Under the scolding of the slave trader, several pairs of locked black men crawled out of the hut with their hands and feet, so that the crowded room could finally get out of the hut. When a thug hugged and walked in and checked, he found that the child was in a semi-coma, his whole body was hot, and his teeth were trembling involuntarily, so he hurriedly took the child and another black man locked with him to the outside.

At this time, Carrington was two or three meters away from the door and said in a deep voice: "What happened?"

"This little thing is having a fever..."

Before Carrington could finish his subordinates' speech, he immediately roared: "Hell! It's typhoid fever! If the people in this room are infected, it will be a big trouble! Drag him away and buried immediately!"

"etc!"

Seeing Zhao Xin stopping him, Carrington explained: "Sir, please stay away, this disease will be contagious!"

Zhao Xin shook his head and stubbornly stopped the thug who was about to drag the child away. He first touched the child's forehead, then opened the other party's eyelids, and saw that the conjunctiva was filled with blood. Then he found herpes on the edge of the child's lips, and then said anxiously: "This is not typhoid fever, it is malaria!"

"What?! Why do you say that?"

Zhao Xin used his hands to drive away the mosquitoes flying around him and explained: "I have seen several people in Southeast Asia before, all of which are like this. You are too close to the river bank and there are too many mosquitoes."

In fact, the result is the same if he says it or not. You should know that whether it is typhoid fever or malaria, it is fatal to humans living in the 18th century. In some overcrowded detention centers in Europe, more prisoners died of fever than on gallows.

"mosquito?"

“Yes, mosquitoes spread malaria.”

Carrington was skeptical when he heard this, but to be on the safe side, he still asked his men to soak some tobacco in rum and then let every black man in the house have a small glass.

He had experienced such a thing before. If he was at sea, the general approach was to throw the dying person into the sea. As long as he could quickly cross the Atlantic Ocean, transport the slaves to Cuba and sell them, and then get subsidies from the colonial government, it would have nothing to do with him whether he became sick. But the problem is now on the African continent. If he caused a large-scale infection before he boarded the ship, he would have lost a lot.

Historically, it is said that trafficking black slaves in the Black Triangle trade is an extremely profitable business, but do you know where the profit points are?

For example, Heine wrote in "Slave Ship": "By the Senegal River, I exchanged 600 black people, with cheap prices. They all looked like the best steel, with strong muscles and strong tendons. I bartered, using soju, glass balls, and steel equipment: as long as half of them were given to me, I could make a profit of 800%.

Regarding the profits of the slave trade, we should actually look at the separateness of monopoly companies and privateers. Heine said that the profit margin of 800% mainly occurs on privateers. Taking 1790 as an example, the landed price of slaves in the Americas was basically maintained at around 26.4 pounds.

As for monopoly companies, life is actually not easy. For example, when the Senegal company was resold in 1794, it was already in debt of one million pounds; the Royal African company eventually went bankrupt due to high debts. In addition, the Danish company was suspended and cleaned up in 1787, and the Swedish company failed to carry out the slave trade due to the conflict with Tsarist Russia. As for the Dutch, the plummeting Amsterdam stock market in 1773 led to a decrease in loans to Suriname planters, making them unable to buy slaves. In addition, Dutch entrepreneurs were unwilling to go to the colonies because their plantations had become less profitable than the French plantations.

The huge operating costs are the biggest burden of monopoly companies. They have to equip ships, pay sailors, build castles, and feed people who live in Africa. Among all European companies, only the British, Portuguese and Americans who really make money from the slave trade.

British companies used financial means to increase profits. Since colonial residents often delayed payments for a long time, they issued promissory notes that expired within 12 or 15 months. These promissory notes were paid to slave ships and could be used to prepare essential goods for the next shipping, which also made them four times the profit they made than France. According to statistics from many later generations, the British slave trade accounted for 41% of the total European slave trade.

As for why Portugal makes money? Because they mainly transported to South America, and after selling it to planters, they either replaced it with tobacco soaked in syrup (Africans really like it) or exchanged it for gold.

And Americans, forget it, everyone on earth knows...

In this evil trade that was chasing people to America, in order to stimulate the enthusiasm of privateers, the French government stipulated in 1784 that every slave was transported to Martinique and Guadeloupe, a subsidy of 60 pounds; every slave was transported to Tobago, Cayenne and Santouma, a subsidy of 100 pounds. As a result, by 1785, more than 100 slave ships were sold at once. The government's subsidy and tax exemption requirements in northern Santouma jointly pushed France's triangular trade to the peak between 1783 and 1791, and there was no sign that the Revolution had any impact on the conscience of slave traders.

