The apprentice blacksmiths looked at the silver bar on the ground.
Joao, the youngest, said to the master blacksmith:
"How much to remelt this ingot and reforge it into smaller portions of a little more than 2 libras each, a tiny bit more? and also "
He put his hand in his pocket, and took out a small piece of parchment: with symbols for the master blacksmith and his disciples scribbled:
二斤足银龍 (translation: two jins of pure silver, dragon. )
The master blacksmith took the piece of parchment and looked at the scribbles, trying to understand its contents.
"Is it from extreme Asia?"
Joao and Luis did not hide their surprise at the question and Luis replied that 'you indeed are knowlegable'.
Then the master blacksmith looked at the punch on the silver ingot. Although they don't know all the details: it is certain that this money comes from Spain, or from its colonies....
The Master Blacksmith took a deep breath as he crouched down examining the ingot
"For my discretion, this will be included with the payment, I vouch for each of these disciples, as well as for their total and absolute discretion. He took on his most menacing face he had taken for years for the disicples, turned to each of them, making this gesture a matter of life and death to remain very discreet about this transaction.
It was during this privileged moment that they shared that a new customer appeared.
"Maestre Domingos Ferrabras! What is the status of the sword I ordered from you?"
"Ha Dom Estavao, I'm laying the ornamental stones for your sword, a difficult part," he put one of his rags on the silver bar while answering and carrying it to one of the anvils in the workshop and depositing it there.
The disciples bowed and greeted each while Joao and Luis nodded their heads, "Dom", acknowledging the nobleman's arrival at the workshop.
If something goes their way, it will now be difficult for them to kill all the disciples and other fine talkers in this workshop. But the master blacksmith seems trustworthy.
One of the dsciple went straight to get the sword being finished to show it to Dom Estavao:
"Your Grace, Dom Estevao, Under your benevolent auspices, this is the work that embodies the nobless and power that you inspire. This blade, forged in the purest fire, testifies to the perfect fusion between strength and finesse.
Look at these precious stones, carefully encrusted, glittering like the stars honoring the night, a few more to be placed."
The disciple pointed out some places on the sword where the stones remained to be embedded. While continuing:
"Their brilliance pays homage to your illustrious rank and luminous wisdom. The fine gold finish, applied with god-worthy meticulousness this sword has an imperial aura. It is not just a weapon, but a symbol: a reflection of your greatness and heritage. Useful not only in battle, but also as an everlasting mark of your House. "
This speech of praise provoked a sort of desire to vomit in Joao, while Luis looked a little amused, As for Dom Estavao, he seemed very satisfied.
Overcoming his urge to vomit, Joao thought that here they seem to understand their clientele, especially this master blacksmith Domingos Febrarras.
All of a sudden, a comparison surprised him, is that prostitution? A little bit anyway? No? Before shaking his head, to move on to another subject of interest, it made him think so much of the other night...
Domingos talked with Dom Estevao for a few minutes about the details of the sword. Dom Estavao therefore came out of the workshop very satisfied.
Domingos returned to Joao and Luis after Dom Estevao left:
So I guess the acronyms are for 'punching the ingots, so, a little more than 2 libras each ingot, possibly the same weight. It will be quite easy, except for punching. How mcuh silver all in all? Discretion guaranteed, as you can see, I also have to work discreetly sometimes, Dom Estevao ordered this sword to impress the gallery, and does not want it to be known before showing it to his peers"
"2300 silver libras (more than a ton)" replied Joao, maybe more.
The master blacksmith took on an appearance of surprise masterfully dissimulated, as if overtaken by the amount that such a quantity represents, not being able to help but think of the theft of Seville... - so they would have been caught? Ha! It's to save their glory in fact, the Spaniards will probably look for them anyway. -
"Yes, in a few days. Maybe it would be better to do it a little further away from Lisboa, unless you decide otherwise."
Luis replied: "This one already, then we buy you a place a little away from lisboa for the rest"
"Ok, that's how we do it.
