roccoschili Chapter 137 Slave Economics
Chapter 137 Slave Economics
Chapter 137 Slave Economics (4k large chapter)
That afternoon.
Three armed merchant ships employed by the Providence Shipping Company, the Wellstreet, the Bear and the Iris, departed from the Port of London and sailed directly to their destination in North America—the Port of Boston in the Massachusetts colony.
Over the past nine months, Providence Shipping has hired sixteen merchant ships to travel to North America, including immigrant ships and cargo ships carrying various minerals and tools needed by North America.
In short, the total cost of immigration, purchasing goods, and shipping amounted to £33,000!
If it weren't for the profits from real estate, even someone as wealthy as Lord Chen wouldn't have been able to resist spending money like this, especially since he also prohibited the merchant ships employed by his company from participating in the triangular trade—that is, before going to North America, they would first go to Africa to pick up a ship full of black slaves!
That's why what should have been a profitable business turned into a huge loss for him. John Morris and others simply couldn't understand the boss's thought process. Triangular trade has been going on for hundreds of years, so why don't you follow suit?
If cotton plantations were established in the southern part of North America, and white slaves were used instead of black slaves to pick cotton, would they be used instead?
How can people be so obsessed with money because of some inexplicable moralistic notion?
But what can they do when Lord Chen is the big boss? They can only follow the decisions made by the big boss, but it's inevitable that complaints like "the boss is out of his mind" and "it's a waste not to pick up the money" will arise.
Chen Wenbin knew that these money-grubbing guys were secretly sabotaging him, so as soon as the fleet left London Port, he gathered everyone in a spacious room on the Iris and gave them a good lesson in ideology, politics, and economics.
"The slave trade is poison! It's something God cannot allow, so we absolutely cannot participate!"
He sat in a high-backed chair, making eye contact with each person.
Among these people were old brothers and friends such as John Morris, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Henry Hopkins, and Reverend John Davis.
There were also new followers such as David Jones, John Smith (financial director and president of American Bank), Kenny Stevenson (Robin Metals manager), Stephen Glock (Robin Construction manager), and Edward Lawrence (Robin Pharmacy manager).
There were also trusted henchmen like Shelby, Coleman, and James Hawley.
And a cousin named Sean Scott who just made up the numbers.
Now, most people will choose to obey his decisions, but some will blindly follow, while others will do so out of respect for his boss's authority.
Moreover, because Chen Wenbin had always cultivated the persona of a humble and receptive ruler, their complaints were not hidden at all; in fact, they were deliberately sent to his ears in the hope that he would change his mind.
In the past, Chen Wenbin had too many things to do. After returning to London from France, he spent half of the past four months working as a doctor and treating patients.
He spends the other half of his time with his family, running various companies, conducting academic research, teaching students, putting on a show, and socializing—as long as his subordinates are obedient, he's too lazy to explain.
Now that we're on board, we suddenly have some free time, so it's natural to make sure we get the people on board in order to unify our thinking.
"Your Excellency! I don't understand!"
John Morris, who had regained his position as manager of Providence Shipping from Edward Scott, was clearly full of things to say and immediately shouted: "Slavery is indeed immoral, I admit that! But what does that have to do with our involvement in the slave trade?"
We don't use slaves; we're just slave transporters!
If we don't make a profit on this shipping fee, others will, so why shouldn't we?
Upon hearing this, Chen Wenbin was secretly pleased. Good heavens, what a simple view of money! I actually have such a capable general under my command?
He glanced around and found that apart from the Adams brothers, Reverend Davis, and David Jones who frowned slightly, everyone else looked on with approval—indeed, he had overestimated the moral standards of these people.
"Ahem! Mr. Morris!"
Pastor Davis, dressed in a white robe, coughed and reminded everyone, "Know that all people are equal in Christ!"
John Morris immediately quoted the Bible, "Pastor, servants must obey their masters; this is God's ordained order!"
'
"alright!"
Chen Wenbin raised his hand to stop Pastor Davis, who was still about to debate, then looked at the others, "—Those who agree that shipping companies should participate in triangular trade, raise your hands so I can see them!"
