Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1221 Northern Lifeline

On December 1659, 9, light rain.

"Ghoshkin must be a gifted speaker and -- well, villain, liar -- I never knew this Russian POW guy had such a talent for sycophating big shots in broken Chinese. Although it costs a lot of money to bring back so many serfs from Russia to work for us, it is a remarkable achievement to be able to bring in the labor force, and it is from such a barbaric and closed country as Russia.” At the construction site of the Liuding Railway, Chen Hao, a technical bureaucrat at the State Administration of Railways, sighed.

The Goshkin in his mouth is a thirties-year-old Russian man, said to have a quarter of Mongolian blood, flattering, cunning, cruel, and currently helping the East Bank Republic to "purchase" serfs from some Russian nobles and scum To come to the east bank to open up wasteland and get a commission from it can be described as an out-and-out scumbag.

Goshkin has a group of helpers and thugs who are extremely cruel and vicious when facing the same people, but they are as peaceful as little sheep when facing officials on the east bank. It is really true that such violent conflicting personalities are concentrated in one person It's amazing.

"As you leave Vologda, ask yourselves, you bastards, is there suffocating, hopeless poverty everywhere? There may be high-paying jobs in some gold mines, but there are very few of them It brings benefits to people. In order to find this kind of work, you have to travel long distances with hunger and hunger. You spend a lot of money on the road, and sometimes you don’t even have enough bread. And when you go to the gold mines, you have to spend two rubles a month at your own expense. Board and lodging, but the salary is only 10 kopecks per day, or I heard that in some places, the monthly salary is only 2 rubles and 50 kopecks, not to mention that there are unscrupulous gold mine owners who will not give you a big fortune." Ghosh Jin's loud voice rang out among the crowd of Russian road construction workers, "Many times you will still encounter child labor competition, they only need 1 ruble 40 kopeks a month wages, in the face of such a situation, even if you work full How much money can you save in one winter? But in spring, the lords will come to collect taxes. Everyone knows that when you have no money to pay taxes, flogging is commonplace, and imprisonment is also the norm. If you don’t have money to manage, maybe you will die Nobody cares in prison."

"No, Mr. Goshkin, someone was also pulled out of prison and sold to the New World." Someone in the crowd said sarcastically, it is estimated that this man was bought by Goshkin to the New World because he couldn't pay the tax and went to prison.

Perhaps because of the presence of officials from the East Bank, although Goshkin was a little angry, he did not order his men to beat people, but continued to persuade everyone with eloquence: "Isn't it a good life to bring you to the East Bank? Oleg, you bastard, you can't save five rubles a year in Vologda, you eat black bread all day long! But here on the east bank, you can transport a cubic dessix of wood Earning half a ruble, digging a pood of stones and transporting 30 versts to the construction site nets 5 kopecks, and I have to buy flour and vegetables worth 1 ruble 47 and a half kopecks a month to feed you, not to mention The free salted fish given by the master of the East Bank, don’t be ignorant, I can send you back to Ross at any time, and the expression on Warden Milosevic’s face will be very exciting when he sees you.”

"But you earn at least one ruble from me every month, maybe more." Oleg replied bitterly, his voice very small.It seems that he also knows that when he comes to the east bank, as long as he is diligent and willing to work-this is not a problem at all for the serfs who work hard all day long, because they have to go out to find work even in winter when they are in Russia, so as not to be busy in spring. Pay taxes in cash - then you can always save two rubles a month, which is a lot of money in a year, and all the money is his own, no lord covets it, no tax collectors squeeze it, he can freely use the money .

Oleg has even decided that once he has worked in the east bank for five years and passed the Chinese test (very simple, just pass the daily conversation), he will spend money to take over his family members who are still struggling in Vologda , Let them all live a good life.At that time, I should have saved more than 100 rubles, which was enough to take care of my family and bring my family back, but it was inevitable that I would be blackmailed by the vampire Goshkin again. Thinking of this, Oleg felt a little unhappy.

Seeing that Oleg's aura was a little weak, Goshkin suddenly became arrogant, but after seeing that Chen Hao, who was in charge of this section, had already walked towards this side, this "labor broker with great dogleg potential" Man"—this gentleman is the third rising foreign labor broker after Mendes and Valentino on the East Bank—immediately walked up and said in Chinese: "Why does Section Chief Chen come out in the rain?" Inspecting the construction site? Don't worry, I will definitely urge these bastards to work hard and repair this section of railway as soon as possible. After all, I still want to win the Section Opening Award and Project Completion Award."

