Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2499 Santana

It was another sunny morning, and Santana walked down from an embankment near the Boundary River.

The Boundary River is roughly located at about 36°11' north latitude. From west to east, it cuts the entire peninsula from the mainland like a sharp knife, turning the control area on the east coast into a real island.

Of course, only [-]% of this boundary river with a length of more than five kilometers has been completed so far, because the people on the east bank want to widen and deepen it. The people on the shore also thought that this artificial canal would have a certain degree of navigation capacity, which would play some economic benefits, although it didn't look very big.

The width of the Boundary River was originally only two or three meters, but the people on the east bank wanted to expand it to more than 25 meters (well, the extra width was of course dug from the Spaniards), and the excavated earthwork was filled into the sea nearby. The construction of piers and breakwaters can make the best use of everything.This large-scale project has been under construction since the end of the war. However, due to the lack of sufficient construction machinery and labor (a large number of Moroccans have returned home), and the lack of funds, the project has been carried out intermittently. So far only 60 %, it is very embarrassing.

No, a while ago, the special envoy of Shengde Hongsheng was dissatisfied with this when he visited the port of Gibraltar on his way from Italy to the Baltic Sea.He directly criticized: "I personally do not support the construction of this so-called boundary river. But since your leadership team in Jinghai County thinks it is necessary to repair it, then I respect your opinion. But almost a year has passed, and now this The river that you say is of great national defense significance has not yet been completed, but it is somewhat unreasonable. I will allocate another 15 yuan to you, and you can find a way by yourself, whether you borrow it from Danji and Ceuta counties, or hire Italy. , I don’t ask any questions. But there is one thing, before the end of next year (1704), I want to see the completion of this canal, or you will all take the blame and resign.”

Jinghai County is a county established in the part of Gibraltar controlled by the East Bank, and it is currently under the jurisdiction of Special Envoy Sheng Dehong.But if there is no accident, it will be officially handed over to the Strait Management Committee in the middle of this year, becoming the fourth county under the name of the Management Committee after Henghai, Danji, and Ceuta.

In fact, this county was originally intended to be called Pingxi County, which means "pacify Spain".However, the day before the official release of the document, after a discussion at the regular meeting of the Government Affairs Council, everyone felt that it was better to keep a low profile.Considering that the people on the east coast used the pretext of hunting down pirates, it was finally decided to name the new colony Jinghai County, which was consistent with the original excuse.

Jinghai County is not a big county.After the two governments signed the armistice agreement, even though the people on the east bank secretly took advantage of it, the total area of ​​the controlled area did not exceed [-] square kilometers, which was not as big as the Portuguese's Macao.In the future, building a military camp, building some wharf storage facilities, setting up some factories, and adding some agricultural land will take up most of the available land resources (there are still many mountains in Jinghai County).If the county wants to develop greatly in the future, it still has to find a way to continue to expand the scope of the county. At least, the area of ​​Jinghai County can be calculated at least one hundred square kilometers, right?Otherwise, just play around!

And this is actually an important reason why Sheng Dehong opposed the construction of the canal by the Jinghai county government.In the past, for the sake of war, you just dug a temporary trench, but now not only has it not been filled, but you have to expand it into a large-scale artificial canal. What does this mean?Don't plan to continue to expand if you draw the land as a prison?Sheng Dehong thinks that the leadership of this county is really petty, but considering that this place will not be under his own control in the future, and the high-level management committee of the Strait does not object to the construction of the canal, he did not veto it, but he did not support it much.As a result, seeing that this group of people had been tossing for almost a year and hadn't finished it, he sighed a little, so he allocated 15 French currency from the funds under his control for their use, so that the canal could be completed as soon as possible.

After the funds were in place, the Jinghai County Government quickly got in touch with the St. George's Firm in Genoa, and hired a large number of Italians from Sardinia and Sicily, which are densely populated and low-wage, to continue the canal project.In order to supervise the work of these people, the Jinghai County Government also established a team of supervisors to supervise them.As the first batch of ex-Spanish soldiers captured by the East Coasters, Santana has always performed well. Last year, he even reported on a Spanish spy who was lurking among the residents. On an honorable overseer.

