Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1044 On the Bank of the Wujiang River ([-])

The prairie on the east coast is still a little cold in the early morning. The 56-year-old Tangyuan just came back from morning exercise-he is getting older, and his body is getting worse every day. In addition, he weighs 200 catties. Commissioner Tang feels that he is If you don't strengthen your exercise, you may fall down one day and never get up again.

"If I die in the future, bury me under the acacia tree in Shipu Reservoir, and let me see how rich the land where I buried my prime of life will be." This is what Tangyuan likes to say when drinking and eating meat , Of course, that's what I said, now, under the persuasion of the people around me, this big fat man has also given up drinking and meat, and paid attention to physical exercise, I hope he won't wake up too late.

The construction of Shipu Reservoir began in 1650. The original plan was to invest 35 yuan, but it was found to be far from enough. As a result, the central government issued another 8 yuan in construction bonds, and the funds raised went to the reservoir construction project department at the end of 1651. On account.In addition, the Wujiang District Administrative Office also used the corvee collection rights of nearly 60 people in the area under its jurisdiction to participate in the construction of the reservoir, and subsidized a considerable part of construction materials such as wood, cement, bricks, tiles, and stones. If these are also converted into money, The total construction cost of the Shipu Reservoir is likely to be as high as 70 yuan, which is almost a [-]% increase from the original plan.

The place where Tangyuan is now is Shipu Sanatorium, a recuperation and vacation unit operated by Shipu Reservoir, which is currently open for business (unfortunately, there are very few customers).The sanatorium is built next to the reservoir, or in other words, it is located in the reservoir area, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with a quiet environment. In addition, the left side is the only natural forest and wet area in the reservoir area (you can watch birds), and the right side is There are a large area of ​​artificial forests transplanted by people on the east coast for two or three years (mostly "plant pumps" such as acacia trees and eucalyptus trees, as well as a large number of willow trees, oak trees, peach trees, pine trees, etc.), the microclimate environment is definitely Not bad anymore.Tangyuan fell in love with this place at first glance, so much so that he is now considering whether to move the district administrative office from Jingjiang County to Guide County—of course this is just a joke.

By the way, Guide County was established just a few months ago. It has four townships under the jurisdiction of Guide Town, Shipu Township, Guting Township and Bingtuan Sanbao, with a total population of more than 1 people. , No. 17 county-level administrative units in the country (No. 16 county-level units are also newly established Meiluo County, under the jurisdiction of five townships: Meiluo Town, Baichiya Township, Canyon Township, Xinmin Township, and Hejin Township, With a total population of about 5000, Melo County is also the second county-level administrative unit under the jurisdiction of the Northwest Reclamation Bureau after Tieling County).The establishment of this county also marks that the development of the Wujiang River Basin by the people on the east bank has entered a new stage.

Among these four villages and towns, the Three Forts of the Corps, which was just established in April this year, is quite special.The fort is located on the bank of the Shipu River, about 4 kilometers east of Guting Township (about 10 kilometers east of the later Young Township). At the same time, it is also another major measure taken by the Executive Committee to train all kinds of student cadres in advance, and its significance for the future must not be underestimated.

Now the corps in Luoqia County are training about 1656 loyal and ideal student cadres every year, and by 2000, the cadets from the Second Fort of the Corps in Qingdao County will also begin to graduate. , the number of graduates at the hands of the Executive Committee will reach 2000 each year.Among the 40 people, about 50%-3000% are military cadets who have received ten years of education and training. According to the regulations, they will have a three-year internship period after graduation. During the internship period, they will still live collectively. Training together and leading the army normally (the salary is the same as that of the army), this is equivalent to an elite army with a size close to [-].Although this force has also been infiltrated by the army and navy, it is undeniable that it is still a major guarantee for the executive committee to stabilize its rule and strengthen its authority.

The Shipu Reservoir is becoming more and more important now. Some factories and enterprises on the eastern coast (mostly located in the capital area, mainly the factories established in the early days of the crossing, and the location conditions are generally not good) have been gradually relocated. To take advantage of the relatively abundant water resources here.After all, the Shipu Reservoir has a capacity of more than 200 million cubic meters (maybe more in the future), and it is a medium-sized water conservancy that integrates flood storage, irrigation, and flood discharge built by the central and local three-level governments (Government Council, Regional Administrative Office, and Guide County) with a lot of money. It would be a pity not to make good use of the facilities.

At present, there are quite a few industrial enterprises that have moved here and resumed production capacity, including the Shipu Mint (using hydraulic forging hammers and stamping equipment to produce various types of silver dollars, as well as a small number of gold coins, commemorative coins and medals with a denomination of 750 yuan); Wujiang Food Factory (a medium-sized state-owned enterprise under the administration of the Wujiang District Administrative Office produces flour, soybean oil, soybean meal and other food products. It occupies a single spillway in the Shipu Reservoir and installs an impact turbine below it, with a total horsepower of more than [-] horsepower. Its power is so strong that it cannot be found in other counties on the entire east coast of China, and it is enough to drive various types of machinery and equipment on the multiple production lines of the factory); Shipu Water Lifting Station (transports the water from the Shipu Reservoir to the surrounding planned vast farmland for irrigation Within the system, the current Shipu Township government has organized a large number of Hejian slaves to start digging the main irrigation canal—which can also serve as canals—divided canals and other water conservancy irrigation systems, striving to transform the surrounding vast plains into high-quality irrigated land. In that case, this place is bound to become an agricultural granary on the east coast that directly catches up with Xihu County, and it can produce a large amount of rice, and its economic prospects are extremely promising), etc.