"Do you already have a place in mind to proceed with the melting and punching?"
"Yes, I will show you in a few days, a week the time to finish the current orders, and to make the punch and we can start"
Joao replied a little irritated: "First the punches from this ingot" if the result is satisfactory, then we can do the rest, and the pay will be better.
The master blacksmith looked at him, observing Luis in peripheral vision, who is also looking at him.
"Okay," Domingos replied simply.
Joao looked at him again.
"How long does it take for this bar and the hallmark?"
"For the recasting of the ingots, it can be done today, for the punching, I have to make the sculpture of these signs, so probably, 3 or 4 days to carry out this correctly, taking into account the orders in progress, in a week duration with a few more hours of work. What do you say ? "
Luis looked at Joao who nodded at him.
"A week, alright, as for the meaning of the symbols ?" 2 jins" "pure silver", and Dragon. It is a signature often used in Cathay ( china name in portugal in 1650 ), in the trading towns of the interior of their territory. "
"As for the payroll, you won't be disappointed, if the reals don't disappoint you, that said"
"Hahahaha!! No, the reals don't disappoint me"
They did not sign contracts. Some discretionary agreements simply cannot be signed. They agreed to meet a week later.
The day was coming to an end in this suburb of Lisboa. Joao and Luis left the bar at the blacksmith's.
Before heading out of the urban area. Checking their backs, whenever they have made a mistake in the evaluation of the master blacksmith or his disciples. But they didn't notice anything extraordinary.
They slept in the fields that night.
A week to wait.
"Ha! To avoid the tax traps, I find no other reason for this blacksmith to make a request to change workshop than this one"
"This is probably the case. In any case, tomorrow prospecting with the chasers tomorrow, and also with the traders, and possibly a ship to buy second-hand, ready all armed, all repaired with a crew that only wants to work for us"
"For us?"
"yes for us, not with us, but for us, I had to put that upfront a little bit as we are more in a hierarchy here than as pirates"
"As an honest Portuguese trader, whose activities are advantageous to those who are with them"
" hahaha!! Out my lines in my face!!"
"hahahaha"
After this brief exchange the two companions went back to work to make a fire, and make a small meal before camping in the open air in the middle of the Lisbon countryside.
_____
"Maester, what are we doing here?"
"It's simple, we're going to do the work for these two in less than a week, and so: we're working tonight too"
"But anyway maestre, we don't even know where the ingots come from, not that it concerns me but maybe by denouncing them to the farmer, we can get a bonus"
The best you would have, dear disciples, perfectly honest, is blows with sticks, possibly accusations of fraud to the farmer, a severed head and the farmer who gets ready to take all the silver, and, in my opinion there are more than 2500 libras... So, we're going to get the work done, and these guys, coming from far Asia, and given these ... They also went to Cathay, which implies that they have the means to explain the origin of the ingots"
"But then why would they do that? Is it only to evade taxes? "
" Ha.. Take this," handing him a mold to begin to make a first approximate punch, which the disciple seizes, continues his work and discusses
"Mestre, would it be to avoid taxes then?"
"No, this is what I think: they brought back from Cathay or India precious stones, and on the way either they were hacked or a storm took many of their own, did you put some attention to the fact that they were ready to kill us if the negotiations did not go as they wanted?"
Startled the disciple replied, frightened: 'Ready to kill us? But.. But... and the farmer would simply put us all to death to gain more ?????"
"Exactly, ready to kill us, them, the farmer, and that means they were also doing piracy or something like that in Cathay, so better work with them"
The small metal blows follow the movement of the master blacksmith with his hammer and his sciseler on the mold for the second attempt to make the awl.
"To make it all easier for you dear disciple, These guys are dangerous, they have experience in killings, they have a lot of money, and they probably don't want to get into trouble with the authorities here, as some kind of project, the maester breaths before continuing, or dream."
Haha laughed the disciple: "yes, a dream ? Maybe becoming nobles in Brazil? "
"Yes maybe," replied the maester before continuing, "then they will pay quite handsomely to avoid any trouble in Portugal."
