Chapter 368: Improvement of Colonial Policy
The breeze on the sea blew in, and the waves hit the ships. Wingdings: ♦︎♦︎⬧︎♦︎◆︎⌧︎♦︎♦︎□︎❍︎The East India Company fleet led by Mason and the Western Ocean fleet led by Zheng He have arrived in Ceylon.
Everything here is novel to Zheng He and his fleet. The mature local regime has hidden in the mountains, so Zheng He only docked in the port of Colombo and traded.
When they docked in Temasek, the different local customs and customs opened the eyes of Zheng He's fleet. Mason was very satisfied with the other party's expression and began to introduce to them how they eliminated the pirates.
It can only be said that without the help of friendly countries, it will take some time for them to eliminate the pirates. After the establishment of the Old Port Xuanwei Office, the fleet entered the Indian Ocean and finally came to Ceylon.
At this time, the port of Colombo was controlled by Rome, and most of Ceylon's trade was carried out from here. The gemstones and sugar produced locally were the main exports, which would be exported to Aden in exchange for food and other daily necessities. Most of the land reclaimed locally was used to grow sugarcane.
The Romans brought not only colonization, but also slavery and disease. Growing sugarcane requires a lot of labor, so some people who resisted were captured as slaves to work for them. But the diseases they brought from Europe spread immediately with the local climate, especially infectious diseases such as smallpox, which killed countless people.
In order to welcome the arrival of the fleet, the governor of Ceylon Province has imprisoned all those who may have an impact. And sent scouts to closely monitor the movements of other regimes so as not to ruin the governor's good deeds.
Zheng He conducted a lot of transactions here, and some porcelain, tea and silk were sold. Those merchants immediately took these things to Europe. These were in-demand goods and could be sold at a very high price.
"Sir, how do you think I did?"
The chief asked Mason for credit. He did his best to complete the governor's task, allowing the envoys of Oriental International to feel the customs and peace of the Roman Empire, proving that these people could live better under the rule of the Roman Empire.
"You did a good job. I think you can govern Aden better."
"Your Excellency is too kind."
When he heard that he could be the governor of Aden in the future, he was overjoyed. Although this place is good, he still wants to be closer to Europe so that he can go home soon.
Ceylon is the third most populous province after Aden and Andronikos. There are more than 500 Romanians, and the local people are relatively obedient, as long as they can survive.
The local cash crops and geographical location have revitalized this place, and the ships here are all provided by the East India Company, which has created a monopoly. After all, the ships are theirs.
On the Indian continent not far away, the two small kingdoms in the south have been conquered by the East India Company. The tariffs are in their hands, and the king must also provide some troops for them to use. Local merchants who want to trade with foreign countries must also go through the channels provided by the company.
The people don't feel such overlord terms. Under the caste system, they only need to do their own things. The Vaishya class also began to rely on the East India Company's trade to make money. The company's religious policy also made the Brahmins not object. They could quell the local unrest by giving the Kshatriyas some money. They came to make money, not to govern.
It was too troublesome to collect head taxes directly, so the company decided to collect indirect taxes, including tariffs and the income generated by the monopoly of specific commodities, which were all controlled by the company. With these, they were able to maintain financial balance.
"My lord, our country's war with the Ottomans has ended. This is the news from Constantinople."
Mason quickly opened it to see that the Ottomans had fallen and the empire's territory had advanced to Van. Such a huge amount of information made them feel relieved. The empire's booming development will definitely make the Eastern trade develop again. With the promise made by His Highness, the family will definitely gain a place in the East.
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As the only port connecting Abyssinia, Andronikos Port continues to develop, and its status as a transit port cannot be shaken. In addition to white people, there are more black slaves in the local area, who are responsible for building large-scale local facilities and fortifications. And the white people are to monitor them and prevent them from escaping.
Coffee trade and ship tolls are the two most important sources of income for the local area. The local climate and geography are not suitable for growing large amounts of food, so it cannot be self-sufficient and needs to import from Egypt every year. Therefore, a large amount of coffee and other goods need to be exported to make up for the income and expenditure.
In contrast, the Knightsburg on the East African coast is much more vibrant. It was originally quite prosperous, but when Roman merchants came here to do business, some people who originally came from France directly robbed some people's property. As a result, the local rulers directly attacked them, and they had to passively fight back. Use muskets and cannons on the ship to drive them away.
After the expulsion, the port belonged to them, and they built a castle on this basis. And build a market to encourage people around to continue to come to trade.
The land here is fertile and the climate is good, suitable for large-scale reclamation. Therefore, there are more than 150 people here, and it has become one of the best places for immigrants.
In addition to producing food, the land here also produces a kind of flower for making insecticides, which is very popular in places with more mosquitoes, so it is planted in large quantities. There are also crops such as cotton planted here, and the local economy will soon continue to recover.
The main method of immigration of the East India Company was economic colonization. Through propaganda, it was said that as long as one was willing to go to the East, one person could own 100 acres of land, women 50 acres, and children and the elderly 20 acres. A family going together could get 500 acres of land.
Such propaganda did make some people excited, but the reclamation of Anatolia was easier to impress people. Who would be willing to take the risk of going to the East to reclaim land?
In order to increase the population, Peter had to make a decision: exile prisoners to enrich the population.
Exiling prisoners was not like all exiles in Britain. Peter established strict exile standards: those who were imprisoned for debts, the government paid to pay off the debts, but he was also a debt slave of the country. Before paying off the debts, he could only obey the country's command to work in the East. When the money was paid off, they would have a new identity in the East and become subjects of the empire again.
In addition, those who had to commit crimes because of poverty, or were forced to fight back and hurt people could be exiled. They could still reform.
As for those who committed heinous crimes, treason, and murder, forget it, just give them the death penalty. Peter didn't want the empire to have any hidden dangers, so he preferred to cut off their physical lives rather than their political lives.