Chapter 642: Imperial Consumables (3rd update, please subscribe)

People's destiny always changes inadvertently. At the end of 1873, Ding Dashuan quit his job and came to Madita, where he became an "apprentice supervisor" on the plantation and began his learning journey.

For him, the daily work was not complicated. He just followed Zoten, a supervisor from Japan, and learned how to manage workers.

As if deliberately showing off, Sato, who followed him, would always whip the laborers with the rattan in his hand from time to time.

Of course, he did not hit them hard. After all, these laborers had to work. If they were injured or disabled, who would go to work?

So each blow is very measured. In fact, this is a technical job. We must make them feel pain, but also not let it affect their work.

"Sir, look at these people. If you don't keep a close eye on them, they will definitely slack off. If you want them to not slack off, the key is to check them out every once in a while. But you can't just check them out all the time. You have to give them some sweet treats..."

The work in the plantation was very trivial, but for Ding Dashuan, he was really learning seriously, learning how to manage supervisors, how to use laborers, and even in just a few months, he learned a few words of the local dialect. Just when he tried to praise the laborers in the dialect for the first time, Zoten, whose face changed drastically, stopped him quickly and said.

"Sir, you are from the Ming Dynasty. You only need to speak Chinese to them. It doesn't matter whether they understand or not. The most important thing is to distinguish between superiors and subordinates!"

There is a difference between up and down!

Ding Dashuan learned another thing: many things in the colonies are different from those in the mainland, but one thing is certain: life here as a Ming Dynasty citizen is very comfortable.

One evening, after a busy day, he returned to his room. Just as he was about to go to sleep, his door was gently pushed open and a girl who looked about thirteen or fourteen years old walked in. The girl was not an indigenous girl, but a mixed-race girl.

The girl had a vaguely native complexion, but her appearance was more like that of a white person.

It was her. He saw this girl on the first day he arrived at the plantation. Her father was Fernando, the overseer of the plantation. There were many Chilean prisoners of war in the plantation. Most of them had settled down there and had children with the local natives.

Girls of her age must be the children of the earliest batch of prisoners of war. Her father Fernando had been released long ago, but he must have stayed here, first because he had no money to buy a boat ticket, and second because his wife in Chile had married someone else. As for third, he himself may have two or three native wives and had a lot of children. Fernando had four native wives, the youngest of whom was only thirteen or fourteen years old, and they gave birth to sixteen children for him.

She seemed to be the oldest, her name was Xia Yuhe. She looked like a girl of fifteen or sixteen, but in fact she was not that old at all. Those Westerners were almost all like this, even those of mixed blood. The bodies of teenagers looked no different from those of adults.

Fernando and others like to give their children a Chinese-style name, and as for the surname, it may be the surname of his first boss.

The girl had beautiful black eyes, long eyelashes, and fine curly hair that rose and fell like waves. When she walked into the room and saw Ding Dashuan staring at her boldly and undisguisedly with an admiring look, a blush appeared on her slightly brown face. Her neat and well-fitting clothes further highlighted her slender figure, and the maid outfit made her look very dignified.

Ding Dashuan looked at the girl with some confusion and a little admiration.

"Sir, when you leave, will you take me away from here?"

The girl looked at him and asked.

"What?"

"I know you are an apprentice here. You will definitely have your own plantation in the future. When you leave, I will give you some gifts. There will not only be supervisors and laborers, but also maids. As long as you are willing to take me away..."

The girl spoke as she untied the strings of her white apron.

"I can do anything for you, sir. Don't misunderstand me. I just hope to be your housekeeper one day..."

When the girl came over, Ding Dashuan was a little confused. He didn't even know what was going on. He just faced it all in a daze.

The next morning, when the girl left him, Ding Dashuan still felt like he was dreaming. This was simply too... incredible.

"Sir, this is normal. It must be that guy Fernando who ordered this. He was brought out from the plantation by the master. He must want you to take his daughter away. Not only can she become your housekeeper in the future, but she may also give birth to a child for you... What a shrewd guy."

When talking about Fernando's "scheming", Zoten's eyes were full of envy. After all, Xia Yuhe was a famous beauty in the plantation. Like other supervisors, Zoten had once fantasized about marrying her. Now he didn't even have to think about it, because those people were all very shrewd.

This...is the reason why the girl threw herself into his arms?

Just to leave here together in the future?

Ding Dashuan was a little confused. In New Youzhou, there were always more men than women, and everyone had to use all their magical powers to find a wife. But what about here?

It was completely beyond his expectation that someone would throw themselves into his arms, and that she was a beautiful girl.

Such a good thing can't be encountered in the Ming Dynasty. Of course, this cannot be said. After all, there are still many Japanese female workers in the factories of the Ming Dynasty. They also want to marry Ming people, but there are more monks than porridge in the Ming Dynasty, so those Japanese female workers have room for selection.

"Sir, although Xia Yuhe is very beautiful, you must find a Ming person in the future, or at least marry a Japanese as your principal wife. Even if the master dotes on Madam Yang, he will definitely marry a Ming person as his principal wife in the future."

Zoteng, who had already determined in his heart the position of "foreman" of the Ding family plantation, was very dedicated to his master. In his opinion, Ding Dashuan would be his lord in the future, so naturally he had to help him with advice as much as possible.

In fact, this is also the biggest feature of the colony. Those Japanese supervisors are like the most loyal running dogs of the Ming people. They charge forward on the battlefield, quell the rebellion of the natives, and urge the natives to work in the plantations. Compared with the white people, they are more reliable.

As for Japanese like Sato, they also clearly understand their position. They are loyal subordinates of their lord, not just supervisors, but the kind who can die for their lord at any time.

Even in the past years, when the natives attacked the plantation, the Japanese overseers fought hard to protect their masters and all died in the end. Although attacks by natives were very rare, the loyalty of the Japanese overseers was basically beyond doubt.

In fact, this is also very normal. Just like in the British colonial structure, Indians are always the most loyal, because Indians know very well that their power comes from there - from the British. Without the British, they are nothing. Therefore, their loyalty to the British masters is obvious to all. They are flattering to the superiors and tyrannical to the inferiors, relying on hundreds of thousands of Indian lackeys. The British rule most of Africa, and even in Hong Kong and the concessions, Indian lackeys can be seen everywhere.

Japanese like Sato are of course very realistic. They may dream of naturalizing and becoming Ming people, but before that, they must be the most loyal lackeys of Ming, contributing to Ming's African cause...

In fact, the Ming Dynasty needs these people in its overseas colonization. After all, they are the real consumables of the empire!

The empire's colonization business requires consumables!

It is not limited to Japan, sometimes, filial sons can also be included!

(End of this chapter)