Chapter 58 Human Traffickers
"Eighty dollars! That was the price two years ago. I'm afraid you can't buy it now." After hearing what Rock meant, Liang Dingxin didn't dare to agree immediately, but he didn't dare to refuse . Liang Dingxin didn't have the courage to refuse Rock.
This was Liang Dingxin's first time to come to Rock's dormitory, a spacious suite. Liang Dingxin didn't know how big Rock's bedroom was, but the living room was larger than the dormitory where Liang Dingxin lived.
Like the living room of the British officers' dormitory that Liang Dingxin had visited, Rock's living room was fully furnished. The sofa and coffee table were neither new nor old, but they were cleaned tidy. There was an antique display shelf against the wall behind Rock, and in several compartments there were wooden boxes of cigars and several bottles of unnamed foreign wine. On the wall opposite Liang Dingxin hung a painting of a white woman with most of her back exposed. Liang Dingxin knew that this was a foreign painting style, but he didn't know what the painting was called, let alone where Rock got it from.
As a translator in the Huayong Battalion, Liang Dingxin was no stranger to the human trafficking market in the Qing Dynasty. 80 oceans could indeed buy a woman, but her appearance and figure could not be mentioned. If one wanted better quality, the price would increase accordingly. Liang Dingxin didn't know what Rock's bottom line was, but Rock already had an official position and should not look down on those vulgar women.
"Don't worry. Eighty dollars was indeed the price two years ago, but the price now is not much higher. Maybe you can't spend all the eighty dollars. The British will reimburse the ship tickets for sending people here, and I won't let you work in vain. If you send one person here, I will give you ten pounds, and the rest is yours." There are some things Rock cannot say, because saying them will reveal the secret.
The Qing Dynasty is now in the most intense stage of the Boxer Rebellion. After New Year's Day, Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Italy and other countries will jointly note the Qing government , demanding the banning of the Boxer Rebellion. War will be provoked in May, and by then the entire northern part of the Qing Dynasty will be engulfed in war, and human lives will only become cheaper and cheaper.
"I dare not, I dare not. How dare I take advantage of Mr. Luo?" Liang Dingxin was worried. It seemed easy to make money, but it was full of risks. It was easy to buy people from the Qing Dynasty and it was also easy to send people on the ship, but they would have to sleep in the open air along the way. Liang Dingxin really couldn't guarantee whether people could arrive in Cape Town safely. If something went wrong, who would be responsible?
"You don't have to worry. There are many ships traveling between Cape Town and the Qing Dynasty. There is one every few days, and they are all large ships that cannot pass through the Suez Canal. I will tell the ship that you can send me a telegram after you send the people on board. If there is any problem on the way, it will be my fault." Rock is not worried about not finding a ship. Cape Town is the only way for huge ships to travel between Europe and Asia. Rock is now considered the local boss of Cape Town. The merchant ships passing by will not refuse Rock's request, otherwise it would be too easy for Rock to cause trouble for them.
"That's very good, that's very good. Don't worry, Mr. Luo. I will do my best to send the person over as soon as possible." Liang Dingxin responded very readily. Liang Dingxin had no choice but to agree. As long as Liang Dingxin still had to work for the British, he would not dare to offend Rock.
It's a very simple truth. Ten pounds is almost equivalent to one hundred oceans, and it only costs eighty oceans to buy a woman. Liang Dingxin can easily earn twenty oceans from it, which is higher than his salary as a translator. Liang Dingxin has no reason to refuse.
What 's Rock has become a naturalized Cape Town citizen and is now considered a "foreigner". Although Liang Dingxin despises Rock in his heart, he dare not show it on the surface. Rock is now the sheriff. Legend has it that he also saved the Governor of Cape Town, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force and a bunch of other bigwigs. Such a person is about to rise to prominence, and Liang Dingxin dare not offend him.
"Okay, thank you for your concern. Don't worry. This is a long-term business. We don't want just one or two. We want as many as you can. Maybe we need stronger young men in the future. As long as you work hard, you can earn this money for a lifetime." Rock reassured Liang Dingxin. Each person would give twenty dollars. The more Liang Dingxin gave, the more he would earn. Rock firmly believed that Liang Dingxin had no reason to refuse.
This is the universal value of this day and age. In the 21st century, Rock's being a human trafficker is outrageous to both God and man, but in the 19th century it was natural and justified, especially in Africa, where the slave trade is a tradition of African colonists. If you count it this way, all white people in Africa are guilty, one by one, and no one is innocent.
"Excuse me, but why do you need so many people, Mr. Luo?" Liang Dingxin couldn't help his curiosity after all. He could understand that Rock wanted to buy ten or eight, but from what Rock said, the more the better, which really aroused Liang Dingxin's curiosity.
"Haha, Lao Liang, look at how many of our people are in the Cape Town Police Department now? We will have more and more people in the future. With so many young men, they can't all be bachelors. Our people will settle down here, and maybe even buy a thousand or eight hundred acres of land to satisfy their addiction to being local landlords. Don't we need tenants for so much land? It's better to hire people from our hometown than to expect those blacks or Boers to farm the land. Foreigners don't know how to take care of crops at all." Rock tried to make his words and sentences down-to-earth, and his words revealed a sense of disdain for foreigners, which made Liang Dingxin a little fascinated.
For most Chinese people, they have not had much contact with foreigners and do not have much aversion to them.
In fact, in the Qing Dynasty today, the people who are most disgusted with foreigners are Liang Dingxin and other people who deal with foreigners every day, including Rock, who seems to have wholeheartedly surrendered to the British. Their contempt for Westerners comes from the bottom of their hearts. The Chinese have been rich for thousands of years, and it is only in the last few hundred years that they have had bad luck, allowing foreigners to get rich. To all Chinese, foreigners are undoubted nouveau riche.
"Uncle Luo, blacks or whites may not be able to farm the land, but it's fun to use them. We make a living overseas and hire white people to farm the land for us. It's fun just thinking about it." I didn't realize that Liang Dingxin was also a man with ideals.
If you think about it carefully, it is true. The Chinese are good at farming, but to keep up appearances, they still have to hire white people, just like Rock hired Zach's family as servants. If Rock hired Indians or blacks, Henry would definitely despise Rock in his heart even if he didn't say it.
This sounds a bit snobbish, but it is actually the case. Without considering practicality, if Rock sets up a family business in the future, he really plans to continue employing poor Boers, after all, Boers are also white people.
"Haha, if you want to have fun, you might as well become a Cape Town citizen, and then when you return to the Qing Dynasty you will be a foreign boss. In a few years, buy a farm in Cape Town, and you can satisfy your craving for ordering foreigners around." Rock's words inadvertently planted a seed in Liang Dingxin's heart.
