the spicy spice trade II

400 power stones, and I'll give you an extra chapter.(considering the previous 200)

here the extra chapter

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Johann von Rügen POV

A few hours after setting sail, we were getting into a good rhythm, the wind was in our favor, which made our trip go faster than expected.

It was a pleasure to see how my sailors were working hard, hours of arduous training had paid off and at least I did my part so that they could return alive after this trip with full pockets.

We still had to leave the area, but for the time being we guided ourselves using the coast when we reached old town would be the last time we would see land until we reached the summer islands.

When finally everything seemed to go well, I decided to go to my cabin to start preparing the elements to sail at night.

''officer I entrust you the ship, took the helm, I'm going to get my compass and the Prussian charts'' I said to my assistant

''yes my admiral'' said the man while he took the helm.

I went to my room where I had these tools and began to lay them out, as they would be of much use at night so that we could sail all the time at night and reach our destination faster.

When I finished arranging my worktable I decided to go to the hold to see if the cook could adapt to cooking at sea for many this will be the first time they will be sailing as well as sleeping and eating on the ship.

Especially the biggest problem will be the food, since on land they were obviously used to Prussian military rations, fresh food that is at most 1 day old since it was prepared.

But on this ship we carry some biscuit that are extremely hard, there is almost no difference in biting a stone than eating the biscuit, but the benefit that they rarely rot and this would be important, as feeding 9000 men at sea would be a very difficult task.

The other thing could be to catch some fish while sailing, we bring nets so that in case of need, we can fish from the sea, but everything has its risk, sometimes you can catch a poisonous fish and that could cost the life of a good group of the crew, so fishing is always the last option unless the fish is recognizable it is not usually eaten and left to rot to see if the flies come near it if they do it is not poisonous and can be eaten, this is something that the king's biologists will have to report.

A lot of this experience is learned the hard way because if you don't watch a colleague die from a stomach illness everyone thinks you are overreacting, unfortunately I also learned it this way.

''how are the supplies we took on board the ship?'', I said, asking the cook.

''mhh they are in good condition, let's hope they don't get full of bugs too soon'' said the cook

''same here no one likes to eat oatmeal with any other insects'' I said showing a disgusted face

''remember, any problems that occur with the food must be reported immediately'' I said, showing him a smile.

''Yes Admiral if anything happens you will be informed'' said the cook who was going back to work.

When I was about to return to the helm, I found the merchant who will serve us as translator and assistant in this expedition sitting at a table

''Baldric, I hope your stay on this ship will be in accordance with your expectations'' I said kindly to the merchant.

''thank you, Lord Johann, I am very pleased with my room, I never thought that something so big could float'' said the merchant smiling.

''the wonders of shipbuilding developed by the Prussian engineers'' I said, laughing.

''I see how much cargo this ship can carry'', asked the merchant, intrigued.

''about 1500 tons in weight, so one can carry huge amounts of materials'' I said as I walked to sit next to him.

''I see it is far superior to a galley, mhh the king intends to sell these ships?'', asked the merchant.

''no, they are for the exclusive use of the Prussian navy'' I said serenely.

''a pity I would like to have one of these, as it would make it very difficult for the pirates to board this ship'' said the merchant a little sadly

''yes the ship is made for naval combat and the crew trained to fight at any time with any threat that tries to prevent this trading expedition from being successful'' I said proudly

''I wish I had had a crew that wouldn't give up their weapons so easily'' said Baldric angrily.

''oh I have knowledge about your story, but I am interested, in knowing what happened if you have no problem in telling me'' I said politely

''my story is about bad luck, after many years of good fortune, I started with a galley that I had inherited from my father, he was only dedicated to buy iron in the valley of Arryn and sell it in the capital of the seven kingdoms and when I took command of the ship I decided to do more risky ventures, but much more lucrative'' said the merchant sadly.

After a long sigh, he told again his story

''I dedicated myself to trade with essos, one can make a lot of gold if you sell objects that are manufactured in essos to the seven kingdoms, the tyrosh dyes, the Myr glassware, but now the Prussian glassware is more popular for its better quality, but anyway for many years it was my life from essos to the seven kingdoms many times a year, until I managed to make a fortune and I already had 5 ships with which I dedicated myself to trade, but I decided to make an even bigger bet the spice trade'' the merchant said slowly.

The merchant stared at me for a while and decided to continue

''when we first arrived in Walano I was amazed by the architecture of the area and its customs that would leave the people of Dorne as conservatives, it was there that I made my first deal with spice, and it was also one of the worst, I was scammed, I bought many barrels of pepper and cinnamon that I thought to sell in the capital and when I traveled back, I realized that half of the barrels were full of sand. For when we opened them to check these had the product only on top, which greatly reduced the profit I expected; even so, I made a lot of gold with all that I earned I had begun to invest in better and new ships because the ones I had were second hand, and so I traded for about 3 years with the summer islands until my misfortune occurred'' said the merchant while gritting his teeth.

''I had filled my holds with spices jewels and ivory, I had taken a night route as usual to avoid the pirates, but they already knew what we were carrying because one of my sailors gave him the information when we set sail, and it was not difficult for the pirates to find us at night, It should be said little that my crew were veteran sailors, but not warriors only 3 pirate ships managed to overtake us quickly, I did not know what to do and decided to leave my sailors to their fate and escape on my ship while the pirates were busy plundering the rest of my fleet'' said sadly the merchant.

''when I got to the capital we found out why they attacked us, as we found the snitch trying to collect his share with some local pirates, just say he sleeps with the fishes now, but I had lost years of work in a single day I was as I started 1 single ship and some gold, so I decide to start over and went back to trading in essos and the seven kingdoms until I decided to go buy glassware from Neu Danzig and when I sold some stuff a quartermaster asked me if I had been to the summer isles and if I speak their language and that's how I got here''said the merchant.

''a sad story indeed'' I said sincerely.

''you don't have to be sorry, I was a greedy idiot, I filled my ships with goods, but I didn't protect them as I should have'' said the merchant with a small smile.

''that's terrible Baldric, your dreams broken by those pirate scum and by sailors with no loyalty and no honor, I can't even imagine the pain you must have felt, all that you worked hard to end up in the hands of those vermin that fill the seas'' I said angrily

''but I'm still alive and that's all that matters, it only hurts me that I left behind such good sailors because I'm a coward'' said Baldric sadly

''but you are right, you are still alive, and now you have your chance again and this time you will be protected by trained sailors, if those pirates try again they will feel the power of the Prussian steel'' I said clenching my fists

''I thank you for your concern, I just hope everything goes well this time, it would be rare for pirates to attack such a force, pirates prefer only lone targets or small groups, 30 ships is too many even for the craziest of them all'' said the merchant.

''yes you are right it would be very strange if they attacked us and especially because of the intimidation it must be to see a ship much bigger than the ones they have ever seen in their lives, thank you for telling your story I would like to keep talking, but I must remain vigilant'' I said as I got up to leave.

''thank you so much, it's been quite some time since I've talked about this'' said the merchant.

I simply nodded and went back to guiding the boat.

After a few hours, we saw the image of old town in the distance as we sailed quickly towards the summer islands.

I had kept my men on constant alert, this mission is too important to fail, we are carrying tons of gold and tons of goods valued at millions of golden dragons.

As the mission was not kept very secret as we were looking for possible investors, someone might have provided information about our cargo and being honest there are men crazy enough to try to steal it, as it is the amount of gold that can turn a simple pirate into one of the richest men in the world

we just have to be vigilant, we cannot be surprised by any threat and everything will be fine.

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