Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2041 Unity River ([-])

On December 12, there was another heavy rain.

Xiao Guang, who was fishing and relaxing by the wild river ditch outside, fled back in a panic with a few leaves on his head.As soon as he entered the township government compound, the deputy head of the township pulled him over, took him to the cafeteria, and then introduced several officials who were waiting for dinner here.

These people are all officials from the State Development Bureau, a total of nine people, six are clerks, two are department-level cadres, and one is the deputy director. According to reports, they are going to the Tuanjie River Basin to collect information and plan to set up settlements for the future. Provide evidence.Of course, these nine people are definitely not enough to do things. In fact, they hired a lot of contract workers when they came here. There were dozens of them. Grooms and other handymen work, and they will all live in the compound of the farm tool factory next door and be on call at any time.

The deputy head of the township showed Xiao Guang an official document, which was brought by Deputy Director Sun, the leader of the team. It was jointly signed by the leaders of the Ministry of Geology and the State Development Bureau. There are a dozen people) to cooperate with Deputy Director Lin and the others to enter the mountain together, Fangshan Township will also send [-] militiamen (from five counties on the other side) to accompany them, forming a large team of more than [-] people, along the united The river advances, looking for a suitable place to set up a settlement.

"Captain Xiao, I'm sorry to bother you. Brother, this time, the time is tight and the task is heavy. I have no choice but to invite someone who is familiar with the situation like you. I'm really sorry." Deputy Director Qian said with a smile, Said and handed over a cigarette.

Xiao Guang felt a little displeased when he heard this. Although the Ministry of the Army gave him an order to cooperate with the Ministry of Geology, and he didn't say the deadline, but after all, he is a member of the Army and an officer. So how dare you call yourself?It's fine to ask myself to work for the Ministry of Geology, but now I'm actually asked to cooperate with the guys from the State Development Bureau. Doesn't the Ministry of Geology regard me as one of them?

But then again, what else can he say when he, Xiao, is thrown into this shitty place?Those bastards in the Ministry of the Army probably forgot about themselves long ago, mother, what's so pretentious?Keep a low profile, do things well, it's good for you.When I return to the Ministry of the Army in the future, I will take care of those grandchildren.Therefore, he was only stunned for a couple of seconds, then smiled, took the cigarette handed over by Deputy Director Qian, and said, "Hey, Garden brand, high-end goods. It seems that your department has better benefits, and less soup than ours." The water army system is much stronger."

"Where is it? From now on, we will all stir food in the same pot. How can we share it with each other?" Deputy Director Qian greeted Xiao Guang to sit down, and said with a smile: "I have brothers, so I naturally have brother Xiao. Xiao Huang, Go to my dormitory to get two cigarettes and send them to Brother Xiao."

The deputy mayor saw that the two sides were very harmonious, so he breathed a sigh of relief, and greeted the old horse in charge of the canteen with a smile to bring the meal.The staple food for dinner is noodle cakes, which are also the staple food of many new settlement residents on the east coast. They are very popular because they are easy to make, durable to store, and taste good.

Lao Ma is a veteran who fought bravely during his service. He was once expected to be promoted to be a second lieutenant officer. However, he was wounded in the battle against the Indians in the highlands of Brazil and left with a disability in his leg. Minor things like the logistics canteen can be regarded as stock-level cadres.

Lao Ma brought up three big pots of sesame seed cakes with a few helpers.Most of them are vegetarian cakes, that is, without fillings, with a little salt in the noodles and some sesame seeds on the surface of the cakes, which look pretty good.In addition, there are less pancakes. There is not only salt, but also chopped green onion and oil in the noodles. The beef filling is inside. Although it is marinated red meat, it is quite good.

"Major, there is no next meal after this meal. Just now, I made a thousand cakes for the last fifty buckets of noodles in Curry, and I prepared them for the brothers who explored." Although there were guests present, but The old horse didn't seem to give the deputy mayor any face at all, so he continued: "I heard that the convoy of the national reserve grain depot was delayed due to the heavy rain. This was reported by their messenger on a fast horse. It will take about ten It will take about ten days for the food to be delivered. Township chief, you have to think about how to get it in these ten days, everyone can’t go hungry."

"Why is this food consumed so quickly?" The deputy head of the township became impatient when he heard this, and asked without any customers present, "I remembered that there were still a lot of food at the beginning of last month. Why did it become empty all of a sudden? It's only a thousand cakes." Ah, not tens of thousands."

"Who told this wave of people to come to our Fangshan Township?" Lao Ma gave the deputy head a look, and he didn't seem to respect him very much, so he continued: "A total of three groups of people came last month. , the regional research team, the Dongjin head office investigation team, and the army staff travel staff. In only three days this month, two groups have already come, and the building materials company has already come. Now the country develops There is another group of people from the General Administration. Township head, each group will consume a lot of food for us. Although they have given money, who cares about money? It’s not like you don’t know, you’re really hungry, you can eat a bag of golden beans for a few cakes…”

"Okay, old horse, don't talk about it." The deputy head of the township immediately interrupted him, and then turned to Qian Jin, the deputy director of the Development Bureau (the grandson of Qian Hao, an early senior official on the East Bank, 35 years old this year), and the expedition leader. Xiao Guang said with an embarrassed smile: "Hehe, I made you laugh. The old horse has such a temper, and he is a straightforward person. It's not that he has any opinions on you. Everyone can eat at ease and don't worry about other things. There are several grain shops in the village. Later, I will write a few notes and ask the old horse to borrow food, and it will not be a big problem for a temporary turnaround."

