Chapter 136 Civilization
George knew how Mikhail "hired" workers from the Qing Empire. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as deception.
Deceiving people is only the first step. If people are willing to stay, it is a more important issue. Mikhail has done a good job in this regard.
The Qing Empire in 1884 could not only be described as a place where people were starved to death, but also people were in dire straits.
The land annexation of the Qing Empire was more serious than that of Russia.
Russian civilians have no choice but to at least immigrate to Siberia to open up wasteland.
The Chinese people in the Qing Empire really had no way to go, and the story of the white-haired girl is really not an artistic process. If you leave your hometown and come to Vladivostok to work, you can at least survive and not starve to death. This is for many Chinese For me, I am extremely lucky.
Vladivostok is freezing cold in winter, but still very comfortable in summer, neither cold nor hot.
Mikhail opened the warehouse and allowed the Chinese workers to use the money they earned to buy things and take them home.
Dried fish, which Mikhail hated deeply, has become the most popular Vladivostok specialty. One kopeck per kilogram is about the same as the price of rice in the Qing Empire.
(The price of rice here is based on the capital of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty had a vast territory and the price of rice was different in different places. The price of rice in the capital was 23 Wen per catty. This price remained unchanged from 1870 until the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China. It has not changed for 30 years. )
Fish is definitely more nutritious than rice, as all Chinese workers have realized this over the past year.
Almost all Chinese workers will buy dozens or even hundreds of kilograms of dried fish to take back home when they leave Vladivostok.
In order to attract Chinese workers to immigrate to Vladivostok, Mikhail also spent a lot of effort.
The Chinese workers in Vladivostok were paid only 10 kopecks a day.
If you choose to become a Russian citizen, your salary can be increased to 20 kopecks.
If you have other skills, such as carpentry, bricklaying, cooking, or shaving, your salary will increase accordingly.
If you have special skills, such as knowing medical skills and being able to teach, your salary will be higher, reaching 50 kopecks per day.
The purchasing power of the ruble is about the same as that of the ocean.
Around 1880, an Hanlin scholar in the Qing Dynasty went to work as a tutor at the Zhongtang Shangshu family. The monthly fee was no more than 8 taels of silver, which was approximately equivalent to 11 rubles.
It is known that the land redemption price in Biberia is 3 rubles for 15 acres.
This means that doctors in Vladivostok can purchase at least 75 acres of land in Siberia with their monthly income.
Land is also sold in Vladivostok, but the price is not 3 rubles per acre, but 30 rubles per acre.
The price is a bit expensive, but if the purpose of buying land is not farming but building a house, it is a good deal.
Unfortunately, even though Mikhail offered such a high salary, he could not even hire a doctor or teacher.
Compared with the poor people, doctors and teachers still had a relatively high status in the Qing Empire. At least they could maintain their lives and naturally did not have to leave their hometowns.
There is no rush. After the Year of Gengzi, everything will undergo earth-shaking changes, and the real tragedy will begin.
George spent the warmest week in Vladivostok since his rebirth.
Ekaterina wanted to make up for all the love that George had lost in the past three years to George within this week.
Ekaterina personally made breakfast for George, helped him prepare toiletries, and sorted George's clothes. Ekaterina even washed George's clothes, but George firmly stopped her.
Don't waste your hands soaked in ginseng pearl cream.
I really enjoyed it.
Ginseng pearl cream is sold outside in grams.
Ekaterina not only soaked her hands in ginseng pearl cream, she even soaked in ginseng pearl cream.
After George learned about this, he really wanted to ask Ekaterina, how did you deal with the ginseng pearl cream after you took a bath?
George did not ask in the end, believing that Yekaterina would not re-bottle and sell it.
It doesn’t matter if it’s money or not, the cost of this thing is really not that expensive.
Vladivostok is rich in all kinds of furs, and Ekaterina personally sewed a black mink cloak for George.
The cloak is very beautiful. Although the craftsmanship is not very good, George still wears it every day since the snow fell.
The winter in Siberia is cruel, and most of the time people stay indoors and hide in warm houses.
The manor in Vladivostok is filled with firewood for heating.
Coal can be sold for money, but cannot be used for heating. Mikhail is evolving into Grandet.
George went to the farm to inspect. The barn was filled with grain, and the barns for large livestock and poultry were also heated to ensure a smooth wintering.
Almost all Chinese employees chose to leave Vladivostok and return to their hometown before winter came. George told Mikhail not to stop them, and told Mikhail to have a good relationship with the Germans to ensure that the Chinese workers could The money you earn and the things you buy are brought back home safely.
Although George tried his best to provide protection for Chinese workers, nearly a hundred Chinese workers died in Vladivostok due to illness or accidents last year.
For this part, Mikhail paid enough pensions and sent a special person to bring gifts. Accompanied by representatives of the Chinese workers, they were sent to the Chinese workers' hometown according to the addresses left by the Chinese workers, and were handed over to the families of the Chinese workers.
