Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 692 Cotton River ([-])

Zhai Xiaoshan spit out the saliva in his mouth, then wiped his sweat again, then sat down on the tree stump that was a little dry and cracked by the sun, picked up the cowhide water bag and drank it.

This is the port of Anduani in Isle of Be in later generations. Of course, she has changed its name to Lobster Port now, because every year when the dry season starts here, there will always be a large number of fishing boats from Xinhua Port to catch lobsters—this is a kind that can be exported in large quantities. Indigenous seafood.Under the guidance of the upper class, the local middle class has a morbid addiction to tuna and lobster.Even though the products exported from Xinhuaxia Island to there are all pickled products, they still flock to them, which makes the fishermen on Xinhuaxia Island laugh crookedly, because they can use the local rich and cheap seafood in exchange for them. A large number of daily necessities are consumed, everyone gets what they need, so happy!

There were only some simple wooden buildings in Lobster Harbour, which were used by fishermen who came here during the dry season to take shelter from the wind.But now there are many other buildings, and a wooden seaside trestle bridge has been built, which can berth two large ships at the same time.There were also more people in the port, but they were not fishermen, but some heavily armed men, and Zhai Xiaoshan was one of them.

Zhai Xiaoshan was originally the leader of a group of small bandits operating at the junction of Qingzhou and Laizhou in Shandong Province. His clan uncle is Zhai Cong'er Zhai Fifth Monk, who is now quite well-known in Shandong. .After Zhai Xiaoshan was captured by Marshal Mo, he first worked in a labor camp for half a year, and then was sent to Dabo to study military and political courses because of his outstanding performance. Later, he also played a great role in the process of Zhai Cong'e's surrender.With this foundation of credit and his loyalty, he also got a position as a squadron leader when the Stand Up Team was expanded, and he was considered a middle-level officer.

However, his uncle was not very worried about this junior's military career, especially after he was seriously injured in an expedition, Zhai Cong'e pleaded with Mo Ming to let Zhai Xiaoshan retire from the army, and then gave him a large sum of money to let him go to the said "everywhere" Go to the east coast of the "cattle and sheep" to pass on the incense to the family, and don't get involved in this big mess in Shandong.In this way, Zhai Xiaoshan was reluctantly dispatched to the east coast after he recovered from his injury.

After arriving in the mainland on the east coast, Zhai Xiaoshan settled in Zhenhai County, and also served as a supplementary soldier of the county militia brigade (replenishment of front-line battle losses) to fight two small battles in Santa Fe and Corrientes.I don't know if it's bad luck or something else, but when he was in Santa Fe, he got seriously ill because of acclimatization, and he was sent home for more than half a month before he gradually got better. He was the top man, and he also received a notice of discharge early.

After retiring from the army, Zhai Xiaoshan, who was impatient with the crops, left the land to his Bulgarian wife to cultivate, and then took advantage of the upsurge of veterans investing abroad to come to Xinhua Island by boat.After arriving here, they bid for land, bought seeds from the botanical garden, asked Muscat businessmen about slave prices, etc., everything was done step by step.

It's just that there is a "little" problem here, that is, they don't have enough money to spend.The Bedouins in Muscat charge 40 yuan for each adult Balochi male. To be honest, this price is not expensive, but the cash-strapped Zhai Xiaoshan and others just can’t afford it because they subscribed too much on the banks of the Mian River. There is a lot of land, and money is a bit difficult to get together.Doing the math now, minus the farm tools, seeds, land rent, water conservancy and irrigation sharing expenses, etc., there is not much money left on hand, and I will definitely not be able to buy any more slaves.

But this matter obviously couldn't help Zhai Xiaoshan.Who is he from?Bandits!The bandit's consistent thinking is to rob money if there is no money to use it, so what should I do if no one uses it now?Go grab it too!

So, with this kind of thinking, Zhai Xiaoshan brought more than a dozen old brothers (the rest took a boat back to continue raising money) and came to Lobster Port. At this time, nearly a hundred investors with the same idea had gathered here.These people are all from military background, and they do things simply and simply. If they have no money, they will do it for a vote. They are afraid of hair!

Among the hundreds of people, there were of course some residents from Xinhua Port who came to join in the fun. They were either hired or came here voluntarily, and then went to Lobster Port to collect weapons.The weapons were provided by a traveler named Ma Wanpeng, who now bought two motor-sail fishing boats to fish for tuna near Zanzibar Island—of course he himself lives in Xinhua Port.It was he who proposed to gather a large group of idlers on the island to capture the aborigines for labor, and he also borrowed fifty or sixty rifles and a set of rifles from the Xinhua Port Armory through his good relationship with Shi Qinjie. With the first batch of armor, and everyone's own axes, machetes, etc., it is basically not difficult to break down some native villages and plunder some slaves.

