Chapter 54 Mia
The working years of female textile workers in Kamoer are actually similar to those of cotton farmers.
Although they were not locked up in sweatshops and exploited like the first generation of workers in the British Empire, where people went in alive and came out dead... their work intensity was not low, and was no easier than that of the female workers in the textile factories of the Kenyan Empire in the north.
They work as hard as the textile workers in the Kenyan Empire, but in terms of income, the wages and living standards of the textile workers in Kamor are only a fraction of theirs...
The reason for this is the profit problem of the textile industry in the Principality of Shega.
The Principality of Shega is a traditional agricultural country. Influenced by the clerical teachings of the goddess of prosperity "Wealth and Contract", the people of the Principality of Shega pursue a self-sufficient small peasant economy society. Most of the people are more keen on accumulating wealth and are quite conservative and cautious in business behavior.
In other words... the cotton cloth produced by hundreds of thousands of cotton weavers in Kamoer cannot be absorbed by the surrounding markets...
There is no such concept as "road infrastructure" in this world. If Kamor, which is located in the inland, wants to sell its goods, the expenditure on transportation can be imagined.
The gentlemen of Kamore took great pains to seize the land and tame the local civilians into outsourced cheap laborers who were not even temporary workers. Since a considerable portion of the profits from the textile industry had to be spent on transportation costs, they would naturally not be very kind to these outsourced cheap laborers.
A skilled Cameroon weaver would sit at home and weave day after day, earning about three hundred copper coins a month.
Considering the national consumption level of the Principality of Ishga, this amount of money seems quite generous... but don't forget that the common people of Kamor have no land, and they need to pay for the food and drink of their family.
A pound of rye bread costs three copper coins.
A thin strip of pork with skin on cost ten copper coins.
A small jar of butter cost thirty coppers.
By the way, all the shops on Kamoer Street that can transport food from other places have the shadows of gentlemen standing behind them...
So the ones who know how to have fun are the gentlemen. The 996 that earthlings play is like children playing house here. There is no such thing as overtime pay, seniority salary, basic salary, and pension here. There is no need to talk a lot about ideals. The proletariat is squeezed over tea and chatting...
In short, if a female Kamor civilian needs to support herself and one or two children, then she must spend the rest of the month sitting in front of a household loom rented from the Weavers' Union, except for sleeping and taking time to take care of the children.
That's right... the weavers' hard-earned money has to go through the Weavers' Union, otherwise why would Yang Qiu be so rude to those union families.
Under the heavy pressure of life, these female civilians who had to start learning weaving at the age of ten were rare to be able to see normally at the age of forty...
Mia was abandoned by her family even though she could still weave and increase the family income. The main reason was her short working experience.
Her older age means that even if she gets married and has children, she will not be able to raise the children to adulthood through her own labor. It is possible that she will become blind before the children become the next generation of cheap outsourced labor, and become a burden in the small family.
A man who wants to marry her will definitely ask Mia's family to pay a large dowry, at least the income from Mia's weaving output for several years after she becomes an adult, to balance their own risks; Mia's family will definitely not accept such harsh conditions for marrying off their daughter...
As the person involved in her fate, Mia has nothing to complain about.
When she was very young, her uncle and aunt who did not get along with her family often mocked her as a "money-loser who could only die at home". When she grew up to an age with a certain aesthetic sense, she also understood what the blue spots on her face meant.
When the people from the Weavers' Guild came to their house and suggested that their family hand over the burden that was holding everyone else back... Mia, who was quietly weaving in her room, vaguely guessed her fate.
She is already twenty-six years old, not a teenage girl anymore, and she has already shed all the tears she should have shed.
When Mia turned eighteen, she cried when the men who proposed to her thought that she was different from ordinary girls and was not qualified to ask for a dowry.
At the age of twenty-three, Mia stopped crying when the men who proposed marriage conceded that she was not worth a wedding gift and asked for a dowry instead.
She no longer had any hope for her life, and certainly would not cry because of disappointment or despair.
When they followed the black magician out of Camorre, the people who were traveling with them wept secretly, but Mia was very happy instead.
