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Chapter 474: Black Sails Pirates and Erikson
"Have you heard any news about Vericro while you were in the royal capital?" Claude asked.
Vericro was also a young friend of Claude and Bockar. Later, their family went to the royal capital, and Vericro joined the Guards Corps. During the five-year war in the eastern region, Claude met Viriclo once, and that was at the commendation ceremony for his knighthood. Viriclo, like him, killed more than 200 people on the battlefield because of his outstanding marksmanship. The enemy was awarded the Order of Knighthood.
Bockaar nodded, then shook his head: "I didn't see Viricero, but I got news about him. At the party hosted by Madam Maria, I met a guard named Nickerson. After talking for a long time, I found out that he was Vericro's brother-in-law. He told me that Vericro had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel because of his contribution in the kingdom's civil war, but he was not in the royal capital. Stationed in the county of Limassosia.
Five years ago, Verricro also got married. His wife was the second daughter of a hereditary earl, and her dowry was a large manor in Limassolia County. It was for this reason that Viriklo applied to be stationed in Limassolia County. He now has a son and a daughter and lives a very happy life. On the contrary, his father, Uncle Kubrick, is old, likes to drink, and is in poor health. He now also lives in that manor. "
"Time flies so fast. Back then, we were junior high school students in Bailu City. We were carefree and only knew how to play and fight every day. In the blink of an eye, we were far apart and had children." Claude sighed, got up and went to the wine cabinet. I chose a bottle of fruit wine and prepared to pour a glass for everyone. But Uncle Lubiwell stopped him. He said that as he got older, it would be better to continue drinking black tea.
Bok'ar also sighed, probably thinking of the happy time he spent in White Deer City. After a dull moment, he watched Claude pour himself some fruit wine, took a sip from the glass, and then said to Claude hesitantly: "Actually, I saw Ericson on the way back. He brought The black sail pirates robbed our refugee fleet..."
Claude raised his eyes and looked at Boquear, picked up the wine glass and drank it in one gulp, continued to pour himself a second glass, and then asked indifferently: "What did he say to you?"
"This, this..." Bok'ar thought for a moment and replied: "He wants to make some deals with our direct territorial war zone..."
Claude didn't ask about the deal, but frowned and walked around the room: "Tell me how you met with him and everything you talked about."
"I didn't recognize him at first. He looks completely different now than when he was young. He gives people a wild, violent and domineering feeling. His long hair almost reaches his waist, and he has an extra line on his face. Scar has bright eyes. Although he has grown stronger and stronger, compared to me, he is still the shortest one among the four of us.
When we discovered the fleet of black-sailed pirates at sea, their dozens of pirate ships saw that our refugee fleet had no escorting warships, so they sailed towards our fleet without any scruples. At that time, I could only order the guard squadrons that escorted me to be scattered and hidden throughout the ship, preparing to use their accurate marksmanship to decapitate the pirate leaders in case of emergency.
So my ship faced the black-sailed pirate ships rushing over, hoisting the flag of negotiation. Those black-sailed pirate ships were very disciplined. They surrounded our refugee fleet and did not board the ship. Instead, they used the cannons on the pirate ships. The pirates also waved various weapons and used vicious expressions and words. He frightened the refugees on the boat and made many people cry on the spot.
Erikson was standing on the bow of his pirate ship directing his ship to sail towards me. The closer I got, the more familiar I felt. Later, I tentatively called his name, and he recognized me, because He didn't even dare to recognize my figure. After he found out it was me, he ordered his pirate fleet to gather in parallel with our refugee fleet.
However, he was very cautious and did not come to my boat. Instead, he invited my father and me to his boat for a while. We boarded his ship, a tripolar warship of the Kingdom's Storm Fleet, now his flagship. It just went through a lot of modifications, reducing the number of guns on the deck, adding two longitudinal sails, and the speed and stability have increased a lot...
Some of the pirates on the ship knew our father and son. They were very happy to see us and called us by name to greet us. I didn’t know them very well, but my father later told me that these people who greeted us were all former residents of White Deer Town. They were sailors on the Red Sea Shark of Captain O’Trunny, Erikson’s father. They all followed Ericson and his family out of White Deer Town during the Storm Fleet rebellion.
Erikson entertained us in his captain's cabin, and he asked me what I wanted, and I said give us some fresh meat. After wandering at sea for half a month, all we ate were those bread dumplings every day. In my dreams, I dreamed of eating meat. Erikson laughed and asked us what was going on with this fleet. I told him what happened. He was very sad to hear that Bailu City was in ruins. Then he ordered the cook on the ship to cook us a sumptuous meal.
After we had eaten, Ericson proposed that our family follow him to the place where his parents secluded themselves. He wanted to go home to see his parents this time. According to his story, I guess he joined the Storm Fleet in order to find his father. Later, after finding his father, he betrayed the fleet and returned to White Deer City to take his mother and the sailors' families away, officially becoming a Black Sails pirate.
