Reborn As a Pirate

"This is... our new flagship?"

The next day, under the leadership of Lorraine, the sailors boarded the newly refurbished Butterfly.

At yesterday's dinner, Lorraine officially announced the plan for the first phase of the Chamber of Commerce, and at the same time carried out a fleet-style reorganization of existing ships.

The flagship was officially transferred to the Butterfly.

As a Brigantine-type two-masted mixed sailboat with standard firepower configuration, the Butterfly is 30 meters long, 8 meters wide, and has two masts.

The front mast is 20 meters, equipped with horizontal sails, the main mast is 22 meters, equipped with vertical sails, and there are four triangular bow sails and two sails between the masts.

The huge and comprehensive sail and the slender and sharp-bottomed hull make it squeeze into the ranks of high-speed ships. It can maintain a high speed of 12 knots with a downwind and four to five knots with a headwind.

She has five decks, two inner decks, one main deck and two upper decks.

The bottom layer is a watertight cabin, most of which is below the waterline, and is often used as a material and cargo hold.

The middle gun deck is equipped with 10 nine-pound long-range guns, 5 on each side.

The upper main deck is equipped with 8 six-pound long-range guns, which are stored in the bow cabin at ordinary times, and are only pushed onto the deck during wartime.

The bow compartment is a double-layer structure.

The upper deck was used as a gun bay, and Lorraine moved the Scott ballista on the upper deck. After all, this antique weapon has become a symbol of Lorraine, and Lorraine is not used to seeing it for a day.

The lower level was built on the gun deck and was used as a chicken coop and sheep pen. Although offshore shipping does not require raw poultry farming, Lorraine will not nest in the offshore all the time, and Hannah likes small animals very much.

The stern cabin has three floors.

The lowest layer is also set on the gun deck, which is the stern gun compartment, equipped with two six-pound short-range guns. The sleeping quarters of Cron and Ramos, as well as the boatman's workshop are also placed on this floor.

The middle layer has the dining cabin, the kitchen cabin, the sleeping cabins of Pierce and Noah, and two empty cabins, which are temporarily used as food storage and divination rooms.

Noah's Tarot divination was very popular among sailors. Under the premise that the priest was unwilling to board Lorraine's ship, it faintly replaced the function of the confessional and became the core of the sailors' spiritual comfort.

The upper deck is undoubtedly the sleeping cabin of Lorraine and Henna. This is the power core of the whole ship, and the steering wheel is placed on the upper deck above their heads.

The duties of seafarers have also been slightly adjusted.

The captain is naturally Lorraine, Henna is the first mate and helmsman, Karen is the third mate, boatman and sail master, and Noah is still just a fortune teller.

Pierce grew up a bit, and gradually showed his talent for good eyesight. Now, in addition to his duties as the second intern and chef, he has also added the label of lookout.

Ramos boarded a ship for the first time as a seaman.

Before retiring, he was the gunner of the Royal Navy's HMS War Intent. This time he boarded the ship because the Butterfly needed professional gunners to control the artillery and help Lorraine share the pressure.

Lorraine divided the ships of the Chamber of Commerce into two fleets.

The First Fleet, the flagship Butterfly, consists of the Artis Beauty and the Beverly Merchant, which are mainly engaged in the route from the British Isle to the Iberian Peninsula. Admiral Lorraine is appointed as himself, and the post of deputy admiral is handed over to Ramos .

The second fleet, the flagship Clover, consists of the Cavill Drunkard and the Northrend Knight, mainly operating the relatively comfortable British Isle to Scandinavia route, Admiral Eddie.

The two fleets will continue to rely on the three black ports, and gradually shift their focus to the four major ports of Edinburgh, Southampton, Stavanger, and Bilbao on the premise of stable profits.

May 1, 1778, Port Elgin, Scotland.

The newly refurbished Drake Chamber of Commerce deliberately chose to sail at the beginning of the month, because in the far east, this day is different from every day of the month, and it symbolizes a new beginning.

It was a cloudy day, but the wind and waves were calm. The Butterfly put away the anchors on both sides, and was pushed by the shore waves, and slowly retreated into the wide sea.

Noah knelt on the bow, spreading out her silver tarot behind Lorraine.

"Choose one, my captain."

"Today is May 1st, I choose the fifth picture from left to right."

Noah gently pulled out the cards, flipped them over, and laid them flat on the deck.

"Number I, the upright magician. Mercury has bright eyes and a confident smile, symbolizing new beginnings and changing forms. You have great strength and skillful skills, they will help you, and you will realize your ambitions .”

Lorraine smiled and bowed: "It's a blatant blessing, my Miss Fortune Teller."

"Everything is a choice of fate, Captain."

"thanks."

Pierce ripped off his hood on the lookout: "Wind south-southwest, four knots, stroke!"

