Chapter 2209 - 1591: Occupying Puerto Rico
The sound of the Atlantic Ocean murmured in the coral reef bay. San Juan Bay, naturally resembling a tea cup, was embraced by forests and mangroves. Fifteen Castilian sailing ships, having crossed the Atlantic with storm-damaged markings, were anchored in this fertile natural harbor. The flames of the distant village had not yet extinguished, and the nearby colonizers’ laughter was triumphant.
"Aha! Holy Mother bless, I grabbed a small bag of gold sand!"
"Damn it! I only snatched a basket of cotton yarn..."
"Hehe! The Lord bless, I grabbed a large bag of pearls! All large, pale pink pearls!..."
"Shh! Keep it down, don’t let the ship’s captains see! Otherwise, they’ll surely come and take a share of our spoils of war..."
After days of atrocities, the Holy War veterans, Shenluo mercenaries, and armed sailors unleashed their grievances from the stormy and long voyage using the blood and tears of the Taino people. Then their focus returned to the core purpose of joining the voyage, "to get rich!"
Only getting rich, only wealth in gold and silver, was their fundamental driving force for not fearing the mortal danger and venturing thousands of miles into the Atlantic Ocean. And where did the wealth come from? Now it seemed very clear, that was to rob, to seize, from the weak "Eastern" natives!
"Although these natives have little profit, they pose no threat. A village of one or two thousand people, if fully plundered, can still yield quite a bit of ’goods’! Not to mention, there are women..."
"Exactly! Such a large island must have many villages! If all are like this village, without even metal weapons... Haha!..."
"Captain Dracos has already set sail for reconnaissance. What the situation is on the island, we’ll know when he returns!"
"Huh! Where are the other leaders? Where did Fleet Commander Columbus and Deputy Commander Antonio go?"
"They are on the other side of the bay, erecting the wood of conquest, dedicating this island’s territory to the Lord and the Queen... Father Ramon is there too."
"Oh! The ceremony of conquest..."
Two miles along the bay, the crimes in the Taino village seemed to disappear. More than twenty church knights and chamberlains, using ropes and cooperation, slowly erected a wooden exploration post (rollo) about two meters high. The front of this post was carved with the Lord’s Cross and the emblem of the Castilian Royal Family. On the northern side of the post, a proclamation of the occupation by the Kingdom of Castile was engraved, claiming this newly discovered "Eastern Island".
"In the year 1495 after the birth of the Divine Son, we arrived and discovered this unclaimed island. For Castile and Leon, under the blessing of the holy Her Majesty Queen Isabella, we declare the occupation of this island, becoming the territory of the Kingdom of Castile!..."
Among the entire Castilian expeditionary army of over a thousand people, only more than fifty church guards did not participate in the plundering and slaughter ashore. This was not because they did not desire the "shiny" spoils of war. It was because their leader, the Franciscan monk Ramon Pane, had some constraint over their actions. Of course, this kind of priestly constraint was also limited to the church’s armed forces and powerless against the greed rampant throughout the entire expeditionary army.
"The Almighty rules on high, His throne is in the clouds, His power fills the earth and the sea.
You cleave the abyss, spreading vast waters like satin; You guide us with the wind across the ocean wilderness.
Now I, a servant of dust, in Your holy name, set this mark on an unknown land, to declare:
This land belongs to You, to the Almighty who governs all nations;
This land belongs to the light, to the glory of Your holy name..."
Brother Ramon raised the old cross high, earnestly reciting prayers in Castilian before the military nobles and captains. Franciscans were generally more pragmatic, not reciting Latin that these uncultured Castilian officers could not understand.
No matter what they thought in their hearts, no matter what conflicts existed between them, in such a sacred and important occasion, Commander Columbus, Deputy Commander Antonio, Veteran Camp Commander Pedro, Mercenary Captain Reinhardt, and a group of Castilian captains all bowed their heads together, saluting the cross in the priest’s hands.
"Lord, You are the light of the Morning Star, illuminating the traveler’s path;
I am but a sail in Your hand, following Your breath.
I pray You let the Eastern residents here hear Your merciful name,
I pray You let the wilderness bloom, I pray You let the stones speak, I pray You bring light,
thus declaring: The salvation of God comes from the East, and peace belongs to the people of the Lord.
Amen!..."
Brother Ramon earnestly recited, and in the prayer offered to the Lord, expressed the will to convert the native tribes here, bringing the enlightenment of the Lord’s light. The expressions of the expeditionary army officers were subtle, feeling as if the priest was hinting dissatisfaction at the massacres that occurred in the past few days in a reserved manner.
But, how should one say it, sometimes the priest’s words could be heeded, sometimes disregarded. Especially when it concerned their income, it was better to close their eyes and make the suffering natives bleed and cry, robbing all the gold, pearls, and wealth—wouldn’t that make things go away? As for the guilt of the slaughter, of course, it was borne by the scum under them. As noble officers and captains, they just needed to peacefully take three to four percent of the share from the spoils of war!
"May the Lord bless! May the Queen reign forever!"
With the final blessings completed, the holy ceremony of occupying the territory of "San Juan" island, proclaiming the glory of the Lord, came to an end. All the officers and captains thanked Brother Ramon in unison, and Brother Ramon returned the gesture.