Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 85 "Young Wife"

"Is this our future daughter-in-law?"

On December 12, when the "Breaking Waves" carrying a group of trainee sailors completed their sea training and docked steadily at the berth, the crew members were eager to disembark.

After stretching their bodies for a while, they formed two neat rows under the guidance of the instructor and headed towards Shixing Fort.

After entering the fortress, the team disbanded and everyone returned to the dormitory to rest.

When a group of former naval cadets passed by the school, they saw a group of students running around the small playground in the biting cold wind under the arrangement of their teacher.

With the arrival of immigrants, the scale of Shixingbao Primary School immediately expanded several times.

Thirty-six children from the Ming Dynasty and twenty-seven purchased "young wives" were all crammed into the school to receive basic education.

These beggars, refugee children, and "young wives" from the Ming Dynasty never imagined that their hands, which had never touched any books since they could remember, would be able to write their own names in just a dozen days after traveling across the ocean and arriving in this desolate continent!

Although the written words were crooked and difficult to read, they still felt extremely excited.

I can write now!
You have to know that some of them may have ancestors for several generations who may not even be able to write a complete character.

Moreover, these young teachers also said that within two to three years, everyone must master 3,000 commonly used Chinese characters and be able to write them in simple terms.

In addition, they also need to master arithmetic, basic physics, basic chemistry, astronomy, geography and many other knowledge in the next eight to ten years, so as to become a powerful reserve force for the future development and construction of Shixing Fort.

If those children and teenagers felt inexplicably excited and inspired after receiving education, then the more than 20 "young wives" were completely confused.

These "young wives", the oldest of whom was eighteen years old and the youngest was only twelve years old, knew the fate they were about to face when they were sold to these "South China Sea merchants" by their parents. That was to become the wife of a strange man, bear children for him, do housework, and even farm the land.

Fear, worry, bewilderment, and helplessness, all kinds of emotions shrouded their hearts.

After getting on the boat, they were shocked to find that there were foreigners there.

He has "cat eyes and eagle beak", "high nose and deep eyes", "fist-shaped hair and red beard", and looks ferocious and cruel, like a ghost.

There are young girls living near Guangzhou City who have heard that these "foreign ghosts and barbarians" are barbaric and cruel, and have a custom of "eating children"!

Could it be that after traveling to "Nanyang" on the ship, they would marry these "foreign devils"?
This made many women even more worried and pessimistic about their future fate, and they often cried in the bottom cabin.

However, during the several months of sailing on the sea, both the tall and strong men with Ming Dynasty faces and the ferocious-looking foreign ghosts and barbarians took good care of them along the way.

Not only were they allowed to live in cabins with better conditions with a group of women, children and adolescents, but the food and water they received were also much better than those of other young and middle-aged immigrants.

Every day, when she went to the deck to get some fresh air, although she would attract the gazes of many men, she had never been subjected to any dirty talk or even the slightest bit of frivolous teasing.

Over time, these girls gradually let go of their fear and would occasionally secretly pay attention to the crew members who were operating on the deck and on the sails.

Not to mention those foreigners, they are really hard to catch the eyes of young girls.

Although those men with Ming Dynasty faces were tanned from sailing on the sea, they were tall and strong, with handsome looks. Their manners and expressions showed an indescribable calmness and confidence, and they even looked more dignified than the masters in the county.

When they talk to others, their attitude is also very kind, without the slightest domineering tendency. Although they will look at you curiously, their eyes are kind and gentle, as if examining, sympathizing, and pitying you.

This actually made many girls feel a little safer.

Marrying a man like this might be a good marriage for them!

When the ship finally arrived at this wild continent, the girls thought they were going to marry the men here immediately, enter the bridal chamber, and start their new life, but they were shocked to find that they were being "raised" by them temporarily.

They were not roughly pushed into men's rooms, nor did any embarrassing sexual activities occur between men and women. They were provided with delicious food and drink every day. Although there were no delicacies from land and sea in the homes of wealthy families, nor silks and satins from the rich families, they still had three meals a day, and could occasionally enjoy some meat, so they had almost no fear of hunger.

Of course, they also need to do a lot of things every day.

In the morning, I would learn to read and write with the boys, learn to speak "Mandarin", and accept various knowledge taught by the teacher.

In the afternoon, they would follow the "foreign women" to do some light work, such as washing clothes, cooking, feeding livestock and poultry, doing housework, sewing clothes...

During the busy autumn harvest season, they would follow the men to the fields to break corn, dig peanuts, dig potatoes, harvest sorghum, and pick autumn vegetables. From morning to night, they hardly had a moment of leisure.

