Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2045 Hunting Country ([-])

On January 1689, 1, on the sunny day, in the outskirts of Hexi Township, a large team was walking on the uninhabited grassland.

It will not be long before dawn, and the air is fresh and humid.The early birds sang beautiful songs, the squirrels sniffed and sniffed around in the air of little furry nobles, and the woodpeckers kept making tuk-tok sounds, like a series of greetings.

There was not a single cloud in the sky, which seemed to indicate that today was another unusually hot day on the Chaco Plain.Wang Dazhuang was riding on a horse, planning to take advantage of the cool weather in the early morning to walk more, so as to save everyone from suffering in the hot weather.

Wang Dazhuang and his team brought enough supplies such as tea, cigarettes, wine, etc., in order to have some recreational items during the next month-long journey.The road was newly built and not long. It was less than ten kilometers from the township government to a pioneer village, and it was all paved with cinders.There are long wooden fences on both sides of the road. On the other side of the wooden fence are some bison with wide eyes. They have just been captured not too long ago. They are wild and untamed, and they always have mixed feelings when they see humans.

Maybe that's hate?Wang Dazhuang was not very sure.

There are some crows standing on the top of the wooden fence. They are not afraid of people, and they can even be said to be "malicious".Because every time Wang Dazhuang heard their "croaking" noise, he always felt that they were laughing at him as a fool, especially after he accidentally rode his horse into a swamp.

The bison were tended by some prisoners of war from Russia.Their mood seems to be okay, better than imagined, maybe because the real living standard on the east coast makes them satisfied?Several clergymen in navy blue priestly robes walked by the side of the road with friendly faces. They greeted Wang Dazhuang and others, and then went straight to the back of the wooden fence.Let the heretics have the correct beliefs, which is their most passionate job, not one of them.

After passing through the Niu Lan area, some green farmland gradually appeared on both sides of the road.The beans in the field seem to be growing well, and some farmers wearing straw hats are busy in the field.Some of them even came to the field to weed at five o'clock in the morning. The reason was the same as Wang Dazhuang's. They took advantage of the cooler morning to do more work, and then hid at home to rest at noon.They generally have some sideline jobs, producing some handicrafts, which are not convenient for mass production by machines, and sell them in the village fairs to increase their income.

Across the field was a cleared wasteland.The trees above have been cut down, and the weeds and bushes have been burned by a fire. Now there are a lot of processed wood, construction materials such as yellow sand and stones, and some dry branches.Wang Dazhuang knew that these were the materials needed by the construction team who came to repair the irrigation canal.Along the Paraguay River, if a flood occurs in the upstream area, it will also affect the downstream area, so good flood control and conservancy facilities are indispensable.You know, your central government brought so many pioneers from the inland areas not to see how they struggled in the flood, but to let them settle down and live in the local area.

"Gentle, serene, yet energetic, it's like a Chinese village in the wrong latitude. Oh, well, maybe it's an improved version of the Chinese countryside without personal attachment and land exploitation. I quite like it." Wang Dazhuang While looking at the far and near scenery, he naturally said to himself: "Here has a good climate, excellent farmland, and hardworking people. Well, some cottage industries have also developed in the past two years, and people's lives have improved. Significant improvement, the poverty surrounding the countryside in the past two years has subsided a lot. As their parent officer, I am very relieved."

"But—" Wang Dazhuang changed the topic again before the people around him came to flatter him, and said, "But after working for several years, I think we still have a wall here, a transparent and heavy wall. I think you also I know more or less that a large number of immigrants from the Ming, Shun, Qing and other countries in the East have poured into the country for decades. The number of them and their descendants has accumulated up to now, which is already a very scary number. The total number must be countless There are as many as one million, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total population of our country. Compared with them, the number of immigrants from Europe is much smaller than them, and they are quite discriminated against. Once upon a time, the glorious and great founder of the country set The right way of intermarriage and national integration, but now that the country has been established for nearly 60 years, this policy has existed in name only. Look at it, even in a newly opened place like Hexi Township, people with black hair and black eyes occupy the most Good farmland, the best mines, and the most profitable workshops, they basically all have surnames from the East, and some even have prominent surnames such as Mo, Shao, Xiao, Liu, Ma, and Li. "

