Chp14: The Future ??

The time travelers had originally instructed Captain Pieter de Vries to find talents in shipbuilding and gun making, but they didn't expect him to find so many at once. However, they were all useful talents to the time travelers, so Gao Mo naturally wanted them. The executive committee treated these craftsmen well. Not only could they enjoy single rooms, but they could also often enjoy food such as wine and meat.

The issue of the political status of the new immigrants caused great controversy within the time travelers, and even the executive committee's ideas were not completely unified. As a last resort, Ma Qianzu proposed that the time travelers hold the second general meeting that night.

This meeting focused on discussing the political status of the time travelers and the political status of the new immigrants. The first topic was easy to talk about. The time travelers currently had an internal organization, but they still lacked a unified name for the outside world. To put it bluntly, it was whether to deal with people in the name of the country or in some other name.

Many young time travelers said that the country should be established immediately, while some mature and prudent people believed that the name of the country was more sensitive and that they should continue to develop in a low-key manner under the name of the East Coast Company and wait until the time was right to raise the banner of the country.

At present, this group of time travelers was still mainly young people, and these people had formed a stable small group through their labor in the past period of time. The advantage of numbers made it very likely that they would pass any proposal. However, in major matters such as establishing a country, more than two-thirds of the people needed to agree. As a result, the proposal to establish the "Huaxia East Coast Republic," proposed by a group of young people headed by Xiao Mingli, only received 61% of the votes in favor and failed. In the end, the meeting decided to continue to interact with the outside world in the name of the East Coast Company.

The second proposal was about the political status of new immigrants. To put it bluntly, this issue was whether new immigrants could obtain equal political status with the time travelers. At present, these immigrants were only indentured servants of the East Coast Company. They needed to work for the East Coast Company for five years before they could obtain the status of freemen.

"Freemen can be granted land, but they cannot be given the right to vote or be elected." Xiao Mingli's words were supported by a large number of people. "This land belongs to all 568 of us, and we must not let others get involved."

"We can't conquer the world by ourselves; we must absorb fresh blood. What can we do with just a few hundred people? It's good enough if we are not destroyed by others." Someone immediately stood up to oppose Xiao Mingli's speech.

"We can grant them land, give them job opportunities, and let them live a better life. They will be grateful to us."

"When they have no worries in life, they will demand political status. In the future, there will be more and more immigrants. With only 500 of us, how can we suppress the political demands of others? Aren't you worried that they will rise up in revolution? Maybe not this generation, but what about the next generation?"

"I think we can give them the right to vote and the right to be elected. It's no big deal. The current foundation was created by us. As long as we have a firm grasp on these industries and capital, we can use the power of capital to influence the political situation in the future and become an invisible aristocrat. Isn't that great?"

"If you want to use people, you have to treat them equally."

"I don't want to give the foundation I created from scratch to the white pigs."

The debate became more and more intense. Neither side could convince the other, and finally, they could only form a proposal of mutual compromise. That compromise included the following:

1. After obtaining the status of freemen and achieving fluency in listening and speaking Chinese, new immigrants could apply for naturalization through the Immigration Bureau under the Foreign Affairs Commission. Once approved by the Immigration Bureau, the immigrant would gain formal status and the right to vote. After living for 15 years, they could also obtain the right to be elected.

2. All factories, land, infrastructure, and other properties currently owned by the time travelers would be assigned to the East Coast Company and operated by it. The shares of the East Coast Company would be evenly distributed among the 568 time travelers.

3. The General Assembly would be renamed the General Representative Assembly, and its term would be extended from three years to six years. For now, there would be no re-election for the current representatives of the General Representative Assembly. Additionally, the term of office for all members of the Executive Committee would be automatically extended to six years.

These proposals consumed a great deal of energy from everyone involved. By comparison, the proposal to elect two additional members of the Executive Committee seemed trivial. Du Wen was elected as the Education Committee Member, and Xiao Mingli was elected as the Civil Committee Member.

Du Wen was tasked with setting up the Education Bureau and providing compulsory education to minors under the Executive Committee. In addition, night literacy classes were established to teach Chinese to immigrants, helping them master the language as quickly as possible. Xiao Mingli, as the Civil Committee Member, was responsible for handling various tasks, such as medical care, religious beliefs, marriage registration, social security, and policy consultation. By this point, more than half a year had passed, and several couples among the time travelers had already applied to the Executive Committee for marriage. It was time to formalize and improve these institutions.

On April 22, 1631, the new immigrants from Switzerland were assigned to various units and began their new lives.

The supplies brought by Captain Pieter de Vries included the shipping costs for the immigrants, which the time travelers needed to pay. The total cost amounted to about 1,600 pounds, or roughly 3,600 ducats. To be honest, this price was not unreasonable, considering that the price of eight Andalusian horses accounted for nearly half of it.

The time travelers only had 2,100 ducats in cash. Fortunately, all of this did not require cash transactions. Captain Pieter de Vries only wanted fine Chinese porcelain. To pay this debt, the time travelers provided 60 boxes of porcelain. In addition to offsetting the payment, Captain Pieter de Vries paid about 17,400 ducats worth of various gold and silver coins.

As for why Captain Pieter de Vries had so much cash, it was said that he had taken out a massive loan in Amsterdam.

On April 25, Captain Pieter de Vries departed with his ship, Orange River, satisfied with the transaction.