Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1774 Dark Chess and Contest

"God, missed again!" In the South Village Port on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Inigo rolled up a piece of cardboard with several numbers printed on it, and threw it into a small river ditch.The ditch is full of sewage, air bubbles, rotten vegetable leaves, fish scales, melon rinds and other domestic garbage, which shows Inigo's disappointment with these small pieces of paper at hand.

"If it were so easy to win the traffic lottery, I would have given up on the exhausting work I am doing now. Wouldn't it be nice to go home and be a rich man? Your job as a newspaper is so easy to do." "Pravda" David, the vice president of the newspaper and the director of the Office of Truth, picked the shredded beef between his teeth with a toothpick, and said disdainfully: "The possibility of getting this kind of thing is too low, it's just a tax for fools. You should support it." National transportation construction, such as building roads, railways, docks, digging canals, etc., are really costly, and need the sponsorship of you rich fools."

Hearing this, Inigo giggled for a while, then leaned against a small tree by the river, randomly pulled a grass stalk, threw it into his mouth, and started chewing.People like him and David were not at odds with each other. Their identities, backgrounds, and status were very different, but things in the world are often so strange. When David followed Meng Xiaohu's team to the Pampa Plain for field interviews, he encountered A party of gauchos with ulterior motives arrived and, not surprisingly, a conflict broke out.In this conflict, Inigo killed two gauchos one after another with a bayonet, and rescued David, a civil servant, from the tip of their swords.And now that he has saved his life, there is nothing to say. David, the second-generation official, Sun Wuben's deputy, and the deputy director of the "Pravda" newspaper, immediately let go of his reserve and airs, and opened up a heart-to-heart relationship with Inigo. Nature is changing rapidly.

This time, after returning to the Capital Club to deal with some affairs, he brought three or five young people to Nancun Port by boat, intending to further follow Meng Xiaohu's survey team—or the expedition team is more appropriate, now its escort The number of people has increased to nearly a hundred—going deep into the Pampa prairie to make a special in-depth report on the Yanbu Railway, which is becoming more and more popular now.

It is said that although the survey team led by Meng Xiaohu has gone back and forth on the roughly planned railway line, the State Administration of Railways has not yet finalized the specific direction of the railway, because the things involved are too complicated. There are many, and sometimes the overall policy formulation of the country has to be considered, which is very troublesome.

At present, the Yanbu Railway has been confirmed and is under construction. It is nothing more than the section from Yancheng Township to Jinjin Township in Yancheng County. It is reported that the land leveling work of this section has been completed long ago. Now the laying of railway tracks and the construction of telegraph relay stations have begun. I believe it will be used. It won't take too long to finish.In contrast, the progress of Tongxu Township, Chenqiang Township, Guiling Township, and Wapeng Township is much slower, and it is still in the hard work of land leveling.

The reason is probably because Yancheng County has developed for many years, has a large population, a developed economy, and a good foundation in various fields, which is enough to support the construction of the Yanbu Railway.On the other hand, the townships under the Niulanshan District Administrative Office, although they have received a large influx of people and funds in recent years, their foundations are still too weak to support the construction of such a railway line far from the coastline and deep into the inland areas.However, I believe that with the passage of time, the economic strength of Niuzhuang, Yinhai and other places will only become stronger. After all, the central government’s money is not spent in vain, and it will be able to contribute to the construction of the Yanbu Railway.

As an official publicist who has been following this project for a long time, David is naturally very clear about its progress.Moreover, he is more aware that the construction of this railway not only has difficulties in manpower, material resources and funds, but also the change of the attitude of the Spaniards is also one of the uncertainties of this railway, and it can even be said to be the biggest uncertainty. Factors, because the appetite of the people on the east coast is really a bit big this time, so big that the Spaniards can't accept it for a while.