To be honest, Wang Dazhuang, like most members of his family, is an old leftist on the east coast who upholds universal values.They are very concerned about the living conditions of immigrants from Europe, and also concerned about the precarious situation of native Indians struggling to survive. They have been writing articles in various media criticizing certain policies of the East Coast government.When the mixed blood ceiling policy was broken and three generations began to prevail, the diversity of the East Coast immigrant country has been slowly weakening. This made the leftists led by Wang and Montessori very dissatisfied, thinking that this restricted the East Coast The attraction to foreign capital and talents reduces the firepower of cultural self-renewal and seriously affects future development.

"If you look at the Hexi region, there are Chinese, Russians, Italians, native-born people from the east bank, and even a few Ottoman Turks. Among these people, only the east bank is the real one. People and Chinese, Russians, Italians and Turks can only work as hired workers and low-level farmers, which is obviously a kind of discrimination. Even, for some Quechua Indians who came to us on their own initiative, the country pioneered People in the General Administration actually think they are a 'harmful race', accusing them of all kinds of vices and indulgent behaviors, and at the same time they are weak in body and mentally retarded, and must be sent to the African colonies, which is simply ridiculous." Wang Dazhuang continued .

While he was speaking, the horse passed a wooden bridge, at the end of which two Italians who were about to cross the bridge hastily stepped aside, and took off their hats timidly.Wang Dazhuang saw that they were actually young, in their early thirties, but their faces were covered with dimples, and their skin was darkened by the scorching sun and wind and sand. It seemed that their daily life was very hard.

Wang Dazhuang sighed, and suddenly lost the interest to continue talking.He hates the current bad atmosphere in terms of ethnicity and race on the east coast, but ironically, this time he will go to Salta, Tucumán and other places on the west side of the Chaco Plain to ask the Spanish colonial government to restrict the deployment of Some cavalry units on the Chaco Plain are convenient for the east coast pioneers, hunters and other bandits who cross the border, and can more easily slaughter and capture Indians.Perhaps knowing that this is a bit disgraceful, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not intend to send official diplomats to the west at all this time, but let Wang Dazhuang, a local official who has not yet been established in theory-the Hexi area is still Spanish territory. The East Coast government also sent a management agency, but in theory, these people have not yet become regulars, and they are all unorganized-it is also a must to go to do it for them.

Of course, this behavior seems a bit self-deceiving.Nowadays, the number of all kinds of people from the east coast flocking to the Chaco Plain is extremely large. Even in Qingdao Port, the most prosperous big city on the east coast, there is a public offering of a bond with the land of the Chaco Plain as collateral. The bonds, with a coupon rate of 4.5%, are used to raise the expenses required for the various colonial activities of the East Coast government on the Chaco Plain, including some shady funds allocated to intelligence agencies. It is really shameless to say that.

Wang Dazhuang had seen too many unorganized and undisciplined adventurers from the mainland in Hexi Township, and thought that these people were "bandits with extremely poor military discipline" and "genocide mercenaries".These people engaged in all kinds of sinister activities on the Chaco Plain, robbed all kinds of prey, seized all kinds of resources, and lingered in various mobile caravans all day long after making money, spending time, drinking, and having fun, just like rotten people. I.

But the damage they wrought was enormous!The traditional hunting grounds of the Quechua Indians were seized by as many as a thousand east coast hunters. The buffalo herd, which was their important source of food, was also discovered and captured by the east coast adventurers one by one. The bandits on the shore (in fact, there are many intelligence officials among these people) are very interested in capturing the Quechuas themselves.All of this has undoubtedly brought a heavy blow to the Quechua people who have lived here for generations. Their food sources are insufficient, the number of children born is reduced, people are malnourished, and the entire ethnic group is in a serious crisis. middle.