"Hum," replied the disciple before continuing his work.
65 silver ingots lie on the ground, about 1 kg each (a little more than 2 Libra)
The ingot that Joao had thrown on the ground at the beginning of the afternoon, has already been melted down into ingots of the required size, only missing the hallmarking, a fortiori from Cathay.
_______
After visiting many moneychangers, and merchants, to grease some palms, to get informations about who does what, who is in relation with whom, who would sell them an armed Galleon almost new, tonnage oriented, and their cargoes
Luis and Joao found an Inn to spend the night, obviously the master blacksmith has no intention of denouncing their operation.
_____
28 mars 1649
For Joao, this is the first time to carry out a convoy looting.
Previously, their former captain did not hesitate to attack European ships, but Joao has a different approach: Only Asian ships. First of all, because the quality of the ships is lower, and the morale of the crews is lower, and above all their cargoes are as profitable as those of Western ships.
Nevertheless, the stress of directing the operation is there.
The boats drift with the wind: Objective: Sink the escorts, and pulverize the sails of the two transport ships
For that, the 4 brigantines are ideal: faster and easier to maneuver than their counterpart of cathay probablament, or others
Joao commands the cannoneing signals to the two brigantines, distance test fire.
A few seconds of preparation:
Booom! Boom!
Two brigantines launch their test shots which hit two different escort junks with full force making two large holes in their hulls: surprisingly, the hulls start to crack and the water to enter
Pietro arrives slamming Joao's back! "Hahahaha!! And it's only test firings!!! "
"They just had to take the warning shots seriously," Joao replies, hiding his stress and his racing heart before continuing
"In a few hours at best, tomorrow morning at worst, they will surrender"
"Unless we lose them during the night..." throwed Rui like a moral undermining ball ....
Joao and Pietro turned to him, looking at him strangely
It won't even take a few hours at this rate... It's harder than I thought not to sink them -
The boats continue to sail, it's like a boarding but in slow motion, everything is off, like wielding a sword whose opponent can distinguish all the movements. Unless those guys are completly suicidal, they will surrender, their two escorts have been sunk by one ball each, and in addition in an unexpected way, especially for the two opponents.
João begins to wonder about the contents of these two junks with so few cannons, with poorly maintained boats, it would be surprising if they had an interesting cargo.
It was then that one of the transport boats lowered its sails and used lanterns despite the sun, as if moving to the sound of a certain music, the other boat did the same a few minutes later.
Surrender. Some of the sailors began to wave parts of the lowered sails.
Total surrender! Earned!
Joao directed the two boarding ships to the two junks, accompanied by a brigantine each.
For the "cargo exchange" he ordered the other two brigantines to fish out the surviving sailors of the two junks already sunk in a few minutes.
Their first successful hack with their new captain. The booty was much better than Joao had estimated: precious stones, various spices, and some silk fabrics.
All in all, around 400 tonneaux of loot. And they handed over the sailors to their prey, while releasing them, better they can make a coe back, easy to loot anyways.
For Joao, there was no point in continuing to pirate in this area, and considered that instead of going to Macau, the nearest trading post to exchange this loot, he decided that going to Cochin would be more profitable.
It was then that the piracy-traders mark began for this crew.
Commercial round trips from Cochin to Macau, certainly had little added value and the risk of being attacked by other pirates, but it also gave a semblance of rest, while still plundering whenever possible.
In all: nearly 250,000 reals for this looting, enough to buy a few more brigantines, to treat themselves, to fill the holds with other spices and other textiles as well as weapons bought from merchants arriving from Europe.
The trade was not very profitable, but explained to the authorities the origin of the fortune obtained by ... other means. At any rate, as they got their share of it, they found it quite honest, for such traders.
_____
26 mars 1652
Luis had the intuition that Mestre Domingos would be ahead, and Luis' intuitions often turned out to be more than just intuitions; Joao decided to visit the blacksmith.
