Chapter 33

This is a ship transporting building materials, with the entire hold filled with red bricks. Blan科 and his three companions sat at the bow, gazing at the scenery along the riverbanks.

It was already late autumn, early winter in South America. The further away from the city walls, the more desolate the riverbanks became.

When they first left the city walls, they could still see many temporary wooden houses built along the riverbanks. Blan科, with his keen eyesight, noticed that most of the inhabitants were Indigenous people, with a few Northern Europeans. These people cultivated the land outside the city walls, relying on irrigation canals or rainwater collection ponds to grow vegetables.

"They are slaves serving the Tartan nobles inside the city," the merchant Carlos, who had been silent, suddenly said. "These Indigenous people might have been captured by them. Perhaps we can consider buying some slaves from them. Brazilian plantations always lack labor, and recently, more and more black slaves are escaping."

"The Indigenous people are not suitable as slaves," Ricardo interjected. "In fact, they value freedom, are naturally combative, and are not physically strong enough. They are far inferior to black people."

Blan科 was not interested in their conversation. "What is that?" he suddenly saw a strange building, with many people gathered in front of it, including Indigenous people and whites, seemingly holding some kind of ceremony.

"God! Heathens!" Father Simão, recalling, was startled and began to make the sign of the cross repeatedly. He had lived in China for many years and naturally recognized the type of building, which is common in China.

"It seems they are not Tartans but from the East," Blan科, not a priest and not particularly devout, naturally did not react as dramatically as Father Simão.

As the ship sailed further, the farmlands and temples gradually disappeared, and the scenery on both banks began to turn into monotonous wasteland. Many salt-tolerant pear trees, jujube trees, and locust trees were planted along the riverbanks, but they were not large, indicating they had been planted recently. Occasionally, flocks of sheep could be seen in the wasteland, but otherwise, it was like a virgin land, desolate and bleak.

The ship continued to sail slowly. As noon approached, the two German boatmen began to make a fire and cook on the ship. They invited Blan科 and his companions to share their food, and the four, who were already hungry, gladly accepted.

The main dish was still the coarse and hard-to-swallow steamed potatoes, along with the nauseating salted fish. The last dish, however, made Blan科 quite happy: a soup made from some unknown vegetables and an unknown white substance. Father Simão, while eating, told Blan科 that these were traditional Chinese foods, bai cai (Chinese cabbage) and tofu.

After lunch, everyone felt a bit drowsy. Just as Blan科 was half-asleep, he suddenly heard faint cheers in the distance. Blan科 perked up and looked around, only to see that the originally desolate scenery had disappeared, replaced by large, well-tilled farmlands. The farmlands had already been harvested, and at the edges, two rows of neatly arranged red-brick and green-tiled houses stood. The houses were surrounded by a wooden fence, with two watchtowers on either side.

On the open ground between the fence and the riverbank, many people were gathered. They seemed to be holding a meeting or some kind of religious ceremony, occasionally bursting into cheers.

The wooden ship docked at a simple wooden pier on the riverbank. There was a small wooden house on the pier, and two militiamen, armed with matchlock guns and sabers, approached and conversed with the boatmen. After a while, one of them left to report to a superior.

Soon, the militiaman returned, accompanied by an Easterner. The Easterner looked at the list Blan科 had given him and asked in English, "Mr. Blan科 Sosa de Almeida?"

Blan科 nodded politely, "Yes, sir, I am Blan科 from São Vicente."

"Then please follow me, gentlemen," the Easterner said. "To be frank, I do not think we will reach an agreement this time. The transaction with you is too sensitive. Gentlemen, this way, please."

At the drying ground of the 1st Production Team, a grand harvest celebration was nearing its end. Due to the significant importance of this harvest, all members of the Executive Committee were present. The ceremony followed a traditional Chinese format, with the climax being the award ceremony. The Chairman of the Executive Committee, Ma Qianzu, awarded three yuan to each of the five households with the highest yields and solemnly announced that they would be granted the status of free citizens.

Upon hearing Grot's translation, the five households burst into tears of joy, making others envious and regretful for not having put more effort into farming. The thought of these five neighbors soon being able to earn wages and buy land made them feel even more disheartened. They could only encourage themselves to work harder in the next planting season to strive for the same status.

After the ceremony, Ma Qianzu and the other members of the Executive Committee met with Blan科 and his companions in the Production Team's office.

