Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1000 South Pacific ([-])

There have indeed been a lot of immigrants recently in the subsidiary area of ​​the Southern Railway, so that the Southern Railway Company has begun to rack its brains to arrange new settlements for them.As for where these new settlements are, anyway, due to geographical factors along the Southern Cone Railway, it seems that the potential is relatively limited, and it is no longer possible to arrange too many immigrants.Well, this can only be done in other places, and the breakthrough chosen by the Southern Railway Company is Chile, more precisely, it should be Chiloe Island in southern Chile.

As early as the middle of 1651, the expedition team organized by Wang Dali, Xu Gang and others had already carried out a relatively rough travel expedition to Chiloe Island - at that time, the island had already established a viewing port Such a settlement on the east coast, and at the same time, such a place as the Mishan logging camp that can barely be considered a settlement.

In the two years since then, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources, and the Southern Railway Company have organized personnel to explore Chiloe Island many times, and then combined with some information held by the Araucan people, it can be regarded as a good understanding of the island. With a rough impression.From then on, the Southern Railway Company became more and more interested in Chiloe Island, and just as the South Pacific route became more and more mature, the number of immigrants accepted by the Southern Railway Company was also increasing, which required them to quickly communicate with the outside world. Expand new livable places to accommodate these Ming immigrants who came from afar as much as possible.

According to incomplete statistics, by the end of September 1653, the population of the Southern Railway Company had reached a staggering 9 people, which was already the limit that the company, which was only established five years ago, could manage or accommodate.After that, the Southern Railway Company had to negotiate with the local government for the first time, transferring some of its manpower back to the local government—the local government naturally readily accepted this. Of course, they did not take the population for nothing, but in the form of government subsidies. A considerable amount of food, farm implements, construction machinery, and obsolete early paddle steamers were returned to support the Southern Railway Company in continuing its enclosure and colonization in Southern Patagonia.

By the way, although the Southern Railway Company is expected to continue to lose money this year (a record six consecutive losses), the sale of its 40% shares in the Qingdao financial market is still being carried out steadily. It is reported that 27.9% of the shares have been sold. Equity, the funds collected have been used for the construction of the South Railway subsidiary.After the completion of the Southern Cone Railway, it is expected that the sales will reach a new level, and the remaining ten percent of the shares will probably be sold out in a short period of time.

The large amount of funds raised naturally allowed the various constructions of the Southern Railway Company to be carried out steadily.For example, Xingnan Port and Araucan Port, two modern ports with a planned investment of more than 300 million yuan, can now be sure that they will no longer take ten years to complete. The abundance of manpower has greatly reduced labor costs. Some of the wharves in commercial operation, the continued construction of these two wharves is no longer a big burden for the Southern Railway Company, allowing the company to devote more energy to the construction of the Southern Cone-Ocean Railway.

"I'm afraid the two-ocean railway will not be completed this year." Liu Jianguo from the technical department of the Southern Railway Company, wearing a high-end leather jacket, said to a young officer beside him while walking.When he was close to the pier, he met Yu Xingguo, and after some pleasantries, he and Xu Xiangdong ran to the immigration quarantine camp by the pier: "President Mo will probably be transferred back to the mainland to serve as the Minister of the Army early next year. I want to use the opening of the Southern Railway as a farewell gift to the President, but now it seems impossible. The Southern Cone Railway will not be fully completed until April or May next year, which is really a pity."

"President Mo's departure does not mean that we have let go of our Southern Railway. We have such a large foundation here, and no one can ignore it. Mr. President went to the central government. It is only good for the army and our Southern Railway. , besides, isn't your dad the next CEO? He has such a good relationship with Marshal Mo, and his thinking tends to be the same, so I'm afraid of it!" Xu Xiangdong said carelessly, and then he only listened to him change the subject and use a slightly teasing tone He said in a tone: "But this matter is really hard for you to say whether it is good or bad. Your father became the president of the Southern Railway, and you have to get out of the engineering department in order to avoid suspicion. Haha, go to your Guanhai Port to be a savage Well, I heard that many people who pioneered the wasteland there had their feet rotten, your father is really cruel to you."

Speaking of which, it is almost certain that Mo Ming, the president of Southern Railways, will go to the Ministry of War to serve as the minister.Because of the particularity of the Ministry of the Army and the closedness of the circle, there are only a few candidates for the minister. If Mo Ming wants to be the minister, there is probably no one who can compete.The only thing that is uncertain now is probably whether President Mo can defeat the people from the navy faction and become the Chief of Staff of the National Armed Forces (commonly known as the "Chief of Staff of the Military Department", one of the nine members of the Executive Committee).