Maybe some people don't believe it.However, if you find a map of the Pampa Plain from the library in Buenos Aires, and then estimate the general direction of the Yanbu Railway, then for such a large piece of land east of the Yanbu Railway You should know the size of the area, right?Yes, that’s right, there are at least more than [-] square kilometers of good land here, with a mild climate, moderate precipitation, fertile soil, and convenient transportation. But the quality of the land is still worse.The Spaniards are worried that once this place is taken away by the people from the east coast, after decades of painstaking management, it may not be another east coast prairie with developed industry and commerce and a large population, because it has no problem raising tens of millions of people.

Of course, the East Coast people’s explanation to the Spaniards is only to settle and do business east of the Yanbu Railway. If possible, these settlers can also pay a certain land use fee to the Kingdom of Spain.But who can be fooled by such words?If these "locust-like" people from the east coast live here, marry and have children, and prosper, who can drive them away.In the end, Bao Buqi was another person from the east bank who dumped several million yuan in cash and bought this piece of land from the Kingdom of Spain.

Therefore, the Spaniards do not dare to retreat now, nor can they retreat. They are afraid that if they retreat now, they will make their appetites bigger and bigger after surrendering to the people on the east coast. Thousands of square kilometers of land were completely wiped out.

This kind of situation is naturally not what people on the east coast want to see, especially after Liao Xiaoyao, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Huaxia East Coast Republic in Yancheng Port, mentioned this matter to the Spanish ambassador, Earl Sebastian, after a whole day For a month, there was no news at all, which made some impatient people a little bit unable to hold back. It stands to reason that this month is just enough time for Buenos Aires to spread the news to Lima. It was far from getting an answer so quickly, but who told General Ovando in Buenos Aires to thank the guests behind closed doors and not communicate with the people on the east coast at all?I can't say, I can only resort to some means!

"Using the means" naturally can't be that the people from the east bank go into battle shirtless in person, that's too ugly and unnecessary.Therefore, under the care of some senior officials of the National Intelligence Agency, Director Sheng Dehong, who had never shown himself in front of the Spaniards, secretly came to Buenos Aires to build a "commercial station" (actually a railway station) The foreman planned a series of things as a cover.

Among these conspiracies that are brewing, Inigo, a former mercenary officer, is one of the key figures.Director Shengde Hongsheng had already met with him once, promised him 5000 yuan in activity funds, and asked him to go to the grassland to recruit more gauchos as soon as possible, distribute weapons and salaries to them, and be ready to obey Director Sheng at any time instruct.

Inigo has long been prepared for this, he has been hanging around all year round, and with his rich experience, he has already smelled something unusual in it.The black skins of the General Intelligence Bureau are afraid that they will do something in the Pampa Plain and even Buenos Aires to force the Spaniards to make a decision as soon as possible.Unfortunately, Inigo, who has always had a strong "operational ability", is the object of unanimous optimism among intelligence officials.

When David came to see Inigo today, this guy was counting the funds on hand, and planned to sell some of the money orders in his hand in exchange for some silver dollars.On the prairie, the bitter Gaucho people naturally distrust paper-like money orders, checks, and promissory notes. They only trust real money and things that can be eaten and worn.Therefore, if you want to buy these people and make them work for themselves, the necessary gold and silver are indispensable.

David knew more or less what Inigo was going to do, but he had no intention of delving into it.To be honest, he was not very interested in these things planned by spies and intelligence chiefs, and subconsciously felt that staying away was the right way.It’s just that Inigo saved his life before, so he is obliged to mention it a little bit. In addition, he also prevents some intelligence leaders from going crazy and throwing Inigo’s rag after they are used up. This is not unheard of. Pass.

Therefore, after chatting with Inigo about some things in a slightly cryptic manner, David wisely changed the topic and chatted with Inigo about what crops to grow on the Pampa Plain at this stage.

