Chapter 654: Distrust
Navigator Pedro Almeida, who was captured during the plundering of Portuguese merchant ships, had the privilege of having dinner with the adjutant maritime officer, the artillery commander and several gunners. Before, Isabel had not said anything about treating him like a prisoner. Therefore, the guards from the Northern Duke's Mansion who dined with him did not have such a bad attitude towards him.
The unruly artillery commander Fast picked up a raw vegetable leaf and stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it. A pair of eyes stared straight at the Portuguese navigator opposite, "Hey, Portuguese, you really don't speak English?" ”
Pedro hurriedly raised his head to look at him, blinked and said, "I'm sorry, I... I... I don't understand. ”
Baldwin turned his face to look at the nervous navigator, and then looked at Fast on the other side, "Old man, if you want to ask him something, it's better in Spanish." ”
"Spanish?" Fast, who was sitting on the deck, chuckled at some of his colleagues beside him, "Guys, I'm going to tell the joke to the rest of the people when I get back to Yorkshire." ”
Wei Cong Hall hurriedly interjected, "Commander, what kind of joke?" ”
With a straight face, Fast said solemnly, "An Englishman and a Portuguese do not speak English or Portuguese, but in the language of the Spanish Empire." ”
"Hahaha......" A hearty and happy laugh immediately erupted from among the guards.
"Stop laughing, let's have dinner." Baldwin, the adjutant of maritime affairs, said with a smile as he was infected by the laughter.
After laughing for a while, the crowd happily ate a limited amount of food that could provide energy to the body. Hall, who had followed Isabel to the Anglo-Soviet border to fight, looked at Baldwin while eating bread and asked curiously, "Adjutant, why did the captain leave this idiot who didn't speak English?" Is it to ask his family for ransom? ”
Baldwin unhurriedly picked up his glass and drank the ale, glancing at him, "How much can the ransom be?" I guess the captain has his eye on this guy's head. ”
"Head? What do you mean? As Hall asked, the others turned their gazes to Baldwin.
"This guy and the Spaniard are both navigators, and I think the captain is trying to use him to lead us to a place where we can catch a lot of slaves." Baldwin glanced at the crowd and spoke slowly.
"A lot of slaves? Old man, so when the time comes, we can earn more pounds? Fast spoke with an expression as if he had seen a mountain of gold.
"Yes, when we get back to Yorkshire, everybody can be a joman or a gentleman."
"It's great, you can make so much money on one trip. Wait, old man, how much can we earn? ”
At present, except for Isabel and a few other captains, all the crew members, including Baldwin, do not know how much money a black slave sold to the Americas can make. In the face of the words of his long-time colleagues, he just shook his head, "I don't know how much I can earn." However, I am sure that the captain will not deceive us. ”
"Old man, it's not just you, all of us believe your words." Fast was delighted and casually said the title of Isabel's position as an advisor.
"Fast, don't say that word, just the captain." Baldwin glanced hard at his colleague and stopped him.
Fast didn't mind the look that the adjutant maritime gave him and grinned, "Don't worry, old man, this guy doesn't know English. ”
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While Pedro's mind was still on the dinner scene, Isabel noticed a smile on his face. He took a sip of the wine in his glass and looked at the other party nonchalantly, "Sir, do you remember the question I asked you just now?" ”
Navigator Pedro Almeida sensed that the other party's tone was wrong, and hurriedly stood up and nodded, "I'm sorry, Captain." I was just thinking back to some of the conversations I had over dinner. ”
"Well, who did you have dinner with?"
"It's your maritime lieutenant and some crew members I don't know, presumably artillerymen."
Isabel's eyes were fixed on the other's eyes, and when she thought that the other party was not lying, she nodded reservedly and said in Spanish, "Sir, it's okay, sit down and talk." ”
Pedro found that the other party was talking to him with a pleasant face, and he believed that he had not angered the "female pirate", and slowly sat down with confidence. Leaning over to sit in the 1/3 of the seat, leaning forward to look at the other man, "Captain, although I don't understand the conversation between your lieutenant and the gunner, I see that they are smiling happily. So, their laughter made me feel very relaxed. ”
Isabel looked up at the evening sky and then at the other person, "Just relax." Sir, what do you think of these black slaves? ”
"Captain, there is a great benefit to these black slaves, they can adapt to any kind of weather. You know, there are a lot of colonies in the Americas where the weather is not suitable for white people to live in. ”
"I know, you mean the Spaniards need these black slaves more than you do?"
"Yes, captain, black slavery has become an expensive commodity. With these black slaves, the plantation could grow more sugar cane for sucrose. Aren't black slaves and cane sugar the two favorite treasures of the Kingdom of England, the Portuguese Empire, and the Spanish Empire? ”
Isabel knew he was just complimenting herself when she said that. At present, the scale of England's overseas trade is far less than that of the two super-colonial empires of Portugal and Spain. England became the British Empire, and that was only after the seizure of all of Canada from France in the 18th century.
Standing up with a wine glass and walking to the port side of the fence, the navigator quickly got up and walked to her near when he saw her get up, and said complimentarily, "Captain, I have never seen a female privateer captain before you, and I guess you must be the daughter of a great English merchant." No, it must be the daughter of a nobleman. ”
"Really?" Isabel turned her head to look at the navigator and whispered, "Sir, people of all abilities love treasures, don't they?" ”
"Yes, Captain."
"Since you think I love these two treasures, can you tell me about the Portuguese slave trade in Africa?"
Pedro stared at her without speaking, looking a little hesitant. As soon as Isabel saw his expression, she knew that he still didn't believe herself, and smiled lightly, "It's okay, I still have your captain's logbook and charts in my hand." Without you, I could still find slave trading strongholds off the coast of Africa. ”