Fox of France

Within the scope of his authority, Major Johnson made the biggest concession, so that the rebate he left for himself was less than half of the original estimate. Only then did I finally persuade the four captains to take their boats and take a trip to Cape Town.

Of course, the reason why these captains finally agreed was because Major Jossen assured them that they could take some goods and smuggle them to the French or the Netherlands.

"They definitely need something, and we, as long as what you are smuggling is not arms, if we say we can't see it, we can't see it; if we say we can't hear it, we can't hear it."

"Then what can be sold at their place?" A captain asked.

"I think you have dealt with the Dutch people in Cape Town before. Don't you know what they need?" Johnson said strangely.

"Oh, Major, you know what they used to get the most from us?" said the captain.

"What goods?"

"First of all, Indian fire. They have a lot of conflicts with the natives, and this thing is useful. And I heard that many British immigrants have come to Cape Town over the years. They also want to eat and live a good life. The land in the Cape Town Valley is limited, so we can’t let those Dutch people live a good life there, shall we British compete with those Zulus for territory? Therefore, the governor has been using various means to force the Dutch people Leave the Cape Town Valley and free up the land there for us British. Which of the Dutch who are leaving needs guns and nitre? Guns are durable goods, but nitrate is a consumable , so, of all the trade with those Netherlanders in Cape Town, fire nitrate was the greatest."

Fire nitrate is the most important thing in gunpowder. Sulfur is produced in many places, especially charcoal.

"But fire nitrate, can we sell it?" the captain asked sarcastically. In his opinion, fire nitrate is almost equivalent to gunpowder, and it must not be sold.

"Fire, don't tell me this thing, they really need it." Qiao Sen nodded and said, "Considering their cannons, well, the new cannons of the French army are indeed unparalleled in power, but their logistical requirements are also Incomparable. Because their shells are so delicate that ordinary workshops cannot make pellets that can be used in their cannons. Their cannons, every single shell fired, is from France. The propellants used in their cannons are actually specially made, although fire nitrate is definitely indispensable—because the French import a large amount of fire nitrate every year, their propellant is definitely not simply The product of mixing fire nitrate and sulfur charcoal. Therefore, it is not a big deal to sell fire nitrate to the Dutch. Moreover, you can also sell these things to others along the way, such as those Portuguese."

"Portuguese? They can't eat much, they have too few people." The captain shook his head and said, "And even if you allow us to sell fire nitrate to the Dutch, we don't have enough. You may not You know, a few days ago, there were a series of warehouse fire incidents in succession, so even in India now, fire nitrate has become a very popular and rare thing.”

"Then, besides fire nitrate?"

"Tea and china and spices, of course," interjected another captain, "but unless we take the cargo to Europe—Cape Town can't take that much."

After a period of discussion, everyone decided to load all kinds of common and easy-to-sell sundries first, drive the fleet to Maputo, and then check the situation before making a decision.

So it took another half a month, and the fleet finally set off. They traveled all the way south along the east coast of Africa, and it took another month to reach Maputo, a Portuguese territory. Several ships entered the port, anchored in the port, and the sailors went ashore one after another. went to find their own happiness. Even Major Josen got off the boat, intending to have a drink or something in the tavern. By the way, I would like to inquire about the situation in Cape Town during the few months I have been away.

The conditions of the Port of Maputo are good, but because of the limited power of the Portuguese, the port is not large in scale. There are not many berths in the entire port. Correspondingly, there are not many taverns in the port area. There is only one tavern called "Sailor's House".

Major Johnson entered the tavern and sat down in front of the dimly lit bar.

"Sir, what would you like?" A waitress came over and asked.

"A glass of beer," Johnson said. Most of the wine sold in this kind of tavern is fake, the more expensive the more fake. It's better to just order the cheapest one, maybe it's a little more real.

The waitress turned and left. After a while, she held a large glass of beer and placed it in front of Qiao Sen with a "boom".

"One rial," said the waitress.

"What, it only cost two pesos last time," Johnson said.