The old horse snorted when he heard the words, turned around and went outside the door, and came back after a while, bringing two helpers with him, and brought some dishes for everyone: two large plates of deliciously roasted dried meat, a pot of stewed potatoes, several Some pickles, some fruits, and two bottles of white wine.It can be seen that although Lao Ma has some complaints about the arrival of groups of expedition teams, expedition teams, research teams, etc., he is still relatively conscientious in his work. For example, this meeting will be clearly arranged for everyone. ,very good.

"They're all local products, so hurry up and eat them while they're hot. Especially this preserved crocodile meat, which is baked by Lao Ma himself. He's a good cook. Everyone should try it." The deputy head of the village said while pouring wine for everyone.

The East Coast has been developing for nearly 60 years, the land area is getting bigger and bigger, the population—especially the population from all over the world—is increasing, and the differences in folk customs and cultures are gradually becoming apparent.Taking food as an example, except that sesame seed cakes and steamed cakes are popular all over the country and are one of the staple foods of people in most regions, the others are quite different.For example, Fangshan Township is not close to the sea, and the transportation facilities are poor, so basically it can only tap the potential locally, with many animals in the nearby forest as the main source of meat, and occasionally some high-priced pickled meat imported from other places. Meat and salted fish, but not too much.After all, after unloading the goods from Changshun Port, they have to be transported by long-distance mules and horses (the Beining Railway is still under construction), and the cost is naturally not much lower.

Compared with them, the residents on the east coast prairie who developed the earliest food were much finer.Tea, coffee, cocoa and various spices and seasonings are so cheap that ordinary workers can afford them, and beef and salted fish can be bought all over the street.Various high-end restaurants targeting high-spending groups have also sprung up in urban areas, offering a variety of fine foods, high-end alcohol and various seafood that people in the inland areas have never seen before. The difference is not ordinary.

In addition to food, other aspects of the difference are also very large.Like the cafeteria where they eat now, the ground is still muddy and full of potholes.Every spring, a few bamboo shoots transplanted by old horses from other places will emerge from the ground, which is also drunk.The furnishings in the house are also very simple, with no drapes, curtains, tapestries, or murals, it is really low-end.

The families of Xiao Guang, Qian Jin and others are located in the big coastal cities, similar to many houses that have become rich. Some paintings bought from the art market are very comfortable to look at.

Their furniture is also very nice.Compared with the simple (or crude) furniture of Europe, the furniture styles of the people on the east coast are much more beautiful.Take the bed as an example. Because the local and overseas colonies are rich in high-quality wood, the materials used for the bed are very particular first. There are very few cheap pine woods, and they are generally tropical hardwoods. They look very luxurious, but they are actually not expensive.

The carving of the bed is also very particular.There are carvings of various mythological stories, religious themes, and various landscapes, etc., which are very time-consuming and very particular.Xiao Guang's home is in Qingdao County, the largest city on the east coast. Part of his bed is made of ivory, which is jaw-dropping. The couch he sleeps on is also made of Brazilian mahogany. It's too bad.

Naturally, such luxurious furniture cannot be popular in poor inland areas.There are too many residents here who use a few boards to make beds. In summer, they put a broken reed mat on top, in autumn they add a mattress, and in winter they add a blanket (because the weather is not cold enough to survive). Shabby, but functional enough.

Of course, the affluent eastern regions are not only leading in terms of food, housing, and transportation. They are even more ahead in clothing.Because of the relatively developed industry and commerce, these areas have already passed the difficult stage of primitive accumulation, and can comfortably exploit foreign countries, backward areas of the country, and overseas colonies through trade, so the income level of the people is relatively high.

The increase in income level naturally makes them willing to spend money to improve the quality of life and taste.For example, people in the inland areas who live in poverty mainly wear durable clothes, usually denim or other thick cloth clothes, and sometimes there are patches on the crotch, knees, and elbows, which can be seen as the simple appearance of working people.But in the eastern cities headed by Dongfang, Ping'an, and Qingdao, the clothes of the residents are quite different.Among them, men may be relatively simple in terms of clothing styles, at most they use exquisite materials, but women are notorious, silk is made of silk, professionally sewn ribbons (capes, shawl styles), skirts and other clothing It is very popular, which not only shows that the development of textile and printing and dyeing industries on the east coast has reduced the cost of various materials, but also reflects the wealth of coastal residents on the east coast.

Compared with them, this inland area is really far behind.The barbaric area is not called for nothing!

(End of this chapter)