"Twenty-six rudder, half-sail lower..."
"Yes, turn the rudder twenty-six, lower the half sail!" Old Ke De, who was at the helm, responded loudly, turning the rudder wheel vigorously, and the bow slowly turned to the left. On the mast, a few nimble sailors skillfully rolled up half of the fully loaded sails...
The sea was drizzled, and the horizon of the Haneyabad Islands finally appeared on the sea level in the distance. Schumacher let out a long sigh of relief, ordered the helmsman to adjust the direction, and led the fleet towards Nubit Port in the icy rain. Slack away.
It is a quarter past six in the morning, and it seems that the sun will not rise today. I only hope that the continuous drizzle will stop when we arrive at Nubit Port, otherwise it will take a day to unload. This is not a matter of worrying about whether the slippery springboard for getting on and off the ship in rainy days will cause trouble to the unloading slaves, but that most of the goods and commodities transported on the ship are not waterproofly packaged, so they cannot be unloaded in rainy days.
The rain was dripping from the gray-black fur poncho. Schumacher looked up at the sky, and estimated that he should arrive at Nubit Port at noon. Schumacher, who has spent most of his life at sea, based on his experience, this estimate is very accurate. Looking back at the fleet he commanded, Schumacher couldn't help feeling a little proud. This is the northern fleet of the Chicod Chamber of Commerce, and it is also the most powerful fleet in the northern seas. It is worthwhile for me to be the commander of this fleet in my lifetime.
It takes twenty-two to twenty-six days to travel from the Golden Bay to the Shaysia Kingdom, because the islands where the Shaysia Kingdom is located are more southward. The Chickard Chamber of Commerce has done research that if you don’t see land on a ship at sea, sailors and sailors will easily become irritable within 15 days, and will become desperate and ferocious in about 20 days, which is extremely prone to accidents. It is very easy to kill someone if they disagree with each other.
That's why the northern fleet of the Chicod Chamber of Commerce first went to the Kingdom of Shaysia to complete the spice transaction. For this reason, the sailors and crew of the fleet that had just set sail were more patient and obeyed orders, and were easier to control. Although the sea route to the Shaysia Kingdom is far away, it is enough to arrive before the situation gets worse. After resting in the Shaysia Kingdom for about ten days, the sailors and sailors can calm down. Ten days can ensure that the fleet is safe and sound.
It takes more than 20 days to go from the Kingdom of Haneyabada to the Golden Bay, but it takes only ten days to sail from the archipelago to the coast of the Galintia mainland, and the next ten days will be along the coastline of the mainland to the Golden Bay. Traveling, plus the sailors and sailors of the fleet have spent two months at sea, and they will not cause trouble if they are homesick. This is a very ingenious and practical solution that the Chicod Chamber of Commerce, as the overlord of the sea, has explored. Just a small trick of the sea fleet.
The Chickard Northern Fleet, which arrived at the Haneyabad Islands this time, consisted of sixty-seven sea-going ships. Before departure, the Chickard Chamber of Commerce specially allocated 22 large ocean-going merchant ships to join them. The reason was in a letter in the room of the fleet commander Schumacher.
The Glass War with the Trimble Kingdom severely damaged the Chicod Chamber of Commerce. Although an armed corps formed by sailors and sailors did not suffer much, the Chamber of Commerce lost two first-level great sword masters in its high-end combat power. , Seven golden swordsmen, this is almost like setting the chamber of commerce on fire. Fortunately, the young master of the Chamber of Commerce, Theliham, came up with a brilliant plan to reverse the unfavorable situation of the commercial alliance army. He won the trust of the commander of the alliance army and the president of the Two-headed Dragon Chamber of Commerce, Comber Wright, and strongly advocated for it after the war. Transferring the Duchy of Ulu Baja to the Chikde Chamber of Commerce as the territory finally did not make the Chikde Chamber of Commerce busy in vain.