"Mr. Blan科, I hear that the Governor of Bahia is racking his brains over how to deal with the Dutch. The Dutch have already taken a large part of Bahia, and it's uncertain whether they will next target Rio de Janeiro or Maranhão," the Foreign Affairs Commissioner Gao Mo, naturally, was the first to speak. "I believe we should strictly adhere to the principle of neutrality and impose an arms embargo on both sides. It would be extremely unwise to rashly involve ourselves in a war that offers us no benefit."

"We can sell you slaves. I know you are in dire need of labor. We can transport black slaves from Congo, Angola, and Mozambique to your ports," Blan科 said, his face unchanged. He knew this was the time for negotiation. These Easterners were not very enthusiastic about selling weapons, especially when São Paulo and Uruguay were not far apart. However, nothing was absolute, and Blan科 felt he should at least try to persuade them.

"Do you have any surplus black slaves to sell?" Gao Mo looked at Blan科 mockingly. "The black slaves hiding in Palmares have even formed a state. They attack your armies and farms, help plantation slaves escape, and ally with the Indigenous people. I don't see how you have any surplus slaves to sell us."

Blan科's face turned pale. Damn Easterners! How did they know so much about the black slaves hiding in the palm forests (Palmares)? Did the Dutch tell them? Are they that close to the Dutch? No, that's not right! They probably just heard some rumors from sailors.

Blan科 tried to calm himself and smiled at Gao Mo. "As you know, the escaped slaves have formed the loose alliance of Palmares. However, this does not affect my commitment to you. Portuguese merchant ships sail the world, and we have the most experienced sailors. We have ports along the route to the East. Even if you don't want black slaves, if you want to immigrate from the Ming Empire, I don't think it's impossible."

This left the members of the Executive Committee speechless.

The latest population of the穿越众 (穿越者) is 2,852 people (excluding slaves). Among them, 567 are穿越者, accounting for 20%; the second largest group is the Germans, at 18%; followed by the Czechs at 13%; Norwegians at 11%; Finns at 9%; Irish at 7%; Ukrainians at 6%; French at 5%; Estonians, Latvians, and Samogitians each at 3%; and the remaining 2% are more diverse. Additionally, there are 497 slaves, including 305 Charrúa slaves and 192 European war captives.

Although the穿越者 have used various means to erase the original national and ethnic characteristics of the immigrants and have achieved some success in enhancing cohesion, if someone tells you that there is an opportunity to immigrate from the Ming Empire to Uruguay, it would be self-deception to say that no one is tempted.

"From Macau to Goa, then to Lourenço Marques, and across the Atlantic to Tartan Port. The route is difficult and dangerous. You are spending so much effort and resources just to get us to sell you some weapons?" Gao Mo looked at Blan科 with disbelief, implying that he was not to be taken for a fool.

"Of course, this requires payment, and we can discuss the specific price later," Blan科 said. "This is just my personal opinion. I can suggest it to my superiors, but it does not mean the Governor will agree."

"The Governor certainly will not agree to this absurd suggestion!" After calming down, Gao Mo analyzed that as long as the Governor of Bahia was not insane, he would not consider transporting immigrants from the East to America. Apart from the high maritime risks, it could also anger the Ming government. If the Ming government banned trade with Macau out of anger, the Portuguese would suffer significant losses. Therefore, Gao Mo believed this could only be a beautiful legend, unless something major happened to change the Governor's mind.

"I can persuade the Governor to open trade with Brazil. The meat products, cheese, tallow, furs, sugar, and tobacco you urgently need can be exported to you, and your products can also be sold in Brazil. So far, only some British companies have enjoyed such privileges," Blan科 proposed another condition.

Damn, another empty promise! Gao Mo began to doubt whether Blan科 was here to cause trouble. Although the suggestion sounded good, who knew if the Brazilians would renege on it later. The Executive Committee only believed in tangible benefits.

"We might be able to add another condition," after a low discussion among the members of the Executive Committee, Gao Mo suddenly said. "We can clearly define the geographical boundaries between Brazil and the East Coast Company. West of Lagoa dos Patos, south of the Taquari River, and east of the Serra do Mar must be legally recognized as the legitimate territory of the East Coast Company."

"I am sorry, but I cannot make decisions on territorial issues," Blan科 quickly replied.

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