European Financial Emperor

046 North America (2)

It was about three hours after the siege.

The sun rose over Lee Hwan’s head, and dawn began to shine on the mountains and rivers.

Now, I thought that the enemy might soon surrender.

According to what I heard, there was no engineer who could fire cannons in the fortress that looked like that town.

This is because when Lee Hwan shoots, he just gets hit as he shoots, and the chance of a successful attack is extremely low.

It was the sound that bloodless entry was just around the corner.

But Ben-Herren seemed unwilling to wait any longer.

“Sir, they say that it is time to start a full-scale battle from the rear.”

“Does that mean you will see blood in the end?”

Ben Heren was clearly an outstanding merchant and politician, but he did not seem to be a soldier who could earn a major in battles on the battlefield.

Just like every human being has a field he is good at, the battlefield was not a suitable place for him.

Of course, there was a good chance that it would be a hindrance if he taught him how to fight grandchildren.

In the end, Lee Hwan decided to go on his own.

“In a gunfight, there is always at least one dead person. In that case, it would be better to negotiate.”

“Negotiation?”

“Can’t you give them the right to surrender too?”

He ordered one of the captured slaves to be brought back.

If it was a black slave who was captured by the pirates and forced to fight, it seemed that it would bring an advantage to the negotiations.

The black slave who came to Lee Hwan’s call was terrified.

However, he was also partly influenced by the soldiers of the East from Africa.

“Boo, did you call?”

Lee Hwan asked him, who spoke English enough to understand even though he was not fluent.

“Our army did not come to oppress or kill you. We have come to free African slaves and restore their freedom. Because that is the right thing to do.”

“… … That’s right?”

“Do you have a family?”

“Yes, it is… … .”

“Are you in there?”

“… … That’s right.”

“Then I will give you a chance. I will release you, so run and tell the people in that town. If you surrender, you will not only save your life, but you will also give you freedom.”

“If you are free… … .”

“It means to set you free from slavery.”

“iced coffee!”

“In the future, you can become a citizen of the Netherlands or start a new life with us in the New World as a soldier or an engineer. If one resists, neither can we. As we have seen before, once a battle takes place, bloodshed is unavoidable. You can’t let your family go through such a bloodshed.”

The black slave seemed to have made up his mind to Lee Hwan’s conciliation.

With a completely different look from before, the black slave declared that he was willing to stand up for freedom.

“I will risk my life to surrender and return!”

“Yeah, good. We can only give you 30 minutes. If we do not surrender within it, our army will have no choice but to advance.”

“… … I will definitely accept surrender.”

Freed hands and feet, the slave ran to the village about 50 meters ahead.

No gunfire was heard in the village, even though he knew someone was approaching. Even if hundreds of people rushed in, it wouldn’t be much of a difference.

‘You’ve already lost your will.’

With this alone, Lee Hwan intuited that he had won the battle.

His intuition became a reality.

After a while, people with white flags, a sign of surrender, started pouring out of the village.

“Surrender!”

“Only save my life!”

Among the black slaves were many white pirates.

They, too, seemed to raise a white flag in the hope that they would be freed if they surrendered.

Yi Hwan captured those who surrendered and took them to the rear. It was because if they had a different mind and resisted, it would be a big deal.

Lee Hwan, who returned to his original form, gave Ben-Heren a victory streak.

“We have won.”

“Did you get surrender without a single battle?”

“Yes that’s right.”

“Great. You are a natural soldier and negotiator!”

“It’s overrated. I just wanted to go back alive with the soldiers.”

“Anyway, good job! Now, if you only interrogate the pirates to find out the smuggling routes of the slave traders and the location of the illegal slave market, you’ll be left with the western part of North America.”

There were ups and downs, but it seemed that Lee Hwan could finally see the golden land.

The day after the end of the operation.

The main force of the Blackhammer Fleet headed for Panama.

He decided to join the fleet by interrogating pirates and black slaves on board.

Lee Hwan watched the interrogation taking place in the basement of the flagship Blackhammer from behind.

The pirates had already lost their fighting spirit, so they obeyed the soldiers’ questions.

“What is the route for you to bring in slaves?”

“It will move from Africa to Brazil, South America, and then to the southern plantations of the United States.”

“So you’re saying that the slave market here in Brazil is nothing more than an outpost?”

“A forward base… … . Where are the slave traders? It’s just one of many markets rather than an outpost.”

“Are you saying that there isn’t just one or two markets?”

“One base in Brazil can’t meet that much demand in the South. Farmers want more and more slaves, so how can you afford it in one place in Brazil?”

“Huh… … .”

“I know there is a movement to expand the market to unexplored areas of western North America recently.”

“Are you going to capture Native Americans and sell them as slaves?”

“It’s like that.”

“Then you wouldn’t be able to sit still in Spain or Portugal, would you?”

