Chapter 793 Little Blacksmith
Jose Luis never thought that a humble person like himself would one day be kidnapped. He originally thought that this kind of thing could only happen to rich people who wore gold and silver. Jose's father was a Basque and his mother was an Italian immigrant. For eight generations, there had been no prominent figures. The blacksmith skills he relied on for a living were also inherited from his father, but there was nothing else to inherit. The family's blacksmith shop had long been given to his two brothers by his father, and he had no share in it. , his only way out is to leave home and start a new family when he becomes an adult.
When he was twenty years old, Jose left his hometown with fifty silver coins given by his father and applied for the recruitment activities of the Far East Colonies. The eloquent immigration officer described the far East as a world full of gold. All the immigrants had to do when they got there was to bend down and pick up the gold coins one by one into their pockets. As long as they stay in the Far East for three to five years, everyone can become a big landowner, owning their own plantations, private mansions, groups of slaves, and inexhaustible gold.
With great hopes of making a fortune, Jose packed onto a shabby immigrant ship and headed for the Far East. During the six-month migration journey, most of the time they were in a state of insufficient supplies and poor living conditions. About one-fifth of the people on the immigration ship failed to make it to the end because of various diseases and died. On the way. Jose was undoubtedly one of the lucky ones. Although he suffered a lot along the way, he finally arrived at his destination, Manila, Luzon Island, without any illness or disaster.
In 1571, Spanish colonist Legaspi landed there and built a castle and fort, which became the prototype of the city of Manila. After nearly sixty years of development and construction, Manila City can be regarded as one of the largest seaport cities in the South China Sea. It is also the political and economic center of Spain in the Far East. Its prosperity is even as prosperous as some ports in Spain. .
However, Jose soon discovered that this place was not as beautiful as the immigration officer said during the recruitment. There was not gold everywhere here, and it was not easy to become a big landowner. Most of the people who can make a lot of money in Manila have prominent status and backgrounds. Low-class people like him can only continue to live the lives of low-class people, which is not fundamentally different from what they were back home.
Fortunately, Jose still had a skill. He used the settlement money he brought to open a blacksmith shop, intending to take root in this place and slowly spread out. However, his luck probably ran out at this point. Three months later, he injured a nobleman during a drunken riot and was sentenced to exile. The year is 1626. The Spanish fleet has just established a stronghold in Jilong Port in the northern part of Taiwan Island, namely the city of San Salvador, and ignores the indigenous people on the island, the immigrant territory of Shibazhi and the port of Damuan The Dutch unilaterally claimed ownership of the island. The unlucky Jose was exiled here and used his blacksmith skills to assist the first batch of immigrants to open up the land.
Jose must be grateful for the blacksmith skills he learned from his father, which saved him from the treatment of criminals during his time in Jilong Port. As the only professional blacksmith in Jilong Port, he was even allowed to recruit four apprentices so that he could complete numerous orders from local garrisons and immigrants in a timely manner. Due to the scarcity of local blacksmith resources, Jose's life has gradually improved. When he is not so busy, he can leave the work to a few apprentices and go to the tavern to kill time for half a day.
People who engage in heavy manual labor often 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 impossible to get enough of it after drinking it for two or three ounces. Therefore, every time Jose starts drinking, he can't stop drinking until he breaks out. But this time it seemed that something really happened after drinking. He couldn't even remember what happened after he staggered out of the pub. He only remembered that he seemed to have gone to the harbor pier, and when he woke up, he was already bundled up. A dead dog in a sack.
After Jose gradually regained his 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 them to make such an exaggerated joke on him just because he was drunk. Moreover, he could feel from his surroundings that he was on a certain ship in the sea. He had obviously been loaded onto the ship and taken away from Jilong Port. Apart from kidnapping, Jose couldn't think of any other reasons for a while.
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 come up with the money to redeem himself. He spent more than half of his income in the past few years in El Salvador on building a small house for himself, and the rest was basically spent on getting drunk in taverns. He really didn't have much savings. If the kidnappers wanted to extort a fortune from themselves, they would probably be very disappointed. Maybe being thrown into the sea and fed to fish would be their final outcome.
Jose originally wanted to listen to the people on the boat talking to judge his situation, but during the voyage of more than a day, he didn't hear even a word. Someone entered the cabin to check his physical condition and gave him some water, but Jose, who was blindfolded, could not see his face at all. He tried asking a few questions in Spanish, but got no response at all.
Jose was finally carried out of the cabin before he suffered a nervous breakdown. However, no one untied him, but he was stuffed directly into a carriage. After a not too long journey, he knew that he had been transported to a certain courtyard, and he had a preliminary prediction of his situation. Because he heard the suspected gatekeeper asking the coachman about the passengers on the bus, but he was speaking in Chinese, which proved that this place should be a territory under the jurisdiction of the Han people. Jose's first reaction was that he had arrived in Fuzhou - the Daming Seaport closest to Jilong Port.
Jose didn't quite understand the purpose of these people kidnapping him to Fuzhou. After spending another period of time in anxiety, he was lifted up again and moved into a certain room. Then someone removed the sack and restraints from his body, and finally removed the black cloth that blindfolded his eyes.
