Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 145 Absorption
"Why did you join the pirates?" Dani Olmo Carvajal, captain of the Santo Domingo, looked at Harvey intently.

"Does it matter?" Harvey smiled bitterly, then poured a cup of hot tea and handed it over.

"You are reluctant in your heart, right?" Carvajal thanked him, took the teacup and took a sip.

Although there is the fragrance of tea, it still seems difficult to conceal the sour taste.

It would be better to treat yourself to a glass of wine.

"No!" Harvey shook his head and smiled. "At least for now, I feel a strong sense of belonging to this group."

"Because you can rob a lot of money?" Carvajal said with a hint of sarcasm. "Since the hijacking of your 'San Luis' five years ago and the hijacking of the 'Santo Domingo' today, I imagine you've gained unimaginable wealth, right?"

"Captain Carvajal, if I say that everything we are doing now is not for the purpose of making huge sums of money, can you believe it?"

“…” Carvajal smiled.

Could it be that you followed this group of Eastern pirates in order to realize some lofty and great ideal?

Or, do you simply like the thrill of being a pirate, a profession that always puts you on the brink of death?

"We are going to build an ideal country," Harvey said softly. "There will be no hereditary monarchs or nobles, and no hereditary privileges. Everyone can achieve prosperity and live a better life through their own honest labor."

"...An ideal country?"

"Or rather, it's about establishing a great nation." Harvey looked at the man's astonishment and continued, "The people of this country will enjoy universal equality. There will be no royal family, no aristocracy, and everyone will be equal under the law. Neither the ruler nor the officials at all levels can be above the law, let alone arbitrarily deprive civilians of their lives and property."

"In this country, as long as your property is legally acquired, it will be strictly protected by law. Even the supreme leader, or even the military that embodies violence, has no right to encroach upon or seize what you own."

"Furthermore, everyone in this country has smooth channels for advancement. Regardless of your background, status, or wealth, as long as you possess certain skills or put in some hard work, you can continuously rise to the top, and even become the leader of this country."

“…” Carvajal stared at him blankly, without any response for a long time.

What would it be like without a king?
Moreover, if a country does not even have aristocrats, who will rule the people?

Could it be that Harvey was brainwashed by the pirates and foolishly believed in the extremely unrealistic goal they gave him?

This world, no matter which country, is a strictly hierarchical society without exception.

Even the Netherlands, which prided itself on equal rights for its people, although it established a federal republic, still had a Prince of Orange and a large number of aristocrats.

What they called equal rights was nothing more than the equality of a small group of people, including big businessmen, nobles, and the urban middle class.

The common people at the bottom of society were still exploited by the nobles and merchants, living a life like pigs and dogs.

What are you thinking?

Is it possible that you, a person of common origin, can really climb to the position of "king" and become the ruler of a country?
"Captain Carvajal, I know you have serious doubts about everything I've said," Harvey stood up. "But everything we're doing now is working towards this goal. We're still very weak, so we hope to bring in more like-minded people to work with us to achieve this ideal."

"As we strive for this ideal, the positions, money, and honors that were once out of our reach will all arrive as expected. Can you imagine? As an old sailor, without any background or connections with important figures, becoming a boatswain might be the pinnacle of my career, and then, at some point in the future, I might die in a shipwreck."

"But now, I am a captain, commanding and managing more than fifty sailors. I can also attend and participate in the decision-making process of all our important affairs within this group, and I have certain management rights and advisory powers."

"So, Captain Carvajal, please join us. I believe that with your experience and talents, you will achieve everything that is unattainable in the Kingdom of Spain."
-
Barreto de Noronha, captain of the "Oriental Hope", held up a monocular and watched the "Break the Wave" gradually disappear in front of him, leaving only a faint shadow of the sail, and couldn't help but reveal a playful smile.

This magical ship separated from the fleet again and sailed towards Siam first with its extraordinary speed.

That’s right, they actually went to Siam before heading to Guangzhou.

The reason was simple: to buy a large amount of local specialties from Siam and sell them to Ming Dynasty along the way, so as to make more money.

In this way, they could buy more Ming products, or hire more Portuguese merchant ships to transport more Ming immigrants.

They were ambitious and tried to gather enough people in the shortest possible time to gain a firm foothold on the island before the Spanish could react.

In order to achieve this goal, they were so bold as to attack Spanish treasure ships in the Pacific Ocean and loot their gold and silver.

To be honest, when the Chinese first proposed this suggestion, he clearly rejected it.

Not to mention, it is impossible to find a sailboat sailing in the vast ocean.