“I heard that President Monroe of the United States is just calling for an increase in national defense power to destroy the European powers. What can Spain or Portugal do in such a situation?”

“Hmm… … . That’s right.”

“Of course, capturing Native Americans and selling them as slaves is something some merchants are talking about. Most are trying to avoid British crackdowns by setting up markets in the desolate deserts of the West. If you run into a British fleet on your way to the ports of the South, you may be immediately submerged.”

The reason that the act of buying and selling people cannot be eradicated is because of human vicious disposition.

It is to treat black slaves, who are obsessed with money, and work until death, inferior to livestock.

These vices were definitely things that should be eliminated.

Ben-Heren finished the interrogation and entered the cabin of the commander with Lee Hwan.

There, Ben-Heren explained to Lee Hwan about his future schedule.

“Gather the fleet in Panama, then pass the information to the British on the slave market in the southern United States. After that, we will go back to our home country, and you will return to Ritterkirk and then come here again.”

“Are you dispatched?”

“I want you to set up a fleet base while building a shipyard in western North America, and start your own efforts to eradicate the slave trade.”

“If that happens, I will have to leave the Netherlands and live… … .”

“Just do it until you are seated. If you wish, you can hire someone from your side who will lead the fleet and make it permanent.”

Lee Hwan realized that he had come to trust him enough to entrust Ben Heren to the fleet. If so, Lee Hwan could have been able to achieve what he wanted more actively.

“Then, Nari, I have one request.”

“Tell me.”

“Please help me organize the mercenaries directly under East Stella.”

“A direct mercenary group?”

“East Stella is under the king’s command, so by organizing a mercenary corps, I will make western North America a Dutch territory.”

“… … Are you thinking of retaking North America again?”

“To build a Dutch outpost stronger than New Amsterdam. However, I am begging you to let us, East Stellar Company, play a part in establishing the base.”

Lee Hwan has already obtained a contract to make the western part of North America his territory.

However, no matter how many goods were created, in the end, if an armed group could not be obtained, everything was a mess.

He was trying to get permission to build as many mercenaries as he wanted.

In a nutshell, it means that the royal family will allow the enlisted men to be recruited.

Ben-Heren nodded.

“Okay, do that.”

“thank you!”

***

Early morning East Stella Company is quite busy.

Arab engineers who had recently crossed the sea to obtain oil refining technology were busy boiling oil every day, and chemical engineers were working day and night to develop concrete and rebar.

However, an unexpected explosion occurred in East Stellar.

Aww!

Workers working in factories, researchers developing technology, and doctors, accountants, and lawyers poured in.

East Stellar became a factory complex with thousands of employees, not only in factories and research institutes, but also in the offices of certified public accountants based on the accounting theory left by Lee Hwan and lawyers with legal knowledge.

People all poured out of such a factory complex, so the surrounding area was quite noisy.

Sung-Im Woong focused on the second chemical laboratory, where gunpowder and explosives were studied.

Fortunately, there was no major fire, but a thick smoke was rising through the laboratory window.

Joshua Rose rushed to the scene to figure out the situation.

“what happened… … ?! An explosion in the factory area!”

“There was an explosion in Chemistry Room 2!”

“people?! Are people okay?!”

Taken from readwn.com

Moments later, before he could finish his words, the door to the chemistry lab opened.

The people who opened the door were the Nobel family.

“Cool, cool!”

“Oh, man!”

Those who had been waiting to put out the fire with a lot of water in them handed buckets to the Nobel family.

Then they poured water on their heads, dissipating the heat.

Joshua Rose rebuked them severely.

“What is this?! There’s an explosion in the lab!”

“sorry. There was a small accident.”

“It’s such a small accident, someone could have died if done wrong.”

“But there is still something to be gained.”

“Did you get it?”

“I think the development of nitroglycerin, which was entrusted to us when the president left this place, is almost 95% complete.”

“You mean that high-explosive filler that the baron was talking about?”

“Yeah, that’s it. It’s a technology that can create cannon balls for new cannons.”

Now, the development of white powder was in the final stage, and the development of firearms was almost completed.

East Stella would be able to dominate the battlefield if it could even manufacture the shells of a new cannon.

Joshua sent back all the people who had gathered around him.

After that, I told the Nobel family.

“You should never be silent about development. It is said that no one should know about this fact until the boss arrives. I mean, you know what I mean?”

“If confidentiality is essential, of course I will. Well, then, shall we say that the experiment ended in failure?”

“Um, that would be nice too.”

“The boss will come back in the next half year, so until then, we should just make some cannons.”

Lee Hwan had already done all of the design to make a rear cannon, and all he needed was the steel technology and shells to construct it.

Engineers have already been transferred from England, and research has been going on for quite some time, so in fact, there would be no difficulty in making the barrel of a rear-mounted cannon.

It means now that everything is just a matter of time.