Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1871 Central Valley ([-])

On January 1683, 1, with the moon shining and the stars sparse, Xiang Zirui, a small civil servant in southern Chile, was still working by the lamplight with a cup of strong coffee, dealing with the pile of documents that seemed to never be sorted out.

"Boling County sent two hundred barrels of flour today, and they are still placed in tents. Tomorrow, we need to organize people to clean up the warehouse, clear out some not so important things, and then put the grain in the warehouse. But the grain warehouse really needs to be done as soon as possible. Once built, it is not appropriate to share warehouses with other items like it is now."

"The quantity of medicines is also seriously insufficient. The summer weather is hot and the environment is humid. It is a period of high incidence of epidemics. Whether the quantity of medicines is sufficient is the most important thing. The prevention and treatment of epidemics is always the most important thing for a pioneering settlement."

"There is no clue about the leveling of the foundation. Because of the serious shortage of manpower, the only prisoners who served in prison were taken away by the army to build camps and dig trenches. The preliminary leveling work of other planned constructions could not be carried out at all. Continue to improve. "

"The morale of the prisoners in exile is not very high. Although they have to work hard to ensure the safety of their family members who come with them, this is not enough. They need to be mobilized through policies, otherwise the effect will always be unsatisfactory."

"Soil exploration and testing needs to be carried out as soon as possible, and hydrological surveys of rivers and streams must be carried out gradually. This requires experts from the Ministry of Geology and the Ministry of Agriculture to arrive as soon as possible."

Xiang Zirui is 26 years old this year. He is a researcher at the sub-section level of the Regional Administration of Southern Chile. His father is an ordinary middle-level cadre in the Ministry of Agriculture. The deputy minister of the ministry had just passed away a few years ago.

As a member of the third generation of the Xiang family, Xiang Zirui's development has not been very smooth. It can be seen from the fact that he has been working for eight years and is still only a researcher at the sub-department level. His family did not give him much help in his official career.This probably has something to do with the fact that his father is just one of the seven sons of his grandfather. He has so many uncles and brothers, no matter how big the family shadow is, he will not be overshadowed. His future can only depend on himself, so He applied to come to this complex area located north of the Jiehe River.

This is the small town of Ranco in Chile in later generations. It is located on the main road from Valdivia to Villarrica, an important port in southern Chile. Some necessary supplies.Now, next to this small Spanish village, it seems that countless military tents have sprung up overnight. More than 1000 East Coast soldiers in blue military uniforms are wandering around this small village with shining bayonets. From Valdivia to Villarrica.

Hundreds of exiled prisoners and their families were summoned from all over the place, and they came to this very critical place, using simple tools to start construction in full swing.At the same time, the Regional Administration of Southern Chile also sent officials and supplies here. I heard that there will be militiamen and immigrants coming here. It seems that they will live here for a long time.

All of this was naturally seen by the Spaniards.Villarrica, who was most concerned, immediately sent personnel to negotiate, but was intimidated by the formation of more than 12 officers and soldiers of the No.1000 mixed battalion with live ammunition, and almost timidly retreated without saying anything.Later, another official came from Valdivia, leading dozens of Spanish cavalry, but the negotiation also ended in failure—in the eyes of the Spaniards, the people on the east coast refused to explain the purpose of coming here, He didn't even intend to ignore the warnings from the Spaniards asking them to leave, and he didn't even tell them how long he planned to stay here, which made the Spanish colonial officials in the two places blow their lungs.

Compared with the weakness of these Spanish colonial officials, a small local Spanish nobleman who was forced to confiscate cattle and sheep as military supplies by the people on the east coast has more courage than them.He took his family and nephews to fight against the people on the east bank, and killed and wounded two soldiers from the No.12 mixed battalion. Although they were quickly put out by the army officers and soldiers who rushed over, this courage to resist But they are much better than those soft-boned colonial officials. It is no wonder that many native whites look down on these peninsula people. They really do not represent the interests of the majority of Peruvians, and it is normal for them to be overthrown in the future.

