Chapter 538: Mr. Li is here (fourth update, please subscribe)
Storms always brew invisibly. Just when the North Sea Governorate and the Northwest Region became overseas territories of the Ming Dynasty, the influx of immigrants aroused the vigilance of the United States. The "Fumin" immigrant ship set off from Haizhou and sailed all the way to the ocean. During the journey, it stopped at several ports such as Xinxiamen Port in Chenggong Islands. It was already early April when it finally arrived at Linhaipu Port.
Like many people, although Yung Wing had been thinking about Nanhua for the past few years and always paid attention to collecting news about Nanhua, this was his first time to come to Nanhua, no, it should be the Ming Dynasty.
Now they arrived at Linhai Bay of the Ming Empire.
Standing on the deck, as the port got closer and closer, Yung Wing felt a little dazed. There was a pier as wide as a street, towering steel cranes, trains emitting smoke on the tracks... and finally, the prosperous coastal city behind the harbor.
Skyscraper!
Several high-rise buildings that are more than 20 meters high, or even more than 30 meters high, always make people feel a kind of unprecedented shock. Yung Wing originally thought that all this would not surprise him too much - he had seen these "miracles" of the industrial age when he was studying in the United States. He had also learned about them through various channels. He had also spied on and seen similar things in the pictorials of "Life Weekly". However, when Linhai Port really appeared in front of him, Yung Wing held his breath. The scene in front of him completely exceeded his imagination.
As for Li Jingfang and the more than one hundred overseas students sent by Governor Li, they all looked at the city in amazement - this was a world beyond their understanding.
Chimneys of all sizes in the industrial area on one side of the harbor spewed black smoke into the air. The steam from the steam locomotives on the pier extending into the bay enveloped the pier. The steam hanging over the dock was like fog, and the tall tower cranes, in the fog, were like a powerful force, lifting cargo weighing tens or even hundreds of tons from the ship's hold.
In the mist, shrill whistles and sirens sounded one after another, and everything showed that this was a busy port. Linhai, in Ming's plan, was the most important city in Araucania. It was not only the capital of the region, but also one of Ming's industrial centers on the Pacific coast. This was why the port was so busy.
"Just Linhai City is so prosperous. I wonder what Nanhua is like?"
Li Jingfang couldn't help but feel expectant, and most of the others felt the same.
After completing the seven-day quarantine, Yung Wing and Li Jingfang, as government-sponsored students, certainly did not need to enter the immigration education camp like new immigrants. Of course, they did not receive much preferential treatment either - in the quarantine camp, they cut off their braids like everyone else.
They had no other choice. When they arrived in the Ming Dynasty, men had to cut their braids and women had to unbind their feet. It was mandatory.
Just like they are in the immigrant education camps, they also have to develop regular bathing and a series of other corresponding living habits.
In order to make them maintain good living and hygienic habits, corporal punishment is inevitable. For Mr. Li and his group, they certainly won't experience this. After all, those living and hygienic habits are something they have long been accustomed to.
In order to integrate into the Ming Dynasty as much as possible, they bought local clothes and dressed like the locals while in the quarantine camp.
After leaving the quarantine station, the group embarked on their journey to Nanhua at Linhai Railway Station.
They were not unfamiliar with trains. After all, there were trains in the Qing Dynasty. They would not even squeeze into third-class seats like ordinary passengers. They did not even go for second-class seats, but slept directly in the soft sleeper car.
As the train started, Li Xuexian took the initiative to approach Li Jingfang and said.
"My Lord, do you want to go to the ordinary carriage and experience the life of the Ming Dynasty?"
Li Xuexian, who was born in a landlord family in Fuyang, northern Anhui, always made a conscious effort to make friends with Mr. Li along the way. After all, he was the eldest son of the governor. When he returned to China after completing his studies, he would naturally have a bright future with his care.
"Alright!"
Seeing that Mr. Rong did not respond, Li Jingfang, being a young man, naturally agreed. They walked a few more carriages from the soft sleeper car and finally arrived at the second-class car. They found a seat and sat down. Like the carriages in the Qing Dynasty, the seats here were all wooden chairs with backs against backs and faces. The seats were uncomfortable and not very spacious.
There were both Chinese and foreigners in the carriage. There was a foreigner sitting next to them. Although the man smelled bad, they had no choice but to endure it.
However, the smell of perfume emanating from the opposite side made Li Jingfang cast his eyes on the foreign girl opposite. This foreign girl had a neat appearance. She was wearing a green dress, shamelessly exposing her shoulders. Even if you looked down a little, you could see the cleavage on her chest.
“It’s really incredible!”
While secretly complaining, Li Jingfang's eyes always fell on the girl involuntarily, and even caused some physiological changes in the young girl - fortunately, he did not notice these on the train and avoided the possibility of embarrassment.
The girl, with her elbows on the small table and her chin in her hands, had been reading a book, seemingly reciting something. Curious Li Jingfang took a peek and saw a palm-sized book in the girl's hand, printed with Chinese characters in Song font and corresponding foreign words.
Li Jingfang, who grew up in the Governor's Mansion, also learned foreign languages. Although he mainly studied English and French, he still knew that the books were in Spanish.
After observing carefully for a while, he found that the girl seemed to be trying hard to learn Chinese.
"This foreign girl is actually learning Chinese!"
The girl, who was concentrating on studying, did not notice Li Jingfang's surprise. Not to mention Li Jingfang, even Li Xuexian noticed it. When they looked at the eldest master, surprise appeared in their eyes.
"Young Master, look over there..."
A few seats away, a foreigner was chatting with the passenger opposite him in stiff Chinese.
Foreigners are all speaking Chinese!
Li Jingfang was stunned by this discovery. Who could have thought that foreigners would take the initiative to learn Chinese? And these people seemed to be just ordinary people.
In fact, what is the point of active learning!
What Li Jingfang didn't know was that in the Ming Dynasty, whether you like it or not, you have to learn to speak Chinese, otherwise you may not be able to move forward. Because everything is inseparable from Chinese characters, even the train attendants in the railway company speak Chinese.
"Young Master!"
Li Xuexian suddenly remembered something and took out the train ticket from his pocket. This was his train ticket to Nanhua City. The ticket was a small piece of cardboard, and it looked no different from the tickets of the Qing Dynasty.
How could there be any difference? The carriages in both places are exactly the same, they are all made in the same factory.
"Look, what's printed on it?"
The ticket reads "Linhai - South China East" and "Second Class Soft Sleeper Car". At the bottom is the date and a line of small print: Only valid on the same day.
"There's not a single word in English on this!"
Not a single Western word!
There was no Spanish on the ticket or in the carriage. Li Jing just remembered that he had not seen any Spanish words in the station, and even the staff spoke Chinese. He even thought that many of the people walking in the station were foreigners. No matter how they were dressed, their expressions were the same - they walked timidly.
They seem very uncomfortable. What are they uncomfortable with?
Of course it was because they couldn’t speak Chinese. In the Ming Dynasty, even though there were millions of people speaking Spanish, no one indulged their bad habits - the environment forced them to learn to speak Chinese, otherwise, they would be unable to move forward!
(End of this chapter)
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