This move alone brought 1,000 workers to Vladivostok. They all signed formal labor contracts with Mikhail for a period of five years. One of them, a young man named Liu Si, became The first Chinese laborer from the Qing Dynasty to become a Russian citizen.
Liu Si is 29 years old this year. Both his parents are dead and he has no brothers or sisters. In Liu Si’s hometown, Liu Si is known as a homeless man with no fixed abode.
It is natural that no one would be willing to marry such a person. In August this year, Liu Si came to Vladivostok.
When the salary was paid in early September, although Liu Si had not worked for a month, Liu Si still received one month's full salary, a full 3 rubles.
Liu Si took the money and went to the entertainment street next to the Siberian Fleet headquarters to buy a bottle of wine. He drank himself until he was extremely drunk. He lay on the street and cried bitterly. When he woke up, he cut his hair. Got braids and became a Russian citizen.
The four manors in Vladivostok are named after "Fu, Lu, Shou and Xi" respectively.
Liu Si lives in Xizhuang and has a house of his own. Mikhail arranged for Liu Si to be the steward of Xizhuang and arranged a Japanese wife for Liu Si. Liu Si was so grateful that he almost recognized Mihail. Hail is the adoptive father.
Liu Si’s Japanese wife is quite good. She is only 18 years old. She looks delicate and frail, which makes people feel pity at first sight.
"Hanako is a geisha. I bought it with money from Nagasaki. I bought a lot at one time to entertain the generals of the Siberian fleet." Mikhail explained to George in French. Liu Si was working hard to learn Russian and could not understand French at all. .
George knew that this was how the first start-up capital of Japan’s Meiji Restoration came from.
It seems that the life of the people at the bottom of Japan is also difficult. No wonder little Japan is so adventurous.
Japan was taking risks by launching the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and the Russo-Japanese War. Any failure would bring disaster to Japan.
Fortunately, Japan won both times.
This also caused Japan to completely lose control on the adventurous road until the complete defeat of World War II.
Every time there was a disaster in the Qing Empire, many people also sold their sons and daughters to exchange their children for food.
George would rather spend money to buy people from the Qing Empire than go to Japan to buy geishas.
“Why don’t you go find missionaries from the Qing Dynasty?” George had many ideas. Missionaries’ reputation in the Qing Dynasty was always much better than that of human traffickers.
"The Travels of Marco Polo" introduced the mysterious Eastern Empire to Europe for the first time, causing a sensation.
During the Wanli period, Matteo Ricci came to the Far East to preach. The most important thing he did was translation.
And it is not about translating Western works to the East, but about translating Eastern works into the West.
Matteo Ricci arrived in the Ming Empire around the same time as the European Enlightenment.
Cambridge University Press frankly confessed in the book "The Eastern Origins of Western Civilization" published in 2004: In the 18th century, no European thought that European civilization was created by itself - British industrialization was just The final stage of earlier Eastern original inventions and outward dissemination.
In Europe in the 18th century, there was not even the word "civilization".
This is not what I said, this is what Cambridge University said.
"Why are we looking for missionaries? They are the most miserable people in the Qing Empire." Mikhail laughed loudly. Missionary work in the Qing Dynasty was a joke.
Missions from the West have been busy in the East for hundreds of years. There are not many believers, but a lot of eggs have been given out.
In order to attract Chinese people to the church, missionaries distributed eggs to people who came to the church to participate in religious activities.
At first, the Chinese got the eggs and turned around and left.
So the missionaries changed the time of handing out eggs to after religious activities.
The Chinese never lose in a battle of wits and courage.
So the Chinese count the time and wait until the eggs are about to be distributed before going to church.
Missionaries are not good at preaching, but if they are asked to help buy people in disaster years, they are still very efficient.
Just pay.
This is also about doing good deeds.
“I found some glass workers in the Qing Dynasty. Their skills are very high and they can make telescopes.” Mikhail thought thoughtfully. For George, the Qing Empire was a huge and unexploited empire. treasure.
European glass technology originated from the Venetians.
Where does Venetian glass technology come from?
It can’t just fall out of thin air.
This question is off topic and will not be discussed here to avoid sparking a fight.
George is still very interested in this information.
George's glass factory needs a large number of experienced and skilled workers.
Glass factories not only produce sunglasses, but also produce various instruments. The market for telescopes is equally important. There is a huge demand for military telescopes.
"Great, get them over here, no matter how you use it." For the first time, George became very interested in Qing culture.
The Eastern culture of the 21st century has been fragmented after hundreds of years of destruction, and is no longer what it was in history.
Before the 18th century, Europe did not even have the concept of civilization. Why did the Enlightenment suddenly happen?
With so many so-called great philosophers in Western history, haven’t they ever thought about the situation in Europe?
George is not overturning the verdict, he just wants to know the true history.
(End of this chapter)