Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1033 Advance Along the River ([-])

June 1654, 6, was sunny after the rain.

Outside Jiaohe Fort, Xu Xin led a group of investors from Italy walking on the muddy path in the countryside.The farmland after a rain was a bit wet, but this did not affect the interest of the visitors. Investors from Italy were very interested in the endless farmland taken from the Guarani people, so that people asked about the east bank from time to time. Are foreigners allowed to buy property here?After learning that each person is only allowed to own [-] acres of land, these people are obviously a little disappointed - they are all rich and powerful businessmen, and it is normal for them to look down on a mere [-] acres of land.

However, Xu Xin also gave another roundabout plan, that is, the plan of renting land.This plan imitates the old example of pioneering farms in the Great Western Wilderness, leasing a certain area of ​​land (usually a very large area) to individuals or enterprises, giving them 30 years of management rights. After 30 years, the government can take it back without compensation, because the rent in the first 30 years is often very low. Of course, if the government does not take it back, the land lessee has the priority to continue the lease.

This method is tantamount to bypassing the government's 30-acre land cap ban, which actually provides conditions for operating large farms.When it comes to large farm agriculture, one has to mention the commercialization of agricultural products that has become popular in today's East Coast.With the end of the [-]-year war in Europe, the export of agricultural products from the east coast has dropped sharply in the past six years, and domestic grain has begun to be unsalable.Under such circumstances, large-scale agriculture with relatively low cost began to show its advantages-of course, due to the high initial investment, the current price of grain produced by large farms is not very low, but as time gradually As time goes on, these large-scale land reclamation farms will inevitably impact the domestic agricultural product market to a greater extent, affecting those single-family peasant families.

This phenomenon has already appeared in many places in China. The agricultural products produced by farmers cannot completely compete with the products of agricultural capitalists. If the national reserve grain depot has not been implementing a protective purchase policy, the sharp decline in farmers' income will become common. .And this situation is becoming more and more prominent, which also makes the members of the Executive Committee start to think about whether the policies they formulated before are reasonable, that is, under the circumstances that the industry cannot absorb too many people, and most of the new immigrants need to rely on agriculture to settle and absorb them. , Is it appropriate to engage in this kind of large-scale farming that will greatly impact ordinary farmers?

Of course, that's for later.While the ban on individual or group ownership of [-] mu of land in the East Coast is still in effect, land sales are basically prohibited in fact, which puts an iron gate in place to curb land mergers.As for whether the government will lift this ban in the future, and find ways to drive most farmers into cities to provide cheap hard-earned labor for industrialization, it is hard to say.Traveling through the crowd is not a god. The second and third generations who will be in power in the future have their own interests to consider. If they think that the benefits of canceling this ban outweigh the disadvantages, they will cancel it. This is a general trend and cannot be stopped.

"There is no doubt that the degree of commercialization of European agriculture is very deep. Even in Brazil, which is close at hand, the degree of agricultural capitalization far exceeds that of our east coast, as evidenced by the large and small plantations in its territory. Kishi still has a lot to learn about this." Xu Xin walked in front of the rich Italians or their representatives, and said with a casual smile: "The first step is to plunder the land of the Guarani people, and then open a new type of large farm Or plantations, turning farmers into agricultural workers is a prerequisite for deepening the commercialization of agricultural products.”

Italian businessmen such as Sirigu and Luciano understood what Xu Xin said, because Europeans—especially Western Europeans—had indeed been on the road of agricultural capitalization for a long time.The large number of grain ships that the Dutch sailed on the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea are the extension of this commercialized agriculture. With the efforts of new agricultural capitalists (many of whom were transferred from nobles), the deepening of commercialized agricultural products has promoted The gradual increase in rural purchasing power then made it possible for farmers or agricultural workers to exchange manufactured goods—nowhere was this more evident than in the countless cotton, cocoa, sugar, tobacco, and grain plantations of the New World.

"Everyone has also seen that the Jiaohe area has a vast area of ​​land, but there is currently a shortage of people to cultivate it. We promise that as long as you sign an agricultural development agreement with the regional administrative office We will do our best to ensure the safety of your investment. You must know that the Jiaohe region has a mild climate and abundant rainfall, which is very suitable for the growth and cultivation of rice, which is sold domestically on the East Bank. The price has never been low, because the main grain in our country is wheat.” Xu Xin continued to persuade, “As long as you come to invest in agricultural plantations, the State Reserve Grain Depot, a large state-owned enterprise in our country, will promise to outsource your production at an agreed price. This will undoubtedly guarantee your income. How about it? Of course, if you find that it is unprofitable after the development, the premium repurchase clause given by the Chinese government is still valid. Sincerity is enough, right?"

