In 1866, Nanhua appeared on international routes for the first time. Before that, only ships owned by the American Company could enter Nanhua. The opening of international routes meant that Nanhua was "open" in the true sense.
It was also from that time that almost every day businessmen and skilled immigrants from various countries passed through the Nanhua office and obtained visas to enter Nanhua. The same is true now. Without a visa, you cannot enter the Ming Dynasty.
When skilled immigrants enter Daming, they need to undergo a relatively strict review and then obtain a six-month visa. If they cannot obtain a long-term employment contract, they must leave Daming when the visa expires.
A business visa is relatively easy to obtain. After all, Nanhua is a country founded on trade!
On April 13, 1874, an ocean-going ship from Britain arrived in Yingtian. On the ship, there was a middle-aged man with a beard, looking solemnly at the country he was about to arrive. For this country, in the past
In the past few years, he has been full of curiosity about this country. They have subverted his understanding of military affairs time and time again, and even set off military revolutions again and again.
Since last year, the news coming from this country has made him unable to calm down for a long time.
The "Sickness Insurance Law", "Workers' Compensation Law" and "Disability and Pension Insurance Law" they promulgated caused a stir in Europe. It is unimaginable to the outside world. For the first time, workers will not fall into poverty due to work-related injuries, nor will they fall into poverty due to old age.
and lose income.
What prompted the empire to pass these laws?
It was with this curiosity and of course business needs that he came to Daming.
When he walked to the customs channel with his suitcase, he took out his visa and handed it to the customs officer. The man took the visa and spelled out with some difficulty.
"F... Friedrich... en..."
The customs officer asked confusedly in English while he was spelling it out.
"Are you from England?"
"Yes, I was born in Germany."
Friedrich replied in English.
"What's your purpose here?"
"Business meetings."
Soon, the customs official stamped the visa and reminded him.
"Your visa is valid for 12 months. If you overstay, you will be arrested as an illegal immigrant and sentenced to more than three years of hard labor."
Faced with such a reminder, Friedrich's first impression was not very good. After all, there is no country in the world that treats outsiders like this, at least in other countries they have free passage.
But not in Daming!
Why not? Of course it is to restrict the entry of European immigrants!
The moment he walked out of the customs building, Friedrich was stunned by the city in front of him. What kind of city is this!
Looking at the trams running on the street, Friedrich couldn't help but have an idea in his mind, maybe, this is the future!
"Dear friend Heydrich:
I am very happy to write to you. Since arriving in the Ming Empire, all kinds of novel experiences have been constantly filling my mind. I feel it is necessary to share these experiences with you. Now I believe that going to Nanhua will definitely make me more interesting.
It opened my eyes.
Due to the company's business needs, I arrived at "Yingtian" on April 13th. This is an unfamiliar place name. Before that, it was called "Buenos Aires", a city founded by the Spanish -
Now it is the capital of the Ming Empire, a dynasty in Chinese history. Although the kingdom has been destroyed for more than two hundred years, the royal members of the dynasty created the empire in the New World. They annexed Chile and Argentina, leaving more than three million people
People fell under their rule, and a newly arrived nation established a new empire on the land that the Spanish had colonized.
You must remember that we have discussed many issues in China, such as the Taiping Revolution, and the invasion of China by the British and French forces, but we never thought that one day, people in this country would create an empire here, and this empire
The development of science and technology is far beyond the scope of our understanding.
…
After I arrived at customs, they gave us a small cardboard card with my information written in Chinese and English, my name, the time I arrived here, and of course the most important thing is the validity period of my visa.
, if I overstay without permission, I will be thrown into jail.
I have to say that this is a typical oriental country. They use laws to restrict people's freedom of travel. Of course, this restriction refers specifically to European immigrants. It seems that it is through this method that they restrict the entry of European immigrants and the former
Certain freedoms for the people in Chile, Argentina, this is a very interesting topic and we can discuss it in depth when I return to London.
…
As many people have described, Yingtian is a city that never sleeps. There is no difference between Yingtian at night and during the day. The tall street lamps beside the streets emit bright light. The bright electric lights illuminate the streets very brightly. Unlike London, the streets here are very bright.
Streetlights not only exist on main streets, but you can also see traces of them even when entering branch roads and even alleys, but they are not as dense and bright as on main streets.
In this city that is driven away by street lights at night, its security is better than any other city. The light drives away the best cover for gangsters to do evil - the dark night, but this is not the whole reason, the more important thing is the police.
Even until midnight at that time, police patrols could be seen on the streets. The police and the bright streets made pedestrians feel safe, even if the streets were deserted. This is hard to imagine in Europe.
As we all know, the dark night is full of evil.
Later, I learned that Yingtian, a city with only 450,000 people, had more than 6,000 police officers, and there were also military police responsible for rural security outside the city.
What is certain is that their investment in security certainly has the purpose of maintaining their rule - there are more than one million Argentines living here. Not every Argentinian supports the rule of the Ming Dynasty, but at least on the issue of public security, everyone
Everyone can benefit from it.
Out of curiosity, I have entered many remote alleys many times. What is surprising is that the streets in Yingtian City, whether they are streets or alleys, are very neat and clean - this is really a miracle. In any part of the city,
You can't see the garbage and horse excrement that are common on the streets of London or other European cities. All sidewalks are equipped with stone slabs or floor tiles. The streets are paved with asphalt and gravel, and the roads are clean and free of dust.
Any sewage.
It is hard to believe that this city is managed by the Chinese. After all, as far as we know, Chinese cities are dirty and chaotic. Perhaps this is what they emphasize-between the Han and the Tatars.
The difference is that China is now ruled by the Tatars.
In order to ensure the sanitation of the city, many garbage cans are set up at the end of their streets and alleys. Pedestrians must put their garbage into them, otherwise they will face penalties - not only fines, but also sentenced to 50 to 200 hours of community correction.
Service, I heard that there were even generals who had to wear a vest and use their vacations to perform 200 hours of corrective service because they violated this law, that is, cleaning the streets.
In their urban planning, the distance between public toilets for public use is clearly stipulated, so you can see a sufficient number of public toilets on the streets and alleys here. Of course, these two points alone are not enough to ensure hygiene, but through strict laws
Enforcing and punishing measures, they ensure the cleanliness of the city.
I think that under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, the moral standards of both European and Chinese residents have been greatly improved. Moreover, their laws are fair and will not treat them differently based on race.
…
Of course, this is not the purpose of my trip. What I want to know most about this trip is the life of workers in the Ming Dynasty. After all, as we all know, almost all adults in this country are workers..."
This chapter has been completed!