Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 691 Cotton River ([-])

On May 1648, 5, Li Zhengang, wearing a sky-blue denim suit and a straw hat, stood on the north bank of the flowing Mian River (Fehranana River), together with several officials sent by the New China Pioneering Team. Measure the land.

It is already the dry season (cool season), and the Mian River, which was originally turbid and ferocious during the rainy season, is now quite quiet and docile, and the water level is much lower than that. The water quality has also become clearer.There are some unnamed trees growing sparsely on the shore, other than that, weeds can be seen everywhere.

Here is a tropical savannah climate, with less annual rainfall (more than 600 mm in the north and less in the south), strong sunlight and long hours of sunshine.Especially in the dry season, even animals are rarely seen on the parched land.Without modern agricultural irrigation facilities, it is undoubtedly not suitable for any agricultural production activities.It turns out that there are not many natives here (descendants of Malays, occasionally mixed with descendants of Arabs and Malays) because they have not built water conservancy and irrigation facilities, so they can only live a backward nomadic and gathering life, and have never Able to enter feudal civilization like their relatives on the central plateau.

Of course, these aborigines have been hunted and killed by the Dutch now, and the people from the east coast have wandered around here for more than half a month, but they didn't even see a single person. This place is really too desolate.The combination of the two words tropical and arid seems to have pronounced the death sentence here, but fortunately we still have this Mian River with abundant water, Li Zhengang thought to himself.

There are many animals in the Mian River, but the African crucian carp is undoubtedly the most abundant, followed by crocodiles.Yes, you read that right, these crocodiles are the same species as the Mozambican crocodiles across the strait, and they seem to have come to this island a long time ago, perhaps more so than those BC who rode canoes, carried rice seeds and The Malays who came to Madagascar with coconuts "settled" here even earlier.

In addition, there are large areas of wandering hump cattle on the grasslands-basically still in an undomesticated state. There are no large carnivores on this island, so their populations have always been large.The Dutch on the other side of the Cotton River have been relying on killing bison for a living in addition to capturing natives over the years. It is a pity that their number is too small-only more than 20 people, so these industries have not been able to expand.

There are more than 300 kinds of terrestrial animals living on the Falkland Islands, basically all of which are unique to the island. Among them, lemurs and Falkland civets are primitive species among animals, which are of great value to scientists who study evolution. Hu has been studying here for more than half a year, and has recorded the habits and characteristics of many animals in detail. At present, his students are still studying here for a long time.There are more than 200 kinds of birds on the island, 180 of which are endemic to the local area. These birds are characterized by their large size, fear of people, and flightlessness.

The world's fourth largest island has a variety of climates, such as tropical rainforest climate, tropical monsoon climate, tropical plateau climate, savannah climate and subtropical climate (southern end). No other island or country has so many climates in the world. All in one.80% of the plants on this island are unique, and because of its isolation, there are no many diseases and insect pests on the mainland. The conditions for developing agriculture are quite good-provided that the people on the east coast dominate here, and at the same time implement a similar lock-up on this island The closed policy of the order cut off exchanges with countries other than the east coast.

"The most vigilant animals on this island are crocodiles and wild boars. Crocodiles may attack poultry, and wild boars may damage crops. Other than that, everything is safe." A staff member who accompanied Li Zhengang and others to measure the land He said, "But there are not many of them. You can plant cacti around the cotton fields. The cacti here are very powerful, and wild boars will definitely walk around them. Of course, before planting cactus fences, you must first cooperate with the government to conduct a survey on the cotton river channel. Some rectification."

The improvement of the Mian River channel mentioned by the official actually mainly refers to the special improvement of the water and soil erosion in the Mian River Basin.As we all know, the Mian River originates from the central plateau, where there is abundant water, especially during the rainy season, the water level of the Mian River will often soar and even submerge large areas of land on both sides of the river.The raging floods brought sufficient nutrients to the land on both sides of the river, so the vegetation here is more lush than elsewhere, and the number of bison is the largest.

But now that people on the east bank want to develop cotton plantations here, they must not allow floods to break out every year. Therefore, how to prevent excessive sediment washed down from the upper reaches, making the river bed too high year by year, and eventually reducing the water storage capacity of the river. It has become a compulsory subject for everyone.

According to the current experience of the people on the east coast, to solve this problem, the main thing is to build a large number of artificial reservoirs, in addition to digging deep rivers and accelerating their flow into the sea.Among them, digging rivers can mobilize a large number of dredgers from the local area, which seems to be much easier than building artificial lakes.But you must know that this is a tropical grassland climate, an arid and semi-arid zone, and it is simply a crime to let a large amount of fresh water flow into the sea for nothing.Therefore, in the Mian River Basin, it is the only way to consume excess water resources during the rainy season to use the existing conditions to rebuild artificial reservoirs to store water, and to dig a large number of irrigation canals to water crops at the same time. Crops are undoubtedly the most suitable.