John Morris raised his hand without hesitation. He knew Chen Wenbin's character and style well, and knew that he would not offend anyone for his words. As long as his intentions were good, he would not be blamed. Therefore, he was full of confidence.
But others didn't have as much confidence as him, especially since the big boss had just made his stance clear, and they didn't want to blindly follow suit.
After all, only John Morris was transferred from the shipping company by the boss because he strongly advocated the triangular trade. Whether the shipping company made money or lost money afterward was mainly a matter for the boss and John Morris, and had little to do with them.
Therefore, when Chen Wenbin and John Morris looked at them, they all remained motionless and made no comment.
"—Dear Maurice."
Seeing this, Chen Wenbin looked at the somewhat bewildered Morris and said with a faint smile, "Since you insist, then I will tell you why I do not approve of slavery and the slave trade."
"First!"
He raised a finger and said to the crowd, "It's a moral requirement! In the mainstream European mindset today, slavery is immoral and violates the Bible. Whether it's using slaves, or selling and transporting slaves, it's all immoral! That's a fact!"
We cannot get involved in such unethical business; it will damage our reputation and cost us ten or even a hundred times more money!
As he spoke, his expression turned serious. "Secondly! From an economic perspective, the value that a free person can create far exceeds that of a slave, so using slaves is actually very uneconomical!"
If you run a plantation that uses slaves as labor, you need to provide them with food, clothing, and housing, and try to keep them healthy to prevent them from getting sick and dying, which would result in a huge financial loss.
Even when the slaves get old, they have to be supported with money, otherwise the younger slaves will become passive and unwilling to work hard.
Not to mention that you would need to hire armed overseers, numbering no less than one-tenth of the slaves, and purchase shackles and build fences to prevent slaves from escaping—these costs determined that slavery could only exist in North America for a short period of time and would inevitably be eliminated by economic laws in the future!
But free agents don't need these costs at all.
If you simply set aside a piece of land for a free man and tell him to pay five shillings, the land will belong to him. Then he will buy farming tools, cultivate the land, cut down timber, build houses, work hard to cultivate and graze livestock, and tend to cotton and tobacco, hoping that one day through diligence and hard work he will become a rich man and a gentleman.
They would even spend a lot of money to marry a wife, have several children, and then spend even more money on raising and educating them, hoping that their children would at least master a skill so that they wouldn't have to work as hard as they did as farmers.
A motivated, free person who doesn't require much investment can create far more value than a hopeless slave!
A society composed of free people will inevitably replace a society composed of a minority of slave owners and the majority of slaves.
This is the law of economic development that I have deduced, and it is also an inevitable result of the specialization of labor and technological progress in human society!
Upon hearing Chen Wenbin's words, almost everyone present fell into deep thought—it was the first time they had heard of using purely economic logic to deduce that slavery would inevitably perish.
In fact, this was indeed Chen Wenbin's original idea, because Europe at that time only had political economy, such as British mercantilism and French physiocracy, but no economics in the modern sense.
The earliest form of modern economics was not formally born until Adam Smith's classic work, "The Wealth of Nations."
Chen Wenbin gave them some time to think before continuing, "Third!"
"Since slavery in North America is bound to disappear in the future, what will happen to the hundreds of thousands of black slaves who remain in North America at that time?"
Should we liberate them and send them all back to Africa, or let them remain in North America as free people?
From a cost perspective, the latter is obviously cheaper, which raises a question—”
He looked at John Morris and several other managers who privately felt that shipping companies should participate in the triangular trade, and said calmly, "Now that slaves have become free men, they will naturally have the right to marry, reproduce, and participate in public affairs. They will become our employees, dockworkers, and some will even become wealthy, becoming merchants, farmers, and our neighbors."
Their sons might marry poor girls who have just come from Europe, and then their children might even marry our descendants, just like in South America.
"My God!!"
John Morris was the first to gasp in surprise. His eyes widened as the thought of his daughter’s offspring turning brown filled him with anger and a sense of blasphemy.