"There are frosts in winter, hot summer continuously, moderate rainfall throughout the year, and the seasonal distribution of rainfall is also very timely. Especially the rainfall in early winter is very helpful for reclaiming fields and sowing wheat, and the rain in spring and summer is beneficial to the later growth of wheat. "While David and Inigo were chatting about the agricultural conditions of the Pampa Plain in Nancun Port, General Constantine de Obando was also meeting with his entourage on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Talking about almost the same topic, I only heard him continue: "These precipitations benefit half of the Pampa in the east. In the undulating Pampa area, its summer rains are concentrated in late summer, which is very good for the growth of corn that is only harvested in May." Suitable. Precipitation patterns in the South and Southwest are favorable for wheat growth. As for flax, sunflower, and forage crops, the margins in most areas are more than adequate, both in their overall totals and in their seasonal distribution...  "

"Gentlemen, don't look at me with that kind of eyes. In fact, what I said just now was not written by me, nor by any agricultural expert in our country, but in some agricultural publications published in the east coast. Look, the people on the east coast know even more about the Pampa Plain than we do. Maybe a few years or even ten years or 20 years ago, they kept sending people deep into the plain to study and collect all kinds of information. What a great irony this is, gentlemen, we don't pay much attention to this vast plain without forests and gold and silver, but the people on the east coast regard it as a treasure." General Owando smiled wryly and shook Shaking his head, there is no way, the atmosphere of the Kingdom of Spain has long been corrupted. Such a land with no characteristics is destined not to attract the attention of the West India Affairs Council and the Madrid court, let alone a bunch of troubled things waiting for them now.

What?You say this land produces wheat, corn, soybeans, alfalfa, sunflowers, flax, honey, bison, and other things?Please, the Spaniards are no longer the people of the Lord who just expelled the Moors!At that time, Columbus had not yet discovered the New World, and the Spaniards were still very poor. Both the nobles and commoners still had the hard-working spirit, and they were willing to farm and herd sheep and develop handicrafts to support their families.

But everything changed after a large amount of American gold and silver poured into the Spaniards!The violent inflation wiped out various industries in Spain, and the life of getting rich overnight destroyed the spirit of the Castilian people. This is the main reason why many people point out that the morale of the whole people of the Kingdom of Spain is corrupt.

Therefore, the Spaniards normally look down on the land in the Pampa Plain, because it cannot bring them enough benefits.A little food, fodder, fruit and bison can also tempt the Spanish uncles?Stop dreaming!Now they only see white silver in their eyes. This kind of land that has no gold and silver mines and cannot grow tropical commodities is worthless to them no matter how large the area is. Speaking of it, there is still a big difference in the concept of people on the east coast in this regard. of.

Of course, the Spaniards don't value the value of this land, but that doesn't mean they are willing to cede it.In fact, they are still more inclined to control this land in their own hands, especially now because of the war that has lasted for many years, the situation in the Caribbean Sea is extremely chaotic, and the security is greatly reduced. The Spaniards have to send some silver ships Navigate to the Rio de la Plata instead to avoid capture by pirates.

For this reason, they are more resistant in their hearts to throwing this large piece of land on the south bank of the Rio de la Plata to others. Therefore, although they did not directly reject the repeated temptations of the people on the east bank before, their actions are consistent with their rejection. It's no different, it's clear that they don't want to sell this land, and I believe the people on the east bank will gradually understand it now.

The only thing that General Owando is worried about now is whether the people on the east coast will fight with the Spaniards in order to get this land, because he heard that the leader of the government of this pagan country who has just come to power is a soldier ( Although they have retired), their style is relatively tough, and it is quite different from the more or less tepid leaders of the previous two terms. I don’t know what means they will use to achieve their goals.

Another point is that the Kingdom of Spain is still at war with the French in Europe, and the financial pressure is extremely high, and the Italian businessmen who provide financing services to the Madrid court are closely related to the people on the east coast. I wonder if they will start from this aspect. Started, forcing Madrid to surrender.Even, will this country choose to mobilize force to achieve its goals?You know, their country has not fought a war for many years, and there has been a call for disarmament in the country, so whether it is the navy or the army, they all have the urge to start a war, right?Regarding this point, to be honest, General Owando is still quite worried.

(End of this chapter)