Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 102 St. Augustine ([-])

Tortuga Island, a small island less than [-] square kilometers in size, is located off the northwest coast of French Santo Domingo (that is, the western half of Hispaniola Island, today’s Haiti). There are no Indians on the island. Except for some whites who turned from pirates to farm operators, the only official residents are their black slaves.In addition, the island is flooded with seasonal "residents" - pirates, and the by-products of pirate gathering - unscrupulous merchants and prostitutes.

Every March and April is the season when the Spanish "Flota" and "Gayañes" fleets return to Spain from Veracruz and Havana.The Spanish galleon fleet full of gold and American specialties is the coveted target of the "national pirates" with privateering licenses, while the small and medium pirates gathered on Tortuga Island are taking advantage of the old Spanish galleon fleet to leave , and the new fleet of galleons did not come through this vacuum period, looting merchant ships from various countries everywhere.Even under the influence of a certain prestige pirate leader, they gathered and went ashore to attack the Spanish towns.

This year's Spanish galleon fleet has already left early, and His Excellency the Inspector General Romero, who is familiar to everyone, returned to Seville on this ship.Therefore, the current Tortuga Island is extremely active, and more and more ships have gathered in the port recently, and now it is close to hundreds.So when the "Beagle" sailed low-key into the port, few people noticed them.

A few guys dressed like beggars on the pier threw a cable, and the sailors on the "Beagle" caught it, and then fixed it neatly on the bow, and lowered the tail anchor at the same time.

Xie Hansan took a sentry army and some security forces to stay on the ship in case of accidents, while Lu Ming boarded the pier of Tortuga Island under the guidance of two ex-pirate sailors, and Ji Wen went ashore with him , two students of Yuri, Daoist Shou, Anda Shiwu and several other people with martial arts skills.

There are palm trees all over the pier, and some ragged guys are sitting under the trees. These people look at Lu Ming and his party in neat round-neck cotton shirts with hungry wolf eyes, and some of them are still shouting.

"Sir, these are poor souls whose pockets have been drained of their last silver by whores and alcohol. They are wanted in the Old World, so they can only hang out here. If a captain has a big deal and happens to If there is a lack of people, maybe they will be hired temporarily. If no one hires them, they may go to a nearby farm to do some farm work. In short, life is not very satisfactory. They may die in a sea battle in the future, or they may die in a certain place. On the belly of a whore..." A Dutch sailor sighed, watching these former fellows live in such misery, it was impossible for him not to feel touched.Maybe people only see the glory of legendary pirates who have achieved success and fame like Drake, but they don't see the difficulties of most bottom-level pirates struggling to survive.

"Yeah." Lu Ming nodded, "Maybe we can try to hire some of them to work on the ship while the ship is being repaired, and if they perform well, they can stay as sailors. By the way, Tim, Where are the shipwrights on this island?"

"Sir, this way please, these shipwrights usually work here." Tim led the way, and the group walked through a small palm grove, and came to some wooden sheds under the strange eyes of the people around them, and then used Dutch yelled forward: "Hey, Victor, you bad guy, you've got business."

The shipwrights who were sleeping under the shed all woke up, and one of them with a beard looked at Tim blankly for a long time, and then asked hesitantly: "Tim?! It's really you! Why are you back? They all said you died at the hands of the Tartans."

Tim smiled awkwardly: "Okay, Victor, let's find someone to repair our ship, just park it on the pier over there. Our mast is damaged, bring your tools and materials, damn it Yes, if we weren't short of materials, we would have finished the repairs by ourselves. Victor, why are you dawdling? My captain is getting impatient. Hurry up and start now. Listen, my captain is a A generous person, if your work satisfies him, he will not mind paying you more. Moreover, you may even have a chance... Forget it, we will talk about this later."

"Tim, it looks like you've made a fortune." Victor greeted his companions, while packing up the tools and bringing the heavy wood for splicing the mast.

"That's right, Victor, envy me. I can now receive a salary of more than 2 ducats a month, how does that sound? Haha." Tim smiled proudly.

