Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1085 Fresh Blood ([-])

When the rooster crows, the eastern sky is pale, and a new day is coming.

In a seaside shantytown in Cape Harbor, a large group of Lithuanians in white cotton undershirts were clumsily weaving fishing nets under the demonstration of the foreman.The material of the fishing net is sisal from Xinhua Island, a fibrous plant called "green gold". It is flexible, hard and corrosion-resistant, and is a good material for industrial rope or fishing net.

These Lithuanians were called to work by the foreman at five o'clock in the morning and did not have breakfast until 07:30.The work is very simple, that is, twisting ropes and weaving nets at designated places by the sea, and sometimes some damaged fishing nets or cages are brought over for them to repair.Adults are paid 1 dime a day, and minors are paid 5 cents a day, but generally they only work for half a day, and the other half of the day is spent learning Chinese and some rules and regulations. In the case of limited teachers, the immigration department may still feel that naturalization is not a priority. Adults are cheaper.

After breakfast at 07:30, these people can have a rest time of 10 to [-] minutes, and then devote themselves to the intense work of rubbing rope and weaving fishing nets again.The work is monotonous and boring, but these so-called Lithuanian refugees are not dissatisfied at all, because it is much better than their life before they came to the east bank - the brutal Russian soldiers snatched the last bit from their hands Rye and milk, they wantonly plundered towns and insulted women, and what they did was no different from the legendary murderous and greedy Crimean Tatars. Even the pagan army of the Ottoman Empire was a hundred times more civilized than them.

Of course, even if the Russians didn't kill Lithuania, their lives were still somewhat overwhelmed.The country of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is dying. The nobles have obtained all rights, and even the king must be elected by them—if the local king cannot satisfy them, they will even invite foreigners to be kings. The nobles even have one vote. The right of veto, that is, the minority (even a noble member) can veto any decision made by the majority.In this way, this country has become a de facto republic of false monarchs. The nobles, who account for about 20% of the total population, control the direction of the country. No one in the country can restrain them. They act recklessly and turn ordinary farmers into His own serfs were in a miserable situation.

These Lithuanians come from one of the core regions of the country, but their living conditions are also quite miserable.According to the Pyatkov decree established in 1496, they have to work on the land of the nobleman most of the time every week. Everyone is bound to the land. If they want to leave and move, then his land And the property will be confiscated by the nobles without compensation, which undoubtedly means death for ordinary people.

Later, due to the weakening of the monarchy and the development of international trade, the local gentry and nobles in general became more unscrupulous. They asked the peasant households to stay on the land for generations to bear heavy labor for them. The farmers took away more agricultural products and exported them abroad, and it was stipulated that only one son per family was allowed to work outside the territory. This undoubtedly made the lives of Polish and Lithuanian farmers even more miserable.

To be honest, if the Russians hadn’t burned, killed, looted and committed all kinds of crimes in this battlefield of aggression initiated by the Russians, the majority of Polish and Lithuanian farmers might not have any resistance. Perhaps the long-term propaganda orientation of demonizing Russia will make them feel a little bit Shadow, but in terms of life, it shouldn't be too bad-isn't it the same as being a serf?Of course, history cannot assume that if you expect the military discipline of the Tatars, Russians or Swedes to improve, it is purely overthinking. They are that kind of "locust" army, which has been passed down from the Wallenstein era.

So, when these Lithuanians were coaxed (the Courlandians tricked them into saying that they would take them to live in the Netherlands) and sent them to the New World—first to Jakobshaven in New Courland, The Kurlanders picked up some of them, and distributed the rest to major ports on the east coast—they quickly accepted the reality and started working seriously.God, what about wages, a dime a day is three yuan a month, and an acre of land is only five yuan for redemption-of course this requires citizenship first, but it is still very exciting for them, because they already know Now, this land belongs to them completely. They only need to work for the country for [-] days without compensation every year. They don’t have to bear heavy labor for the nobles. The tax burden is also very light, and they don’t need to contribute their agricultural products to the nobles. It’s really great. !

It's just that the five-year inspection period is a bit long, and the government has always refused to promise to build a Catholic church, which made the refugees from Lithuania a little uneasy.But in general, the problem is not big, it is much better than they imagined, at least there are no cruel nobles, no vicious Russian soldiers, there is food and income, what else do you want?Just, where are the lovely girls who came with them along the way?Why didn't I see it?

