Spain was the first country to open a new sea route and explore overseas colonies. In the whole 16 and 17 centuries, it controlled the maritime traffic arteries and the world colonial hegemony, and was a prominent power for a while. At that time, world capitalism developed rapidly, and the bourgeoisie actively expanded abroad in order to accumulate capital and plunder the labor force and commodity market. Emerging capitalist countries such as Britain, France and the Netherlands compete fiercely with established colonial empires such as Spain and Portugal at sea. The Queen of England directly encouraged pirates to rob and shared the stolen goods with them. The main target of British pirates is the Royal Spanish Gold Fleet. The task of this fleet is to continuously transport gold and silver wealth and rare treasures to China. Ships or fleets sailing from colonies in the New World of America to Spain always return with full loads. Such a voyage is very dangerous, and the Spaniards are not unaware of it, so they are equipped with heavy guns and a lot of ammunition. But where can there be gold and jewels in cold and heavy guns and ammunition? Instead of carrying so many useless things, it is better to carry more gold and welfare. The hard work of captains and sailors cannot be in vain, and it is far from enough to rely on the meager remuneration of the royal family.
If you are lucky enough to return to Europe smoothly, then gold is indeed more precious than ammunition, but in the vast sea, everything is still uncertain. If a storm comes, both may be a burden; If robbers come, ammunition is far more important than gold. But everyone wants his lucky star to shine high and set out with luck to find hope.
Maybe it's really a blessing from heaven. Pirates with blue eyes have been roaming the blue sea for hundreds of years, and the pirate flag with skull has been fluttering in the wind in the sea with mixed fish and bones. This team can be said to be just fugitives, or it may be some brave people who love freedom. Call them greedy, bloody and cruel, or rob the rich to help the poor, but in people's legends for hundreds of years, pirates and their mysterious treasures are always the most beautiful and beautiful topics.
Pirate capital
In order to encourage British pirates to plunder the Royal Spanish Gold Fleet, the British government specially opened the Royal Port on the east coast of British Jamaica as a base for pirates, allowing them to openly gather, trade and transfer goods here to protect them from attacks. The pirates were very happy. They came here to set up their stronghold. Port Royal soon became a veritable "Pirate Capital", where the world-famous pirate gangs once lived.
This move by the British government has been praised by pirates, but it has attracted criticism from the world. People call the "Pirate Capital" the "Evil Capital" and "Fallen Capital" and avoid it. The British government has its own ideas: on the one hand, it encourages pirates to attack the Spanish royal family, on the other hand, it concentrates pirates in one place for easy control.
The public identity of Port Royal is the capital of British Jamaica, with only tens of thousands of residents, compared with about 10,000 pirates in the past. The treasures they plundered can be freely converted into legal tender or auctioned in public here, so there are bustling crowds on the dock every day, laughing and laughing, and the living standard of urban residents far exceeds that of London or Paris at that time. There is no farming and no work here, but you can see industrial and agricultural products and luxury goods from all over the world here. The pirate ships lined up on the dock and the agents of the world's major banks in the city are the commercial and economic sources of this city.
sea-burial
Perhaps the great wealth of "Pirate Capital" makes Satan jealous, or the evil of "Pirate Capital" makes God hate it. This unprecedented pirate city was finally destroyed dramatically in a big earthquake. It was1June 7, 692, and Port Royal was still busy and noisy as usual. Ships are constantly flowing, the jewelry market is full of people, people in the street are in a hurry, and the clerk greets the guests happily. Everything is as usual. At noon, people come to large and small shops to drink water, eat snacks, and shake their hats or towels to avoid the sinister sunshine.
Suddenly, the ground shook violently under your feet. At first, people thought it was an accident nearby, such as building collapse or ship collision. When they squeezed out, it was true that a building collapsed, and it was true that large and small ships were crowded together, but it was not just that-the ground cracked a long crack and the sea water poured out immediately. People can't stand under the impact of the sea water and fall into the water one by one. Only then did people realize that the earthquake was coming, and the intensity was very strong, so they had to run for their lives. The people in the house rushed into the street and ran to the empty highland with the people in the street. However, in the second earthquake, the cracks widened and the ground sank, and almost all urban buildings fell into the roaring sea, and those who had no time to escape were swept away by the angry waves. Port Royal has since disappeared into the vast sea. ...
If it is a calm day, people passing by by boat can still vaguely see the remnants of the city in the dark blue sea, and the nearest building is 1 1 meter deep. Hundreds of years of wind and waves, full of sediment and seaweed, it is difficult for people to recognize this as the once brilliant pirate capital.
Looking for treasures
The Jamaican government has never given up looking for and digging this city buried in the sea. 1959 signed a contract with the famous archaeologist Robert Marx to support his scientific investigation activities in Port Royal. In the following four years, Robert explored and excavated some urban sites, and found millions of dollars worth of jewelry and various daily necessities, and also found a historic pocket watch. The pointer points to 1 1: 47, which provides a basis for people to understand the time and situation of the earthquake at that time. 1963, Robert's contract with the Jamaican government had not expired, but he suddenly left Port Royal on the pretext that he could not dig up the treasure. People certainly won't believe his excuse, but they still can't figure out why he left suddenly when everything was going well. Helpless, the Jamaican government had to start looking for new partners.
Submarine sinking 1990, Jamaica invited A &；; The expert group of M University continued to survey Port Royal, and the experts delineated the main scope of port subsidence, but did not excavate it. Until 1999, an American treasure-hunting company named "Admoretti" tried its best to get a license from the Jamaican government. After five years of careful planning and preparation, it went to the ruins of Port Royal in 2004, claiming to salvage all the more than 300 sunken ships in the nearby waters. They are optimistic that the total value of all the treasures on board can reach billions of dollars, but they claim that their purpose is not for gold and silver treasures, not to rob the treasures on the seabed. Of course, they need money and rewards, and they will meticulously look for every gold on the seabed, but the more important task is that they should dig up these treasures and cultural relics like archaeologists, and then restore and properly preserve them.
Nevertheless, some patriots in Jamaica protested that the government had entrusted the task of salvaging treasures to foreign companies. They think that this is a betrayal of state property and even state sovereignty, and angrily accuse Admeretti Company of being a modern colonialist and pirate. Ansley enriquez, chairman of the Jamaican National Heritage Trust, even threatened to resign in protest against this treason. Most people are also worried that this will violate the International Convention for the Protection of Underwater Heritage just adopted by UNESCO 10.
In fact, the Jamaican government has its own comprehensive plan: on the one hand, it is clearly stipulated in the agreement with Admoretti that the precious metals and jewels discovered by both parties will be divided equally except for the excavation fee, but all historical relics will be owned by the Jamaican government; On the other hand, the Jamaican government has sent a huge observation team to follow and supervise the excavation project all the time, and all contracts will be terminated immediately in case of illegal mining and harboring. At the same time, all risks of the excavation project are borne by Admoretti alone.
At present, the excavation project is progressing smoothly. According to the technical personnel of Admoretti Company, they use electromagnetic wave technology to locally detect and excavate the whole sea area, which does not require large-scale development and will ensure that the seabed environment and ecology will not be destroyed, but the process will be longer. The preliminary plan is to finish all the work within five years. Let's look forward to that day.