Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2283 March of Suffering ([-])

July 1695, 7, Gijon, sunny.A large-scale Mestizo immigrant team carrying the banner of the third column had just arrived, and a large number of "pocket merchants" living here on the east coast immediately took action.

The so-called "pocket merchant" actually evolved from a pocket boat.Pocket boats refer to boats that follow large groups of fishing boats to provide supplies, sell goods, and buy their catches. The existence of such boats greatly facilitates the fishermen who go fishing, and at the same time, they also make small profits through this kind of entrepot trade. A sum can be described as a win-win situation.

Pocket merchants sell a variety of commodities. In addition to the military supplies monopolized by the East Coast government, they can provide more than a thousand kinds of commodities, from food to medicine, from labor tools to construction materials, and so on. It's breathtaking.And the things they buy from the immigrants are also varied, such as food, leather, tallow, medicinal materials, gold nuggets, wool and even black slaves. As long as you can provide them and have a certain value, then they will conduct valuation purchases, effectively Resolved economic issues during settler marches.

The city of Gijón was founded by the famous immigrant leader Jose Moreno and named after his wife's ancestral home. It is located on the north bank of the Limber River, near the city of Beitbridge in Zimbabwe.In the south, there is also a city of Lugo (located near the later city of Tohoyandu), which is named after Moreno's own ancestral home.

Lugo City has now been handed over to the East Bank government, Gijon City has not yet been handed over.According to the plan, at the end of 1695, after the grain was harvested and processed, it would be fully controlled by the east coast government to ensure the economic capacity of the northward immigration team.Further north is the Zimbabwe plateau. The marching route of the Moreno team is not easy. They need to pass through the entire plateau and finally reach the Zambezi River basin. The entire journey may exceed [-] kilometers, so they need to gather in advance Enough "energy", otherwise I'm afraid it will be difficult to walk.

Of course, the east coast government didn't expect to rely solely on the immigration team to accumulate property by themselves. In fact, most of the supplies still depended on the assistance provided by the east coast government.Due to the complaints from the governments of South Africa and Xinhua Island, the masters of the local Ministry of Finance had to increase their allocations. The total amount of assistance has increased from 1692 yuan in 60 to 80 yuan (including material conversion), Hezhong, Yicheng The 50 yuan that should be borne by the three parties of Xinhua Island has also reached 33 yuan. Although the total amount of 150 million yuan is still a lot smaller, it is already quite good.After all, you can't expect bureaucrats to actually keep their promises, and it's always a pain in the ass to ask someone else to hand you the money.

The aid issued by the east coast government is currently mainly divided into five batches, that is, the first to fifth columns divide up these aids.There are 1 to 2 people in each column, and the money and goods in the early 20 yuan are still not enough, but they are struggling to live and use the money to buy weapons, ammunition and labor tools, but they can barely survive.The city of Gijón was established by the first column of Jose Moreno, and on the west side, another team led by the leader Jorge Martinez is also moving along the Shaxie River (the border river between Zimbabwe and Botswana) ) going forward, intending to go to the area of ​​the later Zambia. The third column experienced a plague a while ago, and its personnel were greatly reduced. It just arrived in Gijón today. There are rumors that the east bank government will replace its leader and order it to come later. The rest of the immigrant team reorganized and resumed their combat effectiveness.

Jose Moreno watched the tragic experience of the third column with cold eyes, feeling quite sad in his heart.His team has now expanded to more than 1 people, the management team is becoming more and more proficient, and the storage of various materials is also good. The momentum looks very good, and his position is also very stable.But who can say clearly about the future?How many negroes lived on the plateau to the north, what level of civilization there was, whether there were organized kingdoms or not, these are unknowns.Jose Moreno is not arrogant yet. As soon as he leads his team to the north, he will be able to kill all directions, smooth sailing, and finally successfully reach the destination and establish an immortal industry.He might think so when he was young, but after experiencing the ups and downs of society, he is no longer so naive!

The vast plateau of Zimbabwe does not know how many crises are hidden.Perhaps an inadvertent loss could lead to the destruction of their team.Perhaps a large-scale epidemic spread, or even an ordinary flash flood, could make them fall into a situation beyond redemption.Not to mention, there are countless black people who are stalking. Those people have iron weapons. Moreno has already known this. They are not incapable of fighting back, especially when they are very familiar with the terrain.

