Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2305 Country Talk ([-])

"These villages are actually not very big, usually only about a dozen or so households, and some even have none. We have investigated and found that they are generally engaged in agriculture, fishing and hunting. There are not many other industries, and the industrial output value is very small. Only A little handicraft industry also exists to meet the needs of the small local market. However, after the company imported a large number of industrial products, these people are on the verge of bankruptcy. According to our statistics, basically all of them went to work in Vladivostok. The market is larger and there are more job opportunities.” On May 1696, 5, on the banks of the Wusuli River, where the river had thawed, Shao Rujie, the deputy general manager of the Northeast Asia Region of the Bank of Taiwan, was inspecting local businesses accompanied by a group of people.

The person who spoke just now was Shao Rujie’s secretary, an official in his early thirties, who graduated from Yantai College, the cradle of cadres from the five feudal domains in the Far East.Later, he resigned from the public office and worked as Shao Rujie's secretary at the Bank of Taiwan, which surprised many people.It is unbelievable for some people to abandon politics and go into business. However, the salary offered by the Bank of Taiwan is generous, and the development prospects are not necessarily bad. After all, this company is the God of Wealth of the Manchurian Pioneering Team.

"The life of the Shandan people here is very primitive. They don't know how to grow crops, and they don't have much interest in doing it. They prefer to hunt large wild animals in the mountains and forests—well, usually fur animals, dig ginseng, catch sea fish, Seaweed, sea cucumbers, sea crabs and other seafood that are sold at high prices, sometimes go to the river to pan for gold, go to the forest farm to saw wood, and pick wild fruits, fungus and other mountain products." The secretary continued: "It is worth mentioning that, Although the pioneering team and the county and township governments fabricated their household registrations for them and asked them to settle somewhere, these Shandan people are still very mobile. They chase deer and fish to live, and their households are very simple and have little property. , generally shotguns, hunting dogs, tents—well, I bought them from us. It used to be a birch bark house, and now it’s somewhat improved—sleds, fishing nets, and some fried rice and salted fish as dry food. It’s very convenient to move, It's very difficult for the government to monitor it, and in fact they've given up trying to do so."

"Ningshao immigrants from the south like to live a settled life. They usually build their houses close to the places where the Shandan people work, reclaim the local fertile black land, grow grains and vegetables, and then earn money by selling agricultural products to the Shandan people or providing resting places. Income. It has to be said that many of these people came with nothing when they came, but they just relied on their superb farming skills and flexible business acumen to make a lot of money from the Shandan people. After all, in remote virgin forests or seaside areas, There is no one else, and the hunting team of the Shandan people can only supply through them. These people used to carry large and small bags of dry food when they went out, but now that they have fixed supplies in the village, their habits have changed a lot. Overall As far as they are concerned, they are relatively rich now. Sometimes when they are busy in autumn, they will hire some Shandan people or Koreans to do farm work, and they are paid on a daily basis. Sorghum wine."

"Have any ethnic disputes occurred?" Shao Rujie asked.In the past, he usually only lived in the city, dealing with business affairs, and contacted relatively high-end people, unlike the secretary who had such rich experience in local work.Therefore, this meeting is actually quite interesting when I hear the secretary's detailed explanation.

"It would be a lie to say that there is no such thing at all, but it is indeed relatively small. The government has troops stationed at important transportation nodes in cities and villages, ranging from dozens to hundreds of people. Because of the prestige of defeating the Qing army and conquering indigenous tribes before Still, the deterrent effect is relatively strong. Furthermore, the leaders of each hunting team or fishing team are all famous people, and most of their families stay in the town, and their children must go to Hanmeng School to study. As long as they If there is no disagreement, generally speaking, there is no problem. After these years of rectification, they have basically accepted the rule of the East Coast government and the fact that the Han immigrants in the south have a higher economic status than them.” The secretary replied.

Shao Rujie nodded silently.The business experience of these Ningbo people is really good. They exchange agricultural products with Shandan people for valuable mink fur, fox fur, bear skin, ginseng, fungus, gold placer and other commodities. Selling at a high price, the profit margin in the middle is still very generous.In addition, they sometimes brought some small commodities back from the town, such as spirits, tobacco, gunpowder, salt, metal knives and other daily necessities. Choose to buy from them.These Ningbo farmers are actually playing the role of pocket boats on the fishing ground, and the middlemen earn the difference, which is simply flattering.

And their experience of becoming rich in the Manchurian and Mongolian areas was soon spread back to their hometowns intentionally or unintentionally, and soon attracted a new wave of immigrants in the densely populated Ningshao area.Those people originally found a job in the factory and worked casually. When they heard that there were so many opportunities in the rich outer Northeast, they all yearned for it like chicken blood. The small immigrants went to Manchuria-few people, vast and fertile land, abundant resources, and low competition pressure, so they are naturally very attractive to people.