Arriving at the forge, one of the disciples stood as if he were dealing with nobles. Deference, not in the surplus, but with respect.
And led them to Mestre Domingos.
"Hello" said Luis, particularly enthusiastic this morning.
The Maester turned to the origin of the sound, after having fine-tuned some details of the inlay on Dom Estaevao's sword.
"Ha! It's you! Nice to see you again, I've finished, at least so i think, i was sure you come early "
He led them to a small, secluded storage room.
"There you go: the ingots are all already ready, and do the dimensions suit you?, and also the hallmark, I preferred to wait for your opinion before marking the ingots"
Joao looked at the hallmark: almost of original cathay, enough to fool a Jesuit who would have gone to Lijiang.
二斤纯银龍 Almost that, 2 jins of pure silver, dragon.
Joao counted the ingots: 65, instead of the 55 he had estimated, 10 kg more than he thought. Vanr d cast a questioning look at Luis.
Luis nodded
And Joao says: "Then all that remains is to punch them."
Immediately the Maester rubbed his hands, wearing a broad smile – Ha! The ninth attempt was the right one as I thought it would be!! -
He struck the 65 ingots with the stamp: 二斤纯银龍 on the bottom.
While Joao and Luis sat down and watched him ingot after ingot, hammer blow after hammer blow. 65 retakes later
As the maester was about to start the discussion, Joao began:
"So what building do you want to buy to do the same with the rest?"
"Hahaha! Exactly the question I was waiting for! "
_____
"That's it"
Joao looked at Luis, perplexed.
Luis looked at Joao just as perplexed: the building next door.
"It's .... a joke?"
"No!! It's.... Ahem.... a necessary expansion"
"That.... lack of discretion..."
"Yes and no, that's for the expansion like a veil to the eyes of the public, the building for the ingots will be away from Lisbon, and I will do some fitting out for my 'new workshop'"
Joao looked at Luis amused, but Luis found that the Maester's request was a little... excessive, his expression as readable as an open book, leaving Joao to decide.
"Okay, the current owner just has to be a seller," Joao replied succinctly, before adding, "Besides, I haven't seen any muskets in your workshop."
"Ha! muskets, in such a high demand everywhere! When I finish one, it's already sold and delivered... " replied the blacksmith
"A long time ago, it was in Goa I think, I had observed a weaver activating a wheel to turn the thread, and I wondered for a long time why did the musket barrels the craftsmen didn't use forest turners of the same equipment to dig through iron bars, maybe you would have the answer?"
The Maester, was a little surprised, first by the ultra-quick agreement he had obtained from the young man, and his suggestion – drill the cannon manually with a forest rotation system instead? - he seemed to think of this proposal, as already being able to visualize and analyze the difficulties and advantages, maybe some of his competitors are already using this method?
Joao interrupted his thoughts
"I'm not going to hide it from you: I'm thinking of getting into the musket business, but for the moment it would mainly amount to sponsoring the war with Spain and Holland."
"Hahaha! Maestre Febrarras laughed, and would you like us to sponsor the muskets together? "
"Wouldn't that be interesting?"
"It could also attract some jealousy"
"Not if I claim the financing, and especially if you can produce more muskets more quickly, despite the fact that I am not a blacksmith, I think that this type of forestry, with some standardization such as the coins, for certain musket parts or all, would make it possible to produce more , more quickly, with less loss of materials, like these makeshift repairs at sea, which hold up better than new constructions, because the craftsmen know exactly what they are dealing with"
"Yes indeed, in any case while we are changing the ingot, we will be able to study this system of rotating forests."
"Seller or not the owner of this workshop ?" asked Luis
Surprised by the question, the maester smiled and quickly replied: "Ha! That's for sure seller! He is late in paying his taxes to the farmer! "
Joao looked at Luis, shaking his head... Luis also seemed disappointed that the farmers continued with some of their nonsense.
_( to understand "tax farmers" if you want to know more: wiki(pedia)/Farm_(revenue_leasing) )_