To make matters worse, the Spanish colonial government, which nominally ruled them, did nothing about this, and sat back and watched the East Coasters make trouble in this land, as if it had nothing to do with them.Of course, not all Spanish colonists are like this. There are also some priests or soldiers who try to interfere and stop all this, but their power is too small, and it seems that they will disappear soon-no, Wang Dazhuang followed the order of his superiors and went to Sa Huerta, Tucuman and other places "protested", protesting that some Spanish soldiers harmed the interests of the merchants on the east coast, and asked them to correct all this immediately.

For all this, Wang Dazhuang could only sigh.He is a native of the East Coast, so he naturally thinks and fights for the interests of the East Coast Republic, but he also does not want to see the current phenomenon of demons dancing wildly on the Chaco Plain and serious acts of genocide.However, he also knew that he was powerless to change all of this. He only hoped that as many Quechua Indians would survive as possible. Even if they were all forced to move to Africa, Australia and other places by the East Coast government in the end, it would be better than death.At the same time, he also hoped that the East Coast government would be more civilized in the future, and stop beating and killing people at will, because this is not humane at all.The strength of humanitarianism is undoubtedly an important symbol of a society's progress.

Wang Dazhuang and his group traveled westward without encountering any obstacles on the road, but they encountered a Spanish cavalry interception and interrogation when they were approaching the city of Salta a hundred kilometers away.After learning that they were envoys, the Spanish cavalry didn't bother them any more and let them go happily.Although the Indian or mixed-race Indian soldiers in the team were not very fond of the people on the east coast, the noble officers from the Iberian Peninsula knew the energy of the people on the east coast, so they strictly restrained the team and sent several cavalry generals who were familiar with the geography. They lead to Salta.

Salta was the center of Spanish rule in the western Chaco Plain.Strictly speaking, this place is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Buenos Aires Prosecutor's Court, but under the jurisdiction of the Chalcas Prosecutor's Court. However, because of the high mountain barrier, it is basically autonomous at present, with only one month a month. A team of mules and horses crossed the mountains to and from Upper Peru and Chaco, and the ruling foundation was not very deep.

Therefore, when Wang Dazhuang and others came to the city, what they finally saw was a certain general under the jurisdiction of the Chalkas Procuratorate District.But it doesn't matter, Mr. Wang's task is to send a letter and make a brief negotiation. It doesn't matter if you don't see a big person, anyway, just bring the meaning.This general named Vicente doesn't look like a guy full of patriotism, but a standard politician-type soldier. He is older and has passed the bloody stage. Now he is focused on making money. The most fearful thing is that the instability of the jurisdiction will lead to the accountability of the superiors, and eventually lose the current position.

Therefore, the result was basically predictable. After receiving the protest from the east bank, General Vicente immediately gave up, saying that he would strictly restrain his subordinates and strictly prohibit any Spanish soldiers from doing anything that would harm the interests of the merchants and people on the east bank.Such a statement basically announced that the people on the east coast can carry out various activities on the Chaco Plain at will, while the Spaniards can only watch. This made Wang Dazhuang and his party feel relieved, and their goal has been achieved. .

Of course, General Vicente was also very aware of the people on the east coast coveting the Chaco Plain, and also understood that the existence of the Chaco Plain was related to the smoothness of their country's backup routes for transporting American gold and silver.But so what?As a veteran soldier who had served half his life in the colony, Vicente was more aware of the strength of the East Coast army, and knew that once they made up their minds, the Governor of Peru would have nothing to do.Therefore, it is ineffective and unwise to use a tough attitude to intensify conflicts.

If the people on the east coast want land, let them do it. At least they are still civilized and will give money, which is good for everyone.It is said that the Madrid royal family has worked hard in the past few years to imitate and learn from various systems on the east coast, sweep away decades of decline, and make Spain great again.But to be honest, this so-called reform requires the full support and cooperation of the East Coast government, especially the introduction of industrial technology and the establishment of systems, all of which hide countless big pits, and it is unimaginable without the help of East Coast people .

And in order to reward the people on the east bank for their help, it seems inevitable to cede some land.Regarding this point, General Vicente thought he had a deep understanding.

(End of this chapter)