Everyone else reacted similarly, their faces all looking grim. There were about 400,000 to 500,000 slaves in North America and about 1.5 million Europeans. If things really turned out as the boss predicted, wouldn't all the future North Americans turn brown?
"Your Excellency! Are you telling the truth?"
John Adams couldn't help but ask, "Will those slaves in the future really become free people?!"
Chen Wenbin nodded firmly: "From the perspective of economic development, slavery will inevitably be abolished. Sending hundreds of thousands or even millions of slaves back to Africa would be a huge financial burden, so they will obviously become free people in North America!"
Henry Hopkins pressed on with a skeptical look, "Robin, but can those slaves really gain status, become rich and gentlemen? That's impossible, isn't it?"
"Henry".
Chen Wenbin looked at him and said in a complicated tone, "When the prophet Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt, those Hebrews were also slaves!"
With wisdom and freedom, anything is possible!
Henry Hopkins thought for a moment after hearing this, then cursed, "Damn Southerner."
Reverend Davis, standing nearby, also looked extremely grim. While he didn't approve of slavery, he didn't want North America to become entirely populated by coffee people, especially since he also had two children.
So he gritted his teeth, stood up, and said, "We are right not to participate in the triangular trade! It is in accordance with God's expectations!"
He looked intently at Chen Wenbin, "Sir! We must find a solution to this problem!"
This is a revelation from God to you! Isn't it?
After saying that, before Chen Wenbin could speak, he quickly said in a very certain tone, "It must be so! It must be so! God favors those He has chosen!"
Dear Robin!
I'm sure you know the solution!
Seeing this, everyone else turned their attention to Chen Wenbin.
God is my witness, this time Lord Chen really didn't hire Davis as a shill.
"John."
He called Davis's name, then shook his head and said, "I've only discovered the problem, but I don't have a solution."
Because the Southern colonial plantations had a real need for labor, and the use of slaves could indeed meet that need.
What we can do is not participate in the triangular trade, bring in civilized immigrants from Europe and Asia as much as possible, and improve tools and business models to increase the efficiency of agricultural production—we can't possibly follow the example of the Arabs and Turks and have those southern plantation owners use black eunuchs as laborers, can we?
That's so inhumane!
He does not mean that.
David Jones' expression shifted, and he began to advise, "Sir! I believe you should publish your theories and deductions in North America, and the use of slaves on Southern plantations must be restricted!"
Perhaps we really can learn from the practices of the Arabs and Turks —
"Those Southern plantation owners simply won't listen!"
Henry Hopkins scoffed and interrupted, "They treated slaves like breeding machines, even maintaining a strict male-to-female ratio among them. Besides, malaria was rampant in the South, and only African slaves could withstand this terrible disease!"
This touched on Lord Chen's area of expertise. He smiled faintly and said, "I have done some research on malaria. This disease should be related to mosquitoes. I think I can find a drug to treat malaria."
Hearing the boss say this, everyone looked at each other, their expressions—of course, all of them—were full of admiration!
They all knew Lord Chen's abilities; he could even cure syphilis, which was so terrible, let alone malaria.
If malaria were no longer a terrible tropical disease, then Southern plantations wouldn't need so many enslaved Africans. After all, Irish indentured servants in North America were two-thirds cheaper than enslaved Africans.
Seeing their reaction, Chen Wenbin breathed a sigh of relief. The reason he had talked so much nonsense with these guys was, of course, to reduce the scale of the slave trade and the number of slaves in North America as much as possible!
Once the number of enslaved Africans in North America decreases, certain ecological niches will be freed up, which will be of great benefit to future Han Chinese immigrants.
As long as future Han Chinese farmers can establish a significant presence in the southern and western parts of North America, no matter what happens in the future, Lord Chen will always be the boss of this land.
Of course, this is also good news for the black people in the jungles of West Africa. They no longer have to go through the brutal Atlantic selection process to become slaves to white people in North America. From now on, they can freely enjoy a life of hunting at sunrise and resting at sunset.
This is all thanks to Boss Chen for bringing them good fortune!
The people of Africa in the future will surely be very grateful to him, their great benefactor!