Don't think that the Europeans later abolished the slave trade because they talked about human rights, but they had their own ulterior motives.

For example, the newly established First French Republic was afraid that the Antilles would be taken away by the British, so he simply announced that it would be abolished from 1793, with the aim of trying to win the slaves to stand on the side of the French and destroy the British triangular trade. Although the conflict of different ideas also weakened the tendency to rely on slavery, it was far from abolished, and the private ship owners were still in full swing. In fact, when Napoleon came to power, under the pressure of colonial residents lobbying and petitioning, he resumed the slave trade on the day he received the petition.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! The abolition movement in Britain is not what some people call "humanitarianism". By the beginning of the 19th century, because the British opened colonies everywhere in Africa, they no longer needed to transport slaves out of Africa, but had to stay in the local area to work for them, so they shouted abolition. You should know that the situation of British workers in the 18th to 19th centuries was completely comparable to that of slaves, but no one cared about it at all!

Zhao Xin and Deng Fei originally planned to do more than do less. If they didn't see the experience of these black people, they would go back to the boat after buying things. However, when they saw everything in front of them, their sympathy became out of control.

"Buy them and put them down?"

When Zhao Xin heard Deng Fei's words, he shook his head slightly and said, "It's not that simple. If you let them go, it's equivalent to sending the sheep back to the tiger's mouth! What if they were caught again on the way back?"

Deng Fei frowned and said, "What do you think you should do?"

Zhao Xin thought for a while, then walked to Carrington and said, "Mr. Carrington, right? You can call me Zhao. How many slaves do you have on hand now?"

"127. Why, do you want to buy them all? Let me calculate, men's 25 pounds, women's 30 pounds..."

Zhao Xin raised his hand and interrupted, "This is not urgent. I want to ask, can these slaves understand English or French?"

“Well…a few speak French.”

"Please bring them here first and let my companions talk to them. You must understand that it would be a headache if you buy it and cannot communicate with each other."

When Deng Fei followed a few thugs to meet several slaves, Zhao Xin chatted with Carrington for a few words. He took out a cigarette and handed it to the other party and the shop owner. After lighting both of them and himself with a lighter, he saw the two of them staring at their disposable windproof lighter, so he threw it to Carrington.

“Is business easy to do recently?”

Carrington looked at the lighter curiously for a while, and saw the shop owner looking greedy, and put it in his pocket. Then he said: "The price has increased a lot! Damn locals, they are getting more and more slippery!"

The shop owner also echoed: "I heard that the Phoenix was snatched last month, and even the captain was captured?"

Carrington said: "The captain of the Phoenix didn't want to cooperate with Radick and purchased goods from another group of people, and it turned out that Radick was angered."

From the subsequent conversation, Zhao Xin realized that the local slave traders in Africa were also terrible. As the first-hand supplier of "goals", when they realized that the supply was limited, they would control the quantity of "goals" and adjust the price. They also knew how to deceive Europeans and repeatedly agreed to provide slaves, but they never saw the shadow of these slaves, so they caught slave traders like Carrington, which ultimately forced them to buy at a high price.

Deng Fei talked for about ten minutes, and after coming back, he told Zhao Xin that there was no problem with those people communicating in French. Among them, a man named Mbat in his thirties was the best in French. According to that person, many of them were captured and became slaves in the war, while several women and children were kidnapped and sold by slave traders.

Zhao Xin then negotiated the price with Carrington. For Carrington, the business was almost ineffective; except for the lack of ship loss fees, the current transportation cost of crossing the Atlantic Ocean is 9 pounds per slave. You should know that one pound this year is 7.32 grams of gold. After a long time of hard work, he gave Zhao Xin the price of 23 pounds per slave, totaling 2921 pounds.

Zhao Xin didn't have that much pound on hand, and he didn't want to take tea to make this damn slave trader, but he had the boxes of gold given by Tipu Sultan...

In short, after some trouble, at noon the next day, 126 black slaves were sent to the Thunder. The sick child was brought back by Zhao Xin and the others the day before. After some treatment, the accompanying military doctors relied on artemisinin and antipyretics from another time and space. After only one night, the child's condition improved a lot. He drank a glass of milk and ate something in the morning.

After the black people boarded the boat, in order to prevent them from running around, Zhao Xin did not let someone untickle the chains on their necks immediately, but only removed the shackles. Then Deng Fei came out and took a group of people to wash away the filth on their bodies with water pipes on the deck.

