In the British Isles and Ireland, with the advent of winter, the entire island of Ireland seems to have entered purgatory.
The streets and alleys in Dublin are filled with skinny people with dull eyes full of despair. They are huddled in corners like zombies, looking at everything around them with hungry eyes, looking for anything that can be used to satisfy their hunger.
.
The weather was extremely cold the winter before last, and it was extremely dry last year, which already caused the land here to have no harvest, but if it was only for one year, I could grit my teeth and persevere.
However, this year is another disastrous year. Potatoes, the main crop in Ireland, have suffered from large-scale rotten diseases. The harvest season has not yet come, and all the potatoes have rotted in the ground.
This was undoubtedly aggravating the situation for Ireland, which had already suffered from drought for a year. Suddenly, the entire island of Ireland fell into a state of endless famine.
Originally, potatoes were not grown here in Ireland. Like other places in Europe, wheat was grown here.
However, since England and Spain were defeated one after another, England faced huge war reparations. Therefore, when Henry VII was in power, he did not hesitate to conquer Ireland at all costs and included it decades earlier than in history.
the territory of England.
After ruling Ireland, the English did not regard the people here as their own people, because the Irish were mainly Celts and were different from the Anglo-Saxons in terms of language, writing, race, and religion.
In order to plunder as much wealth as possible from the island of Ireland, the English nobles occupied large amounts of land here to raise sheep and shear sheep.
The Ming Empire had a very strong demand for wool and cotton, and the price had always been very good. Wool was one of England's main export commodities to the Ming Dynasty.
A large amount of land was turned into pasture to raise sheep. In order to feed a larger population, England forced the Irish to grow potatoes with higher yields.
So in just 20 years, this crop from the Golden Continent, brought to Europe by the Ming Dynasty, became the staple food and main crop of the Irish.
Because potatoes are indeed more productive and easier to grow, the Irish are also willing to accept the cultivation of this new crop.
But no one expected that mildew would appear this year. Potatoes would become moldy and rotten while they were still in the ground, and almost all potato harvests on the island of Ireland would fail.
For the island of Ireland, which has already experienced a year of famine, this is definitely making matters worse. Hunger is rampant across the island.
In invisible corners, some people use eggs or bread to lure children, and then eat the children; others directly kill people to satisfy their hunger. As for eating tree bark, eating grass, etc., that is simply not the case.
It doesn't matter anymore.
The entire island of Ireland has become a hell on earth at this moment. The ground is full of hungry people, people are eating each other, and scenes of bones are almost everywhere.
The English who ruled the island of Ireland had no intention of providing relief here, because at this moment England was also facing a great famine and was simply unable to provide relief, and Henry VIII did not regard the Irish as his own people at all.
There will be no relief here at all.
The city of Dublin at this time was similar to European cities of this period. It was dirty and smelly, and the residents in the city were all unkempt and slovenly.
Coupled with the raging hunger and cold, the whole city seemed to be dead and silent,
"Dang~dang~"
"There are merchants from the Ming Dynasty buying people at the port terminal. There are merchants from the Ming Dynasty buying people at the port terminal."
"As long as you are willing to sell yourself to the people of Ming Dynasty, you can sell 50 pounds of grain!"
At this time, someone started shouting in the city like beating gongs and drums.
When countless people heard the sound, they immediately swarmed towards the port as if they had seen a life-saving straw.
Daming people, Daming people represent wealth, nobility and civilization in their impression.
This place is very close to Hong Kong. Many people’s relatives and friends have found ways to sneak into Hong Kong. Even if they work illegally for a month, they can get two or three taels of silver, and they don’t have to worry about food and clothing.
question.
It is said that the houses in Hong Kong are tall and beautiful, and the lights are brightly lit even at night; it is said that gold is everywhere in Hong Kong, and people are extremely rich, wearing expensive silks, eating with porcelain, and adding sugar to their tea.
; It is said that people in Hong Kong live in a state of revelry and feasting.
In short, people here have the impression that Ming people and Hong Kong are synonymous with wealth and nobility. It is said that every Ming family has at least seven or eight English slaves serving them.
