Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1695 Ruling Egypt
China will rule Egypt.

China's rule over Egypt was far more severe than Rome's laissez-faire approach.

The first thing the strict rule of the Aurora Mongols did in Egypt was to invest in a dam that would ensure a stable harvest from the Nile River regardless of drought or flood, and also supply electricity to all of Egypt.

The order to conscript two million laborers was issued from Alexandria, and within three days, it received an enthusiastic response.

"What did you say? There are too many people?" Zhu Xianxi received a call from Shangluo.

"Yes. According to current statistics, the number of people who have registered has exceeded 80 within three days, and it is estimated that it will soon exceed the upper limit of 200 million."

"So many?" Zhu Xianxi asked in surprise. "I thought conscription would cause a huge reaction."

He had calculated this number. According to Roman statistics, the current population of Egypt was approximately 6700 million. However, if we use the Ming Dynasty's definition of "male adult," which is young and middle-aged men aged 23 to 50, this population would generally account for about one-third to one-quarter of the total population.

Applying this data to a population of 6700 million, that's about 2000 million people. Based on this figure of 2000 million, mobilizing 10% of young and middle-aged men would be equivalent to drawing one in ten men.

Considering this mobilization may last for a long time, drawing one in ten people is not a small number. Moreover, taking people out of their normal lives will inevitably provoke resistance.

Zhu Xianxi was convinced that even if it was tough, the Egyptians would definitely get it done. But he never expected the Egyptians to be so resilient.

“That’s the situation,” Shangluo replied. “Egypt’s unemployment rate has exceeded the number of people we need to conscript. So conscripting them is equivalent to expanding employment and disaster relief.”

"Is Egypt's unemployment rate really that high?" Zhu Xianxi was taken aback.

As an industrialized nation, a slightly higher unemployment rate isn't a big deal, because industrialized nations can support a large number of idle people. Moreover, industrialized nations have a large number of jobs that can act as a reservoir, so it's normal for some people to be in a state of "sustainable" unemployment.

But it's absurd that so many people are unemployed in an agricultural country. Because cities in agricultural countries can't provide that many opportunities, and agricultural countries lack water storage facilities, the unemployed truly have nothing to eat or drink. With so many unemployed, what will they eat?

"Eat flatbread."

"A pancake? What pancake?" Zhu Xianxi asked in surprise. "Pancakes can fall from the sky?"

"It didn't just fall from the sky, senior brother. Do you remember how automatons liked to deliver bread? That's how it started. Rome distributed rations within its borders; in Egypt, they distributed flatbread; in Constantinople, they distributed bread; and in Italy, they distributed noodles. I just got one on the street."

Shangluo had known about the flatbread before, but this was the first time he had seen it.

The freshly baked flatbread was as big as a face, still steaming, with a slightly charred surface and a layer of coarse bran on one side, making it both fragrant and chewy.

"Actually, it tastes pretty good, quite delicious."

"It's baked quite well. How much is one of these flatbreads?"

Shangluo held up three fingers.

"Three coins?" Shangluo shook his head.

"Three cents? That's pretty cheap."

"It's not three cents, it's three cents. One cent can buy 33 pancakes and you'll get one cent back."

A bottle of cola costs 3 yuan and can buy 100 tickets.

"So cheap?!" Zhu Xianxi was also shocked. He never expected that Rome, which always seemed to be unethical, could actually show benevolence in this matter.

A bottle of Coke can be exchanged for a hundred flatbreads, which is practically free. Even if the Egyptian rupee doesn't have that much purchasing power, such cheap flatbreads are enough to ensure that people living in Egypt don't have to worry about starving.

"No wonder it can support so many people," Zhu Xianxi exclaimed. "So, how much does this pancake normally cost?"

"I noticed that some of the flatbreads were made according to the subsidy standards, while others were not. The subsidized ones cost three cents each, and the non-subsidized ones cost three cents each."

"That's not expensive." Even without subsidies, it's three for one yuan, that's the market price.

"And we did some research, and the actual cost is around 25 cents. So for every copy sold, the Roman government has to subsidize 20 cents."

"So, why do they do this?" Zhu Xianxi was very interested in the logic behind it. After all, this was quite different from Rome's previous unethical practices.

"It's mainly based on historical inertia, and then there's the practical need—historically, the Roman government has always regarded bread and the circus as basic national policies, that is, providing free food rations and a wealth of entertainment. Because in many parts of Rome, the population grew by providing bread almost for free, so if bread were suddenly charged for, it would cause a strong backlash. So, this policy has been implemented in this way."

Another reason is based on the characteristics of the pie itself.

Making flatbread requires flour and an oven for baking. Bread ovens, as cooking appliances, only become fuel-efficient when they reach a certain size, and most households don't need such large ovens. This means that the vast majority of families don't actually bake their own bread and instead buy it daily.

It's not impossible to completely avoid dealing with these two people. However, without the miller, the locals would only have boiled wheat to eat. And without the baker, they would typically only have porridge to eat. After all, the development level of a settlement without even a miller and a baker is questionable, and the locals would have to process their food in the most efficient way possible.

Therefore, millers and bakers have always held an extremely important position in the West, where wheat is the staple food.

Mill owners controlled the crucial channels from wheat to flour, while bakers were the ones who provided the rations.

Sometimes, local millers even became prominent figures because of this. Since wheat and flour were stored with them before being processed, many resourceful millers would use this time to carry out unusual operations. At the same time, the constant flow of people and goods through the mill could also provide shelter for crime.

This also makes the image of millers not very good among the general public.

Therefore, Rome precisely chose to subsidize bakers. Most people had no bargaining power with millers, but bakers did. By heavily subsidizing bakers, they could ensure that these semi-free rations were distributed to as many people as possible. Without subsidies, the existence of millers and bakers would control everyone's food supply.

(End of this chapter)