Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1254, Cultural Education

"Leaving Blue Sky Town today, I don't know whether to be happy or sad to meet us Ottomans here."

"The two sisters are descendants of nobles, but they were sold here as slaves, bought by the most ordinary Ming people, washed and cooked for others, and had children. Although their descendants look like us Turks There are almost no differences in language, but they never consider themselves Turkic, they speak Ming dialect, write Ming characters, abide by the secular system of Ming Dynasty, and have nothing to do with our Ottoman Empire or Turkic people.”

"Da Ming has a vast land and few people. Their rulers have come up with such an effective way to increase the population. Maybe in another hundred or two hundred years, the whole world will be filled with people from Ming."

On the four-wheeled carriage heading east, Ali Pasha put down the pen in his hand and looked out the window.

There are snow-capped mountains and alpine grasslands in the distance, nearby streams, dense forests, and patches of golden wheat fields, flocks of sheep and cattle living freely.

It is also a fertile land, but it is a pity that it does not belong to the Ottoman Empire or the Turks.

The team of Ali Pasha and Moses continued to move forward. As a Jew, Moses had been recording in detail what he saw and heard along the way.

"Grain in the Hezhong area of ​​Daming is extremely cheap. There are a lot of meat and precious horses, but the profit margin of grain is relatively low, and transportation is a big problem. I heard that the people of Daming are building a railway. If you can take a train from the Hezhong area in the future If we arrive at Xiji Port, it will be a good deal to sell grain from the Hezhong area to Europe."

"As for the precious horses, they are needed all over the world. The price of horses in the Hezhong area is also very low. You can buy a good horse for less than twenty taels of silver."

"But I found out that the people of Daming have strict management over horses, and they are not allowed to sell them abroad. Otherwise, this business will definitely make a lot of money."

"In Lantian Town in the Western Regions of Ming Dynasty, we were fortunate to meet two Ottomans. They were trafficked here. I heard that the price at that time was more than thirty taels of silver. The price was so high that it was cheaper than the horses in the Hezhong area. It's worth it."

"It is said that if women with good looks and good figure are sold to the Beijing-Tianjin area of ​​Ming Dynasty, some of them can even be sold for a sky-high price of hundreds or thousands of taels of silver."

"Slave trading is definitely a lucrative business, especially women are very popular here in Daming. The Ming people formulated a policy to increase the population, requiring a large number of women to bear children. Perhaps in the future, slaves obtained from Europe can be distinguished. , to sell at a higher price."

"In addition, here, I ate something called raisins. The grapes are directly dried and can be stored and transported for a long time. It is said that they are very popular in all parts of Daming. It is a sweet food that everyone likes to eat, and the price is relatively high. .”

"But on the Ming side, only Turpan in the Western Regions produces raisins, but on the European side, especially in the Mediterranean region, the grape planting industry is very developed, and most of the grapes are used to make wine."

"Although wine is equally popular in Daming, wine is not conducive to transportation and carrying. Maybe you can consider processing grapes into raisins and selling them to Daming."

In Moses' mind, he is always thinking about how to make money. He has traveled to many places and is well-informed, and he can see business opportunities from small things.

The convoy headed eastward along the cement road that had been built. After a few days, they arrived at an oasis on Tianshan South Road, where they planned to rest for the night.

"Great Lord, I thought I couldn't find msl in Daming, but I didn't expect to find it here."

Ali Pasha, who was sitting in the carriage, was drowsy all over. The long trip was indeed a test for him, an elderly man. It was also very comfortable, but it still made him a little overwhelmed.

Knowing that he was going to rest here, he habitually opened the car window. When he saw the familiar dome in this oasis, his whole body was refreshed, and he hurriedly got out of the car and walked inside.

Walking into this oasis, Ali Pasha, Moses and others soon discovered that the people living here seemed not to be Ming people, because the people here were very different from the Ming people in appearance, but more similar to them in appearance .

"Seliangmu~"

This oasis is relatively large, the size of a small town. Seeing Ali Pasha, Moses and other guests coming in, the residents of the town came to welcome them very enthusiastically.

When they saw Ali Pasha's clothes, they also deduced that Ali Pasha was a devout believer, so they took the initiative to say hello to Ali Pasha.

"Seliangmu~"

When Ali Pasha and the others heard this, they all replied politely, and the distance between them suddenly shortened a lot.

Ali Pasha revealed his identity to them, and soon, Alimu, a highly respected imam in the town, also rushed to greet them.

The sultan of the Ottoman Empire is not only the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, but also a caliph all in one. He has a very high prestige among MLS, even for people far away in the Western Regions.

As envoys sent by the sultan of the Ottoman Empire to the Ming Empire, Ali Pasha and others may not be of much importance to ordinary Ming people, but to MLS like them, they are still worthy of respect and need warm hospitality.

