Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1910 Hunting Country ([-])

On the morning of July 1684, 8.

After breakfast, Wang Dazhuang gave a stack of manuscripts to Wang Zhijie, asking him to correct it.Wang Zhijie did not refuse, and planned to read these manuscripts carefully while there were still a few days before departure.Among them, there are many valuable data, information and other exploration experience, which are all first-hand information, and they are also of great reference value to Wang Zhijie, who is writing a book about the Chaco Plain.

The air in the room was hot and humid, which made Wang Zhijie feel a little uncomfortable, so he had to ask his entourage to bring a pot of barley tea, and read the materials while drinking.The Chaco Plain has a tropical shadow in terms of climate, but there are also some differences, mainly reflected in humidity.In the western half of the Chaco Plain, there is almost no rain in winter, and it is relatively dry; while in the eastern half, especially in areas close to large rivers, such as Hexi Township right now, there is a lot of precipitation, almost all year round, and the environment is relatively Hot and humid.

Wang Zhijie reviewed many climate data recorded by Wang Dazhuang in the past two years, and learned that the temperature of the Chaco Plain—at least the eastern half near Paraguay—is also a typical tropical climate, which is relatively hot and has no obvious cold season.The average temperature of the coldest month will not be lower than 15°C (the absolute minimum temperature is above 5°C), just like the temperature measured by Wang Zhijie with a mercury thermometer in the room at this time, 27°C, which makes people feel a little uncomfortable .

However, if it is in the western half of the Chaco Plain, the absolute minimum temperature in the middle of winter may be below zero.This is because the region is very dry, resulting in very cold nights during the frost season, sometimes reaching minus six or seven degrees.However, the temperature will rise rapidly during the day, so the average temperature is still high.Therefore, the climate here is characterized by large diurnal temperature differences, which is directly related to the frequent dryness and high transparency of the atmosphere—the temperature difference between day and night in the eastern half of the Chaco Plain is also not small, but compared with the western half Parts are of course much worse.

Such climatic conditions seem to be suitable for some agricultural planting activities.The climate here is more tropical, but not as harsh as the real tropics, which is a blessing for the people living here.Moreover, there is plenty of water here, whether it is used for power or agricultural irrigation, it can provide a lot of convenience. At the same time, the large temperature difference between day and night is also conducive to planting some fruits, although it is still those in the oasis with the Patagonia River. The products produced in the orchard want to be comparable, but it will not be a problem if they are sold in nearby areas.

Regarding this point, Wang Zhijie also observed many positive signs in Hexi Township yesterday.For example, he saw acres of flattened farmland nearby, planted with overwintering wheat.Some guard soldiers are also pruning branches in the newly opened orchards to prepare for the next year's flowering and fruiting.Of course, no one forgot to plant vegetables. Even the township cadres and officers of the garrison participated in this matter. Wang Dazhuang himself also took the task of half an acre of radish fields.There is no way, the new settlement is so hard, no one can stay out of production activities, everyone must contribute every energy and physical strength of their own to maintain this settlement as much as possible.

Of course, the central government will not lose sight of their efforts.In fact, cadres who have served as grassroots officials in difficult areas or cross-border reclamation areas are generally easier to be promoted, and if they happen to make some outstanding achievements there, then there is no doubt that they will be regarded as backbone cadres. After training, the speed of promotion is not so fast.Therefore, even though the conditions are very difficult and the situation is relatively dangerous, there are still wave after wave of cadres who sharpen their heads and want to be transferred to these areas. It can be seen that this is indeed a broad road to promotion, provided that you can do it during your tenure. Do your job well.

Although Wang Zhijie is only a nominal senior consultant in the Ministry of Geology, he is also a member of the system in the final analysis, and he is very familiar with this.Let’s not talk about the near ones, but let’s talk about Liu Jianguo and Ma Wenqiang in the past. One made his fortune in Chile, and the other rose in Patagonia. Now they are both candidates for the next executive committee. They are in the Founders’ Council His reputation is extremely high.With such a role model ahead, we cannot help but not work hard.

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"...the rivers of the Chaco region mainly originate in the mountains on the western edge, where they form a dense network of rivers and collect a large amount of water. When these rivers enter the hinterland of the Chaco Plain, they become transit rivers , and its flow gradually decreases, and finally disappears in the vast swamps and wetlands in the critical area to the west (of course, it can still flow all the way to the Paraguay River in summer). There are three main rivers, which the local Spaniards call them Picomayo, Bermejo and Salado."