After adapting to the brightness of the surrounding environment, Jose quickly looked at the place he was in. It was a small office with bookcases on both sides of the wall. There was a huge book desk in front of him, and there was a seat behind him. There were three Orientals at the two stations. The person sitting there looked very much like Akito from the facial features, but his clothing was very different from the Akito that Jose had seen.
Jose's attention was quickly attracted by the man standing next to him, because he recognized this man, the boss of Ming Shang Jin who came to El Salvador every few months to do business. Boss Jin was very hospitable. Jose remembered that at least twice when he met Boss Jin in a tavern, he took the initiative to buy drinks for his guests. In the past few years of staying in El Salvador City, Jose rarely felt such friendly behavior from Akito. He knew that the main reason why these Ming people were willing to sail to El Salvador to trade was for the sake of money. However, Western colonists like himself looked like evil ghosts in the eyes of the other party, and they were afraid to avoid them. He would not take the initiative to contact him at all, so he had a very deep impression on this golden boss.
But as far as Jose knows, this boss Jin is just a legal businessman dealing in medicinal materials and timber in Fuzhou, and he saw him outside El Salvador two days ago... Wait, he brought him here from El Salvador. Man, could it be him?
But looking at where Boss Jin is standing, it seems that the one sitting in the middle is the real owner. Jose looked at the man again, and happened to see the other man's eyes scanning him, like a lion scanning its prey. Jose's heart trembled. He could feel the majesty of a superior person in the other person's eyes, just like he usually saw Mr. Alcarazo who guarded the city of Salvador.
"Chief, this is the blacksmith Jose mentioned by the humble official." Jin Ming bowed and whispered in Qian Tiandun's ear.
Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "You can speak a little Spanish, right?" Jin Ming responded: "My humble position is just due to my responsibilities, I have learned a little bit, I understand a little bit, I understand a little bit."
"Very good, then you are responsible for translating. You can tell him clearly where this is, who we are, and why he is here." After Qian Tiandun finished speaking, he leaned gently on the back of the chair and spoke with a kind of Relaxed stance to see Jose's reaction.
After listening to Jin Ming's translation, Jose was confused. It wasn't that he couldn't understand the Spanish with a strong accent, but that he really didn't understand why the business boss Jin kidnapped him and came to Penghu to meet the Haihan people. . But before answering the other party's question, he wanted to seek some benefits for himself first.
"Can you give me some food and water? I haven't eaten for a long time..." When Jose opened his mouth, the weak sound he made scared even himself. He had been in a state of extreme mental stress for nearly thirty hours after he sobered up. He only took in a small amount of water during this period. Although he was tied up in the cabin without moving, the physical exertion was very great.
After hearing this, Qian Tiandun nodded and said, "Let the kitchen bring up some hot food quickly. We just happened to have breakfast together."
The person was already in hand, Qian Tiandun was in no hurry to interrogate Jose at this moment. He could also see that the Spanish blacksmith was in a very bad mental state. If he continued to torment him, the guy might faint later.
Breakfast for four people was quickly delivered from the kitchen, and Qian Tiandun did not hesitate to ask Du Rong and Jin Ming to sit down on his left and right to eat together. Of course, the treatment of the blacksmith Jose was not so good. He could only sit on the pony in a half-crouched position to eat. However, Jose obviously no longer cared about details such as whether the posture was comfortable. He swept away the soy milk and fried dough sticks in front of him with a whirlwind, and finally put his fingers into his mouth and sucked all the oily hands off. It seemed that I'm really hungry.
Jose noticed that the three people opposite him were eating the same food as him. He wanted to stand up and get closer, but two sturdy men behind him immediately pushed him back onto the maza, forcing him to give up the idea.
After the three of them finished their breakfast in a leisurely manner, they continued to question Jose. Jin Ming had already made a list of questions on his way to Penghu. Some of them were simple questions that were easy to answer, and some were secrets that Haihan had always been interested in. After seeing it, Qian Tiandun praised him greatly and asked him to question Jose according to his own ideas.
Jin Ming's first question was for Jose to introduce his personal situation. At the end, Jin Ming emphasized: "As long as you answer our questions honestly, I can guarantee your life 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 that needed to be kept, so he immediately answered honestly: "My name is Jose Luis, from the Basque Country. I am twenty-seven years old. I am a blacksmith. I came to Manila from Manila six years ago." Salvador, Formosa. I have a blacksmith shop and four apprentices in the city. I don’t have a family, and I don’t have any other family members. My biggest hobby is to have a drink in the pub after work... And, Boss Jin. Why did you bring me here? If you are discovered by the security forces, you will never have the chance to do business in El Salvador 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: "Is this guy easy to cheat?"
Jin Ming shook his head and said: "This guy is not stupid. I have invited him to drink several times in my humble position, trying to get some valuable information from him, but it has not worked."
"Then there's no need to talk in circles with him. Just follow the pace of your security department." After hearing Jin Ming's explanation, Qian Tiandun was no longer interested in setting a trap for Jose. What's more, there is a language barrier between the two parties, and Jin Ming may not be able to accurately translate Qian Tiandun's ideas into Spanish and convey them to Jose.
Jin Ming nodded understandingly and said to Jose: "You probably don't realize your situation. Let me say it again, you are now a prisoner of Haihan, 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 responded expressionlessly: "If you have no intelligence value, 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, we can keep your life and arrange for you to live somewhere else anonymously.”
(End of chapter)