Of course, building an artificial reservoir is not a matter of one or two years, it is a long-term plan.At the present stage, the main thing is to plant trees on both sides of the river to prevent wind and sand fixation and reduce soil erosion. At the same time, try to build some long-distance irrigation canals—the bottom of the canal is made of masonry and cement, and the upper part is covered with wooden boards to prevent leakage. , evaporation - to irrigate crops in cotton plantations.

The trees planted on both sides of the Mian River are mainly oaks and willows, instead of the eucalyptus trees in Xinhua Port, Tacheng and St. Mary's Island.Those places have abundant precipitation, and the annual rainfall is usually around 2000 mm, so drainage is needed everywhere.People from the east coast later introduced many eucalyptus from Australia to plant here. Eucalyptus is a plant with good economic value, and at the same time it is a "water pump", which consumes a lot of water during the growth process.Therefore, it is very suitable for transplanting to northern tropical rain forests and tropical marine climate areas. However, the water resources in the Mian River Basin are inherently precious, so of course eucalyptus trees cannot be transplanted.

"Our Chuangji Company promises to transplant [-] willows and [-] oaks, and then we will definitely complete the task." Li Zhengang took off his straw hat and fanned the wind, and then said: "This place is really too hot. Isn't this the cool season, why is it so hot!"

"It's not bad here, the temperature is less than 28 degrees, and it's not stuffy at all. Unlike Xinhua Port, it's humid and hot. If it weren't for a little sea breeze to cool people down, it would be impossible to live." A member of the pioneering team Hearing this, he smiled and said, "Besides, the climate here is dry and there are very few mosquitoes. Even in the daytime at Xinhua Port, mosquitoes can often be seen under the shade of trees in the wild. Here, there are occasionally some mosquitoes by the river. Mosquitoes are just flying around, and there are very few mosquitoes away from the river bank. You just wait and see, Mr. Li, when your cotton plantations will be opened here in the future, the death rate of the working population will definitely be higher than those of sisal, coffee, and pepper. The plantation is much lower. I’m not kidding you. I heard from my fellow countrymen who work in South Africa that the death rate there is very low, and the incidence of diseases such as malaria, dysentery, and cholera is not high. Really It's enviable."

"Hehe." Li Zhengang chuckled twice.Chuangji Investment Company is a large company with a registered capital of nearly 10 yuan, which is second to none in China. For this reason, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce almost refused to register and asked it to split into two companies.Fortunately, the shareholders of this company (Li Guo, Gao Yigong, Yuan Zongdi, Guo Sheng, Liu Fangliang, etc.) had recruited Marshal Mo from Megatron Shandong as a shareholder, so it was able to be established.But even so, this company has still become a thorn in the eyes of civil servants. Not only are the taxes extremely high, but there are also various apportionments. It is really not easy to make some money.

The company is currently investing heavily in Xinhua Port, buying the property rights (20-year use rights) of a sisal plantation, a pepper plantation and three coffee plantations.Not to mention that, after carefully inspecting the conditions in the Mianhe area, Li Zhengang decided to buy a large area of ​​wasteland for future cotton plantations. At the same time, he promised to improve the local natural environment, plant trees on both sides of the river, and build a certain volume of artificial land. Reservoirs and irrigation canals.

Captain Shi of the New China Pioneering Team was overjoyed when he heard that Chuangji Investment Company was willing to spend such a large sum of money. Then, regardless of how the civil servants would hate him in the future, he readily approved this win-win agreement with a swipe of a pen: You If Chuangji Company dares to invest in land reclamation, I will grant you land with the lowest rent!As long as you develop these wastelands, they will all belong to the country in a few decades, so why should I hesitate?As for the noise of those white shirts, I don't care!

After Chuangji Investment Company bought these properties, it still had a lot of money on hand, so Li Zhengang wondered whether to buy some slaves back.From the company's point of view, it is the most cost-effective to buy cheap Persian, Baluchi and even Arab slaves from Muscat businessmen, but from a personal emotional point of view, he is unwilling to let these "barbarians" Occupy this land.The land on both sides of the Mian River is very fertile. Although the grassland is relatively dry in the dry season, there are bison herds everywhere, and it is no problem to feed 10,000+ people or tens of thousands of people.

It would be great if all the descendants of my Ming Dynasty lived on this land, Li Zhengang thought silently.He decided to go to Xinhua Port to try his luck in two days. Now the entire Xinhua Island can't help the free flow of people. He wants to go there to see if he can recruit some Ming people to come here to open up wasteland.If there is, it’s great, if not, then I have to go to the Xinhua Port Muscat businessman’s club to contact the business. We can’t let these plantations be empty for a long time.

(End of this chapter)