Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2282 March of Suffering ([-])

The vast African shield has been on land since the Precambrian period.Around the early Jurassic period, the current outline appeared.During this long period of about 4000 million years, the shield continued to move along the vertical direction, forming a structural pattern of depressions and uplifts.The uplift rises along the east, stretching from Abyssinia to South Africa, forming a belt of plateaus adjoining plateaus.Along the north-south direction of the East African uplift, there is a series of rift valleys running through it, forming some large lakes.

After the rise of those plateaus, under the denudation of continuous erosion cycles, the late sediments and soft rock layers were peeled off in a large area, exposing the ancient shield composed of the Precambrian rock layers, some of which were originally buried deeply. deep.These Precambrian schists and gneiss formed the basis of much of the land around Lake Malawi.

"I talked to Sloppy and he had three demands. One, he wanted to go along the valley of the Great Dragon (Shire) and the Lake of Fire (Lake Malawi or Lake Niassa, because the sun falls on the lake, The lake produces a dazzling flame-like light, hence the name) for the development of the lakeside area; second, he needs a loan. The New World Friendship and Mutual Bank promised to provide a long-term loan of 50 yuan after the success of the founding of the country, and he wants to implement it as soon as possible; third , he doesn’t want to establish a republic, in fact he wants to be a king.” On the shore of Lake Malawi on the outskirts of Merrill City, a second lieutenant staff officer of the East Coast Army was admiring the lake shrouded in drizzle.

"Hehe, there are quite a lot of requirements." Another official in black uniform was amazed and said, "The first point is actually nothing, and the second point is a bit more troublesome. It's not that I won't give it to him, but it will be a little difficult now. The third point, haha, when he is king, where does the legal system come from?"

"Of course we backed him up and built one ourselves. How did the four Mongolian Khans in the Far East come about? Since ancient times, emperors and soldiers with strong horses and horses did it. We say that he is sloppy, and he can do it, or he can't do it! Well, let's talk about the main point , I think the executive committee will still agree to this. No matter what you want to be, give me a firm root in the local area, and drive the black people to the north. This is their most important job. I guess what the higher-ups mean If there is a political or military strongman in the several countries established, they are allowed to use feudal monarchy. If everyone is dissatisfied with each other and no one has an absolute advantage, then a relatively peaceful republic will be used, and we will suppress it. So, they can only fight but not break, and nothing major will happen. Section Chief Tang, there should be regulations within your General Intelligence Bureau, you can go back and ask."

Section Chief Tang is named Tang Chengzhi, 30 years old this year, a section chief under the General Administration of National Intelligence, and is currently in charge of tracking various affairs of the Sloppy Department of Jianguo in Lake Malawi.It is worth mentioning that his father is Lieutenant Colonel Tang Moyu who has just retired from the military. It is rumored that this person will soon succeed Jiang Yunfan as the director of the Lianwu Management Committee.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this. He can be whatever he likes. In short, he is a vassal of our country. By the way, Officer Tang, you have seen it along the way. The economy or Speaking of material foundation, what do you think? This is related to the purpose of the loan that our country granted him, and I want to hear your opinion." Tang Chengzhi asked.

"I don't have too many suggestions. Let's start with the most basic agriculture first, feed yourself first, multiply the population, and then talk about other things." Tang Staff said: "Sloppy wants to develop along the Dalong River Valley and the lakeside area. Reasonable. I've seen it. It's alluvial soil, very fertile. Just look at the lush white-flowered acacia trees. It's much stronger than the brick-red soil on the plateau. There's corn flowing from the Portuguese side here, black people The tribe planted a lot, and it has almost become their second staple food besides cassava. But there is a problem. According to our experience, the best natural conditions may not necessarily bring the highest production efficiency, and it is often the soil that is not very fertile Can produce more corn. Therefore, in fact, those plateau red soil areas may be more suitable for growing corn than river valleys or lakeside land. After all, this is a subtropical crop, too much rainfall, too high temperature, too high Humidity can make it less productive, Xinhua Island has not been very successful in corn cultivation, although there is a lot of brick red soil there. I think we should formally give advice when they occupy more brick red soil, barren sandy land in the future At that time, we should plant corn on a large scale instead of wasting precious fertile river valley land. Corn is a treasure bestowed by the gods to people living on barren land, but it is not suitable for all areas."

"It makes sense. Maybe they should be allowed to grow more rice. Anyway, there is a well-developed water system, high temperature, high humidity, and high rainfall. Everything is perfect." Tang Chengzhi nodded: "Then, let's talk about cash crops. If it is higher, you can’t make a fortune by planting rice and corn, and the process of repaying debts will be very long.”

In fact, as Tang Chengzhi said, it is indeed a bit slow to rely on selling grain.Now there is a surplus of food on the east coast, and the high-level government is trying to find ways to let the colony use the agricultural products within the east coast system as much as possible—that is, New Courland and Portuguese Mozambique can sell some grain, palm oil, cashew nuts, etc., but There is a quantity limit—your Kingdom of Malawi suddenly dumped a large amount of grain, although it is to pay off the debt, it is not a problem.Moreover, food can't be sold at a high price. Do you think it's coffee, cocoa, tea, rubber?