However, although the Chikde Chamber of Commerce has obtained the Principality of Ulu Baja as the territory of the Chamber of Commerce, it is facing a very severe situation. As we all know, the Principality of Uru Baha is a poor and mountainous country. The biggest difficulty is that the arable land is not enough to produce food. It is not enough to fill the stomachs of the people, so Grand Duke Ulu Baha formed two mercenary regiments in the hope of feeding people, one is to earn some gold coins, and the other is to reduce the burden of food.
As for the people of the Principality, the former Grand Duke of Urubah didn't care at all, and he didn't care about receiving taxes from these poor, tinkling citizens of the Principality anyway. Time is not as good as finding another employer for the two mercenary regiments under him, that is the big business that comes with money.
Now the two mercenary regiments of the Principality of Urubah have become the biggest burden of the chamber of commerce after they defected. The Crimson Legion and the Three-color Sword Legion are both small-scale, with only 24,000 people, but the two legions have nearly 50,000 people. There are almost 200,000 relatives in their family members, which is almost a quarter of the total population of the principality. In the past, Grand Duke Ulubaha could not care about the families of these legionnaires. In his eyes, these legionnaires were cannon fodder for him to earn money. It is a great kindness to let them have a living salary.
Now that the Chicod Chamber of Commerce is in charge, they don't want the soldiers of these two legions to be as unloyal as they were to the former Grand Duke Urubah. They not only want to reorganize the two legions into regular legions, but also need the loyalty of these soldiers . Therefore, it is not only necessary to clean up military discipline, but also to take care of the families of these soldiers. It's just that the glass war caused the food price of the business alliance to rise rapidly, like somersaults. Especially after the war, the attitudes of various countries towards the commercial alliance changed from being close to being defensive, cutting off most of the commercial routes, such as grain and iron ore, which were even listed as embargoed materials, and as a result, the price of food in the commercial alliance was delayed. decline.
In the Principality of Ulu Baha, what the current Chikde Chamber of Commerce territory needs most is food. With food, the Chikde Chamber of Commerce can win the hearts of those unruly mountain people, just like those developed by the young master Seliham. The plan can be implemented and the poverty situation in the Urubah Mountains can be changed. In just two or three years, the Chamber of Commerce territory will be self-sufficient, and there will even be a lot of income.
But the problem is that the Chicod Chamber of Commerce can't buy food from all over the world with money. All it can buy is high-priced grain, no matter how rich and powerful the Chicod Chamber of Commerce can't stand it. The reason why more than 20 large ocean-going merchant ships were dispatched to the Northern Fleet was that they hoped to purchase one million Pu'er grains from the Kingdom of Haneyabad. (One pu'er is equal to one hundred catties, a Gelinthian quantitative unit, which evolved from a hundred catties of sacks woven from Pu'er hemp.)
The letter in the room of Schumacher, the commander of the Northern Fleet, was written by the chairman of the Chickard Chamber of Commerce to King Luther III of the Kingdom of Haneyabada. In the letter, Luther III asked Luther III to agree to sell grain to the Chickard Chamber of Commerce on the basis that the Chickard Chamber of Commerce had always maintained a good relationship with the Kingdom of Haneyabada. There is no way, such a large amount of grain transactions must be approved by Luther III. For this reason, the Chicod Chamber of Commerce also specially prepared a large number of precious gifts for Luther III.
The fleet sailed slowly along the waterway leading to Nubit Harbor. Standing on the berth, Schumacher looked puzzled at the few islands shrouded in mist and rain not far away. It was very strange why he didn't see the slaves working on the island at this time. Could it be that those slave owners and nobles were kind, afraid that those slaves would They catch a cold and get sick in this weather, so they are not allowed to come out to work? After thinking about it, Schumacher couldn't help laughing at himself, why bother so much, it's none of his business whether the slave does the work...
