Zhang Heng changed the British saber from the slightly injured right hand to the left hand, blocking the opponent's two consecutive splits, and at the same time also took two steps back under the reaction force, the sailor on the opposite side saw that someone was not physically strong after a long battle, and couldn't help but be overjoyed, no longer tempted, and directly slashed at Zhang Heng's chest, this knife did not have any fancy, purely relying on the advantage of strength, but this time Zhang Heng unexpectedly did not retreat, but met it.

The two knives intersected, and the sailor on the navy supply ship felt a huge force coming from the tiger's mouth, his arm was swept away by this force, and his face also showed a look of horror, and the next moment the British saber in Zhang Heng's hand was already on his neck, and he said, "It's over." ”

A look of dejection appeared in the sailor's eyes, and in the end he could only throw away his weapon and surrender.

Zhang Heng looked around, the battle on the deck was also coming to an end, and the guards who were still resisting were basically forced into the corner, it was only a matter of time before they were defeated, only the captain was left occupying the captain's room, but it was only a matter of time before they were eliminated.

This was the third tough battle they had experienced in just two months, and although they still won, the attrition was also severe, and Owen had already begun to work on replenishing the manpower from the captives.

In this era, the treatment of regular naval sailors was very miserable, taking the British Royal Navy as an example, the monthly salary was only about 1 pound, which was equivalent to half of the river lock keeper and a quarter of the carpenter's, and this money could not be fully obtained, and it would be deducted by the ship's comptroller and officers, in addition to the salary days were also uncertain, almost not paid monthly, the most bizarre thing was that a certain cruiser in the Far Eastern waters only paid off the account once in 22 years, and the Admiralty finally refused to pay this money.

When the warship returned to its home port for renovation, the officers could only receive half a salary, and the low-level sailors were simply suspended and left to fend for themselves, and this was not the worst thing, sometimes for fear of people running away, the Admiralty simply did not let the sailors go ashore, and before they entered the port, they were directly transferred to other warships, and their salaries continued to be white.

In contrast, the treatment enjoyed by pirates is simply paradise, everyone earns money together, meat eats together, and it is rare for the captain to deduct the crew share.

Zhang Heng has been coming to this dungeon for almost nine months, he was forced to join the Sea Lion in order to survive at first, and then had to enter the world of pirates because of the main quest, but now he has a better understanding of Nassau and the group of pirates living on it, many things should be combined with the historical background of the time, in the 17th and 18th centuries, pirates were rampant for no reason.

At the beginning of the Age of Discovery, it was difficult to distinguish between explorers, colonists, and pirates, and as European nations fell into chaos, the notorious privateering licenses for sea power opened Pandora's box once and for all, which may seem strange to modern people.

Suppose you are a merchant in this era, transporting a shipload of goods to the colonies and selling them, and you are robbed by people from other countries on the way, you cannot get it back through legal diplomatic means, and the general practice of countries is to give you a privateer license to encourage you to take back your losses from others.

In addition, there are many wealthy merchants and nobles who will sponsor some potential captains, help them get a privateer license, let them go to sea to plunder, and then come back to share the spoils, the advantage of this is that they can do their best to fight the sea power of other countries, and at the same time, they can also have an additional navy without increasing the budget of their own country, and once the war starts, these privateers will also join the battle.

If you grab enough of it, you can get a royal reception or even be knighted and become a national hero, and Henry Morgan is a prime example of this, as the Pirate King of the Caribbean from 1665 to 1670 and later became the Governor of Jamaica.

In fact, not only the people, in order to make extra money, the royal fleet will also go out to loot to appease the sailors who can't get the money, and there are brokers in the port who are responsible for cashing in the loot, of course, most of this money eventually flows into the pockets of the officers, and the low-level sailors can receive very little,

Fraser once said to Zhang Heng in the tavern, "Do you know what the difference is between us and those guys? It's that they have privateer warrants and we don't, so we become hated pirates, and they're heroes, and that's the law of the world. ”

…………

Zhang Heng put away his saber, and with the sound of explosion under his feet, the last place on the ship was also breached, the captain of the navy supply ship was killed, and the remaining sailors also surrendered their weapons and surrendered one after another. The ship's doctor was busy rescuing the wounded, while the bookkeeper counted the cargo in the cabin.

The casualties on the pirate's side were also high, which is why no one wanted to fight the navy, even if it was just a supply ship, the firepower on board was considerable, and the benefits of robbing a naval supply ship were often pitiful compared to the price paid.

Seventeen people were killed and many wounded in a vicious battle, but the morale was miraculously not frustrated, especially when the helmsman Orff appeared in front of everyone with a small treasure map with blood, and the pirates' expressions became more and more excited.

"There is no doubt that we are one step closer to our ultimate goal, gentlemen!" The helmsman encouraged.

According to Orff, Kidd's financial reports were hidden on an uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, and he drew a treasure map before he died, but this treasure map was eventually divided into six parts, which fell into the hands of those who participated in the capture and trial, and now the Sea Lion is looking for the whereabouts of these treasure maps, and if you count the current one, they have already obtained four of them, which can indeed be called victory.

But then Owen walked up to the helmsman, "Mr. Orff, can you take a step to speak?" ”

The latter nodded, and the two of them came to the stern, the boatswain's face showing concern, "I don't know if you noticed that we've lost quite a few men lately. ”

Orff nodded, "So how is the recruitment going?" ”

"You know we can't fill all the vacancies with these guys, right, they're the Navy after all, and if there are too many people recruited at one time, we'll have to think about whether we're going to have our throats cut while we sleep."

"And what do you suggest?"

"It's been two and a half months since we came out, and I propose to go back to Nassau for some resupply." Owen said.

Orff looked into the boatswain's eyes and said after a while, "I don't want to hide it from you, the news of our search for treasure will cause some unnecessary trouble, but I will respond to your suggestion to the captain." ”