Even if you know the route it took, you cannot accurately locate it.

Moreover, if we rashly attacked the Spanish treasure ship and they found out, who knows what kind of trouble it would cause.

Originally, due to the re-export trade of Eastern goods and the struggle for the right to protect education, there have always been various dirty things and frictions between Haojing and the Manila authorities.

If the Spanish learned that Portugal had openly attacked their treasure ships at sea, it would likely lead to a conflict between the two sides. It is even possible that the Manila colonial authorities would launch a retaliatory attack on the Portuguese.

It might even spread to mainland Europe and trigger a huge political trend.

It's best to stay as far away from this kind of thing as possible.

We Portuguese hate the Spaniards, and we feel even more aggrieved and unwilling to be ruled by the King of Spain. However, if we really want to break off relations with them or even go to war with them, we still feel guilty and... timid.

Noronha understood the Chinese people's thoughts. They wanted to drag the Portuguese into the water through this action and force them to stand on the same front as the Chinese.

Since we have attacked Spanish treasure ships together, does that mean we must firmly support them to a certain extent when an armed conflict breaks out between them and Spain?
Of course, they may have another motive, which is to ensure that we Portuguese do not reveal the location of their colonial territories to the outside world, so as to gain time to fully develop and grow.

However, not every Portuguese has such long-term thinking as him, and few Portuguese have such "extraordinary" political acumen as him.

Most of them only care about immediate interests.

For example, most of the sailors on the "Eastern Hope", including the first mate, second mate, boatswain, helmsman and other senior crew members, were also quite tempted.

When they heard that the Chinese were going to hijack the Spanish treasure ship, their first reaction was not what impact this would have on Portugal or Spain, but they were all thinking in their hearts how much money they could get by intercepting a treasure ship.

After all, isn't the purpose of coming to the far East to obtain some coveted (envious) wealth?

They ignored the turbulent waves in the North Pacific and spent more than five months helping the Chinese transport immigrants. Wasn't it because they wanted the high price they offered and the higher profits they could get?
If they followed the Chinese to intercept a Spanish treasure ship, it would mean they would receive an additional substantial "reward".

So what about the Spanish?

Some pirates are so ruthless that they will even rob their own country's merchant ships.

As long as things are done cleanly, no one will find out.

As for risk, that doesn't exist either.

The Chinese have three ships, plus the "Eastern Hope", which makes four ships. This is definitely a powerful force in the vast Pacific Ocean.

Spain sent out at most two treasure ships at a time for trans-Pacific trade, or even only one.

It is generally rare for three ships to travel together.

So, in terms of the power comparison between the two sides, I have the obvious advantage!

Under the instigation of the sailors, Nolonya could only reluctantly agree to participate in the Chinese looting operations.

Thanks to God, the robbery was a complete success. They captured the Spanish treasure ship heading to Manila and looted more than 200,000 pesos in silver.

According to the prior agreement, the Chinese gave them 30% of the spoils, and the remaining property and ships belonged to them.

The captured Spanish sailors also became their ship slaves and were separated and assigned to various ships.

The Portuguese have no objection to this distribution ratio.

After all, the Chinese had three ships, and although one of them had almost no weapons equipment, they had a "super battleship" that was not only huge in size but also extremely fast.

In this naval blockade battle, it was thanks to its absolute speed advantage that it intercepted the Spanish treasure ship.

It can be said that even without the participation of the Portuguese, the Chinese could have handled this robbery on their own.

After receiving a large sum of money, everyone was very excited, and many sailors even began to think about how to return home in glory.

But Nolonya was thinking about how to report this matter to the governor after returning to Haojing so that the Haojing authorities could have an understanding.

This is to avoid being at a loss as to how to deal with the matter after it is exposed.

Haha, these Chinese people are really hard to control and calculate. If you are not careful, you will get on their pirate ship.

"Captain," said the first mate, Vares, who came over and interrupted his thoughts, "I noticed the sailors were discussing something, and I think it's necessary to report it to you."

"What's going on?" Noronha smiled slightly. "Is it possible that some sailors, after receiving their share of the money, had inappropriate thoughts?"

"Yes, Captain." Vares hesitated for a moment and said softly, "Those Chinese have secretly tried to recruit our sailors, either when we were on Qiming Island or when we were sailing together. They hope that some sailors will turn to serve them after their contracts expire."

“Oh?…” Noronha was stunned when she heard that.

Damn it, why are these Chinese trying to poach our Portuguese?
(End of this chapter)