Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 696

With the sound of a clear siren, an "Amur" class inland steam gunboat slowly docked at the wharf of Gonghezhai.Wang Shichuan, the former magistrate of Dashun County who was transferred here from Heishui Port to take charge of the work, immediately stepped forward respectfully to welcome Wei Boqiu and his party who came to inspect the situation.

It is now late May, and Heilongjiang has just thawed. Occasionally, there are still some floating ice floes on the river, but this is no longer hindering navigation.Therefore, Wei Boqiu, who had just returned from Yantai Port, immediately took a boat non-stop to Gonghezhai, a winter camp set up before winter last year, and sent a batch of key supplies here.

Gonghezhai is located on the original site of the later Russian Komsomolsk City. It is a small mixed civil-engineering village with a circumference of only more than 800 meters.There were only more than 300 people in the garrison, some old troops brought by Wang Shichuan from Shandong served as officers, and the soldiers were composed of Japanese, Buryat Mongols, Daurs and Ming people.They guarded this key pass in the middle reaches of the Heilongjiang River, almost reaching the border of the spheres of influence between the Qing Dynasty and Russia.

"A group of more than 30 horse bandits came to the stockade more than two months ago. They even sent people to inquire about us, but the staff department couldn't understand what they said, so they drove them away. They looked at us There were a lot of people, and they had muskets, so I didn’t make much trouble, but I had a premonition that they would come again.” Wearing a dog fur hat, Wang Shichuan put his hands in his sleeves like an old Northeast farmer of later generations, Only when he saw Wei Boqiu did he take out his hands, saluted and said.

"It should be the Siberian Cossacks." Wei Boqiu nodded, expressing that he knew the information, and then cheered them up: "This time I sent you another [-] people, all of whom are willing to "reform evil and return to righteousness". , many of them are still from your hometown, from Henan Weihui Mansion."

"Deputy Commander Wei, what we need here are women..." Wang Shichuan said with some headaches, "Look, we have hundreds of young men nestled together, and an accident almost happened last winter. Don't divide these troops Daughter-in-law, sooner or later something will go wrong."

Wei Boqiu smiled lightly, but didn't speak.He knew in his heart that Wang Shichuan was deliberately exaggerating the situation for the better. In fact, in this day and age, there is no such exaggeration. Many troops have been stationed abroad for several years, and they have not seen everyone become friends.To put it bluntly, in this era of extremely low productivity, the first physiological need that people need to satisfy is still to have enough food.

However, Wei Boqiu did not say that there would be no distribution of women here. After all, the ratio of men to women in other strongholds such as Temple Street, Henggun Village, and Jiangdong Village is already very balanced. Wozi man, this is not conducive to the reproduction of the population, so as to consolidate the military and political presence of the people on the east coast here.

"After the repair and maintenance of the ships transporting immigrants is completed, a big ship will come over next month. At that time, I will bring you a lot of new mud legs. Set them up for me, don't make any mistakes. By the way, these Most of the newcomers are women, and how they should be assigned will be strictly in accordance with the regulations, and whoever has the highest score will have the priority." Wei Boqiu walked to the watchtower next to him, and walked up the wooden stairs while walking up. Said.

"The ones with high scores are selected first, and the beautiful ones are picked by them. Haha, in the future, if these bastards don't work hard, then they will be an ugly woman for the rest of their lives." Wang Shichuan followed behind Wei Boqiu, and said with a smile: "Back then, Marshal Mo had a dismal management in Heishui, and set the rules of the point system for everyone. Now it seems that it is really a good governance."

Hearing that Wang Shichuan and others were still thinking about Marshal Mo who had been transferred away, Wei Boqiu didn't say anything, but felt very tired.But now is not the time to talk to these rough people with terribly low EQ. In the future, he will use his own means to let these people know that the surname Mo is no longer here.

A few minutes later, Wei Boqiu climbed to the top of the ten-meter-high watchtower, raised his binoculars and looked south in the howling northwest wind.In the field of vision is a large piece of wasteland and continuous mountains, and there is a river like a river between the wasteland and the mountains, that is the Amur River, or Heilongjiang.The vegetation by the river has spit out a few traces of emerald green, and there are some wild sheep and reindeer looking for food on the bank.They stepped on the soft ground after the snow melted, carefully dug out grass from under the snow to eat, and then ran to the flowing river to drink water, looking extremely comfortable.

The field is covered with a thick layer of wild grass, and beneath the grass is black earth.Wei Boqiu has never doubted the degree of its fertility, you just need to grab a handful of those soils to know, fat and oily is the description here.Last year, more than [-] people in Henggunzhai, Miaojie, and Jiangdongzhai have developed nearly [-] mu of farmland, with an average harvest of [-] catties of oats per mu, which is quite good.