When Wang Zhijie led the team to set off again a few days later and finally arrived at the confluence of the Bermejo River and the Paraguay River, this description of the three main rivers in the Chaco Plain could not help appearing in his mind.However, as far as he can see, the problem of the Bermejo River is not serious. Although the water in the downstream section is not very abundant, at least it has not stopped flowing.Moreover, he sent his subordinates to select some places to measure the water level, and found that it is generally about 2-3 meters, which is a classic style inland small steamer with a shallow draft that can be navigated, which greatly solved the transportation problem.

Wang Zhijie speculated that although the Bermejo River flowed from the western mountains into the Great Plains, there were no tributaries all the way into it, and the evaporation was large, and the soil in some places even seeped water, but after all, it still did not exhaust all the water in the vast Cha On the plain of University of Science and Technology of China.Moreover, after entering the relatively humid eastern half, due to frequent precipitation, the water volume of the river has recovered, so this has formed the current situation.

But the current situation does not allow people to be too optimistic.Wang Zhijie felt that to really tame the Bermejo River and use it for my own use, large-scale investment in water conservancy construction is essential, and the dredging of the river is the key point.However, the embarrassing thing is that the Chaco Plain is still nominally the territory of the Kingdom of Spain, and the people on the east coast secretly cross the border to cultivate it. It's not good-looking on anyone's face.But even so, these things must be recorded and reported by Wang Zhijie to prepare for possible future water conservancy projects.

On August 1684, 8, the team led by Wang Zhijie walked up the Bermejo River for about 31 kilometers. Fortunately, they did not encounter any unsightly Quechuas along the way, which was considered safe. .During the journey of more than 100 kilometers, they enjoyed the lush forests on both sides of the river, the endless grasslands, and the flooded areas that can be seen everywhere.

The soil in the flooded area is very fertile, and it should be carried down by the river water from the upper reaches.If you can invest in the construction of water conservancy, firstly, you can develop a large area of ​​fertile land, and secondly, you can avoid the formation of saltwater swamps after a long period of water accumulation.There are also many forests in the floodplain, and the main one is probably the broken axe tree. At the same time, there are many high-quality pastures suitable for animals to eat. The resources seem to be quite rich.

However, if these resources really want to be controlled, it should not be too easy.After all, there are still a large number of Quechua Indians living on this vast plain.Although I didn't meet them in this meeting, how could they really let go of this land because they are mainly fishing, hunting, nomadic, and nomadic farming?Undoubtedly, this kind of place with abundant water and grass is a good place for people to let their livestock recuperate in summer.Therefore, in the future, the military still has to go first, and the surrounding native tribes should be taken care of first before subsequent development work can be carried out.

After August 8, Wang Zhijie and his party continued to walk up the river bank.It is extremely gratifying that the channel of the Bermejo River is still relatively wide, and the water depth is not bad, which means that the navigable mileage of the ship has been greatly increased.The only worrying thing is that some large and small sandbars are often seen in the river.The existence of these sandbars may be very good to the Indians, making it easier for them to cross the river, but in the eyes of the people on the east coast, they are a great obstacle to the navigation of ships and must be removed.

Wang Zhijie had people record the location, shape and size of each sandbar one by one, and marked them on the map.These things are important references for the government to formulate policies in the future, so we must be cautious.And it was here that they encountered a tribe of Quechuas who were migrating, and a small-scale conflict occurred.This tribe probably has hundreds of adult warriors, but the expedition team on the east coast also has sixty or seventy combatants armed with rifles, so they are not easy to mess with.Therefore, after a little trial and found that it was difficult to take advantage of it, the tribe, who was afraid of losing a large number of males and making it impossible to survive in the grassland, wisely gave in and finally disappeared on the vast grassland.

This unexpected meeting revived the spirit of Wang Zhijie's expedition team, which had been going smoothly before, and at the same time clearly realized again that this grassland is still someone else's territory after all, and the aborigines on it are also in a semi-civilized state. It's not as good as imagined, so what to do next still needs to be carefully considered.

However, after Wang Zhijie discussed with the deputy captain in charge of security work, he thought that there were more than [-] armed fighters on his side, and the men of the expedition team could also take up arms to fight. This is a tyrannical force. There is no need to be intimidated.Therefore, he decided to go on, along the Bermejo River, and survey further upstream.

(End of this chapter)