The rial is a silver coin popular in Portugal and Spain, and one rial is equivalent to eight pesos. If it was in Europe, at most one peso would be enough for such a glass of beer, but here, this unscrupulous tavern actually asked for one riyal.

"Last time was the last time. Who told you Brits to drink up all the wine?" said a guy who was drinking next to him.

After the man yelled at Qiao Sen, he took a sip from the wine glass in front of him, then put down the glass and said, "Isabella, your wine has too much water in it. It's all by the damn British I can understand that you have raised the price after drinking it all. But you can’t add so much water. Is this still wine?”

"Come on, José, if there's something wrong with our wine, why are you talking nonsense after drinking so little?" the waitress said with a smile.

"What the hell are we British?" Johnson asked.

"Look at how many British guys there are in this tavern, it's you who have raised the price of wine." The guy named Jose said.

Qiao Sen looked into the tavern, and many people in the tavern also raised their heads and looked at him, and then some stood up excitedly, and even overturned their chairs.

"Major, are you back? How's the situation?" the man shouted as he walked towards him.

Joseon recognized the man as a judge at the Colonial Court in Cape Town. He said, "Judge Anderson, why are you here? Could it be... Could it be?"

Seeing Qiao Sen's face, Anderson knew that he was wrong, so he hurriedly said: "No, at least for now, Cape Town is still in our hands. Of course, I think we are not far from losing it... Well, let's sit down and talk."

Anderson pulled Johnson to their table and sat down. Their table was by the window, and they could see the port and the sea just outside.

Qiao Sen sat down in his seat and was about to speak when he suddenly saw two pillars of smoke approaching outside the port.

"Look, that's, that's a steamship! The French are calling?" Qiao Sen stood up suddenly.

"Now that the sailors are all ashore, it will take a lot of time to find enough people to move the boat. We must be blocked and cannot escape!" He thought.

"It's the French! We're blocked!" Johnson said, "I'm so stupid, really! I only knew that the French warships might attack our ships near the Cape Town port, but I didn't know that they could Kill here!"

"No, don't panic, Major Jossen, this is not a French warship, it's just a French transport ship. They are here to send more British people here. In fact, we are all on their ships. Leaving Cape Town and coming here. Of course we paid for the boat ticket and those damn Frenchmen have no business ethics at all, they only sell the boat ticket from Cape Town to here , the price is enough to get me on a boat from Calcutta to London and then back to Calcutta by boat in normal times—what a bunch of vampires!”

"Wait a minute...Judge Anderson, if you don't say it, I still understand a little bit. The more you say it, the more confused I become? Can you make it clearer?"

So Judge Anderson told him in detail what happened after Qiao Sen left.

"So, we reached an agreement with the French to transfer the peaceful residents out of the war zone first, and they must use their ships?" Johnson said.

"Yes, they excused that they were worried that our own ships would carry war materials and non-peaceful personnel. So they insisted that if they want to evacuate the residents, they can only use their ships. Of course, this is all an excuse, they just want to Take this opportunity to hack our money! We will also arrange observers on each boat to monitor whether they have sent us to Maputo safely. Only when the boat that sent us safely arrived in Maputo and returned to Cape Town , and then they won't get the money until it's confirmed by the spotter on board. Otherwise, who knows if they'll transfer us to some Portuguese fishing boat on the way - something the French can do ’” Judge Anderson replied.

"Then what's the situation in Cape Town now?" Major Johnson asked quickly.

"It hasn't fallen yet, but it won't last long. Well, the French have sent reinforcements over again. Now there is a full regiment of French troops outside Cape Town! There are more artillery... Last time We had a little dispute with them, um, we thought their freight was too expensive, and they launched a round of shelling, and then we were forced to accept their ticket price. Then, they... …they raised the price again because they included the cost of the previous bombardment in the cost of the ticket. It's really, I've never seen such a brazen Rome."

"Then now..."