It is said that his parents lived in seclusion on a large island deep in the Silent Ocean. There were a total of three large islands and a dozen small islands forming an archipelago. The big island where his parents live can accommodate 20,000 to 30,000 people. Currently, all the family members of his Black Sail Pirates live on that island, and there are more than 6,000 people. Ericson took his black sail pirate fleet and attacked several islands in the waters of the Nubari Islands, becoming a member of the pirate gang in the Thousand Islands waters.
Every three months, Erikson would take a rotating fleet back to the island where his family lived in seclusion, and also transport some looted supplies and daily necessities to the families of his pirates. He wanted to take our entire refugee fleet over, but I refused and told him it was not that simple. There are more than 60,000 people in our refugee fleet, and transporting them there will only deceive the guests, and Erikson cannot guarantee that we can provide the food and daily necessities needed by so many people.
Then I gave him a suggestion. If he needs to immigrate, he can go directly to the kingdom to recruit unemployed sailors, crew members, and various craftsmen, and then arrange for their families to move to the island. This can not only increase the population of the island, but also ensure their loyalty, which is much better than attacking my refugee fleet. Moreover, you can also control the number and progress of recruitment by yourself, so you don’t have to worry about too many people making the island chaotic.
Erikson laughed and said that I have changed a lot and am much smarter. He said that he didn’t have to take the idea of this refugee fleet, but he hoped that our family would follow him back. One day he would also establish an archipelago kingdom like the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands. At that time, he could make me a grand duke and let him I became a hereditary noble. I immediately rejected his request and told him what his responsibilities were. If he missed his old feelings, he should not stop me from returning to the war zone directly under the Central Government.
Erikson just sighed and stopped saying anything to recruit me. He is relatively well-informed in the waters of the Nubari Islands and told me that the territorial war zone has completely defeated the Kingdom of Hicks and won the colonial war. And let me tell you that he felt a little sorry for you in Bailu City back then because he didn't know that his father was your father's partner. He only thought that his father was being attacked by pirates because he was hired by your father... . ..
He knows a lot about the overseas territories, and I suspect that his Black Sails pirates have also placed spies in the war zone of our territories. He said that he knew that you were one of the five giants in the territorial war zone, so he restrained his subordinates and did not attack and plunder the coastal areas of the territorial territory because he did not want to cause trouble for you. But he finally made a request to me and asked me to pass it on to you.
If our direct-controlled war zone can conduct some transactions with his Black Sail Island, he guarantees that his black sail pirates will not commit any crimes against the direct-controlled war zone in the future, and can even accept employment from our directly-controlled war zone to deal with those who come to harass and attack the direct-controlled war zone. Dominate the Hicks Kingdom's fleet and other pirate gangs along the coast. As for the content of the transaction, it is nothing more than armaments such as artillery and ammunition, as well as daily necessities such as grain and grass...
I thought it was strange at the time and asked him if he had been a pirate for so many years and didn’t have reliable channels for selling and purchasing stolen goods. Erikson cursed loudly. He said that there were smugglers and stolen goods traders from the colonies on the west coast in the waters of the Nubal Islands. But they The purchase price offered is really too low, often one-third to one-quarter of the market price of the goods.
Most of the Black Sail pirates are from the Kingdom of Overas, which is even more disadvantageous. In transactions with merchants from other countries who sell stolen goods, the purchase price is the lowest and the purchase price is the highest. But if you don't trade with these black-hearted merchants, you won't be able to get supplies. They can only swallow their anger and suffer the consequences. So Erikson asked me to ask you if you can make this deal with the Black Sails Pirates."
"Then Erikson released your fleet and replenished you with some food and water," Claude said, and Bockaar nodded.
Claude looked at Bockaar's father, who was silent on the sofa next to him and had been drinking tea silently, and suddenly asked: "Uncle Lubiwell, what do you think of Erikson?"
Mr. Lubwell raised his head: "My opinion is that your childhood friends have changed a lot. You are now in a high position, and your reputation is spread throughout the territories and West Coast colonies. You also speak out in the war zone." Ling Sui, many things can be settled with one word. In fact, Erikson has changed almost as much as you, except that he has become a pirate leader and you have become a kingdom general.
Although you have become one of the five giants in the war zone, you are still bound by rules. You must be thoughtful about what you want to do, and you must not give others a reason to attack you. But I didn't see this in Erikson. He had no scruples in doing things. Just like when we explained to him that this was a refugee fleet, his first thought was to take this refugee fleet with him. When he went back to his hometown, he didn't consider whether he could accommodate so many people.
When he said that sooner or later he would establish an archipelago country like the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, and said that Boa would be granted the title of Grand Duke, I knew that he was very ambitious and did not take the kingship of this world seriously. This may be because he can no longer accept the constraints of rules after becoming a pirate. Everything is centered on himself and he is free and will not be interfered by anyone.
