The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 39 Jewish Expectations
"Qi is really a rich and dreamy country!"

The drizzle has been falling all day long, and it still seems to have no intention of stopping. The thin rain and mist, illuminated by the street lights, give the entire street a hazy halo.

There are tall and straight buildings on both sides of the street, revealing huge and blurry shadows in the night. Looking up, they give people a strong sense of coercion.

The speeding carriage brought up splashes of water, which occasionally hit pedestrians holding umbrellas on the street, causing a few low complaints and curses.

Victor Sassoon withdrew his gaze from the side window, and then smiled at Naftali Bennett, the head of the Daxing Jewish Merchant Hall, who was sitting opposite.

"If you were in Istanbul or Baghdad, it might be impossible to travel on such a rainy day. Not to mention the road conditions and dilapidated drainage systems in these two cities, even safety at night cannot be guaranteed." Vic Do Sassoon said: "Of course, if you hire a considerable number of armed guards to accompany you, you can ignore this problem."

"Mr. Sassoon, in this city, various potential criminal activities will still breed at night." Naftali Bennett blinked and said softly: "But, in general, including Daxing Many Qi cities, including the personnel."

"Mr. Bennett, a few days ago, a large number of soldiers and police from Qi raided and arrested all the people in the English business building. Do you think this is a political persecution against the English, or an act of economic retaliation against them?"

"Mr. Sassoon, based on the information I have received, the arrest of the British businessmen by the Qi military police was completely a normal law enforcement action." Naftali Bennett said: "The English wanted to obtain Qi State's cutting-edge steam engine technology carried out an act of kidnapping and killing Qi State scientists, which was detected by the Qi State military police, leading to this murderous case that shocked the whole city. I have been in Qi State for almost 15 years, and I have never I have heard of instances in which the Qi government carried out political persecution or economic retaliation against businessmen engaged in normal trade.”

"The State of Qi is a very civilized and enlightened country, and it is also a very secular country. As early as 80 years ago, when the State of Qi was first established, it legally clarified the principle of the sanctity of private property. In this Country, as long as you do business legally, pay taxes according to regulations, and do not engage in any illegal or criminal activities, your person and property will be strictly protected by the country. In this country, even the emperor has no right to illegally deprive others of their property."

"Oh, I heard you say that, Qi is really a very civilized country with legal protection." Victor Sassoon nodded slightly, and then asked: "So, what does this country mean to us Jews? What attitude?"

"Mr. Sassoon, I just said that Qi is a very secular country." When Naftali Bennett talked about this topic, his brows couldn't help but wrinkled, and there was a bit of helplessness on his face. "The State of Qi put forward a slogan in the early years that continues to this day and is implemented in all aspects of national governance, namely 'one country, one nation, one language'."

"Although the main ethnic group in Qi is the Han Chinese, they do not exclude immigrants, whether you come from the traditional Chinese civilization circle in the East, or from India, Persia, Arabia, or even Europe. As long as you are naturalized Qi State can only abandon the labels of other countries or nations and become a Qi State person."

"In this country, whether it is Christianity, the True God Religion, or even the existing Buddhism and Taoism in the East, they must be placed under the rule of the royal power and the government. They cannot override or break away from government control, that is, a strict separation of politics and religion is implemented. Qi The country promotes religious freedom, but it stipulates that religion can only be regarded as the private belief affairs of the people and cannot invade the political field and public affairs field represented by the country. It cannot compete with or form an alliance with political power. It can only comply with the law within its own scope. to carry out religious activities. ... And we Jews are no exception."

"In other words, if our Sassoon family comes to Qi, we must cut off all political and religious ties abroad, act in strict accordance with the laws of Qi, and integrate into this country economically and in life. .”

"Yes." Naftali Bennett nodded and said: "If we want to retain the faith and identity of Judaism, we can only do it in a very limited circle in private. But no matter what, in politics, culture, and economy, Even traditionally, it is best for us to integrate into this country and become the 'one nation' they claim. As for our Jewish teachings that declare that Jews are God's only chosen people, it is best to hide it in our pious inner world. In In Eastern civilization, the emperor is revered as the son of heaven and has the highest status in the world. He is the creator of this world."

"Then, can I think that as long as we surrender to Qi and integrate into what they claim to be a nation, we Jews will be protected by the emperor and the government and will no longer suffer unreasonable expulsion and persecution?"

