Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1935 Gulf of Aden

On January 1686, 1, after resting on Diu Island for a while, the "Dash Champion" class transport ship full of immigrants cut through the waves and arrived all the way to the famous Gulf of Aden.

The place where they anchored was the port of Djibouti, a capital city that has just been specially approved by the Executive Committee to establish an overseas colony: the Executive Committee passed the resolution to establish the Djibouti Management Committee in the second half of last year. There is only one county, Djibouti County, which has a town (Djibouti Town) and two townships (Tajoura Township and Salt Lake Township), with a total population of more than [-].

Among the more than 3000 people, soldiers accounted for about one-sixth (500 people), belonging to the Djibouti garrison, and the Djibouti garrison commander was responsible for training and commanding.In addition, there are a large number of ship repair yard technicians, wharf management and transportation personnel, personnel related to salt lake mining, government officials, businessmen, and religious figures. These people are all professionals necessary to maintain the operation of a port city.

The above-mentioned people accounted for about 30% of the total population, while the remaining 70% were all farmers and herdsmen.Among these farmers and herdsmen, a small number are oriental immigrants resettled by the government, and most of them are Indians, Malays and criminals exiled from the mainland or Xinhua Island.Of course, there are also a small number of retired navy and army personnel. Because they have lived here for a long time, out of various considerations, they finally decided to settle here with their families. They generally have a higher social status, but their number is relatively small.

The climate in Djibouti County is undoubtedly hot, and there is almost no cool time throughout the year.But the hot and hot weather also has an advantage, that is, there are very few mosquitoes, and they are all killed by the heat, especially in summer.That is to say, there will be some mosquitoes after October every year, but they are very least, not enough to pose a threat, so malaria, which has become so popular in Africa, is not a problem here at all.

But the hot and hot weather is generally very unfriendly to agricultural life, especially when the rainfall here is also pitiful.There are one town and three villages in Djibouti. The main agricultural activities are goat and dromedary breeding. The number is not very large, which is very pitiful.The main reason is that it is too dry here, and people have to be careful with the water they drink. Naturally, it is impossible to expand the size of livestock without limit. In short, it is enough to supply the east coast and allied ships. Others Do not ask.

The main economy of Djibouti County is actually the export of salt, including table salt and potassium salt.In terms of table salt, due to the extremely dry and hot climate and the lack of precipitation, sun-cured tobacco on the beach has become a very convenient and extremely low-cost commercial activity in Djibouti. In the increasingly numerous Yicheng area, even the original salt industry of the Tubang Kingdom on the Swahili coast of East Africa has been crushed by Djibouti salt, and the market has been completely occupied.

Needless to say, potassium salt is needed by the booming chemical industry in the east coast, and the transportation volume has gradually increased from one ship per year at the beginning to three to four ships.Not only is there demand in the industry, but even the agricultural field is now asking for the research and utilization of methods, so the future sales of potassium salt are still promising.

It is worth mentioning that the production of table salt is near the port of Djibouti, and the mining of potassium salt is in the inland area of ​​Salt Lake Township.Near the township is a salt lake called Asal Lake, which is rich in various mineral salts including potassium salts. Since it was discovered by the east coast expedition team, it has been continuously mined until now.

The people who produced and transported potassium salt were black people nearby.These people do not have any social status or official status in Djibouti County, and they are not accepted by the Taoist priests outside the city because they believe in Green Buddhism.The main reason why these people have not been driven away is that they are the labor force needed by the salt lake and various construction sites in Djibouti County, and they are indispensable, so they have stayed until now.However, it will be a matter of time before they leave. Once there are enough immigrants from the east coast in the future (this is doubtful), they will not be able to find jobs if they are no longer needed, so they can only pack their bags and leave.

"Djibouti's main economic income is the export of salt, and the second is to collect some tolls from passing ships. However, except for a small amount of vegetables and fruits, food here cannot be completely self-sufficient, and the use of fresh water must be limited. The conditions are still It is very difficult, and the county does not have much financial surplus, and most of it is used to purchase daily necessities." Said Liu Zhenchao Shao Shuguang, Director of the Djibouti Management Committee and Commander of the Garrison, and Navy Lieutenant.

Although Shao has already stepped down as the general manager of the well-known Bank of Taiwan, he has accumulated a huge network of contacts and relationships during his years of tenure, and his potential influence must not be underestimated.Besides, he is only 50 or [-] years old, and he is in his prime, so it is impossible to retire now!It is said that after returning to China, he may become the boss of a large state-owned enterprise, which is still an important task within the system.What's more, his brother Shao Yaoguang is now the captain of the New China Pioneering Team, and Djibouti County was managed by him before, so he has a lot to rely on, so it is very necessary to be respectful.

Of course Shao Shuguang knew what the juniors were thinking, but he didn't show too much arrogance.Director Liu Zhen Liu is the grandson of Liu Dafa, a veteran of the navy. He graduated from Bingtuanbao Ship Command and is not even 30 years old this year. He has a bright future and an unlimited future.Shao Shuguang doesn't mind showing some kindness to make friends with this kind of cutting-edge back, so that we can meet each other in the future.