After Mo Ming left office, the successor candidate for the president of the Southern Railway Company has also surfaced, that is President Mo's close friend and senior staff officer of the Army Department Liu Ang, and has been approved by the Army Department.At the same time, this gentleman is also a backbone member of the National Power Alliance, an association organization, and can basically represent Mo Ming's will. Therefore, it can be confirmed that he will succeed the second president of the Southern Railway Company in early 1654 (according to the company's articles of association, the president of the Southern Railway Company must be appointed by the army. An active-duty military attache designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Nantie, a large concern enterprise, will enter the "Liu Era" from now on.

And Liu Ang, who was about to take office, didn't know what to think. He even sent his eldest son who had worked in the engineering department for several years to Chiloe Island, where the conditions were extremely difficult. In the eyes of many people, going there is completely suffering.Although it is possible to be promoted quickly, it is completely unnecessary for Liu Jianguo and the others who were born with a golden spoon in their mouths.

"What's the use of saying this now?" Liu Jianguo was also a little depressed. He dismounted unhappily, and then led the mount towards the entrance of the camp.Today, a group of people will be received here. There are about 500 people, 1000 of whom are immigrants from the Ming Dynasty, and the other 500 are half Livonian immigrants and half Ukrainian female slaves bought from the mainland. Those who have completed the [-]-day quarantine period will be collectively shipped to Guanhai Port and Mishan Logging Field, where they will start land reclamation operations.

Of course, in addition to them, there are dozens of cadets from the Bingtuanbao, and a total of 143 new generations of the East Coast recruited from the East Coast (usually the second son or daughter of the old nationals).A total of more than 600 people will take the steam-powered ship Yu Xingguo is on. Although the ship has a displacement of 1300 tons, the distance from Araucan Port to Guanhai Port is not far away. The day is coming.

While the two were talking for a short while, three steam steamers that had been moored in the corner of the pier also started to heat up. The young trainee sailor wore a mask and used a shovel to burn the coal produced in the Black Mountain Coal Mine. The shovel was lowered into the furnace, and the water in the boiler was quickly heated up.These three ships are all early 72-ton paddle steamers eliminated by the local inland water transport company (there are both tail paddle wheels and waist paddle wheels, and the steam engine models are not uniform, and they are relatively messy, so they have been ordered to be eliminated by the Ministry of Communications). After selling half of it to the Southern Railway Company, it played a role in inland river or offshore transportation.

This time, after the "Fuego" was filled with more than 600 immigrants, there was basically no extra space to carry supplies. Therefore, a small part of the massive supplies needed for the early immigration was provided by Guanhai Port, and most of them were transferred from the rear— ——At this time, these three old paddle steamers are undertaking such a task. Their cabins will be fully loaded with necessary supplies such as building materials, food, weapons and ammunition, and agricultural tools.And three days later, several other small steamers will set sail from here, stop at Qingfeng and Mengshi ports on the way, deliver a batch of supplies to the local residents, and then cross the sea to Guanhai port, where some livestock and The seeds are sent there so that the spring sowing can be carried out smoothly in the new year.

Liu Jianguo's latest position is the acting head of Mishan Township - of course, this is not a national position, but the position of the Southern Railway Company - his main task is to bring the more than 600 new immigrants in front of him to the Mishan logging camp. There are more than 1000 immigrants (more than half of whom are Polish loggers) kneading together to form a solid colonial pioneer base.

This is not an easy task. The harsh environment, sudden outbreaks of diseases, and possible criticisms from the Spaniards will all cause great trouble for them to gain a firm foothold in the local area.Therefore, how to eliminate these disturbances and take root in the local area is still a great test for Liu Jianguo and the young soldiers of the Bingtuanbao who assisted him.If you do a good job, then everything will be fine. If you don’t do a good job, then Liu Jianguo’s future may be clouded—even if his father is likely to be the president of the Southern Railway in the future, he still has to consider the bureaucracy. The collective will and opinions of his son, the care for his son is still quite limited, otherwise this work will not be able to carry out smoothly.

The concentration of immigrants was carried out relatively slowly. With the help of some policemen and militiamen dispatched from Guanhai Port, it took them half a day to drag these families with their mouths and carry packages (dry food issued by the Southern Railway Company) , drinking water, clothing, etc.) were gathered together.After the roll call and head counting, these people, under the scolding of the police and militiamen, lined up in a long line, and slowly walked onto the deck of the "Tierra del Fuego" from the pier.

The Tierra del Fuego has been maintained in the port of Araucan for several days, and all preparations before sailing are ready. At this time, the boiler has been lit, and the water and vegetables have been purchased, and they are waiting to set off.After sending the more than 600 immigrants to Guanhai Port, they will replenish a batch of fresh water and vegetables there, and then go north along the cold current of Peru to the Galapagos Islands, starting the next cycle in the South Pacific.

(End of this chapter)