The governor's chamberlain brought two cups of tea, and Littmanning said, "Gentlemen, this is the Chinese tea brought to me by a friend of the United East India Company, try it." ”

Chen Shouxu took a sip and said, "Mr. Governor, my backbone crew and I are indeed from Bahamian pirates. From my personal point of view, there is no problem with working with your company. ”

Littmanning looked pleased, "That's great. We can talk about the specific cooperation plan, but first of all, I am sorry that I do not have the authority to issue privateer licenses, so I will have to ask Recife. ”

Chen Shouxu shook his head and said with a regretful expression, "The privateer license is not the first priority, Your Excellency the Governor. As you know, as captain, I am accountable to my crew, and my position is elected by and served by the crew. In the Governor's opinion, how can I convince the crew to agree to your proposal? ”

"I'll pay a sum of money, and the price will definitely satisfy your crew."

Chen Shouxu's fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop, and he considered the words, "For the crew, money is a good thing, but it also has to be enjoyed by life." My crew grabbed some Spanish merchant ships as before, although the money was slow, but it was safe and stable, and it was a lot of money to accumulate slowly, so why should they fight with Pete Wallace? I've heard that he's a brutal, ferocious pirate. ”

"I can provide you with a safe and stable rear port, and in my precinct you will receive all the treatment of privateers such as supplies and refurbishment ships." ”

This is the proper meaning, Chen Shouxu is still not satisfied, "Tell the sailors this, they may not be able to understand." You should know that the needs of the masses are always primary and immediate. ”

Littmanning pondered for a while, then slowly spoke, "How about a ship?" A real three-masted battleship. ”

Chen Shouxu's fingers tapping on the table stopped, and his eyes lit up, "This is okay." “

"But you have to pay for it, and the price will be fair. It's okay to be meritorious, and my people will tell you the specific rewards. ”

"It's acceptable, but I ask the company to provide enough personnel and materials to modify the ship according to my plan, and of course I will pay."

"There is no problem with this, the West India Company has the best shipwrights in the New World." Littmanin continued his terms, "I will send personnel to your ship to supervise the battle and count the results. ”

Chen Shouxu hesitated, "Your Excellency the Governor must ensure that your men abide by the discipline on board. ”

"I'll tell them."

"Alright then, I'll take it."

After the governor threw out the bait of the battleship, the process of negotiation was accelerated. The two sides agreed on issues of principle. Chen Shouxu was about to go back to convene a crew meeting, and after shaking hands with each other, Chen Shouxu and Maiden left Nasha Castle.

On the way back, Chen Shouxu asked Maiden, "How much do you know about this Belizean Pete Wallace?" ”

"Didn't the West India Company give a piece of information about the pirates of Belize?"

"The material is mainly about the location of Wallace's base in Belize, his team has 3 to 5 corsair ships armed with cannons and a number of Pelaga sailboats, 400 to 500 sailors." Chen Shouxu looked at the intelligence again, "We all know that the strength of pirates is changing at any time, maybe just now that we are speaking, the success or failure of his hunting will have a profound impact on the strength." We can only use intelligence assessment as a reference. Actually, I wanted to know more about the person himself. ”

"I don't know more than you know that he has a nickname for 'ballistic,' and I don't know more than you do." ”

"There are only wrong names, no wrong nicknames. Ballistics, indicating that he must have something special in his gunnery. ”

Chen Shouxu felt more and more that this business was not good, he leaned against the wall of the carriage and looked into the distance, the setting sun reflected on the sea, and the shadow of Nasha Castle was longer and longer behind him. He had no choice, the temptation of a battleship was too much for him to refuse.

The carriage soon arrived at the port, and Chen Shouxu returned to the Tempest, where he gathered all the crew.

"Brothers, today I took over a business at the Governor's Palace. The Governor of Curacao hired us to fight against Pete Wallace of Belize. The pay will be good and the battles will be fierce. I need your advice now. ”

Chen Shouxu swept over his crew, a total of seventy people, all huddled on the deck. The youngest of them is fourteen years old, the oldest is thirty-nine, and the largest distribution is concentrated between eighteen and twenty-four years old. The harsh life of the sea has carved indelible marks on everyone. If you are over 30 years old, it will be difficult for you to stay at sea if you do not have a more comfortable position on board.

