Chapter 234 - The Slave Trade

The slaves, who were half-dead during the voyage, were driven onto the foredeck in groups of two and three by the crew’s whips. Several crew members had prepared a large barrel of a strange liquid. As each slave reached the barrel, a sailor with a large soft brush would scrub their filthy, stinking bodies. After being scrubbed, their originally dirty and dull skin became shiny and firm, making them look much more energetic than before.

Next, Captain Higgins instructed the sailors to open a barrel of rum. A sailor sprinkled gunpowder from a powder horn into it and stirred it. Two sailors grabbed a slave, one pinching his mouth open, while the other used a wooden spoon to pour a large mouthful into the slave’s mouth.

“This will make them all lively and energetic. Even a dying man will look spirited,” Higgins said smugly. Captain Higgins had worked on a slave ship before and was very familiar with this routine. The reason John Quark had hired his ship was also in the hope of benefiting from his experience.

“The goods look to be in pretty good shape!” John Quark could already see countless ducats and pesos dancing before his eyes. Whether it was sugar, silk, tea, rhubarb, or Chinese sundry goods, they were all in high demand. Transporting them to Banten would yield a profit of 40-100%!

“Can you really sell this batch of goods?” the captain asked.

“Of course, I have a patent certificate,” John Quark said with a hint of regret. “I didn’t expect so many to die. I thought at most a dozen would die.”

“If it weren’t for the storm and the Portuguese attack, we wouldn’t have lost so many,” Higgins said. “The cost of repairing the ship will have to be on your account.”

“No problem,” John Quark said, completely captivated by the beautiful prospect of getting rich, and readily agreed.

Captain Higgins took out a bottle of wine and took a big swig, his eyes blinking as if he were contemplating something.

Under the supervision of the quarantine personnel from the Sanya Health Center, the slaves were transported in batches by small boats to a quarantine camp near the mouth of the Tiandu River. This place had been prepared for receiving slaves. According to procedure, their hair was shaved, and they underwent a series of quarantine and purification procedures, including bathing and delousing. He Fanghui ordered them to rest and be quarantined for two weeks before being sent to the front-line construction sites to work. The mining face was waiting for laborers to excavate.

The food was supplied according to the standard quarantine camp diet to ensure they could recover their strength as quickly as possible.

After all the arrangements were made, he had someone call for Hu Xun. This former overlord of An Youle, a ruthless local emperor, had been living an idle life since he was allowed to return home. Hu Xun was very sensible. He knew that his own life and the lives of his family were in the hands of the Australians, and it was better to be honest to stay alive. Moreover, his son was still a hostage in Lin’gao.

“Chief He” had given him the title of “Civil Affairs Advisor.” He would report to the “Sanya Civil Affairs Office” on time every day to help with some civil affairs. After all, Hu Xun was a local and was very familiar with the surrounding environment and local conditions. He was being put to good use.

“There’s a formal job for you,” He Fanghui’s thick lips curled. “Old Hu, are you willing to do it?”

“I am, I am,” Hu Xun could only say yes.

“Good.” He Fanghui immediately gave him the position of supervisor of the Sanya slave camp. He knew from the public sentiment investigation that Hu Xun had always been ruthless and was a rather violent person. He might not be good at civil affairs, but being a slave camp supervisor was making the best use of his talents.

“This position is a formal cadre position,” He Fanghui said, “enthusiastically” patting his shoulder. “Now you are a formal ‘cadre’.”

“Thank you for your cultivation, Chief!” Hu Xun repeatedly nodded and bowed. He couldn’t say he was happy, just a little bewildered. What was his situation now?

“When they are working, they will be strictly supervised by the militia and are not allowed to have contact with others,” He Fanghui instructed Hu Xun. “Each person must complete their work quota every day! As for whether they can complete it or not, that depends on your methods.”

Hu Xun nodded. “I understand, sir!”

The slave camp overseers were all selected from the Sanya disciplinary team. The disciplinary team was formed after the riot and was specially used to accommodate the laborers who had participated in the riot and those who had committed certain crimes in Sanya, ranging from assault to theft. They were used for the most arduous and dangerous work until they had accumulated enough points to return to their normal status. The overseers selected from the disciplinary team would undoubtedly be very diligent and ruthless.

After giving Hu Xun his task, He Fanghui went to the commercial building. This was the place where they planned to receive foreign trade merchants in the future, and it also had a quarantine function. John Quark had been required to take a bath and change his clothes. He was now calculating how much profit he could make from this slave trade.

