Before Contai came to Keelung, the Pingpu Kaidagrans near Keelung Bay lived by the sea, but they were very short of salt.
Perhaps, in the eyes of modern people, isn’t salt just a simple thing you can get by boiling sea water? I still lack salt at the beach, so I can’t imagine it.
However, it was such a simple truth that the ancients, especially those of the Kaidagrans who were still in the maternal commune society, could not imagine it. Therefore, for the Kaidagrans, their salt mainly comes from the blood of their prey and the salty stones (rock salt) on the land. If you are lucky, you may be able to pick up natural salt from the low tide on the beach. However, they just don’t cook the sea for salt…
Moreover, Kong Tai was also lucky. Previously, with the help of Liu Laogen, he showed a "miracle" in front of several local indigenous chiefs, and scared the local aristocratic people. Therefore, although he was jealous of the salt that Kong Tai could not finish eating, the local aristocratic people did not dare to act rashly, and never thought of robbing Kong Tai's salt. Because the previous performance of the charlatan was greatly shocked the local aristocratic people. Those aristocratic people thought that Kong Tai was a great immortal, so they naturally did not dare to act rashly. Kong Tai hired their young and strong people to work, and they did not dare to disobey. If it weren't for the charlatan performance that he had performed with the sun stove before, it would be hard to say...
You should know that although the Pingpu people on Tai Island are relatively gentle, it is compared with the brutal and fighting inland Gaoshan people. In fact, as a foreigner, they are not bad at all. Just like the Spanish colonists in history, they had already established the city of San Salvador on Peace Island, but they were scared by the Kedagrans on Tai Island so that they dared not land. They could only hide in the fortress of Peace Island and hungry. Because the Kedagrans were very fierce when they were fierce. Although their weapons were backward, they were fierce and they were desperate to fight.
Kong Tai used the sun stove to jump to the great gods and fooled the chiefs of the Kedagranites, which made the local natives dare not act rashly. Otherwise, he would teach you how to be a human being with a javelin spear every minute...
Now, in the eyes of the local Kaidagranites, Kong Tai is the "Kong Daxian" and a ruthless man who knows magic. Therefore, Kong Tai hired them to work, so they had to be happy.
However, although Kong Tai was stingy and did not pay wages, he was not stingy. For example, those native young and strong men wanted to bring some sweet potato rice back to their family, but Kong Tai agreed without hesitation. After all, sweet potatoes are so high-yield and will be bad if they don’t eat them. It’s better to give some favors to the locals.
Then, the Kaidagrans and young people from several nearby villages simply built simple villages near the new city to facilitate the young and strong people to go home. At the same time, it is also convenient to come to the construction site for free...
When it was time for dinner, the men, women, young and old in the villages of Kedagran came to line up to get sweet potatoes. Kong Tai harvested millions of kilograms of sweet potatoes, but he was not afraid of being eaten poor. However, there was one thing that these people would never allow themselves to waste sweet potatoes in the fields, so as not to be destroyed and affect the yield.
Slowly, more than 3,000 Kaidagran natives from several nearby villages lived a relatively orderly life around the newly built Keelung City. Moreover, they also began to learn sweet potato planting techniques from Han farmers such as Liu Laogen, and gave up the primitive social rustling and fire farming technology, and changed to the Han-style farming model. Then, local men went to the construction site of Keelung City to work, while women went to the fields to learn to grow sweet potatoes... When it was time for dinner, the local indigenous families and young went to the construction site canteen to have a meal together... This life was a bit like a collective farm...
...
When Marin met Kong Tai, Kong Tai was wearing a steel helmet. However, he was not wearing armor, but wearing ordinary cloth clothes, and short suits suitable for work. He looked like a contractor returning from an inspection site. The steel helmet on his head was also like a safety helmet that was popular on the site...
When he heard that the natives now call Kong Tai "Kong Daxian", Marin smiled and felt a little stomachache. Then, Marin and others ate a typical farm dish under the arrangement of Conte's wife Maria...
The chefs of this meal were arranged by women from Jilong Village where Liu Laogen was originally located. They were not a high-end dish, but they were quite unique. The group ate with relish and drank the sweet potato wine made by the villagers with sweet potatoes. Although the wine was a little turbid, it tasted unique.
