1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 793 Little Blacksmith

Jose Luis never thought that a person as humble as himself would be kidnapped one day. He originally thought that such a thing could only happen to those rich people who wore gold and silver.Jose's father is Basque, and his mother is an Italian immigrant. For eight generations, there have been no prominent figures.And the blacksmithing skill that he relies on for a living is also inherited from his father, but there is nothing else to inherit. The blacksmith shop at home has long been appointed by his father to his two elder brothers, and he has no share , his only way out is to leave home and start a new family when he becomes an adult.

At the age of 20, Jose left his hometown with fifty silver coins given by his father, and applied for recruitment in the Far East colonization.The glib immigration officer described the far east as a world full of gold, and all the immigrants had to do when they got there was to bend down and pick the gold coins into their pockets one by one.As long as they stay in the Far East for three to five years, everyone can become a big landowner with their own plantations, private mansions, groups of slaves and inexhaustible gold.

With the wish of making a fortune, José boarded a dilapidated immigrant ship and headed for the Far East.During the half-year migration journey, most of the time was in a state of insufficient supplies and harsh living conditions. About one-fifth of the people on the immigrant boat failed to make it to the end because of various diseases. on the way.Jose is undoubtedly the lucky one. Although he suffered a lot along the way, he finally arrived at his destination, Manila, Luzon, without any illness or disaster.

In 1571, the Spanish colonizer Li Gaisbi landed there and built a castle and a fort, which became the prototype of the city of Manila.After nearly 60 years of development and construction, the city of Manila can be regarded as one of the few large seaport cities in the South China Sea, and it is also the political and economic center of Spain in the Far East. Its prosperity is not inferior to some ports in mainland Spain.

However, Jose soon discovered that this place was not as beautiful as the immigration officer had said when he was recruiting. There was no gold everywhere, and it was not easy to become a big landlord.Most of the people who can make a lot of money in Manila have a prominent background. An inferior person like him can only continue to live an inferior life, which is not fundamentally different from when he was in the mainland.

Fortunately, Jose still has a skill. He opened a blacksmith shop with the settling money he brought, intending to take root in this place and slowly spread its branches and leaves.However, his luck probably ran out at this point. Three months later, he was sentenced to exile because he injured a nobleman in a drunken disturbance.The year was 1626, and the Spanish fleet had just established a stronghold in Jilong Port in the northern part of Taiwan Island, that is, the city of San Salvador (San Salvador), and ignored the natives on the island, the immigrant territory of Shibazhi and Dayuan Port The Dutch unilaterally declared ownership of the island.The unlucky Jose was exiled here, and used his blacksmith skills to help the first group of immigrants to open up wasteland.

Jose has to be thankful for the blacksmithing skills he learned from Papa, which saved him from being treated like a criminal during his time in Jilonggang.As the only professional blacksmith in Jilonggang, he was even allowed to recruit four apprentices so that he could complete numerous orders from local troops and immigrants in time.Due to the scarcity of local blacksmith resources, Jose's life has gradually improved. He can also hand over the work to a few apprentices when he is not so busy, and go to the tavern to spend half a day to kill time.

People who do heavy physical labor tend to like to drink, and Jose is no exception.It’s just that the quality of the wine sold in the local market in Jilonggang is really poor, and it’s not enjoyable to drink it for two or three ounces, so every time Jose can’t stop drinking it, he keeps drinking it until he is broken.But this time it seems that something happened after drinking. He couldn't even remember what happened after he staggered out of the tavern. A dead dog in a sackcloth.

After Jose gradually regained consciousness, he knew that he must not have been arrested by the security forces in the city, because the security forces knew him from top to bottom, and it was impossible for him to make such an exaggerated joke on him just because he was drunk.Moreover, he could feel that he was on a certain ship in the sea from the environment he was in. Obviously, he had been loaded onto the ship and taken away from Jilonggang.Besides the kidnapping, Jose couldn't think of any other reason for a moment.

Jose is not a person who is afraid of death, but he thinks that he probably doesn't have much chance of escaping, because he simply can't afford the money to redeem himself.More than half of his income in the past few years in El Salvador was spent on a small house he built for himself, and the rest was basically spent on getting drunk in taverns, so he didn't have much savings.If the kidnappers wanted to extort a fortune from themselves, they would probably be very disappointed. Perhaps being thrown into the sea to feed the fish would be their final end.

Jose originally wanted to listen to the people on board to judge his situation, but during the voyage of more than a day, he didn't even hear a word.On the way, someone entered the cabin to check his physical condition and gave him some water, but Jose, who was blindfolded, couldn't see the other person's appearance at all.He tried to ask a few words in Spanish, but got no response at all.

He was finally carried out of the cabin before Jose collapsed.However, no one untied him, but directly stuffed him into a carriage.After a not-so-long journey, he knew that he had been transported to a certain courtyard, and had a preliminary prediction of his situation.Because he heard the suspected gatekeeper asking the driver about the situation of the passengers on the car, but he spoke Chinese, which proved that this place should be under the jurisdiction of the Han people.Jose's first reaction was that he had already arrived in Fuzhou—this is the nearest Daming seaport to Jilong Port.

Jose didn't quite understand the purpose of these people kidnapping him to Fuzhou. After spending some time in anxiety, he was lifted again and moved into a certain room.Then someone removed the sack and the restraints from him, and finally the black cloth that covered his eyes.

After adapting to the brightness of the surrounding environment, Jose quickly took a look at the place he was in. It was a small office with bookcases on both sides of the wall, a huge desk in front of it, and a sitting desk behind it. There were three orientals at two stops, and the person sitting there looked like a Ming person in terms of facial features, but his clothes were very different from the Ming people José had seen.