Of course, it seems that such a small amount of grain production is still not enough to feed the four villages of the Amur River with an increasing population. It still needs to transfer about [-] tons of grain from the outside world every year to barely maintain the balance.These grains imported from the outside world, except for the newly established Jiangdong Village and Gonghe Village, the other two villages need to pay a certain fee. For example, Henggun Village is paid with placer gold, and Temple Street is paid with fur. and tallow to pay.In a bitterly cold place like the Amur River Basin, if a city cannot maintain self-sufficiency and only rely on continuous blood transfusion from the government to survive, then there is no need for it to exist unless it has great strategic value.

The Four Villages of the Amur River under the control of the people on the east bank undoubtedly have such strategic value, especially the fortress of Gonghezhai, which has penetrated into the middle and lower reaches of the Amur River. There are even a considerable number of tribes that are still providing soldiers and supplies to the Manchu Qing.In order to continue to expand the influence of these tribes and win them over from the Qing side, the people on the east bank must maintain a military presence here for a long time, and at the same time it is best to infiltrate and control these Jurchen tribes economically. Tie them completely to the chariots of the East Coasters.

Once the influence of Manqing here is eliminated, it will be equivalent to cutting off half of Ningguta's wings, and its fragile defense line will face the threat of the people on the east coast.Of course, this process will definitely not be smooth sailing, and the Manchu Qing will not sit back and watch the people from the east bank unscrupulously poach their corners here, and some fierce competition and even war can be expected at that time. In 1652, didn’t the Qing court and the Russians break out a great war in the Amur River Basin aimed at competing for the local aborigines?It’s just that that time ended in a disastrous defeat by the Qing court. Since then, the local Jurchen and Mongolian tribes have changed their previous practice of paying taxes to the Qing court and Russia at the same time, and only paid taxes to the Russian Cossacks who came to collect taxes. Tribute.

"Master Wang, this year Gonghezhai will reclaim at least [-] mu of wheat fields, and all of them will be planted with wheat. You can start preparing for it later." Wei Boqiu put down his binoculars, and then looked at several local military and political officials who were following him. Said.

"Only 400 mu?" Wang Shichuan was startled, and said, "We now have more than [-] people here. According to Deputy Commander Wei, more people will come later, but only [-] mu of wheat fields have been reclaimed. Isn't the efficiency too low?"

"Not too low, because you still have important things to do later." Wei Boqiu waved his hands and said, "Next month, the higher-ups will organize a large-scale military operation in the Four Villages of the Amur River. This operation will be conducted by the Captain Li Renjun, the commander of the Army's 105th company transferred back from the front line, will be in charge. At that time, the 105th company will be the core, and some troops stationed in the Heishui area will be assisted. 500 people took boats, escorted by gunboats, went up the Amur River, and went to some villages and villages along the way to collect taxes."

"These villages already have to pay taxes to the Tartars and Russians at the same time, and life is already very difficult. Now we go to collect taxes again, can they still survive?" Hearing Wei Boqiu's words, including Wang Shichuan All the officials inside opened their mouths in surprise.

Their concerns are not unfounded.Because in this area of ​​the Amur River Basin, due to the low level of productivity, the daily life of local residents has been very difficult since ancient times.Especially food, has always been very tight, which has caused the local population to never increase.Now these people are taxed by the Russian Cossacks from time to time, and at the same time they have to pay tribute to the Manchu Qing on a regular basis. This life is already very hard. If the people from the east bank come to collect taxes on a large scale, these people will immediately end up bankrupt.At that time, they might raise their troops to fight, after all, they will jump over the wall when they are in a hurry.

"If they feel that life is difficult, then they can stop the tax that should have been paid to the Russians or the Manchus, and we can protect their safety. If they feel that it is not safe, then they will move their family and village to the vicinity of Gonghezhai Come and settle down, there is an invincible army on the east coast, and no one will be able to threaten them by then. Regarding this point, we must make it clear to those Jurchens and Mongols. Forget it, now is not the time to discuss these , anyway, you just need to be ready, the army will set out next month." Wei Boqiu said.

After inspecting the work of Gonghezhai and conveying the spirit of fighting Shangfeng, Wei Boqiu and his party enjoyed a whole fish feast (chicken salmon, salmon, etc.) After going back, he had to go to Kushiro Port to take charge of the coal mine development there.As the second coal mine in the Heishui area, this matter cannot be sloppy, and if it is done well, it will be a great political achievement.

(End of this chapter)