As goods for trade with the English, the Colonial and Trade Department had already shipped a portion of trade goods in advance. In addition to preparing to pay John Quark for the slaves, this was also one of the future trade ports and the trade base port of the soon-to-be-established Southeast Asia Company. A certain amount of trade goods had to be stockpiled. The Colonial and Trade Department had shipped a large amount of Leizhou sugar and rum, and had also transported a large batch of silk, raw silk, and miscellaneous goods from Guangzhou.

After a round of bargaining between He Fanghui and John Quark, the price was finally agreed upon. Both sides agreed that the Lin’gao side would use sugar and silk as payment, and the delivery would be made immediately.

Since John Quark enjoyed the privilege of exemption from import and export tariffs, his expenses at Sanya Port were very low. A rough calculation showed that the profit from this voyage was 70%. It was not a super profit, but the distance from Batavia to Sanya was quite short, and he could make multiple trips a year. The loss rate would not be as high as this time—it was unlikely that he would encounter both the Portuguese and a storm every time.

With such a profit, John Quark’s ambition grew even more. He was prepared to persuade the shareholders to invest more. The performance of this trade was enough to make the originally tight-fisted investors put out more money. With money, he would buy and hire more slave ships; try to get a piece of land in Banten or somewhere in the East Indies to create a “slave island”—it was too troublesome to buy from the Dutch before each departure, and it would definitely cause price fluctuations. Moreover, the Dutch were not very friendly to the English, and this channel could be closed at any time. He needed a place to “hoard goods” to be used when there was a shortage of “goods,” and at the same time, to let the “goods” go through a certain period of quarantine to avoid a devastating plague after boarding—the price the Australians gave him was “CIF.” He had to ensure that enough living people arrived in Sanya. The local “Australian Elder” had explicitly told him that the number of slaves he had brought was too small—not enough.

Finally, he ambitiously thought of inciting the Dutch and the natives of the various East Indian islands to fight each other, or the various native kingdoms and empires of the East Indies to attack each other. War would bring a large number of prisoners—and he would be there to solve the problem of the prisoners for the rulers. It didn’t seem difficult to incite wars among the natives—there were already constant small-scale conflicts. As long as he provided them with enough weapons, they would expand their armed conflicts. Then he would have as many prisoners as he wanted…

After the deal was concluded, He Fanghui hosted a banquet for John Quark and his party at the commercial building. Both sides toasted each other. He Fanghui toasted “the directors of the East India Company” and “the King of England,” while John Quark toasted “the Elders of the Council of Elders.” The toast “to your health” was said countless times, and the wine glasses were filled countless times. Seeing John Quark drinking rum like water, He Fanghui couldn’t help but be secretly surprised.

John Quark’s excitement was palpable. It had been more than ten years since he had left home to trade in East Asia. Although he had made money, he had always been a small merchant at sea, scavenging for scraps under the system of the East India Company. Now that he had such a lucrative channel for making a fortune, thinking of the day he would return to his homeland with a million in his pocket, this small merchant was even more intoxicated. His mind was full of calculations on how to expand his business.

He was even unwilling to delay in Sanya for a few more days, wishing he could immediately return to Banten to transport the next batch of slaves. However, Higgins said that if they were to load high-grade goods like sugar and silk, it would be best to first scrub the cargo hold under the deck to avoid contaminating the goods.

Captain Higgins’s suggestion was not purely out of “a captain’s sense of responsibility.” He knew better than John Quark the considerable profits of the slave trade. So he went through the proper channels and requested an audience with “the local governor.”

Hearing that an English captain wanted to see him, He Fanghui was surprised. But out of a sense of duty, he still received the captain.

Captain Higgins was actually recommending himself. He mentioned that since they needed slaves so much, why not buy black slaves? Black slaves were stronger and more hardworking than the natives of the East Indies, and their vitality was also much stronger. The only thing was that the purchase price was higher. But since they had sugar and rum, they had no problem with payment.

“If you gentlemen have such a need, I am willing to serve you,” Captain Higgins said with a bow, then boasted of his “achievements” in the slave trade.

“No, we don’t need them,” He Fanghui shook his head. “Let the black people stay in Africa.”

“I don’t understand—” Higgins said in disappointment.

“We don’t need them,” He Fanghui once again rejected his “goodwill.”

Higgins saw his dream of obtaining a patent for importing black slaves from the Australians vanish. After returning to the commercial building, he began to lobby John Quark, expressing his willingness to invest in this slave trade business. John Quark, considering that he needed a dedicated ship and an experienced captain, immediately welcomed him to join as a shareholder. However, the specific share distribution would be discussed after the second round of fundraising upon their return to Banten.