"Sounds good, but if I'm going to take the liberty to ask, is this developed land on the side of the road just for us? I saw some farmers digging ditches in the field, and I think they should have some The land has property rights, so the question is, where is the land that is going to be given to us?" Luciano was the first to ask a question after hearing Xu Xin's words, and his question is naturally what many people want to know the answer to.

"Of course not." Xu Xin waved his hand with a smile, and said, "As for where the land to be leased to you is, it's actually very simple. Just look westward along the river. There are dense forests and river branches. A lot of land is waiting for you to develop. Of course, as far as my personal suggestion is concerned, I tend to think that it would be better for you to organically combine logging camps and agricultural plantations, that is, every time a forest is cut down, the The roots are dug out, the weeds and stones are cleared, and then the land is leveled and irrigation facilities are built. It is a good farmland. Believe me, the soil there is very fertile. As long as the field is well maintained, rice can be grown I am very confident that the garden will have a bumper harvest.”

"What's more, your plantations are located there, and the rice you produce can be transported to the wharf of Qingshan Township via the forest railway, and then transported by boat to the downstream consumer market for sale. The income will be quite good. You know, the safety of the downstream The county is the industrial base of our country, with a large population and strong consumption power. Once your rice plantation takes shape, it will soon be converted into income, and these income can provide a steady stream of funds for your next in-depth development , is there anything better than this?" Xu Xin asked.

The Italian businessmen looked at each other after hearing this, a little moved but also a little hesitant. Xu Xin saw it in his eyes and secretly felt something was going on in his heart.Maybe in the next period of time, as long as he and the cadres of the Jiaohe Administrative Office do more work and work harder, they will probably be able to take down all these Italians—at least part of them.As long as these Italians are willing to invest, then in the not-too-distant future, the originally desolate Jiaohe area will usher in a period of rapid development. A large number of labor and materials from the old continent will be transported here by water, and then patches of dense forests will be brought here. Cutting down, draining pieces of wet swamps, building one after another agricultural plantations, and finally transforming them into a rich and prosperous new town - who made the Jiaohe area not included in the key investment plan of the Executive Committee, After much deliberation, Xu Xin can only rely on foreign capital for development.

"If you want, then everything can follow the old example of the Luocha Textile Mill and the Grassland Railway Company. We can jointly establish a Jiaohe Forest Development Company. The management of certain businesses of this company will be supervised by us. Sorry, due to the Due to certain factors, we are not yet able to hand over sensitive technologies such as railways to foreigners for operation, but you can participate in dividends normally, please rest assured that we will not cheat financially, it should be your dividends There will be no shortage of money. We just want to fully monitor the daily operations of certain businesses of this company. Of course, you will be responsible for logging, docks, plantations and other businesses of Jiaohe Forest Development Company. We are only responsible for spot checks on the financial situation , I don’t care about the rest, and I will give you full freedom." Xu Xin then added.

The Italians were lost in thought when they heard the words, and many of them had been whispering to each other, and sometimes they even had eye contact, which showed that they were fully exchanging views with each other.That’s right, it’s simply unforgivable not to fully brainstorm and discuss such a large project where the initial investment is likely to reach tens of millions of bank lire.Besides, people from the East Coast demanded that all investors be bundled into one company (Jiaohe Forest Development Company) for group investment, so how to allocate the shareholding ratio of this company is also a matter for discussion.

All in all, there will be no results in this matter in a short time, because these people still need to return to Italy to exchange opinions with their families or backstage bosses before they can finally decide whether to participate in this project.However, Xu Xin himself was very optimistic about this, because he felt that many Italians in the inspection team were obviously moved, which can be felt from the fact that people have been visiting him in private these days.In this way, the final establishment of the Jiaohe Forest Development Company may be sometime next year.Since then, even though the central government hardly invested any money here, the Jiaohe region could eventually rely on capital from Italy to develop rapidly. Xu Xin was very satisfied with this, because this was his real achievement.

(End of this chapter)