Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1254 Pirate's Lair
The city of Algiers, the outpost of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the western Mediterranean, this fortified city was a hideout for barbary pirates, administered by pashas appointed by the Ottoman Empire, who plundered merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea, demanded property, The slave trade was considered legal by the Ottoman Empire.

Stimulated by such military and trade activities, Algiers' economy flourished like never before.

Barbary pirates even plundered populations and burned villages in coastal areas such as the Spanish Empire and Ireland, causing residents in these areas to abandon their villages and migrate inland.

European countries never tire of the behavior of Barbary pirates, but due to the strength of the Ottoman Empire, they mostly turned a blind eye to it.

Algiers is a mountain city, located in the hills, backed by the majestic northern foothills of the Taylor Atlas Mountains, facing the Mediterranean Sea.

The Pasha of Algiers extended the scope of Algiers to the seaside as early as 100 years ago, built a large number of castles and city walls, and set up a large number of artillery on the seaside to consolidate his territory.

There are many galleys with the Ottoman flag moored in the harbor. The large ones are 50 meters long and carry heavy guns on the bow, while the small galleys are only ten meters long and narrow.

A sailboat with a spinnaker sailed into the harbor, and a brown-haired Dutchman got off the boat with several Dutch pirates, a dozen Berbers, and slaves in charge of paddling. Follow them.

The Dutchman has only one eye intact, and the other, which appears to have been injured in combat, is wearing an eye patch.

There is a city wall beside the harbor, with cold iron cannons and long bronze cannons erected on it, not many people would be willing to attack from the sea with artillery on land.If a ship is hit by artillery, it is likely to sink to the bottom of the sea, but land is an unsinkable battleship.

The pirates on the coast showed some fear when they saw the Dutchman, and some pirates seemed to know him and waved at him.

The Dutchman wearing a blindfold looked very indifferent, and only nodded indifferently to the pirate who greeted him.

In this pirate's paradise, there are people from different places serving the Ottoman Empire, Berbers, Arabs, Turks, Turks, Greeks, Moors in Northwest Africa, even if you see the Netherlands here Not surprisingly.

Whoever has money, ships, people here, and who maintains a good relationship with the local rulers can be respected here!
The Nieders, who have unparalleled shipbuilding technology, are even more respected here.They brought new shipbuilding and artillery technology from the Netherlands, and were honored as honored guests by the Pasha here.

The Dutchmen, who served the Ottoman Empire, were also part of the Barbary pirates, who also engaged in piracy for money and status.

In fact, the concept of nation-state in this era is not yet obvious.

Behind the one-eyed Dutchman, there was a brown-haired Dutchman with a slightly nervous expression and slightly trembling body.

This is one of the large lairs of Barbary pirates that is a headache for Western European countries. There are almost no laws at all, only the simplest rules. If you violate the rules, no one will say a word when you die.

"Ah!!" A prisoner was dragged off a pirate Calais ship, his right arm was cut off by the pirate with an axe, blood poured out, and he screamed in pain.

The pirates next to him were either indifferent to this, or laughed piercingly, as if they were treating ordinary livestock.

Seeing such a horrific and bloody scene, the Dutch people in the back became even more nervous.

"Leuter, calm down, people who are nervous here will be regarded as cowards and attract suspicion." The one-eyed Dutchman said coldly.

"Yes, Mr. Jansson, you are a well-known figure in the Ottoman Empire, and I should learn from you." said the Dutchman who was called Luyter behind him.

"Wrong, I am not from the Ottoman Empire. When I robbed the Spanish merchant ships, I was a Dutchman. When I robbed the merchant ships of other countries, I was a Barbary pirate." The one-eyed Jansson said.

"How many pirates are there?" the young man Luit asked nervously.

"There are at least 25000 people in this city, most of whom are slaves, and they flowed from here to the Arabian and Ottoman Empire." Jansson replied very briefly.

"Many merchant ships are captured in the Mediterranean Sea every year, and tens of thousands of people go missing. I never thought I would have the opportunity to come here to see what happened." Luyter rubbed his hands.

He is just a merchant ship captain from the Netherlands. This time he came here with the pirate leader, which made him extremely nervous.

"Is the promise of those people in the East trustworthy? As long as you help them inquire about a missing person, you can get a large amount of tea?" The one-eyed pirate asked.

"Mr. Jansson, they promised that as long as you help them find their missing person, they are willing to provide you with a batch of cheap tea every year. You should know that their oriental tea is the most authentic in the world, and it is not as good as coffee beans. Bitter. Even if you are a pirate, sailing on the sea, if you have tea as a drink, it will definitely make the crew work harder," Luit said.

"Tea is a good thing. But the Ottoman Empire is so huge, and it spans half of the Mediterranean Sea. We have already found two ports, but we have never heard of people with oriental appearance here. I think they are still looking for it in other places in the Ottoman Empire. Well, how can a person who disappeared in Halep be on the coast of North Africa." Said the one-eyed pirate.

"They may have sent someone to the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Didn't they entrust me to contact you because they were worried that the missing person would reach the south coast? Most of the Barbary pirates are lackeys of the Ottoman Empire, and only Mr. Jansson, you are in the Ottoman Empire. Arbitrarily switching identities between the Empire and the Netherlands," said Luiter.

"Hmph, are you mocking me for being a fool? How many benefits have you received from the Orientals?" said the one-eyed pirate.

"Of course there are benefits, that is, some trade contacts. You know that I am a merchant ship captain. The benefit they promised me is that I will enjoy a little discount when trading with them." Luyter said.

The one-eyed pirate stopped and grabbed Luiter's collar: "Good guy, I thought you were a coward, but I didn't expect you to be a scheming guy. Let me work hard to find someone for you. You just need to run away." You can earn more than Lao Tzu with just one kick!"

Luiter had difficulty breathing, and said with difficulty: "Mr. Jansson, if I am timid, dare to contact you, and then come to such a dangerous place? I am just eating a living. In this era, who I can't get along with money, I will make a fortune in the future, and I am willing to cooperate with you..."

(End of this chapter)