The decks of merchant ships are full of sailors and seamen. Compared with the kingdom of Shaysia, these sailors and crews who are drifting at sea prefer to come to this kingdom of slavery. Not to mention anything else, the quality of the women in the brothel alone, the Kingdom of Haneyabada is many times better than the Kingdom of Shaysia. Most of the women in the Kingdom of Shaysia who were waiting for customers at the pier were fishermen and farmers' families. They were all tanned and had fishy and earthy smells on their bodies.
And the women in the brothels in the kingdom of Haneyabada are all slave girls brought from all over the Galintia continent. Not to mention the cheap price, there are also a large number of them, enough for the sailors and crew of the fleet to be drunk on them. Days and nights minus the weariness and tedium brought about by their long voyage.
When passing Luoyu Island, Schumacher finally saw the slaves. It was a family of three, standing in front of an old stone house on the island, watching the fleet pass by with a blank expression...
"Strange, how did those slave owners allow the slave family to live together?" Kuchud, the first-level great swordsman on the berth, muttered.
There were originally five great sword masters enshrined in the Chicod Chamber of Commerce, but one was killed when intercepting Lorist's Dawn Flying Fish, and two more were lost in the Glass War, one was to protect the Chicod president from One was killed when he was assassinated, and the other was deceived by the former Grand Duke of Ulu Baha and was beheaded and killed without warning. Now only the first-level great swordsman Kuchud and the second-level great swordsman Udi who went to the territory of the Ulu Baha Chamber of Commerce were left.
The reason Kuchud Great Swordsman was able to serve in the Northern Fleet was because the Chicod Chamber of Commerce attached great importance to this trip to the Kingdom of Haneyabada to buy food. The great swordsman Kuchud was transferred to the Northern Fleet.
"Hehe, the great swordsman doesn't know that the Kingdom of Haneyabada also allows slaves to start a family and live together." Old Ke De, who was at the helm, said with a smile: "Like those old female slaves, those big nobles It will also be allowed to give slaves to their slaves as wives. But they are leftovers from playing. There are also some female slaves who have become pregnant by them, so they just find a slave to be a cheap father. They can play when they want Go play, that cheap father has to stand guard outside for them... "
"Haha, it seems that being a nobleman in the Kingdom of Haneyabada is quite comfortable. It is really comfortable to raise a group of slaves and build a manor. All the slaves are in their own hands. You can get what you want. ..." The great swordsman Kuchud also laughed.
Schumacher shook his head disapprovingly. They all substituted themselves as slave owners and aristocrats, and they didn't want to think about how humiliating and unfortunate it would be if they became slaves. However, as the leader of the Northern Fleet of the Chickard Chamber of Commerce, Schumacher is concerned about whether he can fulfill his mission and reach a grain deal with the Kingdom of Haneyabada, rather than sympathizing with those humble slaves.
After passing Luoyu, there are Golden Shark Island and Duck Island in front, and the Nubit Harbor in the distance can already be seen. It may be due to the cold rain. There are not many people on the pier, and there are several boats on the coast. Both sides of the trestle bridge are empty, not as lively as it used to be when it was full of large and small sea boats.
"What's going on, this Nubit Port is so deserted, what happened?" Old Ke De, who was at the helm, was stunned for a moment.
"Isn't it good that there are so many vacancies?" Schumacher rolled his eyes: "Didn't you get the news before the voyage that all the slave nobles of the Kingdom of Haneyabad united to attack Hilowas in the Kingdom of Antinak? The island is the territory of the earl who is hostile to our chamber of commerce, and now there are no ships and few people here, it is likely that they have benefited and are dispatched again."
The reason is so good and so strong that no one can refute it.
However, the closer it is to Nubit Port, the more sailors and crew members are crowded on the deck, and everyone is eager to disembark early to have fun.
"Huh? Why did those slave nobles have the time to build a hill next to the pier? Is that a pyramid? Why is it used?" Old Ke De, who was at the helm, was curious. Could it be a pyramid? What do those slave nobles want to build such a huge hill-like pyramid on the pier
As the distance got closer, the great swordsman Kuchud who was looking at the pyramid suddenly gasped, and then trembled all over.