"Mr. Sassoon, before I came to Qi, dozens of well-known Jewish families migrated to the Han continent. Over the years, except for a few people who have been tried for violating imperial laws, No Jew was deported or persecuted without reason."

Victor Sassoon couldn't help but feel reassured when he heard this, with a relaxed expression on his face.

The Sassoon family is a very well-known family in the Arab region. It originated in the Middle Ages. It first settled in Spain and was engaged in the financial industry (loan sharking) and inter-regional trade.But in the 16th century, Spain began an anti-Jewish movement. Countless Spanish Jews disappeared under successive waves of trials, deportations, and massacres, and the rest were basically forced to convert.

At that time, the Sassoon family fled to Baghdad and took shelter under the protection of the Ottoman Empire.During the Ottoman-Persian War that lasted for more than 100 years, in order to ensure the family's livelihood, it gave a large amount of financial support to the central government of Istanbul and the local government of Baghdad.Of course, in return, the Ottoman Empire government and the Governor of Baghdad also granted local financial and trade monopolies to the Sassoon family, allowing the family to accumulate a huge amount of wealth over a century.

Decades ago, when Qi's commercial power penetrated into Persia, Egypt, Arabia, and even Asia Minor, the Sassoon family also seized the opportunity and obtained the agency rights for Qi's goods in the Arab region, making the re-export trade flourishing. rise.

However, in the past decade or so, two governors of Baghdad have held anti-Semitic attitudes and carried out political persecution and economic suppression of the prominent Sassoon family.If the family had not used a large amount of money to donate to the Sultan and Grand Vizier of Istanbul and obtained temporary political asylum, the entire family might have been swallowed whole by the local governor, and hundreds of years of inheritance and wealth were destroyed. once.

In line with the principle of a cunning rabbit with three burrows, the Sassoon family began to take precautions and actively prepare for a retreat.They first sent their direct descendants to Bushehr Port to participate in the local infrastructure construction of the Qi people, thus getting in touch with the Qi people.Later, through the recommendation of the Persian trading company of Qi State, the Sassoon family invested heavily in Shanghai (today's Mumbai, India), Anfeng (today's Cochin, India), and Jiangling (today's Calcutta, India) to establish several international trading companies. Family assets are also gradually being transferred.

In October last year, the Sassoon family sent Victor Sassoon to the mainland of Hanzhou to conduct an on-site inspection of the political, economic and social environment of Qi State, and to provide constructive reference opinions on whether the entire family should move to Qi State.

To put it bluntly, the Jews are also a pitiable nation. For more than 1000 years, they have been excluded because they are incompatible with mainstream societies around the world. They cannot engage in normal occupations, especially serving as officials and joining the army. The door has been closed to Jews.All the Jews could do was do business.They then used Judaism as their spiritual bond and the Jewish communities scattered across Europe as their fulcrum to do some reselling and trafficking business. They traveled on four trade lines all year round: one was carpets and gems from Central Asia and other luxury goods, which were hand-made by Jews and then sold around the world. It crosses the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea and is shipped to European countries for sale.The second is a specialty product of Egypt and other African countries, which was loaded by the Jews on large ships, transported across the Mediterranean to Europe, and then sold to various countries.The third is to transfer the Southeast Asian spices purchased by the True God merchants to Europe through two trade lines, land and water. Some Jews even personally sailed ships to Southeast Asia to purchase spices.The fourth is short-term trade among European countries.

Because the Jews had the blessing of religion and race and were more united than other merchants, they soon took control of several trade lines and became the mainstream of the commercial society. They could earn huge profits from every transit trade.Moreover, in the process of doing business, Jews relied on religion and community to form a trade network throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. No matter where they went, they could find trading partners.

So the Jews in the Middle Ages became synonymous with the rich.

Later generations said that Jews were smart and wise and were born to do business.Actually, there is nothing "natural" about it, but the Jews were forced to do business.Only Jews who could do business could survive. Those who could not do business were eliminated by history.

Having money can improve life and ensure that Jews who are successful in business are healthier.If you have money, you can invest in education so that future generations will have a basic understanding of the world. Although it is not guaranteed to surpass the majority of people, it can improve the lower limit of future generations' success.With money, you can cultivate personal connections and make the path of yourself and your children and grandchildren smoother.

