On the Red Sea, the slave ship 'Little Herring' is heading towards the Indian Ocean. It is a slave ship belonging to the slave trading company under King Ning. It specializes in traveling between Chixia City and the Mediterranean Sea, transporting a large number of slaves to
Chixia City, and then exclusively sold to vassal states and colonies throughout East Africa.
With the rapid development of East African vassal states and colonies, the demand for labor increased sharply. However, immigrants from the Ming Dynasty could not keep up with the demand for development.
Although these colonies and vassal states have provided extremely favorable conditions, including land, tax exemptions, and slaves, the growth of Han immigrants in various vassal states and colonies has been relatively slow.
Therefore, these vassal states and colonies had to use a large number of slaves, and the demand for slaves also increased rapidly, even exceeding the demand for slaves in the Ming Dynasty.
King Ning's slave business is also getting more and more prosperous. He transports European slaves to East Africa and sells them at will, which is several times the profit, bringing a steady stream of wealth to King Ning.
Simon held on to the railing and looked at the Red Sea in front of him, feeling the hot atmosphere that was completely different from Europe, and then looked at the slaves on the deck.
These slaves were all from Europe, with blond hair and blue eyes, high noses and deep eyes. They all looked depressed and sat on the deck very powerlessly, full of confusion about the future.
From the conversations between these slaves, Simon knew that these slaves included Slavs, Italians, Venetians, Balkans, Hungarians, Poles, etc.
The origins are also extremely complicated. Some of them were soldiers who were captured in the war, but were sold to slave traders and passed into the hands of the Ming Dynasty people.
Some were deceived and came from rural areas in Europe. They were said to be going to the city to make a lot of money, but in the end they were sold as slaves and eventually ended up in the hands of the Ming Dynasty people.
Others were originally farmers and serfs, but were robbed by the Tatars when they were threshing grain and sold as slaves to the Ming Dynasty; others were burdened with debts and had to sell themselves.
To pay off the debt, he became a slave.
In short, there are all kinds of people from all over Europe, but at this moment they are all slaves and can only stay on the deck honestly, otherwise they will be whipped by the Ming people.
Simon was looking at these slaves, and these slaves were also looking at Simon, wondering why Simon, who was not a slave, could move freely on the ship.
"Why can you move around freely on the ship?"
"What languages do you understand? Italian? Arabic? Germanic? Spanish?"
Bill was a slave from Italy. He looked at the leisurely Simon and asked in several languages.
怆愯瘽璇达纴鐩铓嶆湕畇簲扉涔︽涶濂界敤镄刟pp锛屽挭鍜阒呰hurt
"I can speak Italian~"
When Simon heard this, he also replied.
"Who are you? Why can you move freely on the ship? Why don't those Ming people target you?"
Bill found it very strange that everyone looked similar, but their treatment was very different. Simon could move around freely like the Ming people on the ship, and he could also receive courtesy from the Ming people.
"I am a French Jew. This time I am taking this ship to Chixia City in Ningguo~"
"I'm not a slave, I paid for the boat ticket."
Simon thought for a while and replied.
"Jew? I just said you are a Jew."
When Bill heard this, he looked carefully again and recognized it immediately.
Perhaps it was difficult for Ming people to identify a Jew, but Europeans could tell at a glance whether someone was a Jew.
"Where is Chixia City?"
Bill thought for a while and asked again.
"Chixia City is the capital of the Ning Kingdom in West Africa. You will be trafficked to wherever you are, and then sold to other places."
Simon told the news he had learned.
"Mr. Simon~"
"Please don't talk to the slaves, it will make it difficult for us to do things~"
While Simon and Bill were chatting, Liu Sandao, the captain of the Little Herring, came over and reminded him.
He saw Simon and the slave chatting, but he couldn't understand what they were saying, so for safety reasons, he came to stop them.
To be honest, he took some risks by taking Simon to Chixia City.
Slave ships have rules for slave ships, which are different from ordinary ships. As long as there is space, it is okay to carry some cargo. If you meet people passing by, if they are from the Ming Dynasty, there is no need to carry them with you.
questionable.
But Simon knew at a glance that they were Europeans, and the slaves on his ship were all white European slaves. If they colluded, it would be easy for something to happen.