Therefore, he quickly said: "A considerable part of the various materials that Djibouti County currently needs is supplied by Xinhua, right? How about this, when I pass by Xinhua Port on the return journey, I will inform my brother and let him Within the scope of my authority, I will supply you with as many commodities as possible. Especially commodities such as cloth, grain, canned food, wine, medicine, tools, timber and building materials are not a big deal to them. Individual volume, a little coordination between regions, some materials will be evened out, simple!"

Liu Zhen breathed a sigh of relief when he heard it, and was also very happy at the same time.Being an official in Djibouti is actually not much different from being the leader of a gang of beggars.Tolls to and from ships?Please, the ships of the East African Transportation Company are relatively fixed. Sometimes the immigrant ships go here, and sometimes they go directly south.The gang of grandsons ran to Mogadishu for supplies every now and then, and they were unwilling to come to Djibouti because the reason was that it was far away from the route and the food and water were more expensive. Liu Zhen was really angry and scolded his mother.

Although the sale of salt did make a lot of money, it greatly improved the finances of Djibouti County.However, on the one hand, they have to support the army (500 people), and at the same time import a large amount of living materials.Especially the latter, causing a headache for the whole county!As for the situation in Djibouti County, everyone knows that we can only open up some fields on a small scale in some seasonal rivers or places with springs in the inland mountains to grow melons, fruits and vegetables and a small amount of drought-resistant sorghum.

But this kind of land is too little, and the water is too scarce. The food cannot be self-sufficient at all. It can only be sold by selling cattle, sheep, melons, fruits and vegetables in exchange for grains - melons, fruits and vegetables are the key items for supplying ships. They belong to the crops that must be produced, and they are also an important thing for them to exchange for money. In fact, the local people do not consume them often. It became inevitable that some of the income from the salt industry should be used to purchase grain.

And if food is still relatively cheap, and we can find a way to solve it slowly, then the purchase of a large number of labor tools and daily necessities will require more funds.You know, Djibouti County can’t even produce basic daily necessities such as cloth, and all the building materials and timber needed to build houses have to be purchased from outside. There is almost nothing. More than 95% of daily necessities need to be imported from outside. The capital required is not a small amount.Therefore, in order to supply the military and civilian needs of the entire county, the government has to take a large part of the salt industry sales profits to pay for this part of the expenses.

Only after deducting the above two parts of expenses can the Djibouti Management Committee invest the remaining funds in local construction and a little resettlement. As for education and medical funds, it cannot be said that there are no funds, but in short it is very little.So now you know how hard life is for the Djibouti Management Committee and how hard it is for the people.And because of this, Liu Zhen was overjoyed when Shao Shuguang mentioned that his elder brother would transfer some tools and daily necessities to Djibouti within the scope allowed by the policy, and it really helped them a lot!

"Djibouti is located in an important city, and its location is dangerous. It has always been a strategic node that the Ministry of the Navy attaches great importance to. Now the Netherlands, England and other countries have not realized the importance of the Red Sea, so no one competes with us. Even this piece of land The original nominal owner, the Ottoman Empire, also thought it was a worthless barren land, so we were able to buy it with goods worth tens of thousands of dollars." Shao Shuguang breathed faintly with a gust of sand In the earthy air, he pointed to the gentle bay in front of him, and said: "So you must maintain this colony, no matter how difficult it is, you must not give up. Our country's interests in the Red Sea are becoming more and more dominant. Yes, not to mention that it is very convenient to go to the Arabian Peninsula, Persia and India from here. Once the enemy occupies it, it will be very troublesome. Taking advantage of few people noticing now, we will take root here first, and then take the opportunity to grow bigger until others until it can't shake us."

Liu Zhen nodded after listening.He is a navy, so of course he knows how important Djibouti is. In fact, the Red Sea has now become a very profitable commercial market. The trade volume of the Arabian Peninsula and the Ottoman Empire is increasing day by day, not to mention that it also radiates the Persian market. The importance of this place Even more important than the Asian part of the Ottoman Empire.Therefore, Djibouti will not be abandoned anyway, which can be seen from the continuous construction of large docks here for the ships of the East-Portuguese United Fleet to dock.Even, Liu Zhen once received instructions to send an advance detachment to land on Socotra Island in the sea to the east when the time was right, looking for an opportunity to establish a stable base, but he was told that the conditions were not met. refused for a reason.

It can be seen from these things that the navy still attaches great importance to Djibouti.Therefore, even if Shao Shuguang didn't mention it this time, the Second Fleet may request Xinhua Island to allocate some supplies to them in the future.Xinhua Island, whose foreign trade is very developed, has always had a close relationship with the Navy, so it should not be rejected, but it goes without saying.

Shao Shuguang even felt that once Djibouti has spare capacity in the future, or if the country increases investment, they may expand to the inland Abyssinia region.After all, Djibouti is dry and lacks water, so it has no future. Only when it gets the inland plateau as its hinterland, can it really play its role, but it is just that it is not known when this plan will actually be implemented.

Shao Shuguang and others did not stay long in the hot place of Djibouti.After resettling seventy or eighty immigrants who were in poor health due to long-term voyages, the rest waited for the boat five days later, continued to sail south, and arrived at the staged destination Xinhua Port on February 1686, 2. .

(End of this chapter)