San Pu's life of pressing needles.

William was born in Gillingham, Kent, southeast England on September 1564. His exact birthday is not clear, and later generations can only find out that he was baptized for the first time on September 24. According to Christian tradition, this should be within a day or two after the child is born. Kent is located at the mouth of the Thames, at the eastern end of the English Channel. From the moment William was born, the sea accompanied him all his life. The Addams Family is a fisherman and not rich. Especially after his father 12 died, William worked in a shipyard in Lehmhaus near London.

At the shipyard, William began to get in touch with shipbuilding technology. This shipyard is not small in scale, exquisite in craftsmanship, and even builds ships for nobles. Watching the new ships leave the factory one by one, William also wants to take a boat and live a life of breaking the waves. At that time, it was the "era of great navigation", and the sea meant opportunities for Europeans. Whether doing business in the ocean or expanding territory, the ocean is always associated with wealth. He began to actively study navigation, geography and astronomy in order to become a sailor one day.

Later, William joined the navy and served in Sir Francis Drake's army. Drake is a famous pirate general. He once traveled around the world on the Golden Buck. From 65438 to 0588, William, as a crew member of a supply ship, participated in the famous battle of the British Navy to defeat the Spanish Armada in the English Channel. Spain is a powerful empire. During his reign, Catholic King Philip II actively persecuted Protestants, annexed Portugal, and tried to invade Protestant England, but stumbled in the Strait. This war became a turning point in British history and even regarded as the beginning of modern times.

After leaving the army, William first worked as a helmsman in Burberry Trading Company. It was during this period that William married a woman named Mary and gave birth to a daughter in the future. But as an ocean-going crew, they don't get together for many days. Moreover, William's life is not safe. The destination of their voyage is North Africa controlled by the enemy Ottoman Empire. During this period, he also participated in the navigation activities to explore the new route in Northeast China, which lasted for two years. The reason for exploring new sea routes is that Turks and Iberians occupy the southern Mediterranean, and Nordic countries are looking for new trading points. The new route to the northeast of China is a route starting from Europe, passing through the Arctic Ocean along the coast of Siberia, and finally reaching the Far East. 1598, 34-year-old William was employed by a company in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. This company is engaged in trade with East India. At the beginning of June this year, William left Rotterdam port by iron ring. He is the first mate of this ship. However, this voyage changed his life. On 24th, Hope and four other ships, namely, Liefde, Geloof, Trouw and Blijde Boodschap, formed a fleet bound for the Far East. Hope is the flagship. This fleet, the smallest ship is 75 tons and the largest is 250 tons.

After starting from Europe, the fleet first docked in Cape Verde, West Africa. Then they went south to attack Anoburn Island and plundered supplies. Then they crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in strait of magellan at the southern tip of South America. They were forced to dock in Chile because the weather in spring was not conducive to sailing. Most of South America is a colony of Spain, and William and others are mostly from Holland and Britain who are hostile to this country. They suffered the most losses here, and many people, including Captain Hope, were killed in the battle with the local people. William also moved from Hope to Aberdeen.

The Abel set sail first and waited for other ships on Santa Maria Island, but only the Hope came back. 1June 599,165438+1October, two ships sailed west. Afraid of the Spaniards, they decided to go directly across the middle of the Pacific Ocean to Asia instead of along the coast of America. 1600 in late February, a typhoon killed hope. Inferred from the log book left by William and others, future generations concluded that William and others may have been to Hawaii, and several people still stayed there, which was 1779 years earlier than the later recognized "discoverer" Captain Cook (1728- 1779), but they didn't realize that this was a place unknown to Europeans. Hope's storm may be in the waters west of the Hawaiian Islands.

On the night of April 1600, the arduous Abreu finally landed. At this time, the ship's supplies have already been exhausted, and everyone is extremely weak. Only 6 out of 24 people can still stand up. Hope for survival suddenly gave way to fear. Because they find that this is a civilization they have never seen before, they don't know what fate awaits them. They landed in the mortar pestle of Fengbo, Kyushu Island, Japan. This is a country that is strange to William and even all British people. Although the Portuguese and Spaniards had spread Catholicism in Japan for decades before that, no Englishman had been to Japan.

