Chapter 158 Thirteen Years of Slavery

In the eyes of business, the world is one giant store.

The store is filled with a wide variety of goods, including garlic, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, grapes, cotton, wood, iron, cattle, sheep... they all have their own prices.

You grow wheat and exchange it for grapes; he makes wine and uses it to exchange for mutton; I chop wood and exchange it for potatoes... Everyone is constantly trading.

What about people?

Shang Ji has been wondering since he was a child, since good things have prices, are people the same?

If people were turned into commodities that could be placed directly in stores, would more profits be created?

Why don't you give it a try? In fact, people have a price.

Shang Ji observed patiently for many years.

He found out through chatting and asking.

It’s not that people think people shouldn’t have a price, but once everyone has a fixed price, people will be turned into high-quality goods, ordinary goods, or inferior people according to the price.

Apart from this, if people become commodities, then who are the customers who participate in the buying and selling? The only qualified ones are gods, because the power of gods is everywhere. The great Yao God created the Yao civilization and governs the world.

Shang Ji felt that the omnipresent gods didn't care about such trivial matters at all.

Everyone still takes themselves too seriously.

God Yao can create lightning storms, earthquakes and fires, and destroy other evil gods... He is too busy, and the whole world needs to be overlooked and taken care of by him.

It's like a giant and a group of ants under his feet.

Sometimes the giant would look twice more if he found it interesting, but most of the time he would just glance at it - he had many important things to do.

Giving a leaf to the ants and blocking a stream of water are both easy tasks for this huge giant. But the giant will not continue to focus on a single ant.

God doesn't care what ants think.

Ants are dealing with ants after all.

Shangji thinks that as long as the transaction price is clearly marked and both the buyer and the seller agree to it, why not?

How to price a person? He spent a lot of time and worked out a detailed pricing standard.

First of all, we need to look at the person’s age. Young people are expensive, while old people are cheap.

Then look at the physical condition. A strong person has a high price, while a weak person has a low price.

Finally, determine the individual added value, that is, labor capacity.

People with skilled skills are more valuable than people without skills.

…

Shangji thinks his system is very good. It lets everyone know his price clearly and transparently.

As long as we follow our own way, the commodity of people will be able to circulate better.

However, Mayor Yu Lian and business leader Shang Li completely rejected his proposal.

"When it comes to business, you have to learn one thing first. Treat people as human beings."

Shang Li asked back, "According to your method, there is no difference between humans and beasts or livestock. So why do people gather together? Is it just to be bought and sold by others?"

“When people are bought and sold like livestock, trust disappears completely.”

"Without basic trust, do you think businessmen will still exist?"

"Will everyone still trade according to your methods and rules? Instead of directly robbing and hunting?"

"You are too focused on the transaction. There is something wrong with your thinking now."

Although he was very unhappy, Shang Ji couldn't find any reason to refute.

But he still felt he was not wrong.

That's how business works.

If you don't give it a try, who knows if there is any money to be made? Besides, this is a business that has never been done before, so it is full of opportunities.

So the businessmen joined forces and gradually reached a consensus to try the overseas islanders first. The native islanders did not have so many taboos, and many islands had the habit of trading people.

The overseas pilot was very successful.

The natives of the island were very fond of Shang Ji's slave trade. Shang Ji and others also bought a large number of slaves at sea, but these slaves could only grow wheat, potatoes, soybeans and grapes on the island and could not enter the western continent.

After Mayor Yu Lian passed away, Shang Li took over as mayor.

At this time, Shang Li turned his attention to the sea. He left Yancheng, saying that he was going to the northern islands to discuss cooperation with a chief.

But Shang Ji got inside information that Shang Li was going to clean up the overseas slave market. This time he was going to meet with several chiefs, which was a sign that he was going to take formal action.

The business plan is to go all out and strike first.

He bribed sailors and fishermen to sink Shang Li's galley in the depths of the sea where there were no islands, thus completely eliminating this last stumbling block. Shang Li was relieved only after confirming on site that the sunken ship had been swallowed by an ocean whirlpool.

In the past, business profit was like a mountain, but today it has become a piece of paper.

The rest is easy.

The business plan united the merchants before and persuaded the majority of merchants in Yancheng to promise a portion of the profits to the Yan Clan... abolish the mayor, establish a citizen council, and collect taxes...

Everything is for the final goal.

The slave trade was legalized.

People were finally sent into stores and put on the streets as commodities, with each person having a clear price tag and could be chosen at will.

In this way, men can buy wives, women can buy the husbands they want, the elderly can buy young labor, and childless parents can freely choose the children they like.

The business deal was very satisfactory.

In Yancheng, the slave business quickly became popular.