One of the crew members asked, "Captain, what does this Pete Wallace look like?" ”

Rip smoked his pipe and answered the question for Chen Shouxu, "Cut off his head and you'll know what it looks like." ”

"Captain, have we got a privateer warrant from the Netherlands?"

Chen Shouxu shook his head and said, "No, I don't really want it either." With an official privateer warrant, the loot seized could only be disposed of by the maritime court in Curacao as enemy goods, and I didn't think it was worth paying that 10% of the revenue. ”

As a result of the crew meeting, Chen Shouxu's suggestion was adopted, and this group of crew members is still relatively cute.

The next day, Chen Shouxu asked the ship's captain, Cochlin, and the chairman, Drup, to dispose of all the ship's unwanted cargo. He returned to the Doge's Palace with the authorization of the Crews' Assembly.

Chen Shouxu consulted repeatedly with the accountants of the West India Company on the details. In terms of the way the loot was accounted for and handled, Litmanning meant that it was not advisable to dispose of it in Curacao, and he intended to arrange it in Aruba, not far from Curacao. Chen Shouxu understands very well, is he doing business in the name of the company? This trip was originally a relatively secret operation, and in the sparsely populated island of Aruba, the governor had more room to operate personally.

After Chen Shouxu signed the memorandum of cooperation, he looked up at Litmanning, "Your Excellency the Governor, I will do my best to fight the Belizean pirates. I hope that in the future, if I have a fight with a Spanish privateer in Cuba, I will also get your support. ”

Littmanning smiled and replied, "That's another business, isn't it?" I don't have any problems personally, the ocean is so vast, and there are many opportunities for us to work together. ”

When it was Litmanning's turn to sign, he held a quill pen in his right hand and paused, "I have long heard that the captain is Chinese, and this signature is Chinese?" ”

"Yes."

"My friends at the East India Company say that the Chinese are one of the cleanest and smartest people in the world, and have many similarities with our nation. I don't think he's exaggerating the facts. After Litmanning finished speaking, he signed the memo with his name in floral letters.

After the memorandum was signed, the attendant brought three glasses of red wine, and the governor raised his glass first, "God witness, this is only the beginning of our friendship." Cheers. ”

"Cheers!"

The three of them drank the red wine in one gulp.

Littmanning grabbed the foot of the glass with two fingers and gently shook the wine glass back and forth, "In this battle with the Belizean pirates, not only you, the captain, but also two friends are also involved in this business, and I will introduce you to each other." ”

According to Littmanning, in addition to Chen Shouxu, there was also a British pirate from Barbados who participated in the operation. The British captain named Roberts had a peculiar experience, having no connection to the pirates of the Bahamas and Belize, and had no prior maritime experience. He himself was a large plantation owner in Barbados, and found agricultural production too boring, so he handed over the property to his wife, bought a dhow at his own expense, and recruited some sailors to go to sea to rob.

There was also a French captain named Rabush, whom he had heard of and who had some dealings with Bahamian pirates, but who operated mainly in the eastern part of Hispaniola.

Back at the port, the Governor may have feared the repercussions of a large number of pirates gathering in the port. He sent pilots to guide the Tempest out of Port Willemstad and anchor in a hidden bay in Curacao.

The Barbados pirate ship Revenge and the French pirate ship Rose are both moored there.

There were several buildings on the shore, and pirates who had not yet gone to war gathered on the shore. As part of the business, the Governor made a small advance. The Revenge and the Rose spent all of their advances in Port Willemstad and purchased numerous war supplies and rum.

There was no shortage of these things on the Storm, and Chen Shouxu deposited all the advance payments and sales proceeds into the credit union. Saving money to buy a battleship is his only goal now.

In the harbor, the Revenge is a small six-gun ship, and the weapons may have been procured by the ship's owner, Roberts, in a variety of ways, including Spanish three-pounder guns and British four-pounder guns. Carrying ten four-pounder guns, the Rose was the largest ship.