In fact, later generations of Malawi still have a relatively long history of planting cash crops.As early as 1888, the colonial African Lake District Company introduced two Assamese tea trees, mainly planted in Blantyre on the plateau, and exported 1908 pounds of tea to the UK for the first time in 2.3.By the middle of the 20th century, Malawi's tea exports were already very large, exceeding 1900 million pounds per year (valued at 300 million pounds at the time), and the average yield of 810 pounds per acre was already very high, sometimes more than that of India and Ceylon. The yield per unit area of ​​tea is even higher.

But there are also some problems in growing tea in Malawi.Bearing the brunt of this is competition with the tea-producing regions northeast of the native Hejian on the East Bank.Although the tea production there is not very large, competition is competition, which may harm the interests of tea farmers on the east coast. After all, they have been hit hard by foreign imported tea.Secondly, these Malays don't know how to grow tea, and the areas suitable for tea plantation are still in the hands of black people. I don't know if they can win it.Thirdly, the transportation problem must be solved, and the labor problem cannot be ignored. In short, there are still many problems, and they cannot be solved overnight.

Later Malawi was also the most important producer of tung oil in the Commonwealth of Nations.It's a commodity that's in increasing demand on the East Coast, where the paint industry is booming, not to mention the military.At present, there is also a certain scale of tung oil production in the inter-river region on the east bank, but the output is far from enough, and it needs to be purchased and imported every year. If the Kingdom of Malawi can produce a large amount, it will be a good deal to make money.

In 1927, Malawi was first introduced to the oil tree.After being cultivated and planted, the colonists found out that the tung tree seeds growing in Malawi produced more seeds than those in the place of origin (China).And this economically important tree species can grow in poor soil areas that don't require much rain during the dry season.It's a pity that the area suitable for this kind of tree to grow is also in the plateau area, not the river valley and lakeside area that the Eight Banners of the island are currently trying to control.But there is no doubt that this represents the future. Coffee can be interplanted among the oil trees, which greatly enhances the farmers' ability to resist risks brought about by market price fluctuations.

In addition to the above two cash crops, Malawi also has a cash crop that can make quick money, that is tobacco. Malawi first introduced Virginia tobacco in 1891. By 1960, European plantations employing black tenant farmers had produced more than 550 million pounds of air-cured tobacco, and locals themselves had grown more than 2000 million pounds. Still amazing.Although the quality of Malawi's tobacco may not be as good as that of the Zimbabwe plateau in the south because of the trace elements in the soil, it is quite good, bringing a lot of rare cash income to this poor country.

Basically, tea, tung oil, and tobacco are the three major items for the Kingdom of Malawi to make money in the future. Coffee can only be regarded as a small supplement, not a big one.As for other cashew nuts, peanuts, cotton, sugar cane, etc., later generations will not plant too many, and may only satisfy the local and neighboring markets.After all, there are only so many plateaus where commercial crops can be planted, and one cannot plant one or the other. Then naturally, all kinds of crops can only be arranged according to the international market situation and—and most importantly—the unified guidance of the East Coast government. of planted area.

"It is not up to the local people in Malawi to decide what kind of cash crops to grow. It has to be deployed by the central government. The Kingdom of Malawi is our vassal state and a member of our economic system, so naturally we must obey the arrangement." Staff Officer Tang said without hesitation: "Actually, I don't think the sloppy gang is very worried about how to repay the debt. Anyway, everything is sold to you, so how to repay the debt is up to you, and we will just do it. I guess Is that how they feel?"

"Hehe, what you said is quite vivid, but it is more likely that they haven't considered this step yet. The three strongholds of Weihe, Dalong, and Meilin are far apart and there are not many people. It is very difficult to maintain them at present. It's not easy. In the future, we still have to continue to distribute the Eight Banners of the island here, so that the total population under its jurisdiction reaches tens of thousands, so that we can finally gain a foothold." Tang Chengzhi said with a smile: "Well, we can't just give The Malays, the Indians, and even the Arabs who immigrated from Bahrain Island should also be filled appropriately. There are not many people, just tens of thousands of people on each side. This is beneficial in the long run. "

Staff Tang nodded secretly.Things like sand mixing are definitely essential.Although the kingdom of Malawi was established with the help of the East Coast people, they will certainly be submissive in the future.But people can't just look at the present, they have to take a long-term view. A country is all a nation, and the interior is twisted into one rope. Where do you put the gentlemen of the country on the east coast?You must add some "seasoning" to you, bring in some different ethnic groups, and increase some internal conflicts, so that it will be more conducive to the coordination and influence of the people on the east coast.

I believe that sloppyness should be understandable for the painstaking efforts of the masters of Shangguo.You know, in a sense, this is also a kind of protection for upper-class figures such as sloppy.Otherwise, don't you want to fall into the lake for no reason and "drown" or "sleep to death" in your dream?Weigh it yourself.

(End of this chapter)