Jose's attention was quickly attracted by the man standing next to him, because he also recognized this man, the boss of Mingshang Jin who would come to Salvador every few months to do business.This Boss Jin was very hospitable and hospitable. Jose remembered at least two times when he met Boss Jin in the tavern, the other party offered to buy wine as a treat.In the past few years in El Salvador, Jose rarely felt such a friendly gesture from Ming.He knew that these Ming people were willing to sail to El Salvador to trade, the main reason was for the sake of money, and Western colonists like himself, in the eyes of the other side, all looked like evil spirits, and they were afraid to avoid them. He would not take the initiative to contact him at all, so he was very impressed with this golden boss.

But as far as Jose knows, this Boss Jin is just a legal businessman in Fuzhou who sells medicinal materials and timber, and he met him outside El Salvador two days ago... Wait, I brought myself here from El Salvador Man, could it be him?

But judging from where Boss Jin was standing, the one sitting in the middle should be the right one.Jose looked at the man again, just in time to meet the other person's eyes and scan him, just like a lion scanning its prey.Jose's heart trembled, and he could feel the majesty of a superior in the eyes of the other party, just like he usually saw Alcarazor who guarded the city of Salvador.

"Boss, this is the blacksmith José that I mean." Jin Ming bowed and whispered in Qian Tiandun's ear.

Qian Tiandun nodded and said, "You can speak a little Spanish, right?"

Jin Ming replied: "The humble job is just out of the need to learn a little bit, a little understanding, a little understanding."

"Very well, then you are in charge of the translation. You can tell him clearly where this is and who we are. Also, why is he here." After finishing speaking, Qian Tiandun leaned gently on the back of the chair, using a A relaxed gesture to watch Jose's reaction.

After listening to Jin Ming's translation, Jose looked confused. It wasn't that he couldn't understand the other party's Spanish with a strong accent, but that he really didn't understand why the business boss Jin kidnapped him to come to Penghu to meet the Haihan people. .But before answering the other party's question, he wanted to seek a little benefit for himself first.

"Can you give me some food and water? I haven't eaten for a long time..." As soon as Jose opened his mouth, the weak voice he made frightened even himself.He has been in a state of extreme mental tension for nearly thirty hours after he woke up from alcohol, and only took in a small amount of water in the middle. Although he was tied up in the cabin and did not move, his body was exhausted.

After hearing this, Qian Tiandun nodded and said, "Let the kitchen quickly bring some hot food up, just in time for us to have breakfast together."

The person has already arrived, and Qian Tiandun is not in a hurry to interrogate Jose at this moment.He could also tell that the Spanish blacksmith was in a very bad state of mind. If he continued to torment him, this guy might faint later.

The kitchen quickly delivered breakfast for four people, and Qian Tiandun didn't shy away from it, so he asked Du Rong and Jin Ming to sit down and eat together on his left and right sides.Of course, the treatment of the blacksmith Jose was not so good. He could only sit on a small horse in a half-squat position to eat.However, Jose obviously doesn't care about details like whether the posture is comfortable or not. He swept the soy milk and fried dough sticks in front of him with a sweeping momentum, and finally put his fingers in his mouth, sucking the oily hands completely. It seems that Really hungry.

Jose noticed that the three people on the opposite side were eating the same food as himself. He wanted to stand up and get closer, but the two burly men behind him immediately pushed him back to the saddle, forcing him to give up this idea.

After the three of them finished their breakfast in a leisurely manner, they continued to question Jose.Jin Ming had made a list of questions on his way to Penghu, some of which were simple and easy to answer, and some were secrets that Haihan had always been interested in.After reading it, Qian Tiandun greatly appreciated it, and asked him to question Jose according to his own ideas.

Jin Ming's first question was to ask Jose to introduce his personal situation. At the end, Jin Ming emphasized: "As long as you answer our questions honestly, I can guarantee your safety."

Although Jose is a small person in the market, he is not stupid. The implication of Jin Ming's words is that if he is dishonest, his life will be in danger.He didn't think he had any secrets to keep, so he answered honestly: "My name is Jose Luis, I'm from Basque Country, I'm 27 years old, I'm a blacksmith, and I came to Fore from Manila six years ago. Salvador city in Mosa. I have a blacksmith shop and four apprentices in the city. I don't have a family and no other family. My biggest hobby is going to the tavern for a drink after work... Also, Mr. Kim, why would you Bring me here? If you are discovered by the security forces, you will never have the opportunity to set foot in El Salvador to do business again."

Jin Ming would not answer his questions without permission, but would first translate everything he said to Qian Tiandun.After hearing this, Qian Tiandun asked back: "Is this guy easy to deceive?"

Jin Ming shook his head and said: "This guy is not stupid. I have invited him to drink several times, trying to get some valuable information from him, but it didn't work."

"Then you don't have to talk to him in circles, just follow the rhythm of your security department." After hearing Jin Ming's explanation, Qian Tiandun was not interested in playing a trick on Jose.What's more, because of the language barrier between the two parties, Jin Ming may not be able to accurately translate Qian Tiandun's thoughts into Western languages ​​and convey them to Jose.

Jin Ming nodded understandingly, and said to Jose: "You probably don't realize your situation. Let me say again, you are Haihan's captive now, and we need to get some valuable information from you. If you can't prove Your own value, then we can only give up on you."

"If I can't give you a satisfactory answer, will you let me leave here?" Jose asked with a hint of luck.

"Probably not." Jin Ming replied blankly: "If you have no intelligence value, then you are a useless burden to us. In order not to affect the peace between Haihan and Spain, we can only secretly send you Execution. But if you can help, then we can spare your life and arrange for you to live elsewhere incognito."

(End of this chapter)