Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 269 Deepening the Roots ([-])

After the meal, the two didn't delay any longer, and technician Liu directly dragged Zhou Dahe to the township government compound.This is a small two-story building with a yard. There is a large iron gate at the entrance, and four policemen are sitting in the guard room next to the iron gate.Outside the big iron gate, there are several wooden signs hanging, which read "Zhenyuan Township Government, Dongfang County, East Coast Republic of China", "Zhenyuan Agricultural Technology Station of Animal Husbandry Bureau", "Zhenyuan Police Station of Ministry of Internal Affairs", "Northwest Reclamation Bank Zhenyuan Branch Office" and so on.

It seems that Technician Liu is right. In the small town of Zhenyuanbao, so many institutions are crowded together to work, which is convenient and does not appear to be extravagant.

After handing over his ID to the police for careful verification, Zhou Dahe entered the courtyard smoothly.The branch office of Northwest Reclamation Bank is in a row of one-story houses on the west side of the compound. Zhou Dahe hesitated for a while, and then he came to the door of the bank supervision office under the guidance of technician Liu.Just when he was about to knock on the door, he saw the door was pulled open from the inside, and a man about 30 years old appeared in front of the door with a young man who looked like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy.

Zhou Dahe was taken aback for a moment, and then he quickly reacted: "Are you Supervisor Wang? I'm new here..."

"A new loan officer?" Supervisor Wang interrupted Zhou Dahe bluntly, and then stretched out his hand: "Bring me the registration card!"

Zhou Dahe hurriedly handed his ID card, registration card and letter of introduction to Supervisor Wang.Supervisor Wang glanced briefly at the certificate first, then carefully read the description of Zhou Dahe's physical characteristics in the letter of introduction, and finally returned the certificate to Zhou Dahe carefully, saying: "Welcome to join our branch office. Come on, let me introduce you, this is another loan officer from my department, Anderson. Anderson, come over and get to know Zhou Dahe."

Anderson is a shy boy, which reminds Zhou Dahe of his former self.He took the initiative to hold Anderson's right hand, and said with a smile: "Anderson, you can become a loan officer at such a young age, but you are much better than me. I will ask you for advice on many things in the future."

The boy just said hello in a low voice, and then stood aside without speaking.Zhou Dahe carefully noticed that there was also a Maitreya Buddha statue carved from ivory hanging around Anderson's neck.

"Cough..." Supervisor Wang coughed, and then said: "Anderson came to the east bank from Gotland with his father a few years ago. His father was a corporal of the fourth company of the army and died in South Africa last year. To take care of the children of martyrs, this sub-office was entrusted by the superiors, so Anderson was recruited as a trainee loan officer.”

Zhou Dahe let out an "oh", and then stopped talking.

At this time, Supervisor Wang said very simply: "Xiao Zhou, you came at a good time. Come with me to the countryside for a while, and I have some things to deal with." After finishing speaking, without waiting for Zhou Dahe's consent, he walked out the door on his own Go, Zhou Dahe hastily followed.

A few people didn't take a car after going out, because the place is not far away.The circumference of Zhenyuan Castle is only more than 700 meters, and a lonely castle stands on the prairie, surrounded by a lush grassland.Rows of typical east bank dwellings with red bricks and blue tiles are interlaced and scattered along several small rivers. The annual precipitation of the east bank prairie is basically about 1000 mm, so the aquatic plants are relatively lush, which is similar to the aridity of Mongolia in later generations. Semi-arid grasslands are fundamentally different.

The warm wind blowing on the face in early summer makes people feel very comfortable.Several people walked on the grass in silence, and Anderson was pulling a draft horse. In the saddle bag under the horse's belly was a large bundle of documents, as well as dry food and drinking water for several people.Zhou Dahe once tried to lead the horse instead of Anderson, but was quickly rejected by this shy and stubborn boy.

From time to time, some herdsmen who drove their flocks out to graze flashed by the roadside.Wearing the usual East Coast denim jackets and wide-brimmed hats for sun protection, these men herded dirty sheep.Zhou Dahe found that Jianli Wang could almost name most of the herdsmen he met, and the attitudes of these people towards Jianli Wang were all respectful, careful and flattering.

"I worked in the sub-office of Muchang Township for a while, and the development there is very fast." Wang Jianli, who was walking in the front, chatted with the two of them: "It is also the development of animal husbandry. It is also a three-year interest-free loan from the Northwest Reclamation Bank. As of November 1640, it had owned more than 11 military horses, over 1200 draft horses, more than 2000 beef cattle, 1500 dairy cows, and more than 900 live pigs. The local area even established a The leather processing center uses soda ash and dyes from the north to tan, process and dye leather goods for export. Of course, this industry is a labor-intensive industry, and what is currently lacking on the east coast is the population, so they have not developed yet. It’s very fast, but its scale can’t be underestimated. The income level and living standard of the local herdsmen are far higher than those in a remote place like Zhenyuan Township, and the business of the local branch office is also far higher than ours.”

