My British Empire

Chapter 383 The Evil Slave Trade

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Finally, after three days of discussion, everyone finally reached a consensus: to build a large river.

This river course is about 21 miles (about 34 kilometers) from Iris to Denver, which greatly shortens the distance of the Ouse River.

The Ouse River will join the Trent River 14 kilometers east of Goole to form the Humber River and flow into the North Sea.

In this way, the river that injects the largest amount of water into this swamp will be diverted and flow directly to the North Sea, reducing the amount of injection into the Great Swamp by a lot.

Moreover, they also designed to connect some small rivers upstream and build channels to irrigate various places along the coast.

If such a project is completed, there will be more cultivated land.

Of course, the biggest difficulty-money, with the support of His Majesty the King, has no problem at all, and the construction is approved.

Fifty years later in history, this great project is about to be built, but it is the power of the people.

Without the support of the state, the funds were extremely insufficient, but it was finally completed in 1637 with the support of the fourth Earl of Bedford.

So, after the flattening project of the Great Swamp is completed, this large flat land is also called "Bedford Flat".

Of course, this is just the basic project. If you want to completely turn the swamp into fertile land, you need the second stage of the project.

However, this project was able to continue until the 1960s under the chaotic British society and the distribution of benefits.

What a disaster!

Soon, the suggestion was sent to London. A few days later, a sum of up to 10,000 pounds arrived in the Everglades area, followed by a royal supervisor.

He is the supervisor of the whole Great Plains operation, overseeing the use of money and the progress of the project.

It’s not that the young king doesn’t believe them. It’s really unpredictable. Ten thousand pounds is a figure that ordinary people can’t achieve in a lifetime. It is very likely to be corrupted. Don’t overestimate the integrity of bureaucrats.

After the money was in place, the entire Everglades area began to be built vigorously.

Because this is a private action of the royal family, most of the workers are farmers from the vicinity of the Great Swamp, who have been used by the king for 30 days.

Thousands of people, under the command of Hebbury, began to build the river channel, which was huge in scale.

...

Devon, Plymouth.

John Hawkins stood on the deck of his family's largest ship, followed by his younger brother William Hawkins, and several strong sailors.

The ship slowly left Plymouth and sailed away from the pier. The sails were hung on the ship. With the sailors waving their oars, the whole ship began to turn, broke through the waves, and began to head for its own destination.

Around him are three large and small armed merchant ships, all of which belong to his family's property.

John Hawkins was born in 1532 in a family of merchants and sailors in Plymouth, Devon, southwest England.

The Hawkins family was a prominent maritime force on the west coast of England at that time, and many members of the family were engaged in overseas business ventures.

Hawkins’ father, William Hawkins, started the maritime trade between Britain and Brazil since 1530, became a well-known businessman at that time, and represented the city of Plymouth in Congress three times.

Unfortunately, the weather was unfavorable. When he was twenty-four years old, his father died of illness. Hawkins, who received sailing training on the family's ship since he was a child, inherited his father's business after his father's death in 1554, inherited the family's fleet, and started a freight business.

He did not engage in business with Brazil like his father. Instead, he took advantage of the improved relationship between England and Spain to start trading with Spain and the Canary Islands, transporting minerals and various necessities of life, which was very profitable.

Through these activities, in less than a year, the wealth of his family has more than doubled.

However, a while ago, he met a Spanish businessman, and a conflict broke out with him. Immediately, his business encountered various difficulties. After a few months, the profit was minimal.

So, he was forced to give up this lucrative opportunity and choose a new business.

At this time, he learned that the Spanish colonists in the West Indies were in urgent need of a large number of slave labor.

The so-called West India refers to the fact that at the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Italian navigator Columbus sailed westward to the Atlantic Ocean four times in order to find a route from Europe to the east, and discovered some islands on the northeast coast of South and North America and the Caribbean Sea. Think India.

Later, after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci arrived on the east coast of South America, he proved that this was a "new continent" unknown to Europeans. Later European colonists called the islands between the South and North American continents "West Indies".

That is the area in Cuba.

After receiving this powerful news, Hawkins immediately decided to abandon the business to Spain and turn to the slave trade to supply slaves to the West Indies.

"John, are we just giving up? This is a very profitable line!"

William Hawkins, who was blowing the sea breeze, turned his head, looked at his elder brother with a vicissitudes of life, and asked softly.

"Of course, my brother!" John Hawkins turned his tanned face, looked at his younger brother who was only eighteen years old, and said affirmatively.

"That shameless Spanish businessman has a wide network of contacts. If he is in Spain for a day, we can't do business. What's the point of doing business without profit?"

Speaking of this, John showed an angry expression on his face. Obviously, losing a way to make money made him very unhappy.

"However, William, if this operation goes well, then—" he said excitedly while biting his lip with his eyes shining, "then, our Hawkins family will return to the glory of our father's time, and even more prosperous !"

And his younger brother William was stunned. He hasn't seen his brother so excited for a long time. The last time was three years ago or five years ago, anyway, it's been a long time.

"William, I contacted five plantation owners in the West Indies, and they promised me that as long as a thousand strong blacks are shipped, they will give us five thousand pounds. This is the lowest price!"

"And what shall we give? Manpower? Ships?"

He saw that his younger brother was in a trance, and then he looked at the undulating sea and said to himself.

"Compared with those profits, these are just insignificant, so what's the point of taking a little risk?"

Finally, he turned towards the sea nervously and shouted loudly, as if he was announcing something.

"As long as it goes well this time, we will keep making profits and become the richest family in England. At that time, even His Majesty the King will know my name. I, John Hawkins, will become a household name in England." !"

(end of this chapter)

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