Chapter 652: Frederick's Letter (Fourth update, please subscribe)
In 1866, South China appeared on international routes for the first time. Prior to that, only the ships owned by the America Company could enter South China. The opening of international routes meant that South China was truly "open".
It was from that time that almost every day, merchants and skilled immigrants from various countries passed through Nanhua's office and obtained visas to enter Nanhua. The same is true now. Without a visa, you cannot enter the Ming Dynasty.
Skilled immigrants entering the Ming Dynasty need to undergo relatively strict examination and then obtain a six-month visa. If they cannot obtain a long-term employment contract, they must leave the Ming Dynasty when their visa expires.
A business visa is relatively easy to obtain, after all, South China is a country based on trade!
On April 13, 1874, an ocean-going ship from Britain arrived in Yingtian. On the ship, there was a middle-aged man with a full beard, looking solemnly at the country he was about to arrive at. In the past few years, he had been full of curiosity about this country. They had overturned his understanding of the military time and time again, and even set off military revolutions again and again.
Since last year, the news coming from this country has made him unable to calm down for a long time.
The "Sickness Insurance Law", "Workers' Compensation Law" and "Disability and Pension Insurance Law" they promulgated caused a sensation in Europe that was hard for outsiders to imagine. For the first time, workers would not fall into poverty due to work-related injuries, nor would they lose income due to old age.
What prompted the empire to pass these laws?
It was with this curiosity, and of course also because of business needs, that he came to Daming.
When he walked to the customs channel with his suitcase, he took out his visa and handed it to the customs officer, who took the visa and spelled it out with some difficulty.
"F...Friedrich... En..."
the customs officer asked in English with confusion as he spelled it out.
“You’re from England?”
"Yes, I was born in Germany."
Friedrich replied in English.
"What is your purpose for coming here?"
"Business negotiation."
Soon, the customs officer stamped the visa and reminded him.
"Your visa is valid for 12 months. If you overstay, you will be arrested as an illegal immigrant and sentenced to more than three years of hard labor."
Faced with such a reminder, Frederick's first impression was not very good. After all, there was no country in the world that treated outsiders like this. At least they could travel freely in other countries.
But it doesn’t work in the Ming Dynasty!
Why not? Of course it is to restrict the entry of European immigrants!
The moment he walked out of the customs building, Frederick was stunned by the city in front of him. What kind of city is this!
Looking at the trams running on the street, a thought popped up in Frederick's mind: perhaps, this is the future!
"Dear friend Heydrich,
I am very happy to write to you. Since arriving in the Ming Empire, all kinds of new experiences have constantly filled my mind, and I feel that I must share these experiences with you. Now I believe that going to Nanhua will definitely open my eyes even more.
Due to the company's business needs, I arrived in "Yingtian" on April 13, which is an unfamiliar place name. Before that, it was called "Buenos Aires", a city founded by the Spaniards - now it is the capital of the Ming Empire, a dynasty in Chinese history. Although the kingdom has been destroyed for more than two hundred years, the royal members of the dynasty created this empire in the New World. They annexed Chile and Argentina, and let more than three million people fall under their rule. A nation that has just arrived here has established a new empire on this land once colonized by the Spaniards.
You must remember that we have discussed many issues in China, such as the Taiping Rebellion and the invasion of China by the British and French forces, but we never imagined that one day the people of this country would create an empire here, and the technology of this empire was so advanced that it was far beyond our understanding.
…
After I arrived at customs, they gave us a small cardboard card with my information written in Chinese and English, including my name, time of arrival, and of course the most important thing was the validity period of my visa. If I overstayed without permission, I would be thrown into prison.
I have to say that this is a typical Eastern country. They use laws to restrict people's freedom of travel. Of course, this restriction specifically refers to European immigrants. It seems that they are restricting the entry of European immigrants and certain freedoms of the former Chilean and Argentine people in this way. This is a very interesting topic. We can discuss this topic in depth after I return to London.
…
Just as many people describe, Yingtian is a city that never sleeps. Yingtian at night is no different from daytime. The tall street lamps beside the streets emit bright light. The bright electric lights illuminate the streets very brightly. Unlike London, the street lamps here are not only on the main streets, but also on the side roads and even the alleys. They are just not as dense and bright as on the main streets.
In this city driven away by street lights at night, its public security is better than any other city. Light drives away the best cover for criminals to do evil - darkness, but this is not the only reason. More important is the police.
Even until midnight, police patrols could be seen on the streets. The police and the brightly lit streets made pedestrians feel safe, even on empty streets. This was hard to imagine in Europe, where the dark night is known to be full of crime.
Later, I learned that in Yingtian, a city with a population of only 450,000, there are more than 6,000 police officers, and there are also gendarmes outside the city responsible for rural security.
What is certain is that their investment in security is certainly for the purpose of maintaining their rule - there are more than one million Argentines living here, and not every Argentine supports the rule of the Ming Dynasty, but at least in terms of public security issues, everyone can benefit from it.
Out of curiosity, I have entered many remote alleys many times. What surprised me was that the streets in Yingtian City, whether they were main streets or alleys, were very neat and clean - it was really a miracle. In any corner of the city, there was no garbage or horse feces and urine that was common on the streets of London or other European cities. All the sidewalks were paved with stone slabs or tiles. The streets were paved with asphalt and gravel, and the road surface was clean and there was no sewage.
It is hard to believe that this city is managed by Chinese. After all, as far as we know, Chinese cities are dirty and chaotic. Perhaps, this is just as they emphasize - the difference between Han people and Tatars. Now China is ruled by Tatars.
In order to ensure the hygiene of the city, they set up many garbage bins at the end of the streets and alleys. Pedestrians must throw their garbage into them, otherwise they will face punishment - not only a fine, but also 50 to 200 hours of community correction service. I heard that there were even generals who violated this law and had to wear a vest and use their holidays to do 200 hours of correction service, that is, cleaning the streets.
In their urban planning, the distances between public toilets for public use are clearly stipulated, so there are sufficient public toilets in the streets and alleys. Of course, these two points alone are not enough to ensure hygiene, but through strict law enforcement and punishment measures, they ensure the cleanliness of the city.
I think that under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, the moral standards of both European and Chinese residents have greatly improved. Moreover, their laws are fair and do not discriminate based on race.
…
Of course, this is not the purpose of my trip. What I want to know most is the life of workers in Ming Dynasty. After all, as we all know, almost all adults in this country are workers..."
(End of this chapter)
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