After eating and drinking, Malin and Conte came to discuss separately...
"How is it? What's the situation in the Ming Dynasty now?"
Kong Tai frowned and said:
"It's not very good. It is said that the Ming Dynasty is now in chaos. The eunuch Liu Jin was tyrannical and the court was messed up by him. In order to protect himself, officials from all over the country had to bribe him. It is said that officials from all over the country had to bribe him when they went to the capital to worship, at least a thousand taels of silver, at most five thousand taels..."
"Stop! I don't want to hear these!" Malin was a little annoyed. He could hear that it was obvious that these were all the discussions among the Ming Dynasty, and more of the views of the Ming Dynasty civil officials. But, is it his business? What he wants is to obtain trade qualifications, rather than caring about the internal affairs of the Ming Dynasty.
So, he scolded:
"What I want you to inquire about whether we can attach to the Ming Dynasty, not an internal problem of the Ming Dynasty. What does Liu Jin have to do with the Ming Dynasty? If he can get recognition from the court, what will happen to him even if he bribed Liu Jin?"
"Bribery Liu Jin? Will that ruin your reputation?" Kong Tai hesitated...
Marin almost laughed in anger:
"Famous? What's our reputation? In the eyes of Ming Dynasty officials, we are barbarians and uncivilized savages. What's the reputation? All I want is to become local officials of the Ming Dynasty, not to be role models of the Ming Dynasty!" Kong Tai, the guy, had a little thoughts approaching the Ming Dynasty literati, which made Ma Lin speechless.
"If Liu Jin falls, will we be implicated? After all, bribing Liu Jin will be considered a rebellion after he falls..." Kong Tai said this in a pertinent and reasonable way.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! Moreover, Malin remembers that Liu Jin seemed to have fallen this year. He was impeached and then killed in August of the lunar calendar. The reason why he was killed was because of the rebellion of King Anhua, which was the name of attacking Liu Jin. In such a big mess, Emperor Zhengde could no longer protect him, so he had to push Liu Jin to take the blame. At the same time, he also confiscated Liu Jin's property and ate a lot.
You know, when Liu Jin's property was seized, he actually had 2.5 million taels of gold and 50 million taels of silver, which was the richest man in the world at that time. Even the European rich man Marin was not worth mentioning in front of Liu Jin's huge property. You know, the 2.5 million taels of gold alone were worth more than 26.19 million gold coins, and the 50 million taels of silver were not counted...
However, these have nothing to do with Marin. What he wants is just to obtain the status of a chieftain in the Ming Dynasty so that it can facilitate him to go to the Ming Dynasty to purchase and do business at any time.
Therefore, he did not hesitate to bribe Liu Jin to obtain the status of a chieftain in the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible. Moreover, bribery was also a shortcut. Because, generally speaking, the power and traitors who received the money were still very efficient. Otherwise, it would have been delayed for a long time to leave it to those honest civil officials for discussion. In terms of sluggish work, ancient officials were much more serious than modern people. But this matter must be taken seriously, because Liu Jin was about to fall in the August of the lunar calendar. If it was too late, the bribe money would be wasted.
So Marin ordered:
"Kong Tai, immediately send someone to the inland, secretly contact Hu Jian's Jinyiwei, give them enough money, and ask them to pass on their behalf, asking to see Liu Jin. Then, give ten thousand taels of silver!"
"Don't you pass the government?"
Marin rolled her eyes:
"We are bribery, of course we have to do it secretly. The Jinyiwei belongs to the factory guard, so it is most convenient to contact Liu Jin. If we pass the official, we will give the other party a handle on the evidence of the crime!" Kong Tai learned a lot of Confucian culture and learned people a little pedantic...
This time, Ma Lin planned to use Liu Jin's final glory to add help to himself obtaining normal trade qualifications. You must know that Liu Jin is now at the peak of his life and almost controls the government. If you want to obtain the qualification of a chieftain, Liu Jin will definitely not be able to avoid it. Therefore, it is better to bribe him and ask him for help. As for Liu Jin's fall in the future, just say that he was asked for bribes. Anyway, this matter has not been passed through the civil service system, and it is difficult for others to investigate. As long as the little emperor Zhengde is coaxed, everything is not a problem...
Chapter completed!