From this point of view, it was almost impossible for the European peoples of that era to compete with the Jews in business. Therefore, the Jews in the Middle Ages were more like large-scale joint business gangs with spiritual beliefs, trade networks, and technical experience.

However, since ancient times, power and wealth have been two sides of the same coin.Power is a red flower high above the sky, and wealth needs to be embellished with green leaves.Wealth is the basis of worldly life, and power is needed to ensure security.

The best combination of power and wealth, the top one must have both power and wealth, being able to give orders and enjoy life at the same time, well, just like the powerful officials of the emperors in ancient China, and the capital dignitaries of later generations in Europe and the United States.

The next level is those with power but no wealth, such as the officials of later modern countries. Whether they realize their ideals or receive a salary, they can do as much as they can.

The first class is those who have no power or wealth. Common people like us can at least be safe and live an ordinary life.

The most tragic combination is wealth but no power. In this combination model, wealth has no power as a protective umbrella. It is equivalent to a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered. As long as the powerful person is willing, he can draw a knife to cut the flesh at any time.After working hard for half a life, I ended up making wedding clothes for others.

The Jews in the Middle Ages were rich but not powerful.They made huge wealth through a huge trade network, but because of their low political status and isolation from mainstream society, the Jewish wealth had no protective umbrella and became a fat sheep that European powerful people could cut at any time.

In this case, who are you going to kill if you don’t kill them? Coupled with religious and racial issues, anti-Jewish and massacre is simply politically correct.

During this period, Jews lived relatively comfortably only in Britain, France, and the Netherlands.At that time, France's deceased ministers such as Richelieu and Colbert recognized the benefits of Jewish enterprises to the French economy. The trading town of Bordeaux was very friendly to the Jews and believed that once they left, the economy of the city and even the province would suffer heavy losses.The Sun King Louis XIV also took great care of the Jews. In 1670, he issued several edicts granting immunity from trial to Jews who were accused by local governments of "performing unique religious rituals."

Of course, the Jews reciprocated the favor. During the several wars launched by France, many wealthy Jewish businessmen and bankers donated large sums of war funds to support the expansion of the Sun King. This shows that the Jews attach great importance to France.

The situation of Jews in Britain was worse than in France, but it had been improving in recent decades.In the past, when Charles II was in exile, he also received significant financial support from Jewish merchants. Therefore, after his restoration, the Jews received many economic benefits.Not to mention the later King William III, who had close relations with the Jews when he was in the Netherlands. After taking over London, the Jews collectively donated money to him to help him pay for mercenaries.Today, Jews are very prosperous in London's banking and bill trading industries.

Of course, Jewish life in the Netherlands is among the most pleasant.The bankers and wholesalers in Amsterdam are roughly composed of Dutch, Italian and Jewish people. In 1688, Suso, a Jewish businessman, personally donated 200 million guilders to support William III's entry into England.

With such generous spending and no political or religious suppression, it was natural for the Jews to enjoy themselves in the Netherlands.The Jewish community in Amsterdam is so large that it has been nicknamed the "Jewish Holy Land".

Many of the commodity agents and wholesalers that Qi people were accustomed to dealing with in Europe included a large number of Jews. Their penetration and control over the entire European business was evident.

But Jewish money is not very useful in front of Qi State. This is the consensus of all Jews in Europe and even the world.As Qi's economic power expanded, they were not eager for Jewish money, nor for their trade channels.

So, what else can attract the people of Qi?

They have a strong economy, a high level of industrial development, a well-developed financial industry, and their military strength is obvious to all - the navy has controlled the entire Indian Ocean Rim, the army is invincible, and they also occupy countless territories and strongholds in the Pacific region.More importantly, Qi also occupies many key nodes on several major trade routes in the world.

"Qi State is planning to massively build public infrastructure in several surrounding island territories to promote local economic development, railways, highways, ports, and mining development, as well as the expansion of various cash crop plantations." Nafta Leigh Bennett said with a smile: “I think the Qi government is very happy to see a large amount of private capital invested in these places, which is highly consistent with the government’s economic guidance, and thus drives more social capital to participate. Although the return rate of these investments is relatively low and the cycle is relatively long, under the leadership of the Qi State government, the safety is absolutely guaranteed. At the same time, this is also to please the Qi State government and allow us Jews to integrate into the mainstream society of Qi State and the most effective means in the economic system. Mr. Sassoon, what do you think?"

(End of this chapter)