As time passed the threshold of 1869, the ship from the old continent finally sailed into Nanhua Bay. The passengers on the deck were all curiously looking at Nanhua and the city.
What appeared in front of them was a strange city, but it was a city full of opportunities. Unlike New York, there were no stones from the so-called "Native American Association" to greet them, and there was no hunger or poverty. They even did not
Don't worry about jobs - they are all immigrants who have signed company contracts.
As early as five years ago, Zhu Xianhai issued a notice to branches and offices in London, Paris, Berlin, Hamburg and other places, requiring that attracting skilled immigrants be the most important task. Especially with the large influx of Chinese immigrants,
With the arrival of Nanhua, Nanhua's actual control area expanded inland. The demand for labor in various industries was basically satisfied by the arrival of Chinese immigrants. However, the demand for technical personnel was extremely strong. In order to recruit technical personnel and even skilled workers to work in Nanhua,
The company will conduct direct recruitment in Europe, place advertisements in European newspapers, and even print out pamphlets to describe the attractive prospects of immigrating to South China; it will also be willing to provide the necessary travel expenses to skilled immigrants and sign employment contracts with them.
These are things that the United States cannot do, and many immigrant American technicians can only struggle in the slums of lower Manhattan. However, with the help of the national will in Nanhua, a large number of European technicians and skilled workers came to Nanhua.
In 1869 alone, tens of thousands of technicians and their families came to Nanhua. The arrival of these technicians and skilled workers greatly accelerated the development of Nanhua.
Of course, now Zhu Xianhai is not worried about their backstabbing at all, not only because 620,000 Chinese immigrants came to Nanhua in the same year, but the Chinese population of Nanhua has exceeded the three million mark, and as for the European immigrants, there are only more than 60,000.
And he directly refused the opportunity for ordinary immigrants to enter South China - of course, he never discriminated against those unskilled Europeans. China is civilized, and discrimination is a matter for white-skinned talents.
Except for the company's merchant ships, there are currently no private passenger routes between Nanhua and Europe. The company's merchant ships... are just transportation company employees and their families. You are not a company employee... That's embarrassing.
Well, when you come to Nanhua, you first go to the office to sign an employment contract. What are your specialties? What skills do you have? Which school did you graduate from...
Of course, things are not absolute.
For a well-known person like Verne, the company was of course happy to sell him a boat ticket. This smoothness was also due to the letter of introduction from the charge d'affaires in Paris.
As a well-known writer, Verne was curious about South China. Especially after the Spanish princess married to South China, he always had some curiosity about the place where electric light was invented.
But what really drove him to come here were the many rumors about this city.
“This is a city where you can see the future!”
Maybe it’s because the electric lights are so amazing, or maybe it’s because of the high-rise buildings here that many people describe Nanhua in this way in their travel notes.
Finally, after several months of careful preparation, Verne arrived in Nanhua. At this time, like the passengers around him, he was also full of expectations. However, unlike the new life that others were looking forward to, what he was looking forward to was Nanhua.
What kind of surprise will it give him?
Verne, who was holding a business visa, did not need to go through multiple inspections like immigrants. After disembarking with his luggage, he went directly through customs inspection and entered Nanhua. As soon as he stepped out of the dock, he was stunned by the city before him.
.
"This is……"
Under his feet was a flat black road, and it could be vaguely seen that the road was paved with gravel the size of corn kernels.
"This is the asphalt road they mentioned in their travel notes. This road is indeed smoother and of better quality than the one in Paris."
In fact, there are asphalt gravel roads in Europe, but the paving method is very simple, which is to pour a layer of asphalt directly on the gravel. The thickness is uneven, and there are also problems with adhesion. However, Nanhua uses asphalt and gravel.
Stir-fried and mixed with a special machine, the pavement paved with this material is smoother and more durable.
Like many people, after walking on the road and being surprised by the difference in the road, he was stunned by the Nanhua Shipping Company building in front of him.
"This building is so, so high..."
This is a tall building with a height of ten stories. This kind of building built with steel beam frame and reinforced concrete appeared in Nanhua in 1861, from the initial three floors to the current ten floors. For people of this era,
For example, a ten-story building is already a skyscraper. In history, the World's first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Company Building, was built in Chicago in 1885, but it only had 11 stories.
But now Nanhua has more than 60 high-rise buildings with more than ten floors, and there is even a high-rise building with a height of 19 floors - the Atlantic Insurance Building.
"This, this is really a city in the sky!"
Standing on the side of the road in a daze, Verne stared blankly at the building in front of him, watching the staff coming in and out of the revolving glass door. Even as a Frenchman, he was not able to enter at this moment.
In the Grand View Garden, he felt like a country bumpkin, standing there helpless.
At this moment, a short but strong man dragged a car and stopped in front of him. Amidst the jingle of the car bell, the man smiled honestly at him.
"Sir, do you want a car?"
Although he didn't understand what the man was talking about, Verne still figured out what he meant. This was a "rickshaw" unique to Nanhua.
Many people's travel notes mentioned two types of transportation on the streets of Nanhua, one is a household bicycle, and the other is a human-pulled "rickshaw". Although there are many horse-drawn carriages in Nanhua, and horses are not expensive, in rickshaws
However, it became popular in Nanhua because of its low cost and convenience.
In Verne's opinion, this kind of car is just a seat on the wheel. There are two long handles in front for the driver to pull, and there is a folded hood behind the seat. The hood seems to be used to protect it from the sun and rain.
The driver was wearing a blue T-shirt and a vest with the number "0026" written on it.
"I...go, here..."
Although he did not speak Chinese and could not communicate with the coachman, Verne still took out a name tag, which was given to him by the representative of Nanhua in Paris, saying that it was the best hotel in Nanhua.
"Here, here..."
The driver took the business card, looked at it and smiled.
"Ah, you are talking about this place, Atlantic Hotel, the best hotel in South China. Sit tight, I will take you there right now..."
This chapter has been completed!