Slave traders became the most sought-after profession, and slave owners became a symbol of wealth. The number of slaves represented a person's status, and people without slaves were considered poor.

Then slaves began to change from labor to pets, and from pets to consumables... Because slaves were property, not people, there would be no problem even if they were killed by slave owners in the street.

Shang Ji gradually realized that the slave trade was out of control.

But he could no longer stop this huge chariot. Although he was the nominal head, he actually only represented the interests of slave traders, salt tribes and others.

If you go against all those who benefit, the outcome will be no better than Shangli.

Shang Ji has no regrets.

He didn't think he was being tough.

There are always gains and losses in doing business, but this time the price was a bit high. Not only did I lose, but other people in this city also lost too much.

Accept defeat and try again.

After a few years of planning, they suddenly received news that a group of pirates had quietly emerged. They called themselves the Northern Temple Army, and they constantly attacked the slave traders' ships at sea, robbing slaves and killing the merchants.

The leader was a man named Tonghai. Because his wife was sold as a slave, he gathered this group of people and claimed that he wanted to smash the slavery system and liberate all slaves.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Shangji sent people to contact the [Northern Temple Army] and found that this group of people was indeed not another group of merchants, but really wanted to declare war on the entire slavery system.

This made Shangji very happy.

External forces will be a great help to us, and under high pressure it will help us regulate the slave market.

Then he discovered that he was wrong, and the citizens' council was unwilling to even reinforce the stone walls.

Many businessmen were even ecstatic.

"Now the prices of all kinds of goods can be directly increased! Because of the pirates, shipping is expensive."

"Slaves too, will be worth more!"

"Now that there are fewer ships, our business will be better!"

Shang Ji couldn't help but remember Shang Li's words.

——Too focused on trading.

Shang Ji finally understood the meaning of this sentence.

He is tired.

For the first time, doing business made Shangji feel tired and bored.

Let it all be destroyed and start over.

Hurry up.

So when Tong Hai led the [Northern Temple Army] to attack the city aggressively, the city responded immediately and broke through the city very smoothly. That was not only the result of their years of arranging internal support, but also the strong promotion of Shangji behind the scenes.

After the city was captured, Shang planned to flee overseas.

Then he was captured by a group of islanders, who robbed him of all the valuables on the ship and sold all the people on the ship as slaves to the group of islanders.

The old merchant is only worth three sheepskins.

Only then did he realize how worthless he was.

After being a slave for thirteen years, he has grown potatoes and grapes, raised walking birds, and is now growing cotton.

He was sold back and forth by the island slave owners and now fell into the hands of a young man.

The young slave owner was quite nice to him. He didn't beat him too much, gave him water to drink, and allowed him to wear clothes - this was very good treatment for a slave.

During the slavery period, Shang Ji discovered that there was a kind of large insect on the island.

They have a domed carapace with seven stars on the red carapace, which looks beautiful. This insect emits a strong aroma and is protected by man-eating crabs.

Shangji spent all his time observing the insects, which made him feel happy and peaceful.

Smelling the fragrance, he felt like he was back in Yancheng, thousands of miles away, and back to the normal civilized order of the city.

He used charcoal to record the insects on coconut shells, recording their appearance, their flying posture, their smell, what they eat, what they do during the day and what they do at night...

Finally, Ladybug was born on a bunch of coconut shells.

When a paddle boat arrived at the island, Shangji gave the string of coconut shells to a scholar and asked him to take it back to Yaocheng or Yancheng.

The other party was very surprised when he saw the writing on the coconut shell.

"You are a very learned man. May I ask your name?"

Wrinkles crowded together on Shangji's dark face, revealing a somewhat restrained smile.

The slave owner nearby pulled the rope around Shangji's neck and said in the unfluent Yao language: "His name is Sanyangpi! A slave who can write. A slave."

The scholar looked at Shang Ji and said, "I will go back and raise money to help you regain your freedom. You should return to Yaocheng or Yancheng."

"Eight sheepskins."

Slave owner's quote: "He ate a lot of my food. I taught him to pick cotton and grow potatoes."

As they watched the paddle boat sail out to sea, Shangji prayed silently.

Lord Yao, I only hope that you can bless me and spread the book I wrote... I hope everyone can find those wonderful insects in this book and gain the simplest happiness and peace.

Half a year later, the scholar returned by boat and found the slave owner: "I want to redeem the freedom of Mr. 'Three Sheepskins'."

"Oh, Sanyangpi, dead."

"Dead? How did he die?"

"My stomach aches and I have diarrhea. It's killing me."

The scholar said angrily: "He is your slave, why don't you save him!"

"Herbs are very expensive on the island, and you merchants sell them at high prices."

The slave owner said as a matter of course: "It's more expensive than three sheepskins... no, eight sheepskins."

(End of this chapter)