The port of Buenos Aires is located on the right bank of the Río de la Plata, with the vast Pampas grassland in the background.

The Europeans brought muskets, horses, cattle and sheep. Livestock multiplied very quickly in the pampas, and the Indians tamed horses and bison in the depths of the interior that the Europeans could not afford to occupy. Adequate nutrition makes them physically strong, and the war horses expand their range of motion. The Spanish army had no control over the area sixty miles south of the port of Buenos Aires, and these Indian tribes were even capable of threatening Spanish colonial cities.

There was no suspense, and Chen Shouxu's fleet easily conquered the port of Buenau. There are less than 3,000 permanent residents in Buenau, and the only fort of the Holy Trinity has only 100 defenders. The pirates dragged the cannon under the city, and the Spanish defenders surrendered.

Chen Shouxu declared his possession of sovereignty to the captured Spanish mayor, "Mr. Mayor, it is a pity that due to your weak guards, the port is now occupied by me. ”

The mayor's face turned pale, "Mr. Commander, I surrendered to you on my own initiative. Be merciful and do not embarrass the inhabitants of the city. ”

"Mr. Mayor, as long as you can cooperate with my work, I will restrain my soldiers." Chen Shouxu looked at the mayor playfully, "But your defense force is too weak, so you haven't thought about expanding the port's forts and fortresses?" ”

The mayor said with a sad face, "We don't have the strength. The main military resources of the province had to fight against the Indians, and we had to resort to symbolic defense of the ports. Actually, the Trinity Fort was also used to deter the Indians, and we never thought it would be able to withstand a fleet from Europe, even if it ......"

"Even if it's a pirate?" Chen Shouxu is in a good mood.

"Yes. We guard the port with trade, not artillery. The port of Buenos Aires offers equal trade opportunities to European countries in exchange for their recognition of the de facto neutrality of the port of Buenos Aires. ”

"Well, Mr. Mayor, you are very frank," Chen Shouxu agreed, "the port of Buenos Aires is actually an export port for most of South America, so you can be in a transcendent position in this thirty-year war. ”

"I counted, there are now a total of 17 merchant ships in the port, which countries are these ships from?"

"7 Portuguese ships, 6 Dutch ships, 3 British ships, 1 Danish ship."

"Holland? Mr. Mayor, you are very powerful, doing business with enemy countries. ”

"The Dutch were able to provide us with good quality and cheap arms. The province of Córdoba fought against Indian bandits all year round, and there was a great demand for arms. ”

Chen Shouxu smiled, this is still really like Yuriolov said, people who can't sell arms to enemy countries are not good arms dealers.

"Why don't you turn to Lima and Seville for help?"

"The peninsulars and European coquetters in Lima are of no use at all, they only hold the slave girls and give orders that cannot be carried out at all, and we La Platans have to develop on our own. As for Seville......" the mayor sneered, "they are not in the same business of smuggling with the enemy, and their behavior is sometimes more exaggerated. ”

It's true, money flows without borders. There are too many merchants who are on the brink of war in order to make super-profits. In Europe there were some merchants from Seville, and in Asia there were Jin merchants from Shanxi. Merchants are naturally profit-seeking, and this phenomenon has never been broken in human history. Just 300 years later, in Argentina, American businessmen sold high-grade jet fuel refining technology to Germany during World War II.

Money is what drives history, and the Jesuits in Córdoba have a monopoly on the yerba mate business in Paraguay, where the trade volume of this tea is six times that of tobacco. The Jesuit priests were able to laugh and laugh in deals with Amsterdam's Protestant shipowners, and no one would mention the great difference in their religion at this moment. Faith and courage are temporary, but benefits are eternal.

Chen Shouxu said, "Mr. Mayor, you are right. I'm in favor of your approach to establishing a port through trade, and you used to be able to defend your city with equal opportunity trade, and you can do the same now. ”

"Commander, what do you mean ......"

