Pirate Kingship.

Chapter 181 Only Death and Taxes Are Inevitable

Bantaan Islands.

The blue sea and blue sky, a white sail sails across the sea against the wind and waves.

A sailor on the deck played the flamenco guitar, a unique instrument of the Kingdom of Castile, to express his irrepressible homesickness.

The melodious singing filled the entire merchant ship.

"The name of this ship is the Teapot, and as the wind blows, she sets sail. Blow, blow hard.

Soon the Teapot will arrive, bringing us sugar, tea and rum."

A flock of seagulls accompanied him with their cries.

Old Tom, the bearded captain, looked at the Yucatan Island gradually receding behind him, and at the group of natives waving enthusiastically on the shore, with mixed feelings in his heart:

“I never thought that there were wise men among the natives who could deceive everyone quietly.

On the surface, it seemed that the city had been wiped out by the smallpox plague, leaving behind an empty city. It turned out that this was just an attempt to lure out the two overlords and induce a fight.

In the end, the two forces lost both their wives and their troops, and no longer had enough military force to forcibly seize the land of Yucatan.

Most of the colonists in the entire Bantaan Islands temporarily restrained their bandit natures and had to transform themselves back into civilized people, doing business honestly with the natives.

Moreover, many city-states publicly declared that they believed in a new god, the "Father of Medicine," and would no longer be afraid of any plague. However, it is not known whether this is true.

Anyway, I heard that the weird bird-beaked plague doctor wandering around the island seemed to be about to self-disappear.

However, these are things that the big guys have to consider and have nothing to do with us lower-level sailors.

Although there were many twists and turns, our 'Teapot' finally returned safely with the cargo."

Old Tom's mood now can only be described as mixed.

The good news is that this time when I went to Yucatan Island, I was able to purchase a large number of indigenous specialties through legal transactions as I wished.

What is worrying is that, unlike before, all those city-states have set up a foreign trade department with a dedicated person in charge of unified buying and selling.

And they are so skilled in their business, it's like they have suddenly transformed from the Stone Age into a modern regular army.

Old Tom even felt that their temperament vaguely carried a hint of the Remit people.

He knows the market prices of common goods by heart.

He knew the selling prices in Bantaan and the landing prices at major ports such as Valencia and Felixstowe in the Old World better than he, the old captain, knew them all.

"I suspect that some of them have obtained the Golden Eyes of the Jinyuan Sequence. They don't look like a group of natives at all.

The profits from this ocean trade are about to be reduced, and I hope I won’t see Shanghai again on my return voyage.”

clang clang clang.
But before they left the coast of Yucatan, the lookout on the mainmast suddenly sounded the alarm.

"Oh no, there are pirates!"

Amid the chaos on the ship, Captain Old Tom, whose heart was twitching suddenly, quickly raised his brass monocular telescope to look at the pirate ship that came out from a pile of reefs.

The pirate flag on the mast has been hoisted high. The main body is a dragon-headed skull with blood dripping from the corner of its mouth, and below it is a knight's sword and a pirate's scimitar crossed with each other.

My mouth suddenly felt bitter:
"What bad luck! That's the privateering fleet of the Vanguard Pilot Colonial Company of the Kingdom of Hastings!

It was also the flagship of the pirate general [Sea Hunter] Byron Tudor.

According to legend, this is the fastest pirate ship in all of Bantaan.

We can’t run away.”

The trusted merchandiser sent by the shipowner beside him suddenly screamed:
"Can't escape? Then quickly organize the sailors to resist, Captain Tom!"

He took off the nine-tailed cat from his waist and waved the nine thin whips in the air, making a shrill whistle.

He roared at the ragged sailors behind him who were of different races and from different countries:

"You damned pigs, hurry up and fire your cannons. If the pirates take away the cargo, I will throw you all into the sea to feed the fish."

The captain and a group of sailors around him looked at this guy who often physically punished the crew members as if they were looking at a fool.

If he wasn't a first-level transcendent, he would be told to shut up forever.

"Stop the ship, lower the sails, drop the anchor, and raise the white flag. We surrender to the Golden Deer."

Captain Old Tom's order made the crew breathe a sigh of relief.

There was a hint of relief mixed with the fear.

Things are different now. During this period, the Sea Hunter took advantage of the Castilian defense vacuum and made his name spread throughout this east-west route.

This supports the privateers who have the privateering license of the Kingdom of Hattings. The most distinctive feature is that they are very law-abiding.

I heard that as long as you don't resist, his methods will be much gentler than those of other pirates.

But once they dared to "violently resist taxation," yes, what they heard in the tavern was this word that should not have appeared in the mouths of pirates.

We must raise the blood flag and make the resistance fighters on the merchant ship regret their lives!
“Tsk, now that I finally have time to go out and rob people myself, the targets I encounter are becoming less and less challenging.

This is the fourth ship today, and not a single one resisted.

