Chapter 609: A New Market for Coolie Trade (First Update, Please Subscribe)
Go back to your hometown and have a look!
Sitting on a recliner in the corridor, Li Laile held a pipe in his right hand, and beside him stood a white-skinned foreign servant serving him.
In fact, since some time ago, the Ming Dynasty's "contract maid" trade was no longer limited to Japan. It had spread from Japan to Annan, Siam, Malaysia, Java and other places, and even since some time ago, it had spread to India, Persia, Kuwait and other places. Those so-called "contract maids" were actually slaves!
It's just a different name, and the slaves transported here are all beautiful! There are white-skinned Persian and Indian women, as well as dark-skinned ones, mature and plump ones, as well as young lolita-type ones, all brought from all over the country in the name of "contract workers".
These maids not only served their masters' daily lives, but also bore children for them. It was thanks to these "contracted female workers" that the extremely disparate male-female ratio in the Ming Dynasty was gradually reversed.
Li Laile was certainly no exception. Not only did he buy "contracted female workers", but he also bought three or four of them at a time. These female workers were called female workers, but in fact they were his concubines.
As a man, when he becomes successful, it is natural for him to buy two concubines.
But for Li Laile, these foreign women could only be concubines. Until now, he has not married a wife.
But at the moment, compared to women, what he needs more is "laborers" who can work in the oil palm plantation. After all, palm oil in the market is in short supply. As long as the plantation can be expanded, he will definitely make a lot of money, not to mention that the most important thing now is that the land is cheap.
In the Chenggong Islands, a thousand acres of forest land only costs a few dozen yuan. Although the land is cheap, the land is full of trees and needs to be reclaimed and cut down. This means that a lot of labor is needed.
Where can the labor force come from? They can only rely on immigration! As for those wild men captured from the rain forest... Actually, there are also hundreds of them in his garden, but there are not many wild men in this place. The wild men captured by those people in the forest cannot meet the needs of the plantation at all.
"It seems that we still need to think of a solution back home!"
Li Laile took a puff of his cigarette.
Go back home!
It was indeed time to go back and take a look, not only to recruit some immigrants to work on his plantation, but also to take the opportunity of returning home with wealth and glory to find a wife.
Would it be considered a glorious return if we go back now?
Looking at the foreign woman beside him, another idea popped up in Li Laile's mind - let alone anything else, just taking this foreign woman back to his hometown would be considered a return home in glory. Even if you have become an official, when have you ever had a foreign woman serving you!
It would be better if it were back in the Ming Dynasty...it would be so comfortable!
Then he gave instructions to the maid.
"Xiang He, come back to my hometown with me later!"
Let’s hurry up and go back to our hometown to celebrate the New Year!
By the way, recruit some more people.
When you are poor, you will try to change. The same is true when you are in a hurry. In fact, when Li Laile was thinking about returning home in glory to show off and hiring some people from his hometown, some people had already set their sights on the country.
However, it was not introduced directly from China, but from Singapore. There are dozens of halls in Singapore. These so-called halls are "coolie houses".
Coolie labor was a traditional trade of the "Qing Dynasty". In the "Coolie Shop" in Singapore, hundreds of ragged men were sitting on the ground with numb expressions, waiting for mine owners and plantation owners from all over the world to "buy" them.
"Mr. Li, what is the price for the coolies here?"
Zhao Fu looked at the laborers in the yard.
"Mr. Zhao, it's a good thing that you came here... Well, the coolies here are all from Guangdong and Guangxi. They have been begging for food in the mountains for generations. Although they are thin, they are all able to endure hardships. The price is also fair. As long as you have 80 silver dollar certificates from the HSBC Bank, you can sign an 8-year contract. This 80 yuan can be deducted from their wages..."
Inside the coolie shop, Li Mingkuan, the Hongmen leader, was selling "coolies" just like the businessman who came from the Chenggong Islands of the Ming Dynasty. He used to only speak Cantonese, but now he can speak not very standard Mandarin!
In fact, he had always wanted to sell these coolies to the Ming Dynasty, but he had no way to do it.
After learning that Mr. Zhao came from the Chenggong Islands, he immediately went to personally receive this potential big customer.
After all, he had always wanted to bring the coolie business to Ming Dynasty. No, not coolies, but immigrants, but the cost of immigration here is lower.