But the resistance was limited to this one.After all, the Spaniards are foreign colonists. Although they have operated in South America for more than 100 years, their population is not large, and their ability to digest is limited. Especially in Chile, which is far away from their core ruling area, the whites and mixed whites who are the basis of the rule are even more not enough.And without these people, relying on the Indians alone, what kind of waves do you think they can make?You must know that the Araucan Indians in Chile are notoriously small in size and have relatively strong personalities. They have fought against the Spaniards for more than half a century, and their population losses have been very heavy. what troubles.

If this changed many areas of the Old Continent, perhaps the conflict between the occupying army and the rebel army would be much sharper.The large population of the Old Continent, the relatively high level of technology and culture, and the intricate relationship of interests formed over thousands of years will have many adverse effects on the rule of foreign colonists.Just imagine, based on the land policy of [-] mu per capita implemented by the people on the east coast, there will inevitably be continuous turmoil, fierce resistance, and even the final colonization failure.You see, people from the East Bank have never implemented the land policy of [-] mu per capita in Ningbo, and this is also due to factors that will cause local unrest.

But the Spaniards' New World colonies didn't have much to worry about.As long as it does not advance to relatively densely populated places such as Paraguay, Peru, Central America, Mexico, etc., the resistance from the people is destined to be less intense.The only thing East Coasters have to worry about is the voices from Lima and Madrid.

Xiang Zirui, as one of the key grassroots cadres trained by the state, naturally knows the current situation well. Therefore, he has been working here for a while, and he has no worries about being driven back by the Spaniards. He has devoted all his thoughts to local construction.

Near this original Spanish village, the people on the east bank will build a fortress-like building, the legendary Four Fortress of the Corps - a military education institution for training all kinds of talents for the East Coast Republic of China. The townships that got up were also named as the four townships of the Bingtuan.Xiang Zirui, as the director of the preparation office for the four forts of the Corps, once the construction is successfully completed in the future, according to the East Coast practice, he will also take over as the head of the township and take a solid step in his career.So, you can see that even though it is already eleven o'clock in the middle of the night, Director Xiang is still constantly recording something in his notebook so that he can propose rectification in tomorrow's work. The spirit is really commendable.

After he had been busy for more than an hour, it was almost one o'clock in the morning, and the sentinels of the No.12 mixed battalion outside had changed their guards once. After drinking the cold coffee, he got into the simple bed next to him and fell asleep.

The next day was a sunny day. Xiang Zirui, who had just returned from the No. 12 mixed battalion headquarters to coordinate affairs, received a report from the subordinates that the Spanish envoy had arrived again.This Spaniard is still from Valdivia, this time the rank is relatively high, he is the speaker of the local municipal council, with four or five entourages.

This seemingly young speaker does not have a noble title, but his family has a lot of assets. In addition to running some shops in the commercial port of Valdivia, he also controls a commercial route leading to Villarrica. , Making huge profits by providing food, drinks, daily necessities and even luxury goods to inland mining areas.Therefore, he was rather anxious and angry about the fact that the east coast army had cut off the traffic route. After the previous two failed negotiations, he took the initiative to ask for permission this time, and obtained the permission of the mayor and the priest to act as an envoy. This is the third time I have come to negotiate with people from the East Coast.

Xiang Zirui didn't have much interest in this old Spanish man.Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, he waved him back after a 10-minute chat with the messenger.The Spanish envoy wanted to say a few more words, but seeing that Xiang Zirui's complexion was not good, and the people from the Army's No.12 mixed battalion ignored them, so he could only return angrily and do something to Valdivia. The big shots have reported.

"It's really ridiculous to threaten to cut off trade with us. Just relying on places like Valdivia and Villarrica, how big is the trade volume?" Xiang Zirui looked at the Spaniard's retreating figure and said with a sneer: " If this is said by your Peruvian governor, what kind of thing are you, can you use this to influence our national policy?"

