Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1741 Pampa (Twelve)

Buenos Aires is welcoming a warm spring.

On the edge of a village somewhere in the outskirts, green shoots of wheat sprouted, followed by burdock, then another field of oats, and then a field of vegetables and potatoes, where two fruit trees stood listlessly.

At this time, there was a light rain in the sky, and some gauchos covered their heads with huge, triangular turban-shaped burdock leaves in order to avoid the rain, which looked like green beetles.There are many flowers blooming proudly on both sides of the road. Orange, bright red and pink flowers dot the green grass on both sides of the road, embellishing the beautiful world of the Pampa Plain.

Because of the rain, a market that was still in progress had to be terminated immediately.Many farmers with Indian faces hurriedly picked up grains, meat, honey, beeswax, candles, soap, wine, dried fruits and other commodities scattered on the roadside to prevent them from being soaked by rain.You know, the lords will come to collect taxes soon, they don’t collect much in kind, they only need cash, if they can’t satisfy them, their end will be very miserable—see the piece of land beside the oat field Is there a wooden house?It was the cell where the prisoners lived. The cell was dark and damp, the food was extremely rough, and they were often beaten and scolded by the guards.Except for the few religious festivals where they can rest, the prisoners have to go out every day to work on the land under the name of the church and the nobles, until they serve their sentences or die before they can be released.

Although the city of Buenos Aires has a great reputation, it still looks a bit unsightly compared to the cities on the east coast that have developed rapidly for decades.First of all, there are only a small number of urban residents. There are only three to four thousand people, most of whom are white or mestizo. Only a very small number of special Indians are eligible to live in the city.As for the aggressive gauchos, sorry, they were strictly forbidden to enter Putrajaya, especially if they were carrying horses and weapons.

Secondly, the commerce in Buenos Aires is also extremely limited, which leads to a relatively small commercial population in the town, which seems to lack vitality.Putrajaya's largest export commodity is probably the export of live cattle, corned beef, cowhide, horn, tendon, tallow, etc., but this is mostly carried out in an outer port "South Village" far away from the city. Commodities are also landed here. Putrajaya has a much stronger commercial atmosphere after being closed down, and the city’s vitality looks quite good. The streets are full of pubs, brothels, currency exchange offices and various wholesale markets in different categories.

Compared with it, Buenos Aires is more like the cultural center, religious center, political center and military center of the entire prosecutorial court area. Colonial officials with real power, the upper echelons of the church, and senior military officers are the top of the food chain, mostly from Peninsula; small government officials, mid- and lower-level military officers, and businessmen with certain prestige are the backbone here, and most of them are native-born whites (that is, Creoles); low-level government clerks, professional soldiers, and small traders are the lower classes of the city. The source is more complicated, mostly Creoles, Mestizos, and peninsulas who just came from the old continent with nothing; as for the Indians (mainly Kelandi and Quechua), sorry, They are not counted into the urban population. In the eyes of the gentlemen, these people are just one level higher than livestock, and they can only be said to be talking tools.

The only local business in Buenos Aires is probably the market trade where nearby farmers sell the products harvested from their own farmland and pastures.Most of these farmers are Mestizos or Indians, and there are a few native whites or peninsulas. They grow wheat, rye, melons, fruits and vegetables, raise livestock, and keep bees (no beekeeping on the grassland is simply a Blind), make wine, make cheese and butter for the city's elite to get much-needed cash from them, and then go to the South Village or some other merchant to buy the necessities of life - mostly from the East Coast There are few industrial products, and there are fewer local handmade products-of course, we must not forget to set aside enough cash to pay taxes, whether it is government taxes or church taxes, neither of which is missing.

The rain in the sky of Putrajaya today is quite untimely, because it will be time for the tax collectors to go to the countryside to collect taxes in about ten days. After finding some barely sheltered places, they were not in a hurry to leave, but looked at the sky, anxiously waiting for the end of this spring rain, and then seeing if there was an opportunity to continue trading.

When an east bank expedition team led by Meng Xiaohu arrived in the suburbs of Putrajaya, they saw such a scene.Looking at the vicissitudes and hardships of the peasants wearing all kinds of shabby clothes, Meng Xiaohu, who has always been a virgin, sighed softly again, and said to the entourage sitting in the same carriage: "Look, look, look at them all!" Come on! Look at those wastelands full of bushes and weeds, look at those wastelands that look like a mixture of dirt, twigs and logs, what is that?"

"Those messy things are probably buildings? Are they houses where local farmers live?" After the attendants observed carefully for a long time, someone asked suspiciously.

"Yes, that's right, that's the houses. To be precise, the houses of the Indians, gauchos, or mestizos. You just graduated or worked for a few years, and you haven't been abroad. You don't know this kind of house." Things." Meng Xiaohu looked away, and said earnestly to the entourage who followed him to survey the terrain: "At least in the Spanish Buenos Aires Prosecutor's Court area and the Chalcas Prosecutor's Court area However, the city does not contribute much to the spread of civilization and convenience among the peasants. The lords in the city are indifferent to the life in the countryside in the suburbs. Miserable. You should all love to drink. In Buenos Aires, I heard people say that every adult man can't drink a small glass of wine for half a month, and women can go without alcohol for a month or two. Because brewing wine privately is a felony, farmers can only buy high-priced wine imported from the east coast by the nobles for consumption. But what are those so-called high-priced wines? It’s all about Qi’s wine, and there are very few wines produced by regular state-owned wineries, and some are for urban residents’ consumption.”

