aramby. Roberts' Tempest;

Thomas. Merlot's Excellence;

El. Robert's Adventure.

Six cruisers, one three-masted whaling ship, three sloops, a total of 10 ships, 1,421 officers and servants.

Chen Shouxu issued the following order to the whole fleet:

1. The captains, officers and sailors of all ships shall act in accordance with the signals and orders issued by the flagship, and strictly implement them;

2. In case of encountering an enemy ship during the voyage, the whole fleet shall be immediately notified;

3. If an enemy ship is discovered infiltrating our fleet, it will fire three cannons to warn other ships;

4. In the event of an accident on a warship, a signal should be issued to hoist the yellow flag during the day and the signal light on the foremast at night;

5. If the flagship sinks during the voyage and the commander is killed, the deputy flagship takes over the command;

6. In all cases, officers and men must be loyal and brave to the fleet, and the above orders must be observed in any danger;

7. Any warship that notices that the sea water has become lighter or greener shall be informed to the whole fleet.

The wind is blowing in the right direction for departures. The Changshui fired its cannon, raised the blue flag, and signaled the whole fleet to set sail. The rest of the ships fired their guns in turn, saluting the flagship. The Long Water piloted the voyage and the fleet sailed out of Acapulco. The cruisers formed a column, and the sloops and whaling ships sailed in separate columns on the left side of the battleship.

The battleship hoisted all sails except the winged sails and sailed into the deep blue waters. Usually light and green water means it's not far from land, while dark blue or even near-black water means it's still in deep water.

In accordance with the regulations for transoceanic voyages, the fleet began to "Lantesson", which means to distribute a week's worth of food. Three pounds of nautical biscuits per person, half a pint of vinegar, and a quarter of a pint of cooking oil. In addition, the beer of the day was also distributed. These foods are certainly not enough, and in addition to that, an extra hot meal for the day will be distributed every day. The first day was boiled dried cod. In the future, there will be peas and oats, corned pork, corned beef, and staggered distribution every day. Each week's food plan is announced to the whole ship in advance.

Chen Shouxu inspected the order of the entire meal. The sailors and soldiers were divided into groups of seven, and one person from each group was drawn to carry a large basin to take the food of the whole group. Upon reaching the group's location, divide the food into seven portions, with the remaining six people facing away from the person who picked it up. Then blindfold one of them, and he came to designate the distribution of food.

Supplies are always precious for ocean voyages and must be used sparingly. On ocean-going vessels, the distribution of food is likely to be a matter of life and death for the crew, so the fleet adopts this fairer distribution method, so that everyone has no complaints.