Chapter 169 'Pirate' Lukes

The six major tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy are the Mohoks, the Oneda, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, the Seneca, and the Tuscarola.

The alliance takes the form of a public meeting of the clan and village leaders of the tribes, with one vote for each tribe, and the principle of unanimous decision of all tribes is implemented.

Civil disputes between the tribes are jointly heard by all the chiefs.

Zhao Hongyu pondered that the system made within the Iroquois Alliance was somewhat similar to the Congress of later generations.

However, Zhao Hongyu also saw the weakness in the Iroquois Alliance, that is, all tribes had one vote, which would make many things fall into trouble.

It's actually okay for big tribes to have the right to vote, but small tribes also have the right to vote, which is a bit confusing.

However, this has nothing to do with Zhao Hongyu, and he will not give the Iroquois this heart.

It's good that Yi Luokui has weaknesses, and not having weaknesses gives Zhao Hongyu a headache.

In Zhao Hongyu's view, whether it is the French or the Iroquois, it is an obstacle for him Zhao Hongyu to occupy the Great Lakes region for the time being.

And if the Iroquois can stop the French from advancing westward, then they can stop Zhao Hongyu from landing in the Great Lakes region.

Obviously, the Iroquois, who already had a society like villages and towns, must have valued land very much. They will definitely not let Zhao Hongyu get the Great Lakes region so easily, if they don't do it, they will have to fight.

War, if there is no need, Zhao Hongyu does not want to start it.

However, sometimes things really come to that point, and Zhao Hongyu will not know what he should do.

The rise of peace is nonsense, even the rise of capital is full of blood and dirt, how can the rise of an empire avoid these things.

It can only be bloodier and dirtier.

I hope I don't have to go to war with the Iroquois, it would be best if it could evolve peacefully.

While listening to Emma's story, Zhao Hongyu secretly pondered in his heart.

Dividing line

One hundred nautical miles east of the Manhattan Harbor, a double-decker Dutch merchant and war dual-purpose ship flying a black skull flag emerges from the horizon.

Because Manhattan attracted countless merchant ships, and the windfall profits attracted many merchants. Everyone went to Manhattan to make a profit.

The bustling exchange of merchant ships, as well as the goods with huge profits, as well as those carrying large quantities of gold and silver coins, also attracted the attention of others.

Pirate!

Since the beginning of the Age of Discovery, the profession of piracy has flourished.

In fact, the profession of piracy has existed since much longer.

As early as the time of the Vikings, the Vikings had been engaged in this profession for generations and made a living from it, often raiding the coasts of the British Isles and other continental countries, plundering people and goods.

However, the real boom of piracy began in the 16th century, when the Age of Navigation began.

Because of the development of shipbuilding technology and the prosperity of maritime commerce, this gave the pirates a very favorable breeding ground for development.

At that time, in order to defeat the Spaniards, Britain issued a plunder order in the name of the state, which added lubricant to the piracy cause.

At this point, there were more and more pirates, and they shuttled with the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. They are the grim reaper of the sea and the greedy sharks.

After all, being a pirate is a no-brainer business, and the benefits are huge.

Therefore, countless Europeans were willing to be pirates.

Even some serious merchants, when they meet other weaker merchants, will make a temporary cameo appearance as a pirate. This kind of thing was very normal in the seventeenth century.

"Captain Lukes, there are a lot of ships coming and going here in Manhattan, and we've heard a lot of this information when we're in Europe. But are you sure we're going to catch a big fish here? ”

Wearing a black sè blindfold and a greasy beard, the captain in black sè clothes grinned when he heard this, and said, "Don't worry, as long as we work hard, we will definitely be able to make a fortune on this trip." A set of porcelain could be sold for 800 gold coins in Egypt, or even 1,200 slave girls, which is more cost-effective than what corn and grain we were robbing. ”

As soon as the captain named Lux spoke of the porcelain, the eyes of the crooked-looking pirates standing around him flashed.

Porcelain, of course they know what it is.

In the space of three or four months, the word porcelain had become half the sky in the Mediterranean. If the merchants went out and met an acquaintance, if they did not talk a few words about porcelain, then this person would be despised.

So, from time to time, these pirates would hear something about porcelain.

Lukes and the others would only raise the skull flag when they were at sea, but when they came into the Mediterranean to rest and replenish their supplies, they would fly the Dutch flag.