Now Santana can receive a salary of four yuan in French currency per month, which is absolutely high salary in Spain and even in the whole of Europe.The sailors in the Netherlands cost 10-12 guilders a month, which is about 3-4 yuan in conversion.It seems a lot, but this is going to go to the ocean, and you have to put your head up and risk your life to earn it. How can you easily get it like Santana patrolling the river embankment?Therefore, Santana is very satisfied with his current life and is very willing to serve the East Coast people.At least, if you follow them, you can get your salary on time at the end of each month, and you will never be in arrears. This is enough!

As for the original allegiance to the king, when he defaulted on his military salary for one year in a row, Santana's loyalty was wiped out. Who the hell would go hungry and work for others?The only ones who can have some influence on descendants like Santana are probably the clergy. After all, it is one thing during life, and another after death.He had already lived such a miserable life for the first half of his life, and he could no longer live a miserable life after death, so he once wavered and doubted his decision.However, he no longer has this kind of trouble recently, because a large-scale Taoist temple has been built in Jinghai County, and the majestic and benevolent Tianzun has taken over Santana's spiritual world, and he no longer worries about his treatment after death up.

After thinking everything through, Santana is naturally full of energy when he works.Every morning, Santana would go to the embankment to inspect the embankment first, to see if there were any suspicious elements or if anyone damaged the embankment.After the workers have all gone to work, he will also watch over them meticulously, and will never let any one who steals, rapes and plays tricks.As long as those people showed the slightest slack, he would step forward without hesitation, and slammed down the whip, making those Italians cry for their fathers and mothers, and get up to work—don't talk about the East Bank and the The Italians are nonsense of a friendly alliance. They must abide by the employment contract after signing the labor contract. Naturally, they will be punished for stealing, adultery, and cheating. There is nothing to say!

After inspecting a section of the river beach that he was in charge of today, he found that everything was in good condition. Satisfied, Santana went down the river bank and found a leeward place to smoke. The job of four dollars is awesome, and it can already support tobacco. consumer goods.As a result, just halfway through the draw, there was a noise from the front. Santana poked his head out to take a look, but saw a group of officers in sky-blue navy uniforms standing on the river bank and pointing. Drawing tools start field work.

"This scene is a bit unusual." Santana thought to himself.Anyway, he was also a soldier. Although he has been working at the bottom, he still knows some things more or less.This guy from the east coast is obviously engaged in military surveying and mapping!Reminiscent of the rumors that a military fortress would be built on the embankment next to the canal a while ago, Santana has basically confirmed that the people on the east bank are going to militarize the canal, and this time it is definitely not the kind of temporary fortification, but reinforced concrete permanent fortifications!

Just, for what?Santana was a little puzzled. He didn't know why the boss was rushing to start construction now.This thing is more expensive than digging the river. Isn't the county short of money? This is the rhythm of hard work even if there is no money!Thinking of this, Santana also panicked a little. It was a cold day, and there was still a trace of sweat on his forehead that could not be restrained.With rich experience, he knows that the reason is actually very simple, but he subconsciously does not want to believe it.

"There is going to be a war!" Santana knocked the ash in his pipe on the ground, and sighed heavily: "Gibraltar is such a remote place, why are there so many people fighting for it? It is better than the best veal Xiang, I really saw a ghost, I don’t want anyone to enjoy a peaceful day.”

The whistle of the ship sounded on the sea.Santana didn't even bother to climb up the embankment to see it, probably it was a warship!Recently, there has been an endless stream of naval ships on the east coast heading north, most of which are anchored in Port Dange, but there are also many cruise ships that come to Gibraltar.Santana counted in his free time, and the total number of warships on the east coast standing in Jinghai County wharf for a long time has exceeded twelve, among which there are two majestic iron-clad warships. It is self-evident who they are targeting.The sound of the siren today sounds like a signal to enter the port, so it is likely that there are new ships arriving, and the nearby Spanish coast fort should be tense for a while—in fact, it is useless to be nervous, Santana was captured on the fort Yes, in his opinion, it is inevitable that the Spanish forts will be breached, and most of them will not cause any damage. Instead of this, it is better to surrender as soon as possible.

"It seems that there must be some kind of conflict between the people on the east coast and the Kingdom of Spain. Otherwise, the situation would not be as tense every day as it is now. Are you still doing business? There must be something wrong!" At this moment, Santana I hate that my position is too low, and I can't get more information.Otherwise, he must know what happened to the outside world, so he can deal with it calmly.Thinking about it this way, I suddenly felt that the salary of four yuan a month was not good, and I didn't know anything, and I was kept in the dark, so it was really boring!

(End of this chapter)