The Tempest leaned firmly on the edge of the simple wooden trestle, retracted the sails and lowered the anchor, leaving the officers on duty, and the sailors all went ashore. The crews of all three ships were strangers and did not trust each other. The sailors who came ashore occupied a position not far from their respective ships on the shore, and were faintly divided into three mounds, with little contact with each other.

Chen Shouxuan had no intention of breaking this situation, but Roberts, the owner of the Revenge, took the initiative to come to the door.

Roberts didn't look like a pirate, with a fresh shirt and fair skin, and no sunburn scars common to old sailors, but rather like an aristocratic son.

"You must be Captain Orderly." From afar, Roberts held out his hand.

If you don't hide it, Chen Shouxu's tall figure and Oriental appearance are indeed very conspicuous in the pirate group.

"I am, you're Captain Roberts?"

"Call me Edwards, Roberts is my used name. I don't want to implicate my wife and children who are still in Barbados. ”

Chen Shouxu was a little thundered, and everyone knew that he was Arambi. Roberts, what good can it be to forcibly call yourself Edwards? The Governor's subordinates had said that this Captain Roberts was a little strange, but now it looks like the rumors are true.

Now that he has joined the team formed by the Governor, Chen Shouxu has certainly made some acquaintances with friendly forces. Captain Roberts, who is less than 30 years old, has hundreds of acres of tobacco and sugar cane plantations in Barbados and is served by hundreds of slaves. She received a good humanistic education from an early age, and his wife is also the daughter of a large plantation owner in Barbados. Roberts himself served as a captain in the British Army in Barbados, and he did not experience any notable battles in his military career.

At Roberts' gracious invitation, Chen Shouxu boarded the Revenge with him. Entering the captain's room, Chen Shouxu noticed that his room was full of books, which was a rare hobby among pirates.

"Sit casually." Roberts greeted warmly and poured a glass of tequila from New Spain.

Chen Shouxu stared at the golden wine in the glass, since he knew that Roberts was from Barbados, he had a question in his heart, and Chen Shouxu felt that it was better to say it.

"Captain Edwards," Chen Shouxu still respected Roberts's self-proclaim, "I take the liberty of asking, I don't think you are a man who has lived at sea all year round, how could a gentleman like you think of venturing out on the sea?" ”

Roberts took a soft sip of his wine, "Captain Order, you're not the first friend to ask me this question. Ever since something happened to my family, I have always felt that a peaceful life was not what I was looking for, but I didn't know what I really wanted at the time. Until one day, my business was robbed by pirates, and my business partner was very angry. But strangely enough, I have nothing but excitement, O pirate, Prince of Freedom! I was fascinated by the legends of the sea, and I was fascinated by them. That's why I built this ship and joined you!. ”

Encountering a guy who had been brainwashed by the bard, Chen Shouxu cautiously asked, "Do you know who the pirate who robbed the business is?" ”

"Pete. Wallace"

Chen Shouxu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately it wasn't himself, otherwise would he have to consider doing one before setting sail?

After understanding that there was no problem, Chen Shouxu's mood also relaxed. He asked, "So you named the ship the Revenge, which means revenge on Wallace?" ”

"There's a reason for that. But not the main thing, but more important is that the governor promised to give me ten cherished books. ”

"You're interested in collecting books?"

"Of course, filling the library is my greatest passion. Being a pirate and robbing those treasured books is now my greatest dream in life. ”

Chen Shouxu was speechless.

After leaving the Revenge, Chen Shouxu felt that when a pirate really had a lot of knowledge, he could meet any kind of person.

Because the governor had said that there was still a ship on the way, and now was not the time to attack, and it would take a few more days. Since there is still time, Chen Shouxu thought about it again and again, and felt that this time it might be a tough battle. The Storm must be reinforced. He removed the shelves on the deck for the dinghy, hung the dinghy from the stern, and fastened it with several cables. This added two gun emplacements to the deck. In fact, for pirates, in many cases, the role of a dinghy may be greater than that of a cannon, and an additional dinghy can greatly expand the versatility of the ship, and it is not safe to hang the dinghy in the stern. But since this time it was not a robbery, but a police operation, Chen Shouxu felt that it was safer to put two more cannons.