It seems that after the hard work overtime in the past period of time, new rules on this east-west route will soon be established. "

On the rear deck of the Golden Hind, Byron saw the white flag raised by the Teapot, put down his telescope, and sighed helplessly. "Yes, Captain, you came out to rob... no, to collect taxes yourself, you are really dedicated."

"I think this year when our Pioneer Navigation Company awards the Business Model Award, we must give you a special award."

"I second the motion. Please do not refuse. It is an honor to give you this award. It is all for the purpose of encouraging the younger generation to emulate you."

A group of trainee captains following him immediately offered their compliments.

Those on the flagship are indeed elites. Just by listening to what they say, you can tell that they have a bright future.

After overturning the power structure of Bantaan, Byron finally had time to start doing his own job.

Most pirate hunts were not just aimless wanderings on shipping routes as many people imagine.

Instead, they would place their own spies on the shore, and even let pirates infiltrate the sailors recruited by merchant ships to act as spies.

Coincidentally, all the clerks in the "Ministry of Foreign Trade" in the indigenous city-states were employees of the Pioneer Colonial Trading Company.

Although they had not had time to build a fortress and send troops to garrison, they had no problem urgently training a group of indigenous pirates to take up their posts.

With the intelligence they provide, it is natural that we can catch every one of the merchant ships by guarding the route they must take.

Selling goods in front and robbing in the back, killing two birds with one stone, so delicious.

tread!
Soon Byron came on board with a group of elite pirates. His long boots stepped on the deck, as if stepping on the hearts of the merchant crew.

As the power and authority of the Sea Hunter grew stronger, his majesty became more and more profound. He just asked casually:
"You all know the rules of our Vanguard Navigation, right?"

Captain Old Tom and a group of sailors nodded repeatedly:

“I’ve heard of it. I’ve heard of it. For the first delivery of one quarter of the value of the goods, you can get plunder exemption from your company and all your allies.

If you go to your company's office to pay the tax before departure, you only need to pay one-fifth.

It's our first time flying this route and we're not familiar with the process. We had to trouble you to do it ourselves. Next time we will take the initiative to pay the tax."

As he spoke, he glanced reproachfully at the ship owner's confidant beside him.

The reason why they did not file taxes in advance was purely because the merchandisers were taking chances and were reluctant to give up the one-fifth of taxes that would allow them to move smoothly.

Some pirates were extremely cruel and would often torture and kill resisting captives. The reputation of these pirate captains' ferocity spread throughout the Bantaan Islands and was enough to stop a child from crying.

For example, Byron’s two former captains, Salman [Blood Eyes] and Edward [Red Beard].

But there is also a type of pirate known as the "righteous thief".

They have relatively better discipline and regard themselves as Robin Hood of the sea who robs the rich and helps the poor. After robbing a merchant ship, they generally only take away gold, silver and necessary supplies.

In many cases, the ship itself would be returned to the original owner, and some spoils might even be given as a parting gift.

There will be no abuse or killing in this process.

Compared with them, Pioneer Navigation Company's one-stop service can be called the most righteous of thieves.

You can make at least 155% profit on one trip, and you won’t be robbed a second time if you only pay a quarter of the tax. It’s really a conscience deal.

We will come again next time!

"I hate those robbers the most, they have no technical skills at all.

The only inevitable things in this world are death and taxes.

You see, the captains are all very reasonable people."

When Byron said this, no one dared to correct him violently.

Now is the golden age when there are no tigers in the mountains and monkeys are king.

The Castilians suffered heavy losses and their defenses were severely weakened.

Before the next batch of support arrives from the mainland or from the "World Serpent - Celestial Circulation" deep in the south, it will be a carnival for all countries.

In order to compete for the fat sheep, there is also fierce fighting among the major pirate gangs.

The Pioneer Colonial Trading Company, relying on its superior geographical location, upstream and downstream connections and attentive service, took control of the east-west shipping routes in the waters of Yucatan.

There was no need to compete with the pirate city Black Sail Port for the main road of the first circulation belt, but all the fat except the premium pork belly was eaten up.

Although we have to share a share with our allies, it is still much more than what we earned originally.

If we continue to transform our wealth into strength, when the Castilians come back in the future, this place will no longer be the same as before.

Fake Pirate: "Hand over all the money."

Real Pirate: "Sir, please sign here."

Mr. Byron Lancaster, the pirate and former nobleman, is very familiar with this.

Just as the quartermaster took out a first-hand delivery note sent directly by Feiou from the city-state's "Foreign Trade Department" and filled out a handover form.

They very considerately gave it to the captain to prove that they had indeed been robbed, so that they could give an explanation to the ship owner.

A discordant voice suddenly sounded:

"Sir Sea Hunter, I want to join your privateer ship. I want to request a public trial. I want to accuse someone on this ship of abusing the crew!"

(End of this chapter)