The Port of Danze is one of the most important ports on the Baltic Sea and the largest port in Poland at this time. Since defeating the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years War between 1454 and 1466, the Poles have obtained direct rule of this land called East Pomerania (West Prussia). The remaining members of the Teutonic Knights established the Principality of Prussia in Konisburg, and surrendered to the Polish king and became their vassals.

However, the good times did not last long. Since the second war for Baltic rule broke out with Sweden in 1618, by 1629, the Poles had lost the entire Livonia (including Kurland), Prussia, and the former Pomeranian coastal areas, and almost became an inland country. Fortunately, the Swedes were eager to withdraw to participate in the Thirty Years' War. Therefore, with the mediation of France, the Netherlands and Britain, the two sides signed an armistice treaty, and the Poles took back the three ports of Putsk, Danze and Konisburg, which barely gave the domestic grain and livestock export ports.

Gaumo was helping Schneider and his secretary to the dock, but it was raining heavily in the port of Danze, and the ground was full of potholes. For this reason, before getting off the ship, he had to change his leather shoes and put on his horse boots that he didn't like. There were many people on the dock, including Polish, Swedish, Dutch, English, Russian, German, etc. You can see merchants from all regions along the Baltic Sea. In this era, Danze and Riga were the only two commercial ports in the Baltic region where more than one hundred ships docked every year. Every year, Poland's large amount of grain and livestock were transported away by Dutch merchants and flowed to the whole of Europe. However, after Riga was controlled by the Swedes, most of these businesses were transferred to Danze, so in terms of prosperity, Danze was surpassed Riga.

In the distance, a few mud-covered pigs were humming in the crowd. The same dirty sailors and dock workers sat next to the pigs, chatting and laughing loudly as if no one was around. From time to time, a well-dressed nobleman or merchant housekeeper walked not far away with them, hiring these people to load and unload the goods.

Several Polish beggars discovered the existence of Gao Mo and others and immediately rushed over to beg. However, Zheng Yong quickly stopped Gao Mo with several followers in army uniforms. They picked up the sheathed saber and beat the beggars away. The whole process made Gao Mo frown. These boys were used to being arrogant in China, but they didn't expect that it would be worry-free to be so far away from the Baltic Sea.

A Pole in a uniform full of oil stains came over, with seven or eight followers following him, who seemed to be the manager of the dock. Perhaps the beggars that the East Coast people just beat were under his control, so his face was very bad, and it seemed that they were coming to find trouble. But just when Gao Mo was worried, the guy was stunned at first, and then immediately said something loudly to Schneider beside Gao Mo with a smile.

Schneider also responded a few words in Polish, then turned to Gaumo and said, "This is Valeglevsky, who is in charge of security in Danze Port, and his uncle holds an official position in Krakow. He is a very capable person. He is also one of the participants in recruiting veterans."

"Sky? Is he a noble?" Gaomo asked in confusion. As far as he knew, "Sky" in Polish is the suffix added to the place name, which is generally used by nobles - because only nobles have fiefdoms. This guy's name is Valeglevsky, could he be a noble? However, after glanced at Valeglevsky's greasy clothes and leather boots with cracked sides, Gaomo denied his guess again. Perhaps this guy's ancestors were a noble, but he was obviously not.

Sure enough, Schneider shook his head and said in a low voice: "This guy is no longer a noble. He took a job in Danze with his uncle's recommendation and was a perfect villain. If their king and nobles were not in need of our weapons and re-arming the army, so they would pay special attention to us, this guy would not be as flattering as he is now, and he would not have been another face."

Gao Mo nodded and signaled Schneider to go up and negotiate with him, while he looked around at the harbor that was famous in the Baltic Sea. Unfortunately, there were low houses around, and the dock was also made of wooden, with a lot of garbage floating in the sea water. Occasionally, some floating corpses of livestock could be seen, which made people feel disgusted. The shores of the dock were also muddy, and the potholes would soon stick to the fishy soil, which was incomparable to the prosperity, tidy and clean Oriental Port.

Schneider soon finished talking with Valeglevsky. After stuffing a few coins into the Polish villain, he returned to Gaomo: "The veterans are all in the warehouse, will we go now?" After getting Gaomo's approval, Schneider quickly took everyone to his destination.

