William kidd has been a famous pirate for centuries.

Pirate-Captain Kidd

According to relevant media reports, in early 2000, an expedition led by underwater explorer Barry Clifford went to St. Mary's Island, a legendary treasure island in Madagascar on the east coast of Africa. Clifford is the most famous expert in the history of shipwreck and navigation. He firmly believes that/KLOC-Captain Kidd's pirate ship "Adventure" is still buried under the harbor of St. Mary's Island in the 0/7th century. The expedition was fully funded by Discovery Discovery Channel. When the expedition accurately found the wreckage of the expedition, the whole world was shocked.

Even readers who know a little about the great pirates in history, as long as they see the name Captain Kidd, their first reaction will be to ask: Is this news true?

Why do you know "Captain Kidd" as long as you know a little about pirates? This is because he is the most striking pirate captain in British history. As far as fame is concerned, he is famous all over the world.

Captain Kidd constantly struggles with fate, but he always has no good luck. He finally had a chance to change jobs and serve in the British navy, but he didn't want fate to marry Captain Kidd here.

From 65438 to 0645, Captain Kidd was born into a devout Christian family in the Scottish port city of greenock. His father is a pastor of the local Presbyterian church. Kidd was born 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 North Atlantic fisheries, eastern commercial wars, 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, replaced the Dutch maritime hegemony, and gradually became stronger.

Kidd immigrated to America at the age of 20. At that time, Kidd was already a well-informed and excellent sailor, drifting at sea all the year round.

1689, Britain and France went to war. The two countries fought off and on for nearly a hundred years, and finally ended in British victory.

After the war with France, Kidd was drafted into the army and became the captain of the British pirate ship "Blessing William". He fought against France in the West Indies and the Caribbean and achieved many successes.

1991May, Kidd married a rich widow, bought a luxurious house in the south of Manhattan Island, gave birth to children and lived a quiet life (Manhattan still has Captain Kidd's former residence).

In Manhattan, Kidd became a successful businessman. However, he put the whole world at sea since he was a child and soon got tired of the unchanging life on land. He is used to drifting at sea and to the heroism and chivalry of sailors. Now, letting him stay in the world of businessmen and politicians all day makes Kidd very tired. In 695, Kidd passed through London on business and met Lord Belmont by chance. God gave him a "good" suggestion, and Kidd accepted it immediately. Unexpectedly, his life has completely changed. Four years later, his head accidentally fell to the ground.

What's going on here? What advice did Lord Belomont give Kidd?

It turned out that Belmont told Kidd that the British government was worried about pirates in the Indian Ocean. Although the East India Company has repeatedly urged the Royal Navy to hunt down pirates, it has no choice but to go to war with Britain and France, and the Royal Navy has no room to deal with the increasingly rampant pirate ships. Lord Belmont suggested to Kidd that several British nobles could be invited 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 will not only ensure the maritime trade of Britain, combat the arrogance of those pirates, but also make the government profit. He told those who invested in armed ships that it was easy to get a lot of trophies from pirates. Such a good thing.

Let's start with the East India Company at that time.

In the heyday of the Mughal Empire, European businessmen who wanted to do business in India had to get permission from the Mughal Emperor to live and do business in India. However, with the decline of the Mughal Empire, European businessmen gradually became aggressors who controlled the whole region of India.

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 commercial pavilion in Madras on the east coast of India. In 698, the East India Company bought Kolkata on the east coast from the Mughal government of India. Although Calcutta is a small village, 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 considerable profits.

Because the East India Company became more and more powerful, it gradually occupied Madras, Calcutta 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 encroachment on other parts of India.

As the East India Company continued to transport merchant ships to Britain, it not only brought endless disasters to Indians, but also aroused their great dissatisfaction and attracted a large number of pirates. It is in this situation that Lord Belomon suggested that Kidd take part in the action of pro-democracy armed ships.

Kidd, 50, is tired of the comfortable, quiet but mediocre life in the country. He agreed without hesitation and volunteered to serve the London authorities.

Adventures of Captain Kidd

1in April 1996, four dignitaries, including the secretary of the navy, jointly launched this operation. Entrusted by them, Kidd built a 38-meter-long "adventure" three-masted sailboat with 36 guns. Lord Belomon recruited 150 sailors for him in new york.

Lord Belmont signed an agreement with Kidd, stipulating that 65% of Kidd's "income" would go to investors, Kidd himself would get 15%, and the rest would go to sailors. Kidd also received a charter signed by the Prime Minister Lord Zomos, authorizing him to rest assured.

Boldly attack and confiscate the enemy merchant ships.

1996 12, Kidd started this adventure as the captain of an armed civilian ship. With years of sailing experience, he thinks that with such a strong backer, he will succeed. However, a series of subsequent events completely exceeded his initial expectations.

"Adventure" made a short rest in Madeira, Turea and Madagascar, and then sailed to Comune and Mohyla. During this period, 30 sailors on board died tragically of tropical diseases. Only 100 people. After 30 sailors died at the same time, Kidd had to re-hire sailors locally. Unexpectedly, many re-employed sailors turned out to be pirates, leaving behind future troubles.

Maybe Kidd is out of luck. For nine months, they drifted at sea with nothing, but failed to meet a cargo ship that might be looted. The sailors began to complain. They complained loudly that they went to sea with Captain Kidd to do great things. They all have families, need to go home with wealth, and don't want to wander at sea all the year round. Then they hired sailors. Because they were pirates, they took the opportunity to confuse people and incite them to become pirates.

In fact, Kidd was a little worried when he thought of the dignitaries who sponsored him. In order to stabilize the situation, Kidd was forced to sail to the Red Sea. In 697, Kidd asked his men to hang a red pirate flag on the mast of his fleet. At first, he attacked a fleet from Merka in the Red Sea, and then robbed a trading ship sailing under the British flag from Aden, and looted all the materials on board. His men hung the prisoners with ropes and forced them to tell where the till was. Then Kidd distributed the stolen property to the sailors.

