Chapter 546: The Foundation of the Empire's Rise (Second update, please subscribe)

The train roared across the Patagonia Plateau, with desolate land outside the windows.

Compared to the richness of the Pampas, Patagonia is desolate, a desolate land consisting of vast expanses of semi-arid grasslands and deserts.

However, despite the desolation here, there are a lot of treasures buried in this land - Nanhua’s largest iron ore, coal mine and copper mine are all located in this land.

There are dozens of mines standing in this vast and sparsely populated wasteland, and it is these mines that support the industrial development of Nanhua.

After traveling for a day and a night, the empty train finally arrived at a mine surrounded by barbed wire. When the train drove in, the conductor on the train could see the slogan on the gate - "Labor brings freedom"!

On the watchtower between the barbed wire, guards holding rifles always look vigilantly at the interior of the mine. The mine is full of black, black coal, black people - even white people, after entering the coal mine, will become "black" when they come out.

"beep!"

With the sound of the whistle, the mine was soon crowded with people and bustling. All the miners who came out of the mine tunnel looked exhausted.

Although exhausted, they still couldn't help looking up at the sky when they walked out. It seemed that sunlight was an extremely rare treasure to them. However, to people who had worked in the mine for twelve hours, sunlight was indeed precious.

Many of them even stretched out their hands to feel the sunshine.

"Increase the quota by 10%!"

Standing in the office, Song Kejie stared at the prisoners who were feeling the sunshine and said.

"What the imperial court needs now is coal. Increasing production will help the development of industry and commerce and ease market demand. We must also play our part. However, if we increase production by 10%, they will definitely complain. We must fully mobilize their enthusiasm..."

After thinking about it, Song Kejie said.

"Our policy is to cure illnesses and save lives. As long as they complete their transformation here, just like what is said on the gate - 'Labor leads to freedom', as long as they are willing to accept transformation and correct their problems, they will definitely be free in the future!"

“The manager is right!”

Standing behind the manager, Ding Peng flattered him.

"In fact, it's because the imperial court is lenient. If it were the Qing Dynasty, traitors like them would have their entire families executed, but the Ming Dynasty is lenient! They were locked up, but they weren't executed. Why? It's to save lives!"

Ding Peng was a little bit unable to understand the leniency of the Ming Dynasty. Of course he couldn't understand it. After these people served a few years of hard labor in the mines, they would be sent to Africa and settle down in the African colonies. Ding Peng had heard from his classmates that in the Central African Company and the Guinea Company, these people would be able to show off their wealth and status when they went there. Not only would they be able to live a peaceful life, but they would even be given wives.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, it was not necessarily that the government would give out wives. If ordinary immigrants wanted to marry, they could only hire maids, such as Japanese girls, Annan girls, and Nanyang girls. But that cost money!

But what about these people?

When they arrived in Africa, the local women took care of their daily lives. No matter whether they were white pigs or black pearls, they all had no manners, no shame, and no education. As they were taken care of, they hooked up with each other and rolled into the same bed.

There are many children who drink milk and coffee in Africa these years. But it is precisely because of this that they can live there with peace of mind.

In fact, as long as you have a wife and a warm bed, it’s life wherever you are.

"Your Majesty is so kind!"

Song Kejie sighed.

"Throughout the ages, who has been as kind and righteous as Your Majesty? Unfortunately, these people do not know what is good and what is bad, and do not know how to be grateful for Your Majesty's kindness. However, this is also our responsibility. If God wants to give a man a great responsibility, he must first make him suffer and work hard. Without such a transformation, how can they understand Your Majesty's painstaking efforts?"

Looking at the train entering the mine, Song Kejie gave specific instructions.

"Here comes another group of people. Although they are the 'disappeared people', they cannot disappear here. You have to strengthen management, make sure they complete the production tasks according to quality and quantity, and ensure their safety. You know, after all, even they are very precious labor!"

labor force!

For the Ming Dynasty, every laborer is extremely precious. There is no way around it. After all, the Ming Dynasty has only a population of more than 8 million. Even if 3 million of them are of European or European-American mixed race, so what?

They are also part of the empire and are excellent labor force, so of course their role must be fully utilized. Even those involved in rebellion will be mainly reformed.

massacre?

That kind of thing is something that only barbarians would do, so it must be done by Europeans. How could the Ming Dynasty... the great Celestial Empire, do such a thing?

Not to mention that they would not do such a thing, even slaves - the Ming Dynasty would not use slaves. Even when a large number of workers were needed in the mines, they would not use slaves like the Americans and Brazilians. Such a barbaric thing would certainly not be done.

As a civilized country, faced with the actual need for a large number of laborers in the North Sea, the Immigration Department did not consider getting slaves, but directly sent telegrams to the Central African Company and the New Guinea Company.

"In order to meet the production needs of the mine, the company must hire 300,000 young workers aged 16-36 in the next two years..."

Chen Wenqiang, the Minister of the Colonial Office, took a special look at the "Labor Contract" that had just been drafted when he asked his secretary to draft recruitment documents.

"The contracting party shall do all the specified work for any master holding this contract for 10 years, starting from the day he arrives at the shore without illness or 8 days after the illness is cured, for 12 hours a day and rest on Sundays... The master shall give the worker 200 grams of meat and 1,500 grams of sweet potatoes as rations every day. The advance payment for the ship's space and other expenses will be deducted from the previous wages."

After examining the labor contract, Chen Wenqiang couldn't help but sigh that Westerners really put a lot of thought into the "labor contract".

This was directly translated by him based on the "Labor Contract" signed by Westerners and Chinese workers. We should learn from advanced experiences!

"Send this contract to both companies and tell them that they must follow the contract and that everyone must sign a Chinese version of the contract. They must sign or put their fingerprints on it, understand?"

This is a standard form of indentured labor employment. Chinese workers would also sign a similar contract before going to sea. Corresponding to this, there would also be an English or Spanish version of the contract signed by the employer's agent.

"And what about their wages?"

The secretary looked at the contents of the contract and found that the salary clause was blank, so he asked casually.

"According to local standards, the monthly "salary" of each worker is... 1 yuan, which should be about right!"

Since they are overseas workers, they must follow the local standards. Besides, they are provided with food and accommodation! Not only that, they will also be given clothes.

This salary is not low!

For a moment, Chen Wenqiang felt that he was too kind for paying those people such high salaries.

In fact, they don't need any salary at all. Just a few more grains of food or some wine every month.

But there is no way. After all, the Ming Dynasty is the Ming Dynasty, not those European countries that have no idea what etiquette and shame are.

Since they are hired laborers, they will definitely be paid. The Ming Dynasty never treats others unfairly, and will not treat contract laborers as slaves like the Europeans did. Just like they did to the Chinese workers in the past, they exploited them in every way and never treated them as human beings.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty would definitely not do that.

(End of this chapter)