After the washing was almost done, more than a dozen special operations soldiers took more than a hundred sets of labor protection work clothes and shoes from the warehouse on the ship and placed them on several prepared tables. Then more than a dozen people carried out several pots of cooked rice porridge, steamed buns, pickles and bowls from the stern of the boat.

Deng Fei personally brought a bowl of porridge, took a big steamed bun and walked to the black man. Under the surprised gaze of all the black man, he took a sip, then broke off a steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth, showing a satisfied expression on his face. Then he handed the food to Mbat, the best French, and said in a kind tone: "Tell everyone, eat something first, and wait until you have enough to eat. I have eaten all the things, don't worry, it's not poisonous."

Mbat hesitated for a moment, raised his hand to take it, first smelled it, and then took a few bites like Deng Fei. Although he was a little confused and didn't know how these people from the East would deal with them, he still knew whether the food was delicious or not. In addition, he had never eaten enough for a while, so he spoke a few words to others in Yoruba. With Mbat taking the lead, the other black people took the food from the soldiers and squatted on the ground to eat and drink.

Deng Fei waited for Mbat to eat a steamed bun, took half of it from the basin and handed it to him, and then whispered: "After you finish eating, someone will help you untie the chains on your neck, and the clothes and shoes are also for you."

Mbat was stunned and forgot to chew the steamed buns in his mouth. He stared at Deng Fei's eyes in disbelief, trying to confirm whether the other party had lie to him.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! "But I want you to talk about it first, and don't run around after the chain is untied. I have something to tell you. Can it be done?"

Mbart nodded like a fool. After Deng Fei patted his shoulder, he woke up and said loudly to other black people. Unexpectedly, as soon as this was said, everyone stopped eating, put down the food, pulled the chain around their necks with their hands, and started shouting.

When Deng Fei saw it, he knew that he could not wait any longer, so he asked the soldiers to use tools and began to remove the iron rings on the black man's neck. Whenever a person's chain was removed, the other black man cheered, and at the same time, their expressions when they looked at Deng Fei and their expressions became gentle and full of gratitude.

Taking advantage of this time, Zhao Xin, under Deng Fei's translation, started chatting with Mbat. Only then did he learn that these black people were not the indigenous tribes that held spears to chase their prey, but people from the Kingdom of Oyo (now southwestern Nigeria). Their village was attacked by the people of the Kingdom of Dahomie, and then escorted by the Dahomie to St. Louis and sold to Carrington.

When Deng Fei learned from Mbat that the largest slave trader in West Africa is the Kingdom of Dahome, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly. Black people sell black people, this is such a big joke!

According to Mbat, the Kingdom of Dahomite often sent people to attack the border villages of the Kingdom of Oyo and plundered a large number of people. In addition to religious sacrifices, slaves from the royal family and the army, the most important thing was to exchange weapons, ammunition, luxury goods and shells used as currency with European merchants.

Yes, in this year, the currency of northern Africa was shells, called "Galiu". Since the seashells on the coast were not enough, the early Portuguese ships were transported from the Americas to trade.

In addition, the same is true for other countries like Oyo, Benin, Asante, and West Sultan. The slave trade has become the main component of their political and economic life. Whenever wars are launched, thousands of people will be captured, and a large part of them are sold to slave traders.

However, Zhao Xin and Deng Fei did not know that these African local regimes were not only selling black people, but also white people! Many white prisoners were sold to the Arabian Peninsula.

After hearing so much, Zhao Xin felt more and more that Mbat was not an ordinary person. Not only did this guy speak fluent French, he also knew the situation in the entire Northwest Africa. Thinking of this, he asked tentatively: "Mbat, what did you do before you were captured?"

"Sir, I was the captain of the cavalry under King Alafen Atiba, King of Oyo..."

In Mbat's mouth, the reason why the Kingdom of Oyo once dominated West Africa was because of the numerous light cavalry. The vast grasslands in northern West Africa provided them with a large number of native African horses and skilled riders. Oyo's light cavalry usually used spears or bows and arrows to start attacking before the farming tribes in the south completed their harvest. In addition to robbing mature crops, they also had to plunder prisoners for the slave trade.

After hearing this, Zhao Xin couldn't help but sigh, it's really a good cycle of reincarnation, who will the heaven spare?

Mbart was silent for a while, and finally couldn't help asking the doubts in his heart: "Sir, you gave us food, clothes, and removed the chains... What I want to ask is, how do you plan to arrange for us in the future? Are you going to be servants for you?"

