Li Jinde suddenly asked the woman, and the slave traders and merchants around him looked at Li Jinde in unison. Almost no one among them could understand Chinese, and they were judging Li Jinde's identity based on Li Jinde's accent and appearance.

"Mr. Li, this is not the city of London, but the territory of the Ottoman Empire. Be calm whenever anything happens, otherwise you may fall into trouble." Sir Henry reminded in a low voice.

Although Li Jinde was a little angry, he forced himself to hold back his anger after being reminded by Sir Henry: "I just asked in a normal way."

The woman who was caught came back to her senses, as if she had grabbed a life-saving straw. She recognized Li Jinde as a person from her hometown: "I am from Quanzhou. Please save me!"

The slave trader had a strange look in his eyes, and he saw the business opportunity.

"You tell him that I plan to buy this person and pay according to the price of the price, right?" Li Jinde calculated the money he brought.

This time he came here, he thought he was just to observe the situation in the Ottoman Empire, but he didn't think about buying people, so he brought not much gold and silver.

Fortunately, the money brought was enough.

Li Jinde asked Lifante's people who knew Ottoman language to help him convey his intention to buy the woman.

Unexpectedly, the slave trader shook his head after hearing the words of the Lifante Company. The people of the Lifante Company argued with the slave trader for a few words.

"He said that the price is no longer the same now. If the woman is auctioned, the higher the price will be paid." The person from Lifante Company said to Li Jinde.

Li Jinde frowned, and he could already see that the slave trader wanted to take the opportunity to raise the price.

The businessmen around him have made great contributions, but some people have really offered better prices.

There were also Ottoman nobles who were attracted to spend a lot of money to buy the women from the East.

Li Jinde thought in his mind that as the auction price became higher and higher, the money he brought was no longer enough to buy it.

"Sir Henry, your Levant company should have a lot of cash. Why don't you lend me some of the money to buy her? When you return to London, I will find a way to repay you." Li Jinde asked Sir Henry, the governor of Levant company.

"I can still borrow this money, but is it worth it for a woman? With this money, it is enough to buy twenty ordinary slaves." Sir Henry confirmed repeatedly.

"This is our Han people, and we have to buy it back no matter how much money we have." Li Jinde said with a calm face.

"I understand, I fully support you." As Li Jinde's vaccine partner, Sir Henry knew that he would get discounts on buying smallpox vaccines from Li Jinde in the future. It would be fine if he spent hundreds of pounds to help Li Jinde buy the woman.

Sir Henry signaled his men to bid.

Several local Ottoman nobles had taken action, but Sir Henry had a lot of friendship with the governor here, and they didn't want to compete with Sir Henry.

"Damn guy, let you nearly double the price." The people of Levant gave Spanish silver dollars to slave traders.

At this time, the Spanish silver dollars with a sufficient silver content are still hard currency, just like the world's currency.

"The villain also wants to have some food. It is not easy to buy these 'goods' from others. He also has to give them a reward." The slave trader took a large bag of Spanish silver dollars and shook it proudly, revealing a bite of rotten teeth. The sound of the collision of silver coins fascinated him.

"Hey, you are free now, follow this rich master. I'm really lucky to meet you guys." The slave trader opened the chain with the key, then threw a robe to the woman.

The woman grabbed the robe hard to cover the exposed skin, her expression was a little numb, and she looked at Li Jinde who bought her, with tears in the corners of her eyes and trembling with her mouth.

She didn't expect that after being caught by pirates, she would be sold here from the Strait of Hormuz and would meet her hometown.

When the other merchants saw that the woman was bought by Li Jinde and Lifante's company, they continued to look for other slaves.

"I will pay you the silver dollars that you don't have when you return to London City." Li Jinde said to Sir Henry.

"We are friends, what's the money, but then again, what are you going to deal with her?" said Sir Henry. "If you meet other people caught, how many can you save?"

"I don't know, I can only do my best. If one day, I hope to abolish this kind of transaction. If trade between the East and the West is more prosperous, more of our people will be trafficked." Li Jinde said.

"Abolish the slave trade? Hahaha, Mr. Li, you are joking. This trade has lasted for countless years. Every year, thousands and tens of thousands of people are sold. How to abolish it? Moreover, there are many illegal places in this world. Merchant ships lower the national flag at the sea and become pirate ships. It is impossible to ban it. As long as there is profitability, the transaction will continue forever." Sir Henry said.

After hearing what Sir Henry said, Li Jinde understood how difficult it is for those who want to protect their country to encounter such a fate.

In the past, if the maritime ban was carried out and communication with the outside world was reduced, few people might be involved in the slave trade. However, with the beginning of the trade dominated by the East, they could be attacked by pirates, whether on the land Silk Road or the Maritime Silk Road.

The Navy Department has four fleets, and it also needs to maintain the stability of the local waters. In trade, it can only barely protect important fleets, but there is no way to shelter small-scale private merchant ships. The sea is so vast that dozens of warships are sent out as if sesame seeds fall into a lake.

"There are many servants... Thank you for your help..." The woman who was bought by Li Jinde held back her tears and bowed to Li Jinde.

"What's your name? Which family should you be? Why did you fall into this place?" Li Jinde asked. From the other party's etiquette, he didn't look like an ordinary woman.

"I am named Xiaolian, and my family is in trouble. I followed my father from Quanzhou to Manila to join my relatives. As a result, the ship encountered pirates in Nanyang, and was later sold here by pirates..." The woman couldn't help crying as she said.

"Not to mention these sad things in the past, since you are from Quanzhou and I am from Fuzhou, I can barely be considered a fellow villager. I bought you just to save the people in our country. You don't need to repay anything. From now on, you will be free. But before this ghost place, you should follow us first, and you can return to Quanzhou with our fleet in the future." Li Jinde said.
Chapter completed!