In addition to these enterprises that are already in operation, the Dayuhe Arsenal, which is currently relocating to Tieling County, also intends to "grab" the next flood discharge channel here, and then order and install large-scale impact turbines (at least 600 horsepower, maximum There may be 1000 horses), specializing in the production of various cold weapon components, such as "second-line products" such as sabers, bayonets, spearheads, plate armor parts, saddles, horseshoes, and horse bits.Of course, if it runs smoothly, it is not ruled out that the factory will also move some other relatively important production operations here. After all, the power here is extremely cheap, which means economic benefits.

In addition, the Western Forging Factory also plans to build a branch factory here. The main value of this branch factory is to use the strong power here (unfortunately, there is no steam unit with more than 400 horsepower in the east coast of China), specializing in the development of large-scale hydraulic forging. Hammer, to process some huge iron components, such as ship ribs, keels and so on.At present, the plan has been formally reported to the Government Affairs Council, and I believe it will not be a problem to approve it. Moreover, the plan has also received strong support from the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of Communications. These two departments not only provided some technical strength, but also contributed some money and materials. , It can be regarded as contributing to the development project of this large hydraulic forging hammer, so that it can also get a share in the future.

It is conceivable that when these projects are completed one by one, Guide County, the third county to be established in the Wujiang area, will surely come from behind, and will "big brother" (Jingjiang County, mainly papermaking, logging and agriculture), "Secondary County" "Brother" (Yong'an County, which mainly produces rubber products and agriculture) was left behind, and became a strong and rich county with both industry and agriculture in one fell swoop, and a rising star in the Wujiang area.

"When there are five to six counties in the Wujiang area, I will retire completely." Tangyuan walked to the restaurant with ordinary decoration, ordered a fried egg, two mutton buns, and a cup of soy milk for breakfast, and then greeted the secretary and the guards have a meal together.Wearing a light yellow sweater - this is a very popular kind of clothing in the Wujiang area, where the wool produced by the "Wujiang sheep" (resistant to moisture and foot rot, suitable for pastures in humid areas) widely bred here is light yellow , which is relatively cheap—the Commissioner Tang wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said: "This body has not been able to work for a few years, so let's leave the burden to young people like Liao Xiaoyao and Tian Xing. Tian Xing The little baby is always talking about crossing the Wujiang River to the Hejian area for reclamation and felling trees, and uniting the Kelandi natives in front of me, but I rejected them all. After I retire, no one can control me Him."

It is true that Tian Xing strongly suggested cross-border development of the Hejian area (east of the Paraná River and west of the Wujiang River) as mentioned by Tangyuan, and Tian Xing’s main reason is that after the construction of the Wujiang area in the past three years, the original Hejian slaves The numbers have been greatly reduced (many have been depleted, and a small number have taken advantage of the unexpected escape of the East Coast), and there is an urgent need to replenish new sources, otherwise it will surely slow down the progress of many construction projects in the area.

In fact, this is true from the perspective of Tangyuan, but there are many problems of cross-border reclamation, and it is estimated that there will be many disputes in the environment, supply, diplomacy, and military. Because this place is too sensitive, it can only be temporarily abandoned after many considerations. talk about it later.Of course, the number of slaves in the river has declined, but Valentino and Mendez, two labor brokers, are still steadily supplying about [-] Old Continent laborers (mostly Italians, Scots and Irish) every year. People), these "non-citizens" who have to work in the East Coast for five years before they can apply for citizenship have really helped a lot.

In addition, there are more and more slave ships sailing from Jacob's Port, and their destinations are all major ports on the east coast, especially Jingjiang Port, Guide Port and other ports along the Wujiang River.These black slaves from the Congo River Basin have now become an important force that cannot be ignored in the construction of the Wujiang River. At the same time, they have also made enough money for the Latvians in New Courland and continue to attract more poor ghosts from the old continent. Come here to develop - now in that place, tropical lumber, slaves, and tobacco have become the three pillars of export, and New Courland's dependence on the east coast economy is getting deeper and deeper.

Of course, these Congolese black slaves are still different from the old continent laborers introduced by labor brokers, because after their working period (usually five years) expires, they only go to the Black Eight Banners territory in South Africa to enrich this place. Before they leave, the benevolent East Coast government will also settle the "wages" with them, usually a few sheep, a cow, a few pieces of cloth, some farm tools, and some land far away in South Africa , coupled with the legal status of the Black Eight Banners tribal people, it is not bad, at least much more benevolent than the Spaniards, Portuguese, and English slave owners.

(End of this chapter)