Keren laughed and shouted to the sailors at the top of his voice: "Half sail, gentlemen! Run on the deck!"

The sails of the Butterfly were raised slowly, and Henna turned the handwheel, and the slender hull moved across the bow in an arc, posing with the Artis Beauty and the Beverly Merchant.

Lorraine's boots stepped on the guardrail of the bow, and he drew out his long knife with a clang: "Raise the flag of the Chamber of Commerce! Target Bermeo, the first fleet of the Drake Chamber of Commerce, set sail!"

...

In a flash, more than three months.

West Wharf is the largest port in Southampton, and Herbert Walker Street is the main street of West Wharf Port Area.

No. 79 Herbert Walker Street is a small three-story building with red brick walls, facing the street, without a courtyard.

This is the new headquarters of the Drake Chamber of Commerce. In terms of function, it has been officially separated from the trading house in the port area. It is mainly used to handle the administrative affairs of the Chamber of Commerce and provide a place for Lorraine and his sailors to rest on land.

The development of the Chamber of Commerce went smoothly. After assembling the powerful Brigantine, the first and second fleets never encountered pirate attacks again.

Fully loaded and fully equipped, the sailors' gunnery skills are becoming more and more proficient. The Butterfly is undoubtedly powerful in offshore waters.

Although the strength of the Clover is two or three grades lower, it will not be a target that pirates are willing to provoke easily in the Northern Sea Route, which is far more comfortable than the Cantabrian Sea.

Anwen is the Chamber of Commerce's best friend.

In three months, the Drake Chamber of Commerce developed rapidly. It successively took down the trade licenses of Spain, Wales, and Denmark. While extending its tentacles into the Baltic Sea, it also officially shifted the center of gravity of the Chamber of Commerce from the original three black ports to the bustling Dagang.

Stavanger, Norway, Copenhagen, Denmark, Edinburgh, Scotland, Cardiff, Wales, Southampton, England, Bilbao, Basque Country and Gijon, Spain.

The seven major ports together constitute an upgraded version of the Northwest Europe Triangle trade chain, with monthly profits rising steadily, and the core of it is Southampton.

That's why Lorraine established the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce in this civilian port city with the strongest commercial atmosphere in southern England.

This time, Lorraine and Noah are scheduled to take a break on the voyage.

The carefree Noah arranged a short trip to Alminsk for herself early on, and planned to use her dividends in exchange for a comfortable hand-woven floral carpet to decorate the brand new divination room during the holiday.

Lorraine didn't have that kind of luck. Apart from being a sailor, he was also the president of the chamber of commerce. He couldn't be idle until the chamber of commerce was on the right track.

Taking a sip of the fragrant Colombian coffee, Lorraine rubbed his brows and spread out the accounts of the chamber of commerce.

The development is very gratifying.

The markets of Denmark, Wales, England, and Spain do not need to share profits with partners, and the tax rate of formal big ports is much lower than that of black ports. Many benefits are pooled in one place, and profits grow very fast.

Throughout July, after excluding all expenses and profit sharing, the General Chamber of Commerce’s profit officially reached the 2,000 pound mark, Lorraine accounted for 60%, and could get 1,200 pounds for himself, Pierce 200 pounds, and the four sailors shared 600 pounds equally. This month alone, There is a profit of 150 pounds per person.

Now he has 4,270 pounds in cash, and the goods in the warehouse and on the ship are worth nearly 6,000 pounds. By November, he will be able to fully equip the Clover.

Just is it necessary?

For the current Drake Chamber of Commerce, the situation in Beihai is relatively stable.

They have a good friendship with the powerful Vikings, and the Clover, all six-pounders, has enough deterrence there, and it seems that there is no need to rush to upgrade the firepower.

The money can go to a better place, such as adding two high-quality and cheap Cage-type schooners as the coastal transshipment fleet of the British Isle to improve the business efficiency of the two fleets.

Or upgrade to another level, instead of Cage, directly use the mixed-sail Schooner type with a larger cargo capacity and much faster speed?

Because there is basically no need to deploy artillery along the coastline of the British Isle, the cost of two mixed-sail Skuners is only 2,400 pounds.

Form a transshipment fleet, recruit a steady and steady admiral, and open up the Irish market. After all, Dublin has always been a coveted port...

The more I think about it, the more I feel that this direction of development is good...

Lorraine was hesitating whether to go to Plymouth immediately to settle the matter, when Miss Zhenna, who had been promoted to secretary of the general meeting, knocked on the door suddenly and came in.

Lorraine frowned: "Miss Zhenna, what's the matter?"

"An urgent letter from Bilbao, Mr. President." Zhenna put a sealed letter box on Lorraine's desk with a blushing face, and breathed out, "Miss Xavier said, I hope you will be in the first place." Time to read the letter and make a decision as soon as possible."