novelraw Chapter 239: Plantation
Chapter 239: Plantation
With the annual meeting concluded, Wigg gave himself a long vacation as usual. Aside from essential official duties, he spent the rest of his time holed up in the Royal Palace reading, enjoying this rare period of peace and quiet.
One day, Helgi came calling, requesting to purchase two-masted brigantines.
The Royal Fleet was currently understaffed. Wigg closed his book, hesitating for a moment before agreeing to sell three new ships. "Developing a territory requires a massive investment. Do you have enough money?"
"More than enough. I've saved up over nine hundred pounds and even convinced a group of merchants to invest, bringing the total funds to one thousand five hundred pounds. If all goes smoothly, we expect to produce the first batch of cane sugar within two years."
Having achieved his goal, Helgi threw on his coat and departed.
With the ship issue resolved, his next task was to hire captains and sailors. Braving the snow and wind, Helgi made his way to the Naval Academy in the southern part of the city to observe the students in class.
Compared to the previous oared longships and knarr ships, the two-masted brigantine boasted a much larger cargo capacity and superior resistance to wind and waves. The downside was its increased operational complexity. As celestial navigation and nautical charts grew increasingly popular, the demands placed upon ship captains grew higher by the day.
Currently, the Naval Academy was divided into the shipbuilding and navigation departments. The navigation department primarily recruited two types of cadets:
The first type consisted of youths with absolutely no seafaring background, who were exempt from paying tuition. They first spent two years at the academy completing basic training courses, then boarded ships to serve a five-year internship as cadet officers.
Cadet officers were classified as 'officers in training' and differed significantly from commissioned officers. During their internship, they followed the captain's orders and familiarized themselves with tasks such as taking the helm, managing the rigging, and recording the ship's logbook.Once their internship ended, they were required to take the Officer Qualification Exam. If they passed the assessment, they would then attend a one-year advanced course before ultimately being commissioned with the rank of Naval Ensign.
The second type of cadet consisted of adults who had to pay their own tuition. Most of these students already possessed some seafaring experience, so their training period was shorter. Helgi planned to recruit his sailors from among them.
Waiting until the class concluded, Helgi walked into the room. The seated students recognized the Minister of Naval Affairs and renowned navigator. Upon hearing that he was forming a fleet, most of them realized an opportunity had arrived and eagerly clamored to join.
"Thank you all for your trust. Come to my home at eight o'clock tomorrow morning for interviews. I will assign positions based on each person's abilities. I guarantee generous compensation, along with extra dividends for every voyage."
Enduring the intensifying blizzard, Helgi returned to his main residence, where he found Hrogeir and twenty other investors gathered in the living room, casually chatting and debating what names they should give the various islands.
He coughed, interrupting their idle chatter. "His Majesty has agreed to sell us three ocean-going sailing ships, and the adult students at the Naval Academy are also willing to join the fleet. They will be coming for interviews tomorrow."
Having solved two major problems at once, the investors were in high spirits, feeling that the future of the Canary Sugarcane Company was brilliantly bright. Only Hrogeir maintained his composure. He walked over and quietly asked:
"Instead of recruiting from the Naval Academy, why not seek out our old brothers from the Royal Fleet?"
"That goes against the rules. The Royal Fleet is severely understaffed, and His Majesty would never allow a large batch of crew members to retire all at once."
In Helgi's view, Wigg acknowledging his title as Earl and selling him three two-masted brigantines were favors already granted out of years of familial affection. If he made any more excessive demands, the bond between their families would only grow thinner, eventually deteriorating into an ordinary lord-vassal relationship.
In early March, the wind and waves of the North Sea gradually subsided. Helgi bid farewell to his family and led three brand-new ocean-going sailing ships out of the port.
Each ship carried forty sailors and sixty passengers, including investors and hired laborers for the Sugarcane Company. The lower holds were packed with a massive amount of supplies.
The fleet's route matched last year's journey. They made a brief stop at Gijón Port in Asturias before navigating around to the southwestern coast of Iberia. "My Lord Earl, my hometown is just up ahead."
Garlos signaled for the fleet to drop anchor at an abandoned fishing village. He had Helgi and the others change into local attire before heading toward a sugarcane plantation near the coast.
The plantation was situated in a river valley. To ensure a plentiful water supply, the Moors had constructed a complex irrigation system, pushing their agricultural technology far ahead of Western Europe.
It was early spring, and the climate was warm and humid. Over a hundred laborers were bustling about in the fields. They sliced the sugarcane into sections, placed them in furrows, covered them with soil, and drew water to irrigate them.
"When I was young, my parents suggested I go work at the plantation. But I couldn't stomach such a dull and tedious life, so I eventually ran off to join a ship's crew..."
After reminiscing for a while, Garlos motioned for his companions to stay put. He went to find an overseer who was patrolling the fields. The two exchanged a few words, and then Garlos followed the overseer toward the estate's main residence.
The mansion stood upon high ground, boasting Persian-style arcades and courtyards. Pomegranates, roses, and mint were planted within the grounds, alongside a variety of exotic flowers whose names Garlos did not know.
After a short wait, he finally met the estate's steward. Following ten minutes of haggling, the two finalized their transaction.
"It was that simple?"
Looking at the piles of sugarcane stacked on the carriages and the five laborers trailing behind Garlos, Helgi found it somewhat unbelievable. This had gone far too smoothly.
He picked up a stalk of sugarcane and examined it repeatedly before asking Garlos, "The other party let their laborers go just like that and sold us entire cartloads of sugarcane? Isn't this person worried we might become competitors?"
Garlos explained, "The sugarcane plantation belongs to a noble who serves year-round in the royal court at Cordoba. This plantation is entirely managed by the steward. The steward is greedy by nature and couldn't care less about any potential competitors. If you're willing to pay more, we can buy even more sugarcane."
Helgi rubbed his itchy eyes. This was a rare opportunity. He pulled out another large pouch of silver and instructed Garlos to buy more sugarcane, as well as roses, pomegranates, citrus, grapes, and other crops.
A short while later, Garlos returned. "The steward agreed. He also asked if you had any other needs, such as women..."
"Cabin space is limited, so we won't be buying any for now. Tell the steward that if I need anything else in the future, I'll come back to him for help."
Afterward, Helgi nervously led the ten carriages back to the fishing village. They loaded the horses and the sugarcane into the cargo holds and weighed anchor to set sail as quickly as possible.
With the experience gained from their previous voyage, the remainder of the journey only took eight days. Seeing the scenery of the Canary Islands with their own eyes, the investors' lingering worries finally dissipated.
After going ashore, Helgi headed to the temporary camp on a nearby hillside. Last year, he had specifically left twenty marines behind. In the span of six months, one had fallen ill and died after accidentally eating a poisonous wild fruit, while four others had been killed by the natives.
"Natives? Hey, you never mentioned this before."
Hrogeir and the investors began to clamor in an uproar, the noise making Helgi irritable. "I was only here for a few days last time and never ran into the local natives. Besides, what are you all panicking for? The cargo holds are packed with a massive amount of iron armor and crossbows. Dealing with them won't be an issue."