Therefore, no one will know that Lukes hides the identity of a pirate under the identity of a serious businessman.

But that's what a lot of people do, isn't it? He, Lux, wasn't the only one, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

As for porcelain, Lux has heard a lot, so they will naturally be interested.

An experience in Alexandria, Egypt, made Lukes even more enthusiastic about porcelain.

He saw with his own eyes that a man from England at sea exchanged a set of jīng porcelain purchased from Manhattan in the New World for 800 yellow-orange-orange gold coins from a Persian merchant.

There were also quite a few chiefs who wanted to exchange female * slaves for porcelain, but unfortunately all the merchants who owned porcelain had little interest in slaves, they only wanted gold.

It was in this way that Lux realized how precious porcelain is and how much wealth it can bring.

However, he didn't have enough money on hand to buy even a set of porcelain.

He hadn't been to Manhattan either, so he didn't know that the road was just emerging, and not many people knew about the triangular trade route of the road.

So Lukes plans to do his old job, pirate!

Lux is not greedy, as long as he grabs a sea ship with porcelain, then he will have enough money to take it to the Mediterranean Sea and sell it.

And with the capital, the pirate trade can be done less for the time being.

After all, who doesn't want to live a stable life.

After fifty days of sailing, Lux plundered a Swedish ship, but there was no merchandise of any value on board, so that Lux only robbed them of some gold and silver coins, as well as all the fresh water and food, and spared the poor Swedish merchant.

"Put away the pirate flag and put on the Dutch flag. We need to replenish our supplies in the port of Manhattan and then wait and choose a fat sheep. ”

Yes, Lukes, they don't have to wait stupidly at sea, they can go to the port of Manhattan and stay there, and then see who buys the porcelain, and then they go out to sea with them to rob at sea.

Anyway, here in the port of Manhattan, no one knows that they are pirates, after all, Lux also has an identity as a merchant.

The sailors cheered and ran up the deck.

The black pirate flag was lowered, and a Dutch flag was raised to the pole.

"We need to look for a target and also look at Manhattan. If Manhattan's defenses weren't very strong, it would be much better to rob Manhattan than to rob other merchants. ”

Lux raised his hand and stroked his greasy beard, his only remaining eye glinting with cruelty and excitement.

Attacking the port, robbing the port's finances, the pirates have not done it for nothing.

Some of the smaller colonies in Central and South America, or fortifications with insufficient defenses, have basically encountered this kind of thing.

It can be seen how bold the pirates of this era are and how crazy they are to do things.

And Lukes, now he actually has such an idea.

But he didn't blame him, after all, he had never been to Manhattan, and he had only heard about Manhattan from many European businessmen.

In the mouths of the merchants, Manhattan was a city and power built by indigenous people, and they had beautiful goods such as ceramics, and many other goods.

It can be said that it is a land of wealth, but its owners are natives who are despised by Europeans.

It was with such a preconceived notion that Lux had such an idea.

In his opinion, if the lord of Manhattan City is really native, then he can issue a call for pirates and find some allies to attack Manhattan and plunder the wealth here.

It is important to know that many European merchants came to Manhattan to buy porcelain, and most of the money they paid was real money. In other words, in the city of Manhattan, there is a lot of gold and silver.

The amount of gold and silver must be quite a lot.

Because of where the price of porcelain is placed, Lux has such a judgment.

The ship slowly sailed into the mouth of the Manhattan area and headed for the harbor.

Lukes' lieutenant stood on the deck with a monocular, surveying the situation on both sides of the strait.

"Captain, Manhattan Island is heavily defended, I see eight artillery forts, and more in the distance." , The adjutant put down the telescope in his hand, and said to Lux with a somewhat gloomy expression.

Lux took the binoculars and looked at them, then put them down.

"It seems that the natives of Manhattan are not simple, if we attack Manhattan. Before we could get close to the port, they would be able to hit us from ashore with artillery and sink the ship. ”

Lux could see that the coastal fort artillery was aimed at an attack from the sea.

He also saw that these fortresses and artillery had completely sealed off the entrance to the sea.

In other words, the ships coming in are within the fire range of those fortresses and artillery, and you simply can't dodge them.

"Captain, I've heard that this is an island, can we land from it?"

The adjutant pointed to Manhattan Island on the left and said to Lukes. (To be continued.)