Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2194 The Endgame of the Central Plateau

January 1692, 12, early morning.

The melodious bugle sounded slowly, and Man Xiaofeng, who lived in the Huitong Hotel in Mianhegang, got up from the bed in frustration, opened the curtains, and took a breath: why are there so many reserve soldiers in yellow clothes? Gathering?

He roughly counted the number of people, there are probably more than 1000 people, maybe 2000 people, he is not sure.Counting heads is a professional military skill. He has not received training in this area, but he guesses that this is where all the officers and soldiers of the security regiment in the county have gathered here. What are they going to do?

As a maritime businessman with a strong adventurous gene, Man Xiaofeng is very interested in all kinds of military operations—whether it is land or sea military operations—so he watched this group of suspected militiamen with relish After queuing up for roll call and receiving the equipment, he quickly closed the curtains, opened the door, and called a yawning waiter to inquire about the situation.

"They are indeed militias!" The waiter nodded and confirmed, "It's not a secret operation. The document was issued a month ago at the earliest, and the armed forces of all counties and townships have received orders to send militias to Gather in the county. My brother is a second lieutenant in the reserve service and also the director of the village militia. He brought 52 militiamen from the village to the county last week, and then he has been living in the military camp for training. something."

"Besides, there are even more exciting things—" At this point, the waiter suddenly paused, and then blinked at Man Xiaofeng.

Man Xiaofeng smiled, then took out a silver coin from the crocodile leather wallet on the table, threw it into the waiter's hand, and signaled him to continue talking.

"It turned out to be one yuan. These sea merchants are really generous! They are much better than those local merchants who give a dime or two dime and still withhold it." The waiter stuffed the silver coin into his trouser pocket in surprise, and said: " In fact, there are similar situations in other counties. In Xindeng County in the north, the militias were also assembled. They were even earlier. All the militiamen were shooting live ammunition after receiving the equipment. It seems that there is a big action this time, Mr. Man. Be careful, and don't go to the countryside in the near future to avoid being detained and questioned by the army, they have always been very unreasonable."

"How do you know that the militiamen in Xindeng County are conducting live ammunition shooting training?" Man Xiaofeng raised his chin and asked.

"Uh, that's because I have a little relationship with the post office next door, and I know that a businessman from there has telegraphed to report this rare business opportunity." The waiter replied.In fact, that's right. Recently, he fell in love with a lady telegrapher from the post office, and he often pestered him when he had nothing to do. Therefore, he got some news by chance and sold it to Man Xiaofeng for one dollar today. I feel quite profitable.

"It's really convenient to have a telegram." Man Xiaofeng sighed.

Of course he knew that Ma Wanpeng's daughter Ma Xiaoling was basically in charge of post and telecommunications business in Xinhua Island and Yicheng area.This woman is very aggressive, or ambitious.She thinks very highly of herself, and often claims that her current success is entirely due to her own ability, rather than her prominent family background, which has caused mixed reviews from many people.

Ma Xiaoling's official position is the general manager of the New China Post and Telecommunications Company.This is a wholly-owned state-owned enterprise. The local Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications holds the vast majority of the shares, and the New Huaxia local government holds the rest. Originally, Dongan Company also made equity investment, but it withdrew after making a profit a few years ago and sold the shares to The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has turned it into a purely state-owned enterprise.

Ma Xiaoling is good at dancing. After slowly spreading the cable telegraph network all over the island (in fact, it is a network around the coastline), she began to enter the Yicheng area again, and obtained the local permission to lay the network and run the business here.That is to say, Ma Xiaoling is now basically the queen of the post and telecommunications departments in the Indian Ocean area, not to mention powerful, but her influence must be extremely astonishing and must not be underestimated.

General manager Ma has been married twice and divorced twice, and currently lives by himself with three children.His eldest son, Qin Yushan, runs a cable factory in Tacheng County, and also produces some gadgets needed for wired telegraphy, and the profit is not bad.The second son, Lu Zhendong, runs the food industry. His family's palm plantations are spread all over the east coast, bringing in a lot of profits every year.One daughter is currently studying in the local Bingtuanbao, majoring in finance and finance. It is said that she will work for the New China Post and Telecommunications Company after graduation, which is eye-catching.

"So, this time, not only the militias of Mianhe County were dispatched, but also the militias of other counties? This is a big move. Xinhua Island is really rich, and the war with more than 1 soldiers Expenses are not a small amount, and it's amazing to be able to save them." Man Xiaofeng said with emotion.