Many people gathered at the place where Abel stopped. After confirming that William and others were unable to resist, they immediately rushed to the boat to grab valuable things. Soon, the police heard the news and stopped the robbers. William was disqualified as the representative of Abreu.

Portuguese missionaries were recruited by the Japanese as translators. However, the missionary told the Japanese authorities that these people were pirates and William and his party were arrested. Why are missionaries who always take "persuading people to do good" as their duty so cruel to this group of victims who are also from Europe? This is because of the contradiction between the old Spanish empire and the emerging Britain and the Netherlands, which leads to mutual hatred. Missionaries have the patience to convert Japanese who don't know the true god to Catholicism, but they regard Protestants as damned heresies.

However, the official who interrogated William (in "Warrior William" written by British Giles Milton, it is said that Nagasaki adheres to the concept of keeping the temple open and lofty) listened to the Portuguese accusation, but hesitated whether to kill this group of "pirates" because he found that these people were different from the barbarians he had seen before. So he reported it to Osaka. At this time, Japan is in the "Taoshan era". Earlier, at the end of 16, Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan, which had been separated for more than a hundred years, and established a new central government in Osaka. He died two years before William came to Japan and was succeeded by his youngest son, Toyotomi Hideyori. Interior Minister Tokugawa Ieyasu, as the chief elder of Toyotomi family, presided over the state affairs of Osaka. Konka ordered William to be escorted to Osaka. However, he didn't kill William. Soon, William was personally received by Konka. When William told their voyage across two oceans at Konka's request, Konka was very surprised and repeatedly asked William if this was true. Obviously Konka has never imagined this kind of life. When he learned that William was familiar with shipbuilding and knew some mathematics, he became friendly with William and asked him many questions about foreign countries with great interest. A few days later, Konka took the initiative to ask William if he wanted to go back to Aibo to meet his companion. This means release, and William certainly wants to.

Coming out of his cell, William found that the Abel had been moored in the harbor. Back on the boat, all the companions recovered and everyone was happy. But Abe had neither money nor supplies, so William asked Konka for help. Konka promised to return the things stolen from Aibo and asked them to sail to Edo, the base of Tokugawa family. After arriving in Edo, William and his family originally wanted to get business approval, sell the remaining goods on board, and then save money to go home. But there is no reply from Konka.

Because at this time, Kang Jia is busy with more important things. He is at a turning point in his life and Japanese history. At this point, the contradictions within the Toyotomi family reached a critical point. Ishida Mitsunari, a celebrity before Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, is trying to unite with other elders against Konka. Moreover, people with three costs have deep grievances with a group of rich families. 1600, 5438+00. In June, Mignon Guanyuan started to smoke. Japanese celebrities are divided into two camps around 30% and Konka. The two sides accused each other of fighting thieves under the banner of protecting Master Xiulai. In the end, Konka led the eastern army to defeat 30% of the western army, and 30% of the troops were defeated. The invincible Tokugawa family established rule over Japan from then on, and later opened a shogunate in 1603. Japan entered the edo period. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's successor, Toyotomi Hideyori, lost power instead, leaving only a small piece of territory around Osaka. Of course, William did not have the opportunity to witness this important historical event with his own eyes.

Aibo people are still waiting anxiously in Edo. People hope that a Dutch ship or an English ship will appear, but this possibility is very small. The only Europeans in Japan at that time were Iberians. Although the Tokugawa family still regularly helps the people on board, there is no news from Konka. Some desperate sailors were even forced to sail and launch a rebellion. Finally, one day, Eber, who was not properly maintained, completely collapsed. I don't know if Konka is interested. At this time, he came back to pay attention to the crew. He gave everyone a sum of money to live by themselves. But for William, who had dealt with him several times, he gave special care.