The target they chose this time was the aborigines on the island of Comoros—this is a new race formed by the mixed blood of Arabs, Malays and Bantus. Maybe Malays, maybe Arabs) forged iron tools and canoes, and then went out to sea to plunder other tribes.Sometimes they go to Madagascar to plunder, sometimes they go ashore to plunder Bantu blacks, and sometimes they go to plunder those Swahili (the mixed descendants of Arabs and blacks), in short, they are also a group of professional robbers.

Of course, their level of civilization is still relatively low, not even as good as the Malays on the other side of the strait. For example, their iron making is quite poor, and the canoes are not as good as those on Madagascar.Therefore, Ma Wanpeng gathered hundreds of strong men (basically veterans with combat experience) to go to Comoros Island to capture slaves. It can be said that it is basically difficult to encounter any resistance.What?You said those natives came to fight you with iron knives and wooden spears?Don't be funny, the people on the east coast have met too many of these natives on Xinhua Island, and they basically have experience in dealing with them. Therefore, as long as they are not stupid enough to try to establish a The base is basically foolproof.

Although the law of the East Coast Republic of China prohibits privately keeping black slaves or hiring black workers, the Comoros now have not mixed a large number of Bantu people from East Africa like later generations, and they are mainly Arab and Malay. Mostly of mixed race, occasionally some Bantu blood brought to the island by the Arabs, but not many after all.At this time, everyone can actually play side-by-side. They can justify to their superiors that they are not black. If it is not possible, they can be sold to the state-run plantations. Anyway, there is a shortage of people there.Of course, in the case of an extreme shortage of labor, generally no one will really ask whether the Comoros are black or not, and the development of the plantation economy is the top priority. As for the rest, let’s put it aside for now. In this land, most of the people who can come to Xinhua Island are lawless and bandit-born guys, so everyone will not take the law seriously.

In this way, on June 6rd, Ma Wanpeng himself took two steam engine sail fishing boats full of slave catchers, and quietly docked near the port of Moroni on the later Comoros Island during the night.At this time, there were a few canoes moored in the port, but there were not enough guards. After the steam sailboat slowly approached the sea, a large number of small boats were lowered from the side of the ship, and then the slave catchers, a team of more than ten, rowed hard. The boat headed for the shore.When paddling into shallow water, some impatient guys even jumped out of the boat, and then waded to the beach.

The few slave catchers who seized the beach began to help each other put on their armor in pairs, while others stood aside with muskets, knives and axes to guard.Everyone is an old man who has fought battles, and the various tactical regulations are step by step, so naturally they will not capsize in the gutter.After everyone went ashore, Ma Wanpeng said a few words to everyone, meaning to make a quick decision, break down the enemy's resistance with lightning speed, and then control some villages and snatch all the people or livestock seen.After finishing speaking, Ma Wanpeng and his entourage rowed back to the boat in a small boat. A Ming veteran who was a non-commissioned officer was in charge of the scene.

The veteran who served as the commander did not talk nonsense, the battle plan had already been drawn up in advance, and now it is enough to strictly implement it. Therefore, only a few minutes later, a team of more than 100 people quietly touched the village under the cover of night past.

There were basically no accidents during the battle.The Comorians in their sleep were caught off guard by the raid, and no one had robbed them for so many years, which made them very panicky and didn't know what happened.But even if you know that, the village is full of devils in shining iron armor holding knives and axes. Behind the devils, there are many robbers with smoking weapons-they have long known that this is a weapon that can kill people. weapon, which makes them even more irresistible.

In this way, after only a few hours, more than 100 people from the east bank firmly controlled this small village with a population of only a few hundred.Except for a few people who fled at night, most of the people in the village were killed or captured, and most of them are here.Ma Wanpeng spent half the night on his boat, and the statistics came out in the early morning. Last night, the gang killed 48 Comorians and captured 505 men, women and children, including 246 adults (111 young and middle-aged men). .In addition, everyone also got 31 cattle, 172 sheep, and some chickens, ducks and geese. It can be said that they returned with a full load.

Among the captured population, the elderly and children are naturally unwanted, because they are scams and can create very little economic value. Ma Wanpeng is even considering whether to release them; women are so-so, if they are cheaper, they should be Some people bought it; and young and middle-aged men are definitely in high demand, but when everyone gangs up to rob, there is naturally a set of rules for dividing the spoils.These slave catchers are all plantation shareholders, and adult slaves will digest them internally. As for the elderly and children, Ma Wanpeng suggested that they should be taken back. See what the above said. He thinks it is better to preserve the integrity of these Comorian families. better.

After all, the current East Coast Republic does not allow slavery on the surface, and all contracts, including contract slaves, are employment contracts. In the future, these Comorians will also use the form of labor labor (of course they will not pay wages. Laborers") were introduced to Xinhua Island, otherwise there would be no way to clean up their crimes. At this time, it is still necessary to preserve the integrity of their families.

(End of this chapter)