"Who says it's not? Xinhua Island now has a population of more than [-], Italian non-citizens no less than [-], and Malays non-nationals no less than [-]. This is what the census data said, and it was published in the newspapers. It's amazing, right? " Xu is because of the one dollar tip, the waiter is willing to chat with Man Xiaofeng for a while, but his mouth seems a little poor, so he continued: "In Xinhua County in the north, they come from Persia all day long. Merchants in China, Ottoman, India and other places, don’t do too much business. Let me just say that for the goods we specialize in, local producers may not necessarily earn as much as us.”

What the waiter said was true.Since Xinhua Island complained many years ago that most of the companies conducting entrepot trade were registered in the mainland, but their business was in Xinhua Port, the local government has rectified this, causing a large number of trading companies to change their registration to Xinhua Port. Staying here, the promotion of the local economy is very obvious.

"The coal and timber industries in the east may not be doing well in recent years. Well, I was originally born on the east coast and worked in the Tacheng coal mine, and was later laid off. But in recent years, the local pepper, oil palm, rice The plantation economy has developed rapidly, and it has slowly returned to its heyday many years ago. I sometimes think that it is time to go home and find a job. Haha, of course that is just a dream, and I have already found a job here.” The waiter seemed to be in a mood, and he said with dancing: "Needless to say on the west coast, Mr. Man, you also know that cotton, leather, and dry farming are very developed, as well as medicinal herb planting, gold, iron ore, and fishing. Probably It is the wealthiest and most densely populated area on the island. So, our government is rich and can do whatever it wants.”

"You are very talented in speech." Man Xiaofeng praised, and then said: "So the government has raised a huge amount of military expenditure, and plans to strike a thunderbolt against the Melina people on the central plateau. After raising pigs for so long, Regardless of fat or not, they will be slaughtered. The people of Melina have become history, and it has only been a few years."

After finishing speaking, Man Xiaofeng bid farewell to the waiter, then returned to his room, dressed neatly, then went down to the restaurant downstairs, ordered a breakfast and ate in silence, while pricking up his ears, listening to the same thing as eating here What are the businessmen from all over the place talking about at breakfast.Huitong Hotel is the premier hotel on the west coast. It is four floors high, luxuriously decorated, and the charges are not very expensive. It has always been the first choice for businessmen from all over the world.

"...More than just the west coast, the south coast, the east coast, and Xinhua County in the north will all be mobilized. It is said that the Xinhua infantry regiment will be dispatched in full, pushing from north to south; on the east coast, the Zelu area with stronger combat effectiveness The garrison as the core, supplemented by the militia of the three county security regiments, will attack from the coastal plain; here we will also mobilize the security regiments of the three counties, gather together, and attack from the mountain tunnels around Xindeng County; the south will also mobilize The security regiment of a county, plus the brave Bara and Mahafari who surrendered to us, rushed from the plateau desert area and broke into the central plateau. Oh, the four-way army moved together, which is really a grand occasion that has not been seen in many years Well, the people of Melina are probably in danger!" A fat eater shook his huge head and said frothyly.

"Hey, Lao Li, you are not an army staff officer, how can you know such a detailed plan? You even know the route to attack from the mountain pass in Xindeng County. Are you a god? I don't know if the Melinas will be finished." I know, but if you can't get rid of your bragging habit, Old Li, I think you will be finished sooner or later." A slender diner sitting at the table next to him disdainfully said that he and Old Li didn't get along very well. , this meeting will try to dismantle the stage.

"Fuck you, Yang Zhugan, dare you to gamble with me, 500 yuan!" The fat diner couldn't bear the humiliation, so he stood up directly, pointing at the skinny businessman and cursed.

"Just gamble, I'm still afraid of what will happen to you." The thin man took out a five hundred yuan East Coast Agricultural Bank acceptance draft from his bag, and said with a stiff neck, "I'll take your bet, don't afford to lose." .”

Man Xiaofeng laughed when he saw this farce, and at the same time he knew in his heart that Xinhua Island probably really wanted to attack the Melina people in the central plateau.The surrounding coastline has basically been controlled by the people on the east coast, and the economies of various places have also developed well. It is time to expand their territory.The Central Plateau has a cool climate and fertile land, and there are hundreds of thousands of Malays living on it.

Man Xiaofeng didn't think the East Coast people could win this war, all he cared about was how long this war would last and how much it would cost.In addition, how the large number of Melinas on the central plateau will be resettled is also a matter of concern.It is estimated that they will eventually be exiled to the Yicheng area across the sea, and eventually drive them to the vicinity of the yellow-black dividing line.

"Looks like it's time to go to the Far East. First, you can do business, and second, you can bring more people over. Whether it's Xinhua Island or Yicheng area, after expanding the territory, people will always need people to fill in the gaps? This business , I guess I can do it!" Man Xiaofeng finally thought: "It's not too late, I have to sort it out quickly, and then go to the Far East to try my luck."

(End of this chapter)