Although she couldn't explain why, when Mia stepped out of Camorre, the town where she had lived for more than 20 years, she didn't feel confused or afraid. Instead, she felt as if she was liberated.
Although her future was bleak, at least after being abandoned by her family... her life finally belonged to her.
Every meal the black magician provided, every hour she stopped weaving, was a last-minute gift from a cruel fate.
She is willing to share this gift with others, for example, by taking care of a neighbor uncle whom she is not very familiar with within her ability.
The moment he walked out of the tent with Mia's help and saw the situation outside... Collins' expression suddenly changed, and his mumbling thanks came to an abrupt end.
Mia, who was supporting him, and the people who walked out of the tent before them, had similar reactions to Collins... There were people standing on the ground, but they were frightened into silence.
Dozens of people were standing in front of the tent where they lived.
Collins knew some of the men in the group, even by name—some of them he had been whipped by when he worked on the plantation.
Especially the fat man with a face full of flesh. Collins felt his hands and feet trembling just by seeing this man's face - Pips, the steward of Viscount Lynn's estate and the recognized tyrant of Cammer Plantation!
During one cotton picking season, Collins once saw with his own eyes that Pepys chopped off a little boy's left hand, just because the boy's father accidentally dropped a bag of cotton into the river while carrying cotton!
——These people were clearly tied up by the undead, so why were they released again?
The strong uneasiness made Collins' scalp tingle and sweat broke out on his forehead...
Could it be that the black magician believes that people who once served the nobles are more trustworthy than trash like them?
Or maybe... the black magician wants these cruel people who want to kill them to control them?
No matter which possibility it is, it is an extremely terrible thing for Collins and civilians like him...!
Just as the civilians were panicking, one of the private soldiers standing in a row in front of the tent seemed to be kicked in the back, staggered forward and almost fell.
The man who was kicked turned around angrily, and when he saw who was coming, his expression suddenly changed. His face was full of fat, but he actually forced out an extremely flattering smile: "Mr. Yang, we have called all these guys out, you see..."
Yang Qiu looked at this guy expressionlessly and shook his head in disapproval. Suddenly, and lashed towards the fleshy-faced manor steward.
Pips, the leader of the private army who was regarded as a capable subordinate by Viscount Lynn , was beaten and sent flying with just a cry.
"When I asked you to gather them, I remember saying 'please'." Yang Qiu turned his head and looked at the other private soldiers. "Aren't you serving respectable people? Is this your service spirit?"
The faces of the private soldiers suddenly became very interesting... They were in a tangled state of wanting to get angry but also instinctively wanting to kneel down...
The civilians were trembling with fear at the appearance of the private soldiers. Although they didn't quite understand what was going on, they at least knew that it was probably not what they thought, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Regardless of the reactions of the people present, Yang Qiu looked coldly at the butler who had fallen to the ground and said, "Please remember that you are prisoners for now. I believe that the gentlemen of Camor may be willing to pay the ransom for you, but before I receive the money, you can only be and must be prisoners."
"Yes... yes." Pips struggled to get up, lowered his head and responded.
Yang Qiu knew that this guy didn't look up because he didn't want him to see his resentful face, so he said calmly: "I don't have the habit of killing prisoners, but I won't provide food to prisoners for nothing. If you don't want to starve to death with your freedom restricted, please learn what self-knowledge means."
All the private soldiers, including Pips, fell silent...
They knew the black magician was not joking because they had already gone hungry for two meals...
"If you understand what I say, then do as I tell you." Yang Qiu paused. "Of course, you can refuse to cooperate, pretend to obey but secretly disobey, or even take the opportunity to escape... but it's best if you use clever methods, so clever that I won't find out."
Next, Yang Qiu didn't bother to pay attention to these guys who thought they were superior just because they clung to respectable people. He turned to look at the civilians whose expressions had eased a lot: "My fellow countrymen, we will split up after lunch. Women will follow the undead and leave here for the Exile Town, and men will stay. Men with female relatives can go with the women."
Although these civilians are mostly old, weak, sick and disabled, Yang Qiu still plans to separate the men and women to avoid trouble.
This arrangement caused a commotion among the civilians, but no one opposed or resisted... Whether it was the exile town or this empty stronghold, they were all unfamiliar to them, and they really didn't care where they were arranged to live.
