Chapter 1327 The Vital Thing
"This is the crayfish that Master said, I'm lucky to have found it." Cai He was ready to leave America, but he hadn't found the thing that Master said he must bring back to the New World until yesterday when Yicha finally found this impressive little thing based on Cai He's description.
Crayfish is very important, and Cai He remembered what Master said before he left.
To express his gratitude, Cai He gave Yicha a set of armor. The cost of armor is much more precious than a standard sword. With armor and a sword, Yicha can be said to be invincible in a single fight, and maybe he can become a legend on the American continent.
The fleet is about to set sail again. Fifty female slaves and thirty male slaves stood on the deck of the big ship in horror, looking at the coastline from another angle, and they felt that they couldn't stand steadily.
These thirty male slaves were privately given to Cai He by the owner of the city-state. Of course, Cai He still gave back ten pieces of silk as a gift. Male slaves are also needed, and they can be used as coolies in the future, so it's not a waste.
A Lu was the youngest among the male slaves, only fourteen years old, but he was quite strong. He was in awe of these people from the end of the sea.
The first time he stood on the boat, his legs couldn't help shaking, he was really afraid of his bleak future. He had heard from other slaves that being the city lord's personal slave was a very happy thing, at least he wouldn't be sacrificed alive. But happiness left too quickly, he hadn't been a personal slave for three months when he was given to this group of mysterious guests by the city lord.
I heard that the Qin people came here on the sea city-state to seek the most precious treasure in the world. But A Lu felt that the people on the other side of the sea already had the most precious treasure, so what else was there to look for? A Lu had never seen the kind of material they wore, and of course the food they ate was also delicious that he had never tasted before.
This was happiness. Although A Lu was afraid, if he could eat delicious food every day, he would be willing to go with these Qin people.
Cai He now needs to select a few smart people. He has a lot of things to do and can't always be a translator, so he has to select a few slaves to teach them the Great Qin language, and then the communication and translation will be handed over to them.
A Lu is young and has a smart look, so he was picked by Cai He at first sight. In addition, there are three female slaves who are too young to have sex, and there are four in the first batch.
A Lu was very nervous and didn't know what he was asked to do, but as long as his life was saved, he was willing to do anything.
Cai He explained their future work to them. Although A Lu didn't understand it very well, he was relieved. Although he didn't know what translation was, he knew that only the high priest could write and draw, and translation must be a very glorious profession. It was really incredible that these Qin people wanted to teach the knowledge of the high priest to their slaves.
A Lu was willing to learn, and Cai He taught the simplest communication terms and simple small seal scripts, and the rest depended on them.
The establishment of the sea brothel was mobile, and it would go to a ship for business for two days every once in a while.
The captain provided the business space, and the crew could spend their own wages or food. The slaves naturally had enough to eat, but because they were afraid that they would cause trouble, the food they were given was only the most basic. Of course, they would be willing to have extra meals.
However, starving the slaves was not Cai He's order, but was made by the person in charge of the slave brothel arranged by Cai He for the convenience of management. Cai He did not interfere. As the general leader, he only needed to be responsible for the general situation, and the details were handled by his subordinates.
Compared with female slaves, male slaves had it much easier. A Lu got a position to command the slaves to work in the building ship, which was equivalent to a small leader, because he was the only one who could communicate with people from both sides. The main job of male slaves was to take care of the animals and plants brought back from the American continent, and occasionally they had to work as porters.
"Master Zhang San, what do you want?" A Lu had already learned the Qin language.
"A few boxes of chickens were sent from the poultry ship. Find a few people to move them. No one else is free."
"I will do it immediately." A Lu has now slowly learned to be like a lackey, because life here is even more enjoyable than that of the city lord, and he doesn't want to lose his current status.
A Lu muttered a few words to the slaves, and several strong male slaves stood up. They were a head taller than A Lu, but they obeyed A Lu's orders because A Lu was a popular person in front of the Qin people. They were primitive but not stupid.
The crew on the ship were also accustomed to the existence of slaves, and it was not strange to see them walking around. Some old-timers talked and laughed with A Lu, and always asked A Lu when he would get married.
A Lu already knew a lot of Qin language, and always blushed, and the crew around him laughed. But A Lu was not angry, because these crews who often talked to him often gave him delicious food, and any leftovers in the kitchen would be secretly sent to him.
Sometimes A Lu would share what he couldn't finish, which was also one of the reasons why the slaves were willing to obey orders: following A Lu had meat to eat.
"Eat chicken." A Lu remembered the roasted chicken legs he had eaten some time ago. That was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten. The taste was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and it could slide into the throat without chewing.
"Look, this little slave knows how to eat chicken." The deliveryman laughed when he heard A'lu's words.
The delivery boat will be lifted up by two pulley cranes extending outwards on one side of the building ship. The bow and stern of the boat will be fixed and the whole boat will be lifted to the same level as the deck of the building ship.
When A Lu first came, he was very curious about the device that only required two people to lift a boat, several people and several boxes of goods. He even thought it was the witchcraft of the Qin Dynasty. However, after getting used to it, he knew that it was designed by a person named Mo Jia in the Qin Dynasty, and it was called a mechanism. Because he didn't know what Mo Jia was, he thought Mo Jia was a person.
A Lu has not had the opportunity to go to other places on the building ship yet. His range of activities is basically limited to the deck and the cabin on the bottom floor. He doesn't know what is in the tall building on the deck. But he knows that the supreme ruler of the entire fleet lives at the top of the building, just like the priests who live in the place closest to the sun.
After delivering the things, A Lu looked at the time. There are timed water leaks in many places in the cabin, and the approximate time is determined by looking at the water level of the water tank. Because A Lu is the only slave who can speak the Qin language, he must go to the recorder every day to record the situation of American specialties to see if there are any deaths, rots or damage.
Of course, specialties are more important than slaves, so the location of specialties is on the first floor under the deck, which can be ventilated and exposed to the sun. The slaves live on the bottom floor and can basically only see the sun when they are working.
There are many things brought back from America. Dead things have been sealed, but animals and plants are the main ones. The most important thing is crayfish, of course. Duran specifically asked that they must bring back alive, so Cai He was also very careful.
Although they didn't know what Duran wanted lobsters for, Cai He thought it might be a very important medicine. You see, it's called lobster, which is obviously related to dragons. Moreover, although it's small, it's very majestic. Maybe it has something to do with the emperor.
There are also alpacas, which are stupid and cute. They only know how to eat. The Qin people don't know what it is, but they can bring it back as a good omen.
The recorder doesn't know this thing, and A Lu is not very familiar with it because he is young. However, there are slaves who were originally farmers from other city-states and later became slaves after bankruptcy. He will check and tell A Lu about the situation, and then A Lu will translate the words to the recorder. Repeating every day, A Lu feels that the Qin people are very serious about doing things.
After entering the Atlantic Ocean, the fleet is faster. Cai He knows that there will be more civilizations waiting for him to communicate next time. According to Duran's request, he needs to bring back various local documents and some architects.
The work in the sea was boring, but A Lu enjoyed it because there were too many things waiting for him to discover in this huge sea city-state, and he could learn a lot from the people of Daqin around him every day. Unknowingly, they had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and were about to enter a new civilization.