Jose Moreno really didn't want to experience the miserable end of the third column.He is living a very comfortable life now. He manages more than 1 people under his command, and he can kill them. The daily food and drink expenses are even comparable to some nobles in Lima before. Unexpectedly.

But all this is actually unstable!Once the team has problems and suffers heavy losses, the East Coast officials who accompany the team will doubt their own abilities, so they will report to their superiors and apply for the replacement of the leader, which will be a disaster for themselves.However, those guys were not very easy to buy, only one senior accepted his bribe, and at the same time he was very satisfied with the maid he sent to serve him.It's just that it's not enough to just handle one person!At first glance, that guy is a person who is older and has no way to rise. He can't reach the top rank in the East Coast Advisory Group.

Therefore, he still has to think of other ways!Contacting other column leaders is a big taboo. Moreno is not that brain-dead, but it is possible to attract some Austrian aid, such as investors from the east coast.Jose heard from the official of the East Coast Intelligence Bureau that he was familiar with that the leader of the fifth column in Malawi was sloppy. , but established by people from the east coast of this time and space) have a good business relationship.That company obviously wants to develop the local oil tree and tea tree planting industry, and the two sides are even discussing investment, although Sloppy doesn't seem to have a firm foothold yet.In addition, there are gossip rumors that Xinhua Railway Company also intends to lease a port in Mozambique, and then build a railway to Lake Malawi to help solve the local traffic bottleneck and transport more special products.However, the intelligence official said that this is nonsense. The main task of the New Huaxia Railway Company is to build the railway on the island. Before the saturation there, it is unlikely to go to the African continent unless there is a huge temptation .

But no matter what, it seems that the fifth column is doing well.However, it is closer to the destination, and there are big rivers such as the Zambezi River to help transport some supplies. Although it is not navigable all the way, it also solves a big problem.Not to mention, at least half of the journey can be provided by the Portuguese for supplies and rest places. It can be regarded as marching in a safe area. The Eight Banners of the island are military households who have been fighting for many years. The upper and lower level forests have a very high degree of organization. , Weapons and equipment are all ready-made, so naturally everything will be beneficial.But it will be much more difficult for them here. In the beginning, everyone didn’t even know each other. The proportion of civilians was very high, and there was no supply along the way. They even had to rely on their own farming and grazing to solve part of the supply. I worked very hard.Jose Moreno thought that he should take advantage of the opportunity to go north to temper the group of people under his command, making them more cohesive and refined, and at the same time formally establish his own officer corps. It's time to screen out, only those who are sycophant will be gradually alienated, and those who are capable will be deepened. In short, it is a difficult time for starting a business, and everything should be based on talent!

If there is no accident this time going north, it should be after the grain harvest at the end of the year.At that time, the fourth column, which is resting and farming in Guanghui City-this is a large force, with a total of [-] islands and Eight Banners, well-equipped and relatively strict discipline-will also rush over, the soldiers Enter the Zimbabwe plateau in two ways to attack the local black tribes.

For those blacks, the military police on the East Coast also spied on them first, and found that black civilization actually existed there.Using their identities as traders as a cover, they discovered a city built on high ground.The city is not small in scale, it is all made of stone, condescending, and solidly built.The highest part of the city wall is more than nine meters, and the last part is more than four meters. Inside, there are altars for worshiping unknown gods.There are conical towers on the city wall, from which visitors from afar can be seen from a distance.The overall line of the city wall is very neat, and a few places are decorated with granite at a certain angle, which shows the high level of fortification craftsmanship of the local people.

The buildings in the city are also made of stone, especially the religious places. The passages, niches, entrances, and platforms are all made of granite with hard work and piled up. Many buildings have bird-shaped emblems and soapstone carvings.There are many alchemists living in the city. They can smelt gold, iron, and copper, and can process iron weapons. Perhaps it is the technology obtained through exchanges with Arab, Persian, and Indian merchants when the Matapa Kingdom was not weakened and divided.

It is said that the people on the east coast have talked with the Portuguese in Mozambique and hired some archaeologists, hunters and merchants. These are all familiar with the Matapa Kingdom (now Portugal) that ruled Zimbabwe and northern Mozambique more than 100 years ago. People who have degenerated into tribal alliances under the blow of human beings should be helpful to this trip north to the Zimbabwe plateau.

Hope everything goes well!Jose Moreno thought so.

(End of this chapter)