Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1009 The Search for Cotton ([-])

The Indians sent a mission of more than 20 people to hold talks with the people from the east coast who came from afar.

The talks actually went smoothly and unevenly.To say it went well is because some exquisite goods brought by people from the east coast are obviously loved by Mobile people, especially after hearing that such goods are given away free of charge, these people are even more happy— —Of course, many of them were embarrassed, so they gave the people on the east coast what they thought were important things, such as "amulets of gods", and the two sides seemed quite friendly.

As for the fact that it did not go well, it is mainly due to the translators of the two swords, Pedro and Fernandez.Ji Wen now understood that the two of them didn't have a good face in the tribe of the Mobile people, and their native language was also quite bad. Therefore, the communication between the East Coast people and the Mobile people was very difficult, and the two sides had to communicate with each other. Meng took a guess, but in the end, he still only understood part of the meaning.

The Mobile people did not misunderstand Shay’s proposal to purchase cotton and tobacco. In fact, these two cash crops have only been planted by the tribe in recent years—using prisoners of war slaves as labor—and the scale is relatively small. But this does not prevent them from reaching a cooperation agreement with the people on the east coast.In addition to these two commodities, on the way here, as an active naval officer, Lieutenant Given discovered a large area of ​​natural oak forests in the wild, which made him as excited as if he had discovered a gold mine—this is It is unbelievable that there are so many oak trees that can be used to build ships. This is definitely a commodity that can be traded on a large scale.

After the trade of cotton, tobacco and timber (this is probably the only realistic commodity in the short term), Shay tentatively proposed to leave a few people here (and set up a liaison office, and learn the language by the way), and the Mobile people also They readily agreed, but they also have a condition, which is to ask the people on the east bank to supply them with daily necessities as much as possible-especially ironware.

Regarding this point, Ji Wen will naturally not dismiss their intentions, because before coming, the superiors have considered the favorite commodities of these low civilizations, one of which is all kinds of ironware: currently in the cabin of the "Explorer" There are axes, saws, shovels, picks, brazing, pliers, knives and other iron objects (let alone whether the Mobile people will use these things), in addition to some more powerful "iron objects", such as three hundred muskets, one hundred breastplates, five hundred sabers and matching ammunition.

In fact, in a sense, these latter weapons are what the executive committee members want to give to the Indians, in order to improve their military strength and combat effectiveness, so that a lucky tribe selected by the east bank can It has strong strength to resist foreign enemies and even annex others.Anyway, the people on the east coast have no territorial ambitions for the North American continent—at least not in the foreseeable short period of time, because the Southern Cone region cannot be fully developed in 100 years—then arm these Indians and improve their military techniques and tactics. Teaching them the knowledge of modern civilization and accelerating their civilization is absolutely beneficial to the East Coast Republic.After all, there is nothing to do with the mainland on the east coast. The Indians are stronger, and the Spaniards and British in the eastern coastal area are probably the ones who should have a headache. The people on the east coast are happy to watch the fire from the other side.

Talking about these trade things is not very difficult, but when Captain Ji Wen and others try to teach the Mobile people other aspects of knowledge, it seems very troublesome.For example, they tried to teach the Mobile people how to simply increase food production, but they couldn't figure it out even after talking for a long time.Of course, Lieutenant Ji Wen also understands that this kind of thing cannot be rushed. As long as there are people from the east coast staying here, sooner or later the agricultural technology of these Indians will be improved, and more food will be produced to feed more people. Naturally, there will be more capital to confront the European colonists (mainly the British, and the Spaniards have little ambition).

In addition, the virus weapon that alerted the Indians to the Europeans has also proved to be playing the piano on the cow.Pedro and Pedro were pale and stuttering while translating, while constantly wiping sweat from their foreheads. Perhaps they were really frightened by the words of the people on the east coast.At this time, although the Mobiles (or most of the Indians) had experienced a period of rapid population decline due to smallpox and other diseases, they still did not understand the reasons for the mass deaths of their tribes, but unfortunately they were limited by language barriers. And other reasons, he couldn't let the Mobile people understand this well, so he can only slowly figure out a way in the future.

