Chapter 892 Saving People Equals the Rise of an Empire (Third Update, Please Subscribe)
The rise of the empire was built on the corpses of countless people.
What about the fall of the empire?
That means there will be corpses everywhere!
1876 was definitely not a good year for the Qing Dynasty. In fact, the largest drought in a century had broken out in North China a year earlier. The drought began to worsen in 1876, with the harvests in Zhili, Shanxi, and Henan reduced by half. The locust plague caused by the drought further aggravated the disaster, and thousands of miles of land in North China were filled with starving people and bones.
A drought turns the world into hell.
At that time, no one knew that the drought that swept across northern provinces such as Zhili, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and Shaanxi would last for several years. This drought, known in history as the "Dingwu Great Famine", caused more than 10 million people to starve to death, and more than 20 million victims fled the famine. How many people starved to death on the way to escape the famine? I am afraid only God knows, and only one or two out of ten survived.
On the official road, groups of hungry people were walking forward with crutches. Among these hungry people, there were neither old nor young. The old, weak, sick and disabled had either starved to death or been robbed for food. In such a famine, robbing people for food or being robbed for food was a very common thing. The hungry people gathered in groups of dozens, tens or even hundreds of people, not for anything else, but for self-protection. Of course, if they could eat a big meal in that place, it would also be God's blessing.
It is true that “eating the rich” is a blessing from God, but for the rich who are eaten, it is a catastrophe.
Holding a wooden stick in his hand and a knife on his waist, Deng Zihui looked around vigilantly. A month ago, his house was robbed by a group of hungry people. All the food was taken away, his father died, and even his daughter-in-law was raped. His son was beaten half to death and his daughter-in-law hanged herself.
A family torn apart and loved ones dead... Nothing could be worse than this.
In order to survive, he had to flee famine with his family like everyone else. His mother died on the way, and even his little grandson was starving to the point of being skin and bones.
"Dad, we are going there."
Deng Shoude looked at the long secret passage with some despair. There was not much bark left on the trees on both sides of the official road. The bark had been eaten up long ago.
"Go east. There is a railway to the east. There is a train station next to the railway. Get on the train and go to Daming..."
Deng Zihui said,
"When we get to Daming, we'll have enough to eat..."
As he said this, he once again touched the cloth bag tied around his waist, which contained a few pieces of jewelry. That was the only belongings of the Deng family. Although he believed that even if he had nothing, as long as he had ten years of peace, he would definitely be able to live a good life again, but the prerequisite was to be alive.
"By then, in less than ten years, I will be able to rebuild the Deng family mansion in Daming!"
Once upon a time, when he heard about the Ming Dynasty, he just laughed it off. The Ming Dynasty... had died long ago. But now, the Ming Dynasty overseas has become his last straw.
In fact, it was not only his, but also the wishes of others. Even the government closed the city gates and prohibited refugees from entering. At the same time, they posted notices everywhere telling them to go to the railway, where there were soup kitchens and trains. As long as they reached the train station, they would survive.
This was not to trick the hungry people into leaving the territory to prevent civil unrest. This was indeed true. There was indeed a porridge shop run by Mr. Li, the Governor-General of Zhili, in the train station. As long as they arrived there, they could have a bowl of porridge and then board the train from Haizhou to Nanhua.
That night, the Deng family of more than 30 people finally saw the railway. They walked along the railway for another day and saw a porridge stall at the simple railway station in Guanzhuang. They saw the straw huts that stretched for several miles at the railway station - all of them were straw huts built by hungry people from all over the place.
Like everyone else, Deng Zihui and his family lined up after arriving at the destination, got their license plates, and waited to get on the bus.
"Okay, now I can survive..."
After eating a bowl of hot porridge, a glimmer of hope finally appeared on Deng Zihui's face.
Alive!
Now I can survive...
While Deng Zihui's family of more than 30 people were rejoicing that they had survived, in the stationmaster's office at the railway station, the stationmaster was standing by the window looking at the starving people outside with a smile on his face.
"Silver, this is all silver!"
silver!
For officials, starving people were money. The railway station would get one penny of silver for every starving person it sent on the train, and the governor's office would get one tael of silver. As for the freight, that was extra.
For the starving people in desperate situations, the train station became their hope of life during the famine years. Here, they could not only drink a bowl of porridge, but also take a distant train and then board an immigration ship to an unknown continent.
In this land, they are nothing more than hungry people whose lives are ignored by everyone, but for the Ming Dynasty, these hungry people are the foundation for enriching the national strength.
When galloping trains brought thousands of starving people to Haizhou from Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong and other places, in the Haizhou concession, the new consul Qiu Huaiyi seemed a little overwhelmed.
"Ships, hire as many ships as possible. I don't care if they are British, American, German, or French ships. Just hire them and do your best to send people to Ming!"
In the consul's office, facing the managers of several shipping companies, Qiu Huaiyi put forward his request directly.
"Don't think about money. The Ming Dynasty has no shortage of silver, but it lacks people! Nowadays, there are so many people coming here every day. There are almost 200,000 people waiting in the waiting station outside the city. If so many people want to get on the ship, you can just hire them from where the ship comes from."
"Consul, foreign ships in Haizhou are raising their prices..."
The speaker was Li Zhi, the manager of the Ocean Shipping Bureau. He was a Ming Dynasty man and had opened a shipping bureau in Haizhou five years ago. While operating coastal transportation, he also ran an immigration ship business.
"Talk to them, as long as it is acceptable, then accept it!"
Qiu Huaiyi said.
"In short, let's send them to Ming first. You know, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Ming! There are severe droughts in these provinces, and tens of millions of starving people. If only 10 or 20 million of them can get to Ming, then Ming will no longer have to worry about a lack of manpower!"
Like all consular officials stationed in China, Qiu Huaiyi's duties are very simple. The first is to protect overseas Chinese, and the second is to recruit immigrants as much as possible. Unlike his European counterparts who recruit scholars, college students, technicians and engineers, the conditions for recruiting immigrants in China are very low - as long as they are healthy, both men and women can go to Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty is an overseas Chinese nation, and has always welcomed all Chinese compatriots.
"Of course, the most important thing is to stay alive! If we transport one more person, we can save one more civilian. 'Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.' In short, I'm counting on you!"
Standing up, Qiu Huaiyi looked very sincere when he saluted these ship owners.
It was his responsibility to transport immigrants to the Ming Dynasty, and saving a life was his conscience. In fact, they had been saving people all the time. Even the rice used in the porridge shop was donated by the Ming Dynasty. However, all this was unknown to the outside world.
But one thing is certain: this famine was a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity for the Ming Dynasty and a good chance for the empire to rise.
(End of this chapter)
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