Lu Ming

Chapter 600 Crowley's Fantastic Journey
At noon, thick clouds floated over the ocean.In the Annan Sea, which has also become quiet and dark, a large European-style merchant ship is sailing along the coastline from south to north.

Judging from the name on the ship's side, this armed merchant ship with a distinct Herbert style should be called "Lady Jacob".

In the 17th century, the ships of the Dutch East India Company in East Asia were usually divided into four types.Among them, the "speedboat" has a small cargo volume, but has artillery at the bow and stern, and is the main ship type used for combat.

The Dutch in history formed a revenge fleet after the Battle of Liaoluo Bay. Among the 15 ships, 11 were speedboats.In addition, the ships that the Dutch sent to Manila waters to block and harass the Spaniards were mainly speedboats.

In addition to speedboats, the East India Company also had weakly armed, big-bellied merchant ships that were mainly used to carry cargo, and flat-bottomed sailing ships with shallow drafts that were suitable for inland transportation.

The last type is a small number of large armed merchant ships with a length of 45 meters and a crew of two to 300 people.This kind of merchant ship is powerfully armed and has a high cargo capacity. It is mainly used for long-distance travel between the Netherlands and East Asia. It is called a "returning sea ship".

The Lady Jacob is just such a large armed merchant ship in its prime.

Suddenly, on the distant sea level, several sail shadows appeared.And these sail shadows have become much larger in the lookout's lens barrel in a short period of time.

There is no doubt that this heralds the high speed of the comer.

The watchman rang the bronze bell urgently.

The captain who got the news got out of the cabin and saw that the visitors were two schooners with a large aspect ratio, and they were speeding like arrows. In just a short time, they had already rushed in front of them.

The Lady Jacob had been on the Batavia-Amsterdam route before, and this was the first time she had come to East Asia, so the captain did not recognize the identity of the person who came.So the captain ordered to load the artillery on the ship to prepare for the battle: the menacing flanking formation of the comers didn't look like a visit.

Fortunately, at the next moment, a Dutchman with a short staff and fiery red messy hair came out of the cabin, and immediately stopped the escalation of the situation.

William Janes, an old Luxembourg mercenary.In 1627, this person served as the captain of the lieutenant guard of the Dutch Trading House in Dayuan Island.

After that, they crossed the crowd to land on the beach, snatched the shop from the Dutch with the M2 machine gun, and occupied Dayuan Island.

William Janes was so lucky in this battle that he was not shredded by the 12.7MM bullet, but was wounded on the leg and made a prisoner.

Afterwards, the turning point took a turn for the worse, and the traversing forces finally reached a trade agreement with the Dutch.And old William also changed from time to time, relying on the friendship he established with the time-traveling people when he was a prisoner, he suddenly became an "old friend of the time-traveling people".

In the end, Old William obtained a "jewelry loan" from the travel crowd, and embarked on the return journey.

Cultured pearls and various faceted crystal ornaments from later generations, as well as high-end goods such as kerosene lamps, caused a sensation in Batavia.

The "captive group of four", including Old William, had more daily contact with the time-traversing people, and overnight they became the brightest boys in Batavia - "experts in the study of Eastern mysterious forces".

This incident changed the trajectory of William Sr.'s life.

From then on, old William used the loan from the sale of the pearls and his own personal savings to buy goods needed by the cross-border public, and started a single gang between Batavia and the officials.

Because he maintained a "primitive friendship" with some time-traveling people, Old William was often able to obtain some scarce commodities from certain forces, such as bleaching powder, such as vitamin pills.

In the world of the colonists, not to mention ordinary businessmen, the church system soon discovered the magical effect of bleaching powder: turbid raw water that would make people sick after drinking it, after the priest's "purification" ceremony, it became edible. "Holy water" to drink. Is there anything that can show miracles and fool believers more than this?

Vitamin pills are more effective.It can not only cure nautical sickness, but also cure many other diseases.European aristocrats in this era ate cooked fruits and various meat products, and would suffer from various vitamin deficiencies.

As for the poor who will get more diseases. The poor are not even qualified to hear about the magic pill.

The church in the seventeenth century, regardless of the East and the West, belonged to the richest and most arrogant class of big landowners.After the church intervened, the prices of these small and extremely miraculous goods quickly rose to sky-high prices.

Comrade William Sr. quickly accumulated a large amount of personal wealth in just a few years.

Today's old William has become a shareholder of the large Dutch armed merchant ship "Lady Jacob" during his latest voyage.

This time, he spent more than half a year shuttling between various ports along the coast of India, and he did not hesitate to take people deep into the inland, and finally completed the planned procurement task and "returned to the court with victory".

After returning to Batavia, William Sr. rested for less than a month, and took advantage of the South Asian monsoon in January to rush to Guangzhou.