"At least when I left, basically all the peaceful residents had been withdrawn, and the civil servants were also retreating. After the group that arrived at the port today, Cape Town is basically left with only military personnel. Then, I There was no final agreement when we left, but I think we have no other choice but to let go of Cape Town. After all, the gap is too big on the battlefield. If we really fight, we have to let our young people There is no more meaning to die without meaning. Maybe now the two sides have reached an agreement for us to withdraw from Cape Town peacefully. Of course, the specific situation, um, when the French ship docks, the people on board Come down, ask them and you will know."

Since this is the case, Major Johnson is relieved. But he decided to wait on the pier, and at the same time reassure the sailors who remained on watch-they must have been terrified when they saw the columns of smoke.

Sure enough, as soon as Major Johnson walked to the pier, he saw many panicked sailors, including the captains of several other ships, surrounding him.

"It's okay, it's okay, don't panic, don't panic." Qiao Sen told everyone what he had just learned. Of course, in front of those captains, he would naturally not mention the unscrupulous fare of the French. So his crew did not panic, but the captains were a little panicked.

"Damn it! We thought the cargo on the ship could fetch a good price in Cape Town, but now we can't go to Cape Town?"

"Then what about our cargo? Sell it here? How can we sell so much? It must be at a loss! Oh, major, look at this matter, we are here to help, you can't let us lose money Right? Look at the ticket price..."

"Everyone, don't worry, don't panic." Johnson shouted, "There is still a place to sell our goods. We can sell them to the French. The French have sent a lot of troops to Cape Town, and they will definitely need more troops." There are a lot of things. And, you think, their ships sent people here, don’t they want to go back with an empty ship? Thanks for returning with an empty ship, but what can they buy from the Portuguese? Baobab ?I think we came at the right time, just in time to sell them everything on the ship."

So everyone quickly figured out that there are indeed many things that the French are interested in and can be sold to them, such as tea, spices, porcelain and so on. There are also some things that the French may not be interested in, but those tourists may also be able to buy some. As a result, the captains looked at the smoke columns no longer with such worry and fear, and even had some eager anticipation.

In such apprehension and anticipation, the two French transport ships gradually approached the port. The port sent a navigator to lead them into the port and stop at the berth that had been prepared for them long ago. Then a large number of British people disembarked from the two ships.

Now the actions of the evacuation personnel have reached the later stage. At this time, those who evacuate on the French ships are basically people related to public affairs. In other words, they are all people with relatively high status and relatively rich money up. This is not because of how gentlemanly the British are, when something happens, people who have no money will run away first. It's because when the French were first asked to transport the British away, they were still very worried about whether the French would be unethical in business. So when they first retreated, they were mainly relatively poor people. One of the reasons is that if the French did not talk about business ethics, the losses would be relatively small.

After hiring the French to transport personnel several times, everyone is still very sure of the business ethics of the French. It is said that the governor of Prima said: "In a sense, the French are actually a bit like the Jews. They are all shameless guys who want money, and they all focus on how to get money. But once they sign Generally speaking, they keep their promises. Of course, like the Jews, they always like to play tricks in the contracts and leave loopholes for them to exploit. But this trick will not work for us, because we also Also proficient in this set..."

Since the business ethics of the French are still good, at this time, those British with status can retreat on the French boat.

As soon as the Frenchman's ship landed, Qiao Sen took the captains to the Frenchman's place, hoping to negotiate a business with them. Although the two countries are now at war, war is war and business is business. After all, both the British and the French recognize the value of gold.

After understanding the intention of the British, the French were also very interested in the British proposal. As Qiao Sen judged, the French couldn't buy many things worth taking back in Maputo, so when their ship returned, although in line with the principle of not running empty, they still barely packed the cargo hold on the ship. It's full, but the things you bring back don't make much money at all. Although these transport ships were requisitioned by the French army, in essence, they are merchant ships of the "Europa Shipping Alliance".

So the French immediately proposed with great interest that we would go to your ship to see the goods, and if the goods were good, we would discuss the price in detail.