If it weren't for the money given by the other party, Liu Sandao would not have brought Simon and the others.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Captain, for causing you trouble."
"I'll pay attention."
When Simon heard this, he quickly expressed his stance.
"That's good~"
Liu Sandao nodded with satisfaction. As a captain specializing in transporting slaves under King Ning, Liu Sandao was naturally not a good person. Without a little bit of gangsterism, he would not be able to control these slaves.
To those disobedient slaves, these Ming people on the ship would not be polite at all.
After warning Simon, Liu Sandao then glanced at the slaves on the boat. All the slaves on the boat immediately lowered their heads, fearing that they would be beaten just because of a look.
To be honest, these Ming people are much better merchants than the slave traders in Europe. At least, these Ming people will provide them with pretty good food. Many of them are serfs or from remote and poor rural areas in Europe.
People even think that being a slave is actually pretty good.
At least you can have enough to eat, and I heard that the Ming Dynasty is extremely rich and the people in the Ming Dynasty are also very nice. As long as you are willing to work, you basically don't have to worry about starvation.
The Europe in this matter is far from the Europe of later generations. Most of Europe is very poor, especially for the people at the bottom. Most ordinary Europeans even live on horse bread and black bread.
In comparison, the food the Ming people gave their slaves was better than their own food.
Polenta, steamed buns, rice, steamed buns, sweet potatoes, etc., these are very common in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty vassal state, and the colonies. The output is large, the price is cheap, and there is more food than can be eaten, and a large amount is used for feeding.
livestock.
The food given to these slaves by the Ming Dynasty was very good food for them, especially some Slavic serfs from Eastern Europe.
They used to work so hard that they couldn't even afford a decent meal all year long, but now they can take turns eating different foods, and they feel like their life is not bad.
Anyway, they are all slaves, but in the future they will be slaves of the Ming Dynasty, and they will also farm the land. In the past, they farmed the land for the nobles, and now they farm the land for the Ming Dynasty. It is the same.
Moreover, I heard from these people of the Ming Dynasty that as long as they behave well, they can transform from slaves to civilians, gain freedom, and get their own land in the Ming Dynasty.
In the eyes of many Slavic serfs, this was absolutely a fantasy.
You must know that in their hometown, they have absolutely no future. Serfs are serfs. They have been serfs for generations. It is impossible to stand up.
Unexpectedly, the people of Ming Dynasty actually gave them hope and could one day turn around.
As long as they work hard and perform well, the Ming Dynasty, which lacks labor, is willing to give them civilian status and allow them to obtain land.
The Ming people on the ship even told them some legendary stories. Some slaves fought for His Highness King Ning and fought bravely. Not only did they get rid of their status as slaves, they even gained the same status as the Ming people and received a lot of rewards.
of land and wealth.
All this made the slaves on the ship very excited, and they even fantasized about living a quiet and prosperous life after gaining civilian status in the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Empire was synonymous with extreme wealth.
Look at these Ming Dynasty people, all of them are tall, wearing exquisite clothes, with rosy complexions. There is not a trace of dirt on them, and there is not even a trace of odor on their bodies.
Unlike everyone else, whose clothes are in tatters, unkempt, and smelly, these people even stay far away when they smell everyone's smell.
Compared to these slaves, Simon, as a businessman, has seen much more.
"Slave trading is a big business and very profitable~"
"When these slaves were bought, they only had a few Ming silver coins, but when they arrived in the Ming Dynasty, they could be sold for dozens of Ming silver coins."
"The people of the Ming Dynasty are very rich. If you do business and trade here in the Ming Dynasty, you can definitely earn even greater wealth."
"Especially in the many vassal states, colonies, vassal states, countries and other areas radiated by the Ming Dynasty, everyone recognizes the currency of the Ming Dynasty and uses the Ming Dynasty language, which is extremely beneficial to business."
"Coupled with the free trade atmosphere here in Ming Dynasty, immigrants to Ming Dynasty will definitely have great potential in the future~"
Thinking of this, Simon became excited. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. The Ming Dynasty was a huge empire, vast in territory, and extremely rich. The key was that it was a unified empire with unified language, writing and currency. This was great for commerce.
