Seeing Brown's dumbfounded look, Jin Xia thought for a while and said in a low voice: "We white people have very little status here in the Ming Dynasty, because almost every household has several white slaves."
"I don't know why you Jews can obtain legal free citizenship, but if you go out, you'd better bring your identity certificate with you, and in many places, slaves are not allowed to enter for the first time."
"Although you are not slaves, your appearance will be subject to many restrictions and influences."
"Thank you for telling me this~"
Brown quickly expressed his thanks.
"You're welcome~"
"Actually, the people of Ming Dynasty are very good to us."
Jinxia was chatting with Brown while she was busy.
"You are a servant of the Ming Dynasty and are enslaved by the Ming Dynasty. Why do you still say this?"
Brown looked very surprised when he heard Jin Xia's words.
In his opinion, people who work as slaves, servants, and are exploited will definitely not have a good life. However, the man in front of him actually said that the people of Ming Dynasty treat them very well, which is very surprising.
"Although I am your servant, I am not a free man."
"But the young master is really kind to us. He gives us enough and rich food, and also buys us beautiful clothes and jewelry, etc. He is really good to us."
"In my hometown, although I am a free man, I often suffer from hunger, and I don't have beautiful clothes or jewelry. My life is not as good as here."
"As far as I know, most people in the Ming Dynasty are relatively gentle and humble. They are very particular about etiquette. At the same time, they also believe in reincarnation and cause and effect. They believe that good will be rewarded with good and evil will be rewarded with evil."
"Therefore, although most people in the Ming Dynasty have slaves, most of them are very good to their slaves. They give them enough food and comfortable accommodation. Even if they work, they have a set time and will not let them do anything.
You work all day long."
"If there is a festival, the slave owners will give everyone a holiday to let everyone rest and rest. Some will even reward the slaves with some money, allowing the slaves to own their own property and obtain a certain degree of freedom, within a certain range.
walk."
Jinxia said in detail.
Anyway, in her opinion, life here in Daming is much better than life in her hometown.
The same is true for many slaves she has seen and learned about. Apart from not having any personal freedom, almost all aspects of food, housing and transportation are much better than those in her hometown.
"Why do the people of Ming Dynasty treat their slaves like this?"
"Aren't slaves their property?"
This puzzled Brown very much. Although European countries have become feudal countries, slaves still exist in large numbers. European slave owners absolutely want to drain their slaves dry. I don’t know how many slaves have died.
On top of death from overwork.
Moreover, the food slave owners gave slaves was definitely the worst food. As for the living quarters, they were similar to cowsheds and pig pens, very dirty and messy.
"Didn't I just say that people in the Ming Dynasty believe in reincarnation and cause and effect, and believe that good will be rewarded with good and evil will be rewarded with evil."
"Most of them believe that if you are too harsh on your slaves, you will sow evil consequences and there will be bad rewards in the future, and if you treat your slaves better, you will sow good fruits and there will be good rewards in the future."
"So although there are millions of slaves here in Ningguo, there have been no major slave riots so far. Most of the slaves are willing to live here."
"And Ning Guo has also promised that as long as he works conscientiously and honestly for twenty years, or makes great achievements, he will be free and become a free and legal citizen of Ning Guo."
"The Tianzhu people, Siamese, Burmese, Slavs, Turks and so on around us were all slaves of the Ming Dynasty in the past. Many of them were because of their meritorious service. Their masters gave them freedom and allowed them to become
He is a free and legal citizen of Ningguo, and he also obtained a piece of land of his own here."
Perhaps it was because she met half a fellow countryman, Jin Xia also talked a lot, and she talked a lot with Brown.
"So that's it~"
Brown finally understood.
Then he looked at the people around him from all over the world, and at the uniform clothing, clothing and construction, and asked: "There are Tianzhu people, Turks, Arabs, Burmese, Siamese, Slavs, etc.
, but why don’t these people wear the clothes of their hometown, speak the words of their hometown, and build houses in the style of their hometown?”
"Didn't I tell you just now, because this is Ningguo, the country of the Ming Dynasty."
"Whether it is the Ming Empire or the Ning Kingdom, all people are divided into levels. The most noble ones are naturally the Ming people, and there are several levels below."
"These levels are not fixed and can be promoted."
