Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1299 Leisurely war years ([-])

The officers and soldiers of the navy and army are fighting to promote peace, but the local citizens on the east coast can’t just stand still and do nothing. This war may last for a long time. Everyone still has to eat, drink, make money, and live. Therefore, apart from the slight inconvenience in daily life, what should everyone do? After all, the war has not reached the mainland, and the flames of war are burning on other people's land, right?

Xu Hao, who took the train from Xiayihe County to the south, saw such a relatively leisurely folk life along the way.Xiayihe County, Taoyuan County, Minghe County, Guangling County, Yongjin County, and the newly established Zhongyihe County (under the jurisdiction of Zhongyihe Town, Baisha Township, Kamen Township, and Changshan Township, are the national The 43rd county-level administrative unit has a large population and a decent economy), and there are all such scenes: the countryside is a large area of ​​barren meadows, the big thistles introduced from the old continent grow as tall as a human, and countless animals live in In the meantime, treat it as your own paradise.And in some barren meadows, there are villages dotted one after another. Before and after the villages are farmlands that have been tidied up. Some farmers are carrying shovels and digging silted ditches beside the farmlands. Everything looks very peaceful and peaceful.

"If these counties have not sent militiamen to the north to fight one after another, I even doubt whether the people here know that our country is at war with Portugal. In the backcountry where the news is blocked, even the wired telegrams have not been connected to every town." On the steady and fast "Star of La Plata" train, Xu Hao looked at the rural scenery outside the window, thinking.

The train arrived at Caijiazhai Railway Station in Yongjin County on the morning of July 7. More than a dozen passengers came out of the empty passenger compartment, took the opportunity to move their sore joints, and dusted themselves Coal ash—This train also pulled 24 freight cars. In addition to railway equipment, there was also a large amount of coal, so everyone ate a lot of coal ash along the way. Who made the passenger car the last car?

Since the Caijiazhai-Shangcheng section of the branch line of the Southwest Railway is still under construction (it has been repaired for a long time, but it has been intermittent), everyone can only take a carriage south to Shangcheng Port, so Xu Hao and several employees plan to go to the township market to hire a A horse-drawn carriage, well, preferably a new-style horse-drawn carriage with rubber tires.

Caijiazhai Township is not a big town. Although its population has reached more than 4600, most of them are scattered in the vast countryside. There are not many people living in the countryside, probably only including officials, handicraftsmen, small traders and their families. There are only three to four hundred people.There is only one street in the village, and there are brick and stone houses on both sides. The most beautiful and magnificent building is probably the so-called "Cai's old house" where Cai Huaze's family lived. There is also a stone shopping mall. It looks pretty decent, the shelves made of araucaria fir are full of various practical utensils for the villagers who go to the market to come and choose.

Opposite the Cai family’s old house is the township primary school. The school building is wooden, small and dark. It can be seen that the financial situation of Yongjin county government is extremely poor, which makes the investment in education insufficient, giving people a sense of backward education and poor conditions. Feel.Moreover, the number of students in the school is indeed pitifully small, half of which are because there are few children who are willing to go to school, and half are due to the lack of teachers. A joke, not only the coverage rate is low, the funds, school buildings, teachers, and teaching aids are not in place, and even the public's awareness is insufficient.Universal education still has a long way to go and should not be neglected!

Next to the township primary school is a Taoist temple and Town God's Temple. Judging from its construction style, it is quite an ingenious ancient design, which combines the characteristics of Eastern and Western architecture.Generally speaking, Taoist priests in Taoist temples are very respected in the countryside. They wear high buns and navy blue Taoist robes. Respected, down-to-earth peasants always try to entertain them with all the best delicacies.At this time, everything in this family seems to belong to the Taoist priest, because he has inherited the will of Tianzun.

The presence of Taoist priests is a festival-like event for every farmer. The host is proud of his guests, and often remembers this blessing after a long time and tells his acquaintances.Delicious food—usually roast beef or fat sheep head—before other guests are invited to eat, the Taoist must be worshiped first, and the Taoist will also take out a knife, cut off two small pieces with great care, and offer one Give it to Tianzun, put a piece by your side and enjoy it yourself.