In the end, Captain Ji Wen and others formally invited the people of Mobile to visit, visit and even study in the Eastern Republic. Tribes move toward civilization.If possible, gradually improve the tribal system, and then transform it, and finally complete the transformation into an ancient country, which is quite critical for them to effectively fight against European colonists.After all, the advancement of weapon technology is only one aspect, and the advancement of political organization is even more important-the Kama tribe in South Africa can send the so-called royal family to study in the Netherlands, so why can't the Mobile people send people to the east coast to study?

As for the last invitation, it unexpectedly received a successful response from the Mobile people.The suspected leader who attended the meeting (Pedro couldn't accurately translate this person's status, he could only describe it as "very big") actually understood Ji Wen's meaning, and then directly accepted the invitation from the people on the east coast. In Ji Wen's opinion, it is as refreshing as eating watermelon that just got off the refrigerated ship in the dog days!

Perhaps the people they sent to the east coast did not have such a lofty status in the tribe, but it was a good start after all, as long as these people really learned enough knowledge, and then brought the seeds of civilization back to the Indians, This is already an unimaginable breakthrough.They now have more than 100 years to do this. During these 100 years, they are not expected to become a "modern" country as advanced as the East Coast, but as long as they make some progress and form some countries with a unified regime, the level of productivity If they have been greatly improved, and their military techniques and tactics are also steadily advancing, then they will be enough to cause great trouble to European colonists (mainly the British).After all, the home field advantage, advanced techniques and tactics, and the fierce and daring nature of the North American Indians will definitely cause big trouble for the Europeans.

"Spreading the dawn of civilization to the barbarians, really..." Even though they came here under the order of Shangfeng, Lieutenant Ji Wen and others still felt sour in their hearts.Although he came to the east coast when he was a boy, he was a white man after all because he was born in Ireland. He really hated these uncivilized barbarians who would cause great harm to the white colonists.But fortunately, he is sensible enough to be able to distinguish between the important and the important, so he still carried out the tasks entrusted to him by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Navy without compromise.

After the discussion with the Mobile people, Shay, accompanied by Pedro and others, briefly taught the Indians how to cut trees and dry wood in the shade. At the same time, he also asked them about their experience in growing tobacco and cotton—of course because of the language For some reason, the communication between the two sides is not sufficient.However, according to Pedro, Spanish missionaries full of enthusiasm and sense of mission once came here to preach and taught these Indians how to plant crops and raise livestock. Even if no effect is achieved, these Indians still believe in a primitive religion with the sun as a totem, which makes Ji Wen seem to see another possibility.

On November 11, Ji Wen and others, who had been wandering in the Mobile tribe for a long time, left and set off.Before leaving, they left a considerable amount of ironware, dyed cloth, printed cloth, glass products and other commodities to the Indians. In addition, 11 muskets, 4 sets of breastplates, 100 sabers and supporting ammunition were also sold to the Indians. The precious and precious land was handed over to them. As for how to use it, it was naturally taught by the four East Coasters who stayed behind.The things that the Indians exchanged for these items were lacklustre, generally only a small amount of tobacco, some dog head gold of dubious purity, a few furs with a relatively high value, and some fresh meat and corn for supplies.Fortunately, people on the east coast don't value their property very much. What they value is the long-term interests in the next 200 or [-] years, so both parties are very satisfied with this meeting.

In the afternoon, Shay and others took eight Mobile people aboard the "Discovery", and then sailed towards New Orleans, which is not far away.Because according to what Pedro and Fernandez said, a tribe called the Choctaws they visited a few years ago lived in that area. They also lived by growing corn and potatoes, and usually hunted, fished and They collect wild fruits, but they don't know how to grow cash crops such as tobacco and cotton, so they are relatively poor.But this tribe, which is said to have once been a branch of the Chickasaw people, undoubtedly has more people than the Mobile tribe. According to Pedro's estimate, there are about 8-5000 people, and it is also a force worth contacting. Therefore, This is how the "Discovery" turned to drive here.

"Are we really going to be the spreaders of barbarian civilization? Is this really appropriate?" Standing on the front deck of the "Discovery", blowing the cooler sea breeze after nightfall, Captain Shay muttered to himself.They were not too far from the shore at this time. On the dark land in the distance, the bonfires flickered and extinguished, which seemed to herald the unpredictable future of the North American continent.

(End of this chapter)