Chapter 11 Our Mayflower (2)
In the environment of serious lack of entertainment projects, under the deliberate description of some literary and artistic youth, and under the guidance of some dark psychology... various factors are combined, and people with tense and boring life run to the dock area in groups after work to visit the sailing boat that has been praised by later generations of philosophers, politicians, historians and other families.
The nearly thirty-meter-long sailboat was docked at the edge of the dock, and the entire ship was washed and disinfected from inside to outside, and was opened to "tourists" today.
On a newly-launched wooden lookout tower in the distance, Su Zining and Zhou Xiaosong leaned side by side against the railings, smoking cigarettes.
In fact, almost all smokers stopped cooking half a month ago, but miracles always happened. After Zheng Quan, the highest smoker, finally smoked his last pack of stock, he embarrassedly announced the last secret he "hidden" during the routine committee meeting.
On the day of the catastrophe, the customs anti-smuggling mission he was responsible for was to intercept a batch of smuggled goods that attempted to mix out the port in the name of other goods - more than 200 kilograms of gold, as well as tens of thousands of cigarettes and imported Greek cotton used to conceal the smuggling!
As soon as the news came out, public opinion was in an uproar! The smokers from the committee and even those who quickly learned the news were excited. Then... under the pressure of public opinion, Yan Xiaosong and other persons in charge of sorting and excavating the landing site quickly adjusted their focus and went all out to search for treasures that might be buried in the ruins of warehouses and ships.
The 3500-ton bulk cargo ship of the once-ming Ningyun 02 is now trapped in the forest of Manhattan Island in a dumping manner, and the former crew member died as early as the day of disaster.
In the previous material collection activities, only all diesel and some ship machines were removed. Only 200 tons of imported Greek cotton were found from the upper warehouse that could be opened. In addition, there were some miscellaneous gadgets. No material collection team had paid attention to it since then. Because the lower warehouse was previously sealed by the customs anti-smuggling team members with welding guns.
Now this broken ship that grandma doesn't love grandpa doesn't love is instantly surrounded by dozens of dock workers. People are unswervingly using the most precious resource at this stage - gas welding cutting, which opens the hidden warehouse mezzanine of the lower layer.
A whole day, more than a thousand boxes of domestic cigarettes were brought out, and the number was so large that it could only be calculated in tons. In a more hidden corner, the customs team members moved out the smuggling gold with the assistance of the armed police.
Although precious metals are meaningless at the moment, under Zheng Quan's insistence, they were still sealed to the most tightly managed place in Manhattan's community. Cigarettes were supplied with an additional supply, and the smokers had a great night on the same day.
"Do you know what it means to be so bored... to be honest? Actually, I'm quite excited." Yan Xiaosong took a deep breath of cigarette comfortably, looking satisfied. "The reason is not that the Mayflower, which gives special historical significance, really appears in front of you, but that the people on the ship are more unlucky than us, and what is left to us in the end is good things. At least it proves that it is 1620, and it is still several years before the large-scale colonization of North America by Europeans."
"I find that your optimistic life has become more and more mean." Su Zining curled her lips, but there was an unconcealed smile on the corners of her eyes. "They were indeed unlucky enough. They damaged the mast shortly after leaving England, and then they were delayed a lot of time to avoid the pursuit of pirates. Then they broke out in disease and encountered a storm... In addition to the final destination being confused, they did not delay their itinerary. In the end, they arrived at the New World of North America on November 11, 1620, as stipulated by history, and crashed into the New York Bay."
"Well, 5 12-pound light cannons, 5 24-pound cannons, 32 barrels of gunpowder, a large number of agricultural tools and seeds..." Yan Xiaosong excitedly lit another cigarette and pointed at the ships at the far-reaching pier. "There are 109 smoothbore flintlock guns in this era. You must know that at this time, the most powerful Spanish army in Europe still used a comb-rope gun!"
"Did these Puritans come to fight or settle down? But I'm sure they didn't have time to hold that famous meeting when they had crazy diarrhea, and history cleverly paused for a moment with us." Su Zining also smiled. Then the two of them walked down the watchtower with their arms around and walked towards the committee office building in the residential area.
...
...
When Mayflower set off, there were 17 crew members and 102 immigrants. When they arrived, there were fewer crew members and more passengers: a newborn baby.
An epidemic gastrointestinal disease almost destroyed the future of Mayflower, but fortunately, in the last few days at sea, except for the entire ship becoming more smelly, only one chef died, and the others were lying weakly in the cabin. Only the captain and a few sailors were left "lying" on the deck, holding on to their posts, dragging their severely dehydrated bodies.
Trapped by the customs ship, the people of Mayflower disembarked on Staten Island and moved into the shacks in the coal mine area. The medical team was dispatched to disinfect and isolate the necessary disinfection and isolation, and then the rufloxacin, which was effective in this era, plus a large amount of clean drinking water.
Three days later, the last patient was out of danger, but they found themselves isolated in a remote coal mine area surrounded by temporary fences and guarded by several soldiers in strange uniforms, yellow-skinned and dark-haired soldiers.
For this reason, the pastor Bleist tried to leave the mining area several times and wanted to see the local "governor" for the reason of meeting the local "governor", but they were forced back by the armed police soldiers with live ammunition.
Almost all personal belongings were confiscated, and even all men except women were forcibly shaved, and even their clothes were replaced with a very comfortable and thick strange cotton fabric.
"Mr. Captain Adelaide, Rev. Bleister, you must tell the Indian mercenaries outside that we will meet the local governor, that we have the original contract with the Virginia Company, and they have no authority to detain us!"
In the large wooden shack painted with white lime, dozens of men were arguing fiercely with various expressions. Their leader, the captain named Adelaide and the pastor Bleist, remained silent.
"Maybe, this is not a New England colony. And, they have not restricted us more, and it seems that they are treating us more..."
Pastor Bleist lowered his head in frustration, rubbing the only personal item that had not been confiscated, a Bible.
"They are not like Indians, and Indians do not have this special medicine to treat terminal illnesses on board. It is impossible for them to exist in Europe."
Captain Adelaide also nodded. He had seen too many incredible things these days. At any time before, when an epidemic of infection occurred on the ship, it was the beginning of the destruction, and there were very few ships that could be spared.
The discussion lasted for more than an hour, and when their stomachs began to signal hunger, they could only hear a lot of footsteps outside the shack.
"Gentlemen, based on the minimum humanitarianism, we have used the most expensive medicine to relieve your illness. It seems that everyone has recovered."
Yan Xiaosong, in a suit, walked into the shack with a spring breeze smile, followed by several committee members, as well as several men in uniform in the big and thick.
The people in the shack stood up one after another, all of whom were surprised when they looked at each other. The "Indian" people in front of them obviously had fluent English, although some of the grammatical vocabulary were a bit different.
Before they could react, the young yellow-skinned man took out another piece of paper from his pocket.
"However, on behalf of the Government of the American Republic of China, I regret to inform you that you, as you carry offensive weapons and invade our waters without permission, you, together with your armed ships, have been detained by the maritime guards. You have to be detained as prisoners of war in accordance with our laws, without any explanation from the formal diplomatic channels."
"America..." Su Zining suddenly sneezes very much, and several members of the same party turned their heads.
In addition to the discordant sneezing sound, there was peace in the shack. Yan Xiaosong turned around and gave Su Zining a relaxed and bright smile.
Chapter completed!