Zhou Dahe and Anderson listened silently without speaking.

Wang Jianli ignored them, and still walked ahead and said to himself: "At the end of 1638, the Zhenyuan branch of the Northwest Reclamation Bank opened. At that time, the superior allocated a total of 2688 sheep to me, and asked the local township government to cooperate with us. Distribute these sheep to each farmer. At that time, there were less than 1000 people here, and each person was allocated two or three sheep to raise, which was not enough for living. There was no way, and many people went home later. Another part of the farmland was opened up to grow potatoes and soybeans to make a living, and the days went on like this. By this year, according to my estimation, the number of sheep had exceeded 1800, and the number of sheep that could be sheared was no less than 10. As a result, the harvest this year The amount of wool in the country almost confirmed my guess. A while ago, the statistics of the Wool Purchase Station of the General Administration of Textile Industry came out, and a total of about 1600 bags (30 kg each) of wool were harvested. These plus the approximately [-] sacks of wool can almost support [-]% of the raw material demand of our underdeveloped woolen textile industry."

"The guide purchase price for each bag of wool is 6 yuan. If 1800 bags of wool are shared equally among the heads of every herdsman in Zhenyuan Township, it is not much. It seems that everyone has earned an average of less than 11 yuan this year." Supervisor Wang laughed at himself. , "The average monthly income is less than one yuan, haha, it is estimated that it is difficult to find a job with a monthly salary of less than two yuan in China now? Isn't it funny that the annual income can only buy one pig? If it weren't for me later I found a way to ask someone to get a batch of goats for them to raise, and I asked Lao Liu from the agricultural technology station to guide them in planting potatoes, soybeans and corn. I am afraid that the people here will starve to death. Even if they are not starved to death, they will run away. I went to work in the south, who will come to raise sheep!"

Zhou Dahe smiled dryly, but did not speak.

Supervisor Wang glanced back at them, and then said with a smile: "I don't mean to hurt your confidence by saying this, but I just want you to know the current living conditions of the herdsmen and people here. But then again, if you don't If there is any accident, the number of sheep that can be sheared next year may reach seven or eight thousand. Many of these herdsmen can reap more than ten or twenty yuan just by selling wool at the buying station. I am afraid that there will be more in the next year. However, I estimate that the guys from the General Administration of Textile Industry will probably lower the purchase price of wool at that time, and I still understand the urine behavior of these grandchildren, haha."

The place arrived soon, it was a small village of about ten households.This is the case in Zhenyuan Township. Because of the need for enough pastures to graze sheep, herdsmen generally live in scattered places.At this time, several people were already standing at the entrance of the village. It seemed that they were the village head and militia director of the village, as well as a policeman from the police station.

"Wang Dajian, I'm just waiting for you to come." The village chief from Tatan said in a strange Chinese, "I have already tied up those two useless guys, and now I leave it to you."

Supervisor Wang nodded and did not speak. Instead, he went straight to the two Chaluyas who were tied into rice dumplings, kicked one over, and asked loudly, "I'll ask you again, the information I sent you Where did the sheep go? Did you eat them?"

"I didn't...eat, I ran away." A Charuya said in half-baked Chinese.

"Fart your mother!" Supervisor Wang kicked up again, cursing viciously: "Run away? Where did you go?! Why did they find the bloody sheepskin under your bed? Tell you to be stubborn! Damn, I can't kick you to death!"

The Charuya man looked at Supervisor Wang with hatred, and refused to give in: "Just...run away. You...outsiders...discriminate against us...get out!"

"Damn, are you still looking at me with that look? Believe it or not, I killed both of you? When I was fighting the Spanish in the Caribbean, you two were still playing with ostriches on the west grassland! Damn , I’m going to kill you!” Supervisor Wang kicked the two of them again, and then he turned to the village chief and the others angrily and said, “These two guys are still stubborn. Do it! It’s the first time I’ve seen people who owe money to our bank so confidently and arrogantly. Let’s go through the formalities now, and then send them to Changshanbao, where they can work as miners to pay off their debts! Damn , Good people are wrong, they have to go to the 'black shop' of Changshan Iron Mine to be a slave. Humph, this is what they asked for, and I can't blame me."

Naturally, the village head and others had no objections, and Jianli Wang quickly completed the formalities with the village head, the director of the militia, and the people from the police station.As the few people present stamped their seals on a handling opinion form produced by Supervisor Wang, the fate of the two Charuyas was fixed—they were sent to Changshan Iron Mine for three years of hard labor, To repay the loan owed to the Zhenyuan branch of the Northwest Reclamation Bank (four sheep).

"Xiao Zhou, go back and pack your luggage in a while. Tomorrow, you will accompany the comrades at the police station to escort these two people to the Changshan Iron Mine, and then go through the formalities with the people from the Changshan Iron Mine." Supervisor Wang suddenly said to the person standing aside. Zhou Dahe said.

"Ah? Oh, yes!" Zhou Dahe nodded hastily.

(End of this chapter)