"How much do they want in a month according to the contract? What about meals? How long do they work in a day? How many days off do they need in a month? Are there any requirements for accommodation?"
As the owner of the oil palm plantation, Zhao Fu asked so many questions because he wanted to know whether it was cost-effective. If it was not cost-effective, there was no need to buy people from here.
"Eight dollars a month for wages. As for food, two and a half pounds of sweet potatoes a day is enough. It would be great if we could have some bacon every few days. As for rest, there is certainly none. However, according to the rules, they don't have to work from the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th day of the first lunar month every year, but they still have to be paid. As for housing, it's very simple. Give them some axes, saws and other things, let them chop some materials and build a shed. There's no need for bedding or quilts, just a mat. Anyway, it's warm here, so it doesn't matter whether they have a shed or not..."
Li Mingkuan’s words left Zhao Fu dumbfounded!
It’s not because it’s expensive, it’s because... it’s cheap!
The monthly wage is only eight dollars, and as for food... no, the government has regulations that workers must be guaranteed to eat three taels of fish and meat, and they must have one day off every week.
Ming Dynasty.
It’s still more humane than other places!
Zhao Fu was actually a little relieved. Looking at those coolies with numb expressions, he thought that when he first got on the ship, he was almost the same as them. Fortunately, he had a good boss. If he was the same as these people, he would have died somewhere unknown.
"Mr. Zhao, this is my business card. Although I dare not say that the laborers here are the cheapest, they are definitely the best. If Mr. Zhao needs anything, you can directly contact me."
Seeing that Mr. Zhao seemed to be still hesitating, he knew that the other party might want to compare prices from three different stores, so he quickly handed over his business card and then specifically mentioned his advantages. Where is the Success Islands?
He hasn't figured it out yet, but as long as he can get this line, it would be like opening up a new path.
What is the most abundant thing in the Qing Dynasty?
Of course, the most affected people are the ordinary people who can't eat. Besides, how many years have the natives and Hakkas been killing each other? There are so many dead people. I don't know how many people want to go to Southeast Asia to make a living, but they can't find a way. We don't need so many people here!
If we can open the way to Chenggong Islands, we will make a fortune. It's not about making money, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. If we transport those common people to Ming Dynasty, isn't that saving a life?
This is also a business that can accumulate good karma.
While he was thinking this in his heart, Zhao Fuxian thought for a while and then said as if he had made up his mind.
"Mr. Li, since you have sent the coolies here from Tangshan, you must have money, so can you ship them to New Xiamen?"
Hearing this, Li Mingkuan's face immediately broke into a wide smile.
"Yes, yes, of course I have a ship. To be honest, Mr. Zhao, I have an 800-ton sailing clipper in my museum. Not only can it be transported to the Chenggong Islands, it can also be transported across the ocean to New Jinshan."
New Gold Mountain is in Australia. Many of the gold diggers there are coolies, and many of them also came from here.
"That's fine. As long as you can send people over, I'll take as many as you want."
For Zhao Fu, he didn't care how much money a person made. After all, what he needed now was labor! Compared to other things, this was the most important thing.
Now that the government has no solution, they can only find a solution on their own. These coolies in Nanyang are the best choice.
Since these coolies can bring hundreds of thousands of people from Guangdong to Southeast Asia every year, they must have a way to send people to the Chenggong Islands.
Of course, you need it, but you still have to pay the price. After all, it's a business, and making more money is always the duty of a businessman.
Staring at Li Mingkuan, the Hongmen leader, Zhao Fu said with a smile,
"It's 60 yuan per person as you said. As for the shipping fee to Xinxia..."
Before he could finish, Li Mingkuan laughed.
"Mr. Zhao, let's just treat this first ship as a friendship. The freight will be waived. We can discuss the second ship in detail. What do you think..."
Just as his voice fell, a series of gunshots were heard outside the courtyard. Seeing that Zhao Fu was frightened, Li Mingkuan smiled.
"Are the foreigners setting off cannons again? Foreigners have a lot of things to do, and setting off cannons is just like setting off firecrackers for us. They set off cannons when foreign warships enter the port. They also set off cannons on the Queen's birthday, and even when someone dies! Who knows who has died again..."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
