Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1755 Plastic Smoke Line ([-])

On August 1677, 8, after several rounds of consultations with the government of the Denglai Pioneering Team on a series of detailed issues related to the Jiaoyan Line Railway, Xu Xiangdong, the vice president of the company, finally had a rare few days of rest, so he brought Several entourages, together with five or six elite cavalry sent by Yantai to protect their safety, went south along the planned railway line, intending to take a look at the local customs in order to predict the future profitability of the railway. Be aware of it.

Of course, it's not that things like this can't be handed over to the subordinates.However, Xu Xiangdong always feels that it is better to do some things by himself, especially important things like inspecting the customs and customs along the railway.It’s fine if you don’t have time, and you can hand it over to someone you can trust. But if you have time and plenty of time, then it’s also worthwhile to go to important nodes along the line to take a look.

Fushan County is the closest to Yantai.This county is small in size (nonsense, a large part of the county area was taken away by Yantai, and the county seat was forced to move south), but it has a large population. Although a large number of people have flowed into Yantai, Ninghai Prefecture, and Laiyang (by Government organization, went to Laiyang to farm) and other places, but still maintained at about 8 people, which has exceeded the population listed in the yellow book of household registration in the late Ming Dynasty, which can be seen.

The old Fushan County was razed to the ground during the invasion of the Qing army. Later, people from the East Bank built a new city more than 20 kilometers south-east of Yantai. As the location of Fushan County, the planned Jiaoyan Railway is just west of the new city , The east bank of the Dagu Jiahe runs southward, and the current location of Xu Xiangdong and others is also on the east bank of the Dagu Jiahe.

Due to the construction of the railway, some scull boats appeared from time to time on the Dagu Jia River at this time.The small cabins of these ships are filled with building materials such as sleepers and stones, and sometimes they also carry some salted fish (mostly salmon) from overseas, which seem to serve the railway construction site—— Like Jiaozhou Port, the railway lines in Yantai, Fushan and other places are relatively easy to determine, so the land leveling work has been carried out earlier, and it has entered the middle and later stages. Some places (such as Yantai County) can even start laying railway tracks.

"The moderately large mountain in the southwest is the Lion Peak in the Baidong Mountain Range, and the remote counterpart to the Lion Peak is Kunyu Mountain. Between these two mountains, there is a fairly flat valley, half of which is It belongs to Fushan County, and half belongs to Qixia County." Jiang Yunfan, the director of the Government Affairs Department under the Denglai Pioneering Team and one of the former veterans of the judicial system, Jiang Yunfan followed Xu Xiangdong step by step, introducing the geography and scenery of Fushan County to him softly , favor.

"In recent years, after experiencing earthquakes, droughts, and locust plagues in turn, the agricultural production of Fushan County has been hit hard. The Jiaodong area has many mountains and little land, and the soil texture is not as good as Laiyang, Ye County, and Pingdu Prefecture in the west. Therefore, it has not been a big county since ancient times. However, as the so-called near-water towers first get the moon, a semicircle surrounds the narrow Fushan Mountain of Yantai County (only a small opening is left for Ninghai Prefecture on the east side of the sea). Over the years Relying on Yantai, it has achieved a very good momentum of development." After waving his hand for about four weeks, Jiang Yunfan continued to introduce: "There are many troops stationed in Yantai, as well as a large number of civil affairs institutions, commercial institutions, and a large number of officials, businessmen, and technicians. They I have lived in Yantai for a long time, but due to the small area of ​​Yantai, most of my children can only settle in the neighboring Fushan County when they grow up, which has greatly promoted the prosperity of the real estate industry in Fushan.”

"After these people flooded into Fushan, they began to operate various industries, including the production of various parts (using pedals or hydraulic machine tools) for the Yantai Firearms Repair Factory, and the supply of wooden barrels, canvas, cables, ropes, etc. for Yantai Port. There are those who provide supporting services for Yangmadao Workshop, and of course the largest number are engaged in agricultural activities, providing various agricultural products for Yantai County, a consumer city. Speaking of which, you, Vice President Xu Some may not believe it, but the agricultural cooperative system, which has not been popularized on a large scale in the local area, has now been launched in many places in Fushan and Yantai counties, and most of them are some agricultural operators, who mainly produce melons, fruits and vegetables, raise livestock, and cultivate flowers. Lord, the main consumer market can be said to be Yantai." Jiang Yunfan said: "Their lives are relatively good in general. Look, the small village in front is it. Vice President Xu, I think we can go and see look."