"You should be able to see that there is no large-scale looting in the city under my control." Chen Shouxu looked at the mayor of Buenos Aires, "I will not loot the merchant ships in the port, this kind of looting will hurt the free trade of the port." ”

It was naturally not a waste for the mayor of Buenos Aires to be able to control this smuggling port, and he immediately reacted, "What does the commander need us to do?" ”

"My request is simple, Mr. Mayor should be easy to do:

1. I will only stay in Puerto Buenos Aires for a certain period of time, during which time I do not wish to see Spanish reinforcements from Córdoba;

2. My fleet needs to be repaired, and I ask the mayor to let the workers of the port cooperate with my sailors;

3. During my stay, I will guard the Port, so the public finance of the Port, Buenos Aires, needs to provide a little protection money, rest assured, you don't need to pay for it privately, I only need taxes;

Fourth, my fleet needs to be replenished with some supplies, and my subordinates will make a list for you later, and there are some things that you may need to send merchants to purchase upstream. Also rest assured by those merchants, I will pay and the price will not be lower than the Portuguese. ”

The conditions are reasonable, and the mayor is not surprised. In fact, the signing of similar temporary treaties would often occur between these distant European colonies, and everyone came to the colonies to make a fortune and eat. Like on the European continent, how can you get rich by fighting to the death with an unsolvable grudge. Drake's uncle, Captain Hawkins, had made a similar deal with the vice-king of New Spain, and had sent hostages to each other to ensure that the agreement was enforced. Even after the vice-president of New Spain unilaterally tore up the agreement, Hawkins did not embarrass the Spanish hostages and released them back.

The demands of pirates are no stranger to the people of La Plata, who have been smuggling since the beginning of the port, and have seen everything.

The mayor was emboldened when he heard that the pirates not only did not harm his private wallet, but also brought him a large amount of business, and he cautiously asked Chen Shouxu for confirmation, "Your Excellency, you now control the entire port of Buenau, how can I be sure that after my merchant has delivered the goods, you will execute the transaction at the agreed price?" ”

Chen Shouxu held his chin and thought for a while, he was not angry, "Mr. Mayor, you can inquire about my reputation, I have killed many people, but I have never torn up the agreements signed with others. Honesty is the basic guarantee of business, and I will not ruin my reputation for this small amount of money now. ”

Pirate Captains of the Caribbean do have quite a few people who have a reputation for integrity.

But the mayor still has an expression that he doesn't stop at the mention of money.

Chen Shouxu smiled, "That's it, I won't embarrass you." I pay you half of the deposit at the usual Portuguese purchase price. Mr. Mayor, we all know that this half of the deposit can actually cover your costs. The remaining half is your profit, and I will pay when you ship the goods. My only request is time, you have to ship what I need in half a month. ”

The mayor weighed it and readily agreed. Merchant ships can travel slowly along the Río de la Plata, taking as far as Asunción in three months. But if fast horses are sent to Santa Fe, the trading center of the interior, and then merchant ships are organized to go down the river, there may be time.

The mayor left the city hall, which had been occupied by pirates, and went to prepare supplies as Chen Shouxu had requested.

Tan was not worried about what the mayor would do, and the entire 3,000 inhabitants of Buenos Airang were his hostages. Butcher knives tend to have the most power when they haven't been wielded.

Maiden walked into the town hall.

Chen Shouxu asked him, "How is the situation outside?" ”

"Your sailors are all gathered in the harbor, Walter's Marines are in town to maintain order, and everything is going well." Maiden laughed, "And, your people seem to have found something interesting in the harbor." ”

"Oh, what is it?"

"The sailors checked and found that the Danish ship was a whaling ship, and I remember that whale oil was a very much needed supply for the fleet."

"How can there be a whaling ship in the port of Buenau?"

"The sailors interrogated the captain of the ship, and the whaling ship had just finished whaling in the South Atlantic, and was docking at the port of Buenos Aires to repair the ship, and by the way, selling some whale oil to the port people."

Due to the rapid expansion of European countries and the rapid development of their economies, whale oil is in great demand for whale oil in households and industries. This spurred technological development in the whaling industry, and Europeans began to load oil refining furnaces on ships, thus developing the offshore whaling industry into distant-water whaling. However, there are not too many whalers who have mastered this technique, and most whaling ships can only catch whales inshore and drag them back to port for refinement. For whaling ships, the waters of the Atlantic Ocean near Antarctica are simply mecca.

"It's great to have the sailors detain that whaling ship." In an instant, Chen Shouxu thought that he had promised the Portuguese and Dutch smuggling captains that he would guarantee the free trade of the port and the safety of their ships, "No. We bought the boat and all the whale oil on board. Tell the Danish captain that we can also provide him with a ship to return home. ”

In addition to these foreign smuggling ships, there are also several merchant ships of port people. Chen Shouxu planned to find the port people to get one and give it to these Danes.

