Just as the royal airship was sailing towards Ming's Guinea Company, a clipper-type three-masted sailing ship was slowly sailing into Xincheng Port.
"It's here, it's here..."
The deck of the ship was crowded with people. Most of them were wearing shabby robes, and many of them had shaved heads.
Japanese.
"Nishiyama Maru" is a Japanese merchant ship. Although the captain is a British captain, it has opened a route from Nagasaki to Europe as early as last year. In addition to carrying many general cargoes, its cabin also contains
712 Japanese "indentured laborers".
Unlike the immigrants who went to Linhai, most of these Japanese workers were men, with only a few dozen female workers. The reason why they came here was of course to find a new life.
"Oh, it really is a black country, there are black people everywhere!"
When the ship entered the port, I looked at the natives in the nearby villages and sighed at Yamaguchi standing on the side of the ship.
"Hey, those black people...are not wearing any clothes!"
"A lot of women are like that!"
"What a barbaric place..."
Although they shouted about being barbaric, they soon started discussing the body shape of native women with their eyes shining brightly.
Their dark and shiny skin glowed with an alluring luster under the sun, making the men who had just arrived look at them with longing.
Soon these workers were on board the ship. When registering as usual, they had to enter their names, place of origin and other information.
"Another laborer has arrived in Hong Kong!"
When the workers were registering, Xu Chenggong smiled and said to the governor.
"The resistance of the natives in the mining area is fierce. This group of laborers can come in handy. Sir, look at these people..."
"As usual, pick out those who are warriors, give them Japanese swords, and then add them to the sword-drawing team. As for the others, they will also be added to the search team."
Narrowing his eyes into thin slits, Wei Chenglin sneered.
"Strive to completely eliminate the resistance in the mining area this year, and send all the men to the railways and iron ore mines. As for the women, let's do it as usual!"
As the governor, Wei Chenglin was very depressed. There were only two African companies in the Ming Dynasty, one was the Central African Company and the other was the Guinea Company. There was almost no resistance from the Central African Company, but it was better on his side. The farther into the hinterland, the more intense the resistance became.
.
The resistance of the natives even affected the construction of railways and the development of iron mines. That large iron mine was a mineral that was urgently needed by the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, these factors that affect the progress of the project naturally need to be eliminated.
"In short, the railway must be laid to the mining area this year, and the iron ore must be transported out this year..."
iron ore!
The Simandou Iron Mine located inland is the largest iron mine under the control of the Ming Dynasty. According to geological experts' calculations, the reserves are as high as billions of tons. It is a high-quality iron ore with an iron content of more than 60%. Such a high-quality iron ore is for
For the Ming Dynasty, which had insufficient iron ore resources, its importance is needless to say.
Otherwise, it would not have built a railway to the interior in the primeval dense forest. In order to build that railway, the company recruited hundreds of thousands of local workers. It is not easy to build a railway in a tropical rainforest, not to mention local workers.
More than half of the more than 7,000 Japanese workers were killed or injured due to malaria and other diseases. It can almost be said that every step they took left a corpse behind.
Such a heavy death rate made Wei Chenglin dare not send Ming workers there at all. That was not asking people to work. They were clearly sending people to die.
The environment there is too harsh. It is better to let outsiders develop and mature it first, and then let our own people pass. The diseases and miasma in the tropical rain forest are really fatal.
If there is no need for cannon fodder, why use your own people to fill it?
"How is the progress at the railway construction site now? It will be completed this year!"
"It will definitely be completed, sir, don't worry. If it doesn't work, we'll recruit tens of thousands more laborers from the tribe!"
Facing the Governor's inquiry, Xu Chenggong said confidently.
"As long as we work hard enough, we can definitely catch up on the construction period. After all, the days and nights here are long and we can work sixteen or seventeen hours a day without any problem!"
"That's good, that's good. If the railway is built a day earlier, the iron ore can be transported out a day earlier. The country is waiting for our iron ore to be put into the pot!"
…
Deep in the rainforest, groups of dark-skinned laborers dumped truckloads of soil on the roadbed. The railway roadbed slowly took shape. When the bulldozed soil was spread to a height of more than half a meter, a roaring steam roller began to crush the roadbed.
The steam rollers dragging tall and large iron wheels along the roadbed will rumble, flattening and compacting the soil. This is a unique "road roller" of the Ming Dynasty. Although high-power gasoline engines have long been used, in railways and highways
On construction sites, steam rollers are more effective - they are lightweight and do not require fuel. They can work on wood and water, unlike gasoline engines that require gasoline to be transported from behind.
Although there are two steam shovels ahead to excavate the roadbed soil, more people still rely on people on this construction site. Hundreds of thousands of laborers recruited from tribes work day and night on hundreds of kilometers of railway construction sites.
There are many people, but their daily per capita quota is still very high. They must work hard from dawn to dusk, otherwise it will be difficult to reach the quota. Those who dig the soil keep digging, and those who push carts keep pushing carts. Each group is divided into cars.
number.
"Quickly..."
Matsuda, the supervisor standing on the slope, shouted in blunt Chinese. He held a cane in his hand. If any worker moved a little slower, he would immediately whip up the whip. As an overseer, he was wearing bright clothes.
He wears a short-sleeved shirt, shorts, and a straw hat. Although he is arrogant in front of the native workers, when he sees Ming technicians passing by, he will bow deeply and speak respectfully with great humility and respect.
"Hello, sir."
On the construction site, people are divided into three, six, and nine grades. There is no doubt that the Ming people, even if they are just ordinary craftsmen, have a much higher status than laborers or Japanese supervisors.
However, Matsuda doesn't think there is anything wrong with this, and like all Japanese workers, he will actively maintain this level. After all, in this level, he is just an ordinary person in Japan, but he is also aloof.
Yes, even those white-skinned ones cannot catch up with them.
Those who can benefit from this system will of course maintain the status quo as much as possible.
After lunch, when the workers were taking a break, Matsuda was smoking a cigarette while chatting with Nomura, the newly promoted supervisor of another team. Although Nomura did not smoke, it did not prevent them from chatting there.
"Matsuda-kun, have you heard? Inoue is married."
"Married? Didn't he just get married?"
Matsuda said in surprise.
"He married another local concubine for only 4 yuan. I really didn't expect that Inoue, who came from the countryside, actually married a concubine."
Matsuda sighed, feeling envious of Nomura.
"This is all the blessing of Ming Dynasty!"
Nomura nodded with deep understanding and said:
"It's true. It's very difficult for poor people like you and me in Japan to get a wife. But here, you can choose any native woman to get married. Unfortunately, it's a little darker. If only those white people's daughters could get married.
It would be better if it were bigger.”
Those white children's skin is not that dark, but they still look very beautiful. The only regret is that they are too young.
It would be nice if they could wait a few more years. But they definitely can't wait that long. And the local women are not bad either.
"Haha, you think so. Those white people's daughters will definitely marry Mingren in the future. How can they fall in love with us? You and I must work harder and strive for naturalization as soon as possible. Only by naturalization can we marry Mingren.
Same, be a master!"
Matsuda's words made Nomura nod in agreement:
"That's true. Being able to become a Ming Dynasty citizen is indeed a blessing for us!"
Looking at the people of Ming Dynasty in the distance enjoying tea after dinner in a tent with anti-mosquito screen, native maids are waiting on them. Even in such a rainforest construction site, they still enjoy such a life. It’s really