Chapter 629: Peeling off the cocoon

However, in addition to minerals, the environment on Belitung Island is very suitable for the cultivation and growth of a kind of spice, that is, pepper. Ever since the ancient Romans tasted pepper, it has become indispensable in European life.

A seasoning. However, pepper is produced in India and Southeast Asia. This spice is not produced in Europe, so its value is also very high. However, the role of this spice in world history is not just on the dining table.

Just condiments.

After the Visigoths captured the city of Rome in 408 AD, they asked the Romans to redeem the city with 3,000 pounds of pepper and a large amount of gold and silver, which shows how in short supply pepper was in Europe at that time. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, the relationship between the East and the West

The trade channels between the two countries were interrupted for a time, and pepper almost disappeared from European tables. At this time, the Arabs seized the business opportunity and transported pepper produced in India to Egypt, and then transported it to the Mediterranean coast by Venetian merchants, waiting for this oriental spice

By the time it reaches the European dining table, the price has skyrocketed to forty or fifty times that of the country of origin.

Such huge profits impressed not only European businessmen, but also the aloof Roman Holy See. During the Crusades that began in 1095, under the high-sounding religious banner, the Holy See's slogan was simple and crude: "

The East is so rich, gold and pepper are everywhere!"

In 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople and blocked the original pepper trade route, giving Europeans another reason to find another new route to the East. Within a few decades after that, Columbus discovered

On the American continent, Da Gama reached the Indian Peninsula by sea, and Magellan completed the first circumnavigation of the world in history. Among the great geographical discoveries of that era, an inconspicuous plant like pepper also quietly played a role in the progress of mankind.

promotion effect.

By the 17th century, pepper was still as valuable as gold in Europe, and could even be used as hard currency in the market for a certain period of time, used to buy land, pay rent and taxes, serve as dowry, etc. The Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese,

The British launched a hundred-year-long melee and plundering on the seas of the Far East, and a considerable number of small-scale wars were fought around the competition for pepper production areas.

After this spice crop entered China, it gained another function, that of being used as medicine. As early as "Tang Materia Medica", there is a description of the medicinal properties of pepper: it lowers the Qi, warms the body, removes phlegm, and removes the lungs and strokes.

Cold. This medicinal material was originally introduced to China as a spice and has been omitted from the medical classics of almost every dynasty and generation since then. The diseases it can treat are increasing with the development of traditional Chinese medicine.

Among the goods exported to the Ming Dynasty by several Western colonial countries, pepper has always been an indispensable and high-value commodity.

The East India Company sent the first batch of immigrants to Belitung Island five years ago, and the agricultural land developed there was mainly pepper planting. After five years of operation, the local pepper planting area has exceeded two square kilometers.

, the amount of revenue generated for the East India Company every year is also considerable. This time the search and rescue fleet led by Van Longen will also dock at Belitung Island and ship the pepper produced here.

Although the voyage from Batavia to Belitung Island is only two hundred nautical miles, due to the maritime search and rescue mission undertaken by the fleet, this trip also consciously slowed down the ship speed, hoping to luckily find the missing person on the route.

There are clues about the ship. Of course, everyone knows that such a search is simply looking for a needle in a haystack, and there is a lot of luck involved.

Just as the Dutch expected, they gained nothing during this voyage. Three days after setting off, the fleet arrived at the bay port at the southern tip of Belitung Island, where they would dock for a day to ship pepper and replenish fresh water and other ingredients.

Except for the sailors on duty, the other crew members left the dock as soon as they docked and went to have fun in the town's tavern. This was one of the few people who could let go and have fun during this hard work.

place.

However, several high-level officials could not act so recklessly regardless of their status. The mayor of the port town, Wim Jonker, had already rushed to the dock, ready to receive the big shots from the company headquarters.

As a colony under the East India Company, the mayor here is naturally appointed by the East India Company, so Jonker is also an employee of the company, but his status is far inferior to that of high-ranking officials such as Van Longen, Spikes and Brouwer.

After all, there are at least twenty or thirty small colonial settlements like this port town in the entire Southeast Asia. Employees who work as mayors in such places are actually employees of the company when they are in Batavia.

Just ordinary employees.

To the delight of the three Van Longen, although the conditions here seemed very simple, Jonker, who was notified at short notice, still prepared a box carriage as a means of transportation to the town, so that they did not have to wipe themselves.

The clean calfskin boots stepped into the muddy road that smelled of sea.

"It's an honor to meet three distinguished gentlemen here, but please allow me to ask, is the company preparing to go to war with anyone?" On the carriage, Jonke took the initiative to inquire about the purpose of this fleet. During these three

Among people, he had dealt with Van Longen several times, so he was not too unfamiliar. After all, this was the first time he saw that Van Longen's fleet actually brought two troop transport ships.

"War? Maybe, maybe not." Van Longen responded vaguely, and immediately changed the subject: "Mr. Jonker, from April until we came here, you have all the senior officials here.

Have merchant ships returning from the port ever docked in the port?”

"Speaking of this matter, I am also deeply confused." Jonker responded: "According to the normal schedule, no ships from the north have been here since April. Of course, this situation has occasionally happened in the past.

It has happened before. After all, the crew members returning from the north all hope to return to Batavia as soon as possible, and are not willing to stop and rest just two or three days away from the end of the voyage. What's more, this is just a desolate island, and

There’s nothing fun about it.”

"Have you submitted a report to the company headquarters regarding this abnormal situation?" Spikes asked from the side.

"Of course, this is a matter within my responsibilities. I already mentioned the relevant situation in the routine written report sent back to Batavia last month." Jonker responded in a neither humble nor condescending manner.

"So has there ever been a situation where no ship came back from the north for more than two months in a row?" Van Longen continued to ask.