After getting Xu Xiangdong's approval, the group led the horse, crossed an apple grove, and soon came to a small village.A family at the head of the village seems to be a craftsman driving a cart, because an oriental-style carriage with four wheels is parked in the yard surrounded by half of the wall. A man is walking back and forth in front of the cart, as if what to fix.

Because I spent too much time in other places in the afternoon, the sky is already a little dark. The hostess in the yard inserted a piece of pine light on an iron tripod in the corner and lit it up, because her husband seemed to be going overnight. Repairing the damaged cart, maybe there will be an unstoppable business that must be completed tomorrow - Songming should be produced in the nearby mountains. It is a common lighting tool among the people. It is not expensive but not very cheap. The craftsman's family can consume it. It's really not surprising to be able to afford this kind of thing, not to mention that a place like Fukuyama is not very poor.

The arrival of Xu Xiangdong and others alarmed the hostess and hostess in the cottage, but after figuring out their intentions, the host put Xu Xiangdong and others into the yard, and after Xu Xiangdong's inquiry, he said something What.

"How much money do you earn a month?" Xu Xiangdong sat on a small bench brought by the hostess and asked.The host looks very young, about [-] years old. Just now I heard that he had a brother who was a policeman in Yantai County, and he attacked his father who had passed away. When the family was separated, they randomly took some of the family wealth and went to live in Fushan County, but now it seems that it is still so-so.

"It's about six or seven yuan. When it's good, it can be eight yuan or even ten yuan. When it's low, it's only four or five yuan." The young man on the handlebars wiped his hands with a towel, and replied a little cautiously.

"This income is not bad, not worse than the income of a soldier." Xu Xiangdong immediately praised: "The Fourth Division of the Denglai New Army in Taocun to the south is recruiting leading soldiers, and the military salary is only four yuan a month. You Better than them all, comparable to those veteran squad leaders, and even more (of course this is without considering the bonus of the spoils of war)."

In fact, Xu Xiangdong had already discovered that this handlebar-style living situation should be okay.You see, the iron tripod in the yard is only used as a candle holder, which is unimaginable in the Qing Dynasty, even in the poor mountainous countryside of Denglai; when he wiped his hands just now, he used a white towel , and this is only produced in Yantai County. Although the price is not very expensive, the consumption and use of this kind of cotton textile itself is a proof of income and identity.The mountain people in the Qing Dynasty or Denglai might have just wiped their rags a few times at random. Who would spend money on towels?That will only be called a prodigal son by the old people, and it is impossible to have this kind of consumption habit.

Perhaps because of the orders of the servants, the hostess of the farmhouse brought a plate of russet pastries.This kind of pastry is made of white flour, with a little sugar and fruit added, and it is more delicious. Many people in Yantai and Fushan areas like to eat it. It seems that it originated from the foreign food brought by the big soldiers from outside during the time of Marshal Mo. .

The sugar is sucrose. Needless to say, it needs to be specially transported from Yantai, and it is not cheap to buy.The fruit seems to be some wild berries in the nearby mountains. They are huge, delicious, and abundant. Every year, people go to the mountains to collect them, and then transport them to Yantai City by horse-drawn cart for sale, making a lot of money.

"Do you usually go to Yantai often? I think you seem to be a handlebar." Xu Xiangdong asked again.

"A lot!" When mentioning the place name Yantai, the handlebar-like expression was more or less complicated, and he replied after a pause: "The main thing is to deliver all kinds of food there. Wheat, rye, sorghum, peas , Soybeans are the most, and sometimes some fruits are given away, anyway, they are bought by the wholesalers there. Thanks to the masters, the road from Yantai to Fushan has been repaired quite well, and it will not take long to go back and forth. If you are smarter in your hands and feet, sometimes you can walk back and forth twice a day, provided you take good care of the livestock."