"Sounds good, most of the wretches here don't have a penny left over the year and spend it all on cane liquor and whore bellies. There are new faces here every year and old ones disappear every year, Tee Tom, honestly, stop being a pirate. That's my advice for the sake of the country, but it looks like you don't need my advice now, you're doing fine. Come on, man guys, let's go."

The shipwrights laboriously lifted the lumber for splicing the mast to the berth where the Beagle was berthed, hoisted it up on deck by the ship's pulley boom, and the shipwrights then boarded the ship by pedals.

Lu Ming stood on the pier bored, and was about to call Tim to see if there were any familiar sailors here, and asked him to call some to help.At this time, I saw a few people coming from a distance on the pier. The leader was a short man wearing a tattered linen blouse. His open chest was overgrown with hair and several criss-crossing scars were exposed.His loose hair was wrapped in a red turban, and his eyes looked a little dark.

"Hey, stranger, is it your first time to Pirate Island?" The short man stood in front of Lu Ming, looked at the clean white cotton shirt on Lu Ming's body, squinted and asked, "Little white face, you haven't paid the entry fee yet."

"What is he talking about?" Lu Ming asked the people around in confusion. At this moment, Daoist Shou and Anda 15 stepped forward to block Lu Ming from behind, preventing these pirates from violently attacking others.

"He's asking us to pay the entry fee," Tim explained. "Sir, I swear it didn't exist here two years ago."

"I understand." Lu Ming nodded, bullying newcomers with no roots is not uncommon in any era. "Give him ten dollars and let him go!"

Ji Wen handed the money bag in the satchel to Lu Ming, and Lu Ming took out a small Aiju (about 3 francs) gold coin from it, and threw it to the short pirate.

The short man caught it, but did not leave.His greedy eyes were still fixed on the money bag in Lu Ming's hand, and while saying "it's not enough", he reached out to grab it, and the pirates behind him also put their hands on his waist at the same time, There were pinned their knives or pistols.

"Shine (Go to hell)!" Anda Fifteen yelled violently, the saber at his waist was suddenly unsheathed, and the light of the sword slashed down obliquely, and the short pirate's entire right arm was chopped off to the ground.

The pirates were startled, and their hands reaching their waists stopped involuntarily.Lu Ming was also taken aback, but he reacted quickly. He pulled out the pistol that was already loaded with ammunition from his waist, and turned the hammer to the firing position. Others followed suit.

The army on the "Beagle" also heard the movement, and three rows of 48 musketeers came up in unison, lined up in three rows on the deck, and pointed their guns at the pirates on the pier.

The pirates watching the scene opened their mouths wide open, and the whole pier was eerily quiet for a while, except for the short pirate who was still lying on the ground and howling.

The weird scene lasted only 2 minutes, and soon, more than a dozen pirates came not far away.This time the pirate leader walking in front wore a three-cornered hat and an elegant woolen dress. The pirates behind him carried flintlock guns in their hands and followed him vigilantly.

"Oriental?" The pirate leader was a little surprised and said in Spanish.

"No, no, don't be nervous, I'm not seeking justice for this idiot on the ground." The pirate leader kicked the short pirate on the ground vigorously.Seeing more and more musketeers pouring out of the deck, he couldn't help explaining.

"Then, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Lu Ming didn't put down his pistol, and looked warily at the pirates carrying flintlock guns on the opposite side, and also said in Spanish: "My ship needs some time to repair, repair We'll leave on our own when we're done, and we won't cause you any trouble."

"Of course, Tortuga Island is a free island. Of course you have the right to repair your own ships here." The pirate leader replied calmly, then moved closer, and whispered: "I am Captain Coster, here's Everyone has heard of me. Of course you may not have heard of my name, but that's okay, now I have 6 ships, and my fleet will leave for St. Augustine in 5 days, how about it, interested to join Do you have a vote, your musketeer is very interesting. I heard that the candlesticks in the churches and monasteries there are all made of silver, haha, the servant of God is really a luxury."

Looking at this blasphemous pirate leader, Lu Ming smiled slightly and said, "Maybe I will think about it. Now I am going back to my ship. Goodbye, Mr. Pirate." A large aige (6 francs) was brought out, stuffed into the collar of the little pirate still lying on the ground howling, and turned and walked onto the deck of the Beagle.

(End of this chapter)