As for the deal proposed by Erikson with the territorial war zone, my suggestion is not to agree to his request. Because making a deal with him is actually increasing his strength and expanding the scale of the Black Sail Pirates. I now regret the idea that Bokoal gave him to go to the kingdom to recruit people. But at that time, Bokoar also had no choice but to do it in order to let the fleet escape. "
Claude lowered his head and slowly drank the fruit wine in the glass. Mr. Lubiwell's opinion was very simple. He didn't care whether Ericson was Claude and Bockard's teenage friend. He just expressed his feelings for Eli. Kessen's perception. Of course, as a businessman, he naturally hates bandits and pirates, gangs that get rich by robbing and getting rich for nothing. They are natural enemies.
However, there are a few points worth pondering for Claude. First, Mr. Lubiwell said that Erikson was an ambitious guy who could not stand any grievances or rules. This is a subtle expression that he is not optimistic that Erikson will accept the recruitment of the territorial war zone, so that Claude does not have to make such an idea. He specifically mentions Claude's current status and that Erikson wants to build an archipelago. The kingdom's arrogance shows that Erikson will not settle down under others, especially under Claude's command...
Second, since Bok'ar proposed to Erikson to recruit people in the kingdom, Erikson gave up the idea of attacking this refugee fleet. It was obvious that he had listened to this suggestion. Next, he will put it into action to expand the scale and power of the Black Sails Pirates. However, the Kingdom currently has no fleet to protect the coastal areas. For the Black Sails Pirates, it is an undefended area where they can plunder wealth and talents.
Third, with people and money, the power of the Black Sail Pirates will surely expand, but they need a large amount of weapons and equipment and various munitions, which cannot be obtained by plundering. At the same time, it is necessary to provide enough living supplies for the people who migrated and settled in their hometown. These things are not something that Erikson can purchase from the colonies on the west coast. Even if he can purchase some of them, it will be very uneconomical because of the long transportation distance.
Therefore, the best trading partner can only be in the territorial war zone. This is why Mr. Lubiwell does not want Claude to agree to trade with Ericson's Black Sails Pirates. Sen came up with the idea of recruiting talents in the kingdom, and by not agreeing to Ericson's arms deal with the territorial war zone, he could curb the rapid expansion of the Black Sail Pirates' power and prevent him from becoming an accomplice of the Black Sails Pirates.
But what Mr. Lubiwell does not understand is that the territorial war zone needs time to digest the dividends of the war, heal the wounds of the war, and revitalize the economic development of the territorial war zone. Claude thought more carefully about this. It would be easy not to make a deal with Erikson's Black Sails Pirates, but this would offend the Black Sails Pirates and bring the danger of pirate attacks to the coastal areas of the territorial jurisdiction.
During the colonial war, few pirates came to directly control the waters of the war zone. This was mainly because they were afraid of encountering the two fleets of the Kingdom of Hicks and causing them to suffer disaster. Now that the war is over, offshore transportation in the sea areas directly under the jurisdiction of the war zone will inevitably become busier and more prosperous, and the stability of sea transportation and trade lines without the threat of war will attract the attention of pirate gangs of all sizes. The ocean-going cruise fleet reorganized in the war zone has not Before the formation of combat capabilities, offshore transportation sea routes will be at great risk of being attacked by pirates.
This was also Erikson's confidence in reaching a deal with the Territory War Zone. He should have seen this, so he proposed to accept employment from the Territory War Zone to deal with other pirate gangs that harassed and attacked the coastal areas of the Territory Territory. This is also a way to draw territory, and it is also a condition to force the directly-administered war zone to accept his deal...
It seems that what Mr. Lubiwell said is correct. Erikson's ambition is really great, so he doesn't need to recruit him to become a naval general in the theater. It's just a pity that his young friend doesn't have a long-term strategic vision. Does he think that being a pirate can lead a happy life and even become a family business that can be passed down to future generations
Claude has never taken pirates seriously, but what he needs now is time. After the trains and railways in the directly-administered territorial theater are successfully developed, the next task is to move the steam engines to the ships and at the same time build an iron-clad or iron-shelled steam-powered ocean-going fleet. By then, not to mention the sailing fleets of pirates, even those national fleets in the Farea continent that claim to be invincible will all be like dregs.
Erikson's Black Sail Pirate was indeed dominant in the era of sail battleships, but after the advent of the era of ironclad battleships, he had no choice but to hide in Tibet. There are many manpower and craftsmen who can build sail warships, but no pirate force can build ironclad warships. This is exactly the foundation of a maritime power.
But before iron-clad battleships become a reality, the directly-administered territorial theater needs to rely on the reorganization of captured joint fleet warships to form an ocean-going cruise fleet, and first train its own naval officers and generals to lay the foundation for later iron-clad battleships, and at the same time use them to protect the direct-administered territories. Security in combat zones and maritime areas.
Claude tapped his fingers lightly on the table. There were many things. Before considering whether to make a deal with the Black Sail Pirates, the direct-administered war zone also had to deal with envoys and accusations from the royal capital. Nearly four months have passed since the victory over the Kingdom of Hicks, and the royal capital should have received the news long ago. Without the threat of war, those emerging business aristocrats should happily embark on the warships coming to the overseas territories. Perhaps in their eyes, the directly-administered war zone is like a big piece of fat, just waiting for them to take a bite...