Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1029 Advance Along the River ([-])

Chen Ke was strolling along a hilly path, followed by a group of staff from the transportation department.

These young people from Bingtuanbao are currently surveying and mapping this artificially stepped grass path. The newly established Jiaohe Branch of the State Development Bureau is planning a new sandy road, that is, the road from Jiaohebao to Yezhutan in the south ——Wild Boar Pool is a new settlement. As the name suggests, it is located not far from a water pool. It was named after a herd of wild boars once appeared by the pool.

This settlement is located a few kilometers to the west of the small village of Capane in the later generations. It was selected as a settlement by the Jiaohe area because of its superior environmental conditions. First, the land was snatched from a Guarani tribe. Agriculture has laid a certain foundation; secondly, the nearby water sources are abundant and the terrain is open, unlike those areas covered by dense forests, it is very suitable to develop into a town; lastly, the geographical location is superior, and it is located between the Jiaohe River built by later generations of Brazilians. -The water system of the Yazi River is roughly parallel to the railway line, which is very beneficial for future traffic planning.A combination of various factors made this the third settlement in the entire Jiaohe area——the second settlement is Mupai Township, more than 30 kilometers north of Jiaohebao. Many immigrants, only some who were doing preliminary work, hastily built a few houses, and then hung a wooden sign to indicate that they had officially settled here, hence the name.

In other words, in the newly established Jiaohe area, there are only three settlements in Jiaohe, Mupai, and Yezhutan at this time. The official settled population is only more than 3000 people. It is also pitifully weak. From a comprehensive point of view, it is really the weakest regional administrative unit in the entire China East Coast Republic.And this is obviously the reason why the executive committee sent a retired member like Xu Xin to come here: the land here is not barren, the resources are also very rich, and the climate is not to mention, it would be a pity not to develop well.Besides, in the event that there will be hostilities with the Portuguese in the future, and the East Coast Army will go northward to expand its territory in the Gerard Mountains, then the developed Jiaohe area and many counties and townships in the Beiyazihu ​​area will be the main bases to support such military operations. Without them, warfare will become extremely simple, and vice versa, it will be more difficult.

"How about the construction cost of this road?" Chen Ke leaned on a cane in one hand and asked the technicians of the Ministry of Communications who were busy: "Does it cost 1000 yuan per kilometer?"

"Even if the building materials are nearby, even if the Guaraní tribes who are about to migrate will come to help work temporarily, and even if we greatly optimize the route so that it does not go too much over the mountains or through the forest, the cost of building this road is about It still costs more than 1000 yuan per kilometer, and we estimate that it will cost more than 3 yuan to repair the entire road.” Said a Bingtuanbao student who led the team, he has graduated for several years, and now he is considered a moderate Cadres, this time they came out with such a work team of more than [-] people.

"If unexpected expenses and some other expenses are included, it is likely to cost between 3 and 3.5 yuan. To be honest, the construction cost of this road is not low, and the maintenance cost in the future will not be small." Another A younger cadre added, "However, this road is also of great value, because it easily connects the two settlements of Yezhutan and Jiaohebao. With the increasing population and gradual economic development of the two places, Its value will be more prominent in the future. We are very confident about this. Moreover, if possible in the future, it is best to let the people from the Jiaohe Branch of the Development Bureau squeeze out some more funds and manpower to convert Jiaohebao to the wooden signboard. I think the 36-kilometer simple sand road will also be built. In this way, the three settlements will be connected in a line, which will be very beneficial to the future development of this area."

"The ancestors often said that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. I deeply believe it. The improvement of traffic conditions is definitely the first priority for the development of every region. Just look at the Wujiang area, because it has the advantage of convenient water transportation—— ——The conditions there are directly navigable to sea ships, which is not comparable to ours here—so the speed of development is extremely amazing. In addition, it is adjacent to important industrial areas and agricultural areas, and there are arterial-level railway connections, and the rail-road-water combined transport is very good Well, so it is not surprising that the local area has developed rapidly. Jiaohe area, you have to work harder!" Chen Ke also sighed when he heard this, as a new official of the Ministry of Agriculture, he has been traveling all the year round. I understand the situation very well, so I have the above words.