"In fact, I used to hate launching wars for no reason, and then causing serious humanitarian disasters. But in fact, judging from the current situation, our East Coast Republic of China has occupied a vast area including Buenos Aires. The Pampa Plain may not be such a bad thing. At least, our country’s per capita tax burden is very light, the productivity is developed, the commercial circulation is fast, and the level of bureaucracy is also extremely high. Merging this land and the people on it into our country In the country, I dare to conclude that their living standards will improve, at least much better than the current scum-like life." Meng Xiaohu said softly again.

It is said that Meng Xiaohu led the team to Buenos Aires this time to survey the terrain and build a "commercial station".The reason why this commercial station is put in quotation marks is because according to the plan, this was originally a railway station, and the people on the east coast also planned to build a railway station.It's just that because the Spaniards have always refused to build a railway on the Pampa Plain, the external name cannot be called a railway station. It can only be used as a commercial station to cover it up a little bit. Look, the machine repair room, spare parts room, freight yard, platform and other facilities are all available, so you can know what this is.

Some people may ask, since the Spaniards have never agreed to the people from the east coast to build a railway station here, what are Meng Xiaohu and others doing when they come to Buenos Aires?What are the Spaniards that won't stop them from building a railway station?This matter, in fact, is also very complicated to say, that is, the Spaniard refused, but the tone of the rejection was very "gentle", very "reluctant", and there was no force at all. The officials on the shore smelled it, so they immediately summoned Baron Sebastian, the Spanish ambassador to the east coast, for a secret room meeting, and then there were such a series of measures.

Although Meng Xiaohu did not participate in that meeting, and he was not an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but thinking about it with his toes, he knew that there might be some tricks in it. Basically, the Spaniards did not want people from the east coast to build a railway on the Pampa Plain, but now There are demands on them in all aspects, and it is impossible to put on a particularly tough stance, so there is more room for maneuvering.Especially after Meng Xiaohu heard that the executive committee had agreed to allocate a part of the funds to purchase the railway and the ancillary land along the Pampa Plain, he felt that there was a problem.

He even had a vague feeling that perhaps the officials in the Peruvian colony had reached a tacit agreement with the people on the east coast, allowing them to build a railway on the Pampa Plain with half-push and half-push, and the Madrid court might have been kept from knowing about it, but maybe they knew about it. Pretending not to know.He didn't know how many people were recruited up and down the east bank, how many diplomatic resources were used, how many benefits were promised, and how many times he threatened the orphan and widow in Madrid to build this railway. He only knew that he now You can take people to the Pampa Plain to survey the terrain and determine the route, and the first step is to choose a good location for the Buenos Aires train station.

There were a total of more than 30 people in their group, and they were divided into four large carriages. They landed at Nancun Port. At that time, they took a small steamer belonging to the state-owned inland water transport company between Shangcheng Port and Nancun.When they boarded the port, Spanish officials asked briefly, and then sent more than a dozen cavalry to escort them until they arrived in the suburbs of Buenos Aires safely. It can be seen that this matter is undoubtedly tricky, otherwise How could the Putrajaya officials behave like this?

"Mr. Meng, once the Yanbu Railway (Yancheng-Pucheng) is completed, at least the large land in the eastern half of the Pampa Plain will basically be unable to escape our palms. We don't even need to fight, because where the railway is built , Wherever the pioneers follow, the influence will reach. Spain has only a few people and a few towns here, so why compete with us?" The more energetic attendant replied loudly after hearing this: "And when we After the development of the railway subsidiary, it will be a good thing for these Spanish people. When business is developed and supplies are abundant, they will have more channels to obtain cash, and there will be less exploitation when buying goods. Improve. Therefore, they should not oppose our construction of the railway, but will strongly oppose and hold back. They should be local tycoons such as church priests and the Rodriguez family. Only they will attack because of the loss of interests. motivation."

"They didn't dare to make trouble. The Spaniards are now in a state of distress in the Old Continent. Most of the southern Netherlands has been occupied by the French, and the rest is also in the hands of the Dutch army and the Prussians. They have suffered a lot. And The Principality of Lorraine in the east has been occupied by the French army, and a large area of ​​Franche-Comté’s land has also been lost. The few French troops on Sicily have not been expelled so far, and several islands in the Caribbean Sea have also been attacked and lost. It’s a mess. , burning everywhere. I even doubt that, with the weak combat effectiveness and poor morale of the Spanish army, if we hadn’t been here on the east coast, cities like Buenos Aires might have been attacked and occupied by French pirates or soldiers Now, it’s not impossible.” Another clerk also expressed his opinion at this time, only to hear him continue: “My uncle is in the Ministry of Finance, and I heard that the Spanish ambassador Sebastian is Planning to issue war bonds in the Qingdao financial market, good guy, the 12-year bond with a face value of [-] riyals is actually discounted by [-]% and let Banco de la Plata underwrite it. The annual interest rate is [-]%. The Spaniards are crazy about making money. So, I can't believe that in such a predicament, the Spaniards dare to attack us. How big are their hearts! If they did, I'd be really surprised and curious how they would end up."

"Okay, let's not say that these things are gone, the place is coming soon, let's get dressed, there are officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs waiting for us." After listening to the private discussions and gossips of the attendants for a while Finally, seeing that the journey was almost over, Meng Xiaohu tapped the window a few times with his fingers, looked at everyone with a smile and said: "There is still a lot of work to do in the future. The Buenos Aires train station is just the first step." Forget it, the subsequent survey is the most important thing, because this is the most important reference for the people in the Design Institute of the State Railway Administration to plan the route, so it must not be sloppy!"

(End of this chapter)