In the evening, it is the busiest time of the day in Langang Town. Many people who don't see it during the day have popped up, and the first thing is to forage for food. The town's restaurants were full of people waiting in line for seats, and the impatient sailors shouted and cursed.

Chen Shouxu looked at the crowded crowd, "There are too many people, I don't like to eat in such an environment, let's buy something and eat on the beach." ”

Everyone looked at it too, when did this have to be scheduled.

"No way," said William, "in a dozen days the date of the annual election of the consul will be made by the captains' council, and now the people have not yet arrived, and there will be more people in the next few days, and the town will be more crowded by then." ”

Immediately sent a few children to buy food, and Chen Shouxu went to buy wine. Rao is mentally prepared, but seeing the price of wine is still a bit staggering. According to the description of the sailors on board, 10 guilders were almost equal to 1 pound sterling, 1 pound was about 260 grams of silver, and the captain's hair of 6 guilders was equivalent to more than 4 taels of silver. Even in London, where 1 guilder can be bought for 1 gallon, you can buy 1 gallon of rum, but the price of wine in Blue Harbour is twice as expensive as in London. Under the clamor of old William, he still bought a 1-gallon amount, and gave it to him if he couldn't finish it.

Bringing wine, beef, vegetables, and some cod, everyone walked into the palm grove, surrounded by many sailors who chose to have a picnic like them, and as long as it didn't rain in the Bahamas, it was more comfortable outdoors than indoors.

The campfire is lit and the drink begins. The wine comes from the sugar cane plantations of Havana, and the taste is very average, strong enough, and the sailors love it.

Old William poured himself a big glass first, and he didn't toast, and drank it dry in one gulp, "It's so cool, haha." ”

One-eyed also drank a large glass, and no sailor could refuse the temptation of rum.

came out to mix, Chen Shouxuan naturally couldn't drink less than his predecessors, or he didn't drink it, and he had to have a correct attitude when he wanted to drink, and he drank the wine in the cup twice. In fact, there are not many cases of pressing wine among sailors, Chen Shouxu has seen a lot of people who are good at drinking, the purpose of drinking is to fight high and low on the field, to pour the opponent over for glory, the more people who fight, the more face. But as far as the pirate sailors are concerned, it seems more realistic to pour themselves out.

The children were eating meat, and the three adults were chatting and drinking, listening to the two old sailors chatting about anecdotes about the sea. Some lone sailors joined them, and the lineup grew stronger and stronger, and some people began to sing and dance when they were happy. Chen Shouxu drank a few glasses of wine, and also felt a little drunk, more talkative than usual, he liked this feeling very much, simple and pure life.

Someone took out a lute to cheer up the singers and dancers, and a song attracted a cheer. The sailors poured a toast to the singers and dancers. After coming and going, everyone drank a lot, and the atmosphere became more and more enthusiastic. The sailors sang the songs of their homeland in the most familiar language, and their songs could be heard all over the beach.

Alcohol can enliven people's minds, Chen Shouxu drank his emotions and borrowed the lute to sing with the sailors.

When he reached the emotional part, he picked up a bottle of rum, left the crowd, and sat down on the beach.

Someone followed, it was William. "Do young people have a lot of stories?" William shook the wine bottle and touched Chen Shouxu, and the two took a big sip at the same time.

The moonlight sprinkled on the vast sea, like white silk, torn apart by the undulating waves, reflected in all directions, printing the shadows of the distant islands.

Sitting on the beach, Chen Shouxu asked a presumptuous question, "Captain William, did you really lose your ship?" ”

William was very calm, and there was no drunkenness in his eyes when he looked at Chen Shouxu, "That's right. I lost my gamble, lost my warship and a lot of my brothers. ”

Chen Shouxu was a little surprised.

"But I'm not gambling on money, I'm about people. Young people, you have to remember that on this sea, people change very quickly. William raised his bottle and took a sip.

As the night passed, a new day began, and several pirate ships arrived in the Blue Harbor. On the day of the meeting, Chen Shouxu counted the two brigs, four large sloops, and many small sloops and Peliaga ships that had gathered in the harbor. The largest of these, the Brecht, belonged to Captain Bellamy, now the Pirate Archon. The one who can walk into the captain's chamber is the captain of these six big ships.

One-Eye said that this is the largest lineup in recent years, and the crowded crowd has made Langang Town continue to expand. Chen Shouxu saw that the newly built houses were all made of local materials, and the walls of the houses were built with driftwood, deck wood, and maggot-damaged hulls, and covered with palm leaves and waste canvas to become new residences. Lumberjacks from Florida, runaway merchant sailors, Indian slaves from mainland Spain, black slaves from Cuban plantations, these people made up the new pirate body.

The merchants who earned the money continued to exchange the pirates for booty with rum, gunpowder, canvas, beef, and the sailors sang, danced, drank, and had sex.

The day before yesterday, a new pirate robbed a transport ship full of supplies of more than 30 tons at the mouth of the bay. Bellamy did not hesitate to dispatch two sloops to stop the Pelaga and capture all the people on board.

The leader was tied to the muzzle of a 12-pounder cannon and blasted into minced flesh. The rest of the sailors were put on board, their hands tied, and thrown out into the sea, where they were dragged by the moving sailboats. Sailors called this punishment the towing keel, and as the sailboat turned, the sailors in the sea could be thrown from the bottom of the sea to the other side of the ship, and if they were lucky, they might survive, and if they were unlucky, they would definitely die.

Bellamy used thunderous means to clean up discipline, and the atmosphere among the sailors became tense. The bloody punishment made Chen Shouxu feel that this was a real pirate lair.

Finally, on the day of the meeting, the captains stepped into the council chamber amid pirates chanting the slogan "All for one, one for all".

"Actually, Bellamy is the one who talks." Amid the frenzied slogans, William Sr. and Chen Shouxu stood in the corner watching all this, "Today's meeting will make some captains who are not authoritative enough very nervous. ”

"Aren't the consuls elected?" Chen Shouxu asked.

William sneered, "It's right to be elected, but no matter how you play the tricks, the one who is elected must be the captain with more cannons." Unless you Captain Grover step up, no one can compete with Bellamy, who has the Brecht and two small Slupp, and has more than 200 men under his command, and his re-election is a certainty. ”

Grover certainly wasn't going to come out and choose, he was just a privateer owner who worked with pirates.

"Then why is Bellamy so nervous about being elected, and is there anyone in the captain who has a bad relationship with him?"

"Perhaps, but that's not the main reason. You're young and don't know the benefits of having a meeting. In the pirate group, it is important to 'disagree and vote to resolve'. Including the captain is elected by the sailors, except for the captain who is given absolute power in battle, all other matters are settled by the democratic assembly of the crew. In addition to electing the consuls, this meeting of captains will also decide where we are going to rob this year. The sailors may not care who becomes the consul, they are most concerned about where they are going to rob this year. The captain always went to the meeting with the task given by the sailors, and Bellamy was arbitrary, and if their advice was not taken into account at the meeting, the captain might have to be dismissed when he returned. William told Chen Shouxu about the pirate system.

Chen Shouxu knows the benefits of meetings all too well, but he comes from a world full of meetings.

Unlike privateers, pirate captains ate the same food as their crew, slept together in their cabins, and elected other officers and quartermasters to check and balance the captain's power. In terms of the distribution of the spoils, the pirate captain only took fifty percent more of the loot than the average sailor. On the Blue Banshee, the ratio was fourteen times higher. If the crew trusts the captain, they will follow him to the ends of the earth, and if the captain loses his trust, he may be dismissed in the blink of an eye.

1. "All for one, one for all" is a true pirate slogan.