I was the Founding Father of the United States

Chapter 4 Eastern Nobles

Recalling the scene when he first saw Chen Wenbin, and considering his current answers and demeanor, Pastor Jensen couldn't help but feel excited.

Exiled nobles of the Eastern Empire!

Only this identity can explain why Robin Chen would appear on the Atlantic Ocean.

Reverend Jensen's full name is James White. Although he was not a pastor who graduated from a well-known European university, he was a legitimate pastor who graduated from the College of New Jersey (the predecessor of Princeton University), and his knowledge was no less than that of pastors from Europe.

Through church materials in the library and oral accounts from East India Company employees, he learned about the situation in the East and that the Qing Empire was the conqueror of China a hundred years earlier.

He even knew that the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which had been destroyed, had sent envoys to the Pope in the Vatican to seek help. At that time, Pope Alexander VII and King John IV of Portugal also tried to provide some assistance to the Ming Dynasty, but by the time the envoys returned to the East, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty had already been killed...

And this Robin Chen who fell into the Atlantic Ocean... Reverend Jason suspects that he is a descendant of a nobleman from the Ming Dynasty in the East who had received help from the Catholic Church, but for some unknown reason, he fell into the water while traveling by ship across the Atlantic to Europe.

Putting aside Robin Chen's extensive knowledge, his status as a descendant of Eastern nobility alone possesses extremely high religious value—through him, there may be an opportunity to open the door to the Eastern world in the future!

Yes! Pastor Jensen saw in Chen Wenbin an opportunity to spread the gospel of the Lord to the East!

Catholic missionaries traveled to the East two centuries ago and laid a solid foundation there.

Until half a century ago, the Chinese court still had Catholic missionaries serving the royal family, while in the Pacific regions such as the East Indies and the Philippines, Catholicism still held an absolute home-field advantage.

Protestantism only spread in places like British India and the Dutch East Indies, which frustrated many Protestant pastors with missionary passion, including Pastor Jensen.

His youth coincided with the revival of the Great Religious Awakening in the North American colonies. He knew and deeply identified with the two leaders of the revival movement, Reverend Edwards and Reverend Whitefield.

Therefore, after guessing Chen Wenbin's identity, he spared no effort to save him from the wrong Catholic faith, preparing to develop him into a devout Protestant, and preferably inspire him to spread the gospel to his hometown...

"…Robin! I understand! I understand!" The middle-aged pastor looked at Chen Wenbin with great understanding and nodded, saying, "You are not a citizen of the Qing Empire; your bloodline cannot be conquered!"

Ok?

No... what do you understand?!

Chen Wenbin was taken aback, but before he could ask a question, the Irish First Mate, Gene, came over and said, "Reverend Jason, Dr. Chen, we're about to dock. Those damned vampires will be boarding soon. Be careful not to answer their questions... the captain will handle them!"

Chen Wenbin and the pastor exchanged a glance, their expressions turning serious as they nodded simultaneously.

Both men knew that the "vampire" Gene was referring to was not the descendants of Count Dracula in the North American colonies, but rather a euphemism for British customs officials.

As the North American colonies were British territory, London naturally sent tax collectors to collect various taxes, with customs duties being the largest portion.

Being taxed is inherently unpleasant, especially since the British tax system of that era was rife with aristocrats and cronies, not only rampant with corruption and inefficiency, but also characterized by an arrogant and condescending attitude towards the people in the North American colonies…

In any case, the people of the North American colonies generally had little affection for these British tax collectors who were trying to rob them of their money and looked down on them.

In February of this year, Britain and France signed the Treaty of Paris, seizing large swathes of former French territory in Canada and west of the Appalachian Mountains.

The gentlemen of the British Parliament could no longer suppress their strong urge to bleed the North American colonies dry to make up for the financial deficit from the war.

King George III then ordered a complete overhaul of the tax authorities in the North American colonies, dismissing a large number of corrupt colonial tax collectors who had turned a blind eye to smuggling and instead appointing officers from the Royal Navy as tax collectors to crack down on smuggling and increase British revenue.

As one of the major trading ports in New England, Newport naturally received special attention. Not only were naval ships stationed there, but retired naval officers who had become tax collectors were also responsible for strictly investigating and cracking down on smuggling.

In the past, during the triangular trade in the North American colonies, colonial merchant ships did not pay tariffs, whether they were carrying rum to the West African coast to buy slaves or bringing back molasses from the Caribbean. The British government turned a blind eye to this during the war because Britain needed the cooperation of the North American colonies to fight against France in the New World.

But the British were known for their tendency to discard their useful tools and settle scores later, and with the war over, the good days for the people of the North American colonies were over.

Even before the war ended, the British Parliament was already discussing how to squeeze a huge sum of money out of the North American colonies.

For example, molasses, essential for the rum industry in the North American colonies, was a trade that generated hundreds of thousands of pounds in profit for the colonies each year. It was time for the colonists to repay King George's kindness...

Sure enough, as soon as the Jenna docked, a middle-aged officer dressed in the uniform of a British naval officer—a dark blue coat with white trousers and a black tricorn hat, with a sword at his waist—boarded the ship with two naval soldiers.

However, upon recognizing the tax officer boarding the ship, Captain George Mills, who had been on high alert, immediately relaxed considerably. He smiled and greeted the naval officer, saying, "...Dear Charles, it's you! What brings you to Rhodes Island?"

The officer named Charles, upon seeing that it was George Mills, exclaimed in surprise, "...Damn it! George, you bastard! I knew you were working for those slave traders again!"

Captain George, unfazed by the remark, hugged the man and slapped him a few times before bursting into laughter: "I work for the pound! The war's over, I still have to live... You know, I have five children to support!"

Without waiting for a response, he put his arm around Charles's shoulder and loudly introduced him to the crowd:

"...My esteemed Sir Charles House! I served with him under Colonel Robert Craig, a hypocrite, but I must say, he was a good man most of the time..."