It can be seen that this is a kind of sacrifice, and everyone has long been accustomed to it.After this ceremony, Taoist priests will often eat all kinds of food in front of them with an amazing appetite and speed: beef and mutton, cod (this is not cheap in inland areas), chicken soup, eggs, vegetables and even There are also some fruits and wine, the appetite is really amazing.And the accompanying guests are also accustomed to this, because they are also like being let down from the hungry mountain, gobbling and munching on the food in front of them, so happy, this may be the real eating custom in the east bank countryside.

Of course, although Taoist priests are often collectively referred to as Taoists, they are actually divided into many titles and ranks.The highest rank is Daoist. At present, only the four Daoist Masters Ye, Wang, Yu, and Zhao of the Religious Affairs Office can hold this title. The masters and presiders of the Taoist temples in various townships are also of high status, and generally seldom go to the countryside. In addition to maintaining contact with the Religious Affairs Office and the Taoist General Assembly, they occasionally attend some government activities and host some public welfare undertakings ——For example, invite spirits in the Town God’s Temple, promote medical skills, etc.; the second class is Taoist priests and Taoist boys. Taoist priests are the backbone of preaching. Dirty work, but since all the clergy (except for the early Four Dazhengs) started as Daotong, there is nothing to say about it.

Some Taoist priests are good doctors, and they often make up for the lack of rural medical power. In fact, they undertake many functions of local governments and health systems.When they treat patients, they have a whole set of methods handed down from their superiors-many times this is ridiculed by the atheist doctors of the Ministry of Health as "pretending to be gods and ghosts", because they make a simple treatment process very mysterious to make patients have a sense of God. More respectful and loving——At the same time, these people also carry a lot of medicines and medical equipment with them, and they are ready to treat people who ask for it wherever they go. Generally, they only charge reasonable consultation fees to subsidize the expenses.

When Xu Hao and others were wandering in the street at this time, they met a family who invited a Taoist priest to visit.This is a merchant family. The owner runs a wine business, and the family seems to be well off. At this time, a large pot has been set up in the yard of his house, and there are delicious mutton in the pot. There are sugar cakes, tea, milk, and dried fruits for guests to take at any time.A middle-aged Taoist priest with fluttering sleeves muttered something—a Polish follower of Xu Hao guessed that it meant “God forgive us”—and touched his master lightly with a Taoist classic sewn into a silk cloth. the forehead of the home to bestow blessings, and the owner responds with great gratitude.

Xu Hao, as the second generation, never believed in these gods and gods since he was a child, and he has always despised these Taoist priests, thinking that they don't have to work hard at all, just pretend to be gods and ghosts all day long, and they can eat and drink Full, and the status is very high, it is simply speechless.Not to mention that each Taoist temple can get a certain amount of donations in addition to some funds allocated by the central government every year, which is probably more than enough to support some Taoist priests and Taoist boys and provide them with missionary expenses. Many people sharpen their heads and want to become Taoist priests—but this is not an easy path. Years of study and training in religious schools, hard training in the Taoist stage, and many times need to go deep into dangerous situations and open up wasteland for the country. Most people fall in the middle of high-risk behaviors.Correspondingly, of course, the people who walk out of this single-plank bridge with thousands of troops are generally dragons and phoenixes among the people, and they can often be entrusted with great responsibilities. This is the current religious status of the East Coast Republic of China.

"Compared with these priests who are respected in the countryside, I would rather see the number of students enrolled in township central primary schools increase year by year. I hope to see that more people will be more active in sending their children to Go to school instead of staying at home to do farm work. After all, it is difficult to enter the middle and upper class of society with 'open eyes and blind', there is no doubt about it." Xu Hao still did not forget to complain about the Taoist association's pretense and ghosts, just listen to him muttering He said to himself: "Only when education bears fruit on this wild grassland can people feel a little joy. Education is like sunshine, which suppresses all kinds of uncivilized behaviors and dark deeds, such as rudeness, ignorance, meanness, cunning, and all kinds of uncivilized behaviors. Drive them away, make them disappear, and the social atmosphere has been greatly purified..."