The Manchurian Pioneering Team was also very tolerant of these immigrants from the south.They stipulated: 1. All immigrants who voluntarily settled in Manchuria only need to pay four yuan per person to get one mu of land, and the upper limit is 2 mu. This price can be said to be very cheap, only half of the local price Less than; 3. When the land is allocated, you can live together in villages or single households. Generally speaking, most people choose to live in villages. Even single-family settlements are not far from villages. ;4. The allocated land is completely tax-free for the first ten years, and the tax is halved for the second ten years; 5. Immigrants must start reclamation within three years of the purchased land, otherwise the government has the right to confiscate it; [-]. If the immigrant bought the boat ticket at his own expense, he could be exempted from military service ten times, and the house would not be lent to the passing troops for accommodation.

Such conditions cannot be provided by other feudal vassals in the Far East, and even Dili or Brunei in Southeast Asia are not as good, so they are very attractive to immigrants from Ningbo.Shao Rujie once saw an immigrant ship carrying more than 200 people in Vladivostok Port. This ship departed from Ningbo Dinghai Port and was collectively funded by more than 200 Ningbo immigrants on board. This makes people who are used to government-funded immigration I was very surprised, and then lamented that Ningbo is really rich, and the locals are really aggressive.

"The majority of the newly immigrated immigrants are adult males. Of course, this is understandable. In these sparsely populated places, it is necessary to fight against the primitive nature, requiring people to pay hard physical labor, especially during the initial reclamation. The majority of male immigrants made it difficult for people to get married. In order to solve this problem, the Manchurian Pioneering Team formulated a policy to encourage women to immigrate. If there are women in the immigrant families, the women's own journey and settlement expenses will be paid by Official expenses. This is not a small fee, not to mention the boat ticket, it is not cheap, and if you want to settle in a ready-made village, families with women can be exempted from paying the settlement fee. This fee is not small, because You have enjoyed the roads, schools, Taoist temples, and agricultural irrigation systems built by the early settlers for free, and you must make compensation." The secretary added: "In addition, marrying an aborigine is also a good choice. The government has issued orders many times, The tribal leaders are required not to prohibit their women from marrying immigrants from the south, and those who violate it will be fined. It should be said that cross-ethnic marriages are still very frequent, because the economic status of the two is not equal, and people always yearn for a better life Moreover, this seems to be conducive to assimilation. There are more than 50 aborigines in the Manchurian-Mongolian pioneer area. How to assimilate them is a very important issue. Education and intermarriage are two very effective means, and the government highly respects them. .”

"How many people are there in the Manchurian Pioneering Team now? Is there 100 million?" Shao Rujie asked suddenly.

"Of course not." The secretary quickly replied: "According to the information I have, even including those Mongols, there are only about [-] people. Fortunately, the population has been increasing slowly. Going in a good direction."

"There are only 80 million people living in a land of several million square kilometers. The words "large land and sparsely populated" are not discounted at all. Fertile black land, dense forests, rich fishery resources, and herds of cattle Sheep, as well as medicinal materials, gold, coal and leather goods, are so rich in resources, no wonder the immigrants here are quite rich, and the pressure of life is really low.” Shao Rujie sighed: “The textile factory in Dinghai County is exhausted for a month. It only makes a few dollars. But if you come here, you may get it back by reselling two or three leather goods. I heard that the local farmers in the Tuanjiehe Gold Mine made a lot of money by selling grain, vegetables, and fruits. With less gold, everyone has bulging pockets, and the rural areas of Manchuria are not bad. Hehe, a piece of fine mink or bear fur can be sold at a sky-high price in the local area, and those Shandan hunting teams often sell it cheap for a bag of grain Yes, this business is too easy to do.”

Of course, Shao Rujie did not mention the huge profits made by Bank of Taiwan.Because they hold the largest share of Manchurian and Mongolian foreign trade, their purchasing stations all over the world buy leather goods and other commodities from immigrants or hunting teams, and resell them to the mainland for double or even several times the profit. The efficiency of this money is naturally Those second-hand traffickers (immigrants) can't compare, but it goes without saying that everyone understands it.

"The people are so rich, but why are the Manchurian and Mongolian pioneers so poor? The Ningshao pioneers pay them 30 yuan a year, and at the same time allocate a considerable amount of cloth, labor tools, salt, and tea. The Denglai pioneers The annual salary is 20 yuan, and at the same time, it provides a large amount of grain, guns and ammunition. There is no charge for training cadres, and the teachers sent over are also paid by them. Even our company has been sent to donate several times, which really shouldn't be! "Shao Rujie muttered to himself: "Yes, maybe the cost of the war is relatively large. In addition, the resettlement of immigrants and even Shandan people is also very expensive. The construction of settlements is a bottomless pit. Alas, I hope that the construction of Manchuria and Mongolia will become more and more prosperous. The better, so our company can make more money. It is definitely not possible to always rely on external blood transfusions. The Manchurian pioneering team government has too few sources of tax base, and the system here is too rough and informal. Ningshao and Denglai’s taxes, while satisfying local expenditures, still have room to pay for Manmeng and Lianwu, and even started to send taxes to the central government in the past two years, when will Manmeng reach this level?”

(End of this chapter)