Chapter 621: Characteristics of the Colony (Today's update, please subscribe and vote)
In the colonies, even the most ordinary Ming people could live an extremely prosperous life.
However, not all people are like this.
For naturalized citizens, naturalization may be able to double their income, but there will still be many invisible ceiling restrictions.
After all, Ming people are Ming people, and naturalized citizens are naturalized citizens.
However, for Taketaro, becoming a naturalized citizen was enough to make him excited. Even now, he still remembered that when he took the oath of naturalization a year ago, he excitedly knelt in the naturalization hall and expressed his loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor over and over again in fluent Nanjing Mandarin.
In fact, before becoming a naturalized citizen, he had demonstrated his loyalty to the empire on the battlefield time and time again. In the Sword-drawing Team, when suppressing a tribal rebellion, he once killed nearly a hundred people at a time. It was precisely because of his outstanding military achievements that he became one of the first naturalized citizens of the Guinea Company.
After becoming a naturalized citizen, he had no intention of staying in the Sword Drawing Corps. He hoped to change his fate through business. Even until now, he has not married a native woman like other team members.
After all, here, the status is clearly divided into different levels. If he marries a native woman, it means that his status will always remain in the lower middle class of society. After all, he is a naturalized citizen. His status is not high.
"In Guinea, even the most ordinary Ming family has five or six maids. A slightly prestigious family has at least fifty maids, just like them..."
In the restaurant, Taketaro turned his eyes to the waitresses busying around in the restaurant, who were often the maids of the owner's family.
As a civilized country, the Ming Dynasty definitely had no slaves. These indigenous maids were all local "contract workers". Although they were cheap and might only receive three meals a day and a few cents in wages, they were definitely not slaves.
“This is everything we deserve.”
Picking up the wine glass and taking a sip, Zhang Zhi said with some pride.
"This is the reward for our pioneering in this barbaric land far away from the Empire."
Anyone in a colony would follow the local customs. Compared to Europeans, the Ming Dynasty was very civilized. At least they did not chop off people's hands at every turn. Even when facing rebellion, they would kill as few people as possible and at most make them do labor. Even when they conscripted local laborers to build roads and open mines, they were paid.
What is civilization? This is civilization!
As for the civilization that the Europeans talked about, it was just lip service. To them, they never treated the indigenous people as human beings.
"Yes, Zhang Jun, this is indeed what we should enjoy!"
Taketaro nodded repeatedly in agreement. How could he not agree?
"But, Zhang Jun, don't you see that there is a business opportunity here?"
"What?"
As soon as Zhang Zhi heard about the business opportunity, he immediately became interested.
"Maid training!"
Taketaro said a little excitedly.
"Mr. Zhang, thousands of Ming people come here every year. They certainly need someone to take care of their daily lives. Those maids should be able to speak Ming dialect, and should have received strict training, understand etiquette, and know their duties as servants."
Although Taketaro came from a declining samurai family and never had any servants when he was in Japan, his sister was a servant in the feudal lord's family.
"Now, those servants have not been trained at all. How can such people serve their masters? Therefore, I think it is necessary for us to establish a maid school to train maids. Then introduce them to their masters. All we need is a little training fee."
Staring at Zhang Zhi, Wu Tailang said with some pride.
"You know, this is a market with tens of thousands of people every year. Even if a maid only charges a few dollars, that's a market of tens of thousands of dollars!"
Tens of thousands of yuan!
In an instant, Zhang Zhi was moved!
He thought about it for a while and felt that this matter had great potential, so he even took the initiative to speak out.
"We don't have to train for others. We can also train a group of our own maids and rent them out to new people for two dollars a month. No, one dollar and fifty cents. In this way, our profit will be at least one dollar and thirty cents..."
Well, the salary of a maid is generally only 20 cents, but it only covers three meals a day, and the employer has to provide four sets of work clothes every year. In Guinea, it is a considerable salary. You know, those "contract workers" who work on construction sites only get 50 cents. That means those who go abroad get one yuan salary.
Of course, this wage level is linked to the price level, and the colonies certainly cannot be the same as the mainland.
At this time, Taketaro had no idea how brilliant the career he had created here would be. It was after him that colonial maids almost became a signboard of the Ming Dynasty in Africa. Almost every Ming person who lived and worked in the colonies would use praiseful words to describe their maids in their memoirs. There was even a term "black pearl" in the context of the Ming Dynasty, which was used to describe those well-trained maids. If it weren't for the ban on colonial residents entering the mainland without special pardon, I'm afraid those "black pearls" would also let more Ming people experience the "emperor-like" superior service.
However, that kind of "imperial service" could only be enjoyed by Emperor Zhu himself. Even on a small airship, as the emperor, he could enjoy an exclusive box. Unlike the canvas beds of other people outside the cabin, his bed even had cushions.
When the airship flew over Guinea, Zhu Xianhai, who was lying on the bed, looked towards the ground deliberately. Although the airship did not need to land in Guinea now, Emperor Zhu still let the airship pass through here.
This is the colony of the Ming Dynasty!
Looking down from the air at Guinea, which looks like a green gem on the ground, the purpose of occupying this land is actually very simple, which is iron ore.
Perhaps, this is one of the greatest advantages of being a person of the future. Although there are no large iron mines in Ming Dynasty’s homeland now, this large iron mine in Guinea with reserves of billions of tons can just solve Ming Dynasty’s urgent needs.
Even in Emperor Zhu's plan, even if the Brazilian iron ore is mined in the future, Guinea iron ore is still extremely important - its ore can be exported to France, Britain and other European countries. Well, there is also the North German Federation. Germany, which failed to cede Alsace and Lorraine from France, must also need Guinea iron ore.
"Everything is under control!"
When he uttered this sigh again, Emperor Zhu was so proud!
The reason why he was so proud was that the land below the airship was not only vast, but most of it was still unowned.
If the Ming Dynasty could seize the opportunity, it could take advantage of the fact that Europeans' attention was drawn to Turkey and other places to turn this vast land into its colony.
By that time, the Ming Dynasty would truly be the largest colonial empire in the world.
"Africa is also extremely rich."
Gazing at the land from the airship, Emperor Zhu smiled slightly. At this moment, he saw a future...
(End of this chapter)
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