In the mosque in the center of the town, after Ali Pasha and the others finished their prayers, everyone sat on the ground and discussed enthusiastically.

"I didn't expect to meet believers of the Lord in the far east. This is really a happy thing."

Ali Pasha spoke Arabic, and Arabic is the common language in the msl world. Anyone who is educated can speak Arabic, because it is the language of the Lord for them.

"Nor did I expect to be honored to receive distinguished guests from afar."

Alimu is older, in his sixties, and he is surrounded by many prestigious young people in the town.

"I walked all the way from Xiji Port in Nanyun Province of the Ming Empire. I have traveled thousands of miles. I haven't encountered any msl along the way. I thought there were no believers of the Lord in Daming."

Ali Pasha looked at the mosque in front of him. It seemed to have a long history, and it was not built in a short period of time.

"Here in the Western Regions, there are many believers of the Lord."

"However, in the east, after passing Jiayuguan, it is basically the place where the Han people are. Few of the Han people believe in the Lord, but in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, you can still find temples for worship."

Alimu nodded after listening, thought for a while and said.

"That's great!"

"I thought the emperor of Ming Dynasty didn't allow believers of the Lord to live in Daming. Many missionaries who wanted to come to Daming to preach were killed by Daming people."

"Whether it is our msl or the Christian world in Europe, it is no exception. The great sultan was very angry about this."

Ali Pasha nodded in satisfaction, and then he quickly noticed that in this small town, there was a school built next to the temple, a Ming school, which was a little different from other places.

"I know about this."

"The Son of Heaven has issued such a decree to restrict the spread of various religions in the Ming Dynasty, and vigorously promote the education and dissemination of Han culture."

"Presumably the Prime Minister has already seen the school next to it. This is a school established according to the requirements of the Ming government. Our children have to go to school to learn Mandarin and Chinese characters when they reach a certain age. When they reach a certain level, they have to take the imperial examination. take an exam."

Ali Mu nodded and said.

"Why did the Emperor Ming do this? Why did he limit the glory of the Lord?"

Upon hearing this, Ali Pasha asked in puzzlement. In his opinion, there was nothing more important than this, but on Daming's side, the situation was different.

"It is to restrict the spread of all religions, and the Son of Heaven treats this equally."

"There is no difference in the treatment of our msl, we pay the same taxes, and we are also protected by the laws of the Ming Dynasty, no different from the Han people."

"Since the Western Regions came under the rule of the Ming Empire, our lives have improved a lot. There are no wars and horse bandits, and we can live in peace of mind."

Alimu emphasized.

"However, they are vigorously promoting their schools. Isn't this eroding us?"

Ali Pasha looked at the school next to him. The school was beautifully built, and there was a statue of Confucius in the middle of the school.

"This is a gift from the Son of Heaven. It is a gift from the Son of Heaven to all the tribes living in the territory of Daming. The Son of Heaven treats us equally and will not deliberately target us and impose heavy taxes on us like the Mongols in the past."

"Not only do we have schools here, but almost all towns in Daming have such schools. Only education can make people successful, and this is for our own good."

Ali Mu said very flatly, at first, he was against it, but knowing that all the tribes are like this, naturally there is nothing to say, not to mention that you can take the imperial examination if you study, and you can be an official if you have a reputation , which was unimaginable before.

"You said that every town in Daming has such a school?"

Hearing this, Ali Pasha couldn't help standing up and looked at the school next to him. He was shocked.

"Yes, now the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming court is vigorously promoting education, attaches great importance to education, requires every town to have a school, and conducts education uniformly. I heard that the annual expenditure on this is several Ten million taels of silver."

Alimu nodded solemnly.

"The Ming Dynasty has such a large population and such a vast area."

"Every town needs to build a school. How many schools will it need?"

"How many talents can be educated every year?"

Ali Pasha, Moses and others looked at each other, completely dumbfounded.

This is the first time they know that there is such a country that attaches so much importance to education, spends tens of millions of taels a year to promote education, and even requires every town to build a school.

At the same time, they also clearly know that since ancient times, schools have been places where talents are produced. Only when people are educated can they understand etiquette, justice, integrity and shame, and then they can become truly promising people.

The Ming Empire paid so much attention to education and vigorously opened schools. It is conceivable that there are countless schools in the Ming Empire, which can educate countless talents every year.

How could such an empire not be powerful?

In contrast, the Ottoman Empire is too far, too far away.

Of course, it is not just the Ottoman Empire. It can be said that there is no country in the world that can build schools on a large scale, attach importance to education, and spend such a huge amount of wealth to build schools and educate the next generation like the Ming Empire.

In most countries and regions, it is normal to be illiterate, but here in the Ming Empire, the Ming people are trying to eradicate illiteracy.

If it continues like this, maybe in a few decades, there will be no illiteracy in the entire huge Ming Empire.

(End of this chapter)