Europe has rarely had the rural concept of China since ancient times, because Europe's economy has relied on commerce rather than agriculture for thousands of years. Agriculture is only parallel to commerce but not absolute.
What business needs is mobility, while what agriculture needs is population lock-in. These are two different economic models. If the two systems operate at the same time, it will naturally produce two different cultural circles in society.
Before the great geographical discovery, although European commerce was developed, it was limited to coastal areas. Inland economies were more focused on agriculture, so the feudal system was very stable. Feudal lords and dependent farmers formed the most basic society. unit.
But all this changed after the Great Geographical Discovery. Overseas ports full of myths of wealth were discovered by explorers. Colonies full of opportunities beckoned to the poor farmers. A large number of people began to leave their hometowns and go to the deep blue.
At this time, we can see the benefits of a dual-track economy. Since there is no single dominant agricultural economy, there is no cultural system rooted in the land like Chinese Confucianism. In other words, no one idea is constraining Europeans. You cannot leave your hometown.
Filial piety, in particular, does not exist in Europe. Children pay attention to love rather than filial piety towards their parents. Love cannot be quantified, but filial piety is a specific rule that can be quantified!
Just a sentence of "parents not traveling far away" has tied the feet of many young people. This is also an important reason why China was unable to start the Age of Discovery and carry out colonial expansion.
China has a large population, but it cannot be mobilized at all. The human resources that need to be developed in the colonies are completely cooped up on the mainland to live a small life. The small population along the coast is simply a drop in the bucket.
Europeans don't talk about filial piety. They won't have much psychological burden if they leave their parents or even never see them again for the rest of their lives. The most important thing is that no one will condemn him for this behavior.
Therefore, those young people at the bottom who pursue a better life and are eager to change their destiny will move to distant colonies without hesitation.
It is precisely because a large number of young people began to leave their hometowns and a large amount of European capital was invested in more rewarding colonial undertakings that it caused a large-scale shrinkage of the European agricultural economy.
Not only were they unable to receive capital support, they were even unable to provide basic manpower. It was against this background that governments began to trade slaves.
Use free black slaves and slaves from other places to fill the black hole of the country's agricultural population loss.
This is an era of great economic chaos and adjustment that has lasted for hundreds of years. Capital is choosing a new direction, and the king's sword is also pointing to new lands. Even the Holy See has relaxed its supervision of Europe and is going to more Mission to New Lands.
Chaos, chaos, endless chaos! It was during the period of great changes in economy, politics, culture, military, religion... that the craziest mercenary era in the entire European history was born.
In troubled times, sword wielders naturally have a living to eat. Young people with no knowledge or skills but only armed forces have no choice but to sell their armed forces if they want to survive.
When the pirate industry first flourished, it attracted many young people like this. However, as the Age of Discovery entered its end, the profession of piracy was no longer easy to deal with, and these people naturally became mercenaries.
They are not bandits and desperadoes in the general sense. In fact, these people have a very tragic fate. Some are desperate pirates who luckily escaped the fate of being hanged and had to go ashore to beg for food.
Some are descendants of black slaves and have no right to choose their lives. They have been trained by slave owners since childhood to become thugs who look after homes and homes.
There are also veterans who have no skills and can only rely on their military qualities to earn a living.
Some were even victims of the king's wars. When the war began, the king began to expand his army, and many young people entered the military camp just to earn a living.
Ten years and eight years later, the war ended, and the king shook hands and made peace. The only fate of these soldiers was to be laid off, but after ten years of wasted youth, they had nothing left to do.
It is precisely because of the special composition of mercenaries that they are different from ordinary criminals, scoundrels, and gangsters. In the underground world of every city, as long as you have money, you can hire killers, bodyguards, and desperadoes. But these are people you can use but never trust.
why? Because these people are different from mercenaries. Every mercenary, even if he was a bandit or a soldier, has been trained by that strictly disciplined organization.
They once had their own sense of belonging and their own pride. They knew discipline and sacrifice, but it was only because of the great changes in society and the tricks of fate that they were reduced to working for money.
And many desperadoes, killers, and scoundrels in the city... Most of these people are born from young gangsters. In their values there is no pride and rules, and most of them are just full of the market. A little cleverness about taste.
No matter how much money you give them, maybe the other party will betray you if they only have one penny more than you, so in essence they are just a group of selfish scoundrels.
When facing different groups of people, we need to choose different ways to respond. This is a truth that Xiao Letian has been explaining to his subordinates. Pierre also deeply agrees. Just now, he suddenly thought of some top secrets he had seen in the CIA. case.
Looking at the mercenaries in front of him, he suddenly had an idea and thought that he could test the experience of the head of state. Unexpectedly, his inquiry actually caused a commotion among the mercenaries.
The North African black man holding the dog-head knife was stunned for a moment, and then shook his head with a sad expression, "Sir, please stop joking. There are no such rules in the mercenary market. We have already paid for our lives, and the temporary price increase, we I won’t do it…”
"If you doubt that we will back down at a critical moment...that is an insult to our professionalism. If you don't believe in us, we can refund your money and we can leave now..."
"No, no, no!" Pierre waved his hand quickly, "You have misunderstood me. I have not doubted your professional ethics. We do have such a policy in Asia!"
"Haha, what a liar!" A tall and thin young man held a Spencer in his hand and was wiping it with cotton cloth. "The mercenary market has its own rules. I have been on no less than twenty missions. Well, I’ve never seen an employer take the initiative to increase money!”
"Let alone taking care of our relatives, who would cause such a big trouble for themselves? Let alone education, I have never expected to have descendants... Hahaha!"
There was a low sneer in the warehouse, and the laughter was full of the helplessness of these desperate people. Pierre could understand it. It was a mockery of the despair of fate.