Deng Fei and Zhao Xin looked at each other, smiled and said, "Mbat, do you want to go home?"

Mbart was stunned again. Since he got on this huge white boat today, he had brought him so much shock. He never thought that these two oriental people with very different skin colors from those white people would actually give them freedom!

Deng Fei had no other intentions. He just wanted to give these people freedom and let them go back to reunite with their families. Zhao Xin didn't want these black people either, but he didn't agree with letting them go home now.

Based on his impression of the African map, the distance from St. Louis, the westmost side of Senegal to Nigeria is probably thousands of kilometers by land; but if they drive a boat to the northern part of the Gulf of Guinea, it will take many days to go back and forth.

What's more, the situation in Paris is becoming more and more turbulent, and time is becoming urgent. According to the historical trajectory, Louis XVI and his family should have been sent to the Temple Tower to imprison. If they don't pass quickly, it will be too late!

He thought for a while and asked Deng Fei to translate for himself, saying to Mbat: "There are two choices now. First, I will give you a release document, signed by the local sheriff. I will give you enough food for a while, and you will walk home from St. Louis. But I want to remind you that this journey is not close, and you will not be able to get there in a few months, and it is easy to be caught again. Second, take a boat to Europe with us and you will be able to come back in at most two months. At that time, our fleet will pass through the Gulf of Guinea, and you will land from the southernmost part of the Kingdom of Oyo, close to the sea. This will be faster and safer on the road."

"Europe?" Mbart's expression became solemn after hearing this. He asked, "Sir, you really won't sell us?"

"Mbat, we are not those white people. We come from the far east, and there is no slave trafficking there." After saying that, Deng Fei stood up the three middle fingers of his right hand, and faced Mbat with his palms outside: "I swear to all the gods in this continent! I will never sell a black man! I will definitely send them back to my hometown! Otherwise I will be punished!"

Seeing that Deng Fei was like this, Mbart's doubts subsided, thinking that these orientals might be really different from those white-skinned demons.

Zhao Xin said again: "During this time on the boat, you can clean the deck and help move things. I will pay you a salary and take care of the food. In addition, you will not lock you with iron chains, but you must obey orders. Some places on the boat cannot enter. You should discuss with your people first. You must tell me the result before going to bed tonight, because we will leave St. Louis tomorrow."

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! "Okay, sir. I will discuss it with everyone and let you know as soon as possible."

Zhao Xin then stood up, took two steps and turned to Deng Fei and said, "Let them change all their clothes, especially those women. Our eyes are almost on fire!"

Perhaps because of Mbart's previous identity, the blacks finally followed his decision after a fierce dispute. At the dinner in the evening, Mbart told Deng Fei that their choice was to follow Europe. Deng Fei then asked the sailors to free up two cabins and place the women and children here. Others either went to the restaurant to work on the floor or were placed in the bow cabin.

Of course, there is no "zero yuan purchase" in the blacks these days. Although they are very curious about everything on the Thor, they are all very honest. The crew of Beihai Town wants to teach them how to use the toilet to use the toilet and how to take a bath and other tedious things. When the blacks see what they eat and wear exactly the same clothes as the crew, they feel much more at ease.

After dinner, Mbat and others led by Deng Fei to the medical room. Seeing that the child's condition improved, the fever subsided, and most of the guards against the people in Beihai Town were even more cautious.

Through inquiry, Deng Fei learned that the child named "Lamin labake" was only seven years old and was kidnapped by slave traders. As for where his hometown is, Lamin himself couldn't tell the truth, let alone other black people who didn't know it.

As Mbart, who once served as the captain of the Oyo Empire cavalry, he was quite knowledgeable and had even used European muskets, but he was curious about everything on the Thor. The steel everywhere on the ship shocked him, and even his eyes were straight when he saw the iron railings on the side of the ship and the stairs.

You should know that iron on the African continent is still a very precious resource. If most people want to buy a slave, there are ten iron bars for men and nine iron bars for women. It doesn’t seem to be much, but for them, it’s a huge sum of money.

When he heard Deng Fei say that the ancient continent in the east had a population of 300 million, like the stars in the sky, the black people opened their mouths in surprise and could not close them for a long time.

At noon the next day, the fleet that had completed the supply left Gore Island. Before the Thor sailed, he issued three whistles to show his farewell. As a result, everyone on Gore Island was shocked and ran to the beach to see the strange things.
Chapter completed!