"Little brother, what is the price of your coolies here?"

"Ocean...... Uh, Sister Yang, the coolies here are all transported from the two rivers, and they are all strong men running boats on the canal, and their strength is greater than that of cattle, and they can also endure hardships. It's just that the price is a little higher, who makes the road from Liangjiang more expensive than from Fujian? Each man asks for 50 yuan of HSBC bank, and he can sign a deed for 5 years, and the 50 yuan can be deducted from their salary, and some interest can be added......"

In the coolie market in Pontianak, the trafficker Hu Xueyan is selling piglets to a large Yanma with round eyes, this Yanma is really strong, half a head taller than Hu Xueyan, his chest bulges like two mountain peaks, his eyes are big and blue, his nose is high and straight, his skin is whiter than white jade, and his hair is golden. And what surprised Hu Xueyan the most was that this big ocean horse could actually speak Cantonese!

"So how much do they need to be paid each month? What about meals? Working a few hours a day, needing a few days off a month, how to solve the accommodation ......"

There are really a lot of problems with Yanmar, and it sounds like a big layman, I don't know which foreign bank's wife came to visit the coolie market on a whim? I don't think I will really buy it.

However, Hu Xueyan still replied very carefully: "Their wages are the same as those here in Nanyang, in Nanyang, whether it is mining, opening a factory or opening a farm, the income is very good, and there are many kinds of projects." Therefore, everyone is in urgent need of coolies, so the wage is not low. Even the new coolies had 8 silver dollars a month. The food is provided by the owner, and the food in Nanyang is cheap. Some owners don't count the money from the coolies, and if they do, they can deduct one and a half dollars every month. These coolies can work 12 hours a day for foreigners, and any more will be rewarded. There are no rest days, but from the first day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the first month of each year, you don't have to work, but you still have to pay your salary. As for accommodation, let them build their own shacks, they don't need to cover the quilt or anything, just give a mat to them......"

This ocean horse is Maria. Clementina, she listened attentively. And nod from time to time. She's going to do business. Segur and HSBC also employ workers in Europe, and she certainly knows what wages are in Europe. These 8 silver dollars are about 2.7 pounds, or 32.4 pounds a year. In Europe, it's all high salaries. in the UK and France. There are no skilled workers. The daily wage is only a few pennies, and these Chinese coolies can earn 21.6 pence, which is several times higher! It should be enough to support the family.

"Ma'am. This is the business card below, if the lady has any needs, she can send someone to the Anhui Hall to find the following. Hu Xueyan saw that the Yanma was leaving, and hurriedly handed over his business card, this Yanma's temperament was more noble than all the foreign women he had ever seen, the pearl necklace hanging around his neck, the diamond ring and ivory fan on his hand were not cheap. This woman must be either rich or noble, and if you tie it, you will be rich.

"Hu Guang......" Maria. Clementina frowned slightly, she didn't recognize the word "墉".

"Yong, called Hu Guangyong, is one of the owners of Shunfeng Boat Company."

"Oh." Maria. Clementina smiled, and also took out a business card and handed it to Hu Xueyan, "I'll take Maria. Clementina. Segur is one of the owners of Segur and HSBC. ”

One of the proprietors of Segur and HSBC!! Really?

Hu Xueyan looked at the ocean horse in front of him in a daze, and was speechless for a while.

Maria smiled and said, "Mr. Hu, you are the owner of the boat dealership, so do you have a boat to rent to me?" ”

"Yes, yes, ma'am, there is an 800-ton ship in the downwind boat. Do you want to rent? ”

"Can you move animals?" Maria blinked and said with a smile, "It's a big Yanma, it's a real horse." ”

……

"Can you tell me why you want to leave your hometown and sell yourself to the South Seas?"

"I don't have anything to eat, as soon as Emperor Zhu comes, we Cao Gang boatmen will be miserable, we can't run the boat anymore, and we can't make any other living, so we can only come to Nanyang to break through......"

"You're also an unemployed boatman?"

