"Master, Mr. Frick asked you to go to his manor. He said that he captured a Yankee who worked on the underground railroad!" On this day, the butler reported to Tang Ning.
Although Tang Ning had always known about the "Underground Railway", she had never seen one in person, so she immediately drove there in a carriage with great interest.
As soon as they arrived at Frick Manor, the fat Carter praised Tangning: "Tony, your method is better. Not only did we destroy two underground railway stations this time, we also successfully captured one!"
"Where is this guy? Show me to him!" Tangning asked curiously.
When they arrived at the place of detention, Tangning saw a young man with flaxen curly hair tied tightly, surrounded by slave owners who were ridiculing, mocking and even beating him!
However, the young man did not give in and beg for mercy at all. Instead, he was quarreling with the slave owners and did not lose at all. He was so angry that the thin man William wanted to use a knife.
Tangning quickly stopped him: "Don't rush into action yet. I'm going to have a chat with him. What is this guy's name?"
Before William could speak, the young man replied proudly: "Julian-Francor!"
"Hello, Mr. Frankel, judging from your current state, you should be very proud of what you have done, right?" Tangning asked with a smile.
Frankel nodded without hesitation and replied: "Of course! I am rescuing those poor black slaves who are enslaved by you!"
"Okay, then let me ask you, after you rescued them, did you let them disband on the spot or buy a boat ticket to send them back to Africa?" Tang Ning asked.
Frankel wondered how we would have so much money to send them back to Africa, so he bit the bullet and replied: "We, we can recommend them to go to the factory, save money while working, and then go back to their hometown in Africa or stay in New York."
It’s their freedom!”
Tangning sneered and said, "Let's not talk about the fact that many black slaves don't want to work in factories at all. And have you ever been to those factories? Do you know how intense the work there is? Do you know how black-hearted those factory owners are?
Do you really think this is helping them?!
Not to mention the distance, I also had a black slave who was kidnapped to New York by you. As a result, he found that life in the factory was not as good as on the plantation, so not only did he come back, but he also took the initiative to explain these factories to his friends.
The truth, but in the end, he was actually killed by your people!"
"Is that Egede your black slave?" Frankel asked in surprise.
Tangning nodded and replied, "Of course! It seems you know him!"
Frankel shook his head and replied: "I don't know him, I just heard about him. I originally wanted to debate with him, but unfortunately I don't have this opportunity!"
Frankel then said: "I admit that some factory owners are very excessive, but after all, they are only a minority, and our ultimate goal is not to take the black slaves away secretly, but to defeat you slave owners and let them
They can farm freely on this land, so they don't have to work in factories."
Tangning snorted coldly: "Do you really think that by defeating us black slaves, we can farm freely? Do they have land? Do they have tools? Do they have seeds? And what do they eat and drink before harvesting? These
Is it all provided by you?"
Hearing this series of questions, Frankel couldn't help but be stunned, because he had never thought about these questions before, and now that he thought about them, they were indeed very difficult questions. At this time, Tangning said again: "So even if we really defeat us,
, these black slaves can only rent land from landlords to cultivate, and then their lives will not be much better than now. If you don’t believe it, you can take a look at the serfs in Russia today!”
"Well, that's not the reason why you keep slaves!" Frankel argued stiffly.
"Actually, you don't need to do this at all, because we can't keep slaves forever. I even think that in ten or twenty years, no one will buy black slaves anymore!"
"Why?!" Frankel asked in confusion.
"You have to clarify the economic relationship here. First of all, it is because the purchase price of cotton in the UK has increased year by year. This has stimulated us to open plantations for cotton cultivation, so we buy black slaves for labor. However, according to market rules, cotton
The price of cotton will not increase forever, and British businessmen are gradually looking for cotton from other origins to replace American cotton. Without the stimulation of income, who do you think will spend so much money to buy black slaves?" Downing
explained.
"Is what we are doing really all in vain?" Frankel fell into self-doubt.
After coming out of the interrogation room, Frick praised Tangning: "Tony, you are still awesome. You swayed this guy with just a few words. Originally, I thought about just killing him!"
Although Tangning knew that slave owners in New Orleans had done this kind of thing and would not be punished for it, she still advised: "After all, he is different from those black slaves. If you can, don't kill him!"
"Well, I know that. I still feel a little guilty about killing him." Frick agreed, and then asked: "Tony, you just said that the price of cotton cannot rise forever, and the British are looking for other places.
Is it true that cotton will be used to replace us?"
Tangning nodded and replied: "Of course it is true. First of all, nothing in this world can increase in price forever, right? Also, if you are a British businessman, wouldn't you look for other sources of goods with lower prices?
To replace old customers whose prices increase every year?”
In fact, Tang Ning was confident in saying this, because after the Civil War, British businessmen began to encourage Indian farmers to plant cotton, which eventually transformed India from a major cotton exporter to a major cotton grower and exporter.
After hearing Tangning's words, Frick couldn't help but take a breath: "Tony, actually I have thought about these issues vaguely before, but not as thoroughly as you think. From this point of view, I cannot think of all of them.
All the money is invested in the plantation!”
"It's okay in the past few years, but it won't be good in a few years!" Tangning reminded vaguely.
And Frick was obviously mistaken: "Well, maybe they will find cheaper cotton in a few years!"
Although Frick may have been wrong, Tangning did not want to correct him. After all, few people would believe it when talking about the Civil War...
PS: I have a holiday tomorrow, so I should have more time for coding, so I will try to save more manuscripts these days and restore the update time to eight o'clock and fifteen o'clock.