Yes, everyone here has a lot to do, and even their "big bosses" sometimes have to work together.

As the chieftain, known as "Director Li," said, everyone should strive for a better life and contribute their own modest efforts. With the autumn harvest over, the temperature began to cool, and the harsh winter slowly approached.

Primary school classes in Shixingbao also returned to normal and continued with part-time work and study classes.

To be honest, when these girls were attending classes with those children and teenagers, they felt excited but also a little embarrassed and awkward.

I still remember that when they first understood the relationship between men and women, their mother would always remind them, "Men and women should not touch each other", "Girls should avoid suspicion when they grow up", "Don't get close to men", and other such instructions and warnings, so as not to ruin a woman's reputation.

However, in this school, the teachers did not care about these taboos at all. They divided the students into classes according to the level of knowledge they could understand and the progress they could master. Boys and girls were mixed in the class.

This practice is considered against ethics and morals by the masters and scholars in the county and the village.

After getting over the initial awkwardness and as the students became more familiar with each other, the girls gradually adapted to the mixed-gender class model.

For these students who had never received any education, all the knowledge taught by the teachers seemed so difficult and so magical.

Simple counting can actually be replaced by a string of strange "symbols" that have never been heard of.

Many of the texts seem to be slightly different from those written by scholars in the county and township, and seem to be simplified a lot.

What’s even more amazing is that they also taught a strange kind of “musical notes”, which is like the Taoist talismans, but can indicate the pronunciation of every word.

Everything the teacher taught was required to be memorized and practiced repeatedly.

Those who fail to complete the teacher's requirements will be scolded or even slapped on the hands. Regardless of gender, they will be strictly disciplined.

During the half-day class, the teachers did not just instill all kinds of knowledge and concepts, but would occasionally tell them about the world's geography, anecdotes, current affairs and political leaders, or simple truths and codes of conduct.

After school, they will be arranged to participate in simple outdoor activities.

When the weather is still warm, we play some fun games or do some boxing (gymnastics).

After the snow fell, I would lead them to run around the playground and shout slogans loudly.

All of this makes students feel both novel and powerful.

Well, just like the teachers said, a collective power.

Whenever these students ran around the grass playground, there would always be a lot of people gathering around to watch.

The children and teenagers will appear more excited, their steps will become firmer and more powerful, and their slogans will be shouted even louder.

The girls would feel a little embarrassed, lower their heads, and run slowly behind their companions.

When former naval cadet Han Jian saw this scene on the playground, he immediately stopped to watch with several of his companions, and looked with interest at the girls whose pace was obviously a few beats slower.

"If you want to get married, you'll probably have to wait two years." Chen Rui curled his lips and said, "Not only are they not old enough to get married, but after all this time, they're still pale and skinny. How could we be interested in them?"

"Yeah, that's true." Han Jian shook his head after hearing that. "Next time I go to Daming, I might as well buy some courtesans from brothels or skinny horses from Yangzhou. They'd be much more pleasing to the eyes."

"Why would you want to marry a prostitute or a skinny girl from Yangzhou?" Mo Tianhai said disdainfully, "You're only interested in looks, and you've thrown away all your moral ethics."

"You know shit!" Han Jian glared at him. "The courtesans of this period, or the skinny ladies from Yangzhou, weren't the promiscuous women you imagine. 'Singing' and 'skills' are two completely different professions. One primarily sells one's body, the other primarily sells one's art."

"The latter are equivalent to the film and television stars of our time. They make money through their talents. They are proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and can also sing and dance. Their literary background and artistic level are quite high. Not everyone can afford it!"

"Well, to summarize it, 'singing' is about hormones, and 'technique' is about heartbeats! ... Do you understand?"

"Bah, what a mess! Hormones and heartbeats!" Mo Tianhai spat. "According to what you said, such a high-class woman would probably cost a lot of money to buy, right? Humph, you wouldn't waste hundreds or even thousands of taels of silver on a skinny Yangzhou horse just to satisfy your personal preferences!"

"Of course, I can't spend the collective money, but I can buy it myself!" Han Jian said with a smile: "Well, in order to satisfy my personal preferences, I decided to save money from now on and try to pick out a beautiful Yangzhou skinny horse in Daming!"

"Then you just wait! In ten or eight years, once we've achieved a certain level of development and accumulated some savings, we'll probably be able to cash out some of the money. By then, I'll want to see if you can hold out!"

"Ten or eight years!" Han Jian was stunned for a moment, then asked with a strange look on his face, "Hey, what do you think? Will our future marriage law stipulate monogamy or polygamy? Uh, in other words, can we... take concubines?"

“…”Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

(End of this chapter)