"How can I not be worried. It's already mid-September, the roadbed has not been completely leveled, and the section of the track has only been laid. I'm really worried." Chen Hao, holding an umbrella, wiped his The drop of water on the forehead said: "I definitely don't expect to be able to fix it this year, but it must be completed in the first half of next year. Really, we can't delay any longer. No one will get good results if we delay it. Including you— —Ghoshkin——You have more than 800 Ross laborers under your command. Counting various completion bonuses, you can make a net profit of more than [-] yuan a year, but if the Liuding Railway cannot be completed on schedule, then you will be in bad luck , I didn't threaten you with empty words, you understand the consequences yourself."

"Didn't you notice recently? Many Italians have come down from the south. They are already trying to level the roadbed from Dingjun Mountain to Shahubao. Don't let them drive the progress ahead of us, so that I and the people above me It will be embarrassing for the big shots. Although the kill line is only a mere 34 kilometers, but considering that they start work a long time later than us, it is not allowed to let them rush ahead of us, understand?" , Chen Hao became a little stern.No way, to deal with these Ross guys, you have to add carrots and sticks, otherwise they won't take it seriously.

……

While Chen Hao was beating Goshkin and other foremen vigorously, in Dingjun Mountain, more than 58 kilometers away, military management member Lan Fei was also addressing the deputy director of the Military Management Department in charge of Shengxing Township in a serious and anxious tone. Nanjiro said: "The work of Baoguo Farm and the like was immediately suspended, and the hard-working service team immediately turned to leveling the planned railway embankment of [-] kilometers between Shengxing Township and Shahubao. There must be no reason to delay. Please remember, I am not talking with You haggle over the price, it’s a hard task and it has to be done quickly and with quality.”

"Hay! Guaranteed to complete the task!" Nanjiro "snapped" an example and agreed loudly.

After a long time, he glanced at the face of Lan Fei, the military management committee member, and asked tentatively: "The hard-working service team are all good men who are determined to serve the country without frowning, but our manpower is too small, and the tools are enough Yes, there is no shortage of food, what is lacking is people, after all, this is a 58-kilometer-long project.”

"You don't have to worry about this. The Ministry of War has already had a plan for this. The road builders active on the Liuding Line are mainly Poles, Russ, Guarani, Congolese, and Sakarawa. The number exceeds 30, and the progress of this section of the railway should be fast; last month, the Ministry of War transferred more than [-] Swahili, Congolese, Sakarawa, and Krandi On the route of more than [-] kilometers to the Dingsha line, the foundation was leveled (this is often the most time-consuming part of the railway construction process), preparing for the laying of sleepers and rails in the future; and in the second half of this month, the Executive Committee and the Army The ministry will jointly dispatch more than [-] Araucans, [-] Guaranis, and [-] Comoros to Shengxing Township, all of which are at your disposal. I do not ask your Dingjunshan hardworking service team How much work do you do? After all, you only have a few hundred people, but I ask you to manage these [-] laborers well and let them play to their maximum efficiency.******************************* On the construction site of the railway, understand, Nanjiro Lan Fei, the military management committee member, said, "Don't be afraid of resorting to tricks, I also know that these people are not good, and they are full of resentment, but you are not inexperienced youngsters, weapons are kept in the warehouse anyway, You can figure it out for yourself. Don’t tell me that you are not doing as well as the former Qing prisoners of war in the three regiments in the south in managing these laborers and indentured slaves, then I will be very disappointed, really.”

"Understood, Your Excellency." Nanjiro bent down very low, and said with trepidation: "We will definitely work hard and will not disappoint Your Excellency's expectations! The construction of this section of the railway will also be completed as soon as possible. The victory of the soldiers of the Great East Bank will add to the victory, Long live the Great East Bank!"

"Okay, okay, I don't want to listen to empty slogans, I just want to see the actual effect." Lan Fei waved his hand and said impatiently: "This railway is the northern lifeline of our army. Every time we repair a section, we The material transfer efficiency will be greatly improved. Moreover, once we occupy the land north of the source of the Wujiang River in the future, a large amount of construction materials, food, fuel, machinery, and personnel will be continuously transported through this lifeline. Otherwise, how can we gain a foothold there? Therefore, this railway is not only useful for war, even in peacetime, its value cannot be exaggerated, because this is the channel for us to wedge into the Brazilian plateau, and it is the way to control the Brazilian plateau. lifeline."

Nanjiro listened to Lan Fei's instructions solemnly, and nodded from time to time to express his understanding.Up to now, mid-level army cadres like Lan Fei and Nanjiro have basically understood that the war with the Portuguese is imminent and inevitable, so let us do our best to do our jobs and serve the people of the Great East Bank. Help us conquer the cause, long live the Great East Bank!To the Portuguese who do not deserve this land!

(End of this chapter)