"No, I was originally a farmer in Hunan, and I was taken captive by Changmao, and finally escaped back to my hometown, but the land was distributed to other families by the government, and there was no place to reason, so I had to come to Nanyang to find a way to live."

"What about you? Where are you from? Why do you want to come to Nanyang? ”

"I'm from Guilin, we are all mountainous, very poor, it's hard to get some food, after paying the gentry grain (rent) and then paying back the money in India, there is not much, I heard that Nanyang is easy to live and come......"

"What about you? What did you do? ”

"Mr. Hui's words, the small one turned out to be the one who carried the sedan chair for the big salt merchant Cao San in Yangzhou, as soon as Emperor Zhu came, our salt industry in Yangzhou collapsed, and the Cao family couldn't afford to raise so many people, and the small one wanted to carry the sedan chair for others, but the adults of the new dynasty all like to take the carriage, and the small one can't catch the car, so there is no way out, so he has to come to Nanyang to break through."

Maria. Clementina is only asked not to "buy" Friedrich. Engels, on the other hand, "bought" a few coolies who looked smart and clever. He came to the East for two purposes: to investigate and study the current state of the Chinese revolution, and to be a visiting professor at Jishi University, lecturing on Western philosophy, politics, and history. Since he was the original author of "The Tactics of the Soldiers" and "The Strategies of the Politics", he became much more famous in China and Japan than in Europe, which was the main reason why he was willing to visit East Asia.

The second is to be the general manager of the Oumen-Engels company in East Asia and Nanyang, because Zhu Jishi and Engels have a close relationship, so after becoming the king of the Ming Kingdom, he purchased a lot of textiles from the Oumen-Engels company, and now the woolen woolen used in the Ming army's standard military uniform is the product of the Oumen-Engels company. In 1848, the Omen-Engels company also opened factories in Pontianak and Guangzhou. Engels was sent to manage these factories. So he could "buy" some workers for his father's factory.

After "buying" the finishers, Engels also examined the real situation of the Chinese revolution by the way. Of course, these questions were not asked by Engels himself, and his Chinese was not so slippery, but was greeted by the comprador of the Oumen-Engels company in Lanfang, and then translated into English to tell Engels.

"Your Excellency, it seems that the situation in the country under your rule is not ideal."

In the café of the Lanfang Hotel opened by Segur Bank, Engels was sipping Lanfang's locally produced coffee, and at the same time, he was with Liu Peng and Maria. Clementina discussed national issues.

Prime Minister Liu Dacheng frowned, although he has the name of a prime minister, but he has been staying in Europe to engage in diplomacy, and Zuo Zongtang is in charge of internal affairs.

"Friedrich, I don't agree with you, there is nothing unsatisfactory about the situation in the Ming Dynasty, on the contrary, this situation of a strong country and a poor people is the most in line with the interests of the Ming Empire." Maria. Clementina was basically a politician, and she often discussed political issues with Engels and Liu Peng along the way. Whether it is foreign affairs or domestic affairs, they can be said to be the truth, and even military opinions are not much worse.

She gently shook her ivory fan and said with a smile: "Mr. Engels, when discussing the China issue, you should not ignore the fact that China is an agricultural country. In any country based on agriculture, the ratio of population to land is a key factor in determining the standard of living of the people and the stability of the country. And now, the Ming Empire is likely to have a population of 300 million to 350 million, at least reaching the limit of what its basic land can carry. Therefore, no matter what national policy Jason adopts, it is impossible for the peasants to live a prosperous life in large numbers than the total population of the whole of Europe. Since it is impossible to make the peasants rich under any circumstances, it is better to make the country strong by exploiting the peasants. After the country became strong, use the sword of the Ming Dynasty to seize more land for the plough of the Ming Dynasty...... At the same time, poverty is precisely the greatest driving force for human progress, exploration and exploration, and only when the peasants in the interior of the Ming Dynasty have a difficult life, they will brave the hardships and dangers to go to Nanyang, Manchuria, and even Australia to seek a prosperous life. If all of them lived and worked in peace, who would come to Lanfang? (To be continued......)