"No, this is the first time in my memory." Jonker said with certainty: "In the past three years that I have been the mayor of the town, the situation you mentioned has not happened."

"So have there been any abnormalities in the ships heading north recently?" Van Longen continued to ask questions to sort out the clues about the missing ships bit by bit.

"It's normal as always. Just half a month ago, there was a merchant ship heading to Taiyuan Port to replenish fresh water and transport three hundred pounds of pepper. If the road goes well, the ship should be almost there.

" Jonker replied.

"It seems that this is probably not the last stop for the missing ships." Brower, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke: "They probably had an accident before they arrived at this port."

"Missing?" Jonker asked in surprise: "You mean that all the ships returning from Damian Port in the past two months have disappeared at sea? None of them have returned to Batavia?"

"Yes, they all disappeared out of thin air, and our responsibility is to find out where and why they disappeared." Brower said: "Mr. Jonker, if you know anything else, please tell us.

For example, are there any new pirate forces in the nearby waters? Are there any strange rumors recently? "

Jonker thought for a while before responding: "I haven't heard of pirates, but when a Ming merchant ship docked here recently, I heard that a port fort was being built in Natuna Port in the north. I wonder if Old Jansen received anything.

Bad news?"

The old Jansen whom Jonker was talking about was the mayor of the port town of Natuna. Van Longen had traveled on this route many times, so he naturally knew him. Hearing this, he frowned and said: "Build a fort? There is nothing to do on Natuna Island.

Are there pirates interested in looting things?"

"It may not be pirates, it may be the nasty Portuguese." Spikes reminded: "They are very good at doing this kind of sneaky business!"

"Wait a minute, did the people on the Ming Dynasty ships that docked here mention whether they had seen our missing ships in Natuna Port?" Brouwer's mind was obviously much more thoughtful, and he immediately grasped a key point.

point.

But Jonke's answer made him slightly disappointed: "This... I didn't ask in detail..."

"So the only ship that has come from the north recently is Akito's ship? Has Akito mentioned any news about pirates or Portuguese activities in the northern seas?" Brouwer asked, still refusing to give up.

Jonke responded very quickly this time, and responded without thinking: "According to Mingren, the group of pirates who caused trouble in Qiongzhou Island last year were not completely wiped out by the Haihan people, and they still operate in the South China Sea from time to time. No one knows about them.

Where their home base is, no one knows what their current strength is and where they will appear next time."

"Mr. Jonker, I don't want to hear this kind of meaningless nonsense." Brower shook his head in disappointment and gave his own evaluation: "What we need is not just rumors, but solid information!"

Jonke's face turned red and he murmured: "I'm sorry, the news here is really limited. I can only get news from the outside world through the merchant ships that dock here briefly every month... I didn't know that something like this happened.

Serious things..."

"Okay, this is not your fault, and you don't have to apologize for it." Van Longen couldn't stand it, and interrupted Jonke's apology: "Perhaps when we go to Natuna Port in a few days, Lao Yang

Sen can tell us some other news. That guy is a very lazy person, and to be able to cheer him up and organize the immigrants to build forts, there must be something special that stimulated his nerves."

However, what Van Longen didn't know was that the Natuna Islands in the north had changed back to their previous names, and it was not the town elder Jansen who organized the construction of forts on the islands - he and his family had now arrived in Black Earth

Hong Kong, and began to serve as a labor force there. At least in recent years, old Janssen will probably only be included in the East India Company's missing persons.

As for the Ming merchant ship crews who once docked at Ambuna Island, they were actually not able to tell the difference between the Portuguese and the Dutch very well, especially when one of them consciously disguised himself as the other.

The group of immigrants specially sent by the Portuguese Council to Ambona Island from Macau did act as a smoke bomb at this stage. After all, it was difficult for Van Longen and others to imagine that this small port in the north had become a part of Haihan.

It was a trap and an ambush set against Dutch ships, but the Ming merchant ships were able to pass safely.

"It seems that the problem lies in the waters north of the Natuna Islands." Even the thoughtful Brouwer was misled by the information provided by Jonker and made a self-righteous and wrong judgment.

"That way at least we have nothing to worry about in the next few days." Spikes seemed optimistic in the face of the unknown situation.

"The fruit wine produced here is quite good, but I've been thinking about it. I guess Mr. Jonker must have prepared a lot for us, right?" Van Longen's mood also became lighter.

"Speaking of fruit wine, it can be regarded as one of the few masterpieces produced by the locals. Although these guys are smelly and lazy, they know how to use the natural conditions here to please themselves." Jonke introduced to the three distinguished guests.

He said: "I have ordered people to go to the mountains to hunt some fresh prey. Today's dinner will definitely satisfy the three of you."

Jonker was not bragging. Although there are not many valuable products on Belitung Island, there are many varieties of tropical fruits. This has also led to the lazy habits of the local people, because even if they do not farm, they only rely on eating big crops.

Various naturally produced fruits can also survive well. Besides filling the stomach, they can also be used to brew various fruit wines to satisfy the appetite.

However, the three distinguished guests were attracted by another kind of wine at dinner. According to Jonke, this was a new type of fruit wine brought by Daming Shipping from Guangzhou. It was called "Sanya Special Wine".

It's something produced in Haihan. This sweet wine not only tastes good, but the bottle it's filled with is not the earthen jar or porcelain bottle used by the Ming Dynasty, but a crystal clear glass bottle - this kind of packaging is probably

It is said that only the Haihan people who have mastered advanced glass making technology can make it. A bottle of "Sanya Special Brew" in a glass container like this can be sold for a high price of fifty taels in the Guangzhou market, and it is basically

It has a price but no market, and you can't buy it without some special relationship.
Chapter completed!