Accompanied by the "squeak" sound of making people sore teeth, the low wooden door was pushed open. Gao Mo got into the slightly dim wooden house under the escort of his followers, but soon he frowned. The house was so smelly! Smell, feet, urine, food and other unpleasant smells were intertwined, almost making Gao Mo turn around and leave.

The people in the house also found these uninvited guests, but after seeing the face of the wealthy owner Schneider and a group of people wearing dark blue uniforms and sabers on their waists, they seemed to understand something. Then the Poles, who were either lying in the haystack, or sitting around the wooden bed to gamble money, or sitting at the table to drink and talk, immediately stopped the noise and locked their eyes on Gao Mo, because their wealthy owner, Mr. Schneider, seemed to be still reporting to the big man.

"Your Excellency, these Polish veterans have accepted our employment. According to the agreement, their salary during their stay in Poland is 1 zloty per month (about 3 yuan); if they are sent to fight overseas, their salary will double, that is, 2 zloty per month. If the loot is seized in the battle, they require a certain share reward. The specific details I will present to you later." Schneider said, "They also ask us to provide horse materials, saddles, combat equipment and other supplies. If they use their own horses or weapons, I hope we can give some financial subsidies."

"Yes, these requirements are reasonable." Gao Mo nodded in his recognition. Although this price is already a big talk in the eyes of these Poles, it is just the average salary level of the army for the East Coast people - this is not considered as the foreign combat subsidy in Shanghai. In general, the price of these Polish mercenaries is quite low, and they can hire a group of soldiers with rich combat experience at 6 yuan per month. What else is more cost-effective than this?

It's not bad if you want to be cheaper. For example, you can learn from the Dutch and hire some German country bumpkin farmers for 9 shields (3 yuan) or 11 shields. But the combat level of these German farmers is not worthy of praise. After all, it takes a process to grow from a new recruit to a veteran. Although these Polish veterans last participated in a large-scale war ten years ago, over the years, Poland has been under the threat of war almost every day, with Swedes, Russians, Turks, Cossacks, etc., they are often hired by some Polish border nobles to participate in these small-scale sporadic battles, so their combat skills have not been greatly degraded.

"Now, I'll ask you to translate." Gaumo gave Schneider a message, and said, "People who have participated in the last two border wars with the Crimean Tatars raise their hands."

Schneider began to translate loudly in Polish, and almost everyone raised their hands.

"The people who participated in the Smolensk War continued to hold their hands, and the rest could let go."

Only a small number of people put down their hands, while 90% still held their hands high.

"The people who participated in the most recent war with the Swedes continued to hold their hands, and the rest could let go."

Another part of the people put their hands down, and about 60% of the remaining people still held their hands high.

"The people who participated in the most recent war with the Turks continued to hold their hands, and the rest could let go."

There are many people who put down their hands this time, but less than 10% of them are still holding their hands up.

Seeing that someone still raised his hands, Gao Mo and Zheng Yong behind him were a little surprised. The latest war with the Turks was the first Battle of Huojing more than 20 years ago (1621). In that battle, 46,000 Polish soldiers defeated the 100,000 troops led by the Ottoman Sultan. However, this is not surprising. Most Europeans who were professions as soldiers began to join the army in their teens, and it was normal to experience the war twenty years ago.

After inviting the last part of the people out alone, Gao Mo asked Schneider to ask them carefully, and the final result was shocking. A considerable number of people (about a dozen) even participated in the Moscow throne war from 1617 to 1618. The military experience was nearly thirty years, which made people fall off their chins.

Looking at these middle-aged mercenaries who were in their forties, Gao Mo and Zheng Yong looked at each other and immediately decided to increase their salary and promised that after the five-year employment period expired, the East Coast people would allow them and their families to move to the East Coast and give them land. Just kidding, every veteran is the most precious property, and their years of experience in joining the army left them with valuable wealth: rich combat experience, accurate reading ability, calm and skillful combat skills. Which of these are not something new recruits can't reach? Even within the East Coast army where professional staff systems are already popular, such veterans are extremely precious.
Chapter completed!