"Let's eat first." After standing for a long time, Xu Hao finally took a look at the Taoist priest drinking water under the hospitality of his master, turned around and shouted to several employees under him, and then they walked into a restaurant ——It is also the only restaurant on this street, without any sign, only a sheep's head hanging beside the store door.

The restaurant's best food is the sausage and dog meat made by the owner. Xu Hao ordered a portion for everyone and asked them to taste it, and write down their opinions after returning home.As an expert in the industry who runs a well-known "Penglai Restaurant" in the capital, Xu Hao never misses every opportunity to collect food materials.

After lunch, Xu Hao and others went to the market to hire a large carriage, and then set off to leave Caijiazhai Township, heading south along a sandy dirt road (also a second-class national road) towards the Shangcheng Port.It was winter (late July), the air in the field was very refreshing, and the temperature was not particularly cold, giving people a fairly comfortable feeling.

A large number of street trees are planted on both sides of the second-class national road, most of which are oak trees.People on the east coast began to plant oak trees extensively shortly after they landed in Dongfang Port, and it has been gradually extended to the whole country. Because it is a relatively good shipbuilding, furniture and industrial wood, it has a wide range of uses.The oak trees previously planted in Dongfang County, Luocha County, Meilin County and other places have basically grown, and many of them are barely usable, but no one has cut them down yet.Xinhuaxia Island, the Congo River, Brazil, the Free State, and even the northern part of the river can provide the East Coast Republic with a large number of timber with different textures. There is no need to kill chickens and cut down oak trees in China. Let these trees continue to grow. Maybe 50 or even 100 years later, they will become a beautiful landscape all over the east coast.

The second-class national road from Caijiazhai to Shangcheng Port is well maintained, especially when a large number of trucks are traveling back and forth, it can still not collapse. It is true that the traffic bureaus of Yongjin and Shangcheng counties have spent a lot of effort to maintain it. Yes, to be commended.Besides these carriages, there are also many farmers driving mules and horses on the national highway. Xu Hao knows that these people should transport livestock to the mall port and go to sea. In the northern tropics, when fighting and transporting supplies, a large number of mules and horses will die, so they will buy some in advance and store them in case of emergencies. This is also due to the flat terrain of the east coast prairie and the unique climate. Farmers raise a large number of large livestock. , Horses are also one of them, so the number of horses in the country is very high, enough for frontline consumption.Of course, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have enough. There are plenty of Spaniards on the other side of the La Plata River. Just spend money to buy it, it’s just a trivial matter!

The next afternoon, Xu Hao and others finally arrived at the famous city along the Rio de la Plata, the trading window of Duo La Plata, and the commercial town with a strong Catholic atmosphere.From the scale and style of the street, the style of the buildings, people's clothes and conversations, Xu Hao can easily find that this is a town that is far better than the backcountry towns like the inland Cai's house.This should be due to the development of trade with La Plata - although the trade volume between La Plata and the east coast is limited, it is better because it is monopolized by the Shangcheng Port - Shangcheng County has obtained a lot of profits from it, so the city's development is also Even better, don't you see that even the water and sewage facilities in this city are in a state of near completion?This is also a sign of leadership in the East Coast Republic. Even if it cannot be compared with first-tier cities such as Qingdao, Ping'an, and Dongfang, it is at least on par with second-tier cities such as Zhenhai, Tieling, West Lake, and Meilin.

Xu Hao has already made an appointment with someone, and he will take a boat here to travel up the La Plata-Parana River system, and then arrive at its final destination-Puerto Iguazu, which is located in the newly occupied territory in the north. It is defaulted as a regional central city to be developed in the future.

(End of this chapter)