"For example, slaves at the lowest level can become free and legal citizens as long as they work diligently and make meritorious deeds. If they are willing to change their surnames to Chinese, take Chinese names, and can speak Ming dialect, they can become higher-level first-class and third-class citizens.
citizen."
"If you can also write Ming characters, and have not violated any law for several generations, you can become a second-class citizen if the matter of betraying the Ming people comes out. Of course, the way to become a second-class citizen is to make outstanding contributions and make great contributions.
What."
"After becoming a second-class citizen, if there is no violation of laws or betrayal of Ming people within three generations, or if you have made great achievements or made outstanding contributions, you can become a first-class citizen like the people of Ming Dynasty.
"
"First-class citizens have many privileges. They can cultivate land at will, and any amount of land they cultivate can be their own. They can also take the imperial examination and become officials. After making meritorious services, they have the opportunity to become nobles."
"There are no restrictions for first-class citizens to marry wives and take concubines, but non-first-class citizens have strict regulations. For example, third-class citizens and fourth-class citizens can only marry one wife and cannot take concubines, even if they own slaves.
, there is also a quantity limit.”
"Because of this policy, everyone will learn the Ming dialect and change their surnames to Chinese names. For example, I used to be called Anna, but after I became the servant of the young master, the young master gave me a new Ming name called Jinxia."
"Of course, the Ming Empire is extremely powerful. It is the vastest, most powerful, and richest empire in the world. The civilization of the Ming people is also the most advanced civilization. It is more advanced and powerful than other civilizations. Learn from the Ming people."
It’s a very normal thing.”
Jin Xia patiently explained in detail.
"You know, people in many places still eat with their hands, like Tianzhu people, Turkic people, etc. They all eat with their hands, which is very dirty, and they are also afraid of being burned. But the people of Ming Dynasty are different.
, they eat with chopsticks, spoons and other tools.”
"In the culture of the Ming Dynasty, people pay attention to the order of respect and inferiority, gentleness, courtesy, frugality, thrift, being friendly to others, respecting knowledge, etc. These are the foundations of the excellence and strength of the people of the Ming Dynasty."
"So whether it is to become a higher-level citizen or to be influenced by the advanced and powerful Ming culture, everyone is willing to learn all aspects of the Ming people."
Brown listened carefully to Jin Xia's words, but when he heard this, his face turned ugly.
"This doesn't mean that if we Jews want to integrate into the Ming Empire, don't we have to give up our own traditions and culture and learn from the traditions and culture of the Ming people?"
"Yes, this may be very, very difficult for you Jews."
"But if you Jews are unwilling to make changes, I'm afraid you will always be fourth-class citizens. Let alone doing business everywhere like Europe, you won't be able to do many things."
Jin Xia nodded solemnly and said.
The Jews are also very famous in Europe. They do not change their ways, always stick to their own set of things, and are unwilling to blend in with the locals wherever they go.
They have considerable wealth through business, but they are very stingy. The image of stingy people is almost deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
"This is worse than robbing our money!"
Brown couldn't help but shook his head and sighed.
In his opinion, the reason why Jews are Jews is because they have insisted on their own traditions and culture for thousands of years, never integrating into the local area, and have always been independent. Therefore, they are Jews.
However, now, here, you actually have to learn from the Ming people in every aspect, and you have to change your own traditions and culture to live a better life in this huge empire.
If you are unwilling to change these things, you can only become a fourth-class citizen. Although you have your own land, you will never get ahead.
Fourth-class citizens were limited in the amount of land they could own, and even in purchasing slaves, and in the professions they could engage in, but these were nothing.
Jews are good at doing business, but if they are fourth-class citizens, there is no way to do business, because in this huge empire, no one will do business with a fourth-class citizen.
Brown clearly realized that this was a kind of cultural and racial assimilation.
Look at these people in front of you. Although some of them have dark skin and some have white skin, there is a huge difference. But at this moment, they are wearing the clothes of the Ming Dynasty, their language, behavior, etc. are all learning from the Ming Dynasty people.
In a few decades or a few generations, these people and their descendants will probably forget who their ancestors are, and they will all become Ming people. Apart from the difference in appearance, there will be no other differences.
The difference is even greater than that of the Ming Dynasty people.
And this is exactly what Brown doesn’t want to see. The reason why Jews are Jews is because they insist on their own traditions and culture. Once they give up their own traditions and problems, are they still Jews?
This is why he lamented that they care more about their tradition and culture than money.