Chapter 486 Pirates
With the advent of 1564, the rule of the United Kingdom over Normandy and Brittany began to be formally established.
Relying on a strong army, these two regions have also begun slow but rapid surgical reforms.
Of course, although the Catholic nobles were expelled and the religious properties were confiscated, they still could not change the control of the nobles over the two places.
As for the nobles' seizure of power, the nobles will certainly not let it go, there are undercurrents surging, and riots are brewing.
The French Catholic Allies and the Huguenots are accumulating strength to prepare for a new round of civil war.
Spain, the Duke of Avar led an army of 20,000 troops, and was rapidly marching towards the Netherlands, preparing to extinguish the uprising in the Netherlands.
As for the Portuguese, they still monopolize the trade in the East, happily watching the European continent in chaos, secretly making a fortune secretly.
On the sea, a large two-masted ship rides the wind and waves, moving forward slowly. Even though the sea wind is strong and the sails are bulging, it is still moving hard, heavy and slow.
The beating of the waves seems to have no effect on it. The sailors on the ship are still standing steadily, drinking wine, singing songs, chatting dirty jokes, and a happy atmosphere.
"Hey! Scar, why are you drinking again?" On the deck, there was a handsome sailor with decent and clean clothes. Compared with other sailors, he was simply a nobleman.
He went straight to the side of the man who was sitting on the ground, drinking non-stop with a drink in his hand, and asked in a bad tone.
"I haven't arrived in Portugal yet, what if I encounter pirates?"
The man sitting on the deck has short hair, but there is a scar directly from the corner of his mouth to the middle of his head, like a centipede, which makes people shudder.
If it was a little deeper, I'm afraid my head would have burst.
"Oh! My first mate, isn't this almost Lisbon? How can there be any danger, what can happen if you drink some wine?"
Scar glanced up at the sailor with the front teeth, then lowered his head again, took a sip of his wine, and said rascally.
"Besides, our navy is not a vegetarian, any robber who dares to rob us is purely courting death!"
The man with the scar changed his posture, half lying on the deck, drinking wine, basking in the sun, and said lazily.
"Yes! First officer, we have been at sea for more than a month, and we finally took a break, what can happen!"
"According to the sailing agreement, it doesn't say that drinking is not allowed!"
"What are you afraid of? The pirates are coming. We took the opportunity to rob them. The cannons on the ship are not vegetarian!"
Scar seemed to be very influential among the sailors. As soon as he finished speaking, the other sailors immediately spoke in support, which directly made the handsome first officer blush.
"Okay, if something happens next, you guys will watch it!"
He glanced at the man with the scar, then at the dozen or so other sailors who responded, then said a word helplessly, and walked away quickly.
"Hahaha!" With the departure of the chief mate, the deck immediately became a sea of joy, and the atmosphere became more enthusiastic.
"Your Excellency, Captain! That fellow with Scar is slacking off again!" The first mate came to the captain's room in a panic, and complained to the captain, who was enjoying the wine in an upright manner.
"Don't care about them, Kadir, you are different from them, they are just a pile of mud on the ground, and you are the king's palace, there is no comparison!"
The captain drank wine leisurely, squinted his eyes, with two red clouds on his face, looked at the handsome first officer and said:
"You have been to school and can read some words, although not much, but you are very different from them!
The best they can be is a filthy sailor, all their lives, and you are destined to be a captain! "
"You are so clever, so talented, the captain is your destination!"
"You, your father is a captain, and he also has shares in the company. It is a matter of course to become a captain!"
Kadir looked at the drunken master Captain, lifted him to the bed, looked at his fat body panting, and shook his head.
During this trip to sea, I bought a large amount of spices, silk, and ivory from Goa, and also stopped at an African coast. I exchanged some bows and arrows and iron swords for fifty pounds of gold.
It can be said that their trip to the East was a bumper harvest.
So, when the ship approached Portugal, everyone on board couldn't wait to start celebrating.
After the ship docked in Lisbon, each person could get at least ten gold coins, plus their own spoils, enough for them to live in style for a few years.
But Kadir is different. It is just what the captain said. His father is a shareholder of the company. This time he went to sea, not for money, but to investigate the Eastern route.
After all, the company in the Netherlands is the real business of his family.
This trip to sea opened his eyes.
He is almost certain that investing in the eastern route will definitely increase profits and the family power will expand several times.
"Your Excellency, Captain!" Kadir heard the sound of the horn, and his face couldn't help but change.
At this time, a sailor hurried over, shouting.
"What's wrong?" Kadir asked in a deep voice.
"There are pirates, pirates!" cried the sailor.
Seeing this, Kadir immediately ran out of the cabin and looked around, his face suddenly paled.
I saw that behind their ship, there were three Galen ships with pirate flags running over in a hurry, only two miles away from them, and the distance was getting closer and closer.
The pirate ship was in a triangular formation, approaching quickly and aggressively.
And what about them? Due to the full load of cargo, the entire ship is slow, no matter how fast it runs, it will be caught up in less than ten minutes.
"Quick, everyone, get ready, speed up! Speed up with all your might!"
"Gunners are ready, shelling when the distance is up!"
"Archers prepare..."
For a while, Kadir hurriedly ordered down to prepare for the counterattack against the pirates.
Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, a pirate ship chased after it, and dozens of cannons fired shells, shaking the merchant ship returning with a full load.
The counterattack of the merchant ship was scattered among the three ships, and the firepower was scattered, which was tantamount to tickling them.
The persecuted pirates made all the sailors panic, and the scene of death made them terrified.
While Kadir looked at the surrounded merchant ships and the black cannons, he could even see the ferocious faces of the pirates, their big red faces.
"Damn Scar, **** sailor!" Kadir cursed.
"Kadir, what's going on?" The captain staggered out of the cabin and looked at the pirate ship, his face suddenly pale and bloodless.
Kadir glanced back at him and sighed.
In such a situation, you can only let it go.
"Surrender! Raise the white flag, we surrender!"
(end of this chapter)