Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 633 War and Peace ([-])

November 1647, 11, West Lake Town.

The endless green wheat seedlings on the plain to the west of Duck Lake made the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture headed by Zheng Bin very happy. Zheng Bin, who was driving on the rural gravel road in a four-wheeled carriage, even stopped the car and ignored his followers. The dissuasion insisted on walking from the field to the next village.

Wang Xinyuan, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture who had already been designated as the first county magistrate of Xihu County, also got out of the car. Follow Zheng Bin and Minister Zheng.The gravel road they took was not wide, at most three or four meters long, and the gravel on the road became potholed because it was squeezed by the truck for a long time in rainy days-in fact, this was also Zheng Bin who got off the car The reason, without him, is that it is really uncomfortable to live in the car.

On the north side of the east-west gravel road, a water channel about one meter wide is built, and the water channel is covered with a cover to prevent evaporation.The weeds that grew on the slopes on both sides of the canal had disappeared the last time I came, replaced by the taro planted by the farmers. Very pleasant.

To the north of the canal is a large area of ​​farmland.It's mid-spring at this time, and the wheat seedlings that have survived the winter are green, and it makes people feel comfortable to look at.Many farmers are already busy in the field, Zheng Bin looked intently, these people are fertilizing.The fertilizer is whalebone powder from the hair above. This kind of fertilizer is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, easy to absorb, and has a quick effect. Not enough.

The farmland in Xihu Town is an area where the three-crop rotation system is strictly implemented. Among the about 60 adult agricultural population in this township, the per capita arable land area has already touched the upper limit of 5 mu set by the state.That is to say, on average, each household (two male and female laborers) owns [-] mu of arable land, but the number of cattle is relatively small, only [-] head per capita, and the feces produced each year are only enough to fertilize more than half of the arable land, which is not enough at all. meet agricultural needs.

However, there is no rush for this matter. Didn’t you see that the La Plata Expeditionary Force on the East Bank has already obtained more than 7 cattle from the Spaniards—more than 100 million yuan according to the market price—these cattle are very valuable to the East Bank. It is very important to complete the "modernization" of agriculture.At least in the traditional agricultural areas, because of this war, farmers on the east bank suddenly increased their per capita cattle ownership from 0.8 to 2.4 head, and the subsequent great development of agriculture and animal husbandry on the east coast almost entirely depends on this.

It's true that no one is rich without windfall!Thinking of this, Zheng Bin shook his head with some emotion.The battle has been going on for more than a year. Among other things, the people on the east coast have brought back more than 2 cattle from La Plata (there are still more cattle in transit), more than 1 sheep, and 120 sheep. In addition, there are seven or eight thousand tons of wheat, more than 320 logs, 46 pieces of leather, and various gold and silver coins in the amount of more than 1.6 million yuan. If all these things are converted into cash, there are almost It is more than [-] million yuan, which is almost [-] times of the government's annual fiscal revenue in [-].

It can be seen from this that the people on the east coast have fought for more than a year, at least from an economic point of view, they have not lost money, on the contrary they have made a lot of money.However, these so-called "incomes" are all based on plundering the accumulated wealth of the Spaniards in the La Plata area for a century. To put it bluntly, these are one-time incomes, not every year.If you want to get rich and maintain the country to continue the costly war, you still have to rely on solid development of production, and agriculture is obviously the top priority.

This time Zheng Bin, on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, came to Xihu County, where the arable land area accounts for 57% of the country, to inspect. Obviously, he was very concerned about the grain output of the summer harvest in 48.Because now there are many villages and towns below, the damage to agricultural production caused by the war is too great, because more than 90% of the militias are from the countryside, which is already five or six thousand strong laborers.Not to mention, a considerable number of strong men were transferred to various docks, stations, and even front-line depots to transport supplies to the army. The labor force in rural areas was lost in this way, resulting in an extreme shortage of manpower in many farmland water conservancy, road and housing construction projects.

After several closed-door meetings, the Ministry of Agriculture is concerned whether next year's summer harvest of grain will see a considerable decline.This is a very serious problem, because from the beginning of next year to the middle of the year, a large number of immigrants will come to various ports on the east coast almost every month, and the number is likely to be between 2 and 2.5. Definitely a big mess.Not to mention anything else, they were raised for nothing in the first year, which would require at least five or six thousand tons of wheat, which is almost equivalent to the total amount of grain stored in the warehouses directly under various countries and counties today; In the second year, they still couldn’t achieve food self-sufficiency, and those new settlements still needed blood transfusions from the state, and it wasn’t until the third year that they just reached a balance. This food pressure is not ordinary.