The journey has not been smooth.The Lady Jacob was not only hit by a storm, but also hit by some unknown severe infectious disease, which caused the ship to throw dead bodies into the sea every day.

Fortunately, there were colonies of the Dutch and their allies along the way from Bacheng to Guangzhou, and the ships could continuously call at the port to replenish sailors, which prevented the old William's voyage from being delayed for too long.

However, what he didn't expect was that this time he encountered the patrol boat of "Lord Earl" in Annanhai.

Old William, who has dealt with time travelers all the year round, recognized the unique lines of the two boats and the flags on the boats at first sight.

So the old William urgently ordered the sailors to close the muzzle and lower the sails.As the major shareholder of one-third of the ship and the owner of many goods in the cabin, since Old William said that the visitor was a friend, others would naturally not object.

The next moment, the misunderstanding was resolved.

The Lady Jacob lowered her sails.After the smooth communication between the two parties, the big ship, accompanied by the small boat, arrived at the sea off Hongji at noon the next day.

"Thanks to the Almighty, the old friends have built a port here again. Well, they can see dear old William again!"

Standing at the bow of the ship, William Janes looked excitedly at the busy harbor and the towering flags in the distance, waved a short cane, and laughed like no one else was around.

The old friend that William Janes spoke of, naturally crossed the crowd.

Along with the loud laughter, in addition to the large flock of water birds scratching overhead, there were also noisy sailors on the Lady Jacob.

The next moment, the armed merchant ship slowly entered the port.The sailors chanted, climbed up and down, and stowed the sail cables on the big ship one after another.And the hull creaked cheerfully as it was turning.

Finally, on March 1632, 3, the Mrs. Jacob, on which the old William was aboard, stopped at the rudimentary Hongji Port.

After the ship dropped anchor, Old William pointed to the two huge warships in the harbor and the large number of ant-like laborers on the shore, and excitedly put his arms around the shoulders of the person next to him, and said to him, "Look, Robert, this is my lot The power that I told you about last time."

After saying this sentence, Old William thought about it and added carefully: "The private army of the Earl of the East."

The person who was hugged by the old William was a young gentleman who was about 27 or [-] years old, wearing a short shirt and a cotton jacket.

This gentleman's name is Robert Crawley.

He has short brown hair, a round face, and a not very prominent nose.On the whole, Mr. Crawley, who was not tall, had a gentle face, which was different from the red-haired old William with a hooked nose.

The answer is simple: Sir Robert Crawley is not Dutch, but English.

Mr. Crawley was from Kent, the second son of a country baronet.

Different from the traditional Eastern model of "separation of families among the sons", the eldest son heir of the Western title will get all the property and fiefdoms of the family.Therefore, the second sons of noble families usually need to find a job to support themselves after they reach adulthood.

Of course, due to the education they have received since they were young, the second sons usually have a good future.They can serve as stewards, attendants, and adjutants for other nobles; they can also work in government departments, and they can also serve in the army as low-level officers.

In fact, even in World War I, in the invincible British fleet, most of the low-level officers were served by nobles.

Robert Crawley was such a second son.

As an adult, he first worked as a clerk in the private library of a duke in London.Later, because of his interest in poetry and literature, he went to the West End Grand Opera House to find a job as a steward.

Later, Crowley, who got married and had children, originally thought that this was the end of his life, so he planned to find a long-term job in the city government.

And at this moment, a turning point in Crowley's life came: a distant uncle of his died and had no children after death.

Crowley's mother was the second son, and Crowley's eldest brother was born to the baron's ex-wife, so he had no blood relationship with this uncle.Crowley is the first heir to the uncle's property.

His uncle was a businessman, and Crowley did not inherit any real estate, but only a sum of money and some goods.

As the saying goes, Qian Zhuang is cowardly.

Crowley himself didn't expect that after receiving the inheritance, he became ambitious overnight, planning to go to the vast sea to find endless wealth like countless adventurers in this era.

After the old baron learned of this, he had nothing to do but curse.After all, the second sons were born to go out and make troubles. Since he couldn't give the second sons property, he had no right to arrange their lives.

However, after the incident, the old baron did his best as a father. Of course, this is not a sponsorship for Crowley. All the property of the family will belong to the eldest son in the future, and the old baron has no right to give Crowley a large amount of sponsorship.

What the old baron sponsored was a letter.

This letter was written to the old baron's friend and comrade-in-arms: the Dutchman William Janes.

When the old baron was young, he and the red-haired William Janes fought against the cavalry of the Kingdom of Spain during the rebellion war in the Netherlands. The two were life and death friends.

In this way, Robert Crowley boarded a merchant ship to the East, and in the winter of 1631, in Batavia, the Netherlands, he found his father's old friend, William Janes.

(End of this chapter)