Now there is no food everywhere, and countless people even take huge risks to sneak to Hong Kong, just to have enough to eat in Hong Kong.
Here in the port area, there are several Ming Dynasty merchant ships moored.
Here at the pier, there are fully armed Ming Dynasty escorts maintaining order. These people carry muskets in their hands, with bright bayonets on the muskets. They are all strong, wearing armor, and have cold eyes. They glance at them from above.
No matter how hungry they are, they have to queue up and wait to betray themselves or their wives and children.
"Everyone line up. If you don't line up, don't blame us if you get killed."
There were two dogs from England who were wearing the clothes of the Ming Dynasty. Like the Ming Dynasty people, they had short hair and shaved beards. They were holding tin trumpets and shouting hard. From time to time, they would go up and give someone a hard slap if they saw someone not following the rules.
whip.
Those who were beaten could only quickly queue up and dare not resist at all. These English people were much more ruthless than the Ming people.
According to many Irish people who have gone to Hong Kong, the people of Ming Dynasty are actually very good to their servants and employees. They provide extra meals during holidays and even extra bonuses. Three meals a day are provided.
You can eat whatever you want, including rice, noodles, and occasionally meat.
The English don't treat the English like this, they don't treat the Irish as human beings at all.
Everyone looked eagerly at the team in front, expecting their turn to come soon. They could see some people selling their children and walking away happily carrying heavy bags of food.
"Next!"
Here at the dock, a group of English people are working hard. They are divided into more than ten groups, and each group has a person who carefully selects the people to buy.
You definitely can't get those who are too old, they have little value and can't be sold, and you don't want those who are physically disabled. It's a waste of food and it's of no use.
They want to select the best slaves for their masters, who must be young, healthy, and women.
"Sir, buy my daughter."
An Irish man pulled his daughter in front of him. This little girl, who was only eleven or twelve years old, was full of fear of the unknown fate at this moment.
She didn't want to leave her parents, but she knew that if she continued to stay, she might be eaten by others, because she saw with her own eyes that her brother was taken away and eaten.
If you can sell yourself, you can not only buy food for your parents and younger brothers at home, but you can also go to the people of Ming Dynasty and no longer have to starve.
John looked carefully at the little girl in front of him. She had red hair and pretty good looks. Although she was not very thin, she was still very popular as long as she kept her.
"Bring the food and sign the deed of sale."
"Okay~"
After hearing John's words, the Irish man nodded excitedly and quickly put his fingerprints on the words that he didn't even recognize. From then on, this daughter had nothing to do with him.
He took one last look at his daughter, then silently picked up a bag of food and left quickly. The wife and children at home were still waiting for this food to save their lives.
Only the little girl who was sold silently walked to the crowd on the side. Here, she received two steamed buns, and suddenly she was like the people around her, like a starving ghost, wolfing down just a few times.
I ate the two big steamed buns cleanly.
"Very good!"
“I’ve long heard that Ming people’s steamed buns are delicious. It’s true.”
After the little girl finished eating, she couldn't help but look at the hot steamed bun area beside her. Maybe she was hungry or maybe she had never eaten steamed buns before. She thought this steamed bun was very delicious.
After eating two steamed buns, I felt a warm and comfortable feeling in my stomach. Then I looked at the crowd again, trying to find any trace of my father, but he had already disappeared.
"Gungun, your wife is already in her forties, who wants her?"
At this time, John, who was not far away, yelled at a man. The man in front of him wanted to sell his wife, but his wife was already in her forties, but she looked like she was in her fifties or sixties.
I don't like such a slave at all, and I can't sell it at all. No one wants it.
However, this man was determined to sell his wife. Soon, John lost his patience and nodded to the people around him. Several strong men from England came over and waited on him with a group of whips.
, and drove the two of them out directly.
"Tsk, tsk, these English people are really ruthless in what they do!"
On the deck of the ship next to them, several Ming merchants were leisurely drinking tea and watching the scene in front of them. This time there was a great famine in Europe, which was undoubtedly a great opportunity for the slave merchants of the Ming Dynasty.
In the past, a slave cost at least more than ten taels of silver to buy, but now it can be easily bought with only a few dozen kilograms of grain, which is a huge profit.