"What's wrong?" Schumacher asked.
"That, that's a human head... all, all, yes, it's people, human heads, human heads, gold built up, pyramids..." The great swordsman Kuchud finally finished his sentence trembling.
"What did you say?" Schumacher pounced to the right, looked up, and felt a gust of cold water pouring down from his head, and his whole body suddenly became icy cold, as if he had fallen into an ice hole...
The fleet is only a hundred meters away from the wharf of Nubit Port, and they are still approaching. And the 30-meter-high pyramid built on the beach on the right side of the pier came into view. Pyramids are not rare. There are many pyramid-shaped buildings in the ruins excavated from the Galintia continent, but most of them are mausoleums. But this pyramid built next to the Nubit Harbor wharf is made up of human heads from top to bottom...
These heads have obviously been embalmed, and the pale faces still have the expressions of despair, pain and madness before death. This is true for one head, and hundreds of thousands of heads are like this. A pyramid built with these heads The visual shock is so strong, especially the transparent glue vine juice poured between these human heads, which looks like a large pyramid-shaped crystal with countless human heads...
All the sailors and crew members on the deck of the entire fleet were silent. They only felt that their hands and feet were cold and unable to control them. An indescribable fear burst out of their hearts. Their teeth were shaking, their hands and feet were shaking, and their whole body was shaking...
Many brave sailors and crew members of the fleet have seen thousands of deaths, some of them crawled out of the pile of dead people, but no one can maintain courage in the face of this huge pyramid of human heads. They stared blankly at the pyramid of human heads, forgetting their responsibilities, what to do and what to do...
More than ten sea-going ships collided because of the controller's dazedness and mistakes, and the entire fleet became entangled.
Schumacher came back to his senses, and was about to order the fleet to straighten out the ranks, but heard a burst of whining horns echoing over Nubit Harbor.
Numerous well-equipped soldiers rushed to the pier and lined up to meet each other. Among them, countless crossbows were pushed to the forefront, and the huge crossbow bolts shining with cold light were aimed at the fleet and were ready to launch.
The faces of Schumacher and Kuchud Great Swordsman changed drastically, followed by the sound of horns from Golden Shark Island and Duck Island on both sides, and a long queue of soldiers and rows of strangely shaped vehicles appeared on the island. Then the horn sounded from the rear of the fleet, and seven or eight large sea-going ships blocked the sea channel for the fleet to enter the port. The northern fleet of the Chickard Chamber of Commerce has become a turtle in the urn, and it is impossible to escape.
Lorist took the two great sword masters Injerek and Hughes to the pier, and faced the chaotic fleet, his tongue burst into thunder: "Give up your weapons and spare your life, get off the ship and surrender!"
All the Norton family soldiers roared at the same time: "Give up your weapons, spare your life, disembark and surrender! Discard your weapons, spare your lives, disembark and surrender!..."
The Northern Fleet responded silently...
Lorist waved his hand, and the horn sounded again.
The thunderbolt catapults in the front row of Jinsha Island and Duck Island threw the first batch of flaming fire bombs into the shipless waters behind the fleet. Over a distance of more than 400 meters, nearly a hundred fire bombs hit the water. There, waves of water several meters high were hit.
Schumacher's face was pale: "What should I do?"
Great Swordsman Kuqiud clenched his teeth: "No way, at least one of the great swordsmen on the pier is very murderous. I, I'm afraid I won't be his opponent..."
Schumacher turned his head and looked at the sailors on the deck. No one dared to look at him. In front of the huge pyramid of human heads, almost everyone lost the courage to resist. Now that they fell into a trap and were surrounded, Resistance is a dead end.
Schumacher lowered his head impatiently, and issued his last order as the fleet commander: "Leave the sails, hoist the white flag, dock, we surrender..."
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