Mia hesitated and whispered to Collins: "Uncle Carter, do you want to go with me?"
Collins is not related to her by blood, but in the past few days of getting along, Mia has indeed regarded Collins as an elder... At least Collins would express gratitude after receiving her care, instead of taking her efforts for granted, which makes Mia feel that she is alive.
Collins really didn't want to stay with the tyrant Pips. Even though the black magician's attitude towards Pips was much worse than towards them, he would still feel scared. He quickly said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Mia."
"No trouble." Mia smiled.
Seeing that the civilians were receptive, Yang Qiu asked the literate among his private soldiers to come out and register the civilians one by one according to their name, age and gender.
In fact, this kind of registration work is most suitable for players to do, but Yang Qiu thinks it is too early to let "civilian NPCs" enter the branding matrix now...
If there were no language barriers, players would all be considered self-propelled mobile sources of mental pollution.
Under Yang Qiu's personal command, the private soldiers did not dare to use any tricks. They honestly registered this group of civilians, and honestly dismantled the tents and packed the luggage for those who were going to the exile town, and then loaded them onto the empty tricycles.
During this period, the players who came and went like crazy would stop from time to time out of curiosity, wander around and find that no NPC would chat with them, and then leave in disappointment...
It was almost meal time, and the players who had "randomly" received the instant cooking task came running over excitedly...
Outside the stronghold, the Crusader Cavalry camp.
Andre returned to the camp with several holy warriors, dismounted and hurried to the tent where Supervisor Lowell was.
"Those undead are clearing out the monsters!"
Seeing Inspector Lowell in front of him, Andre couldn't wait to speak: "The undead who left the base are all around the poisonous swamp not far away. I saw with my own eyes that these undead led monsters out of the swamp to surround and kill them!"
Even Lowell, who had rich life experience, was shocked when he heard this.
He postulated countless reasons why the undead moved in groups, but he had never thought of this one!
"How could this be so? Why on earth is this happening?" Lowell was extremely puzzled.
"I don't know, Supervisor Lowell. I don't understand it at all." Andre's face turned pale and he looked dazed. Obviously, seeing the players killing monsters with his own eyes had a huge impact on this Paladin. "I only know that the undead seem to be very enthusiastic about it. They almost... spare no expense and are extremely united in hunting those swamp monsters. Even if their companions die, it can't stop their enthusiasm for clearing monsters."
"..." Supervisor Lowell silently raised his hand and pinched his brows hard.
Having been a priest for more than two hundred years and having dealt with countless vicious incidents caused by the undead, Lowell has always believed that his understanding of undead creatures is no worse than that of black magicians.
Now, Supervisor Lowell felt that he might be a little too arrogant. In fact, he didn't understand the undead at all...
Andrei's face turned pale and he swallowed his saliva. "It's not just that weird. Supervisor, these undeads...will also snatch monsters from each other."
Lowell's body trembled again: "???"
"It's true. I saw it with my own eyes." Andre murmured as if he was sleepwalking. "When the group of undead I was observing was surrounding and killing a corrupted bat monkey, another group of undead passed by and a few of them came forward to help... I thought they were going to work together to eliminate the troublesome corrupted bat monkey, but I didn't expect that they actually started fighting!"
“???” Lowell’s head was full of question marks.
“I simply cannot understand whether they are united or disunited, lawful or chaotic.” Andre held his head in his hands and said in great pain, “They were able to bear the death of their companions in order to clear the monsters, but they actually fought to snatch the Corrupted Bat Monkey… After the Corrupted Bat Monkey escaped back to the swamp, they still did not stop fighting!”
When Yang Qiu came personally to invite these priests to have lunch together, he mentioned that the undead were going to send the civilian women to the exile town, and asked the priests if they wanted to visit the undead's lair.
Supervisor Lowell agreed without hesitation.
Originally, Lowell had no intention of going deeper into Tarantan, considering that the dry food he carried was only enough for three days. After all, it was fine to eat and drink from others when traveling with them, but he couldn't afford to ask for supplies when leaving.
But now Rowell couldn't care less. His curiosity about these strange undead spirits overcame his pride...