The attack and robbery, whether he volunteered or not, in fact, he must have violated his first agreement with his patron. Legally speaking, he committed theft.

Later, Kidd began his most desperate pirate career. His "adventure" first destroyed the main mast of a merchant ship, and then shot at the oncoming escort warship. At this time, he suddenly found that the other party actually raised the banner. Kidd suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. It turned out that he had attacked the fleet of the British East India Company, and it was the Royal Navy that fought with him on the spot! Kidd quickly retreated, but "adventure" was recognized by the other side.

Kidd made another big mistake this time, because he knew very well that he was holding a privateering permit for armed civilian ships. In any case, this kind of privateering permit can only attack non-domestic ships and cannot rob domestic ships.

The East India Company and the Royal Navy immediately submitted a report to the government. The British government did not hesitate to announce that the captain of England was not protected by law and cancelled the concession granted to him to "confiscate enemy merchant ships".

At this time, Captain Kidd was irrefutably labeled as a "pirate". From then on, he and the notorious pirate leader Heng Ebri, who was hunted by him, tied for the top two pirates.

After that, people can't guess what Kidd thinks. They only know that not long after, he not only really became a pirate, but also took risks and robbed the priceless treasure of the Mughal Empire, committing the most unforgivable piracy crime.

1998 65438+1On October 30th, he attacked a three-masted sailboat commanded by a British captain. When Kidd and his crew killed the 500-ton ship, which was equipped with 10 cannons and loaded with rich trophies from Bangladesh, they knew that it was loaded with the treasures of the Mughal Empire. Later, the pirates sold most of the spoils because Kidd was in urgent need of cash to pay his sailors.

Kidd's attack aroused the anger of India and Britain at the same time, and the rulers of Mughal Empire threatened the British to retaliate against their branches abroad. At this time, Kidd went his own way, not only hiding diamonds, gold and valuables, but also taking the beautiful three-masted sailboat for himself. The crazy robbery alarmed the king of England.

In the next two years, Kidd became a "sea monster" between Madagascar and Malaba coastline. He robbed a large number of merchant ships and accumulated a lot of wealth in a short time. In later historical materials, it was even said that he had accumulated billions of treasures. Of course, all the figures are just guesses until his treasure is found.

1699, after leaving home for three years, Kidd stopped at Hispaniola Island in Latin America. After arriving in Boston Harbor in July of the same year, he wrote a letter to Lord Belmont in Boston, hoping to get his support and promised to pay Lord Belmont 400,000 pounds for it. Lord Belomon verbally promised Kidd complete freedom in the British North American colony, but Kidd and his sailors were arrested and imprisoned as soon as they set foot on land. People immediately found a bag of gold powder worth about 1000 pounds, as well as silver coins and some other gold products in his residence.

On February 16, 700, Captain Kidd was taken back to London as a prisoner of His Majesty the King of Great Britain. He spent nearly a year in an English prison and was finally sentenced to hang for piracy and murder. The authorities allowed his wife to go to prison to say goodbye to her husband for the last time. During the dinner, Kidd gave his wife a piece of parchment and whispered something. The guards outside immediately noticed the secret transfer between the husband and wife and confiscated the small parchment ball. Take a look, there are only four groups of numbers written on the paper ball: 44- 10-66- 18.

On May 23rd, 70 1 year, Kidd was hanged, and seven others were sentenced to hang. When it was Kidd's turn to be punished, the rope on the lasso suddenly broke. Taking this opportunity, Kidd even shouted injustice. He also proposed to the judge who stood on the side of law enforcement that he was willing to exchange countless treasures for his life. The proposal was rejected and Kidd was hanged by a thick rope for the second time. In order to warn other pirates, his body was coated with asphalt, fixed with iron rings and tied to a post by the Thames. This struggle lasted for several years. Seagulls flew quickly and pecked at his eyes mercilessly. Wild dogs have been hovering under his carrion, hoping that he will fall down and join in the fun. Later, people crossing the Thames can only see a gloomy skeleton every day, because the birds have pecked all his carrion.

Although many people are too scared to open their eyes in front of this skeleton, they even make a detour, but for some people, they are obsessed with Captain Kidd. As time goes on, more and more people talk about him.

Why is this?

Of course, this is because of his confusing numbers and legendary treasures.

Soon, someone cracked the number he wrote down, thinking it was a hint of 44 degrees west longitude 10 minute and 66 degrees north latitude 18 minute. According to this coordinate, a small island named "Gardner" can be found at the eastern end of Long Island not far from new york. As a result, the island of Canada suddenly became lively. Treasure hunters came to this little-known island. After many twists and turns, people finally figured it out.

Kidd was arrested after leaving the island. And before he was arrested, he visited the island owner and bought a lot of food from the island owner. Kidd did not pay cash, but gave the island owner a box of gold, some precious stones and silk.

It is said that in 1699, Kidd wrote to Lord Belmont and gave him 1 1 a bag of gold and silver through secret channels.

Later, it was discovered that Captain Kidd did not trust God completely, even though he gave him a lot of money. Before he landed, he quietly came to this "Gardner" island. At that time, the residents of the island saw Captain Kidd coming to the island from San Antonio every day. After landing on the island, he moved down some big wooden barrels, wooden boxes and bags and transported them to the reedy and inaccessible swamp deep in the island.

As for what was in those vats and boxes, of course, people on the island were afraid to get close and ask.

In modern times, many treasure hunters came to this island with some modern tools and drilled holes around the swamp with long wooden poles, but they never found anything. Gradually, the island was ignored.