The story of william kidd.

William? Kidd (1645- 170 1) is a typical romantic pirate and the most unprecedented tragic figure in the history of western piracy. He has appeared in modern western pirate literature and modern media for many times and has the nickname "the king of pirates".

Kidd, a wealthy Scottish immigrant, was once a war hero and later became a bounty hunter, but he was finally executed for piracy, but he refused to admit that he was a pirate until his death. To this day, people are still looking for the legendary treasure belonging to Captain Kidd. In all kinds of movies and novels, his name has been repeatedly mentioned, and in many cases it has even become synonymous with "pirates".

1. From naval hero to successful businessman

From 65438 to 0645, Captain Kidd was born into a devout Christian family in the Scottish port city of greenock. His father was a pastor of the local Presbyterian church. Kidd immigrated to America at the age of 20. At that time, Kidd was already an excellent sailor who drifted at sea all the year round, with rich experience and superb navigation skills.

Kidd grew up in an era when Britain showed its talents on the world stage. At that time, because Britain and the Netherlands were full of conflicts on fishing in the North Atlantic, commercial wars in the East, American colonies and slave trade in Africa and the West Indies, this dispute eventually led to the outbreak of war. In the war, Britain defeated the Netherlands and replaced the Netherlands as the maritime hegemon, and gradually became stronger. 1689, Britain went to war with France again. The two countries fought off and on for nearly 100 years, and finally Britain won.

After the Anglo-French War, Kidd was drafted into the army and became a pro-democracy ship armed by Britain. The captain of the "William" fought against the French in the West Indies and the Caribbean, made many meritorious deeds, became a war hero, and even won a personal commendation from the Queen of England.

At this time, Kidd's ambition was rewarded, and he was honored. He is also handsome and high-spirited, surrounded by countless beautiful ladies. Poor Kidd, wandering at sea all the year round, struggling with the sound of guns and waves, where have you seen such a luxurious beauty formation? He soon surrendered.169/kloc-0 married a rich widow in new york in May, bought a luxurious house in the south of Manhattan Island, and then had children and lived a quiet life (Manhattan and Captain Kidd's former residence). Backed by his wife's funds, Kidd, who has a flexible mind, quickly made a fortune in business, became a successful businessman and became famous in the local business community.

However, he grew up at sea, at home all over the world, and soon got tired of the unchanging life on land. He is used to drifting at sea, and he is also used to the generosity and chivalry of sailors. Now, Kidd is very tired of letting him deal with businessmen and politicians all day. 1695, Kidd passed by London on his business trip and met Lord Belomont by chance. The Lord, who is about to go to North America to be the governor of Massachusetts, hit it off with Kidd and gave him a piece of advice on getting rich. Kidd was even more receptive and immediately accepted his suggestion. Unexpectedly, it was this suggestion that not only completely changed Kidd's life, but also died on the streets of London four years later.

What advice did Lord Belomont give Kidd?

2. From a successful businessman to a bounty hunter

It turned out that Lord Belomont, who had a good high-level relationship, told Kidd an "inside story": the British government was worried about pirates in the Indian Ocean and urgently needed people with navigation ability and combat experience to serve the country. For a naval hero like Kidd, there is no better opportunity to make a fortune.

Here is a background information about the East India Company. Most people who know a little about history know this company, because it was the main company that transported opium to China during the Opium War. But many people don't know much about it.

The East India Company was established on 1600. At first, the British mainly used the East India Company to do business. 16 13, Britain set up the earliest British trading post in Sutela on the west coast of India, and soon set up a business hall in Madras on the east coast of India. 1698, the East India Company bought Kolkata on the east coast from the Mughal government of India. Although the village in Calcutta is small, it plays a very important role. The East India Company has set up a trade headquarters here, and has been continuously transporting Indian grain and industrial raw materials back to Britain, from which it has made great profits.

Due to the growing strength of the East India Company, its business has gradually expanded to Madras, Kolkata and Mumbai, another city mentioned above. They established three districts here, each under the jurisdiction of a governor, and turned these places into bases for further occupation of other parts of India.

As the East India Company continues to transport a large amount of wealth plundered from the East back to Britain, not only Indians have suffered endless disasters, but also caused great dissatisfaction. The extreme form of expressing dissatisfaction is armed robbery of the merchant ships of the East India Company at sea. The East India Company, which suffered heavy losses, repeatedly urged the British government to send the Royal Navy to encircle pirates, but at this time, Britain and France were at war, and the war ahead was tight, so the Royal Navy could not free its hands to deal with the increasingly rampant pirate ships. Therefore, the British government intends to mobilize private forces to participate in this matter.

It is in this situation that Lord Belomont suggested Kidd to take a stake in the operation of armed civilian ships. He told Kidd that he could ask several British nobles to invest in an armed ship and entrust Kidd as the captain. The task of this ship is to attack those elusive pirate ships and recapture the robbed property. This has many advantages: for the country, it not only ensures the maritime trade between Britain, but also combats the arrogance of those pirates and makes the government profit from it; For those who invest in armed ships, they can easily get a lot of trophies from pirates; For Kidd, he can not only gallop on the battlefield again, make contributions to the country, but also earn huge wealth that can't be spent all his life. Such a good thing is more attractive than a pie falling from the sky. Why not?

Kidd, in his prime, has long been tired of the comfortable, calm but mediocre life in the country. He immediately agreed without hesitation and volunteered to serve the British government.

Lord Belomont kept his promise. 1696 In April, four dignitaries, including the Minister of the Navy, jointly launched this operation. Lord Belomont also recruited 150 sailors for him in new york. Kidd used the funds they provided to build a 38-meter-long three-masted sailboat equipped with 36 guns. The speed and combat capability of this ship are comparable to any small warship of the Royal Navy. In order to express his lofty desire to return to the ocean and engagement, he specially named the three-masted sailboat "Adventure".

Lord Belomont signed an agreement with Kidd, stipulating that 65% of Kidd's "income" belongs to investors, Kidd himself shares 15%, and the remaining 20% belongs to sailors. Under the arrangement of Lord Belomont, Kidd also obtained a charter signed by the British Prime Minister, authorizing him to attack pirate ships and enemy merchant ships with confidence and confiscate their property without infringing on British interests.

1696 65438+In February, the ambitious Kidd set out in "adventure" with the dream of a bounty hunter. Facing the vast Atlantic Ocean, Captain Kidd, who has many years of sailing and fighting experience, has every reason to believe that he will succeed in one fell swoop, not only serving his country, but also earning huge wealth.

However, fate is unpredictable. A series of events that happened later were completely beyond his original expectation.