What's even more tragic is that according to the agreement reached with the Dutch West India Company and the Genoese, more than [-] tons of grain will be sold to these two companies next year.If the normal year is good, as long as the local wheat harvest is normal, it can almost cover the past and there will be some surplus, but if the grain production declines, then things will be very troublesome. Is it possible to import a large amount of those unpalatable foods from South Africa? Sorghum?

Alas, I don't want to worry about these annoying things anymore, let's first investigate Xihu County, the most important agricultural area.Zheng Bin took out a pipe from his pocket and lit it for himself, then waved to Wang Xinyuan who was walking behind him, and said to him: "It seems that the wheat seedlings in West Lake Town are growing well, and next year's production should not be large. The rate of decline. Unlike what we saw in Low Bunker, Mocaoling and Dafeng Township, the growth of wheat seedlings in those areas does not seem to be good, far worse than here.”

"The development over there is later than here, and the per capita livestock holdings are not as good as here. The farmland has less manure, so naturally it can't be fertilized. The field is not fertile, and it's a waste of land. In my opinion, the seeds in those areas The harvest ratio can reach 1:6 (about 100 kg per mu) to 1:7. Here in Xihu Town, I think it can reach 1:8.5 to 1:9 or more. If there are no accidents, the grain harvest will not be a problem "Wang Xinyuan leaned over and lit a pipe for himself. After taking a puff of the cigarette, he began to babble like an old farmer: "Just in two months, the militiamen on the front line and the young men who transported the luggage have to be transported to the front line. Calling a batch back, it will be the critical moment for the removal of impurities in the farmland, but there is no shortage of manpower. I am afraid that it is not enough to rely on these people who are left at home now. After all, if the removal of impurities is not done well, the grain harvest But it will go down."

"I'm afraid this is a bit difficult." Zheng Bin said worriedly, "The Santa Fe side is still in a stalemate. The daily consumption of supplies and food is astronomical, and Buenos Aires can't withdraw for the time being." , we have to stay on guard. After all, we can’t let the Spaniards copy the back route of the Santa Fe defenders. As for the wave going to Chile and Peru, we don’t even need to count on them. Those people don’t know where to fight guerrillas But now Qingdao Port and Shangcheng Port are stationed with a group of combat troops and logistics troops on rotation. Maybe we can ask the Government Affairs Council to negotiate with the military department, let those militia or logistics troops be disbanded first, and go home to finish their work. Let’s talk about farm work. Hehe, of course, that’s all I said, the possibility is not very high.”

"When is this fucking war going to end? Peace seems so far away. It's really frustrating!" Wang Xinyuan knocked his pipe on the sole of his shoe, and stuffed a pinch into it after clearing out the soot. , took a puff after lighting it up, and said: "Warning with the Spaniards is like playing cards. Although we won a few hands in the first few rounds, the Spaniards don't care about their careers. Maybe they will stud at any time. We To follow or not to follow?"

"Don't talk about those useless things, follow me to the front." Zheng Bin interrupted Wang Xinyuan's rambling with some irritability, and then took the lead to walk forward.

There is also a small canal on the south side of the gravel road, which seems to be dug by the villagers themselves, and the water in it is mainly rainwater.Next to the canal is the private plot of the farmers, which is usually only two or three centimeters in size, and the things they grow are different, but most of them are vegetables and the like.There is often a large water tank buried in the private plot, which is actually a dung tank. When farmers water vegetables, they use dung spoons to scoop up dung water from it, which is more convenient.

As more and more types of vegetables are cultivated in the Northern Botanical Garden, farmers in the Yazihu ​​area have also purchased some improved varieties to grow back. For example, cowpea and taro have appeared in vegetable markets in various towns for the first time.A small part of the vegetables grown by the farmers are for their own use, and most of them still have to be brought to the market in exchange for the commodities they want. Even in this era of commodity shortage, they are still used to selling these things, and this is indeed a great enrichment The dining table of the East Coasters.

The research team of the Ministry of Agriculture, led by Zheng Bin, Wang Xinyuan and others, went to the next village stepping on the field ridges planted with broad beans on both sides after completing the transfer of the whole village.

On November 11, Zheng Bin and others held a closed-door meeting on the spot immediately after finishing their investigation of agricultural production in Xihu County.At the end of the discussion at the meeting, everyone unanimously judged that the summer harvest of wheat at the end of February and early March next year (13 years) should not decline. Expansion - but it is also unlikely to count on an increase in summer wheat production.Generally speaking, the food situation next year is not optimistic, and it should be stable but tight.If we want to completely solve the hidden dangers, I am afraid that South Africa will increase the quantity of sorghum, peanuts and other agricultural products sent to the central government by more than 48%.

(End of this chapter)