"Do you know that the railway is being built?" Xu Xiangdong took a piece of soft cake and asked while eating.

He knew that this question was a bit difficult for this young handlebar, because he didn't know what the construction of the railway meant to them, and he might not even know what a railway was.

Sure enough, under his inquiry, the handlebar shook his head blankly.He had never seen or even heard of a railroad, so it was not surprising that he had such a reaction.At the same time, this also reflects from the side that even in the Denglai area (compared to the Qing and Ming ruled areas) where the circulation of personnel, materials, and money has been relatively fast, the society as a whole is still relatively closed, and the dissemination of information is still very slow. Slow, it seems that this is not a good thing for the profit expectation of the Jiaoyan Line—of course, from another perspective, the construction of the Jiaoyan Line Railway can break through the cages of various counties and townships in the local area, greatly promoting exchanges between regions, and making boarding Lai's social form has undergone further changes, a change that people on the East Coast want to see.

Smoke rose from the kitchen in the corner of the yard, and Xu Xiangdong faintly smelled the smell of stewed meat. Then he asked, "Do you usually eat meat or fish?"

"I don't eat it very often, it's a bit expensive. There are few livestock slaughtered locally, and it's not regular, so it's not easy to buy. If you want to eat some cured meat, because the salt and spices have to be shipped from Yantai, it's too expensive, so eat it. It’s also less.” The handlebars lightly sniffed the smell of meat that had permeated most of the yard, and replied: “The meat my mother-in-law stews is cured meat, which was transported from Taocun in the south, and traveled all the way through mountains and rivers. , It’s too expensive. Well, I heard that the meat in Taocun is cheaper, and there are more livestock there.”

Xu Xiangdong nodded after hearing this, and understood that the people are still very interested in eating meat, but the price is too high due to the long transportation distance or low supply, and the consumption impulse has been restrained.In fact, there is an inaccuracy in what the handlebar said just now, that is, the cured meat he bought was indeed shipped from Taocun, but Taocun itself does not actually produce much meat. They are also second-hand dealers. Laiyang County, [-] to [-] kilometers southwest of Peach Village.

Laiyang County has fertile soil, abundant arable land, and no shortage of water, so the conditions for developing agriculture are very good.According to the data reported by the local government in Laiyang County, an average adult male farmer in the local area can control [-] kilograms of wheat, [-] kilograms of salted lard, pork, beef and mutton, and some dairy products, grain and meat (this is actually relying on Grain conversion) has a large surplus, which is exported in large quantities to Yantai, Fushan, and Ninghai prefectures every year. This passage is the planned Jiaoyan Railway—specifically, Laiyang-Taocun-Fushan-Yantai , so the handlebars misunderstood that the bacon was all produced in Taocun.

"In this way, this railway is still very interesting." After finishing the conversation with the handlebars, Xu Xiangdong turned his head and chatted with Jiang Yunfan and others, only to hear him say: "A few days ago, I talked with Liu Jianguo and Liu Jianguo. The captain chatted, and he showed me a piece of data, a labor reform farm set up in Laiyang County, I forgot the specific name, hundreds of captured European sailors, illegal businessmen, and mercenaries, including wheat, oats, rye, and buckwheat As a result, 300 tons of wheat, 12 tons of yellow rice, 50 tons of oats, 18.5 tons of buckwheat, 26 tons of rye, 6.5 tons of peas and 20 tons of soybeans were harvested. Large livestock. This is nothing short of a miracle. Although they are reform-through-labour prisoners and are used very hard, the output is enough to show that there is indeed an area very suitable for agricultural production. The agricultural products are very abundant and can be supplied to Yantai, These two pure consumer cities in Jiaozhou."

"Yes, Laiyang has always been the most important food supply place in Yantai, Fushan, Ninghai Prefecture and other places. The above is to increase the circulation of commodities, promote market consumption, and prosper the local economy. The people in Laiyang, Fushan, Yantai and other places have benefited, the government's tax revenue has also been enriched, and your company's railway transportation has also made profits. It’s actually a win-win situation.” Jiang Yunfan echoed, “Therefore, I have always insisted that the construction of the Jiaoyan Railway will far outweigh the disadvantages!”

(End of this chapter)