"Some sailors and workers on whaling ships can also be recruited," Chen Shouxu said, "not only from whaling ships, but also from other merchant ships, and we pay liquidated damages to the captains of those ships." ”

Maiden shrugged, "It's as if you shouldn't have given me orders, beyond my duty in the fleet. ”

Chen Shouxu patted his head lightly, Maiden was right. As the fleet grew in size and the division of labor among the officers became more and more detailed, it was true that these orders to the sailors should not be conveyed by Maiden. Including him, the entire fleet will have to have a process of adaptation.

Chen Shouxu turned to another question, "What about your companions?" They're still on the Adventure, it's a small ship after all, should they be transferred to a big ship. ”

Maiden laughed, "Holren and Westheim were basically kidnapped by me and put on the Adventure, and they're angry right now, and I think the Adventure is a better fit for them." ”

Chen Shouxu said, "I'm really sorry about this matter, I should be angry, do you want to comfort them now?" ”

"Let's forget it for now. It's not convenient to reveal too much to them right now, so let's let them get angry on the Adventure for a while, and then we'll apologize to them later. ”

"Thanks to you. I don't know about the Army, your friends will be of great help to our plans. ”

"Little things."

"How is that Boggs doing now?" Chen Shouxu asked. Maiden's trip to Curacao recruited some more people, and Boggs, a bookkeeper of the Dutch West India Company who had attacked Belize with Chen Shouxu, was also dragged into the water this time.

He was counting the supplies of merchant ships in the harbor and comparing them with the records of the Spaniards. I think the job of collecting money is quite suitable for him. ”

The ultimate goal of the plan formulated by Chen Shouxu and Maiden is to establish a nation of pirates, which requires talents from all walks of life. Now talent has become Chen Shouxu's goal alongside war materials. This time in Portaure, Chen Shouxu planned to recruit the craftsmen, teachers, and doctors, as he did in Portovello. There was a Jesuit college in the city of Buenos Aires, and at a time when a large part of knowledge was still in the hands of the Church. Chen Shouxu tries to use the recruitment model of voluntary participation, but for some things that are really scarce. High-end talents, he doesn't mind being forced by a small **, but he won't directly use the way of knife holder neck, intellectuals, after all, he still has to give some face. There are many pirates in this area, and he doesn't need to worry too much.

During the time the pirates were stationed in the port of Buenau, the sailors nervously repaired the ships with the help of the well-developed infrastructure of the port. Replace the mast and crossbow, replenish the canvas, and fill the gaps in the planks. Empty the hold, move the ballast stone to roll the hull, remove the pesky parasites from the bottom of the ship, and replace the coating.

The endless supply of fresh beef and vegetables allowed the patient's body to recover gradually. Everything went smoothly.

Until Chen Shouxu was surprised to discover that in addition to pirates, there was another wave of people coveting the wealth of the port. Looking at the scattered cavalry active around the city, Chen Shouxu initially thought that the mayor of Buenos Buenos had not done what he had told him, and that the Spanish reinforcements from Córdoba had arrived. But when the cavalry of the brigade approached the city, Chen Shouxuan realized that it was not the Spanish army.

"Gauchos and Indian bandits?" Chen Shouxu opened the binoculars and consulted the captured Spanish officer.

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander, you must not allow those Indian bandits to storm the city. They would hang captives on hooks and chop them into minced meat, all brutal devils. ”

"The brutality of the Indians was also forced out by you colonists." Chen Shouxu's expression was very cold.

The Spanish system of entrusted guardianship in the region of La Plata, in which all the land belonged to the king of Spain, but the king entrusted the land to the nobles, merchants, and gentry, the upper class of these colonists who enslaved the Indian serfs and other slaves.

In the Potosí mines, Spain practiced the mita system, or slavery. The slaves in the Potosi mines were not only Indian slaves, but also a large number of black slaves, Mestizos, Basques, Genoese, Portuguese laborers. These whites and mulatto-descent coolies who toiled with their lives in the mines did not have the slightest affection for the Castilian officials, priests, and merchants of Lima. Many of them fled to the vast interior of Argentina, where these whites and indigenous Indians married and mixed in the steppes of the Pampas, gradually forming a special class, the gauchos. Like the Cossacks on the Don and Volga rivers, some were hired by the Spanish government, while others allied themselves with the Indian resistance in the Gran Chaco region to plunder Spanish cities.

Although Chen Shouxu did not sympathize with the Spanish colonists who were killed by the Indians, Buenos Aires is now his confiner. He can't allow others to rob him of his things.

Chen Shouxu ordered Walter, "No need to send negotiating envoys, let's fire first." ”