But having said that, Xiang Zirui paid a little attention to the severance of trade mentioned by the old Spanish man just now, because it was probably the only bargaining chip that the Spaniard had enough weight to negotiate.According to the original agreement reached between the East Coast government and the Kingdom of Spain, the people on the East Coast provided preferential low-interest loans and allowed the Spanish court to issue bonds on the East Coast in exchange for the Kingdom of Spain to open the top ten ports in the American colonies (five in the Pacific Ocean and five in the Atlantic Ocean) , which were taken over by Southern Rail and Air Canada) until they paid off their loans.

Today, the Spaniard’s loan has long been paid off (guaranteed by the customs income of the top ten ports). Including the benefits given by the East Coast government), all kinds of goods manufactured on the East Coast continued to flow into Peru and New Spain like a tide, and huge profits were obtained.

But now, after the expansion tentacles of the people on the east coast have penetrated into the line from Valdivia to Villarrica, the Spaniards finally straightened up and threatened to cut off this trade that should have been cut off many years ago, which is more interesting up.Xiang Zirui didn't believe that the severance of trade mentioned by the Spanish old man just now was groundless. If Valdivia's trade could be cut off, then the trade in Lima, Guayaquil, Panama, Acapulco and other places would naturally also be cut off. It can be broken, which is not difficult to think of.

Although Xiang Zirui doesn't really believe that the Spaniards will really make up their minds to do this, their thinking shows an attitude, that is: you people on the east bank are afraid of the Pampa Grassland, we will bear it. We have tolerated small actions in the north, but now the border has been pushed to the silver mining areas on the Valdivia and Villarrica lines. How can this be tolerated?Although this is just a small mining area that does not scale, if you give in this time, how do you know if you will make an inch next time and directly send your idea to Chalkas?In that case, even if the Madrid court is unwilling, it is afraid that they will have to make fundamental adjustments to the national policy and start a full-scale war with the east coast.

"It seems that these information should be collected and reported as soon as possible." Xiang Zirui rubbed his hands and said to himself: "But the work that should be done must continue, and we can't stop because of some opinions from the Spaniards." Moreover, as far as the current situation is concerned, the temptation to the Spaniards is still far from over, at least their Peruvian governor has not given a clear attitude yet, this is the key, not the so-called local town councils, Although the latter is more representative of the interests of the local colonial forces.”

The report written by Xiang Zirui was quickly sent to Zhao Ke in Maolin County.He is at a higher level and is more sensitive to some things.After seeing the Spaniards threatening with trade, I felt that this time I really stabbed the Spaniards to the heart, which aroused a strong reaction.But to be honest, if the Spaniards really ordered to cut off the trade between the two viceroyal regions of Peru and New Spain and the people on the east coast, it would really hurt the people on the east coast.

At that time, not only local trading companies such as the Southern Railway Trading Company will be greatly affected, but the business of Air Canada in the Caribbean Sea will also plummet. Many manufacturing companies in China will be affected to varying degrees, and too many people's livelihoods will encounter twists and turns here.With this level of turmoil, I am afraid that the East Coast government will think carefully about it. Is it worthwhile to lose so much money because of a little bit of land in the border area?This is probably what the Spaniards want to achieve!

Thinking about it from this angle, Zhao Ke was not sure what his superiors would think of this matter, and this perception gave him a headache.The local chief officials in the border area on the east coast have been like those Jiedu envoys who "provoked border disputes" in ancient history for many years. .As a veteran of the bureaucratic system on the east coast, Zhao Ke naturally knows this well, so he has been expanding northward for many years and has achieved certain results.But, did he hit the iron plate this time?Zhao Ke was a little uncertain, but he still planned to see the Spanish side's higher-level reaction first.

(End of this chapter)