"Deputy Section Chief Tian, ​​this year's quota for your Wujiang area is only 500 people. Don't be too small. Everyone is watching this time. There are also many bachelors in the old settlement. Everyone understands each other." Haijiao On the wharf under construction in the port, an immigration official handed over a roster to Tian Xing, who came on behalf of the Wujiang District Administrative Office, and said with a wry smile: "Look, there are 2000 out of the 1500 people in the settlement of Haijiao Port. A man (including some Ming people), and almost all the young single Lithuanian girls have been picked out for you. It is also thanks to the fact that the people in the Principality of Courland are doing a good job this time. Bachelors still have to wait in line for the lottery.”

It is said that since the Polish-Ukrainian War, the first benefit that people on the east coast have reaped has basically been cashed in. Last year, Zheng Yong entrusted the Grand Duke of Courland to take in and recruit Lithuanian refugees to settle overseas.Grand Duke Jacob of Courland was also unambiguous in his work. Perhaps because he had been in circles in the Baltic Sea all year round, he used almost all his business or political connections to try his best to recruit people from war-torn areas, and obtained Not a small result - in this process, the Russian army with corrupt military discipline helped a lot. They wantonly plundered and killed the local Lithuanian nobles to obtain wealth, and the disintegration of the noble order naturally allowed the serfs to be free Migration, which created convenience for Latvians in local activities.

Under the banner of recruiting workers, they also used money to bribe the miserable Russian soldiers at the bottom, so that the refugees could pass through the war-torn areas and arrive at the Principality of Courland.Of course, during this process, the request of the people on the east bank who have a good relationship with the Russian army also played a big role. The middle and high-level military officers acquiesced to the actions of the Latvians in the local area, which did not damage their interests anyway, no? what?People on the east coast have always been generous. After raising their hands slightly this time, they will probably compensate Russia later, so why not do it?

Since the war lasted for more than a year, hundreds of people under the Grand Duke of Courland have almost successfully "persuaded" more than 3 Lithuanian refugees to the Principality of Courland.For this reason, those Russian troops also launched some small-scale offensives in the north intentionally or unintentionally, defeating the forces of some Lithuanian gentry and nobles at the junction with the Principality of Courland, allowing Grand Duke Jacob's great cause of emigration to be more successful. successfully completed.The Russians were so knowledgeable—although they insisted on refusing to openly sell Lithuanian slaves, which is a bit of a face—so that Zheng Yong, who was far away in Amsterdam, praised the news, "Nice job"!

After more than 3 people poured into the Principality of Courland, this small country with a population of only 20 was almost crushed instantly.Fortunately, both Zheng Yong and Grand Duke Jacob imported a large amount of rye from Russia last summer and hoarded it (grain is a traditional Russian export commodity), which was able to feed these war refugees.And after that, it is natural to organize ship transportation-at present, Grand Duke Jacob has stopped a considerable part of the business in his fleet, and then mobilized 8 merchant ships to participate in the transportation (while his own Wendao shipyard is still in operation. urgently started to build new ships), and counting more than 20 merchant ships rented from the Dutch (the charter cost was as high as 14 yuan), Archduke Jacob organized a transportation tonnage of more than 100 tons. Nearly 2000 people went to Jakob Port in New Courland, which caused a huge sensation in Europe for a while. Such a large-scale immigration transportation operation is rare in European history. When the Spaniards colonized the Caribbean islands 6000 years ago, Only more than [-] people were transported at one time (of course, there were also a lot of livestock. Britain transported only [-] people in the largest immigration operation to North America more than ten years later in the original time and space), which is incomparable with the present.

Only 6800 of these Lithuanian refugees finally arrived in Jakobshaven in New Courland. Considering the small size of the colony and its population digestion capacity, as well as the "traditional friendship" with the people on the east coast, the Courlandians finally only stayed Among them, 1800 people were sent to the East Bank, which was relatively good.

What is even more satisfying to the east bank is that more than 5000% of the [-] people are single women, and most of them are women suitable for childbearing. ah!

Now Tian Xing came to Haijiao Port to pick up a group of women on behalf of the Wujiang District Administrative Office. It can be regarded as a little solution.As for the more than 500 Lithuanians who stayed in Cape Port and several inland settlements, basically they all have families, including men, women, and children (the young and middle-aged seem to have been intercepted by New Courland, and they have been fighting with The natives are robbing land, so they should need a lot of men), in the future they will mix with some new Ming immigrants, and the government will also send some second-generation East Coasters recruited from the old settlements to completely digest these foreign refugees and integrate them. for their own strength.

(End of this chapter)