There is a small section of excavated mud canal beside the path. Due to the abundant local rainfall and high groundwater table, there is no seepage-proof brick canal like the one on the east coast prairie.The canals were newly excavated within a few months. At this time, they were covered with withered grass, but they were obviously not silted up and could be used completely.Due to continuous heavy rains in late autumn and early winter (the annual precipitation in the Duck Lake Basin is relatively average, and the rain and heat are not in the same period), the canals have been filled with rainwater, and the free-range ducks and geese of some villagers are flopping in it. The stagnant water made a muddy mess.

On both sides of the canal, more than a dozen sheep were slowly chewing and eating the yellow weeds. One of them was relatively small, looking at everyone with watery and innocent eyes. Are they also "eating grass"?A shepherd with a fur cap on his head leaned at the foot of a giant tree that may not have grown for thousands of years, lazily looking at the passing "cadres", but when he saw Chen Ke himself, This tired scumbag just stood up and bowed in salute.

Chen Ke knew this man. He was originally a small officer from the Shun Army and a farmer from Gansu. He had killed countless people since the end of Ming Dynasty.After immigrating to the east coast, the land was divided, but he didn't take good care of it. After all, his ten-year career as a bandit had already spoiled his heart. The former freedom and crispness.But what can I do?In such a high-pressure society on the east coast, is it possible to pull the pole to rebel?Don't be kidding, he himself knows that if he does this, he will be taught how to be a man every minute. Those vicious things of the army and military police are even more frightening than the most vicious officers and soldiers back then.

"I heard that something happened in the north a while ago. I mean Yiling County and Dingxi County near the Geral Mountains. Some villages often lose cattle and sheep, and there are even news of farmers being murdered or missing. Are you here? You spend all day doing prospecting and surveying outside, so you have to pay attention to your own safety, and don’t be taken advantage of by people with ulterior motives, after all, the country spends a lot of money on training you, and you have a lot of beautiful lives ahead of you.” Chen Ke suddenly thought of something , So he told these students: "People from the National Intelligence Agency have talked with me, and they think that these things are inseparable from the Portuguese on the other side of the mountain. They support certain Guaraní tribes. So you need to be more careful. Those barbarians are very cruel. Sometimes there may be some Indian bandits from Brazil. If you accidentally follow their way, you will be killed. It's really not worth it."

"Then, why didn't the military department ask the executive committee to agree to send troops to exterminate these people?" Someone asked.

"Maybe it's because they are too scattered, and the places where they appear are elusive and completely unpredictable. This has brought a lot of trouble to the suppression operation." Someone gave what he thought was a reasonable explanation.

"Actually, the real reason is—" Chen Ke reached out his hand to stop the discussion among the students, and then said: "Our country is negotiating with the Spaniards on the mortgage loan issue in Patagonia, which means that we It is possible to obtain a large area of ​​new land, and this is also in line with the national policy of "first south, then north" that the executive committee has been formulating. Therefore, in the short term, the executive committee will focus most of its energy on the south, and it may be difficult for the north to take care of it. We have arrived. Besides, the transfer of the Army's First Battalion to the Jiaohe area is already a strong support from the military for the north, so what else can we do? What else do we want?"

"If we really want to gain a firm foothold in this wild land, preserve our usefulness, and eliminate as many enemies as possible, then we still have to rely on the power of the masses." Chen Ke said, "Send to Jiao Many immigrants in the river area have received long-term military training in the southern region and have some experience in fighting against bandits. In addition, some new immigrants were not easy to save fuel when they were in the old continent, and many of them fought Many years of military background, such as Mr. Shepherd you saw just now. Yes, that’s him, he looks like a dirty farmer, doesn’t he? He’s still dirty and smelly! But what I want to say is, He fought against the Qing army in the Old Continent for many years, and obtained a good grade of beheading level [-]; and before joining our army, he also served in the Shun army. It is difficult to verify how many people he killed during that time, but it must be There are more than seven people. Therefore, in many cases, unite these people and maximize their potential to destroy more enemies. This is what we need to consider most. Some of you may be transferred to other places in the future Grassroots officials must bear this in mind.”

"Of course, you don't have to be too afraid, don't worry too much." Chen Ke changed the subject and said: "The executive committee has instructed the State Development Bureau, the Ministry of Army, the National Intelligence Agency and the Gendarmerie to formulate a series of measures , in response to the recent more and more frequent border attacks. The Jiaohe area is the first batch of pilots, and there will be someone to guide and organize you soon, and you will see it soon."

(End of this chapter)